“Where am I? If I remember correctly, there was this bear and...” When I looked beside me, I saw my body on the ground, covered with blood. The vomitous stench of rotting corpse almost made me nauseous. “I-is that me? W-what’s happening? ...Ahhh!” Hastily, I ran away, but some sort of invisible wall blocked me, no, more like something pulled me back.

“Oh man. Not another one.” A grating voice spoke behind me. My body rolled so I could see him; it was a man dressed in hip hop fashion. “Sup bro,” he greeted while offering a high five.

“W-who are you?” With a bloody corpse beside me, and a random guy acting like everything was normal, I knew something bad was going to happen. Trembling, I slowly moved back while facing him.

“Don’t be scare bro,” he uttered. “Imma harmless dude.”

“Who are you? What happened to me?”

“Hmm. Jus’ call me Gimmy, with a ‘G’.” he replied. “Y’see, you became a bounded spirit.”

After that, the man explained what happened. The reason why my body was on the ground was because I had died; that bear-like monster before might have killed me. However, due to unknown reason, my spirit became bounded to my corpse, thus preventing me from moving away from my body, or passing onto the afterlife.

Who is this guy? Am I really a ghost? Then, how can he see me? Can I really trust him?

“I’m… My name’s Hiiro, Hiiro Akira.”

“Nice to meet you, Hiiro.” After offering a handshake, he pulled me up so I could stand. “So bro, any regrets or hatred you have right now? Y’see, if you remain bounded for a year you might turn into a Lich. ”

“A what?”

“A Lich. Well, that only happens in rare occasion though,” he replied, and brought out a mobile phone from his pocket. “Oops. Sorry bro, gotta go.” After those words, he suddenly disappeared.

“Gimmy? Where are you, Gimmy?” Repeatedly, I shouted, followed by a bit of silence. “What am I going to do now?”

Weeks passed, with nothing but staring at my slowly rotting body, my life became empty. Eventually, I got used to the smell of my corpse.

Even ghosts can smell things. Huh.

There were times where I tried to speak to the trees around, or had conversations with animals that passed by. Some animals could see me, but couldn’t talk with me, so I had this make belief of having an imaginary friend.

Now I know why there are a lot of playful ghosts in stories.

They had no source of enjoyment. With nobody to talk to, spirits play with the living to ease their loneliness.

“Yow bro, you’re still here?” A sound coming from a familiar voice. When I looked around, I saw the same man wearing the hip hop fashion weeks ago. “Oh man, you’re still bounded? Dude, you should settle your regrets or you’ll regret it. See what I did there, bro?” He spoke while pointing me with his two hands.

“Even if you tell me that... In the first place, why did you leave me before explaining everything?”

I don’t know if I can really trust him, but he’s the only one I can talk with.

“Oh, sorry bro. My boss called me for a job,” he replied. “Y’see, I’m actually a busy man, but also bored, so fuck it. Let’s talk for awhile.”

We sat near my body and conversed with each other. After weeks of talking to my imaginary friend, I realized something. The regret he was talking was probably about Lily. Even though she never came, I still haven’t confirmed if she really did reject me. What if there was something she needed to do? However, because I’m currently bounded there’s no way of verifying what really happened.

“Y’know man, there’s something weird with your story,” he spoke, staring at me with puzzled looks. “Dude, tell me, you’re not from this world, right?”

“Wait, what do you mean? This is Earth, right?”

“No dude, this is Eteria,” he replied.

Base on his explanations, I’m currently in a world ruled by four powerful kingdoms: the dark immortals of the North, the Demon Kingdom; the genius mortals of the South, the Human Kingdom; the forest guardians of the West, the Elven Kingdom; and the horned beasts of the East, the Dragon Kingdom. I should’ve known, since in the first place, Liches don’t exist on Earth.

How did I came to this world?

But, Gimmy didn’t seem to be lying. Those weird animals I saw, that giant mecha from before, and the scary trees around; there’s no way all of these exist on Earth.

Am I in some sort of parallel world, another planet, or an entirely different universe?

“This is just too much to handle.I just died weeks ago, and now I found out that I’m not even on earth.”

“Sorry bro,” he apologized as he pat my shoulder. “Y’know what, I’ll come visit you every week so you won't get bored. Whaddya say?”

“Don’t you have a job?”

“Well…” After saying while averting his gaze, he faced me again. “There’s actually a lot of us, y’know. And I’m kinda bored. Jus’ don’t tell my boss,” he added while placing his forefinger to his lips.

I don’t even know your boss.

My daily life consisted of talking with both inanimate and animate objects, watching my decomposing body and having a conversation with my imaginary friend. Fortunately, Gimmy kept his promise and visited me at least once a week. He always talks about his adventures in the four kingdoms. But, there was something that kept bugging me. Who is really Gimmy? Why is he helping me? I kept asking him every time we meet, but he always answered with, “I’m just a simple guide, bro, and I’m kinda bored.”

Months passed, my body was already at the stage of dry decay. All the flesh had disappeared, leaving only my skeleton in plain sight. If Gimmy hadn't pointed it out, I wouldn’t realize how long it was since I became a ghost.

Gimmy and I were having a conversation when a girl with a scarlet hair came to my skeleton. “She’s so beautiful.” Her face was suddenly filled with dazzling smile when she looked at my remains. The twinkle in her eyes allured me as she jumped up and down followed by a joyful cry. It was so long since I last saw someone this happy.

“Hohoho,” Gimmy chuckled “Don’t tell me, you like her?”

“N-No bro. I was just surprise with how she acted when she saw my skeleton.”

“Hah, you called me your bro.” he reacted.

“S-shut up.”

Gimmy hummed while observing the girl. “That robe she’s wearing. I’m pretty sure she’s a necromancer, bro.”

“A necromancer?”

“Yea, but I think she’s not a full blood,” he replied. “You’re kinda lucky, if she decides to reanimate you then you don’t have to worry about turning into a lich,”

“And why’s that?”

“Cuz’ you’ll come back to life,” he answered. “Sadly, the girl will also die.”

“What? No! Why would she die? I don’t even know her.” Just after I said that, the girl started chanting a spell. The wind got stronger as magic runes appeared all over the place. “Gimmy, stop her. I don’t want someone to die because of me.”

“Don’t worry bro,” he replied. “I don’t think she’s casting reanimation. That’s just a basic spell called raise undead.”

After she was finished casting, my skeleton stood. She then repeatedly shouted, “yes” and jumped while raising her fist in the air.

Her smile’s so pretty.

Suddenly, three other girls came. As they walked closer, her joyful expressions slowly disappeared, turning her once beautiful smile, into a gloomy frown.

“Gimmy, are they also necromancers?”

“I don’t know bro. There’s something weird about them, especially those two,” he replied while pointing at the blonde girl and the one with blue twintails.

The blonde girl confronted the girl with scarlet hair. She kept laughing while mocking her, but the girl with the scarlet hair remained silent. Annoyed, the blonde girl pushed her. When she fell down, I tried to catch her, but she just passed through my hands. Soon, the blonde girl walked towards her and repeatedly kick her, however, the girl with scarlet hair didn’t fight back.

“Please, stop this. Don’t hurt her,” I screamed repeatedly at the blonde girl, but she couldn't hear me. I tried restraining her, but every time I touched her, my hands just passed through her body. “Gimmy, help me. Please, stop her.”

But, Gimmy replied with a sad look in his eyes. “I’m sorry, bro. I can’t do anything about this.”

“Emily!” the girl with a black hair shouted, but the girl with blue twintails stopped her. The girl with black hair trembled as she watched the girl with scarlet hair get beaten.

“Why are you hesitating?” I shouted at her. “If you want to help her, then do it. Please, your the only one who can touch them. Please… Please, help her.” But, she never answered; she couldn’t hear me. All I could do was watch her as the blonde girl torment her in front of me; I was useless. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” I never wanted to see this. Even if I tried to close my eyes, I could still hear the sounds of her foot hitting the body of the girl with a scarlet hair. I wanted to go away, to ran far away from that place, but my spirit was bounded to my corpse. It was like I was also being tortured, not physically, but mentally.

After beating the girl, the three necromancers left. “Gimmy, aren’t they necromancers?” I asked. “Then, why can’t they see me?” My screamed echoed throughout the forest, but the girl still couldn't hear me.

“Bro, unfortunately, only full-blooded necromancers can see spirits like you,” Gimmy replied.

“Aren't they full-blooded?” I asked with a soft voice, trying to hide my emotions. “They kept shouting and bragging how they’re this so called legit necromancers.”

“I… I don’t know, bro,” he answered.

“Don’t call me, bro.” I whispered, followed with a booming shout. “You are not my bro! I know you have the power to help her, but you didn’t do anything. You just watched her get beaten.” Gimmy then walked and apologized to me, but I thrust him away from me. “Go away,” I spoke in a soft, slow voice. “Go away!” Looking at the girl, she was crying while lying on the ground. “I’m sorry.” I apologized as I fell on my knees.

The girl took my body to her house. Since I’m bounded, I had no choice but to follow her. There, our little world started. She pretended I was alive, and kept talking to my skeleton. Obviously, it wouldn’t respond, but even so, I always tried to reply even though she couldn't hear me. With our pretend conversation, I found out her name was Emily, and plenty of things about her life. I can’t believe that this pure and innocent girl went through a lot of hardships.

If only I was there to help her. If only.

As days passed, I began to regret what I said to Gimmy. I know what I did was over the top; the sudden surge of my emotions made me shout like that. When I first transferred to Philippines, my classmates bullied me everyday, and Lily would save me everytime. It was hard talking to them since I didn’t know how to speak tagalog nor english that time, so they would always make fun of me. That event might had triggered me when I saw Emily getting kicked. I wanted to apologize to Gimmy, but he never once showed himself to me.

“I hope he’s okay.”

With Emily’s daily conversation with my skeleton, we became imaginary friends, even if I was actually real. But as days passed, I’m beginning to sense something. It was a similar feeling when I first met Lily.

Am I falling in love?

I don’t know. Maybe it was just an illusion I cast on myself to escape from Lily’s rejection; to run away from reality. Or because she was the only one I could converse with, though just pretend. But still, there was one thing I was sure of, ‘I’m happy just being with her.’

Weeks passed, Emily mastered reanimation. It was so long since I last saw her this happy. That cute dimple of hers captivated me every time she smiled. I don’t know why, but I really love it when she do that. However, my feelings reversed when I remembered what Gimmy told me, “If she uses reanimation, she will die.” My mind was filled with contrasting emotions. I want her to be happy, but at the same time I don’t want to lose her. She went out of the house, leaving me alone and hoping that she would come back.

Please, let me see her again.

I waited for her to come back, the suspense would definitely kill me, if I was alive. It was long, but I endured. When she returned, I almost cried. But when I saw her again, her smile was gone. She became a girl drained of life; her sparkling aura from before had disappeared.

Three days had passed, Emily remained silent, not eating and unable to sleep. I couldn’t remember how many times I tried to talk to her, but as usual she couldn’t hear me.

If only there was something I could do. If only I could touch her.

Suddenly, I thought of something, poltergeist. Based on what I always saw on anime, manga and games; ghosts had the ability to move objects at will. With that on my mind, I tried possessing my skeleton, but every time I touched it, my hands would just pass through. So I concentrated my mind hoping for it to move, and it did after a lot of failed attempts.

Immediately, I ordered it to walk towards Emily. It was trembling since it was the first time I did it. Emily was shocked, of course she would, since she never used magic to control it. As my skeleton finally reached her, it patted her, followed by a hug. It was the only thing I could do. Even though she couldn't hear me, I wanted to at least ease her pain. Fortunately, it seemed my message reached her. However, a different problem occurred.

Emily wanted to reanimated me after that event. But if she did, she would die. Using poltergeist, I tried to stop her, but I was too tired. What I did before drained my energy. Emily took my skeleton to the forest, and I followed her. Again and again I shouted at her to stop, hoping for a miracle to happen, hoping that she could somehow hear me, but I failed. As Emily started the spell, a familiar man appeared in front of me. It was Gimmy.

“Nice to see you again, bro,” he spoke with a soft voice.

“Gimmy!” I shouted. “I’m sorry for what I did before. I don’t know if you would forgive me, but please… bro... help me stop her.”

“Hah, you called me your bro,” he chuckled, followed by a serious tone. “It’s… It’s okay bro. I’m sorry I couldn't help you before.”

“Bro, please tell me, how can I stop her?”

“You can’t bro,” he replied. “Reanimation can’t be stop.”

“It… It can’t be. Maybe there something we can do. Please, bro, I’ll do anything.” After I said that, Gimmy looked at the runes that Emily wrote; he felt something.

Based on his explanations, it seemed Emily’s reanimation was altered, and it was incomplete. Which meant that there should be some flaws on that spell. Gimmy gave me a picture of a normal reanimation rune, and asked me to help him look for something odd. We needed to act fast; Emily’s life was in our hands.

After a few minutes we found what we were looking for. Good thing reanimation took a lot of time, however, it was already halfway done. Gimmy analyzed the rune, and fortunately, he found out a way to interrupt the spell.

“Bro, you said before that you will do anything for her right?” Gimmy asked while looking at the runes.

“Yes bro, anything.”

“Y’see bro, in order to interrupt the spell we need a large quantity of mana.” Gimmy looked at me. “However, even though you possess a large amount in your body, we can’t use it right now since you’re dead.”

“Then bro… What do I need to do?”

“Well… There’s actually another good source of mana we can use, your memories.” he answered. “However, it’s too dangerous. There’s a high chance of you losing all of them in the process. Bro… Are you prepared to lose your memories?”

There was a bit of silence before I answered with confidence. “Yes, I’m prepared.”

Suddenly, a scythe appeared in Gimmy’s hands, and he began casting a spell. For a moment I was startled, but I needed to concentrate on Emily first so I didn’t questioned him. He instructed me to put my hands on his scythe and concentrate on putting mana on it. Again and again, I tried, but I always failed. “You can do it, bro,” he shouted. It was my first time doing something like this, but with his guidance, I finally managed to do it. The magic was a success; we stopped Emily’s spell.

Moments later, my body was turning transparent. “Bro, what’s happening to me?” When I looked at him, his appearance was also changing. Standing in front of me was a skeleton covered by dark cloth while holding a scythe .

“Y’see, even though we interrupted the spell, half of her life force were already transferred to you.” Gimmy looked at me. “Be glad bro, you will be reanimated, though incomplete, but you’ll be revived.”

“Bro... who really are you?”

He walked towards me and put his hands onto my shoulders. “Y’see bro… I kinda used up most of my energy. Well, I might retire from my job for a while. I can’t have you lose all your memories y’know. I already failed you once, I’m not going to repeat it this time.”

“But why? Why would you do this? Why would you sacrifice yourself for me?”

“Cuz’ you are my first friend, bro,” he replied. “Unfortunately, I couldn’t protect all of your memories. When you return to life, you’ll forget everything about me, and that girl. I’m sorry.”

There was a bit of silence before I answered. “It’s okay, bro. I have a feeling that even if I forget her, I will still protect her no matter what.”

“I see,” he replied. “That’s good then. Good bye, bro. Till we meet again.”

“Thank you, and goodbye, my friend.”

After that, I returned to life and forgot everything from the moment I came to Eteria, the moment I died, until the moment I was revived. However, I sometimes dream of the time I was running away from what I saw in the burning Village of the Necromancers.