Astrid found out the next morning when she walked into the common room of their suite while Dante and Ravenna were still standing close together, his arm around her waist, their heads bent together in quiet conversation.
The intimacy of the scene was unmistakable, speaking volus about what changed overnight.
The berserker froze in the doorway, her expression shifting through surprise, understanding, and sothing harder to read. For a long mont, she simply stood there, processing what she was seeing.
"So that happened." She crossed her arms, leaning against the doorfra.
Dante released Ravenna and turned to face her fully. "Astrid."
"Don’t." She held up a hand. "Whatever explanation you’re about to give, I don’t want to hear it since I’m not an idiot. I’ve seen this coming since Floor 3, maybe earlier, the way you two look at each other, the way you touch when you think nobody’s watching."
"Then why do you look angry?" He kept his voice even.
"I’m not angry." She moved to a chair and dropped into it heavily, her movents jerky in a way that suggested she was holding sothing back through sheer force of will. "I’m processing, and there’s a difference."
Ravenna stepped forward, concern evident in her ember-eyes. "Astrid, I never ant to—"
"To what, take sothing from ?" The berserker’s laugh was bitter, edged with sothing that sounded almost like grief. "You can’t take what was never offered since Dante and I were never going to happen. I knew that from the mont I joined this party, but everybody knew that except apparently ."
"That’s not..."
"Yes it is." Astrid cut her off with a sharp gesture. "He saved you on Floor 1, and you’ve been his priority ever since. I was just too stubborn to admit that I was competing in a race that was already over."
"Then what is this?" Dante’s question was genuine, not challenging. "What are we dealing with?"
Astrid was quiet for a long mont, her eyes fixed on the crystalline floor. The morning light filtered through the walls, casting prismatic patterns across her features that made her look younger than she usually appeared.
"When I joined this party, I told myself it was about fighting, about finding opponents worthy of my strength, challenges that would push my berserker abilities to their limits." She flexed her hands, staring at them. "That was a lie I believed because the truth was harder to admit. I joined because you saw as a person, not a weapon, not a threat, not a monster who might snap and kill everyone around her if the rage took over. A person. And sowhere along the way, I started wanting more than I was willing to admit."
"Astrid..."
"Let finish." She took a breath, steadying herself. "I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t hurt since watching you two together, knowing that’s never going to be , understanding that you chose her in a way you were never going to choose , it hurts like a blade between the ribs. But I’m also not going to let it destroy what we have."
"What does that an?" He leaned forward in his chair.
"It ans I’m staying with the party, with the team." She t Dante’s eyes directly, and there was steel in her gaze despite the vulnerability she’d just exposed. "You’re still the best leader I’ve ever fought alongside, and that doesn’t change because you’re in love with soone else. I’m not so fragile thing that breaks because I didn’t get what I wanted."
"No one’s saying you are."
"Good, because I’ve survived worse than unrequited feelings." Her jaw tightened. "My tribe was slaughtered when I was fourteen, my first climbing party abandoned on Floor 5 when my berserker rage scared them too much, I’ve been alone and hated and feared for most of my life. This?" She gestured at Dante and Ravenna. "This I can handle."
Ravenna crossed the room and, to everyone’s surprise, embraced the berserker.
Astrid stiffened, clearly unused to physical affection, every muscle in her body going rigid with the instinct to push away. But she didn’t pull away since sothing in the gesture, in the genuine care behind it, made her hold still.
"I’m sorry," Ravenna said softly. "I never wanted to hurt you."
"You didn’t hurt , life did." Astrid’s voice was muffled. "I’ve been hurt before, so I’ll survive this too."
They stood that way for a long mont, two won who should have been rivals finding sothing else entirely. When Astrid finally extricated herself, gently but firmly, her usual tough exterior was sliding back into place with the walls rebuilding themselves.
"Okay, enough feelings." She stepped back, rolling her shoulders. "If anyone ntions this conversation to Ren, I’ll break their arms, both of them."
"Understood." Dante’s voice carried respect rather than amusent. "For what it’s worth, you’re the strongest person I know, and not just in combat."
"Save the flattery." But she was almost smiling, a faint quirk of her lips that suggested the worst of the emotional storm had passed. "Now, are we going to plan our route through Floor 11, or are we going to keep having emotional breakthroughs?"
"Planning sounds good."
The tension in the room eased, not fully resolved but acknowledged. They faced armies of monsters, impossible bosses, and the scheming of enemies who wanted them dead, so they could face this too.
---
Ren proved considerably less dramatic about the situation when he noticed Dante and Ravenna’s interlinked hands during the planning session that afternoon.
"Finally." He grinned, spreading a map across the table. "I was wondering when you two would stop pretending and just admit what everyone else already knew."
"You knew?" Ravenna raised an eyebrow.
"Everyone knew except maybe the two of you." He clearly wasn’t interested in dwelling on romantic developnts when tactical planning awaited. "This floor is massive with multiple environnts, at least three major dungeons, and political factions fighting for territorial control."
"What kind of factions?" Dante leaned over the map.
"Established parties that made this floor their permanent base, and so of them have been here for years, building power and resources, essentially becoming small countries within the Tower’s structure." Ren pointed to different regions on the map. "The Iron Domain controls the eastern sector, the Fla Court holds the central mountains, and the supposedly neutral rchant’s Guild operates in the safe zones and controls most trade."
"Any of them allied with Adrian?"
"Unknown, but his faction is growing fast since he picked up another two groups just yesterday, climbers who arrived from Floor 10 and imdiately joined his banner." Ren’s expression was thoughtful. "He’s offering sothing people want, protection, resources, purpose, so it’s an effective recruitnt strategy."
Dante studied the map with mories of his original tiline overlaying the neutral information before him. Floor 11 was where things started getting complicated politically, where the Tower stopped being about simple survival and started being about power dynamics between established parties, trade agreents, and conflicts over resources that had nothing to do with climbing higher.
"We need to stay independent and build our reputation without getting entangled in faction politics."
"That’s going to be difficult." Astrid’s voice was thoughtful rather than challenging. "Everything on this floor runs through one faction or another like resources, information, dungeon access. Being independent ans being locked out of half the opportunities."
"Then we find allies who aren’t factions, individual climbers who want to advance but don’t want to pledge to the existing power structures." He looked around the table. "We beco an alternative."
"That’s a dangerous position since the established factions won’t appreciate competition." Ren frowned.
"Good, so let them worry about us instead of the other way around."
The planning session continued for hours as they mapped routes and contingencies, identifying potential allies and definite threats. By the ti they finished, the sun had set and risen again, and they had a rough frawork for their advancent through the floor.
Leon and Sera joined them at the end, both looking significantly better than they had imdiately after the Warden fight. Leon’s burns were healing well under Sera’s continued treatnt, and the healer herself recovered most of her mana reserves.
"My team’s been talking." Leon’s voice was formal but warm. "We’ve decided to stay with your party permanently, if you’ll have us."
"We’d be honored." Dante stood and offered his hand. "Welco to the team."
"Don’t expect us to slow down for you," Astrid added with a sharp smile. "We push hard."
"We wouldn’t have it any other way." Leon shook Dante’s hand firmly.
The party had grown from four core mbers to six, with allies scattered across the lower floors who owed them favors and gratitude.
Reviews
All reviews (0)