24. Inferno: Hell will wake you up

“Can you guys take those boxes upstairs?”

“No prob!”

“Thanks a bunch. I’ll make something for everyone! Is tea okay? Or perhaps some coffee?”

“Tea is perfect for me, dear!”

That blondie in his late twenties who answered twice with a lively tone was Ashael, the leader of Azritz’s new research team. As Azritz disappeared in the kitchen with Hira—an energetic, green-haired black woman I had already met before—Ashael and I carried the boxes to the second floor. Considering how small our previous house was, the number of things we had to move was quite amazing.

“It’s a pretty good house, don’t you think?” Ashael asked.

I had only just learned that guy was the one who recommended the place to her. Was he seeking my approval? Huh…

“Yeah, it’s quite good.”

“So, are you staying at your big sis’ house? You two grew up in the countryside in a lighthouse, didn’t you? And you’ll be seventeen this New Year, right? Do you know what you want to do when you graduate?”

That guy was asking so many questions without even waiting for my answers… Was it a professional deformation?

As he was looking at me, waiting for a reaction, I admitted:

“Not really.”

“Oh… So you’re staying somewhere else?”

What? Why did he assume I was answering his first question? That definitely sounded like a professional deformation!

“Actually, I’m staying at a friend’s place near my school.”

“Ah, that’s great. Listen, Armen: you only live once, so you have to make the fullest of your school life! It also applies to jobs, naturally. I’ll make sure your sis will have a good time in our research team. From what I saw, she’s quite the enthusiastic type when it comes to studying quirks.”

“She’s a total freak,” I confirmed.

Ashael chuckled.

“Then, she should blend in our group without a problem. But aren’t you yourself interested in those kinds of things?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I heard from Azritz you were an amazing bro, so I thought you were aiming for the Nyomin College like she did.”

In what world was “an amazing bro” necessarily a good student? I smiled back at him.

“Absolutely not. Also, I’m not that amazing of a brother… nor a saint. For instance, I wouldn’t be able to forgive anyone who gets close to my sister half-heartedly.”

I went downstairs to take care of the last boxes. Ashael followed me. As we were putting them down upstairs, he chuckled:

“You surprised me. Just you know, I don’t like doing things half-heartedly. I’m just professionally interested in your sis since she’s a new member of my team. But as a former Hero, I sometimes get carried away and end up doing things like finding suitable accommodation for them and helping them out when they need it… Is that bad?”

Ashael was being sincere, I think. I felt kind of embarrassed.

“It’s not, I guess. Thanks for your help. Sorry I was rude.”

“Ah, don’t apologize. Seeing you protecting your sister like that was quite moving.”

Huh. Gods know why, that guy annoyed me quite a bit.

I let Azritz drink tea with her teammates and went upstairs to what my sister had called “my lil bro’s room when he feels like visiting me”. My things were stuffed in one box, but I didn’t unpack them. For the most part, they were summer clothes anyway. As for my school bag, I had left it in Ray’s house along with my violin.

I stepped to the window and opened the shutters. The residential area of the Nyomin District was full of two-story houses. Amidst them, the giant Crystal of the Nyomin towered in the sky, reflecting the sunrays everywhere. That was the place Zeeta was spying for the Hidden Hall. The Nyomin Union’s nest. Just next to it was the Nyomin College where the researchers, Heroes, students, and administrative officers worked at. If almost every task was done on the College’s grounds… then what was that giant Crystal used for?

I shut the window, turned around, and fell on the bed, arms wide open, with a sigh.

It had been four days since that night. How much time would it take for Ray to wake up? If he had woken up, he would have already called me. I was worried. But I couldn’t get close to the Lord’s mansion. I had already tried. The closest I could get was around half a kilometer. When I reached that distance, my body just stopped moving. It was frustrating.

My cellphone buzzed. It was Woon sending a photo to our chat group from the Hawaii Mountains: ‘Guys! Look at all this snow! 😍’ He was posing with four ski poles, one in each hand. Another skier was coming down just by his side.

‘Arkifa, 15:33: Wow, the guy beside you looks just like an expert.’

‘Woon, 15:33: What about me?’

‘Armen, 15:34: Looks like one of your poles was trying to trip him up. 😮’

‘Woon, 15:34: It wasn’t!’

‘Woon, 15:34: Wait, now that I look back at the photo, it does look like it. 😦’

‘Ashooka, 15:34: It was Haxton.’

‘Armen, 15:35: 😂’

‘Arkifa, 15:35: 😂 😂 😂’

Woon had been blaming Haxton, his third hand, for so long that it had become Ashooka’s favorite joke.

‘Arkifa, 15:38: Btw, Ashooka and I decided to go to the countryside to visit his grandma for Christmas. They have a lake, and it’s warmer there, so we won’t be seeing much snow. Armen, what are you gonna do these holidays?’

Arkifa was an orphan, so it wasn’t surprising she would spend Christmas with her boyfriend’s family. Though the lucky one there was clearly Ashooka.

‘Armen, 15:39: I don’t know yet. My sis got a new job and won’t be taking days off, so we won’t be going back to the lighthouse.’

‘Armen, 15:39: But I already got my presents! 😄’

‘Arkifa, 15:39: Already???’

‘Ashooka, 15:40: After all, they say that Santa lives on the Moon.’

‘Arkifa, 15:40: 😅’

‘Woon, 15:40: I didn’t get it. 😓’

‘Ashooka, 15:41: Armen Moon.’

‘Woon, 15:41: Ah!’

‘Armen, 15:41: Ah!’

‘Ashooka, 15:41: You didn’t get it either? 😁’

‘Armen, 15:41: Nope 😅’

‘Arkifa, 15:42: Sorry I gotta go!’

‘15:52: Have fun, everyone! Let’s do our best to end this year with happy memories!’

Her words struck me. Right, the year was coming to an end. This year had been full of new experiences. I had spent time with the Cheetahs who then got disbanded, Ray had come back from Europe, and I had died.

But I had been revived and had learned to appreciate my new life as an undead.

‘Let’s do our best to end this year with happy memories’, she said…

What was I even waiting for? The Lord Necromancer had told me to disappear, not to not come near Ray.

As soon as I realized that, I felt as if a burden had been lifted from my shoulders. I grinned and jumped to my feet.

“Let’s do it.”

* * *

The violin on my back, a large, cheap, plastic coat covering my whole body, a shopping bag on my head, I passed the red line.

I had tried various things, from sunglasses to masks, concealing my presence with everything I got… but nothing had worked. I was losing hope when it occurred to me that being able to see was a sign of my existence, therefore I had to stop seeing.

The good thing was that, as an undead, I didn’t need to breathe, so I wouldn’t choke with a bag on my head. The problem was, blind as I was, I had a hard time reaching the Lord Necromancer’s gate. I just hoped Zeeta wasn’t wandering in the neighborhood. Though I doubted he would recognize me. If I hadn’t been sure no one could see through my disguise, I probably wouldn’t have been able to get closer. All in all, I just had to delude myself.

Necromancer’s orders were so troublesome.

I was walking along the walls, and I ran into a lamp-post, not once but twice. As I heard someone’s footsteps pass by and fade away, I swallowed my embarrassment. I just hoped that person wouldn’t call the police…

I finally reached the gate. Well, I think. I just shyly raised a corner of my bag to glance at the lower part of the gate. It was blue.

It must be here.

Should I make my way by force? No, but I was pretty sure the Lord Necromancer knew I was there. His little birds must have told him already. Besides, he could likely feel my presence through that strange bond he had created between us.

I pressed the doorbell and waited.

I waited, like, ten minutes? Twenty minutes? No matter how many times I pressed the bell, the gate wouldn’t open.

Okay… I didn’t have much choice.

I felt the gate with my hands and tried to blindly pick out my grips. There wasn’t any. As I leaned my covered forehead against the metallic door, I threw a light punch, frustrated. Crap. I wanted to say something out loud to the Lord and see if he would let me in… but I feared that, if I did, then I wouldn’t be able to deny my own existence, and the order would make me run away again. It wasn’t something I could fight.

Without warning, I heard the gate open. I jerked up. Could it be the Lord had forgiven me? No, there was no way he had. Maybe he just didn’t want to alarm the neighborhood because of me. I entered and closed the gate behind me.

‘What are you doing here?’

I stopped as I heard the Lord Necromancer’s voice in my head. Could I talk? I mustered my courage and said:

“Please don’t tell me to get out. I just want to see Ray.”

The fact that the Lord hadn’t ordered me yet to buzz off was a good sign, but I didn’t relax.

‘He’s still sleeping,’ the Lord grumbled. ‘You can see him… if you accept some conditions.’

I frowned. Conditions?

“Aren’t you basically able to make me do anything, my Lord? Why asking for my agreement?”

‘Mm, let me rephrase it: if you enter this house, I’ll embed long-term orders in your brain. You’re not my familiar, so I give you the possibility to turn around and leave.’

His words didn’t bode well.

“Are all those long-term orders meant to protect your son?” I asked.

‘That, I cannot tell you.’

“Then I can’t accept. But I still have to see Ray.”

‘You annoy me. Just stay quiet and still where you are until I tell you otherwise.’

The hell? Was he going to leave me standing in the middle of the path? I couldn’t utter a word. I couldn’t move a muscle. I was paralyzed. Internally, I was furious. It was the first time the Lord had abused his authority like that. He, too, must be pretty furious, or too busy with Ray to be willing to deal with me.

My cellphone buzzed about twice or thrice. With the bag on my head, I couldn’t tell what time it was until the light began to decline. Nighttime came, and I was still there, not being able to move or speak. I heard steps in the snow once, surely one of the life reapers, but they said nothing to me. Was it Sora, Arkill, Louise, or someone else? Did the Lord have ordered them not to talk to me?

I knew it wasn’t the case when, some time later, I heard new footsteps and Arkill’s voice saying:

“Hello, Armen.”

He removed the shopping bag from my head. Paralyzed as I was, I couldn’t even try to “disappear” anyway. In the dark, I could barely see him though, but the new view cheered me up a bit.

“Don’t resent the Lord too much. His son almost died. Let’s be patient.”

Could I not be patient in that kind of situation?

“Ray is fine. He’s sleeping, but nothing is wrong with him. He just exhausted his energy and needs a good rest to recover. He’ll probably wake up tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

Arkill was a great person. He had told me everything I wanted to know in just some sentences. He had already passed by me when he stopped again.

“Oh, by the way, the incident with the Black-Hearts has been settled. Don’t worry too much about that.”

I was left astounded. The incident had been settled? What did that even mean? What had the Lord done to calm down that murderous medusa?

I had no visit for the rest of the night. Or more like, no normal visit: I did see for the first time Uncle Adrian’s ghosts wandering between the trees, collecting vegetable lifeforce. They were ethereal, translucent things, randomly shaped and… creepy. I luckily wasn’t afraid of the ghosts as much as Ray was afraid of the dark but… well, I guess that after some hours seeing them floating around me, I got used to it. Bored as I was, I killed time using my telekinesis on anything I could see: snowflakes, stones, little sticks laying on the path… I even got brave enough to try it on a ghost. It whirled, then escaped from my field of vision. When a heap of snow fell on my head from a high branch, I was convinced that the ghost had something to do with it. Frightened to death, I spent perhaps a whole hour praying for the ghosts to have mercy…

There was not much time left before sunrise and the ghosts had disappeared when I saw someone walking down the path with a lantern. When he stopped before me, I could see him pretty clearly. He was a kid of maybe twelve years old, black-haired, with green, slanted eyes, clothed in short pants and a sport pullover.

“Ray’s familiar,” he said. His voice sounded very calm. “I have a question.”

I had one too: who the hell was that kid?

He raised a hand and laid a finger on my forehead. I felt as if a bolt of lightning pierced through my core.

“Now you should be able to talk. Answer: do you want me to free you from the bond of my nephew?”

Did… Did that kid just now remove a restriction from the Lord? No, did he just call the Lord his “nephew”? Then… he was that “Uncle Adrian” Ray had talked about? The necromancer that had been revived by his brother and inherited by the Lord Necromancer…

Though my legs wouldn’t move, I had recovered some control of my movements. I gave him an incredulous smile.

“Uncle Adrian… You’re a kid?”

“Yes. I am. A very old one. What of it? I asked you a question, Ray’s familiar.”

“Ah… Sorry, what was it?”

Adrian sighed.

“Do you want me to free you from the bond of my nephew?”

I gaped at him in bewilderment.

“Can you really do something like that?”

“I can. So? Do you want to or not?”

“Well, of course I do.”

He slightly smirked.

“What about Ray’s necro-bond? I can teach you how to nurture your inner soul so you don’t need a bond. It’s difficult, but it’s possible.”

I frowned. Was he testing me? I shrugged.

“Thanks but I’m not good at learning difficult things. Also, if it’s Ray, he can use our bond however he likes, I don’t mind.”

Adrian raised an eyebrow.

“You trust him that much?”

“Yeah.”

Adrian nodded.

“All right. Guess you are worth something. First, let’s go somewhere else.”

He touched my forehead again. As soon as I was able to move, he walked away, not toward the mansion but the wood.

“Isn’t the Lord going to notice what you are doing?” I asked as I followed him.

“My nephew is sleeping right now. Even that monster needs to rest. His familiars won’t wake him up if nothing urgent happens.”

After wandering for a while between trunks, avoiding branches and big roots, Uncle Adrian stopped.

“You first.”

He was standing in front of a big tree with a hole in it. I hesitated. There weren’t spiders in it, were there?

There weren’t. The inside was surprisingly cozy and clean. It was small, though—I barely found enough room for my violin—and when Adrian came in, our feet were touching. His lantern illuminated our faces.

“Adults are big.”

Was he complaining? Besides, he was one to talk: despite his looks, he most surely was over sixty years old, if not over seventy.

“Okay, let’s get started.”

He was so calm I wanted to believe he knew what he was doing but…

“W-Wait…” I smiled nervously. “You’re not gonna kill me, right? Ray would be very sad if I died—”

“You’re not going to die. I’m just freeing you from my nephew’s bond. When they revived you, my nephew not only helped Ray create your necro-bond. He made another one that would allow him to observe his son from closer. That is, from you. If my nephew keeps following every step Ray takes, that’s a problem. If he keeps getting meddlesome and doesn’t let his son do anything he doesn’t approve of, that’s a problem. In short, if Art can’t accept that Ray has his own life, we have a problem. Don’t you think?”

I stared at him, astonished, then nodded energetically.

“You are damn right!”

“I’m glad you understand, Ray’s familiar. Now, if you keep doing what ‘the Lord’ tells you, it will only make things harder.”

“I think so too!”

“I like you. You’re quick to understand. Then, let’s do it for Ray.”

“O-Okay.”

Under the light of the lantern, Adrian knelt in front of me and laid his hands on my temples.

“I think it won’t take long. It’s not like breaking a necro-bond. The bond that ties you to my nephew is strong, but not that steady. Mm… It’s quite incredible, though, that you are still able to move even though Ray hasn’t nurtured your bond for four days now.”

“…! I hadn’t thought about that!” Wasn’t a newborn undead supposed to die in a week?

“Must be related to your resurrection and your inner soul. But your deathforce is already showing signs. It won’t be long till your body starts losing capacities.”

Oh. Now that was troublesome. Then a thought occurred to me.

“What about Rainbows?! I checked on her today and she was doing just fine.”

“You mean, the cat? My nephew took care of it.”

But he didn’t take care of me, huh… The Lord’s hatred towards me was hurting me more than I would have thought. Adrian added:

“By the way, Ray’s familiar, you will likely lose consciousness for a moment. Are you ready?”

Was I? Not really but… if that kid could free me from the Lord’s grip, it would be stupid not to give it a go. I smiled with hope.

“I’m in your hands, Uncle Adrian.”

* * *

When I woke up, I was lying against the inner part of the trunk. It didn’t feel quite like an awakening, because I hadn’t really fallen asleep; still, even if it was just for a short time, losing awareness felt oddly relaxing after being awake for so long.

Adrian was outside. As I joined him, I looked up at the clouded sky between the trees. It was dawn.

“Did it work?”

“Without a doubt,” he replied. “Now, the Lord won’t be able to give you unbreakable orders. A necromancer can give orders to undeads that aren’t his, but those are nothing compared to real commands: you can break them through your own will.”

He did it. He really did it. I was amazed. Suddenly, I thought of something I should have thought before: did Adrian do this for nothing or…?

“Adrian. Thanks a lot. If there’s anything I can do for you—”

“Forget it,” the necromancer said as he started walking. “I did it for the Styxer family. I don’t need anything from you. Just do your duty as a familiar and protect Ray.”

A mix of emotions overwhelmed me: gratitude and admiration towards that weird kid, frustration for what had happened to Ray, but mostly: determination.

“I will!” I said. “Definitely. And I will help him control his power.”

Under the first sunrays, Adrian stopped and gave me a surprised look. He smiled.

“Good luck with that. Follow me. I’ll lead you to him.”

He would? I grinned, put my violin on my back, and ran after him.

“I’m happy I met you, Adrian! By the way, you can call me Armen.”

“Mm. I’ll try. But I’m not good at remembering names.”

“Ah, well… I won’t forget yours! Ray told me you’re able to transform vegetable lifeforce into human lifeforce. Is that true?”

“… It is.”

“That’s amazing!”

“… It is. I adapted my power to achieve the transformation. But you couldn’t do that even if you tried.”

“Ah, haha… I know, that’s too bad. But it’s still amazing that you can!”

Adrian gave me a funny look.

“Mm. By the way, don’t ever use your telekinesis on my ghosts.”

I felt as if I was stabbed. Crap… I bowed brusquely.

“Sorry for that! I won’t do it again!”

“As long as you understand…” He turned around. “Telekinesis is amazing too. Make sure you train well.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Somehow, the small necromancer in front of me didn’t seem to me like a kid at all anymore. He acted so cool, he was so calm and level-headed, that I thought: what a shame the Lord Necromancer isn’t like that at all…

Adrian led me into the house through a back door, then downstairs to the basement. It was divided into four rooms separated by plate-glass windows. One was full of bookshelves, the second one looked like a training ground, the third one was a simple room, very neat, with a high bed, where Ray was lying. The fourth one had odd machines, which honestly didn’t draw much my attention, since I was only focused on Ray’s face.

“He’s pale.”

“All Styxer are. Well then, I’ll be in my room.”

“Thanks, Adrian. Oh… I’d like to play the violin for Ray, is that okay? I know it’s stupid but I thought he might wake up if I do…”

“… I doubt it. But give it a try. I like the violin. When it’s well played, that is. Oh, but if it’s really badly played, he might wake up sooner, who knows.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad at it!” I protested a bit hurt.

Without replying, Adrian went into the room with the bookshelves. There was a chair beside Ray’s bed. I sat down, wondering if the Lord Necromancer was awake by now. Taking off my coat, I opened the case, took out the violin, and brandished the bow.

“Inferno.”

It was the title of the piece. The theatrical version told the story of the rising of the King of Hell. Running through the abysses in search of his fallen comrades, a prince ended up falling in love with the Queen of Hell. Despite her cruelty, the Queen secretly loved him back, and after some theatrical twists and turns and serendipities, she finally decided to let him go with his comrades, to which the prince said: go, my brethren, do not fret, for the fire that rises in my heart shall burn the fire of Hell!

The bow stroked the strings and the sound of the violin soon filled the whole room. I put my whole heart into it.

Come back to me, Ray.