business
“You can’t die, but you can become lost. Basically, if you die, you become one of those hollow-bodies I told you about until I come save your empty soul or whatever. But it’s really difficult.” Xellis leaned over, resting his chin on his hand. “I mean, you can get hurt, but you’re harder to kill, if that makes sense.”
"So I probably wouldn't die if I accidentally fell off the roof?" Scipio asked. Soon after, he coughed, gagged, and vomited over the side of the roof. "F-Fuck… that's unpleasant…" He winced, rubbing at his throat a bit. "How long did you say that lasts?"
business
“Like… half an hour. But it should lessen up a bit after a moment. You’re probably good,” he said, although his voice was uncertain. “Please don’t take my word for it. I have no clue. And no, you probably won’t die if you fall from the roof. You’d still feel the pain, though. If you’re worried, I could hold on to your arm or something?”
Xellis crawled up beside Scipio, crinkling his nose at the sour air. He held up a hand, cocking his head.
"Mmmm… sure, I don't fucking care…" Scipio curled up on his side, shaking a bit with his eyes closed. He was a bit pale and clammy from throwing up, and he clearly felt like shit, but he'd recover fine. "I've thrown up way too often in my lifetime… I should be used to it by now…" He sighed.
business
“No one should ever be used to it,” Xellis said, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. “It’s a horrid thing. I think I’ve only done it once before. But… the blunt force trauma was worse than the actual… release…”
He grit his teeth, narrowing his eyes in disgust as he peeked over the side of the roof. He kept his hand in close range in case Scipio needed to reach over to keep himself from falling, or if he just wanted something to squeeze the living daylight out of.
"Mm… I threw up a lot during the army stuff. I like to think I'm pretty strong, but the smell of all the bodies mixed with blood and gunpowder and stuff… that almost always made me queasy." Scipio sighed. "Not because I was disturbed by it, honestly, it was just such a horrible smell."
business
“Seems… justifiable,” Xellis said, crossing his legs and leaning onto his elbows. “You don’t have to worry about that up here, though. Almost always smells like a spring or summer day. The only thing that’ll make you lose your stomach would be alcohol or getting punched really hard.”
He scratched the back of his head, his red hair slightly messy from laying down. “But, I don’t really see a reason to do so, so besides alcohol I’d say you’re in the clear.”
Scipio nodded and closed his eyes, curling up a bit tighter. "Is there a way to drink alcohol without doing this shit?" He asked weakly. "Because the whole being drunk part was pretty nice, but I'm not a huge fan of this part…"
business
“Well, if you drink until you’re tipsy, you still have fun without the awful side of the hangover,” Xellis said, repeating something he had learned from Zayanzar’s associate. “Which means just don’t chug them like you did, and just don’t drink as much in a short period of time like you did? I don’t know, dude.”
"Mm… drinking water would theoretically dilute the alcohol, at least according to science or whatever. So it would be a good idea to drink a lot of water…? It sounds right to me, but I've never really done this before… I think one of the soldiers told me that."
business
“Uh, maybe,” he mumbled, rolling back and grabbing a bottle of water from the cooler. He inched forward, opening up the plastic bottle and holding it out.
“I also heard coffee helps, maybe? Man, I don’t know. Just, take this.”
Scipio nodded and forced himself to sit up so he could drink the water. He sighed shakily and tipped his head back to gulp the water. "Hopefully this'll help…" He mumbled, staying sitting up for the time being.
business
“Yeah,” he replied, fiddling with the cap in his hands. “Sorry bout this. It won’t last long though, you can hold onto that.”
He paused for a moment, clicking his fingers on the roof. “Maybe— maybe we can go to Audomar to get you fixed. He’s a ways away, but that’s nothing to a god of travel and his associate, eh? Plus, we could get your fatal wound fixed.”
"Audomar…?" Scipio asked weakly, drinking a bit more of the water. "How long would it take to get to him?" He fidgeted nervously as he looked around. "I know you've got the weird portal things or whatever… could you just open one to his house or something?"
business
“Yeah, I could,” Xellis began, intertwining his hands together. “But he’s kinda iffy about them. I mean, the rules are that we can’t open a portal in someone else’s manor, but I can take us to his doorstep. Maybe? It’s never been said that I can’t.”
He leaned over the side of the roof, twirling one of his hands in a circle and making a portal, the lines of it again a beautiful rosy gold.
“Just drop down. Don’t worry, it shouldn’t give you too much of a head rush.”
Scipio seemed very hesitant, but carefully swung his legs over the side of the roof. "I'm just… gonna assume this is safe…" He mumbled. After hesitating for several seconds, he pushed himself off the roof and fell into the portal. He fell over as soon as he landed, groaning softly and rubbing his aching head.
business
“Yeah, ok, maybe it was worse than expected,” Xellis said as soon as he jumped down with him.
They stood outside of a smaller manor, it’s surroundings nothing like the manor in which Xellis lived. It was much colder, the place given a grey hue from the cloud cover. Every moment looked as if it were about to rain, and the plants were massive, luscious, and deep green.
The manor looked nothing interesting, more like a log cabin than anything else. Xellis grabbed Scipio’s arm, leading him up the steps and knocking on the door.
A man clad in white opened it, his hair a spiky white and his eyes a dark grey. He looked older than Xellis, but only by a few years.
“Xellis?” he asked, cocking his head. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Xellis gestured to Scipio. “This. ‘S there anything you can do for hangovers? And then we gotta get his fatal wound fixed on up.”
Audomar stifled a laugh, but managed to say, “Alright. Come on in, kids.”
Scipio was shivering by the time they reached the door, clearly not a huge fan of the sudden temperature change. He allowed Xellis to drag him inside, glancing around weakly at the interior of the cabin. "What's the point of getting rid of the wound?" He asked after a minute or so. "It doesn't hurt or anything. It's not particularly bothering me at the moment."
business
“No reason? We don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Xellis mumbled, following Audomar as he swiveled into a back room.
“It’s basically only to signify you cut your ties to the mortal world. Some people don’t want to do that, because they really want to remember what life they served. It’s up to you.”
Xellis sat Scipio down on one of the chairs, and Audomar disappeared behind a cabinet. He reappeared holding two pills and a glass of water.
“So it’s just a hangover?” he asked, still trying not to laugh. “Is it your first one?”
He held up the pills and the glass for Scipio to take.
Scipio nodded, taking the pills when they were offered to him. "I died… um… yesterday, I think? Time feels weird here… and I'm only eighteen and lived in America, so… I'd never had alcohol. I thought drinking would be fun. And yeah, it was, but this part is very not fun…" He sighed softly and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't remember much of anything about when I was drinking… but you know, the not remembering is pretty nice."
business
“Well, kid,” Audomar began, giving a light smile. “If you like the art or forgetting, maybe getting rid of your fatal wound would suit you. Once we get rid of that, you start to forget your mortal life. Some associates here can’t even remember their human name. Of course, that’s only after the gods give them their ascended name. Xellis, you haven’t done that yet, have you?”
“No,” Xellis replied. “I hadn’t really thought of it. But, I really all depends on you.” He looked over to Scipio, offering a shrug.
"'Ascended name'? What the fuck does that even mean??" Scipio asked bluntly, seeming bewildered. "What's wrong with my normal one?" He kept drinking the glass of water he'd been given, sighing quietly. He closed his eyes, hoping the meds would kick in soon.
business
“It’s like, the name a god gives a mortal, if the mortal chooses to leave their human life behind and become ‘ascended,’ so to speak,” Xellis murmured, slightly upset at Scipio’s lack of enthusiasm. “It’s what happens when a mortal fully pledges to a god, and finally cuts all their ties with the mortal world. It’s like… a ritual, or whatever.”
“Xellis, you should take it more seriously,” Audomar growled, as if Xellis were his rebellious teenage son. He looked over to Scipio. “It’s not a ritual, it’s simply a sacred practice. When you wish to devote yourself to this god’s plane, you receive a name different than your human one, and all memories are soon left behind.”
"How am I supposed to protect myself without my memories?" Scipio asked. "Sure, it's nice to forget for a while, but I like them to come back. Would I regress to view I was like as a child? Just a useless, weak little thing?" He still seemed very skeptical. "What kind of new name would I even be getting? I don't mind Scipio. I don't see much reason to change it, honestly, but I'm assuming I probably don't get much choice, do I?"
business
“It’s not like you’ll forget how to breath, calm down,” Xellis muttered. “You won’t forget the skills you learned, you’ll just forget what situations you learned them in. It’s complicated to explain, but you just won’t remember your mortal life, not including your skills. And hey, you can keep your name, but to be official, I just give you like… a title. I’m not taking your entire identity or anything.”
Scipio sighed, toying with the now empty water glass. "Alright, alright…" I still don't see the point of it, but whatever… "I don't really care. Just do the thing and we can move on with our… lives? Not sure what it would be called down here, but the point stands."
business
“Well, we can get to that much later,”
Xellis said, crossing his legs over one another.
“Yes, you can linger on that for a while,” Audomar grumbled, clearly upset with how lax Xellis was taking the situation. “For now, we can just heal your fatal wound. Not really any consequence to that.”
Audomar held his hand overtop Scipio’s chest, hovering over the bullet wound. Before lowering it, he looked up to the boy, asking, “May I?”
Scipio hesitated before nodding. "Uh… yeah… go ahead." He watched closely to make sure Audomar didn't try anything, gripping the empty glass tightly in one hand. He assumed that it wouldn't hurt, but he didn't want to seem like a wuss by asking.
business
Audomar placed his hand over the wound, closing his own eyes and sending forth the power he had stored into Scipio. No doubt, the boy would feel a surge of… power? Ecstasy? Audomar didn’t know how to explain it. Just a touch of the invulnerability of youth, perhaps. All the pain would just wash away for a moment.
Xellis watched as a pure green light was transferred over, the aura resting on Scipio’s chest for just a second before disappearing completely.
And just like that, Audomar opened his eyes, leaned back, and smiled. Based on his other patients, he assumed the boy would feel reinvigorated, or just better than before. Like a surge of energy and whatnot. But how much just varied for each patient.
“So?” he asked, leaning forward slightly. “How do you feel?”
Scipio trembled as the power surged through him, exhaling shakily. "H-Hah…" He closed his eyes as he shook. He slowly relaxed when the energy faded a bit. "Um… I feel good, I think? Tingly…" He tugged down the collar of his shirt to check if the wound was gone, which it was.
