Chapter 105 - The Truth About Sisika
We had walked the entire day again, and now night had fallen, bringing with it the persistent discomfort I'd felt since we began this journey. Those two suns, now turned into two moons, left me with a strange, almost suffocating sensation. The thought of my family filled me with despair; I needed to go back.
"I need to know, don't dodge the question. Where are we really? What the hell is this place?"
My mind was racing with thoughts, speculating about what was going on. An idea crossed my mind: Had my time run out? Was Sisika some kind of entity of death, here to take me away?
I need to get back to my family.
Sisika stopped and looked around. "I think this spot is good. There's a crater with water, probably from the rain," she said, as if everything was normal.
"You know what?" I stood up, determined. "I'm leaving. I'm done with this. If I had my magic, I would've found a way to climb that damn cliff by now." I started walking through the forest without waiting for a response.
She ran and blocked my path, quick as ever.
"I can't leave you alone here, Nathan. You need to stay with me. I don't want to use force, I just want to talk. This place... there's only one way out, and I'm the only one who knows it."
I stopped, her words intriguing me.
"What are you really? Stop dodging the question," I demanded.
She let out a deep sigh, as if she were about to reveal something long kept hidden.
"I am also... a reincarnate," she said, and her words echoed in the darkness around us, carrying a weight I hadn't expected.
When her words sank in, I felt a shock run through my body. A reincarnate? How had I not seen this coming? The idea of someone else sharing the same condition as me made me hesitate for a moment.
I didn't know how to react. I never would have imagined Sisika was something like this.
She raised a finger, creating a small ball of fire that lit up the space around us. I couldn't take my eyes off her.
"Did you also come to this world through Charon?" I asked, almost in disbelief.
"No… I don't know how you got here either. I can't tell you more about myself just yet. But you and I share this similarity. Now... can you come back with me?"
I never imagined I'd meet another person like me in this world. During my 11 years here, I always thought my life in this place was a form of penance, some sort of punishment. I had received the greatest gift and, at the same time, the greatest fear: a family, something I always wanted, but now terrified me because of the fear of losing them. But now, standing before me was someone else like me, someone who had also reincarnated.
"How did you reincarnate?" I needed to know more, to understand what this world really was.
"I can't answer that," she said softly, "I don't want to lie to you. But your arrival in this world was special, Nathan. When I found out about you... I wanted to find you immediately. But I couldn't. You were still too young, and even though you were an adult inside, I wanted you to live as a child, at least for a while."
She extended her hand to me. There was a silence between us. I sighed, resigned. It was impossible to know what to do with all this new information.
"Will you come with me?" she repeated.
"Alright..." I took her hand, still feeling the weight on my shoulders.
We went back to the spot with the small crater of water. I sat down against a tree, saying nothing, my mind lost in everything I had just learned.
"There's a path out of this place. You just need to follow this trail and never stray from it. That's how this place works," Sisika said, her eyes sharp as she scanned the forest around us.
"Why would you tell me that? I could just wait for you to fall asleep and leave," I responded, the distrust clear in my voice.
She laughed softly, kneeling down to scoop some water from the crater with her hands. Her movements were fluid, as if perfectly in sync with the environment around us. I watched as her palm glowed subtly, and the water began to boil almost instantly.
"I told you because I want you to trust me. Besides, I can go without sleep for a long time to keep watch over you, but you need to sleep... since you're just a weak little human," she said with a smirk, almost teasing.
She raised her hand, the hot water still bubbling. Her eyes locked with mine for a moment, serious, but with a hint of something I couldn't quite identify.
"What's this supposed to mean?" I asked, confused by the gesture.
"I boiled the water to remove any impurities. You can drink it straight from my hand," she offered, extending her arm.
The gesture caught me off guard. I stood there for a second, trying to understand why she would do that.
"The water isn't hot anymore," she explained, noticing my hesitation. "While I'm touching it, I can neutralize the heat. It's clean and ready to drink."
"I'd rather drink straight from the crater…"
She rolled her eyes and, for the second time, extended her hand, insisting. "That won't work. The water in the crater is still hot and will remain dirty from touching the ground. In my hand, I can guarantee it's completely pure."
I ignored the gesture.
"Drinking from the crater won't kill me. If you've already boiled the water, that's enough."
With a light sigh of exasperation, I sat down next to the crater, making it clear I wasn't going to accept her offer.
"You're stubborn," she said, her voice carrying a hint of irritation and resignation. "I'm just trying to help. You're human, fragile! Weak! You'll die if you keep going like this."
I shrugged.
"You don't seem like someone who has much contact with humans... That's not how it works. We don't die that easily. I'll drink from the crater tomorrow. For now, I'm going to rest. I need to think."
I leaned back against a tree, gazing at the dark sky filled with stars. Something about this place felt off, like I was in some strange dream. As enigmatic and unsettling as Sisika's presence was, I knew that if she wanted to, she could have killed me already. Still, something inside me made me trust her completely, and I didn't know why.
I closed my eyes, feeling my mind beginning to give in to exhaustion. Sleep was overtaking me, becoming harder to resist. Something was wrong... I shouldn't be this tired. The mana exhaustion was real, and it was draining my physical and mental strength.
I opened my eyes one last time, seeing Sisika sitting a little distance away, watching me. She had a habit of watching me sleep.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Nothing..."
And yet she says she's not some kind of perverted maniac...
Even without saying a word, she gave me a strange sense of safety. As confused as I was by everything that was happening, it seemed like she really was protecting me.
This excessive sleepiness is definitely not normal. It's the exhaustion from mana depletion. My mana isn't recovering, I'm constantly drained, and it's making me practically pass out from fatigue. It's also affecting my thoughts, as I'm in a constant state of extreme exhaustion.
The fact that my body is so easily giving in to sleep—me, who has trained my mind—makes me realize just how serious and dangerous mana exhaustion is for a mage.
Closing my eyes again, I surrendered to sleep and let that overwhelming fatigue carry me far away in my mind. I was losing consciousness slowly, and my body finally gave in to the darkness of sleep.
***
We continued walking for another two days, and during that time, I started to get used to Sisika's strange presence. We were in a forest, following a trail near a river, where we fished. My 'help' with the fishing mostly consisted of collecting the fish she killed by boiling the water with her fire magic. Sometimes, she would catch them with her hand, with quick, precise movements. Luckily, with her fire magic, she could fry them almost instantly, always having food ready when needed. A curious fact was that Sisika never ate or slept.
"Is it just me, or has your hair gotten shorter?" I asked, observing her.
She immediately raised her hand to her hair, an almost involuntary but quick gesture.
"It's just your imagination..."
We followed the river but always kept a certain distance, walking along the trail. Silence was our constant companion, until Sisika broke the monotony.
"Nathan, what's it like to live another life?"
The question caught me by surprise.
"Haven't you lived another life too? It's the same thing."
She stopped for a moment, bringing her finger to her chin as if reflecting deeply.
"I want to know about you, your thoughts. What does living a second life mean to you?"
I sighed, feeling the insistence in her words.
"For me, it's been a good thing. I've been able to have a family."
"Family..." she murmured, almost as if the concept were distant to her.
Sisika started walking again in silence, and I followed her, still digesting the question. It was as if she were processing the idea of 'family' in a way I couldn't completely understand.
Suddenly, she stopped and turned to me, her expression serious and determined.
"Never lose that, Nathan. Your family must always be your compass. Don't let that truth haunt you. Their love is what guides you."
I didn't respond. We walked in silence for a few more minutes before Sisika, who was ahead of me, stopped again.
"We're here," she said, her voice carrying an emotion I hadn't noticed before.
I ran ahead to see what it was and was surprised. In front of us stood a small wooden house, simple and weathered by time, but cozy.
"This is where I grew up," Sisika said, and for an instant, I saw something rare in her eyes: fear.
The sight of that cabin, lost in the middle of an unknown forest, seemed to hold many secrets, just like Sisika.