I Reincarnated to Another World as a Woman

"What? Zombies? What are those?" Liam asks.

"Yeah." Claudia shrugs. "You know, zombies." She says it like it’s the most basic common knowledge in the world.

"No, I don’t know." Liam frowns.

Claudia looks at him like he’s lost his mind. "You don’t know zombies? Really?"

Liam rolls his eyes. "Yes, I know zombies, Claude. Wait." He holds up a finger before she can protest further.

"What I meant was," he exhales, "why are you suddenly asking about zombies this early in the morning?"

Theo, Maeve, and Alicia all hide their smiles, watching the siblings go back and forth.

Rhaenas is having breakfast together in the kitchen, a routine that’s held steady every morning since Hawk left three days ago. They’ve been taking it easy, resting at the Monfort guesthouse, doing little beyond training and recovering.

Both siblings have moved into the guesthouse temporarily, just to be with the group, since neither of their parents is currently home.

Claudia, always the one with news from the "outside" world, shares it every mealtime without fail, no matter how ridiculous it sounds. Like this morning, apparently, zombies.

She pouts. "That’s not what you said." She mutters to herself, though loud enough for everyone to hear.

Cling.

Liam drops his fork onto the table with a clatter, exasperated.

"Okay." He sighs heavily. "I’ll bite." He straightens his posture, arranging his face into an exaggerated, mock-excited expression. "Oh, zombies?" He pitches his voice unnaturally high. "What are those, Miss Claudia? Do tell."

Theo chuckles, then quickly covers his mouth when Claudia shoots him a glare.

He clears his throat, or tries to. When her glare doesn’t let up, he straightens his back and says instead, "I also don’t know what zombies are. Can you please explain, Claudia?"

Claudia blinks. "Really? You really don’t know?" She stares at him intently, half convinced, searching for any sign he’s lying. When she finds none, her face breaks into a wide, delighted smile.

Theo isn’t lying. He’s genuinely never heard of zombies before. It’s a term that did not exist in Caelthorn, and in the few months he’s spent in Altheon, he’s never come across the word here either. So it’s no surprise, from his side, that he doesn’t know.

Claudia turns to Maeve and Alicia next. The latter only smiles, unhurried. "I’ve heard of them. Never seen one."

She looks Claudia dead in the eyes. "They don’t exist."

A loud gasp bursts from Liam. "Oh no." He says in the same fake, high-pitched voice as before. "They don’t exist? Does that mean Claudia’s hallucinating?"

Claudia takes a slow breath, steadying herself, while everyone else at the table hides their smiles and laughter.

"I never said they’re real." She starts. "Or that I believe they exist. I was just asking about zombies because there’s a new movie coming out. It’s called My Zombie." She goes right back to eating her toast.

"I couldn’t care less about a movie." Liam says curtly, back to his normal voice, and returns to his breakfast.

"I wasn’t lying about not knowing what zombies are." Theo adds quickly. "What are they?"

The spark comes back into Claudia’s eyes. "They’re basically humans. Or were humans. They can’t feel pain, they move really slow, and they look disgusting, but they’re strong, hard to kill." She reaches for her phone, pulling up pictures for Theo to see.

"How does someone become one?" Theo’s frown deepens. Something about the explanation already feels familiar.

"You get bitten by another zombie." Maeve says quietly.

His frown deepens further. "What about the first one? How did that one happen?"

"Usually it’s some experiment gone wrong." Maeve answers.

"Huh, Maeve." Liam teases. "Never pegged you as a zombie lover."

She smiles. "I love horror movies."

"Here." Claudia turns her phone screen toward Theo.

Cling.

His fork clatters to the floor. All the color drains from his face, and sweat breaks out along his hairline.

"Thea!" Liam notices immediately and shoots up from his seat.

Claudia, catching his reaction, quickly pulls the phone back. "I’m sorry! I didn’t know you didn’t like horror stuff."

"Thea, you okay?" Maeve asks, worried. They all hover in close, but she lifts her head. "Guys, please, give her some room."

They all take a step back, though every set of eyes stays fixed on Theo.

He closes his eyes, forcing himself to work through the shock. It was the last thing he expected to see, and it caught him completely off guard. After a moment, his breathing steadies back to normal.

He opens his eyes, glances at each of them in turn, and offers a light smile.

"I’m sorry. I was just surprised." He looks at Claudia. "Can I see that again?"

He has to be sure. He needs to be.

Claudia blinks. "Are you sure?" She asks, hesitant, feeling the pointed glares from her brother and the other two women land squarely on her.

Theo nods firmly. "I’m sure."

"Thea..." Liam starts.

Theo cuts him off. "It’s okay. I was only surprised. That’s all. I’m fine. Really."

When the other four stay quiet, just watching him, Theo looks around at each of them again and finally laughs. "I’m fine, guys. Trust me."

But none of them look convinced. Especially not Maeve. She studies him closely, worry sitting heavier in her eyes than in anyone else’s.

Theo catches her eyes and smiles. He reaches for Maeve’s hand and gives it a light pat. "I’m fine, Maeve. Really."

He looks back to Claudia. "Now. Can I please see the picture again?"

Claudia glances at Liam first, who frowns but finally gives a faint nod. Then at Alicia, who offers a small nod of her own. Finally, she looks to Maeve. And waits.

Theo scoffs. "Come on. Really? You don’t believe me?"

Maeve’s eyes move between him and Claudia. After a long beat, she exhales and nods to Claudia, who hands the phone over.

But as Theo takes it, Maeve reaches out and covers the screen with her palm, holding his gaze directly.

"It’s not that we don’t believe you, Thea. But we saw how you reacted. And that surprised all of us. We just want to make sure you’re actually okay. I’m sorry if it feels like we don’t trust you, because we do. We’re just being careful. That’s all."

Theo nods. "Thank you. I understand." He glances down at her hand still covering the screen. "Now. Your hand?"

Maeve slowly withdraws her hand, still watching Theo’s face closely.

He looks down, working hard to keep his expression neutral, but his heart betrays him, pounding hard against his chest.

His eyes widen the moment he sees the picture.

I wasn’t wrong. That’s Noctari. How are they here too? I need to find out. This is dangerous.

The dining room falls silent. Theo blinks and lifts his head, only to find four pairs of eyes still fixed on him.

He forces a chuckle. "Okay, this is too much, guys. I’m not that fragile. You’re all aware I’m more powerful than any of you, right?"

"Not right now, you’re not." Liam replies immediately. The others nod along.

Theo has nothing to say to that. He just shakes his head, then turns to Claudia.

"Okay. So, they’re called zombies?" He hands her phone back.

She takes it without looking away from him. "Yes. Are you... not afraid anymore?"

Theo shakes his head. "No. Like I said, I was just surprised. It does look pretty frightening."

Everyone else backs away once they see Theo is no longer surprised. Maeve is the last to step back. Theo holds her stare, as if to say, Not now, Maeve. Later.

She sighs. Okay. We’ll talk later.

"And they’re not dangerous?" Theo asks again.

"Well, it depends on the story. Some movies say they’re just a bunch of undead looking for living people to eat their brains. Once someone gets bitten, they turn too. In other stories, zombies are actually sentient and everything. So it really varies." Claudia explains, enthusiasm bubbling back into her voice.

"And the point of bringing this up at breakfast is...?" Liam asks, sliding back into his seat.

"To see if anyone wants to go watch the movie." Claudia says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. She looks around, confused when no one shares her excitement.

"Really? None of you want to see it?" She says, clearly disappointed.

------------------------------

"Now spill, Theo." Maeve says once they’re alone in his room.

Theo sighs.

"In Caelthorn, we had creatures similar to your zombies. We called them Noctari." He says it clearly, though nostalgia and something close to horror both bleed into his voice.

"But they weren’t fiction. They were real. And like your zombies, Noctari were undead. No memories. No thoughts. Mindless soldiers. They couldn’t speak, couldn’t think, couldn’t recognize anyone, not even the people they’d once loved."

He looks at her. "Like machines. Strong. Very strong. Far stronger than an ordinary human, or even a regular mage."

"Could they infect people too?" Maeve asks.

Theo nods. "Yes. But not through a bite. You needed an open wound, and it had to come into direct contact with their blood, dark greenish, foul-smelling."

"How was the first one made? Do you know?"

"Yes. A failed experiment by a group of mages. They wanted to create super soldiers, something powerful enough to fight Mother Nature herself."

He laughs, low and humorless. "They tried to create life using Dark magic. Something they barely understood. And once it existed, it was dangerous, especially to us. Mages, I mean. Noctari were immune to magic entirely. The only way to actually kill one was a hole through the center of the forehead."

He smiles faintly at her. "Thank goodness you don’t have them here."