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In her palm, Beau held the same shrooms she’d taken so long ago. What felt like a dream spent with an old friend of Beau’s, a very special old friend; by the name of Mollymauk Tealeaf. That night with him had been in a strange way enjoyable for Beau. It had a special place among the many times she and Molly enjoyed chaos together. Only a few hours ago now Beau and the rest of the Nein had returned to the shop where they’d gotten this drug to find some healing potions, they’d already cleared Pumat Sol of his stock. Beau couldn’t leave that shop without purchasing some of the shrooms, the memory of Molly overwhelming her to do so. And now she sat on a bed staring down at the thing she’d purchased trying to decide if she’d go through with this.
A prickling sensation of fear crept over her body the more she thought about it all. “There isn’t a problem with it! The beginning effects are weird I guess but it’s fine from there!” she mumbled to herself, trying to bargain her way into feeling more comfortable with the idea. She knew though why this was. Molly. Looking back now the memories she had with him were all fond and enjoyable, but it always hung over her head wondering if Caduseus’s spell had really done anything to keep their friend in the ground. She’d accepted what had happened to him months ago, and yet the memory of his antics and the joy that radiated from him still stung. Though Fjord, Jester, and Yasha lamented the fact that they hadn’t been there to help it was better for them not having to have heard the sickening crack that came with Lorenzo plunging his sword into Molly’s chest. Sometimes in her nightmares she could still hear it, the sounds of his last moments hanging over her a solemn reminder of what they had lost.
She shook her head suddenly realizing she’d spaced. “For fuck sake!” she grumbled getting sick of waiting, quickly popping in the shroom she swallowed it and waited for the first wave of effects to begin.
It crept up on her slowly, a sensation inside of her stomach that built up to the feeling of nausea. The haziness came with it around the corners of her eyes, along with the feeling of stiffness in her joints. She found it all easier to manage than last time. Once she was able to shrug it off she got up to leave.
None of the other Nien knew she would be taking it, they’d all advised her against buying it anyway so why should she have to tell them when she was planning to have a little fun with it! She walked out of the tavern and into the cold night, it was strange to be back in Zadash. After all this time of being away in a different part of the country returning to the first city, they’d taken up residence in felt off now.
Grey shadows moved down the streets around her as she walked in random directions. It was awkward to walk around like this, as for a few seconds every time she passed by someone she couldn’t tell if they were alive or dead. She was able to get a pretty good hold on who was who though after seeing it enough times.
Living people had a warm glow to them, their skin radiated life as they walked by. Dead people were gray, giving off a sensation of cold wind as they moved past. They usually had a melancholy expression on their face, like they were going over everything they’d done in the world of the living and regretting every moment of it.
Her mind wandered onto an idea she loathed, was this what happened to Molly? Is this where he was now? Stuck between worlds with these sad sakes for company? She tried her best not to think about it too hard but couldn’t stop a chuckle when she imagined Molly trying to cheer up some of these melancholy souls.
She could hear the creaking of a rotting iron door before she could see it. The closer she got the more she could make out though, vines groping the iron walls, a gate ajar moving against the wind.
The ghosts were far more plentiful here. They cluttered the pathway and sat against the graves. Beau’s skin prickled as she remembered now more than ever that no one else could see the shambling husks around her.
Looking down the street she noticed one of the ghouls looked odd. The ghosts around her were all many different species but they mostly kept to the human looking ones. The one she could make out though appeared to have horns.
They looked ram like in a sense and it was hard for Beau to tell but it looked like there was jewelry adorning it.
“Fuck off…” she mumbled walking away from the graveyard and towards this mysterious figure. “It can’t be him!” The closer she got though the more her fear was being confirmed.
In the soft breeze a coat drifted in it, it took on many shades of gray and Beau could put together what it looked like in the world of the living. She stopped a few steps away worried that the apparition would vanish if she got too close. The spirit stared through her like they couldn’t even tell she was there. “Molly?” she whispered.
The spirit did not move, it continued to stare through Beauregard but the longer she was close to it the more it became clear it was Mollymauk. The coloring may have dulled but the unusual patterning on his iconic coat still held strong, even if it did not have the same feeling to it without color.
Nervously she waved her hand in front of him to see if he would react at all. The people who walked by her all gave her odd looks but she blocked them out of her mind. All she cared about at the moment was seeing if she could get her friend to respond to her.
“Molly!” she said waving her hands more frantically.
“Can you hear me, buddy?”
The ghost continues to stare through her. She looks around to see if there would be anything that could get his attention.
As she does this though the spirit lurches forward. She flinches back surprised by the sudden movement.
“Molly?” she repeats again as the spirit continues to move forward.
The remains of Mollymauk continue forward, they move through Beauregard’s body sending a wave of coldness throughout it. She gasps with a sudden chill, quickly recovering though and follows her friend back through the streets of Zadash.
As she retraced her steps, questions flooded her head. Why was Molly here? How was it possible that he could head this far from his body? Did ghosts normally do this or was Molly just special? Was it really even Molly or was she going crazy?
So many questions filled her head she didn’t notice when they had returned to the inn. She stumbled to not smack her head into the door and turned back to make sure that Molly was still there.
He was, floating aimlessly a little ways from the door. His eyes slowly examined the building. She waited patiently wondering if she should just leave him out here and tell the Nein what she was seeing, or continue to wait with him.
She chose the ladder, continuing to stand there and wait for him to do something again.
“It’s not like you to take this much time on something…” she chuckled sadly again looking over to see if there would be any reaction.
Of course there wasn’t, she didn’t understand why she expected anything else.
She continued to wait out there for what felt like hours. At times she would begin to worry that the effects would wear off and she’d miss the chance to see what he was doing. To her relief though, that hadn’t happened yet.
Suddenly Molly moved again. This time it was quicker though, almost like he had more of a purpose this time around.
Beau jumped forward, quickly throwing open the door to follow after him.
He floated up the stairs and weaved through the hallway. His eyes moved quicker than they had before, he was looking for something.
Beau could hear the Nein’s voices coming from the rooms they’d rented. She watched Molly’s head snap towards the sound and immediately begin to head towards it.
The voices got louder and loader till Molly floated right in front of the rooms. His eyes moved from the one that had Caleb, Fjord, and Caduceus. To the one that Yasha and Jester.
Beau knew what he was thinking, “Hey...I’ll help you out.” She opened the door to the girl’s room and walked inside.
Molly immediately followed and hovered next to Yasha.
Jester gave Beau a warm welcome and asked where she had been. But she could focus on the question, all she could focus on was Molly.
She watched him give a small smile at Yasha as she sat on the bed looking at Beau.
It was then she knew that their friend really had reached peace. It may not be what she had imagined but it was his peace. And that’s what really mattered.