Spirit World

Map of Destinations

Callie waited for Free to come into the basement while she prepared and studied what she had to say to the spirit, or cat, she didn't know now what to call him. It was amusing how she found herself earlier talking to a cute but dirty cat, she never imagined herself doing that all her life, especially not in this kind of generation where people who might see her might probably think she was a weirdo. That would again cause her to be a laughing stock like how it had been before when she was a kid.

Honestly, talking to a cat was more normal than talking to a spirit which basically was air in normal human's eyes. She thought to herself, trying to comfort herself that it was better to be with a cat than a spirit that might really freak people out.

After a while of waiting, Free the cat had finally come down with wet fur, shaking the water off and obviously, he was getting annoyed probably because he was not used to having a body after a long time, especially a newly bathed cat. The cat was still cute, though. She had been fond of animals before, but having her mom allergic to them had made her put aside that fondness. But somehow, even with a cat in front of her, she couldn't bring herself coo with its cuteness, probably because she knew the spirit living inside it was not the true spirit of the cat, instead of a spirit of a human. With that thought, she wondered.

"Where's the spirit of the owner of the cat, anyway? Where did you send it?"

Free looked up at her and shook their head before he jumped on the table and stood at the edge. "I sent it up to the Spirit World. Animal's spirits are easier to steal the body of compared to humans that's why we are advised to just borrow from animals. Human spirits tend not to ascend to the Spirit World and steal other people's bodies, and thinking of that alone is already a mess, what more when it happened before. Long story short, the Sovereign of the Spirit World made it order with a corresponding punishment to never ever steal from human's body no matter how the situation called for it."

Callie nodded in understanding. "I see. Aren't you feeling evil that you sent an innocent feline's spirit up when it's not its time yet? Humans still have no heart even when they're in the flesh or spirits already."

She saw the cat scoff and sit on the table, shaking its head. "You don't know what you're saying. Humans are far dirtier, eviller, horrible, and ugly than spirits. Just like right now, for example, humans are the ones who took your mother. On the other hand, the spirit is here, helping you, am I not right?"

Callie rolled her eyes. She didn't know what was so offensive with what she said but this spirit looked really offended and so opposed to the idea that they were being compared with humans, but anyway, it seemed like it wasn't her business anymore, or at least not yet, so she just sighed it out and completely changed the topic.

"Whatever. Anyway, I'll tell you now what we should be venturing for the next days, weeks, or months, I'm not sure. I'm planning to start tomorrow, you're fine whenever right?" she inquired, crossing her arms on her chest and looking at him with her brow raised, angling for his opinion.

But then, she remembered that she didn't need to ask for that since the boss was herself. She already saw the cat's mouth opened and Free was about to talk but Callie's hand blocked his face and completely dismissed him. "Great. Tomorrow it is then."

"I was about to say the day after tomorrow?" Free argued, his voice was obviously in disbelief by her sudden interjection on his supposed to be a contribution to the situation. Well, hello? It didn't seem like she cared about whatever he thought of their journey? He was only supposed to follow what she's going to tell him, no?

"No, that would be much waste of time if we're going to go the next day. We'll have to buy the things we will be needing in our journey, preferably I think at least a month worth. How about you? I guess simple cat food is enough for you, right? Or nothing at all since you're a spirit, you don't eat, or you can just snap your fingers and food would appear, like what you did with the apples, right? I don't need to spend a penny for you."

It wasn't like she lack money. She actually had a lot from her mother's savings that she kept on saving up for her. She guessed, and hoped, that those would be enough to buy all the necessary things that they would be needing and pay for the fare that they would be taking. Well, honestly, she didn't know which way they would be taking, the places they would have to go seemed impossible to reach as she hadn't heard those places yet. She knew every country and their capitals, but she hadn't heard about these seemingly new names of places that she read in the book.

Free snickered once again, it seemed like it was one of his habits, making humans think they were stupid by how he snickered as if he just heard the most ridiculous thoughts he could ever hear. "Am I a magician to you? I mean, let me ask your questions back to you, a spirit is within you, so can you not eat? Can you snap your fingers and food will pop out? If you can without having your body die, then please be my master."

Callie hummed and looked up, patting her chin slowly as she nodded. She didn't expect this spirit had actually a mind to use, maybe she needed to piss him off so she could at least get something advantageous for her. "Well, you've got a point about that. I'm sorry. But, I am your master already. I called you here so you have to follow everything that I say."

The spirit shook his head again while scoffing. "You know what? Humans really are funny and annoyingly proud. I remember so many people. But to inform you and burst that huge bubble in your head. We can honestly not follow what humans want, we can subtly sabotage their requests, we can tell them straight that what they were asking for is impossible. But, that also means small punishment from the sovereign, but it was too small that we're not scared to do exactly what's wrong, we're no saints, we're not angels. We're spirits who are punished, but it depends on us if we want to redeem ourselves."

"Do you want to?" That question just naturally came out of her mouth, and she was even looking directly at the cat's sharp, grey eyes that seemed like he was looking at Free's brown eyes as well. Nevertheless, no matter how embarrassed she looked because she asked that question, she didn't back down and just looked at him and waited for his answer.

She saw how he hesitated. He looked away from her eyes and shallowly and slowly sighed, then he returned his gaze back to her but this time, the cat seemed to like it had a sly smirk on its face. "I believe we are not that close to discussing personal things like this. It's like... Would you tell me what colour your underwear is?"

Callie's face flushed, and the next thing she knew, she already grabbed a thick book on her side and threw it straight to the cat's face, earning an angry noise from the cat, and a groan from the spirit. Fascinating.

"That's not beyond personal, you perv!" she shrieked at him, about to throw another thick book but the cat was fast enough to jump far enough not to be reached by the book and her anger.

"No! They're the same thing! Both are personal, you can not argue with me," he replied and the cat's tongue stuck out, pissing her off. "But anyway, tell me now what I have to know so we can start what you're planning to do in this trip...master."

Callie seemed to calm down as a small smile slowly came to her face because of what Free had called her, but it immediately vanished, she was a cold woman, after all. Even with that, she couldn't help but somehow felt proud and suddenly boastful that she was called as high as that. But she kept it down, instead, she pulled a paper under the desk she was seated. It was an old paper, a folded paper that she found stuck in between the pages of the book. It was on the loudly old boy it's a yellow colour, but when she opened it earlier and peered at what was inside, the writings and drawings were still vivid in her eyes.

She opened it again and laid it on the table. She beckoned Free to come near her so he would see. "This is a map that I have found from the book. The map on the way to the place where the process of immortalisation should be done. Pretty dope, right?"

From looking at the map with bright eyes as he was certainly amazed by the map, Free looked at her in confusion. "What? Pretty what?"

Callie shrugged. "Right, you're an oldie. How old are you again?"

The cat looked up. "I was born 1971, I died 1992. I'm stuck at twenty, I guess."

Callie shook "You're a grandfather, so you don't know the terms that were used by new generations now. Anyway, back to our main topic. There are five places we have to go through before we arrived at the Mountain of Immortality. The book said that we have to go find five keys of the mountain because we wouldn't be allowed if we didn't find those."

"I see. So, we're really on a mission, huh. I thought this was just some petty 'save my mother, she's a damsel in distress' act. If this is the case, then the men that took your mother might be on their way there, right? Or they might have gotten the keys through your mother."

Callie nodded and turned stern, thinking of her mother being used made her want to rip those people's flesh at the moment. "Yeah. That's why we have to go tomorrow. We have to hurry. It's been three days since my mother was abducted. I don't know how fast and how long the ride to the places."

"What's the first place to go?"

Callie looked down and pointed her finger in the first place. "Land of Wiz. Land of Witchcraft and Wizardry."