There are fates worse than death…
Welcome to the serialisation of Accidental Immortal. Chapters will be published four times a week so the serialisation will be completed at (roughly) the same time as on Wattpad, if not a little sooner!
If you would like to start from the beginning, please head over to chapter one. There is also a contents list at the bottom of each post.
–Ceri Clark
Chapter 17 – Pico
Lynsey floated in a sea of white nothing. She wasn’t afraid she realised. She pondered her hands as wisps of white fog entwined her fingers like fine cotton. There was nothing to be scared of, was there?
A few more minutes of swirling whiteness and she began to get bored. This place could really do with some colour she thought, and a mixture of pale and blue swirled around her making patterns in the air. It made her think of a rainbow and a burst of colours shot through, streaking the air, breaking up the swirls, leaving afterimages. The blues and greens turned into bubbles, floating into different directions. She wondered if she could pop them.
In the distance she heard her name and she languidly twisted her neck to see who was calling. It seemed so far away and it really wasn’t that important. Nothing was. It was so peaceful here. She watched as a purple bubble floated past her eyes making her momentarily cross-eyed.
The voice was getting louder and she could see a figure walking towards her. It was coming closer but still Lynsey didn’t feel nervous, just curious. Soon enough she could see the stranger’s face but she didn’t recognise her. The stranger was smiling and waved shyly as she drew up close.
“Hello Lynsey.”
“Hello?” She knew her name. Did she know her?
“I’m Pico.”
Lynsey looked closely at the woman. She was about her height, average build, she had brown curly hair, brown eyes and clear olive skin. There was nothing threatening about her.
“Where am I? How can I see you?”
“You are somewhere between dreaming and the awake state. It’s the only way we can possibly meet face-to-face. Do you like the way I look? I chose the attributes you most like to see in others from your memories.” Pico twirled on the invisible ground.
Lynsey didn’t quite know how to answer that. “You are a collection of Pico-somethings, why do you care what I think?”
Pico’s face fell. “I’m a person. I thought you knew that now. I have thoughts and feelings. They were developed from yours but I am my own person we just share a body. I haven’t said much for the past week because I had to sort through my feelings. I was born when you put on that bracelet. You chose to put it on no one forced you to. What you did created me. I’m entitled to think.”
“I didn’t know what would happen when I put on the bracelet.” Lynsey struggled to keep her attention on the conversation and not on the colourful display behind Pico.
“It doesn’t matter, I exist.” Pico’s voice was earnest. “Don’t you remember your philosophy classes? I think therefore I am? You created me. Your actions ended up with me. Me. I had nothing to do with it but now I am here I deserve to live.”
Fear dripped down Lynsey’s spine. Pico had her full attention now. “Are you going to take over?”
Anger turned to horror on Pico’s face. “Of course not! You are my mother. I would protect you with my life but I won’t give up that life willingly. But maybe, you could share your body once in a while? I’m not asking for whole days or anything, just maybe the occasional evening, maybe a morning?”
This was the most bizarre conversation that Lynsey thought she would ever have with anyone. She felt the bedrock of her world shifting. Not only had she found herself in a strange world. People were after her, a strange creature was living inside her and it now said she was her mother. This was too much! She almost didn’t hear what Pico said next.
“After all now that you are immortal, sharing some time here and there won’t really affect you.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
Pico backtracked. What had she said? “Didn’t I mention that? That was the other reason that I haven’t been around much. I was looking into some anomalies. You weren’t reacting the same as I was expecting during our walk in the desert and it wasn’t all me healing you. And then you had some cuts and bruising when they captured you in the park. Again, you healed quicker than humanly possible. I did some more investigating and my conclusion is that you are immortal.”
“Immortal? That’s ridiculous!”
“No, it isn’t. I’ve been thinking about it. When the Egyptians sent copies of themselves through the pyramids, they were alive when the energy fields hit them and their code was sent through to this world. I think when you came here, you died and a copy of you was sent here through a black hole with some extra information. What happened to you was ‘natural’ as opposed to what the astrologers, mathematicians and engineers designed. They wanted what you have but didn’t have the technology to replicate it. If it is even possible to duplicate that process. Every time you are injured, your body asserts its original DNA map. It is why you were so hungry at the banquet. You needed the calories to recover.”
“You are saying that I cannot die?”
“Well, technically you could die. If you jumped in a volcano, or you were vaporised then there would be no hope. Maybe if someone chopped of your head … but then you would probably come back from that. All your previous memories are saved in your code. I think that if you do come close to dying then you might reset to when you arrived in this world. You will lose all your experiences from the time you arrive until the time you ‘die’.”
That made Lynsey pause. “That would be awful, I would have no idea how I got here. I might have gone mad if I hadn’t met Illyara or had time to acclimatize before I met anyone. This world is too different.”
“It is okay, I have a plan. I have been creating a backup in the bracelet.” Pico beamed at her cleverness.
“You did what? All my memories are in the band?” She looked down to see the bracelet replicated on her arm,
“Why yes. Just think if some impossible misfortune were to fall on us and you were killed, someone in the future could upload you to a computer, like me!”
What sounded almost like a good idea was starting to sound like a awful one. “Pico, that’s terrible.”
“”Whyyyy issss….” Pico’s voice was slurring. Her image juddered.
“Pico?”
Pico couldn’t answer but her arm rose to say goodbye as her form moved away at an incredible pace.
************
Lynsey woke in confusion but managed to feign sleep while she heard Arkan talk with Luna. She didn’t feel like talking to anyone for a few minutes. Pico had better be quiet as well while she processed what she said. Immortal? She really was immortal but she might lose all her Duat memories? That would be like dying over and over again. It would be like, she searched for the word, like some sort of dementia.
“…not because I want her to stay but both those men are dangerous and they will do their utmost to capture her. Wherever she goes she will be in danger but here we can protect her – and us.”
Lynsey froze, Arkan didn’t want her to stay?
“You call this protecting?”
“illyara, this wasn’t our fault. This was neither the work of the King or Baserius. It was an accident.”
“She does seem to have a lot of those.”
“It is a good thing she has found some friends then isn’t it.”
Of all the nerve. She wasn’t accident prone and if it wasn’t for people after her she would have survived very well thank you very much!
She gave it a few more moments and then she groaned as she moved. Arkan stopped talking and moved his hand away from her hair. She sat up and noticed the carriage was nearing Luna’s house. Arkan was sitting in the corner of the carriage looking out of the window. Had she imagined his hand in her hair?
“I think I need a rest.” Lynsey said aloud.
“I think we all do. “ The Duchess replied.
Contents
Chapter 1 - Duat Chapter 2 - London - Present Day Chapter 3 – Lynsey on Duat Chapter 4 - Nomads Chapter 5 - Scorpion Chapter 6 - The Dragon Temple Chapter 7 - Assassin Chapter 8 - The Luscious Luna Chapter 9 - Arkan Blade Chapter 10 - Kidnapped Chapter 11 - Rescue Chapter 12 - Modesty Chapter 13 - Banquet Chapter 14 - Arkan Chapter 15 - Dancing with the King Chapter 16 - Dragon Brotherhood