"This might be a good time to call it quits," he said, glancing at the clock. "Wow, it's nearly after ten."

So caught up in the game they'd been playing all through the afternoon and into the early evening. The light had faded from the windows hours ago and they'd scarcely noticed.

"B-b-but what about the Prince?!" exclaimed Miia. "Darling, we have to go rescue him!"

"Rescue him! Rescue him!" chanted Papi and Suu.

He gave a tired smile at their enthusiasm. "Girls, look, its late and I'm tired... and we're not going to finish the adventure tonight," Kimihito explained. "Besides, your characters are pretty beat up, do you really want to press on and get killed? Then nobody can save the Prince."

His appeal to their noble hearts (and romanticism) seemed to work, but they did so begrudgingly concede defeat. Some more readily than others.

"Your characters can spend eight hours resting to recover spells, and provided you each take turns at a watch, you'll all be refreshed afterwards," he added, throwing them a metaphorical bone.

"And healed?" asked the lamia girl to his left.

"Somewhat, but we can use our remaining healing spells now, sleep, then have more to use when we wake up," Rachnera added. "Sounds like a plan."

Kimihito rolled some dice quickly. "No random encounters," he announced. "Your sleep is uninterrupted. Tomorrow morning we'll pick up right here, but for now... I'm heading to bed."

There was an intake of breath, and he quickly added, "Alone." This was met by some faint groans of disappointment, but he had been fortunate so far. Ever since the night of the full moon, none of the girls had tried to interrupt his sleep time. Which was fortunate for Kimihito Kurusu. He doubted he'd be half as capable of handling all these lovely liminal ladies if he was running on only fumes every day.

His statement of sleep was quickly echoed by the others. Some of whom gathered up their stuff, others who left it lying haphazardly around the table and the floor for tomorrow's gameplay. And so they slithered, cantered, skittered, slid or rolled their way to their respective rooms and beds to await the passing of the evening and the coming of dawn.

Tomorrow was another day of adventure. They still had a Prince to save and they intended to do it. Come Hell or high water.


The next morning almost everyone slept in, given it was Sunday they weren't in any hurry to rise from their slumber. But eventually they all awoke, showered, dressed, fixed themselves up as pretty as you please, and made their way back to the table and the game. After breakfast, of course. No sense gaming on an empty stomach.

Kimihito took charge and reminded them of the events of last night, providing a quick recap of their progress and mission in case any of them had forgotten. Then inquired what they would be doing once the Fighter, Mage, Paladin, Druid, Bard and Cleric broke came in the morning.

"First Papi wants to identify her wand," the blue-haired harpy said. She was twirling a pencil in her hand like it was the item in question. "Papi got her spell back so she wanna use it."

"Well, alright, your spell reveals the wand is actually a Wand of Clairvoyance."

"What's clairvoyance?"

"Oh, it's a spell to see beyond your range of sight," Mero said. "Like, peering into other rooms or parts of the world, without ever going there."

"Could be useful," Rachnera nodded. "Keep it safe, Mage."

"You got it!"

"Anybody else have anything they need to get set right away?" he inquired, glancing around the table.

"Just sharpening my sword before battle, as my Paladin does every morning," said Cerea solemnly.

"And my Bard needs to get her harp tuned up," Mero added.

"Well you get those things done with no problem. Okay, technically what I said wasn't true, obviously the Prince is here somewhere, just not here in this dungeon like you were lead to believe. The Prince -is- somewhere in the castle. I'll tell you that much. But the rest you have to figure out yourselves."

"This time we're ready," Miia said with a grin. She turned to pat the head of the blue-haired harpy at her side. "Take it away, Papi."

"Papi casts Magic Seeing Eye Thingie Spell!"

Kimihito raised an eyebrow, positive that wasn't the spells official name. He glanced at Miia.

"Clairvoyance," she clarified.

"With the wand."

"Ah. Well alright then. Papi sees a number of new locations open up to her, down the remaining tunnel you didn't explore yesterday, and down a hallway past that."

"What's there? Is it the Prince?"

He shook his head. "No, but you see instead the royal chambers, and within, the Wicked Queen and a pair of Black Knights. Beyond them is a spiral stairway leading up, but your spell's range fizzles before it can go any further. To do anymore exploring you'll need to go there for yourselves."

"Then that's where we're going."


Finding the tunnel in question wasn't hard, and likewise slipping out of the Catacombs below the castle and into the castle itself. Guard patrols were light, it seemed they had ascribed to the philosophy of watching the outside of the castle, rather than worry about who might've already gotten inside. They only spotted a few, and easily avoided them as they took a circular route towards the chamber Papi had seen. It seemed to be a large room just beneath the tallest tower in the Wicked Queens castle.

Mero took this as a good sign. "In lot of fairy tales, the Prince... or... well the captive... is held in the tallest tower far out of reach. That must be where he's being held prisoner."

"Sounds good to me," Miia said, moving her figure into place in front of the door. "But that means the Wicked Queen is in our way. What say we break down the door and kill her?"

"Seconded," Rachnera voted with a grin.

"What's our plan?"

"Open the door, spread out," Cerea instructed. "Papi, I know I'm going to regret saying this, but fireball as soon as you get a clear line of attack. Get as many of them as possible in one go. Then and only then we'll move in for melee. Sound good?"

"Sounds awesome!" Miia cheered. "Time to rescue us a prince!"

"Anyone have armor or protection spells, cast 'em now. Mero, start singing soon as the door is open. No sense letting them know we're coming."

"Right."

"Everyone set?"

Nods all around responded to her question. Every monster girl at the table had her game face on.

"GO!"


The door was flung open and the dice rolled across the table as initiative was seized by the brave adventurers. The Wicked Queen and her Black Knights were caught completely off guard, allowing for a free round of attacks from the heroes. Kimihito hadn't any remaining figurines suitable to use for them, but found an old chess set his parents had owned and made use of a pair of black pawns and a black queen to represent their final opponents. Flavor text filled in the rest of their details.

"Okay, whose got initiative?"

Apparently Mero did, and she maneuvered into position and out of harm's way, singing a war chant to empower her comrades and raise their spirits. One which sounded suspiciously like a pop song he'd heard on the radio the other day. But it improved their rolls, so it didn't really matter what the content was.

Suu went next, and also shifted sideways to give more room to their fights, going after the leftmost Knight. She couldn't attack yet, but neither could he.

Next was the harpy. "Papi?"

"Fireball!" she said. Then, very carefully using her feathered hands, indicated the area she was aiming at. Unlike previous times, there would be no collateral damage, except to the Black Knights caught on the periphery of the spells effects. And the primary target would be the Wicked Queen. No one in her party was going to get so much as singed.

She was definitely getting better at this.

"Alright, sounds good... roll for damage."

Papi did so with such eagerness she accidently rolled the wrong die. Which if had been correct would have spelled certain doom for the Wicked Queen, her Dark Knights, and most of her castle. Re-rolling the correct dice, she arrived at the total of twenty-two. A reasonable amount, and more than enough to put the hurt on all of their enemies.

"First Dark Knight's move," Kimihito said. "After shaking off the fire damage he's going after Papi. Move him to... here."

He was indeed close, but he'd evidently made a fatal mistake. Or their CM was purposefully taking it easy on them. Cerea was nearby, and in a straight line no less. And another lovely coincidence: it was her turn.

"Charge," she whispered fiercely, a glint in her eye. "Charge the blaguard and defend our Wizard!"

A twenty-sider hit the table, and Cerea swung with her Paladin's sword. "SMITE EVIL!"

He nodded as her roll turned into a decisive hit, and between her ability to damage evil-doers and the damage she started with, coupled with the raw strength only a centaur was capable of, well, in the Catacomb Masters own words:

"... there won't be enough of this guy left to fill a coffin."

"Woohoo! One down!" cheered Miia.

"Wicked Queen's turn," Kimihito announced. "And uh... you do all remember she's a spellcaster, right?"

"... uh-oh," Rachnera said.

"She's actually a level nine, and she's casting... meteor swarm."

Easily one of the most destructive spells in the game, it made Papi's fireballs look like firecrackers. And worse, it was over a much wider field of play. Virtually everyone in the room was hit, knocking down the hit points of Cerea and Miia into the yellow and putting Rachnera and Suu and Mero into the red. But worst was what happened to Papi, who teetered on the brink of life with a single hitpoint left. A strong gust of wind would kill her Mage now.

"Help please! Papi doesn't want to die!" she exclaimed, flapping her wings excitedly and nearly knocking over everyone's character sheets.

Some makeshift paperweights quickly kept them on the table, as they went through their options. And fortunately, Rachnera was close at hand to offer help.

"Cure moderate," she said, warranting the more advanced version of her token spell. Papi needed it.

"Restoring... Papi's mage to full," Kimihito said after the die roll.

"Papi will love you forever!" the excitable harpy declared.

"You can repay me later," Rachnera said, having already decided on a few new techniques she wanted to try on her after the game. "Right now, take down that stupid Queen bitch before she kills us all. You have anymore offensive spells?"

"Two," Papi said. "Magic Missile and Lightning Bolt."

"Well light her up already!"

"Meanwhile, let's the rest of us see if we can't wear down that protection she's got on," Mero added. "If not, we die in the name of our Prince!"

"Is he even our Prince? We haven't rescued him yet," Cerea mused.

"Semantics," the romantic mermaid waved dismissively with a webbed hand.


Another round followed, and another after that.

Between Miia and Mero wailing on him, they managed to bring down the second Black Knight, impaling him on a sword and a trident and ensuring he'd never be threatening innocents again. Taking down the remaining opponent, the Wicked Queen, proved more difficult. Cerea charged her once her turn came around again, but her weapon was repulsed by a glowing shield of energy. A great way to bump her Armor up without actually wearing full platemail. Subsequent attacks from Suu and Rachnera weren't much better. And just when they thought they had her cornered, she teleported herself to another part of the room.

In essence, resetting the board and making them fight uphill all over again.

"Shame none of us brought bows," Miia said, moving her lamia Fighter into position for a charge. It was the further she could go, and she felt uncomfortably vulnerable even with the Wicked Queen so far away. Spellcasters didn't play fair.

She knew that, but it was different when it wasn't Papi or Suu or Rachnera helping her out. This one was fighting against them.

"Cerea?"

"Lay on Hands," replied the centaur lady. "Should restore my hitpoints to almost full."

A quick roll of the die confirmed such. "So it does."

The others quickly moved into position, but following the teleport, the Wicked Queen was primed in position for another round of attacks. She even took the time for an evil laugh. Poor Kimihito couldn't quite manage an evil cackle, but he tried for their sake.

"A-ha-... -ha... hahah... ha!"

Silence reigned at the table.

Suu softly coughed into her slimy fist.

"Okay she's casting the Magic Missile spell," their Catacombs Master finally said. "She gets five bolts, so... one for each of you, minus Papi."

"Why minus Papi?" asked Miia darkly.

A nervous drop of sweat descended down his neck. "Uh... I rolled it?" he said, making a show of rolling dice behind his CM screen. Miia continued to glare at him, ruby eyes cast into a gloomy stare, but she didn't make a further protest as he rolled for the missiles. Minimal damage with it all spread out, but with no way to dodge or deflect such attacks, each of the girls sadly crossed off their hitpoints with pencil in hand and tallied up their new total.

That ended the round.

And with that...

Kimihito groaned and stood up. "Stretch break," he said. The other girls quickly followed his lead, breaking away for drinks, snacks, or use of the facilities. Miia alone remained, glaring down at the black chess piece representing the Wicked Queen like it was her mortal enemy. And so far as she was concerned, in her current mindset, it was. It was keeping her Fighter from her Prince. The same way Miss Smith tried to keep her from her precious Darling with her rules and regulations and government restrictions. Well, cutting red tape wasn't nearly as easy as rolling die. So while she might not have been able to do much in the real world... in the fantasy world of Catacombs and Chimeras... maybe... just maybe... she could seize her destiny in her own two hands and her tightly coiled tail and win. Once and for all!

Reclaiming his chair, the CM glanced around as the other girls settled in comfortably. "Okay, what now? Another round of combat?"

"Sounds good," Rachnera replied. "We don't exactly have much else we can do."

"We could retreat," Suu suggested. The others glanced at her with some surprise. It was an unusual suggestion, but it was an option. Trust the adorable little slime to think outside the box.

"I don't feel like giving up just yet," the mermaid by her side said. Mero was determined for either a happy ending or a tragic demise, and both required her moving forward. "We should stay and see this through to the end."

"We're not giving up," Miia agreed. "I take another swing at the Wicked Queen with my +1 sword! She's going DOWN!"


Several rounds of combat later, and things were starting to look dire. Well, more dire. The Wicked Queen was wearing them down, and her spell arsenal was proving impossible to counter in terms of versatility and raw power. They were more outmatched than they'd been against the Chimera.

"And that brings me down to... yick. Three hitpoints," Miia lamented. "One more good hit and I'm dead."

"The same," Cerea said solemnly. "A mere four. And I'm out of healing spells. Papi? How are you on spells?"

"One Knock spell left," she replied sadly, gazing at the lead figurines sadly. If she just had another fireball...!

"What about Suu and Rachnera?"

The little slime girl sadly shook her head. "All out."

"I have two cure lights," the spider-woman admitted. "But that won't do us much good if that bitch gets off another Meteor Swarm."

"She probably doesn't have another one," Mero interjected. "It's a very high level arcane spell. She probably just had the one."

"Which still stung like a moth-..."

A throat cleared before she could finish her sentence. "Anyway! Another round, roll for initiative?" he requested, rolling behind his screen. "Queen rolls a two," Kimihito reported.

"Six!"

"Nine."

"Ten. Ouch."

"Three.

"And... another three for Miia... okay, you won initiative... just after the Queen finishes casting her spell. Fortunately, it's a protection spell."

"Oh man, that's not good," said Rachnera. "Now she's even harder to hit."

"How much harder?"

The arachna quickly did some checking in the manual. "Since she probably just used the Armor spell... you'd need at least a nineteen or twenty to hit her now."

"It's the Fighters turn. What do you do?"

"Attack!" she said quickly, reaching for the twenty-sider and blowing on it for good luck. The lamia lady bit her lip, nervously shaking the die in her hands. If she didn't win initiative, the Wicked Queen might indeed start to kill them all with her next attack. One by one, which was somehow worse. They needed to shut her down hard.

She was the only thing left between Miia and her Darli-... the Prince. She had to succeed!

Miia tossed the die, covering her eyes, unable to bear looking. Everyone else around the table, however, leaned forward for a closer look as the multicolored die settled against a bottle of soda...


Authors Notes:
Cliffhangar! Muwahahaha. Mine is an evil laugh.