No, you can't really overlook this skeleton.

The key to my long lost freedom by AkiraKyoo

This really is Madness.

You close your eyes and sigh, stopping from exiting the blue lighting provided by Maxius as he pleads with you to stay for a bit longer to hear his story. His tone was full of desperation and who knows how long it has been since he met an actual living being he could talk to.

You couldn't really leave him, as much as you wanted to. For a once-powerful sorcerer, if that is what he says he was, he sure is rather pitiful.

Turning around and facing him, Maxius's glow within his sockets turned yellow once more. There are no changes in his skeletal features, but lighting within his eyes makes it seem like he is happy.

"Thank you, thank you! I knew you aren't one to leave a poor skeleton behind. Please sit down and let me tell you my story. Come to think of it, what is your name, dro-I mean, human?"

You feel your upper cheek twitch, but you can't honestly get angry at this skeleton. Sighing again, you crouch down to the cold, uneven rock and sat cross-legged. You didn't sense any more skeletons nearby, but if they came and were as strong as the skeletons so far, then you wouldn't really have to move anywhere.

"My name is Araatris Hawklight," you answer flatly.

Maxius hummed pleasantly. "What a wonderful name, your parents has wonderful naming sense."

You narrow your eyes. "My parents died before I knew them and was taken in by my temple. My master was the ones who gave my name."

The glow within Maxius stilled for a second before variating.

"Oh, well my condolences. At least I know how you were raised to be a monk..."

Maxius once again clears his throat but you aren't sure how. The only thing that gives any indication of him talking is the brightness variation behind his eye socket as he talks. Other than being able to rattle his bones a little, nothing else part of his skull move. Something about that bothered you, even if it shouldn't.

"...well anyways," Maxius changed the topic, deciding that dead parents aren't the best way to start off, "...as you can plainly see, I am no ordinary and mindless skeleton. I once served a king who hired me to research how to boost the efficiency of his army by having them live a couple hours longer after ****. He wanted his soldiers to retain their own will and mind long enough so that if a soldier were pierced by the enemy...well, that enemy would receive a grim surprise.

"Although it is unnatural to extend life after ****, the king just wanted to be able to offer his soldiers more time to see their loved ones and pass on without regrets. It was a research opportunity that I saw no harm in accepting. After all, the work I would create would be beneficial to man. It's not like I was creating undead or anything, I was just giving soldiers a little more time to live!"

You have not heard anything like that before, then again, you lived in almost isolation with your fellow monks. This event could have happened before you were born even. You are a little wary though of this man as magic users who specialize in undead usually have a lack of a moral conscience. The fact that he agreed to research an unnatural method to extend life, even if it were only for a few hours after ****, isn't something you can agree with.

"So, did that mean you've killed and experimented with humans?" you ask, keeping your tone still.

Green glows from his skull sockets quite brightly. "Heavens no! I can understand your concerns, but I am not like that. I've never killed anyone...well, besides the undead you see around, but that was in self-defence! I'll get to that later, but anyhow, I accepted the king's request and was given financial support in my endeavors. Since I was mainly researching a chemical formula that can be distributed, I did need to test against some living beings, but everything I tested my solution was on animals whom I then would proceed to kill. Wait, you aren't going to abandon me because I killed some test subject animals, right? I mean, experimentation does require a live subject eventually!"

You wave your hands dismissively, unable to help but smile a little. You don't feel he is lying, but you are starting to get a picture of what happened.

"No, go on. Let me guess, the king changed his mind, right?"

Maxius chuckles sadly. "Not personally, I don't think. Some church caught whiff of where the king's funding went and eventually, the plan to let soldiers live a little while after **** was exposed. Naturally, there were protests by idiots who felt it was against the will of whatever deity they follow. This is why I don't follow any god! This is why humanity won't ever progress!"

You can feel the anger and frustration within the sorcerer and it is clear he is passionate about his work. Although you don't exactly agree with elongating life, even a little, you do respect the love he had with his work. Personally, you feel its better to let nature takes its course. If you die...you die, simple as that. If you don't want to die, then keep healthy, grow strong, and learn to adapt.

"...continuing on, I'm sure you can guess what happened next. The king blamed it on me and sentenced me to ****. I felt betrayed and naturally had to run from the country. The divine and maybe even the diviners weren't satisfied with me escaping. To them, I needed to be hunted and destroyed before I unleashed my work to the rest of the world. To be honest, I planned to release the finished product as I did feel that I could make **** better by making it gradual than immediate, so I decided to hide here at Madness; after all, who wants to come here?

"Sure enough, no bounty hunters came for me, but the king's men and soldiers were a different case as they are obligated to kill me. Just as I finished my finished product to release to adventurers and the human race, they finally stormed the mountain.

"I didn't have any time left. There were maybe...a hundred? A thousand? Tell me, how many skeletons did you crush?" he asks.

You figure they were part of a king's army based on their old weaponry. You curl your lips and shrug. Honestly, you weren't counting.

"Maybe twenty or thirty?" you estimate.

Maxius snorts. How is he even able to make these sounds? Perhaps he is expressing himself through magic.

"Not surprising considering how weak they are. These men I faced had skin and meat on them, so they didn't crumble easily and not to mention the fact that they were well trained."

You furrow your eyebrows, wondering if that is it of his story, but Maxius continues.

"Against the king's men, I knew that I wouldn't be able to defeat them all and get out of this mountain in time. As you can see from where I died, I was close, but nothing leaves Madness it seems. When I was trapped and ready to be killed, I decided to be the first human test subject of the finished product. It worked! Amazingly so! As the soldiers' punctured me left and right and I bled, I still felt...invincible. I felt that I could burn these soldiers to crisp and watch them fall while I would be the last standing.

"The only problem was that after I eliminated everyone, my body failed me. It isn't like being undead where you are reanimated. My heart stopped beating and while I could still think thanks to my solution, there wasn't anything I could do to help me move again since I was disabled after all those pesky soldiers. I also found the biggest problem of all - I drank too much. As a result, the magical effects of the potion remained and I was stuck here, slowly decaying for the next hundred or so years. It is amazing, yet also torturing that the potion I drank all those years ago still bounds me to even the bones of my body."

You frown, a little saddened by Maxius' story. In the end, his potion to live a little longer ended up causing him to live too long, not even to become an animated undead.

Growing serious and narrowing your eyes, you hum.

"I am glad that I listened to your story, Maxius."

The skeleton chuckles sadly. "...yes, it is finally good that I have someone to talk to and retell my version of the story. My memory has slowly degraded despite having it being stored in my soul. I can't even remember the king's name...and I think I was a father...maybe even had two daughters. How sad, I can't even recall what they look like..."

Closing your eyes and standing up, you gaze at the skeleton with a soft focus. You focus your ki into your hand and breathe in.

"I'll make sure you can finally rest in peace, Maxius. I'm sure you'll see your daughters soon enough," you assure, raising your hand to strike Maxius and finally have him pass on.

The skeleton sighs dreamily. "Yes...they....they must have died already, but I'm sure they have grown into lovely girls. I just hope that I retain my best form in the next wor-"

Maxius pauses, as if taking a moment recollect himself and remember something important. Then, he screams.

"No! W-wait! W-what do you mean by rest in piece, huh?! Damn it, I got too involved in telling my tragic story. I'm not asking you to crush these bones and have me pass on!"

"Don't worry, I promise that you won't even feel it...or rather, you couldn't," you reassured in a flat tone.

"No! I don't want to die!"

"...but you're already dead?"

"Semantics! Just...listen to me."

You sigh, lowering your ki and sit back down again.

"I'm not going to just leave you here. I don't feel it is right," you firmly state.

Maxius rattles and you can see the glow in his eye sockets condensing as if he has just avoided "passing on"...twice.

"Just a few minutes ago, you were content on leaving me here and now you feel it is right to help by destroying me? 'Rest in piece' you say," he scoffs.

You frown. "Well, I thought that's what you desired after telling me your story. Also, I think you're misconstruing my words."

...or not, now that you think of it. What irony.

"No! I know perfectly what you mean! To think I got lost in my story and almost get killed by a sexy monk...oh what a wretched turn of events!" he laments.

You are suddenly reminded how annoying this guy is. Also, sexy?

"Alright, I get it!" you back off, "...so if you don't want to pass on, what is it that you want?"

It appears that you finally are asking him what he has been waiting for as his eyes shine brighter.

"So, there is something I want to try. Once I realized an important history of my ancestry, I kept remembering it, hoping that one day someone would come by an old skeleton like me before I die. Not only have you been understanding...er...somewhat, but you're actually quite the beauty too! I've always like the short-haired ones. Also, it may be my imagination, but it seems you have quite big breas-"

"Please get to the point before I reconsider putting you to rest and probably in pieces," you interrupted and warned as calmly as you can, showing your apparent irritation from your twitching cheek.

Maxius rattles once more and heed your warning. "Uh...anyways! There is a chance in my long family history that I may be actually partially vampire or a dhampir, as people call it. Although I haven't exhibited any signs, a person can awaken to their second-nature at any time. One way I remember that one can be **** to awaken is through another's blood."

You raise your eyebrow, concerned by the idea and also skeptical.

"...and you are sure this will work? I thought you have to be human to be a dhampir and currently, you are...less than human."

Maxius hums. "I am quite well aware of it, but also note that I'm not truly undead. I've just been slowly dying..."

You raise your eyebrows, a little confused. "...but you're just bones now."

Maxius sighs, hoping you could be a little more open-minded. "Think about it. I can still use my magic, albeit in limited fashion since I can't move my body. Vampires are known to have incredible regeneration powers; even able to reform their bodies after being burnt to ash! Dhampires are lucky to gain the same abilities and also retain their humanity! It isn't something that can be explained so easily, but I can only hold on to the hope that my own heritage will free me!"

You still don't like the sound of Maxius' plan.

"...and if you aren't able to regrow your skin?" you ask.

The color in Maxius' eye sockets grows blue and his voice grows saddened.

"Ah...yes, I suppose that I've thought of that too. If spilling your blood for me does nothing but stain my bones, then I suppose I'll have to simply be laid to rest..."

"...however!" he exclaims optimistically, the color in his eyes turning yellow once more, "...if I am able to move with a new body, I will help you with your quest in this dreadful mountain. Don't you think having a dhampir sorcerer will be incredibly useful, no?"

You frown. "It's not like I came here expecting help."

"Yes, but won't it be making the journey easier? Plus, after all of this, I want to explore the lands and see what has changed while I was sitting here for a hundred years. I don't plan on causing any trouble, you see? I would've normally wanted **** against that king, but I can't really remember him anymore and even if I did, he's probably dead."

Well, you can't really say no here, but there is one thing you have to make sure of before you spill a little blood on this poor skeleton.

"First, how do I know you won't lust for my blood?"

Maxius pauses and the glow in his eyes dims. You get the feeling he was hoping you wouldn't worry about something like that.

"Er...well, I actually don't know to be honest. I've heard that some people who awaken don't feel any bloodlust, but there are others who do feel the need to suck blood. I guess it depends on the amount of vampiric blood I have," he explains.

You narrow your eyes. "...and just how much vampiric blood do think you have?"

You pause, feeling weird asking such a question because this man has absolutely no blood. Still, you kept an open-mind.

Maxius rattles. "W-wow, you sure are worried about this. To be honest, I only know for a fact that somewhere down in my heritage, there was a vampire man and human woman who made love to each other, but I can't remember how many generations that was."

Great, so you are risking spilling a bit of your blood for Maxius who may turn into a partial vampire and may also attack you for blood. The question is how great of a risk? It sounds like this won't work at all and that Maxius will be heavily disappointed.

Never underestimate Madness, huh? If you don't try spilling your blood, would you regret it? You have to admit, it does sound like Maxius would be a great ally to have given how many soldiers he was able to kill before being taken down. Add to the fact that if he is able to control his urges as a dhampir, he would surely be quite strong and agile too.

Seeing you decide, Maxius remembers one important detail.

"Ah, wait! I also remember something! To help with the process of awakening, I need some...excitement!"

You stop your thoughts and stare at him strangely. "Excitement? You seem always excited."

"I am certainly not! I lack the required parts to be excited!"

Lack the required parts to be...Oh...

"You can't be serious," you state flatly.

Maxius rattles and tries to put his request in a different way. "L-look, do this for a guy who is possibly about to pass away. If this doesn't work, then at least I will have something glorious to remember while leaving this world! You should take that as a compliment, my lady!"

Oh, so now he is referring to you as "my lady"? What a terrible liar.

It seems from your skeptical look that you have seen through his ploy to get some "beautiful scenery". He decides to request in another way.

Begging.

"Please!" Maxius wails while changing the color of his light to blue, "...is it so bad to show a bit of skin to a skeleton?! You are beautiful, Araatris! I want to at least be given something to remember by in this world and what better gift than showing your beauty?!"

"Look, I understand what you mean by 'beauty'. Just stop yelling and let me think," you scold, rolling your eyes in response.

What an idiot.