“Necromancer this. Necromancer that,” Latori mocked. His face was scrunched up and his eyes were aimed at the ceiling. “Why does everyone care so much? This is an island in the middle of NOWHERE. Can’t we just live in peace until we get rescued from this damn place someday.”
“You said you’d help me!” Malidy began to yell. She stepped forward and started gesturing her desperation.
“Yeah, yeah, I’ll help you…” Latori immaturely murmured back.
“Okay… Thank you. Wow, for the first time you’re actually cooperating.
Latori snickered. He had just enough humanity in him not to say, “sike” one more time to the girl.
“... What? What’s so funny? Is there something on my face?” Milady covered her face and looked at Latori through her fingers.
“No, no. It’s nothing. I just remembered a joke that my sword told me a while ago.” Latori snickered even louder.
“A joke that-What, are you fucking with me? It’s my missing fingernail on my thumb, huh? You would be the type to laugh at that, even if I’m a dead girl.”
“What? No, geez. You must think I’m such an asshole. I was just laughing at a joke I remembered. Get over yourself.”
“YES, you are an asshole. Stop laughing at me. Don’t look at my elbows.”
“Geez, chill. Also, can you heal me up the rest of the way? These wounds still hurt.”
“I can’t. I never got too far on my light magic studies. If I try to push my luck further, it might end up in some bad scarring.”
“Oh, well, I guess going after the necromancer will have to wait.” Latori stepped to the side and snidely smiled at the cave wall.
“Hmph, I’m just looking after your well being. Anyway, I’m in no rush, so it’s fine. It probably wouldn’t hurt to live a little longer…”
***
As if they were two strangers getting acquainted over a cup of coffee, Latori and Malidy conversed on surface level topics before each took turns displaying stepping stone levels of vulnerability. Latori managed to cut back on his cruel “pranks”, like a child on their third warning biting their tongue to avoid further reprimanding. It was nice, having another person around. Hundan was good company, but Latori found that Hundan never seemed to let his guard down around him.
The boy told Malidy about his grand entrance onto the island while leaving out… inconsequential details. Malidy kicked at the dirt and diverted her eye contact away from the boy while she discussed her past. Like a privileged child from the golden state Latori had once known, Malidy originated from an upper middle class family in CholReval. Unremarkable would be too generous of a word to describe her orthodox upbringing. She was also conservative when it came to humiliating trivialities, specifically surrounding her insecurities pertaining to her appearance.
She had a best friend, a next door neighbor that she grew up with from primary school to elevated education. She had other friends as well, though each phase of her life would see them come and go like the seasons. During elevated education, she studied the fundamentals of borrowed magic, and decided to go on a program to study abroad. By some sick joke of destiny, an insensitivity that about matched Latori’s, the ship was led astray during an unforeseen storm. The crew did their best to find an alternative passage, based on the stars. They weren’t aware of their star-crossed fate.
The ship passed by the island and was decimated by the sea monster, leading to the entire crew’s demise. By luck, if one could even call it that, Malidy’s body was mostly unharmed. She drowned, and was resurrected right after. She was able to drain most of the water from her lungs, and the curse of the undead restored the rest of her organs. Now, here she was.
“I’m sorry about what happened to you,” Latori sympathized in a stoic tone.
“It’s okay… I guess. People have had it worse. My life wasn’t too bad for the most part. I just wish I could have lived to see more of it,” Malidy spoke wistfully.
“At least you got to meet someone as great as me because of all of that.” Latori’s melancholic gaze snapped into a beam.
Malidy’s face instead contorted into a scowl. In a twist of events, she then came to the revelation that maybe she shouldn’t take this boy so seriously; maybe she’d be happier that way.
“Yeah, maybe it isn’t so bad because of that.” Malidy played along.
“Well, Milady, I think it’s time for us to turn in for the night. Would you want to take my place in my five-star hotel room? Think of it as thanks.”
“Ahhh, I’ll pass. Thanks, though. Undead don’t sleep. To maintain my sanity, I go into a deep state of meditation. Because I don’t get tired, it’s almost like a dreamless rest.”
“Well, if you get tired of sitting on the sand all night, I have a friend that can make you a nice place to stay real fast.”
“Thanks, Latty. Maybe I’ll take you up on that sometime.”
“Was that nickname supposed to be cute? It sort of sounds close to ‘fatty’. I don’t know how to feel about that.”
“It’s certainly going to stick then.” Malidy giggled before turning and heading towards the grotto’s opening.
“Good night, fatty.”
For the first time in his entire life on this world, Latori was the butt of the joke. His eyes turned towards the slits and a puff of air was expelled through his nostrils.
“Good night, acne girl.”
Malidy crossed her fingers and waved at Latori without glancing back. The action was equivalent to a non-vocal obscenity.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
***
“H-hi, I’m Hundan…” Hundan’s feet pointed inwards towards a central point in front of him. The man’s bashful bearing and docile declaration bear a stark dissonance to his previous professions.
Malidy glanced at Latori twice before making eye contact with Hundan. The light blue marbles in her eye sockets stood out, reflecting the shuffling leaves of the greenery above them. A laugh almost escaped her mouth, but she did her best to wrangle it into submission. This man was not what she expected based on Latori’s descriptions.
“Hi… Hundan, I’m Malidy. It’s nice to meet you!” she tilted her head to the side and extended her hand with eager velocity.
“So, you’re undead?”
“Yup, I just have to live with it now I guess. Or not live with it. I don’t know. Latori has told me a lot about you, by the way.”
“Oh, really? W-were they good things?”
“Yeah, he said you were kind hearted and nice to be around. He also mentioned that he has… Dreams about you and your previous line of work.”
Tones of orange and pink replaced the Hundan’s tan complexion; it was as if he were experiencing the glow of intoxication.
“HEY! What the hell are you telling him over there? Why did you lean over and start whispering?” Latori howled in disapproval.
“Oh, nothing, Fatty. Don’t mind us. We’re just getting to know each other.” A genuine giggle traveled from Malidy’s mouth to Latori’s stinging ears.
“F-fatty? I think Latori is quite handso-“ Hundan started before being shushed as politely as possible by Malidy.
“Just play along with it, okay, bestie? His ego doesn’t need more stroking than it already gets every night.”
“O-okay…” Hundan submitted.
“Are you two done ‘getting to know each other’? We’re supposed to start making Malidy a place to stay.”
“Oh, how thoughtful of you, Latori. You’re so eager to help me already. I take it your wounds feel better and that we can depart to look for the necromancer?”
Latori mumbled indistinguishable garble that amounted to noises of disapproval and excuses.
“That’s what I thought hehe.”
The crew spent the rest of the day working on Malidy’s shelter, a more unsophisticated building than Latori and Hundan’s huts. A wooden roof along with poles, a straw mat, and a fire pit made it look like a beach hangout spot a family would pitch up. She chose to be located next to Hundan’s house so that they could spend more quality time whenever they wanted.
***
The boy reminisced over his lengthy stay over his time at the island under the full moon, weary from the high-stakes battle that he barely emerged victorious from. It felt like he had been sitting and recalling the past for hours at this point, from his first day washed ashore until now. Compared to when he started out, life was good. There wasn’t too much of a rush to search for the necromancer. Malidy did say that she wanted to enjoy her life for a bit. What’s the problem with playing house a bit with friends?
What the boy didn’t know was that a storm was coming.
“Hey, Ex, don’t you think the waves are a bit closer than usual today?”
“A bit, yes. The clouds are started to obscure the moonlight. So much for the peaceful ambiance.”
“Maybe we’ll get some nice shells to collect in the morning, eh? It’s been a while since we’ve done that.”
***
The first thing Latori noticed when he woke up was the dampness of his cot. It looked like his little accidents were coming back. He’d have to beg Ex to keep it from the others.
“Damn… I must have drank way too much bobonut juice last night,” he groaned as he tried to go back to sleep while wallowing in the liquid.
The second thing Latori noticed howling outside, what sounded like the tormented souls of the leviathan’s wraiths beseeched higher beings for release.
“Hey, shut up!”
“That’s the wind, Latori.”
The third thing Latori noticed was a hint of concern in Excalburn’s thoughts.
“What’s wrong, Ex? You seem restless.”
“I think that we should leave the cave, boy.”
“What, why?”
“The storm outside will not quell anytime soon, and it seems as if it only worsens each second.”
“Nah, we’re fine. We’ve always been.”
“Boy, the water has already reached your quarters. We must go.”
“Wait, what? I thought that was my piss. Oh, shit.”
The boy sat up and pushed the door open to be met with a sight that caused his stomach to drop. His fire pit was flooded. Furs, supplies, and his pack floated in the middle of the cave. The mouth of the grotto was guzzling in water as if it were parched at a desert oasis.
“Oh… shit. Why didn’t you wake me up, dumbass?”
“I, too, did not foresee the storm becoming this much of a problem. Let us make haste and get to higher ground.”
Latori strapped Excaliburn’s scabbard to his back, slipped on the shoes floating by his side, and sloshed towards the exit. ‘Dammit, I just made this scabbard as a gift to both me and Ex. Now it’s soaked as hell’ the boy thought.
By now, all he could see was the summit of the bluff, barely emerging for air like an ill-fated sailor at sea. A single crab sat atop the bluff, its pincers in the air. It reveled on its doomed throne. Soon it will wash away unremarkably back into the ocean.
Right as Latori was at the exit, a wave twice his size passed the bluff and swallowed the boy, completely submerging him for a few seconds. He was pushed back by the recoil into the cavern. Another one was soon on its way. As if alerted to his awakening, the storm picked up its intensity to ensure the boy would enter a slumber which he wouldn’t wake up from.
“Latori, you will need to swim to get out of here. Leave me be for now. Call me to your side when you get to dry land.”
‘I can’t, remember? A barrier prevents us from getting too far apart. Also, I don’t just want to leave you here, partner.’ An unusual sense of camaraderie was displayed to the sword through Latori’s thoughts.
“I… Well, you see… The barrier. It was more of a metaphorical one. You should be fine.”
‘Mmm. I see.’
“Of course, your safety comes first, which is why I put aside my own for you.”
Latori stomped against the water to a place where he wouldn’t get buffeted by the waves and unstrapped Excaliburn from his back. Without a word, he stared blankly at the sword before relinquishing it to the water.
“… Latori?”
Empowered by spite and annoyance, Latori fought his way back towards the cave entrance and dove into the water, swimming to dry land above the grotto. Even with the encumberment of clothing, the boy was well accustomed to swimming in the ocean, and he made it there with only some struggle. Latori had memorized the way to Hundan’s house, so he decided to squeeze the water out of his clothes before heading there.
“Latori, I am ready to be called back.”
The sword sat at the bottom of the water, awaiting its partner’s call.
“Latori, if you call me back soon, I would not mind if you used me to dry your skin off. I know you like the way it feels near your armpits.”
Even without a face to read for emotions, almost anyone would be able to discern the exact emotion the sword was feeling right about now.
“… Latori?”
If a sword could cry.