"What do you mean... You died?" Julien asked.
The words echoed in the silent basement, letting him hear them twice.
"Aren't you here?" Julien gestured to her. "You're holding an apple and talking while annoying me about my posture."
Alice chuckled.
It wasn't her usual mischievous giggle but a dry, rough sound.
"I am here," Alice whispered, staring at her weak hands. "But I am not alive, Merchant. There is a difference."
She floated down from the crates, her feet touching the concrete without making a sound. She walked, or drifted, to the corner of the room, sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest.
"You asked about my brother," Alice said softly. "You want to know why I stayed."
Julien didn't reply to that.
He sensed that any interruption would shatter the moment like glass. From the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow move on the stairs.
Chris was there. He had returned from the market, holding a bag of protein powder, but he didn't come down. He stood frozen on the steps, silent as a statue, listening.
"After we lost Aiden," Alice began, her voice soft, "our family... broke. He was loud while being brave. When he ran during the Break, he took all our hope with him."
She drew a pattern in the dust on the floor.
"We were useless," she stated simply. "My father was an accountant, but he lost his arm in the chaos. My mother was a tailor, but nobody needed clothes when they were starving. And I... I was nothing. I didn't Awaken, nor did I have any mana. I was just another mouth to feed in a district that was running out of food."
Julien gripped the hilt of his sword. He knew the reality of people who didn't awaken. The weight of being "normal" in a world of superhumans.
"We became beggars," Alice continued. "We sat near the Association building, asking Hunters for scraps. We slept under ugly rags and watched people die of cold, hunger, or sickness. My parents... they gave up and stopped looking for Aiden. Slowly, they lost the meaning for tomorrow."
She closed her single visible eye.
"One day, my mother came back to our tent, smiling. It was the first time I had seen her smile in months. She had a pot of stew. It smelled like meat and potatoes."
Alice swallowed hard, a reflex from a life she no longer had.
"She said a kind Hunter gave it to her and told us to eat. We were so hungry, Julien. We didn't ask questions. My father and I... we ate like animals, licking the bowl empty."
"That's why we didn't notice the taste," Alice whispered.
Julien felt a chill run down his spine that had nothing to do with the basement's temperature.
"She put something in the food. Rat poison? Sleeping pills? I don't know."
"My father started coughing first. He grabbed his throat. Then... the blood came. It poured from his mouth, his eyes turning red, and he started bleeding."
"I was so scared. I shouted at her. 'Mom! What's happening? Why is he dying?'"
"And she..." Alice let out a shaky breath. "She just stroked my hair and looked at my father convulsing on the floor, and she smiled. She said, 'It's okay, dear. It's okay. The pain is over now. This world is already doomed. Let us leave peacefully.'"
"I tried to push her away," Alice said, tears forming in her ghostly eye. "I screamed at her. 'But Aiden is still out there! We have to wait for Aiden!'"
"She shook her head and said, 'Aiden is already dead, Alice. He is waiting for us. Don't make him wait.'"
"Then she took a knife..." Alice trailed off.
"I started coughing," Alice said, touching her chest. "It burned. It felt like fire was eating my stomach. My vision went blurry. I wanted to find my brother."
"But my legs stopped working. I crawled to the corner of the tent. There was a photo... an old, crumpled photo of the four of us. Before the dungeons and monsters."
"I clutched it tight," Alice whispered. "I held it against my chest and closed my eyes. The last thing I heard was my mother singing a lullaby."
"And then... nothing."
The silence in the basement was horrific. Julien felt a lump in his throat so large he couldn't swallow. He looked at Chris. The big man was gripping the railing of the stairs so hard that the metal was bending under his fingers.
"I died, Julien," Alice said, looking up at him. "I know I died."
"But then... I woke up."
She opened her hand. A small swirl of green necrotic energy danced on her palm.
"It was hours later. The tent was cold. My parents were... gone. Their bodies were stiff. But I opened my eyes."
"A blue screen appeared in front of me. Just like yours."
Alice recited the words from memory, her voice turning mechanical.
"[System Error Detected.]"
"[Soul Refusal Initiated.]"
"[Congratulations. You have Awakened.]"
"[Class: Spirit Caller (Undead Variant).]"
"[Unique Trait: You cannot die. The Abyss has rejected you.]"
She laughed again, a bitter, angry sound.
"I tried to wake them up," Alice said, her voice cracking. "The System said I could control the dead. It said I could call back souls, so I screamed at my parents and used every ounce of mana I had. I commanded them to wake up."
She lowered her head.
"It never worked on them. Maybe they were at peace and didn't want to come back to this hell. Or maybe... maybe I was just too weak."
"I sat there with their bodies for three days," Alice whispered.
"Then I heard a rumour. Two Hunters walking by the tent. They were talking about a kid. A loud kid who ran fast, spotted in District 9."
Alice looked up, her eye burning with a fierce, terrifying determination.
"So I left them. I buried them in the mud, walked here, and occupied this shop because it was empty, and because it sits on the main road. I thought... if I stay here long enough... if I become the ghost in the window... maybe he will walk by."
"And then," she looked at Julien. "You walked in. And for once, someone didn't run away."
Julien dropped the sword.
He walked over to the corner where Alice was sitting. Julien wasn't sure whether he could touch her, but his emotions overtook his mind. He placed his hand on her head, right over her bonnet.
It was ice cold. But there was warmth in there.
"You're not dead, Alice," Julien said, his voice thick with emotion.
She looked up at him, surprised by the contact.
"And you're not alone anymore," Julien continued. "Your parents... they made a choice. A terrible, desperate choice because they lost hope. But you are strong."
"You survived," Julien said firmly. "Even death couldn't take you because you were too stubborn to leave your brother behind."
Heavy footsteps approached from the stairs.