Chereads / The Reaper and The Devil / Chapter 144 - End of the Vacation (1)

Chapter 144 - End of the Vacation (1)

- Death and Lucifer -

Lucifer's team was preparing for the trip back to Hell. Death would be coming along to make sure Poseidon didn't do anything but wasn't staying in Hell. Death told everyone that he would be riding to give Kahvis the items he retrieved.

Death grabbed his scythe from the armory and made it disappear, leading to Hades asking a number of questions. Death told Hades that his scythe is a different type of conjured weapon. He went on to say that it's complicated and he would prefer not to go into more detail. Hades respected Death's privacy.

Lucifer's conversation with Devil had him more curious than ever about the world, leading to him asking Death for a moment in private. Death joined Lucifer in the room he had spoken to Devil in.

"Why did you lose consciousness?" Lucifer didn't waste time.

Death folded his arms. "Depletion."

"Liar," Lucifer glared. "Try something at least half-believable."

Death rolled his eyes. "Why is it so important to you?"

Lucifer leaned back. "Because it wouldn't be if the answer was simple. And the fact that you keep dodging the question tells me that the answer isn't simple."

"Since when is magic simple?" Death huffed.

Lucifer lit a flame on his right index finger and burned a piece of his shirt. "Why is my shirt burnt? Because the flame I magically created burnt it. Some magic is simple, some are complicated, and the latter is what I care about."

Death stood up. "My ability to blink has its limits. Is that good enough for you?"

"No," Lucifer insisted. "Why is this so fucking difficult for you? Why is it like pulling roots to learn more about your magic? Are you afraid of me knowing what you can do? Do you think I'm going to betray you?"

"What?" Death said surprised. "I...I'm not afraid of you betraying me but I am afraid of you knowing."

Lucifer stood up, "WHY?!"

Death clenched his hand. He paced briefly before sighing.

"Fine..." Death sat down and covered his head. "How do you think my "blink" works?"

Lucifer looked confused. "It's just short-range teleportation. I know human scientists discussed the morality of teleportation but-"

"That's not it," Death interrupted. "You know how time flows differently in Limbo, correct?"

"Yes?" Lucifer raised an eyebrow. "Limbo acts as a time-dilation gateway between the human world and this one, so there's been speculation about how time moves slower or faster there but nothing's certain. Are you saying your blink affects time in a similar way to Limbo?"

"Not exactly," Death looked up from his hands. "It's more...that my "blink" uses that time dilation by me...traveling to Limbo and then reappearing in this world."

Lucifer's eyes went wide as he fell back in his chair. "Wh...what? H-how?"

Death put both his hands up and faced their palms towards each other. "Limbo is parallel to this world. When one travels in Limbo, one also travels in this world," He stood up. "The biggest difference between the two dimensions is that Limbo is a vast nothingness, whereas this world...isn't."

Lucifer's mind was overflowing with questions. "How...what happens if you reappear inside of an object?"

Death used his blink and was now standing on top of the table. "It seems the magic has a failsafe. If I would reappear inside something solid I get shifted out of the way," He blinked back to where he was standing.

Lucifer scratched his head as his mouth hung open. "Uh...why...how...why did that make you lose consciousness then?"

Death ran his fingers along the table. "Limbo is not meant for the living. Or the dead for that matter. It assimilates whatever is inside it. The longer I stay in there...the more difficult it becomes to leave. It's as if I'm diving into an ocean and every second is a mile of depth. When I saw the magic from your team's battle with Chronos I knew I needed to get there faster."

'Travels to Limbo, seconds equal miles, vast nothingness,' Lucifer was rambling in his mind.

"It was a difficult choice," Death continued. "I think seeing Chronos made me act recklessly. I blinked too many times in rapid succession. It put a toll on my body I haven't experienced in a while."

Lucifer shook his head. "You can travel to Limbo? Okay..."

Death sighed. "This is why I didn't want to tell you. This knowledge is more trouble than it's worth."

Lucifer went to speak but stopped abruptly.

'The Death I knew had a similar ability,' Devil said.

Lucifer couldn't help his eyes shifting to Devil.

Death looked at the empty corner of the room. "Are you hearing those voices again?"

Lucifer's line-of-sight shot from the corner to Death. "What? N-no...I just got lost in thought."

Death narrowed his eyes. "Okay? Well, how about we end this conversation here? Don't tell anyone else what I've told you...and try not to overthink it. I know I should be more honest with you about things, I just hope this shows you why sometimes I'm not."

"Yeah..." Lucifer mumbled. "Thanks for the truth."

Death left the room and searched around. He was positive that no one was nearby but the way Lucifer had been acting made him suspicious.

'He'll have to know someday,' Death's thought made him stop walking. 'Only him...only him.'

Lucifer slacked in his chair as his mind raced with questions about Death's blink ability. It didn't help that Devil was now rambling as well.

'Why is traveling to--what did you call it? Limbo? Why does that matter? Where I'm from you can't turn left without bumping into a mystical being that can travel between realms,' Devil tilted his head as he stared at the doorway. 'Though, ironically enough, the Death I knew effectively existed in the in-between of the realms.'

Lucifer gave a tired glance to Devil. 'Did your Death look the same as well?'

Devil shifted his eyes to Lucifer's. 'Ah-ah. Question for a question, remember?'

'Fuck you,' Lucifer thought to himself before making Devil disappear.

- Peter and Death -

Death noticed Peter coming his way. He assumed Peter was just going to speak with Lucifer so he went to walk past. He was surprised when Peter stopped him.

"I wanna properly thank ya for savin' Lao's life."

"Oh, it's fine," Death said.

"No, really," Peter continued. "Ya saved Luce's life multiple times, which by association means ya saved the team's lives multiple times."

Death awkwardly chuckled, "I really don't need thanks for that kind of thing."

Peter put his hand on Death's shoulder. "I'm not strong enough to follow Luce through every battle...so genuinely, thank ya."

Death wasn't sure how to respond to Peter. He had been thanked in the past by beings for killing malicious gods but this was different.

"You're...welcome?" Death responded.

Peter took his hand off Death's shoulder and tapped Death on the back as he walked past. "Zach said ya don't get thanked enough, guess he was right."

- Thanatos, Julius, Salim -

The three were discussing in a dark room. An echo sat on a table in the center of the room.

"Great plan," Thanatos mocked. "We traded Artemis, Apollo, and Koz knows how many soldiers for fuck all."

"Careful Thanny," A whispery female voice said from the echo. "Just because you were slapped around by Death doesn't mean the mission was a failure."

Julius sighed, "If you'll remember, the main goal was the destabilization of Olympus. The more gods on the list we weaken, the better."

Salim yawned, "Besides, given the fact that we had Death and Lucifer as enemies things could have gone far worse."

Thanatos looked at Salim. "I don't think Lucifer deserves to be listed with Death. Death just killed a god we all thought was unkillable."

"Supposedly killed," Julius corrected.

"Let's just assume actually killed until proven otherwise," The voice from the echo added. "Chronos was always a gamble with shaky odds. What matters now is what happens next. So Thanny, if you could stop complaining about the past we'd all appreciate it."

Thanatos rubbed his eye and mumbled. "Nearly died for this shit; I have every right to complain."

"Now then," the voice continued, "Mezir should be handling Tonatiuh while the Han'ei team makes progress. Salim and Julius, I want you to join the Han'ei group. Thanny, you head to the Wushu territory."