Chapter Text
Kravitz had been doing his job for a long time now. A very long time, and this case he was following was already pinging him as quite strange.
Of course, everything about the last two years had been strange. Strange and unsettling and just plain horrifying . So much death and destruction, and those who didn’t understand his Queen’s laws would think they would want that, want more souls coming into the astral plane.
That wasn’t true in the slightest though. There needed to be a balance. The rules he enforced were there to keep everything from falling out of place, and it was clear to see that lately things had been nothing but unbalanced.
At least, it was that way until about a week ago. Suddenly, as if flipping a switch, it all seemed to stop. It was unnerving, and Kravitz couldn’t appreciate the sudden reprieve without fear yet. He was waiting for the other shoe to drop. In the meantime though, he was trying to catch up on some work that had fallen by the wayside in their struggle to keep up with the increasing demands of the newly departed.
Which was why he was here now.
Kravitz was cautious as he entered into the cave, but so far his descent into the dimly lit, magical area had been relatively uneventful. Every so often the quiet was punctuated by the occasional low threat that naturally lived in these kinds of environments, but he was not about to let his guard down.
It had been about four months ago now, but that didn’t change the fact that the spike of energy that had appeared in this area had been enormous. So much so that when he felt it he immediately made note of the area, which was a good thing. Any sign was long gone now, but Kravitz had been around long enough to know what these kinds of readings meant.
There wasn’t enough foot traffic or signs of life for it to be any sort of cult working together. Which meant a single creature had been the cause of such a powerful source of necromancy.
Which meant, almost undoubtedly, that he was dealing with a lich. He’d originally feared dracolich from the strength he was getting, but now he wasn’t sure. The cave seemed a bit too small for something so large.
Whatever it had been though, he could pretty safely assume that it wasn’t here anymore, but he still needed to be cautious. He didn’t know what kind of traps it might have set, or why it had been here in the first place.
He was fairly certain he was on the right path now as he twisted his way through the old mines, his already exceptional darkvision assisted by the softly glowing mushrooms that flourished down here. He could certainly tell there was something still down here, but whatever it was had a much harder energy to place than simple necromancy.
Walking into a large chamber with a positively enormous stone vault on the other end, Kravitz was certain that he had found whatever it was that lich had been in here for.
And his eyes glancing over to the corner, he was fairly certain he’d found what remained of the lich. Or at least, a part of her.
Heading over, even after centuries of doing this he couldn’t help but grimace a bit at the sight. Finding bodies was never a pleasant task, and finding them a few months after the fact was even less enjoyable. Still he ignored that, producing the tome from his Queen, letting the pages flip around as he tried to identify any lingering bits of soul still left. Hopefully they could let him know who this had been, once upon a time.
“What do we got here?” he asked, a bit disappointed and a lot frustrated when there didn’t seem to be any bit of power or soul left to identify this person. Usually liches were… unstable, to put it mildly. They left traces of themselves and their dark magic wherever they went, their fragmented minds too shattered to hold it all together.
This one had clearly been a bit more crafty than that in her escape, because there was nothing. If he hadn’t been so certain in his documentation of the source of the necrotic energy, he would have assumed he plain old had the wrong place.
“Suppose we do this the old fashioned way,” he grumbled, crouching down to get a better look at the body. There were still some things that were notable, long pale hair, probably elven. The robe she was wearing still looked pristine, a bright red with the hood pulled up as far as it could go. A patch on the robe read ‘IPRE’ but he hadn’t the faintest idea what the acronym might stand for.
The only other real thing of note was what Kravitz assumed must’ve been her spell focus. He was a little surprised that the lich hadn’t taken it with her during her escape. Perhaps that was just a sign of hubris, believing herself too powerful to require one anymore. Still, it could be useful, so Kravitz carefully reached out and started pulling it away from the corpse.
He’d been prepared for a trap, but he was still surprised by the sparks of red arcane power that crackled off of it as it moved. They seemed sluggish and erratic, ending quickly. It hadn’t caused any sort of damage to him, but Kravitz was immediately on edge as he backed away from the corpse with the spellfocus.
Or more specifically, with the umbrella.
“Unconventional, to say the least,” he muttered, starting to look over the thing. And at first glance it did seem like nothing more than a normal umbrella, hard to tell that it was even magical in nature. After what he’d seen though, and considering the power that had drawn him to this place he wasn’t going to dismiss it.
The more he inspected it, letting the Raven Queen’s powers flow through him like a heartbeat, the more he could notice something off about it. Past the plain exterior it was powerful, extremely powerful from the cursory identify he placed on it. There was something else though, and it took him a moment before he realized what it was. Or more specifically, was it wasn’t.
Identifying pocket dimensions wasn’t exactly his forte, in almost any other situation he was rather certain he would have missed it entirely, but he wasn’t about to leave any stone unturned here. And there, in the center of the umbrella, was the smallest, slightest blip of nothing. A pocket hiding something much larger inside.
Liches were tricky creatures, and it seemed this one was no exception. Taking a deep breath, Kravitz gave himself a moment to prepare for whatever it was he was about to find. He figured at best he’d happened upon its phylactery, and could destroy it before he even found the lich. At worst, this was a trap.
Then he tossed the umbrella into the air, slicing it clean through with his scythe.
The umbrella broke with ease. It was hard to see as the destruction of the pocket dimension sent out a shockwave, throwing him back against one of the cave walls. As such, he heard more than saw the lich inside scream in agony as his scythe caught her as she was released from the umbrella.
Pushing himself back to his feet, for a moment Kravitz thought that was it. He had managed to catch the lich with his scythe, which should have sent her directly to the astral plane. Something must’ve gone wrong though. Maybe she wasn’t fully released from the umbrella when he snagged her or maybe the pocket dimension's explosion interfered with her transfer to the astral plane. Whatever it was, there was no denying the fact that she was still very clearly in front of him.
She was a red mass of crackling energy, bony spectral hands clutching what passed for her head as she sat doubled over on the ground. Her entire form was shuddering and flickering, a tattered mess of what was left of a soul. Kravitz couldn’t help the slight pang of pity at the sight, but he pushed that aside for now.
“Well, this certainly makes things a lot easier,” he said, summoning his book once again. She must’ve been at a fraction of her power after being trapped in that thing, but he was certain this was the same lich he had felt before. She looked up at him as this time his book turned to the correct page, the name shimmering that slightest bit brighter to let him know he’d gotten the right soul. There was nothing inside of that hood except for a shuddering, blinking light that barely seemed able to stay on, like a tiny dying flame.
“Lup, is it? Lup, by order of the Raven Queen you have been charged with fourteen accounts of dying without checking into the astral plane, as well as necromancy of the highest order up to and including becoming a lich. You shall be immediately sentenced to the Eternal Stockade to atone for your crimes,” he read off, and a part of him almost felt sad for this thing. She had clearly been powerful before, but it was obvious how much she was barely hanging on now.
Well, that just made this all for the best. Now this poor lost soul could finally get some proper peace.
“W-what?” she asked, her voice distorted and broken. Even still it was surprising that she still had her wits about her enough to speak, considering how much she was falling apart.
Scratch that, it was much more than surprising. It shouldn’t have been possible. Even if Kravitz wasn’t standing in front of her she would have been at death’s door, and the instability of her form should have transferred to her mind. A lich in this state should be nothing but uncontrollable, blind rage.
This lich didn’t look mad though. She just looked scared.
“Lup?” she continued, confusion clear despite how broken even the single word sounded, and Kravitz frowned at that. It wasn’t rare for liches to lose all sense of their own identity, but it was never fun to see. He could only imagine the power she had possessed in her prime, if she was still this sentient and controlled in her dying moments. It felt almost impossible that he had never run into her before, with her kind of strength.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be at peace soon,” he said, a soft tone to his voice. As much of a monstrosity as this thing had become, it was hard to look at it now and not see the terrified, confused person underneath. What so many people didn’t understand was that death had no desire to be cruel, it was a natural continuation of life.
He swung, moving to bring his scythe down on the lich and return her tattered soul to the astral plane.
And he missed by a country mile.
“Well that- that’s embarrassing. You’re sitting right there,” he said, not sure how he had misjudged that one. Sure, her form was shifting and erratic, but he didn’t tend to have whiffs like that.
“Wow, y-you… you kinda s-suck at this,” the lich said. Despite the state she was in she still somehow managed to sound the slightest bit amused by the whole thing. Kravitz huffed, readjusting his grip on his scythe. Before he could make another move though she shuddered horribly, and it was becoming increasingly clear that something was very wrong here. Her form was hard to make out as it was, shifting and breaking and unstable, but the longer he looked the easier it became to see.
It was almost like a gash, a large run down her soul where bolts of red arcane power were spraying out from like blood. He glanced from his scythe to the two remaining pieces of the umbrella she had been trapped in, now discarded on the cave floor.
It seemed like he had cut a bit deeper than he intended. Kravitz could only imagine the pain from having your soul quite literally cut down the middle.
“H-help,” she pleaded after a moment, and Kravitz realized he had been standing there staring for far too long. Taking a deep, unnecessary breath, he nodded and gripped his scythe a bit tighter. Even though this thing was an abomination, there was no need for her to keep suffering like this.
“Yes. Do not worry, that’s why I’m here. Your pain will be over soon,” he said, and this time when he moved his scythe he saw a slight shimmer run down the blade. Most would pass it off as a trick of the light, the soft glow of the mushrooms around them reflected on the divine blade.
Kravitz recognized that iridescent white shine though, wrapped around his blade like the smallest thread before disappearing, and his swing halted in the air immediately.
And like clockwork, he could feel a tug in his chest, a call from his Queen to return back to the astral plane immediately.
Followed by more concrete instructions, a single simple command.
To bring the lich unharmed.
“I’m sorry, you’re uh, you’re going to have to hold on a little bit longer,” he said, and the lich was barely responding at this point. There was a part of Kravitz was worried she might break before he even had the time to follow through on this new order. Moving carefully, trying not to get too close for fear of a trap, he knelt down in front of here.
“I want to help you, but you’re going to have to come with me,” he said, holding out a hand cautiously. She didn’t have a face, instead near solid blackness in what once passed as the hood of a robe, an unstable flicker of a flame inside.
“I d-don’t… understand,” she managed, and that was probably fair. Her mind was obviously as tattered and broken as her soul was, it was a miracle that she had more sense than a rabid animal at this point. More than a miracle, it shouldn’t have been possible.
He supposed that might have something to do with this impromptu change of fate that seemed to be taking place here.
“I know you’re hurt and scared right now, some of that might be my fault. I promise though, I can take you to someone who can fix all of that. I just need you to trust me,” he said, speaking softly, calmly, treating this somewhere between speaking to an injured animal and a scared child. She was neither of these things, but the state her mind was in left her almost as vulnerable. It was hard to tell if she was hesitating, or if she simply couldn’t understand what he was saying. There was a part of Kravitz that was still sure there was no way this was not going to end in a fight. He had never, in all his years serving under the Raven Queen, had someone as far gone as a lich come in willingly.
The nod of her head that happened was too deliberate to be another spasm of her soul trying to tear itself apart. He watched as she used a considerable amount of effort to take his hand as best as her broken, phantasmal form could. He could feel the necrotic energy seeping off of her, and when she placed her hand in his he was nearly overwhelmed with the sudden barrage that hit him.
It was clear she was having a hard time controlling herself. He was fairly certain that she didn’t intend to hit him with a blast of her own confusion and terror.
That didn’t stop it from nearly overwhelming him. He kept himself from stumbling back, forcing himself not to snatch his hand away as shocks of that arcane power hit him with all the fear and uncertainty that had taken over the mind of this lich. It took a moment to steady himself, but then Kravitz forced himself to put on a comforting smile as stood up.
She was still curled up on the ground, but it was easy enough to use his scythe to cut a portal around them to the astral plane, not trusting this lich to keep her form if asked to move.
With the swing of his blade the scenery around them changed, the strange glowing cave and ominous locked vault replaced with the astral plane. He took them directly to the Raven Queen, her large throne in front of them with the goddess watching their appearance expectantly.
Kravitz wasn’t surprised to see that the Lady Istus was there as well, and he only let go of the lich to bow to them both deeply.
“My Queen, Lady Istus. I have returned with the lich as you instructed,” he said, and as he spoke the lich seemed to finally notice the giant goddesses towering above them. She didn’t say anything, her form shuddering in pain again. It was almost sad. “I suppose there is a specific reason you have chosen to keep her from the Eternal Stockade?” he asked, unsurprised when the Raven Queen nodded.
“Yes. It would seem that despite the magnitude of laws this lich has broken, the Lady Istus has plans for her that we are not yet to stop,” the Raven Queen said, the slightest hint of annoyance in her voice. It was truly rare that anything could get under his Queen’s skin, but Lady Istus was definitely one such thing. It was very lucky for everyone involved that the two were so fond of each other.
“I’m afraid she might be too far gone, even if we wanted to pardon her,” Kravitz spoke up. It felt a bit rude to talk about someone like that in front of them, but it was also the honest truth. She was falling apart in front of them, and he was honestly shocked that she had lasted this long.
Before the Raven Queen could say anything on that the Lady Istus turned towards the lich, a soft, concerned frown as she seemed to inspect her. As she placed her hands on either side of what might have once been her head, Kravitz could see the goddess reading the unseen strings of fate that had brought her to this place here and now. It was something that he could never understand, but it wasn’t his place to understand. He was an instrument of death, not fate.
“Your mind and soul have been badly shattered,” she started. A large shudder, bolts of crackling energy coming off the lich as she practically sat curled up on the floor.
“C-can… help?” she begged, and there was certainly something surreal about it. Seeing a lich seeking help instead of trying to fight. The Lady Istus seemed to think it over as she continued to inspect her.
“The damage is severe, I’m afraid that there are not many options we have for fixing you in this state,” she said. Kravitz had been around the gods for a long time, and they were often cryptic and hard beings to understand.
He could very easily hear the unspoken ‘but’ at the end of that sentence however.
“Dear?” Istus asked, turning away from the lich and back towards the Raven Queen. The Raven Queen did not answer, instead simply nodding for the other goddess to go on. “I implore you to take this soul into your retinue. Allow her to take another path to atone for her crimes,” she said, and Kravitz knew it wasn’t unheard of. Former necromancers could become devote members of the Raven Queen’s retinue, working to prevent wrongs they had once been a part of.
But bringing in a lich was something else altogether.
The Raven Queen said nothing for a long moment, long enough that Kravitz was certain some sort of silent conversation was happening between the two gods. Even though there was nothing telling in her voice when the Raven Queen did finally end up speaking, Kravitz could feel how begrudging it was.
“If fate deems it necessary, I will provide the lich with one chance to atone for her past crimes,” she said, before focusing her full attention on the lich. It was hard to describe how much larger than life the gods were, and it was never more clear then when the Raven Queen rose up from her throne. Even when she came to kneel down on level in front of the lich there was a part of her that was so clearly powerful and ancient beyond words.
“What little is left of your soul has been torn asunder, and your mind shattered. I can mend what is left, but in return you shall work in service to me. You will be sworn to uphold the laws that govern the natural flow of life and death that you once profaned. Do you accept this charge?” she asked. The lich didn’t say anything during her speech. She was so tattered that it was near impossible to tell what it was thinking.
Then that hood jerked in that very deliberate way, a surprising amount of determination from something so far gone.
“Y…yes,” the lich managed to say, and with that the Raven Queen nodded back.
“Very well then,” the Raven Queen said, and Kravitz had never actually seen the creation of another reaper before. His own transformation had been so long ago, and one was often not in the clearest state right after dying. As such he could barely remember it. So he watched mystified as the Raven Queen dragged a long, talon tipped hand down along the gash Kravitz had cut into the lich. Where her hand passed large black feathers appeared, quickly growing to consume the entire lich.
For a moment it appeared as if a pair of large wings had completely encased the lich, and then in a flurry of feathers they exploded out.
The form that was left was decidedly more solid than what had been before. Kravitz could almost make out features, but she was still so transparent and wrapped up in a long red cloak to be rather hard to perceive.
The lich let out a long sigh, an exhaustion there that clearly ran deep.
“Thank you,” she said, and her voice wasn’t the distorted, broken rasp it had been before. It still sounded weak, but it was more solid. More alive, for lack of a better word. The Raven Queen nodded, standing back up and returning to her throne.
Kravitz was so caught up in watching the events unfold that he didn’t notice Lady Istus turn towards hum until she spoke.
“Kravitz?” she started, the reaper caught off guard by his name. “I would like to ask you to oversee her training and recovery,” she declared.
“Me?” he asked, turning towards the Raven Queen for some sort of guidance. Instead of offering him a way out the goddess nodded. It was hard for him to suppress the sigh that wanted to come out at that, but he managed.
“I suppose if your judgment deems it for the best, then of course,” he said, and well, he couldn’t say he sounded enthusiastic about the whole deal. Still, he hadn’t turned it down. He told himself that was all anyone could ask of him right now, considering the circumstances.
“It will take time for her construct to finish forming. Kravitz, please take the new reaper to rest until she has finished healing,” the Raven Queen said, and Kravitz quickly nodded.
“Of course,” he said, and the lich- well, former lich now, nodded.
“Rest… I could d-do rest,” she said softly, a thankful tone to her voice at the idea. Opening up another portal with his scythe, Kravitz bowed towards the two goddesses before he once again held out a hand for the new reaper to take. She was actually able to pull herself to her feet this time, although Kravitz doubted she would be able to walk far. Thankfully there wasn’t any need to. He wasn’t surprised to find that the small bit of the astral plane that passed for his home was now a bit bigger, a room that had not been there before having appeared in his absence.
The former lich followed after him, and when Kravitz opened the door to the room it was rather plain inside. A decent sized room, which highlighted the fact that there was nothing but a small, simple bed in the corner. She immediately went and curled up onto it, and Kravitz was fairly sure she was phasing through it some.
“You should be safe here. Take all the time you need to recover,” he said. Lup barely seemed to be paying him much mind now, nodding only the slightest bit.
“Thanks bones,” she mumbled, and it took Kravitz a moment to realize he had been in his full reaper form the entire time. Well, there wasn’t anything to do about that now.
“I’ll be in the other room if you need anything,” he added, but it seemed that she was well on her way to ignoring him now. Or she managed to fall asleep already, he wouldn’t be too surprised either way.
Shutting the door behind him as he left the room, Kravitz took a moment to sigh heavily as the reality of the situation started to settle. He let his construct come together around his reaper form, just so he could brush his hair out of his face as he headed to the sparsely decorated area that made up his own room. He didn’t spend a lot of time here, he wondered if that was about to change.
He had trained other reapers before, but none quite so new, and certainly none that were so broken to start with. He had a feeling it was going to be a bit more demanding than his previous experience of babysitting a few green reapers on their more dangerous missions. That wasn’t even getting into the fact that as far as he could tell, the lich had not actually been in the best state of mind to even agree to any of this. Lady Istus had said her mind was tattered and destroyed. He wasn’t looking forward to seeing what she was like once it was fully healed.
Not that there was much she could do about it now, or that he could do either for that matter. Things always got so fickle and confusing when Lady Istus was involved. He was quite fond of the goddess and enjoyed her company, things were always just so… complicated when her work got tangled up in it all.
The even more annoying part was that things often seemed to work out for the best despite any of the initial misgivings Kravitz would have. At the very least, by the end of things he tended to understand much more than he ever thought he would.
Hopefully this would be another case of Lady Istus proving them wrong.
For now though, all he could really do was wait and see.