I don't own digimon.

Trigger Warning for body horror and improper use of a medical instruments/techniques.

Chapter 48

Paper Bats and Staircases

Inside, we find ourselves greeted by a large open area. Stone surrounds us at all sides, with little in the way of real distinction between the floor and walls. Which is the least you want out of a place. Of course, Adarnamon was waiting right there. Wonderful. Because that's what we need right now. Some asshole to get in the way of our goal when we're so close to reaching it.

Yet, our opponent rolled his eyes. Hey. It took two days to get here. Cut some slack.

"Really now?" Adarnamon countered, gaze right on Rantha for the moment. "So, how are you feeling? Was that false life worth it in exchange for your memories?"

Rantha rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to just flip the bird at his former partner. Thank you for that. I'm a bit tired of seeing that gesture coming from you. Kind of a nice change of pace. If such a small victory can really be counted here.

"I feel a heck of a lot better, that's for sure." Rantha countered, knife coming out. Please don't stab yourself here. That would absolutely suck. "If anything, I'm ready to take you on here."

Yet, Adarnamon laughed and began flapping his wings. I guess that's a no here. To be fair, this is probably the worst place to have a fight. One wrong gust or thrown potion could spell the end to the dungeon. Though, we do need to find the stairs up to the next floor.

"Yeah." Ella remarked, attention turning to Madame for the moment. Though, it would appear the thief had a pretty good idea of what their girlfriend was about to ask them. Mostly because they were already heading off around the room's perimeter. Best of luck.

Quite a structure." Yvonne added, gazing about the surrounding area. Sure, this was quite a sight for sore eyes. But within all of that, some details could be made out. Scratches and dents from previous adventurers, broken arrows and lances embedded within the walls. But nothing to really show us where the stairs up to the next floor even were. Wait. How the heck was Adarnamon even able to get back to the top in the first place? There can't be eno-

A loud groan echoed through the building. That's definitely not good. Guess that maybe answers my question for the moment. Especially as some debris comes crashing down. Do be careful. Being crushed is not enjoyable.

"Huh?" Bubbles whispered, confused by what I was even talking about. It's a very long story how I know that. The sort that's not really safe for kids to hear. Though, are there any stories you would like to hear from me?

"I think we're good for the moment." Phusitmon answered as Madame made her return to the group. "Did you find the exit by any chance?"

The thief sighed, taking a moment to get their whip out. That doesn't sound too good. I'm guessing that this first floor is a bit more complicated than it actually looks?

"You're right on the money." Madame remarked as what looks to be a bat of all things flies overhead. Don't get me wrong, there isn't a single light in this place at the moment. Yet it's absolutely bright. I'm not entirely sure how the heck that works out. Especially with this bat flying about. Make up your dang mind, dungeon! It isn't that hard to figure out.

I can turn down the brightness if you want. Though I don't *static* entirely sure why you would want that in the first place.

On second thought, DM, this is enough light for us to work in. Though, shouldn't you be resting yourself to do repairs. Especially after your speech spazzed out on us?

Yes. But I also need to monitor your progress *static* through the digital dungeons proper. At the moment, you're standing on the first floor of an eight floor dungeon.

"Eight floors?" Cinemon inquired as our gazes shifted up towards the ceiling. Don't get me wrong. Expecting it to be one or two floors top would be absolutely silly on all of our parts. But, that does bring with it the matter of food. When we left that asshole of a numemon, we got more than enough to get here to the tower and back to him with… something of value. Which means we need to climb this entire thing before we run out of food or find some source of nourishment.

"Though, what exactly would we find food?" Melody inquired, silence falling over the dungeon. That's a really good question. Maybe that bat has some food and isn't going to sha-

The bat swooped down before I had a chance to finish my sentence. Which is just rude. At least wait for me to finish speaking. But the bat doesn't really respond. Doesn't even have a sound really. Not even the flapping of wings had any real impact as Madame's whip made contact with the creature. Even odder when it exploded into dust and dropped a loaf of bread.

"I'm like, fairly certain that isn't how this is supposed to work." Kollmon remarked and picked the loaf of the floor. Giving it a slight shake, her gaze turns to Madame. "Uh… aren't loaves of bread supposed to be round and not like a piece of paper?"

Oh come on! How the heck does that even make sense at the moment? There's something odd going on with this place. Madame, is there anything going on with this place that we need to know about?

Madame shook her head. Though for a brief second, I swear she muttered something under her breath to no one in particular. Didn't sound too happy either. Sorry to hear that. Is there any way that I may help you?

Another word or phrase exited the thief's mouth. Didn't catch that one either. Uh… good to know that's everything for this floor at least. So this is a case of the stairs missing and us having no way of actually getting up to the next floor. Wonderful. Just wonderful

"Maybe we need to wait?" Ella suggested and sat down on her briefcase. Which was the cue for more bats to come on down. DM, just how much can you tell us about this place?

You need to phrase it a certain way. I'm not sure why exactly it works that way. Maybe it has something to do with the Digital Dungeons themselves. Or perhaps *crackle* whoever created this system wished to keep all parties on an even playing field.

I'm not exactly sure how that works. How would announcing a particular action make that action happen in the first place. Yes, I'm aware that's how most magic works. But there's also materials needed to be gathered and certain gestures remembered. Though perhaps it's a sort of magic in it's own right. Not entirely sure what particular school it would actually fit in though. Divination is a strong candidate for something like this. But so would conjuration.

"What's divination?" Blaze inquired, the ceiling his sole focus for the moment. Which was also where I find everyone else's as well. Hi there. Good to see you're still listening after everything we had to go through today. To answer your question, divination is magic that involves prediction and/or forcing certain outcomes to occur. As for conjuration, that involves calling forth things from other planes of existence - whether that be buildings, monsters or even objects. They're both quite impressive schools of magic, even if these actions seem to elude a proper place between the two schools for now. Kind of annoying, now that I think about it.

"I would like to try investigating this floor." Madame announced as they shifted their focus back to the room, the sound of what I believe to be dice being rolled with the results getting analyzed. Well, I think that's what is currently happening. This is all a new experience, if I'm being honest.

You look around, finding the staircase with ease.

"So it's just invisible?" Cinemon remarked, the staircase materializing before our very eyes on the far side of the room. Wait. So it was there the whole time? Wouldn't that mean that you could just walk up it without even realizing there was a staircase in the first place? "Wouldn't that defeat the purpose of making the staircase invisible?"

Why yes it would. Makes one wonder why they would go through the trouble of having it like that. Kind of underwhelming of a place so far.

"Maybe whoever owned this tower wanted to test their visitors?" Melody suggested as more bats decided now of all times was when they were going to strike once more. All clumped up together, they look ready to create shapes of sorts to be remembered. Uh… I'm still not entirely sure where these things are coming from. Maybe an upper floor? Better yet, why would someone think that sending so many bats was a good idea in the first place? There has to be other options to send as a welcoming party for a group of heroes that aren't a horde of silent bats. I guess that's asking for too much here. Oops?

Nonetheless, our heroes got their weapons out and took their respective stances. As for their partners, they got into position to help/assist. Which, fair enough.

Rattle!

Balamon's tail shook about, drawing in this swarm of bats. No sign of any shapes though. Should be okay to strike these little guys down.

"Here goes nothing." Blaze remarked and swung his sword down towards the swarm. While he did manage to clip a couple, it's nowhere near enough to really make a difference. If anything, there almost seems to be more bats now than there were before. Even more so as our dancer ducked and weaved through their attacks. "I'm not entirely sure how to feel about this."

Fair enough. I guess they see you as some weird organism and aren't quite sure how to feel about that. Who knows really.

While our dancer continued his impromptu routine, Munbimon flew circles around their opponent. As for Yvonne, she had gone for punching the bats. Hopefully, we'll be able to find you something to use other than your fists. Wait. That goes without saying.

"I would prefer something of similar length to my warhammer." the barbarian remarked, motioning for her partner to dive through. Splitting the swarm into two, made it quite easier to deal with them… up until they came back together.

"Ugh…" Kollmon whispered, claws scratching into the bats. This is getting silly. There has to be some kind of solution to this strange problem. There's no possible way they would throw something our way that we wouldn't be able to deal with, right? Absolute insanity that would be. Though, I'm not sure why Rantha of all people is shooting me a glance. You're an exception to that rule, for better or worse.

"Those are light bats." the artisan muttered, a ball of black something or other now in hand. Flinging it out further into the room, the bats head that way. Ella's turret and Madame's whip make quick work of them, but not before Melody's sickle clipped a couple bats as well. Oh yeah. Kind of forgot you had that. Oh well. Guess I'll need to keep a better track of all that stuff.

"Anything else?" Ella inquired, getting a head shake from the artisan. Good to know it's really that simple. Though, that still doesn't explain anything about this floor. Was that supposed to be a puzzle? A battle? Something in the middle?

"The last one." Madame muttered and took a deep breath. Within their mind, they passed over control to their other half. Once that was done, they continued up the stairs. But not without getting a look from Ella. Standing on the stair below, she looked even smaller than usual.

"You alright, Maddie?" the artificer whispered, Madame's gaze shifting away from the stairs and over to her. What looks to be a deep breath followed.

"Yeah…" Madame answered, watching their girlfriend join them on this particular step. "Just feels like I'm back in my home."

Ella stared towards the thief. While part of her trusted Madame's opinion (to an extent), this felt right out of left field. Madame's manor was bright and sort-of inviting. Sure, there were parts that had been boarded up to hide all the awful things that had been committed for the sake of peace in Aldia. Heck, what parts you could explore seemed designed to perpetuate the idea that 'Madame' was a person without end, even if it had in reality been multiple people across the centuries trying to keep hope to a small town. Better yet, she couldn't dare to even ask what their childhood was even like.

"This place is a prison of sorts. Right?" Ella whispered and got a nod from Madame. Hm… That's an interesting perspective to put on a place like this. I can totally see where you are coming from. "But for who exactly? What could they have done to deserve such a fate?"

Madame took a deep breath, gaze shooting over to Rantha for the briefest seconds. Then they are right back on Ella. Okay, that one was pretty obvious in hindsight.

"Any particular reason that you were reminded of that?" Ella whispered and Madame looked to the ground. Tears began falling down, the thief choosing to take a seat for the moment. But not before the artificer got their briefcase down to sit on. Better than those possibly dusty stairs. "Hey… I'm willing to listen, Maddie."

Madame nodded, taking the time to look around the area. For the moment, everyone was already a couple step up. Even their digimon partners were ahead of them. Getting a look in return, the message gets through crystal clear and they stop for the moment. It's the smallest of favors they could do here. Turning back to Ella, the thief took the time to let out a deep breath.

"When I was 'younger', the maids would lock me in a room like this." Madame explained, tears continuing to roll right on down. "Whenever I wasn't 'good' enough or my actions weren't 'quite like how Madame' would've done that. Then if they were really in a mood of sorts, they would stick needles and other sharp instruments into my skin…"

A child sits on a chair. All around them are four walls worn down by time.

Their hands have been bound behind their back and to the floor itself, the shambling corpses of their servants standing over them. They're taunting them, mocking the futile attempt at some form of freedom their 'employer' oh so desperately wished to have. But there's isn't way that such outcomes would ever occur. A foolish daydream in the face of the stern storm that is the nature of the world and reality itself.

"Now Madame dear, we can't have you looking like that." the head cooed, hand right on their chin. For being made of decayed flesh and bone, they were frigidly cold. Especially on direct contact. Such as now. But within all of that, there's something else there. A substance of some kind. You definitely don't want to give that to children. Let alone a child under your care. Not that it stops the world around them from twirling and squishing about as funny shapes and animals danced about the secluded room. Trying their hardest to reach out, their hands and arms are unable to touch these possible friends. They try to talk, only screams are what come out. There's nothing they can do. A caged bird with broken wings. Holes in the skull, needles into the brain. Just… awful. I can not wish this fate on anyone.

Back in the real world, Ella's arms were already around Madame's waist. While the thief would prefer their girlfriend to not make such a scene, the affection was more than welcomed at the moment. Especially as their tears fell onto the step.

"Hey…" Ella whispered, ending her embrace of the thief for the moment. "No matter what happens, I'll be there for you."

Madame shot a look. To be fair, there's still a couple kinks even after a couple days.

"You promise?" they whispered and got a nod from Ella in return. Continuing their climb up, Madame's gaze focused on the stairs ahead. Their girlfriend was right behind, making sure not to get left behind in the process of climbing… right back to an exact copy of the first floor. Uh, how? We just walked up a flight of stairs. We should be on the second floor. Not the first… somehow. Though, the staircase was no longer here. Or would this be a different staircase now that we've climbed this one?

"Come on." Madame muttered, just about ready to bring her whip out once more. There doesn't look to be any bats that we just dispatched. Gone to wherever things that are no longer needed go. Purgatory? Yeah, let's go with that. I'm not sure where else you could go with here. Who really knows if some afterlife exists for a place like this. "Good to know."

Swinging their whip out, the weapon manages to grab hold of something. Not enough to really pull the thief over. More something to pull on over too. Like a grappling hook of sorts. Which is exactly what they did, pulling them to the front of the group. Quite impressive. Though, that doesn't explain why the staircase needs to be invisible if you can just walk your way back up to the next fl-

As I said that, more bats swooped on down from the ceiling. They looked much like the ones we had just dispatched. Rantha, do you have another one of the balls of something?

The artisan didn't answer, choosing instead to dig through his bag and the various pockets on his outfit. There has to be another one of those on you, right? Sadly, this was not the case. Yet, Madame looked over to him.

"So these bats don't like darkness. Correct?" Madame remarked, Rantha's gaze shifting over to the thief. A nod followed, Madame's gaze swiveling over to their partner of all people. Muttering something under their breath, Kollmon just nodded.

"Infuse!" the mole digimon announced, a gray outline forming around her body. For now at least, Kollmon's attention was on the bats rather than anything else. Running towards the stairs, the bats follow right behind. Heck, they almost seem keen to charge forward to this new target. "Shade!"

Now on the stairs, Kollmon leaped forward and in turn - a copy appeared. Of course, all the bats see is that Kollmon. Not the one currently standing by Madame for the moment. Good thing too, since they slammed right into the stairs and made them visible for all to see.

Doesn't explain why a couple bells rang in quick succession. Maybe that was the correct solution here or something similar that the creator of this place had in mind.

Good work, Maddie. That is the solution for this floor. I'm not sure if I quite get why exactly this is the case. But not *crackle* my problem. Onwards!

Madame's gaze shot up towards the ceiling. For the record, DM, that was a little something for just Ella to use. Maybe check before using someone's nickname if that's okay with them.

Understood. Sorry about that, Madame.

Our thief nodded and headed for the stairs. The rest of our heroes and digimon are following right behind, ready for whatever is ahead for us on the true second floor.

[Tower at the edge of the world F2]

Notes:

Sorry about this late entry. Life sort of happened.

If it helps, the next chapter is even longer than this one and lets me talk about kind of an obscure D&D fact.

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Next Time: Don't give love a bad name.