Sometimes, reunions can be hard. I vividly remember a story I once heard about a group of skiffers who split up after their skiff was destroyed by pirates. A year later, after going into the Hunter’s guild for work, they had a reunion. Half of them had died. Half of the rest quit the hunter’s business from permanent injuries, stress, or traumatic events. People can change quickly. That is doubly so when the business of violence is involved.
-Offhand remark of new-age social scientist, Tika Hilja
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“Creators be damned, get your asses out here!” Helga shouted, banging on the door with a look between annoyance and anger on her face. Nothing but silence came from within the room.
Mori looked between Eaner, who was rubbing his temples with his fingers, and Helga, who was furiously banging on the door, and sighed, “Are you sure this is still such a good idea?” she asked, catching Fara breath out a tiny sigh, “I mean, she took one look at me and slammed the door in my face. I don’t think they’ll be able to handle being on our skiff if that was the first reaction.”
Eaner shrugged, “I would have thought that to be the case until you mentioned the fact that you come from Earth as well,” he explained, “They have not truly connected with anyone in the past couple of weeks and I was hoping that, in time, they would come to integrate with the crew, but then Aekan fell…”
“I wanted to ask, truth be told,” Fara began, “Why take in, what? Ninety people on a whim? I mean, do you even have that many people in your company?”
“The purpose was… pragmatic. Sure, I had no intention of leaving a group of interdimensional travelers out to starve, but I was also hoping that they could bring about new inventions with their own unique perspective. That was my hope, but… they have been facing many difficulties in understanding how magic works. On top of that, two thirds of them are not planning to follow us to Aekan. They are split and alone, and…” he trailed off, glancing at Mori.
“You’re hoping that I’ll be able to help them. Is that what you’re getting at?” Eaner nodded, showing an apologetic smile to her, “Fine. I didn’t really want to deal with my previous life, but if it must be done…”
Mori turned to Helga, still banging on the door. The woman noticed her look and moved away, “Be careful the ‘em, alright? They’re pretty sensitive.”
Mori nodded, lightly knocking on the door, “Please open the door,” she said, “I’m here to meet you guys.”
For a moment, nothing was heard, but Mori heard movement from behind the door soon enough. There was a bout of furious whispering that was even lost on her hearing, until a young man spoke through the door, “Are you the skeleton?” he asked, eyeing her flaming eye sockets.
“Lich,” Mori corrected, “But yeah. Open the door.”
“Why do you want to meet us?” he shot back, even more cautious.
Mori chuckled, “The one who died. I don’t know how I died on the plane, but I did. They burned my body,” she said, shooting a look at Eaner who nodded, “But I came back to life.”
They fell silent once more, waiting for the people from Earth to reply. After a few more moments, the man spoke once more, “Jack…? No, you’re not Jack. Who the hell are you?”
“Mori Athanatos,” she introduced, a bit annoyed that she could not meet face-to-face, “After a little post-mortem magic accident, I came back to life. I did have to trade all of my memories for it, so that’s why I can’t remember you. Or my original name…” she trailed off, thinking, “But I was a Jack, huh?” she muttered.
“I…”
“Oh for the love of god, you two,” a second man said, “I don’t care who it is, just open the damn door!” The door was ripped open and Mori got to see who she was talking to. The first man had a lean frame, though Mori had a suspicious feeling it was due to the system, with black hair, and olive skin. The woman still retained her brown hair and blue eyes, but Mori noticed that she wore a loose-fitting, sand-colored poncho. The second man simply wore workman’s overalls and an annoyed look, grimacing like a bulldog. The second man looked at Mori, then glanced to Eaner and Helga, then to Fara, then finally back to Mori, “So… hello there?” he greeted.
“Hey,” Mori returned, “Should we just wait out here, or…”
He shrugged, “Come in. These two are the de facto leaders around here, but until they start acting right I’ll take charge.”
“I can do just as good of a job as you, old man!” a woman yelled from within the room. She sat at the large central table and wore a tight-fitting shirt and pair of pants with a full head of copper blonde hair and brown eyes. The room itself was a generic meeting room with a wooden table, bookshelves, and wood-paneled walls.
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The bulldog-faced man rolled his eyes, “I’m not that old, kid. Besides, Miss Stars and Stripes, I have a name and it’s Kevin!”
The woman glared, “I have a name too, Kevvy, and it’s Natalia!”
“The hell…?” Mori muttered as she watched some verbal spar that she could only call a complicated mating ritual, “Alright, so would either of you like to hear why I’m here or are you going to flirt all day?” she finally said.
The woman’s glare shot to her only to explode into a dumb stare. Her dumb stare seemed to be shared by most of the people sitting at the table. The only one who retained their sense was the man, Kevin, “First of all, I’d rather lay my ex-wife than sleep with her. Second of all, just make your case please; we were talking about something.”
Mori gave Kevin a flat stare before stepping to the front of the table, “Alright, here’s the short version: some madmen blew up two of Eaner’s skiffs and he needs me to transport you guys to Aekan. I wanted to meet you so you didn’t freak out over me being dead and all. Looking at your reactions…” she said, looking at the gaping men and women, “Well, let’s say you’ve got a long way to go before you’d be ready. And before you ask, yeah, I’m that one guy who died in the crash landing. I became a lich and decided to be the lichess you see before you. Any questions?”
Kevin raised his hand first, so Mori pointed to him, “Alright, ignoring everything else, what the hell happened to make one of my passengers… you?”
“Panicked desperation and dumb luck. Add a couple weeks with a good mechanic friend of mine and voila: me.”
“Hrm,” he grunted, “So, I’m guessing you have a crew of undead?”
Mori nodded, “A few dozen undead, an orc, and two humans. And Fara.”
Fara rolled her eyes, “I don’t count as human?” she joked, “After all I’ve done for you, Mori…”
“Don’t be sad, Fara, you’re still my friend,” Mori laughed, enjoying the woman’s faux-annoyed looks.
“Alright,” Natalia said, seemingly over her shock, “Next thing, who the hell blew up two skiffs in the middle of the city? Do they have a death wish?”
“Ahem,” Eaner cut in, stepping beside Mori, “In order, a group of clock cultists blew up two dozen skiffs moored at the docks. Were it not for the intervention of myself and Ms. Mori here, they would have likely killed many more and done much more damage.”
“And their leader was screaming bloody madness from the burning wreck. They did get away, though, so it wasn’t a great showing for any of us. I don’t think you guys have any more questions, so…?” Mori turned and saw the first man standing there with a look in his eyes, “Do you have a question…”
“Are you really Jack?” he asked, a nervous look in his eyes.
Mori shook her head, “No, not Jack. Mori. Mo-ri. Not a letter the same. If you’re asking if this body and this soul were once called Jack, then I think they were. Other than that, nope.”
The man looked a bit dejected for a moment, “Oh… How was it… dying?”
“Philip!” the woman hissed. She stood beside Philip, glaring at him and whispering in his ear, “Don’t bring it up! That’s just rude!” she whispered. Mori had a niggling feeling that they were quite close to each other.
Mori waved her hand lazily, “No, no, it’s fine. I already told Eaner about it. Well, imagine being blown to bits in slow motion. That’s pretty much it. It’s not pretty, not fun, nor is it peaceful. Granted, most of the pain was from being torn from my body so abruptly, so it may be different if you die a natural death, but it hurts.”
Philip shuddered for a moment before seeming to deflate, falling into an open chair. The woman sat beside him, keeping an eye on him while looking at her with waning warriness. “So,” Eaner began, “You heard her story, who she is, and our conundrum. I could arrange for an alternative transport, but it would take a bit of time. As well as that, it would likely be best for you all to follow her; do you mind teaching them about magic while they travel?” he asked her.
Mori shrugged, “I mean, I could ask my death knights to do it. They’re pretty adept at more basic magic, and they’re growing in skill as we speak. Though… Jel did get [Chaotic Adept] last week, so… well, she’s been thinking on a different wavelength than most others, but it’s fine. I can teach too, when I get some time between our personal projects.”
Eaner smiled, “Thank you. Now then, you all vote on matters such as these, do you not? Do you need more time, or are you all ready now?” Almost all of them violently shook their heads; the only exceptions were Natalia and Kevin, who seemed to be in favor of traveling with Mori, “Alright then, we will leave you be. Ladies, if you could, we should give them some time.” Mori and Fara accepted, leaving the room without as much as a word. Eaner escorted them to the front of the building, a sad smile on his face, “I apologize for the commotion, my friend; I had hoped this would be much more amiable. I will send word when they make their decision.”
“Thank you, Eaner,” Mori said, “I didn’t want to go hunting them down, but fate’s a cruel mistress, as some say. Have a great day now,” she said, turning to leave.
“Bye,” Fara added, turning with Mori and leaving the building behind, “So, those were your… friends?”
“No, they were my old personality’s… not even acquaintances. He saw them once and then died,” Mori explained, “They’re just people without much sense of the world like me. What I find more interesting is that you’re starting to be more shy…” she teased, poking Fara’s cheek with her finger.
“I’m not shy!” she almost yelled, pouting, “I’m just… scared of people noticing me after…”
“Yeah, I get it. @!_$_*** must have missed the mark when she gave you that Trait, huh?”
Fara shook her head, “No, it’s not that. It’s just… complicated.”
Mori smiled, pulling her into a side hug, “I get it. Why don’t we go and finish shopping before you get all bummed out? Maybe we could even see if we can use that weird metal we looted from the reliquary for it?” she offered.
Fara widened her eyes, “Ah, we could! That’s genius! Come on, let’s go!” She grabbed Mori by the arm and pulled her along, running with excitement that made Mori happy to see.