Penelope sat with her friend until Circe woke up.

"What happened?" Circe rubbed her eyes as she sat up in her bed.

"You exhausted yourself and passed out." Penelope offered the other woman a vial of water.

"My mouth is sooo dry." Circe smacked her lips. She gulped down the water, then eyed her friend as she passed the container back. "Is this what mana exhaustion feels like?"

"Worst brain freeze of your life, a splitting headache, and the room is spinning?" Penelope took the vial and handed her friend another full one.

"No." Circe gulped down the six ounces of water, then handed it back. "It's like I haven't slept for days and I've got on ankle and wrist weights; plus, I'm so dehydrated that…" She pressed her thumbnail, then turned her digit around for Penelope to see how slowly the color returned. "See? I'm really dehydrated!"

"Don't drink so fast that you make yourself sick, then." Penelope produced another vial. "Last one I've got anyway; then I'll have to go refill them."

"I'm sure Frederica is ready to keep going." Circe looked at her menu, then blinked as she realized she was in her room. "You guys finished the zone without me?"

"Caleb carried you." Penelope suppressed the need to shake her head as Circe perked up hearing that. "We finished off the group in the second quadrant before the others showed up, then Fae-Anna and I locked down the Healers while Aly and Frederica finished them off. Once the Healers were gone, it was pretty easy."

"Did he say anything once he brought me back here?" The brunette picked at her fingers.

"Riva carried you back here." Penelope stood up. "We've still got almost a week if you think we should give you a day to rest."

"I'll be fine." Circe hopped to her feet and grabbed her bow where it was leaning against the wall. "I just need some more fluids in me, then I'll be good to go!"

"Patrick had a feeling you'd say that, so he's keeping everyone close." Penelope motioned at the wall opposite the door.

"We were in 19A, and 16A is close?" Circe stopped at the door, confusion on her face.

"Everyone else is in the material room in 17A. He thought we could stop there on our way to grab everyone." Penelope followed her friend out the door.

"By everyone, you mean…" Circe walked down the man-made hall into the tunnel and turned right towards the next column.

"All four teams should be there." Penelope nodded. "I don't know how much material they're going to be making, since we didn't know when you were going to wake up."

"I'm surprised Patrick let you sit with me instead of someone else." Circe laughed. "He's always got you making boards when you're not busy teaching."

"Raelyn didn't think you'd be out long." Penelope admitted. "She's seen stamina exhaustion down here and said most people aren't out for more than an hour."

"She still mad at you?" Circe turned around and slowed.

"She wasn't ignoring me or being rude." Penelope shrugged. "I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean."

"She's still upset about her nephew and saw Marlow as her mentor." Circe bounced her eyebrows. "Maybe hoped it'd be something more."

"I get she's upset…" Penelope sighed. "Being in the group that goes into a square first is the most dangerous place to be." Her shoulders sagged. "But it's like everyone expects us to run over stuff we've never seen before, and that's just not how this works."

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"You're worried…" Circe scanned Penelope's face, forcing her friend to look away. "Did you see what's on the 20s?"

"No." Penelope took a deep breath. "But the boss room has me worried. The first floor tore us up, and I can't imagine the second one is going to be any nicer to us."

"And Dawson's team is going to be in there with you?" Circe laughed and bumped into her friend. "Don't worry! If he tries something, I'll shoot him in the eye."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Penelope slowed as they approached the room where the others were working. "Dawson ran the first time, and we're going to have to rely on each other in there. I know there are a lot of people who think Frederica should break the deal with them and just go in with our team—"

"Are you one of them?" Frederica stepped out of the shadows along the floor of the tunnel.

"GAH!" Circe's scream was too dramatic to be believable. "You scared me!"

"Not an answer." Frederica folded her arms in front of her as she looked from one woman to another. "Do you think I should stab Dawson before he crosses us?"

"Yes." Circe grinned and turned to see Penelope's response. Her face fell as she read the expression on the other woman's face. "Seriously, Pen?"

"If you cut him out of the boss fight, even if we give him half the loot, it's going to get brought up at every negotiation from here on." Penelope motioned to her right, towards the other group's territory. "We are pretty sure Derek still has people reporting to him, so can we afford to be in an open war while also getting our squares cleared?"

"It's not a war if the other side is dead." Circe quipped.

"But how many of us are going to die too?" Penelope took a deep breath. "They're as strong as we are, and even if we were able to start over, Derek has proved he can position people a lot better than we can."

"Hard to manipulate people if he's dead." Circe tapped her bow.

"When?" Penelope shook her head. "Do we try to break into whichever building he was holed up in? He was down here for almost a full day, and none of us knew it!"

"What's done is done." Frederica held up her hand, stopping Circe's response. "I just had this same conversation with Rae. She wants to cut him out too, but it comes down to this: at the end of the first floor, there were four of us that were max level." She motioned at the doorway behind her. "Now we have twenty-four people at level twenty and six people sitting at level ten. And who knows how many people Dawson's group has maxed out!"

"Lots of people at the cap, so?" Circe eyed their leader.

"So we have two factions right now, but how long until that becomes three, four, or who knows how many?" Frederica growled, then closed her eyes and composed herself. "My point is, how are those other people going to deal with us if we have a reputation for not honoring our deals?"

"So what? We let Dawson find a way to make us do all the hard work, then he gets a free ride?" Circe huffed. "We'll be a joke!"

"Our deal only covers this floor." Frederica lowered her voice. "And if we continue to get the larger chunk of the Dungeon, then we'll be able to field a larger portion of the fighters." She looked at Circe. "As long as everyone stays loyal."

"I'm not going anywhere." Circe grabbed Penelope's arm. "Pen's my ride or die, even if we don't agree on the need for a body count."

Penelope fought the urge to free her arm.

"We can't have dissension in the group, or we'll fall apart." Frederica sighed. "I don't like working with Dawson, but right now, we need to take the high ground; then we can re-evaluate after the boss fight."

"As long as we don't have to pair up with them, I can keep my trigger finger from slipping." Circe promised. "But if they throw any attacks our way, I'm going to return fire."

"We'll need to strategize for the boss fight, but that's a topic for once we clear all our rooms." Frederica looked Circe over. "You look ready to fight. You good to go?"

"I need some more to drink, but I feel great!" Circe beamed and squeezed Penelope's arm tighter.

"Then let's get you some water." Frederica turned to the doorway. "That'll give the others some time to get their mana and stamina topped off as well."

"Wait." Penelope lowered her voice and pulled her arm free.

"What's up, Pen?" Circe frowned. "You're not upset with me because I disagreed with you just now?"

"No, I don't like working with Derek's group either. But that's not what I wanted to ask you about while I was thinking about it." Penelope bit her lip. "Why do you call me that?"

"What, Pen?" Circe laughed as she twirled in the intersection. "Kent was always giving you a hard time, but he never killed anything. Marlow told him one of the first days that the pen is mightier than the sword and he should listen to your expertise. I figured it'd be a cool way to remind him that you were stronger than he was." The other woman grinned. "Now, it's just a badass nickname."

"Huh." Penelope chuckled. "I think I could get used to that."

"Now I'm going to correct everyone!" Circe grabbed Penelope's arm and pulled her towards the doorway. "Come on, Pen! We've got monsters to kill!"

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