The Story of Zayn

"Huh?" Zayn raised a single eyebrow, confused. What he had just heard didn't make any sense. He continued, "This isn't the time for jokes, Nahil."

Nahil, on the other hand, burst into loud laughter. "Damn, Zayn. You need to see your face. Every time I see that expression, I can't help but laugh." He straightened up and added more seriously, "Alright, I'm not joking this time. We're dead… To be more accurate, we've died many times."

'Has he gone mad?' Zayn thought. None of what his friend was saying made any sense, so Zayn decided to ignore it and focus on something more important. "Nahil, there's a creature behind that door. It's coming. If we don't run, we'll die."

Nahil replied, "And like I told you, Zayn, that spirit won't be able to enter through that door… Fine, I guess I'll have to explain it again. Honestly, it's a bit disrespectful of you." He paused, then continued, "The problem isn't that snake-shaped spirit that chased you. No. We've killed that thing many times." He paused again, seemingly trying to recall something. "Okay, to be honest, you were the one who did most of the work. But even then, the snake wasn't the real issue, Zayn."

"I've never killed that creature before, Nahil... I can't. My leg is broken and I don't even have a sword, not to mention the thing is way stronger than us," Zayn said, frustrated.

"Yeah… What I hate most about all this is how many times I've had to explain it. But fine. I guess there's no other way but to go over it once again." Nahil walked over and sat down in front of Zayn, continuing, "Right now we're in the warlock's house, but he's not here anymore. It seems the corpse you found in that room—the one you woke up in—was the wizard himself."

"How do you know about the body?" Zayn asked.

Nahil sighed. "Zayn, you're being insulting. Could you let me finish before interrupting?" He paused for a moment, then said, "As I was saying... that corpse was most likely the wizard. There's no other explanation. It's the only thing that makes sense of everything happening here."

Nahil fell silent again, thinking. Then he said, "Ah, yes. It looks like the wizard died, and the two spirits that are in the palace with us were the very ones he had made contracts with."

"Two spirits?" Zayn asked.

"Yes, there are two," Nahil explained. "The first is the snake spirit you just saw. Killing it isn't impossible—we've already done it. Well, you did it. That spirit is responsible for the time distortion in the palace. Even though we entered during winter, it feels like autumn now... maybe we're in the past, or the future? Who knows! But the good news is that the snake has one small flaw—lucky for us. It can't pass through any closed door. If you hadn't opened the door to the room it was in, it would've stayed inside."

"Wait," Zayn interrupted, "does this have something to do with what you said about us dying before?"

"Exactly," Nahil nodded. "Like I said, the snake causes the time distortion in this palace and is the reason we're stuck in this time loop. Whether we die or not, when the day ends, it resets. And thanks to you, I can now remember all the previous versions of this day. Do you know why?"

Zayn had been suspicious of Nahil since the moment he saw him. That same eerie feeling he got when looking at the trio of witches came flooding back. 'Could it be?' Zayn thought. But the answer was already in front of him, so he said it out loud, "Because you've become a spellcaster?"

"That's right, Zayn. After you killed the snake spirit for the first time, you let me absorb its essence. Now I'm a first-tier mage. My magic is time-related, which is why I can remember every cycle of this day."

What Nahil was saying still didn't make much sense to Zayn. He asked, "If we killed that snake spirit before, shouldn't time go back to normal?"

"Good question," Nahil replied. "That brings us to the real problem—the second spirit in the palace. Every time we defeated the snake, time returned to normal. There were even times when the whole group made it into the palace after that. But it was all useless. Do you know why?"

"No?" Zayn answered.

"Well, it all comes down to the power of the second spirit," Nahil explained. "Its ability is simple but terrifying—whatever it says becomes reality. That's why even after defeating the snake, we couldn't beat the second spirit. Even with my magic, it's still impossible." Nahil stood up next to Zayn. "There was one time we managed to kill the snake and waited for the group to arrive. We combined our strength again… and still died."

Zayn stared at the floor, trying to make sense of it all. Something still wasn't adding up. He raised his head and asked, "That still doesn't answer my question, Nahil. If killing the snake resets time, then shouldn't dying after killing it prevent the loop from restarting?"

Nahil replied, "I had the same question. I finally got an answer during one of the cycles. We had just defeated the snake spirit and were about to face the second one. We got utterly destroyed. But I was still barely conscious. I saw it happen—the second spirit revived the snake. So if we put all the pieces together, the reason we keep repeating the same day—even after killing the snake—is because the second spirit keeps bringing it back."

That was a lot for Zayn to process. 'Let's simplify,' he told himself. 'First, there was the wizard, the old man whose corpse I found. After he died, the spirits he had contracted were released. The first spirit was the snake, which had some kind of time-based power. It distorted time and made the palace stuck in a loop, resetting each day. The second spirit could turn anything it said into reality.' 'Wait a second,' Zayn thought. 'Isn't that how we entered the palace in the first place?' He remembered hearing a voice—then suddenly, he was inside.

"Alright, Nahil. I believe you," Zayn said. "But there's still one small question bugging me."

"What is it?... Wait, let me guess. You want to know why you haven't absorbed the snake spirit, too, so you can remember the loops like me, right?" Nahil replied.

Zayn didn't like having his thoughts read, but Nahil was right. So he answered, "Exactly. If we're repeating the day even after killing the snake, wouldn't it make sense for both of us to have that power after all these cycles?"

Nahil responded, "We've already tried that. After I got the ability, we went through the cycle again and tried letting you absorb the snake spirit. That way, we'd both remember and be stronger each time. But sadly, it didn't work. For some reason, I'm the only one who can retain this ability."

Zayn understood what that meant—only Nahil could remember their previous deaths. Zayn would always be starting from zero, no matter how many times they tried or how many spirits he absorbed.

Then Nahil continued, "Alright, now that I've answered your questions, let me ask one of my own. The first time we killed the snake spirit, you let me absorb it. But why? You're a much better swordsman than I am. Wouldn't it have made more sense for you to take its power?"

Zayn didn't remember that version of their life. But he knew the answer—he just didn't want to say it. So he lied. "I don't know."

"I figured you'd say that," Nahil replied quietly.

Zayn looked at Nahil's face. The man seemed deep in thought. So Zayn asked again, "Alright, what now? Are we going to die again?"

That same foolish grin returned to Nahil's face as he said, "What's wrong, Zayn? You think we're going to give up just because we've died dozens of times?" He laughed, then added, "No. This time, we have a chance… a chance to win."

"And why do we have a chance this time?" Zayn asked.

"Simple," Nahil said. "Because this time, we have a perfect plan."