- Ch. 14 - A Somber Affair, the Canary's Tears, and a Welcome Home

{4:47 PM}

Today felt like a very long day for Faith. Her Familia entourage that came with her to the Medical Ward, were all hard at work. Sometimes, it felt like there was just too many Adventurers and not enough healers.

The Medical Ward of Babel is made up of a collection of connected buildings that occupied a small section of the topmost area of the tower. Most of the people that worked there were all Guild personnel, but there were some who worked there as contracted healers, others trained there to become healers; and then once they were qualified enough, they then return to their home cities, towns, and villages and open their own practice there. A few work there as assistants, clerks, secretaries, and take up other forms of occupation for one reason or another.

Faith and her Familia work in the ground floor of the Ward; where they receive patients, do patient check ups, sell medicine, potions, tonics, elixirs, and other health recovery items. They also have an intensive care unit for the critically injured. Next to the I.C.U., is an area in the Ward where they take care of the short stay patients.

The blond half-elf was currently stationed at one of the front desks. She was switched off from floating, since she's been on her feet all day. Floating; being a term they use to describe someone going from one station to the next to help out wherever they're needed. Even though she's only 17, her 7 years of experience in the Medical Ward gave her plenty of seniority and knowledge in how things work. She was given the position as one of the floaters in the 1st floor, because she knew everything that was everything that needed to be done there.

Faith has a very stressful job, but it has it's rewards every now and then.

As she yawned, she looked out over the large reception area where her fellow coworkers were slightly relaxed and enjoying the peace. To be honest, they all needed it after the hectic lunch hour rush. An expedition made up of at least 230 people came back around that time and they were carrying several wounded with them. Apparently, there was a horde of variant Spartoi; skeleton monsters, on floor 37 that ambushed the expedition as they were making their way back up from the deeper floors. They ran out of medicine, potions, and other health recovery items when they reached floor 19, so it was a miracle that most of them survived their injuries to make it to the Ward.

At the moment, there weren't any patients or people about to check in, so they were enjoying the lax atmosphere.

Sadly, that peace was broken when a familiar figure entered through the doors.

"Dinah?!", she exclaimed in surprise, as she rushed forward. While she was making her way to Dinah with all due haste, the light chatter around the reception area died swiftly.

As she got closer, she noticed that Dinah looked like a hot mess. Her long blond hair; which were usually in natural waves, were in disarray. There was splotches of blood all over her. Her clothes looked fine, besides the splotches of blood that covered different areas of her body, the few tears on her shirt, fishnet leggings, and the scuffed up boots.

What gave the Panacea Familia Captain an increasing amount of worry was the atmosphere that the Canary was subconsciously emitting. 'What is she holding?...', the half-elf questioned herself with furrowed brows.

When she got closer, she noticed that Dinah was carrying someone's limp body.

"Catherine, get me a gurney here, stat!", she shouted out, when she realized the gravity of the situation.

As soon as she was close enough, she noticed that the body that her new Familia member was carrying wasn't moving at all. The young man's chest wasn't rising or falling; which would've indicated breathing. He was missing parts of his body and the blood in the open wounds were a dark blue; which indicates that his blood already settled and wasn't pumping anymore. And his skin was very pale. Dinah was carrying a dead young man.

Before she could say anything, the sounds of a gurney being wheeled in was heard from behind her.

She looked into Dinah's neutral expression, before turning around to address the gurney crew.

"We've got a deceased body, gender: male, name: unknown, age: late teens to early 20's, Familia affiliation: to be determined, time of death: unknown, place of death: unknown dungeon floor, cause of death: put down dungeon until further notice.", Faith addressed the group of four. "Catherine, please send a messenger to inform the morgue that we've got another body.", she addressed her coworker; of whom was one of the four in the gurney crew.

"You've got it, Faith.", the female cat-person replied.

"Dinah, please place his body on the gurney.", she addressed the stoic woman gently.

Without a word, Dinah gently placed the body; front side up, on the wooden gurney's bedding, before slowly backing away.

"You guys know what to do.", she addressed the gurney crew with a nod; who nodded back silently before wheeling the deceased down to the hallway leading to the morgue.

Faith, without preamble, softly grabbed Dinah's subtly shaking hand and lead her to the women's restroom. She gently shook her head at some of her coworkers' questioning looks while subtly gesturing to the blond woman she was dragging along. Some nodded in understanding while some shrugged nonchalantly.

All the while, Dinah was still silent. As she looked back, Faith saw Dinah's facade slowly beginning to crack.

Faith swiftly brought Dinah into the thankfully empty restroom, and had her sit on the edge of the marble sink. As she sat down, the tears in her soft and gorgeous blue eyes finally fell down her cheeks.

The half-elf didn't say a word, but she did wash the blood off of Dinah's face while the woman cried silently. After she was done, Faith hugged the weeping woman; who hugged her back fiercely, while a gentle smile appeared on her face.

"Shhh... shhh, you're alright. You're not injured, are you?", she asked Dinah softly.

Dinah shook her head in the negative.

"That's good... that's good. Did you know him? And was he the first dead body you've ever seen?"

Dinah shook her head again.

"Are you tired? Did you eat lunch? And how deep in the dungeon did you go?", she asked rapidly; while subconsciously projecting a warm, doting, and motherly aura about her.

"...mm... exhausted. I.. ate. And... 1.", the Canary answered, while her voice was muffled on Faith's shoulder.

After asking a few more probing questions, Faith finally got to the meat of the matter. When Dinah described to her in detail what she saw in that room, she couldn't help but feel her heart clench in pain and sadness for the young woman.

The questions she asked the softly sobbing woman painted a few possible reasons as to why the tough blond was in such a state. But there was only one that made so much sense to her.

After piecing together all the minor clues; as well as having heard about Dinah's recent past and quickly piecing it together with her reasoning, she found out the main reason why Dinah was so distraught. "Did you see him...? Did you see his face on that young man..?"

Dinah nodded her head and her sobs got louder. Faith quickly yet gently pushed the weeping woman's face further into her chest. She made sure to whisper sweet nothings into the crying mother's ears while gently shaking her from side to side. 'You are truly missed Oliver Queen. We'll make sure to take care of your wife and son and help them find happiness. They're a part of our family now..., so you've got nothing to worry about.'

After a while, Dinah finally calmed down. Before she could pull away, Faith held her fast. "As your friend, I want you to quickly inform your Guild Advisor that you're alive and well. And then, I want you to head home right away. Got it?"

Dinah nodded her head silently and they separated slowly. With Faith's help, Dinah looked presentable and less bloody from her previous appearance. She only looked looked slightly messy and worn out.

With that done, Faith led her outside the Medical Ward's reception area and she hugged the Canary before they departed. As she saw Dinah walk away with a slightly better gait from her previous sullen one, she looked on sadly.

'There she goes... Even though I'm technically her younger sister, I feel like her mother. Panacea and I need to sit down with her later...' With a shake of her head, she went back into the reception area.

"Hey Faith, was that one of your kids?", Catherine asked her with a small smirk.

'I know what you're doing. Trying to distract me from my worry like this, but did you have to start with that?', she mentally berated her coworker and friend.

Before she could correct her, the peanut gallery chimed in.

"What, she's got another one?"

"I'm not surprised...-"

"Don't be silly.. nya. It's Faith we're talking about after all...-"

While this conversation was heating up, Faith subtly rolled her eyes in exasperation, before looking back at the entrance. 'I hope she gets home safe.'

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{5:37 PM}

When Dinah reached the front of the Guild Hall, her mood was slightly brighter.

Her descent from the tower was met with a few curious glances, but overall she was given just enough attention for others to recognize an Adventurer that just got back from the dungeon.

When she entered the Guild's pristine halls, she saw Henrietta nodding to herself when she saw her while Delilah looked at her slightly with a tilted head.

She nodded to the cat-eared receptionist while she headed towards her Guild Advisor. As she got closer to Henrietta's desk, the red-haired woman's eyes slowly widened as her usually lethargic expression shifted to a very alert and intense look. Dinah could feel Henrietta's gaze wander and scrutinize her form as if she was under a microscope.

Before she could say anything, her Official Guild Advisor said, "Ms. Lance, you don't seem well. I'm glad to see that you've survived your first dungeon dive, but it seems to have worn you out. Both physically and mentally."

With a small and broken smile, Dinah bowed to her Advisor subtly. "Let's just say, it could've gone better."

*Sigh* "At least you didn't die, I'll give you that. I won't ask you what happened. I'll wait for you to tell me in the future, if you ever decide to. For now, you should avoid the dungeon for a small period of time. I can tell that you need it."

Dinah nodded her head in agreement while a minuscule smile filled with gratitude appeared on her lips. "Thanks for worrying. I'll heed to your wisdom.", she said quietly.

The redhead's intense look lightened slightly before she cleared her throat. "Now Ms. Lance, what did you get in the dungeon, if you don't mind my asking?"

Dinah paused and gained a thoughtful look to her as she looked up into the Guild Hall's ceiling. 'Hmm... If I carry the one there..., then add this there...'

"I have exactly 952 tiny magic stone slivers, 173 Goblin Fangs, and 35 Kobold Nails.", Dinah told her, with a slightly proud look radiating from her person.

*Sigh* "Dinah, please don't tell anyone else about this besides your Familia. The amount of stones I can understand because you seem like a very capable person. But the amount of dropped items you gained sounds like something a party of five new Level 1's could've gathered within the span of a month. The dungeon must really hate you.", Henrietta informed with a small frown appearing at the end.

"Ummm... can you explain that to me in more detail? How can the dungeon hate me any more than the average Adventurer? I thought the dungeon hates everyone equally.", said Dinah with some confusion.

"There's a famous theory that gets passed around the grapevine of Orario from time to time. When an Adventurer gains enough strength or does something worthy of a heroic feat; it doesn't matter whether it's minor or astronomic, then the dungeon will decide to increase the difficultly for that particular person. The more heroic a person is to the dungeon's eye, then the more the dungeon will try to kill that particular person. We've heard a few rumors of a group made up of three Level 1's who were swarmed by not just Minotaurs, but even Killer Ants on the 9th floor."

"Wait, but isn't that...-", Dinah stopped herself before she said that one word.

"-..Impossible?", Henrietta finished for her with a raised brow. "We may understand the basics of how the dungeon works, but that's all that we do understand about it. The monsters the dungeon gives birth to try to climb up to the surface from time to time. It's not that much of a stretch of the imagination to think that they can't climb down as well."

*Sigh* "That's true. I doubt many would want to think that way though.", the blond young woman replied while pinching the bridge of her nose slightly in aggravation. "Wait a minute, how does the number of dropped monster parts I pick up correlate with the dungeon hating me more?"

"The more stronger a monster is, then the bigger their magic stone. You know this, but what you may not have known is that the more effort the dungeon puts in into trying to end you, then the more stronger each monster is. You may not have realized it, but some of those Goblins and Kobolds you killed were a tad stronger than average. The stronger a monster is, then the more chances of it dropping a part of itself that has a greater amount of magical energy. Thus, the amount of dropped monster parts you picked up were greater than average for your first day. You must be very careful the next time you do descend down there, agreed?", Henrietta finished with her intense look slowly dying down.

"I'll do my best to be more careful then.", Dinah informed with a nod and a small thankful smile. "So, what do you suggest I do? I can't exactly turn in everything all at once to the exchange, since it'll be too noticeable. My Familia doesn't need that kind of attention, as of yet."

*Sigh* "I suggest you turn in less than 200 of your magic stone slivers, buy actual leather pouches, and keep your dropped items for now. That satchel of yours is cute, but taking out all that you've gained so far from inside it will attract more attention than necessary. I expect you to tell me the next time you go down there, do you concur, Ms. Lance?", the redhead asked; with her slightly lethargic look slowly returning to her.

Dinah agreed with a nod and a smile and they exchanged a few more words and pleasantries before she headed to the exchange.

After exchanging 152 tiny magic stone slivers, Dinah gained 34,960 Valis from the Guild exchange. She had 705 Valis earlier, but now she's got 35,665 Valis to her name.

With a slight spring to her step, Dinah left the Guild Hall after giving a few farewells to Delilah and nodding one more time to Henrietta.

'Time to buy actual carrying pouches and go home. I miss my baby bird so much. I miss everyone...'

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{6:12 PM}

'Hmmmm..., now that I've had time to decompress and reexamine myself... I've got to say... I feel odd.', Dinah contemplated while looking at her limbs.

The blond-haired Martial Arts master was currently sitting on the edge of a stone fountain near a intersection where she just went shopping for leather pouches. It took her a while, but she noticed something fundamentally different about her. After finding a relaxing spot to rest for a while, she examined herself slowly.

She felt emotionally and mentally exhausted, but physically she felt fine. However, when she examined herself further, she saw something odd. Her time at the dungeon left no obvious injury on her person, but she knew she had a few minor ones she took note of as she climbed back up the Babel Tower. 'I'm pretty sure I had a scratch there.', she said internally while examining one of the small holes on her crop top t-shirt's midsection.

As she kept on looking over her body discreetly, she saw that almost all the areas of her skin where she should've had a few tiny scratches were all unblemished.

'I have an increased healing factor too? It's pretty minor, but this could prove useful. How come I've never heard about this before?'

After a few more minutes spent ruminating, she walked home.

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{6:32 PM}

When she saw her new home, she felt relieved. What made her break her composure was the sight of her entire Familia at the front of the house and waiting for her. She felt tears fall down her cheeks as she approached them.

In the center of it all, was Panacea; with Conner in her arms, who was flanked by Faith, and Lianne.

The moment she got closer and stopped just a few arms distance away, Panacea; with a warm and loving expression on her fair face, announced, "Welcome home, Songbird. We've missed you."

Dinah closed the distance with a hug to her Goddess and son while her Familia joined in the group hug. It was a very heart warming scene to anyone who happened to be watching from the outside. Thankfully, no one was watching the touching display of Familia bonding and camaraderie.

'I'm home...' With that thought, Dinah broke down into sobs once again. Her heart felt warm, her skin tingled, her tears cascaded down like droplets of rain, and she felt safe. 'I'm home...'