Calytrix's Journey

Chapter VIII: Lumi II

Golden rays of sunshine that worked as my alarm clock filled the entire room. I enjoyed the sunshine, but couldn't sleep in a brightly lit room. As I looked through the window, I noticed that the snow finally stopped falling. Activity returned to the streets, with numerous people bundled in winter wear passing by. I'll investigate everything about this town today. I put on the winter cloak Akios gave me and headed out of the room.

"Mistress! " Leo immediately greeted me when I stepped out of the room. "Calytrix!"

It still felt surreal that I had my own zombie. He acted quite normal, and I was still unsure how to behave towards him. Was it okay to keep treating him human? As a zombie, Leo was under the master's influence, but I wasn't sure if that was everything a zombie had. Did Leo keep his free will?

I decided that it was the best for me and him to take separate action. Leo didn't oppose my proposition, and we went our separate after we left the inn. Maybe he could never oppose me because he was my zombie, but I wasn't sure. Our primary task today was to trace the witch I saw yesterday and find out what did Akios do in town.

Pain-free and relaxed, I took my time exploring, yet I found the people I met unfriendly. Since they were reluctant to talk to strangers, I was unable to get any information from them. I returned to all the locations I visited yesterday, yet everything appeared unremarkable.

As I searched for information, I bumped into Leo. I avoided eye contact when we were talking, which he didn't seem to mind. His eyes reminded me of black magic too much, of something that wasn't meant to be meddled with.

Leo didn't find out anything either. We looked around the town one more time to see if we may have overlooked anything, but as we went our separate ways, I heard a loud crashing sound.

A cart carrying too much mining equipment and iron stopped in the middle of a narrow street. Its contents fell all around it. I didn't really notice until I saw Leo's legs buried under a pile of iron. Pulling back his hood, the man pushing the cart revealed a worried, red face. While attempting to take the iron off Leo, he yelled at him. Leo seemed alright and showed no worry about what was happening.

"Are you blind? How could you just walk straight and crush into my wagon?" the man said in a loud voice.

"Sorry. I didn't see you there," Leo calmly said.

"It's not my fault if you broke your leg! I won't pay you for any damage!" the man shouted angrily.

I needed to intervene. Leo probably damaged something, and I didn't want the townsfolk to find out his true nature.

"My friend often has his head in the clouds, but he is usually a really lucky guy." I said as I jumped in between the man and Leo. "His luck is unbelievable. I'm sure he broke nothing, even in this situation."

"Move it, missy," the man pushed me to the side as he said this. "This is a problem between the two of us."

He removed the last iron pile that covered Leo and we clearly saw completely shattered legs.

"By the spirits!" The man screamed and fell to his knees.

The sight also horrified me, but I couldn't look away, as I was responsible for Leo. Looking down at the ground, the man appeared to cry. Leo's calmness was in stark contrast to the other man's guilt.

"Mistress... you came back to get me. Do you want to explore the town together?" Leo asked me with a smile.

I was supposed to stop Leo from talking too much, but his calmness shocked me, too. He appeared to be completely oblivious to himself. Though Leo felt no pain, his shattered legs were still a serious injury. I heard some dissatisfied mumbles of onlookers.