This story was written as an assignment in my English class. We were to create a Cinderella story incorporating most of the archetypes, but use a different culture. I decided to use my own land of Death for the culture, as it was sure to be unique.
Rated T for mention of suicide and death.
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The day was bright, gentle breezes carrying the cool air of spring. A handsome young man ran up the hill, his black hair falling into his pale face and dark eyes. He carried water buckets from his family's well, to quench the dying fire.
The fire was nearly extinguished, stopped that morning by the dew. The smoke had darkened the bright blue skies of spring. Ilar rushed forward and threw water on the fire before hurrying back down the hill to get more.
The day before he had been in the village buying new tools for the farm, when it had ended late, he had spent the night with a friend.
He had returned early that morning only to find his house ablaze and his neighbors trying to put the fire out. He had pushed down his panic enough to help, but now that it was nearly out he worried for his family. He had not seen them and his neighbors told him not to worry, but they must have been inside the house when it burned.
When he returned to the top of the hill with his water, the fire was out. He dropped the buckets and ran into the ruins. Nearly unrecognizable bodies were on the floor, burned and blackened crisps. The floor was hot and wet, but he paid it no mind as he dropped to his knees. He cradled his head in his hands and the tears slipped down his face.
Footsteps sounded behind him and a warm hand was laid on his shoulder. He was hardly conscious through his grief as he was taken to his neighbor's house.
Soft hands bandaged his burned knees and laid him in a straw bed. The comforting presence stayed by until he fell asleep.
His dreams were filled with images of his family burning into dust. Even in the dreams he couldn't get rid of his guilt for leaving and jesting as his family burned. He struggled to help them, throw water on them, anything, but they burned over and over.
He woke in a cold sweat and clambered off the bed. Voices spoke to him though he paid them no heed. "Ilar, where are you going?" "Come back!" "You need rest!"
Ilar staggered through the grief to the outside. He blindly walked, feeling against the wall, until he found the tools for farming. He picked up the first ones he touched, shears. Ignoring the voices in the background, he stabbed the blade into his chest. The pain in his chest was nothing compared to the pain in his soul, and as the world went dark one pain slipped away but the other grew.
***
A dark figure stood above him, nudging him awake. He groaned and sat up on a comfortable bed with his head in his hands. It ached like he had split it with an axe. Rough hands pulled him to his feet.
"Well, looks like you're one of us," a female voice spoke in his ear. Ilar jumped and turned around and saw a middle-aged stately woman wearing white clothes and holding some kind of sprout in her hand. Behind her were several other figures, one wearing white but the others wearing black.
His grief forgotten he asked curiously, "What do you mean? I've never seen any of you before."
An old woman cackled and turned her ugly face to him, "You died with a similar attitude to us, boy. Your job is now to kill mortals, like us."
The mention of his death struck hard and he felt as though slapped. The stately woman spoke again. "It is time to be going, you will have a day of rest and then your work begins." She pointed to a map and continued "Your job will be to kill the mortals of this region who are nearing the end of their life-force. If you need help you may take a helper."
A large man with one eye looked at Ilar and said, "Come t' terms with you death, junge. You need to be prepared for your job. 'Tis'nt likely you'll find your family so don't even try. They'll have been scattered to the four corners of death. Your weapon will be the weapon you worked with in life. It's over there in the corner."
Ilar lay back on the bed and looked about himself. The room was white stoned and the sky out the window was bright as morning, the clouds dusting mountains in the distance. He looked in the corner and saw a black handled scythe. He turned away from it and thought of his family, but his new duties haunted him and a bleak presence hovered over his shoulder.
**********
The harvest moon was bright and large, and the wind whistled. A lovely young woman hurried through the woods, leaves dancing around her. Her skin was as pale as her gown was white, and her cloak was grey as winter. Her hair was long and red, the sign of a fairy's daughter.
Fíne hurried to the village, on the other side of the woods. Her wedding to a stranger was nigh upon her, and the betrothal ceremony was that night. She had not wanted to marry one she knew not, but it was useless to argue with her father. He had insisted that the stranger would take care of her. She had not meant to be late, but the druid had taken more time than thought to complete the bride preparations. She pulled her cloak closer and walked even faster.
The bare limbs of the trees seemed to reach for her. The animals made no sound but branches creaked in the night. Fíne looked around anxiously but could not see anything worth running from. She shook herself to get rid of the cowardly fear.
A loud crack filled the air and she spun to find the source. As soon as her back was turned, a gloved hand covered her mouth and another held her arms. She struggled as hard as she could, until a cold point was held under her throat. She froze and looked at her captors. There were only two, but they were large and formidable. The one holding the knife spoke, "Your money, changeling, give it to us."
"I don't have any money," she stuttered in reply as the gloved hand uncovered her mouth. The dagger scraped her throat, drawing blood. She made no noise, used to the scratching branches of the woods.
His face came nearer to her own as he hissed, "You lie. How else could you wear such rich clothes?"
"I am supposed to be at my betrothal ceremony. My clothes were made for this time," she paused as the men grew angry. "They are probably looking for me now."
When an ugly grin split his face, she regretted saying that. He leaned closer and she could smell his nasty breath. "Then we will just have to kill you and leave this blasted forest."
The sharp edge retracted back and she struggled in blind panic even as she felt it plunge into her heart. The dagger pulled out and she grabbed for her heart as the hands let go of her. Blood dripped through her fingers and she fell to her knees. The forest tilted sideways and the world went dark. The pain slipped away and she relaxed into the comforting darkness.
***
When she awoke the sky was the color of twilight and the stars shone brightly. She sat up and clabbered to her feet. The world spun dangerously and she fell backwards.
"What are you doing here?" a haughty voice spoke into the cold air
Fíne looked up and saw a beautiful woman with large brown wings on her back. She felt as though her jaw may have fallen off but she managed to answer. "I don't know. All I remember is the pain and the world going black."
The woman looked thoughtful and glanced Fíne over once more before speaking in a softer tone. "You died, young one, and this is the land of Death. You must have appeared here for some reason, but you don't have the wings of an angel. For now we will let you live near the angel barracks. Be careful not to disturb us though."
When the woman had said we Fíne had looked around and noticed the other winged people around her. While none of them looked antagonistic, none of them looked friendly either. At the woman's final word they all gone without glancing back at her and Fíne was left alone.
She got to her feet and walked around, the rocky cliffs so different from the woods of her homeland. A large ornate building stood behind her and the winged beings flew through the tall doors.
Unsure of what to do, Fíne wandered around aimlessly. The woman had said that she may live near the large building but there were no other homes around. She walked up a large hill and watched the moon and the stars.
'I may as well live here' she thought, and lay down to ponder this strange world.
***
The materials had been hard to find but eventually she had made a semblance of a building, though in death even the nonsensical look of her home looked right. Building her home had been easier than expected because of her new friend.
She had been gathering food. It was still needed in death, though only because Death had wanted his land to be as familiar as possible. Then she had heard shouts. The shouts had been inhuman but Fíne had been unable to quell her curiosity and had followed the noises.
In a large clearing surrounded by tall stones, she had seen several demons surrounding a smaller one. The smaller one had wings and horns and looked every bit the demon, but he still managed to look frightened and kind. The larger demons had closed around him threateningly and the small one had let loose a nervous chuckle.
Fíne had almost left, guessing that interfering in demon affairs would not be good, when the larger demons had started hitting the younger one.
Unable to stop herself Fíne had climbed down to the clearing and, following her instincts, begun to sing. Her song had been eerie and sad, even to herself, but the demons had dropped the younger one and backed away, confused.
She couldn't stop herself and just kept singing until the smaller demon had shaken her awake. When she had come to her senses, she noticed that the largest of the demons was apparently dead and the others were close to it.
She had watched the demon's soul step out of his body and speed away, when the others began crawling off. She had fallen to her knees, stunned, when the small demon spoke to her.
"Wow! That was really cool. That ability could be useful. Thanks for saving me by the way," his voice was friendly and alleviated the sense that she had done something horribly wrong. "My name is Itzal."
"Fíne," she replied through the shock.
As Itzal later told her, demons were some of the living creatures of Death and if they died, they were just reborn. When she had asked him why, he had replied that since demons were not dead human souls Death had given them that semblance of life so they could understand humans.
Itzal had helped her since then and they were already friends despite his being a demon. He had helped her build her home and adjust to death and her so-called gift, while she had helped him learn to stand up to the demons who bullied him.
**********
Ilar groaned in frustration as he sat at his desk. With the plague coming he was getting close to getting overwhelmed with all the mortals to kill. He got almost no rest before he was called back to the living world.
"What are you doing here?" a young voice asked him, "I thought you were still in the mortal world."
Ilar turned around to see Thanatos, one of the youngest soul collectors.
"I left early this morning and I needed a rest. My replacement agreed to come early." Ilar turned back to the paperwork on his desk and set his pen back on the paper.
"You look really busy."
"There are a lot of people who need to die in my region. And when I get back I have to write a report about my day. So of course I am really busy." He felt bad about snapping, but he really needed to get it done.
Thanatos just leaned on the desk and asked, "Then why don't you look for a helper? Ker helps me and I get a lot more fun time that way"
Ilar set his pen down and turned to face Thanatos. "I forgot about that," he said in surprise. "But I don't know anyone besides the other collectors."
He leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers, thinking. All of a sudden he had it. He sat up straight and voiced his idea, "I can observe people at the Hallowe'en Eve party, and ask one of them to help."
Thanatos looked exited, "I forgot that was in a few weeks, I can't wait! We usually invite everyone and I can't wait to see my fiends! You should ask Grimnir about your idea, it would be great if more people can come."
He nearly floated out of the room as he thought aloud about the party. Ilar watched in amusement before tidying his pen and ink. He could work on his report later, for now he needed to talk to Grimnir.
**********
"Bean Sí, why're you even living near us," a petulant voice asked. Fíne nearly groaned in annoyance at the name. "You aren't an angel, so you shouldn't be included with us."
She turned around to retort, "Your leader said that I could live here, and as far as I know I am not included with the angels."
The angel fluttered her wings as if she had not heard and spoke again, "Just this week, you were included in a message to us. It's our home and we've been here longer."
"Angels are the messengers of Death, so that is probably the reason that I was included. The sender most likely thought that you would just tell me anyway. What was the message about anyway?" Fíne asked angrily. She hadn't heard about a message, which she should have been if it was about her.
The angel seemed taken aback at her anger and her wings fidgeted as if she wished to leave. "It was the standard invitation to the Hallowe'en Eve celebration. I guess you didn't know about it since you've only been dead for months, huh, Bean Sí."
Fíne was silent as she stalked back to her home, ignoring the water she had gotten from the stream and the angel standing there. How dare they neglect to tell her? Though that was a good point about angels, they never lied. It was Hallowe'en Eve that night and she hadn't even heard about the party.
As she pushed the curtain covering the opening to her home, she stopped. She probably would have stayed home from the party, had she heard about it before. However she would go to spite the angels, to show them that they couldn't stop her from being part of the afterlife.
She turned and walked to the Angel Barracks, ignoring the angels looking down their noses at her. She knocked on the large doors.
They opened soundlessly and Adela, leader of the angels, stood in front of her.
Fíne curtsied, it was always best to be polite, and asked, "I heard that there was a message for me." She looked expectantly at the woman in front of her.
"I will go get it." Adela turned on her heel without even a return curtsey and walked down the hall.
When she returned she was holding a scroll, which she handed to Fíne without a word.
Fíne curtseyed again and left the Barracks. She needed to prepare.
*****
It had taken a while to get a costume, but Fíne had eventually resorted to sneaking into the Angel Barracks and borrowing clothes from the angel who had been taunting her, she had left a note asking. After putting on her costume she had started the long trek to the Palace. It was one of the rare times that she felt envious of the angels.
She walked on the worn path, keeping her eyes on the mountains and the palace in the distance. At this rate it would take her until well past nightfall to get there. She sighed but continued on.
Suddenly a voice called down to her from above, "Hey! Fíne! Need a ride?"
She looked up to see Itzal grinning down at her from a demon carriage. "Sure!" she called back.
Itzal jumped off of the perch of the carriage and spread his large bat-like wings, landing gracefully on the ground. Before she could even ask why he needed a carriage if she could fly, she was being carried to the coach.
The seconds without the comfort of the ground beneath her were short and she was set down with her heart in her mouth. She swallowed and quickly sat on the seat of the carriage. Itzal sat back on the perch and urged the mount to start flying again.
"If you need a ride back, be sure to meet us by the carriage at midnight. Tomorrow is going to be a late night," Itzal said.
"Sure."
"How are you?" a curious female voice asked.
Fíne nearly jumped out of her skin but turned around to see a snakelike demoness sitting next to her. Well, that explained why Itzal had taken the coach. "Uh, I'm good I guess."
"Why didn't you tell me you were going to the party? I would have offered to give you a ride earlier," Itzal called to her.
"Well I didn't know that there was a party tonight until I was told today."
"That's too bad, I could've helped you get a fantastic costume," the demoness said, "Oh yes my name is Devika." She held her scaled hand out.
"My name is Fíne." Fíne looked blankly at the offered hand.
"You are supposed to shake it," Devika whispered in a humored tone. Fíne took the hand and laughed with Devika as she shook it.
"What are you two laughing about back there," Itzal asked in mock anger.
Fíne and Devika grinned at each other before simultaneously saying, "Nothing, let's go to the party."
**********
Itzal had never liked parties; they were too crowded for his taste. The only thing that made it bearable was the standard feast. Itzal adjusted his ridiculous costume as he idly took a sip of the pomegranate juice. He didn't understand why he had agreed to let Thanatos choose his costume; it was very hard to move in the huge black hooded robe.
He sighed and stared around the large hallway. He had spoken to and observed many of the people that were there already. None of them seemed to have a good enough ability, or personality to work with him.
He glanced around the room again, pushing up the annoying hood to his costume. It kept falling into his eyes. Only a demon couple had entered and Ilar didn't feel like talking to them. He finished his juice and turned back to the refreshment table.
Unawares, he bumped into the person behind him. "Oh. Sorry. I did not see you there."
The person he had bumped into was a young woman wearing a wedding gown and veil. He couldn't quite see her face through the thin fabric but it looked like she was smiling at him.
"No it was my fault. I should have told you I was standing behind you," her voice was soft and pretty.
She seemed nice and he did not want to go back to standing there bored, so he began to talk to her.
"So... Uh, do you like it in the afterlife?" He nearly hit himself, of course she wouldn't like being dead.
"It is alright I suppose. The lands are very beautiful. There are no annoying bugs or diseases in the afterlife. There is always enough water and food to go around."
Ilar was relieved; at least she didn't feel that he had been rude. "I heard that there is a part of the afterlife where all the bugs go when they have died."
She looked surprised, though it was hard to tell through the veil. "Really?"
Ilar went on to explain about the afterlife and their conversation carried them through the night.
**********
Fíne sipped at her pomegranate juice as she listened to her new friend talk about the huge lizards that lived past the Death Valley. She was enjoying herself more than she had thought she would, and she was almost forgetting to keep checking the sundial.
"Oh, yes. I have been meaning to ask you. Do you have any special ability since you died?"
Fíne was a bit surprised by the sudden change in subject. "Yes, I can sing living beings to death." She blushed at her morbid ability, hoping he would not think her horrible.
He looked surprised as he pushed his falling hood back up. "Really, that is amazing. Can you show me?"
"Well, I don't want to in here." He looked a bit let down so she amended, "There are demons in here and I don't want to kill them, even if they do get reborn."
He looked like he understood as he gently grabbed her hand. "Come on," he said, "We can go outside, I doubt there are many people outside, probably just ghosts and angels."
She smiled and let him pull her outside. The sky was fully dark and the crescent moon illuminated the sky. Fog rolled off the surrounding mountain tops, before dissipating close to where they stood.
Her new friend let go of her hand and looked at her expectantly. Fíne looked at him nervously, "I do not know if you will like the song very much, but I will sing it anyway.
She opened her mouth and poured her song out. She started the eerie tune softly at first, but her song took over and she found herself singing louder.
When she stopped singing she realized that there were others watching. Suddenly nervous she fiddled with a loose string on her sleeve.
"That was a beautiful song," her new friend said in her ear. She nearly jumped but just nodded shyly, acutely aware of the observers around her. They were clapping now and she wasn't sure that she could take all of their attention. There were so many of them.
Her friend noticed her discomfort and pulled her inside, calling excuses to the audience.
The inside was much less crowded than before. Fíne realized how late it must have been and quickly walked over to the sundial. It read five until midnight.
"I was wondering if--" Her friend was asking her but she cut him off.
"I have to go, I did not realize how late it was getting." She turned and started running to the door, intent on getting to the carriage before it was too late.
"Wait!" She heard the cry but hurried on, she would have to find him later. For now she just needed to get to the carriage. She pushed through the crowds of people headed to their own carriages and hurried to the demon coach.
Itzal was there, looking impatient. He pulled her aboard, complaining at her lateness. She paid him no heed as she sat down next to Devika and looked out the window. She would have to find her new friend tomorrow.
*********
Ilar was depressed. He had finally found someone to help him, and then she had left before he had the chance. And he hadn't even asked for her name either! He sighed.
His ever annoying shadow came up to him with his sister, Ker.
"What are you so sad about?" Thanatos asked, looking concerned.
Ilar sighed again, "I finally found someone who could help me, but she had to leave before I got to ask her."
"I'm sorry. If you want, I can share Ker with you."
Ker gave her older brother a reproachful look and opened her mouth to argue. Ilar quickly intervened, "I will just look for her tomorrow. I did not see her face but I will just have to ask women to sing. At least I will be able to rule out old women and young girls."
"I can help!" Thanatos nearly yelled. Ilar shook his head quickly.
"I do not need help," he added quickly. "Just tell Grimnir that I am using one of my vacation days in the morning." Ilar walked to his room, ready to get a good night's sleep before his search. Hopefully he would find her.
*********
Fíne quietly climbed the stairs in the Angel barracks. She had taken off her costume and was returning it. She glanced around nervously, but none of the angels had returned yet.
She had just reached the room where she had gotten the clothes when she heard; "Stop right there."
Fíne turned around with her heart in her stomach, behind her stood Adela with several angels. "What do you have in your hands?" Adela asked with the air of someone who already knew.
"I just borrowed this. I was going to put it back."
Adela flew up to her and snatched the dress and veil out of her hands. Fíne winced and looked away.
"I see you are a thief. I would not have let you live near us if I knew this was going to happen." Her voice was soft and cruel she ignored Fíne's protests. "In punishment, you will gather all of the water and wood that the Angel Barracks need for the next month."
"But-"
"The next two months, then" Adela's voice sounded like ice.
"I left a note! Besides you all never even told me that the par-"
"Shall we make it three?" Fíne shut her mouth and looked away angrily. Adela looked smug as she turned and flew away. The angels that had come with her glared contemptuously at Fíne, before they too turned and left.
Fíne was so angry she could hardly think. She had been planning on finding her friend in the morning, but that would apparently have to wait for two months. The Barracks were huge and it would take her hours each day to get what they needed. She couldn't even argue because Adela was the highest ranking official of Death for miles.
She had somehow gotten to her home in her anger. She stomped through the curtain door and dropped onto her bed.
'It is not fair' she thought repeatedly as she lay there. 'It is not fair'
*********
The Angel Barracks loomed on the horizon. Ilar had been searching all morning and he was getting impatient. He wasn't even a close to being done with the land south of the Veiled Mountains.
He knew she wasn't an angel, the lack of wings had made that obvious, but the angels would know if there were any women around.
Ilar had never really liked angels; they were so high and mighty. And now he had to ask them for help. He got off his mount and grudgingly waked up to the door.
Before he could even knock the door was opening. The angel that was flying out knocked him over.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" he knew that voice. Adela was the Head of the Angel Council and had greeted him when he had become a Soul Collector. She had seemed nice enough, but the way she acted made it seem as if she thought she was better than everyone. He did not like Adela.
He nearly groaned but caught himself. If anyone were to know where his friend might be, she would be the person to ask.
"It is nothing. My I ask for your assistance?" he politely asked.
Adela looked taken aback but answered confidently, "Yes you may. I will help you find a solution, I am sure."
"I need your help to find a woman I met at the Celebration last night."
Adela smirked, "Ah, your fair ladylove. But why do you need to look, surely you could recognize her?"
Ilar felt his face flame up. "No. No! I just wanted to ask her to work with me," he paused, embarrassed, before adding, "I couldn't recognize her because she wore a veil."
Adela smiled knowingly, "How will you recognize her then?"
"She sings very distinctively. It is impossible to get her singing confused with someone else's."
"Then I will ask all of the female angels to come sing for you."
He was too embarrassed to tell her that it wasn't an angel, but he might as well get a rest from travelling.
*********
Fíne frowned as she heard the sound of singing. She had just returned from gathering firewood for the Barracks. She still had more to get, but she walked to the front of the building.
She stood at the corner, careful not to let Adela see her 'being idle'. In front of the Angel Barracks were almost all of the female angels. The girls and elderly angels were sitting to the side watching the solo singer. Behind the singer was a line of angels, all fluttering their wings impatiently. In front of the solo singer was Adela and the friend she had made the last night.
She nearly ran up to him, but stopped herself. She did not want to get in trouble with Adela. She would have to wait until he was leaving.
Her friend interrupted the singer, "No it was not you." He turned to Adela and spoke to her, "It was not an angel I met last night, she did not have wings. I'll just go keep looking"
Fíne almost ran to tell him it was her then, but Adela looked angry. "You refuse to listen to all of these angels, just because they are angels? You shouldn't be biased like that."
"It is not because they are angels, it is because she was not!" his voice was rising and he turned to walk away, Adela grabbed his arm.
Fíne threw caution to the wind; she would face the consequences from Adela later. "Wait! I saw you last night sir!"
Adela and Ilar both turned to face her. Adela looked even more furious than before. "You should be doing your pun-"
Fíne ignored her, "I can sing to show you." She should have taken off the veil, or told him her name. Something!
"Go ahead," he looked at her intently. She could tell he recognized her.
So she sang. Her eerie song filled the air. The angels looked surprised at the sound but none of them left their places. Fíne sang without stopping, but she was interrupted by her friend hugging her.
"I finally found you! It took so long." He let go of her sheepishly. "I am sorry that I never told you my name. I should have. My name is Ilar and I am a Soul Collector for the mortal world. I was wondering if you would like to work with me."
Fíne was surprised by the gesture of affection, he hadn't seemed the type, but answered his question. "Yes I would love to work with you. My name is Fíne."
"I hate to interrupt this joyous reunion, but Fíne you are still being punished for stealing."
"You stole something?" Ilar looked a bit impressed.
"I did not steal anything, I left a note. I should not have to get all of your water and firewood."
"You are making her do your chores? But Thanatos told me that the angels get paid their necessary supplies for their message service."
Adela didn't say anything.
Ilar spoke again, "Since it is obvious that Fíne did not steal and you already get the things that she was providing, she can come work with me."
Ignoring Adela, Ilar gently pulled Fíne to the headless horse he had been riding. He climbed onto the steed and Fíne sat behind him.
The angels watched in shock as Ilar and Fíne rode the headless horse to the mountains in the distance.
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Thank you for reading. Please review thoughtfully. No flames please, but I would like constructive criticism.