Megumi giggled to herself. She crouched to the ground, posed and ready with her crimson scythe in left hand.
"This isn't good." The Reaper thought. His demeanor, much more serious.
To the Reaper's shock, the next second, Megumi was already under him laughing maniacally, with the scythe fast approaching!
The Reaper blocked with his bone tentacle. He pushed Megumi back with all his power. To his own surprise she kept her feet planted to the ground as she slid back
She curled a smirk, amused. "Eheheheheh… Now this is going to be fun."
Megumi dashed back into action with another attack on the ready.
The Reaper blocked another slash with his tendril. He quickly dodges out the way, as she slashes through it!
Once again Megumi slid, jerking herself to face the reaper once more. He glared back at Megumi, annoyed and confused.
"This is bad… She hasn't been in Purgatory for long, but she ended up in 'the state of chaos'!"
Megumi suddenly disappeared from his sight. Her presence, now behind him!
She swung her scythe down at him. The Reaper dodged just in time as she brought the scythe to the ground hard. The scythe, now halfway on the pavement of the basement floor.
"If she isn't brought back to her senses, she could… Become a demon…"
Megumi pulled the scythe out the floor with ease, she then turned back, smiling sinisterly, chuckling. "Stop being so boring!" She yelled. She bolted back at the reaper, attacking fiercely.
The Reaper was now forced to parry and block her manic slashes. Each one leaving a trail of a bloody mist behind it.
"What a damn mess I got…" Finally, after some time, the reaper grabbed the scythe, just beneath its blade. The air pulse burst from the sudden stop as the scythe nearly cut his head.
He glared back at Megumi. "It's a shame it had to come to this." He thought.
Mustering up all his strength, the Reaper used the scythe to whip Megumi from her own weapon. Sending her flying and crashing into the wall!
"You should stay down for your own good, Megumi."
Megumi stumbled forth from the newly cratered wall, laughing. With a smile, she lifted her left arm. "Why should I?"
The scythe was suddenly ripped from the Reaper's grasp to his shock, and back to Megumi's!
"How did she-?"
"Especially when things are just getting interesting!!" She yelled.
Megumi dashed forth with a new set of attacks, each one becoming faster and precise than the last. This time, she sliced through his robe, then his hood, and then his strange star crest holding his robes. Her last attack was blocked by his bone tendril. It held much better, but the crack began to form as the scythe dug deeper.
With one last push she shattered the entire bone tentacle to pieces!
"Tch!!" Seeing her posed and ready to attack once again, the Reaper pulled another bone tendril from his robe aiming it straight at Megumi. "How is she fighting like…"
She dodged.
"She's been in Purgatory before!?"
In that instant Megumi swung her scythe into the Reaper's chest. Unseen by her, she quickly blocked the attack with his arm. Despite this, The Reaper is sent flying up the basement staircase and through the house, crashing into the second floor of another home!
"Damn!" The Reaper stabbed his bone fingers into the wooden floor beneath. Floorboards and chunks of plywood scattering as he slowed himself.
Megumi ascended the stairs. A wide toothy smile on her face. Her hair begins to shift from brown to a scarlet red starting from the tip of her hair.
"Alright Megumi…"
Suddenly, Megumi leapt into the second floor of the building with absolute ease. She smiled more wickedly than before as the scarlet red continued creeping up the tip of her hair.
"If you want a fight…"
She swirled her blade only for him to block it once more with his bone tendril.
"I'll give you a fight…!!"
The Reaper deflected Megumi's attack, sending her back to the hole she leapt through.
"Just don't ask to be forgiven." The Reaper finished. A multitude of Bone tendril sprouted from beneath his robe as he was prepared to retaliate.
Megumi ignored his comment as she went back on the offensive, attacking and dodging bone tentacle after bone tentacle. She slowly progressed from the forest of bone tendrils conjured by the Reaper. Soon she found herself face to face with the Reaper once again.
Drooling from Anticipation, she wasted little time engaging in an absolutely blinding flurry of attacks and parries with the Reaper. He stood tall, not even breaking sweat with the exchange.
"Hmmmmmmmmm…."
Eventually after another minute The Reaper found his opening.
His tentacle disarmed Megumi! Using this opportunity, he grabbed her by the face with his own arm and threw her into the wall behind.
She crashed through the wall and into a forest below where she landed on her feet by some miracle. Cracks began to continue spreading throughout her face as her smile still masked her face. It was a confidence unlike something Megumi would have before. She looked back up at the Reaper staring at her from the home above.
She held out her hand once more, calling for her scythe. The Reaper moved his head aside letting the scythe fly by him.
It's not long before Megumi is attacked again. She dodged, grasping her scythe once more as she did.
Once again it became a war of Megumi's versus the conjured bone tendrils attacking her. She continued to slice and cut. Dodge and parried until the Reaper finally brought his presence before her, jumping back down.
He landed hard on the Ground, and seeing him, she became that of a wild animal dashing madly through a plethora of attacks heading her way. He quickly posed his hands, sending several Bone Tendrils her way, only for her to dodge and slice them.
"Is that All you've got!?" Megumi Taunted.\
Suddenly, Megumi was struck with a bone tentacle. Luckily for her, she blocked it in time with her scythe. Glancing back up, she found that the Reaper was now over her.
He punched her straight in the face, Sending her crashing through the trees and into the ground!
Megumi got back to her feet, finding even more bone tendrils coming her way. She simply grinned with laughter and in one swift motion swerved her scythe around. Creating currents of crimson wind and ripping through all the bone tendrils.
As the crimson mist dissipated, Megumi made another mad dash to the Reaper, Dodging and weaving through all his attacks that would overwhelm just about any normal person.
The Reaper, seeing this, turned up the heat. She posed and pointed his finger, sending even more bone tentacle's her way, crashing through tree after tree and leaving craters within the very ground!
He growled, annoyed. "She's a slippery one..."
To his utter shock, Megumi ran up one of his bone tentacles! The others followed to intercept. But she jumped off, nearly avoiding them!
Now hurtling towards the Reaper, Megumi readied herself to finish him off.
The Reaper stood tall and composed seeing this. He then glances up with a glare. The next moment, he sprouted several large and long bone tentacles from his robe. In the same instant, they swirled around him, creating a tornado that enveloped them! This pushed Megumi into the air along with chunks of earth and tree. She held on tight to a large piece of rock, trying to stay oriented and focused.
As she did her entire hair finally reached its full scarlet color with her front three long bangs, crimsoned. She smiled much more widely with her teeth sharpened like some wild animal hungry for prey. After scanning around, upside down she finally located the Reaper.
"Heh! This won't stop me. You must be desperate!!"
Megumi starts leaping from debris to debris within the artificial tornado. She quickly closed the distance as she descended back to the Reaper. unexpectedly however, it suddenly stopped.
"Desperate?" he asked.
The Reaper started to reform the large bone tentacles in his controls, shaping them into a fist. "I wouldn't say that's the case."
Without hesitation he sent the large bone fist hurtling towards Megumi as she was defenseless in the air.
"Ah…."
.....
.....
"It seems we've had the same idea!" she proclaimed.
Megumi posed her scythe over her head, and as she did, it grew fifty times its original size.
She swung down hard. Slicing through not only the Reaper's attack, but through the Reaper himself! Cutting him in two.
Megumi landed hard on her feet leaving a trail of dust and smoke behind. She glances back briefly at the devastation left in the wake of their battle. Broken and cut trees and craters in the ground. And the Reaper's two halves laid, fallen on the ground.
Exhausted, Megumi began to breathe much more heavily, still standing tall and trying to keep her own composure. "That was entertaining…"
She then lifted and looked back at her arm, seeing it start to crack apart with ash falling from it. "But it looks like this body won't last long…"
Megumi glanced back, feeling something strange. "Oh."
Suddenly The Reaper appeared once more. Megumi could only see his boney fingers reaching out to her as he spoke in her opposite ear.
"For someone who was just born in Purgatory, you sure know quite a bit."
With a vengeance, the Reaper slammed Megumi's head into the closest tree. The Reaper then backed off, hearing the laughter coming from Megumi.
"You must be immortal. Hahahahaha."
Megumi held herself onto the tree. More cracks appeared throughout her body.
"Enough! Tell me who you are! You're obviously not the same woman." The Reaper's pupils narrowed. "You're clearly not some separate personality. And with the way you move, and your knowledge about this world… It makes me wonder who you truly are."
Megumi continued to laugh. "You caught me. Eheheheheh."
"You're trying my patients. Tell me where Megumi is, you damn demon!!" The Reaper glared much more harshly at her.
"Megumi, Megumi, Megumi. Is that all you really care about? It's funny how you really think I'm- no. That we're a demon." Megumi turned, with her back now leaning on the tree. She continued to smile with the confidence of a fox.
"I like that face of yours. It looks as clueless as that pathetic me."
The Reaper slammed his fists into the tree behind her. Megumi didn't even flinch as she kept her eyes on the now furious Reaper. Even more cracks appeared covering the entirety of her face.
"You're holding her hostage, aren't you! What is it that you're after!" he hissed.
Megumi sighed, keeping her smirk. " She's no hostage. But you can say that our current predicament is interesting. If it makes you feel better the weak me is still safe from being purged by the corruption that is eroding our very being…"
"That is, just for a few more minutes. I don't know how much longer I'll be able to hold it back. If only there was a 'reaper' with the caliber to enter souls…" Megumi raised a mocking tone at the Reaper as she smiled knowingly.
"So, what will you do, Mr. Reaper? You won't let this poor girl become a demon, will you?"
The Reaper gritted his teeth. "You witch…!"
Megumi looked back much more seriously. Now frowning. "So, what will it be-"
Megumi opened her mouth, spoke his true name. The Reaper's eyes widened in shock.
"How do you…"
The Reaper reoriented himself, seeing Megumi's face as she was confident, once more. With great reluctance, he placed his boney index fingers on her forehead. Without another word he then plugged it straight into her head.
********
Megumi's life flashed before her. From her terrible, secluded childhood to her days in school as she was being ostracized and considered cured for all the deaths that followed. Each one connected to how she would touch them. Everyone around her began to fear and hated her, seeing her as the harbinger of Death.
Memories of her newfound reluctance to interact with others arose. She even started to wear gloves from those days on. But this was followed by her first unexpected meeting with Eric. Despite the rumors around her and the warnings given, stepped up to be her friend.
She could remember the reluctance of wanting to be his friend, but he never once gave up on her. From the time he reignited a hope she once lost to bringing joy back to her once gray life. But it all accumulated within her and was torn to shreds. As he sacrificed his life for her.
Great regret filled her heart as she found herself in a void of nothing. She was now alone in her thoughts.
"W-why is it always like this? W-why did he have to die? Why wasn't it me!?? Why didn't he just stay where he was and just let me die!?... I never deserved a second chance. I don't deserve it so why? Why!!??"
Unexpectedly, Megumi was pulled into a bright light. She suddenly found herself now in a white void. She then landed on the watery ground that lacked the same wetness of water.
As she coughed, she looked back, finding the Reaper now standing over her. "What the... Where am I???" Megumi gazed around in confusion.
"We're in the recesses of your core, where your most important memories that make up your identity lie…"
The Reaper turned away from Megumi, instead putting his attention on a big crimson ball of mist that floated above. Megumi finally took notice of this herself. "W-wait! What is that!!?
The Reaper narrows his eyes. "This… must be the source of your corruption."
"Corruption?" she questioned.
"Let's just say that if this stays here you could turn into a demon."
"The Damn thing is feeding off her memories!?? I've never seen anything like it before!" He thought.
Just then, the mist began to reach out to Megumi, swirling around her.
"It's still after her!?"
Megumi started to feel immense pain spreading throughout her body. "Aaaarrgghhh!! W-what's… happening to me!??"
The Reaper quickly focused several of his bone tentacles into one. He spun it like a drill. Not wasting time, He sent it hurdling into the red mist. Upon piercing the mist, it exploded and dissipated.
The Reaper gave a sigh of relief seeing that Megumi was no longer affected by the strange mist.
"Alright… That should do it." he said.
Just as he thought everything was fine, a presence then rose from behind him along with a familiar chuckle. He glanced back, finding the red mist collecting itself together! "What!!?"
The Reaper readied himself to go on the attack once again.
"BEGONE."
With a swift motion from a hand the Reaper evaporated into a mist like he never existed.
Megumi couldn't understand what was happening as she watched this event unfold. She could only look on, stunned, as the person she was now looking at was the very copy of herself from her dreams. A corrupted looking Megumi with hollow black eyes with scarlet and crimson hair.
As the dark Megumi approached, a white glint appeared in one of her hollow eyes. "Eheheheheh… We finally get to meet…" the dark Megumi said.
Megumi felt a pit forming within her stomach as the copy of herself came closer. After a few seconds she was finally able muster the courage to speak. "W-w-who are you??"
The dark Megumi cocked her head, smiling knowingly. "What a silly question to ask. After all these years together, you still don't recognize me. How disappointing."
"Let me give you a hint." The dark Megumi instantly crouched, pulling Megumi to her. "I've been trapped in that soul of yours, forced to bear witness to that folly you call life all this time. Day after day, all I could do was watch… and for what?"
Megumi felt something sharp piercing into her back. "Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to be unable to control your own actions? Year after year. Body after body."
"Still don't get it?" The Claws within her back scratched it way up. The dark Megumi gave Megumi a good view of her cracked face and hollow black eyes that seemed to stare right through her.
"We're one in the same… M-E-G-U-M-I."
"You've just… " The dark Megumi outstretched her left hand, nails sharp. "FORGOTTEN!"
Megumi is stabbed in the chest with her copy's own hand! Megumi fell to the ground wheezing as the copy pulled her hand from her chest. Dark Megumi simply smiled seeing her writhing.
"Just like everyone else… Ehehehe. Trust me… You wouldn't be here if I could take control… so you should consider yourself lucky. But still… It's pathetic how I had to help you from being corrupted."
To Megumi's surprise, as she looked down, she found that her chest completely crumbled apart, revealing a pure white ball of mist. "W-wh… What the…."
A crimson mist began to swerve and enter the ball of white mist, slowly converting it to a red hue. The dark Megumi chuckled, amused.
"Still… Being able to stretch my legs was a nice change in pace. It's been a while since I had some fun in Purgatory… Eheheheheh."
Slowly the dark Megumi turned into a shadow red mist, laughter continuing to echo through the void.
"If it brings you comfort there's still a way to get to Eric here in Purgatory… If you don't believe me just as that reaper whose so dead set on saving us."
"Huh?"
The count part completely turned into mist, now entering the red hued mist in Megumi. She continued. " I can't leave a lost cause like you rotting away with no hope. Don't disappoint me, because I'll be watching you very closely… Megumi Scorn."
"W-what…?" Megumi muttered. The copy's laughter echoed as Megumi can only look into her broken chest, stunned that the copy seemingly entered into her. The ball of mist gained a crimson within the white shell encasing it. With that, Megumi's chest reconstructed itself.
********
Suddenly she found herself waking up. Huh!?" Wh-where am I!?
She oriented herself, finding that she was now in a decimated forest. "How did I end up here-" She finally noticed a plethora of bone tentacles surrounding her, ready to attack. She could only look on, befuddled by her circumstances, trying to hold back her panic.
"I see." The Reaper said.
Megumi jerked her head to the right, finding the Reaper posing with his hand raised.
"It seems I was worried over nothing then." the bone tentacles around Megumi retracted back into the darkness from whence that came. The Reaper now also relaxed himself a little more.
"All that miasma gone. And you returned to normal by the look of things." he approached. "Since you're much better we shou-"
The Reaper stopped seeing a familiar black round sphere on the ground. He proceeded to pick it up from the ground.
"This is…"
"Actually… can we talk for a moment." Megumi shuffled her way to the closest tree she could find. She gave a few awkward glances at the Reaper. He promptly agreed. He proceeded to walk past her, seating himself on the other side of the tree.
"So… What do you want to say?"
"Well… I…" Megumi was at a loss for words. She paused. She then tried to force some words out but failed to make a singular point.
"Take your time." The reaper suddenly said. "Now, what is it that you want to say"
"I… I know that I'm dead. I accept that… I never really had a good life to begin with so, I'm a little relieved, in a sense. But… I can't help but to wonder what I did wrong."
Megumi held her arms, squeezing it as she continued to force her words out. "All my life I was so hated and feared. Even now I still don't understand it."
"I always thought I'd be destined to be alone… But Eric… H-he didn't care what other people thought or said about me. He wasn't even afraid or even hated me." Megumi's face became a little more flushed. "He was the first friend I ever made…"
"I see…" The Reaper said.
"Please tell me honestly… Is there really no way I can meet him again? I'd give anything to see him again. I want to… I want him to know that I-"
"H-how I feel." she quickly corrected herself becoming even more flushed.
"Is that so?" The Reaper peeked back at the small black sphere in his hands.
Something rolled over to Megumi, hitting her leg softly. "Huh?" Megumi picked it up.
"That black ball there is a core. But not just any core. It's that of a demon. The very same demon boy you were so fond of."
Megumi peeked back at the Reaper even more confused.
"Believe it or not, here in Purgatory It's hard for a person to actually die. And unlike the living world we're neither made of flesh nor blood. What makes up our true being is a core that resides in all of us. You can say that each of our cores represent the weight of our sins."
"Is… Is that true?"
"Who knows. But whatever past you had, and mistakes you've made up until now. They're all meaningless"
.Megumi turned to the reaper, now on her knee. "There's nothing meaningless about the past! Even if my life was hard. I never want to forget the times I spent with Eric!"
The Reaper chuckled to himself, this turned into a laughter, confusing Megumi. Unexpectedly, The Reaper got back to her feet, with his robe repairing itself as if by magic.
"You truly can't let this Eric person go, can you? I have to say Megumi, you're the first person in a long time that's gained my interest."
Megumi stood back up too, still confused by the reaper's remarks.
The Reaper paused for a moment, as if pondering something. "I can't currently tell you how… But I do know of one way you can reunite with this man you're looking for."
She cracked a smile as hope began to refill her heart.
The Reaper turned back to Megumi, his look more serious. "However, … It won't be easy. In fact, this'll likely be far worse than what you've every face, and it's not for the faint of heart."