Most of them partied until late in the morning.

One of the perks of not sleeping much was that Penelope was rested at eight the next morning when they assembled to finish the 18s. The downside was that Riva was the only other one helping her herd the inebriated people at two in the morning. Thankfully, most of the people who were drinking were level ones, and the spell dulled their senses enough that there weren't too many accidents for the Healers to take care of.

Other than Riva, the others looked rough.

"I miss coffee." Frederica groaned as she stretched.

Penelope looked around the command center at the four groups. It was clear that they were all still tired, especially given the yawns and slouching posture.

"Someone's going to die if we go in like this." Patrick grumbled. "I told you that we should have poured that stuff out!"

"And we would have had a mutiny." Oakley slapped his cheeks, then stretched his jaw.

"There's work that has to be done down here so that things keep running." Patrick shook his head. "Tanks have to be filled, corpses have to be chilled, meat needs to be dried, and refuse has to be disposed of." He eyed the Casters. "And if we don't have building materials, then we can't have people building things while we're all out killing monsters!"

"I've already banned the stuff until after work hours." Frederica glared at Theodora. "They drank everything you made, and you're not making any more of that stuff until one of us tells you you can."

The gray-haired woman nodded. She was the second oldest person in the room, but she was nowhere close to the top of the chain of command.

"Good enough?" Frederica looked at Patrick.

"No, but I'm not going to get these lazy bums to forget she can make the stuff, but maybe they'll work faster if we use it as a reward." The balding man huffed, then motioned for her to continue. "Let's get this meeting over with."

"Penelope and I are going to take the outside routes like normal, but you don't move into this room until one of us shows up to back you up." Frederica pointed at the map that they'd scratched into the floor. "The Last Breath in this column are very deadly, and if they wrap someone up, you need a Caster to fry them."

"Can't we just cut it up?" Sebastian McHenry sliced his hand through the air.

Patrick glared at the black-haired Hitter. "I tried that. Cursed thing didn't come off until Pea hit it with a full round of her spells." He clenched his fist. "They're weak to Magic and have a lot of Defense, so stick to what we tell you and wait for a Caster!"

"But there are only three Casters." Fae-Anna pointed at herself. "Me, Aly, and Pea." She looked at Frederica. "Are you moving Aly to one of the inside groups?"

"Based on what we know, this should be a three-by-three." Frederica pointed at the map. "Which means that the inside groups will be able to meet up with each other at this crossroad, where you'll wait for one of us. You should be safe from monsters there since we'll be between you and the outer groups of monsters."

"And what happens if that's a big room where all the monsters are waiting?" Bradley piped up.

"Then wall off the doors and wait for us to get there." Patrick growled. "This isn't rocket science. We've done this dozens of times!"

"That was before we were all twenty." Raelyn moved to the front of the group. The 35-year-old brunette Healer crossed her arms. "We've been clearing zones on our own. We're not just helpless back-up anymore."

"No, but we don't have enough Casters to spread them out, and the outer groups are more likely to fight a group of monsters by themselves than your groups are!" Frederica growled. "Look, this isn't up for debate. Plus, not everyone in your groups is level twenty."

Her eyes settled on Nina, who melted to the back of the crowd.

Penelope leaned closer to Frederica and lowered her voice. "But it would be safer to leave Aly with them. If something happens, they don't have a Caster to take care of the Last Breath."

"Fine." Frederica grumbled. "Rae, you can have Aly. Send someone else to Pea's team."

"She can have the new girl." Raelyn gestured at Nina.

"I meant someone that we aren't leveling. The outside groups are the most dangerous and—"

"People die in your groups, we know." Raelyn shook her head. "We've done more zones down here with two teams than either of you have, and we haven't lost anyone yet."

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"Actually, they've only done ten, and you've done twelve." Jeru scoffed. "But probably don't point that out."

"You've done corners on all of those as well!" Frederica clenched her fists. "And you've known what you were walking into! There's a big difference between being on the lead team and being the one who benefits from what we do!" Her gaze hardened. "Are you challenging me?"

"I'm pointing out that people don't want to work with her." Rae glared at Penelope. "Nobody is going to deny that she is powerful, but she split her team in the last zone, and that's what got Marlow killed! None of us want to be on a team where an order she gives might mean we die for nothing!"

"We'll take Nina." Patrick glanced at Penelope. "And I'll take over the team." He looked back at Raelyn. "That work for you?"

Raelyn looked over at the blonde Healer. "Skylar?"

"I wasn't complaining!" The timid young woman held up her hands. "I was just telling Rae that I was scared. I mean, we're all scared. I was just more scared. I didn't think I'd be on a forward team. I mean—"

"It's okay." Frederica sighed as she cut off the younger woman's rambling. "I get it." She let her gaze fall on each person there. "I don't want to be down here fighting and risking my life, but…" She took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "If we don't fight, then those monsters are getting out." She jabbed her hand at the wall on her right, towards the boss room.

"We lost sixty people the last time we didn't clear a boss room in time." Frederica clenched her jaw. "Most of them didn't stand a chance and of the ones who could defend themselves…" She shook her head, squeezing her eyes tight to hold in the tears. "Only half of us are still here." She covered her face with her hands, wiping her eyes as she let her hands fall.

"None of us should be here. But we are." She opened her eyes and looked at everyone again. "WE are here. And WE have a chance to stop these monsters, but if we don't…" She shook her head. "None of the people we love is going to stand a chance."

Frederica looked at Raelyn. "You can try to blame Pea for what happened to Marlow, but it was a monster that killed him." Her gaze hardened. "And don't you dare try to put Robert's death on her. Everything that happened in that fight is on Kent, and he is paying for it." She looked at Penelope. "And if Pea hadn't been there, none of us would have survived."

"I was just speaking up for someone." Raelyn held up her hands. "Our teams have been gutted by what happened. We know you value her advice, and she's a decent teacher, but it's obvious to all of us that she's not a leader."

"HEY!" Circe stepped in front of Penelope.

"I already told you, I'm taking over the team." Patrick huffed. "No need to rub it in her face."

Penelope swallowed. She opened her mouth to speak, but Jeru cut her off.

"They need someone to blame, and the Demons are too big." He sighed. "You could reset and look for a way to undo all of this, but right now, nothing you say is going to help your case."

What if I apologize?

"It'll only cement that you were at fault." Jeru lamented. "The way things stand, you're being punished. Later, some people might decide that they were too harsh, but for now, this is how they see the scales balancing."

Penelope closed her mouth and nodded in silence.

"If everyone is okay with how the teams are being rearranged, then…" Frederica paused. "Let's give everyone an hour, then we'll get into position." She shook her head. "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

The group filtered out until it was just Penelope, Circe, Patrick, Riva, Oakley, Frederica, Eldri, Ailis, Fae-Anna, Nina, and Skylar.

"I'm sorry." Skylar bowed her head. "I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"It's okay." Penelope offered the other woman her hand. "You just gave voice to what everyone was thinking."

"None of them could do any better." Patrick huffed. "But they want to act all high and mighty because they—"

"That's enough." Frederica cut him off. "We can't be fighting between ourselves."

"Whatever." Patrick grumbled. "Rae's just making sure everyone knows who the top Healer is now that Marlow's dead." He glared at the door. "If she was so benevolent, she'd offer to put herself on my team."

Skylar flinched.

"You're a good Healer." Circe wrapped the 21-year-old blonde in a hug. "He's not mad at you."

"No, but he's got a point." Riva gestured at the door. "Rae could become another Kent problem."

Eldri glanced at the others. "Should you be saying that in front of the others?"

"If they want to go tattle to Mommy, let them." Riva shrugged. "After that speech, it's not like Rae doesn't know she made herself a threat. And since we're too short-handed to eliminate her, the only option is to offer her a seat."

"That's something we'll talk about later." Frederica sighed. "Right now we need to focus on the fight." She eyed the group, with her gaze settling on the woman standing next to her. "You good?"

"Yes." Penelope swallowed the lump in her throat. In a way, I'm happy that Patrick is taking over. I just wish it wasn't like this.

"You know you're going to have to lead them eventually?" Jeru's voice filled her mind. "It's like when you first started on the first floor. You're the only one who will know how they can survive."

And we see how well that turned out.

"Only because you didn't have enough help." Jeru motioned at the group. "Think about what you could have accomplished with two teams and having your stats capped out so you can cover for them during the initial shock of running into the bosses."

Penelope pushed the thought out of her mind. Right now, I just want to focus on the next fight.

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