Sick Girl
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SICK GIRL

Rinne

The city of Kushiyama...

My first mission as a Reaper began here. Each Reaper has a duty. My duty involves guiding souls to the Afterlife. But my job often starts well before a person's death. Such as here, where the person is dying of disease, there are times we can help. But...

We are sworn to certain things. We can prevent a death, but once someone is dead and Yomi claims them, we can't go back and try to change it. We can't use human currency. We can't enter locked buildings, at least, not ones that are not immediately relevant to our mission. We cannot eat mortal food while on the job. We can only be seen by people we touch, the old, or those who are so spiritually sensitive that we have no say in the matter. Elves are one of the few species that do business with us, as they are willing to accept the ghost paper, and they can see us plain as day. Basically, we couldn't draw attention to the existence of Reapers. There are rules, and sometimes these rules make things difficult.

In this town, in this time, a girl lies dying of such an illness. This poor girl, what will become of her?

It was eight hours in the morning, at the year that humans call 7065 Anno Domini. I say that this was my first mission, but we do not observe time in the same way humans do. We enter the physical world at points in time, and they may not be in order chronologically. And so, while this was my first mission, there were missions before it that came later.

I stood outside the door, then I phased inside along with Yomi and Seishi. Yomi already seemed sad. This girl was sick from the Plague. The Plague had no good name, so they just called it the Plague, but it has very distinct symptoms. Bonelike growths would form inside the body, slowly crystallizing into masses that would block blood vessels, organs, and eventually the person would die from one of their major organs being pinned. Only the Rare Herb was able to cure her. That and a Reaper's healing, but that wasn't happening. Healing tended to leave a brilliant light, and that would draw attention to our presence. If she was alone in the house, that would be one thing, but her father was standing right nearby. And the Plague was a highly visible disease that was difficult for humans just to suddenly recover from. A Pale could possibly help her heal if this were a simple illness or minor wounds, but the Plague has always been a nuisance.

I touched her. It was better than if Yomi did, since Yomi tended to scare people, even though it was difficult to imagine the morose Reaper even worrying anyone. My touch was calming though, while hers gave off a dark and somber aura. The ginger-haired girl of about six opened her eyes with a pained look. "Hey there," I said, "how are you feeling?" When we touched someone, they could see and hear us, but this moment happened in between time. Other people wouldn't see it, even her father right over there. Which was for the best, her father looked imposing, for a human anyway. "It hurts so much..." she groaned. "Don't worry, we're going to get you some medicine. Your pain will be over soon." Her eyes looked like giant discs of pure sadness as she looked at us with a pleading stare. She nodded, "Okay. I'll wait..."

We took a look at the door, and were immediately outside. The cobblestone house was small and quaint, but being part of a large city meant it was adjoined to other buildings. The entire town was walled into various districts. Kushiyama was ruled by a corrupt leader named King Kushiyama, but all of his subjects dubbed him King Yama for his harsh taxes. As Reapers, we had no need to worry about such things, but it helped explain why most of the shopkeepers were actually stationed outside rather than owning their own shops. The bustle of the town rang out, villagers hawking various wares. Later on, we'd need to find a medic to transform the herb from a chewy leaf to a smooth serum.

"But were do we find the Rare Herb?" I asked the others after leaving the building. Seishi supplied, "Chiku knows everything about plants." Yomi reminded me, "You went to her when you had that really bad growth on your arm, remember?" I made a throat-slitting move with my hand as if to tell her never to talk about that again. In any case, since I knew how to fight, I was ready to head out alone. Just then, soft hands grabbed me...

"You're going to see Chiku, right? Why don't you bring us along?" said Seishi. But Yomi shook her head, "Hey now. We mustn't force her." Agreeing with Yomi, I prepared again to walk off. I had decided that I didn't want to put them in any danger, after all.  "Make sure you do your job quickly," Yomi warned, "You know I hate having to end lives." Some soft hands resting on my shoulder felt quite a bit firmer... "Oh no! You're not getting away that easily!" Seishi insisted, "Rinne, we're your friends, and we're coming!" Yomi sighed, "So forceful..."

The path to Chiku's realm was significantly more complicated than walking outside town and entering a forest, but this is exactly what we did. The difference is, while a normal person would exit Kushiyama and find an icy tundra for miles before making it to a forest, we cut through space and arrived just outside her forest, walking abruptly from winter weather to deciduous forest. But this was no ordinary forest, rather it was an entrance to Chiku's personal domain. Within the forest, dense fog covered the land, and the warped space meant that even walking straight would result in seeing the same rock multiple times. Fortunately, I knew the proper path.

Heading north from the entrance, we went north again, then west, then east, then west again, then south, and then north, at each major intersection. We had been here before, so our way was clear, even if it made no sense. As we headed to the last intersection, a woman spoke to us, assuring us that we were almost there and to keep at it. But then, Yomi observed that she couldn't actually see, and suggested she was just saying this every few minutes as a way of urging on anyone who might be there. She pointed out the woman's cataracts fogging her eyes. I suppose it was still possible that she did see us, though. She was old, and what many people mistake for senility is actually the growing vision of the Unseen World that one acquires as one gets closer to death.

We exited this forest maze and entered a deeper section of the woods. This was called the Hidden Forest for a reason. It existed between multiple worlds flickering in and out of them from time to time, and more importantly, it hid everything inside its borders. In the middle of this forest, the slope to a large mountain unfolded.

Throughout this journey, we encountered spiders and snakes and goblins, but for the most part, these were no trouble at all. The Reapers are pretty resilient, and their weapons are virtually unstoppable against creatures of the mortal world. Only Seishi held back. Each Reaper has two weapons, their scythe and their sacred artifact. Mine was the Staff of Love (the less of which is said, the better, as its only real power was to calm living creatures). Yomi's was a Sword of Sorrow, a weapon which could revive or even use the harm an adversary has dealt as a weapon against them, and which later found its way into other hands. And Seishi's was the Mirror of Faith, which deflected evil intent back at its source. But the scythes we possessed were far more versatile in actual combat. Yomi's scythe caused death with a touch. My scythe has no real powers of its own, but it had potential. It could be upgraded with elemental power by embedding gems in its side (for example, a ruby might add the ability to deal fire damage). Seishi's scythe was different. It healed living things, making it worthless for actual combat against creatures of this world. And so, she didn't fight.

We climbed this winding path to the top slowly. Not that it mattered, since the rock was sturdy and we were immortal. But falling to the bottom would be a major inconvenience. We moved past falling rocks from the various creatures scurrying above us, finally making it upward. Chiku lived in a glade inside the mountain; the mountain was hollow inside, and she had her own little garden in there. At the first major ledge before the cave, there was a mass of darkness. "A spirit! This might be tough," Yomi said. Did I mention I'm afraid of ghosts?

Yes, I know, that sounds insane, both because I'm a Reaper and because it is literally my job to transport those who have died to their afterlife. But spirits of this sort are not the nice balls of light that move on quietly to the Afterlife. A dark hunched body, claws, teeth, and empty blackness where the eyes would be, no legs to speak of and wide spikes all around the head instead of hair. This translucent being had hands disjoined from any shoulders or arms, and its entire body was blue-gray.

I mumbled, "There's no such thing as ghosts..." over and over again, even though I clearly was not in a position to ever say such a thing. I lunged forward swinging my scythe, but the blade passed through it as though cutting through water. I knew that even if Yomi's scythe could connect, her death effect would be worthless because it was technically already dead. I wagered, incorrectly, having never dealt with one, that the restless spirit could hurt me as much as I could hurt it. Instead, I got a pretty firm slash across my midsection. It wouldn't kill me, of course, but it certainly hurt.

"Leave this to me," said Seishi, "I can take 'em!" But her weapon only healed creatures of this world. How could it... I didn't finish that thought as I saw her slice through this thing as though I were watching a fine chef slice through sashimi. Of course. Her weapon couldn't harm creatures of this world, but an undead creature? It had already left the mortal coil. I wasn't clear why it healed some creatures and destroyed undead, but she seemed to understand it.

In any case, we entered the cave, and made our way to Chiku. She was surrounded by foliage. It was like being in a greenhouse, with the main difference being that her plants were literally climbing the walls while we watched. "Hey there, Chiku. Could I have one of your Rare Herbs?" I asked. "I created those herbs, but... my powers are malfunctioning and I grow these weeds too." I could see what she meant. The ground with filled with weeds that were at least the size of lettuce, with some reaching the size of trees. I chopped at them with my scythe, but they regrew within seconds to full size. Of course. These were her plants. "Here," said Yomi, "take mine."

Just as her touch felt different to others, causing abject terror while my touch brought calm, her scythe creeped me out the moment I felt it. It felt vaguely like I was holding an animal as it was rotting. The weapon felt like it squirmed in my hand and it was cold to the touch. I pulled out some gloves, and equipped them before touching it again. Then I swung away. They still tried to grow back despite the fact that they should be dead, but I kept them at bay far more easily, and moved fast enough back and forth that Chiku finally pointed to what looked like a small icicle radish, except the leaves were white and the radish part was green. She ran up to it, and slowly but firmly wiggled it out, being careful to get the entire plant. "Sorry," she said to the plant, "I need to move you to a less crowded area." She placed it in a raised bed, tore the leaves from it, and gave them to us. Then she poked as the scythe. I expected the plant to split apart the way she sliced at it, but instead it regrew its leaves, then bolted and went to seed. Pretty soon there were a few more Rare Herbs, making it slightly less rare. "You'll need to hurry," she explained, "if her disease is like I think, you haven't got much time." We exited the mountain to the entrance of the forest, then entered Kushiyama again.

"Wait," said Seishi, "I wonder if we could go shopping?" Typical. Always trying to lighten the tension. "No, really, guys! I can just see her chewing and chewing on that thing. Little kids don't even like vegetables, how are we going to convince her to eat a strange herb?" She had a point, so we went to the marketplace. We walked past people selling flowers, ripe strawberries, milk, and one even offered to grind knives. Some were even singing to try to advertise their wares.

Then we saw a lonely older woman running an apothecary. Nobody seemed to care about her business because everyone was healthy. We didn't even have to touch her for her to notice, just get near. That wasn't a good sign, but I figured that was a mission for another day. She saw the Rare Herb that I held and nodded, "Yes I can make a tonic out of that. It should be easy to swallow, and easy to digest. It may take a few hours though." She set the herb into her mortar and pestle, turning and pounding, and pounding and turning. After alot of effort, she poured some liquid that I didn't notice, squeezed juice out of the herb, then drained the liquid aside and put it into a bottle.

We moved out of the marketplace, and headed through the door. I touched the girl, "Am I too late?" I poked the girl with my scythe. "Hi, wake up and drink this." She was a cute child, and I expected her to say something cute like "Noooo, it looks yucky!" But instead she whispered something to me that made my heart cold. No parent should ever hear their child utter these words, and it was not any better since we were Reapers.

She said, "I want to die."

Reapers respected wishes of the dying, provided they weren't extravagant like living 150 extra years. I pleaded to Yomi, "This isn't right..." She shook her head, "We aren't doctors. We aren't obligated to keep someone alive against their will. If she really wants this, it's her time, and we must respect her wishes." I stared at her sad face and her puppy dog eyes for a few more moments, then turned away. "Fine. Go ahead," I said. Yomi pulled out her scythe. When I held it, I noticed this too. Everything goes grey for a second. No, not gray. Grey. You may say, "They're different spellings of the same word. Maybe grey is slightly more blue, but that's it." Well, you'd usually be right. But gray refers to the color, while grey we use as a term for when things are stripped of color. Antimagic, time stopping, even draining life or energy from a person. All of these are when things turn grey. And indeed she was draining from a person. Yomi didn't usually have to use her scythe much, they would just die if it was old age, and if it was an accident they'd be unconscious and dying from bleeding. A pinprick would be enough. In fact, it seemed to traumatize her whenever she actually had to make a full swing. This little girl would die in a few weeks without medicine, but would live to adulthood with it. And yet, she couldn't see any of that. To her, the pain seemed too much for her little body. Yomi trembled with sadness. And then, Yomi finished her swing.

I guided Koren's soul through the Afterlife. In another version of events, she would grow up, she would meet and date a boy named Nevras, and then she'd move on and get married herself. She never really had any children though. But that future wasn't to happen here. Fortunately for her, she was young so she didn't have much guilt or regret.

When she died, her wish was simple. She wanted to be able to take care of her father in her next life. If only she'd had a full life on this Earth... But no matter how much we may want it, people don't live forever. This was my first lesson as Reaper of the Afterlife.


In the video game version of this, there were two options. You could feed the girl unrefined Rare Herb, in which case you'd be in time to save her. Or you could feed her the medicine, which delayed things too long. In the first ending, Koren (also featured in Oracle of Tao) would grow to adulthood. But there was some continuity jumble since the game had her get married to a man, Oracle of Tao book had her turn out to be lesbian, and the Oracle of Tao game left it unresolved. So I decided on this ending because it was sadder.

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