Reapers: God of Death
Ashes struck the ground, torches toppled from their stands and died, and a sole figure walked through the collapsing mayhem. The very walls around them seemed to lash out against the robed figure, trying to slow their progress. The figure reached the end of the now obliterated egyptian style hall and kicked the double-doors off their hinges. Anubis, the Egyptian god of Judgement rose from his chair, his face twisted by rage as the figure before him pulled a staff from their robes, the solid maple seemed to form as it was tugged from the figure's sleeve. The staff was rapped against the ground, and a scythe blade that shone eerily formed in the air.
"And if the gods may die;" the figure said, before swinging his scythe through Anubis, "let those who fraud the power of thine lord be struck down for the purity of the faith!"
Before Anubis's now rapidly disintegrating body completley turned to sand, he gritted his teeth in a wicked grin. "My death... Marks only the beginning of another God's power..!" He wheezed to take his final breath, lying on the floor. "With the last of my breath, I spit at thee, pretender, knowing full well your time is short... My death is only the start..!"
His smile became one of satisfaction as his body finished disintegrating, becoming nothing more than a pile of sand on the marble floor.
"Only one god can slow me." The robed figure said, pushing his foot through the sand. "And soon, he too shall be for naught." He laughed cruelly and vanished in a puff of darkness.
Search for Darkness.
Grim stalked through the halls of what was once Anubis' home temple in Judgement, his bony feet clicking on the marble tiles. Souls were lined up in the temple, waiting their turn to be weighed; Bastet had taken up the mantle for Anubis in his absence, apologising for his failure to appear in person. She looked extremely dogged, which was quite a feat for a feline goddess, and let Grim walk in past her. Teleporting deities into the inner sanctums of a god's temple was impossible to all but the Old High Ones and those who had been granted their power, yet Grim preferred a chance to get out and stretch his bones once in a while, so he walked. A great white shark anthro, Halycone, was standing next to Thrum, the king of the gods; Halycone's Nightmare, a large red wolf called Lowell, hiding behind her as best he could. Lowell didn't like Grim; bones are nice and all, but when they move all their own and fight back when you try to chew them puts a dog right off eating anything more than meat. Thrum nodded to Grim, and Halycone bowed.
"Sir."
"Dark business today, Grim." Thrum said, pointing to the pile of sand between them. "A god has been slain, his bodyguards brutally butchered and his temple decimated. Only one has this kind of power." He gritted his teeth as he glared blindly at Grim. "Where is the god of death?!" He demanded.
"Trace has been absent for a few months now, Thrum." Grim said. "I have no more control over 'is movements right now than chu do over I."
"Trace wouldn't randomly kill gods left and right." Halycone said. She was his soulmate, and she knew him quite, quite well. "A letter arrived from him today, which is why I'm here."
She offered the letter out to Grim. The ink was pitch black, the darkness seeming to betray the two-dimentionality of the paper it was written on, and he opened it with a bony hand, reading it.
'Halycone, Grim, and Thrum.' It began. 'I hope this letter finds you as well as you were when I left your presence. I apologise for my absence from the only family I have, but an extremely important issue has arisen that I must attend. I am well aware of the events that have occurred, and I know the future deities that shall be struck down in the next day. Within this letter you shall find a Wyvern Scale, shed from Lilith, and imbued with Phoenix blood; this can revive your fallen deities, however it shall take a while for the magics within to take full effect. Please be careful, not even home is safe.
Love, Trace.'
Grim growled, pulling the scale from within the envelope. "But what does dis mean..?" He asked to no one in particular. "Damn dat cat and 'is riddling ways..!" He held the scale up over the pile of sand, and a bolt of light struck down into the grit, which glowed brilliantly. He handed the scale to Thrum. "If Trace's letter is ta be believed, more gods are ta fall; dis would be best wit' someone who is ta be in Judgement all da time. Guard it like gold, dis isn't over." He grabbed Halycone with one hand. "Lowell, chu're ta go ta your cave and stay dere." Grim ordered. "Your master and I 'ave a little chat ta prepare." Lowell nodded and popped out of the room.
"What's going on?" Halycone asked, as Grim pulled her into a portal of darkness.
"We're organisin' a search party." Grim growled. "All of t'ose souls in Judgement... Trace is still harvestin', and quite enthusiastically I might add; we're going ta send our Reapers out ta find him!"
They reappeared in Grim's office. Small skulls adorned most of the furniture, simply for the flashy look of it; marble and glass isn't easy to keep dust-free, and Grim spent an exhausting amount of magic keeping it so. Halycone sat in a chair while Grim sat at his desk. He sat in silence while Halycone simply pulled out a sharpening stone and turned her attention to her scythe; Trace had been teaching her how to keep it in pristice condition before he vanished, and even though the edge had lost its brilliant shimmer that only comes from being sharp enough to cut even titanium, it was still well curved and sharp. Grim was worried, she knew, and this worried her more; the head Reaper was supposed to know everything that his Reapers did; he had a special mental link that he could almost literally see through their eyes with, but he could not read Trace in the least, and Trace had severed Halycone from this link to give her her freedom back.
Grim stood up and grabbed Halycone's shoulder once more. "We're goin' to da great hall." He said, pulling her out the door. "Come."
She followed him to the great hall, large enough to seat ten thousand Reapers with its ever expanding floor, and was sat in a seat near the front. The hall currently housed every Reaper bar Trace.
"Reapers, a great tragedy has befallen da eternal plane." Grim started. "One of da gods, lord Anubis, has fallen." A general whisper ran through the amassed army of black robes, and one Reaper stood up.
"It's Trace that done this!" He yelled, to which a few Reapers agreed. "He's the only one who can kill gods!" Again, a few agreed, stimulus to which made the speaker bolder. "Make him pay!"
Halycone, grim noticed, became really quite upset at this prospect, and at the popularity it had with the other Reapers. He put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Silence!" He yelled, to which the crowd responded. "Da full story is yet ta be revealed even ta myself, only Trace has da answers we seek." He stood up straight. "Thusly, we shall go and find him. Everyone is ta be on da lookout fer any other Reapers other dan deir partners; call out ta each other, and keep yerselves safe; da Demons are riled by somethin', and da fewer casualties we get da better. He's still harvestin' out dere somewhere, so keep yer eyes open fer any souls dat aint where dey're supposed ta be!" He clicked his fingers. "Dismissed!"
The room cleared quickly, most of the other Reapers not wanting to get in the way of Grim's wrath on whomever he might find responsible for that outburst of unruly behaviour. Only Halycone remained, and Grim wouldn't let her leave so quickly.
"Halycone, though you are strong enough ta harvest alone, I will not leave you without a partner." He said. "Thusly, I shall accompany chu myself. We're going ta go right for tha largest concentration of unharvested souls tomorrow, da Mo'aki Abomination Laboratory."
Halycone became ramrod still, her eyes wide at this revelation.
"I am sorry dat we gotta go back ta da place o your death, but dis is important. Iffin you can't take bein' dere any longer, you're ta tell me straight away, your wellbein' is very important ta Trace and he'll be extremely angry if I don't tink of chu first."
She weakly nodded. "I understand." She said, wrapping her arms around herself for what little comfort it could bring her.
"Chu have tonight ta ready yourself." Grim said, turning to leave. "Be prepared."
"Why would he do something like this?" She asked rhetorically. "Is he proving a point, or..?"
"I don't believe dat Trace is behind dis." Grim said, putting a hand on her smooth head, just next to the fin that topped it gracefully. "He does know da answers ta our questions though, and dat's what we're after." He helped her up, letting her use him as support. "We need ta get ta him before one o' da other Reapers do, or trouble could start that cannot be ended without damagin' a soul permenantly." He walked her to her dormitory, a short walk from the banquet hall. She'd always thanked the fact that her dorm wasn't far from the kitchens, meat is so much nicer when it's still bleeding slightly.
"Incidentally, chu might want ta be ready ta swim." Grim finally said at the door. "Half da place is submerged."
Halycone knocked on the door to Grim's office bright and early. She, like all other Reapers, could walk through any door, no lock can hold a Reaper, but it was polite to knock first. The door clicked, and she walked in, standing at the desk where Grim was reading a file. She hazarded a look at the cover.
"My personal history, sir?" She asked.
Grim seemed a little embarrassed that she had found this out so quickly. "I was... readin' up on how chu died." He said. "However I've not gotten dat far." Halycone's eyes went neutral and bored, like she'd been through this many times a day.
"I was kidnapped from my clan on November 27th, 1835, over one hundred and sixty years ago, at the age of eight. I was taken to the Mo'aki Abomination Labs, where they experimented on me, and many others, using magic to create flesh titans out of the corpses of those who didn't survive the experiments. Though the Flesh Titans were easily downed, the laboratory churned them out endlessly. For ten long years I endured torture, both physical and mental, and had, at certain points, several of my limbs removed without anasthetic." She put her let hand onto her right arm, just below her shoulder. "Losing my arm to that demon before was... Very much the same feeling." She muttered. "I died November 26th, 11:59 PM, 1845, exactly ten minutes before the time they kidnapped me, I died from severe bloodloss after having my tail and left leg amputated at the same time, both without anasthetic." She glared at the tile between her feet. "They... tried to resuscitate me for ten minutes after I died..." She gritted her teeth and returned a teary glare to Grim. "If I find the souls of those scientists there, I'll rip them to shreds; my entire life was one monstrocity after another, as were the lives of many others, they'll pay for what they did!"
Grim held up a hand before offering a tissue to her. "I understand fully, Halycone." He said. "However, revenge will not get you da retribution you long for, deir benediction would be just dat, your silence would bring about da damnation they deserve and condemn them ta whatever hell dey believe in."
"And if they don't believe in hell?" Halycone asked in a growl.
"Ah, then you can do whatever you want wit' dem before condemning dem to da demon realm." Grim said. "Thrum was very understandin' about dat." He stood up, slapping her history file onto the desk where it vanished with a pop. "Now we leave, come along." She turned to leave, but Grim grabbed the fin on her back which stuck through a slit in her robe that showed a fair amount of her sleek back. "Where do you think you're goin'?" He asked. "Your Nightmare ain't required; we're goin' on Binky." He said, pulling her through an unseen doorway inside a bookcase. Inside was a stable, a very large stable that was a pleasent warmth. A skeletal horse stood in the corner, bright blue fire flaring on the joints. Binky had once been a flesh and blood horse, but had lost this all when he died from old age. Rather than give up on his old friend, Grim had changed the stallion into a skeletal being, something that is, not something that was. He featured a saddle large enough for two, but that was for the show of it; if he let you on, you wouldn't fall off even if a barn struck you. Grim helped Halycone onto the horse's back before climbing on himself. Binky shone brilliantly, magic blurred around them, and they vanished; four glowing hoofprints burning like plasma the only evidence they had ever been there, and then that, too, faded.
They rematerialised on the edge of a great lake, buried underground by the very volcano that had concealed the building submerged in its center for decades over a century before. Only the pointed tip of the once great building showed above the still water; thirty floors of concrete, steel and horror below the surface. A large black-purple blob was perched atop the pinnacle, staring bored at the walls.
"That's Lilith!" Halycone said. "If Lilith is here, Trace must be nearby!"
"Well, let's get her attention." Grim said, holding his arm up and clicking his fingers.
Lilith had been perched atop the building for ten hours. Ten boring, dull hours of staring at walls that contained gemstones that didn't sparkle, no matter how bright a light lit them. Trace, currently, was seeing to one of her legs, which had been harmed in the last demon attack in this great cave, and she was bored stiff. When she heard the Reaper's Call, her head snapped in the direction it had come from, and Trace looked over her back disinterestedly.
"Oh, it's only them." Trace said, climbing onto her saddle. "I'll meet you over there, Lilith." He finished, leaping off.
It was quite a drop, at least thirty feet, and he landed on the water leaving only a tiny ripple that moved in a ring out to the rest of the lake, ending in leaving it completley smooth once more. He dawdled idly to where Grim, Halycone and Binky stood waiting, Lilith landing beside him as he stepped onto the dusty rock.
"Hello, Grim." He said. "And hello, Halycone, I've missed you much." He took her hand and kissed the back. "I believe you were looking for me?"
"We were." Grim said.
"Where the hell have you been?!" Halycone yelled. "Anubis was slain, only your powers can kill gods, explain yourself!"
Trace sighed. "Alright, but first we have a little work." The water behind him exploded, and a massive demon slammed the ground where he stood with its hand; Trace had gone right through the demon's had like he wasn't even there. "Help me by standing back a little, will you? This guy's already harmed Lilith once, and he's not exactly feeling his best." Halycone and Grim then noticed that the demon was missing an entire arm, ice glistening where his shoulder ended in a bloodied stump.
Oath
Trace, Grim and Halycone walked out of Grim's office; Trace had let Lilith return to her cave on her own after he managed to kill the war demon. Grim went to sit behind the desk, but Trace didn't show any sign of stopping in the office.
"What're you sittin' for?" Trace asked, not even bothering to turn. "We've got precious little time today. Already five gods have fallen, we must get to the banquet hall before more are to topple."
"Stop right there, Trace Echo!" Grim's voice yelled, taking a unique harmonic, just like Trace's could. "I've had enough of you waving us off and not tellin' us anything! Tell me, right now, what is goin' on!"
Trace sighed and turned around. "Okay, I'll start from the beginning." He said.
"Before I vanished, those three months ago, I imbuned a sharpening stone with my godkilling powers, so that if my scythe were ever to be destroyed I could replace it. After I slept for the night, I discovered the stone gone, no trace of who had taken it. I figured that a Demon had gotten his hands on it, and as such I went in search. Now that a God has died, we can find out once and for all who has taken it."
"It won't be that easy, Trace; you know that." Halycone said. "It never could be."
"Then what do we do?"
"Return to your room fer now." Grim said. "Don't be seen by anyone, something is most certainly not right. Da demons wouldn't just start gettin' all riled up over you killin' a few of dem, clearly someone is pullin' strings behind our backs."
Trace nodded, then stumbled slightly. "..No." He said. "A powerful deity has just fallen. Whoever this is, they're using the distraction of searching for me to kill gods. The others must know to return."
Grim nodded. "Da message be out already." He said, before he too stumbled. "Something be wrong." He mumbled. "They're gettin' more resistance from da demons tryin' ta return than they were goin' out." He shuffled uncomfortably. "Da demons know dat they cannot attack our front gates." He mumbled.
"So they're going to use this opportunity to do as much damage as possible while we're divided." Halycone finished for him.
Trace stood in thought before sighing heavily. "Grim, get the Reapers together in one place, they're not to retreat or they'll be attacked. Even if it is only defensive, they need to find some way to fight back against this."
Grim nodded and his eyesockets shone momentarily before he spoke. "They're converging in Nuireth Desert, near a small oasis." Grim said.
Trace grinned and turned, stepping back out the door.
"Where are you going?" Halycone asked, hurrying after him. "We only just got you back, don't leave us again!" Trace turned to her, his eyes actually showing how purely honest he was about to be.
"I'm not leaving you, I promise." He said. "I could never leave you for any longer than I have, and I don't intend to do that to you again; but the Reapers will be unable to take on the demon force that is moving to end them."
"How do you know that?"
He looked to the floor. "The place in which you died..." He mumbled. "It was buried beneath the mountain by the very creature that the Demonists intended to control, one of the Greatlords is loose." He said, to which Halycone gasped. "I believe it is the Suffering Greatlord, Vudu; even Marcus would fail to win against him. The Reapers cannot defeat him, even if they fight together." He sighed. "Someone is controlling everything, Lowell wasn't this discreet. No, I will have to be there, else everything will be lost, even if it is only to kill Vudu to give the Reapers an even field." He put his hand on her shoulder. "First I shall report to Thrum and ask his permission to use the extent of my power that I'll need." The context of this missed Halycone, but she didn't seem to be listening for it.
"Thrum doesn't trust you at tha moment, Trace." Grim said from his office doorway. "You will have ta explain what is going on."
"And I will." Trace replied. "An item, infused with the power to kill gods should it be used to sharpen a weapon, has been stolen. We need order back between the demons and Reapers, if only to find who has stolen it." He handed Halycone his scythe handle. "I'm entrusting you with keeping this safe. If it is even remotely possible that I fall out there, I do not want this falling into the wrong hands." He kissed her on her forhead and stepped away, turning back towards his dormitory. "I will be back, I give you my oath." He said, before walking away.
The battle against the demons wasn't going well for the Reapers. They had proven to be much stronger than usual, resistant to most of their magics, and far more organised than demons usually were; commonly Demons would fight between each other to get a kill, even if it meant slaying a fellow demon, but now they were working together to get at the rapidly dwindling Reaper force. That one of the Greatlords, Vudu, was there was no help either. The Reapers were all massed around an oasis, whose trees were dying and water was drying up. Vudu reared back a fist and plowed it towards the nearest Reaper, who dodged the massive appendage by inches. A roar sounded overhead, and another robed figure landed infront of Vudu, who took another swing. His fist stopped as if hitting a brick wall, and the figure's hood was blown off his face.
"Trace!" Several of the nearby Reapers cheered.
Trace had already been to see Thrum, explaining exactly what was going on and what he expected to happen next, but that even Trace would soon be unable to predict which god would fall, only that it would be the flip of a coin. As he stood before Vudu, his eyes turned pitch black, and curls of darkness whisped out like smoke from a fire.
"No, Vudu." He said, his voice changing harmonics from usual as his potent powers unlocked. "To you I shall not yeild. Tell me who has organised the demons."
"I tell nothing!" Vudu roared stupidly. Greatlords didn't need a lot of brains for what they did, just more brawn that those that they commanded, and Vudu was immensely powerful, challenged once a day by lesser demons that he would strip the flesh of and devour, usually while they still lived. "Interfering God!"
He swung again, only Trace caught his massive fist with one hand as if stopping a stray tennis ball. "Very well, demon." He said. Vudu's hand exploded, ash showering the imediate area. "Your position as one of the Greatlords is now sacrificed."
Trace leapt from the sand with all the force of a controlled explosion. Vudu moved to dodge, but Trace had already grabbed his enromous, barbed shoulder. The red flesh around his hand started to turn black, and the dark colour spread across Vudu's body. Trace leapt off, landing ontop of another demon and squashing it flat. Vudu gave one last roar of fury before his entire body exploded, spreading small motes of ash across the battlefield that vanished upon hitting the ground. Trace looked about the Reapers still fighting and sighed, as soon as Vudu died, the Reapers started to gain the upper hand. Things were going too easily. A sudden, sharp pain filled him, and he looked down as a scytheblade carved through him, its edge glowing.
"So it wasn't a demon." He mumbled, falling forward. He had been carved perfectly in half, and his lower half fell in the opposite direction. His eyesyight blurred, and he heard laughter. "T... Trai... tor..." His mouth formed a weak grin, going back to a shocked expression as the maniacal laughter grew quiet.
From the distracted eyes of Lilith overhead, two things happened to Trace. First, he was sliced in half by someone that couldn't be seen through the thick of the battle, and she saw him fall into the sand. Second, his entire body exploded into thick smoke, so dark that light seemed to be sucked into the colour. Lilith's eyes narrowed, and she lost concentration long enough for a demon to hit her. She fell to the sand, protecting Trace's Reaper uniform and pushing Reapers and demons alike away. Her eyes shone red, her blood dripping from the cut on her arm as her fury overtook her better jugement. She opened her mouth, curls of cold air pooling out on her exhaling snarl. Her roar cut through the air, freezing demons solid, and making Reapers cower in fear as her magic ran wild. Most dragons can breathe an element, be it fire, ice or even poison, but like all naturally carnivorous animal they really don't like to get hurt in the least, and with human intelligence, the recognise the loss of a loved one as a great source of harm. Reapers dove for cover as she barreled past, grabbing the nearest demon in her teeth and ripping its intestines across the sand. Her clawed feet grabbed another by the head, tearing scores into his flesh until she crushed his skull. The battle between Reapers and demons was soon won, with over half the army of demons massacred solely by her. Their claws and teeth, barbs and horns had proven useless against her, as if she had become solid iron.
Grim stepped onto the battlefield, weakly looking on as Lilith protected what had once been her master. She was hysterically crying, but she growled at him as he neared. Halycone had come with Grim to see what the Reapers had reported in person, sure enough, Trace's robes lay beneath Lilith, empty and carved in half. She weakly fell to her knees.
"He promised." She said, now with her face dripping tears that streamed from her silver eyes. "He PROMISED!" She yelled.
"And he wouldn't be one ta go back on his promises." Grim said. "Grab da stone, and get on Lilith, we're goin' ta his room." He said, mounting back onto Binky. "Bring his Scythe, I'll meet you dere."
Halycone did as she was told, stepping forth and fishing a small sharpening stone from the empty robes. It looked as if it had been used for years, it was once roughly a ten inches long by three wide, and another four deep, but now it was only one inch across, and barely one deep. Weakly she got onto Lilith's back and spurred her on.
Lilith rematerialised with Halycone on her back in her cave. Lilith's sadness hung in the air thickly, and she was reluctant to let Halycone leave, but Halycone insisted.
"I'm sorry." Halycone mumbled. "Lowell can be here soon if you'd like to have him keep you company." Lilith nodded sadly, and curled up in her corner. "No, Lilith, not tonight." Halycone said, dragging the dragon's bedding towards the door of her cave, where it connected magically to Trace's small dormitory. "Sleep here, we will be closer to you then." Lilith nodded and nuzzled softly into Halycone's robe, giving a sad whine. "I miss him too." She quietly mumbled before stepping through the threshold.
Grim was already here, waiting patiently. A fresh new Reaper's uniform had been stretched out across the bed, and Trace's very first uniform, now just ragged torn cloth that was barely suitable as a belt, lay across the waist. Trace had treasured this ancient article of clothing, so much so that he didn't often wear it out to harvests, and it had hung in his wardrobe since he left. Grim grabbed Halycone's hand as she neared and nodded to her.
"We go for a visit to our benefactor." Grim said. "Azrael has sat on the bench over dis matter too long. Bring da stone, it will be needed."
"I need to send Lowell to Lilith to keep her company." Halycone said.
"No." Grim said. "Send her ta him. She is resistant ta tha powers that drove Trace, you are not." He put his hand on her shoulder. "Trace's letter said dat not even home be safe, now is not da time to risk our necks over somethin' as little as dis."
Halycone nodded and stepped back through the threshold, reappearing after a moment or two. "Alright," she mumbled, "let's go."
Grim nodded, took her hand, and they both vanished into a cloud of darkness.
They reappeared under the gaze of billions of stars, possibly trillions of miles from the planet where Halycone harvested regularly. Grim turned his gaze to Halycone's face sternly.
"Let me do da talkin'." He said. He turned his empty skull to the massive face of Azrael.
One of the Old High Ones, to whom even the gods must answer. The power to destroy entire universes flowed through him like blood through a human being, power he was usually reluctant to use. His eyes, in which a supernova was only the faintest hint of a twinkle, were fatherly as they gazed down upon Grim.
"_ Greetings once more, Grim ." He said, his words taking a milennia to be spoken. " And greetings to you too, Halycone De-newell. Trace spoke of you when he visited me ." Halycone meeped, blushed, and turned her face away. " Quite fondly, I might add. I know why you are here, Grim _."
"You must know da story, Azrael." Grim said. "Trace is gone, taken by da same power you bestowed upon him. Help us ta unravel dis, I emplore you."
Azrael thought for centuries that passed like minutes in the distorted time, entire galaxies were born during this period of silence before he spoke again.
"_ No _." He said.
"What?" Grim snapped. "But why, m'lord?"
"_ I must not interfere. Giving either of you the ability to end this all would only make me break a promise to the very child you mention ." He looked directly at Grim, his attention boing into the great being. " **_I am not here to be your scapegoat whenever something goes awry, Grim**."
"If you won't help us, then we have wasted our time." Halycone growled, making Azrael look at her in surprise. "There is only one thing that I want from you." She sniffled, her fist clenching around the small stone in her hand. "Give him back."
"_ Excuse me? _"
"Give Trace back!" Halycone yelled. "He's everything to me, nothing should have taken him from me! My heart went to him, we promised we'd be together forever..." Her angry, tear soaked face whipped up and glared at Azrael, she bared her teeth and stifled a sob. "Give him back!"
Both Grim and Azrael stared at her in surprise. Grim sighed and put an arm around Halycone's shoulders.
"I apologise, lord." He said. "She's-"
" Alright." Azrael said.
Halycone lost her grip on the stone, which floated before her, spinning gently. Shadows flowed from all around, darkness from within the darkness swirled and condensed, slowly forming a humanoid shape. Small features eventually showed, ruffling fur, perky ears and a silent muzzle. The black mass took on a light orange, and brown colour flowed to form hair. The figure, now a familiar person, stopped floating and stood before Halycone. His eyes flicked open, bottomless pits of darkness within until the shadow faded and took on the bright orange that they should have been. She took off her long black robe and put it around his shoulders to give him some decency. Trace's teeth bared in a smile.
"I live once more." He said quietly. Halycone threw her arms around him, almost knocking him off his feet when she threw her weight against him. He was momentarily shocked, but returned the gesture gently. "I'm sorry, Halycone." He said. I did not mean to hurt you so."
"_ Your oath has been kept, Trace ." Azrael said. " Now I believe you have some work to do _."
Trace smiled wickedly. "Work? No, not work. I have some eyes to open, right before I gouge them out. This shall be fun."
Traitorous Ways
Halycone and Grim appeared in Judgement with a light pop. The entire place was in ruins; god's temples all around having been decimated and only two standing strong, Anubis' and Thrum's. General mayhem was rioting in the main hall, souls didn't know where to go to, and without their preferred deity there to judge them, they were without any purpose other than that which befalls all large groups of people: be noisy. Grim sighed and clicked his fingers, making Bast appear at his side and all the souls become silent as they turned to him.
"Be quiet." Grim said angrily. "Nothing gets done if you all bicker and argue."
"What puts you in charge of what we can and can't do!?"
"The power ta end your soul right here, right now." Grim growled. "Bastet shall be judging souls for us from here; she can judge any soul regardless of religious belief and chu will go ta your appropriate destination. Line up."
Bast looked to Grim, who nodded solemnly to her. "But what about Thrum?" She asked. "If you two are protecting me-"
"Thrum is bein' watched." Grim said. "Dis is where we learn everythin'."
Lilith, high above, surveyed the massive crows of souls. There were too many, the crowd too large to see anything suspicious through, and she growled inwardly. She should be down there, with the others, not on sentinal duty. True, she could see further than the others, but she was also invulnerable to the powers that would be used against her, if any. Her eyes narrowed and she swooped down, landing in front of Grim and giving a warning growl.
"What is it?" Grim asked, pulling his scythe from his sleeve.
She nodded into the crowd, where a large group of very unusual souls lumbered forward. Halycone gasped, as did Bastet.
"T-that's impossible!" Halycone shrieked.
"Lilith, Halycone, stay here." Grim said, slowly pacing forth. "I'll handle dis."
Trace stood at Thrum's side, eyeing the souls walking in the doors. He scowled at one that threw him a dirty look.
"What do you want?" He asked.
"Pfuh, you look like dat woman sixteen years ago!" The soul spat. "Heh, killed her stone dead in da ward we did. Stupid pregnant bitch, screamin' like a banshee-"
"You speak of my mother," Trace growled. "and though I'm not stupid enough to try to take revenge, if you don't shut up you can go to the back of the line."
Thrum sighed, shaking his head. A golden set of weights emerged infront of him and quite quickly fell to the left.
" You have been found with great darkness in your heart, Samuel Westfall." Thrum boomed. "You do not gain entrance to heaven." He waved his hand and the soul vanished, going to whatever hell he believed in. " Trace, I understand that you must act bodyguard, but please try not to interfere."
"My apologies, m'lord." Trace replied. "This has all got me a bit on edge, without unlocking more power than I already have asked for, we may be unable to stop our assassin." He fished something out of his pocket and showed it to Thrum "How do you think she'd react to this?" He asked.
" Favourably." Thrum replied.
Trace sighed, putting it back in his pocket. "Thank you for your insight." He said. "Y'know, you've been like a father to me... I'm sorry I'm such a burdon at times."
" Think nothing of it." Thrum said, waving a hand as a soul was judged. " At least you I can reply to, so many people pray to me for my blessing, you can actually stand here and ask me."
Trace nodded and sighed. He glanced out the doors into the greater entrance and his eyes went wide. "W-what the hell?!"
" That makes little sense..." Thrum boomed. " Flesh Titan souls? Impossible! Without the gestation period a life goes through, we cannot bless a soul into the body, they should not exist!"
"Yet exist they do, oh Blind Thrum." A voice called. Trace pulled his scythe close, letting the blade emerge. "Please, don't bother Trace." The voice continued. "You cannot stop me, that much has been proven already. Your powers are your own achilles heel, and now that another has them, you are no threat."
"What do you what?!" Trace yelled angrily.
"Want? Hahah, my poor boy, I want what I have always wanted. I want power, and now that I have it, I want only to destroy those who might challenge my position. Starting, I believe, with Grim. So foolish, Lowell did say, that he would do something as stupid as this, throwing himself into the fray. Say goodbye, Trace, goodbye to the Reapers and hello to the new beginning of one, almighty Grim Reaper."
Trace handed Thrum his first sharpening stone and ran out the room. "Grim! Look out!"
Thrum watched Trace run into the fray, effortlessly destroying the closest Flest Titan and sighed.
"So predictable." The voice called again. A reaper stepped from behind Thrum's throne. "Pathetic fools."
" Granted your position by Lowell, thief of godlike powers and destroyer of belief..." Thrum mumbled. " You're a disgrace to that uniform, using it only to further your unholy ways when you were in charge of Mo'aki!"
"What do I care?" The Reaper replied. "I did exactly what Lowell ordered me to do, and when I've killed you and Bastet, there won't be any gods left to worship but my lord, the only lord that matters, the Lord of Demons!"
" I have always wondered what death would feel like." Thrum mumbled. " But always there has been much work to do, never any time to experiment..."
"Then let me do you a favour, false god!" The Reaper yelled, swinging his scythe. Thrum caught it in mid-arc.
" I think not." Thrum mumbled. " You kill for a deity that has been dead for a whole year, you kill for fun and the honor you think it brings to your name. No, there is too much work to do, the souls must have their fair judging, and you cannot stop me from doing what must be done!" Thrum threw the reaper into the frey, where he landed atop a Titan. " You are pathetic, Dash Artica, and we, the gods themselves, condemn your soul!" His voice became louder, and dozens of gods, all who had been struck down, stepped into the main hall of Judgement, grabbing theFlest Titan souls and heaving them from the battle. Souls ran from the hall, keeping to the outskirts of the walls near their personal preference of god, while Trace stayed in the middle, back-to-back with Grim. Their faces turned on Dash. " Trace, the restrictions on your power;" Thrum boomed, " remove them! Show this traitor what happens to those who steal the power of the gods!"
"Grim, you shall not be needed." Trace mumbled. "This fight is mine and mine alone."
Grim nodded and sheathed his scythe. "He will be comin' for me if he manages ta kill chu." He growled.
Trace's eyes turned black and started to seep darkness. "Then I shall not let him kill me." He replied. Grim stepped back and bowed as Trace spun his scythe.
"As you say, M'lord."
Trace's entire body seemed to change, becoming whispy and dark within his clothes. His robes, hair and tail moved in a wind that was not present, and the air around him pulsed. He took a step forth and the tiles below him cracked.
"You, an agent of the gods, have turned on us. And for what, I wonder? Honor? Power?" Trace spat onto the tiles alongside him, spittle that vanished once it hit the ground. "Answer me!"
Dash grinned and stepped forth, moving his scythe into a position he could swing easily from. "Answer you? He who slew my master, Lowell, keeper of Godkilling potential, the greatest sinner there is? You make me laugh, thinking you, of all, have the right to judge me!" Now he was practically nose to nose with Trace, and he laughed humourlessly. "I have killed you once, twice shall be no trouble!"
His scythe blade swing through Trace, who stood his ground. No harm was done to him, but the blade did bounce off of his own scythe upon contact.
"Kill me?" He asked rhetorically. "You're a fool. You think that, without the power that Azrael bestowed upon me to save all the Reapers, the stone could do much more than cut down other Gods? Look around you, Dash, at your legacy! The gods you slew stand firm, Thrum halted your attempt on his life with but a hand, and you still think you can win with a single swing? I fell before because I let it happen, to test the limit of the power you had access to. You can kill the judgement gods, might even have been capable of killing Lowell were he still alive, but against those with Azrael's blessing you fail. Grim could defeat you!"
Dash swung again, once more his blade passing through Trace in vain, and then again, and again. Over and over he swung, seeming to grow frantic when Trace finally grabbed the staff and wrenched it from his grasp. He hurled it over to Grim, who let it clatter against the tiles, wanting nothing to do with it. Trace grabbed the front of Dash's robes, seeming to stare into his very core.
"Curious," he said softly, "that one could be so devout unto Lowell as to have knowledge on summoning Vudu, and even on creating the Souls of Flesh Titans. Tell me, where did you hide them for so long?" Dash writhed against his grip, unable to tear his eyes away from Trace's own. "Really? So interesting is creating a Heaven for Satanists, but ultimately it is futile; Thrum will pay it a short visit soon enough." Trace dropped Dash to the tiles and clicked his fingers, another Reaper appearing at his side. "Max, if we could borrow your scythe for a minute..?"
Max nodded and handed Trace his scythe dutifully, before rushing over to Grim.
"Halycone, may I?" Trace called, catching her scythe when she tossed it to him. He wrenched Dash from the tiles and thrust Max's scythe into his grip. "If you can best me without powers, you deserve to win." He said. "Magic is allowed, of course, but that stone may not be used."
"You would give me a fair go?" Dash growled.
Trace smiled a cruel smile. "Oh yes." He said, his voice returning to normal harmonics. "But you must give your all, Harvester; for I will not hold back."
On opposite sides of the hall from eachother, Grim and Thrum grinned. Well, Thrum grinned, Grim just seemed to become slightly more cheeful.
Dash, taking the initiative, swung a Phantom Edge at trace, who sidestepped it as magic flowed around him. The very air around him exploded into a flurry of sharp edges, slicing into the tiles for at least eight metres around him as his Blade Flurry barely missed Dash. Another Phantom Edge towards Trace, and he roared, thrusting his hands forward.
Dark tendrils burst from his robes and smashed into the tiles, again missing Dash narrowly.
"Is that the best you've got?!" Trace taunted.
Dash ran across the clearing, dodging the tendrils of shadow as he weaved. Trace parried his scythe with his own, the two blades clanging together loudly. Dash swung and swiped, each time hitting nothing but air, metal or wood. When Trace swung, not to parry, but to attack, Dash leapt back. Now Trace smiled.
"So much to learn..!" He growled, clapping his hands together on the middle of Halycone's scythe. He split right down the middle, the two halves moving apart and the missing space of each filling out.
Now there were two of him, and they hounded at Dash almost relentlessly. When one misstepped to not strike the other, Dash carved it in two, watching as it exploded into smoke and magic. The other planted the butt of his scythe into Dash's gut and knocked him across the area before starting to laugh hysterically.
"I've never had such fun!" He laughed. "But, the game must end, as amusing as it is." The air around him pulsed and grew dark. He spun Halycone's scythe in his hand expertly so that he was holding it backhandedly. "I have shown you the soul's potential, now it is time to finish this traitorous pact!"
He vanished in an explosion of dark smoke, reappearing alongside Dash, who had only just enough time to react and block Trace's swing. Again Trace vanished, and once more Dash barely blocked. A third time, and Dash could block no more. He was pulled to the tiles from behind by the handlehold on the scythe Trace was holding, which was promptly closed and thrown back to its owner. Trace kicked Max's out of Dash's hands and glared down at him.
"It was fun while it lasted." Trace said. "You were, truly, a great adversary; but your goal would have, ultimately, failed."
Dash wheezed heavily, exhausted from the frantic fighting with unorthodox weaponary, and growled up at him. "Do tell."
Trace chuckled. "And so much spirit." He mumbled. "No, it would not have succeeded because or a simple rule that exists everywhere. One man can weild but rusted iron against indefinite odds and still win because of the one rule. You fought for power and what you could gain, whereas I fought for what I already have. And no-one, not you, not Lowell, not even Thrum will take that from me."
Now Dash laughed heartlessly. "And you never wanted to rule. With all this power, you could make the gods bow at your feet!"
" Your afterlife is forfeit." Thrum said from one end of the hall. " Reincarnation with no memories of your past is your only option. Trace, if you could?"
Trace nodded and pulled his scythe from his robes, using the butt to slide the stolen stone from Dash's pocket. "The gods are who I owe my existance to." He said. "And I would never turn against the light. I'm sure you remember what I said in the banquet hall at home last year, yes?"
"No, I don't." Dash growled, flinching as Trace rapped his scythe against the tiled floor.
"There are no crowns." Trace said, raising his own scythe. "Only the harvest!"
The only sound after this was the soft, silken sound of Trace's robes moving as he swung his scythe, and then nothing. Dash simply faded, like misty breath in early morning. Trace collected himself, standing upright and closing his scythe once more, staring down at the patch where Dash had once been.
"Goodbye, Dash Artica." He said.
He picked up the sharpening stone, tucking it into a pocket, and stepped over to Halycone. He went to speak, but she slapped him across the face before his mouth could form any words.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?!"
"For making me worry!" She snapped, before pushing her scythe handle into his hands. "And for messing up my scythe!"
He chuckled, running his hands along the staff, all the scratches and nicks smoothing over where his hands passed. Gently he rapped the scythe against the ground, releasing the blade, and ran a hand along the metal, getting much the same effect.
"There we go, good as new." He said, handing it back. "I'll sharpen it later for you. Max, do you want me to repair yours, too?"
"Nah, I'll be good." He said, watching the souls line up infront of their preferred deity. "Makes it look battleworn, y'know?"
Trace chuckled, and Halycone slapped him again, getting him to give her a confused and honestly baffled look.
"It was all a test, wasn't it?" She asked angrily. "All of it! You leaving, dying on me, the gods falling; it was all a test!"
Trace gave her the same sort of look that one gives a crazed person. "No." He said. "Why the hell would I do something so stupid? If I wanted to test you I'd give you a sheet of paper with questions on it." He sighed and fished what looked like a small stone from his pocket, barely larger than his fist. "There's one thing I need to know, Halycone." He mumbled. "Do you still love me, even after all this?"
She sighed and leaned forward, kissing his lips before returning to her previous stance. "Of course I do." She mumbled. "More than ever. I'd do anything for you, have I not shown that?"
"You have." Trace replied. "So there is something I need to ask you." Slowly he slid to one knee, the rock in his hands proving to be a box as he opened it. Halycone's eyes went wide, her jaw dropping. She became slightly teary, and Trace smiled.
There are no crowns, but sometimes, there doesn't need to be.