Mae watched Tisi very closely as she dealt the last of the cards with a sly smile. Picking up her hand, Mae nodded to herself. “Do you have a three?” she asked Ally.
“Go fish,” Ally replied, Mae groaning as she took a card. She smiled, and showed the other two the three she drew from the pile, putting it to the side. Suddenly, someone came through the common room door, prompting the three sisters to see who it was.
In the doorway, the scorpion insectoid stood, confusedly watching them as they played cards. [Hey…] it wrote in the air, [What are you three… up to?]
“Playing cards,” Ally answered for them, “Do you have a five?” she asked Mae.
Mae rolled her eyes, forking the five over to the smug Ally as she put the pair of cards into her own pile, “Do you want to join?” Mae offered. They had felt the skiff lurch an hour before, but did not bother to move from their table. They would get there when they got there.
[No thanks,] the insectoid replied, [I was just wondering… I don’t even know what I wanted to ask, but… what’s it like? Being an undead?]
The three shared a look while Mae internally sighed. That seemed to be a popular question presented to the death knights, as if they expected the undead to remember their lives before their death. They were entirely different souls, so nothing personality-wise transferred, but the people who asked the question obviously did not know that, “Can’t tell you,” Mae replied, “We don’t know what it’s like being alive. But being undead isn’t bad, really. Sometimes, I wish I could taste food or feel temperature, but I also don’t want to starve to death nor do I want to die of heatstroke.”
“Or hypothermia,” Tisi added.
“That’s not as bad as heatstroke,” Ally argued, “You can always put more layers on but you can only take off so much. Besides, hypothermia just makes you shake, while heat stroke increases sweating, which could kill the living from dehydration.”
Tisi raised an eyebrow, “I did not know you studied the bodies of the living,” she remarked, “Also, do you have a queen?”
“Go fish,” Ally replied, smirking as Tisi drew a card from the pile.
The insectoid shifted uncomfortably, [So… it’s just fine?] it wrote in the air. Mae nodded, smiling. [Umm… I wanted to ask something else. Are you guys the undead of lich?]
The three of them turned to the insectoid at the same time, narrowing their eyes at it, “And why would you think that?” Mae asked, “Do we look like the thralls of a marauding lich to you?” On one hand, it stung a bit to insult their mistress’ species, but on the other, if any of the stories about liches were true, the mistress should have been considered something entirely different from those murderers and hermits.
[Oh… Umm… I saw you guys from afar in Green Oasis, when I was traveling with my team. I was just wondering…] it replied, looking away.
“Oh,” Mae muttered, “In that case, that’s fine. So, what did that have to do with anything? Oh, and do you have a jack?” she asked Tisi. The fury rolled her eyes and passed over a jack, much to Mae’s delight.
[I was curious…] it replied, [Your… mistress was quite the odd one, and I was wondering what kind of army she was bringing. That’s all… If you can’t say anything about it, I won’t mention it again.]
Mae shot Ally a glance, “What do you think?” she asked.
Ally shrugged, “Dunno. I’m not in a position to answer this any better than you are. Besides, she’s the one you should ask for anything smarts-related,” she said, nodding towards Tisi, who shrugged in response.
Mae sighed, grabbing the box and peering into it for a moment, “Pandora, come out for a bit,” she whispered, watching as the shadow on her face darkened, then returned to normal. A line of darkness traced its way down her body, then to the table they surrounded. A single, bright rune on the ceiling lit up the room-- despite them not needing it-- and cast a shadow along the walls. The thick darkness crept up the shadow cast by the table, then stepped forward, bowing his head a little bit, “That’s Pandora, our mistress’ newest… creation? Invention? Whatever. She has been making a bunch of these for weeks now and we were sent with a good number of them to back up the fortress,” Mae explained. There was no reason to be secretive about the Talonecs at that point. Even if the four living kicked them off their skiff, they had gotten a free ride out of it.
The insectoid hesitantly approached the undead, [What… is it?] it asked.
Mae shrugged, “We don’t really know, but they’re apparently good soldiers,” she replied, “Ally, it’s your turn.”
“Oh yeah. Tisi, ace,” she said. With a roll of her eyes, Tisi forked the ace over, watching wistfully as Ally placed it into her point pile, “Yeah, we don’t know how the mistress made that thing. All we know is that it’s good at wrecking Clockworks.”
[I see… Am I allowed to look at the armor?] the scorpion asked, [I mean, the inner parts of it.]
“No, you are not,” Tisi replied, “Mae, do you have a king?” Mae smiled and shook her head, forcing Tisi to go for the draw pile. Once she picked up a card, Tisi turned to their observer, “If I may ask, why is it that your orcish teammate dislikes our kind so much? If it is too personal, we can drop the subject.”
The insectoid shook its head, [It’s fine. He shouldn’t mind,] it said, [Do you mind if I take a seat?] Mae nodded while she looked at the last few cards in her hand, then turned to the newcomer to the table, [I probably should introduce myself first. I am Mynec, a Vijalak Scorpion Insectoid. Should I mention the weird part about my species, or is it better not to talk about it?]
Ally shrugged, “You do you. We thought-- or more accurately, Mae thought and didn’t consult us-- that being an undead could be a deal breaker for ferrying us around. If you want to talk about whatever deep dark secret a race of scorpion people are hiding, be our guest.”
Mynec shifted a bit, [Well… we’re gut bursters…] it remarked. Mae blinked in confusion, and the other two had similar expressions of confusion, [Please, wait before you make a judgment… I still haven’t told my team about me… Um, basically, when we’re adults, we seek out a large creature, like a wyrm or a Xila-- this big lizard that lives near Nikolan-- and kill it. We then… mark it with the smell of disease and rot, warding both scavengers and other animals from it. After that… Well, we inject eggs into the carcass. The eggs take about a month to hatch, and then become larvae and begin to devour the corpse from there. After another month, we grow to become children and are able to venture from the by-then rotten corpse,] it explained, [So… um… are you guys alright with that?]
Mae sighed, “Ally, ten,” Ally sighed in turn, handing over the card, “Well, it’s certainly interesting. I don’t know why it’s such a big deal though. It’s not like you’re bursting from the living flesh of humans or chimerics or whatever. So, what’s the story with the orc?”
Mynec paused for a moment, [I… didn’t think you would simply accept it so easily. Sorry about wasting time. Anyway… Duvalk… that’s the name of the orc. He has a pretty simple story, which is that he once lived in a small village on the western coast of the Dust, near Nolus. His village was torched by a group of rogue necromancers and they used the villagers’ bodies to create a small army. He was the only one who survived. He then sprinted to the nearest town to warn them about the necromancers, who in turn warned Nolus about the attack. The city sent out a squadron with… questionable morality, but they managed to kill the group.
[The whole thing really took a toll on Duvalk. He really hates necromancers and undead in general. It’s even to the point that he can’t bring himself to worship the god of death.]
Ally and Mae shared a glance while Tisi sighed, “You aren’t supposed to worship the gods, you know.”
[I know, everyone does, but everyone still worships them anyway,] Mynec replied, shaking its head, [Do I have to explain to you three the significance of the system you’re using?]
Mae shook her head, with the others following suit. The Vijalak Scorpion did not need to know their relationship with the system. Or lack thereof, “So… was there anything else, or do you want to play go fish?”
Mynec looked between them for a moment, then sighed, [Fine,] it wrote, [Finish this round, and deal me in, please.]
They nodded, Mae grinning at Ally, “Do you have an eight?” Ally grumbled and handed the card over.
“Tisi, do you have a joker?” Ally asked. Tisi shook her head, forcing Ally to go for the draw pile. Grumbling, she pulled up a card, then grinned, showing the joker card she drew from the pile, “By house rules, I win!” Ally cheered. Mae was still annoyed at that stupid house rule. The mistress was not one to remember card games from her previous life, so the three made do with a modified version of go fish when they were not in the mood for poker. “Alright, Mae, you deal.”
Mae shrugged, channeling mana through her tattoo on her arm, making the depicted woman’s eyes glow, and levitated every card on the table. She beckoned the cards to her and stacked them up. Tisi and Ally stared at her, “Did you figure out what your tattoo did?” Tisi asked.
“I figured it out before we left,” Mae snorted, dealing each of them in, “Don’t tell me neither of you know what the mistress did for your tattoos.” They remained silent, “Gods dammit,” Mae groaned, “After this hand, we’re figuring this out.” She placed the draw pile in the center of the table and smiled to her sisters and the confused newcomer, “Mynec, do you have a five?”
*=====*
Alright, I’ve stopped doing these sorts of after-chapter notes, but I just have to mention the fact that the running plan for the first half of this chapter was to end it in Aekan. But then I started having them get into the game of go fish… Worth it.
But then I started having them get into the game of go fish… Worth it.
Absolutely worth it. Very fun to follow these three!