Chapter 163 - Trust Fall

“Woah, hang on a second there, killer,” Hilda said, stepping between Alice and Morrigan. “What’s this about a demon?” Alice responded by out

“Woah, hang on a second there, killer,” Hilda said, stepping between Alice and Morrigan. “What’s this about a demon?”

Alice responded by outstretching her arm as a black portal appeared on the wall. Nyx came bolting through, landing heavily yet gracefully on Alice’s forearm, cawing, “CAW! CAW! Demon! Emergency orders! CAW! Chaos! Chaos! CAW!”

“Wha—” Morrigan stepped back, jaw dropping open. “Well, that’s your voidling! I don’t take orders from Nyx!” She paused, gritting her teeth. “I don’t take orders from Noir either, for that matter!”

“No, your voidling should be the one taking orders from you,” Alice said. “Though I suppose Noir technically isn’t your voidling.” She raised a finger to Nyx’s feathery breast and scratched her. “But this order is going out to all reapers in the area. Isn’t that right, Nyx?”

“CAW! All reapers must dispatch and abandon current duties! CAW! CHAOS!” Nyx insisted, her head pivoting back and forth frantically between everyone present in the room.

“There you have it,” Alice confirmed. “If you don’t believe Nyx, then check your list. You carry a physical copy, correct?”

“I didn’t bring it. I was supposed to have the day off,” Morrigan groaned.

“I’m sure Noir is on his way to tell you the same, then. Now come. As I said, you’re with me.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Hilda shouted. “There is no way you’re fighting anything in your condition, Alice! That corruption is undoubtedly going to flare up again if you exert yourself!”

Morrigan clicked her teeth. “And I’ll wait to hear it from Noir himself, thank you very much.”

“This is an emergency situation,” Alice said firmly. “Such orders do not go out lightly. Although I’ve closed your case, I am still an arbiter.” She tilted her head. “I’m afraid you can’t claim ignorance, as I am spelling it out for you now. Any chaos that emerges due to your hesitation I will have to report, and it will be a mark against you. Furthermore, as the witch just pointed out, I’m not in any condition to fight at my best; therefore, you may be the most qualified reaper currently in the area.”

“Oh, screw that!” Morrigan growled at her. “You set this up, didn’t you? You’re just finding more ways to screw with me!”

Alice tisked, shaking her head softly. “Honestly, you’re far too paranoid. Arranging something like this is beyond my capability.”

“I’m afraid Alice is speaking truthfully,” came Noir’s deep, sophisticated voice as he stepped out from a shadowy bottom shelf. “I have just received the order as well, and as Alice had said, I do believe the best course of action will be for you to go with her.”

Alice smirked. “See? As I said.”

“Noir!” Morrigan hissed at him. “No way, sorry, but I don’t trust this girl. Just tell me where to go, and Hilda can drive me!”

“I’m afraid there is no time, as I must go find Master as well,” Noir said, already turning back to the shadows. “Do your best to keep the situation under control until he arrives.”

“Noir! I-I don’t know how to deal with this!”

“Alice is more experienced…” Noir said, tail flicking. “While I hate to say it, you’ll have to trust in her guidance for now.”

“Noir!” Before Morrigan could complain anymore, he disappeared into the shadows, his voice trailing behind him.

“I have to inform Master. Go with Alice!”

Emma appeared halfway down the steps, sticking her head over the railing. “Uh—so what’s going on exactly?”

Alice turned up the stairs. “Our role in your scavenger hunt is over for the day. Morrigan, if you are not outside hastily, I will mark it against you. We will shadow step through the woodlands as Nyx guides us.” She tossed her arm up, and Nyx flew upward, disappearing into a black portal along the ceiling once again.

After Alice pushed past Emma, the blonde girl looked between Hilda and Morrigan with a worried look in her eyes. “I… thought you were supposed to have the day off.”

“Apparently there is another demon on the loose,” Morrigan said, moving to the steps. “I’m sorry, I guess I don’t have a choice; I have to go deal with this.”

She felt her heart jumping into her throat once again. She had originally been under the impression that dealing with demons was supposed to be a rare occurrence, but now it seemed one was showing up every month or so.

She had fought three demons altogether in her short tenure as a reaper. First, that stone-toothed bastard who killed a little boy and tried to lock her in negative space.

Then, the changeling, which locked her in a gilded cage, where she felt like she was drowning as it took over her body and tried to kill her friends, and she could do nothing but helplessly flail. Now that demon’s flesh was grafted onto her back due to the damage it caused her, although she had been learning to coexist.

And then there was the demon in the woods when Emma and Hilda took her camping. She had never witnessed such gore in her life. Never imagine such a thing could even exist.

She’d rather deal with a hundred hollows over a single demon.

She made it upstairs and out to the fenced front yard, where Alice waited.

“Good,” the more experienced reaper said, looking at her neutrally as she slipped her leather gloves off and stuffed them in her back pocket. “Come here. I’ve seen your sorry excuse for shadow stepping, so allow me to take the lead.”

“What? What are you going to do?”

Alice held out her hand. “Just take my hand and try to keep up. If you can’t, I might accidentally throw you into a tree.”

“I can do it myself,” Morrigan scowled.

“No, you can’t. You are too inexperienced, and Master has not taught you enough. To travel such far distances during the day, even under tree coverage, is not so easy, and you are not used to it. So hurry and take my hand.”

Morrigan’s fist clenched. She did not trust Alice and was still not convinced this wasn’t a trick.

“Hurry!” Alice growled. “This demon likely already has taken victims, and the longer we wait, the more people may die.”

Morrigan opened her mouth, some other accusation on the tip of her tongue. But something in Alice’s eyes stopped her. There was an urgency in her gaze that revealed itself behind her stoically cruel nature. She seemed genuinely worried.

Morrigan remembered some of her diary entries. She could be a cruel and heartless person. But there was another side to her. She was deeply conflicted over the loss of innocent lives. Even before she became a reaper, Death said she had gone out of her way to try to care for the ill during a pandemic.

Morrigan’s fist loosened as she stepped forward, ready to accept. So much of this job was allowing people to die while she could do nothing to alter their fate. But something like this… if she could use her power to help people, to save people, even if it was only on occasion. Maybe that would be worth it. It was just as Officer Martinez had said. The job made her do a lot of things she didn’t agree with, but there could be occasions where she could do some good.

“Hang on! Hang on!” Hilda said, running out of the house. “I happen to have a little experience fighting demons myself. Get in my car, and I’ll take you guys there, and then we can fight whatever it is together.”

“No time, you will slow us down,” Alice insisted. “Unless you can fly on a broom, you’ve got no chance of keeping up with my shadow stepping.”

“Hey! That’s a stereotype, and it’s offensive!” Hilda yelled at Alice, pointing a finger at her.

“Sorry,” Morrigan said. “I think Alice is right. Just getting back to the main road will take a while in your Jeep, but this forest will take us all the way to the outskirts of the city.” Her gaze shifted upward to the sky. Luckily, it was an overcast day. “If we are lucky, we can even shadow step alongside some buildings.

“Morrigan, just a second,” Emma said, coming up beside her.

“Huh?” Morrigan turned, felt a tug on the back of her head, and yelped as Emma yanked a pinch of her hair. “Ouch! Emma!” She rubbed the back of her head.

Emma grinned, holding up several white strands. “Sorry! But I’ll use this to make a Morrigan GPS so we can track you. We’ll be a bit late to the party, but when we get there, we can help.”

Hilda sighed. “Emma, you’ll have to stay in the Jeep at that point. I haven’t taught you anything combat-related yet.”

“Enough of this,” Alice growled. “Morrigan, take my hand now.” When Morrigan met her eyes, the other reaper's gaze surprisingly softened. “Please. Take off your glove as well. Direct contact will make this easier.”

Morrigan nodded and slipped off one of her fingerless gloves.

“Good luck, stay safe,” Hilda said to them.

Then Morrigan grabbed Alice’s hand. Her touch was cold in the same way Death’s was, but hand in hand, she felt her own energy extending outward along Alice’s wrist.

Then, she was yanked forward without any warning.

“Ah!” Morrigan yelped, her shoulder joint aching from the sudden pull. Her feet moved reflexively behind Alice, who upon dragging her into the shadow alongside the house, began to become translucent. “Woah! Woah! Wait a second!” Morrigan yelled as they were heading right for the fence surrounding the house. She knew you could shadowstep through such barely solid objects as fences, but she had never done so before.

“Step into the shadows!” Alice yelled at her, the rest of her body fading down to the hand that Morrigan still clasped onto as her feet sloppily tried to keep up.

“Damn it! Give me a warning next time!” Morrigan yelled, then focused on her own magic, and the world around her peeled away.

She slipped into the dark place where everything turned into vague silhouettes or beams of light that she’d interact with as solid walls. She saw the vague outline of the fence, clenching her teeth as she was pulled towards it, naturally bracing for an impact, but she and Alice slipped right through.

They were then flying through the forest, Morrigan still feeling more like she was being dragged along, thick black trees zipping by her, their course sharply correcting to the left or right whenever one got into their way. A beam of light came close, and Alice aggressively yanked her out of the way of it.

Morrigan began to yell, her voice coming out as an echoing wobble in her own ears. She realized this is the first time she’d ever tried to talk while mid-shadow step before. “Cut it out! You’re going to yank my damn arm off!”

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Alice commented back, uncaringly.

Some other strange movement caught morrigan’s eye above them. There was a black mass, with two thin trailing lines of red light near its head. It took her a moment to realize it was Nyx. She was flying ahead of them, inside the shadows, leading the way as Alice followed.

How come Noir never did that for me?

She thought it would have made her late night reapings way easier to just having something to follow.

“How far are we?” Morrigan asked. She also had the sense that they were moving way faster than she had ever been able to attain on her own.

“Almost to the forest edge. Be prepared.”

“Prepared for wha— LOOK OUT!”

They were heading right for a massive wall of light, and in Morrigan's experience, hitting a section of light and being torn from the shadows before slowing down always ended badly. On top of that, she was going faster than she had ever gone before, and instead of slowing down as they approached, Alice actually sped up.

“ALICE!” Morrigan yelled, but then she was yanked upward. Alice had jumped, pulling her off her feet as they crashed back into the real world.

The hill Alice leapt off of took them over a section of highway, the wind blowing Morrigan’s hair as she screamed. A fall from this high would end in a twisted ankle at best, but more likely she’d break something, and that’s if they didn’t land in the road and get hit by a car. “You’re fucking crazy!” Morrigan yelled, gripping onto Alice’s arm with both hands now.

“At least you’re keeping up,” Alice said passively as ever, wind rushing past them. They cleared the highway no problem, and Morrigan saw that she was aiming for an alley between twin three-story apartment buildings.

“Look out! We’re gonna—”

“Slip back into the shadows, fool,” Alice said, and then her body started to disappear once again. Morrigan shut her eyes, focusing on her magic.

Just before they hit the ground, the impact she expected never came as her momentum was then jerked from a downward arc to a forward movement again. “Holy crap! Don’t do that again!” Morrigan yelled, though she had to admit that she was impressed. She had no idea shadow stepping could be utilized in such a way, and Alice wasn’t done yet.

She quickly shot her between buildings, making sharp turns that yanked Morrigan’s shoulder when she wasn’t ready, but she was becoming better at anticipating the sudden shifts by watching Nyx’s movements above them.

They came to the end of another alley.

“Perception blocking,” Alice said calmly.

“What!?”

They tore back into the real world, Morrigan’s feet stumbling and scraping the sidewalk out of sequence, but Alice’s steady hold on her forced her to stay upright until her feet fell into a natural running rhythm again.

They slowed to an at least human speed as they ran normally in the real world. Passing by people on the sidewalk who barely glanced in their direction as if there was nothing strange at all about the two pale-skinned goth girls holding hands and running full tilt down the street.

As they approached the side of a building where the sun was blocked, Morrigan prepared herself better this time and stepped into the shadows right alongside Alice, and they proceeded to zoom ahead at incredible speeds with more sharp turns.

“We’ll jump past that next intersection,” Alice warned at one point. Morrigan matched her this time; their speed and upward momentum as they jumped right at the end of the shadow step had them gliding across the street, airborne, wind in their hair, and landing back into the shadows at the other side.

“Haha! This is kind of cool!” Morrigan cheered.

“You’re learning faster than I would have thought,” Alice remarked back.

“Oh, is that a compliment?”

“If praising an idiot for an average performance is considered a compliment, then yes.”

“Oh, screw you!”

The insult didn’t perturb Morrigan as much as it might have under other circumstances. Discovering the true power of shadow stepping was quite thrilling. She had once thought that it was only useful at night, but if she could learn to use it like Alice, it would make her reaping duties so much easier. Her days of waiting on smelly city buses or sweating it out on summer afternoons would be over!

Finally, as they came down another long alleyway, a square of light far at the end, Nyx landed on a light pole, and Alice said, “It seems we’ve arrived.”

Their momentum slowed until they were calmly stepping free from the shadow realm but still hiding in the alleyway as they walked to the end.

“So how did you learn to do it like that? Just years of experience or…”

“Partly…” Alice said, breathing heavily. She gasped between breaths, which Morrigan found surprising because she herself wasn’t winded. Maybe because of Alice dragging her? “If you… make efforts to purposefully… train… you will… improve.”

“Hey, are you alright there?” Morrigan said. “I’m surprised you’re so— H-Hey, Alice?!”

Alice had suddenly fallen to one knee, clutching her arm and breathing heavily.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Morrigan asked, kneeling beside her. She then saw black veins beginning to emerge faintly on her neck and cheeks.

Alice rolled back her sleeve to look at her bicep, and Morrigan saw the veins were much more prevalent along her arms.

“W-What the hell is that?”

“My mistress’s curse,” Alice said, regaining her breath somewhat, though she winced in pain.

Morrigan’s mouth opened and closed, remembering what Hilda had said about it before. “Are you going to be okay? Hey, don’t try to stand!”

Alice ignored her, forcing herself to her feet and limping to the end of the alleyway. “It doesn’t matter. We have a job to do. I’m obviously not at my best, so you’ll have to deal with this until more reapers arrive.”

Morrigan followed Alice’s gaze across the street, then an odd movement on the top floor of an apartment building caught her attention.

Once she noticed it, its form cleared in her mind. It was a snake. It was a massive snake wrapping through windows, curling around corners, and in and out again.

“What the hell… is that?” Morrigan said under her breath.

“Don’t be a fool. That’s obviously the demon we’ve been ordered to kill.”

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Chapter 164 - Don't Hiss and Tell