Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.

CHAPTER 42: Of Life, the Universe, and Everything

Captain Quales stepped forwards out of the group of men assembled before the Keepers. He looked at the five beings before him with a new sense of respect, almost awe.

"You're summoners," he said in a small whisper, which had the effect of silencing the men around them.

"We are sorry for our deception," said Khell "But we assumed you would not accept to transport us knowing our true identities."

"You are semi-gods!" said the captain "Why do you need to use mortal transportation?"

"Our power is limited," said Khell "We cannot travel across long distances instantly."

"Does he," asked Quales, indicating Arrathir "Work for the Cabal?"

"Hey!" said Arrathir indignantly "I only have one affiliation: myself!"

"I am sorry, sir," said the captain "I meant no offence."

"None taken."

"On behalf of my entire crew," said Quales "I wish to apologize for any inconveniences you may have suffered during the past days. I would also like to offer you my quarters for the rest of the voyage."

"That's very kind," said Khell "But we are satisfied with sleeping in the deck head."

"We owe you much for saving the ship, well, mostly," said Quales, indicating the stump where the mainmast had once stood.

"Can we still manage with two sails?" asked Khell.

"Yes, but our speed will be greatly reduced," said Quales.

"Good enough," said Khell "Now, since the homarid is gone, I suggest we all get some more rest."

As the Keepers and Eva walked towards the stairs that led down to the deck head, the men in front of them split like the waters of the Red Sea before Moses. Arrathir was amused by the crew's sudden change in attitude. Men who had laughed at him the day before now avoided his gaze; fearful of what misfortune might befall them, should they annoy the summoner.

When Arrathir returned to his hammock, he was infuriated to find there was a leak right above him. Every so often, a large droplet of water would fall right down on his face. He really couldn't do much about it, save pull his blanket over his face and hope he didn't suffocate. Anyways, the blanket would soon become soaked if he did, so why bother? He lay there, blinking every time a drop hit his face.

He was feeling very depressed, lying there with water dripping on his face. Each drop sent him deeper into the pit of misery and doubt he was in.

He knew he should be feeling elated, the adrenaline from the battle with the Deep Spawn was still coursing through his veins, but the battle had only reinforced his lack of faith in their endeavor.

Another enemy defeated, but then another will show up, and after that, another, and another, and so on. It'll never end. Why do I even bother?

Because you can't. Without us, the Awakening will fail. The only way the Keepers of Mana can return is if they work together. They fell divided so they must rise united.

And then we all live happily ever after, the end. Right?

Well, yes, if you want to see it that way.

I'm not getting your down, am I?

Come to think of it; what is up with you? Why so depressed?

Oh, don't mind me. Don't feel that just because we share the same body you have to respond to my every mood swing.

Is this about the pub? Arrathir, I told you: I was as drunk as you and there was nothing I could do. Shit happens. That's life.

Life. Don't talk to me about life. Loathe it or ignore it, you can't like it, so what's the point of even trying?

Because you have a responsibility, Arrathir. As Keeper of Mana, you're meant to help the Multiverse.

Says the man who tried to conquer it thousands of years ago.

We all make mistakes.

Mistakes that kill countless people, destroy entire planes, and plunge the Multiverse into chaos? Yeah, I'm sure we do.

Fine! If you're going to be that way, stew in your own self-pity for a while!

Arrathir felt the spirit slam the door to his Soul Room shut and lock himself in. He didn't even care. In fact, he was slightly relieved that Chikuro was leaving him alone. Turning over, he found himself face-to-face with one of the sailors.

The man was standing by his hammock, looking uneasy. His hands were nervously clenched together and his mouth was slightly open, as if had been about to speak up when Arrathir had turned.

"What?" asked Arrathir.

"Pardon me for disturbing you, summoner," said the man "But I noticed your uncomfortable position. If it pleases you, I offer to switch hammocks with you."

Arrathir looked the man over. He was in his mid-40s, short, and his face had that battered look sailors have from constant exposure to the elements. He looked anxiously at Arrathir, awaiting an answer.

"I don't need your help," he growled.

"Forgive me, summoner," gulped the man "I did not mean to offend you."

"Yeah? Well you did," said Arrathir "So have fun getting dripped on for the rest of the night." He jumped out of his hammock and headed over to the empty hammock at the opposite end of the deck head. Getting in, he was pleased to find it dry and the ceiling overhead blessedly free of drips. Closing his eyes, he soon fell asleep.

Erik Morlock liked routines. They kept everything simple and organized. Before Quinn had come along, his life was a series of routines. Every morning at eight, he would get up, stomp off to the bathroom to wash and then stomp off to the kitchen to find something pleasant to put in his mouth. Despite being rich, Erik valued his independence and preferred to make his own food rather than have his staff cook. Plus, it decreased the chances of him getting poisoned.

However, Quinn's arrival had thrown a proverbial wrench in Erik's perfectly geared life. Now every day brought new, unexpected surprises into his life, some better than others. Today was no exception. Erik awoke with the stench of blood thick in his nostrils. Even though Wainscot had replaced the illusion charm on his beak, his superior sense of smell remained.

What has Quinn gotten into this time?

Erik inhaled to make sure. It wasn't demon blood. Another whiff confirmed it. Cracking an eye open, he saw a bloodied arm hanging from Quinn's hammock, a trickle of blood running down the bare skin and dripping off the index fingernail into a small, red puddle on the ground. Intrigued, he got out of his hammock to investigate.

There was a dead man in the hammock. He looked familiar and Erik deduced he was one of the ship's crewmembers. His skin was ashen-gray from loss of blood and his face was distorted into a twisted grimace. He had been violently disemboweled, the gray coils of his intestines visible through the large gash that ran diagonally across his stomach. Frowning, Erik went over to Charles' hammock and kicked the lump that was the Keeper's body.

"Wake up, idiot," he said as Charles uncurled himself and started indignantly at him "We've got a corpse in Quinn's hammock and we'd better tell the captain about it."

"Who is it?"

"No idea. Some sailor."

"Where's Arrathir?"

"Snoring away in his hammock," said Erik "Now come on."

Charles followed Erik onto the deck. The sun was rising, setting the horizon ablaze with a dazzling palette of gold and orange. The sea was choppy, but not rough, and only a few clouds dotted the otherwise clear sky. The morning air was nippy and Charles shivered as they climbed onto the bridge.

"Where's Quales?" Erik asked the navigator.

"The captain's in his cabin, sir," answered the man.

"What was that all about?" asked Erik "He was a lot more cheeky yesterday. Know what he said when I asked him where I could get a drink of water? 'Just jump overboard and help yourself.' Seemed like he was scared of us or something."

"Well, they kind of found out the truth about us last night," explained Charles.

"What?"

Charles quickly related the previous night's events. When he was done, Erik stared at him with an exasperated look on his face.

"You're fucking idiots," he snapped.

"We didn't have a choice! It was that or let them all die!"

"Better them than me," said Erik "We could have killed the spawn after all the crew was gone."

"Can you sail this ship?"

"No."

"Neither can any of us. I doubt we would have gotten very far," said Charles.

"Well, at least now those idiots will respect us," grumbled Erik as they entered the captain's cabin.

Captain Quales was standing behind his desk, pouring over a map. When the Keepers entered, he stood up and nervously greeted them.

"What brings you here?" he inquired.

"There's a dead man in the deck head," said Erik "Looks like he was gutted by something."

"I know," said Quales "One of the crew told me just an hour ago. Poor bastard."

"Who was he?"

"Magra Thea," said the captain "New to the crew. Didn't know him too well."

"Do you have any idea who might have done this?" asked Charles.

"Not a clue. Listen, I don't mean to imply anything, but do you think the black summoner might have something to do with it?"

"No," said Charles "Arrathir doesn't use his powers to those means."

"Hang on," said Erik, pulling Charles outside the cabin "Quinn's gone psycho a few times. What's to say he didn't kill that guy in a fit of rage?"

"First off, I think we would have heard it," said Charles "And second, Arrathir has only gone fully demon when he was seriously threatened. There was nothing to set off his demon blood."

"I still say we should keep our eye on him," said Erik "I'm going to breakfast."

"Fine," said Charles, re-entering the cabin. "Well, we're going to keep an eye out," he told Quales "What are you doing?" he added, pointing to the map.

"Trying to calculate our current position," said the captain "The storm threw us off course. I believe our present position is 2'27"N, 67'09"W." He did a quick check on the map. "This means we are still about a day from Shiv, but with our mainmast gone, it will probably take twice as long. For now, the first priority is taking care of the body. We'll give him a decent burial at sea as soon as possible."

Erik descended to the deck head, preoccupied. He returned to the hammock and examined the body more closely, all the while sniffing to detect Quinn's scent on the body. He came across a strange scent, not human or demon. Inhaling deeply, he finally realized what it was.

"What are you doing?" asked Arrathir, coming up from behind him.

"Did you know this guy?" asked Erik.

"Holy shit! That's the guy who offered to switch hammocks with me!"

"Yeah, and look where that led him."

"Wait. That was my hammock. Whoever did this must have worked in the dark," said Arrathir. The realization dawned on him. "That was supposed to be me!"

"Looks like the guy unknowingly saved your life," said Erik "And someone didn't kill him; it was something. A creature."

"Don't tell me…"

"Yep," sighed Erik "Another crazy summoner out to kill us."

The funeral took place in the evening. It was a solemn affair. Many of the men were shaken by their comrade's mysterious and violent death.

The body, sewn into its hammock, was brought up from the deck head by four men. As the passed between the two rows of men, everyone present uncovered their heads in respect for the dead. The men hoisted the body onto the railing, ready to drop it into the sea below.

The captain stepped forwards to say a few words.

"Mr. Thea was a valiant member of this crew," he said "His murder will not go unpunished. The guilty party will be found and sentenced. May Magra's soul find its way to the afterlife and may the Gods guide him in this final journey."

The men dropped the body from the railing and it fell overboard, splashing into the water and sinking into its aqueous grave. The sailors kept their heads bowed in a minute of silence for the departed man as the ship sailed on.

"Well," said the captain "Back to your posts, men."

The sailors dispersed, leaving the captain alone with the Keepers and Eva.

"Sir," Quales asked Khell "Might I have a word in private?"

"Sure," said Khell, following the captain into his cabin.

"I'd like to ask a favor," Quales said when they were inside "I want you to find the bastard who killed Thea!"

"Well," said Khell "We suspect there is a summoner aboard. Thea switch hammocks with my friend Arrathir during the night. Whoever killed Thea thought Arrathir was in that hammock. This isn't the first time this has happened. Twice have summoners tried to kill him."

"I see," said Quales "And if this is a summoner's work, what will you do?"

"A mage's duel," said Khell.

"Well," said Quales "I see you know what you are doing. Say, how about a drink before you go? The night air is getting quite chilly."

"Yeah, sure," said Khell "What've you got?"

"Just an old sailor concoction," said Quales, pulling a flask out of a cupboard and pouring a good measure in an iron goblet. He handed the cup to Khell who took a sip. The drink was extremely potent. Khell felt as if his brain had been smashed in with a large, blunt object. The drink had a pleasant lemony taste to it.

"Like it?" asked Quales.

"Delicious," said Khell "But it could use an olive in my opinion."

As the crew began to retire to the deck head for the night, Arrathir grew increasingly restless. One of these men was out to kill him, but who, and why? He was so edgy that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Eva came up and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Eva! Don't do that!"

"Listen," she said "I have a plan: whoever is trying to kill you, he's probably going to try again tonight."

"That's why I'm freaking out!" said Arrathir.

"And that's where my plan comes in," said Eva "Listen: You go to bed as if nothing was wrong. Meanwhile, I'll hide and keep a lookout. When they come for you, I give the signal and we catch him red-handed!"

"Well," sighed Arrathir "I guess it's better than just waiting around until they kill me in my sleep. Let's do it."

While Arrathir got into his hammock, Eva scouted the deck head for a hiding place. There were some crates plied up by the bulkhead. Eva managed to squeeze behind them. She was partially concealed, saver for her head which protruded slightly over the crates. As long as she kept her head down, nobody would see her in the darkness. She had a fairly good view of the deck head, enough to be able to detect any movement. As the last of the crew descended to the deck head, the stakeout began.

Minutes crawled by like hours. Eva was very uncomfortable as she crouched behind the crates, but at least the discomfort was helping her to stay awake. She had summoned her Jackal Pup to keep her company. The pup snoozed away contentedly on her lap.

Eva squinted out into the gloom, trying to detect suspicious movements, but the only things moving were the hammocks, as they swung in synch with the ship's rocking. The only sounds to be heard were the groans and creaks of the hull as it sliced through the waves.

To occupy herself, Eva began imagining the possible demon types of the Keeper of Red Mana.

(Let's see: red has dragons, goblins, viashino, minotaurs, cats, and a couple others. Dragons and goblins probably best represent red, but I guess only dragons could be demonic creatures. So if the Keeper is a dragon hanyo, I wonder if he'll be able to breathe fire or something. That would be cool.)

Eva snapped out of her daydreaming. Something was moving through the deck head towards Arrathir's hammock. Banishing her pup, Eva got out from behind the crates and began making her way towards the figure, slipping between the swinging hammocks.

The figure paused by Arrathir's hammock as it began charging its mana for a spell.

Eva dashed forwards and tackled the figure to the ground. They fell in a tangled heap and began grappling.

"Arrathir!" yelled Eva "Wake up! I have him!" She lashed out with her foot, kicking the hammock and waking Arrathir. He groggily got out as Eva continued to wrestle with the figure.

Her opponent was much stronger than her and easily threw her to the ground, dashing up the stairs to the deck. Arrathir helped Eva up and they bounded up the stairs in pursuit of the fugitive. As they emerged onto the deck, they saw the figure standing ahead of them.

"I have been searching for you, Keeper of Black Mana," he said. His voice sounded young and had a slight accent. "Who would have guessed that fate would bring you to me?"

"Enough pleasantries," said Arrathir "I know what you want, so let's get this over with!"

"If you wish to hasten your demise," said the figure "I will gladly comply. You will fall to my shadows."

"You'll have to take me out as well!" said Eva, stepping forwards.

"Two on one?" said the figure "Fine. I was looking for a challenge anyways, but the girl won't be a problem."

"What did you say?" asked Eva.

"The Keeper will be the real challenge," said the figure "You'll go down quickly."

Wrong thing to say, buddy.

"That's it!" yelled Eva "You are dead!"

To be continued…
Author's Note: So the next enemy Planeswalker appears as the gang is headed to Shiv. I apologize for the lateness of this chapter, but I have had a few problems, namely my parents deciding to regulate my computer time.

I also have an important announcement to make: After the KoRM awakens I will no longer being continuing the regular weekly update schedule. I feel this is forcing me to rush chapters to meet my deadline and is affecting the quality of my story. However, since summer holidays have started down here, don't expect the weekly updates to disappear completely.

So, this being Chapter 42, I purposefully inserted several references to "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" as homage to the greatest book ever to come out of the Ursa Minro Beta publishing corporations. Let's see who can spot them all, shall we?

Anyways, review responses for Chapter 41 in the Academy forums.

See ya'll.