Ever since I read that report from miss Luna about the cemetery, I have been meaning to investigate it... However, with the number of mysterious incidents within the city skyrocketing, and me getting possessed, I ended up avoiding it for a while.
However, ever since my conversation with miss Oam, I could understand my own shortcomings better and could slowly restore my faith in the goddess, and I felt The Goddess was properly answering my prayers once more, even if not as well as how she did it back in my home world, it was still a great improvement, and I could finally cure my wounds and feel energized again.
With this, I figured it was time to look at what was going on in the cemetery at last. I prayed that The Goddess would protect me, and moved to the graveyard.
Once I arrived there, I saw the usual workers that I generally met while making prayers for the deceased. I greeted them briefly and they asked what business I had in the cemetery today, and I told them I was actually in an investigation about an unusual mist, jewels and possible disappearances... Sadly though, none of them had a clue on what this could be all about, so I had to look around on my own.
My first round through the cemetery was... Uneventful. I gave some prayers to a few names I recognized within it, but I didn't get wind of any mist or any mysterious riches floating around near the tombstones. After a while doing that, I figured it might be better to try replicating the situation of miss Luna's report.
I talked to the gravekeepers about it and explained I wanted to see if we could isolate the cemetery tonight. Perhaps if I was the only one there, I could find the mist somehow. They worried for me, but I reassured them that there was nothing to fear, for The Goddess was on my side, she would protect me from all harm.
They agreed to it, I always appreciated how much value is given to a priestess word, they know I carry the word of The Goddess, and therefore they trust her to protect me... And I prayed that The Goddess would guide my steps, for I knew that whatever was in this graveyard, would not be something that mortals should meddle with.
I spent some time appraising reports while I waited until night came. In that meantime, I found out that mister Adsall had already taken some of the orphanage quests and started aiding it, something I was very thankful for... Hopefully it will grow into a better place for the children like this.
Once night fell, I went back to the cemetery. The gravekeepers had already gone home, so the place was quite lonely, a loneliness that fit death... I entered inside it and noticed something amiss right away... I didn't quite get the mist, or the jewelry like miss Luna had, but it was just... A feeling. A feeling that something wrong was here, something unholy, something that should not belong to this world.
I wondered why it only seemed to manifest itself in those conditions, but I moved along, walking around the cemetery to see if I noticed anything else amiss... It didn't take too long for me to see a few tombstones with two coins in it... It reminded me of an old tradition that meant those coins were there in order to pay the fee of the afterlife's boatman. Did this mean this cemetery was more closely related to death than normal? Or was I just overthinking it by comparing it to a tradition of my own world? I wasn't even sure if afterlives were shared between worlds to begin with, and besides, all graveyards were closely tied to the afterlife due to the high amount of dead within it... Perhaps I should stop overthinking it.
For now... Let's try something. I approached the coins and prayed for the person underneath the tombstone. I wished them a safe passage to the afterlife and that the boatman would guide them towards their loved ones... The coins seemed to shine for a moment, and then disappeared into an unnatural fog... It seems The Goddess answered my prayer.
After I finished granting this soul a peaceful passage into the afterlife, I started looking around for a small bit, paying attention to the graves with and without coins in them. There wasn't much in common in either group, often times the tombstone designs were quite different, and there seemed to be no similarity in the names or dates engraved on them... At first at least.
Because after walking for a while, I noticed two things that separated the graves with and without money on them... The ones with money, were usually older. While there were plenty of graves without money on them that were older than the ones with money, on average, the ones with money were the older ones.
And also... I did not recognize any of the tombstones with money on them. While I by no means had memorized every single tombstone in the city, I could at the very least recognize the graves of the people I prayed for during their funeral, and all of those tombstones had no money in them at all... Perhaps... Those that had their money with them, were those that were not granted a peaceful passage to the afterlife?
I decided to bet on that possibility. One by one, I started praying on the graves. On each and everyone one of them, I knelt down near the coins and prayed until they disappeared into a bit of mist, just like the first ones. Some were easy, others were hard... I didn't mind, I was in no hurry. I kept going through them without leaving any behind.
I don't know how much time I spent on that, miss Luna's report signaled that the graveyard seemed to be a lot bigger than its normal size during her exploration, and I concurred, there were far more graves in here than there normally were... But what she did not report, was that time here seemed... Fuzzy.
I'm really unsure of how much time I spent praying, but it was definitely more than just a few hours. It wouldn't surprise me even if days had passed by while I prayed for those souls... And yet, I was not hungry, I was not sleepy, and the sun had not risen yet.
Nonetheless, I continued, one prayer at a time, one soul at a time, I gave them safe passage by praying for a better afterlife for them... And after a Goddess knows how long, I finally started noticing an increase in the wealth surrounding the tombstones, just like miss Luna had reported.
Those wealthier tombstones were harder to send away as well, as if... Their attachment to this world was greater than the other ones, and so were their regrets. I persisted though, I knew The Goddess had sent me for a reason, I was not going to abandon a single one of those poor souls, they deserved to rest in peace.
More hours passed, I started noticing another thing about the remaining tombstones... They were very old. Older than the portals to other worlds, possibly older than the guild itself. They were very old graves that most likely... Wouldn't even be in the graveyard anymore, considering the size of Scribel's cemetery, their bodies were most likely turned into ash by now and their place was given to a new body at this point.
Was this why the graveyard seemed bigger than before? Because there were tombstones that transcended time over here? I was unsure, it was hard to take conclusions... But it didn't matter, even if it was a soul that died in the distant past, The Goddess would still want it to rest now, and so I did my best to help them.
By the time I reached the graves filled with jewelry, I started spending what seemed to be over an hour praying for each soul. Some of them were even conscious enough to speak to me, it was a... Very unique experience, I had never talked directly to the dead before. I heard their regrets, their attachments, their wishes to remain in this world... And I prayed for them. I could not force them to pass away, but I knew that this was what was best for them. It was surprising that they did not become vengeful spirits after such a long time in this world, even after gaining awareness of themselves, they just remained in this very... Unusual part of the cemetery, spending their days wallowing about days long past.
I wish I could have learned more about how life was in Scribel in the past by talking to them, or at least how their life was... But after this long, their memories were very fuzzy. They remembered a few moments clearly, but somehow other memories contradicted those, and what was certain at one point, became uncertain in the next... Those poor souls went through many hardships for sure.
Meanwhile, I kept praying. I prayed until they accepted their reality, accepted that their grievances have long lost their purpose, that the people they resented weren't even in this world anymore... Accepted that it was time to move on. And once they did, they too disappeared unto the mist.
Eventually, the last of the graves with coins, jewels and other monetary items had had their souls purified and moved on to the afterlife. I felt quite happy to help this many dead to reach a better place, but... This quest was not over. I was still in the extended graveyard, and in front of me, lied the mist that miss Luna had thrown her lantern at.
From her report, the mist had tried sucking her in, and she ran form it before being caught up and then suddenly appearing at the graveyard's entrance. However, the mist was not moving towards me at all, it seemed perfectly fine in staying where it was, as if it was... Waiting for me.
I did not know why I felt like it wanted me to move towards it, but I trusted this feeling, it was surely The Goddess that was telling me to move forward... And that's what I did, I moved ahead, inside the mist.
My vision went white for a moment, I could not see anything, the thick mist completely blocked everything... Yet I continued to walk forward, one step at a time. Until I traversed the mist and arrived at an eerie dark place.
It's hard to describe what I was seeing... It was fuzzy, changing, flowing... I did not seem like this was a "place" per se, instead it was a...
"Plane." I heard a voice I did not expect to hear so soon coming from behind me. I turned around in a hurry and saw the demon that entered inside me. His body was more... Tangible this time. It was still of roughly the same shape, but it didn't feel made of mist, it felt like it was his actual body this time... But how? "It's a lot easier to manifest myself on an immaterial plane." He answered.
That was very confusing... "Are you reading my mind?" I asked him.
He nodded, "Ever since you accepted me in, I have been able to access your mind." He licked his lips, "I deeply enjoyed feasting on your fearful thoughts." That made me shiver for a moment, the thought was... Scary.
I calmed down. That was exactly what he wanted. He laughed and then spoke, "Oh, such a pity, you were nicer when you got scared more easily." I did not appreciate his comment, but I decided to take it as a compliment. My thoughts on that made his smile turn into a snicker though, which was somewhat bothering. I did not appreciate having my mind so easily seen through.
It was better to change the topic than to play his game though, so I asked, "Why are you here?"
He changed his complexion into a more serious one, "To take you back." That was not an answer I was expecting... Why? "Because the living do not belong to the plane of the dead. I don't want to lose my source of food this early."
His answer was loaded, though not entirely unexpected. That the mist lead me to the afterlife was not surprising, nor was it surprising that this was dangerous to me... However... "I refuse." I answered him. He seemed to get annoyed at my reply for a moment...
Until he started laughing that is. "Who said you had a choice!?" He screamed, and then my body turned away from him, and back towards the mist that was just behind us... I stepped towards it, once. Twice. Thrice... My body once again was moving completely against my will.
It was a bit surprising to see he could that even when I was not fearing him, and the thought he could take my body over whenever he pleased was indeed terrifying, and as soon as I thought that, my body started moving faster towards the mist... However...
I closed my eyes and prayed. I prayed that The Goddess would allow me to fulfill her will, that she would let me do whatever she wished me to do here... And so, my body stopped moving.
"You dare to defy me?" He asked.
I turned around and looked straight into his eyes. "The deal was that my life would be yours. Right now though, I'm not really alive, am I? The living cannot exist in the plane of the dead." He twitched, it was enough to tell me I was right. "This plane is dangerous because the longer I stay away from my real body, the thinner my life force will be and as such, I may die for real... Ain't I correct?"
The demon started grumbling, but he did not deny my words... This much was plenty for me. So I continued, "I have no right nor the power to stop you from watching, but I still want to make sure the souls buried in Scribel are going to have a peaceful afterlife, I ask you to not interfere until then.
"... And do not worry, I also have no intention of throwing away the life The Goddess has given me. I do not believe she has sent me to die here." The demon snickered, but made no comment... This was fine.
I turned away from him and started moving deeper into the plane of the dead. It was quite the unusual experience, I wasn't quite stepping on anything per se, there was just some sort of path that I knew I had to follow, some way my instincts told me that would lead me to wherever I wished to be... To the place The Goddess has sent me to be.
It did not take long to find it. The thing that felt the most physical around here. A river of sorts, it had a cloaked boatman in it, and multiple souls surrounding the boat... Or rather, in the boat, moving through the river, in multiple... No, in one boat. One boat that existed in multiple places, with a single boatman that manned its only boat, and that was standing still, waiting for me, while at the same time ferrying all that wished to pass through this life to the next one.
I was not capable of understanding what I was looking at. But I did not need to, what I needed to do, was to approach him and talk. For The Goddess certainly did not send me here to understand how the dead pass to a new life, she sent me to help them reach said life.
And so I walked towards the cloaked boatman, once I got close enough, I noticed that there was nothing within his cloak. It was a dark cloak filled with pure darkness inside it, something that seemed like it would pull me towards it if I stared for too long. An endless abyss that represented the inevitable death... Or so I believed.
When I stood in front of it, the boatman spoke, "What does the living wish in the river of the dead?" Its voice was strange. It felt like I heard it directly in my soul, it surrounded me completely, coming from everywhere and nowhere, yet I knew it was coming from the boatman right in front of me, it was an absolutely astonishing experience.
I understood that whatever it was, was far beyond what I was supposed to be handling... The demon was right, I was certainly not supposed to be here.
However... The Goddess sent me here for a reason, and I was not going to disappoint her. I steeled myself and answered it, "I came here to ask for safe passage. To let all those that die in Scribel have a safe trip from their previous life to their new one." My voice came out hoarse, I felt like I was running out of breath, as if the boatman's very presence was draining my life away... It was hard to stay on my feet.
The boatman answered, "The dead must repent before they reach their appropriate realm. Only those that deserve it may come to reunite with those that they long for."
... What? Repent? They aren't even aware of their own existence, how could one expect them to repent for their sins if they can't even understand that they have committed sins during their life? "This is wrong! The Goddess grants safe passage to all that desire it, a sinful life should not be accompanied by an afterlife filled with suffering!" My heart ached, I was sweating cold, my legs started trembling...
The boatman answered, "Your goddess is not from here, her word does not rule over those that die in here."
I was angered by that reply, what is this foolishness!? "I refuse! I refuse to accept this! The Goddess is merciful, she is not one to fight over who is right and who is wrong..." I started coughing, my legs could no longer sustain me and I fell on my knees. "The Goddess only wish for the best for everyone... She does not believe one should be punished for that which they no longer control... Please... Please release the dead of Scribel..." I started crying, my hand clung to the Boatman's boat while I begged him, I just wanted... I just wanted it to let them go.
The boatman's hand moved towards mine, it was a black skeletal hand that came out of the darkness of the cloak. While it moved, the boatman spoke once more, "Do you wish for a safe passage...?" I eagerly nodded, his hand moved closer, though just as it was about to hold my wrist, I was pulled away.
The Demon was now holding me in a princess carry, I did not understand what was happening... And still, he spoke clearly, "Her life does not belong to you. Do not attempt to take other's possessions away before their due time." Possession? That was me? "Yes, that's you." The demon said while reading my mind once more, "Good grief, I don't want to lose such a juicy food source so soon, get a grip, you idiot."
I was deeply offended by how he directed his words towards me, but I understood what he meant. My life is still yours, and the boatman was about to grant me safe passage from this world to the next... To think I was once again tricked by words like that... I still have much to learn.
I had a hard time keeping my eyes open, I did not think I had much time left. Still, I directed my words towards the boatman once more. "Please, in the name of The Goddess, grant safe passage to those that desire it, do not let them suffer for eternity in the land of the living when they should be long gone." Each word that I said greatly hurt my throat, each time my heart beat felt like it would be the last... But not yet, my job here was not done.
The Boatman looked towards me with its infinite 'face', and asked a simple question, "Is that what you truly desire?"
I nodded once more and struggled to get a word out... With a burning throat, I said, "Yes." My vision started fading, it became blurrier than before, almost as if everything was splitting into multiple copies of itself... Everything was shaking, I could hardly tell what was what... Even my body started to feel unreal, transient, something that would soon cease to exist.
The boatman answered my plea, "Very well, the will of your goddess will be granted then." I thanked him for his mercy, and The Goddess for giving me the strength to endure this until the end... I however, was unable to voice my feelings, I could barely keep myself whole the way I was now, speaking was out of question.
Seeing that our exchange was over, the demon spoke plainly, "We need to go." And started walking back the way we came. I did not deny him, instead I looked at his face as he moved us back.
It was a very weird sensation, the being that took away my life, was also the one saving it now. I wondered what was his expression as he did so, but I was unable to make it out clearly, my vision was far too fuzzy for that... What I felt right now though, was... Happiness. I was happy that even a demon could help me in serving The Goddess will, that even in a place with no light, the Goddess could always find a way to guide our path.
And I was thankful, thankful for his help. He may have said it was because my life belonged to him, but he had still allowed me to do as I pleased even though he had always had the power to forcefully push me out of here, even if by not controlling my body, he could do it with his own... To take over my free will, yet still respect it when I wished for it strongly enough... He was such a weird demon. I was curious about what went on his mind as I thought this, for I knew he could hear all that went through my mind.
"You think way too much, you know that?" He said. I giggled internally, he almost felt a bit cute right now. "I should just drop you here and feed on someone else..." Was his answer to those thoughts. And while he was perfectly capable of doing so, we both knew he had no intention of following through with that action.
We reached the mist that signaled the border between worlds and moved through it in silence. Before long, we finished crossing it, and I was suddenly in the ground, taking deep breaths while trying to recover the strength of my pained body.
"She's alive!" Someone said. I looked towards it and saw the two gravekeepers worriedly looking over me, with the demon that brought me here nowhere to be found... I suppose he is back inside me right now.
"... What happened?" I asked. They explained to me that they were looking at the graveyard from the window of a nearby abandoned house, and that I had fainted as soon as I stepped at its entrance. And I remained like so for about an hour. My breath was steady for the most part, but it got rougher in the last few seconds, and even my heart had stopped beating for a few seconds, so they had been really worried for me. And at the same time, they had not been able to move me no matter how hard they tried, so they just kept watch in the meantime.
I thanked them for their help, and asked if they could once more leave me alone... They were really worried about it, but I reassured them that this time things would be a lot safer, and that I just needed to check something. They ended up complying and moved away from the graveyard... And so, I left it and moved inside once more.
This time, I did not feel like something was amiss like before... This time it was peaceful. Free. A place of rest at last.
I walked around for a bit longer just to be sure, but it didn't take long to go over the entire graveyard... If anything, the only thing I could find, was a forgotten lantern that seemed to have been left here... It felt a bit different from normal though, a bit less... Mundane. Perhaps miss Luna would be able to do something with it. Or maybe she will just be happy to have it back.
I moved back to the entrance and waved at the window that the gravekeepers were in. They quickly approached and then asked me what had happened... I decided it was best to not tell them though, so I just said that I had aided the dead to move on.
And with this, I went back to the guild, to report today's occurrences.
