THE MOMENT
Maeri made her decision as soon as she opened the door. A lean, teenage boy in a black robe with neon blue hair stood on her doorstep carrying a corpse. He only looked about 14 or so. She didn't know anything about him or the body he carried; but, she was firmly of the mind that no one that young should have any such familiarity with death. It's why she chose to be a healer. She would help him with whatever he needed.
"I need your necromancy skill," he said as he half-thrust the corpse at her to illustrate his point. The corpse was that of a young teenage girl; not long dead.
"Of course! Come in!" Maeri stepped aside without hesitation. Her mind filled with questions; but, they would have to wait. This young man needed help and helping others always took priority. She hadn't given a name to her mysterious magical art yet; but, 'Necromancy' somehow fit perfectly. As soon as he uttered the word she knew what he was talking about. It also made her wonder how he knew she could do it; she'd only been experimenting for a few days with small forest creatures. She wasn't entirely convinced she had the ability to help the young, dead girl; but, she needed to try. The teen carried the corpse to a nearby table and dropped her unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes.
"How long has she been dead?" Maeri asked. It was an important question; she'd only been able to revive animals within a short timeframe up to a day.
"No idea," the teen shrugged. "I'm Surge, by the way," he smiled with his introduction.
"Maeri," she nodded at him and focused on the girl's corpse. The poor boy must have been traumatized; maybe he wasn't there when the girl died. He must have been away and returned to find his friend dead. Then, his desperation must have allowed him to track down Maeri for a miracle. She was going to do her best to give it to him. "Let me see what I can do."
"Wait!" Surge stopped her as she placed her hands on the dead girl's shoulders. He pulled a card-sized piece of glass out of his robe and offered it to Maeri. "Channel through this, please," he said.
"I.. dont' know what'll happen," Maeri replied even as she accepted the card. It was transparent enough to almost be non-existent. It only caught the light from certain angles.
"It's okay," Surge nodded. "Please." It was a relief in a way. If her skill didn't work, it would be easy to blame the glass. She would of course, still try to revive the girl without it in that case; but, it took some pressure off her for the moment.
Maeri held the card with both hands on the girl's forehead and concentrated. As a great healer, she learned how to coax the body to repair itself. All it needed was a tiny spark of magic to get started; and, consistent pulses to keep it going if it was a major wound. But, that wasn't fast enough for Maeri. With experimentation she learned how to shape life magic and force it into a corpse. She focused on the alabaster forehead beneath the glass and breathed in. As she exhaled, she poured all her magic into the card to try and reach the girl.
The card began glowing with the same green color of her magic; but, as Maeri felt herself being drained, the card changed color again. It glowed with a brilliant golden light even as Maeri felt exhaustion take over.
"YES!" Surge jumped in place. "Thank you!" he said. He pulled card off the girl's forehead. Maeri needed to grip the table to keep herself upright. But, she was confused when he headed to the door. The moment something went in an unexpected direction was the moment she decided she could ask questions.
"Wait!" she turned while still using the table for support. "How did you know about me?" she asked. "How did you know about necromancy? I'm the first one to discover it...," she said. Surge stopped in his tracks as he reached for the door. He turned and looked at Maeri, then he looked at the golden card in his hand.
"Huh," he chuckled. He studied the card for an extended moment; but, Maeri had no idea what he was inspecting. She could only see the golden glow. "Well, it's the right one, so I'm not going to complain," he smirked again as he shrugged. Then, he pocketed the card and stepped closer to Maeri.
"What's your favorite number?" he asked.
"Two!" Maeri replied instantly. Surge nodded.
"Alright, no problem," he nodded. "I've got other things to do; but, someone will be here in a bit to help you get your bearings, okay?"
"How did you know about necromancy??" Maeri asked the question while nodding. She wanted him to know it was okay to leave her there; but, she still wanted that answer.
"Oh, yeah," Surge nodded. Then, he shook his head. "That's kind of more complicated than I want to get into now. There's a lot you're misunderstanding about reality; Mundo will explain it better. But, as far as being the 'first to discover it'... that 's only on this Earth," he said.
"THIS... Earth?" Maeri asked. Surge nodded.
"There are plenty of other ones, you'll learn all about it soon," he said as he pulled the door open.
"Wait!" Maeri stopped him again. She was actually fine with his answer; but, there was another minor issue. "What about her??" she gestured at the still dead corpse.
"Dunno," Surge shrugged. "I got the skill I needed," he waggled the card at her and stepped backward out the door as he waved. "She was just someone I dug up on the way here."