Chapter 2: A Discovery

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Hana soaks in a clear pool of water hidden behind a multitude of leafed branches and barks. Her body is dipped in it all the way to her shoulders, while her head rests on the earth behind her with her loose and thick dark curls flowing around it.

She's humming a song, loudly and for a long time but slowly stops at the sudden sound of a splash. Then she opens her eyes, leans forward and sees two women with green skin, green eyes and vines for hair leaning against the right and left edges of the natural pool, watching her.

On seeing them she immediately looks unconcerned and returns her body to its relaxed position. The women notice this and smile then wade towards her settling by both her right and left side and laying their heads on her shoulders. They don't stop staring at her but she peacefully ignores them for a while, however, the weight of their gaze rests heavily on her and causes her to open her eyes again and mutter quietly, "What do you want?"

One of the women shifts from her position and climbs on top of Hana, straddling her. Hana looks up at the woman and lifts her right hand to pull her off, but the vines on her head stop Hana's arm and push it back to where it was rested. Then the woman straddling Hana uses her vines to pull the Reaper's head up as well. Hana is visibly irritated at this point while the smile on the face of the woman doesn't falter.

"Answer me nymph, why have you been sent to bother me," Hana growls.

"Because you hesitate, Reaper" The nymph straddling her says.

"I do not"

"The goddesses know it, Reaper," the second nymph whispers. Hana glances at her and snarls.

"Tell me then, what would my reasons for any hesitation be?" She asks, leaning her head back on the ground behind her. The nymphs glance at each other momentarily then back at her and respond in unison.

"Home"

Hana smirks and stares at the trees above her.

"This is what the goddesses believe?" She asks.

"They are concerned" both nymphs answer. She sits up and looks at the nymph on top of her and says.

"Take me," Hana mutters.

The nymphs giggle excitedly and answer, "As you wish," then they begin to wrap themselves around Hana's exposed body tighter, starting with the vines they had for hair. These vines circle around Hana's feet and inch upwards all the way to her neck and getting tighter as they do. The nymph straddling Hannah runs out of vines just after the second nymph had, thus leaving Hana's face and hair exposed, so she leans forward and kisses Hana on her lips causing the green on her face to jump slowly onto Hana's. As this happens, the face of the first nymph changes to the terrified face of a young woman who just happens to be the unfortunate host of the creature and the only means by which they can take form.

The woman immediately tries to leave mistaking her few minutes of partial autonomy as complete freedom but because only her head is free of the control of the nymph, this is impossible.

Hana stares into the eyes of the defeated woman and frees her mouth of the nymphs control for a moment, to speak to the woman. This causes both nymphs to stop moving and to wait till she is finished.

"How did you get caught?" she asks. The woman looks sadly at Hana with tears in her eyes.

"I was banished to the forest during the festival of the New Moon in my village." She responds, heartbroken.

"Why?"

"I am an adulterer" she answers.

"And the man?"

"Exiled to the next village"

Hana chuckles then she relaxes again but before she lets the nymphs start over she says.

"How unlucky"

Tears fill the woman's eye and she begins to beg.

"Please, please, help me, I'm begging you" she cries. "I'll sign whatever contract you need me to." Hana sighs but doesn't make an attempt to move while still holding off the nymphs from completely possessing her.

"How long have you been bonded with the creature?"

"Months, almost a year"

"Then there's no hope for you, my dear, you're a host to a parasite. Your life force is now it's own and the moment it leaves you, you will die." Tears fill the eyes of the woman once more as Hana tells her what she already knows. 

"You should at least savour this moment because the next time it lets you out will probably be your last" Hana states, then she pauses and glances down at the woman. "Besides, I couldn't help you even if I wanted to. I'm not a demon, I'm a Reaper. I take lives, I do not save them."

She examines the depressed victim for a second longer then releases the nymphs who proceed with their task and completely engulf Hana which puts her right to sleep.

It isn't long till Hana starts to dream and she finds herself in the desert with an oasis about a mile away. She walks to it and arrives quickly, then goes straight to its centremost point where she finds two goddesses laying around by a waterfall and a third in the water. These are the daughters of one of the old gods and the ones who had cursed her. In their human life, they had been beautiful and powerful women who had each risked everything they had for a cause that one of the old gods of the west had seen and deemed worthy and at the end of their lives that god decided to bless them with divinity and open the gates of her paradise to these women.

Hana approaches the goddesses and stands just a few feet from where they rest, waiting patiently as they ignore her for several minutes. Eventually, Niifę, the smallest of the three stands and turns to face Hana with a concerned frown on her face. She towers over Hana being 9-foot tall and chooses to bridge the gap by sitting on the ground in front of Reaper. Her white dress falls around her as she does this and strands that escaped the neat plaits of her brown hair dance around her round face. She reaches for Hana who stands unshaken and Niifę places a finger under Hana's jaw. She then carefully but firmly lifts Hana's head and examines her tattoos

"Have we lost your confidence child?" She asks kindly, looking into Hana's eyes with her own big and beautiful brown eyes.

"It seems I have lost yours" Hana replies with her arms folded.

"We are just concerned, darling," Niifę replies.

"I have no loyalty to my home, that should be clear by now." Hana states.

"We don't doubt that," Ozara, the oldest of the three says from behind Niifę. She lays on her side by the water with her back to her heavenly sister and is using her right hand to cause ripples in the pool. Hana keeps her gaze on her momentarily then returns it to the goddess in her presence.

"I am confused then, why are you concerned?" She asks. Niifę releases Hana's jaw from her hold then lays on her side and starts drawing in the sand. Hana rolls her eyes but watches patiently as she does this and eventually begins to recognise that what is being drawn is her village. Her eyes fluctuate from watching the goddess to watching the drawing and halfway through she finds herself resisting a desperate urge to look away. Niifę glances her way at this point while Hana composes herself as a fear of hers takes form on the ground below. Ala, the third goddess and the largest of the three walks up to Niifę side and settles a few inches from the drawing in the sand. She waits till Niifę finishes with her project then she waves her hand above it causing the drawings to come alive and walk on the earth before the three of them as solid sand figures.

Niifę watches them for a second then picks up three figures in the shape of men and says, "Open your hands."

Hana obeys and Niifę places the small versions of people from Hana's village in her hand. Hana frowns at the figurines then glances at the goddesses.

"I still don't see the problem," Hana says, seemingly more to convince herself than them.

The goddesses glance at each other then they smirk at her.

"No?" Niifę asks unconvinced.

"No," Hana replies much more firmly.

"Good," Niifę says finally satisfied. "You know the cost of going against us."

"I have no intention to do that."

"I believe you, its Ozara that felt this exercise was necessary."

"Stick in the mud, she is," Ala says with a chuckle.

"You have nothing to worry about," Hana says.

"Forgive me, chosen one," Ozara says slyly, finally getting up and standing at 12 feet tall. She turns to face Hana and gets close enough to pat Hana's hair. "Human's can be fickle so sometimes it is necessary to test loyalty"

"I understand."

"Good, I'm glad we've had this talk, however, we are on a schedule so its time you head back," Ozara says. The goddesses nod in agreement and Ala waves her hand again causing the figurines in Hana's hand to fall back into their original form.

Hana takes a final glance at the sand version of her village just before it crumbles then she nods, bows and shuts her eyes only to open them once again in the human world.

***

The nymphs leave Hana once she returns and she sits quietly in the calm water as her mind races. She is at crossroads between a choice to betray the goddesses again or to attack the home of three of the people she loves the most. She has avoided her village so far for their sake and has hoped that if she completes the hunt of everyone else in her godline except those who live within the walls of her old home, she might be able to convince the goddesses to spare them.

Realistically, the only people she cares about saving are the three men who have her heart. As far as she's concerned the rest of the village can burn. However, she knows that these men would never forgive her if she chose to save only the three of them and makes no attempt to save everyone else. 

Still, part of her feels like it really shouldn't matter to her if she has their forgiveness or their love, especially if she succeeds at sparing them from meeting a horrific end, but somehow, it does mostly because she's held on to the idea of having both for so long and cannot bring herself to stop. Even worse, she doesn't want to entertain the suspicion that they have forgotten her or forgotten about their love for her regardless of how many times the notion creeps up in her head.

More on the matter though, she has never known for sure if these men are indeed from the same godline as she is, but honestly, she has never been ready to find out. 

However, considering her recent meeting with the goddesses, she knows that not only is this likely but there must have been a realisation about her intentions for her village and now it is clear to her that the goddesses will not tolerate her hesitation or entertain her plea to spare her home.

Hana places her head in her hands and gnaws at her hair with her fingertips, then she groans in anger and frustration, throwing her hands back into the water and letting out a shout. 

"What the hell am I supposed to do" She screams as she sinks into the water. "How on earth do I fight this?" She asks the emptiness around her.

She lets the anguish overwhelm her for a few moments longer then tries, unsuccessfully, to breathe the distress away before she gives up, rests the back of her head on the ground behind her again and stares up at the thick treetops that hang over her.

"I can't kill them" She whispers, " I can't do it."

She shuts her eyes hopelessly and takes a large gulp. Then a moment passes and she speaks again.

"But you've killed so many, why not them?"

She clenches her jaw, "Because, they're my family."

Then she opens her eyes angrily to says, "They let you go, they didn't fight for you. What family does that?"

She pauses again then says, "I can't do it." 

"You can't betray the goddesses either." She argues, rolling her eyes.

"I can try," Hana responds to herself with her gaze focused deeply on nothing in particular.

There's one more pause then Hana scoffs and says, "Cause that worked out so well the last time." 

She straightens up and hangs her head in defeat then she splashes some water on her face as she soaks in the water for a few more minutes. 

As the time passes she watches the shadows within the trees increase while the sun takes its leave for the day. Once it is dark enough, she climbs out of the pool, puts her clothes on and picks up her scythe and re-attaches her small knives. Then she glances down at a now glowing mark in a network of several dark lines, connected by dots on her left hand and starts to walk in the route which it steers her to take.

According to the map, the location of her next set of targets is about half an hour away and few miles to the west. Her heart breaks at the implication and when she reaches the edge of the forest with two exit paths before her, she hesitates.

If she goes through the northern exit then she would be on a direct route to the Imperial City where there would no doubt be more members of the godline all in one place, but if she goes through the western exit then she would be heading straight for the kingdom in the western territory, home to the members of her village, and to the men that she loves.

She stares at the map again, at the dim and glow of it's directing light on her arm, then looks ahead at the northern exit and frowns. After standing still for what seems like forever, Hana takes a deep breath and walks through the pathway on route to Imperial City.