I walked in, seeing five other pairs of Necromancers and familiars. Katira greeted each familiar by name, and they responded in kind, if a little sadly.
It seemed her history was well-known.
We found a seat in the center of the classroom, where there was a void, and settled in, waiting for the lecturer. Five minutes of chit-chat later, in walked Seth and Byron, who made their way to the front of the room, turning to face the twelve of us.
“Hello, Initiates,” Seth said, dripping with scorn. “I’m here to teach you how to not kill yourselves by being fucking idiots. At least one of you will likely die in the next week” -he pointedly stared at me, and I waved at everyone- “so I don’t hold any sort of hope.”
He set a small device on the desk in front of the room, and made a few gestures. The lights dimmed, and Byron expanded, becoming thinner and flattened himself against the wall. His belly fur became white, and illuminated the room with a gentle glow.
“I don’t want to actually waste my time trying to teach you imbeciles how to live, so I had Byron here distill the information you would normally get in a week-long course into a nine-hour instructional. I have experiments to monitor, so don’t bother me. Byron? If you would be so kind as to begin, we can get done and get out of here faster,” he said.
“Yes, my Master. Class! Attend my lesson!” Byron bellowed, and images began to appear on his belly, along with audio from his mouth.
As I sat there, I realized that I was going to have to sit and watch what amounted to basically a nine-hour PowerPoint presentation. I gripped the sides of my desk in irritation, which did not go unnoticed by Katira.
She laid her hand on my arm and began tapping gently.
K: Stu? What is wrong?
S: It’s a fucking PowerPoint. This bastard isn’t even going to TRY to teach us properly.
K: I see. Seth and Byron have always been rather stand-offish, but this is new.
S: Do you know how to teach me these things?
K: Of course, but it would be most irregular.
S: Let’s go, then. I’m not sitting through nine fucking hours of condescension from these two bitches.
“Yeah. Nope.” I said loudly, standing. Byron ceased his playback as Seth glared at me. The rest of the class turned to stare in shock. “I’m not sitting through what amounts to a nine-hour fucking PowerPoint. Fuck a lot of that noise. Y’all can stay if you’d like, but I have other options. See y’all next time,” I said, turning to leave.
“SIT DOWN!” yelled Seth. I stopped and faced him impassively. “You will SIT and watch what I have prepared NOW!”
“Nope. I don’t tolerate petty tyrants out in the mundane world, and I sure as shit won’t tolerate them here. Fuck you, Seth. We’re heading home,” I said calmly, smiling all the while. I looked around at the class. “Anyone want to join me? I’ll order pizza,” I offered. Three pairs stood and nodded. “Nobody else? That’s cool. Just remember: The best training you can possibly get comes from experience. A PowerPoint from someone disinterested in your safety won’t do that, but I’m not going to judge,” I said gently. I looked at Seth and Byron and tipped my hat. “Farewell, you two. I hope to never cross paths with you two again.” Waving to the rest of them, the eight of us walked out, towards the central rotunda.
Once we arrived at the rotunda, we were stopped by Thoth. “Your class is over? I shall note that in the logs,” he said softly.
“Oh, no. Class is still going on. I, and these others here, simply refuse to sit through a nine-hour PowerPoint while the ‘instructor’ ignores us and pays more attention to his experiments. Katira here has offered to give me the basic instruction that I need, and I’m certain she would be happy to assist these other three fine folks,” I said cheerfully.
Katira nodded, adding, “Yes. I am more than capable of showing them the basics. Any advanced training would need to be done here, however. I am quite certain that my Master will not ever assent to being trained under Seth and Byron, though.”
“This is most irregular,” Thoth replied, running his hand through the feathers on his neck. “However, we cannot control how you go about your business. If you die, you die. I will make note of your preferences, Initiate Merideth. Seth and Byron will not instruct you a second time.” Turning to Katira, he said, “Once you have finished the instruction, you will all need to report back to me, so that I may note your success or failure. If you achieve a greater than 25% success rate you may be selected to instruct more Novices. Given your track record and history Katira, I do not expect much.” Fixing the other three Novices with a stern glare, he said “You take your lives in your own hands here. While capable, Katira has lost more Necromancers than any three familiars combined due to unforeseen and unknown circumstances. Take care. You may leave now,” he said, turning back to his recordkeeping.
“Thank you, Thoth.” I said to the bird-headed man, who simply grunted an acknowledgement. Turning to the rest, I said, “Shall we?”
The other three looked at each other, shrugged and followed as we made our way to my door. Katira stopped us before I opened my door, and fixed us all with a hard look.
“Much has been said of my losses. I will not deny this fact. You are all free to go to your homes, if you wish. If you come with us, I will give you the instruction you should have gotten if you had a decent instructor. I’ve been through it more times than I care to recall, and have participated in the instruction ten or twelve times. Still, I know I can do this successfully. If you’re willing to come with us, we will retire to a remote woodland area where we will not be observed. Our home is rather small, you see. Are you still coming?” she said.
Three pairs of heads nodded, and I opened my door, seeing my kitchen. We all walked through, and there were eight of us in my home.
Shutting the door, I looked at everyone and smiled. “Welcome to my home, everyone. I literally just bought it, and we are in the middle of repairs. I am sorry for the lack of places to sit. Otherwise, the bathroom is over there, and there is the kitchen. Make yourselves at home, and we will return,” I said, leading Katira to our room.
Once inside, I shut the door and sat on the bed, removing my glasses and rubbing my face. “What have we done, Katira?”
“What do you mean, Master?” she said, sitting beside me and wrapping an arm around my waist.
“I mean, we have brought three other people into our home with the intention of teaching them something I know nothing about, while Drake is down in the workshop, and I have no clue how he will react to this many people. Not to mention I just royally pissed off a much more experienced Necromancer. How fucked am I right now? On a scale of one to ten?” I asked.
“I’d say a solid seven, Master. However, since you are Tier Nine, you will learn the concepts faster, and they will be more potent for you than they would for most others. I’ve also seen other qualities and quirks within you that will benefit you greatly,” she said soothingly. “We can do this, Stu. Don’t worry,” she said and hugged me tightly.
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I nodded and put my glasses back on. I removed my hat and gloves, placing them on the dresser. “Let’s do this thing, Katira.”
We emerged from our room to find the other Initiates looking unsure and awkward. It was eerily silent in the kitchen.
“As I said, I’ll order pizza. However, I would like to know who I have in my home, first. My name is Stuart Merideth, and I’m forty-three. You’re all in Russellville, Kentucky, in the United States. This is my familiar Katira. We bonded about five days ago, which I guess is unusual since we should have gone to the Guildhall sooner. Anyway! You,” I said, pointing at the man sitting at my table. “Who are you, and where are you from?”
He looked around scared until his familiar laid a paw on his shoulder, calming him. “Um. I’m Robert Grimes. I’m thirty-four, from Utah, and I really don’t know what has happened, but I sure wasn’t going to sit through a nine hour PowerPoint. Besides, I haven’t eaten dinner yet, and pizza sounds good,” he said nervously.
His familiar, a rather large Grey Wolf, spoke up next. “I am Yin. I am Robert’s familiar. We Bonded yesterday.”
“Excellent! Welcome to my home, Robert and Yin. I will order food once we are all introduced. Next! You, ma’am,” I said, extending my hand to the oriental woman and her familiar.
She looked terrified for a moment, then closed her eyes and straightened, took a deep breath and spoke. “私の名前は森田真美子です。私は 23 歳で、日本の仙北市出身です。怖いですが、今後の試練に敬意を持って立ち向かいます。お世話になっております、スチュアートさん,” she bowed respectfully, and her familiar spoke up.
“She said this: My name is Mamiko Morita. I am twenty-three, and from Semboku, Japan. I am scared, but will face the upcoming trials with honor. I am in your care, Mr. Stuart.” Her familiar gazed at me, which was rather off-putting, as he did not blink. His skin was red, and he had two short, wicked-looking horns jutting from his forehead that curved up. When he spoke, I could see that his teeth were pointed and his tongue was forked. “I am Oiwa. Mamiko and I Bonded a few hours ago.”
“Thank you, Morita-san and Oiwa,” I said with a gentle bow. “I am pleased to have you in my home.” I looked at the young man standing by my stove with a terrified look plastered across his face. “You are last, my friend.”
The young man looked at me and said “Eu sou Joaquin Madras. Tenho dezessete anos, sou de Bannach, Brasil. Quase não tenho ideia do que está acontecendo e quero ir para casa, mas também não quero morrer. Você pode realmente ajudar?”
His familiar, a skeletal human wearing simple brown pants and a green shirt translated him for us. “My Master has said: I am Joaquin Madras. I'm seventeen, from Bannach, Brazil. I have almost no idea what's happening, and I want to go home, but I also don't want to die. Can you truly help?” The familiar rested a hand on Joaquin’s shoulder, giving a comforting squeeze. “I am Shutan. We Bonded last night.”
Katira walked over to Joaquin and laid her hand on his cheek. “Farei tudo o que puder para treiná-lo adequadamente, Joaquin. Por favor, não se preocupe.”
Joaquin started crying and nodded his head. Katira looked to Shutan, who nodded, then wrapped the boy in a hug, letting him cry on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Joaquin. Stu and I are going to help you. I promise.” she whispered, gently stroking his hair.
I respectfully waited for Joaquin to calm down, which took a few moments, and when Katira walked back to me, I looked at the group and clapped my hands. “So. What does everyone want on their pizza?”
After everyone had given me their preferences, I placed the order, and sat on my counter to chat with the group.
It turned out that Joaquin was a poor kid from Brazil, devout Catholic, and struggling to make sense of what had happened to him. Shutan had patiently explained what was going on after they bonded, which had happened due to a fluke accident, as Joaquin was exploring an abandoned home. It seemed Joaquin had fallen through a floor, and cut his head pretty badly, then landed on Shutan, which knocked him out. Since he had technically fed his familiar with his blood, he was now a Necromancer. Shutan had gently bandaged his head, and waited patiently in the dark for his Master to wake up. Joaquin had had the fright of his life upon seeing Shutan, who was wearing the same clothes his uncle had been buried in. After a couple of hours of calming the young man, Shutan helped him out of the abandoned home, and accompanied him to the apartment he shared with several other friends. Shutan was forced to take on the form of a standard rat, and ride on Joaquin’s shoulder, so as to not raise much suspicion. He had talked the young man into going to the Guildhall, and now they were here.
Robert had inherited his grandfather’s old childhood home, and in so doing found himself in a similar situation that I was in. He, however, didn’t have to renovate his house, nor did he have a Ma’alkaun to deal with. He was an engineer at a company in Utah, and rather friendly.
Morita-san was from a small town in Japan, and her family had been taking care of a shrine there for generations. She met Oiwa in a dream, and he led her to the Grimoire that she now carried. She was shy and easily embarrassed, but seemed to have a hidden reserve of strength. That she had joined us in our journey was proof of that.
Aside from Joaquin, we all had had some dealings with the supernatural outside of Christianity. I wondered how he was going to handle what we were all about to go through.
The pizza arrived a few minutes later, and I distributed the individual pizzas, and we ate in a subdued silence. A silence broken by a single soft knock coming from my hatch.
“Shit. This could get interesting,” I murmured. I motioned for Katira to follow me, as everyone else watched in curiosity.
We headed to the hatch, and I knelt down, as if to open it. Instead, I whispered, “Drake, can you pause things?” I looked over at Katira and saw that she was kneeling beside me, her eyes closed. “Katira? Can you hear me?” I whispered, and got no response.
Turning my attention to Drake, I said “Drake? How are you doing, friend?”
[Am well, Bubba. What is ‘friend’?]
“Well, a friend is someone who you care about. Someone who you want to see happy and to see succeed in life. Someone that you’re connected with by positive emotions or feelings. I’d like to call you my friend, because that is the kind of person I am. I don’t want to see you come to harm, and I would like to be able to cooperate with you in any endeavors that we can.”
[Oh. Friends do not consume each other nor harm each other?]
“They do not. Also, they typically view others positively connected to their friend as friends as well. For example, my familiar. And the others in my home right now and their familiars. None of us in my home are -as far as I know- threats to you or I. You are safe here, and I want you to be comfortable. None of the others know about you, however. They are brand-new Necromancers. Their familiars may know about your kind, but that would be it.”
[Thank you, Bubba. I will be your friend. We will work together. May I come out?]
“I cannot make that call right now, Drake. I will need to discuss that with the familiars in attendance here. I would like to, but I want to make certain everyone -including you- will be safe. Can you promise me that you will not run off, and that you will not harm anyone here?”
[I promise I will stay with you, and will do no harm to any present. Except the creature you fed me earlier. Was good. Will be sated for several moons.]
“Excellent, Drake. I’m glad to know you enjoyed your meal.” I smiled and was silent for a moment, pondering a potential. “Can you assume a corporeal form? A physical body?”
[Yes. Choose for me?]
I thought for a few moments, and figured I’d stick with the theme I already had going. I focused on a form, and made a black sphere containing the idea, and passed it through the hatch.
[I like this, Bubba. You chose well. I will release you, and when all are in agreement, I will join you.]
“Okay, Drake. I hope to see you soon.”
Time resumed, and I turned to Katira, explaining what had transpired. She looked a little nervous, but nodded. I stood beside the hatch, and she led the other three familiars to the back room.
Robert was the first to speak up. “Hey, dude. What gives? What’s your familiar doing with ours?”
“They have something serious to discuss. If they are all in agreement, you’ll understand soon. I ask you to be patient and trust me. I know that’s asking a lot from someone you just met, but please?” I said.
“I’m cool with it, but these two might not be. They may not be able to understand us,” Robert said.
I turned to Morita-san. “Do you understand anything I’ve said, Morita-san?”
She nodded, replying with, “I understand some, Stuart-san. You ask to trust. I try.” She gave a wan smile.
“Joaquin? Do you understand any English?” I asked gently.
The boy shook his head, a scared look in his eyes. I nodded and waited for the others to return. It took about fifteen minutes, but they came out, Katira at the lead. She looked at me and nodded, and I knelt once again at the hatch.
“Drake? I’m opening up, now. Remember what we discussed.” I said.
A soft scratching was heard, and I lifted the hatch.