Chapter 41: Chapter. 42: Scythe & Awkward Reunion

Part of my day was spent wondering how to go about showing my scythe to the Old man, and the other was spent watching TV. I found that simply just staying indoors was enjoyable, perhaps not as enjoyable as making other people happy. But it was a good pass-time for me. Sleeping was easy, waking up and figuring out how to do things? Not so much.

I paced around the living room of the house, the morning sunlight poured into the room. Would it be alright to simply teleport to the tree and leave my scythe there? I didn’t really know to be honest. But I couldn’t really bring my scythe around for everyone to see. It simply felt… wrong? Perhaps that wasn’t the right word, but something about bringing a weapon around didn’t feel right either. Was my scythe a weapon? Technically speaking it was, but… Should a weapon like cuddles? I did not know. Did my scythe liking cuddles make it not a weapon?

I shook my head. It was kind of useless to know if that made it a weapon or not, because in the eyes of others⁠— in the eyes of the people around me. They would certainly look at it as a weapon. I didn’t see Ash walking around with her weapons. That was enough evidence for me to know what to do.

I took a deep breath and extended my arm to form my scythe. In nothing but a short moment it extended to its full length, humming to greet me.

"Miss me?" I smiled, feeling slightly awkward. I got a hum in response. "Great."

This time I did not caress my scythe or anything, I simply used it as normal and winded it back. Ready to cut a portal open. To the tree. I swung and the fabric of space tore apart. I jumped through and the portal closed. The tree was desolate as always. Desolate. I took a deep breath feeling my heart-rate quicken.

Leaving my scythe alone was a weird thing. But I wanted the Old man to see it. Though I was unsure about how he’d react. A sigh escaped me as I bent down and laid my scythe against the tree. It hummed farewell knowing my intentions. I smiled.

"It won’t be long, okay?" My scythe agreed with a shake.

I nodded and circled the tree. Quickly treading the path to the benches, though it still took me close to a minute to reach them. As I neared them, I could perfectly see the Old man sitting there. Did I always make him wait that long? I approached feeling somewhat embarrassed. He turned upon hearing my footsteps and smiled.

"Kaiti," he greeted.

"Did I make you wait a long time?" I asked.

The Old man chuckled. "Not at all, I am always here early, that is all."

I nodded, accepting his explanation. He didn’t seem to be lying, or at least his mood didn’t particularly change. He had just become slightly happier seeing me. With that out of the way, I had to mention the scythe to him, though it was awkward. I couldn’t help but fidget.

"Do you want to see my scythe?"

He paused once more. "Is it here?"

"It’s…" I took a deep breath. "Nearby."

The Old man thought for a few moments, skepticism more than evident on his face. "Lead the way." He finally acquiesced.

I nodded and waited for the Old man to stand up. Once he was done, I finally started to walk in the direction, slowly so he could catch up with me. He seemed to be thinking of something as his mood shifted between nervousness and uncertainty, though it was mild.

"Kaiti, is the scythe you speak of⁠— a scythe?"

I nodded. "It’s taller than me, yes."

He pondered. "How did you even bring it here?"

I paused my steps for a brief moment. "It’s a secret." I continued walking.

"Is that so," he chuckled. "Better not let the police catch you with it."

I frowned in confusion. "How so?"

"Well it is a weapon," he mused. "They must maintain public safety."

I nodded hearing his explanation. Two minutes of walking passed and we reached the tree. The Old man seemed confused about walking in its direction but did not ask anything.

I circled the tree waiting for the Old man, my scythe silently waited against the tree. I picked it up effortlessly and displayed its full height. Reaching well over my head. The Old man finally arrived and paused.

"Huh," he said. "You weren’t lying." He approached with confusion. "Is it not heavy?"

I pondered. Were scythes heavy? It was an extension of ourselves so I did not think so. But I wondered whether or not it was heavy. It did somewhat sink on my bed but not too much.

"Want to try lifting it?" I asked.

The Old man pondered for a few moments. "If you don’t mind."

I nodded and leaned it against the tree. I could feel my scythe and it was not particularly excited about being grabbed by someone else, but it complied. The Old man reached with his arm and pulled⁠— the scythe didn’t bulge.

"Oh that is very heavy," he said with astonishment. He grabbed it with both of his hands and pulled with his body weight. The Scythe wobbled a bit but remained on the tree. "Huh."

I stared. Was my scythe that heavy?

The Old man frowned. "Kaiti, you are very strong, do you do weight-lifting or anything?" He shook his head. "I did not think you did such training."

Eh? Part of me wanted to say I didn’t, but just judging by the Old man’s dead serious expression I also knew that it was something that was better off unanswered. He wanted an answer or an excuse, or at least that is how I perceived it. I simply nodded at him, who seemed surprised.

"That’s good, exercise is good." He stepped back looking at my scythe. "It is quite beautiful."

I nodded. "It is." My scythe did not hum or shake. Though it was for the best.

We stood in silence for a few seconds when I suddenly felt a source of happiness approach. It was quick and swift. Was that? It went past the tree.

"Tree lady!" Zac ⁠— the kid ⁠— exclaimed. "And an Old man."

The Old man looked at Zac weirdly. "Do you know the kid?"

I paused. "Sort of?" Sort of.

Zac approached realizing our awkwardness and then saw my scythe. "Oh, it’s tree lady’s weapon!"

My smile stiffened. "Indeed it is, isn’t your mom looking for you?"

Zac pondered. "Oh right, she did say to not go behind the trees! See you around tree lady!" He turned and ran.

The Old man chuckled. "You’re popular with kids."

"I suppose so." I said with confusion.

"Well, Kaiti, I don't think your scythe belongs here. Unfortunately it could be considered a safety hazard, so it's best if you take it home."

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I paused. "You are right."

"Well with that said, I’ll get going. I’ll wait for you at the bench." The Old man said with a smile and left me alone.

I sighed and touched my scythe. It hummed. This could’ve gone very wrong. I sighed and bid farewell before letting it dissolve in the shadows.

◇ ◇ ◇

Time passed uneventfully. I reunited with the Old man and went home after an hour or two of idle chatter. The next day was much the same though we went to eat, and see a movie that was very boring. As the days passed I found that I missed Ash. Soon the week passed. Just like always I awoke tranquil and completely relaxed. But this time, the door opened. Eh? I rubbed my eyes in confusion as I heard footsteps inside the house. Was it Ash? Ash was back?

I got out of bed and put on clothes. Upon leaving my room I saw Ash on the couch. She had snacks just like always. She turned to see me and meekly smiled. She looked guilty and distant.

"Long time no see."

I took a few moments to process. "Long time no see."

She nodded and scratched her head. "This is awkward, but yeah. I am tired of needing to open a portal to leave that room. Sorry about the… thing."

I took a deep breath and nodded. Though I doubted it was enough to ease her, I wasn’t mad. Over the week I had come to realize that Ash wasn’t at fault for thinking in ways of the Underworld and killing the man? I was still unsure but part of me also felt that it was best to simply forget about it. It was a special situation. But due to me and my nagging, Ash still felt bad. Though I still had the problem of how to make her feel better. I pondered and my eyes wandered to her bag.

"Can I have some snacks?" Ash paused.

"Sure?" I nodded and went to her side, and sat down. I rummaged through her plastic bag and grabbed some cookies.

She stared at me weirdly. As I tried to recall more things. I looked at the table and the box from the last time she was here was still there.

"What is that?" I pointed.

She looked in the direction. And saw the box. "Oh, that is my em… I forgot. It was a video game console." Ash looked at me. "Do you want to play?"

I nodded. And Ash got up and unboxed it, it was a jet-black box that was hooked up with the television. In a few short moments it was turned on and she inserted a disc before promptly giving me a weird controller.

Ash sat back down with a controller on her own. Both had a wire running towards the videogame box, but Ash sighed. I could see her mood was bad.

"Kaiti, are you not mad?"

"I am not." I reassured her. "Let’s just play, alright?"

Ash nodded and explained to me how to play, the controls were incredibly complicated. It was a game about shooting things with a gun which seemed fun. But moving around and looking was hard. We spent about two hours helping me get familiar with the controls. And eventually started playing the game normally.

At first I was having fun, shooting the Ai controlled players. Whatever that meant, but after killing Ash a few times she began to fight back. She killed me without problem. I fixed onto getting revenge and shot her again, she did a turn and killed me. Things continued.

"That’s not fair!"

Ash let out a small chuckle. "You’re bad at games Kat."

I sneered. "I’ll show you!"

◇ ◇ ◇

My character grunted and died. I appeared somewhere else and found Ash, this time however. I looked at her next to the couch and grabbed her controller.

"Hey, no!" She pulled but I jumped on her.

"I’ll kill you like that then!" I pressed the fire trigger and her character died while she was too busy trying to wrestle the controller away from me.

"You!" She jumped towards my controller⁠— I had to stop her. I reached and ended lunged. The couch deformed under our weight and I slid off it along with Ash. We crashed on the ground, I had a smile on my face but Ash was relatively confused.

She tried to get off of me. But I hugged her.

"What are you doing?"

"Hugging you," I said. "You seem so distant now. What happened to your confidence?"

"It’s because," she struggled. "I am still regretful about hurting you. At the same time I feel guilty about the fact that you remind me of my old companion."

"Then don’t." I clamped harder.

"You’re asking for the impossible." Ash sighed and stopped struggling. "All this time I treated you harshly and didn’t really care for you. And you’re not mad?"

"I am not." I took a deep breath. "I don’t see how you were mistreating me."

"I barely even acknowledged what things were happening to you!" She struggled. "That makes me just as shit as my family."

I sighed. "Perhaps, but you care now, no?" I asked and she paused.

"I do, but I am no different from them."

"But you are," I said, finally letting go. "So don’t say you’re shit," I took a deep breath. "I think you are amazing."

"Ha?" Ash scoffed. "What part?"

My brain took a moment to think. About everything that happened so far. She has always been confident. And she had helped me train my aura too.

"Everything," I admitted. "Ever since you saved me, I always admired how confident you were. Though perhaps buried by all the other things you did. Your dead mood, and the fact that you simply seem to only care for things you find amusing. But overall I think you are amazing." I smiled. "So don’t compare yourself to your family."

Ash stood up, her emotions were in disarray and nothing but pure bliss was present.

"Thanks…" I looked at her face, and she met my eyes before looking away. "Don’t stare, it’s rude. No empath things either."

I smiled. "Sure."

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