Charlie

The book had been dusted off, courtesy of Charlotte, and most of its pages were now clean enough that I could make out what was on them. It was bound in leather but had nothing written on the cover. Given I had no real way to understand what was being written, the closest approximation I could get was with a translator app on my phone. The book had no title page nor did it say who the author was, and I couldn't find a name scribbled inside either that would give a hint as to who had bought it or owned it. I did see small markings made sometimes in the margins, and some of the pages were creased indicating they had likely been folded to serve as impromptu bookmarks, but they gave no clue as to the owner's identity.

Even at the end, I saw nothing like a bibliography or an ‘About The Author’ section. The pages were not numbered, and whatever drawings were in there seemed to be handmade, as if the book had been printed first and then gaps left for the illustrations which were made later. It had a strong ‘old book’ smell though given it had been in that hiding spot for decades at least this was not unexpected.

The translator app was not perfect, and the first few paragraphs of the book went like this, or at least, they went like this, as best as I could tell while filling in the gaps or correcting errors that the app likely couldn't pick up on:

"While the body is fleeting, the soul is eternal. Such is the wisdom passed down through the world. As Krishna says to Arjun, "The soul is without birth, eternal, immortal, and ageless. It is not destroyed when the body is destroyed. The soul is neither born, nor does it ever die, nor having once existed, does it ever cease to exist." Such sentiment is nearly universal - with decrying the body as a mere mortal vessel for the soul.

However, one must ponder more deeply about what the 'soul' in truth entails. Many texts make the mistake of confusing the mind with the soul - indeed, a thought that muddles understanding of the topic. Though one's soul may remain eternal- one's memories fade throughout passage through the veil of death. Here, we will be using the term 'spirit' to mean not the soul per se, but a person's memories.

Much has been said of transmutation of the material world and of the processes involved therein, howsoever, when it comes to the soul, many make the mistake of attempting to either preserve or to transmute it. This is a futile effort of course, as the soul has repeatedly been described to be immutable and eternal. No, what can be done however, is editing of the spirit, or of the memories. Stories of how Faust attempted to bargain away his soul for power are but fairy tales - for the laws of the soul are immutable.

The soul finds vessels after each death and reincarnation per eastern texts over and over, and while it may be possible to tie the soul down to an alternative vessel, the lack of memories and emotions carried over from each iteration make the described process a true death not only of the body, but any memories and experiences formed.

If one could tie the spirit's inner memories and experiences to the soul, though the body may be destroyed, one may achieve that which the alchemists have worked over and over again for- an elixir of immortality.

Given the eternal nature of the soul, nothing needs to be done in order to preserve the soul by itself, it only needs another vessel to inhabit - the trickery lies in keeping the spirit's memories intact."

The text went on and on, and it wasn't helped by the fact that there were clearly major translation issues at some points. I was initially excited given the original way the text started that this might as a matter of fact hold the answers as to why Charlotte was the way she was right now, but it went on and on for pages on the nature of spirits, souls, and going into various alternative philosophies regarding what they meant and which ones it thought were correct. It seemed more like a pseudoreligious book rather than an instruction manual. I would make a note to try to delve deeper into it, maybe it would even be worth getting someone who actually knew how to read German to translate it.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I did try one last thing before going to bed- I tried typing out a passage of text from the book, as it was written, in German, and passing it through a search engine, to see if perhaps the book had ever been put into digital form and that I could find it somewhere on the web- only to be disappointed as nothing came up.

No matter - I would work on it later, hopefully at a time when I didn't feel like slumping over in my own chair.

Charlotte

I asked Charlie what he had found in the book, to which he said "Nothing promising, unfortunately." It didn't seem like much of note could be found there, and he had even brought a new set of books on the occult and such from the library for us to go through - though this again looked like it wouldn't turn up anything fruitful.

"There was something I wanted to bring up, though," he said while motioning in a way that suggested he was asking for my phone. "It's something I thought you would be interested in- video calling."

These phones had miniature cameras in them, and could record live footage and also transmit it almost instantly, meaning we could look at each other from different rooms as if we were peering in through a window - and they had no issue transmitting sound as well, letting us both speak and see each other.

"I thought you might want to see May's grave yourself," he said. I then understood what he was saying- I couldn't be there in person, but maybe I could be there in spirit. "Maybe you can say something that I couldn't."

I nodded. "But... it'll have to be done in the dead of the night or I won't be able to respond. Can you go there at that time?"

"It might be difficult," Charlie said. "But I think I can stay there a bit past sundown- though we would have to act fast as we'd have limited time. This would be a bit easier in winter when the sun goes down sooner, but I don't think you want to wait till then."

"No," I said. "...again, thank you for everything."

"It was my pleasure," he said.

When dawn arrived, I was once again left motionless, and when I could once again spring to life, I saw that my phone was ringing. By now I was accustomed to most of its functions - though Charlie still hadn't shown me how to use the 'browser' or whatever it was called.

"Hello," he said, standing in a graveyard. "Your video isn't that good," I said. Earlier I had been able to see him almost as clearly as if he were next to me, but now, the image was distorted as if I was looking at a reflection in an uneven mirror.

"Yeah, I'm using my data, not the house wi-fi," he said. I really wasn't sure what that meant. "Ah, it's not going to get much better than this, but I hope you can still see things." Given how dark it was, it was difficult to make some things out. "I had to really pull an excuse as to why I was staying here so late, but I think they're going to kick me out in about ten minutes or so if I don't leave."

He turned on a light, and I saw May's gravestone. The fake flowers Charlie had placed there last week were still there, dirty, but still there, undecayed given their nature or rather lack thereof.

The video broke up at points, though Charlie encouraged me to speak my mind.

"May... of all the regrets that I currently have, the biggest is that I was never able to say farewell to you. There was so much that we could've done together- one of the last times we ever spoke you said that the day might come when we would rarely see each other again. I had expected that time to be in five or ten years at most, and thought that we would be able to cherish what time we had together before we would say our goodbyes. I never got to stand with you on your wedding day - and I thought that we would be together at least until that happened. I... I could spend hours and not say everything I want to say to you - but beloved cousin, I hope you rest in peace."

"..."

"That is all, Charlie." I told him.

"Right, good timing too because I think they're sending someone right now wondering why there’s a guy here so late at night," he said, before hastily disconnecting the device.