Chapter 871: The family business Part 1
Medusa's idea was both brilliant and stupid on equal measure. None of those present would have ever thought about it, but thanks to her being an outsider to the family drama she was able to see things from the distance, not just that, it also allowed the others to be more inclined to listen to what she had to say.
"Think about it, if you join the Dungeon Raiders you will be able to help Uriel. Not as a mother, but as an employee and since we are currently working as contractors for the Mapple corporation, you would also be able to do whatever uncle Jon needs to do." Feeling proud of herself, Medusa puffed out her chest with both hands in her waist.
"Sure, but I don't have any interest in anything you have to offer which means this will hardly be a fair exchange." Dana said.
"Is it really? You missed out on Uriel's birthdays, recitals, plays, soccer games, rugby practices, all of his school milestones and even his graduation. Don't you want to spend some time with him and get to know him?" Medusa asked, though judging from Uriel's face it was made evident he had none of those 'events' except for his graduation.
"That may be so, but..." Dana attempted to rebuke, but Medusa finished with.
"You would not be doing anything for Uriel other than what a regular mother would."
"I'll admit that it does sound great, but as an employee I would be forced to take part into your company activities and even if I wanted to bend the rules a little, that is way too direct." Dana sighed.
"Not really," Uriel butted in."I could hire you to fill in whatever role you want. Also, being related to me means no one can boss you around."
"Fine, we can see how this goes, but don't expect me to sign any contracts. They are sacred to gods and since I'm immortal, signing a piece of paper could mean I would be tied to it for life."
Seeing Dana and Uriel taking the first steps to forge a mother-son relationship thanks to her made Medusa smile the most dazzling smile she ever produced. Just because she had given up on being with Uriel did not mean she didn't want to see him happy.
"Thomas, is it?" Asked Dana to the man who thought they had completely forgotten about him.
"Thomas Johannes Baptist Schwytzer at your service." He said with a profound reverence, the kind of reverence worthy of a king. After all, even if he was a cryptid it wasn't every day that he got to be in front of the god of death and to ask her a favor, no less.
"I will grant you your wish, may you rest in peace." Dana touched his cheek and the cryptid collapsed on the ground showing an expression of utter relief and joy as the weight of his sins was finally lifted from his shoulders.
The Morbach werewolf finally met the end he desperately wanted and now he would be able to finally rest in peace for eternity.
"Fuck!" Uriel cursed as he stood up.
"Don't worry, my death's touch skill kills without leaving any wound so there is no reason to worry about it staining the floor if that's what you're worried about. He'll vanish in a couple hours." Dana shrugged.
"Putting the fact that you already knew he was a cryptid aside, I forgot to ask him a question and now I'll never have the chance." Uriel said.
"Come on kid, spill it." Jon rushed Uriel to speak.
"I forgot to ask him about the two russians that were turned into werewolves with him." Uriel's face became pale at the thought of two more werewolves on the loose.
"You got me all worried for nothing. Let's just ask him," Dana said as she produced the book of the dead and proceeded to read it aloud. "I will come when you're old and grey, or maybe the very next day."
Hearing those words, Uriel realized that the words that appeared on the book had indeed been written by her which meant she was responsible for the bad poetry and the cringy lines it forced him to say in the past. But this line of thought died down once the Morbach's shadow appeared in front of Dana, only now he wasn't polite.
"For fuck's sake, I just died. What does a cryptid need to do to rest in peace?" The shadow growled, his appearance was that of the hulking werewolf instead of the human.
"My son... the boss... huh... this is awkward... he wants to know what happened to your russian friends." Dana said.
"First thing I did after turning into a werewolf for the first time was eating them... if you ask me, they got off easy." Morbach said.
"Alright, you may leave now." Dana dismissed the soul with a wave of her hand leaving Uriel absolutely dumbfounded.
"Since when can shadows speak!?"
"Are you seriously asking me that question? Your shadow does the same and it also steals your beer when you're not looking."
"Fair point, I guess..."
When the conversation ended and before Thomas' vanished, Uriel and his friends started tearing the house apart looking for anything that could be valuable. Anything that was not bolted to the ground was carried outside and put into piles depending on the material they were made of and there was an independent pile for the things that could be reused.
All of Thomas' personal belongings were placed outside from clothes to his books, even the portraits on the wall which were of people Thomas knew over the years and were not related to him in any way other than friendship.
Dana was about to scold Uriel for being to callous, but then she noticed two things that made her decide against it. The first was that Jon had joined them in the salvage operation and had already claimed ownership of a pocket watch which caused an argument between him and Uriel. This made her chuckle and it could be said it was the first precious memory of her now adult son.
However, stealing from a dead person without performing any kind of rite was literally against her religion and the same applied to leaving a corpse unburied. She still remembered a young maiden by the name of Antigone who fought with all she had to bury her brother who died after falling from grace with the king and even though Thomas was a cryptid, Uriel not even praying for him after claiming he was his friend felt wrong. Especially since praying would have taken Uriel all of five seconds.
But these thoughts died when she saw how Uriel grabbed all the portraits of Thomas' friends and placed them outside by a small pile of rocks. It wasn't much of a burial rite and it held no ceremony or religious intent, but it was an honest and thoughtful gesture. To Uriel, blood relationship were not akin to family bonds and he gave Thomas the exact same kind of burial he would have liked for himself. Which was to be put down to rest with mementos of his true family, his friends.
When the house was pretty much cleaned empty, Uriel shoot a flare up in the sky and shortly after the Pegasus landed nearby. This time, though, both Dana and Jon were taken aback by the difference between the ship how they last saw it and how it looked now.
It was fixed and clean which made it look even better than the top of the line zeppelins from the Mapple corp. and it also moved faster than any ship its size. This was one of the advantages of having Medusa on the company, though it was only possible due to the entity level flux orbs they had gathered to upgrade the engine.
The crew loaded the cargo in the same way an ant colony would haul their food into their nest, though they were even more efficient thanks to Phlox using her support trait on the crew.
"Oh my! This is like flying first class!" Dana said the moment she entered the zeppelin and noticed the luxuriously adorned interior, the vast hall and all the amenities in sight, and that was before even looking at the cafeteria, the dormitories and all the other places.
"I did not know you were so loaded." Jon stuttered as some of the items Dana thought were nothing but decorations were actually historical pieces of incalculable value.
"This is nothing, wait until you see our headquarters." Medusa commented.
"They will, soon, but not before we get 'that thing' done." Uriel muttered as the ship took flight, though it elevated so smoothly the only one who was able to vaguely notice the movement was Dana, who also didn't miss his words.
"What is that thing you're speaking of?" Dana said.
"I just need to meet with someone, that's all." Uriel replied.