Sunshine

“Mr. Reietto, there’s a letter here for you that you have to check out. It’s from Mx. Paulo!”

Corvo was in the break room of the Peaceful Place Funeral Home when the receptionist called out to him.

She handed him the ornately designed letter and waited for a moment, as if in expectation that he would open the letter right away and share what good news such an intricately designed letter must contain. The envelope was encrusted with gems that were authentic and very expensive, but any feelings of joy or excitement would not show on his face Corvo if he felt them. This disappointed the receptionist a bit.

He pried a diamond off the envelope to observe the brilliant reflection and cut. It was, without a doubt, a finely cut specimen—certainly worth more than what any laborer would make in a year. He glanced over at the receptionist who stared meekly at the gem.

“Is it real?”

“Yes, it is.”

He had an idea of what was inside the letter, as the bustling of the news over Paulo’s newly commissioned personal cruise ship ran on incessantly in the media. It was billed as one of the most ambitious feats of engineering in the world, and all Hangarin’s elite would be invited for its maiden voyage; a mingling of great minds and ideas to celebrate a momentous feat of engineering. He would run into Julius. The stoic and studious academic leader who had become the face of higher education throughout Hangarin—at least, that’s how he presented himself.

He hadn’t spoken to him in ages now that he had his own set of clientele and moved closer to Foralis, though he would rush to hear his pontifications on the future of academia. Or his prying questions about, as he would say, “notable (organ) acquisitions”.

It was just like Paulo to make a large boisterous show, and it was no coincidence, Corvo thought, that this was timed to cut in on one of Mirabelle’s promotions for her new show. She could not have been happy about that.

Regardless of motives, he knew Paulo would invite him to oversee the morgue on the ship, and thus, did not feel the need to open the letter in front of his coworker. She would have to live vicariously through someone else.

With a polite thank you, he slipped the envelope in his breast pocket and offered her the diamond as a token of gratitude. Her eyes lit up as she hastily accepted the gem, rushing out before Corvo changed his mind.

He had started to head back into work when the morgue phone rang. He picked up the receiver and was greeted by the voice of Paulo themself.

“Corvo! I take it the funeral business is going well for you this fine day?”

“May I help you Mx. Paulo? I was heading back to work. If it is concerning the letter, I assure you that I have received it and fully intend to open and reply it once I am finished with my work for the day.”

He heard a laborious sigh on the other end.

“Corvo my friend… I needed you to open that letter right now and give me an answer. It’s of great importance, perhaps the greatest importance that you do so. You are the one person I want most to be on my ship.”

“…How do you figure?”

“If you opened the letter, you’d understand completely. Destiny has spoken with me, and it has demanded that I know your response. Do that for me right now, would you my friend?”

Corvo calmly pulled out the envelope and gazed at it, remembering a time when something like this happened when he first started working in the funeral industry.

The lands of Despit were mountainous, jagged, and wholly inhospitable once past the tourist trap casino and circus that many think of when they hear of the nation. Stark lonely vistas of dust and dereliction made Corvo wonder which kind of person would willingly want to live in these dire cliffsides, even knowing the oasis of unfettered hedonism was moments away. Though perhaps they don’t decide to live here, as is often the case with people who have somehow found themselves marooned in such a destitute place.

He found himself along the outskirts of the curiously named town of Paradise, in search of the Chrysanthemum Funeral Home. He was to work under the head mortician Juhani Lodovico, doing so at behest of a teacher at the mortuary school he graduated from. The quaint, downpour-laden pastures of Foralis were a far cry from these lands. The customs agent at Despit gave him some trouble when he insisted he was not traveling to Despit for the casino or tourism, as though they doubted his coming here for anything else. After hours of constant questioning, he was finally released.

A dirt path was all that was carved out on the way to his destination. It had not been maintained in decades and was barely large enough to fit a small vehicle. Sharp rocky walls surrounded one side whilst a steep fall to a jagged and watery grave filled the other.

Corvo tightened up his peacoat as winds assaulted his body. It appeared they would not die down by the time he reached his destination. He patted his pocket, confirmed the letter still on him, and breathed a sigh of relief.

He had finished embalming school with a not insignificant amount of debt and traveled all the way from Foralis to Despit at the behest of one of his instructors. Corvo wasn’t sure why the lengthy travel was necessary when Foralis had no shortage of funeral homes for him to work at, but he trusted his teacher.

She had a rather sketchy reputation among his students, but was kind and patient with Corvo during his trials in the mortuary sciences. He sensed she harbored a hidden motive in guiding him, but he never mustered the temerity to confront her on it, not out of fear but frankly out of apathy. Corvo wasn’t sure what she saw in him as, in his own reckoning, he was a rather mediocre student. She prophesied that his destiny was in Despit, at the Chrysanthemum Funeral Home, and upon stock of his options at graduation, decided he didn’t have anything worthwhile waiting for him at Foralis and thought a bit of wanderlust would do him well.

The funeral home was quite a distance away from the surrounding towns, even factoring in the sensibilities of the Despitian who might balk at having a funeral home near them. Houses were scant, and he hadn’t seen a single person along this winding, barren path. He didn’t need to ask for directions to find the right place however, for in the distance was a large cloud of black smoke signaling cremation.

It had to have been massive amounts of bodies for the smoke to be that intense, so much so that it almost looked like a terrible fire was occurring, a blaze that might very well burn the funeral home down. As he got nearer, he noticed a putrid smell that intensified.

A kempt funeral home would not have strong odors if proper procedures were taken to dispose of the dead. That is what he was told during his studies.

He further fastened up his peacoat like it would stop the chilling sensation in his body as he approached the home. Corvo wasn’t squeamish concerning the handling the dead. He was one of the few students who embalmed with calm and collective professionalism.

Corvo had a duty to treat the dead with care, at least that was what he had been taught by his teachers.

What Corvo was afraid of as he approached nearer and nearer was the chaotic spontaneity an unhinged workplace. No good would come from a place that has no regard for proper procedure, he was certain. His legs pressed onward, step by heavy step, as if in resignation of his travels here amounting to time wasted and reached the entrance.

As far as outward appearances went, the place looked rustic and one might dare to even say inviting. The lawn had the semblance of proper maintenance, and the polished brass double doors showed to him that someone was taking care of the place. However, Corvo sense a dull intimation of something off with the scene before him.

He took a closer look and off in the side of the house near a patch of daisies… Were those human bones?

The closer he looked the more he found: a skull hiding in the grass underneath the welcome post, a swarm of flies buzzing around the porch in search of a bounty buried beneath, a curious rust colored stain on a small patch of grass.

Corvo had always been one to mask his feelings with a professionalism, bordering on austerity. This made him appear frigid and cold to people around him and caused others to view him with distrust. He had not minded this, as he believed he hadn’t much to say to his peers. It wasn’t that he thought himself superior to others; in fact, it was rather the opposite.

At a young age Corvo came to the understanding that, despite having a keen sense of intuition that allowed him to cut into the matters others struggled with, whatever he had to say had no importance to the adults in his life.

Indeed, he was largely ignored among them and mocked by peers for excessively pondering the meaning of things that others presumed clear enough. By the time he did speak, everyone already moved on to another topic. He was often blamed for things that weren’t his fault; so, he kept crucial information to himself as a response. He needed to defend himself when push came to shove; he made sure he had the right intel.

He could not trust others, but he had trouble trusting his own self too. He always thought his emotions were forced to fit the situation—a feeling which caused him to avoid smiling or laughing with others out of fear they’d notice his hollow attempts at empathy—and oftentimes resigned to keeping his feelings to himself.

At this moment, however, his face leaked the rising anger boiling inside, a rage he hadn’t felt in ages. The violations the funeral home did were cavalierly flaunted out in public for all to see. The smell most bothered Corvo; did they not care for their own safety? The human body contained trace amounts of mercury that got released from cremation. Staying for too long would be disastrous to one’s physical wellbeing.

The Chrysanthemum Funeral Home reeked of death and he wasn’t sure how anyone endured it. He could not trust this place to care, and he’d be a fool if he didn't leave. He'd resign as soon as he met Lodovico. What did his teacher do to him?

No destiny was to be found in this squalor, he concluded.

He pushed open the double doors with a calmness that belied the inner rage seething within him.

Upon entering he saw an elderly person immersed in a television program about gambling. The blaring cacophony of the slots as they spun grated on in the otherwise quiet hall. No one else was here. No one had been here all day. They did not respond to him or greet him, though they weren’t quite paying attention to the program as well, as no event elicited a reaction from them. He paused for a time and realized he would have to speak first.

“Good afternoon. I am Corvo Reietto and I have come here to begin work under a Mr. Lodovico.”

With this he pulled out his letter to show them—however they didn’t bother stealing a glance at him or the envelope. Instead, they pointed over to another set of large doors that looked much dirtier than anything else around him. Whoever was hired to clean refused to touch this door. Some faded signage warning that authorized personnel were allowed entry was placed on the wall, though he didn’t see the need for it if the receptionist would let anyone in claiming to work.

He opened the door and stopped immediately in his tracks. Dead bodies piled up in the hallway greeted him. These corpses were in an advanced state of decay and have been abandoned for a while. The floor was covered in the body fluids of the decayed and stuck to one’s feet as they traveled down the hall.

Corvo heard the faint humming of someone and figured that must be where Lodovico must be working.

Carefully he navigated the mess of bodies strewn about until he finally reached the room where he saw a small, but relatively handsome, person looking over a corpse. Silver hair shone brilliantly in contrast to the smears of red all over white scrubs. His eyes were a brilliant green that happily looked over the corpse before him.

He stopped humming momentarily to gaze at his reflection in a nearby mirror, noticing Corvo behind him in the process. He locked eyes very briefly with the reflection. Then, as though he came to an understanding, nodded. He turned to him and cheerfully whistled in a way that sounded close to “hello”.

Corvo took a good look at this man and concluded that he was dangerous.

“I take it you’re Juhani Lodovico. I’m Corvo Reietto of Foralis, he/him.”

“Hello hello! Nice to make your acquaintance! Carmilla told me all about you. We needed a skilled embalmer so I’m glad to have you, but truthfully I am going to use you for everything I can think of, so your first job is to take the bod—”

“I don’t mean to interrupt but I must admit I expected a more professional workplace than the mess I witnessed today.”

Lodovico started to gaze absentmindedly in the distance whilst Corvo spoke out about the myriad of violations he observed, which made him even angrier.

As if he remembered something, Lodovico took a large rusty crowbar that was curiously placed with the other tools Corvo was more familiar with when it came to working with the dead and began to observe it, like he was pondering a question on how to best use this against the corpse. Any further words were meaningless to this man and Corvo would finish up his criticisms and leave.

“…Truthfully Mr. Lodovico I am not sure I can in good faith work under these conditions and believe that it is in the best intere—”

Corvo’s speech was interrupted with a loud and sudden CRACK!

Lodovico had taken the crowbar and tore open the sternum of the cadaver, causing blood to splatter all over him. Corvo eyes widened.

The way the cadaver’s chest shattered… oddly fascinated him.

Juhani yanked out the heart and observed it for a bit, feeling its weight in his hand before tossing it over to a container on the side. The wanton destruction and desecration of a body should have been repugnant to Corvo. He was taught to treat the dead with respect like it were your own family, but at the moment Corvo was consumed by how the body was brutally dispatched.

Lodovico hummed to himself while tearing open the jaw with a large chisel, and with a set of pliers yanked out the gold fillings with an alarming force that the body was raised and then slowly slumped back down to the operating table.

“Corv. Did you know that I wanted to be a sports star before I got into this biz? Bad knees though. Got into an accident at college and fucked them up real bad. Tried to do odd jobs here and there but got into trouble too many times with the law. Eventually had to take up my family’s funeral home business. I hated this job for the longest time because of that. Who wouldn’t? Dealing with a bunch of fucking stiffs all day and all their shitting and smells. Bet they didn’t tell you that at school huh? I realized in my time here that it’s the best job in the world though. No one to look over you, no one to bother you, and, most importantly, no one to talk shit about how I do my job, you understand me?”

Corvo stared into his eyes, which took on a piercing delirious rage.

“I do things different in this place. Forget everything you learned at school. I don’t bother with all the rules and shit. I don’t touch formaldehyde. Shit stinks and is more lethal than anything in these bodies. Once they’re dead, they’re harmless. Get everything out of them and then chuck it in the burner. Of course, I am a bit backed up, as you no doubt saw, but that’s where you come in to help me. I don’t know what the fuck Carmilla saw in you, but I’ll trust her judgment. She don’t send just any bozo without seeing something useful in them. Maybe you’re still new to this all and need to loosen up. The best part of working for me is if anyone complains you can just kill ‘em and burn the evidence.”

He chuckled at this as he scooped out the corpse’s eyeballs, placing them in a small metal tin.

“That’s a joke; I’ve never done that, but I’ve had some of my boys quiet some competition for me. Rough 'em up a bit. Nothing too out of the ordinary for Despit standards though, you’ll see. You say you don’t wanna work here? That’s a shame. I think you’d like it after a while. You’d make a lot more money here than you’d ever make anywhere else. Other places act all high and mighty and respect the dead. What for?"

Before Corvo could even answer—

"They’re DEAD!"

"They don’t need gold fillings, organs anything like that. You put 15 bodies in the burner, take four to five pounds of ashes for a body and send it over. No one has ever said ‘This isn’t my uncle’s ashes’. No one ever figures out. They get a bunch of ashes, you tell them it’s their dearly deceased, and they cry and thank you!"

Lodovico stop and pensively stared at Corvo for a bit. He then took out a hacksaw and began to cut into a prosthetic arm.

“These things are a pain if they get into the burner. I chuck ‘em somewhere. Not my problem anymore after that. People who’ve come and gone in my office worry about the wrath of the gods. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and haven’t once seen a single god complain. Either they don’t give a shit or they like what I’m doing, Corv! Besides, even if the very gods themselves come here to complain, I’d tell them to get on the table and send them back where they came from!” He laughed while waving the prosthetic around a bit before carelessly tossing it to a corner.

“I’m not too worried if you go. I need an embalmer for those antsy types who want to see their dead family look all pretty before the maggots chew ‘em up, but you can stay or go as you please. I’m offering you a once in a lifetime opportunity if you stay, I hope you know. This biz lets you meet all sorts of people you wouldn’t meet anywhere else. Folks that will open doors for you. One of my best clients is a guy named Julius. Some smarmy academic type. Probably could have been one of my teachers with how uptight he is. Funny thing is, he needs lots of organs for his medical program but doesn’t want to deal with red tape or rules. Truthfully I think he also does some other shit with how much he wants. Ritual sacrifice shit; I don’t pry. Asks me to keep the organs of the more affluent types and magic users preserved and separate from the others. He pays well so I listen to him. Can’t give him magic ones though, those go to the Magnifiques. Don’t really see any difference between the guts of a magic user and a non-magic user, but orders are orders when it comes from them. They don’t mess with what I got going on, so I make sure they get treated well, yeah?”

He chuckled as he finished up harvesting the organs, eyes and teeth of the corpse.

Corvo did not respond.

All his mind focused on was the way the crowbar decimated the cadaver’s chest and how it would feel if he were to try it. He hadn’t had these thoughts before in his life, but now, the flash of crimson carnage circled round in his mind, repeating over like a mantra for meditation.

Lodovico cleared out the table and tossed what remained of the harvested body over to a wheelbarrow just outside the operating room. He drug another body to the table and handed Corvo a white apron, a face shield and the crowbar.

“There aren’t many magic users in Despit anyhow. This one is yours by the way. Some poor sap who drowned themself in cheap thrills and cheaper liquor. Don’t be shy, they won’t bite! I’ll sift out the good organs from the junk. Let’s see what you got.”

The grit of rust and blood made Corvo shiver.

He put on the apron and face shield and stared at his “work”.

He had worked on bodies at school, but it was nothing like this. There were procedures and rules, guidelines and best practices. He was given a blank canvas, a body that he was his to carve as he pleased. He could make an incision and surgically remove the organs, or he could revel in carnage and pry the organs with force.

The weight of the crowbar felt good in his hand.

He raised it up and thought about the life the corpse must have had before reaching the operating table here. What family they had still alive thinking they were resting, disturbed no longer by the cruelty of life, and before he could think further, his vision was awash with red and black.

The dull stinging song of steel and flesh resonated in his arm as he tore rib after rib. A symphony was in his head and he was the conductor, waving his baton as tendon and joint played to his whims. Excitement electrified him in a way he never known as shards of bone fragments flew around him.

He held the cadaver's soft fragile organs, feeling as though he shared a deeply personal connection with the soul, a secret known only between them. He let his fingertips gently trace the contours of the once pulsing spark of life as he handed it over to Juhani, who was mirthful and saying something, perhaps singing a song? Corvo in his frenzied excitement couldn’t make out what he sang.

“…sunshine.”

The last word caught his attention, as it didn’t make sense. What did he mean? There were no windows in this room, so he didn’t know why such a word would come from his mouth.

He stopped at stared at the reflection in the mirror and then it all made sense.

In the reflection was a tall young man with raven black hair wielding a crowbar in red stained scrubs, and he now understood what Juhani meant.

The man in the mirror had a childish smile, as bright as sunshine.

“I would like to request an additional guest to bring aboard if that is okay with you Mx. Paulo.”

“You know Corvo, I knew you and I would have an understanding.”

The contents of the letter weren’t that much different from what he expected. Paulo must have wanted to personally know their letter was opened. Of course, he would accept.

“My assistant Nur is a dedicated hard worker and will be an invaluable companion. She would do well to meet with some esteemed guests you no doubt have on board.”

“Splendid! Aren’t you glad you opened up that letter?”

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll see you at the cruise.”

“Eager to get back to work huh? Well at least you’ll have a great time at my cruise away from work.”

Corvo smiled.

“There’s much to be done, no doubt.”

“Well then. I’d hate to keep a busy man for long.”

And with that Paulo hung up.

Corvo smiled at the suggestion that he’d relax at the cruise. He didn’t know what Paulo was planning, but he knew something was going to happen in the cruise, and whatever it was, required his services. It’d be a good idea to bring help when the time came.