Slowly, Widstor's eyes opened, his eyelids feeling as heavy as anvils. It was the first time he had gotten any rest for longer than he could remember--after all, it would be no understatement to say he hadn't rested since this world's inception.
Of course, there was good reason for that.
With a sudden start, Widstor leaped to his feet, looking around in a panic. Had it finally happened? Had he passed on to the afterlife?
Looking down into his hands, though, Widstor let out a sigh of relief, holding the heart he held--entrenched in blackness as it was--close to his chest. In some sort of poetic bit of irony, the heart which he had pumped so much of his own life force into had managed to keep himself alive for these precious few minutes he was unconscious.
"Good, you're finally awake." came a familiar voice as Widstor turned around, coming face to face with Cevell. "I have something to tell you. I presume you've filled my heart with life, as I've asked?" she went on to ask, holding out her organic hand.
With a bit of realization, Widstor nodded, smiling as he placed the heart into Cevell's hands. "Now I understand why you wanted this. It's nice to know that through that cold demeanor of yours, you're finally thinking of others. I suppose it is about time I get some res--"
As she took the black heart, Cevell ignored Widstor's words, paying no mind as she brought her shotgun-arm up, interrupting Widstor with one simple word:
"Goodbye."
As Cevell turned back around, staring out into the deserted island she now stood upon, she frowned. As nice as it was to finally get that out of the way, everything else wasn't exactly going as she hoped. She had no idea where Alicia was,
the good Captain managed to be bested by someone
other than herself, and now, Cevell was truly alone. It wasn't the first time, so she knew well that she'd be able to manage, but it never got any easier. Yes, this was just like last time--save one thing. Yes, there was one person that could make this worse--
"It's time at last, Ms. Toffel."
As Cevell turned around, she was greeted by that woman with her dumb pink hair, and her dumb pink clothes, and her dumb pink
voice. Cevell could totally sense the very
essence of pink in her voice, that was... that was definitely a thing... Also, her clothes are mostly white, looking at it, but... Look, Miyana was here, and Cevell was less than happy, alright?
"So now you see just why this world needs you, and you specifically. Best way to defeat a god of a world is to enlist something from another world, after all, and between your scientific expertise, and Widstor's unique magical properties, you two were quite the steal." Miyana went on explaining.
Her look of absolute distaste wearing off a bit, Cevell let out a snicker as Miyana finished her sentence. "Widstor too, huh? Well, might be a slight problem with that, I may have... gotten rid of him." Cevell coyly said, letting out another small laugh.
"Oh, no, I figured that would eventually. I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, to be honest, but that's fine. I know fully well that that won't stop him." Miyana replied, letting out a light laugh of her own as she looked upwards, above and behind Cevell, "After all, you said it yourself: you simply have to want something badly enough, and it'll happen."
Her slight smile faltering, Cevell turned around once again, slightly confused. To say she wasn't prepared for what she saw would be... quite the understatement. As would saying that she saw Widstor, still alive. What she saw was not simply Widstor, it'd be a stretch to call it that at all, really: Widstor's body was there, to be sure, but coming out from where most the head was now missing was... a monstrosity, would be the only real word to describe it. "A massive, chaotic mass of black energy, swirling around in some formless mess, yet still somehow seeming to be staring directly at her" would be another good way to describe it. Before Cevell could even react, though, the mass reached out and grabbed her with an arm (?) and held her up close to its face (?).
"Want...
you, want... need...
want...
Cevell... want...
inside me..." the mass stuttered out, its voice a strange, hoarse-sounding noise that seemed to echo all around Cevell, who looked a bit disconcerted, but probably nowhere nearly as much as she should.
With yet another snicker, Cevell replied, "That's not how it works, Widman. Even in double-death, you're still as clueless as ever." Completely undeterred, however, the mass slowly opened its mouth (?), craning Cevell up over it. For as black as this
thing was, its "mouth" was somehow an even darker, far more empty of a black abyss. Not wasting another moment, however, Cevell aimed her shotgun-arm directly at the mass' own "arm," blasting away. Immediately plunging downward, Cevell practically did the splits as she caught each foot on either side of the mass' "mouth," blasting her shotgun a second time, down into the mouth, using the force to help her spring off to the side (plus, anything resembling an opportunity to shoot Widstor in the mouth was never to be wasted).
"Well, that's cute and all," Cevell casually said towards Miyana as she brushed herself off, "but I do hope you don't plan on me working with him."
"I don't know," Miyana immediately replied with a smile, "all things happen because someone wanted it hard enough."
With that, as Cevell went to brush off what was left of the "arm" around her leg, it suddenly tightened its grip, quickly lifting Cevell back up into the air as it levitated back up towards the mass. "
Want...
Cevell..." the mass repeated.
Letting out something between a sigh and a small laugh, Miyana went on, "Of course... if enough people want something, it becomes a lot easier to overcome the want of one." And thus, on cue, the smell of death wafted over the area as a massive boat composed entirely of bone and flesh--its sails a black energy not unlike the mass'--drifted ashore, centered perfectly behind Miyana.
"
We will be fakin--rake--track--
taking that." a voice of a similar sort of feel to the mass', albeit more human, and just...
more, as if coming from multiple people, to the point of stuttering over itself as it tried to find its words. Regardless, as this came, the boat began to morph, a particular skull coming forth from the center, along with a massive arm constructed of various parts that outstretched itself towards Cevell.
With a look of disgust, Cevell spit at the arm, commenting "Excuse me, but I don't belong to anyone, not to this ugly mug behind me, not to pinky, and
especially not to whatever the Hell
you are."
With that, the bone boat's arm faltered, its voice coming up once more, "Ah, you must forgo--forgery--
forgive us, ma'am,
we were not referring to you, but the...
being behind you, currently holding your leg,
we should hope that no offen--"
"
Ahem." Miyana's voice came, now, clearing her throat quite blatantly, nudging her head towards the mass, which was taking the opportunity of the bone boat's politeness to reconnect with the arm holding Cevell, quickly flinging her into the air, arcing her in such a way so as to land in the mass' "mouth."
"Er, right." the bone boat spoke again, with a bit of embarrassment, its arm now outstretching once more towards the mass, quickly snatching up what remained of Widstor's body from its base, the mass' energy now rapidly swirling down and around the bone boat's arm, absorbing all of the mass just in time for Cevell to land safely in the bone boat's hand. Slowly lowering her back to the ground, the bone boat spoke once more, "
We apologize for the illconceiv--inconspic--
inconvenience, ma'am,
we knew not--" With a start, though, the bone boat's grip tightened on Cevell, the skull that was at the front and center suddenly falling down, black energy rapidly leaking out from where it once was, as if it were some kind of plug. "Such...
desire, we...
I...
want...
Cev--"
BLAM, BLAM, BLAM, is what sounded out as Cevell wasted no time in blasting her shotgun right into the arm holding her, quickly detaching it from the bone boat as it fell limp to the ground.
"Ah, yes...
we do apologize, ma'am--hnn...
Cevell...
I... no,
we were not quite prepared, but you--
Cevell--should be safe n...now. Yes." the voice spoke once more, the black energy that leaked out now draining back into the skull that fell as a second arm--this one just a simple, human-sized skeletal arm--reaching down and replacing the skull to its rightful place.
Cevell rolled her eyes, sighing as she spoke, "Yeah, yeah, sure. I was perfectly fine before you showed up. Just would've taken a few more shotgun blasts--perfect solution to any problem, and that dork was no exception."
"You
can keep him under control, yes?" Miyana asked, chiming into the conversation.
"Yes, although
we mean no offer--
offense when
we say that
we hope this dark-haired woman--
Cevell--does not plan on keeping
our company, as his--
my--
our desire is quite strong.
"Oh, between your lovely smell and your beautiful body, how could I ever keep myself away?" Cevell remarked, her voice dripping with sarcasm--or maybe that was just the leftover bits of flesh she was brushing off of her from the arm.
"Right, yes.
We certainly could be more preset--prehens--
presentable." the bone boat spoke again, its body now shifting as it formed into a more humanoid shape, growing more dense to make itself smaller and forming into more of a mound, the particular skull now placed atop where one would expect the head to actually be, and the black energy now into a cape, or even cloak of sorts. "Regardless,
we were under the impression
we would be along--alert--
alone on this island--at least, as alone as
we can be--so
we imagine you ladies will be off soon, yes?"
"Indeed." Miyana chimed in once again, "Soon. But first--that casket you're transporting. You have life energy to spare, now, so I'd like you to raise its contents."
"Erm..." the bone golem spoke, a bit unsure, "
We apologize, but
we can't do that.
We promised
we wouldn't, to a woman who proved both general--generatio--
generous and trustworthy. To go back on
our word would be completely represe--repris--
reprehensible."
Miyana sighed, shaking her head as she responded, "
That woman gave you nothing more than a promise of her own. Of supplies that you may not even need. I gave you a specific location, and the seed of life that will guarantee you're able to sustain. And how did she prove trustworthy? By saying your name? Is that really all it takes,
Etheren?"
For a moment, the bone golem, Etheren, remained silent. Eventually, he spoke up again, "Your point is made.
We would be willing to compris--compro--
comply, but are you absolutely sure this is necessary? We would hate to go against such a kind
soul's wishes if it can be helped."
"It may not be," Miyana admitted, "but when the army of the next world over come to destroy all we know, I feel like anything that has a
chance of being necessary should be taken advantage of, wouldn't you agree? What you have in that coffin is nothing short of an abomination--something the Goddess of this world had no hand in creating, and that is what we need. That is no doubt the reason she was denied life, as well, which I'm sure is something you can relate to all too well, Etheren, and now, only you can change all of that."
Etheren paused in silence once again, finally replying with "
We may not be fully aware of all the things you speak of, but your logar--lodg--
logic is hard to argue with,
our fair lady. It shall be done."
"Excellent. I shall leave you to your devices for the moment, as I have our clothing-hating friend to attend to." Miyana went on, now turning back towards Cevell. "Now then, are you ready to offer
your services?"
Cevell stuck her tongue out in disgust at the thought, but nodded regardless. "I guess. Not like I have much choice." she grumbled.
"Don't be like that. Think about it like this: when you take over Hell, what good would it be if there was no world left for it to serve as an afterlife to? I can't imagine the Goddess would simply let Hell exist in whatever world she has in mind, after all." Miyana went on, walking up and patting Cevell on the back with her one arm.
Cevell grabbed Miyana's arm, slowly removing it from her back, but responded nonetheless, "Fair enough. Only appropriate that the future Devil take down the God of the world, after all." she said with a chuckle.
"That's the spirit." Miyana said with a smile, "Shall we get going, then?"
"Well... one more thing." Cevell went on, biting at her lip as she looked away, "You were clearly tracking me and such... and I was thinking, you'd probably know where the others on the ship ended up, and..."
Miyana raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly as she spoke, "You're not worried about the rest of the crew of
the Prancing Devil, are you?"
"No!" Cevell quickly refuted, shaking her head, "I mean... I was just thinking, like, if any of them owed me something, or... one of them--"
Miyana chuckled slightly, interrupting, "You need not worry, I already have the devil girl back where we're going, ready to get working on finding that fountain you two need."
"G...good." Cevell said, gritting her teeth slightly. The fact Miyana knew exactly what she was talking about frustrated Cevell way more than she would've liked.
"Then we're off. I'll leave you there for a bit to catch up with the devil girl as I finish with the bag of bones here." Miyana said with a wave of her single hand, Cevell disappearing in a puff. Walking back towards Etheren, she spoke up once again, "So, Etheren, are you ready? I'm sure we both have business we'd like to hurry and get to."
"Hm... yes. Let
us get this over with, for better or for worse." Etheren replied, holding out a hand over the casket he had prepared in the meantime. Slowly, black energy began dripping out of his fingertips--eventually working up to full-on flowing after a few moments, going directly through the lid of the coffin.
"Very good." Miyana said with a nod, walking up to the coffin, watching idly for a few moments as Etheren did his thing. After a few moments, she raised her arm, slowly lifting up the casket's lid as she peered inside.
"It's time for your second chance, dear. Are you ready?"
---------------------
"Yessss! I'm ready for my second chance at last!" Ghosty McGee shouted, triumphantly holding his fluff-filled arm to the sky. "... So, wait, how exactly does this work? Do I need to eat? Or poo? Or
breathe? How am I even talking?" he went on to ask, his arm faltering as he pondered these questions. That didn't last long, however, as he now leaped up on to John's head, his arm now firmly back in the air as he shouted, "Whatever, we can worry about that later, this stage of our lives is coming to a close, and our journey's only just beginning! ON TO ADVENTURE!
... What exactly are we doing, again?"