She's found a new sort of boss fight

"Hi all," Ari gives what's supposed to be a cheerful wave, but looks at the ground as she does. "I hope you had fun. Anyways, um, Sera, Tlax, Mary, could you come with me? I need you for something." The three gently snoozing beauties look up in confusion then swim over to her, climbing out of the pool then leaving the room. "Well, I'll leave you two alone." With that, she turns as if to leave then pushes a distraught ranger into the room. Celestina's face is stained with tear tracks, her hair is disheveled, and her armour is half done-up. You stand up in alarm and stride over to her, taking her by the shoulder and leading her to a soft couch in your room. "Celestina, what happened?"

"I," *hic*, "I uh... came to say goodbye." You wrap your arm around her and stroke her cheek.

"Why so sad? You go out all the time, and you know where to find us when you want to drop by again," you give her a smile.

"Not, like, leave. Like, leave leave, you know? Will you take care of Tina and make her happy? I'd really appreciate it if you did." She pulls herself against your chest and you feel water running down your body.

"Oh, do you have to 'log out' for a while? Is it your job?" You stroke her hair as gently as you can. You aren't totally sure how to react in this situation: daemons aren't known for breaking down, and now that you think about you've never seen anyone like this before. "Don't worry, we'll take care of Tina for you and we'll be here when you can come back."

"You remembered that? Thanks. I wasn't sure whether you really paid attention to me, or just saw me as another conquest. I... I don't know if I'll be coming back soon. Or ever." She breaks down into another round of sobs, nails digging into your back, making it clear that this isn't something she's doing by choice.

"Hey, just because I'm a total pervert doesn't mean I don't care about you. I've enjoyed having you around, and not just for the great sex." She blushes slightly and you chuckle. "Is there anything the girls and I could do to help? You know they'd love to have you stick around as well." She lets out a weak laugh.

"Not unless you can come up with a lot of money on short notice somehow," she nuzzles into your chest and sighs in resignation as you stroke her hair.

"We have lots of gold in the treasury. How much do you need?" She giggles a bit.

"Not that kind of money. Sorry, I don't know why I expected you to understand. I don't know what I expected you to understand, or do. You're just some code on a server somewhere: you don't even really know what I'm talking about." Code? Server? Those questions can probably wait for a more appropriate time.

"Well, do you want to talk about it? What happened?" She wipes her nose and looks up at you, blinking a few times to clear her eyes.

"I, um, I got told by our landlord today that we're—well, I'm—being kicked out for not paying the rent for months now. I tried to come up with the money but it's nowhere near enough, and I'm out of time. I have nowhere else to go." You cock your head. "Oh, sorry, I... um. My dungeon boss is kicking me out of the dungeon, and nobody else will take me in. It's kind of like that, except you have to pay a lot of gold to be in someone's dungeon and once you're kicked out it's really, really, really hard to find another place to stay." She laughs a bit at her own explanation. What a strange world: why wouldn't dungeon bosses want more minions, especially ones as cute as Celestina? Most adventurers in your world don't live in dungeons, but they usually build their own houses or just camp in the wilderness: that must not be an option for her.

"Didn't you have a family? Weren't you with your mom?" She suddenly breaks into another round of sobs, and not sure what to do you just hold her and gently rub her back.

"Mom... mom ODed on her pills a week ago. I just got back from her funeral. Sorry, that's like, when someone dies, but they don't respawn after: they're just... gone. That's when I found out her habit had come before paying the rent. I knew it was bad, but not quite how bad it was." You can't really imagine what you'd do if one of your champions never respawned. You've even grown somewhat fond of Zalreanne over the last few weeks. There are a few other words in there that you don't quite understand, but you get the gist of what she's saying.

"Well, what about Shadowdagger? I know you two didn't always get along, but could he help?" She lets out a dark laugh.

"We didn't just fight in game, you know. We haven't really talked since I caught him in my underwear drawer a few weeks ago, just after we met in Highcastle. Anyways, he moved in to a friend's place two weeks back and vanished shortly thereafter: I haven't seen him since. He didn't even come when mom..." she lets out another sob and you gently rock her.

"Shh," being a daemon lord didn't really prepare you for this, but you hope you're doing alright. You're actually somewhat surprised at how fond you've grown of the adventurer. No doubt your affection for Ari is part of it, but Celestina is also a distinctly different person, and the first and only adventurer who you've gotten even somewhat close to. Not counting whatever the ex-witch is, anyways.

"Anyways, our—my—landlord didn't even tell me directly. I found out when I got home from my job at the mall and found the locks had been changed and all my stuff was piled into a dumpster. I'm logging on from an internet cafe right now, and tonight will be my first night on the streets. I can't even really be afford to be here, but I couldn't just leave without saying goodbye to all of you. I'm going to miss Sera's determination, Mary's adorableness, even Tlax's shy hostility to me, and just... you and Ari in general. I'm going to miss all of you so much." She breaks down again and you give her a moment.

"Could you stay with some friends like David did until you get that money from your job?"

"I'm... not great at life. It's why I like this game so much. I don't really have anyone I'm close to, and my job... well, it sucks. I wouldn't even keep doing it if I had any alternative. Tash, Mara, Gil, Sel, you, Ari, Sera, Mary, Tlax... I'm closer to all of you than to anyone I've really met. And this might be the last time I can see any of you." She laughs again, no humour in her tone. "I'm closer to a bunch of bits and to people online than I am to anyone real. I'm pathetic."

"Hey, I'm not sure what that means, but I get the impression I should be insulted." You lightly pinch her cheek and her face falls. "Sorry, I'm kidding. So what if your friends are, uh, 'a bunch of bits,' whatever that means. Is that another term for monsters? Ari has been teaching me some of your adventurer words, but I'm not the best student." She lets out a genuine laugh, a beautiful melodic tinkle, for the first time today. "Say, Tashila, Amara and them are adventurers too. Could you ask them for help?"

"I already did," her face falls. "They all live across the pond, and if I could afford a ticket I wouldn't be in this mess. And they don't have much cash either. Most adventurers who you see on all the time don't." It's hard to give any useful input when you have no idea what 'the pond' is or why a 'ticket' to cross it is so expensive. Most ponds are rather small, after all. Perhaps a troll guards it and demands a toll? You've heard they're more fond of bridges, although you've never actually met one. Maybe they guard ponds where she's from? Another sob pulls you out of your thoughts. Right, priorities.

"Why's that?" You wipe away a few more stray tears.

"Well, most of us pretty much just eat, play, and sleep. Or at least, I did before I picked up the job to help out mom a few weeks back, just before she..." she trails off as more sobs wrack her body. "Anyways, n-not much time for work when you do that." You still aren't quite clear on the specifics—after all, adventurers who are frequently 'logged in' have much more time to complete quests—but this doesn't feel like the time to ask for further clarification.

"Is this why you gave Mary that bow a few days ago? Her and Ari seemed to think you just didn't need it, but you loved that bow." She nods into your chest. "Look, I might actually be able to do something to help you." She looks up, her watery eyes meeting your own as she waits for what you have to say. "How would you like to live with us?"

"I mean, I already kind of did," she lets out a sorrowful giggle. "That's part of what got me into this mess in the first place."

"No, I don't think you understand, just like I don't quite get adventurers. Like, how would you like to actually live with us? Like, all the time? Not just when you're 'logged in'?" Her eyes water, confusion plain on her face.

"I'm sorry, I... don't really get it." Her eyes stay locked on your own.

"Neither do I, honestly. But I can assure you that, despite whatever you adventurers seem to think, we monsters are just as alive as you are. You might be able to join us. As a monster, I guess, if you want to think of it that way." Her brow furrows.

"Is that even possible? It sounds like it shouldn't be. What would you do? How would you do it? What would I need to do?" A bit of excitement crosses her sad visage.

"To be honest, I'm not really sure. I'm not even sure I can do it just yet: it might take a bit of preparation. In any case, I've never tried before. But would you want to 'move in' to my lair?" She looks at you in disbelief. "You don't need to pay me any gold, and I promise I won't throw out your stuff. Besides, Mary would kill me if I didn't let you: she loves that bow." She laughs and suddenly you feel her hands yank your head down. Her lips meet yours in a long, wet kiss. You move a hand to squeeze her breast, but she pulls back and shakes her head. "Thanks, but uh, I'm sorry, I'm not really in the mood for that today. Could we just lie down and cuddle a bit?"

You pick her up in your arms and carry her over to the bed, then draw the sheets over the two of you. She wraps herself around your side and squeezes you as if she's afraid to let you go. After several minutes of silence, she speaks up.

"Would you really be able to? I... I think I would like that, if it's possible, although I don't understand how it would be. You aren't just saying that to make me feel better?" You shake your head. "Then, um, what do you need to do? Do you need any help?" She rests her head against your chest, her hair cascading down your torso.

"I need to get a ton of mana. The most practical way is to go and take another dungeon boss's claimant crystal, and there's one I was meaning to fight anyways: he's sided with whoever's been threatening us. Would you like to come along? It shouldn't take more than a day." You take a few strands of her blonde mane and idly twist them between your fingers.

"I'd love to, but I, uh, I can't even afford another day of Shards at this point. I need to get to my next paycheck, if I can even keep my job without a place." Her gaze leaves yours and she stares blankly across the room.

"Well, how long will that be?" You idly run your fingers up and down her back.

"About another week, I guess."

"Well, how about this. We'll wait a week for you to come back, then we'll all head out and take down the goblin together. If everything goes well you won't need to worry about bad 'landlords' ever again." She looks back at you, more tears starting to leak out of her eyes.

"Okay," her voice is barely a whisper. "Look, I don't know if you're just lying to me to make me feel better. If so, please just tell me now so I can move on. If not, I'll try to be back in a week." She puts her hands on your chest as if to push you away.

You stroke her hair and turn her head back to face you. "I'm not lying to you. At least, I don't think I am." She nods and relaxes again.

"Okay. Stay with me?" You squeeze her in response, and the two of you lie in silence into you drift off to sleep. When your head maid wakes you the next morning, there's no one else in the room with you.