The Bee Dungeon
POFair 276.1 - Rethinking the Family Bees-iness

Finnakynne waved her hands over the field of flowers below, pulling nectar and pollen from the flowers and into balls orbiting around her. Being the pixie princess and a demigod to boot gave her an instinctual control of magic, though, so she could do this much in her sleep. As a result, the labor did nothing to distract her from her thoughts.

She…had grown attached to this dungeon. Not in the romantic sense, as Henilett implied, she had known Beely for like a week and was still wrapping her head around fully-grown double-digit year-old humans. Heck, her mother dearest was disappointed in her for not seducing him! No, she was dealing with something far more troubling.

She…didn’t want to trick the bumbles. She wanted them to be happy. She liked seeing them run around like puppies when she brought them a bunch of nectar and pollen. And so, here she was, using her semi-divine talents in pixie magic to do honest farm work. Here she was, seriously confronting Henilett over a contract with Beely.

And it grew worse when she thought about her first attempt at tricking mortals.

Not the failing and getting caught part…at least, not mostly. That was indeed extremely humiliating and she was dreading what Tarwy and the rest of the Circle would say when they found out, much less her mother dearest. But if that had been all, she could have put up with it.

No, what bothered her most…was the fate of the mortals themselves. The screams, the blood, the fear and the death tainting the mana in the air. Finnakynne felt their fear as she innately absorbed the mana around them, felt as their lives were extinguished with naught but pain and regret. As the very bees she played with now turned into monsters and ended mortals without mercy.

That much was necessary, the spiderkin clearly had no qualms about doing the same to Beely and she knew who she preferred surviving. So, what really bothered her? What did she find if she looked deep down and stopped trying to distract herself? Why was she hiding in Beely’s dungeon…and why did she want to keep her mother away from it?

Because every story her mother had told her of past mischief suddenly took on a very different tone. How many times had her mother set one mortal to kill another? How many times had she arranged for battles, or even wars? Just how much fear and pain and death did her mother encounter and absorb over the years as a direct result of her own schemes?

Was this what mischief truly meant?

She wanted to reject that…but then her own memories rose unprompted. She remembered Tarwantrad screaming at her with tears rolling down her face after half her dungeon was reduced to a barren wasteland. She remembered Tamosmed’s look of pure hatred after his forge exploded. She recalled the wails of her fellow children after she had stolen their candy.

Maybe…this was always what mischief meant. Maybe, she had been intentionally deceiving herself all along.

Maybe…this wasn’t what she wanted.

She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. But…what then? What would happen if she admitted that? Her mother was Queen Vanieskon herself, the woman who was trickery incarnate. Finnakynne knew she would never approve…and expected that the pixie queen would just force her back into it. It had happened before…

And her dad? The God of Mischief himself? How could he approved of anything but mischief? And how else could she even interact with a father she couldn’t see outside of dying? What else could she do but try to exemplify his domain?

It was then that Finnakynne was tackled out of the sky. The bumblebee soldier she had taken to riding on slammed into her, driving her to the ground. Finnakynne cried out, but the bumblebee hadn’t hurt her. Instead, the fuzzy giant was rubbing her own fuzz into Finnakynne’s face. Finnakynne blinked…then her eyes widened.

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“Are you…trying to cheer me up?”

The big bee buzzed and continued nuzzling against her. Finnakynne stared at the bee even as her hands subconsciously moved to rub the fuzz. The big, giant dungeon monster intended for killing shades and pushing challengers to the limit…was trying to cheer her up. Had done the same for the bear kids on occasion.

“So…what I’m trying to say is…maybe you can be something different even if everyone told you you’re supposed to be one thing? I think…”

She remembered Beely’s words. How the twenty-some year-old human, who apparently was an untrained peasant beekeeper, was now responsible for the continued existence of the entire land of the fair. How he had built a dungeon and an army that wiped out spiderkin who had caught her immediately. And how his bees had grown far more than even the pixies thought possible for them.

Maybe…she could be something different. If she really tried. Maybe…she didn’t have to be the trickster she was born to be. Maybe that was why she liked this place…and why she didn’t want her mother’s trickery to affect it.

But Finnakynne frowned and buried her head in the bumblebee fuzz. Even if that were true…even if she wanted to be something other than what she was born to be…what would she do about her mom and dad? Queen Vanieskon aside, if she stopped trying to be trickster, did that mean abandoning her father? Did that mean losing his blessings and never hearing from him again? Did that mean he would abandon her fully? They were no normal family to say the least, but their relationship was not so bad that Finnakynne would just disregard him. There was a reason she was the pixie’s dungeon master, after all…

New mission received: Do whatever you want!

Bonus objective: Defy your mother, it will ‘bee’ hilarious!

Finnakynne’s head popped up and she blinked several times. Eventually, she began to smile and giggle. She…supposed the God of Mischief wouldn’t be one to force her to meet expectations, even his own.

“Thanks Dad…”

She slowly lifted herself away from the wonderful fuzz and dropped the smile from her face. She clenched her fingers into fists and narrowed her eyes. If her father didn’t care, then there was only one thing left to do.

She had to confront her mother. She had to learn what her mother thought of the mana of fear and death. She had to find out if her mother had done all that she did knowingly and intentionally. She had to know if this was what mischief and trickery was truly all about.

She trembled as she remembered all the times she had questioned her mother in the past…but then the bumblebee buzzed and nuzzled her again. Her face relaxed and she reached down to pat the bumblebee’s head.

“Um, I don’t normally say this but…um…thank you. And…I’ll come back to help you forage again, so wait for me, ok?”

The bumblebee took off and flew rapid circles around her. Finnakynne smiled at the bumblebee one more time, then steeled her expression and flew into the air.

Finnakynne flew back to the nexus door. She found Belissar and Tarwantrad speaking at the entrance. Tarwantrad was bouncing up and down.

“Belissar! How are the wards going? Think you’ll have time to explore my dungeon and the Compact soon?”

Belissar hesitated for a second before giving her a smile.

“I want to see the rest of your dungeon…but I’m planning an expansion purification soon, so maybe after that? I do need to ask Queen Vanieskon for help, though, so I was going to visit the Compact today.”

Tarwantrad’s smile didn’t drop in the slightest.

“Got it! I can show you around the Compact, then? We might be able to pick up another boon or two if you have the time.”

Belissar smiled.

“That would be great…hm?”

Belissar noticed as Finnakynne approached. She flew right up to him, looking him in the eye.

“Beely, did I hear that right? You’re going to meet with my mother today?”

Belissar, honest young lad that he was, nodded right away.

“Yes, she agreed to help with my defenses.”

Finnakynne’s heart pounded as she realized Belissar must have signed that agreement with her mother after all…but what was done was done.

“I see. I’ll go with you then. I have something to talk about with her.”

Finnakynne glanced over to Tarwantrad, who was eyeing her with suspicion. Finnakynne didn’t flinch, though.

“Tarwantrad, Niobee, keep an eye on Belissar, ok? Even if my mother hasn’t deceived him, there are plenty of other pixies that might try to play a trick on him if he visits the court. Make sure you don’t miss anyone trying to leave magic on him.”

Niobee danced a salute on top of Belissar’s head. Tarwantrad, meanwhile, staggered back, her eyes as wide as they could go.

“…Tarwantrad? You’ve never used my name before…what are you playing at this time, Princess Finnakynne?”

Finnakynne took a deep breath.

“I suppose…that will depend on my conversation with mother dearest.”