Death Healer

“My hands are tied. I hope you understand this decision brings me no joy whatsoever.”

Lily kept nodding apologetically.

“If it was up to me, Lily,” Marianna said, “I would keep you. But having an outburst like that in the current climate is not something that can fly in this school.”

“He said—”

“I know what he said,” the principal stopped her with a raised hand. “Yet, it doesn’t excuse your behavior.”

“I know,” Lily balled her fists atop her long skirt, hidden from the principal’s view.

“Darling, out of all the people, why you, our kindest, most beloved teacher? How did it happen? We all know that Jaden can be… peculiar. But why did you scream at him like that? The other kids said they were scared for their lives—their kindest teacher, the sweet biology teacher that everyone loved… Where were you hiding all that?”

“I—I… it was just a very bad day,” Lily replied, feeling tears pool in her eyes.

The principal just nodded in reply and sighed.

“I’m so sorry, Lily. We have loved having you here. Jaden’s parents, though, are threatening to sue. They said Jaden had to go to a therapist after what you said.”

Lily felt her jaw tighten and nervous energy take over her, “He had to go to the therapist?! What about the girls?! Marianna, Jaden has always been troubled! He disrupted class all the time! Did his parents even apologize for what he did?! Are there going to be any consequences at all for him?!”

“You know we have a process, Lily,” Marianna shook her head. “Now, now, take a tissue before we continue, and calm down, please.”

Lily, with shaky hands, took the tissue offered by the older woman.

“His parents are both lawyers,” Marianna sighed. “And he pays full tuition, plus… you know. Don’t worry, darling, I’ve already got a glowing letter of recommendation for you. You’ll find a new job in no time.”

…

Exiting the principal’s office with red eyes, Lily met Ethan, who had been waiting for her outside.

“Gosh, Lily,” the attractive PE teacher looked dejected. “I just heard... But it’s fine; it’s going to be fine. You are an amazing teacher. Why don’t you apply to King’s Springs High? I’m sure they would love you there. I could even put in a word for you. Have you already thought about where—”

Lily raised her hand to interrupt the man.

“Ethan, I don’t want to think about that. I just want to get my stuff and go home. I can’t do this now.”

“Sure, sure,” Ethan nodded. “But listen, there’s something I haven’t asked so far because we were colleagues, but... would you like to go out sometime?”

The crying Lily looked at the sportsy PE teacher and felt her inner devil whisper into her ear.

What’s the worse that could happen if you kicked him right in the nuts? You’ve already been fired; what more would they do to you?

“No, thanks,” Lily strained a smile and walked away.

…

Lily looked at the cell model that one of her students had assembled with two nuclei and a half-moon Golgi Apparatus forming a smile. Even though it wasn’t accurate, she had kept it that way because it just looked super cute. She looked around the room before taking out the picture she still carried in her leather bag every day, a little keepsake. She had it printed and plasticized: Lily smiled at a picture of herself with the Welterweight and Featherweight MMA world champion, autographed. She had gone to his fight for the double title and met him outside the hotel lobby in a white fur coat. He had been gracious enough to let her take a picture with him with an old Polaroid and sign the photo for her on the spot.

I wish I had his guts, Lily thought to herself, staring at the picture. And that coat. It looks amazing.

She blushed at the idea of wearing such an over-the-top coat and lightly slapped her face before continuing to empty her desk again. While she gathered her belongings from the class of this high-brow middle school, she felt lost and empty, not knowing what to do next.

“Miss Ember?” A girl peeked inside the classroom.

“Oh, Talulah?” Lily’s sad expression was immediately replaced by a smile. “What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

“The boys said in a group chat that Jaden’s parents were going to get you fired today. I came back to school to see if I could find you before you left.”

Lily’s heart ached for this sweet, sweet girl.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to be fine. And you are going to be fine as well. The project you are working on is amazing.”

“Jaden called it a mud farm,” Talulah squirmed. The nerdy girl had always been the target of the school’s bullies.

“Don’t worry about him. You are going far, Talulah. The state science fair is going to be an amazing referral on your application to college!”

“Miss Ember…” Talulah’s started picking at her hair, a sign she was nervous.

“Yes?”

“I—I don’t think I can do it. You helped me so much by getting me the things, and I—I never repaid you for the materials and all your time and… and…”

“Talulah,” Lily coughed and steeled her voice, “you are an amazing young woman. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You don’t owe me anything. I owe you the pleasure of having worked with the greatest student I’ve ever met in my career. Please, just mention me when you are accepting your Nobel Prize in Medicine, OK?”

Talulah, who had just begun crying, lunged for Lily and hugged her so tight that the teacher felt like she was about to suffocate. But if this were meant to be her way to die, she would gladly embrace it.

“You’ll be the greatest doctor ever,” Lily said, patting the crying girl’s back.

She gave one last look at the empty class. She smiled when she saw the lab coat the students had put on Mr. Skeleton, together with a pair of nerdy glasses similar to Lily’s – lowering her head, she let a few more tears out.

…

“Little sister,” came a voice from the car’s speakers.

“Hey, Ben,” Lily sighed as she drove her tiny Toyota.

“They did fire you, huh?” Ben sighed, looking at his younger sister through the phone’s camera, immediately recognizing the signs of damage with a scowl. “These pussy ass bitches.”

“Ben! Language!”

“Oh, come on, Lily! I know you want to say it too! It’s unbelievable! These idiots fired you because you told a future drug addict to shut his mouth while he told his classmates what… what was it again?”

“Ben,” Lily briefly looked at her brother with her teacher frown.

“Lily, don’t be a punk. You should have punched that old witch of a principal who’s always treating you like an idiot, I swear to God. And what did that kid say again?”

“He was telling the girls that he would… that he would…” Lily recoiled at the sole thought of the words. “That he would do the R-thing to them if they didn’t let him copy their homework and write his essays for him. He even pushed one of them to the ground when she refused to share her notes.”

“How that kid isn’t in juvie is a motherfucking miracle!”

Lily went on and listened to her older brother swear more and badmouth all her colleagues.

“Did you tell mom?” Ben suddenly asked as Lily had almost tuned him out completely.

“I sent her a message,” Lily cringed.

“Ohhhh, she’ll be on her way, then,” Ben said with a tinge of fear in his voice. “Be ready for it.”

“I know,” Lily groaned. “Can’t you just sneak out some drugs from the hospital? Do they really check how much of the sedatives you give your patients? Please, just give me enough to survive Mom.”

“Is it for you or for Mom, though?” Ben smirked.

“I’ll let the stars decide,” Lily smiled.

“Anyway,” Lily said after a beat, “you know, I’ve been thinking about everything and life and… everything. I’ve got a lot of money saved up. Wouldn’t it be fun if I just went back to school and, who knows, got a med school degree myself? Just for the laughs, you know?”

“Nah, little sister, are you crazy? And work these hours? You get to be around great kids all day and work half the hours. Plus, you get tons of vacations! Hell, here, they are on the verge of working us twelve hours a day, holidays included. How would you want to do something like that voluntarily? It would kill you! Come on, don’t sulk; I’m sure you’ll find a new job in a jiff!”

…

Lily was going through her cleansing ritual to prepare for her mother’s arrival. She was on her second Red Bull, reading a paper about the new frontiers in hyperbaric treatment to save limbs of the people who had been in terrible accidents, and had an MMA fight she had taped on in the background.

"O'Hara has him pinned in a full mount position, folks!" The commentator narrated with an audible grin. "Look at how he masterfully controls his opponent's posture! And—OH! A brutal left hook to the face! O'Hara is not just a fighter, he's a damn artist in there!"

Lily looked away from the article to watch the replay of the left hook as the round came to an end. She sighed wistfully. She had always wanted to get into combat sports, but she was sure that both her parents would either get a stroke or put her in a psychiatric facility. The only thing she was ever going to share with the double-champ was her left-handedness.

She shook the empty Red Bull can and went to the fridge to get a new one. She needed energy for what was about to come. She rustled in the fridge without looking, her eyes still on the MMA fight on TV.

“Jeez, when did the fridge become this big?” Lily groaned as she couldn’t palm any can at the end of the top shelf, where she usually placed them for maximum refrigeration. For some reason, she felt like she was almost all the way inside the fridge but couldn’t find anything.

“Oh, come on, look at that,” she raised an eyebrow at the fight as her hand finally clenched a can of something.

She pulled back to see what she was left with and found herself looking at a can of ‘Transmigrator Juice - An Otherworldly Experience!’

“This marketing is getting out of hand,” she shook her head as she opened the can with a fizz. She often bought the most disparate assortment of energy drinks: having one she didn’t recognize wasn’t anything suspicious in her household.

The drinks helped her when she needed to grade a ton of papers or just relax in front of MMA—yes, relax. Caffeine helped her relax at this point—she was that used to it.

“Tastes like death,” Lily half-retched, looking at the glittery droplets sparkling on the top of the can and shaking her head. “Better get it down all at once, then.”

And so, she did, right before everything went dark.

…

Liliana Ember, you have drunk the forbidden elixir.

I’m Lucas, the God of Afterlife.

Lily found herself floating in crystal clear water, butt-naked, with a giant talking face in front of her. She opened her mouth to speak, but then she reconsidered since she was, indeed, in water.

You will soon begin a new journey, Liliana.

New beginnings. New friends. New family.

Live it to the fullest—this is your second chance.

You’ll be induced to fully believe this reality, but nothing else of you will be altered. This, Liliana, won’t be a dream but the greatest reality you have ever experienced.

The giant face paused for a second before adding with a graver voice.

I’ll do you one favor for your new journey: I’ll give you the knowledge of many tongues so that you shall not spend your time worrying about the manner in which they speak and write.

Now, go and enjoy your new life.

Second chances don’t come around easily.

Lily had only one question in mind as the gigantic face plunged her from the crystalline surface down into the deep blue abyss.

What kind of name for a God is Lucas?

…

Lily inhaled as if she had just taken her first breath. Unbeknown to her, she just had. She could hear a muddled voice talking and opened her eyes to see where she had landed. Her vision was blurry, but she could still make out most of this supposedly new world. To her surprise, she found three adults, two women and one man in white tunics, looming over her.

“She isn’t crying,” the man whispered.

“Milord, she just woke up! Let her be! She’s the first baby I’ve brought to this world asleep,” the midwife spoke.

“Lucianus, she has your eyes,” a younger female spoke.

“Does she, now?” The man sighed.

“Your daughter already has an unusually developed energy; I can feel it,” the midwife said.

As soon as she could see better, Lily recognized an old, wrinkled woman speaking. She had a white nun’s headpiece on her head. Lily tried shifting, but the only thing that changed in her vision was a newborn baby’s hand in front of her face—her own hand.

“Lucianus,” the younger woman spoke with deep gratitude, “Aurora is going to be the greatest [Healer] in the entire world!”

Healer?

Something in her mind immediately pushed her to accept the notion without doubting if it was real.

Healer, huh. That sounds like a doctor! That’s something!

Had that God, Lucas, shuffled her into a completely different world where, finally, she could become what she had always dreamed of being—a doctor? Was she finally going to be able to follow her own dreams instead of someone else’s?

This time, I’ll do what I’ve always wanted to do!

“In His Glow,” the midwife said.

“In His Glow,” the younger woman, Lily’s new mother, replied zealously. “She’ll be the crown jewel of the Church!”

Wait, what was that? Did she say ‘Church?’

“Lucianus, aren’t you happy?” The young woman spoke, noticing her husband had remained silent. “This is a miracle! I was told I would never be able to have children! I never thought we would ever be able to have one!”

“Neither did I,” Lucianus looked troubled at the sight of the newborn baby, who stared right back at him with curiosity blinking in her eyes.

[*Ding!* Welcome to Iliadia!]

[Name: Aurora Claudia]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 0]

[Time until System unlocks: 4,745 days]

[*Ding!* Skill - Myriad Tongue acquired]

[*Ding!* Skill - Myriad Tongue maximum level and stage reached!]

[*Ding!* Skill - Myriad Tongue details hidden until another skill of yours reaches the same proficiency—you’ll still be able to use it; don’t worry!]