11. My stalker & my master

“Mm. It says the call number isn’t assigned…”

“So Erma even changed her phone number? How much does she hate me?!”

“She most likely didn’t change it because of you, Straw Head, how self-centered are you?”

“I’m not, I just miss her. Though perhaps not as much as I missed my stalker, heehee…”

Embarrassed, Zeeta averted his eyes towards the window of the hospital room, saying:

“It’s true that you two were quite close. Did you perhaps do something to her in July?”

“Eeh… What do you mean, something? I did nothing. The Lil Witch is our muse, don’t you remember? If we’re going to revive the Duo Cheetahs, then we need her too, don’t we?”

“… Right. I’ll try to find her. But it won’t be easy. She hardly ever talked about her family.”

“Her grandma’s a witch from the Hawaii Mountains.”

“Do you want me to comb the countryside in search of an old hag, Straw Head?!”

“Eeh, no, no, I didn’t say that…”

“The Hawaii Mountains cover half of the Farskyer Peninsula, just so you know.”

“Half? That much?”

“Yeah. Anyway, I’ll tell you if I find her.”

“Her grandma?”

“Our muse, moron. Are you doing it on purpose?!”

I laughed. The doctors had already treated Zeeta’s wound, and I was sitting next to his bed at the hospital. We had been chatting for a while now.

“Hey, Straw Head,” Zeeta said then. “It’s Monday, right?”

“Yeah.” I was smiling, even grinning because Zeeta was all right now, both mentally and physically.

“It’s school day.”

“Ah, yeah, I guess it is.”

Then his words struck me like lightning, and I jumped to my feet yelling:

“Holy Gods! The exams!”

Zeeta snorted.

“Are you for real?”

“Zeeeeta… I’m so done!”

“Stop whining and just run! If it starts at eight o’clock, you can still make it. Don’t forget your wallet, you idiot! Oh, and your scarf!”

“I’ll get it back in the afternoon!” I cried out, already in the corridor. “Take care!”

I heard Zeeta calling out:

“Straw Head! Thank you! Break a leg!”

I grinned while running. I rushed out of the hospital like a whirlwind, crossed a street, and hurtled down the stairs of the subway station. I was in Union City District. It would take about three-quarters of an hour to reach Harvard High School.

Although I was dead, I was panicked. Had I studied so hard for nothing? Ray had even spent a lot of time helping me. I had to make it to the school without fail.

As the train reached my stop, I got off in a hurry under the passengers’ surprised gazes. The clock at the station was out, and my cellphone was still low in battery, so I couldn’t know what time it was. I dashed out, running all the way to the school. I wasn’t tired. I couldn’t get tired. That was some nice skill.

When I reached the main gate, I saw the clock on the building. It was fifty-nine minutes past seven. The gate was closing… I sprinted. The gatekeeper was returning to the main building. I yelled at him:

“Please, sir, open the gate!”

The guy glanced at me, then disappeared into the building. The hell? It pissed me off. It wasn’t even eight o’clock when he decided to close the gate, dammit!

Anyhow, a wall wasn’t enough to block my path to my studies.

I grasped the bars and began to climb. The gate was pretty high, about four meters. I was half the way when the gatekeeper rushed out shouting:

“What are you doing?! You mad?!!”

Oh, so he was watching me. I ignored him as he had ignored me earlier.

“Hey! Get down already! I’ll call the vice-principal!”

“Couldn’t care less,” I muttered.

“Huh? What did you say, you brat? Get down I said!”

“Okay, sir.”

I reached the top, passed on the other side, and began to climb down.

“You must be joking!”

The gatekeeper was snorting and calling the vice-principal out. She arrived when I landed on the ground. I looked up. From the classrooms, curious faces were peeping through the windows. I didn’t mean to disturb the whole school, but well…

“Ms. Jawa, that brat climbed the gate!” the gatekeeper said.

“I saw that,” the vice-principal said calmly. She turned at me. “You’re a student at our school, right? Your name and age?”

“Armen Moon, ma’am. I’m a second-year. I’m sorry, but I’ve got important exams.”

“You have some nerve to say that when you’re late, don’t even have your school bag, and aren’t even wearing your uniform. If those exams were so important for you, you should have come in time, like everyone, don’t you think?”

I… had no answer to that. But damn… the exams really were important to me. A frustrated smile appeared on my face as I conceded:

“You’re right, ma’am.”

“But you wouldn’t be climbing the gate if you weren’t motivated.”

I widened my eyes as the vice-principal’s lips went up slightly.

“Come with me, Armen Moon. You’ll be doing the Chemistry test in my office. You’ll be joining your classroom afterwards.”

I breathed in unthinkingly, absorbing her wasted lifeforce. I grinned.

“Thank you, ma’am!”

“But you’ll be punished for what you did.”

“I understand. I’ll do my best in the tests!”

The vice-principal chuckled at my good spirits. As I followed her to the entrance of the building, I looked up at the third floor. On a window, Ray was staring at me. I gave him a thumbs up.

‘You’re unbelievable, Armen, in a lot of ways.’

I jerked up. Did… Did I just hear Ray’s voice in my head? I looked up again in bewilderment. Ray’s face had disappeared from the window, but his hand was still visible. He was holding up his forefinger and middle finger as if saying: good luck.

* * *

“Say, say, Ashooka, what was the answer to question 14? B, right, it was B?” Arkifa insisted.

“For the biology test?”

“Yes, you know, that question about which human species is the most affected by absorbing Orange crystal particles.”

“Ah… yes, that question. I checked C: the foxfolks.”

“No way! I knew it couldn’t be the cyborgs or the dryads, and I was almost sure it was the merfolks!”

“I checked A,” I said anxiously.

“Me too! High five, Armen!” Woon chimed in, raising an arm as he was chewing his bento. “Oh, but Haxton checked D.”

Woon was from a family of four-armed humans. He said his third hand, Haxton, had a will of its own —though according to Arkifa it was just an excuse not to take responsibility. Ashooka shook his head.

“It was a single answer question, Woon.”

“Seriously?!”

“Seriously.”

“Argh, darn Haxton!”

It was one o’clock, we had done five tests already, and only the literature test was left. In two hours, everything would be over… I was at my seat, checking the questions while Arkifa, Woon, and Ashooka were eating. Arkifa’s purple eyes looked at me.

“Armen. You haven’t brought your lunch?”

“I’m not hungry.”

I was, actually. I had been eating my classmates’ wasted lifeforce for five hours now, but I was still hungry. I couldn’t help it: I wanted more.

Swallowing, Woon cried out:

“Oh, right! You were late! I saw you climb the gate. So cool!”

“How is it cool to be late?” Ashooka asked.

“You can’t understand because you’re not a true man, Ashooka…”

Arkifa friendly slapped Woon on the back of his neck.

“Don’t bully my boyfriend, Woon! Anyway, Armen. Did you oversleep or what?”

“Well…” I was staring at the questions. I pushed the sheets away with a long sigh: “Just some crosses on a piece of paper and yet so terrifying…”

“Cheer up! The results will be out soon enough!” Woon said.

So true: feeling down wouldn’t get me anywhere. I clenched my fist stating:

“You’re right! Now it’s all up to the examiners. Don’t let us down, teachers!”

“Teachers, we trust you!” Woon played along.

“Fools,” Arkifa muttered.

I wrote everything I could in the literature essay. After two hours, I felt as if smoke was coming out of my ears. I gave my essay to the teacher with a confident smile. Arkifa and Woon had already left to catch their train. Both lived in Espelette, a town next to Farskyer City. Ashooka, as our class’ rep, was still talking to some classmates. I just gave him back the pen he had lent me, then headed to the lockers. Ray and Arkill were there, waiting for me by the entrance. I smiled at them with a sigh of relief.

“It’s over!”

I felt so liberated. I removed my school slippers and changed into my shoes under their curious gazes. As we were leaving the building, Ray asked:

“So?”

“So… As I thought, second-year midterms are tough.”

“Ah… Well, you worked hard, it’ll be all right, Armen… W-Wait. I wasn’t asking about that! What happened to you this morning?”

“Oh, that… The truth is…”

As we were crossing the school gates, I saw a familiar face leaning on the outside wall, and I fell silent, my eyes wide open. What was he doing here? Still hooded to conceal his bandages, Zeeta stepped away from the wall and handed me my scarf.

“Yo, Straw Head! Did you make it in time?”

“I… did. But weren’t you supposed to rest at the hospital, Zeeta?”

“I’m fine now.” He looked at Arkill with a smirk. By reflex, the red-haired life reaper had moved between Ray and the suspicious newcomer. Zeeta tilted his head. “So that one’s Arkill, and the other one’s your childhood friend, right?”

“R-Right.”

I had mixed feelings about their meeting, chiefly because there were so many secrets on both sides but… I had enough of that. As soon as I realized that, I felt lighthearted and turned to Ray.

“Zeeta is a very good friend of mine. How about we invite him to your home and have a talk?”

Ray glanced at me worriedly, as if asking: is it really okay to bring a friend of yours to a necromancer’s house? I grinned.

“It’ll be fun.”

* * *

The four of us were sitting around the low table, between the sofa and the game console. I put down the teapot and said cheerfully:

“It’s hot, I think, so be careful.”

“Oh! Straw Head’s tea! So nostalgic!” Zeeta said joyfully. “Ach… I burned my tongue. Water, water…”

“There. You’re too impatient, Zeeta.”

“Hehe… You won’t drink?”

“Ah… I’m not thirsty.”

“…” Zeeta looked at the two glasses I had put on the table, one for Ray, one for him, then glanced at Arkill. He cleared his throat. “Is… that so?”

He had got a little paler. Had he truly recovered from his injury? Then he loosened up and asked bluntly:

“Say, Straw Head, is it me or are Arkill’s heart and yours not beating?”

Ray’s face froze. Wow… I grinned.

“As expected from Zeeta. Your hearing’s the best. He’s a power-holder,” I explained to Ray. “He can place earbuds wherever he looks at.”

And he has made a habit of listening to heartbeats, I added to myself. It was second nature to him. Kind of a way to get to know a person.

Zeeta breathed out.

“And there I thought I was losing my power, last night, at the temple… But it seems I wasn’t wrong.” He stared at me. “Armen… What’s the meaning of this?”

I was calm as I spoke:

“Well, now that you found out, it will make things easier for me to explain. The truth is last week I—”

“ARMEN!”

Ray shouted. He was trembling. He got up, grabbed my arm, and dragged me to the kitchen.

“What the hell are you doing?” he hissed. “I knew you were up to something, but you’re going way too far. Haven’t you thought you could get him involved? Think about it, I know this situation is all too new for you, but to most of the people out there you are a… a… a monster, Armen. We are evil beings that crossed the red line. I don’t know what kind of person Zeeta is but… even if he’s a good friend of yours, you trust him way too much, dammit. Haven’t you thought that he might betray you?”

He was panting. He had left the door slightly open… I had no doubt Zeeta had heard everything. I shrugged.

“Ray. If you had told me you wanted to be a necromancer like your dad, if you had told me: from now on, you’ll be an undead, so you won’t be able to go to school, nor see your family again or live a normal life… if you had told me that, there’s no way I would have ever brought here a person I knew from my past life. But…” I looked Ray in the eye. “You want to live a normal life, don’t you? That’s why you avoided your dad all these years, that’s why you don’t want to use our necro-bond, so… am I really in the wrong for wanting you to meet a friend of mine? Isn’t that a normal thing to do? Besides,” I smiled, “Zeeta’s from the Underworld, so I’m sure he won’t say anything.”

“That’s not the main reason, you moron!” Zeeta cried out from the living room. “Come back, you guys, I can hear everything, you know.”

Ray was left speechless. I gently led him back to the low table as I added:

“How about this? We tell Zeeta how I died, and I’ll tell you how I ended up working for a gang in the Old Docks for a whole year.”

Ray gasped.

“A w-whole year?”

“Ah… So you already knew I got involved with a gang,” I smiled, uneasy.

“… Azritz told me.”

“It figures,” I nodded.

Ray hesitated.

“… Is Zeeta…?”

“Yes. He was a fellow member. We did odd jobs for our big bosses, protected shopkeepers in exchange for money, brawled with other gangs… and we also hung out together a lot, right, Zeeta?”

“Right.” When Zeeta lifted his glass of tea, his hand was quivering. “S-So, Straw Head. Did you… really die?”

I gave a short nod.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

Zeeta put down the glass without having taken a sip. A gloomy smile darkened his face.

“I was so self-centered last night I didn’t notice. It was just afterwards when I thought… some things were odd. Like… the fact that your hands were so cold, or the fact that your heart had just beaten once before stopping when we were on the bench.”

Ray started, then looked at me.

“What did you…?”

I made a troubled face. My heart had beaten once? I didn’t remember well because the lifeforce I had absorbed from Zeeta had overwhelmed me for a while. Ray’s reaction confirmed my doubts: the more lifeforce we undead absorbed, the livelier we would become.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. However… had Zeeta even noticed what I had done to him last night?

“I also saw some black remains on your cheeks when we were at the hospital,” Zeeta went on. “Actually, you still have some in the corner of your eyes.”

“That’s right,” I remembered, turning to Ray. “Last night, I cried, but there was just some black powder coming out of my eyes. Is that normal? Ray?”

Ray was lost in thoughts. He shook his head.

“I… Let me see.” He leaned, examining my eyes, then blinked in surprise. “I didn’t know an undead could cry. What about you, Arkill?”

Arkill was skimming through a magazine as if bored by the conversation. He shrugged.

“I have never cried. I wouldn’t know where to start. But I know that undeads can cry if they have the reflexes well embedded in their mind or if they remember their past life. The Lord said so. He also said those tears are made of deathforce, so crying is no good. An undead can lose all his energy from crying, then lose consciousness.”

I huffed in shock.

“What?”

“If you’re near, the young master can instill lifeforce into you through your bond so your core won’t die. But it’s still a bad idea to give up deathforce you’ve transformed.”

So our tears were made of what we ate. I pondered then said:

“So crying’s like barfing.”

Zeeta and Ray snorted. Turning to Zeeta with a straight face, I added:

“You made me so sad I barfed for you last night.”

Zeeta burst out laughing.

“So unromantic, Armen! You just spoiled our lovely memory!”

“What lovely? I remind you that you were trying to kill yourself.”

“Heh… Yeah, I guess…”

“Life’s no joke.”

“Says the one who’s dead.”

“You accepted the fact so easily I’m gonna cry again,” I complained. “Am I not your friend?”

“Best friends forever. That’s why I want to know what’s going on here. I’ve heard about the undead. The thing is… I’ve even seen one last month. But he wasn’t acting like a human. You’re moving and acting just like the Armen I know, so I’m relieved, but… you still didn’t tell me. How did you die?”

I paused. Then I told him how it happened. The sudden attack, the supposed misunderstanding about the Lord Necromancer, my death, and my revival.

“But I’m all right, now!” I said, wanting to end it on a lighter note. “These days I’ve been playing a mummy on a video game with Ray and Arkill. I’m super attached to my character. It feels so real…”

My smile died when I saw Zeeta’s eyes. They were glaring. He took a sip of his tea as if trying to calm down. He clicked his tongue:

“Tsk. How ironic. I stayed away from you thinking you would be safer, but you died. So much for my stupid talk from last night… I even told the night watchman that you saved my life… Yeah, right… I couldn’t even save yours. That’s so… unfair.”

“I-I’m fine though—”

“Like hell you are.” He gave Ray a death stare. “Ray, was it?”

His voice was so cold I felt an illusory shiver running down my spine. Ray nodded, a bit stiff.

“Ray Styxer.”

They looked at each other for such a long time that I thought it would be best to intervene when, suddenly, a smile curved Zeeta’s lips.

“Nice to meet you, Ray Styxer. Armen has talked a lot about you. As you already know, I’m Zeeta. I won’t give my last name, ’cause I’m not proud of it. So you’re the Lord Necromancer’s son?”

Ray shuddered.

“You’ve heard of him?”

“Just a bit. So… I guess you’re from the Dark Alliance?”

As Arkill slightly squinted, Ray made a puzzled face.

“The Dark Alliance? What are you talking about?”

“…! You don’t even know about that? Straw Head, is his dad really the Lord Necromancer?!”

“He is,” I assured. “But they weren’t really close until last week.”

“We’re not close!” Ray groaned.

Zeeta snorted then explained:

“The Dark Alliance, the DA, is a coalition of four gangs: the Hidden Hall, the Necro-Haven, the Goal-Ring, and the Coven. They’re super famous in the Underworld because they even pick fights with the Nyomin Union’s base in Farskyer City. Your dad’s one of the bosses. He’s the head of the Necro-Haven. Oh, and I am a new member of the Hidden Hall, by the way.”

Ray swallowed hard.

“I knew it…” No, he totally didn’t. That was the most surprising thing. He abruptly looked at me. “You too?”

“Eh? Wha—No, no, no!” I raised my hands as I assured: “I was a member of a small gang that worked for the Tiger Clan, in the Old Docks. The Tiger Clan got wiped out by the Dark Alliance in summer, so I’m not in a gang anymore.”

Ray looked a bit relieved, as if thinking “phew, Armen’s a normal guy like me, I’m so glad”. I was dead though. He turned to Arkill.

“Did you know about the Dark Alliance?”

Arkill put the magazine down as he answered:

“I knew, of course. I was brought up by the Lord Necromancer.”

Ray looked very troubled as he muttered:

“So was I.” He shook his head. “Well, I did tell him not to talk to me about necromancy, all these years, so… I guess it makes sense I didn’t know anything.”

“So…” Zeeta said thoughtfully, “you avoided your dad.”

“Who wouldn’t avoid a necromancy freak like him?” Ray grunted.

“Haha… I know, right.”

As a teenager who had suffered his own dad’s madness… was Zeeta identifying with Ray? I smiled to myself as my friends went on talking. If I could have those two get along, that would be great. I’d need to buy a violin, so Zeeta and I could play again together. And I’d definitely get Ray to listen to our music. Also, I’d get Zeeta to play video games with Ray and Arkill. If they were to become friends, this place would be so much funnier. Hehe… Just imagining myself spending time with my two best friends was filling me with joyful anticipation.

“Armen?”

“He’s spaced out.” Zeeta waved his hand under my eyes. “Yoohoo, come back to us, Straw Head.”

I snapped back to reality. The three of them were staring at me. Zeeta commented:

“Straw Head’s smiles are scary when he’s angry, but they’re so adorable when he’s on cloud nine like that.”

Ray chuckled.

“What are you saying?” I protested.

“Haha, the Straw Head’s blushing!” Zeeta cried out.

“I’m not, you jerk, I can’t blush anyway.”

“Oh? That’s too bad. So, tell me, what can you do now that you couldn’t do before?”

I hesitated under Zeeta’s curious gaze. What could I do I couldn’t before? I hadn’t thought much about that.

“That’s right,” I realized. “I still have a lot of things to learn about myself. But today’s not the day. I’ve overused my brain for the exams.”

“So your brain didn’t change. And there you got me worried, but you’re the same Straw Head I know, I’m so glad!” Zeeta had thrown his arm over my neck, teasingly. “I remember, last summer, you went berserk against those thieves, just because of some bad grades. You were so pissed off!” he laughed.

I cleared my throat, half-annoyed and half-amused.

“Don’t speak ill of the dead, Zeeta. Besides, I have high hopes for today’s exams.” Before they could comment anything, I added: “Let’s play Survival Dungeon 3, guys. Come on, come on, let’s have some fun!”

Zeeta wasn’t good at games, but after some time of having him just watching, I gave him the gamepad.

“Take care of my mummy. It’s all right, if you lose too much HP, just hide behind Ray and Arkill. You’ll stay for dinner, right?” I was on my way to the kitchen when I thought about a possibility: Zeeta had been out of his dad’s house for four days now. Did he even have a place to stay? I added: “Actually, you stay over.”

“Wh-What? Huh… But isn’t that Ray’s house?”

“It’s my dad’s,” Ray said, clearing his throat. “Anyway, you can stay for a night.”

“You stay,” I nodded.

Zeeta twitched.

“Ah… haha… Yay. I’m staying at a Lord Necromancer’s house…”

He might not look so happy about that, but he didn’t turn the offer down either. His eyes glued to the screen, Arkill informed:

“If you keep going this way, your mummy’s gonna die from the fire plants.”

“Crap! How do I stop? How do I stop?!”

“Too late.”

“Argh… Sorry, Straw Head, I died.”

I laughed.

“Don’t sweat it. You guys just have to repeat the level.”

“Huh… Hold on, how about you take care of the mummy and I make dinner?”

“You suck at cooking, so no. Plus, you’re wounded. Do your best, Zeeta!”

I opened the fridge. Well then, what will I make? Something well-balanced. Ray wasn’t picky, but Zeeta was kinda vegetarian, so meat was out. Cheese was okay. How about a pizza? Okay, let’s make that!

I was chopping some veggies when I heard Zeeta shouting “save me!” as a bat was attacking him. Arkill went to his rescue, then Ray gave him some pointers.

“Oh, I see, I see, so that’s how it is… But what’s with the crappy stats of this mummy!”

I whistled cheerfully as I put the pizza into the oven. When I brought their dinner, both Ray and Zeeta almost drooled. Their reaction was funny to watch. Were they that hungry? I felt happy, but also a bit envious. Because…

I was starving.

And raw meat barely placated my hunger.

The same night, as Arkill had already left and Zeeta and Ray were sleeping in their bedrooms on the second floor, I grabbed my cell and went outside. I was a bit nervous, but that didn’t prevent me to make the call. The Lord Necromancer picked it up rather quickly.

« Armen? Is that you? »

“It’s me.”

« What’s going on? Has anything happened to my son?! »

Huh… What is he panicking for?

“Ray’s doing fine.”

« … Oh. Is that so. Thanks. Well then, good evening. »

“Don’t hang up!”

« Why? Do you have something else to report? »

I made a face. Did he seriously think I would call him just to tell him Ray was doing fine? Good grief… I looked up at the crescent moon and said:

“I have a request.”