Categories > Original > Fantasy > Afterlife
Chapter 4 — Quest
As the moon rose in the sky, Eva was feeling more energetic than ever. The moon’s light coursed through her hypothetical veins, filling her with a feeling that she could fly forever and ever to the ends of the world and back without ever slowing down.
Reality, of course, had different plans in store for her.
As a cloud passed over the moon, a wave of lethargy crashed into the ghost. She tumbled, caught off-guard by the suddenness of her exhaustion. She landed on the ground prone, getting a mouthful of dirt.
Ow.
I guess I draw energy from the moon?
I wonder if it works with sunlight, too. Isn’t moonlight basically that but less?
Weird.
Hey, a moth!
Her trains of thought generally tended more towards meandering bullet trains rather than freight trains, but she was still young. Currently, though, she was still lying on her side, catching her bre — breath? Energy? Whatever you wanted to call it.
Hey, another moth!
This moth was green, and shiny, and huge. It fluttered around very cutely and distractingly, and was JUST SO CUTE. Momentarily forgetting about her exhaustion, Eva eagerly started following its flight path, this way and that, until —
She finally realized she couldn’t see the path.
Eva froze. This was bad. Kaitlin was going to kill her for losing the path. Plus, without the path how could she know which way was north? She recalled something about telling the direction by the stars, or the sun, or something, but it didn’t help if she didn’t know the direction of those. Ah-ha! She could always just retrace her steps, right?
It seemed like a sensible idea, so she tried it. She got so much more lost.
Will I ever see my family again?
Why did it have to be me to lose my memories? Why not anyone else?
Curse this stupid, fucking, curse of an afterlife!!
WHY?!!!!!!
Eva, a small, spiralling ghost without tear glands, wept.
By the time she was done, the sky was just beginning to become bright. The exhaustion had caught up with her, and even she knew that traveling by day would only end in catastrophe, she hauled herself into the branches of a tree and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, she got a faceful of Wisp.
There was a bright ball of yellow light, even smaller than herself, hovering two inches above her face. She jolted awake with a start, screaming.
The wisp responded in a similar fashion until they realized screaming was getting them nowhere.
“Who are you?!” Eva screamed at the wisp.
“P-please don’t hurt me. I-I just w-wanted to help!”
Uh-oh. They sounded even younger than Eva. Did she just scream at a five-year-old? She did. Fuck.
She backed off. “Look…” she prompted.
“Wren”, the ball of light clarified.
“Look, Wren,” Eva sighed. “I get that you might’ve had good intentions, but people get really touchy when they wake up to a stranger sitting on their face.”
“O-Okay”
“But, if I’m allowed to ask…”
“Uh-huh?”
“Why are you here, alone? You seem awfully young to be out here by yourself. I’d have thought – Oh! I’m so sorry! A-Are you okay?”
Her original question was diverted by the wisp sobbing violently, as much as a sentient ball of light can sob. They were certainly doing a good job trying, though, using all the appropriate noises.
“I-I fell down the stairs,” Wren started, still crying. “And then nobody liked me anymore. They were running away from me! And I don’t understand why! I know I look different now, but I’m still me!” Wren rocketed onto Eva’s shoulder and looked up at her — or at least, Eva received the distinct impression that they were looking up at her. “Will you be my new mommy?”
The question hit like a hammer. “Ack! No!” She started, and then paused. Wren was surprisingly adept at getting their point across without eyes or a face, and the look they were giving her now was clearly one of the deepest betrayal.
“Look,” she tried again, softer this time, “I’m only ten. I wouldn’t even know where to start.” The look softened. “Although,” She paused. Was this really a good idea? She pressed on. “I’m trying to find someone who can help me with a problem I have. You’re welcome to tag along, if you want. Supposedly they’re old enough to remember when the rift between humans and ghosts didn’t exist. I’m sure they’d be willing to help you out.”
Wren practically leapt into her non-existent arms, shouting her enthusiasm. Okay, this was happening. “Alright,” Eva smiled. “But we should go now while it’s still dark.” A thought struck her. “Do you have any way to turn down that glow?”
On cue, Wren extinguished the corona of light around themself down to a faint light.
“Let’s go!”
As the moon rose in the sky, Eva was feeling more energetic than ever. The moon’s light coursed through her hypothetical veins, filling her with a feeling that she could fly forever and ever to the ends of the world and back without ever slowing down.
Reality, of course, had different plans in store for her.
As a cloud passed over the moon, a wave of lethargy crashed into the ghost. She tumbled, caught off-guard by the suddenness of her exhaustion. She landed on the ground prone, getting a mouthful of dirt.
Ow.
I guess I draw energy from the moon?
I wonder if it works with sunlight, too. Isn’t moonlight basically that but less?
Weird.
Hey, a moth!
Her trains of thought generally tended more towards meandering bullet trains rather than freight trains, but she was still young. Currently, though, she was still lying on her side, catching her bre — breath? Energy? Whatever you wanted to call it.
Hey, another moth!
This moth was green, and shiny, and huge. It fluttered around very cutely and distractingly, and was JUST SO CUTE. Momentarily forgetting about her exhaustion, Eva eagerly started following its flight path, this way and that, until —
She finally realized she couldn’t see the path.
Eva froze. This was bad. Kaitlin was going to kill her for losing the path. Plus, without the path how could she know which way was north? She recalled something about telling the direction by the stars, or the sun, or something, but it didn’t help if she didn’t know the direction of those. Ah-ha! She could always just retrace her steps, right?
It seemed like a sensible idea, so she tried it. She got so much more lost.
Will I ever see my family again?
Why did it have to be me to lose my memories? Why not anyone else?
Curse this stupid, fucking, curse of an afterlife!!
WHY?!!!!!!
Eva, a small, spiralling ghost without tear glands, wept.
By the time she was done, the sky was just beginning to become bright. The exhaustion had caught up with her, and even she knew that traveling by day would only end in catastrophe, she hauled herself into the branches of a tree and closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, she got a faceful of Wisp.
There was a bright ball of yellow light, even smaller than herself, hovering two inches above her face. She jolted awake with a start, screaming.
The wisp responded in a similar fashion until they realized screaming was getting them nowhere.
“Who are you?!” Eva screamed at the wisp.
“P-please don’t hurt me. I-I just w-wanted to help!”
Uh-oh. They sounded even younger than Eva. Did she just scream at a five-year-old? She did. Fuck.
She backed off. “Look…” she prompted.
“Wren”, the ball of light clarified.
“Look, Wren,” Eva sighed. “I get that you might’ve had good intentions, but people get really touchy when they wake up to a stranger sitting on their face.”
“O-Okay”
“But, if I’m allowed to ask…”
“Uh-huh?”
“Why are you here, alone? You seem awfully young to be out here by yourself. I’d have thought – Oh! I’m so sorry! A-Are you okay?”
Her original question was diverted by the wisp sobbing violently, as much as a sentient ball of light can sob. They were certainly doing a good job trying, though, using all the appropriate noises.
“I-I fell down the stairs,” Wren started, still crying. “And then nobody liked me anymore. They were running away from me! And I don’t understand why! I know I look different now, but I’m still me!” Wren rocketed onto Eva’s shoulder and looked up at her — or at least, Eva received the distinct impression that they were looking up at her. “Will you be my new mommy?”
The question hit like a hammer. “Ack! No!” She started, and then paused. Wren was surprisingly adept at getting their point across without eyes or a face, and the look they were giving her now was clearly one of the deepest betrayal.
“Look,” she tried again, softer this time, “I’m only ten. I wouldn’t even know where to start.” The look softened. “Although,” She paused. Was this really a good idea? She pressed on. “I’m trying to find someone who can help me with a problem I have. You’re welcome to tag along, if you want. Supposedly they’re old enough to remember when the rift between humans and ghosts didn’t exist. I’m sure they’d be willing to help you out.”
Wren practically leapt into her non-existent arms, shouting her enthusiasm. Okay, this was happening. “Alright,” Eva smiled. “But we should go now while it’s still dark.” A thought struck her. “Do you have any way to turn down that glow?”
On cue, Wren extinguished the corona of light around themself down to a faint light.
“Let’s go!”
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