Chapter 15: Chapter. 15: Revenge Arrives

Liquid pooled at the touch melting through the sofa, the black tentacles wiggled as they expanded onto the floor and ceiling of the apartment, soon it became a wriggling mass of flesh that constantly dripped darkness. I blankly stared at everything that was happening. 

Why was a being from ⁠— Was he even from the Underworld?! ⁠— Why was something like that here?! It reminded me of the teacher I once had during my studies, but this one was much more unrestrained, abrasive and fixated; unhinged! Though its fiery eye didn’t stare at me but at Ash. But that didn’t even matter, I thought I was safe here! 

Tentacles dug into the walls, and floor. 

“Kaiti, as you’ve guessed I also know of the Underworld, but I am not from there.” Ash stated as she awkwardly shuffled with her onesie, one arm inside of her neckline looking for something. 

“So?” I asked my eyes not leaving the thing. Should I even kill it? Well it wasn’t something to think about. I had to kill it! I just didn’t want Ash to know I was a Grim Reaper! “Why are you bringing that up now?” I asked, weighing my options. 

“What I am saying is, unless you're very strong you’ll one-hundred-percent die against this motherfucker!” She growled. “Beast from the Bordering Lands, you should’ve died last time.” 

Wait⁠— Bordering Lands? The tentacles wriggled and its pupil contracted. Malice came our way from different directions, behind, beneath, right⁠— I swirled out of the way using my senses. Wait, what about Ash? 

She also dodged. 

“T̸h̸e̴ ̷p̷r̸i̴c̷e̵ ̵o̶f̶ ̵i̴n̴j̸u̷r̴i̸n̸g̸ ̶m̴e̸ ̴i̶s̶ ̶r̴e̸v̶e̵n̶g̸e̴.” 

The eye grew closer, more tentacles came and ripped open more rifts of the living room. The reality seemed to be cracking as it led to the ashen world that was the Bordering Lands. 

“Oh, you don’t.” Ash scoffed, and finally her arm came out of the onesie. She held⁠— 

What the hell was that thing even?— A pale white construct of metal with bone, It had random ridges at the top and a metal cylinder that ran through its length. The bones had been engraved with runes and patterns, and the entire length of the thing was as big as her arm! She pointed the cylinder at the creature, her index finger resting on a metal nib near the base, and soon. It was pressed down. 

The runes whirred, the tentacles paused. 

“N̴o̷t̵ ̷l̴i̴k̴e̸ ̴l̴a̷s̷t̶ ̷t̷i̷m̵e̷?̵ ̶F̸o̷u̸l̴ ̸d̶e̸c̶e̴i̸v̶i̴n̸g̴ ̸c̸r̴e̷a̶t̴u̶r̶e̸!” The monster of corruption said, displeasure in his voice evident. 

“You clearly don’t have bones anymore, just die already.” 

The monster must’ve sensed something since he retracted its tentacles in an instant and formed a protective ball in front of itself. And then there was a howl, a rip and…

White. 

A sea of light engulfed my vision, nothing was left uncovered⁠— akin to Elysium ever present and all powerful, majestic. Soon the white began to dissipate into a bluish hue, severed tentacles littered the room, with blue mist coming from the scorching burns. The entire place was charred like coal, and only embers of fire remained. 

The monster had temporarily vanished from sight, though I could sense him relatively far away through the rifts. The cracks of the world had begun to close themselves ever so slowly. Though the apartment was utterly destroyed. Chunks of wall were missing, the couch was gone, the furniture was gone, and the light flickered its dying breaths. 

“Shit, it’s still not dead.” Ash grumbled as I turned to her. 

“Can’t you do that again with your weapon?” I asked in confusion. It was powerful. Very powerful. And the monster was⁠— in pain, and a lot of hatred. But it wasn’t moving. 

“Sure, if I can get another one.” Ash shrugged as the construct began falling apart, bone and metal fell, but something else also fell along with it. Blood. Her sleeve had been torn apart, I could see deep gashes and burns on her arm. A single use magic tool with backlash…

“Anyway Kat, I am leaving and you should too. It must’ve sensed a recently opened tear on the Bordering Lands near here, so it found me.” She shrugged. “I don’t see how else it could’ve ended here.” 

“Recently opened tear? It can sense those?” Hadn’t I opened one in my room? Confusion must’ve been evident in my face as Ash continued. 

“Yep, and we must run.” She nodded and grabbed my hand with her non-injured arm. 

The tear was beginning to close. I looked at the apartment once again. Wasn’t it my fault that it ended up like this? I felt a pang of guilt in my heart. I had brought disaster upon this place… 

As we walked towards the entrance the guilt felt worse. Shouldn’t I clean up after myself? I had to do something. What if the monster came back again? 

“I can’t do this,” I shook my head. 

“What do you mean you can’t do this?” Ash asked in confusion. “You aren’t even doing anything.” 

“I can’t leave the things I caused like this.” 

Even though I had said it seriously, Ash just raised her brow in confusion. A sigh left me feeling somewhat dispirited. Of course she wouldn’t get it. I removed my hand from her grip and took a deep breath feeling the monster’s negative emotions constantly fluctuating. 

I began to walk towards the closing gap of space. As I stood before it, Ash grabbed my hand. 

“Listen, I don’t know what gave you the confidence, but I suggest not to.” Ash said, narrowing her eyes. “This is none of your business. You shouldn’t be involved.” 

I looked back at the gap, ever so slowly mending itself, disappearing into thin air⁠— I had lured it here. And the monster could go on a rampage seeking revenge. It was my responsibility. I turned to look at Ash who was beginning to frown⁠— I could feel it. She wasn’t going to give up on this, she wasn’t going to let me go. Not without putting up a fight. I had to approach it differently… 

I sighed. “You’re right, I am sorry.” 

Hearing me Ash relaxed. “Then let us⁠— 

I yanked my arm and crossed the rift. “It’s my business after all.” 

I could barely cross the gap, and when I turned to see her it was almost done closing. Ash looked at me dumbfounded before anger ensued. 

“You⁠— 

The gap in reality had closed. Wind blew, the entire place was covered in mist as an alternate world. This time I could sense the monster nearby, not too far away from where I was. The apartment even in the Bordering Lands was still wrecked, however, there was one key difference ⁠— a hole on the wall draped in black liquid from the monster. 

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A sigh left me as I let the situation sink in. 

“Sorry Ash, I lied to you.” I didn’t feel particularly great about forcing her to relax. But… My shoulders dropped looking at the aftermath. It wasn’t as bad as in the other reality, but it still reflected here. 

Shadows gathered towards me once again, soon my scythe emerged once again. Its pitch black handle was smooth and its blade sharp as ever, though it felt cold and dead in my hands. I stowed away the scythe on my back, it effortlessly perched itself somewhere, its curved blade facing the ground. 

It was a bit awkward to walk with an essentially oversized stick stuck on my back. But it wasn’t overly concerning, not as concerning as the dangers ahead. It was still in pain, but it was fading and being replaced by other things. I didn’t have much time to find it, or at the very least⁠— 

To kill it while it was still weak. 

I walked through the hole, trying my best to avoid the liquid ⁠— not like it mattered  ⁠— and found myself on the walkway. I was going to head to the stairs before I stopped myself, this wasn’t the human world. I grabbed hold of the railing and leapt over it, safety or appearances becoming completely irrelevant as I felt the wind blow onto my face from the velocity. 

Soon I landed on the ground, feeling a slight shock run through my body. My scythe smacked against the a car⁠— shadow car? ⁠— and made a big dent on it, not like it mattered. The place was bleak as always, and there was a trail of black liquid in the middle of the parking lot. It went around the corner of the building towards the city. 

He wasn’t getting away. 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

I had chased after it and the sense of presence I felt, but the trail ended and so did the chaotic emotions. Shops surrounded me in the empty street, the wind seemed to howl and the sky was pitch-black. Everything was drained of color; the only contrast to the gray was the white that came from the street lights. 

“C̵h̶a̶s̷e̵ ̵o̸r̶ ̴b̵e̴ ̷p̴r̸e̸y̴,̷ ̸t̴h̴e̷y̷ ̶s̶a̸y̴,” his corrupted voice entered my ears and made me shiver. A stream of emotions poured as tentacles emerged from the air, reality itself breaking apart once again. 

I grabbed my scythe and flicked, cutting two tentacles that tried to grab me. The monster grunted in pain. An eyeball opened in the air and stared at me, its bright red sclera drawing my attention, its pupil fixated on me. 

“̵R̵e̴v̸e̷n̶g̴e̴,̶ ̵y̸o̶u̸ ̶s̸h̶a̵l̴l̶ ̵s̴u̸f̵f̸e̵r̵.” 

When his words finished, the ground around me began to crack apart, thin lines akin to webs ran through the concrete, the sound of stone breaking accompanied it. I gripped my scythe tighter, its frame shaking slightly. 

This was my first real fight. But… I was born in the Underworld, I was a Grim Reaper! Even though I was shaking, I felt confident in my chances. I had trained. I had practiced. I had studied. Now it was time to put it to use. 

Tentacles gushed out like a volcanic eruption, they surged and wriggled, the eye’s pupil contracted. As if they were heat-seeking salvo, they began to launch towards me. Take a deep breath… Like water… 

One tentacle tried to hit my face, I swung the scythe in a downward arc, using its momentum I spun and severed another tentacle. Faster⁠— Two tentacles were chopped off. I readjusted and pulled, more tentacles fell. But⁠— they just kept coming. 

The blade of the scythe was used for pulling and decapitation, not mass killing. I frowned deeply as I spun and severed another tentacle, my entire vision was filled by them. 

I willed my scythe to move, its blade shifting to the top of it becoming a war-scythe instead. It’s not a one to one duel. I held onto it one handed and spun it by its center; tentacles crashed against the whirring blade being cut effortlessly, but my fingers began aching from the strain. 

I dodged out of the way, tentacles swarmed the spot I was in and exploded into a cloud of dust. Malice targeted my back. I held the scythe by the base and did a wide swing, it made contact with the beast’s eye, producing a deafening screech full of pain and corruption, the air distorted from the energy. 

Did this thing only know how to attack with tentacles? I frowned as I cut yet another tentacle that crept close to me. I dashed towards the scrunched bleeding eye of the monster. 

“Y̶o̴u̶ ̸w̷i̷l̸l̷—” It paused, rage building up. “F̶E̵E̸L̵ ̷D̵E̷S̶P̷A̶I̸R̵.” Its eye opened and pulsed with intrinsic magic. 

I swiped down, effortlessly cutting through it, its halves floated down without producing a sound, soon they disintegrated into thin air. The wind howled and I was once again alone. 

I frowned. Did it run away? I gripped my scythe and pressed its base against the ground to relax and catch my breath. I couldn’t tell what kind of magic that was. But it must’ve been an escape magic. 

I̶T̶ ̴C̷O̸M̸E̶S̷. 

A word flashed in my mind. Wha⁠t— Something akin to a stone hit my side. Sharp pain shot through my ribs before I went flying. 

R̶E̷V̴E̶N̴G̸E̵ ̷H̶A̶S̵ ̶A̶R̷R̷I̴V̶E̵D̶.

I received another hit on my stomach and my lungs were emptied in an instant. I crashed against the ground feeling pain run through my spine. 

O̷N̶ ̴A̸ ̵P̵L̵A̴T̶T̵E̷R̶ ̵I̷T̸ ̵I̴S̴ ̶S̵E̶R̶V̴E̸D̶. 

The world changed to one of darkness and wriggling tentacles, my arms and feet were bound by them. An eye opened overhead, crimson and full of wriggling yellow veins. In the gaps of darkness mouths emerged. Pearly white teeth, jagged serrations stared at me with a dripping smile of black liquid. In that moment something within me realized something. 

I was going to die. I began to wriggle trying to get the tentacles off from me. I was going to die! The mouths grew closer but the tentacles were like a vice, my scythe kept humming in panic but it couldn’t actually cut the monster down by itself, best I could do was call it to my hand…

The tentacles tightened and I winced in pain, my skin was beginning to bleed. Sorry dad… I had… made a big mistake… I closed my eyes feeling tears beginning to form. I was overconfident because of my bloodline… If you were a Grim Reaper then… 

I could be one too. I could help people… I could… 

Unfortunately that was not going to happen anymore. It was never going to happen… I was going to die. 

And then. The tentacles shivered. I opened my eyes to pure white light.  

“God, you really are fucking stupid, you know that?” Her voice was that of annoyance, her emotions were those of rage. But…

“Ash!” I cried her name.