“Fuck!” I screamed.

“You… are a strange entity.” A voice boomed at me.

“The hell are you?” I whimpered back.

The massive eyeball narrowed slightly at me. It had eyelids? No, it was more like the world itself was this thing's eyelids. The eye simply stopped being visible as it narrowed.

“I am Jerome.” The voice replied.

I knew that name from somewhere…

“What… what do you want?” I asked oddly less terrified by the calm tone the… eyeball used.

“You are attempting to cure a divine curse, by… forcing your mana, through a contract?” The voice asked.

“Yes…?” I asked back realizing that yes, it didn’t make much sense.

“A strange idea. But you are, a strange creature.” The voice continued.

“Naan? What do you make of this?” I asked internally.

“I… I don’t know.” The voice in my head replied.

“You’ve rejected Lulinla’s offer.”

“I don’t want anything to do with that piece of shit.” I proclaimed.

“Yet, you realize how perfect a fit your abilities would be for the task.”

“This and that are entirely different.” I insisted.

“Indeed.”

I wasn’t really sure what this was about, or why it was about… So I decided to just ask, “Umm… Are you here to smite me or something?”

“Quite the contrary. While the circumstances of our meeting are entirely Lulinla’s doing, It would be entirely wasteful for me to overlook you simply because of that.”

“Which means what?” I asked still entirely in the dark.

“You are a product of chaos, yet you resist and try to force order onto the world around you. You go forward, resisting urges to retreat.”

“I don’t know about all that…” I pointed out. I mean some of that seemed true… enough. But it also sounded a bit high-handed and presumptuous.

“You are a dungeon that has refused Lulinla’s temptation. A dungeon that has become a living creature. A Dungeon that forms contracts with the living to create order.”

“Umm… Are you talking about Naan? Or me? Or the both of us?” I asked, growing more confused by the moment.

“There is only one entity, to which I am speaking.”

That hit me like a truck. I didn’t know why, It was like some part of me that I’d never acknowledged just slugged me across the face at hearing those words.

“Naan?” I asked inside my head.

“Anna?” The voice replied.

I relaxed a little, the surge of questions and uncertainty that had nearly overtaken me for an instant suddenly re-contained in its pot, the lid no longer shaking.

I decided to say anything, do anything to stop thinking about what I was thinking about, “What does being a living creature have to do with anything?”

“Do you not know? Living creatures are wonders of order.”

“I… don’t see it.” I admitted. I had always thought of people, and animals as a bit of a mess at the best of times.

“To your eyes, given an endless field of pristine glass, and your body. You think the glass is more orderly?” The giant floating eyeball in the sky asked.

I nodded, “Seems like it…”

“If you threw a rock at both, the glass would be forever marred by the cracks along its surface, forever displaying the moment of chaos upon its surface. But your body would reassert its order upon the world. For you see, this is why life is such a wonderful representation of order, nothing but a living creature actively reasserts order with purpose. For that is what life is, and what life does.”

“I guess? I’m not one for philosophy though… I really just want to help Devin…” I pointed out, deciding that was what really mattered.

“Indeed.”

“Can… or will you help me?” I asked.

“Will you do the same?” The voice asked back.

“I… how?” I asked, sort of thrown that this… god had thrown my request right back at me.

“Lulinla is a force of destruction, of chaos and disorder. My followers regularly work against her, among others. If I offer my blessing through you, will you use them to preserve order rather than destroy it?”

“I want to be clear here… If I do something stupid and destroy a kingdom are you going to come after me?”

“Is that your goal?”

“Well… no. But I’ve not had the best of luck so far.” I pointed out. “I almost had to kill Gerl because he found out what I am… and… and… I’m just a fuck up. I’ll mess up again… I know it.”

“Relax mortal, I do not expect perfection. I just expect you to try.”

His soft tone was truly soothing.

This was the same god that ran the inquisition?

“If you just want me to try to be a good person, to save Devin… How could I say no?” I pointed out.

“That’s not what I said.” The calm, but stern voice retorted.

“Alright… well you want me to resist disorder. Try to stop Lulinla and all that.”

“Yes.”

“You don’t have anything against me fucking tons of people right?” I asked on a whim.

“While such practices can lead towards chaos, so long as your intentions are to avoid it. Which they are, as I can observe. You should be fine. As stated, I do not expect perfection.”

“Then I guess I have no reason to say no…” I posed.

Some part of me knew that this was just part of a grander game, but if I wanted to keep Devin, this seemed like the only way. At least it was better than the alternative.

“Very well, dungeon. Become my conduit. Bless this man in my name and face despair.”

“Wait… That’s it? That’s all I get?” I asked.

“What else would you expect?” The eyeball in the sky asked back.

“I don’t know… some kind of magic? Some kind of weapon? A big glowing spear? I don’t know how this works.” I mostly rambled.

“I can teach you nothing. You acting as my conduit grants you my blessing. By being such your entire being will be more orderly, more sturdy, magic or otherwise. This is not intervention, this is a contract.”

At that, the massive eyeball simply shut. The world’s hue seemed to change, and time seemed to resume. I was drawn to the sound of breathing and I found Devin was once more moving and once more straining in pain.

Everything felt slightly strange, as though the world was normal again, but yet somehow skewed, in a way I couldn’t quite explain.

I didn’t really have time to waste, and placing my hand on Devin I said words I never expected I’d say, “Jerome’s blessing upon you.” Hoping that worked.

At my words, I could feel the very atmosphere around us change. The overarching sense of dread, horror, and depression pushed back.

Devin pulled in a sharp breath. “What… just happened?” He asked staring up into my eyes.

“I… just talked to a god.” I stated flatly not really sure what else to do. I watched as the black vines on Devin’s wound forced the black inky horribleness out into the air, where it seemed to fizzle and evaporate away like smoke.

“Your… Your eyes are glowing.” Devin hummed back.

I glanced into his eyes, “What?” I asked.

“They are… glowing a golden color.” He said, “It's… pretty, but kinda unnerving.”

I sighed, “Can you stand up?”

“In a second…”

“What now? I’d saved Devin… for the moment. But what lay beyond this? I glanced around finding a strange sense of.. connection to things around me. Like lines reaching out into the distance. They seemed familiar somehow. There were three out in the direction that Aquina had rushed off in. I glanced the other way and found a smattering of them in one dense direction. As though I could faintly touch them, a few of them I found I could put faces to… Jenny, Gerl, and Charlene.

They reminded me a bit of the contract cord I had with Devin, different, but similar.

I felt for those instead and found that yes, Devin, Gerl, and a third bond seemed to be there. I touched that one and found the faint impression of Dragon Smith to the south.

I found my mind reaching out to it, touching it, almost pulling it. “Dragon Smith…” I thought.

“Anna?” The cord vibrated back to me.

“What?!” I said feeling confused.

As if all at once a realization dawned on me. This wasn’t my ability… This was Naan’s ability. But Naan had said Dragon Smith was too far away. But this… This…

The whole world began to spin around me.

“Anna? What is it?” The cord vibrated.

“The townspeople need you… Come…” Which way? What do I say?

Sensations and motion, a sight that isn’t sight…

“Northwest.” Naan’s voice echoed through me.

“Hurry… They have a drake nearby.” I supplied before finding myself cuddled by Devin.

“Are you alright?” Devin asked me.

The world was still twisting and turning. “Naan..?” I asked.

The response was too slow in coming but finally, it replied, “Yes?”

“You're not leaving me right?” I asked hopeful.

“Not yet.” The voice in my head replied.

I opened my eyes to find the cords all gone, to find the strange, difference missing, a lid placed on top of a box containing questions, and truths.

"Not yet..." The words echoed in my mind. I pushed them aside and focused on action instead.

“Devin… We need to do something… those men rushed off. They are alive still, but can we catch up?” I pointed out.

“She might come back here too. If we are out here, then what?” Devin stated.

I didn’t know. I felt like I’d just been given some insane gift, but I neither had any idea what it was nor how it could be used.

Part of me wanted to find those cords again, touch them, feel them out, and share… No, stop thinking about Naan’s abilities. Those are Naan’s abilities. We promised to keep them separate. I’d do my thing, Naan would do its thing. We only shared things when needed.

“Anna? Are you alright?” Devin asked again.

“What? Yeah, why?” I asked back.

“You just… look… Um, panicked. Which… I get. I don’t know what to do either. But you seem sort of distant, like you are worried about something else, and not what's happening right now..” Devin quickly explained.

He was right… I needed to focus.

“Naan? Do you have any ideas for how to use this blessing or whatever?” I asked.

“Not… particularly? Our mana seems different. Everything seems a bit different. But I can’t say how it's different, just that it is.”

Not much help there. Was there some way to ring your preferred divinity and have a chat? I doubted that very much. Even if there was, that would probably just piss it off.

“We could tunnel… or we could rush off towards the others?” I offered. But I shook my head, “We need to go after those men that ran off. I can’t let her murder them if we can avoid it.”

“But how?” Devin asked. “I mean I’m probably alright to stab that bitch a few more times, now that I know her game. But we are out of pits.” Devin pointed out.

“True. But that drake seemed to recognize Aquina as its master… you think it's smart enough to deal with a shapeshifter?” I asked.

Devin considered that “More crazy ideas huh?”

“It's all I’ve got at this point…” I offered.

Devin considered me, studying my face and after a moment he nodded, “Alright, let's go.” Devin said moving to stand.