Brackenfell Marshes
The glowing eyes moved closer. The silhouette of twin ears appeared, followed by a shiny nose, and finally the whole body of the black rabbit came into view. It titled its head as it watched Chloe.
"What?" she asked, annoyed by all of her unanswered questions. “Who are you? Why are you following me?”
The rabbit moved closer, sniffing the air suspiciously.
"You are Cassadin's familiar," Chloe said, her voice softer now, so she wouldn't scare off the creature.
“Is this what you want?” She reached inside her shirt and pulled out the amulet. "This was his, it’s connected to you somehow."
The rabbit took another step closer, its nose twitching furiously.
"Don't worry,” Chloe said. “I’ve had enough of death. I'm not going to kill you."
Her words seemed to calm the creature. It tilted its head again, studying her.
"Is that why you're so afraid?” Chloe asked. “Because of what I am?”
A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she pulled herself up against the wall to keep herself from passing out.
Her sudden movement startled the creature, and it turned and fled.
[Hunger 5%]
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Chloe was tired and dizzy, but her stomach demanded food. She had no choice but to follow its demands. She’d seen what happened to her when she ignored it. Her body had taken control of her, and she didn't want that to happen again.
Chloe pulled herself up, dusted the dirt off of her blood soaked, clothes and went hunting.
Her new body was strong, but she was still clumsy, and she often slipped in the deep mud. The further she went, the deeper the mud became until she had no choice but to lay down on her stomach and pull herself across the mud.
She did this for sometime until she spotted a red and white striped snake. She inched towards it slowly. The snake’s tongue flicked in and out, sensing her presence. She wondered what the scent told the snake about her. Was it confused by the smell of a dead corpse sneaking up on it.
Chloe inched closer, careful not to disturb the water. When she was in reach, she slowly rotated her body into a crouching position and launched herself at the snake.
She caught it easily, and the snake twisted around her arm and buried its fangs in her hand. Back on earth, she had been terrified of snakes. But that fear had disappeared in the wake of all she had experienced since coming to this new world.
In a world of monsters, demons and magic snakes were the least of her concerns. Chloe pulled the snake's head back, tearing the fangs out of her hand. She then twisted the snake into a knot, snapping its spine and killing it instantly.
She felt no pity for the creature, it was prey, and she was the predator. She tucked the dead reptile into her coat pocket and kept hunting.
By the end of the day, she’d managed to catch a few small fish and a giant toad.
She returned to her cave and bathed in the cool spring. Once she was clean, she devoured the snake and toad. Their skin was tough, but she ignored the terrible texture and forced down the foul tasting flesh.
[Hunger 4%]
The snake and toad did nothing for her hunger. She needed something bigger. Something with a brain larger than a pea.
The next day, she managed to find a beaver stuck in the mud, and she quickly wrung its neck before it could get away. She returned to her cave and cut open the adorable creature and ate its golf ball sized brain.
She felt bad about killing it. It seemed that some part of her humanity still lingered.
I'm losing my humanity. Next I’ll be hunting kittens and puppies.
After the meal, she curled into a tight ball and cried herself to sleep.
With every day that passed, her hunger grew, and she became more driven by her animal instincts. She knew that if she didn't do something soon she’d end up killing an innocent person for food, and once she’d crossed that line, there was no turning back.
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On the third day, she came across a young fisherman. He was all alone sitting under a willow tree with a fishing pole in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.
He hadn't noticed her watching him from the shadows. She knew she was being a creepy stalker, but she missed people. Watching the man fish calmed her somehow and made her feel human again.
But she was also scared of her appetites, so she made sure to stay far enough away that she wouldn't be tempted to attack him.
She watched him for a few hours, and as she did, she wondered if she could learn to love this new world and it's people.
As much as she hated to admit it, she knew in the back of her mind that with each day that passed, her chances of finding Hope and returning home diminished.
I might be stuck in this world for the rest of my life, and being a zombie, that might be a very long time.
She leaned against a rock and dozed in the sun as she lazily watched the man sitting on his log singing a song she’d never heard before. Her eyes slowly closed, and she eventually drifted off to sleep.
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Chloe woke up from the sound of the fisherman crying out in a language she didn't understand.
The sun was setting over the horizon and the landscape had changed. Her eyes scanned the area around her for danger.
She saw the man waving his rod. She couldn't tell if he was excited that he had caught a big fish, or if he was fighting off something.
She crawled closer for a better look. The man kept hauling in his line and shouting the same strange word over and over. It looked like he had a massive fish on the end.
She sighed in relief and smiled at herself for being so paranoid.
From her new vantage point, she could hear the thump thumping of the man’s excited heart. He reached down into the water and lifted the massive fish.
The later afternoon light reflected off of the scales and Chloe grinned thinking how much meat would be on that fish. Just then, the water stirred beneath the man’s feet, and a set of flashing teeth shot out of the water and grabbed the fish and the man’s arm.
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The creature thrashed violently and pulled the man into the shallow water.
Without thinking, Chloe leapt forward to save the man, her feet carrying her across the ground at a break neck speed.
She could make out the faint outline of the creature’s body. It was covered in spikes and had a massive thrashing tail.
It looked like a crocodile, but larger and meaner than any she had seen before. It twisted its long neck and the fisherman screamed as blood sprayed into the water.
Chloe breathed in the sweet smell of the man’s blood soaked clothing. It smelt so good, like steak on a barbecue or chicken pot pie.
Adrenaline coursed through her in waves, and the color faded from the world. She couldn't wait any longer. The hunger forced its way into her mind like an unwelcome guest. It was time to feed.
[Hunger 0%]
[Survival Mode Activated]
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Chloe, the Paladin of the First Order, had been struggling to control her old body for over a week now. She had gained the briefest amount of control the first night she'd arrived back in Ivalice, but the control had been seized from her by her body's zombie instincts. She'd used that brief time to leave a message for her old self.
She still couldn't believe she’d become a zombie. When she’d originally arrived in Ivalice she’d been so devastated by Hope’s death that she’d run straight to the gates and begged them to let her out.
After they’d searched her for bite marks and found none, she had been let out. She’d had no money, so she’d been forced to find a spot to sleep outside of town.
She’d arrived at the same graveyard. But things had gone way worse for her the first time. The thugs had caught her, and she'd been stabbed and left for dead inside an occupied coffin. When she'd been found, clinging to life by the barest thread, she'd been taken to the Healers of the Third Order.
Once she'd been healed, she'd joined the Paladin's of the First Order. They could sense her hatred for the dark, and they trained her to get revenge on Malice for the death of her sister.
She'd risen in the ranks quickly, and soon she was commanding a squadron of her own. But even with all of her strength and with the five most powerful companions at her side, the armies of light had still lost the war.
She’d always suspected that one of the five had betrayed them, but she’d never been able to tell who.
Things would be different this time. She’d let Cassadin die and chosen to save her sister instead. She'd never imagined that her sister would be brought into this world with Malice.
She had never truly understood the connection Malice had with her, but over the years she had been spared by the demons time and time again for reasons she did not know.
She was still pondering the implications of all this when she noticed that her body was acting stranger than usual. It was making strange moaning sounds and stalking a man that was thrashing in the water.
She felt the zombie part of her brain taking control of the body. This was her moment, the one chance she had to steer her past self in the right direction. She concentrated all of her will power into regaining control.
She had spent the last ten years of her life fighting demons. She had fought them and killed them, and she had no desire to let her old self kill someone innocent. She forced her mind into the monster's brain and overpowered it.
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She’d been trained by the order and knew how to wield the ethereal armaments of the Fifth Order. She also knew the secret name of Cassadin’s familiar.
“Onyx!” she yelled. “I need your power.”
She reached into her shirt and gripped the amulet that the zombie Chloe still wore.
A black blur shot across the marshlands and collided with the amulet.
[Ethereal Armament: Spirit Sword]
Blinding light flooded the water and a black sword appeared in her hands. She spun the sword, getting a feel for its balance. Its weight was perfect, and it fit her hand like it was made for her.
She tightened her grip and shot forward. She leapt over a fallen log and ducked beneath the branches of a willow tree, and then she launched herself into the air.
She drew on Onyx’s power and the familiar responded to her urgent need.
[Armament Ability: Portal Activated]
She dashed through the portal and appeared in the sky above her target. She spun around, positioning her body for the attack. She plummeted towards the muddy water like an eagle after a rat, her sword radiating power.
She swung the weapon in a wide arc, and it whistled as it cut through the air and connected with the crocodile’s spiked armor.
The creature roared as the blade bit into it and then tore straight through armor, cartilage, muscle and bone. The ethereal armament sliced through the beast effortlessly, decapitated the crocodile in a single precise strike.
Blood gushed into the water and the head floated up to the surface.
The fisherman pulled his hand free of the monster's mouth and cursed in a language Chloe recognized as El’bhed. She could tell that he was afraid of her. He was right to be.
[Colossal Crocodile Killed - Progress Towards Next Evolution: 92%]
The blood and exposed flesh threatened to drive her mad with primal need. She could feel her resolve crumbling as the undead creature inside of her raged to take back control.
Its bloodlust pulsed through her in urgent need. She grabbed the fisherman’s bloody arm and sunk her teeth into his flesh. Blood filled her mouth.
Oh, crap! This can't be happening.
The words echoed in her head as the monster tried to bend her to its will. It was strong-it's power fueled by single-minded desire.
The fisherman tried to pull back his arm, but her nails dug into his skin. He shouted, “Demon!” over and over again.
She pulled back, her mouth dripping blood, and then she grabbed the man with both of her hands and tossed him through the air and onto the river bank. He landed and there was a crunching sound as bones broke.
Chloe the Paladin released the ethereal armament and shouted, “Run!”
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[Colossal Crocodile Devoured: Progress Towards Next Evolution: 100%]
[Hunger 36%]
[Survival Mode Deactivated]
Chloe the zombie's eyes fluttered open. Her hands were covered in mud and blood, her mouth tasted of reptile brains, and it took her a few minutes to figure out where she was.
She was standing knee-deep in water. She lifted her head and looked to her right, and she saw the night sky and a flock of birds flying overhead. She watched them until they disappeared over a nearby hill, and then she turned back to the dead crocodile. Its head floated apart from its body, and its small brain was gone. The fisherman was nowhere in sight.
[Evolution: 100%] [Lesser Zombie Evolution paths:]
-[Greater Zombie] - [Balanced Class. Wields minor dark magic]
-[Armored Zombie] - [Close combat class. High defense]
Chloe read the message over and over again. She’d managed to evolve. It seemed like she’d achieved that through killing monsters and by devouring brains.
She wondered what that meant. Would she still be the same person after this? Would she still have her memories and her personality, or would she become something different?
She tried to push away the message, but it remained in her mind’s eye, forcing her to make a choice.
She’d always played magic wielder classes in video games, but mages were squishy and this was no video game. The armor type would keep her alive for longer, and at that moment survival was all that mattered.
[Lesser Zombie⇾ Evolved To⇾ Armored Zombie]
Her body began to tremble as great power entered and coursed through her muscle tissue. The muscles hardened, and her skin shimmered like polished porcelain. Next, her neck extended slightly, and her spine curved, lowering her into an attack pose. Her knees creaked and snapped, and her legs grew.
The wound in her chest closed up and the cuts on her arms and face healed. The only mark on her body that remained were the two words cut into the palm of her left hand. ‘Save Hope’
She read the words and felt a stab of pain in the region of her dead heart. She was still human looking but sleeker-built for killing.
[Choose an ability:]
[Oath of Pain: Sets you on fire when cast. The oath uses your pain to increase your strength]
[Defying Shout: Forces enemies to focus their attacks on you]
[Cover: Take all damage intended for another party member]
All of those abilities sounded shit. Why would she want to cause herself pain and even worse, why would she want enemies to target her. The last one made the least sense, she was all alone, what use was there for covering for some else.
But she had to pick one of the abilities. The menu would not go away otherwise.
She signed, “Zombies don't feel pain, so this decision shouldn't be too bad.”
[Skill Acquired: Oath of Pain]
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