[Omen of the Witchblade] Chapter 123 – A Friendly Reunion

“H-how?” Sabrina asked, her voice breaking. She pressed her hands to her mouth to stop the sobs coming out.

Shane put a hand on her shoulder.

Nathan looked at his hole-ridden shirt. “I…was dead.”

“We all were,” Maddie said.” She furrowed her brow, trying to remember. Then she looked at Mel and she broke. “Oh…Mel. I’m so sorry.”

Charlie had stepped into the room at some point during the ritual. The door shut behind her. “It worked,” she said in astonishment, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Left forgotten in her delicate hand was a kindling branch of untold power.

The energy it radiated was different from the one Mel earned for first place.

Mel didn’t miss the astounded look Charlie gave her, as if she saw Mel in a new and better light.

She stood, not sure what would happen next. Mel had fantasized about this situation so many times over the last month.

Every kill. Every drop of blood spent while meting out Magi justice was for this. To bring back the innocent souls who had been entrusted into her care.

She didn’t understand it then, but Mel knew now that this is what the Magi were created for. Sheltering the weak and ignorant from powers that they couldn’t even fathom.

Her anger had been at her own failure more than anything.

A small measure of balance has been brought back, Mel thought to herself, warily watching her friends.

Hate, love, or indifference? Mel couldn’t help but wonder.

Maddie, however, wasted no time crossing the ritual circle to wrap Mel up in her motherly arms. “You did the impossible!”

She made her stance abundantly clear. Mel could tell she was using all her strength to crush Mel against her like a mother to a long-lost daughter. To Mel’s High Copper body, it was like being hugged by a frail, old grandmother.

Mel felt her eyes sting with unshed tears. Her own mother had abandoned her. It was a wound that never really went away.

Gradually, Mel’s once-fallen friends went over and embraced her one by one in a heartfelt reunion. They treated her like nothing had ever gone wrong between them.

After a while, they slowly stepped apart. In truth, they hadn’t known each other that well or for that long. What Mel had done for them was beginning to settle in. The debt they owed her.

Mel recognized the familiar weight and wouldn’t burden them with it. “This is a gift I give freely,” she explained. “Not a one of you owe me anything. I give you this second chance at life with no strings attached. If you want to hang around, you’re welcome. If you want to go out and make your mark on this new world? You have my blessing.” She looked at each of them in turn. “You owe me nothing.”

Nathan looked around nervously. “How much longer is left of the trial?”

Shane had finally found the holes in the back of his shirt, where the arrows had cut him down, as if he was thinking about how easily it could happen again.

Mel looked at Nathan, then at Shane.

Sabrina, unsurprisingly, was the first to understand. “It’s already over, isn’t it?”

Mel nodded.

“How…long?”

“About a month and a half,” Mel said. “I’m a bit fuzzy on the specifics. It’s only been a day and change after the trial ended.”

Sabrina pursed her lips thoughtfully.

It was a hard pill to swallow, that you had just lost more than a month of your life. Then again, what was a month compared to staying dead forever?

At least they have a life to return to.

“Where are we then?” Bernard asked, turning to the window. Some of her friends gathered there, staring at the view of the Seabrim Crater. The multicolored buildings, streets bustling with magical activity, and the verdant nature encircled by the infinite blue sea enraptured them.

There was no small amount of gasping as they looked at all the signs of civilization that they had thought were gone forever.

Sabrina turned, her silken blonde hair glittering in the morning light, her blue eyes bright and excited. “Is this Hawaii?!”

Mel shook her head. “I don’t know the Shard’s name, but it’s not Earth. This place was here long before we were.”

That hardly dimmed Sabrina’s glow.

It was Nathan that was interested in something else, which was hardly surprising. Like Heath trying for Gwen.

He approached Charlie and took her hand in his. “Hey there beautiful, I’m Nathan.” Then he did his best Joey Tribbiani impression, complete with that signature grin and suggestive nod. “How you doin’?”

Sabrina watched with a smile. “He certainly isn’t bothered by his brush with death.”

Maddie looked at her. “We all have a new lease on life away from monsters and men straight out of a gore-filled horror movie.” She pointed out the window. “This looks like a seaside Italian village, albeit on a scale that clearly says we’re somewhere magical.”

Bernard turned to Mel. “What do we do now?”

Mel was taken aback. “Why are you asking me?”

Sabrina gave her a hooded look. “Mel. C’mon. You were our leader before. It’s clear that if we had followed your orders, we wouldn’t have ever died. Now, through your sacrifice and effort, we are alive again. Why would we want to leave?”

“Maybe she doesn’t want us around,” Shane said, nodding toward Charlie. “Looks like she’s found a partner that’s on her level.”

Mel looked over at Charlie, then turned back with a coy smile. “She only wishes she could be on my level. I won that Convocation trial.”

“No way!” Bernard exclaimed, unusually surprised.

Mel turned to Charlie. “Hey, Princess, who won the Convocation trial?”

Charlie’s gaze slid to Mel’s, having taken her hand away from the still hopeful Nathan. “Why, Melody Harper did. After teaming up with my group. And protecting the Magi from the Covenants.”

“The what?” Bernard asked.

“Point is,” Mel said, waving away Charlie’s additions, “that I won.”

Maddie grinned at Mel with pride. “Hardly surprising.”

The glowing look Maddie cast on Mel made her cheeks heat in a way she hadn’t felt in years.

After a steadying breath, Mel squared her small shoulders. “You’re free to stay here if you want. I can get the attendants to organize some rooms for you. When they come, just tell them what you want.”

“What, like…permanently?” Shane asked.

Mel shook her head. “No, we’ll need to figure out something more sustainable. I don’t think they’ll let us keep freeloading, but for a few weeks? Yeah. I think we’re good for business, being winners and all.”

Sabrina thoughtfully studied Charlie. A deep contrast to the maternal and weighing look Maddie shot her way.

Even Shane and Bernard started to look like two older brothers who had to protect their rambunctious little sister from bad influences.

“You can relax,” Charlie assured them, unbothered by the shift in the group. Her attention moved between them, taking the protective change in stride. She seemed most interested in Maddie. “Take your time adjusting to things in a safe and sane environment. Just be aware, there are talking animals outside, and friendly souls that may appear like monsters, but are anything but.”

“But not…literally monsters, right?” Sabrina asked nervously.

“Shrubley, Cal, and Smudge are classified as Awakened monsters. They have souls, like all humans.”

“Shrubley is a little adorable walking bush,” Mel explained. “Cal is a nervous, skeletal mage, and Smudge is a pink slime. They are part of our…family, I suppose you could say.”

“Slimes were always my favorite monsters growing up!” Nathan said, suddenly excited. “As long as Cal is just a skeleton, I’m cool with that. Zombies are…a little gross.”

Bernard looked at him. “You haven’t thought of the smell. The smell would be horrendous.”

“They are indeed most foul,” Charlie agreed, despite being a Necromancer. Not that Mel’s friends knew that.

They needed to be introduced to these things slowly. At least here in the Seabrim Crater they could acclimatize at their own pace instead of needing to worry about surviving.

The familiar landscape of civilization would help more than anything. They understood that. It was comforting in a way that Mel realized it never would be to her.

She lived for the thrill of battle. The razor’s edge between life and death.

Even when she hardly understood who she was, Mel had known that. It was the most basic truth of her soul.

“You can go out there or stay in here,” Mel said. “The choice is yours, but I would like to introduce you to the Magi. They are like me. That’s the best way to put it.”

Maddie put a hand to her breast. “I don’t know if I can handle more than one Mel,” she teased.

Mel rolled her eyes. “Seriously. You’re safe here. If you want to open a bakery, I’ll front you the seed money.” She looked at them one by one. “The world is yours to do with as you wish. No more trials unless you want them. You can stay here in this gorgeous seaside city until you’re old and gray if you want and nobody will stop you.”

Shane nudged Bernard in the ribs. “I’m sure Mel would make sure of that.”

Bernard rubbed his arm nervously. “And…what if we were interested in training and competing? One day, I mean.”

Mel frowned. She hadn’t expected that. “I…don’t know if you can. I don’t mean to rain on your parade or anything. I would love it if you all took to this new world and enjoyed the power progression you can reach here. However, you might have to do that outside of the Convocation. You died. I don’t know how the System sees that. There’s a High Clerk that should be coming around today. He might be able to explain.”

Bernard nodded. “I’m okay with that.”

“We all are,” Maddie said, stepping forward. “Words cannot express how grateful we are. You didn’t just save us once, you’ve saved us again and again. Now you’ve given us a second chance and I, for one, am not going to spend it being scared. I’ll train my healing powers. Maybe I’ll never be as good as you or Charlie, but I can at least help from the sidelines. That’s good enough for me.”

“We all have our own paths to walk,” Charlie said gently. “One’s talent can hardly snuff out another’s.”

“So…” Nathan began meaningfully at Charlie.

Mel grinned. She was going to enjoy this.

Charlie slowly looked over at the man, hardly intrigued. “What’s your rank?”

“Uhhh…how do I check that?”

Oof.

“Oh, honey, that’s a swing and a miss,” Charlie remarked with a tinkling laugh.

Nathan looked mortified. “Oh, damn.” He didn’t let that get him down for long, though. Nathan squared his shoulders and extended his hand. “Friends, then?”

“Of course.” Charlie shook his hand.

“Sweet. So, like, are there really more people like Mel?”

“Mel is…intoxicatingly unique,” she began hungrily, then continued more calmly, “But yes, there is a kinship amongst Magi. Natural born fighters and mages. We take to magic and adventure like a pobul to water.”

It was Komachi who broke in first, followed by a giggling Shrubley.

“A what?” Nathan asked.

Mel pointed. “That. That’s a pobul.”

Nathan looked at Shrubley. “He is a very green pobul.”

Shrubley stopped mid-giggle and stared at Nathan, leaning all the way back to take in his full height. His lamplight eyes glowed. “He called me a pobul!” he squealed with delight.

Despite being three-and-a-half-feet tall, Shrubley grabbed Nathan’s hand and shook it. “You have given me the best compliment ever. You are Shrubley’s fifth bestest friend! Shrubley has many friends!”

Then, in true Shrubley fashion, he ran up to each of the newcomers and introduced himself.

Komachi wasn’t far behind, demanding pets and belly rubs. Everybody loved her luxuriously fluffy coat. It was like petting a silken shag rug.

“I’m going to love it here,” Sabrina said, tears falling from her blue eyes freely.

“This is the sort of magic and wonder I was hoping we’d find,” Maddie said, kneeling and greeting both Shrubley and Komachi.

Gwen charged in, covered in flour and pancake batter. “Shrubley, the pancakes exploded again!” Her silver eyes widened. “Mel, are these your friends?!”

Mel chuckled. “Gwen, meet Sabrina, Maddie, Bernard, Nathan, and Shane. Guys, this is Gwen. A very dear and close friend. She’s part of my four-man party that won the Convocation.”

Gwen beamed with pride.