All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 66: Cleared Up

Chapter 66: Cleared Up

"You're pulling my leg, right?" Tony chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye. "How much of that was actually true? I mean, you almost had me till the whole stairs thing."

Bee ran a hand down her face. She was well aware of how ridiculous her story sounded. And the worst part about it was that Void had devoured all the proof. His cleanliness had made it really hard for her story to be corroborated with any demon or skeleton remains. After all, who would believe a story about a teenager fighting demons alongside a god-like, slightly naive being?

Bee wouldn't, that's for sure. She truly wished she was making this up, but it was all too true. Still, she wasn't exactly sure what she could do or show someone to really get them to believe it all. However, if Tony stuck around long enough, she was sure he'd see what was going on. Even though he wouldn't believe it right now. Still, she was in this deep. She supposed that she might as well keep being honest. Bee mentioned that the demons came from containment circles that had been broken.

"Yeah, you said Void did that as some sort of training exercise, right?" Tony said. She didn't believe that he was buying everything she was selling, but it seemed he was at least willing to humor her.

"So that was only a couple sets of the demons. They are likely more in the castle that I'm not aware of. And there are definitely still some in captivity. For example, the water demons are still in their tanks. The restrictions have almost completely faded, and they're completely awake, but they can't really leave their tanks. So they're less of a threat. But I'm pretty sure that there are other types of demons in the upper parts of the castles and other kinds of magical beasts. They likely all need to be cared for and hopefully can still be useful." Bee did her best to lay out the situation.

"That's not all of them. I wasn't confident in my magic understanding to contain the demons myself. Also, because Void released them, I wasn't going to stop them from getting out. Now though, I believe I could reset containment on the other demons. We just need to find them, and I need time to do it. Time that I won't have if I need to focus on caring for the chickens and the crops for food." Bee now told Tony her plans. There was one thing she was careful to leave out. Any mention of Nazareth'gak.

She really wasn't sure how he would react to the news of the Lieutenant. If Tony was having trouble believing what she was saying now, the idea of an ancient evil secretly living within the local castle would make him laugh in her face even harder. However, she felt bad just springing it on him by showing him. It seemed like a recipe for disaster, and she didn't want to lose what help she might have. Of course, all the other issues she had told him about containing other demons and magical beasts and the like were really all very minor compared to the looming threat of one of humanity's ancient enemies.

On top of that, she was relatively certain that she had misunderstood a lot of Void's intentions. However, it was still clear to her that it had intentionally released the Lieutenant. She also didn't think that it was trying to free the demon for malicious purposes. There wasn't much thought of that even at the beginning, but that could very well have just been her own wishful thinking. Now she was certain. Either it wanted a good fight against the demon or, more likely, having learned about Void's motivations, it wanted to clean up the disgusting filth that Lieutenant was.

The other option that she had been considering was that the Lieutenant was meant as some sort of training exercise for her like the other demons had been. That seemed less likely now. But Void was going to defeat the Lieutenant, and she had little doubt that it could. She wanted to be of assistance. Not just because it was her master, but also for the sweet experience, she would get from the combat. Even a fraction of a percent of the experience for a lieutenant's defeat would likely be more than she could possibly imagine. It could take someone her level to the top tier in the country, likely in just one go.

Tony had been quiet for quite a while. Bee, having pulled herself out of her thoughts, looked to him to see what he was doing. Tony had leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. It appeared that he was in deep thought. Or maybe he had taken a nap? Bee sat there and watched him for a little. Eventually, she lost patience though.

"Well? What do you need to do first? Will you still help? I understand if not, it is dangerous. But before you go, could you at least tell me a little bit about caring for chickens and the gardens. The library here is extensive but rather focused. I won't be able to figure that all out myself and have time to do all the containment necessary and…" Bee realized that she was rambling and shut up.

Tony didn't respond right away. And she started to wonder if she had actually scared him off or insulted him somehow. However, she didn't have to wait too much longer before he opened his eyes. The energy and vigor she had in the first scene when they first met in those eyes had returned. Throughout the day, as she had told them of her struggles, it had faded. As they walked, he had gotten tired, and her story was quite depressing, honestly. But now it was back. But it wasn't exactly the same.

The energy and enthusiasm were still there, but it had changed slightly. As if a weight had compressed it. It was more substantive than before. The same amount of energy, just in a more efficient form, if that made sense. Something about that look sent her heart beating faster. It was full of intensity and what seemed like drive.

"Sounds like we have our work cut out for us." Tony leaned forward. "The way I see it is, I won't be able to be much direct help right away. But my job will be to make sure that you are in a position to do what is necessary. That will mean taking care of food and likely being another set of eyes. You're lucky that the crops planted around here are decent. Some of the ones that aren't food are not ones that I'm very familiar with, but I believe I can bring them back. Some of these are reagents you need for your alchemy, correct?"

Bee nodded. "Yeah, many of the ones that require freshness are outside. I think I can identify most of them by now."

She didn't mention that she hadn't had any need for fresh ingredients yet. Those usually tended to be the more powerful and complicated recipes. And she didn't want to shake any of his newfound faith in her.

"Well, the chickens also are underfed, but they should start laying eggs again soon. It was a good thing that you threw out all the eggs you collected because they probably weren't laid very recently at all. These chickens are underfed enough that they won't be laying again for another week. We should have enough food with what we just brought to get us through till the eggs show up, and I'll see what I can do about any crops that might be harvested slightly early. I think we'll be okay on the food front." Tony concluded.

Bee let out a breath of relief. That was some of the first good news she had had in quite a while.

"It sounds like you need to finish exploring the castle. "Tony continued. "How long do you think that will take?"

"It's hard to say. There's a lot of space around here. And there are many parts of it that I've never been to myself. There are several different towers, and it will take me some time to travel between them all. It will probably be a couple weeks at the fastest. And if I stop taking care of threats as I find them, even longer."

"Will it be safe wandering around? Of course, it won't be, but will you be okay?"

Bee got the impression that he was asking if she wanted his protection. "I should be fine. I'm mostly going to be following Void. It's guided me for the most part, and the whole effort really isn't mine, so much as me helping Void out.

Both Tony and Bee looked around for the little black disc that had been pacing around the library. They didn't see it until Bee checked under the table and found it sitting at their feet. Tony saw it jump slightly but just laughed it off. It seemed that he still wasn't taking Void seriously enough, in Bee's opinion.

---

I was glad that the large human had calmed down rather quickly. He was starting to grow on me, and I didn't want to have to spray him like I did the cat. Of course, I was prepared to do so if that meant protecting Beatrice. And I definitely didn't want to chase him away, at least until he taught Beatrice how to give good pats. I totally wasn't biased at all.

But it was good to see him regain control over himself and even make substantial promises to assist Beatrice in her work. It was also nice to know what I would be doing for the foreseeable future. It was something I'd been looking forward to. Exploring the upstairs. Now that Beatrice was willing to take me, I could only imagine what messes were there. It sounded like there would be a lot.

Of course, I reminded myself not to get too excited. I had to remember not to clean up the circles of white powder. Those were important and supposed to be there; they were not part of the mess. Of course, if Beatrice wanted to get rid of the demons, I definitely wouldn't object. Besides, after finishing off all the earth demons, I had hoped to become more powerful again and maybe get another mutation. It probably wasn't healthy to count on stuff like that, but having seen how the last several went, I couldn't help but be excited to know what other capabilities I would soon acquire.

But more opportunities to clean would avail themselves upstairs. Of course, I knew I could transmute some of the stuff in my dustbin for energy and grow that way. I wasn't sure if I could exactly explain my reluctance to do so, though. Part of it was that if I experienced a similar explosion to what happened in the catacombs, I could do significant damage to the castle. Also, it felt like I wasn't really learning that way.

With my newfound capabilities, my efficiency of energy use was so much greater that I really never had to transmute stuff for power. Even after fighting all those demons, I only had to recharge once or twice. And my storage was limitless, so there was no harm in keeping too much stuff. I think I just needed to figure out what I wanted to do with all of it. Was there any use besides giving me energy and more power?

Oh, it seemed that the humans were done. I replayed the last bit of the conversation in my head while I thought since my sensors had picked it up and stored it in my memory banks. It seemed it was time for the humans to charge. They would begin all their work tomorrow. I went over to Beatrice's charging spot and positioned the blanket, getting ready to prepare her for charging. Tony was going to be on his own for now. However, it seemed that they weren't going to charge right away. That made sense. Tony still needed a blanket and pillow, I supposed, so I followed them out of the room.

"Is there any particular reason you sleep on the floor in the library?" Tony asked. "I mean, I understand sleeping in the library. It seems like it's near the exit, well-defendable, and has all the useful resources with plenty of space. But why haven't you dragged a mattress in or something?"

"Uuuhhhh."