“Garren?” Mateo asks.

  “Yes, it is me, I have come to return your weapon and then some,” Garren replies.

  Garren steps up to Mateo as the dim light of the red moon Targas illuminates the astral. The Storm lords have granted them a small amount of precipitation which is welcome on the tiny astral mass of Cleavenbrush. Garren looms over Mateo in his large four-armed blue skin form of a, well, Garren.

  “Are we alone?” Garren asks.

  “I doubt it, Rayo was climbing the mast last I saw and I’m sure Stitches is keeping a close eye on Mercedes, whom is keeping a close eye on me,” Mateo replies.

  Garren’s lips perch into a grin and he steps forward holding out one of his hands.

  “You still have my stone?”

  Mateo pulls Garren’s promise from his inventory setting it in Garren’s palm. It dissipates and is replaced by a familiar obsidian dagger.

  Garren’s blessing has been removed. You may no longer wield a max proficiency item. Garren’s grace has been added to your list of passive effects.

  Garren’s Grace: Once per moonfall you may commune with the god of foresight Garren. This will boost your stamina and max health by seven percent. Healing spells and items are fifteen percent more effective. This ability lasts for twenty-one hours.

  “That’s more for Mercedes than you, so I hope you’ll allow me to speak to her when we commune,” another identical dagger appears in his hand, “this is Drako’s Razor’s sister blade, Deadringer, take it and use them well, both have been blessed by Drako himself.”

  Item obtained: Drako’s Razor, blessed.

  Item obtained: Deadringer, blessed.

  Drako’s razor: depending on the proficiency of the user Drako’s razor can be extended into a larger or smaller blade. Drako’s razor causes bleeding damage; this damage stacks with additional attacks. When depleted Drako’s Razor can be recharged by consuming the souls of your adversaries into the void.

  Deadringer: At the cost of half the user’s mana and stamina, while wielding Drako’s razor, Deadringer can create a clone of the user. Deadringer will take whatever form Drako’s Razor is in. Creating a Deadringer clone costs half your mana and stamina. Your mana and stamina will not replenish past fifty percent until you recall your Deadringer clone.

  Deadringer: equipment set bonus. If you, or your clone, wield Deadringer while wielding Drako’s Razor felling enemies will increase your maximum health and mana by ten percent per stack, stacks up to ten times. Duration, three hundred seconds. Stacks will drop off every thirty seconds during this period until no stacks remain at the end of the duration of this ability. Cooldown thirty seconds from ability deactivation.

  Blessed: Drako’s Razor and Deadringer have been blessed by the Celestial Conqueror Drako himself.

  Drako’s Razor blessed: While wielding Drako’s razor you are a knife in the dark, a razor cutting with precision. No judge, no jury, just execution. After absorbing fifteen medium souls Drako’s Razor gains one stack of Fate’s remorse. When attacking an enemy that is unaware of your presence you can consume one stack of Fate’s remorse to curse your target. After thirty seconds your target will meet their fate, whether it be gruesome or silent.

  Deadringer blessed: While wielding Deadringer outside of combat you can copy the appearance of one target for up to one hundred and twenty minutes. Taking damage will not dispel this ability as long as you have Deadringer physically on your person. Targets with a high perception may be able to see through your illusion. Intercourse may also dispel the illusion.

  “Intercourse, what?”

  “My apologies that I cannot chat with you currently, the gods are at war, I must return to my realm, good luck, and tell Natalia I would have liked to have been graced with her presence, she can hear me, but she’s avoiding me, she can be that way sometimes,” Garren says with a smile.

  “Um, thank you, and I’ll make sure to take care of Mercedes,” Mateo says staring into the messages in his inventory.

  “No Mateo, thank you, and I hope you find yourself on the right side of history my friend.”

  Garren vanishes leaving Mateo standing in the rain on the deck of the Currents of Rage. Mercedes stumbles out from under some busted barrels approaching Mateo. Stitches is nowhere to be found.

  “Damn, master Garren already left, did he leave a message for me?” Mercedes asks.

  “Yeah, he said he loves you, in as many words as a god can say.”

  “So, we’ll be alone for a while, that means I have to count on you for protection,” Mercedes says twisting her foot nervously.

  “Don’t worry Mercedes, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Mateo says.

  “And my brother?”

  “At the mercy of the kitten I’m afraid.”

  “I like the beef, or bison, red meat,” Mercedes stutters nervously.

  “Calm down Mercedes, you’re among friends, I wouldn’t make you eat scraps, I can’t guarantee you a steady supply of cheese though,” Mateo says patting her shoulder.

  “That’s fine, I just don’t want anyone to think I don’t appreciate the meals I’ve been provided, and I don’t really like approaching pirates I don’t know.”

  Natalia appears above Mateo flying in circles irritably like a child. Mateo ignores her further comforting Mercedes. Natalia sighs and begins to hum angrily. Mateo pulls Mercedes in for an embrace and Natalia slaps him on the back of the head.

  “Hey, stop ignoring me, I’m having an existential crisis!” Natalia yells.

  “Calm down Natalia, can’t you see Mercedes is upset,” he says patting her mouse ears gently.

  Mercedes gives off a soft smile holding him tighter.

  “She’s upset, she’s upset! You can feel my emotions asshat! How do I feel!” Natalia barks.

  “Nervous, flustered, anxious, enticed.”

  “I am not enticed, I am furious!” Natalia yells letting off a tiny roar.

  Rayo, once again perched on Mateo’s neck, leans his head up from Mateo also giving off a tiny roar in his ivory snake form.

  “Ok Natalia, you saw your ex and you’re upset, let’s talk about it,” Mateo says with a sigh.

  “Did you see him, not only does he have four arms to give great hugs, but he’s a god now, a god Mateo, I can ravage him without holding back!” Natalia yells.

  Mateo places his hands over Mercedes’ mouse ears nodding his head. She looks up at him curiously, but he just mouths, ‘you don’t want to hear this’.

  Below deck on the Currents of Rage. Mitsubishi steps into a dark room giving off a loud sigh.

  “Still don’t want to talk about it?” Mitsu asks.

  Stitches tackles him from the shadows pinning him to the floor with her claws. Mitsu looks up into her eyes.

  “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “You didn’t, who are you to think you can hurt me peasant,” Stitches say licking the side of his face.

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  “Oh no, please be gentle Mistress Noir,” Mitsu chokes.

  “Gentle, that’s not how you like it Mr. Spadetail,” Stitches replies with a low growl.

  A drunken Beatrice stumbles onto the deck of the Currents of Rage. She notices Mateo and heads straight toward him ignoring his embrace with Mercedes.

  “We make a good team,” Beatrice says belching loudly and covering her mouth.

  “Yeah, are you ok, I thought I saw you take a few hits during the battle,” Mateo replies releasing Mercedes.

  “So, you were watching me,” Beatrice says stumbling toward him.

  “Not like that lady Osmund,” Mateo says stepping back.

  “Awe come on sweetie, don’t be like that, you’re single now, be adventurous, live a little, try new things,” Beatrice says displaying herself sloppily.

  “No thanks,” Mateo states outright.

  “Son of a bitch, why do you find me so,” she pauses, “oh no.”

  Beatrice hurries to the ships railing vomiting over the edge of it. Mateo steps over reluctantly and pulls her hair back as she continues to vomit violently into the astral.

  After her violent and sudden expulsion of dinner, Beatrice passes out. Mateo cleans her mouth with a towel and then tosses it into the void before cradling her in his arms. He carries her to her dormitory below deck placing a bucket beside her sleeping apparatus, one Mateo is loathsome to call a bed, and gently pulls a large animal pelt over her. He goes to step away when she reaches out grabbing his wrist. She speaks faintly, in a tired and drunken exasperation.

  “Thanks Mateo, if only there were more people with your kindness in this realm, maybe it wouldn’t be so cruel, so, broken.”

  Mateo reaches down running his hand over her soft ebony cheek gently and she closes her silver eyes breathing softly as she drifts gently away from the land of the conscious. Mateo runs his fingers through her soft silver hair before exiting the room.

  Mercedes meets him outside Beatrice’s room in a subtle nightgown.

  “I could use a little tenderness too,” she says twisting her foot on the floor.

  “You’re welcome in my room anytime Mercedes, as long as you don’t act like a pervert like Natalia,” Mateo says holding out his hand.

  “I am not a,” Natalia pauses for a moment, “ok maybe just a little.”

  “Natalia, how many boyfriends have you had?” Mateo asks.

  “Relative to how long I’ve existed, which is really long unlike some of my partners, or like relative to relationships on a mortal timeline?”

  “Oh my gods Natalia, you’re a whore aren’t you?”

  “Excuse me, I am not a whore, that is repulsive, I am a slut,” Natalia replies confidently.

  “What’s the difference?” Mateo asks.

  “Whore is an awful term, and slut sounds cute.”

  Mateo rolls his eyes.

  “Natalia doesn’t understand the question you’re asking Mateo, in her time relative to her existence she has actually had few partners and been very picky about them, if Memoirs of a Pixie are to be believed, she’s had one to three partners per mortal generation, meaning she’s not actually that promiscuous,” Mercedes says.

  “Oh, you read my Memoirs of a Pixie!” Natalia shrieks excitedly.

  “Ofcourse, what immortal wouldn’t read such a treasure, it was kind of awkward when you vividly described scenes of intimacy between yourself and master Garren though,” Mercedes says blushing.

  “You two can talk about this later, preferably when I’m not present,” Mateo says interrupting them.

  Mateo leads Mercedes to his room tucking her into bed and lays beside her. She wraps her arms around his bicep, and he snaps his fingers shutting off the mana sconces.

  “Good night, Mateo,” Mercedes says.

  “Good night, loser,” Natalia snipes floating above him with her arms crossed.

  “Nat, I never said you couldn’t rest with us,” Mateo replies patting the opposite side of the bed.

  “Ok, but big Natalia,” she says sliding under the covers to the opposite side of Mateo as Mercedes.

  The day star dispels the illumination of the moon, and dawn overthrows the night once more. Zenara and her crew have returned to the ship with the Harmony Casters when Mateo’s inventory begins to blink. The book of Ryukaze the wind dragon flashes with a red light. Mateo pulls it from his inventory, and it floats infront of him projecting the avatar of the very desirable wind maiden.

  A few of Zenara’s crew whistle and she raises a hand to shush them.

  “Mateo, can you see me?” Ryukaze asks.

  “Yes, don’t you just kind of pull me to you when you want to train me?” Mateo questions.

  “Good, you can hear me, and yes, but with the portals malfunctioning I didn’t want to risk a forced removal from your current realm, it is urgent that you attend your next training session though, so instead of a portal I need you to realm walk to me, just nod if you agree, I’m not good with reading lips.”

  Mateo nods and Rayo tilts his small ivory head curiously.

  “First you need to make sure you have the Nekomancer, I mean the necromancer by you, she’s realm walked before, but not in the same way you are going to, you are going to travel through the void to me,” Ryukaze says.

  “Present,” Stitches says appearing seemingly from thin air.

  “Stitches, what happened to your neck?” Mateo asks.

  “You should see the other guy,” she replies plainly.

  “Nevermind that, I need to realm walk to Ryukaze,” Mateo says.

  “To realm walk you need a Ferryman to traverse between realms and, well life and death, once you leave your realm you are technically dead, some say if you return you will be reborn there, unless you have ascended, my Ferryman is death herself, so she can transport living souls between realms, though I have never been a living soul while traveling between realms,” Stitches replies.

  Mateo turns toward the projected image of Ryukaze. She seems to be receiving audio over the feed now.

  “That could work, what’s the tithe for making such a journey?” Ryukaze asks.

  “Ten percent of your soul, one percent drops off every five years until you have paid your tithe,” Stitches replies.

  “That’s steep, if only we could get past that, auctioning off portions of your soul is dangerous, you might end up a fractured soul or worse, a corrupt soul construct, that’s only if your soul fractures, besides that you could become a soul slave, that’s about as close to the ‘Hell’ you know,” Ryukaze says pondering.

  Mateo’s mini map becomes a visible cube infront of him. Ana appears dressed in a very classy black dress and a choker with a cracked star pendant hanging from it.

  “Perhaps I could be of assistance, as a soul construct I may be able to request assistance from BigdaddyLucifer420,” Ana says.

  “Bigdaddy what?” Mateo asks.

  “It’s Lucifer’s user ID, when you reach Tiger rank and Natalia is able to channel more of her memories through your increased proficiency, she’ll be able to explain it better, you may even get to make your own user ID,” Ana replies.

  “Will anything happen to you Ana?” Mateo asks.

  “No, because I have nothing to give,” she replies with a broken smile.

  “Fuck I wonder what Okami would think of this?” Mateo ponders aloud.

  Very far away in Heroldin.

  The moonlight fills the air with the radiant song of small fuzzy insects floating about. Chrissima leans up patting sweat from her brow as Okami leans back letting off a low and promiscuous growl.

  “So, Chrissima, how do you think Mateo’s love pentagon is going?” Okami asks.

  “Pentagon, how many young maidensss isss that boy ssstringing along?” Chrissima replies.

  “He’s not stringing them along, he doesn’t even know what he could have, or maybe,” Okami says scratching his snout.

  “Yesss darling, pleassse continue.”

  “Maybe he doesn’t want that,” Okami replies.

  “And what do you think he wantsss?” She asks.

  Okami rolls onto her running his furry paw over her large, exposed breasts. Chrissima gives him a confused look.

  “Chrissima Brilliantscales Moonfang, would you join me on an adventure most dangerous, a journey that may very well take us to the ends of the realm, and beyond,” Okami says staring into her bright yellow eyes.

  Mateo stands on the deck of the Currents of Rage, the avatar of the wind dragon mistress displayed before him in living color.

  “Stitches, you can recite the incantation now,” Ryukaze says.

  “I could not stop for death, so she kindly stopped for me, I call forth a Ferryman of the realms, with the Dickinson’s decree.”

  The ambient mana around them shakes. Mateo stumbles a little and so does Stitches. The rest of the crew are frozen and unmoving. Only Mateo, Stitches, and Ryukaze’s avatar seem present. A small vessel meant for few passengers appears off Mateo’s left flank. A hooded figure steps off the vessel holding out their hand.

  “The tithe for your journey,” it demands.

  “Touch her palm with your ring finger only, and, pay attention to your mini map, if I don’t…, anyway, good luck,” Ana says ominously.

  “Ana wait,” Mateo says but she vanishes as soon as his finger touches the hooded figure’s palm.

  “You may travel,” she says coldly.

  Mateo and Stitches step onto the small vessel and the universe around them warps. The world becomes a lake in a cavern. The far side displaying a shore lit by a small lantern not unlike the one that lights the bow of the small vessel. The ferryman seems familiar to Mateo. Stitches stated they were ‘death herself’.

  “Rachel?” Mateo asks.

  The hood slides off the figure, and she turns back toward him.

  “How did you know?”

  “You are death, and also, rose and honeysuckle isn’t a smell that just anyone wears, you know on account of the bears, do you really not remember me?” Mateo asks.

  “Ryukaze will be jealous that you appreciate my scent, she can be a little, unhinged, and as for our acquaintance, I meet many in an hour, more in a day, but I lay them all to rest no matter the words they say,” Rachel replies.

  “Me and Heroldin, how is she if I may ask,” Mateo says.

  “Heroldin, yes, Mr. Ryusane, sorry but I’ve been very busy lately, I do remember you said pleasant things about me and if I was not death incarnate then I might be smitten by you, Heroldin as you know her is well, is her daughter, adjusting to her knew role?”

  “Her daughter?” Mateo says curiously.

  “The girl, Juliana, did you not know she was the daughter of Thoramere and Heroldin, perhaps I have spoken too much,” Rachel says continuing to steer the ship.

  “No, but I won’t press you further, I’d rather hear it from her,” Mateo replies.

  Mere moments pass before Mateo is thrust into the realm of the wind dragon. She meets him seeming far more tense than she usually is. Mateo starts to feel a little, uncomfortable.

  “Um, Ryukaze?”

  She takes a deep breath and moves over to Mateo wrapping him in an embrace.

  “I was worried, you’re my star pupil,” she pulls Mateo in closer smashing his face into her large firm breasts, “you learned new melee skills and you didn’t come see me, I thought you might have died, or worse, abandoned me,” Ryukaze says feigning sadness.

  Mateo removes himself from her lustful embrace raising his fists.

  “So, are you going to teach me a lesson or not?” Mateo asks.

  “Well, when you say it like that,” she says biting her thumbnail. “Prepare for battle.”

  Mateo appears on an empty field of sand, a coliseum around him. The seats house no viewers though. Rachel and Stitches are also absent.

  “You were gifted two abilities from her godship Dios, your qualification of proficiency draws near, and you will need more than just a dagger and a few spells,” Ryukaze states.

  “Guide me, lady Ryukaze,” Mateo replies.

  “Fine, your first match is with Borgal the wyrm.”