Prologue - New Duds and No Skin
"So? How about it?" I looked up from the sheets on my bed, listening to the woman's words instead of the rhythmic beats of the heart rate monitor. She had white, smooth skin, and hair like the pits of tartarus: black and long. Her eyes were covered with sunglasses, which went well with the rest of her outfit: a black, short-sleeve shirt and along with the same coloured jeans, bearing long, silver chains and medallions. The woman removed a cigarette from her mouth and shot a puff of smoke my way. I coughed as it entered and burnt my lungs. "Well? Do you want the job or not?"
I stared blankly at my visitor. "...If I work for you," I started hesitantly, "I... I won't die?"
"That's the deal," she said, slipping the smoke back between her lips. "It's a rather dirty job, but you're qualified, and my colleagues have been creating all kinds of trouble for me, so I need the help." I gave her a glare, and she sighed. "Look, I know it seems impossible, but you're just going to have to take my word for it. Do you want to die... or not?"
"...And if I make a mistake?" I questioned quietly, looking back down to the bed's sheets.
"You won't. It's a pretty simple job, and besides, I wouldn't let you go without a partner."
After a few more moments of silence and the woman letting out a few more puffs of smoke, I gave my answer. "I... want to live. I'll do it, whatever it is."
The woman smiled slyly and I became woozy all of a sudden. The heart rate monitor began to beep rapidly as I fell back on to the bed. My eyes started to close against my will. My breathing became erratic. "Remember to push," the woman said just before my eyes closed and I was engulfed by darkness.
A few seconds later, all I could see was something far away quickly approaching, something very large and colourful. It looked somewhat like... land? I looked to my left and right, only to see blinding lights descending with me to the ground. they looked a bit like falling stars, but I could see something at their core. I looked back in front of me to find myself face to face with the side of a mountain.
Then, everything went black.
I was there for god know how long, lying on my back with my hands glued to the front of my chest, cold and afraid in the darkness. I could hear my own breath echo all around me with each panicked breath I released. It felt like I was buried or something to that extent. I could feel that the walls of my cramped prison were stone, and that I was wearing different clothes. It felt like I was wearing some sort of hoodie, but the material it was made out of was very thin, and it extended to just below my ankles.
"Remember to push, huh?" Taking the advice, I placed my hands on the ceiling and pushed with all of my might. Small beams of blue light streamed into the stone box as I moved the lid up and let it slide off of the side of the container. Sitting up, I took in my surroundings. I seemed to be in a dusty stone box that was, about the size on a bedroom. The only light entering the room seemed to be coming from the exit, which was covered by a stone slab. Other than that, there was a large, draped object sitting in the corner, and a tomb next to me. As I looked at it, I realized that I too was in a tomb.
Hopping out of my grave, I looked over to the lid of my prison. Here lies the catalyst, it read. "Well then... let's find out what's behind door number two," I said walking over to the second tomb. Here lies the tools of the wicked, It read. "More creepiness... thanks miss 'smokes in a hospital!' I really needed this right now!" I sarcastically said. Pushing the top off of the box, I found two very interesting things inside.
I picked up the more interesting of the two. "Hoooooh..." I said in awe. It was a silver, six foot tall scythe, with a deep red, curved blade that stuck out about ninety centimeters from the top of the pole, and a small, same coloured dagger jutted out perpendicular from the main blade. There was also two green lines going around the shaft in a double helix shape from a small, red sphere on the bottom of the pole. These lines reached all the way up to the top of the weapon, where they meet on either side of something that resembled a closed eye.
Prying my eyes off of the piece of art in my hands, I looked to the second item: a black tome that had a strap and lock on it. Picking up the tome, I noticed that it bore no title, and that the lock was not a lock, but a shiny, metal circle with strange runes and patterns carved into it. Touching the circle, it suddenly broke in half, scaring the shit out of me. "Holy—!" I nearly dropped the book from the sudden scare. Sighing in frustration, I opened the book to find that it was too dark to read.
Slamming the book shut and locking it, I held it under my arm as I approached the draped item. Reaching for the top of the piece of cloth, I pulled it off dramatically, and revealed an antique, full-body mirror. I dropped everything and jumped back, shouting in surprise. "W-what the f—!"
The book and scythe fell to the ground with a thud and a clang. "Ow!" a feminine and mature voice shouted from somewhere in the room. "That hurt, you dick!"
"Who's there!?" I shouted in panic, looking wildly for the source of the voice.
"What the hell do you mean!?" the voice said angrily. "I'm right in front of you, idiot!" I looked back in front of me to the mirror. Inside was a dark, hooded human skeleton. It's bones were white and thin, and there was a deep, black abyss in it's eye sockets. It stared at me with a look of panic on it's thin face. I didn't know how it was doing it, but the corners of it's open mouth were curved down, and it's eye sockets looked stretched and rounded. It was like staring at a cartoon character. "Look down already!"
Confused, I looked down to find only the book and the scythe laying on the ground. However upon closer inspection, I found that the eye-looking thing on the scythe had opened up, and that it's bright pink iris was staring right at me. "Finally!" the voice said, the scythe rolling it's eye at the same time. "About damn time, now pick me up!"
I did what I was told cautiously, picking the weapon up and holding it so that I could look at the eye. "W—... what are you?"
"I'm a scythe," she retorted with a deadpan look. "Specifically, I'm your scythe."
"My—?"
"Would you just look in the mirror?" I looked back to the mirror in shock. The skeleton demon-thing held the same shocked expression as I, and it was holding the vary same scythe I was holding! "If that doesn't answer your questions, then I don't know what will."
I slowly brought my hand in front of my face. It was thinner... and more white than I remembered it being last. I started to hyperventilate as I looked down at my body. I was cloaked in the same clothing that the demon bore. Slowly pulling the cloth away, I exposed my bear bones to the cold air. I dropped the cloak and used both hands to shake the scythe. "What the hell happened to me!?!" I roared.
"You're the one who made the deal with Thanatos! Stop shaking me!" she ordered.
"Thanatos!? Who the fuck is Thanatos!? I was offered a job, not to be turned into... into...! What the fuck am I!?!"
"How do you think I feel!?" the weapon screeched. "I'm a scythe! I can't even move!" I stopped my shaking and hung my head. This was so confusing. What had happened to both of us? After a few minutes of silence, the scythe spoke again, calmly this time. "Look, I'm Rosa. I used to be a dragoness, but I grew ill and died. Thanatos offered me a deal, and I accepted." Rosa explained.
After sighing from the stress of the situation, I eventually responded. "I'm... Eric. Eric Anderson. I used to be a human."
"Alright. I don't know what a human is, but it's nice to meet you. I guess we'll be working together from now on," Rosa pointed out. After a few more moments for the both of us to gather our thoughts, Rosa brought up a very important point. "Okay, so... how do we get out of this place?"
Turning and walking over to the stone slab covering the entrance, I turned Rosa so that she could see it. "There's your answer." Rosa cursed at our misfortune as I placed her against the wall.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Rosa asked. Not answering her, I moved to the side of the slab and pushed. Oddly, the slab gave no resistance and moved to the side of the entrance. Now, blinding light poured into our little crypt and illuminated the room. "I... well I didn't expect it to be that easy!" she exclaimed. Picking her and the black book up, I moved to the entrance and exited the room.
"Oh, fuck me sideways..." I exited the room to come out on to the peak of a mountain. Before me sprawled a savanna, with tall grass and those strangely shaped trees. The sun shone magnificently over it, making it look endless. I then looked down at the path ahead of me: a steep, but traversable mountainside. "Well... this aught to be fun," I said begrudgingly, starting my tedious decent down the mountain to the land that awaited me below.