A Strange Afterlife

[ginger_firebird]

 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?"

Comments

[ginger_firebird]

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."

[silverseamariner]

"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.

[ginger_firebird]

"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.

[silverseamariner]

"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.

[ginger_firebird]

"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."

[silverseamariner]

"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."

[ginger_firebird]

"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."

[silverseamariner]

"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."

[ginger_firebird]

"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."

[silverseamariner]

"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."

[ginger_firebird]

"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."