Orchestra of Death

I had gone back to Braeburn and told him what I was about to do (I left out the part about working for Death of course) and he was reluctant about leaving me alone to deal with it. But he was needed to get everyone out of the cave. I had also remembered where I had heard of wraiths before now. The whole soul sucking thing kinda freaked me out, but I figured that if I suck to non-sentient life that I'd be fine.

One thing had proven itself over the past..... three hours? I don't know anymore.... Finding this stupid possessor was proving harder than I thought. Cause Damn these tunnels are dark. Maybe mocking the thing would work.

"You who~ Purple ghostie~ Come out and play~" I stood there for a moment watching and listening for anything. All I got was an echo. "Well that didn't work." I grumbled as I kept walking further into the caves. I was bored out of my mind, tired, and- "Hey what's that smell?" I took a couple of sniffs and followed the sent to it's source. I was surprised that the smell was from one of my favorite foods.

"No way... How the hell is there a Papa John's here?" I picked up the box and cautiously opened it to reveal a nice and hot Meat Lovers Pizza.....With Jalapenos... mother... fucking....JALAPENOS! My mouth was watering at the sight of pizza perfection and I grabbed a slice. I looked around the room and checked to see if any traps were set around the immediate area. I even checked the pizza slice in my hand. Seeing nothing wrong I dug in to the pizza.

Only for the slice to poof into purple dust between my teeth. Worse yet it was artificial grape flavored.

I spit out the dust while gagging as laughter echoed through the cave. "Okay, Who did that!" the laughing was cut short when the glowing purple light of the possessor oozed out of the walls and coalesced about 5 feet away from me. The form grew and eventually there was a jester's head floating infront of me. Jingling bells and all.

"What's the matter? I thought you wanted to play? YAHAHAHAHAHA!" I pulled out my weapon and fired a shot only for his astral head to open a hole for the bullet. "Missed me~....HAHAHAHA! If you want to beat me you're going to have to do better than that.~" The head morphed into a blob once more and bounced down the tunnels.

"COME BACK HERE SHIT HEAD! YOU OWE ME A PROPER PIZZA!!!!" I bolted after the blob, spewing insults as the tunnels sped past me, the trickster laughed harder as the verbal abuse continued. The chase didn't last long as I entered the mass junction once more, but with a noticeable crack in the ceiling that let a couple light beams into the otherwise dark cave. The jester had formed himself a proper body and I took in the details of his appearance. He had goofy, feathered sleeves and pants that looked like they belonged in a old Ren-fair, complete with the jingle shoes. Every last part of him had green, white, and purple stitched together. He was cackling at something in front of him as he bent over to look at me from between his legs. His pale face had a manic grin plastered on it.

"It's about time you showed up. I was beginning to wonder if you got lost." I glared at the Harlequin before continued. "I just so happen to have a little friend for you to meet." He moved over to the side and revealed a tall, pale man clad in overalls, and a white-grey plaid shirt with a pick-ax in his hands. His facial features were masked by the shadow cast from his helmet. there was something about this guy that told me 'non-lethal' was not an option if he attacked.

"This WONDERFUL man's name is Carlos Grancia. He died in such an unfortunate mine collapse that I simply HAD to save him. Did that freaky clown say 'died?' If that's the case then then I guess non-lethal would be kinda redundant. I told him that if he could kill a wraith here in this world that he could go back to his loving family. Carlos snarled as his gaze moved towards me. You two play nice now~. HAAAHAHAHAHAHA" The jester jumped into a crystal on the far wall, leaving me with the tall miner who was readying his pick. I sighed before getting into a combat stance with a TMP at the ready.

"Today just isn't my day is it?"

James Vs. Carlos Sentiment
Rebel 1, Action!

(Carlos Sentiment Theme)

Carlos roared like an animal into the air and what little light was in the room was absorbed in to his helmet's flood light, leaving only red circles where his eyes pierced through the dark. I stumbled around until my eyes adjusted. When they did I could see multiple copies of Carlos made from pure yellow light.

The Carlos' moved slowly forward as I shot multiple bullets into each clone, causing them to disappear from sight. For every clone that was defeated two more would take their place. It was around then that I noticed the pair of red dots moving about and started aiming for those. Soon after I fired Carlos cried out in pain and the light he had captured was released from his helmet.

I blinked a couple of times to clear my sight and ducked just as Carlos' pick embedded in the wall where my head was a second ago. I could see the wounds I had inflicted as smoke was leaking from several holes in his right arm. Carlos took the moment and delivered a crushing blow to the side of my face with his knee, causing me to fly into the wall. I slowly pulled myself from the rubble and fell to my knees.

"Fuck that hurt...." I glanced up at Carlos who was absorbing the light once more. "I'm gonna need something with a bit more accuracy." The clones had appeared and started their advance. "Or a lot of flash." I jumped out of the way as one of the Carlos clone's attacks smashed into the rock. I quickly shifted my weapons into some Sawed-off shotguns while blasting away a clone away. the clone flew back into the real Carlos, sending both sprawling until the clones vanished again. Carlos roared again but the light remained as he charged me.

I countered his strike with my own as the butt of my gun smashed into his face. I wailed on him as he staggered back, and eventually knocked him into the air. As he fell back down, I finished my combo with two shot to his abdomen. I decided about then that it needed a name and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Boomstick Beat" As Carlos landed on the ground, he cried in agony as his body collapsed on itself and formed a small yellow sphere. It hovered where he once was and looked like it was made of crystal. I walked not a foot before that purple madman bounced back into existence, holding a cane that had a replica of his head on the end.

"Well it seems like Carlos wasn't able to keep up his end of the deal. Oh well, It's not like I was going to revive him anyways. As for you, I hope you enjoy your prize~" The Jester took the cane and shot the topaz ball at me with the precision of a professional golfer. I caught it in my hand as he turned to retrieve something from the inside of his shirt. He pulled out a large black wad of cloth and tossed it at my feet before vanishing into a miasma. It was a rubber costume of Death, complete with a cardboard scythe. "I hope you liked my performance earlier~ Ol' Deathy is so hard to copy right. YAAAAHAHAhahahaaaa.......

Soon after he left I heard a tone ring in my mind. "James, what happened? I haven't been able to contact you for the past 5 hours." I blinked in surprise.

"Death? That you?"

"Yes and you can talk to me telepathically. Even though you appear to be alone at the moment, it will help you from looking like some crazy when in crowds." I gave an approving nod before realizing that Death himself wasn't able to contact me. Which brought forth a new question.

"While that's nice and all, Can you explain who the fuck that was just now?"

"..........Was it a purple jester?"

"Uh....Yeah actually, that's right on the money." I couldn't believe it, but I think I had just made Death groan.

"I thought he was dealt with centuries ago. James listen to me carefully, His name is Hamlet. He was once a wraith I hired from the 1500's, but he somehow turned into that demon you just met after he went mad. You must not try to eliminate him on your own. You'd be killed in less than a second." Worry filled my thoughts as I remembered our little chase through the tunnels. I sure hoped that he didn't take the 'comments' about his mother too seriously."Thankfully he can't do anything without a sediment nearby, and it seems you found the one I sent you after.

"Hey Death?.. This 'Hamlet' guy said something about promising Carlos that he could live again." Death materialized next to me in his tuxedo, staring at the ball in my hands.

"That is one of Hamlet's ploys in stealing the powers of his victims. He makes promises for the impossible and once you complete your end of the bargain he takes all of the power for himself." I looked at the sphere as I held up to the beams of light coming from the ceiling. It made a single image appear on the side. On the sphere was a picture of Carlos, but there was a little girl grabbing his leg and a slender woman holding his hand.

"Death... Who was Carlos Grancia?" Death reached into his front pocket and pulled a slip of paper just like when we first met.

"Carlos Grancia.... Loving father and husband.... Died when one of his fellow miners went crazy and triggered a cave in, killing him and 9 others. His soul was the only one I wasn't able to recover that day." I let out a sigh, realizing that the image I looking at was one of Carlos' memories, and that the sphere was what was left of his soul. I knew that Hamlet was probably... no, Absolutely responsible for his death. Carlos, a man that I never knew, had been ripped from his family by a psychopath. a little girl would grow up without a father because of it.

I was beyond pissed. I held the soul to the light once more and stared at the reflecting memories of his past.

"Carlos. I don't know if you can hear me. But I swear, on my very soul, I will make that bastard pay for what he has done." As I finished a picture of Carlos crying with a smile on his face flashed across the sphere. I looked towards Death as he gave me a curt nod. Without any hesitation I placed the soul in my mouth. A feeling of peace rushed through my body from my core, followed by a chill running up my spine. I gazed at the light once more, raising my palm to it. The light washed over my hand like it had been stuck into a waterfall of ethereal energy, bending to my will as I saw fit. I shot some energy at the wall and focused it into a point as I began carving the stone.

"James I'm a bit curious..." I turned to Death. His face had one of interest and confusion "...Why did you promise that? The chances of you winning against Hamlet are near impossible." I didn't have any hesitation with my answer.

"Because. No one deserves to grow up with out their father. I lost mine when I was 12 and had to help raise three younger siblings. Hamlet will pay for causing that little girl such pain." I left the caves after saying goodbye to Death. Now if you head into that alcove, you'll find a large rock carved into the shape of a cross. At the center, words that shined as the light hit them were carved in the most delicate of writings.

______________________
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/ Here lies Carlos Grancia \
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/ Loving father, and husband \
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