Diego still felt lost and confused, and hearing how he had been sold to that strange being only kept him on edge. On top of that, some part of his brain was screaming at the indignity of having been given away on a sale, when he was definitely worth much more whatever she had paid. Unsure on how to answer, he nodded his head to the undead, who’d been kind to him. Diego looked again at that otherworldly woman. Was he now her property? With no other option and not knowing what to do, he sheepishly followed her outside the room. It felt like the strangest dream of his life. Necromancy? Talking skeletons? His face? Whatever the hell that woman was? It didn’t matter how insane it felt, it was real. That’s what the breeze said while touching his patched skin, and the feeling of the wall against the tips of his fingers. But he didn’t feel the world around him the same way as before, there was something different now, even if he couldn’t explain it.

Nothing made sense, but the echo of the woman’s footsteps was the only thing that pointed out a path for him. But was that path any good? For all he knew, he could be a slave, and maybe it would be best to run away, even if he felt trapped inside a stranger’s body. But run where? He didn’t see a future in just sprinting around all that strange place and see if he could stumble into an exit. Right now, the only thing he could really do was follow that woman.

They walked together in silence, but Diego’s anxiousness couldn’t resist such quiet. He had many questions, and he needed an answer now.

“What’s happening here?”, he asked, “Everything I hear sounds insane”.

“It isn’t”, the woman said in a cold voice, “You died, and I paid to bring you here, in that body. I need someone new for my business, and you fitted the bill. It’s quite simple, really”.

“Why me?”, if it was true that he’d been allowed the privilege to cheat death, why him then, of all people? After all, it was the oldest desire of humanity, so what made him so special as to deserve it?

“There was no reason at all”, the female creature stopped at looked him in the eye, so that he’d understand her words, “I paid for someone with skills suited for fighting and spectacle, and your spirit was within the necromancer’s reach. If you’d died five minutes sooner or later, we might not be having this conversation”.

Diego’s heart skipped a beat.

He remained silent.

“I understand it’s quite shocking, but you’ll adjust eventually”, the woman said, “Take it a day at a time”.

He didn’t answer.

The woman took the lead once more, and Diego kept in silence, trying to digest what he’d just learned. Not too long after, they exited the building to a large terrace overlooking a cliff. The cold wind touched the reincarnated youth’s new skin, crawling with goose bumps, but it was different from the chill he’d felt as he was bleeding on the street. This one was a reminder that he was still alive.

He raised his head to look beyond the edge of the terrace, to see the mountains and forests, the gray peaks touching the sky, and the river that flowed through the countryside. It reminded him of the house his grandmother had on the country, in the small town where she’d grown up before moving to the city, and to where they went every summer. He saw the sea not too far away, and the city by its side, spewing faint columns of gray smoke that mingled with the clouds.

He turned his head to the woman, waiting for him next to a wooden black and red carriage. Something was starting to wake inside of him, giving him drops of strength, and as he looked her straight in the eyes, he asked a simple, yet important question.

“What now?”

“Now”, the woman answered as she invited him into the carriage, floating above the winds, “We get down to business”.

Diego accepted the invitation, and before stepping to the small platform that led him to the vehicle, he saw that it was being carried by a strange floating creature, with a faint resemblance to a jellyfish. He crossed the threshold and entered the carriage, sitting in front of the woman.

“Give it to me straight”, he asked.

“As of this moment, you’re under contractual obligation to perform the designated tasks for the duration of seven years. Failure to abide by the requirements of the contract will be answered with immediate legal action. I strongly recommend you avoid this”, the stone-faced woman raised her hand to take a sealed envelope from her jacket, and gave it to Diego, “A copy of your contract”.

“Don’t I need to sign it first?”

“This is a special case”

The young revenant didn’t know what sort of legal action he’d had to face, but he didn’t need to be a lawyer to know that it’d end terribly for him, more so in his current state. He was in a strange land, with only the clothes so generously donated to him at his name. He took the envelope, but with what he’d just heard, the whole contract reeked of something he didn’t like.

“So, I died and now I’ve got to look forward to being a slave?”, his heart sank as he said those words, hoping to hear that it wasn’t the case.

“Slave I such a strong word, and illegal, now”, the creature said nonchalantly, “It’s more like a job you’re forced to perform. Besides, a slave would have been a terrible investment”.

“Right”, the young man said with cynical distrust. It sounded like semantics, more than a real difference, “And what are these tasks?”

“You’ll be performing as a professional wrestler”, she said without blinking an eye, “A heel, or villainous character, to be more precise”.

“Excuse me?”, Diego was completely dumbfounded.  Out of all the things he’d expected, that was the very last one of them all. Even butler was above that, after meeting the talking skeleton. He hardly believed it even after hearing it so clearly, “You’re telling me that I’m alive because you want me to be a wrestler?”.

“Yes, it’s a very popular and lucrative industry here. I understand if you’re surprised, most have the same reaction. I’ve always wondered why it doesn’t seem to be as a profitable venture in other places as it is here. Everyone loves wrestling, and its stars”.

“Just to be clear, we’re talking about people in tights fighting on a ring, grappling and doing flips and all those things in front of an audience, right?”

“That’s exactly what I’m referring to”.

“It’s a lot to take in”.

“You still have time”, this time, the coldness of her voice had a hint of care, “I’d suggest that you use it to familiarize yourself with your contract and your duties, as well as our insurance”.

The existence of an insurance was relieving, after all, no one paid insurance for a slave. Diego took a moment to think. It didn’t look that the situation was as bad as he thought, but everything was still confusing. He wasn’t in no condition to process all that was happening, but two things were clear. He was in an unfavorable position, and whatever awaited him in the future days could be anything.

As the young man was trying to untangle his mind, the woman knocked on the carriage’s roof. The thing below them received the order and began to float away from the place Diego had been born for a second time. The boy surprised himself when he found he wasn’t as shocked at this as before, though few things could be as shocking as a talking skeleton in a suit. In comparison, this was like boarding a helicopter, or a slow-moving plane.

“Introductions are in order”, she said as she stretched her hand, “Dirtha”

Uneasy, Diego shook her hand.

“I’m aware of how hard this must be”, Dirtha began to say, “It feels like you’ve lost everything, but you still have the chance to build something new here. Why don’t you start by choosing a song on the radio?”.

Diego looked at the ornate and bulky wooden device on the side of the carriage, taking more than half the carriage’s height. The woman made sense, he was in a brand-new world, filled with unique experiences that he couldn’t even think about. Their music seemed like a great place to start.

Dirtha turned the box on, and the young man moved the knob around, jumping from one emission to the next in search of something he’d enjoy. After some trial and error, he finally found it. It was a strange melody, filled with wind and string instruments playing a playful tune, a strange but familiar sound. He looked out of the window to that new world, as they slowly moved to the city in the distance.