Totentanz

Book 2 Chapter II: Zurück

ZURÜCK
German, "return; back"

The future came and went in the mildly discouraging way that futures do. -- Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, Good Omens

Once again Diarnlan's and Karandren's magic sat down -- metaphorically -- to find an answer.

Maybe we should send them back earlier.

We tried that.

I mean even earlier.

But when?

They considered various times. Diarnlan's time as a student at the academy, perhaps? But then Karandren had been only a small child. It was ridiculous to send an adult's soul into the body of a six-year-old.

Let's send Diarnlan back alone.

Yes, we'll try that.

~~~~

After Karandren's mysterious reappearance and even more mysterious remark, Diarnlan had gone back to building her snowman. She was just putting the head in place when the world disintegrated around her.

"Here we go again," she grumbled as she opened her eyes.

She did a double take. This wasn't her bedroom. This was a colourless, cheerless place that was she had thought was no more than an unpleasant memory. She stared up at the blank white ceiling. She examined the thin quilt with its cover that had been washed so many times there was no colour left in it. She dropped her head back down on the lumpy pillow. The hard mattress squeaked in protest. One of its springs dug into Diarnlan's shoulder-blade.

No one who had been unlucky enough to sleep in the academy's dormitories would ever forget them. it had been eight years -- give or take a few lifetimes -- since Diarnlan had last suffered through an uncomfortable night in her old bed. The memory of it had stayed with her so vividly that she recognised where she was at once.

I don't believe it. What am I doing back here?

She climbed out of bed, shivering at how cold the room was, and tiptoed over to the door leading to the bathrooms. All around her the dormitory's other occupants slumbered on, so tightly wrapped up in their quilts that they looked like nothing so much as corpses laid out in winding-sheets.

Each dormitory was meant to house twelve students. Attached to the dormitory but separated from it by a door was a long bathroom with twelve cubicles, each housing a bath, sink, and toilet. Diarnlan opened the door and stepped into the narrow corridor between the cubicles.

There were lights along the ceiling that were spelled to only turn on when someone entered the room. They all lit up at once. The sudden brightness hurt Diarnlan's eyes. She winced and shoved open the door of the nearest cubicle. Over the sink was a small mirror, spelled to light up when someone looked in it. Mercifully for her growing headache, its lights were much dimmer and gentler than the ones outside.

Diarnlan leaned over the sink and stared at her reflection. It confirmed what she had already deduced. She was at least ten years younger than she had been when she died.

Why did I get sent back so early this time?

It made no sense. All the other lifetimes had started on the same day at the same time.

A thought struck her. If I'm fourteen that means Karandren is only four.

She burst out laughing. Her laughter had a distinctly unhinged edge to it. Even she could tell that. But if she didn't laugh she'd scream.