Arc 1: The 4 shields summit

Well, this is unexpected. For them as well, judging by their expressions. At least, they are not attacking me outright, maybe I can reason with them. Eulisses mused, as he studied his surroundings. “Well, hello there.” he said in a language not his own, taking note of the discrepancy right away. Having no vocal cords, he instead used magic to imitate the sound of his voice or interpret the vibrations in the air to ‘hear’. Honestly, it’s more effort than just directly speaking to their minds and reading their surface thoughts. But for some reason that always seems to only further the antagonism against me. He noted that the words he ‘spoke’ were different from the ones in his mind, but yet he could understand if he ‘heard’ them.

His words seemed to startle most of the audience awake, as they looked at each other in uncertainty. “He spoke.” “But it’s a skeleton. How can it speak? Magic?” “So it's sentient? But look at the rags it's wearing” Perfectly hearing their whispering, he focused on some stranger comments on his appearance and looked down at himself, only to discover he wore completely torn clothing. Right, there was that. When I rushed back to my tower after the encounter with the inquisitor. Come to think of it, I never changed my clothes back then, did I. Oh dear me how embarrassing! My cheekbones would surely blush if they were capable! Burrowing his head in his hands from the shame he felt of presenting such an unsightly appearance, Eulisses did not notice two figures approaching him and taking places next to the girl in front of him, until they began to speak.

“So, um, nice to meet you mister Skeleton. My name is Fiona Lockwood, First of the Royal Mages and next to me are her royal highness, princess Felicity Esaburg and cardinal Ashfield Harridon in whose cathedral we are right now. Do you have a name by which we can call you?”

My, what an impressive bunch of titles, I cannot lose out to them! He took a look at the older women with messy grey hair and only a few wrinkles on her face, dressed in long robes. Yep, looks like a wizard alright. And that priestly fella’s getup practically screams ‘I’m a religious, self-righteous prick!’ - hopefully I’m wrong on that. And that lovely lass is a princess, huh? Well then, I shall tell them of my great self! He straightened his back before giving a theatrical introduction to the three in front of him. “I am the undying archwizard, Eulisses Malinor of Mansfield, ardent proponent of life and prime scientific authority regarding all matters immortal! At your service!” He finished giving a flourishing bow that would surely have looked impressive, had it not been for his rags comically fluttering about, one or two of them completely tearing away in the process.

That at last seemed to make the princess aware of her circumstances and she focused her gaze at him. She sweeped a curtsy, her expression holding many conflicting emotions as she began to speak to him, but he couldn’t separate and identify them. “It is … nice to meet you then, Mister Malinor. I must apologize for your summoning, we have been doing a ritual in hopes of securing the help of a hero from another world against a disaster that threatens to destroy most of our own.” The cardinal interjected at that. “Surely, something must have gone wrong,” and with a look to the princess and the mage, “can we do it a second time? And send this Eulisses Malinor back to where he came from?” The mage shook her head, uncertain of how to answer and Eulisses indignantly responded. “Harrumph! I’ll have you know that I can be a very heroic person if I want to. Didn’t your mother teach you not to judge a book by its cover? The faithful always seem to be so quick to do so.” Harridon threw him an incredulous look, coupled with maybe just the tiniest amount of regret, while Felicity asked with a hopeful expression “Does that mean you’d be willing to help us, mister Malinor? I want to shield our people from harm and if you truly are the hero we were meant to summon, you could play an important role in that!”

I don’t like the look she’s giving me, it’s too pure! I just want to help her wash away all her worries, what a frightening technique. Maybe the old pervert at the academy was right and cuteness really is justice! Focus, Eulisses, focus. He contemplated his current situation. Looks like my Philosopher’s stone’s gone. Well, its primary purpose has been fulfilled anyway, or wait, I better check. He turned towards the cardinal “Does the name Addia mean anything to you? Who is the deity you worship?” The man shook his head. “No, I don’t know of an Addia, is that a deity of your world? We believe in the creator that built ours and all the others long ago.”

His mood brightened upon hearing this. So I'll be free of the Addia fanatics, at least. But all my stuff is still back in my world. As are the colleagues who are still willing to trade knowledge with me and the information I wanted to gain access to when I had a way to easily lose the inquisitors whenever I wanted. This could throw me back years in my continued immortality research, and just as I was about to be able to pick it back up again!

“I am willing to help you with your problem, milady” he began, taking note of the enchanting smile that formed on her face in reaction, “if you agree to help me with a few matters of my own. In essence, aiding me in my research by giving me access to knowledge and helping me gather whatever ingredients I need. The necessary monetary investments would be welcome, too.”

--

This is madness. An undead, as the hero to save the world? People will have a hard time believing that. Felicity thought, as the undead creature they had summoned performed its weird introduction play. As he finished, she gave a curtsy of her own out of reflex. Unsure of how to best handle the situation, she opted to first give it - him, judging by its introduction - a quick explanation of what they had been doing, waiting to see his reaction. It seemed surprisingly positive. Did my charms work on it? Or is it just really easygoing? The undead clarified that it wanted to secure their cooperation in return and made some vague demands of the nature of the help it expected from them. A clearer motivation as to why it would want to cooperate with us. I can work with that, though its nature could still spell trouble later on. She gave it her best smile and said “If your research doesn’t violate our laws, we would be happy to assist you in return”.

Before she could continue, however, her old mentor interjected. “You highness, given the … nature of our potential collaborator, I’d deem it prudent to coordinate with his royal majesty first, before we take any further steps and agree to his terms. The undead nodded sagely upon hearing her words. “Indeed, a matter as important as I, needs to be handled by the highest authorities only. As for my ‘nature’, as you so tactfully put it, you needn’t be concerned," he paused, "I think. Let me try” A second later, the undead was shrouded by a cloud of darkness. As it dissipated, the ragged skeleton was gone. In its place stood a young man in expensive clothes, looking no older than herself. His raven black hair was scattered all over his head, partly hanging over his ice blue eyes, that seemed to directly stare at her soul. Wait, he was talking to Fiona just now, why is he staring at me? I also have to look up to him now, did he make himself taller? In a rare display of being flustered, Felicity didn’t know what to say. Instead, the man himself opened his mouth and spoke with the same voice as earlier to Fiona. “I didn’t know I was about to meet new people, or I would have done so earlier. Is this appearance more to your liking, lady Lockwood?” Turning back towards her, he continued “What about you, milady?”

She wouldn’t let him lead the conversation how he pleased, not noticing she already referred to him as a ‘he’ now in her mind. “I think you look enchanting, mister Malinor, at least compared to before. But it could just be my human bias speaking.” Felicity gave him her best diplomatic smile and watched his expression turning disappointed. So he was just trying to fluster me! Maybe this has been a mistake …

It was now the cardinal’s turn to take control of the conversation. “Be it as it may, we will still have to inform his royal majesty and defer to his judgement on the matter. As I am sure, a man of your … stature will understand.”

As there seemed to be no way around it, Felicity agreed. “Yes, we shall make for the castle and ask my father for an audience. Is that okay with you, mister Malinor?” The undead nodded sagely again - something he seemed to like doing. “Very well, I shall go with your suggestions, mage Lockwood, cardinal Harridon and milady Esaburg, correct?”

Fiona nodded, before turning towards the priest and mages, who have since gathered in front of the altar and were watching their exchange. “Until his majesty has decided on how we shall proceed from here on, I hereby swear you all to total secrecy towards this matter, especially with regards to the nature of our” she paused, “guest. You there!” she singled out the mage, from whom she had snatched a chalk during the preparations for the summoning. “Run ahead and inform his majesty of this and ask him for an urgent audience upon our arrival. Other than his majesty, you, too, are to speak to no one else of this, understood? Now go!” The man in question swallowed hard and nodded, before starting to jog towards the cathedrals entrance, his shoes clacking on the bare marble floor.

Still overwhelmed by the situation and sure that Fiona and Harridon fared no better, Felicity made for the castle with them, the currently perfectly human looking undead Eulisses Malinor in tow. I wonder what father will have to say about all of this.