Together Once More ( Lord of the Mysteries / Danmachi )

[Stimpak Medic]

Prologue: A Whole New World

"I don't regret my end. I know that I had pleaded to live, but it is for the best that I am gone. Now, with the cool placid waters of rationalization, I know my Fiancee would not wish for me to live a corrupted monster ever on the run, ever lost in the ravings and madness. It is particularly hard to fault such a judgment, even if I so did wish to survive. Now, though, in my chilled rationality post-death, I know it was the right decision to make.

All I have left is to move on, to see my Fiancee again, the love of my life.

Yet something within my heart wavers, for within my heart I know that I had failed my duty to her, in my madness. Still, that is all over now. All that is left is to move on.

I remember that when I first met her, thirty seemed so old. Now looking back, it was just a stepping stone to where I was, where I've been. If I had the chance, I'd do it all again. I just wish that I would not have lost her, and that we had seen the ends of our lives happily, and together."

Those were the thoughts of Old Neil as he floated through an endless sea of calm, clear water. It was warm, and his thoughts seemed to be calm and collected. He lay atop the still waters, his clothes seemingly untouched by the water, and he felt neither weighed down nor pulled in any direction.

He opened his eyes, and there next to him in the clear waters lay his Fiancee Celeste, in all her mature beauty. He looked at her, and she looked at him. Her hand reached to his, and he grasped it firmly, with both of them looking up at the sky. No words were spoken, for none needed to be said.

Then, old Neil closed his eyes.

"Where are we?" His wife's youthful voice broke him out of the warm darkness of his sleep. Turning his head on his pillow, Old Neil gave a yawn, and his eyes fluttered open.

"What do you mean, Honey?" he asked, with the vigor of his mid-twenties youth returned to his throat.

"This isn't our home," Celeste replied with some nervousness in her voice. She had removed the blankets from her, and she was in her nightclothes, as well as Old Neil.

At this strange realization, Old Neil opened his eyes fully, and his vigor was now stoked. He slid off the bed, standing up to his full height, and looked around.

"Oh dear, you're right. Where is this?" Old Neil asked, looking around the bedroom the couple found themselves in.

The eyes of a Mystery Pryer could not be fooled by illusions and dreams so easily, and this was very much not a dream, nor an illusion of the mind.

The only thing in the bedroom with the slightest bit of spirituality was a scroll on a redwood desk whose wood was sleek and thick. The walls were a soft blue, and there was a small chandelier to the right of the bed, near a square window that looked out at the first morning rays of sun over the city they found themselves in.

"Don't panic, I'm sure there is a fine explanation for this." Old Neil reassured his Fiancee, but both of them were sufficiently nervous. Resurrection was not something just any Beyonder could do, and such it was that any resurrection done had a great price to it. Neither of them could reasonably pay such a price. Still, they were there, and this was very much so reality that they were now experiencing after both of their deaths.

"Perhaps this scroll can tell us?" Old Neil, seeing the spiritual power radiating from the scroll sitting on the desk across from the bed.

Celeste looked over, her brown hair and green eyes shimmering in the early morning light.

"Well, go on then," She said, and Old Neil made his way around the bed over the soft blue carpeted floor.

Taking the scroll in his hands, for it was a large scroll, with silver clasped bindings, Old Neil opened it gingerly, and it slid open. It read as such.

"Hello, Old Neil, It's Klein. It has been quite some time since we last spoke, and it was a sorrowful time indeed. However, no sorrow need stay forever. With the help of some of my comrades and friends that I have made over the decades that have passed since our last meeting, we have managed to give you and Celeste this gift. You are free now. The world you now inhabit has no corruption, and I have protected you from the ravings you had heard before.

Live your life with the woman you love, and the woman who so loves you back, once more with the freedom of your youth again. I don't have much time to write this, as I'll be leaving somewhere myself, but just know that your old student still thinks of you, and deeply values the trust and friendship we shared.

PS: You can drink Coffee at any time of day now.

PS2: Yes, the house and everything in it are paid for."

Old Neil began chuckling, and tears began welling up in his eyes.

"So, the young man really hadn't forgotten about me, has he? Praise the Goddess." Old Neil chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye.

"What is it?" His fiancée asked, walking over to him.

"We don't have to worry, an old friend of mine gave us this second chance." Old Neil said, sniffling and wiping his tears.

"An old friend of yours? Who?" Celeste asked, her eyes widening that her soon-to-be husband had such powerful friends.

"Klein. Klein Moretti." Old Neil said, a happy smile forming on his face