The Awakening of a Soul Reaper

Chapter 5. Warrior Within

Later that day after finishing all her homework and choirs, she goes and sits on the corner of her bed playing with the pendant between her fingers looking at the pendant everything that happened is all tied to this pendant but how; how is this possible? She asks herself. When taking it in her palm it starts to get warm once again, and she starts to panic "oh no! not this! not again!" she utters she runs downstairs, searching through the drawers she finds a pair of scissors she grabs it, and try to cut through the chain with it, but it doesn’t want to cut through it, she tries again to pull it over her head but as soon as it reaches her chin the chain starts to shrink, she pulls and tucks but it doesn’t want to break.  Just like the night before a brisk breeze of air flows through the kitchen and all of a sudden out of the corner of the kitchen the figure of a man appears, hovering in the air looking down at her. With a deep voice, he utters "The pendant you wear is only meant to be bestowed onto the reaper of the light, do you deem yourself worthy? I am 'Bellator Intus' protector of the light reaper." 

In amazement she stands there facing the floating figure of a man.  This time, it feels different she does not fear this thing. "I’m Clarice, I found this pendant in the street and picked it up. I didn't mean any disrespect and I did not steal it and, and I have tried to remove it but it doesn't want to come off!" Clarice says trying to show him while she tries and pulls it over her head again.

The being looks down and moves till right in front of her looking her in her eyes, "I live inside this pendant, the pendant and I am one, and if it has chosen you to be its keeper then I will obey.  I will protect the keeper of this pendant, the Reaper of the Light as I have done in the past for the other reapers that are no longer with us in this realm, you can call me, Ignus I’m the Warrior Within".

Suddenly the front door bursts open and Aunt Belle comes bursting in with her hands full of brown grocery bags, "CC please come and help me with the groceries", Aunt Bells calls out loud.

A startled Clarice looks behind her and, when she looks in front of her again, she finds that Ignus have vanished into thin air.

It has been a long time since Clarice have heard the name “CC” that is what her aunt use to call her when she was still a little girl.  Running towards her aunt she grabs a couple of bags and helps her aunt with the groceries. I wonder where he went Clarice thought to herself while packing away the groceries, he said he and the pendant are one maybe it's like a genie but what is this talk about reapers and keepers and how can the pendant choose me? 

Where do I fit in and what is the deal with the scythe last night? 

I need answers! She thought.

At dinner her mind keeps on going back to Ignus, thinking of what she needs to ask him, her aunt can see that there is something on her mind but don’t want to ask to many questions, afraid of what she might say or ask.

After dinner and a shower, she goes up to her room, at her study desk she sits down with pen and paper. On the paper, she wrote "Facts:" what do I know? Clarice thought to herself.

I know that the thing or spirit called himself Ignus,

I know that since I have this pendant, I have seen smoky ghostlike figures in different colors or have at least seen a white one and a black one,

I know that apparently, the pendant chose me.

I need to know can I call or summon this thing called Ignus and can he give me more answers?

She stands up and walks over to the mirror in her room, she holds the pendant out in front of her and said "I call you Ignus!" with a fierce voice, but nothing happened.

"Hum maybe I need to rub it?" she tells herself while taking it in her hand and holding it tight thinking I really need answers she suddenly feels a warm glowing feeling in her hand and, suddenly Ignus appears, "you summoned me?" he asks.

“I need answers” she demands.

“What is your question?” he responds.

“I know you say your name is Ignus, and that you and the pendant are one but who are you?”

“I’m merely the soul of a worrier that fell in a battle long forgotten in time”

“How did you end up in the pendant” she asks.

“I fought together with my brethren in a battle against fears and relentless dark souls known as Vanus which means the empty.  They tried to overrun the realm of the living.  After I fell my soul roamed the marshes where the battle took place until druids found me, we made a pact and they infused my soul core into the pendant with magic.

They searched for a warrior and they trained us to fight and be as one.  After it came for him to leave the realm of the living, I was handed over to the next warrior carrying over the knowledge and the power of the previous and so these warriors came to become known as Reapers, I were handed down from one warrior to the next.  When I was handed over to the second warrior, the druids infused magic into the pendant, it allowed the pendant to choose the next warrior to ensure the survival of the reapers” he explained.

"How does I call you?" she asks him.

"From now on I’m an extension from you when you need me, I will show myself to you, only reapers and being from the veil can see me, but I will only obey you, and you alone," he says looking down at her.  

"I’m not a warrior I have never fought with anyone in my life…" she says to him.  

"The pendant gets attracted to someone that has a good and strong soul with the warm heart of a warrior, the pendant will only appear to someone that has these qualities, for some reason the pendant chose you" he replied.

"So, you want to tell me I’m a reaper now?" she asked him.

"Yes, you are, and you have to for full the duties of a reaper.  When someone's body dies their essence, a soul as you know it gets released from its vessel and when the person's essence is in turmoil it can lose its way and can become lost, it's a reaper's duty to find these souls and steer them to the Realm of Rest before they are consumed by Vanus or them themselves will start to rot and turn black. Essence is a type of energy and cannot be destroyed but it can be manipulated, sometimes these dark souls or Vanus will try and absorb other souls, in return while doing that it will grow in power, but it will also taint itself and will lose its purity and will start to become a dark color.  It’s part of a reaper's duty to release those Vanus and send them to the Dark Planes where it will dwell for the rest of eternity.  You are now a reaper it's your duty!"

Clarice looks down at the stag on the pendant “But how? I don’t know anything about souls or essence or how to send them where ever they need to be” she replied.

“Do you see the stag on the pendant?” he points towards the pendant, “A stag symbolizes protector of the lands and all its inhabitants that cannot protect themselves, it leads and protects without destroying and living in c*****e, they are the symbol of life. You say you don’t know, but you will learn how to be a protector, like I said that is why I’m here.”

She starts to feels lightheaded and stumbles to her bed, when she looks back over her shoulder to where Ignus was hovering she sees he is gone, why do I feel so tired all of a sudden? She thought to herself as she closes her eyes and falls asleep.