When I arrived at the top-most portion of the passageway I found most of the Goblins glanced up at me.

Devin was sitting in the upper hallway next to the door looking intense for some reason.

“Please re-tie his legs. He should be more cooperative. Don’t be rougher than needed.” I said looking towards the goblins.

They all seemed a bit perplexed.

Scout walked over to me, “Did enjoy?”

I considered what he meant by that. Enjoy what exactly? Then it occurred to me that Gerl was a prisoner, and prisoners to the goblins were property. When I had been property they’d treated me as little more than an object to enjoy.

“Not yet.” I said instead, not sure exactly how to reply to that. On one hand that would probably happen... on the other... What the hell was I thinking?

“Resist?” Scout asked with a bit of warning in his tone.

“What, No! I just spoke with him. Treat him well...” I insisted again. I wanted to explain more, but honestly, I doubted they would get it. Naan didn’t even understand. Though I suppose I would have to deal with that next.

Scout nodded and he and another goblin trailed down the path behind me.

I made my way to the ladder and climbed up.

“You alright?” Devin asked me as I stood in front of him.

“Yeah… Why?” I asked.

“You look more serious than usual. I honestly was expecting to see you come back here grinning with glee.” He said.

Did everyone around me think I had no self-control? I sighed and tried to actually explain, “I didn’t want to be too forceful with him. He’s shy and seems to genuinely think I’m a good person.”

“You are a good person.” Devin agreed.

I couldn’t help but smile, “Thanks…”

I didn't believe them, not really. I didn't think of myself as a bad person, but as a good person? Not so much. But that was fine, I was trying to be a good person where I thought it counted.

“Anna.” Naan said into my head I could tell it was angry.

That suited me just fine. “If you don’t mind I need to talk with Naan. So I’m going to go up top.”

Devin nodded, “I’ll be here when you are done. Oh… and your hair… It’s pretty but, the wrong color.”

“Thanks.” I replied bleeding the red from my hair so that my braids became blond once more. I found my way over to the stairs and wound my way up and back into the kitchen. I took a seat on the table like before. For just a moment I listened to the sound of the rain, some part of me wanting to relax, to unwind.

It refused to last however as Naan spoke, “Explain.”

“I’ve already explained this to you. We need people to serve us voluntarily.”

“How does letting him go make him want to serve us?” Naan said as if I was an idiot.

“It doesn't.” I replied.

“As I thought, you’re not thinking with our best interests in-” Naan began.

“I lied.” I interjected. Except I didn't, and this was the lie.

“Hmm?” Naan asked. “About what?”

“We can’t let him go. He knows Devin’s face now. That I'm here... with goblins. Even if we released him far out into the woods, if he harbored even a tiny bit of ill will towards us and ever saw Devin again he could act. He could turn us in, send the inquisition or whatever after us. The guards, anything…” I continued the explanation effortlessly, I couldn't even tell which side of the argument I was on, and I was the one speaking.

“Then why did you offer it to him?” Naan asked. “If you know this, then what purpose could offering it possibly serve?”

“Voluntary service is just that, voluntary.” I stated, “If the choice I give him is to serve or die, that's not a choice. It’s just slavery.” I insisted.

“I don’t understand.”

Of course, it didn't. That would be too easy. “If he accepts my offer and wants to willingly work with us. Then everything is fine. We can give him a contract or whatever and everything will be great.”I said with more force.

“But if he instead decides to wait until you free him?” Naan asked.

“Then we’ll need to kill him. Just like you planned originally.” I replied. I hated it, I hated saying it. It was a lie, but it was a lie I'd have to act on if I failed. But what else could I do? We are partners, if the choices were joining or death, what could I say? I could surely sit here and try and explain it. But knowing Naan it would just come back to contracts. Naan didn't want to trust anyone. Naan didn't even trust me.

I couldn't help but wonder why Naan didn't insist on a contract with Devin or the goblins for that matter. I understood the mana problem, but we had the mana now.

Still, I couldn't think of this in those terms. It's not like I planned on failing to seduce him. I'd make it work, I didn't even expect it to be that hard, he seemed like a sincere earnest man, and he was already infatuated with me, or at least smitten?

“I see…” Naan replied after a moment.

“Besides that Naan. I have a bit of a bone to pick with you.” I said moving on to another thought I’d had.

“Why bones?”

I just moved on, “You seem to be thinking about our little arrangement here as you being in charge still.” I said.

There was no response.

“You seem to want to second guess me at each opportunity.” I expanded.

“You are making dubious choices, it is clear you are not thinking with our survival as your primary goal.” Naan stated.

“You also said you were planning for an outcome where I died before.” I proceeded.

“There is always such a possibility.” The dungeon replied as though that was natural.

“Can you even survive me dying anymore?” I asked.

There was once more a long pause.

“You don’t know?” I assumed.

“No… I do not.” Naan confessed.

“Naan, why did you choose to make this contract with me if you don’t actually think of it as a partnership.” I asked the question that had been slowly brewing inside me.

There was once more a long silence.

“I… do not understand, the question.” The dungeon replied.

“What part of it?” I requested.

“Why would you think this?” It dodged instead.

“Because you don’t seem to trust me. Yet you choose to fuse our souls. Something about that, and something else you said has been irking me.”

“Which is?”

“You picked this contract because of the mana didn’t you?” I stated.

“Of course, I’ve made that clear previously.”

Some part of me had always thought that there was more to our relationship. I couldn’t help but feel misled. Maybe that was on me, maybe I'd assumed there was more.

“So you choose this contract for greed. You saved me for the same reason. Everything you did to help me, to save me, and since then has all been to get your hands on my mana?” I questioned.

Even as I asked the questions I was reminded of the fact that Scout was the reason it even left the cave. The reason I was alive wasn't that Naan wanted me to save me, I was alive because Scout wanted to save me, and Naan saw it as an opportunity...

“What about you? You desire my goblin’s protection. To have the abilities I’ve unlocked within you. You desire the things I’ve given you, do you not? Would you rather I take them back?” Naan demanded in return.

I was stunned for a moment. That wasn't a denial. That was an outright, "yes, but are you any different?" On one hand, it was true. I enjoyed my abilities. But there was more to it than that and I asserted so, “I didn’t work with you to get power Naan. I worked with you because I thought we could help each other. I thought we could help make up for each other’s weaknesses. I thought that if we legitimately focused on watching each other's backs and trusting one another that we would be better together than separate. But you’ve thought of me as nothing but a mana generator.” I said feeling that settle in my mind.

“I don’t know what you expect. Such is your primary role.”

I was right. Why, and when had I convinced myself that I was more than just a tool to Naan? Right from the beginning? Soon after? Had I conflated the goblin's choices and interests with Naan's? or had I just been too hopeful to admit the honest truth?

I wasn't going to let it go, I wasn't going to accept this so easily, “We made a contract Naan!” I stated firmly, “What were those words again? What's mine is yours? What's yours is mine? This is supposed to be a partnership.” I said.

“Even if you say that, you’ve made your own choices irrelevant to my interests. You stayed in this town when it was clearly riskier to do so. You insist on trying to recruit this man when there is a far simpler and easier and expedient solution.”

“That’s true.” I admitted, but I wasn't done and continued, “But I’ve not lied to you." Or at least I didn't think so, at least before this. I didn't dwell on my recent duplicity and pressed, "You’ve actively avoided discussing things with me where you think I might catch on to your deception.” I said. As things began to click in place inside my head. It only now occurred to me that this wasn't anything like a partnership. It was a balancing act with the two of us seeing which one fell off first.

“Nonsense.” The dungeon replied.

"Why don't the goblins have contracts?" I asked.

No response.

"Is it because when I talked to you about your plans I disliked the idea of slavery?" I asked. Perhaps it was a bit of a leap, but I was willing to test it.

"You are insinuating that I've avoided forming contracts with the goblins because of you?" Naan asked.

"Yes. Because you insist on a contract for Gerl. Yet Devin and the Goblins are fine." I continued my thought from earlier.

The response came, but slowly, moments ticked by before Naan spoke, "Very well. But is a consideration for your opinion a bad thing? Isn't that specifically what you want?"

Was Naan serious? or was it trying to manipulate me. It was a good question, and this entire situation all seemed to rest upon that needle's point. But the answer was clear from the beginning, "If that's the case, then you won't have any issue with me accepting Gerl without a contract as well." I offered.

"Those two situations are unrelated." Naan insisted.

"Explain how?" I asked.

"They have already agreed to work with us. This man has not." Naan pointed out the obvious.

"So once I get him to agree to work with us, to accept the contract. We can just not do it." I played my counter.

"Why do you care if this man has a contract or not?" Naan dodged, obviously not sure what game we were playing.

The truth was I didn't feel completely sold on my theory either. I knew that deep down Naan was a fundamentally different existence than I was. Beast Kin, Humans, and Elves I'd met them all. Sure there were cultural differences but they all seemed to be social creatures that operated on the same unlying behaviors. I was trying to make Naan a friend, and an Ally. But Naan had already stated it's opinion. Naan considered me to be a Mana Production unit.

"I'll drop it for now." I decided I wasn't going to get more out of that line of questioning anyway. Best to try something else, “Back to the main topic. You’ve basically let me think that you considered us partners this whole time without saying otherwise. Meanwhile, you’ve been plotting about how to make use of my abilities for your own ends. Isn’t that right?” I asked.

“I explained things when you asked. While you suggest I am plotting, is it really plotting if I'm discussing my ideas with you?” The dungeon replied.

There was truth to that, but I could push it, “Alright, well if you're being so honest and open about things tell me Naan, what are you still hiding right now?” Maybe this was too direct, maybe it was too forward, or just too broad. But I could see what Naan would say at least.

“I know a vast array of knowledge-” Naan began as if I was being an idiot.

“I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about things that actively affect, our dungeon.” I insisted with extra emphasis on the last two words.

Naan was quiet.

“Well? There are things you've not said aren't there? What are they?”

It was still quiet.

I hopped off the table and walked out into the backyard the cold wet rain pouring down over me and soaking me instantly.

“Naan, you better start talking.” I said threateningly, though in truth I had no idea what my plan was. Was my big plan to get hypothermia?

“Down there in that cave, is the remains of an old dungeon.” Naan finally spoke.

“What?” I asked blinking in the cold darkness.

“Across the underground river, there is a passageway. However, there is a large door of dungeon origins.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, it made no sense, why would I give a shit about that?

“I thought if you knew you would insist on staying here.” Naan replied.

I didn’t really get it's reasoning there, I’d not really wanted to stay regardless. But then again Naan had clearly thought I was trying to stick around here. If nothing else this did prove there was things it wasn't telling me. It also made sense that it would pick the low-hanging fruit. It was willing to risk this one, to save the rest. But I wasn't so easily dissuaded, I saw right through that trick and pressed for more, “What else?”

“What makes you think there is more?” The dungeon asked again clearly not liking that I was calling it's bluff.

“My gut.” I insisted.

Naan was quiet for a moment before replying again, “I have captured another soul as well.”

That one caught me off guard, why would it have not told me… Wait… “Naan… that soul wouldn’t be a certain person that I watched die would it?”

Naan was clearly avoiding answering.

“So it is… You have Kay’s soul? The Tiger Kin from the prison?” I asked out loud.

“Yes.” The dungeon admitted after a pause.

I couldn’t help but laugh even as I cried in the rain. “You fucking asshole! You let me think she was gone this whole time!” I stated.

“I expected you would be displeased. It appears I was correct.”

“I’m not displeased” I noted calmly, before my anger surged up and I hissed my response into the night air, “I’m fucking pissed because I thought she was dead!"

"She is dead." Naan pointed out.

"That's not what I mean, and you know it!" I roiled.

This was all the more confirmation that Naan just didn't operate on the same rules as me or the rest of the group for that matter. If it made sense for Naan to avoid telling me that it had saved someone's life, what the hell was it hiding beyond that? In fact, that question chilled my bones, or maybe that was the rain. “What else Naan? What else are you hiding from me?” I demanded trying to calm myself and return to a private conversation.

Once more there was a delay, it really didn't want to continue.

“Well?” I pressed again.

“I was not merely waiting in the cave north of here. I was considering the potential of the two souls.”

Gerl’s words came back to me. He had heard voices. Voices that caused him to be curious. I supposed this might be related, “Care to explain what you were doing with those two souls? You used my mana to give them bodies did you not?” I said practically seething.

“I did. I was simply considering the possibilities of what they can be used for. Unlike you neither had a strong affinity. However such things are not set in stone. If I could possibly provide direction to them I could promote an affinity with one or both of them and they would become stronger and more useful to me in the future.” Naan explained.

"Useful to me..." it had said. Even now, while I was confronting it on this, it insisted. I was starting to think that this would never work. Yet, I already had an expectation about what it wanted, it was obvious. “You tried to make Kay into a succubus didn’t you?” I asked feeling dread build up inside of me even as my tone became acid.

“What makes you say that?” Naan asked back a clear note of concern in it's tone.

“You once suggested that as an option. Now that I’m sitting here thinking about it, it sounds like something you might do to get more mana. So how did it go Naan? Did you get your second succubus?” I asked anger boiling inside of me.

“Neither soul showed affinities after my experiment.”

A punch wasn't good enough for Naan. I'd have tried to beat the shit out of it if I could. “I need to speak with her.” I realized.

“Why?” Naan questioned.

“Because knowing you, you’ve fucked everything up.” I stated firmly.