Epilogue

Kurt Royersford crawled on all fours, desperately trying to get away from the blazing inferno, tears boiling up at the corners of his eyes.

Oh my God! That friggin’ psycho blew them all up! I have to get away before he tries to kill me. Screw these guys! I have to escape!

He screamed, both aloud and inside his own brain.

Once, Kurt’s Skill had linked his mind to the Corpse Eater’s. But the bond had been severed in one fiery instant.

Now, the psychic scream seemed to tear the sky and ripple far and wide through the invisible world.

Kurt barely managed to drag his body away from the burning clearing before he collapsed to the ground, landing on his badly burned lower half. A few flickers of fire still licked at his back, but he was too far gone to do anything more to save himself.

He whimpered quietly, tears streaming from his eyes. And the world went dark.

The next moment that Kurt was aware of himself, he found that he was mobile. His body jostled back and forth. It was the still-fresh burn on his back that woke him. The one carrying him had scraped his back carelessly against a low-hanging tree branch.

“Aaahhh! Fu—jeez! Careful there, buddy,” Kurt whined.

He slowly blinked his eyes open and realized that he was several feet off the ground, hanging upside down. He lifted his head and looked backward, where he saw that the smoke and flames were retreating into a safe distance.

He breathed a sigh of relief before he realized that he had no idea who was carrying him. Who did he know that was this tall and strong?

“Uh, hey, David, could you put me down, man? And does that sister of yours have any Mana left? Could really use a quick heal. That fire did a number on me. I can’t feel all the places he burned, but I know it’s gonna hurt like hell tomorrow.”

There was no pause in the forward march.

“Hey, David—”

Kurt reached to grab his rescuer’s shoulder and pulled himself up enough to turn and face him. What he saw shocked him.

Greasy gray skin stretched over a skull that seemed two sizes two large. Strands of coarse black hair that only sprouted from its scalp in scrubby chunks. Cloudy blue-yellow eyes. A jaw that seemed stuck in a mindless, endlessly gaping grin.

“Aaaahhh!” he screamed.

A moment passed, and he reminded himself that there were probably many intelligent creatures in this forest that he might not enjoy looking at.

“I mean, um, uh.” He swallowed. “W-who, or what, are you?!”

“Urk!” The creature croaked.

This one can’t speak?! Kurt realized. Shit. Did it take me to eat me? But then why is it bothering to carry me away?

He thought of reaching out with Contract Formation, but an alien thought interrupted.

Relax, human, an unfamiliar voice intruded into his head. The voice was confident, warm, and smooth as caramel. Murk is there to help you. If I wanted him to smash your skull in, he would’ve done that already. But I feel it’s fate that brings us together. We’re both quite fortunate.

“You can speak into my mind,” Kurt said aloud, stunned.

How powerful is this thing? he wondered.

Yes, I can speak into your mind, it said. Kurt detected a condescending tone now. And so many other things. Have no fear, we’ll take good care of you.

“That’s wonderful, mighty one,” Kurt said, unconsciously rubbing his hands together. The pain he was in couldn’t distract him from self-preservation. “How do you think I might be of service?”

Already, he imagined how he might work with the originator of the voice to get his revenge on the guy who’d left him in this condition. How many minions must this guy have? I wonder what the terms of the contract would be…

Don’t trouble yourself about how you will serve right now, the voice said. Time enough for that once we meet. For now, rest.

Kurt felt the fatigue wash over him then. It was only pain from his wounds and anxiety about what was happening that kept him awake. It’s fine, right? he told himself. And there’s nothing I can do even if he wanted to kill me. I’m in bad shape. Soon I’ll be right as rain.

The darkness overtook him again.

When Kurt awakened, he was lying on his back. His eyes stared up into mist and darkness. His vision was slightly blurry. Everything around was shrouded in shadow, speckled with flickering green and yellow light. There was a horrible smell that he couldn’t identify in the air. It pulled him back to a specific afternoon, when he was a boy.

His family had brought him to the memorial for his great-grandmother. Kurt had barely known the old woman. He took the first opportunity he could to sneak back into the funeral home’s off-limits areas. He entered a cold, white and metal room, and he smelled—

Where am I?

He tried to move, but his body did not respond.

There’s no need for that, Kurt, the voice sang into his mind. It sounded joyous. Relieved? Something was very wrong. You’re under my sedation anyway. Don’t worry about moving around.

A shadow fell over Kurt’s face, and he could finally see a few details of the other life form near him. Creepy gray skin, like Murk. And like the Corpse Eater. Except this thing’s skin was a lighter shade of gray. Closer to a human color. And the skin fit better than Murk’s had. Like this thing was the original owner.

Its eyes looked human, except that the irises shone an eerie golden-yellow. A long, unkempt mane of gray hair. Pointed ears. A mouth that had been sewn shut.

“Wha are you?” Kurt said. Or tried to say. His body remained almost fully nonresponsive, though he heard himself emit the dull grunts of the words, without any enunciation. His face had moved slightly at his attempt to speak, though, he noted. Just a twitch, but it showed that he wasn’t entirely immovable flesh.

Me? The voice transmitted into his head. It remained as soothing as Kurt remembered, and he instinctively calmed a bit at the sound of it. I am called Roscuro. As for what and who I am, that question is more complicated. My memories are mere fragments. I have no idea how I found myself here. I know that a witch cursed me and made me the way I am. I know that I have been reborn with a particular set of Skills. And I know that I must use them. I need to—so that I may survive. But I find that I am talking too much.

He sounds human, Kurt thought. Regardless of how he looks.

Roscuro moved out of Kurt’s sight, and Kurt heard a rustling sound coming from around his lower body.

“Are ‘ou ‘ealing me?” he tried to pronounce. The little moans came out slightly more clearly this time.

Oh, don’t worry, my friend! The voice replied. We’re almost done working on you. Just need to replace some fluids. I’m no Healer, but I’m quite proud of the work that I’ve done on you!

Kurt felt a chill run down his spine. It was a strangely dull sensation, but he had the unmistakable sense that something was going terribly wrong.

“Pease, I don’ zink I wan’ dis,” he attempted.

Soon you’ll be better than new, the voice promised, either ignoring or not understanding the muffled sounds Kurt had produced.

More sounds of movement.

Out of his peripheral vision, Kurt perceived Roscuro suspending clear tubes from supports that he couldn’t see. The tubes could’ve been anything: plastic, rubber, animal intestines. He only knew that they dangled somewhere at the edges of his vision.

More fiddling around in the general vicinity of his lower body. Kurt could see and feel nothing outside of an outline of Roscuro moving around in his peripheral vision.

Then Kurt saw, rather than felt, as one of the tubes began filling up with a red fluid. After a moment, he recognized it as his own blood.

He unleashed muffled wails as the blood continued draining, flowing somewhere beyond his view. Roscuro seemed to ignore him. A moment later, green and yellow fluids began flowing in the opposite direction, through another set of tubes.

Kurt felt that. He thought his body had gone almost completely numb. But then cold sensation filled his veins. If he could have writhed in discomfort, he would have.

Don’t try to resist, came Roscuro’s voice. Kurt detected a malevolent edge to it. The fluids are saving your life! Where were you ever going to find a proper Healer in time anyway?

Kurt wanted to disobey, but he could hardly move so much as an eyebrow. The sensation continued, and the fight slowly drained out of him. Long minutes passed, and the cold spread throughout his body.

Roscuro wandered away somewhere out of view while the liquids took effect.

And then…

[Necromantic energies detected within your body. Accept Undead Transformation? Y/N]

Kurt tried to select ‘N,’ but his interface didn’t do anything. The question remained in his field of view, as if he hadn’t answered it.

Kurt heard movement outside of his range of vision, and then he saw Roscuro’s frame lumber into view.

Why are you resisting? Roscuro thought at him. You can become stronger, better, fully recovered. Have your revenge on whoever did this to you. All you have to do is accept the change.

Kurt used Identify. It was strange he hadn’t thought to do it earlier, with his body all but paralyzed.

[Soul Eater Roscuro, Lv. 19]

Soul Eater?! Jesus, I’m so screwed!

Well, I don’t want to eat your soul, Roscuro sent. Some other humans, perhaps. But in your case, you have quite a useful Skill that I want you to make use of, for our mutual benefit. But first, you must accept the transformation!

The situation seemed inescapable to Kurt. And he decided to give in.

He selected ‘Y.’

You won’t regret this, Roscuro sent. You will be one of my most distinguished servants. The tone was consoling, but Kurt found it extremely cold comfort.

And darkness overtook his vision once more.

When he awakened, the green and yellow light that had played across his vision during the necromantic procedure was gone. The air felt calm. Still.

He quickly discovered that he could move again! He tried lifting his head up and found that he could move it around with an even fuller range of motion than he had enjoyed before Roscuro’s procedure. As if the connection between skull and spine was almost unimportant.

The pain was all gone from his body now, he belatedly noticed. Kurt felt gratitude for that, but the feeling was dull, distant.

In moving from his prone position, Kurt observed that the space he was in wasn't empty at all. Strewn around nearby him were the remains of a partially disemboweled body with graying skin. He saw that a large amount of that skin had been flayed off. Imagery that would have turned his stomach not long ago, and yet he didn’t sense any disgust rising within him.

As he looked down at his lower body, he saw that Roscuro had grafted a new layer of skin onto the burned places. He could see the border between the two regions outlined in stitches, one side gray and the other his normal pale flesh. There was a dull surprise at that observation, but it was even more distant than the gratitude had been. Like he was looking at feelings on the floor of the ocean through a glass-bottom boat.

Of course it was necessary to graft on new skin, and it wasn’t as if they were in a hospital.

There were notifications, and Kurt saw that he had completed his transition to a new race: Ghoul. That didn’t sound so desirable. Yet Kurt realized he didn’t care nearly as much as he should.

That’s strange, he thought clinically. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t seem to feel very strong emotionally about anything.

He tried to revisit some strong emotions from his memories. A girl rejecting him. Losing his virginity. His dog getting hit by a car. Getting accepted to veterinary school. Every one of those memories was clear. If anything, they were clearer than they had been, as if somehow they were better preserved now than before.

But Kurt felt very little about any of them now. Veterinary school had been a great point of pride for him for years.

All of his feelings were watered down.

All but the physical ones, he realized. He pinched himself and experienced roughly the normal amount of pain.

And then his stomach growled. Kurt realized he felt hungry. Ravenously hungry.