14. Drifting Through the Fog
Chapter fourteen
Drifting Through the Fog
Nicodemus
Ipaced back and forth in front of the Death Elemental arena, my boots making sizeable dents in the dirt.
I was moving so fast that Akira grew dizzy from chasing me and spun in a circle before flopping on the ground with a huff.
I paused my pacing to laugh at him, and in return, he nipped my hand and shook his tail at me.
I went back to pacing after this, clouds of dust kicking up around me from how rapidly I moved.
Odysseus jogged through the entrance, dressed handsomely in khakis, a grey pullover, and a pair of canvas sneakers. He raised an eyebrow at Akira before gesturing to me. “My love? What exactly are you doing?”
“Panicking,” I squeaked back.
“Ah heh. Pray tell, what are you panicking about?”
“My Elementals.”
“What about them?”
“About how they’re going to do today, ding dong!” I roared, throwing my arms up as if to say, ‘come on, Odysseus, get with the program!’.
He came over to take my shoulders and shake me once. “Love, everything will be fine. They've been preparing for this for weeks. Have some faith in them, would you?”
“I don’t want to embarrass myself in front of you...” I whined in shame.
He tapped my chin so I would look up at him, then leaned in and kissed me sweetly.
I melted under his lips automatically, sighing to myself over the fact that he could break me down so easily.
He went to pull away, but I jerked him forward for another hungry round, making him chuckle behind our lips and comply.
“Ooooh!” Elektra and Calvin exclaimed as they snuck into the arena, giggling wildly when I broke our kiss to shoot them a playful glare.
“I know, how scandalous of me to kiss my fiancé,” I mocked before brushing him away sassily and moving to great my Elites. “Are you two ready for today?”
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Calvin tried with a light shrug.
“Is it true that you’re going to cut us down to the final two after this challenge?” Elektra peeped, gnawing her pierced lip.
I rubbed her shoulder to cheer her up. “Admittedly, yes, but try not to think about that. All of you, regardless of what spot you end up in, will work for me in the near future. The responsibility is huge regardless of what number you land as.”
“No one wants to be second, third, or fiftieth best,” Calvin reminded me.
“Maybe so. That doesn’t mean I value any of you any less.”
“Besides,” Odysseus joined the conversation, “You only have to compete with twenty-three other candidates. Remember that Death Elementals are split twenty-five to twenty-five as Reapers and Demon Hunters.”
“Which means Nick is only picking one of us from the Reaper side!” Elektra stammered.
“Way to spook em’ Squeakers,” I snorted.
He rolled his eyes and turned to greet his own Elementals, who were quite a different bunch compared to my guys.
My Elementals were like little dark clouds everywhere they went, even with their upbeat personalities.
They had this aura of seriousness that shrouded over them, drowning out any other emotion they felt, while the Life Elementals were like beacons of sunshine.
Each one, with their gorgeous gold eyes, sparkled under the sun they were made to worship.
I never noticed before that Life Elementals seemed to actually glimmer under the sun’s rays.
I always thought Odysseus did this because his skin tone was naturally bronze but seeing him amongst his peers proved it was also because of his element.
I wondered if I glowed under moonlight like he did in the sun and made a mental note to ask him about this later.
Once our two teams were ready to go, Odysseus and I stood before a portal that was waiting to be opened.
I summoned my scythe and spun it twice before addressing the nervous crowd.
“Today’s task is going to include teamwork with other elements.
Many Life and Death Elementals end up becoming Particeps Potestatis, so it’s only natural for you to work alongside one another.
Odysseus and I would like you to perform two very important tasks today: for my Reapers, you will be given a reaping list with ten names on it.
You are to reap your ten souls, bring me the souls so I can tally them, then report to your Life Elemental partner so they can complete their task. ”
“Life Elementals: you will fill the place of the soul that has been reaped. You will have ten families on your list that need to be blessed with new life. I have portioned ten souls per team for you to disperse amongst these families. You will take them as I create them and bless these families. The balance of Life and Death hangs in your hands, and we need to make sure this task is done in a well-coordinated way.” Odysseus gestured to the portal behind us.
“Remember that this task will make or break who makes it to our top ten candidates. Please take this very seriously but remember that you are all worthy in our eyes, regardless of if you continue forward.”
“Let’s begin.” Odysseus and I stood on either side of the portal and opened it, allowing the fifty of our Elites to enter.
Once they were through, we joined them on the opposite side, where we all floated above the streets of Manhattan.
Horns blared, voices yelled, and rain trickled from the never-ending sky, casting a heavy fog over the busy landscape.
“Alright! Death Elementals: here are your lists. Please report back to me when you have collected all ten souls successfully.”
“Yes, Mr. Crawford!” they replied. I handed each one their batch before they turned to plumes of smoke and danced through the air, disappearing into apartment windows and through opening hospital doors.
Odysseus began to create souls, gearing up for his Elites to start their part of the task.
His hands moved in circles as he spun Life energy around in them.
It wove rays of sunlight through his hands like yarn, and as he did, the strands would morph into small blobs before taking shape, similar to tear drops.
The droplets would hum a little as they infused with his powers before finally becoming ready to be dropped into a Human that could birth it.
I was always fascinated by this process and watching him spin these souls to life was incredibly breathtaking as much as it was awe-inspiring.
I decided to take the time to investigate how my Elites were doing and drifted into a nursing home, where Calvin was reaping a bonded couple.
He was concentrated on the woman, who was watching a television show on repeat.
Dementia had stolen much of her mind, so she was pretty out of it, and barely paid attention to what showed on the screen.
He materialized before her and read her name once more before extending his hand.
“Hello there. My name is Calvin, and I am here to take you to your wonderful forever.”
“My... forever?” she croaked in a deep, pain-filled tone.
“Yes ma’am. It's time for you to go where you will feel no pain, and where you can enjoy your husband and life once more.”
She looked him up and down carefully. “You’re too young to be the God of Death?”
He chuckled lovingly. “I am one of his friends.” He winked to me over her shoulder. “He’s very excited to meet you. You don’t want to keep him waiting, do you?”
“No, I suppose I shouldn’t...” She reached for a shawl that was folded on her bedside table. “May I bring my shawl? It might be drafty where you’re taking me. I would like to keep warm if I am to wait for a long time.”
“You can bring whatever you’d like.” He placed his hand on her heart, and the moment he did, she let out one weak gasp before slowly falling into the chair.
Her body slumped a little, her shawl falling down her shoulders.
Calvin had enough respect to pull it back into place before he began to pull her soul from her body.
The soul was as crisp and pure as can be, a true candidate for Caelum, which we were both relieved by.
He cradled the soul lovingly for a moment before storing it in his scythe, nodding to me, and taking off towards the husband’s room.
He was truly winning brownie points with me, for being so compassionate with these souls, and I knew I wanted him for my final ten.
Next, I ghosted into one of the harder trials, which was Beatrice reaping the soul of a man having a heart attack.
The man flopped wildly on the floor, his eyes rolling into the back of his head, while Beatrice stood like a statue and watched him flail.
She was utterly frozen and only breathed huffed cries as she tried to find the courage to intervene.
I went to myself, but surprisingly, Elektra appeared and dashed to the man’s side, placing her hand on his heart to stop the attack and finish him off.
He decompressed loudly before finally falling still, his face stricken with pain even in death.
I cringed at the sight of this but was curious to see what would happen next.
Beatrice broke into a sob and pulled on Elektra’s arm. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry! I let him suffer! I...I...? How could I freeze like that?”
“Hey, it’s ok, really. Don’t upset yourself. It happens to the best of us,” Elektra reassured her, taking the soul and placing it in the palm of Beatrice’s hands. Her mouth popped open in surprise as Elektra closed her hands around the soul. “What Nick doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“No, Elektra, you reaped the soul, so you should take the credit!”
“Shh, it’s fine. Why don’t you swap with my next soul? It’s just a cancer patient who is passing in her sleep. It’ll be an easier task than your car crash victim.”
Beatrice nodded once, sniffling, before wrapping her arms tenderly around Elektra. “Thanks for being so cool about this. I’m so embarrassed right now.”