The Rusty Cup had definitely gotten nicer since Darris was a child. The once old and splintered tables had seemingly recently been replaced with more polished tables. The hard chairs had been replaced with ones made of fine wood and now had cushions on them. The walls, once lined with torches, now had been traded for lanterns.
The tables were littered with the many citizens of Vanderin. Some enjoyed a calm, late meal after a long day of labor. Others were loud and drunk after a payday from whatever sort of job they'd been at. A few others looked tired, only eating a small meal, as if soon they had to get back to work any moment.
No one batted an eye when a dark elf and a teenager walked in. Without a word Svalken took a seat at one of the tables; Darris sitting across from him. Not a moment later a young waitress walked to the table, notepad in hand. She had dark hazel skin and brown eyes with black curly hair.
She flashed a pleasing smile. "I am Enri Mathinnil; I will be waiting your table." She greeted the two of them, glancing at both of them, but never in the eyes. Or eye, in Darris's case.
"Just seared lamb, and some ale." Svalken glanced at Darris. "Two lamb actually, and a room for a night." He ordered.
Enri quickly wrote down the order on the piece of parchment with the small quill in her hand. "I'll have that out quick." She then turned to leave when Darris spoke.
"Are you related to Elmer Mathinnil?" He asked, before he knew exactly what he was asking.
Enrolst turned back, her eyes knit. "Um... yes actually. He was my great great grandpa. How did you know of him?" She asked.
Darris opened his mouth to speak, but it was that moment he'd noticed his question. Elmer Mathinnil had been a friend of his before he left to join Fame. Him, Isak, and Darris had all been in the same group in town. They had all thought of becoming adventures one day. Elmer had left before either of them had, then they simply lost contact with him. The last time Darris had seen Elmer was just before he left.
A slight but noticeable solemn expression fell upon Daris's face. "Was he an adventurer?" He asked, turning in his chair to face Enri.
She thought for a moment. "I believe he was at one point. But then he retired when he lost his leg. Then he died of old age not long after I was born."
"Oh, did you ever know how he lost his leg?" He asked. Enri just shrugged. "I think he'd said something about demons, but that's all I remember."
Darris turned away as the blood, or what was left of it, fled from his face. "Oh, that's all. You can go now." He said, trying not to look back to Enri.
She stood for about half a second before walking away, slightly confused about the encounter.
"He was my friend." Darris said faintly.
Svelkan looked to Darris, putting his feet up on the table while leaning his chair on its two back legs. "It's been over 200 years. Humans don't live that long." He said nonchalantly.
"He lost his leg because of me." Darris said, raising his knees up to his chest in the chair.
Svelkan rolled his eyes. "He lost it from a demon. I don't see how that's your fault. Even if you died fighting some."
"It's my fault that demons have overtaken Sige." He said.
"You'd've died regardless. You can't stop a Ruin. Even I can't. The abyssal creatures would've flooded through anyways." He said. "It doesn't matter what you did or what you do now. You died. Just be glad I gave you a second chance at life." He said.
Darris sighed, setting his legs down, instead setting his head down on the table.
"Try to just forget about it. It'll be better for both of us." Svalken suggested.
It was then that Enrolst came back with two plates of seared meat, setting them down in front of the two customers. Instead of walking away however, she turned to Darris. "By the way, this might be an odd question, but is Gregory Grimhul your brother? The one who works with Mr. Jhinarr. You look a lot like him." She asked, leaning forward.
Darris leaned back slightly. He thought for a moment. His bloodline seemed to still be alive, even 200 years later. Then he nodded slightly. "Um.. yes he's my brother. Technically. I've been gone a long time." He answered, trying to keep his answer vague. He was part of the Grimhul line, so it wasn't necessarily a lie.
Enrolst took a half-step away from Darris, putting a bit of her hair behind her ear. "Oh, in which case, tell him to stop by sometime. Thanks." And with that she turned and walked away. Darris watched her as she left. Oddly noting that the waitress attire was slightly small for her.
"Quit staring and eat your food." Svelkan said, already taking a bite of his meat.
"I wasn't staring." Darris said quickly, a light warmthh padding his cheeks.
Svelkan just nodded sarcastically. "Sure." He said.
Darris looked down at his food. It was nothing fancy. Just the cooked leg of a lamb. Just as Darris remembered. Somehow the food was the same here, even 200 years into the future. He picked a piece of meat from the slab in front of him. As he expected it was hot, but not enough to burn his hand. Then he shoved it in his mouth and ate it. The meat warmed the inside of his mouth, and his lips. However, only the left side of it. He'd almost forgotten that half his face was no longer there. Nothing but his skull. He was a corpse after all, it was a wonder his nerves even functioned. Then he swallowed, then felt nothing. He felt the meat fall into his empty stomach, but nothing. He didn't feel hungry, or satiated by the piece of meat.
"Considering I'm undead, do I even need to eat? Or sleep, or drink or anything?" He asked.
Svalken looked at Darris, then to his food. He rolled his eyes, more at himself then to Darris. "No, or breath actually. But you can still feel anywhere you have... had... nerves before. So everywhere but the side of your face." he said, then he leaned forward and pulled Darris's cooked lamb back to himself.
Darris looked down at his hands. The illusion over Darris's body made him look alive. Made it look like blood still coursed through his veins. Made it look like he still needed to eat. And drink. And sleep. And breath.
Darris stood up from his chair. The chair grinding against the wooden floor with a splitting screech. He then turned and began walking toward the exit.
"What are you done?" Svalken asked, more annoyed than concerned.
"Just going to look around." Darris answered.
Svalken sighed and took another bite of his lamb, followed by a sip of ale from the mug at his side. "Be back soon." Was all he said before Darris left into the streets of Vanderin; the town he lived in 200 years ago.
Darris didn't really have an idea as to where he would go. He just needed to walk around. To scour his former hometown. To feel the wind on his skin. To feel alive. Despite the face he was nothing more than a corpse with its soul still caged in its body.
He'd seen undead before. They weren't necessarily rare, albeit it was frowned upon to bring something dead back to life.
He vaguely called a memory to his mind. Squad 12 had gone on a mission to clear out a random abandoned mansion in the middle of nowhere. Apparently someone had stumbled upon it and saw a few undead within it. He ran and called the nearest guild, Fame.
When they had arrived, they came across many zombies that came from nearly every room and swarmed them. However, the undead weren't hostile. In fact they were all dressed as servers and retainers of the mansion. Whilst none but one of them could speak, they all served their duties of keeping the mansion clean. At least, as clean as about 20 undead with generally limited motor function could.
There was even a ghost of the royal they had once served. A young woman who Darris had forgotten the name of. When she had suddenly appeared from a picture frame, Trent had screamed and nearly fallen down the stairs that were behind him.
In the end, they had left the mansion of undead without any bloodshed. They told Fame that the area was off limits to anyone and declared the mission a success.
Darris then stumbled upon the town center. A large fountain had been built within the square land of pavement. Many benches layed neatly across the area, placed near some small trees that had been planted around for shade during the particularly suny evenings. The square was lit with many lamps across it, only leaving small motes of shadow near the edges and between buildings.
The lamps, at least when Darris was first alive, were a rare luxury. Having been named a permanent source of light due to its use of a magically burning flame that didn't need oxygen to stay alit. However it seemed they had become more of a common occurrence in the past 200 years.
Darris only spotted two people around the square at that hour.
One drunk laid across one of the benches, passed out cold. He looked like one of the less fortunate farmers that made nearly a quarter of Vanderin's population, although Darris wondered how that number had fluctuated in the time he'd been gone.
Another person, a girl nearly Daris's (former) age, was sitting on the edge of the fountain, her back to the water, reading a book.
Darris stepped forward, stopping at the edge of the fountain, on the opposite side of the girl. Within the dark water of the fountain's pool Darris saw hundreds of glistening spots. Many copper and silver coins had been tossed into the watery pool, light from the lanterns flickering off of them like stars through a night sky.
Darris bent forward and stuck his arm into the water. It was cold, as he expected. However he noted that the water seemed to flow through him at many points, rather than around him. After all, he was nothing but corroding flesh underneath the illusion Svalken had placed upon him. He pulled his arm from the water and scanned it up and down. It felt wet, he could feel the water dripping down his arm and sticking to his skin (or what was left of it). However, the illusion that was cast over his body was unchanging, it still looked perfectly dry.
Then Darris reached up an arm to the right side of his face. His arm hit something hard and sturdy, his skull. He tapped his fingers against the rough surface that protected his brain. He could feel the soft impact across his cranium, but he couldn't feel his finger on his own head. Then, slowly he felt the large hole where his eye would've been. Hesitantly, as if reaching into a hole that could have possibly housed a large snake, he stuck his fingers inside his eye socket. It was an odd feeling, rooting around in one's own head, literally. He tapped the inner side of his skull and felt the vibrations run through his head, it made his left eye tear up. He blinked a few times and pulled his fingers from his head.
He looked down at his reflection in the rippling water of the fountain. With the illusion, he looked nearly identical to what he had in life, excluding a few small things that Svalken didn't know just by his corpse. Such as a small birthmark that rested below his jaw.
He glanced around and eyed the girl once again, who had yet to glance up from the book she was reading. Her hair was brown, long, and smooth. She was generally slim, with skinny arms. Then Darris noticed the pages of what she was reading. The pages were scattered with arcane runes with in depth descriptions for all of them and what they were. Darris knew little of the arcane, however he wasn't void of the knowledge.
"What sort of runes are those?" Darris asked, gesturing to the page of the book.
The girl quickly turned around to face Darris, somewhat confused as to why someone had suddenly asked her a question. She scanned Darris up and down, as if assessing if she should answer. Then she spoke. "It's cyromancy." She answered.
"Ice magic." Darris clarified, nodding slightly.
"What are you reading?" He asked.
Keeping a finger on the page, the girl flipped over the book to the cover page and faced it to Darris. On the cover was a silver rune that simply looked like a circle that was cut in two by a line cutting across the sides of it. In fancy lettering above the rune it read Talnor's guide to Runecraft. Below the rune in smaller read the author's name: 'Nivor Talnor'.
Darris's brows knit on his forehead, at least he assumed they did through the illusion. "Who's Nivor Talnor?" He asked. "Is he a strong mage?"
The girl tilted her head and just glared at Darris like he'd asked if grass was green. "He's the most powerful sigil mage on the continent. Do you not know about the Arcane Triad?" She asked.
Slowly, Darris shook his head.
The girl just scoffed, setting her book down. "They are a trio of powerful mages who live in Sighreshi."
Darris nodded in understanding. Sighreshi had been around since before he died. It was the capital of Sige and had supposedly been built upon the ruins of the Icaryian's kingdom. However the name of such a place had been lost in time.
"And Nalvor is part of them?" Darris assumed.
The girl nodded. "He is." Then she looked at Darris and stuck out a hand. "I'm Susain by the way." She said with a light smile.
"Darris." He said, shaking Susain's hand. Her hand was staggeringly warm compared to Darris's.
Susain pulled her hand away and rubbed it with her other hand. "Your... hands are cold." She said, more confused than worried.
Darris looked at the water in the fountain. "Well, I just stuck my hand in the water there... so-" His voice trailed off.
Susain nodded, but didn't seem to believe him completely. She then stood up and dusted herself off. "Well I should probably get going, it's late after all." She said, looking up into the night sky.
Darris followed her gaze up to the stars. The same sight he saw when he'd first woken in his life. "I wonder what my family are doing." he mumbled to himself.
"Huh?" Susain asked, grabbing a small satchel that had rested near her feet.
Darris looked back at Susain. "Oh, nothing. I didn't say anything. I should get going too. It was nice speaking with you." He said, granting the girl a slight wave.
"Yeah, you too." She said with a light smile before quickly turning around and walking into the darkness.
Darris sighed and began walking back the way he'd come. He cursed himself. Why had that encounter been so awkward? Why was he constantly nervous? He mentally slapped himself in the face. "I really need to get a hold of myself." He mumbled.