The Scythe-Bearer

Chapter 12: Reaper’s beginning

A light is calling out for me, it is calling my name. Wait, what is my name? Where am I? I can’t remember anything, it hurts. I open my eyes but all I see is darkness, am I blind? No, I can see my hands in front of me and a man with red eyes is standing before me. He says that he can help me but only if I give him my soul, what is a soul? He says it is the thing that is within our hearts that allows us to die, I am confused but I agree to his deal. I need to find out who I am maybe he can help me. I turn my back on the light and walk with the man into the nothingness…”

“Sy...Sy!”

I opened my eyes slowly to see Sarah bent over me with tears free falling from her eyes, when she saw my eyes open she kissed me passionately.

“Thank the heavens! I thought you were gone, promise me you won’t go and do such a stupid thing again! What the hell were you thinking by absorbing such an enormous amount of power!?”

“I guess I wasn’t really thinking at that time.”

I glanced to where Michael was lying but he was gone. Sarah guessed my next question and answered it in advance.

“Some angels came to fetch him; they told me that they apologize for causing so much trouble and hope that this incident won’t reach a guy called Lucas.”

“What did you say to them?” I began to sit up and she helped me.

“What do you think?! I told them to get stuffed!”

I looked at her in shock but she seems to be oblivious to the fact that she just told one of the powerful beings in the universe to go and stuff themselves. I began to laugh, “She is really peculiar”

“What are you laughing at?”

She tried to act mad but the corners of her mouth twitched, I continued to laugh but it began to hurt my wounded chest.

“Ouch!”

I gripped the area where Michael stabbed me in the chest and noticed that the wounds were beginning to heal again but for some reason I felt sad that it did. Sarah placed a hand upon my shoulder, warmth swelled in my chest.

“What’s wrong, Sy?”

“Nothing, just thinking to myself.”

I smiled at her and she relaxed. I heard a noise behind us and I tensed, “What the hell is it now?! I can’t seem to catch a break today!”

I managed to get to my feet and pushed Sarah behind me, luckily she didn’t protest. I faced the area where the noise had come from, observing every single movement and sensing every single aura, “I am not taking another chance.”

Red eyes illuminated the darkness of the trees and dread froze my veins, I immediately summoned my scythe from the tree where Michael had thrown it. Lucas walked into the moonlight with Saku upon his shoulders, he didn’t wear an angry expression but I wish he had. He was in one of his famous moods, those that are fun to him but deadly to you.

“Well Sy, it looks you just finished your case rather well.”

“You knew that Michael was the smokie, didn’t you?”

He studied his hand and spoke with content.

“Yep and you figured it out just in time but enough with this chatter. It seems that you won’t listen to orders anymore…”

He motioned towards Sarah behind my back.

“That won’t do so I will give you one more chance and the only thing you have to do to prove your loyalty to the SRC is to kill that girl and send her soul to Limbo.”

When he finished his sentence he grinned, his murderous smile, at his so called mercy deal. I tightened my grip on my scythe and squared out my shoulders.

“Forget it! If you or any other person from the SRC dares to lay a hand on her, you will have to go through me first!”

Lucas frowned and Saku hooted a long ominous sound, the air surrounding us changed. It became heavier and clouds appeared in the sky obstructing some of the moon.

“You do realize what you are doing, right Sy? You are willing to make me and the whole company including the Angel organization into your enemies, all for a worthless human girl!?”

His voice thundered through the air but I was no longer his puppet, “I am tired of his lies, he promised me something and he hasn’t delivered. All he ever wanted was a pawn on his chess board.”

“That’s right! What have you done to make me believe in truthfulness of your words!? I am done! You promised me that you would help find my memories in exchange for my soul but you have done nothing! All these years I have trusted you and served you but I am done now!”

I was shaking with anger; Sarah placed a hand on my shoulder as a sign to calm down. Lucas began to speak again but I interrupted him.

“Enough! You can go to hell, where you belong!”

Before he could react I swung my scythe through his figure and as I figured it was a shadow doppelganger. His figure flickered and turns to static as it began to dissipate.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you, Sy. Prepare yourself because I am not going to let you go so easily.”

I saw his murderous grin appear just before he disappeared into thin air. I felt all the fighting spirit leave my body and I was weakened to my knees.

“Are you okay, Sy?”

“Yeah…just tired”

Sarah wrapped her arms around my shoulders from behind and whispered in my ear

“I am so sorry, Sy. If you didn’t meet me then none of this would be happening to you. I am so weak; I can’t even help you in a fight.”

I tilted my head against hers and rubbed her forearms reassuringly.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, Sarah. All of this was my own decision and you are far from weak in fact you are stronger than me. Your strength is what keeps me going until I met you I let everyone walk over me but now I see my goals and now no one can keep me from reaching them.”

I stood up and offered my hands to help her up as well but she stayed where she was almost defeated.

“I am scared, Sy. I know this going to sound very selfish but what is going to happen to me now? Am I going to die?”

She asked the question so bluntly but I already formulated an answer the day I decided to keep holding her hand.

“You have don’t have to afraid anymore because here, on this day, in this place I promise to you that I will do everything in my power to protect you even if I must face the demon king of hell head on so…”

I pulled her to her feet and kissed her gently. With our hands interlocked with each other’s I finished my oath to her.

“Don’t worry I won’t let you die, Sarah.”

The answer seemed to please her because she smiled her usual warm smile.

“Let’s go home, Sy.”

With that said we walked into the impending sun rise, watching the darkness being chased away by the golden light. I don’t know what the following days will bring and I don’t know when Lucas will arise with his personal army but there is one thing I do know and that is there is nothing that they can say to me that would make me regret my decisions.

Before I met Sarah I was content with being alone and being surrounded by darkness, I just existed for Lucas’ motives but now I know there is something more to my existence. I have memories that confuse me, memories that tell a story of my life before the darkness.

I felt an unrecognizable sensation settle within my chest; I think they call it resolution. I looked up at the sky with one thought running in my mind, “I will find out what happened to me and nobody is going to stand in my way, not anymore…”