DiaG - 167 - Down Boy

Fenris paced back and forth along the edge of the platform, balancing his scythe over his shoulder while rhythmically tapping it with his skeletal fingers. Morrigan watched him with a raised brow, thinking he seemed a bit too excited about this whole thing.

“So where’s Noir?” Fenris suddenly asked, the break of the silence making Morrigan flinch.

“Oh! Um… He’s gone to get Death.”

“And he left you here to deal with it on your own?”

“Not exactly… I, uh… came with another reaper, but we got separated.”

“Oh yeah? Which one? Hellina?”

“Hell…ina? No, her name's Alice.”

“Alice!” Fenris suddenly stopped his pacing to turn to face Morrigan. “She’s really here? And she left you alone to deal with that thing? Ha!” He pointed a finger at her. “Oh, man. She must really hate you!”

“We got separated. It wasn’t intentional!” Then again, Morrigan couldn’t exactly put that past her either.

No… that’s probably not fair, Morrigan thought. She wouldn't actually try to get me killed… probably. I mean, she did say I should be dead. But we bonded a little since then, right?

“Well, if Alice is here and Death is on his way, we are going to end up getting cut short on the fun. Aaaaah! Why did she have to be here!” He growled in irritation, crouching slightly and rubbing his head. “Man, if I end up stuck floating around in the middle of nothing the whole time and missing all the fun…” Then he shouted down into the endlessness below. “HEY GUILE! HURRY UP, WILL YA? Hm… well, I guess I could always take a leap of faith.”

“You actually want to fight demons?” Morrigan asked.

“Yeah. Of course! I took this job for the thrills, but man, did I have the wrong idea. Immortality sounded like a good deal, but every day it's just the same thing, over and over. Find your client, maybe say a few kind words, reap their soul, and on to the next one. Every SINGLE day! Why, it’s enough to drive anyone crazy!” He leaned forward, coming a little too close to Morrigan, so she took a step back.

“I uh… I mean… Death plays video games to kill time.”

“Yeah, yeah, but that gets old too! You need some real excitement in your life! Err… Existence. You know? Something to make you feel alive, even if you technically aren’t! Like, I’ve tried skydiving, motocross, snowboarding, mountain climbing, but it all just feels like something’s… missing.” His shoulders slumped, and he shook his head. “You still got your flesh, so you don’t get it. Master Lawrence tried to tell me to keep it, you know. I really wish I had listened. I didn’t know it would make everything so EMPTY!”

Morrigan’s eyes shifted. “That's… rough buddy.”

Then, another black portal opened, and Guile jumped through it. Morrigan was extremely grateful to not be alone up here with this guy anymore… Although the creepy little ferret wasn’t much better company either.

“There are places to jump. I will show the way.” Guile said to his master before walking his tiny self to the edge of the platform, then, almost as an afterthought, he added, “Another demon below. I will bring you.”

“Haha! Knew I could count on you, little guy!” Fenris said.

Morrigan grimaced as the ferret voidling leaped down. Her arm was in agony, and every slight shift stirred up the sharp pains of her shattered bone.

“You coming or not?” Fenris asked, prepared to jump.

“I…” She looked at her arm.

“Oh, Yeah. Hmmm…” He tapped his chin, the bone-to-bone contact making a slight clink. “Damn, well I'll be cast as the villain for sure if I leave the rookie behind and she gets killed. Are you sure you can't just… You know? Tough it out and deal with it?”

Morrigan hissed through her teeth. “Considering my arm is literally shattered, I think I'm dealing with it pretty damn well.” The changeling stirred at her sudden irritation with him, but it gave her an idea.

She unlocked the seal, the tendrils bursting out and swatting the air until she mentally commanded them to stop. She then thought about them wrapping around her arm to form a sling, and… surprisingly, it did just that.

She wasn't controlling them, not really, but as they slithered around and began wrapping her arm, they responded gently to any sudden pain they caused and slowly moved her arm into position against her chest and held it there firmly.

She did her best to choke any sudden flares of pain and keep the tears from her eyes; but when it was done, it did feel considerably better.

“Heh, I gotta get me one of those,” Fenris chuckled. “Well, do you think you can make the jump?”

Morrigan approached his side and looked down. She saw Guile on another platform that wasn't obviously there before, staring back up at them with an impatient glare.

“I'll try…” she said, gulping down her fear. “But… Shouldn’t we just wait here for reinforcements?"

“Na, I don’t think so. It’s not like there are a ton of us reapers in the area. Let’s see…” He looked up as if counting in his head. “Maybe like eight or so within a reasonable distance that we can expect to see any time soon. But one way or another, we’ll be expected to pull our weight.” He turned his gaze to her. “It’s no good to sit around and let others deal with your problems. Right, rookie?”

She narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating what she was pretty sure was meant as a jab.

“Wellp,” he waved a skeletal hand, “See you at the bottom.” With that, he leapt down without a second thought. She watched as he landed in a roll beside his voidling, then she took a deep breath to prepare herself before taking the leap.

She felt her heart jump high in her chest as she descended, inwardly bracing for the unavoidable shifting of her arm once she landed.

Her feet hit first, and she fell down to her good arm, not catching herself nearly as gracefully as the other reaper, but then thin tendrils shot out from her changeling sling to catch her fall the rest of the way.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. Well, not beyond the radiating throb that was going to be permanent for a while… but actually, even that was surprisingly bearable considering the extent of the injury. It must have been the adrenaline, she figured.

“Alright, looks like we're in good shape,” Fenris said. “Now just try to keep up, alright, rookie?”

As she glared at him, another thin tendril shot off her arm in his direction, but it was more of a warning swat than anything.

He tilted his skull in a way she suspected he'd raise an eyebrow if he could. “You sure you're not actually controlling that thing?”

Morrigan shook her head. “No, not really. But it does respond to my mood.”

“Ha! Well, in any case, let's go!”

He then ran after Guile, jumping again, and Morrigan followed. This jump was not as much of a drop; she landed without having to catch herself, and then chased after him as his voidling led them to another platform, then another.

After several more short jumps, they were on a much longer platform, this one more like a bridge. It was far narrower, and long. She squinted, trying to see how long, but couldn't quite make out where it ended.

Guile’s pace slowed to a walk as the two reapers followed. “Demon nearby.”

“Oh boy, hope this one isn't a pushover.”

Morrigan thought back to how easily he killed the spider demon and wondered if he was just that good, or if the demons she had contended with were stronger.

Then she felt a rumbling under her foot, then another. Like one massive step after another, the translucent rainbow bridge was shaking.

Morrigan reached out with her good arm and summoned her scythe into her hand, blade glowing red. Fenris did the same with a smooth flick of his wrist.

Ahead, the air distorted with black fog, and Morrigan could see two glowing golden eyes peering back at them. Slowly, the massive creature stepped through, its body materializing with each step. It looked like a giant dog, and as its mouth cracked open with a rumbling growl, Morrigan could see the massive fangs behind its lips.

“Not a great spot positionally,” Fenris muttered, suddenly seeming much more serious. “This bridge is too narrow to dodge left or right. Even if Guile goes for the eyes, it can charge straight at us.”

“Then what do we do?” Morrigan asked nervously. Wielding her scythe one-handed felt a bit awkward, and she wasn't sure how much good she would be.

“I’ll meet it head-on, try to get at its core. If I fall, you'll have to try the same thing.” He looked over his shoulder, his jaw cracking into a smile. “Or just jump and hope for the best.”

Morrigan gulped as she looked down the ledge, the endless space below making her stomach drop. There was no guarantee anything would be in the way to catch her.

“Welp, here goes nothing!” Fenris said excitedly, then ran at the monster.

Guile flitted ahead of him as a small blur of shadow, dodging one of the massive paws at the last second and then shooting spikes from his back, stabbing into the beast’s stomach. It growled but didn’t slow down, that is, until Fenris was right in front of it, it reared up on its hind legs.

Fenris slashed his scythe across its stomach, then tried to jump back as its paws came down. He barely managed to dodge, but then the monster snapped forward with its jaws. Fenris grabbed his scythe with two hands, one near the bottom and one near the blade, putting it in the way.

The monster's jaws snapped over the pile of his scythe and shook Fenris back and forth, but the reaper held on, cackling giddily as he was flung left and right. “Come on! Be a good doggy! HAHAHA!”

He swung his feet up in an agile movement, planting them on the demon’s nose between his hands and staring right into it’s eyes. 

The demon suddenly let go and snapped forward, but Fenris kicked off its nose, spinning in the air and letting the scythe slide in his grip until he was holding it one-handed from the very bottom and swung it up in a long arc.

The blade slashed right across the demon's nose, causing it to roar and step backward a few paces. Fenris landed in a crouch a little in front of Morrigan, his mouth hanging open, unable to deny that she was impressed.

“You said you’ve never done this before?”

“I train every day—something you should be doing as well, nooby.”

“I—uh…” Now wasn’t really the time to argue the point with him, but the fact was she had trained… at least with shadow stepping and a little with glamor and perception blocking related things.

“I’ll show you some moves another time,” he said, looking over his shoulder, cracking his jaw in a smile. “How's that sound?”

Before she could respond, he kicked off and was sprinting forward again. The demon was now more focused on Guile, who zipped left and right under its paws as the demon tried to crush him, letting off spikes whenever he had the opportunity to do so.

This time, when its focus came on Fenris the reaper dropped low into a baseball slide, just barely ducking under its snapping jaws. He arced his scythe up, burying it deep in the demon’s stomach and yanking the blade out again.

Black blood exploded from the wound, causing the demon to jump forward towards Morrigan to get away. However, it seemed less interested in her as soon as it landed it spun around to face Fenris who was now on the other side of it.

“You okay over there, rookie?” he called from the other side of the demon.

“Yeah! I’m great!”

“Good, then help me out now that we’re on opposite sides!”

Morrigan’s eyes widened as her hand tensed on her scythe. The changeling rippled across her back, and small tendrils swatted out from the makeshift sling. It seemed almost eager to join the fight.

He’s right… Morrigan thought. He might be completely out of his mind, but he’s fighting while I’m just standing back watching. I mean, I technically can’t die as long as that thing doesn’t eat me, I guess… Even then, it’d be more about tearing my body apart.

She gulped, not wanting to imagine getting so injured she’d be beyond repair. She didn’t want to turn into a skeleton. But these demons were killing people, and they would kill a lot more if they were not stopped. She was a reaper, and though she never signed up to be a hero, if lives were at risk and she could do something about it for once… not just act as the cleanup crew where saving people was the opposite of what her job entailed… then she had to do it.

She stifled a yell bubbling in her throat as she ran forward, raising her scythe one-handed.

A thought bubbled in the back of her mind: This is crazy! What the hell am I doing!

But she squashed it and focused only on the motion of swinging her scythe down.

She slashed the blade across the creature's back, and instantly, his foot kicked backward like a mule.

It struck her right in her chest, hitting her damaged arm and stirring up a sharp pain even through the protective layer of changeling sling as she was thrown back.

She thought she would hit the ground, but tendrils shot from her back, catching her fall, causing her to somersault, and she somehow landed in a crouch. She gritted her teeth and ran forward again.

The demon swiped forward, probably trying to back Fenris off. She couldn’t see him behind the giant monster. But then it spun around again.

When its eyes locked with hers, her blood turned cold, but everything else in her mind shut off as its claw came swiping towards her. It came faster than she expected—too fast for her to dodge on her own. But the changeling didn’t wait for her command.

Three tendrils snapped out from her back, hooking into the bridge like anchors. They yanked her sideways with a jolt, and the claw skimmed past, mostly missing her, but the very tip cut her cheek. Then, the changeling pushed her forward, and her feet left the ground as another tendril shot at the bridge and propelled her upward.

Wind rushed through her head as the demon looked up in confusion, not expecting such a movement from her.

“Take this!” she screamed, swinging the scythe over her shoulder and down as she descended, landing it’s blade right into the top of the monster’s skull, lodging deep with a sickening crunch. The blow stopped her descent, for a heartbeat she hung there, feet dangling, gripping the handle and unable to believe she had just done that.

Then its head shook violently left and right, trying to dislodge the blade. Morrigan clenched her teeth and tried to hold on, but her fingers slipped. Her heart shot up to her throat as she knew she would be thrown off into the endless abyss, but the changeling reacted just in time.

Tendrils shot from the sling and her back, wrapping around the scythe, keeping her attached to it as the demon roared and fell to its side.

“Aaaaaaah!” Morrigan screamed in panic as she reached for the scythe, managing to grab hold, but not she was dangling over the vast cosmic space below her.

Don’t let go, don’t let go!

She wasn’t sure if she was thinking that for herself, the changeling, or the scythe that was embedded in the demon’s skull. But the way the monster roared proved it wasn’t dead yet.

“Hold on, rookie!” Fenris shouted.

Easy for you to say!

Guile darted up along the demon’s side, a streak of shadow. Spines erupted from his back and peppered the creature’s body. “The core is here!” the voidling hissed, shooting an extra-thick spike at the underside of the demon’s rib cage.

“Got it!” Fenris jumped onto the demon's flank, running across the monster with surprising dexterity until it tried to buck him off. Fenris anticipated the movement, jumping with it, then descending right on target.

He hooked his scythe forward in an underhanded swing and plunged the scythe right under its ribs.

With one final earsplitting roar and a final thrash of its body, the demon threw itself off of the bridge.

For a heart-stopping moment, Morrigan knew she would fall with it, but a single thick tendril shot from her back, reaching for the edge of the bridge. She let the scythe slip from her hand, and it disappeared into blue flame, but her descent had been stopped.

Another tendril shot from her back, and then a third, and the changeling snapped her back up, tossing her onto the bridge where she landed on her back. The thick tendrils from her back slithered back under her flesh, while the ones around her arm began reforming the sling and bringing her broken arm to rest comfortably against her chest.

“I… I’m alive…”

A shadow stepped over her, and a moment later, Fenris was staring down at her, jaw cracked, excitedly. “I wouldn’t say alive, but nice going, rookie! That was really something.”

His skeletal hand reached down, and she grabbed it, allowing him to help her back to her feet.

Morrigan looked over the side of the bridge, watching the last traces of the demon’s form peel away from reality like smoke torn apart by a wind she could not feel. The black bulge shrank, then imploded into a pinprick of nothing.

Morrigan swallowed and stepped back from the edge. “I… really thought I was going to fall with it.”

“I said it before, and I’ll say it again…” Fenris pointed at the changeling sling. “I really need to get me one of those.”

Guile scurried around his leg and up his body, taking a perch on his shoulder. 

“Not finished yet. Many demons still lurk,” Guile said ominously.

Morrigan lifted her gaze up to the sky. There was at least that snake demon she and Alice had first confronted. She had the impression that it was on a higher level than this wolf demon they had just managed to kill. It was more humanlike and seemed far more intelligent. It was like the difference between the stone-toothed demon she had fought on her second day as a reaper and the one in the woods that was just a mindless beast made up of dead animal parts.

“How many are here?” Morrigan asked.

“Unsure… but more,” Guile said. “Perhaps more are still coming.”

“Damn it, what the hell is happening?” Morrigan muttered.

“Dunno, but why don’t we see if we can find Alice?” Fenris said. Morrigan prepared to open her mouth to explain that she thinks Alice fell somewhere below them, but Guile’s head suddenly shot up.

“Above!” the voidling warned.

“Crap, already?” Morrigan summoned her scythe again and took a defensive stance as she searched the sky.

Something was coming at them, a black cloaked figure falling through the void. But, it didn’t look like a demon; it looked far more like a reaper, and as the wind brushed their hood back, Morrigan was sure she saw a skull.

The reaper landed in a crouch. They were tall, but it wasn’t death unless he decided to finally try a wardrobe change. This reaper was wearing a long trench coat with a hood attached from under the collar; the tails of the trench coat fell around their legs, almost like a dress. 

The reaper looked up, instantly locking eyes with Morrigan. “Who is this?” said a calm, female voice.

“Morrigan,” Fenris introduced. “She’s a rookie, I’m just showing her the ropes.”

“You haven’t really shown me anything…” Morrigan said dryly.

The female reaper’s skull canted slightly as she seemed to take Morrigan in. “Death’s apprentice?”

“Oh! Y-Yeah.” Morrigan grinned awkwardly. Something about the way this reaper was staring at her put her on edge.

No, I’m sure she’s fine. Reapers just tend to come off with a hostile energy sometimes…

“Good. If that were not the case, I’d start this mission by ripping that demon from your bones.”

“Ah…” Morrigan’s mouth fell open, and she tensed as the female reaper walked past them.

“My voidling has tracked another,” the reaper said. “I may require your assistance.” She continued down the rainbow bridge, and when she was out of direct earshot, Morrigan whispered to Fenris, “Who the hell is that?”

“Hellina,” he whispered back with a skeletal grin. “Don’t worry, she’ll warm up to you.” He then gave Morrigan a hard pat on the back that made an annoyed tendril shoot out and swipe the air. “She's a bit more of a people person than Alice, anyway.”

“Well that's a pretty low bar.”

Fenris cackled. “Ha! You can say that again. Anyway, looks like the show continues. Let’s get a move on.”