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034: Waking Up

  True to my uncle's word, I simply wake up back in town when he's satisfied that we're done. And I'm naked. Interestingly, my key for my Keyhome is just lying there on the ground. I frown and pick it up. Why would anyone leave something so insanely valuable just… out here?

  Invisibility gets me out of sight for the few moments it takes for me to find two suitable walls to use Clothier’s Closet to make some actual clothes. I also take the time to go through my buff routine, remembering that Last Shadow lost all of hers when she came back, and call one of my Rings to me. I make my armor and weapons too, of course, not that I used the weapons or that the armor helped.

  I then go looking… baby's alive, and next to a Magical Beast (Last Shadow), plus an Outsider (my aunt) and a few of my priestess summons… okay. No rapid movement, so no issues there. Roger… huh. Along with Bearcw and Wesley in the tavern, huh? Well… I know where I want to start, I guess.

  I mentally fg Last Shadow as I head for the tavern, “I'm sorry it took so long for me to come back…”

  She doesn't let me finish, “But you ARE back. Hah! I knew you couldn't be kept down.” Yeah, she's happy to hear from me, “Where are you?”

  Well, I was about to tell you anyway, “Heading to the tavern…”

  “I'll meet you there my love,” she interrupts again.

  Eh, that works, “See you soon.”

  I get a bst of pure joy over the connection, and can't help but chuckle. I watch in my mental map as she races to the mess hall.

  Shaking my head as I go, I walk to the same location, and find not only did Last Shadow beat me there, she took down the door. I suppose she doesn't exactly have hands to use the knob… I walk on in, quietlyfix the door with the Make Whole spell, and see her waiting patiently at one of the tables, three different people attempting to shoo her out. She's ignoring them, of course, and none of them are my party mates, who are just sitting around drinking beer and looking somber.

  I tweak my voice a little so I'm not instantly recognized by it, and pipe up,”Why the long faces?”

  “BECAUSE WE JUST HAD A FUNERAL FOR…” Bearcw Stops partway through, recognizing me when he turns, “MARTY!”

  Bearcw charges me and gives me a hug, while Roger and Wesley look up in cofusion at the change in Bearcw's tone… then run over themselves.

  “How?” Is the halfling's first question.

  I shrug, “It's a first level css feature for me.” At the looks on their faces,I know they haven't gone to Mom's University, and add, “Don't worry about it. Just know that as hard as it is to kill me, keeping me dead is harder still.” I pause, “I have to ask, though: Why was the key from my mansion simply lying on the ground?”

  They look at each other. Eventually the elf answers, “Because the gnome that killed you picked it up.”

  I frown, “Huh?”

  The party leader blinks at me, “You don't know. You honestly don't know.”

  “Know what?” Seriously, what are they getting at?

  Last Shadow fills me in mentally while the others are looking at each other, “Well, after I dropped the baby off with your priestesses, I came back… and the mean old snack was taking your stuff. I charged him, and he just shrugged as he cast some magic spell that locked me in an invisible box. When he got to your little metal trinket that opens that shimmering door, his eyes lit up like small stars, and he muttered… something, I couldn't tell what, the box blocked sound. Your pets arrived and attacked him, but he just seemed to be ughing at the weapons and spells they were using… until he colpsed into a pile of dust.”

  Roger gives me something clearer, “Okay, so… we came onto the scene when we heard Last Shadow's… battle cry, I guess?... and got there when your Gryphon was already locked up in…”

  “It was a Forcecage spell,” the wizard supplies.

  “Right. Some magic spell trapping her,” Roger shrugs, “anyway, we saw him pick up that key of yours, and when he did… wow. We could not scratch him. He just ughed off my arrows, Wesley's spells, and Bearcw's Greataxe to his face. He said something about ‘Absolute power’ and ‘ascending’... and then he colpsed into a pile of dust.”

  Wesley picks up, “After that… nobody wanted to risk it.”

  I think about it for a bit… that sounds a lot like the Transcend Mortality spell… which only Mom can access. How… hmm… I pull my key out of storage, and take a close look at it. Thinking for a bit, I try mentally contacting it, “Hello.”

  It sounds remarkably like Mom, “Ah. You figured it out, then?”

  “Well, there's not many ways to get personal spells on other people, so the best guess was Mom made it into a magic item. As those need to be deliberately triggered most of the time, I figured she used one of the workarounds to make a trap.” I'm using Telepathy, so there's no sound.

  “And an intelligent item is one of them,” the device in my hand pauses, “Good job. Don't tell anyone, please: There's ways to get around that.”

  “Are you reporting back to her?” I suppose I can ask, at least.

  “Not one of my instructions, no…” the item replies, “...and I don't even have the panic contact since that stupid Disjunction spell. You're on your own, there.”

  “So you triggered yourself,” I'm not actually asking, “to give him a ‘buff’ that has a very fatal drawback when the timer runs out.” Of course, this also means I've been casually using an intelligent item that could kill me any time I hold it.

  “Yes,” the item confirms, “We can't have people getting away with killing you and stealing me, and a drawback has no chance of resistance. I can't do that often, but I do have a few other options when it's not avaible.”

  I nod, put the key back in storage, and verbally engage with those around me, “I get it now.” That woman has way too much power… it's a good thing she's nice.

  “So what WAS that?” Wesley asks.

  I switch to hand signs, “A spell only my Mom can access. It's called Transcend Mortality. It's a personal spell, and makes the caster really close to indestructible… but when the spell ends, the caster simply dies. It's buried in the key as a trap for when other people try to take it.” Mom does not py fair…which kind of makes me wonder why she hasn't dealt with Chard Wuodrazed herself, given that she's apparently actively saving his victims from eternal torture. Hmm.

  Still… I have a gig… I should talk to my party about it. I keep going in sign, “also… while I was out, my uncle assigned a task to me: He wants the gnome properly dead.”

  Roger frowns, “He killed you, trapped Last Shadow in an instant, and I still remember how he had us Charmed before. This isn't exactly a great idea.”

  I shrug, “he doesn't exactly seem to be the ‘live and let live’ type,” and he definitely does not py fair. “What do you think happens if I don't hunt him down?”

  “He probably thinks you're dead…” Roger counters, “...we held a funeral for you and everything. None of us figured you'd be back, he probably picked up on that. We don't have to risk it.”

  Well… “You don't need to, I suppose,” I take a breath, “but I have a literal divine mission now, to stop someone who is actively feeding innocent souls to the lower pnes. Besides, he's come after me twice,” I point out, “and was looking at you when he died this time. Do you really think he's not going to keep checking?”

  “You have a point…” Wesley rubs his chin, and goes back to signing, “but there's the problem of how; we've seen his corpse twice.”

  “He makes heavy use of the Clone spell,” I smile, “they take a while to grow… but there's no hiding from the Divine: With the mission came some information for carrying it out - I know where he stashes them.” I consider, “also… his diabolic contract specifies he must feed the lower pnes other people's souls very regurly… if we can stop his payments, he's going to be in breach of contract, and that has some serious penalties. Oh, and the Comforter said nothing about what we do with his loot… we can keep that.”

  “Too risky,” the half orc shakes his head, “even with all the information, even with the ability to come back from the grave… this guy traps souls and hands them off to devils. It's a bit too risky for me, as it's much worse than just dying. How about we just head into the wilds and hide out for a few years in magic free nds where the guy can't find us? Even the most paranoid types will stop worrying about us eventually… and I'm pretty sure he's going to know what killed him.”

  When I see Roger and even Wesley nodding along to Bearcw's assessment, I sigh, “Fine,” I shake my head, “The spells I gave you will keep working… so you'll have a leg up on any and all monsters out there,” and I'm going to leave you tuned to my ring. I suppose stealth will work better anyway, and I only have the two rings that will grant absolute stealth, “and you're all mostly in control of your shape, although that won't matter in the wilds. I don't pn to turn down a divine mission, though.”

  “So that's it, then…” Roger stands up and extends his hand, “it's been a wild ride… take care. We'll take off in the morning.”

  I shake his hand, “You too.”

  We spend the night drinking… none of us actually feeling it… and in the morning, they pick up and leave.

  Shortly after, Aldamen approaches me….

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