Molly stood and watched as his friends came to motion after his death…and the most vivacious one of them…he honestly expected the least.
"Where is his tapestry!" Beau roared, the question seemingly flying right through Keg's ears who mumbles out the name of the Iron Shepard's hideout.
"Beau." Molly mutters, stunned as he watched her rip the tapestry free "He was our friend! He wasn't your fucking friend! This is ours now."
Molly is stunned for a moment, the dashing figure at his side looking at him with a knowing smile.
"You seem surprised." The figure states, watching him closely.
"A bit." Molly states, honestly, "We didn't get on that well."
Molly turns back and watches Beau beginning removing items from his person, first his cards. Then the parapet, which she briskly handed to Caleb, who had the look of a man who wanted to raise every kind of Hell.
"He said not to steal from happy people."
Nott's voice draws him in as this tiny Goblin girl, who he'd tried to help down a better path refused to take any of his numerous baubles.
"Is that what you think I'm doing?" Beau asked In a hurt, accusatory voice.
"No…I just can't steal from him." Nott stated, a sad smile crossing her face. He beamed with pride, as the world began to shifty ever so slightly.
The scene seemed to blur for a moment, Beau's voice reaching his ears.
"He claimed he left every town better than he found it." She stated, tears beginning to leak down her face, "And when I heard that I want to call bullshit."
Molly began to laugh, only for her next words to stop him cold, "But he was right."
The words became garbled once more, this realm he was trapped in feeling like it was trying to push him away but he fought through it.
"He was still allowing people to feel good, to feel special."
"At least I can't fuck anymore shit up."
Molly watched as Beau stared up at Caleb, with resolve he'd seen a few times before…but it shocked him to the core of his being that she was now set to model herself after him. By actually giving a fuck.
The entity beside him seemed to hear every thought, "I believe your little friend Nott, said it best, "It's usually the people you least expect."
The world blurred again, the scene changing to Molly watching himself be buried, his body wrapped in his tapestry, his money and swords being taken after some deliberation and finally the letter being slipped into his pocket, that simply read, "Come to Xadash and ask for the Gentlemen and the Mighty Nine. Your name is Mollymauk Tealeaf."
He watched in silence as they buried him, his coat being left behind as a marker for his resting place and so they hoped a gift to him born again once more.
"Long May He Reign." Their send off to him…one they didn't believe to be final.
"They think…they think I'm coming back."
"You have lived a strange life Mr. Tealeaf." The figure states, "After all not many people get a chance like yours."
"Will…will I get another?" Molly asked, turning towards the figure, whose face had become a slightly cold mask.
"I…I do not believe so no." The figure replied.
"But they still need me." Molly challenged, "They need someone to watch out for them, they need…"
Before he could finish his entire world is shunted several feet ahead and several moments forward in time. Standing before his friends is a tall motherly Firbolg, who exudes this sense of caring, calming, just downright pleasantness.
This Nila gives Molly pause in his tirade as he watches her begin to warm to his group…this aura of calm and clarity seeming to settle over them.
The figure beside him speaks up a touch of pride in his voice, "I've always found that a Druid's hands are usually the best hands to trust a couple of wayward souls with."
"So that's it then?" Molly asked, looking over at his companion, "Is this were we shove off?"
"No…not just yet." The figure states with a slightly mischievous smile.
Molly is then treated to an image of Beau using his money to buy her way past a checkpoint, buy booze and companionship and he honestly couldn't have been any less mad.
But the true moment came in a tiny ramshackle room with Nott and Caleb.
He only grabs snippets and sections of their conversation but everything he does hear fills him with hope and love for his…his fucking family damnit!
"Mollymauk was sort of amazing. He showed me something. He has this spirit of life that was amazing!"
"He was a rainbow man full of life."
"It's because I love them. We need to rescue them because we are a team now."
"I want to find them because I don't want to go back to the shadows. I want to live."
"I thought you needed to hear that." The figure states, giving Molly a deeply sincere smile.
"Thank you." Molly, tears tracking down his face.
"You're on the right path." A voice cuts through to him, and Molly looks up to see a young man with verdant green eyes and a sly smile looking directly at him and Vax. Despite this the figure is clearly talking to Molly's friends, the smile never fading.
The same sky voice sounds in his head, "I'm just sorry you won't get to join them on it. Jester is going to miss you dearly."
"Who-" Molly begins to ask only to find him whisked back to the sight of his death. His black winged companion his wonky company.
"Was that," Molly asked, staring at the entity.
"A…friend I guess you could say." Though the tone of the figure made it sound like anything but.
"It's time for us to be moving on Mollymauk Tealeaf." The figure states, offering him his hand, "Your friends are in…capable hands."
"I…I sincerely hope so…you know I never got your name." Molly stated as he reached out to grab the man's hand.
"Vax'ildan Vessar." The figure states, firmly grasping the tiefling's hand.
"Charmed," Molly states before his entire world goes black.