I wasn't sure what exactly it was about the apartment blocks that managed to scare Mimissa so badly, but I got her to come out of her shell again. For the rest of the day I just rested because a couple moments after my declarations I was struck by my worst headache to date. I paced myself better over the following days, spending a couple hours depending on my mood on Floor 2 walking around and modifying things.

Our DP income remained steady, and when we reached 20,000DP, I felt it was time for a little celebration. On Floor 2 the sun was always shining, and everyone insisted this was normal. But I wanted something resembling a day-night cycle that matched the outside, or people might be unable to sleep there. People who can't sleep well can be cranky, and crankiness can turn into violence - not good.

The actual celebration was prepared while the DP was at over 19,800 points. We bought a round marble table and finely crafted chairs, and a longer rectangular table with a beautiful gold-rimmed white cloth. Plates and cutlery, fine china with pink flowery accents much like the ones grandmother used to own, and several cakes.

"You know what's missing? A gazebo!"

Mimissa had never heard of such a thing before, and neither had Mr. Imp, but Malfissa liked the idea. They're not tacky!

I flattened the ground, destroying one of the prop buildings next to grandma's dacha and enlarged her garden that way, then raised it a tiny bit in the middle where the white-painted gazebo was to stand. It offered more than enough space for the table and chairs, and we eventually began our little party proper after I had DP-fied, and recovered from, another chunk of material. I didn't even feel as sick as before.

"I might be building some immunity to it. But in any case, everyone, I present our DP counter!"

We sat at a nice 20,234, which I didn't want to accept as it was. For 200DP I bought a function to dim the fake sun to nothing, leaving everything in darkness. From the rest I bought several candles, torches, and wooden stands, which we lit and placed around. Then I activated the second function.

Stars started shining in the sky, resembling my memories of home. Everyone stood by me, marvelling at the stars from another world - though maybe there wasn't that much difference. Mimissa, at least, had never seen a starry sky, so this was still new and beautiful to her.

I myself involuntarily remembered my uncle and cousin in Murmansk, a city proof of the late Soviet and post-Soviet depression and ruin brought about by those in power not caring to, or at least not able to, help the people they're in charge of and responsible for.

(I'll do better!)

I shook the memory away. To them I was dead and we would probably never see each other again. I had a new life now, so I forced a smile.

"...Now let us celebrate."

We went into the gazebo, which I promptly gave a second type of access via ramp for Mimissa - and apologised a lot for forgetting something so basic - and we had food and drink a plenty. Malfissa 'advised' us on proper table manners such as how to hold the small forks correctly or how to sit 'like proper young ladies'. It seemed she was starting to come around and warmed up to us.

I asked everyone to put down everything and follow me into grandma's dacha and to its first upper floor. The ramp I had not forgotten this time ran along the outside. I altered the balcony a little so we had more space, then pointed in the distance.

"Mimissa, please press on this button once I have counted down to 1. And everyone please look in this direction."

I handed her a remote. It was just a prop, the real thing was activated by me ordering Rock Eater A who stood with his companions in the distance.

"3... 2... 1!"

Something I had bought in secret began, leaving everyone speechless. Even Malfissa had only heard of such a spectacle before.

Fireworks.

The night sky was lit up in a myriad of colours, from colourful explosions shining lights onto the big buildings, to streamers and perfectly circular rings of fire dancing across the sky. Rocket barrages rose in quick succession, bringing sounds and images from my childhood back into my life as I fondly stared at the lights not unlike that one grand celebration which made the city look like any other should - bright and beautiful.

~~~~~

After everything was over, we proceeded back to the gazebo and had a little more for dessert, but before long it was time to rest. Since the sky now observed the local day-night cycle, albeit with a pale yellow moon rather than a green one as was apparently the case outside, we all went to sleep.

Except for Malfissa, that is. Sometime during the night she had gotten up and left her bed in the dacha. I myself had woken up, in the arms of Mimissa as per usual, but felt like taking a short walk - that's how I noticed Malfissa's bed was empty.

"*Yawn*... [Purification]. Now where did she go...?"

I equipped my Suit of the Lady Seafarer and opened the map screen. Malfissa was on top of one of the apartment blocks made in the brutalist style of the Soviet Union.

"Can't sleep, either?"

I had placed myself and happened to end up behind her. She turned around. Her eyes were glowing a strong pink. The fact that she was completely naked was weird, but I didn't question it - we all have our hobbies and preferences.

"I wanted to be the first to experience the night sky atop a building from another world."

(A romantic idea, minus the... nudity.)

"And? Do you like it?"

She nodded. I moved a fake cloud in the sky so the fake full moon would shine down on us. She turned around again, staring down the edge, towards grandma's dacha where Mimissa and Mr. Imp were soundly asleep. I joined her. She sat down on the edge, so I offered some furs, and sat down by her side. Our legs were dangling down; I suppressed the building feeling of vertigo. Eventually she spoke up.

"Czara."

Her tone was clear. Serious.

"Yes, Malfissa?"

"Would you mind doing me a favour? Consider it something you will also do for the sake of everyone else in the dungeon." My eyes opened wider, but I nodded, listening. "You are... strange. To me, to us, to this world. An enigma that I cannot solve, and it greatly bothers me when I cannot understand things. So for the sake of honesty and, yes, also convincing you, I will tell you the truth about one thing. I had truly hoped that the moment your core had become defenceless, Mr. Imp would shatter it. But he did not. I grabbed it, and even so I felt powerless to do it."

I swallowed hard, but before I could say anything she held out a hand. I kept any comments to myself.

"I still desire freedom, but for now I will suppress that desire. Your predecessor... he was uncaring. A simple Dungeon Mind, barely better than a machine. It fed on things, she grew, he built. They were fractured, like many Dungeon Minds tend to be when they begin and even for some time after. Normally these different aspects emerge and then fuse again, creating a greater whole than the sum of its parts. That did not happen to them. They were aberrant. This drew my curiosity, and I have paid the price ever since. You... are different. I know not what you have experienced in your old world, but I do know you suffered mentally and physically. It is clear as day to one such as I. And this... makes you weak."

I wasn't sure where this long-winded explanation was supposed to go, but I was apparently supposed to draw my own conclusions.

(Strange? Weak? Isn't at least one of those your fault?!)

But before I could answer, once again Malfissa continued. Her tone became more positive.

"But strangeness can be a blessing. Weakness a wellspring of inspiration and power. As such, the favour. The request, really. Please do as I say for the next couple minutes. I promise it will be to our collective benefit."

Her eyes' glow intensified. Was she trying to [Lilim Charm] me into obedience? No, no that wasn't it.

"I only have to do what you say for a bit? You won't make me obey you via slave magic, right?"

She looked at me as if I'd asked the dumbest possible question in the world.

"No, of course not, I am not like Anastelle. But I cannot tell you what it is, exactly, or it will not manifest properly. It requires either dominance, or trust. I choose trust."

(Do I trust her? One the one hand, lolification and cursed clothes. On the other, as stand-offish as she has been a couple times, she helped us much more often.)

I thought back to her impromptu etiquette lessons earlier. Was that it? Something she wanted to teach me. Something that would make me stronger. I thought it back and forth, but in the end I had a responsibility to become stronger for everyone.

"I accept. I trust you and will do as you say."

She smiled, but a sincere smile. This put me at ease - a mischievous smile would have made me flee on the spot.

(No, no, even if so, I must trust her to do what's right!)

She stood up and walked to the block with the door. On top of it was an antenna; it was the maintenance access.

"Stand in front of this door and... ahem, strip down all you can."

I wondered if I had heard her right, but since she herself had been naked this whole time, what else was I supposed to do? I said I'd do as she wanted, so I striped down. It was a little cold up there.

Malfissa came closer, leaned down and hugged me, sweeping me off my feet. Her claws dug into my backside and I suppressed a pained yelp. Eyes closed, she pressed her lips on mine and in seconds I went slack. It was similar to that first time over a month ago, just with more blood. I could feel it running down my back and butt and legs, but the kiss kept my focus so that pain disappeared.

Energy entered through my mouth, making me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, my slack body just kinda hanging on to her as she wrapped her wings around me. Then I screamed from a new, different pain!

"AAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHG!!!"

The feeling was searing for a few moments as my shoulder blades and my tailbone felt as if burning. I desperately grit my teeth to bear it.

*Riiip*

Two skeletal wings shot out of my back while a bushy tail covered in fur the colour of my hair grew from just above my butt. The wings flapped and started filling out, getting covered in golden feathers. I managed not to pass out from the transformation even as Malfissa retracted one hand and pressed the nail of her pointer finger into my belly button. A pink triangle sitting on one edge appeared below it as a mark of power.

Finally she let me back on my feet, but my knees felt so weak I dropped down like a sack of potatoes, desperately gasping for air. She kneeled down and softly caressed my head. After a few minutes I had calmed down enough to be able to listen to her.

"Hah, aaah... W-Was the pain really needed...?"

"It felt painful to me as well since I injected life energy into you. I am just more used to such things. Now rise, oh sister of mine."

I got up once I regained all feeling. Slowly, but surely.

"Sister?"

She smiled.

"Check your status."

"[Stats: Constanze]."

Name: Constanze Czarina
True Name: Dungeon Core Czara
Species: <Aesir>; Minor Succubus; Dungeon Core; ???
Class: New Core Lv.6
HP: 213/225; MP: 213; STR: 29; AGI: 51
Status Effects: Dazed
Equipment: Pasties Bikini of the Succubus; Samson Robot phone
Skills: Spear Proficiency Rk.1; Charm Tolerance Rk.8; Sense Trap Rk.1; Dungeon Menu◇; Purification; Identity Protection Rk.3; Rifle Proficiency Rk.1; Breeze Rk.2; Allure Charm Rk.2; Float; Energy Drain Rk.1; ???
Titles: The Curious; The Trusting; Aspiring Leader; ???
Affiliation: Dungeon 'Mimissa's Hope'
Favoured Allies: Mimissa
Allies: Anastelle; Mr. Imp
Semi-Allies: Malfissa the Grand (elder sister)

"I've become a Minor Succubus...?"

She nodded.

(Well, now that I think about it, didn't Mimissa ask me if I'd come to this place for the sake of training to become a succubus?) I facepalmed. (And I said it would've been interesting. Yeah, this is all on me, I guess.)

"So why do I have, you know, these?" I pointed at my wings. "Not exactly demonic, are they?"

She shrugged, hands pointing away from her. Well, if even she didn't know, who was I to question it?

The wings were big, but felt very light and when I focused on them, they glowed a little green. If I hadn't already known any better from my status, I'd have called myself an angel instead. The [Float] skill I'd gained wasn't just for show, I actually managed to hover off the ground for a few seconds. The tail meanwhile seemed pretty much functionless though; it was fluffy and bushy, but seemed more like a wolf tail than a fox one. At the very least it wasn't a cat tail, that much I could tell.

I remembered that I still had some blood on me, so I cast [Purification] to get rid of it. My wounds didn't ache, but I still bought some band aids which Malfissa put in place. I prefer my blood inside my body, where it belongs.

"Right, so. Wings, wolf tail. Any new ears?" I felt at the top of my head, but there was nothing new. No new pair of ears, no horns either. "What's with the symbol below my belly button?"

It was a regular triangle from my point of view. I focused on it, which made it shine slightly pink. It also felt a little warm.

"The mark of a succubus. It will empower you when you require it."

I made a face at that, remembering something like this from some game my brother played. Admittedly the succubi in that game were more like Anastelle and Malfissa in looks, but one was more appealingly cute to me.

"...It won't force me to do lewd things to gain energy, right?"

"Hahahaha, ahahahaha..." She wiped a tear from her face, having laughed in a way I had not seen her laugh before, loud and sincere. "No, no it will not. I ensured that only the most basic functions are in yours, which is why its shape is so simple."

"Well that's a relief. For many reasons."

She nodded. I remembered the fact that we were still very much not properly dressed at all, so I equipped my Suit of the Lady Seafarer. At first I worried the wings would get in the way, but as if by magic - or well, it was magic - the back of the top opened up and the wings slid through just fine. The panties and skirt similarly weren't an issue, mainly because the former were lowleg and the latter now had a hole for the tail. Long strings appeared which I turned into a bow knot.

Malfissa got dressed in a new outfit, a red little number that I felt looked rather too cold to wear at night, but she had to be happy with it, not me. We went down the stairs of the building, mainly so I could get used to my wings and tail and not start bumping into every little thing, descending the 8 floors worth of staircase to the ground floor where a long row of mailbox slots was. I then had to explain what they were for.

So we exited and strolled back to the dacha made to look like grandma's, and I entered Mimissa's chest. Or well, I tried until I eventually managed. Folding the wings took some practice. Mimissa didn't wake up because, as I had noticed over the weeks, when she was asleep she really was asleep. I cuddled with her, and even asleep she wrapped her arms around my body automatically. Since she had also given me permission to do so, I closed the lid with a thought and was out like a light in minutes, any worries that I wasn't at all prepared for the future for once put to rest.