Penelope bolted into a sitting position.

"SHE'S AWAKE!" Circe screamed at the door, then turned back to Penelope. "How're you feeling?"

"Like I was choked to sleep." Penelope rubbed her throat. "My throat's dry."

"WE NEED SOME WATER TOO!" Circe's voice stings in the enclosed space.

"A little softer, please." Penelope winced. She looked around at the square, orange walls, which clued her in that she wasn't in part of the Dungeon with its gray, rounded pathways and rooms. "Where are we?"

"Middle of 16A." Circe took a deep breath but didn't scream again when she saw Penelope preemptively wince. The brunette held up a finger. "One sec." Then she ran out of the 8x8 square they were in.

Penelope looked at her menu to check the time.

Day 7 - 9:15pm

Time Remaining 11:10:39:17

Jeru, want to fill me in on what happened?

"Oh, now you think that having someone who can watch over you while you're vulnerable is a handy ability." Jeru grumbled.

There's a big difference between watching me while I sleep and watching me in the shower. Penelope rubbed her temple. You already know I appreciate you, so can you please not do the tortured victim routine?

"Fine." Jeru huffed. "They didn't want to move you far because Frederica is jonesing to hit twenty tonight, but they also know that they can't do this column without you." He motioned at the walls. "Oakley and Patrick made these cubicles for the wounded to rest in." The blue Elf shook his head. "You're not in any shape to go into the next square right now, and with Robert dead, you might not be ready to go back for a while."

How is everyone?

"Freddy, Circe, and Riva got off the easiest." Jeru appeared in front of her. "Oakley has drank way too many Healing and Mana Potions to speed up his healing and help with the building. Pretty sure he had some serious injuries that he's kept hidden from everyone. Eldri collapsed before you did, and the others are pretty banged up. I think Cecil might have broken his back."

Was it all because of the fear, or were those monsters just that tough?

"It didn't help that there was in-fighting, but a fear debuff is pretty strong. Especially against you." Concern etched across his face. "That was bad, like the worst I've seen you as a Looper or on any of the previous runs."

"It's fine." Penelope clamped her lips shut as she heard her own voice. She closed her eyes and focused on her heartbeat. How many more of those things are there going to be?

"A Demon who knows <Fear> or one of the debuffs that will leave you helpless?"

Both.

"It's going to be an every-floor type of thing." Sadness filled his voice. "I guess now would be a good time to tell you that Riva learned it when you killed the last Demon?"

Penelope groaned. The older woman was already scary enough, but having monsters run around chaotically was going to make her life more difficult.

How do you know that? Penelope braced her left hand on the wall as she stood. Her legs protested, and the room felt like it was wobbling, but she managed to get herself upright. Shouldn't Circe have been back by now?

"Riva told Circe about it while they were watching you." Jeru glanced around. "And Circe might have had to run back to base camp. They left the wounded here, but Frederica and Oakley were going to put Kent in a cell in 13A." He paused. "With Robert dead, they're going to get creative with how they build the bars."

Robert had been able to dismiss the stone pillars he made, which was very handy when they needed something temporary. The stone walls that Patrick and Oakley summoned were permanent, and if they didn't get the shape right, then one of the People with a high Power stat had to knock it down.

Penelope looked at her status.

1868.75/1900

"Only 32 more experience." Jeru sighed. "Freddy wants to go in the next zone with just two groups so the four of you will cap out, but…" He motioned at the doors to the other cubicles in the room. "Marlow isn't going anywhere until tomorrow at least."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"You're up!" Circe held out a metal helmet that had been converted into a pitcher. It was only half full, with the other half all over her shirt and pants.

"Where is everyone?" Penelope glanced into the cubicle next to hers as she accepted the water.

Marlow was sleeping on a bed of furs with a robe draped over him. His skin was a sickly tone of ashen, and his face was contorted like he was having a nightmare. Sweat dripped down his brow as he fidgeted in his sleep.

"Freddy is talking to the B-Team and getting them ready to go into the next room." Circe watched Penelope take a long drink. "You think you're up for it?"

"No." Jeru slashed his arms in front of Penelope's face.

"Who's going?" Penelope ignored the blue Elf.

"Patrick is tapping back in, and they want to send Fae-Anna and Ailis with us." Circe tapped her cheek. "Skylar is going to have to come with if Marlow doesn't wake up soon."

"Where's Frederica?" Penelope drained the last of the pitcher. There had been over a quart of water in there. Her belly gurgled as the fluid settled in her empty stomach.

"She's in 16B in the big room." Circe glanced into Marlow's room. "He doesn't look so good. I'm going to go get Skylar."

"Wait!" Penelope grabbed Circe's arm before the other woman could vanish. "Where's Caleb?"

"Next room over!" Circe paused. "Oh, they told me to give you this. We got it off the Caster." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

Penelope took the paper, allowing Circe to vanish into the shadows. The pitcher she'd been holding fell to the ground.

CLANG!

Penelope looked at the item in her hands.

Counterspell T1 (Requires Magic 30) - Water

Counters the target's prepared or cast spell. You lose mana equal to the spell cost.

"Now that's an upgrade!" Jeru whistled. "It might not be such a suicidal idea to go into the next square if you've got that!"

Shouldn't I give this to Fae-Anna? Penelope looked at the floating man. She's water.

"Could she use it better?" Jeru shrugged. "Debatable." He wagged his finger in her face. "The thing is, she can learn this naturally, and it'll probably be the next spell she learns now that she knows it exists." He made a tearing motion. "So learn that spell!"

Penelope ripped the paper in half, granting her access to the spell. I need to find Frederica. Even if this spell makes me stronger, I'm not sure that's going to be enough to justify going into a level 17 square with a bunch of level elevens!

"You've got almost half of you that are almost max level." Jeru counted on his fingers. "You, Freddy, Oakley, Riva, and Circe are all level 19. Patrick is 18, which gives you a full team that's almost maxed out."

WITHOUT A HEALER! Penelope clenched her fist. Look. We almost wiped in there. We lost… A tear rolled down her cheek. Robert had been next to no help while they were fighting, but he was still a person. Someone she'd eaten with, someone she'd listened to laugh, even if she didn't understand why his jokes were funny. She hadn't been close to him or even liked him much, but he was a person who had been under her care and now he was…

Penelope closed her eyes as she tried to process the information running through her mind.

"You didn't lose him." Jeru wrapped his arms around her. The sensation of the ghost-hug warmed her a little, which was both alarming and comforting.

I can't keep thinking of things in terms of nothing I do mattering because I'm going to reset! Penelope wiped her eyes. I might be the only one who remembers, but I still remember! Which means what happens here matters!

"Then learn from it." Jeru challenged her. "Figure out what you don't want to happen and do what you can to make sure that those you care about are protected."

Penelope opened her eyes and turned her head to look over her shoulder at where the blue Elf was hanging onto her. Why only the people I care about? Why not everyone?

"You can't save everyone." Jeru sighed. "I've watched people try, and the guilt tore them apart. Unfortunately, there are people who don't want to be saved. There are people that don't want to stop harming others, and even though you have the power to reset time, some things are just destined to happen."

Why give me so much potential when it doesn't DO anything? Penelope's thoughts spiraled as her mind started a list of things that had gone wrong. You have no idea how powerless that makes me feel!

"You think I don't know how powerless you feel? Jeru moved in front of her in an instant. "And no, I'm not talking about feeling what you feel. I'm talking about personally." The blue Elf motioned at the ceiling. "Let's not talk about the over thousand years I've spent watching people fail to stop this thing. Let's not talk about the decades I spent travelling through time trying to find the thing to stop all my friends from dying. Let's not talk about how I'm stuck in here while there is a war going on out there." He closed his black eyes. "I'm never going to see them again. Everyone I loved, everyone I cared about, is going to have to struggle without me." He opened his eyes and looked at her.

The infinite void threatened to swallow her, but Penelope didn't look away. She could feel that he needed this. He needed to be seen in that moment, and somehow that made the discomfort less for the first time in her life.

"You're going to survive this. You won't be whole on the other side, but you will get through this." Jeru touched her cheek, his incorporeal hand warming her skin. "Don't feel guilty about what you didn't do. Focus on the ten who lived because of you. And never lose that spark of hope you have that everything will be better in the end."

Penelope sank to the ground as the tears she'd been holding back finally broke free. The pain her team was in right now, the loss of Ula, Judah's sacrifice, everyone else who had died, and even the eventual loss of Jeru. She sat on her knees in front of Marlow's cubicle, letting the tears flow unrestricted.

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