Chapter 158 - Witch and Moan

Hilda cast a spell on Anna so she wouldn’t hear them while she slept on the couch. Alice, meanwhile, found a corner to stick herself in, whe

Hilda cast a spell on Anna so she wouldn’t hear them while she slept on the couch. Alice, meanwhile, found a corner to stick herself in, where she remained with arms folded and eyes glowing red like a phantom stalking the room. She assured them that if Anna were to wake, she wouldn’t see her, though.

“Alright, seems we got one situation under control for the time being,” Hilda said. “So… You had something to tell me about Atomyst?”

“Yeah. Um… It’s pretty bad actually,” Emma said, scratching her cheek, eyes lowering.

“Ooookaaaay…”

“Well, Death isn’t sure, but he has his suspicions. I mean, well, first of all, what he does know is that he’s basically living a fake life and he’s actually over a hundred years old.”

Hilda let out a low whistle. “Damn, that old? It honestly didn’t surprise me too much to hear he’s been avoiding reapers… Hm… poor Arrietta, though. Losing her grandfather is going to crush her. I’d better give her a call and make sure she’s not trying anything crazy.” Hilda put her hands on her hips and frowned. Emma, meanwhile, was making an expression that caused Hilda to cock an eyebrow. “There’s more?”

“There’s a lot more,” Emma said quietly. She fiddled with her thumb for a moment, her lips tight as she thought about where to begin. When she started, she spat it all out in a barely coherent mess. “So, like I said, Death isn’t a hundred percent sure, but he thinks Atomyst has been… uh… well, the thing is. You know that they are super into black magic and all that, and it’s not like they are the only mages who practice that stuff, but um, you know. And then there is the whole thing with Todd and how one of their grimoires was involved with Morrigan…”

“Emma, Emma,” Hilda laughed. “Come on, just spit it out.”

“Death thinks Atomyst had something to do with Aunt Claire’s death, and he apparently has a bunch of other children, too, and has been living a fake life!”

The room went completely silent except for Anna’s soft snoring. Emma watched Hilda’s face, waiting to see how she would react. She was shocked, piecing it together until she said, “What…?”

“I’m so sorry,” Emma said. “You know how the grimoire summoned a changeling, right? Death thinks Atomyst purposely let Todd get his hands on it.”

Hilda shook her head slowly. “My parents were… killed by a changeling,” she said, her voice distant as the dots began to connect in her head.

“Y-Yeah…”

“Stupid,” she hissed through her teeth. “Why did I- Well, I mean… Death isn’t sure though? Right?”

“Yeah, but… with everything else we learned about him.”

Hilda exhaled heavily and fell back against a wall, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “But why would he do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because Aunt Claire was so powerful…”

Hilda tensed. “Screw the reapers, I’m going to kill him myself if that’s true.”

“Hilda, I’m so sorry,” Emma said.

Hilda took a breath and composed herself. “What do you mean he has more kids?”

“I don’t know; Death says some of them are probably still alive. But… that means he’s been lying to Arrietta her whole life. Arrietta was pretty stoic and a little mad when Death explained all of this, but I’m sure she’s really upset about the whole thing.”

“Yeah, I bet she is. She idolizes him, I can’t imagine what it’d be like for her to know he’s been lying like that.” Hilda sighed. “Damn that old man.”

“Oh, and I didn’t mention it yet, but Arrietta is going to call a Walpurgisnacht. She invited me to attend as well.”

Hilda smirked. “That bitch. I wanted to be the one to invite you to your first one.”

“Well, at the time we didn’t even know if you were alive or not, sooo…”

“Heh, yeah, sorry about that.” Hilda winked and patted her shoulder. “Guess I had you pretty worried, huh?”

“You think? You’re more like a big sister to me than a cousin. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”

Alice rolled her eyes, something Hilda noticed and pointed a thumb at her. “And hey, look on the bright side. I got a pet reaper out of the whole thing.”

“I don’t find this amusing, witch.”

“Poorly trained, tough.”

“I’ll remind you I’ve killed people who are not on my list before.”

Hilda laughed it off, but Emma didn’t seem to find anything funny about the reaper. “Why did you say those horrible things to Morrigan earlier?”

“I only spoke the truth.”

“Well then, you don’t know the first thing about her.”

“Or maybe I just saw something you didn’t.”

Emma stepped towards her. “No, Morrigan isn’t like that. She told me all about what happened, and she ran on a broken ankle to try to save Pepper!”

“But she first walked away and accepted the girl’s fate.”

“That’s not fair, and you know it!” Emma yelled. “Morrigan isn’t like that! She cares about people. She would do anything she could to—”

“But she didn’t,” Alice cut her off. “If you know her so well, then let me ask you a question. What if the day came when you were on my list?”

Emma tensed, teeth clenching as she stared her down. Alice returned the hateful stare with a smirk, knowing she struck a nerve.

“Really, I want to know the answer,” Alice continued. “If you were on my list tomorrow, and Morrigan found out beforehand. Would she intervene and try to change your fate? Would she fight for you? Would she do everything in her power to stop it?”

Emma kept the glare on her. “That’s not a fair question.”

“No, I think it is very fair. So answer me. Would she try to save you, or would she hug you and say goodbye?”

“I said I’m not answering that; I’m not playing this game with you.”

Alice smiled. “You said you know her and that you’ve known her for years. Well, she’s a reaper now, and working as a reaper changes you so, so quickly. You know she’ll outlive you, don’t you? What do you think will happen after that? After you’ve been dead for a hundred years.” She paused, allowing Emma a chance to answer, but she didn’t. “I’ll tell you, then. She’ll forget about you. She knows this as well as you do, that you are only a temporary comfort in her life. Something she is using to feel human. When your time comes, she’ll just watch it happen and then move on and forget about you.”

Emma balled a fist and stepped towards Alice with anger she had never felt before. She was going to hit her. She never hit anyone before in her life. But she stopped, staring into the reaper’s red eyes with fury as Alice smiled back.

“Struck a nerve, did I?” Alice chuckled softly.

“No…” Emma said in a low voice. She shook her head softly, still staring her down. “You didn’t strike a nerve. You ripped it wide open like some kind of uncaring monster and smiled while you were doing it. You think you're being so clever… But let's get something straight. You’re the one who doesn’t have a heart.”

“Oh?” Alice’s amusement only grew, tilting her head.

“Yeah. I read your diary.”

“You what?” Alice hissed, the smile instantly disappearing from her face. Her eyes pulsed.

“Yeah, and what I read were the words of a heartless monster. You don’t care about anything but yourself and what’s happened to you, and you hate the entire world because of it. If you see anyone with any kind of happiness, you just want to tear it apart.”

“Where is it?” Alice sneered.

Emma smirked. “I’m not telling.”

“That bastard had no right!” Alice yelled, making a move towards Emma.

“Okay! That’s it!” Hilda said, stepping between them and pushing Alice back.

“Tell me where my dairies are! Those are mine!” Alice yelled, trying to get past Hilda, but even without using magic, she was physically quite strong.

“Calm the hell down!” Hilda yelled at her.

“He has no right to give those to anyone! They’re—” Suddenly her face twisted, and she let out a pained groan. She stumbled back, catching herself on the wall.

“Woah, woah, are you okay?” Hilda asked, grabbing her shoulders carefully to help her stay up as she looked like she would fall. Alice batted her arm away and turned towards the kitchen, stumbling until she fell into a chair, breathing heavily.

Hilda shot Emma a look. Emma had the faintest hint of guilt in her own expression, but despite it she said, “She started it.”

Hilda followed Alice in to see her looking at her arm. There were faint traces of those black veins beginning to bloom.

“Damn it…” Alice muttered under her breath. “Mistress… why the hell did you do this to me?”

“Hmmm… Time for another treatment?” Hilda asked.

Alice looked over her shoulder, glaring at her. “I’m fine.”

“Naaaa, you’re pretty much the exact opposite of fine. Even without that corruption effecting you. But let me tell you, if you think you’re going to say some shitty words to Emma and make her doubt herself… Well, she’s my little cousin, and she’s made of tougher stuff than that. So don't underestimate her. Now come on, let me see.” Hilda said, holding out her hand.

Alice’s eyes lowered back to her arm, and then slowly she moved it to the side, displaying it across the table.

Hilda took the seat next to her, and picked her arm up softly, turning it, then traced the veins with her eyes up to Alice’s sleeve and pulled it back to see up to her shoulder. “Hm. Yeah, we’ll give you another round when we get back to my apartment. I don’t have my supplies here. How much does it hurt?”

“It’s tolerable,” Alice said in a low voice.

“So, 'agonizingly painful but not enough to make you drop the attitude.' Got it.”

Alice clenched her teeth. “Just leave me alone, witch.”

Hilda frowned. “So why did Lorelai do this to you?”

“How the hell should I know? To make a point? To test you? Whatever game she’s playing, she has her reasons.”

“Hm… Back at the doll house, she says she likes to keep you in particular close compared to other reapers. What’s up with that?”

Alice didn’t seem like she would respond at first, but then said, “I made a contract with her.”

“Don’t all reapers have a contract with her?”

“No. Well, yes. But I made another one. I wanted revenge, and she gave me what I needed to do so.”

Hilda narrowed her eyes. “So how did she do that?”

“That’s something I’m forbidden to repeat.”

“Hm, okay. So what about the other side of the contract? What did you give her?”

“I’m bound to her. You met Terri. It’s kind of like that.”

“So what then? You’re her personal servant now?”

“More like a slave.”

Hilda nodded. “And she told you to come with me, and that’s why you're not leaving. Because you have to do what she says… And right now that means you have to do what I say, right?”

Alice fixed that glare back on her. “Just don’t let it go to your head, witch. I still have some power over you.”

“Noted.”

Emma listened from the doorway. She had calmed down from their earlier exchange now. Really, it was hard to stay mad at Alice when she looked like that. If anything, Emma felt sorry for her. She read enough of Alice’s diary to hear how much pain she was in. Maybe she actually was even a good person at some point, but after the way her life ended, something in her probably broke. Then, having to do the duties of a reaper… Emma could easily see how that would give someone such a bleak outlook on things. She just hoped she could help Morrigan not go down that road. She could already see it changing Morrigan, but she didn’t believe in Alice’s words.

“You know…” Emma said, coming into the kitchen. “You said being a reaper changes you. I get that. But I don’t believe it’s a sure thing. Despite doing the job you guys have to do, I’m sure there’s a way to think about it where it doesn’t have to destroy who you were.”

Alice shook her head and smirked. “Are you saying that for me? Or are you saying it for Morrigan?”

“Well, I do like her quite a bit more than you. No offense.” Emma sighed when she got no hint of a smile from Alice. “I mean… Just look at Death. He’s been around for way longer than you, and he hasn’t become all jaded and done with the world the way you are.”

That… for some reason, did make Alice smile. “Is that what you think?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Emma asked.

Alice shook her head as if it were so simple. “Death has been around for ten thousand years. He’s had plenty of time to figure out how to make humans like him.”

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Chapter 159 - Cop Out