Dungeon of Niflheim

The invisible hands that were pressing down upon Frost, Indra, Gobuske, Liana and Terra\'s heads disappeared as did the crushing force clamping down on their limbs in a mere instant.

Frost looked up to see his father\'s face, confusion as well as a hint of hope lingering in his gaze.

The indifferent and somewhat cold expression was still there on his father\'s face for a brief moment before.

"Ok, you can stay together." Dark\'s voice was once again amicable, warm and kind. His lips were even upturned into a gentle smile as though his earlier anger was non-existent.

Frost\'s face rapidly alternated between being happy to utter confusion. How could his father change moods so easily, he almost looked proud.

The siblings that defied alongside him also bore confused expressions as did everyone else, it was just too surreal.

"Haaaaaaaa" Eventually Dark released a deep sigh before talking in a voice that reached every boundary of the room. "Sometimes Frost you need to bring the thunder if you want to see the true extent of someone\'s resolve." He then smiled knowingly from ear to ear before chuckling.

"…..You were never angry were you?" Frost asked after reigning in his tempest of emotions.

"Nope, all pretend hehehehe." Dark arched his chest out, proud of his acting skills.

"Were you actually going to separate us?"

"If no one questioned my decision then yes because there wouldn\'t be a good reason not to." Dark answered honestly.

Ideally his children would be separated from their mighty protectors and thus become independent, able to spread their own wings and reach the limit of their potential, but he wasn\'t a fool. Living breathing people had emotions and their own sense of will so after being partnered up with one another for an entire year it was normal for some level of relationship to be born.

In fact the amount of guardians that would actually chose to abandon their charges when they had the option to stay were few and far between. Even if there wasn\'t a romantic relationship there were bonds of close friendship.

Gobuske for example a Dungeon core who initially received an abusive and hate filled guardian now had two bright and bubbly girls by his side who cared for him and eased his trauma. He\'d do anything to keep these people by his side, they were his light in a long tunnel of darkness.

Dark knew all this and did nothing to stop it in fact he encouraged developments between his children and their guardians viewing it as something healthy and natural. He wanted them to fight for what they desired even if it meant standing up to him. Very few beings in the universe ever argued let alone defied his will, he didn\'t want his children to fall alongside the masses.

He may be a near omnipotent God, but he was nowhere near perfect, like everyone else he needed people to reign him in every now and then.

Hearing his father\'s honest answer Frost looked at him silently, a sudden wave of understanding of his father\'s true personality washing over him. It was lonely at the top.

"Father?"

"Yes Frost."

"….You\'re kind of a jerk." Frost straight up insulted his father and felt much better afterwards.

"Seconded!"

"Totally agree." Indra and Terra quickly gave their support, nodding their heads in agreement. Liana and Gobuske kept silent but the look in their eyes gave away their agreement.

"Ah no you see it was a lesson, a teachable moment, a dose of much needed tough love." Dark scrambled to explain himself but received nothing but dirty looks in return. Desperate for even the slightest bit of support he turned to the ones he felt he could most rely on, his eldest children.

Unfortunately Aqua liked Frost far more than her father so without even the slightest doubt she sided with him and gave Dark one of the most heart wrenching looks of derision a daughter could give a father.

"Ugh!" The old man literally felt a knife stab through his heart, his entire body quickly becoming encased in frigid ice as his blood ran cold. The look his daughter just gave him would send most fathers to the gallows or at the very least into an eternal depression.

It was a though with a single look she didn\'t just sever their bond but tore it apart, set it on fire and then crushed it under her heel.

With his heart under fire he turned to his last hope, his eldest and most reliable son, Yami. He would understand the need for tough love, the benefit of his actions right?

Yami looked at his father\'s face and understood the extent of his emotional damage but….Yami didn\'t say anything, nor did he give his father a specific look instead he simply turned away as if ignoring his entire existence.

Perhaps he thought this was a kindness, a silent show of support for his younger brother without the need to inflict further injury on their father but instead it was like the final nail in the coffin.

All vitality seemed to disappear from Dark\'s body in that moment, his shoulders slumped, and he suddenly looked 10 years older. Hundreds of eyes locked onto him, piercing through his flesh as if to mock him, to isolate him like a solitary island in the vicious ocean.

The former grandiose and charismatic looking Dark God turned into an impoverished old man without any signs of light in his frail eyes. Under the gazes of his children and the many people who revered him he slumped over to a corner in the room and faced the wall muttering the word jerk over and over again.

"He\'s probably going to be doing that for while right?" Frost asked feeling the slightest bit guilty about what he did.

"Probably, he\'s not exactly the most stable person."

"I remember when Sylph called him stupid one time, he refused to talk to anyone for 3 days."

"Ah stupid Terra that was supposed to be a secret!"

"Oww" Sylph knocked her much larger younger brother on the back of the head while blushing. That was something she told him in confidence.

"He does seem to have a habit of breaking down whenever it involves one of his daughters." Indra surmised while stroking his chin in thought. Dark was a bit shocked by Frost\'s words, but it wasn\'t until Aqua gave him that frightening look that he really broke down.

The older Dungeon cores and the ones that seemed to be more sure of themselves collectively chatted away, agreeing to completely ignore their father mumbling away in the corner.

Eventually Frost remembered the whole reason he was defying his father in the first place. His eyes quickly scanned the upper level in search of Maya, but she wasn\'t there. Panicked he looked from side to side chasing after her figure but still nothing.

A moment later however a pair of slender arms reached out from behind his back and hugged him. The warmth of her hands and softness of her chest against his back brought an unrestrained smile to his lips along with a few tears. The two lovers remained in that position for a while, enjoying the lack of distance and the comfort of one another\'s touch.

Maya cried softly against his shoulder, her heart bursting with joy as she had been granted permission, permission to be with him. Though Dark hadn\'t brought up the price for his agreement she didn\'t care as long as she could stay beside him nothing else mattered.

Indra, Terra and Liana all used this moment to hold their significant others, to relish in their momentous victory. Most were overjoyed with this scenario, lovers would be allowed to stay with one another, friends wouldn\'t have to be separated and those who put their all into teaching could remain with their charges if they so wished. Yes it was all good news….for the majority.

However what of the groups who had no desire to keep their guardians or what if the guardians had no desire to stay with them would they not be penalised in that case. To be bereft of such an incredible teacher and protector while others could enjoy them, hardly seemed fair. Thus a small group started to look at Frost, Terra, Indra, Liana and Gobuske with unkind eyes, viewing them as annoyances.

There was even one or two Dungeon cores and guardians whose fanaticism towards Dark was so strong that they abhorred even the slightest transgression, his words were law, divine instructions to be followed to the letter.

Miraculously the family gathering that Dark summoned them all for continued without him. The Dungeon cores simply left him to sulk while they caught up with another and discussed certain development options as well as possible exchanges. The more the siblings interacted with one another the more interested they became.

Dungeon cores with different core types could develop in completely different ways and summon items that sounded completely foreign to another sibling. Exchanging of dialogue expanded their minds, granting them new ways of thinking. Working together was far more effective than working alone.

This was the true reason and heart of the family gatherings, to openly exchange views and test their abilities against one another.

It was just a shame that Dark was too bummed out to participate at least for the first few hours. Eventually though he pulled himself together (though keeping his distance and gaze away from Aqua) and inserted himself into the conversation.