[Ch. 6] The Undead Sylvia

A foul-smelling creature stood in front of me. Its white dull eye had a flurry of emotions behind it that usual corpses weren't capable of.

"Sylvia?" I narrowed my eyes, "Is that really you?"

The corpse stumbled closer as if it didn't believe its eye. The voice that left its mangled throat was grating and rough, "M-Moao? No… Who are you? You don't look like Moao…"

Her foot caught a rock and sent her body forward. I rushed over to catch her, but fell with her instead. Her stench permeated my nose and I strenuously gulped down my distaste. I looked over her body noticing every cut and tear, "What happened to you?!"

She struggled to get off of me. Her one eye looked at me with a dim shine, "Are you really Moao? Why do you look different? My sight is bad now, but it still doesn't look right."

I let out a sigh, "It's really me. I am inhabiting another body."

Her eye lit up, "Y-You came back!?" She suddenly pulled me close and buried her head into my chest, "You came back! I knew you would!"

I pushed her off with mixed emotions. I hadn't seen her since the day I left to find Amanda and Korph. To me, it only felt like yesterday. However, her mangled body made me realized just how long I was actually gone.

Even though I was in the same world, it still felt like a different one.

I shook my head, "I didn't come back willingly. Someone forced me back."

Her eye widened as she strained to speak, "Forced you? Did you… Did you really die?"

My eyes lowered from her hurt expression, "...I did."

She pressed her lips together in anger, "Korph. He really did it?"

I opened my mouth to disagree but soon closed it. I couldn't force myself to tell the truth so I could only change the subject. "What happened to you? Why do you look like this?"

She knew I wouldn't speak further about it, so she answered me obediently instead. "Moao… You've been gone for a really long time. Things… Things changed after you left. After the announcement of your death, everyone rejoiced. At the time, I was still on the pirate ship. I knew it was true as soon as you…"

She trailed off and couldn't finish. I closed my eyes as I desperately wished to forget that day. However, I would never be able to.

She continued, "I didn't know what to do. I stayed with the pirates since that was all I knew. With Gyles gone, Charlie took over. He was a good captain of course, but no one was prepared for what happened after you died."

As she went quiet, I recalled the storyteller saying that evil ran rampant after I died. I asked her, "What exactly happened? I heard that the dead attacked the living and cities now have giant walls surrounding them. However, I never commanded the dead to do any of that prior to my death."

She shook her head, "Of course you didn't. A few weeks after your death, the Earth began to shake violently. The sky began to fall and many natural disasters killed so many people. The ships at sea all sank from relentless storms. We were lucky that we had decided to stay on the mainland and suffered only slight damage to our ship. However, several islands at the Isles sank into the ocean and disappeared. Some said you cursed the continent, others said the heavens were punishing us for allowing you to taint the land."

Her face turned grave, "However, that was only the beginning. Suddenly, beasts were attacking as if they went mad. Demonic, celestial, and spiritual beasts all seemed to have turned evil. Then, the dead started to rise and kill. So many people were dying and the nation's leaders had no idea what to do. They panicked and built walls around their large cities, but the smaller villages and towns suffered. It had only been 20 years after your death and humanity was almost decimated."

I frowned, "They didn't do anything to help?"

"No. Only a few individuals risked their lives to save those forgotten. The ones who managed to survive became famous and everyone called them heroes."

"Who was it?"

She pursed her lips and looked away, "They were mostly people from the scholar's nation, but there were some you were quite familiar with…"

I felt my heart tighten, "...I see."

She looked away as she continued, "Then, everything just stopped. The seas were calm again and the Earth no longer shook. However, people were still too scared to leave their safe places. I left the pirates at that time in search of the truth behind your death. However, it still wasn't safe. The beasts still attacked and the dead were almost invincible. I was strong and could survive, but I still suffered. My body was slowly destroyed, but I lived."

I let out a sigh, "And you've been wandering around ever since then?"

She nodded, "A hundred years after your death, people finally got the courage to leave the cities. The roads are a bit safer now, but attacks are still frequent. You can only see very few people on the roads these days. However, those who travel are frightfully strong. After I became… This... I tried not to show myself to people. I couldn't fix myself up as you did for me in the past. Luckily, I rarely ran into people."

Her voice picked up in excitement, "But then I sensed your magic! Now you are back and can help me!"

I felt my chest tighten and shook my head gravely, "I'm back, but I can't use my magic. My soul isn't compatible with this body. My magic is too strong, but the body is too weak. Every time I use a spell, I vomit blood. If I push myself too much, I will end up dead again."

She deflated in disappointment, "Oh…"

I glanced at her filthy body, "I can't use magic, but I can probably fix you up a bit. Here, let me clean you up."

She nodded, "There is a place near the river that is abandoned. I noticed it when I came here."

I stood up and helped her to her feet, "Show me."

I helped her walk as she pointed in the direction of the abandoned house. The house was near the river and looked as if no one had entered it in years. Plants had overtaken it and caused it to smell like dirt. I found a pail and collected water. I grabbed anything I could salvage. Luckily, there were a few pieces of clothes, needles, thread, and a knife. I first washed her with the water to take away the dirt and grime.

I took my knife and cut off the dangling tissue on her arm. Despite it being a horrifying sight, I didn't even blink.

I had seen much worse than this.

I wrapped it up tightly with gauze even though it didn't bleed. I grabbed two sticks in order to make a cast for her broken leg. I sewed up any skin that was torn open before bandaging her face to hide the gruesome missing eye.

I nodded solemnly, "There. This should work until I can figure out how to fix you more permanently."

She looked in the mirror and smiled softly, "It is fine. I still look scary, but if I wear a cloak no one will notice."

"I'm sorry, Sylvia. I had no idea this would happen to you."

Her faint smile had a hint of sadness, "My heart has stopped beating for a long time, but I am still trapped in this body."

I pursed my lips together, "I will figure out how to fix it. I promise."

"That's not important right now." Her eye turned to me with curiosity, "Are you like me now?"

I took her hand and placed it against my chest.

Her eye widened, "You have a heartbeat."

"Yes. Although I am not sure if I am the same as you or not. You also had a heartbeat in the beginning but lost it after... I may have been placed into a body with the same circumstance as yours, but the only way for me to test that is for me to die."

She scratched her cheek bashfully, "...Let's not try that."

"Mmn." I hummed weakly. I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or not.

"Then... How did you get inside that body?"

"I have no idea. When I awoke, there was nothing around to explain how I came to be in this body. I noticed my soul summoning magic circle on this body's forehead, but it was altered. I don't know who brought me back."

"Could it have been the owner of the body?"

"Impossible. The owner wouldn't have been capable of finishing the spell. It lacks the amount of magic necessary to do so. This is exactly why it won't support my original strength. Whoever did it had to have been very powerful."

She sat back and pondered my words, "Since you left, there have been a few capable of strong magic. They are now known as the leading leaders in the continent. The so-called heroes..."

She trailed off and glanced at me with uncertainty. I could tell she was hiding something. She was like a dog. Whenever she did something she knew her owner wouldn't like, she would give them puppy dog eyes.

I frowned, "What are you keeping from me?"

She glanced down with a guilty expression, "I… I just wanted to say a lot of things have changed since you left…"

"You've already said that."

She shook her head, "No... You don't understand… Korph… Mona…"

I interrupted her quickly to avoid recalling more painful memories, "We don't need to talk about them. Just tell me this, are any of my old acquaintances capable of this?"

She nodded solemnly, "Most of them are… They… Managed to survive these years, but it was equally as hard for them. However, they all seemed extremely busy with other matters. I don't think they would have the time to do this… Nor do I think they would want to."

I looked away from her sympathetic look. It didn't surprise me much that none of them would try to bring me back. After I died, I left behind little to no allies. Sylvia was the only person who would have felt motivated to figure out how to bring me back, but she wasn't capable of it.

I was beginning to grow disinterested in the conversation, "I don't think any of them would either. Very well. Let's just pretend that I'm not back and lay low until we figure out what to do."

Her voice picked up in a hopeful tone, "Then, you intend to stay?"

"...Mmn."

It's not like I want to, but rather that there really is no point. If I died again, I would just wake up somewhere else. I didn't really want to stay in this world and face my mistakes, but I didn't have the energy to try somewhere else. I never had good luck in the past.

Sylvia spoke up, "Moao… I was wondering something…"

"Mmn?"

"Are you a woman?... Or a man?"

I looked at her with ambiguous eyes, "This body is genetically a female."