nexus_crossings | A Strange Afterlife

A Strange Afterlife

It had to be impossible. He could feel his skin. A pulse beat under his neck. He stood in front of a store window and regarded his reflection in the glass. Same black leather outfit. Same brown trench-coat. The fabric weight down on him and he rubbed his arms as he tried to figure out what was going on. A wandering spirit had doors to enter and exit when it came to the world of the living, but he'd never achieved something like this. It was alien and wrong and he had no idea where anyone was.

Mantis sighed, marveling quietly at the way his chest rose and fell with his breathing. It didn't matter. He'd keep moving and hope for the best. If this was some punishment for a misstep, he knew exactly who to take it up with.

"Sorrow!" Even his voice carried an echo. Mantis pointed himself into a new direction and began to walk. "What did I do this time, old man?"

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"Psycho Mantis." The Mariner's voice is almost a purr. "Interesting name." She makes no effort to hide her size or her bulk. There's a long feathery tail snaking behind her, thick like a lizard's but covered in soft fuzz.

She shakes his hand, careful with her strength. Humans are more delicate creatures than Skeksis, something she has to keep in mind. "Yes, you're right. There is an ocean here, deep on the Wilds, though I've never been there. It's somewhere I would like to go in the future. There are other types here, but I am a sea captain."

He's not sure what to make of her appearance. So many animals seem to have mixed together to create whatever species she was. All he knew for certain was her size, her sentience, and what she chose to tell him.

"It's a code name from my last job. I never thought to rid myself of it." The Wilds again. He wants to go out there and see what they truly have to offer with how many have spoken of them in some kind of warning. "People keep talking of the Wilds. I want to see them too. They sound a little more interesting than the more...pedestrian look of this place."

"My name's my occupation, too. It's the way of my people - our names are, in part, our titles and our roles. I am the Mariner. So I suppose it's a code name." skekSa prefers Captain over her official title, but she uses and answers to both.

She nods in approval of Mantis's adventurous spirit. "The Wilds. I go there myself sometimes - you have to be careful where you step, and I suggest you travel armed, but they're beautiful in their way. I could show you around one day. The anti-violence field that protects us in the inhabited areas isn't so strong there."

"'Mariner' is a good title if you want to sound more important. A Captain is one you would follow from day to day." And she had talked of other captains, so that meant people who piloted things like planes as well.

"First I have heard of an anti-violence field. If it gets weaker the father out you go, that would mean that there's some kind of way the Nexus is centered. If we encroach far enough from these inhabited parts, we can take over the Wilds."

"It works both ways, lad. Most of the Wilds belongs to no one." skekSa raises a feathery eyebrow. "I prefer to let sleeping dogs lie myself. Not that I'm fond of the neighbors - they're not known for generosity or their manners - but we have a truce with them. War is bad for business."

"I have a crew," she tells Mantis, turning to a brighter subject. "If you visit my tavern in the downtown area, you can meet them. You can consider the first round of drinks on me, since you're new. I can assume you don't have much in the way of money."

He isn't sure how he feels being called 'boy', but there's no way he's going to contest that. "If that's what it takes... Play nice with the neighbors."

"That is an offer I am rarely given. I've rarely had the chance to sit in a real tavern." She might be able to hear the smile in his voice. "If you don't mind me paying you back later, I'll take you up on that. I'm sure I'll find something to do around here for money."

"I believe in not troubling trouble until it troubles you." It's a pragmatic approach. skekSa's here to establish a base of operations, not to get in fights.

"Consider the offer open. You don't need to pay me back. Consider the first drinks free. There are plenty of places to get settled in the Nexus. It depends on the kind of skillset you have and what your goals are here."

"If it keeps people safe, it works for me. You're the authority between us."

It aches his neck to look up, but he doesn't know if this is the kind of person who would appreciate him trying to get up to her level with psychic powers. "I have powers of my own that can be useful. I'll see what I can do to make them profitable again."

The Mariner nods. There's no authority in the Nexus, but she is the more experienced between them and much older.

"The Nexus is a peaceful place, most of the time. But it does still have its dangers, so you can't completely let your guard down." Just as well, since you can't have a journey without some danger. skekSa could never settle down completely. It goes against her nature.

It's hard to guess how much older, but he can feel the years of wisdom coming off of her. It's humbling.

"I assumed so from how you and others have described it to me so far. All kinds of people tried to take me down in the past and it took thirty years for one to succeed." Not the best kind of brag, but it's not a bad one, either.

skekSa's tail twists with curiosity as she listens.

"I've lived almost a thousand trine, and no one's taken me down yet." skekSa makes note that Mantis seems to have the past of an experienced soldier. "But your people are shorter-lived."

A millennium. If one trine was anything like a year, she now ranked as the oldest person Mantis has ever met. He nodded at her answer and assessment of the human life span.

"If humans could live that long, it would be an interesting world." Perhaps no less violent than the one he left behind, but he's fascinated at the notion of any species who can live as long as skekSa. "You must have seen a lot of history come and go. A lot can happen in one thousand of any measure of time."

"You're right - I've seen a lot of history come and go. But I wasn't there to see all of it. Skeksis naturally live a long time, far longer than your people, but we aren't any wiser for it."

And yet they have such a paralyzing fear of death, though they live beyond any human ever could.

"One thousand trine isn't enough to learn from mistakes? Some things are more universal than I had thought."

A massively tall person, old as time, and yet he feels like he's speaking to a grandmother who is more concerned with keeping people safe than keeping up her old career. It's the most odd and happy feeling from someone who looks like a monster from an old story.

"You'd be surprised. Skeksis aren't so different from humans, and have the same flaws. We just live longer. Most worlds have their problems - if you hang around long enough, you'll learn about some of them."

skekSa looks ancient, and if you count her life as SaSan she's even older.

"I've never met one of your kind before now, but I'm sure that's true. Everyone has problems, no matter how long they live. I saw the same mistake being repeated across two generations and it didn't bode well either time."

Mantis rises up from the floor slightly, then more until he can look skekSa in the eyes. "I want to see this tavern of yours."

"You have magic powers." skekSa doesn't know powers like that in her native Thra, but she's met people who have magical abilities. "Is that all you can do? I doubt it."

Ever shrewd, the Captain doesn't miss a chance to advertise. "You can find it in the downtown area. I can provide an escort, Mantis, if you would like."

"I've been wondering if they actually are magic. I learned to call mine 'psychic' powers, but they do look similar to magic, don't they?"

Mantis moves ahead of skekSa just slightly. "Lead the way. I'll be able to keep up."

"They aren't something that exists in my world, but we do have things that the people of Earth would consider magic." She's seen...something surrounding the Grottan lass she knows, even if she doesn't know what it is.

She leads Mantis. "I'll guess you're from Earth? I know there are people from other planets and galaxies here, so I wouldn't assume."

Edited 2020-06-17 19:44 (UTC)

"I could start calling myself a witch. It's an older word for people who use magic back home."

He follows along somewhat at the height of her head, bobbing slightly as he adjusted his path to stay in her eyesight. "I am from Earth, yes. I also met an alien, but I think technically anyone not from Earth counts as an alien to me."

"So magic exists in your world? I know there's magic here in the Nexus - so you probably wouldn't be the only witch."

skekSa considers Mantis's definition of an alien. "By that yardstick, there are also humans who are aliens. I've bumped into a fair few of those."

"There may well be. We just never thought to call it such. It sounds much more interesting to call my powers magic."

"Humans that are also aliens?" He does a small shift to float more on his side facing skekSa. "I had gotten some impression that there are different Earths or other planets entirely."

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A Strange Afterlife

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