Tullia stood in the doorway of the old gnome's home. Though uninvited, she was certian he would not mind a visit from an old pupil.
She wondered if he would recognise her. She was, indeed, not the girl she once was. Her once pretty, hazel eyes were now black, showing a crackle of blue Arcane energy behind them every once in awhile. She had chopped her hair brutally short, and it stuck out in places. She looked wild, insane, framed in the doorway with her arms folded, robes draped around herself so that her eyes were the only part of her that was truly visible.
When the frail older gnome entered his kitchen, it took him a long while to realise she was there. She waited silently, simply watching her old teacher, one of the only ones to perform to Akane Runesake's ridiculously high standards. She smirked to herself, wondering how unhappy her old Master would be if he could see her now. For all his efforts to shield her from the Dark Arts he practised, for all the tutors and teachers he paid to teach her Wizardry, she had still come back to this.
Finally, she was noticed, the man's shriek and the resulting crash and clink of fine china smashing wrenching her from her thoughts. She gazed at him, the old familiar blue, droopy eyes reminding her of simpler times. She smiled as she remembered the old Gnome, frizzy greying hair framing a wrinkled, good-natured face, an even more wild beard at his chin.
"M-Master Runesake! How... you're dead!"
Tullia's eyes widened as if the man had slapped her... then narrowed. Her arms unfolded, and she strode into slightly better light.
"Yes, he is."
"Eh? Sorry, I thought you were... who are you?!" The man brandished a discarded kitchen knife in her general direction, which caused her to giggle aloud.
A flick of her wrist, and a bolt of energy hit that caused the man's hand to feel suddenly filthy, disgusting, as though he had just dipped it into something rotting. With a sound of surprised revulsion, he dropped the knife and shook his fingers.
"Don't you recognise your old pupils? Am I so forgettable? Mousy, meek, reliable, punctual little Tullia?" She came farther forward, into the candlelight.
He squinted, and then his eyes widened. "Tullia! Little Tullia Tristan! Bless my eyes, look how you've.. changed."
"It's not Tristan any longer, Usire.. it's Runesake now. You see, master asked me to take his name right before he died. Which brings me to the reason for my visit.."
"Now.. Tullia.." The old gnome backed up a bit, nearly against his sink as it was. He was sensing danger, though he wasn't entirely sure why. "Sit down and have tea with me, and we'll talk about this."
"Someone killed him, you see?"
"Yes, that's what I heard.."
"They were short, though I didn't see their face, I would imagine it to be a gnome."
"Now.. now, think what you're saying! You two were like family to me!"
"Hah... you feared Akane. Everyone who met him feared him!"
"Well.. well yes.. but you.. you were like a daughter-"
"He paid you to treat me well. He paid for this house, and these dishes, and your tea... his money *still* supports you, and will for years to come."
"Yes, so why would I want to harm him! As if I *could*!"
Tullia came closer to him, and amazingly, she was smiling a rather sweet smile.
"Usires, relax. I know you did not kill him. Wizards are not subtle creatures. You would never have thought of poison, nor would you have taken his tomes on telepathy. That is not why I am here."
"Ah.. ah.. oh, oh good. Oh Gods, good. Tullia, you frightened me."
When he looked up, she was gone.
"Tullia? Tullia! Come, we'll talk!"
He glanced around his kitchen-- something was very strange. The air had become thick and oppressive, with a light smell of dust, mold, decay. It felt like his basement, uncomfortable and humid.
There was a loud smashing sound, and the floor trembled. He cried out, falling on his little rump in surprise, shielding his face. The sound of splintering wood filled his ears, and he looked out from between his fingers for the source of the disturbance.
Rising from the kitchen floor was something grey-white, upon closer inspection it was a hand... a dead, boney hand, with bits of flesh sticking to it. It was tiny, not human-sized, and Usires felt a little thrill of horror.
"No, don't. Leave it!"
"I think not." Tullia's voice sounded in a soft purr right near his ear, and he couldn't summon the energy to scream as he so wanted to do...
"Dare I ask who this was?"
The dead thing clawed it's way up, shoving aside the wooden floor planks as it rose, struggling to come up. She looked down at the little wizard, he was trembling violently, covering his eyes with his hands. "Ohh, stop..." he moaned.
"Who was it? Was it a sibling you murdered? A woman you killed? Hm?"
The dead thing was visible now, flesh rotting off of it's face, which was vaugely recognisable as a female, tiny enough to be a gnome but stocky enough to have been a Halfling.
"A student? Maybe they got you angry, or maybe you had an accident.. a spell gone wrong.."
The corpse was moving closer, stinking, arms outstretched towards the old gnome. It had a horrible limp, it's left ankle broken so badly that it walked not on it's foot, but on the side of it. It still wore the tattered remains of whatever clothing Usires had buried it in. It's hair was a disheveled mess, and dirt fell from it's body as it advanced.
Usires himself was whimpering and shaking, otherwise still.
"You're going to tell me how to get Akane's soul back..." she whispered with barely-contained glee. "How to tear him from the Pantheon and his God, how to bring him back to me."
"I DON'T KNOW!" He shrieked, "HOW COULD I KNOW! I am a Wizard, just a Wizard, I can't know!"
"You must think I am a fool! Do you think I came to practise what I do, that I grew up with Akane, and not know the meaning of the symbol you wear around your neck?!" She shouted, her hand crashing down to swat the small figure cowering before her. He reeled back, his head hitting the edge of a cabinet. His little fingers reached instinctively up to clutch the pendant on his neck.
"Your tomes! All your books! You have a better, bigger library than Akane ever did, AND that symbol, and I KNOW you know!
The corpse closed in, grasping the small gnome and lifting him to his feet. It held him tight, turning him to face the livid Tullia. She was fierce in her fury, but precise and collected.
"You, gnome, have more knowledge of this ritual than any other, and you are going to take me back to school."
"Any... any spell that could do such a thing would leave Akane's soul damaged beyond repair. Those magics are forbidden-- ah!" The corpse squeezed at it's prisoner, dead fingers piercing his arms, causing rivulets of blood to well up and spill.
"I will figure it out, wether you speed up the process or not. The question is, how will we pass the time for YOU while I search your notes and tomes?"
He felt the dead thing that held him dig it's boney fingers even deeper, past his flesh, down to muscle. He could hear each layer of skin popping and breaking, and the pain was far beyond a scream, the fingers of one hand spasming wildly.
Tullia had pulled a dagger from within the depths of her robes, the hilt made of blood-red ruby and the blade of onyx.
"I.. I.. will not.. help.. you.. evil.. disgusting.. filth.." he spat between shudders.
"...A pity. Then I suppose you are of no use to me."
She lunged forward, plunging the dagger into his childlike body, giving it a twist, then crouching down to watch. She gazed at his eyes as he stood, bleeding out, dying... as if his passing was a mildly interesting twist on the day's events.
"I have to wonder how far you tried to go, to get your wife back..." She nodded to the corpse that still held him fast. "How much farther you would have gone, if you had the same love Akane and I share.. if perhaps you had the courage to continue down the path I have now chosen." She stared as blood bubbled up and popped at the corner of her old teacher's mouth. "You are nothing but a coward."
"I.. go now.. to my God.. and.. to my love.." he gazed at her defiantly as he trembled, and then his eyes were just... empty. Just as it had been with Akane. His gaze had met hers, filled with love... and then it was just.. empty. And then her life had ended.
"Take this back down to the basement with you." She ordered the corpse. It did as it was bid, and Tullia went off to root through Usires's library. Without his help, she would be there for hours... she hoped it was worth it.
