Chapter Ten: Death

And so it begins...

While I slept, I had another vision, though not of the little girl. I was in a familiar field, the sky bright around me. There was a black marble mansion, with a pond nearby. I looked down to my right, and saw what only I would expect to see....

"Ello, chap!" Jayce called to me excitedly.

"Jayce?" I groaned. "I'm not dead again, am I?"

"Nonsense, nothing of the sort my old chum. You see, I did not have have enough time to properly explain the last time we met." Jayce replied.

"Well, then get on with it." I asked impatiently.

"I believe I should do that." A new, deeper, raspier voice answered. The sky darkened to a dusky hue. A man - at least I think it was a man - emerged from the shadow of the mansion's door, clad in a robe that was as black as the night."I am... Well, there are many names for me, but the one simplest to you would be Mors." He replied smugly. Mors.... I thought That's Latin for... Death?.

"Correct,Tom. I am Death." Mors replied. "Well rather, I was death, before I retired."

I started to question where this was going.

"Before I retired, I was required to find a successor. You see, the world cannot exist without death. Anyways, I couldn't just pick any human at random. The human I chose had to be strong, determined, and, most of all, extremely deadly. This person must have a cause; and until that goal is reached he shall be all but immortal. Most reapers choose some idiot with an impossible goal of 'world peace' or to 'end global warming' etcetera, etcetera, blah, blah, blah, so that the person would be immortal until they chose to retire. My personal goal: Justice. It is one of the the strongest motivators on the planet. I obtained my retribution, and served dutifully as death for about a century now."

I was picking my nails, completely uninterested in his life story. I came to my own conclusion. "So, you wanted to choose someone who had the same goal as you. You chose me, in the moment that I discovered my family was dead. In that moment I was extremely blood-thirsty and hell-bent on revenge. In that moment, I became Death. Is this correct?" I asked, Impatiently.

Mors nodded. "Yes, and I must explain to you your duties before I may rest."

I moved my hand in a forward circle. "On with it, Mors..."

"As you wish. You see, you need not harvest souls, as in the olden days.You need simply maintain the position of death, and souls will be harvested by your minions."

"Minions?" I asked, now interested.

"Spectre. You can command them into battle, but it requires an immense amount of energy that would usually leave you limp and vulnerable, and spectres are next to useless unless summoned in a horde. Anyways, as Death you can remain in human form, or you can fight as a reaper. While fighting as a reaper, you will lose control of yourself if you break concentration for a single moment, slaughtering everything nearby until you collapse in exhaustion. That is not a good fighting technique, as when you lose control, your all-out attacks consume an immense amount of energy and-"

"Yeah ,yeah I get it. I go crazy and only end up hurting myself. I accept this responsibility and the title of Death." I bowed on a knee. "I'm ready." I wasn't. I figured this was just some dream. Some... Embodiment of my mental instability. I was wrong.

"Then you must kill me." Mors said, throwing a scythe down at the ground in front of me. "That weapon is Sanguinum Noche; the Scythe of Death. It will appear in your hands any time you are in reaper form. It changes its weight and length to suite its wielder." Now Mors bowed on a knee. "I relinquish my soul to you, Lord Death."

"Sleep soundly, my son." I said unconsciously. The words came out all on their own. I followed the words with Sanguinum, decapitating Mors in one swing. Blood red mist flowed out of his body, and I felt It surging into mine. As it did, the world around me faded.

I woke up in the bed with a start. There was a knock at the door, and Izzy was already in the kitchen.

"I'll get it!" Izzy said aloud cheerfully.

Visitors...How nice.... I wonder who it could be.... I thought to myself. Izzy looked through the peephole. The sleepy stupor had worn off. This was an abandoned house. No one knew we were here.

"I don't see anyone. I think it's a package." Izzy said, apparently not following the same logic as me. Alex seemed to recognize what was going on, however, and exchanged a glance with me.

"Izzy...!" I called, swinging out of bed, still wearing my my tank top, jeans, gloves, and scarf. I swung around the corner of the hallway, as I heard the doorknob turn. "Izzy don't tou-" I was cut off by a deafening explosion.

Izzy opened the door, triggering a tripwire connected to the blasting cap of T-X6 explosive, the strongest explosive, gram for gram. And this was only one gram. The mechanism worked perfectly, activating the blasting cap. The T-X6 exploded. Fire spread into the house, carrying a sea of red. I was blown back against the wall. The house caught flame, and the entire outside wall fell down around 6 feet of the doorway. Red was smeared against the remaining walls.

I can stay here.... I thought to myself. I can retire already, and spend forever here... with my Izzy... On the walls of this house? My rational mind brought me back. My love was dead. Izzy was dead. The only person I had ever truly loved....Dead. She was dead. Dead.... I saw her form lingering by the doorway, and I realized I was seeing her spectre. She turned and smiled at me before disappearing. Because she was dead.... I couldn't accept the fact. "No..... No, no,no, no, no...." I said, walking over to the doorway. "No!" It was true. Izzy was dead...

Dead....

|||END OF PART 2 |||