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In his centuries in the Shadowfell, Thavius never made a friend. He watched souls come and go, followed orders and stuck to his post, never having known anything else. But then a wayward soul was put in his care, and he had to go to the Material Plane.
It was the best thing that ever happened to him. He didn't think so at first; the colors were too bright, sounds were too loud, sensations were too sharp, after he had come from a dim grey world where everything was muffled and quiet. It didn't help that the first person he encountered there was the most alive and bright and loud person he would probably ever meet. Thavius later heard people describe Hope as a ray of sunshine. He thought the analogy did her a disservice, as she was somehow even brighter. She was one of the best things that ever happened to him.
Hope Lovejoy was his first friend. His best friend, too. They were an unlikely pair, the two of them, with her bright and exuberant personnality and his quiet and reserved demeanor, but they made it work.
Turns out, Hope would most likely be one of Thavius's last friends. The rest of their party would age and die, and they would still be relatively young. Such was the reality of elves.
There were moments when he regretted leaving the Shadowfell. When part of him wanted to go back. He never had friends there. Never had anyone to care about, only had an endless stream of nameless souls. Thavius quickly learned that caring about people meant worrying about them and missing them when they were not around. He learned that it meant fearing for their lives in battle. That it was a lot more stressful than watching unfamiliar souls pass him by. But it was worth it.
It was worth it, because it meant having people to worry about him in return. It meant knowing that whenever he was injured, Hope would rush to his aid with a healing spell. That whenever he needed advice, he could go to Deb and they would listen and help him and he'd leave with a lighter heart and a muffin in hand. That he had Sir Mister to rely on in battle, ready to protect him, slaying foes and battering down doors. That if he had a question about the world, Skeventy would answer it.
He knew his time with them wasn't infinite. He knew it meant he had to cherish them and remember everything he loved about them.
It didn't hurt any less when they passed.
...
The first one to go was Mister. He was a human, and already middle-aged when Thavius met him, so it was expected. He had moved back to Summerview when he felt he was too old to adventure, and he passed peacefully in his sleep at nearly ninety years old.
The entire town mourned him. His funeral lasted for days, with guests coming all the way from Tyle to say their final goodbyes. His headstone was the biggest and fanciest in the entire cemetary, crafted by the best stone workers in town. It read "Here lies Sir Mister Person: the bravest knight in all of Summerview".
...
Then it was Skeventy, who had already been old and rusting for quite a while; he was a warforged, and one could wonder if he could ever truly die. But Thavius didn't know what else to call it when Aura informed him that she found the old robot completely motionless and unresponsive in the basement archives of the library, a small door open in his chest where she found all of his memory cards when she reached in.
They didn't hold a proper funeral for him. He wouldn't have wanted them to. The few people who knew him simply gathered in the library, quietly recounting their favorite memories of the wizard. It was probably the closest thing to a funeral he would've allowed. They then handed the memory cards off to the Arcane Academy in Tyle, where all of his knowledge could be of good use.
...
Losing Deb was hard. They were young when Thavius met them, and their kindness was unparallelled, found in no one else except maybe Hope. But most humanoids age faster than elves, and Deb was no exception.
The tiefling lived a good, long life. Over a hundred years, helping people until the end. One of their coworkers found them at a table with an unfinished receipe and a quill in their hand; they had fallen asleep writing it and never woke up.
Their funeral was as big as Mister's, but Thavius didn't want to celebrate. It wasn't fair, that he had to watch all of his friends die. It wasn't fair.
He retreated to a secluded spot, away from the party. After maybe an hour, he heard a voice call his name.
"Oh Thavius! Oh, there you are! Are you alright?"
He didn't move at the sound of Hope's voice. She knelt down next to him, trying to look in his eyes.
"Thavius?"
He finally looked up.
"I miss them."
"I know. I miss them too. Everyday."
"All of them. It is not fair, that they were all taken so soon."
Hope nodded.
"I never thought I could feel... so much. It is wonderful, but sometimes I miss not feeling."
"But you would be missing out on all the beautiful things you could be feeling. Think of your wedding day, think of all the people you have saved, think of every baked good Deb has given you, every fight Mister helped you win, every spell Skeventy cast for you. They are not lost, Thavius, the sadness you feel is simply a reminder of the happiness you had."
Tears were running down her face as he pulled her into a hug.
"I am tired of grief."
"I am too, but we cannot let it hold us back. They would not want that for us."
"But they are gone, Hope. Their souls are no longer on this plane."
She pulled away slightly, holding his hands into hers.
"You should know better than anyone that no soul is truly lost. You will see them again someday. And in the meantime, you should make the most of the time you have been given."
He closed his eyes, no longer holding back tears.
"How do I do that? It feels like I am betraying them."
Hope's expression softened even more.
"Thavius... you are not betraying anyone by letting yourself be happy. You will always find something to love. You have a lot of love to give, wouldn't it be worse to keep it all to yourself?"
He smiled.
"Thank you, Hope."
She nodded in return.
"Hope, you were my first friend. And I believe you will be my last."
"It would be my greatest honor."