Chloe woke up on an old couch in the sitting room of Belgemine's cottage.
A fire crackled in the hearth. It took her a moment to remember what had happened, then fragment memories of the strange ritual came back to her.
The witches and Chaos, the Prime Evil that had tried to possess her. Other memories came to her too. A conversation with Belgemine that she didn't know she'd had. The memories seemed strange, foreign, as if they belonged to a stranger.
Her pupils dilated as she caught the scent of blood drifting in through the open door.
[Hunger 6%]
Belgemine stepped into the room carrying a plate piled high with steaming food.
"What?" Chloe asked as she sat up and took the offered plate.
"You are famished," said the witch. "And you are a threat when you are hungry."
"I can't eat that, I'm a... you know."
"A zombie," said Belgemine. "That's why you need to eat. It's a stew made of various animal brains."
Belgemine shook her head at Chloe's baffled expression. "I don't know how you stomach them raw."
Chloe's questions fell away as the smell of brains washed over her. She quickly, with a shaky hand, spooned some of the stew into her mouth and felt the warmth of the brains running through her body and soothing her aching muscles.
"It's good," she said.
Belgemine nodded approvingly. "We'll talk about the first stage of your training once you've eaten."
Chloe ladled another mouthful of stew into her mouth and then said, "I'm not here to train."
Belgemine frowned and tapped her foot against the floor. "Look, girl, I don't like this either. Because of you, I lost friends. My whole coven was wiped out in a single night."
"But!"
"No buts, by all rights, I should have killed you the second you entered my domain..."
"I'm not a monster," Chloe protested.
"No, but I am sure you have done monstrous things." Belgemine shook her head. "You would be dead right now if it wasn't for the insights you have locked inside that head of yours."
Chloe swallowed and tried to think of something to say. She still had fragments of memories swirling around her head. She grasped onto one, in it, she saw herself wearing plate armor and wielding a sword and shield with the mark of the Talamasca on the shield.
"What did you do to me?" she asked in a low voice.
"Nothing, the ritual was only partly completed."
"I don't know what you are talking about. I woke up and you people were summoning a demon.”
“Demon! We were doing you a favor.”
“That's not what it looked like to me. I need to know what’s going on?” Chloe demanded. “There are gaps in my memory, and I'm remembering places and people that I’ve never seen.”
Belgemine grimaced as Chloe spooned another mouthful of brains into her mouth.
"Your soul is being pulled apart and reshaped," said the witch. "Your future and present are merging.” She scratched her injured arm. “The process is flawed. At times, you will catch fragments of a future that could have been. To you, it will seem like déjà vu."
Chloe didn't understand what the witch was trying to say. It sounded like she was saying that Chloe’s future self had come back in time and merged with her former self. But that didn't make sense. She’d watched enough time travel movies to know that you couldn't be in the same time as your other self.
All the thinking was giving her a headache, "How long will this take before I am normal again?"
The witch sighed, "Forever," she said.
Chloe stared at the witch and then added quietly, "Oh gods."
"I'm sorry," said Belgemine. "But there's no other way."
Chloe pushed away her bowl. "I really don't want to stay here. I have a mission."
"Yes, I know of your mission to save your sister. That will have to wait.”
“What could be more important than saving my family?” Chloe asked.
“We almost lost you back there,” said the witch. “A second later and Chaos would have possessed your body. Without my training, you won’t survive long enough to find your sister, let alone get back home.”
Chloe shook her head. "No. I came here, so you could cure me of being a zombie. Not for training, not for some weird soul merger.”
Chloe stood up from the couch, “I saw in Velvet's mind that you were able to contain the demon inside of her. I need to contain this thing inside of me, that is all I want. Can you help me with that, or do I need to find a witch that can?"
The witch’s eyes narrowed. “I can't let you leave this place untrained. It would be like sending a viper into a nursery.”
She turned her back to Chloe and adjusted a red candle on the mantle. “Velvet was an aberration,” she finally said. “A thing that shouldn't exist. Half human, half demon. I was able to suppress her demon side. That eye patch she wore had a rune stone inside of it. It was the first layer of suppression. The second layer came from strong roots she ingested every morning. But that will not work for you."
"Why not?"
The witch shook her head, "Zombies can only ingest brain matter. You would throw up the plants."
"There must be another way."
"I have already thought about it," said the witch. “There might be another way, it won’t cure you, but it might give you a fighting chance.”
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Belgemine blew on the candle and green flames sparkled into life, casting shadows throughout the small room.
The candlelight flickered, and a shimmering figure appeared in front of the altar. It was the ghost of her husband. He glared at Chloe with open anger.
"What is she still doing here?" he asked.
"This is not the time, Owen—"
"Don't give me that, Bel. This undead bitch almost got you killed."
"What is done is done," said Belgemine. "How could we have guessed that this child would be a vessel."
Owen turned his gaze back to Chloe and said, "What's to prevent the demon from returning?"
"That is partly what I need you for," said the witch. She crossed the room and opened a chest in the corner next to the fireplace. "We must mask her soul and suppress the undead inside of her."
Owen gritted his teeth and nodded, "What do you need, my love?"
The witch opened the chest and pulled out a pair of silver chain mail gloves. She handed the ghost the gloves.
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“I need demon's bane, not just the leaves,” said the witch. “I need the whole plant with the roots intact.”
Owen pulled on the silver gloves and glanced at Chloe a final time, and then he nodded at his wife and opened the door and left the cottage.
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Belgemine led Chloe into the garden, passed a row of saplings and into the woods.
“What were the silver gloves for?” Chloe asked.
The witch shrugged, “The only thing that can touch a ghost is silver. Which means-”
“That ghosts can interact with the world by wearing silver gear,” Chloe said.
“Exactly. It's not quite the same as the tender touch of my husband, but it's better than nothing.”
Chloe was about to ask another question, but the look on the witch's face caused her to fall silent.
They walked for some time in silence, and as they walked Chloe realized that she’d had no vision from eating the stewed brains. She wondered if cooking them was the secret. She’d need to test it out again and see if it produced the same results. She hoped it would work, she was sick of having visions of animals' last moments before they died.
She looked up from her strange thoughts and realized they had reached a grove of oak trees. In the center of the grove stood a single spade, stabbed into a pile of soil.
"What are we doing here?" Chloe asked as she looked around.
"Digging a grave," said Belgemine. "We must honor the fallen."
Honor the dead, Chloe thought. That was a joke. Her first though when seeing the dead was not sadness but hunger.
It was strange how one small thing, like your appetite, could completely change your world view. She wondered if vegans saw life differently. Were they closer to nature, did they see all animals as friends.
She shrugged, it didn't matter, that world was so far away from her. She picked up the spade and went to work.
Her zombie strength allowed her to work tirelessly with no breaks, whilst Belgemine sat under the ancient tree chanting a hymn.
Soon, the dirt around Chloe turned to mud, and then her spade hit stone.
Belgemine stopped singing, “That will do, child.” She reached inside of her robes and drew out a single urn.
“What’s that for?” Chloe asked.
"This is all that remains of them," said the witch, she opened the urn and walked over to the hole.
“They were incinerated?” asked Chloe.
“I burnt their bodies myself. There are many who would use the bones of witches for dark purposes. It is safer for all if their bodies are reduced to ashes.”
Chloe dropped the spade and wiped the sweat off her brow. “Should we say something?”
Belegemine smiled sadly. “Words are for comforting the living. I don't want comfort, I want revenge.”
She tipped the urn over and emptied the ashes of her covern, her friends and family into the deep and empty hole.
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When they returned to the hut, Owen was waiting for them with two demon bane plants in his gloved hands.
Belgemine took the plants from her husband and turned to face Chloe.
“So, what do I do with the plants?” Chloe asked.
“You are going to grow them.”
“What? But I won’t be coming back here once I leave.”
“No,” said Owen. “Which means you’ll need to grow them on your person.”
“That doesn't make sense,” said Chloe.
“Patience, child,” Belgemine said as she entered her hut.
A few minutes later, she returned holding Chloe’s jacket.
“That's mine,” said Chloe.
"Yes,” said the witch. “We will place soil in the two front pockets. You will grow the demon's bane in the soil. That way, the plants will never be far from you.”
“What! That's crazy.”
“Maybe, but this herb only grows on this mountain side. I will give you a supply of dried leaves to smoke, but you must be able to grow them yourself.”
“You expect me to smoke that?” Chloe gasped. “I’ve never even smoked a cigarette. I'm not smoking some random witchy herb.”
The witch ignored her outburst and gestured at the jacket. “In the inner pocket there is a flint and a pipe. Crush the dried leaves and smoke them in the pipe."
Chloe looked up at Belgemine, "Are you sure this won’t kill me?"
“You have lived like a monster for weeks on end,” said the witch. “It has twisted your soul, filling it with chaos. It has become a mirror of the demon, Chaos. We must mask your soul, change it so that the Prime Evil cannot find you."
“Are you saying that she’ll come back?”
“The Prime Evils will not give up so easily.”
“But why would a demon lord need my body?” asked Chloe.
“A soul without a body is like blood without a heart to pump it,” said the witch. “Right now, Chaos’ power is limited, that is, until she claims her vessel.”
Chloe took the jacket from the witch and examined the contents of its pockets. “So what you're saying is that smoking this herb will keep me from being possessed?”
Belgemine smiled, “You are the demon’s vessel, but even a vessel needs to be compatible. As long as you keep the chaos inside you in check, then you will remain incompatible to the demon. The herb will help with that.”
Chloe looked down at the handful of dried herbs in her hand.
“Do you need help with that?” asked Owen.
Chloe glared at him, and he shook his head, muttering under his breath.
She crushed the leaves in the palm of her hand, and the pungent smell filled her nostrils, causing her head to spin.
“I don't like this,” she moaned as she poured the leaves into the pipe.
“Go on,” said the witch, she waved her hand and the dried leaves ignited in the pipe. “Inhale it. As an undead, your lungs are all but lifeless, but the herb does not need to enter your blood, it just needs to enter your body.”
Chloe pressed the pipe to her lips and sighed. “So help me god, this better work.” She took a long drag of it, letting the smoke fill her lungs.
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“I have what I came for,” said Chloe, patting the sides of her jacket. “This is not the cure I’d hoped for, but it's a start. Thank you.”
“You are not ready to leave yet, little zombie,” said Owen.
“I don't need your permission,” said Chloe. “I’m leaving.”
Belgemine raised her hand, “Sorry, but that does not work for me. You are the key to all this. I will not send you out into the world, so you can be captured and used against humanity.”
“I can't stay here for months of training,” said Chloe. “Every day I get further from Hope.” She looked at her feet. “I'm sorry.”
Owen stepped between Chloe and the witch. “So us that you can defend yourself,” he said. “Defeat me and my sons in a battle and you can leave. But if you are unable to defeat a few ghosts, then there is no chance that you could ever do what is needed to rescue your sister.”
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Chloe stood in the back yard of the witch’s cabin and stared at the ghosts of Owen and his five sons. They were all dressed in silver chain mail and wielding silver short swords.
“She is a monster.” Owen's voice was a growl. “Show her no mercy, my sons.”
Anger rose inside of her. She was sick and tired of being called a monster, tired of being told what to do. If a monster was what they wanted, then a monster was what they'd get.
The demon's bane dulled her senses, but they were not enough to keep her anger in check. She took a deep breath and clenched her jaws tight. She'd show them how strong she was. There was no point holding back.
[Oath of Pain: Activated]
Chloe howled in pain as flames burst out of her skin and power pulsed through her like a mighty wave.
The ground cracked underneath her feet and she shot across the yard, her clawed hands extended, ready to tear through her enemies.
She collided with Owen and the two of them flew backwards, crashing into the wheat field.
His blade came slashing down towards Chloe's head, but she moved faster than him. She ducked under it and rammed her shoulder into his gut.
The silver mail burnt her skin, but the pain was nothing compared to the fire burning her up.
Owen flew backwards, slamming into a gnarled tree, which snapped like a twig. He let out a deep groan and rolled back onto his feet.
“Not bad little zombie,” He charged again swinging wildly, trying to catch her off guard.
She dodged to one side, letting his sword graze her arm. Her skin sizzled as the silver blade sliced through her. That she did feel. The pain cut straight through her defenses and she was forced to release her spell.
[Oath of Pain: Deactivated]
The enchanted flames vanished, and only the pain of the cut on her arm remained.
She fell to one knee, breathing heavily.
To survive, I must become a monster.
Her claws dug into the earth beneath her, and she leapt up onto Owen's shoulders and swung her leg around his neck. The silver armor burnt her exposed thighs, but she never let go. She tore off his helmet and threw it away, revealing a young man with pale blond hair.
A silver blade pierced through her shoulder blades and burned her skin and caused her muscles to spasm uncontrollably, but she held on, tightening her grip on the armor around Owen's throat.
Her fingers sizzled against the silver chain mail as it bent in around his throat like a crushed soda can.
He choked and started to slip from her grasp, so she slammed her knee into his groin as hard as she could. The armor gave him the power to harm others, but it also gave her the power to harm him. He doubled over and fell to the ground.
A second silver sword stabbed into her back. She released Owen and swung at his sons. They dodged easily, and a third blade pierced her skin.
She fell to one knee and cried out in pain and frustration.
“It is over,” said Owen, standing up and picking up the sword that he'd dropped. “Do you submit?”
She hated them, they were standing in her way, preventing her from saving her sister.
“I'll kill everyone who gets in my way,” she said through gritted teeth.
Owen spat, “You are nothing but a wild animal.”
She punched him in the face as hard as she could, but her hand passed straight through the ethereal form. She staggered forwards and Owen’s elbow connected with the side of her head.
Her landed in the dirt face first.
“I'm going to hunt every last one of you down and slaughter you in the most painful way possible.”
Owen laughed. “At least you've got some spirit, zombie girl. Hopefully we can make something of that.”
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