Maid with Necromancy

Harmony wiped tears away from her eyes as Ambrosia gave up on propriety and rushed in for a hug. The blond’s head reached this summoned body’s naval. She could shrink, but that would take energy she didn't want to use. No mirror was needed to tell that this pink-haired form had acquired the vines and flowers that were now paired with Max’s look. At least no one could claim he summoned a death goddess. Even Night’s new scales came with pink highlights and almost looked like leaves because of the motif.

Bates stepped forward. “As heartwarming as this is, Lady White. Is it possible to get an estimate of how long this form can be maintained here? There were some concerns about distance when we planned this out.”

Practical as always. The head butler was right. While priority was to protect Maxwell, it’s not as though he gifted her with any knowledge about the situation. They wouldn’t summon her for no reason. None of them looked exceptionally stressed, so at least it wasn’t an emergency. [Keen Investigative Awareness] or even leaning on [Style and Grace] with a touch of [Analyze] would bring up more info, but reaching for such skills would drain the chaos maintaining this form.  She did not want to lose a second of being here.

Gauging Max’s chaos feeding into her was a tad tricky. “Two hours at most, but that might leave my agent too low. An hour and a half if neither of us uses any skills.”

Bates let out a sigh. “Good. That aligns with our interpretation of your journal entries on this. I was concerned we’d have minutes. We have enough time to swap updates, handle scheduling, and maybe a few House chores if we get to it.”

So many topics to cover.  How were the Games going? What had she missed while in the games? The riots and obvious fire damage? Why were Grohl and Jimmy in staff uniforms? hundreds of tiny things that would be hours of conversation.  No, what needed to be dealt with was the monster in the closet, the one she'd put there.

“How is Heir Rosaline doing?”

Max popped to his feet a little awkwardly, “You left with Von Trell, I’m surprised he hasn’t…” Max let out a groan. “ I suppose that would be too close to messing with local politics.”

That outburst was at least more in line with the Max she knew than the earnest and humble man who was kneeling for her arrival. He had to have practiced those words and that pose, even though they were sincere.

“What do you mean?” Harmony dug for clarification.

“As her fate-bound betrothed, I have superseded some legal rights to her well-being when she is unconscious. I managed to play off, shaking away your undue influence to sign documents for Von Trell, getting her into a small private academy, a sister school of Miskatonic University. The Charter counselor recruited Hemlock to act as his proxy in escorting her there.  Rose is, um, damaged. But should be receiving better medical care than is available here, and unbiased care at that.”

That was part of Max’s heartache, and as the man’s summoned, she wanted to help. Which was weird, as most of her knew the princess was lucky to be alive and could chew on rotten marrow, unfathomable control or not. Not in her skillset. [Recall] made a note to invest in a good therapist for the man.

“So, no repercussions coming directly from the heir? And the queen?” Harmony inquired further. Not that it was actually the queen behind  those royal eyes.

Bates  answered that one. “They're sending repair crews to help with the unfortunate and understandable damage caused by the incensed audience. Even throwing money around, they overstepped themselves, and Hazeldown is not happy. The princess's and your departure has left them aimless, as well as whatever losses they took. Outside of the borders, they lack power. Here, they don’t seem to have decided on an official direction. With Len and Lord Tyler still competing in the Ascendant Games, they’re trying to make those local stars a bigger distraction.”

“I want to know how school is going? We can burden Harmony with our political problems later.” Ambrosia insisted, from her latched-on position.

What was there to say? “Classes haven’t started yet. I have found potential friends or allies. I’ve been evaluated magically as one of the more powerful new students. I’m told not tell people I’m a necromancer, as the queen won’t extend diplomatic protection to me.”

“What a rotter,” Ambrosia complained.

“Indeed. But I can’t let that part of my path wither. Agent Maxwell, how frequently can you summon me here?”  Harmony asked.

“I can expect to have this much time every week.”

That was without any skill usage. She needed more of everything.  The political picture painted here felt precarious and risky, and that was without the things her friends were not telling her, because they knew she couldn’t reasonably come back and do anything. Getting stronger at The Academy was the answer. “That will have to do for now. Tell me everything I’ve missed.”

They didn’t. Bates had a burn peaking out under his sleeve. It had to be bad not to be fully healed by now with potions or skills. Ambrosia talked about a new bird. That means she lost one of her pets, and she had space within her beast tamer class for a new one. Gareth joked that the odds were looking better every day, yet she knew the bookie liked to avoid risky situations by understanding the odds.  

In turn, Harmony shared several stories herself, the dungeon club, Tun-Knee, and eventually that a literal child had used an oath-style skill on her. Max grunted at that.

“She had many worse options since she was so eager. I’m sure you’ll keep her safe.” Ambrosia assured Harmony.

What if she couldn’t? To be thrust into quasi-parenthood in addition to her never-ending responsibilities took one brief use of [Poise and Bearing] to cover up, even if it cost her time here. To ease that end. Harmony asked for future resources on her next visit: a lab with corpses she could work on, stacks of blank pieces of paper, and a proper schedule to work around.

An hour passed in a depressingly short amount of time, in relation to the company, conversations, and solutions Harmony wanted.

“Before you leave, if you could accompany me for that household chore?” Bates asked.

If he took the time to ask, it would be important. Harmony followed, leaving the group behind after peeling away Ambrosia. The butler took her directly to one of the manor’s closets.

The dead body revealed would be shocking if she hadn’t sensed the necromantic energy before Bates opened the door. It was in quite the sorry state, a jagged rip in the skin and muscle over half its face, revealing bone underneath. Multiple fractures, and one of the legs was twisted off to the side. Internally, some soul and container damage lingered about  in patchy bits. There were, however, two new skills that weren’t there before.

“It looks like you’ve had some difficulties, Bea.”

The undead’s head lolled to the side. Some accumulated vertebral damage as well.

“Apologies for the damage I’ve sustained to your masterful body, Savior White.”

It had been a lot of work, but it was work she’d enjoyed.

“She has served House White admirably. She managed a dungeon reward that I think would fix her problems, but insists it is yours. I do think some repair is in order, or you could order her to take the remedy.” Bates put forth.  

Bea pulled out what looked like a clump of ash/ [Analyze] had it as -Undead Advancement Biscuit- It reeked of Old Bones and power. Despite being a necromancer, life had presented limited opportunities to work on anything other than what she’d run into in the dungeon’s domain. The Ascendant Games had been a disappointment after The Deadwoods. It was a fascinating area of practice she wanted more experience in. Watching one advance could be very valuable.

“Fixing her up before she takes it should be a priority. I’m curious about what it will do, but in this state, I fear it would be wasted.” There wasn’t a lot of time left, as Maxwell shouldn’t be left completely drained. “This may take more than one session, but I’ve also learned a few new tricks as well since I last tried this.” Harmony reached out with her power, aiming to be as efficient as possible

With some crackling, [Manipulate Dead] set all of the undead’s bones back into place, causing the undead to spasm, but come out far more structurally sound than they had been. The skeleton would be the foundation, so after patching the broken bits she started focusing one bone at a time working on ways to strengthen each bone individually, stitching in extra resistance’s to skills into the dead bone cells with [Mend], [Final Silence], and [Renew Spirit], and [Cold Touch] to create pockets of crystalized skill negation within the bone. It could temporarily negate outsiders' skills acting on her, but there was no way to tie the energy replacement to Bea’s undead power. Maybe that biscuit would provide and show a solution for that, with a little help. Through the undead’s container, Harmony drilled a spiderweb of pathways that, while useless now, might make an easy connection to that newly modified bone. A potential she was choosing to risk despite the instabilities caused by the initial process.  

Harmony only managed a fifth of Bea’s bones when Max’s chaos wavered in her. Ashes, she’d planned to leave him with more than dregs, but got distracted. “I’ll have to finish this later.”

Bea was twitching a little and mostly unresponsive, so Harmony turned to the butler.

“Bates, I’m not even going to have time to say goodbye to everyone.”

“They understand who you are, Lady White. We will see you next week. Serving you is always an honor.” The head butler gave a deep bow.

The summon ended, snapping her back into her sleeping body mid snore. The shock of the transition startled her awake in the not-yet-familiar bed of her dorm room. Sweat coated the sheets; real effort working magic halfway across the world had consequences.

Emotional, clear, and important memories shuffled into place over the foggy dreamstate she’d been struggling with inside her primary body. It was more like being shocked into being active than downing a hot cup of tea.  “Well, I’m not falling back to sleep now,” Harmony grumbled to the empty room.

There was too much to do and not enough time. Through Familiar Bond, she called on Hyacinth. “Gather Adric and Bowe, it’s time to hunt in this dungeon. Oorty’s Tomb better have some good bones for me to raid.”

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