Life Finds a Way

Mori had come to the island to do business. In all his years on earth, he had never once encountered such a wretched group as those that lived on Manta Carlos. Soul destroyers. Those whose souls were damaged themselves. And on the island, hundreds of undead, and those whose souls strained against the cycle, even if they had not yet left it entirely.

Some of them would not take his offer. Some of them would turn their backs on him, and would suffer for it, the cycle breaking them in the end. But some--people like Gwyn Drakenhardt--would see his offer for what it was and reach out to take it.

He'd chosen the woods to avoid the risk of any screams alarming people. Coming back to life was not an easy process. It hurt like dying all over again, an unfortunate but necessary consequence. Removing pain from the process would have made it take far longer, and would have taken a great deal more energy to do. The pain, in the end, was simply worth it, a clear dividing line between undeath and life.

Mori looked much the same as he had in the center, formal and neat. Thankfully the process did not usually involve much mess, and knowing as he did that Gwyn was a dragon? Well, he was expecting bones and sinew, not the rotting ichor he was going to get.

"Ah, Gwyn," Mori said, going straight to the point at an absolutely breakneck pace. "I assume you're all ready?"

His eyes fell to the urn. His heart, perhaps? Or something else.

Gwyn was likely expecting something a good deal more elaborate than what he was oging to get. Even his urn wasn't really necessary. Mori hadn't never thoroughly tested what was required. If he had to say, he'd have said the thinking part. A body with a brain in another room that operated on its own was enough. A body without a heart was fair game as well.

"I would recommend setting down the urn," he said. If he didn't, he'd end up dropping it, because no one stayed standing while coming back to life.

It hurt too much for that.

"Other then that, when you're ready, simply hold out your hands, palms up. That's the easiest way." Not even strictly necessary, but he liked it that way. It was the easiest.

Technically speaking, the urn would continue to exist even after the process was over. Mori did not require all the component parts to return someone to life, and any leftover abruptly became little more than meat. A magically intact heart would begin to rot, creating quite a smell.

"I wouldn't worry about it," Mori said simply. "It won't matter afterwards."

The actual process was more or less instant. Mori simply reached up, held his hands above Gwyns, and then lowered them until their hands touched. It only took a second, and like a snap, Gwyn's soul was suddenly whole, intact, and properly corrected within the cycle, his work done.

Of course, it wasn't quite that simply for Gwyn. Gwyn's soul might have been fixed in the blink of an eye, but his body still had to adjust, and the pain of that--of his body regrowing parts it had lost, of reorganizing itself into its original safe--was excruciating. Everyone who suffered it screamed. Most went hoarse from the pain. How long it took would depend on the degree of change they had to undergo, taking only a few minutes at most, but Mori was careful to step away, giving Gwyn space.

He was probably going to flail. Most of them did, and Mori didn't want to get punched in the head by a writhing dragon.

He'd seen more than a few revivals in his time on earth, but most tended to be a bit more restrained. A vampire returning to human form might change only slightly. Some of them vomited up the blood they'd ingested. So while he'd prepared for that, the sight of Gwyn abruptly shifting into a truly monstrous undead form was... unpleasant.

Mori backed up a bit father, some of the ichor splattering onto his shoes as Gwyn burst from the mess, like a phoenix emerging not from an egg but instead from a pile of rot. He was very different, his form nearly unrecognizable, and if Mori hadn't been more prepared he might not have known it was Gwyn at all, between the fact that he appeared to be part plant and the fact that he was rather large as a dragon.

He waited for Gwyn to settle down, obviously still adjusting to his new-old form before he spoke again.

"It does hurt, yes. I tend not to warn people for fear they might put a bit of pain ahead of the results. Humans are very... averse to pain. Better to suffer agony for a few minutes than to remain trapped as an undead for an eternity."

He had a sneaking suspicion Gwyn would agree. Most didn't mind their undeath quite as much as he seemed to.

"I'm sure I'll keep in touch. The hardest part of my time on the island is managing to convince people that my work is legitimate, so having you on hand to confirm that it is will be a boon."

Mori gave a proper bow to the great dragon, a rare smile on his face. He liked his work. He liked seeing the results, and enjoyed the feeling of the cycle being restored. It felt good. Like a job well done.

"Please enjoy your life, Gwyn."