"Hey Natty-boy." I turned to look at the shocked boy with Ptolemy's gentle brown eyes. "Fancy seeing you here."
"What the - Bartimaeus? What are you doing here? Is this the Other Place? Am I dead?"
As usual, the boy broke the record for elegant speeches. "Unfortunately, this is not the Other Place, Nat. You are dead, and apparently, since we shared a body, I came along for the ride."
"Oh." Nathaniel said, examining his fingernails and looking rather sheepish. "I'm sorry about that."
"No problem bud." I said enthusiastically. "I always wondered where you humans go when you die."
He craned his neck around, trying to see everywhere at once. For your information, we were in what appeared to be some kind of place like Trafalgar Square. You know, dirt and bricks and stuff. The whole area was kind of gray and gloomy. It had a lovely vibe.
"Where actually is this place?" said Nathaniel, looking at me quite bewildered. I rather felt the same way, though I didn't show it.
"To be honest with you Natty-boy, despite my infinitely smarter brain and wit, I'm not entirely sure."
"Newcomers! Over here please!"
We turned, and saw a rather pudgy man with, for some reason, spines like a dragon down his back.
We walked over to him, exchanging looks.
"Hello sir, would you mind telling me who you are?" That's Nathaniel, always polite. I would have to remedy that.
"Hey Mr. Spined-dead-guy-person! Can you tell me why I can't change shape?" I had wanted to slowly transform my guise into a female form of him but found I could not.
"Oh, a djinni! We haven't seen one of your kind in ages. Yes, you can't change shape because that is your true form."
"My true form is Ptolemy?" I eyed him suspiciously. "Not what I look like on the seventh plane?"
"No, that is simply a representation of you, like humans with their bodies. Your true form is what you define yourself as."
"Could be worse." I said, shrugging.
"Now, you must choose to move on into the next life or to stay here."
"Not many people chose to stay back, huh." I said, looking around the empty square.
"No, you live in a city. It is called In Urbe Mortuos."
"City of the dead." I remarked. "That's original."
"What is your choice?" The chubby man asked in a monotone.
"Well I don't know about you Nathaniel, but I'm staying here. There are too many dead enemies I want revenge on."
"I think I'll move on." Piped up Nathaniel.
"All right Nathaniel, you just have to sign this." The man pushed a price of paper toward Nathaniel.
"What's that?" Nathaniel said while picking up the paper and peering at it with his cold blue eyes.
"It's a warranty that you won't sue us if your soul suffers any damage." The spiked man said.
"You can sue people in the afterlife?" Nathaniel asked, his eyes shining brightly. Of course he would be interested in politics.
"Who knows? Maybe. Anyway, sign it there." He said gesturing to the piece. As Nathaniel signed with flourish, the man said, "Also, Bartimaeus, there is someone who would like to meet you." A person walked from behind where the human was sitting.
"Ptolemy!" I said, running over to the figure and wrapping him in a bone-crushing hug."How've you been, I missed you!"
"I'm glad to see you too, Rekhyt." Ptolemy said cooly. I frowned. Ptolemy didn't do cool. But you know what, we had forever to figure out whatever odd quirks he picked up.
"Hold on Rekhyt." He said, holding me at arms length and narrowing his eyes at me quizzically. "Why do you look like me?"
"I missed you and you're a part of me. I suppose that since I wore your guise on Earth, it came to be how I defined myself."
"You wore my shape on Earth?" Uh-oh. He sounds upset. But, did he raise his voice? Ptolemy never raises his voice.
"I'm really sorry Ptolemy. I didn't know you'd mind." I said rather confused.
"No matter. What is done is done."
The next few weeks were strange for several reasons. Ptolemy acted very oddly. I lived at his house, because he couldn't dissuade me, but since I didn't sleep he didn't let me go in bed with him. Also, sometimes he would depart for long periods of time, saying he was going to the library. This in itself was not unusual because he would never stop appreciating books even in the afterlife. He said for me to stay here because spirits were not allowed. But then once, after he was gone for two days, I began to get worried. I went to the library and spirits were not banned, because "All are afforded the privilege of reading." This was disconcerting to think Ptolemy had been lying to me but that was not all. Then I asked where Ptolemy was, thinking he had gotten caught up in his studies, but the librarian said she hadn't seen him in several years. Greatly concerned I went back to the house and found Ptolemy.
I confronted him, and he said, "It's not the business of a demon where I go or not."
I said to that he had better watch his mouth or I'll leave, and he said that I should leave, crossed his arms over his crest, and smirked.
At this point I became more worried than angry. "Ptolemy, is something wrong?"
"Rekhyt, I think we should both move on, me with my death and you, well, move on to the next part of this life."
At first I just stood there, flabbergasted, but then everything became clear.
"I'm sorry Rekhyt, bu-"
"No." I said, cutting him off. "You can not call me Rekhyt. Only my Ptolemy can call me Rekhyt, and you are not my Ptolemy of Alexandria. You are Ptolemy of In Urbe Mortuos, and I do not love Ptolemy of In Urbe Mortuos. My Ptolemy would cross worlds for me, and he did. My Ptolemy would die for me and he did. Ptolemy of Alexandria is dead. He died saving me." I looked at him with a look Ptolemy had so often gave me. The look said, you are an idiot, and you are so much of one you wouldn't understand me if I told you. The fake Ptolemy could never reciprocate that look. "I am sorry for Ptolemy, that you are shaming him like this, and I hope for his sake you know what you are doing. My Ptolemy lives on in me. Goodbye, Ptolemy of the In Urbe Mortuos."
I walked away without a glance back, but of course I ran back, hid behind a tree, and looked to see fake Ptolemy look after me with an expression of hurt and bewilderment, like my Ptolemy would have done, and I dared to feel hope rising in me. But then he shrugged like it didn't matter, and went off to rejoin the others, because perhaps, to him, it didn't.
But as I walked away I brushed a tear away from my eye, and I was confused because I thought djinn couldn't cry. But now I think they could, and simply had no reason too.