Chapter 17: Chapter. 17: Return To Reality

I took a deep breath on the ground. I was weak… The monster was long dead. Footsteps echoed, and Ash stood next to me. 

“Well done Kaiti.” Ash said, ruffling my hair, her hand was warm. “You’ve done well, the fact that you’re alive is proof of it.”

Hearing her words something broke inside of me. I was a Grim Reaper. I was supposed to be the natural enemy of this monster. And yet I barely scraped by the skin of my teeth. And it was all thanks to being saved… My cheeks felt warm, yet I felt so cold…

I almost died…

I was… a failure… I began sobbing on the spot. I was pathetic… I was supposed to be a Grim Reaper, but I hadn’t succeeded in anything so far… I hadn’t done anything that was related to being a Grim Reaper… 

“Is something wrong?” Ash asked a bit awkwardly. I guess she didn’t understand… 

“I am a failure…”

Hearing my dispirited voice Ash let out a deep sigh. “You’re not making sense you know.” 

I bit my lip.

“E-Ever since coming here, I haven’t done anything, at least not related to the Underworld or me.” I paused for a second. “And now that I tried to do something related… I failed miserably. Now you see?” 

In between my tears I saw Ash tilt her head. 

“So let me see if I get it, you consider yourself a failure because you went on a suicidal mission against what is one of the ultimate predators to exist?” She scoffed. “You must be stupid.” 

“Yes I am,” I nodded and stood up, the blade of my scythe facing up. “Don’t you see it? I failed miserably.” I gestured towards everything with my hand, though it kept trembling. 

“Kaiti, only Grim Reapers are able to kill these things without breaking a sweat.” Ash said in annoyance. “Why are you comparing yourself to them?” 

Comparing?! I smacked the butt of my scythe on the ground, the blade shifting to normality. 

“I am a Grim Reaper!” I hissed. “I am a Grim Reaper who can’t even kill whatever this thing is!” I cried in desperation. “Look at me! All I do is try to make people happy and cry in my bed whenever I have a nightmare!” 

Ash paused, her face going through a myriad of emotions and her mind in disarray. 

“See? I am a fucking failure!” I stomped on the ground, anger overcoming me. I was hopeless. I had always ignored it. “I don’t even fit what a Grim Reaper is supposed to do!” Not like I even knew. 

Just go with fate and you’ll figure it out. I inwardly scoffed recalling my dad’s words. I just knew nothing I did was actually right. Perhaps I didn’t notice it at the time. But now it was clear! Based on what I heard, of what I knew. I just didn’t fit! 

Grim Reapers were supposed to be strong. They were meant to be close with death. They were death itself! Perhaps it wasn’t entirely right to put it like that… But did it matter? It didn’t… It had always mattered to me, even in the Underworld I still felt sadness whenever something died or perished. Whatever the word for it was! 

“So what?” Ash’s cold words entered my ears, making me pause. 

“What do you mean what?” I scoffed. 

Ash frowned. “So what if you’re a Grim Reaper, so what if you’re useless?” 

“It’s obvious is it not?” Was she even in the right state of mind? There was only anger within her.

“Kaiti, look at me. Bet you think, Ash is so fucking cool. God look at this person she fucking killed the monster I struggled with.” Her voice was full of scorn. “You think just because you have the bloodline you should get it right first try?” 

“Well, why not? Aren’t Grim Reapers the ultimate predators of these monsters?” I sneered. 

Ash shook her head. “Look at me.” She began removing her best and stripping down. “Look at what it truly takes to be what I am. To hunt these things, sacrifices must be made.” 

“What are you even doin⁠—” My voice caught in my throat seeing her skin. 

It was rugged⁠— scorched, burnt, full of scars, deformed. W-what had happened to her? Parts of her torso were bleeding profusely. 

“That’s what I fucking thought.” She grumbled as she began dressing herself again. “Anyway, I am not looking for your pity since I don’t care. What I am trying to tell you is to not cry about it and move on. And if you cry about it, you should still move on. Just like in games, the monster is level 80 and you’re level 40, deal with it.” 

I gripped my scythe and looked at the ground. 

“But⁠—

“If you keep worrying about it, you won’t get anywhere. Simple as that, Kat.” Her nonchalant voice made me pause. Her emotions? Was she even⁠— that didn’t matter now. I took a deep breath, my heart finally calming down.

I opened my mouth to speak but ended up closing it again, taking a second or two to think about what to say. The tears had subsided. 

“What do Grim Reapers do?” 

Ash raised her brow. “Why are you asking me this?” She finished putting her vest on. “Even if you’re a Grim Reaper I like, I still think you people are a bunch of douchebags.” 

I paused. “Bunch of douchebags?” What was she even saying? 

Ash nodded and began speaking. “Once upon a time there was a girl who loved her mother very much, yet her life was claimed by a Grim Reaper. At the very same time, there was a father who developed a unique battle style that he spent almost his entire life on to pass it down to his descendants. Only for it to be passed to a Grim Reaper that forced his hand.” She huffed. “Needless to say they are the worst.” 

“Just to make sure…” I took a deep breath. “You’re talking about yourself?” 

“Of course I am,” she sneered.

I nodded slowly connecting the dots. Though something sounded familiar. A sigh escaped me. 

“It seems that Grim Reapers are just disliked by everyone. I heard one of them forcefully passed a Lord’s wife to Elysium at some point, creating quite the grudge.” 

Ash nodded. “Though, I think you shouldn’t worry about it. Think about it. All the three royals suck equally. You have the Ossein Attendants, who are in reality glorified skeletons.” I winced. “The flesh obsessed people that are the Jettisons, and the apathetic Grim Reapers.” 

That… “That can get you killed, you know?” 

“They can try if they want.” Ash shrugged. “Kat, just don’t worry about it and do your own thing. You don’t want to end up like those boring tunic freaks that walk with their scythe out all the time. All they do is talk in their profound manner.”

“I…” I didn’t… I had experienced what Ash was talking about firsthand… 

She gave me another rough pat on the back. “Don’t let this get to you. You’re you, and that’s fine.” 

“Is it?” I asked, feeling somewhat insecure.

“It’s plenty,” Ash nodded. “Well now that you’re no longer feeling sad we should get going.”

“That is⁠—” I paused. I was no longer feeling sad or depressed…  “Thank you.” 

Ash had a weird pause hearing my words. “Before we go I have to do something.” 

You are reading story Don’t Call Me a Grim Reaper! at novel35.com

“Something?” I echoed her words back to her. What was she talking about? 

Ash simply nodded in response and continued. “This outfit is very constricting and tiring, so I’ll go get changed.” 

I paused. “You have spare clothes, here?” 

Ash smiled at me as she walked away. I guess she did. But⁠— Why? I looked down at myself, my clothes were no longer torn, nor was I bleeding anymore. Though in spite of my clothes being miraculously clean now⁠, my skin still had bloodstains. However, I still suffered from mild pain. At the very least I no longer needed to use my scythe to support myself. 

◇ ◇ ◇

The monster and its liquid had long vanished into nothingness. The only evidence of the battle were the cracked pavement and scattered bricks. As far as the person that rescued me, Ash had come back, but⁠— 

“Why are your spare clothes a⁠— just a single onesie?” I asked in confusion. 

“Why shouldn’t it be a onesie?” Ash shook her head. “You’re focusing on the wrong things.” 

“And the right things are?” 

She grinned. “Comfort.” 

I almost sighed hearing her reply. Upon further scrutiny Ash’s onesie was black this time⁠— bear themed. Her auburn hair looked the same as always, though she looked a bit paler. I mean she had just fought the monster in my stead… But⁠— Where did she put away all her equipment? 

“What happened to the weapons?” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Her magical reply waved my concerns away⁠— as if. 

Though I understood that she wouldn’t be telling me where she put them. Where could she hide them though? Was she going to leave them here? I mean… I looked at her, her onesie⁠— well it loosely fitted her body, but it wasn’t sagging from weight of weapons or anything of the like. She just looked like⁠— Ash my roommate. 

“Why do you have so many weapons anyway?” 

To my surprise, I actually had a reply. “This is why.” 

Shortly thereafter,  she threw a shiny object that glittered with the atmospheric light. 

“Aah!”

I scrambled to get it, nearly losing grip of my scythe. I opened my hand expecting some type of shiny badge, but instead, it was a glossy black. Its image had some type of altar made out of bones, some nondescript mass, and scythes at the back. 

“Em… What am I looking at?” I whispered to her, unable to recognize what it meant. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” She gestured towards the badge once again. 

“No?” I looked at her incredulously. 

Ash huffed. “You’re a Grim Reaper and yet you don’t even understand what it is.” She shook her head disapprovingly. Hey! “It means I am part of the Abyssal Hunters, and as you can guess. We hunt. And no⁠— We do not hunt anything in specific. Think of us as…” 

Ash paused thinking of something but shook her head. 

“Do you know what border patrol is?” To her dismay, I shook my head. “Sigh. Just use your phone when we get back.” 

I nodded and waited for Ash to open a portal. We stared at each other for about five seconds before Ash opened her mouth once again. 

“Kat, if you’re waiting for me to open a portal, it’s literally impossible for me to do so.” I gave her a weird look not really understanding. Soon, she elaborated. “You’re forgetting that only the Royal bloodlines can open portals to this place.” That… made no sense. 

“And how did you get here?” I asked in confusion. 

“That’s a secret.” She smiled. 

“But⁠— what about getting back?” Wouldn’t she be stuck here if I wasn’t a Reaper? 

“Well, considering this was reported to the headquarters, I am sure a portal would be opened in a few hours.” I got a shrug from her this time. “Now, before you open a portal to god knows where.” Her face became serious. “We have some problems.” 

I frowned hearing the word problems. I tried thinking about what could be the issue, but arrived at nothing. 

“What type of problems?” 

“Well for starters our apartment got absolutely blown up so there is bound to be investigations.”

Investigations? Those were a thing? I mean⁠— In the Under⁠— back there, things would just blow up all the time… Wait⁠— that wasn’t relevant. Why was Ash telling me all of this?

“Do you…” I pondered whether it was the right question. “Do you have any ideas on what to do?” 

Ash pleasantly smiled. “I do, but you might not like it.” 

I had a bad feeling about this. But there was one thing for certain⁠— just judging from her seriousness earlier. It wasn’t as simple as I had hoped. Or simple at all… 

◇ ◇ ◇ 

A heavy sigh escaped me. All of the options were absolutely awful. In the end, I chose the non-violent approach. At least people wouldn’t need to die… And⁠— well there was a chance Ash would need to silence a few people. 

“Ready?” Ash asked me as I made up my mind. 

I simply nodded and prepared my scythe. Cut, dispose, and cry. Er⁠— I paused hearing my action outline. It sounded a bit ridiculous, but soon I got rid of the thought. It wasn’t relevant. I honestly doubted the effectiveness of what Ash had told me, but either way⁠— I wasn’t looking forward to it. Tightening my grip, I imagined where I wanted to be. 

To my room in the apartment. The one whose carpet isn’t fluffy. 

I swung down. In an instant reality split, I let my scythe dissolve as it bid farewell, and we both stepped through the gap. And then there was silence. 

Moonlight entered the quiet room. Chaos ran outside. A myriad of distant emotions and some closer ones. But that didn’t matter. 

“Are you sure this is going to work?” I whispered to Ash. 

“This is our only option!” She hissed in sudden annoyance. Not wasting a second she grabbed me by the neck and pulled me to a corner of the room along with her. 

Soon, I felt a person coming closer⁠— desperate, hurried, ever-creeping⁠— encroaching. The person was overwhelmed and stressed⁠— frantic. As they got closer I couldn’t help but get much more nervous.

Was this really going to work?