Life After Death: Reincarnation

Chapter Nine: Enter Death

~Aeris~

It all happened so fast, I don't even know where to start. One second I was scared senseless that I can't move from my spot, cowering like a little child in my own corner. The next thing I know, I was grabbing the nearest object to throw at that hulking piece of douchebaggery called Xerxes.

Ok. So I ran up the stairs only to find Death at the doorway down on her knees like an prisoner ready for execution.

"Death! No!" Michael shouted, trying his best to teleport and intercept Xerxes. As soon as Michael materialized in front of him, he smacked him aside like a kid hitting a baseball with a baseball bat.

Death was down on both knees with her arms dangling limply from her shoulders. Xerxes was mere inches away from strangling her. I wanted to do something so bad but what can a mortal soul like me do? Throw a piece of wood at his face then gawk at his face for a few seconds before he kills me?

Well, if you said yes, that's exactly what you should do, then give yourself a pat on the back because that's exatly what I did. I threw a broom, then a bucket, then a conveniently placed stack of plates. All of them, by some dumb luck, hit his face. He then stared at me like I was a dead man. Technically saying, I already am. I am a soul afterall. If I wasn't already dead, he will make sure that I will be.

After Xerxes took a few steps, Death's head looked like it straightened. Xerxes stopped and stood silent for a few moment. Suddenly, he flew back as if he was thrown by something strong. A loud scream let out from Death's mouth; a scream that felt like it was full of rage, depression...despair.

She continued to scream to scream 'til Xerxes started to stand up. She didn't move a muscle. She just sat there, tired from the screaming. Everyone seems to be phased by this, even Loki.

"Hmmhmm. Haha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Xerxes looks even more amused than before. "It has been a long time since I've seen a Grimm Reaper use their full cloak. I'm guessing this must be the first time that you used it."

"Pity; this would've been a great fight." Xerxes slowly walked toward her, calmly glaring. "Well, I guess I'm going to have to kill you."

Kill. She seems to speak through my mind. KILL!

"Death?" I asked, leaning closer to her. Maybe if I was close enough that would calm her down. "Are you with us?"

"Kill." Death slowly stood up with her head still loosely moving as she moves. She straightened her head then it happened.

Black smoke came out from the deck below us and entirely consumed Death. In a few moments, the smoke slowly dissipated and showed us Death but she looked a lot different. She's now wearing a dark grey, hooded, tattered robes with it's hood down over a black dress with a knee-length skirt that's held tight to her waist by a shiny black belt. Her hair felt more like tentacles right now, waving the air like it has a life of it's own. Her feet were b.a.r.e aside from the smoke coming out of ends of the linen cloth and at the bottom of her feet.

In her right hand was a a scythe, but not a normal one. The blade looks like it's a meter long and is made out of steel. It had runes and glyphs that glowed red on the sharp edge of the blade, similar to the runes that I saw in the dream. The blade was attached to a shaft made of wood that seemed taller than Death herself. It looked very old, bent in the middle, and, ah, sticky. I meant, it literally looked like a big stick. Same as the blade, it had inscriptions but this time it wrapped around the shaft like a snake. The scythe radiated death and despair, like I want to just hold it and die in its kiss. On her left hand was a silver ring lined with onyx gems. From that ring was a black pulse, sending small shockwaves of emotions. I can feel whatever she;s feeling right now; she's angry at Xerxes and herself; she's terrified of anyone dying protecting her; she's afraid she'll lose them, and in the process, lose herself.

She wasn't the sweet Death that I saw when I almost died. She wasn't the Death who took care of me when Lucia stabbed me in my dream. No, this is a different version of her. She's Death, the Grimm Reaper.

"You killed them." She took one step after the other and stopped in front of Xerxes. Her steps made the ship shake. Her presence could be felt throughout all the sh.i.p.s. Hell, the Soul Hunters even started retreating. "You killed them right in front of me."

"Yes, I did." Xerxes leaned closer Death's ear. "I killed them with passion. I strangled them. Stabbed, mutilated, shot, crushed, sliced them open and ripped their still beating hearts out of their c.h.e.s.t. I licked their fresh auras off of my hands."

By All-father's hypothetical beard, that's nasty. Well, that image is forever burned into my mind. To top it off, Xerxes was looking at me while he was telling the gruesome details of his murders. Hello nightmares, come to papa!

"What are you going to do about it, Death?" Xerxes smirked.

"I'm going to kill you before you kill anyone else." Then she proceeded stab through Xerxes's c.h.e.s.t using her left hand. Xerxes doesn't even look affected by all this. He even looks amused. "I'll send you to where you belong; Tartarus."

"Can you even do it, Death?" He taunted her. "What makes you think you can beat a Soul Hunter general when you can't even protect the people you love?"

"Be careful what you wish for, Xerxes." Loki near the edge of the port side of the ship. It looks like they don't have any plan to charge in to help Death. "That's the Grimm Scythe. You catch even one scratch from that baby and you're going straight to Tartarus."

"It won't matter anyway. Death won't be able to do it. She's too weak, soft, and fragile. She'll fail to do it." He stared right in her eyes. His face reflected a faint red light, that I assume came from her eyes. "Just like how she failed when I killed her friends."

With that, Death completely snapped. Lucky for Xerxes, he was able to react fast enough to remove the hand from his c.h.e.s.t and jump out of the way of her scythe. Death, who looks like she wants to kill everyone in this ship, swung her scythe again. Xerxes just dodged it and laughed.

"See? What did I say? A failure!" Xerxes grabbed Death's neck. "You will always bee a failure, no matter what you do."

"Death!" I shouted. Death dropped her scythe, she was holding Xerxes's arms and trying to escape his tight grasp. She screams again and gets Xerxes stunned. He lets her go. She was still pretty vulnerable and away from her weapon, while Xerxes was starting to get his senses back.

Michael charged with his halberd and aimed it at Xerxes's head. He just raised his right hand and grabbed the blade, and threw him aside. He stood up and stepped aside, dodging Thanatos's flying kick, grabbed him by the foot and slammed him to the floor. Loki tried to go with a much sneakier approach; he went in from behind and stabbed Xerxes from the back. While Xerxes g.r.o.a.n.e.d, he reached behind and grabbed Loki's hair, pulling him overhead and slamming him over Thanatos. Xerxes had his eyes set on Death who was on the ground, defenseless, and crippled. Maya and Charon shot beams of shadow and lightning bolts from the helm, which kind of slowed Xerxes down. He didn't even bother with them, their attacks almost did nothing.

I had to do something. Yet, there I was, trying to hide behind the doorway, staying out of harms way, looking at what seems to be an inevitable end to the lives of everyone in this ship. I felt useless, just like how I feel everyday, not being able to make a difference. I mean, I took that job at the News Network to make a difference! Well, I refuse to feel like this anymore!

I ran from the doorway to Death's scythe. Xerxes was too busy taunting Death about what a failure she was that he didn't see me as I grabbed the scythe with my hand and lifted it with all my strength. I felt the power of anguish running through my veins. I saw my memories flashing before my very eyes; regrets, doubts, grudges. It was as if I were moments away from dying.

I swung it at Xerxes, who was completely caught off guard, and almost hit him. Almost. He dodged it at the very last second and fell down on his hind. Death, thankfully regain her sense. Un-thankfully, she was far angrier than earlier. Her hair has now turned to smoke. Her skin no longer the color of milk chocolate; it was pale as snow now. Her eyes completely glowed red. Her ring was humming like crazy, pulsing black energy from her hands.

"XERXES, YOU D.I.C.KLESS MORON, STAND UP AND FIGHT." She spoke in a deep voice like she was possessed by some sort of demon. She extended her right arm and the scythe went to it like that one spell from Harry Potter (Accio, I think). "SHOW ME THE STRENGTH THAT SLAUGHTERED THE SOULS THAT I HARBORED. SHOW ME THAT POWER THAT YOU SO BOAST. SHOW ME OR DIE BY THE HANDS OF THE GRIMM REAPER."

I was legit scared right now. She walked passed me like I wasn't there. Her steps caused stronger tremors, throwing Xerxes off balance. Speaking of, it seems that he's also a bit scared of what he's seeing, but not that much.

"haha...HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You think this scares me?! This doesn't do a-" She floated a bit off the ground and lifted Xerxes by the neck... WITH ONE HAND! This time he was the one grasping for air, trying to remove Death's hand from his neck. She floated higher and higher until she was several feet of the deck.

"GENERAL XERXES, YOU SEEM TO BE OUT OF BREATH. HERE, LET ME HELP YOU." She let's him go, allowing him to fall. She then proceeds to land on his c.h.e.s.t. She giggles a bit. "I HAVE TO ADMIT. IT SURE FEELS GREAT TO KILL YOU AFTER EVERYTHING YOU DID."

She places the blades sharp edge by the back of Xerxes's head. "Go ahead, Death. Kill me." But he just laughs it off.

"WITH P.L.E.A.S.U.R.E." She was about to pull the scythe, killing Xerxes in the process. My body moved on it's own, tackling Death. What was I thinking? I am nothing compared to them, but I wasn't going to just watch Death turn from innocent to maleficent. I stared at her for a few moments then tried to slap her back to her sense, literally.

Bad move. Next thing I knew I was flying in the air, pushed by her black smoke, flapping my arms like a bird, hoping to survive the drop. Fortunately, I managed to grab the edge of the main top and climbed in.

"XERXES!!" she shouted. I could see the shockwaves of her voice from up here, like small waves from a big rock dropped in a pool of water, pushing the other sh.i.p.s away.

Xerxes was already on-board one of their sh.i.p.s, mocking us. "Well, that was nice." He laughed maniacally. "I hope we meet again soon, Death. And when the time comes, you better be ready!"

I got down from the main top. Death was still standing at the edge of the ship, her smokey hair standing blowing in the wind. She turned her head as soon as I hit the floorboards.

"YOU!!" Her eyes were staring right into my eyes, completely glowing red like the brake lights on a car. "YOU LET HIM ESCAPE!!"

Just then, I realized how much fast and strong Death really was. She smoked her way to me. She glided on the deck as if she had no feet, grabbed my neck and lifted me from the ground.

"Death, stop." I tried to make her stop. I didn't move; I just looked at her. I tried to raise my arms but it felt like it was made of jelly. I was slipping out of conscience.

Michael and Loki tried to get close but her Grimm Cloak Smoke created some sort of field around us. Thanatos tried to fly from above but she caught wind of it blocked the all openings.

And then she throws me in the air and stabbed my heart through the c.h.e.s.t with the Scythe of Grimm. I felt my soul sipping out of the wound, leaving my body ever so slowly. Everything around me started to feel cold as ice except for the wound, it felt hot like the blade that's still in it. I took one last look at Death. She's somehow still beautiful even if she's terrifying right now.

My vision slowly faded. The last thing I saw was Death slowly turning to normal with Loki holding her shoulder and Michael running to my aid. Her smokey hair slowly got back its blonde-tipped black hair. Her eyes reverted back hazelnut. Her clothes were no back to plaid open shirt and black tank top. Her skin was back to it's chocolate color. It looks like she was fainting, she closed her eyes, and dropped sideways, leaving the Scythe of Grimm still in me.

"Aeris!!"

That was it. I was knocked out of my soul and got yanked into literal oblivion.

I can't see anything down here. It's all black. Everywhere I look, it's dark. There's no light here.

Am I dead?

Is this Tartarus?

Oh, God. Please, no.

I don't want to die. Please.

I felt like I was in a void, utter hopelessness. A place made of absolute darkness, no light to be seen.

The floor beneath me felt like glass cutting through the skin of my feet. The air around felt like sulfur, like I was inhaling acid. I can hear screams of terror to my left, like people were being murdered but kept alive. I can hear weapons clanking against each other and the groans of the fallen.

My eyes started to see a little, but I almosy immediately wanted to be blind again. What I saw terrified my very eyes.

The battlefield from my dream, I was in the middle of it.

It was exactly as I remembered it, except for a few things; no army, no angels, no Lucia. Just me and the bones and armour of the ancient warriors. Well, there was something different. There was a man standing in the midst of the battle field, glowing white and wearing normal human clothes. I found myself walking towards him as if my legs had a life of it's own.

I stopped when I was standing beside him, when I saw every small detail. He was blonde and fair skinned. His eyes had a kaleidoscope for irises. wore a round-neck shirt and a yellow jacket above it. The inscription "AF" was embroidered behind it. He wore loosely fitted jeans and green sneakers. He was radiating with so much power and heat all the while smelling like flowers, it felt like walking in the park at noon. He was around my age, 25 years old or younger, but I doubt that he really is. He might be a gillion years or even older than that. Heck, he can even be a me from the future.

"No. I am none of those, son. But I am older than the universe and everything in it." He knew what I was thinking?! I have so many questions right now. "Yes. I know what you're thinking. Let's see. Yes, I'm immortal. Yes, this is Tartarus. Yes, the universe has no end. And no, you're not dead but you are dying."

"Who are you?" I'm almost certain that this is who I think it is.

"I am who you think I am; I'm the All-Father."