2 Ch 2 - Quinn and Ella

'This is such a pain' Quinn grumbled in his head as he recalled what happened.

He brought the girl and the two goblins that he knocked out to the guard station, where he explained what happened and had them locked up.

He and the city guards were on friendly terms, since there were some other cases where newbies enter the dungeon and commit crimes. Some people, despite being the top 1%, are horrible monsters, no matter if they're a goblin, a kobold, or even a human.

For the most part, newbies are well behaved and over confident at most, but some people think they can do whatever they want and pay the price. Like those goblins.

Anyways, Quinn then brought the girl to the orphanage, where kids who entered the dungeon stayed. They need time to grow up before descending the dungeon, or else only death awaits them.

But once they got there, the girl refused to go in and wanted to stay with Quinn. Of course, he tried to refuse, but she wouldn't say no, so in the end Quinn somehow ended up adopting the girl.

In his heart, he felt bad for the girl, but he didn't know what to do with her. He can't let her stay with him, right? Well, it is what it is, and Quinn has to deal with it for now.

"Here we are," he said as they arrived at his apartment. It wasn't that big or anything, just the standard apartment found on the first floor. The whole floor is managed by the dungeon. It's unknown how they do it, but there's a whole system that's somehow managed. It's just the ecosystem of the floor.

Each floor has its own ecosystem. This floor has a city ecosystem, but another floor could be the wilderness, or a desert, or even another city. It can basically be anything, but it's usually themed around the floor's challenge.

Quinn brought the girl into his apartment. It wasn't much, just a standard studio apartment. There were some other room types and layouts, But Quinn never really fancied a flamboyant lifestyle, he'd always been modest.

"Make yourself at home" Quinn said, plopping down on the couch. The girl stood still for a moment before sitting down next to him.

"Mind if I ask about you?" Quinn asked, getting a shy nod from her.

"Who are you?"

"My name i-is Ella" She stuttered.

"What about your parents?"

"Uhm.. mommy took care of me. Daddy… I didn't have a daddy..."

Quinn quickly grew concerned, realizing that the girl in front of him was starting to cry. Tears were forming on her eyes and she was shaking.

"Mommy said to ask people if I get lost, but the green people I asked hurt me… and I still don't know where mommy is… where is mommy… I don't want to be alone..."

Ella was bawling at this point, and had her hand covering her face. Suddenly, she felt a warm embrace envelope her. Quinn has pulled her into a hug. It was quite awkward, but it was the only way he knew how to comfort her.

"Don't worry, you're safe now. You're not alone anymore".

Quinn wipes the tears off of Ella's face as she slowly calmed down. Her body leaned into Quinn as she fell asleep.

"What am I ever going to do with you…" he muttered to himself, unknowingly becoming fond of Ella.

He laid her down on the couch as he started to make dinner for the two of them. He didn't buy groceries recently, so he only had some eggs and other miscellaneous foods, sauces and spices.

Most food on the floor was produced by dryads and elves. They use nature magic to make lots of vegetables, fruits and grains. Meat is a rarity, but there are beastmen who make eggs, milk and other animal products through… unconventional means.

Apparently, food was originally scarce and non-exist when people first arrived. It was an empty but well-kept city, meant as a short resting place for those preparing to descend the dungeon. It was an obvious oversight (there are kitchens but no food???), but luckily people used their strengths and abilities to make food and other things, eventually making a functioning economy.

With the limited amount of foodstuff he had, Quinn decided to get groceries the next day and just make some scrambled eggs for dinner tonight. He cracked, scrambled and cooked two eggs on a frying pan.

Midway through, he heard a rustle from the couch. Turning around, he saw Ella awake, watching him cooking the eggs.

"What are you doing~?" she said drowsily. Rubbing her eyes, she looked curiously at Quinn.

"I'm making dinner".

"Oh. What are you making?"

"Just some scrambled eggs".

"You can eat eggs?"

"Of course" Quinn flipped the eggs.

Ella went silent for a moment. "Do they taste good?"

"Yeah".

*grumble* *grumble* Ella's belly growled in delight behind him. Amused, Quinn let out a chuckle.

"When will it be done?"

"In a minute".

"Okay~" Ella later down on the couch and counted for a minute in her head, although she gave up part way through due to not knowing the numbers.

But, true to his word, the eggs were finished after a minute. Quinn put the eggs on two different plates and brought them to the table. Ella got off the couch and followed him to the table as well.

"It's not the fanciest meal, but it'll do" Quinn said before starting to eat.

Ella followed his lead, taking a bite out of the eggs. Her eyes lit up as she chewed. "It's amazing!" She exclaimed.

"I wouldn't make you bad food, so of course it's good," Quinn said proudly.

Ella nodded at him, and continued eating her food. Quinn did as well.

After finishing, Quinn got up to clean up, but Ella tapped his arm. "Um, Quinn, I have a question".

"What's the question?"

"Why are you so nice to me?"

"Well…" Quinn stopped. Deep down, he knew why, but it was kinda hard for him to say. "You remind me of my sister".

"Your sister?"

"Yep. My sister Fiona. She sadly died, but I hold fond memories of her".

"Oh…" Ella went silent, feeling the mood drop.

Quinn stopped talking as well. He thought back to his time on earth.

Back then, life was normal. He was as average as one could be, a regular high schooler. Fiona was 12 at the time, 4 years younger than him.

One day, his parents went to the bank to withdraw some money. Sadly, there was a robbery on the bank that day, and the robbers started taking hostages. Negotiations fell short and his parents were one of the unlucky ones that ended up getting killed.

Quinn and Fiona then had to live on their own, so he had to take some part time jobs to support both him and his sister. Insurance helped, but wasn't enough. It was quiet without their parents, and they still grieved them, but they learned to move on.

Quinn and Fiona started to bond. They only had each other, so they cherished the little family they had left. But once again, fate had other plans. One day, on her way back home, Fiona was hit by a truck in an accident and died.

After that, Quinn got depressed. The days were quiet and solemn without his parents and Fiona. He quit his job and moped around at home. Using his savings and insurance, he lived like this for around 9 months before taking sleeping pills and committing suicide.

It was depressing, but for the most part, Quinn has moved on since then. His parents death still saddens him, but c'est la vie. Also, with a second chance at life, Quinn learned to cherish it by not descending the dungeon.

But, his heart still stuck with his sister. She was the last of his family, yet her life ended abruptly. He was alone, all by himself. He's just a coward, trying to cope with his life.

"Can I ask you for something?" Ella broke his train of thoughts.

"Sure, I guess. What is it?"

"Are you going to leave me?"

"What?! What makes you think that?!"

"Well… I don't want to be a burden, and mommy says it's not nice to rely on someone…"

Ella grew quiet. Her sad face showed her emotions as she thought she was unwanted.

"That's ridiculous, of course you can stay with me".

"Oh… but why do you want me?"

"Why?"

"Uh huh" Ella nodded. "Mommy said that if I get lost and can't find my way home, I should find someone nice to stay with. Sure, you're nice to me, but that shouldn't mean you want me to stay with you".

Quinn digested what Ella just said. She was very smart for her age. Maybe that's why she came to the dungeon.

"I guess it's because of me. You remind me of my sister a lot, but I still miss her dearly. Maybe, in my broken heart, I want someone to fill that gap in my life" he said partially to Ella and partially to himself. His self pity started to come back and envelope his mind.

"That doesn't make sense" Ella rebutted.

"Why not. That's just the way I am" he replied mindlessly.

"But, mommy told me that good people are always good, no matter what they say otherwise".

This hit Quinn unexpectedly. "But, it's not that I'm good, it's because of my longing for my sister".

"But you helped me when you didn't need to. So, I think you're a good person" Her words were firm. She wasn't going to change her opinion of Quinn, no matter what he said.

Quinn went silent and reflected on himself. He stopped his self pity and thought if he was actually a good person.

'Maybe I am a good person…' he thought to himself. He finally realized how to move on. He had to let go of his sister.

It's been 6 years since she died. Quinn realized that he needed to move on, or he'll be stuck in the past when he has a good life already handed to him. He had a whole new life ahead of him.

In his heart, the hole that was missing from his sister slowly patched up. His spirit rose, as he finally moved on. His sister may be gone, but he got a second chance. Hopefully, she's doing well in whatever domain she landed in. And even though he still misses his sister, he finally let her go.

"Thank you" he said softly, barely loud enough for Ella to hear. She smiled, and yawned.

"Uh… I'm tired" she mumbled. "Can I go to bed?"

"Of course" Quinn smiled. The hole in his heart had been patched up by Ella.

Unconsciously, he had grown even more attached to Ella. It was weird though. He only knew her for a day, yet she was invaluable to him already. Maybe she's just too loveable or wholesome.

Whatever the reason, Quinn doesn't know nor cares. All he cares about is Ella, and that's all that matters.

Quinn brought the sleepy Ella over to his bedroom. He only had one bed, so he decided to let her sleep on it while he sleeps on the couch. But the sleepy Ella thought otherwise.

"Can you sleep with me~" She said while stifling a yawn.

Sighing, Quinn already knew that she wouldn't take no as an answer. He was spoiling her too much. But no matter, He laid down in bed with Ella.

"I love you…" she said before falling asleep.

"I love you too…" Quinn replied, smiling before going to sleep as well.