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Things were quiet after Magnus had passed a year ago.
They all still had jobs. Responsibilities. Whirlwind lives in which they were happy and satisfied. But after Magnus died, it just didn’t feel the same. Magnus had a habit of calling people up on their stones of far-speech constantly, excitedly updating them on something he had made, an especially good dog he had trained, a person he had helped. Even though he was far away, he was always still ever present in their lives, and there was no way he was going to go a single day without reminding everyone how much they had meant to him.
And then Magnus died, and their stones fell silent.
They all still talked, of course, but Magnus’ missing presence was a lot more prominent than anyone would have thought. Taako couldn’t help but feel like maybe he took those conversations for granted.
Lup, Barry, and Kravitz reassured them all that Magnus was very happy now. Kravitz had personally seen to it that he was reunited with Julia. They were happy for him, but at the same time, it still hurt. Every time he saw a dog, Taako’s heart twisted. He’d catch the sight of carved wooden figures at the market and he could practically smell Magnus’ signature polish. He’d find himself sitting by his stone of far-speech, waiting for a call that would never come. He wasn’t the only one affected by Magnus’ being gone. In fact, the whole world mourned the news of one of the seven heroes being gone.
Despite the Reaper Squad’s best efforts, the world felt a little emptier.
This wasn’t like during their Century. Magnus wasn’t coming back. The thought made Taako feel sick.
The remaining two-thirds of the Tres Horny Boys fell into a routine. Whenever one of them started getting that horrible heart twisting, gut-wrenching ache of missing their human companion, they’d call the other.
“Wanna go get a table for three?” Merle’s voice crackled through Taako’s stone. It was like their password for these sorts of things. A way of telling the other what was wrong without directly saying what was bothering them.
“Sure. Usual place?”
“Yeah.”
It was always that little dive bar in Neverwinter’s slums, the Lonely-Hearts Cantina. It was where the three of them had reunited after their memories were wiped. Though to them at that time, it was as if they were all meeting each other for the first time.
Merle and Taako entered late into the night and promptly sat down at a table with exactly three chairs. Merle on the left, Taako on the right, the center was left open. They stared at it for a moment before ordering their drinks. They drank for a while. It wasn’t until Taako was on his sixth glass of wine and Merle was nursing his eighth mug of beer that they finally got to talking.
“So… What was it this time?” Taako asked, taking a sip of his drink.
“Saw a bear in the woods today while I was scouting out a new place to take my students,” Merle drummed his fingers on the table top.
Taako hummed thoughtfully.
“Reminded me of the Power Bear. Remember how badly he wanted to wrestle that thing?”
“Yeah.”
“He always did crazy shit.”
“He was crazy.”
There was a long moment of silence before Merle spoke again.
“I miss him.”
Taako took a deep breath and nodded. He refused to look at the empty seat. “Yeah…”
“I miss him doing his weird, dumb, funny stuff,” He could tell Merle was on the verge of crying, the alcohol must’ve been getting to him.
“Me too,” Taako forced the words out. His throat was tightening.
“Like that one thing, he did during our beach year. When he’d jump out of nowhere. Where did he even come up with that? It was so dumb but so funny. Gods, what I wouldn’t give for that right now.”
At that moment, someone gasped.
They were suddenly aware of a presence behind them, but before they could turn around, the stranger reacted faster.
“MAGNUS!!!” A familiar voice cried out in triumph, startling the elf and dwarf.
Merle spat out his drink, coughing, wheezing, and nearly choking on his beverage. Taako simply stared forward in stunned silence. Almost simultaneously they turned around in their chairs, and what they saw left them speechless.
There was Magnus, in spectral form, smiling wide and proud. A bright white light shined in his chest where his heart would have been. It almost seemed to glow brighter as he puffed his chest out and his smile grew wider.
“I’ve been waiting for thirty minutes for the perfect opportunity to do that!” He exclaimed with a laugh.
Taako and Merle stared at him slack jawed. He was there. He was standing right there. Okay, not really standing he was floating slightly off the ground.
“…Magnus?” Merle was the first to find his voice.
“The one and only.”
“But aren’t you supposed to be on the Astral Plane?”
“Well, yeah, but being friends with the three grim reapers has its advantages. They were able to convince the Raven Queen to let us come visit —! “
“Wait, us?”
“Julia is here too!” The glow in Magnus’ chest brightened again at the mention of his wife “She’s back waiting with Lup and Barry. We were gonna surprise you guys but we couldn’t find you at either of your houses so I decided to come looking for you.”
“How-How did you know we’d be here?” Merle croaked, his eyes tearing up just a little, he was smiling
“Because we’re best friends and I know you’d come here to be sad about me,” Magnus floated over to the empty chair, and while he couldn’t physically sit in it, he could sit in the air over it. “Lup told me you guys have been down lately. This was her idea.”
Taako and Merle were glad that the bar was empty -- the barkeeper having disappeared into the bathroom a few minutes prior -- or else the sight of a ghost would have stirred a commotion.
“Oh great, just when I thought I’d finally get some peace and quiet, the brick shit-house is back in ghost form,” Taako pulled the brim of his hat down, poorly trying to cover his own watering eyes and smile.
“Come on, admit it, you missed me.” Magnus grinned and crossed his arms “You cried when I left.”
“No, I didn’t! Taako’s a big boy. No tears.” It looked suspiciously like there were tears going down his cheeks at that moment.
“I did,” Merle said with a sniffle.
“You’re crying right now, dude.” Magnus leaned over trying to look under Taako’s hat to see his face.
“FUCK OFF BACK TO THE GHOST ZONE YOU INCORPOREAL PRICK!” Taako looked up now, his eyes red and puffy.
“Didn’t you guys believe Barry, Lup, and Kravitz when they told you I was okay?”
“Yeah but, we missed you, Magnus.” Merle rubbed his eyes behind his glasses.
“I missed you guys too,” Their ghostly friend responded with a warm smile. He leaned forward in what appeared to be an attempted hug, but just wound up phasing through Taako. The elf went stiff and pulled his cloak tighter around himself with a shiver.
“What the fuck, are you, Jack Frost, now?!”
“Oooh right, I go through stuff on the Material Plane. Forgot about that.” Magnus pulled back and inspected his own hands “Being a ghost is weird. I wonder if this is how Noelle felt?” He gasped suddenly bouncing up and down in his seat as he was struck with an idea “Do you think Lucas would make me a robot body for when I visit?! How cool would that be?! I can’t hold a pen on this plane, one of you is gonna have to draw my idea for me. Quick grab a sheet of paper and start drawing the coolest robot you can think of!”
Merle and Taako laughed because oh gods they missed this. Their chests swelled as if a hole in their hearts were being filled.
They sat there talking for a while. For the past year Magnus had been catching up with everyone in the Astral Plane; Noelle, Johann, his dogs, and most importantly Julia. He had so many stories he wanted to tell but, upon remembering that his wife was waiting to meet them Magnus tried to grab their wrists to pull them out of their seats. Of course, this only resulted in his two best friends having very cold wrists, but he was still too excited to care.
“We have to go! I want you guys to meet Jules before it’s time to go home.”
“Okay, okay, hold your horses! We gotta pay for our drinks first, dummy!”
They were able to all meet up in one of Neverwinter’s parks. Magnus was a lot more distinct in the darkness of night, not as transparent as he had been in the well-lit bar. Barry, Lup, and a third woman shaped figure stepped out of a portal not too far away. Magnus literally flew over and took the woman up in his arms, spinning around with her in the air happily.
“Julia!” Magnus exclaimed.
Julia laughed and brushed her flowing hair out of her face “Geez Magnus, it’s only been a few hours.”
“A few hours too long,” He kissed her forehead lovingly before turning to Taako and Merle to properly introduce them. Julia was so happy to finally be meeting them, Magnus had told her everything about their adventures.
“Okay but how much did he exaggerate?” Barry asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I did not exaggerate!” Magnus gasped.
“He exaggerated quite a bit.” Julia chuckled.
“Jules! How could you?!” He played as if he had been struck.
Taako could now see why Magnus always looked so lost when he would think about Julia in life. The two fit together like perfect puzzle pieces. Losing her was like losing his other half. He couldn’t help a small grin at seeing the big guy so happy, and a quick glance to Merle confirmed he was smiling too.
He felt his sister nudge his side and turned to look at her.
“So, are you guys gonna stop being so mopey now?”
“Depends. Is he going to be able to visit?”
“We can probably set up visiting hours with the Boss. Being heroes of not just one but a fuck ton of planar systems definitely has its perks. Technically, it’ll count as him haunting you, though.”
“Good. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Not too long after that, Barry informed them it was time to get going. Magnus and Julia hovered just outside the portal and looked back at Taako and Merle.
“Hey, see you guys soon, okay?” Magnus waved “And I totally don’t mean that in the ominous ‘you’re going to die soon’ way, I mean I’m probably going to stop by again next week.”
Merle laughed and waved “Okay, but next time don’t jump out at us like that. You nearly gave me a heart attack!”
“No promises, Merle.” Magnus playfully crossed his fingers.
“Hey, if you see Jenkins over there tell him he’s still a shitty wizard!” Taako cupped his hands around his mouth and called with a smile.
“Okay, Taako!”
“It was wonderful meeting you both,” Julia said as she held Magnus’ hand “Magnus was right about you two.”
“What’d he say?” Merle couldn’t help but ask.
“That you’re both dorks.”
“He’s a dork too!”
“Oh, don’t I know it. But he’s my big dork.”
“Goodnight dorks!” Magnus called out happily.
“Goodnight dork!” They called back in unison.
And with that, hand-in-hand, Magnus and Julia stepped into the light.
It was like the entire exchange had all been a dream, and on their respective ways home Taako and Merle went back and forth confirming if it had actually happened or not over their stones of far speech. Their chests were filled with warmth at hearing from their lost friend again.
True to his promise, Magnus came again the following week. The three of them went to the Lonely-Hearts Cantina and sat at a table for three.
Merle on the left.
Taako on the right.
And Magnus once again taking up the center.