This is a serial, first part HERE

Chapter 31: Corpentsis,the Undead and the Dead

“Ah, Doctor, you’re back again. I kept the plants from eating you while you had your episode.”

Doctor Bones shifted his head from the ground where he had fallen. It was a good thing he was a skeleton, otherwise the pose of him with buckled knees and rear in the air would have been far more embarrassing. Miss Fern was chewing on some plant that had gotten a bit too aggressive. So much for welcoming. Then again, a cat might welcome you home, but it might also gnaw on your bones after your death.

There was a small worry in Doctor Bones’ mind on seeing her chewing a plant, since all the plants were likely medical ones. Still, he comforted himself with the knowledge that he had by his own hand given Miss Fern Medical knowledge. He quickly got up from the ground and dusted himself off in order to assume some form of dignity.

-Much obliged- he thanked Miss Fern.

She waved a dismissive leaf in return.

“There was just a few chancing their roots. Now, what did you remember, what’s the name of the dubious person on the dubious card? I find this all very exciting”

-Oh her? Her name is…-

Doctor Bones paused, it was best not to say her name. That sort of thing could summon her. He had an uneasy suspicion that the card had been deliberately left in the library. Possibly by Pastella herself. He really didn’t want to find out what might happen to him if he was ‘nursed’ back to health by her.

If nothing else, Doctor Bones wasn’t too hot on the idea of removing the seal in his mind until he knew more about it. He was not after all, an idiot.

-…not very safe to say. She’s trouble. A lot of trouble. As for what I’ve remembered, just give me a moment, we may have a clearer direction.-

Latent Corpentsis had a system of distress sigils. If someone knew the correct method, they could send out a distress call across dimensions. The medical staff of Latent Corpentsis could then with another method, receive these signals.

-The foundation for my receiver is still present, I just need to awaken it-

Doctor Bones’ hands moved through various motions, but the main thing was constructing a magical crest atop his foundation. A crest in the form of a slumbering corpentsis atop a blue cross. He drew upon the magic of his horn. A strong medical power was needed. It was not a spell exclusive to a dimension that he was casting, but rather something that was more fundamentally tied to reality.

The first magic. Law.

He was marshalling the laws of the dimension to make his crest. Only in a dimension subsumed by Delusion or with ludicrously obscure laws would the spell fail.

The spell did not fail, and for a moment, the crest appeared in the glowing light within his hollow eyesockets.

He went utterly still. He was undead. So he could not shed tears.

“What’s wrong?” Miss Fern asked. She knew he wasn’t having another episode, as his eyes had not gone dim or even gone out completely.

There were many distress sigils resonating in Dr. Bones’ mind. Most of them however, were very, very old. He had suspected that it was quite likely, but to actually find it out was something else.

-Latent Corpentsis, whatever my relationship with it, may be no more-