Chapter CCII:
Radishes are a Mystery ~Multehx
Pseudo sighed
and shook his head as he watched the agent and Nictem
trade blow after blow. Neither seemed to be tiring, and from what he could
sense, this fight wasn't even getting remotely warm yet. It was exasperating to
witness such a spectacle and being not able to assist either side much at all.
And that other apparition next to him, it wasn't improving things.
The figure was
dressed in a flowing, black, hooded cloak, skeletal, was holding a wicked
looking scythe, was skeletal in body, and wore a pair of Ray-Bans on his skull.
He watched the fight with great interest. He folded his bony arms, which were
covered with the large sleeves of the cloak, and hmmed
in thought.
"This is some fight, isn't it?" he gestured at the two, glancing at Havering.
Pseudo peered
coldly at him. "...you're here for what
reason again?"
Grimmy shrugged, nodding his head at the fight. "Well, Juan bet me a rich old miser that my harbinger couldn't win in a fight with the orange one. So, I'm here to see the results for myself. If Juan wins, I gotta reap the ENTIRE passenger list of a commercial flight!" He shook his skull. "CRAZY I tell ya! I can't afford to lose this one."
Pseudo rolled his eyes and groaned, shaking his head.
The skeletal
figure glanced at him, shrugging. "Whaaat?
It's true, this is the off season for us, ya
know."
Pseudo quirked a brow. "I was not aware that the process of passing on had any set schedule."
Grimmy nodded mater-of-factly. "Oh, there is. It's pretty accurate too. But, ya see, if we told ya, we'd have to kill ya."
He paused, then added, "Seriously."
Another pause, then, "More than now even."
A hesitation, then Pseudo slowly nodded. "I see..."
Neither said a
word for a time, but just watched Multehx and Nictem beat the tar out of each other. Then, finally, Grimmy adjusted his shades and thought aloud, "You
know, it makes you wonder.."
Pseudo glanced to the cloaked one. "What's that?"
"Radishes." was the reply.
"What about them?"
"Well, how do they get their name? I mean, it's not like a common word. Someone once told me that they were, like, hippies then, and they thought they were 'rad' 'dishes' or somethin'."
"....."
"Whaat??"
"You realize, they were an utter moron, do you not?"
"Well, yeah, but I was trying to be optimistic."
"You know, I'm not sure if it's them or just you who are the true moron."
"...I'll make you die for that."
"....."
"....Uh, more." He nodded.
"Quite."
The two turned to watch the fighting again. Multehx had grabbed Nictem by the back of the head, and was slamming his face into the rock side of the room, yelling, "Kiss the wall! Kiss the wall! Kiss it you freak!!"
Pseudo smirked and Grimmy chuckled.
"That
Harbinger, he cracks me up, you know?" The being shook his skull, grinning.
"Class act, I tell ya, class act."
Then, instantly, Grimmy's eye sockets widened for a moment, he quickly pulled a black book with a fancy cover and lines out of his cloak, a golden quill appearing in his skeletal hand, and began to write furiously on a blank page of the book.
Havering frowned
and tried to look at the book closer. But when he did, the writing became all
the harder to read. When he backed off, it cleared again. Curiosity won out
over pride in a short time from finding this out.
"So, what would you be writing, anyway?" he asked the Death.
Grimmy shook his skull, continuing
writing furiously. "I can't quite understand it myself. But...well,
this is against union rules to explain, but ew-scray
it; this is
dang wierd. You know how you just get a sense
when something happens important that affects someone you know in a tragic
way?"
Havering nodded.
"Well, we
of the union sorta get that when we learn that in a
week or so, someone is going to die. Only we get names, locations, cause for
death; you name it! And, well, I
just got this horrible sense... the names of thousands appeared in my head as
'scheduled' for sometime soon, but the part that confuses me...is that only
their souls are going to leave
the physical plane by force. Their bodies shall remain in tact."
Havering rubbed his chin, frowning in thought. "That's...unusual indeed. Not even I would do that. To rend a soul from its body...it seems untimely foolish. What can be accomplished by it? And how do the bodies keep in tact??"
Grimmy shook his head, closing his hands.
"I'm not
sure. But I'd feel very safe saying C.R. probably just sensed this at the same
moment I did."
----------
C.R.'s eyes widened in shock. NO! How's it...POSSIBLE?! He shook his
head, clenching his eyes closed. It's
impossible! That...many people...lost in an instant, or will be. And stranger
yet, how they only partially die.
He opened his
eyes, gritting his teeth. It makes no
sense!
Walking up to a rock
wall with a pile of rubble in front of it, he frowned. This wasn't here before. It must have happened on
the way here.
Studying the
damage for a moment, he simply vanished. On the inside of the cave system, in
the first cavern, he simply materialized. Reorienting himself to the dimmer
light, his eyes scanned the room.
I sense the presence of Malachai...there
also seems to be some sort of 'puzzle' to open the way to him momentarily. He glanced around further, frowning. But what could it be?
(Thanks to SD for Grimmy's current name. Was rather on the spot