DCMAGR | Chapter. 21: Truth (Patreon)

I could barely see amidst the darkness, non-distinct shapes approached with screeches. Why did it have to be dark? I scowled and prepared myself. Ash was⁠— she was angry. A ghoul leaped towards me, or a shadow did. I repositioned my scythe like a staff and did an upwards sweep with the blade facing up. A shriek followed and blood splattered on my legs.

I blinked, seeing a bit better now that my eyes had readjusted, there was barely any light⁠— everything looked gray and almost devoid of color⁠— one, two, three⁠— it was truly a horde of the undead. I frowned⁠. It was truly reminiscent of The Underworld; perhaps a bit too much.

I grunted as my scythe sliced through another one, I saw black spill from its severed arm. Lifting my scythe overhead with both my arms I did a spin and hit two more ghouls. Ash was⁠—

She hadn’t moved. Nor done anything. Was she going to be okay?

“Fuck…” Her quiet voice entered my ears. “Kaiti, I am sorry.”

“What?” I barely registered what she had said. What was she sorry for? My blade made its way through yet another ghoul that got too close. Pale white skinned zombies, rotten insides and an unending desire for flesh. They smelled bad!

At that moment I shivered, pausing mid swing. My scythe hummed like never before as it transferred its tremble to me. Magic gathered behind me, my entire body feeling stiff from its effects⁠— what kind of artifact had Ash used?

The ghouls froze mid action, and one was even suspended mid-air. What was happening? I managed to see through the corner of my eye Ash putting her hand forth⁠— just her hand.

Hadn’t she done something similar with the tentacle monster?

“Those who⁠—” Ash paused and sighed. “Forget it, I can’t fucking do it.” Though the magic wasn’t stopping.

She walked towards me as I stiffly tried to turn towards her. My entire body felt as solid as rock. What was happening.

“Di…d.” I couldn’t even speak… Why couldn’t I move? I tried and slightly wiggled. It was constraining. Too constraining. I couldn’t move… I couldn’t move! An unpleasant tingling sensation made its way through my spine. Icouldn’tmove!

As my internal panic climbed through the roof, Ash reached my side and grabbed me by the waist, making me produce a weird type of grunt and a mix of a yelp. I kept trying to move, but to no avail. She effortlessly carried me over her shoulder and started walking towards the exit. I was sweating from the sudden anxiety of having my freedom taken away, but I did register how ridiculous it was that she could just carry me like that.

As we moved away the ghouls were still frozen. At that moment I felt a sigh, and the magic left my body. Ash spoke in a deep husky voice that entered my ear with an almost ethereal timbre.

“Those who won’t submit, shall die.”

As soon as those words finished, one ghoul fell, two ghouls fell, the one suspended in the air fell⁠— like a domino effect they all collapsed with dull sounds. They didn’t have souls. But I didn’t need a discerning eye to tell their life had come to an end. They just died from that. I wiggled away from Ash’s grip, hitting the stone ground like a sack.

The trees were now visible, we were just a short walk away from leaving the cave.

“What was that?” I asked with anxiousness, but there was one thing for certain. “You said you were human!”

“I am one.” Ash said with a scoff.

“No you aren’t!” I spat as I cleaned dust from my clothes. “That was clearly inherent magic, and a powerful one.” I said with annoyance, my heart wouldn’t calm down.

Ash looked at me in silence with a small frown on her face. What kind of inherent magic could make things unable to move? There were very few, and most had restrictions. Though there were those whose domains covered a lot. Just like Grim Reapers covered the soul, the other two covered anything that was made out of the organic parts of the living.

“You…” I paused as my brain arrived at the only conclusion I could think of. At the only feasible one. One that I never expected.  “You’re from a royal bloodline?”

Ash said nothing and frowned deeper, her emotions becoming muddled from rage and sadness.

“Why do you say you’re human?”

As if my words had set her off, Ash instantly replied.

“I want to be one.” She hissed. “But look, fuckers keep sending me to these type of things because of my ability. I don’t want to have anything to do with the Underworld.”

Her explanation simply made me frown. “Why did you target me too? You didn’t have to target me, you know? The sensation was awful. And she had lied to me too!

“I don’t get to choose who it targets!” Ash gritted her teeth. “That’s why I grabbed you and moved you away. I doubt you’d die from that, but it’s still a gamble. One that I do not want to take again!”

I paused, feeling her sudden anger. I dispelled my scythe and stared at her in silence as I tried to make sense of her words.

“If it worried you, then…” I paused, suddenly feeling even more upset. “Why couldn’t you tell me? Why couldn’t you just say⁠— Hey I am actually this, so stay the hell away from me! That way I don’t become collateral damage!” I felt helpless and betrayed. I just thought we were getting along.

“Why should I need to tell you?” A grumble left her. “Very rarely do I need to use it. I never imagined you’d be so involved with me, and even afterwards I didn’t think they dared to do this to me. It’s not something I ever wished to share. Hell, the Abyssal Hunters wouldn’t know it either if shit didn’t hit the fan!”

Shit hit the fan? Ha? What did that even mean? However, it sounded messy. A sigh escaped me feeling rather helpless. In the end… Things were always the same, weren’t they?

“I thought I could trust you…”  I said feeling… empty. There was no point in crying about it, not anymore at least.

I collapsed on the side of the cave taking in the earthy air for relaxation. The leaves rustled as we both tried to calm down. Ash decided to take a seat next to me.

“Sorry Kaiti. Like I said, I didn’t think it’d come to this.” She bit her lip.

I slowly nodded. “What race are you anyway?”

Ash sighed hearing me. “I don’t want to get too into it, but I am not⁠— well not a Grim Reaper, however, I do think that much is obvious.”

I nodded again, not really wanting to pursue the topic. “So you want to stay away from the Underworld?”

Ash let go a hollow laugh. “Who wouldn’t? I don’t really have a choice. Either I work for the Hunters or I get forcefully dragged there.”

“That sounds wrong.” I frowned slightly, but just that. I didn’t feel too great.

“You might end up in a similar situation if you don’t obediently become a Grim Reaper.”

Obediently become a Grim Reaper?

I could only pause in silence as I realized what Ash was saying. I never really thought about not wanting to be a Reaper. But if I didn’t want that, then would I have to do something similar like Ash?

As I tried to come up with a reply, Ash seemed to relax a bit, and her emotions became much more mellow. Though sadness was still present.

“Look, Kaiti…” I turned to her upon hearing her soft voice. “I didn’t think it would come to this, it wasn’t a lie that you needed to know. Or that anyone needed to know for that matter.”

“But I know now…”

“Yeah…” She agreed with her eyes closed. “I just don’t want to be bothered by the Underworld anymore…” Her sorrowful voice gripped at my heart.

She hadn’t even tried to betray me… Suddenly I felt guilty. Ash was truly sad. Yet I was upset about a lie that was not told to deceive me, but a lie that she had told to keep herself free.

“Can’t you do something about it?” I asked, feeling somewhat hopeful, though Ash just solemnly shook her head.

“If you can manage to convince all the Lords of your bloodline, sure. But as we all know there is more than one family per bloodline. My father may agree, but those old ones that should’ve died long ago won’t.” Ash traced her finger on the stone ground, dust gathering at its tip. “We can’t fight the entire Underworld. And for the record, Kaiti.” She turned to me and smiled. “I truly am sorry.”

I could only freeze in silence hearing her and slowly nodded. At the same time I made an attempt to think about her previous statements. If it meant convincing every single Grim Reaper to let me be… Would I even have a chance? I shook my head. That didn’t matter right now.

“What happens now?” I asked in a whisper, almost afraid as if the trees could hear it.

“Nothing.” Ash sighed. “Absolutely nothing. Go back to Hunting and kill monsters. It’s not hard, but it is hard to do it without using my ability.”

“And you don’t want to use your ability, right? Well, magic…” It felt weird to call it an ability to me.

She nodded as she blew the dust off her finger. “I do not want to use intrinsic magic, it affects me in undesirable ways. The scars I showed you were the result of using intrinsic magic.”

I paused combing through my knowledge. Neither of the two royals had abilities like that. None of the three could hurt themselves by using their traits. But she was from the royal bloodline?

“Well of course, it’s not always.” She sneered towards no one in particular. “The cave wasn’t really an issue. At the same time, if I were to forego consequences it’s not like I’d die.”

“Then?” So she wouldn’t die from it? There had to be another reason. Well she did say a gamble. But I did feel like it wasn’t everything. She didn’t want to use magic even alone.

“Let me ask you a question, Kaiti.” She looked towards the entrance of the cave, at the sky. “If to become a Reaper you had to lose your emotions, would you do it?”

I frowned. “No.”

Ash nodded. “We are on the same page then. While my sacrifice isn’t that, it’s the same type of win lose scenario⁠— Anyway.” She gave a grunt as she stood up. “We should go.”

I felt unsatisfied. “So it ends just like that? Keep hunting?”

“Yes, as it should.”

I stood up along with her thinking about things. I wanted to tell her something.

“Sorry, Ash for… pressing you on it.”

Ash replied with a small smile. “It’s okay Kaiti, sorry for hiding it as well.”

I nodded feeling slightly better. Perhaps there wasn’t anything that could be done about her situation regarding hunting, or even the situation in the human world. I did want to help her. Somehow. Even if I wasn’t the best at fighting, or doing things in general.

Sadly Ash didn’t seem particularly happy most of the time. I wanted to do something about it. It might’ve been because of her current situation.

Soon we left the small forest and crossed the fence. As she finished talking with the guard⁠— the person that had let us pass. I had a sudden thought after inspecting the Zoo. Ash had just come back too, it was perfect!

“How about we just take the rest of the day to explore?” I asked with a meek smile.

“Huh?” Ash tilted her head, her mixed emotions were gone now simply replaced by the usual apathy. “Why would we do that?”

I had to say it very carefully. “Well you seem to be indifferent towards everything, and I think you could use a little joy in your life…”

“I see…” Ash said with confusion, though she wasn’t bothered. “I suppose we can do that. Don’t really want to return to that place anyway. And I don’t have anything to do either.” She shrugged.

My heart skipped from her reply. It was the right choice after-all!

“Perfect!” I took Ash by the hand looking forward to the different beasts in the Zoo.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Hey look at that!” I nudged Ash with my shoulder, and pointed into the enclosure with another hand. “It’s like a lava hound but without the lava and the hound!” I held onto the railing like I had seen other kids do in the Zoo. Though oddly enough Ash and I were the only ones looking at the beast.

It resembled a cat ⁠— I was familiar with those ⁠— but it was much bigger and orange with black stripes as if it had been grilled. It was truly lame! But cute! Instead of having lava as a coat, it was fluffy and looked rather soft. I wonder if there were carpets made out of them? I kind of wanted to try one.

I missed a soft carpet.

“It’s a tiger.” Ash said unamused.

“It’s pretty interesting!” I chirped. “Is there some type of carpet made out of them?”

“Maybe in the Black market?” Ash said with confusion. “Why would you want a carpet made out of one?”

“Well, it looks soft…” I didn’t really want to admit I liked walking without shoes on carpets. It was relaxing.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Look, another hound! Lighting hound!” I nudged Ash once again pointing at another beast that sort of resembled the ‘Tiger’ from before. This time instead of stripes it had spots, and its body was much more slim and streamlined.

“That’s a cheetah.”

I pondered over Ash’s words. Cheetah carpet didn’t sound too great. Though it didn’t hurt to ask.

“Is there some type of carpet made out of it?”

“Probably?”

◇ ◇ ◇

“Look, that's like a Dirt Hound! Except bigger!” I nudged Ash pointing at the hunking figure that walked on its four legs without a care in the world. It was much chunkier, and a lot more body fat, though it still reminded me of a dirt hound⁠— they liked to burrow in dirt.

“That’s a bear.” Ash said with a sigh. “More importantly, is everything a hound? Why not say something like, hey look! That cheetah looks like a griffon without the wings and feathers!” She scoffed. “Be more creative.”

I paused… “I…” My brain rushed for a lie to tell. “I only know about hounds… Well I know other types of creatures.” I hurriedly rushed to explain. “Just not four-legged ones!”

“Of course…” Ash sighed. “And yeah, you can probably find bear carpet…” she continued pinching her nose before a mumble followed.

◇ ◇ ◇

Soon we ran out of animals to see. On our way to the hotel I made sure to recount what type of carpets I was interested in.

Duck, tiger, bear, coyote, and capy⁠— capybara. Those were the carpets I was sort of interested in! Though the first and the last ones were⁠ mostly curiosity. Ducks looked rather fluffy yet didn’t, and capybaras just⁠— they were really relaxed! Completely stress free. Unfortunately stress could affect the quality of certain furs in The Underworld, so I kind of wanted to see, or test.

We arrived at the hotel and ate cheesecake before ending the day. Ash seemed to enjoy the cheesecake a lot, so I let her have some of my slices which made her pleasantly happy.