I ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED A DUNGEON

Sabrina turned her head sharply to the right, her eyes taking stock of the entire room at once before she moved one step forward. The broken pieces of furniture were spread on the right-hand side of the room, and beyond them were the bunk beds placed against the far wall with the white sheets sprawled messily on the wooden floorboards under them.

She smelled the air for any sign of his presence, but there was nothing. Her eyes went to the left, to the wardrobes lined against the walls. She moved rapidly towards them, examining each one she passed, until she halted in front of the middle wardrobe with an evil smile on her face. She pulled the door open with a jerk.

"Felix!"

Felix released the breath he was holding, slowly.

Calm down. Everything is fine. Everything is under control.

His grip loosened on the orb, his body going relaxed slightly.

Sabrina has just possessed Dune. Simple as that. Even if I do nothing and stay hidden I know things will work out on her own, Dune will regain consciousness. But what if she doesn’t...

His heartbeat spiked again, his lips pressed together tightly.

What if Sabrina finds me first? Should I make a run again? But my leg hurts. How did Dune absorb her? Just kissing...

He shook his head.

No, that’s not it. Kissing alone can’t be the only factor, they must have techniques to pull that off. I can’t do that. And this is the first time I’ve ever come face to face with a ghost like her, one who took a simple joke way too seriously...

He licked his dried lips, and for some reason Dune’s face flashed before his eyes.

What should I do now? I’m just useless. I can’t do anything. I should quietly get out and make my escape. Yeah, that’s the smartest choice. I can save Dune later with help from others, there’ll be plenty of people at the guild house. There’s always someone good with ghosts. But how much would they even charge?

Felix stared down at his own fingers for a moment, thinking it through, then shook his head.

"No. No, I don’t have time for this." He straightened up.

"I have to do this myself. Grandpa always said no matter how bad a situation gets, there’s always a way to fix things. You can do this." He caught himself, correcting under his breath. "No, I can do this."

He nodded once and tapped his boot against the floor. "There should be a way."

Felix breathed in deeply and released a long exhalation through his nose. The noise of Sabrina ripping apart wardrobe doors was gradually coming closer, and it wouldn’t be long before she reached his. He switched the orb to his left hand and pulled the scroll from his pocket with the other, unrolling it partway and holding it ready.

"Now come here, you dumb ghost."

Sabrina stopped in front of the last wardrobe, fury written across her face after finding nothing in the others. She leaned close to it and drew a long breath in through her nose, and her eyes went wide, a smile spreading slow across her face. She could feel him inside.

She grabbed the handle, tightened her grip, and yanked the door open.

"Took you long enough." Felix smirked at her.

"Felix, I—" She did not finish her phrase, looking down and seeing his hand pressing on her chest. A folded paper caught between his palm and her skin. "What is this!"

"You’ll find out," Felix said casually, pressing the piece of paper harder onto her. "On behalf of the dead spirits, leave this body immediately!"

Sabrina continued to stare at him for a while before doing nothing.

*Might be slow acting*, Felix thought calmly.

Sabrina seized his wrist and tried to rip his hand off her body.

"STOP!" Felix screamed. She immediately released her grip and stopped moving. "Wait."

"On behalf of the supreme ruler of death, take her to your kingdom," Felix repeated again. There was no reaction at all. "Very strange! Why is this not working? Is this fake too?"

"Enough!" Sabrina moved to get a hold of him. Felix ducked just in time and ran in between her legs before she got a chance to grab him. Can’t believe I was tricked twice. I want my silvers back for this scroll. Just wait.

She quickly turned around only to see that he was already standing up straight. "You won’t run away from me again."

She jumped at him, falling down to the floor but managing to get hold of his ankle.

Felix went down with her. "Just leave me alone," he growled, kicking at her grip, but she didn’t let go.

"Now we belong together," Sabrina muttered, crawling up his legs. "We’ll both be happy."

"No. No, no, no," Felix said tensing up, his entire body twisting in her grasp, and he managed to free his legs for a second. He started to drag himself backwards.

Sabrina climbed over him on her knees, grabbing at his boot with each pull. "Don’t run away from me. You want me."

"I don’t," Felix stated with a thud of his back hitting a piece of furniture, his face turned pale.

"You don’t need to lie to me," Sabrina whispered, inching forward and reaching out with her hands towards his legs. "I know how you feel."

Felix tried to look away, and that’s when he saw it, more writing on the back of the paper he’d pressed against her earlier. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Sabrina nodded, settling over his legs. "You don’t need to think about anything. I’ll always keep you happy. I’ll give you everything, jewels, dresses, gold, everything."

"Honestly, I would be very happy to accept your proposal."

"Yeah, sure." She leaned in closer, and Felix’s arms wound their way around her back as though trying to pull her into a hug. He brought his mouth close to hers and lowered his voice.

"But you’re a liar, aren’t you?"

"What?" She jerked her head to look at him.

Felix placed the paper against her back and recited what was written on the back in one smooth breath. "By the old rites unbroken, no wandering shade shall pass this seal."