It’s nice having a small place in the capital to stay over and relax in. Plenty of places to eat, shops to browse, people to see. I’ve managed to scrape together enough …capital over the years to put together my own shop and apartment. Sell overpriced drinks and snacks on a corner with a view to overdressed penguins and everyone profits! I love this view from the upper veranda at sunset, it makes the trouble I go through seem worth it.

Sure, there are places we plebeians *shouldn’t go because it really isn’t safe there, but that’s not enough to stop everybody. The nuns working in the slums for example. Plenty of reasons to stay out of there, not the least of which is the kidnapping of someone from time to time. That reminds me, I was going to visit there tomorrow ni…

BANG!

Oh? Who is this knocking oh so slowly at our door?

BANG! BANG!

- - - - -

BANG!

“Open!”

BANG!

“Up!”

BANG!

“I’m! Dying!”

The door swings open smoothly as the harried man slumps forward with the next attempt to knock, straight into the arms of the inhabitant.

“Of course you are Sir Dumpling, but I take it you mean faster than usual?”

Two men stand in stark contrast to each other, one bloody and broken with a formerly white cloth tied around where his hand used to be, and the Other dressed like any upper administrator of a thousand different businesses or cities.

“I see neither the king’s horses nor the king’s men, but I suppose that you want me to put you back together again?”

“Shut. Up. Amoral. &#*@^.”

“Ah, you don’t really mean that. At least the first bit, the second you probably have a good argument for. I take it you came knowing the price of my services? Surely you aren’t the only one in need this fine evening.”

At this the broken man glares at him and, out of sheer spite, stands up straight enough to not need support. He grabs a bag tied on his belt with his good hand and gives it to the Other, who is sporting a wicked grin.

“Excellent, I’ll trust everything is in here. Come in, and for being so cooperative I’ll show you a little trick to get to my lair where I’ll get everything all nice and fixed up for you.”

As the door closes the men inside, the Other flicks his hand over the doorknob in a seemingly random pattern when a triangle and dial appear on its surface. He spins the dial around a bit and motions with the arrow, which touches the new position. The Other smiles as he remembers hearing something similar in an old story about a young wizard and an old crone. He grasps the handle of the door and opens it wide, stepping back out, and yet in, to a large, dimly lit chamber the width of the street they just left, with a metal-wrapped altar in the center.

“Alright shark-bait, up onto the table you go and lay down. I’ll hear you out later.”

With yet another glare at the flippant attitude he’s been dealing with since arriving, the man walks up and lays down, face first. The Other quirks his eyebrows and shakes his head. Chanting some words in a sing-song tone, more dials appear, but this time around the altar. After checking every one of them out, the Other nods and starts whistling a tune that only he’s familiar with, while his patient is passed out as cold as the table he’s on.

- - - - -

Ah, what a surprise having this strong armed pretty boy of the country show up at my door. We’ve never really gotten along, me with the wanton disregard for consequences, him with the moral high ground. ‘Stop you villain, you’re just going to cause pain and suffering!’ Ah yes, but all the pain and suffering I see I stop, yes? Well, at least the physical pain and suffering. I’ve gotten good at my job over the years you know? Even to the point where I believe I’m technically immortal now, what with years of studying magic and how I can basically disregard any physical attacks on my person. And magic attacks as well, though that was harder to sort. Lightning still hurts, but I have backup plan for that.

There we go, MinuteSteak no longer looks quite like, well, minced meat, so we’ll graduate him to Misfortune Boy. Really that’s a much more accurate name for him since all country sponsored “heroes” I’ve met are just magnets for the stuff. It’s almost like there’s a reason they’re needed…

Eh, let’s just levitate him over to the cor-no, there aren’t corners in this place, so let’s stick him there but flip him on to his back gently so I don’t have to fix him again later.

Now let’s start on the bag he gave me. He should be out for a bit so I’ll have plenty of time to go over wh-oooooh there partner, how many crystals do you think you handed me… Having a big bank-roll behind you definitely helps, but to know I’d need these you must find me to be a necessary evil… Should I laugh more maniacally when I’m around him just to mock him? Well, let’s decide later. These will require some work…

…

Aaaaaaaallllllll-righty *crack* then! *crack* Back’s back to normal, the crystals are taken care of, my patients are all back in one piece! Good night team! Well done! Now, let’s see how much chaos this causes. As some say, “Payback’s a #!^@$”

- - - - -

A large dial appears in the center of the chamber, looking very much like a clock face, slowly ticking down as the Other sits on the edge of the altar, swinging his feet as he looks towards the not-corner where he laid down his guest. As the hands line up on the dial it fades away without a sound, though that doesn’t stop the Other from saying anything.

“Wake-y wake-y, lemon cake-y, it’s time for you to go to schoooollll.”

As the quickly loudening racket bounces about the room, there is movement in front of the Other’s eyes of not one, but four bodies. Three of them sit up with a start while the fourth pushes himself up off the floor a bit more slowly, as if testing to see if his body is working correctly.

“Welcome to Marvin’s Medical Miracles!” comes the voice of the Other. “May we have a round of introductions from our customers tonight!”

“Marvin?” says a soft feminine voice in a confused tone, the center of the three, all of whom are wearing soft and light but common clothing. She and the others turn around slightly to see someone who looks worse for the wear, but is otherwise all right, stretching out the fingers of both hands as if in disbelief before registering the three sitting in front of him. He pauses but briefly as he moves towards them with tears in his eyes, while feeling like there’s a dagger in his heart. He kneels down to hug the one who just spoke, then quickly extends his arms around the others to pull them all close together, as if afraid to lose them.

As if on cue, the other two speak up and overlap their voices.

“Where…”

“What…”

In the very short but awkward pause, the Other speaks up, “Where are you and what happened, yes? While I’m sure your Marvin over there has the answers to the what, I shall let him empty his tears for now and answer the where.”

As they try to turn around while still being held tightly, they hear two followed by three sharp claps resonate through the room. The amount of light increases throughout the room and several small golems bring in large cushions, a low table, and what appears to be glasses and jars of water and tea.

“I’m sure you all know me at least by reputation as I make no effort to hide from the country’s spies and I’ve met Marvin a number of times through the years. As of this moment, I will say this, that serious things are serious for those who need them to be, and it appears you need that from me. No jokes shall be had nor analogies made until we step through that door. Though I may need the latter to explain certain things, so none in poor taste at least. I’ve called myself a healer for as long as I remember, so in this room you may call me Doc, or whatever you feel like. Understood, for now?”

As the golems and guests finish their dance, the three in plain apparel nod while settling down. Seeing this, the Other nods and swings down from the altar and walks towards the table to sit on the empty side. He takes the cup from the tray of a golem and nods solemnly.

“You are currently sitting in Purga*aaahh!”

The three blink as the Other is slapped upside the head by the tray of the golem (who knew he was about to immediately go back on his word) which then turns around and wanders off. Marvin is hugging his pillow rather than sitting on it, and doesn't seem to notice the exchange at all.

“You’re in a room I use to patch people back together, fix them up. The specific location doesn’t matter as I’ll be able to take you directly to the capital from here unless there are any questions or objections?”

- - - - -

“I have one.”

Hoh, Companion A is raising his hand. What an earnest boy. Wait, his name is actually Ernest now that I think about it…

“Why aren’t we dead? I clearly remember a painful fiery death. Also, where are Kasim and Margarette?”

And go-with-the-flow. I knew something didn’t seem quite right. Pull out the crystal and…

“Do you recognize this?”

“Yes. That’s a soul stone. Marvin didn’t tell us much besides we should keep one on us, though I never saw one with streaks of color running through it…”

I bet Marvin had a scowl on his face as he told them that too, but I digress. Calling out the hypocrite now won’t help anyone here, and let’s stay out of an argument.

“That would be because this particular crystal… has been used already. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, ‘Body and soul, mind and spirit?’ This contains that part of the person. I’ll spare you a lot of the details, but it may be easier to show you first and explain a bit.”

Alright, magic time. I wonder if she’ll be awake, though the others weren’t… Oh, better signal the golems to bring in some handkerchiefs while I’m spinning this up… Dial in the center of the table, set to display, crystal in place… activating… and commence amazement! Or tears! Tears it is! Why is it so hard to life some times….

- - - - -

A small green dial appears in front of the Other on the table, and after some movements and placing the crystal in the center of it, a small green figure floats above the crystal, curled up in a ball. Minor shock appears on the four’s faces, but only briefly as it is quickly replaced by tears and disbelief or anger.

“Margarette?” says the small voice. “But why is she like that?”

“That’s a projection of the soul in this crystal. As for why she’s curled up like that, I cannot say at this point. While the soul doesn’t actually need clothes, the projection shows what the spirit believes to be their natural state, so for her, it’s those items. But I digress, that probably wasn’t your actual question, correct? You wanted to know why her soul is in the crystal in the first place?”

The small girl nods while holding her glass meekly, when suddenly the hero Marvin speaks in a voice almost too small to hear, while looking all the world like someone who was trying to overcome a pack of wolves with a freshly cut marsh reed.

“She died.”

The silence in the room becomes palpable. After a moment, the Other speaks up.

“That’s right. Listen a bit as I hope to make you understand. You have probably heard of me wandering the world and healing the worst of the worst, resurrecting villains and the like. While I won’t deny that, I will say I don’t really care who it is or where I’m at. If there’s anyone in pain, anyone who’s suffering, I’ll heal them. What gets tricky is this, what decides if someone is well and truly dead? For me it is as simple as this.”

The Other picks up his cup, still filled with liquid. As he taps the cup, then stirs the water, he says, “Is there a body, and is there a soul. If the soul still exists and the body can be mended, the person can be healed. At least physically. So, what happens if you have one but not the other? I heal because there is a soul around, and a some part of a body to fix. This stone is something that can be used in dark rituals because it traps a soul when the body no longer works well enough to stay alive. That’s why there’s a ban on them. If you have someone, say a court mage, inscribe a specific circle on them, they will only trap the soul of the wearer upon death. Margarette’s soul is clearly here, but without any part of her soul’s body remaining, I cannot bring her back to life.”

After several moments of silence, Ernest speaks up. “So if you have Margarette’s soul but no body, but we’re here, that would mean that… Kasim’s soul is not here? But he should have had a stone as well, I know he was wearing it.”

“Before our hero speaks up I will say this. These crystals are strong not unbreakable. And while they may shatter, the souls inside them are not harmed unless they were placed in a magic array that used souls as a component. That’s also why it’s theoretically easier to use captured souls in dark rituals rather than 50 sacrifices you need to kill at the same time.”

“So what are you going to do with Margarette then?” says the small voice in the middle.

“Nothing dangerous and no dark rituals. I’ll hold on to her for a while for now though,” the Other says with a gentle smile. “Nothing will harm her or her soul while I have her gem, don’t worry.”