Chapter 2
Death's Greeting


"I will never understand you humans." a voice slithered into Gregor's ear. "So easily won by emotion. So overcome… that you forget your fear of death." It continued. "Or did you even fear death in the first place?" it seemed to smile in his ear, making him shiver.

Gregor groaned. Where the heck was he? Why was it pitch black? And where was that voice coming from? More importantly, what was it? He blinked and tried to sit upwards. He couldn't see anything. He rubbed his eyes, but the darkness still tugged at his eyes. Was he blind? Gregor clicked his tongue, hoping to find something useful with his echolocation, but found nothing, which creeped him out even more.

"Oh you won't find anything here," the voice sounded amused. "But I'm surprised you know echolocation. Well, I assume you know echolocation since you are clicking… unless you're simply a clicking idiot who can only communicate through clicks like those damn Crawlers." The voice sighed. Gregor glared into the seemingly infinite darkness.

"Who are you? Where am I?" he demanded. "Show yourself!" He put his fists in front of his face, ready for a fight. His heart raced and he started to breathe faster.

"Bold too," it was behind him now. "I can see why you are the top candidate for the job. Of course, I have yet to examine your fighting ability. Although, based on the amount of people you sent to me, I'd say you are quite the fighter."

Gregor spun around and thrust out his fist in front of him, but nothing happened. He could only hear the shifting of something moving around…What the heck was it talking about? Top candidate? Gregor tried to close his eyes and make sense of everything. Maybe he had been kidnapped and had a bag over his head. No… that didn't make any sense. His hands and legs were still free. Wait a minute. Last he remembered, he was at the river and… Gregor's eyes shot open.

Didn't he die? Gregor frowned and took a deep breath before talking again.

"Let me ask again. Who are you? Where am I?" he feared the worst as the voice started speaking again.

"Ah, I might as well tell you everything anyway, since you're awake now." As the voice rambled, the darkness seemed to take form into a tall, lean man. It then began to form a top hat and a thick, heavy raincoat that seemed to glow with blackness that blanketed the intimidating man. His face was covered by some shroud, but Gregor could still make out the faintest of expressions on it. "You're a deep sleeper, you know that?" the figure groaned.

Gregor didn't say anything and merely stared in shock.

"I go by many names," the figure walked slowly with intention. "But many people just call me… Death." the dark man stated, somewhat bored, waving a limp hand towards himself. Gregor froze. Death? He was talking to Death? How was that even possible? Since when was Death a person?

"Yes, yes. You can get over your initial shock later. No need to get on your knees and flatter me just yet, Warrior." Death scoffed with a smirk.

"…So does this mean I didn't die? If not, then where am I?" Gregor backed away slowly.

"My goodness," Death sighed as crossed his arms and stared at Gregor. "So many questions. That's what I'm starting to hate about you. Everything that pours out of your mouth is a question. A fountain of questions. Marvelous. What is this? What is that?" He yawned. "Very well. Here are your answers: Yes, you are dead. I killed you so you could come here and help me. Simple. Now, let's cut to the chase. I-"

"Wait. Hold up." Gregor stopped him, sure he heard wrong, "Did you just say you killed me?"

"Ah, yes. That." Death smiled. "Well I didn't exactly kill you. You killed yourself. I only…aided the process. All it took was a little push. A little provocation, if you will. In this case, I provoked you with your Underland memories. And you fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker," he grinned as he raised his fist.

At that moment, Gregor lost it. He launched himself at Death and threw out his fists at the man in a fit of rage. Death simply stared at him with a dull expression and watched as Gregor's fists passed right through him. Growling, Gregor jumped backwards slightly, momentarily confused by the event. He then threw a kick, but ended up with the same result. After a flurry of kicks, punches, and yelps of rage being thrown at the man, Gregor finally stopped and eventually just glared at the tall man, who seemed to laugh at him from behind the shroud that covered his face.

"Interesting. You restrain yourself faster than most of the others." Death strode towards Gregor. "Some take hours to get over their anguish. I think I was right to choose you."

"Choose me for what?" Gregor spat. "Being your executioner?" There was an eerie silence that followed his comment, suddenly making Gregor quite nervous. He looked up and froze. Death bore his eyes into Gregor's and a strange expression took on his face. The next second, he did something Gregor didn't expect. Death laughed.

"EXECUTIONER?" Death guffawed. "HAHAHAHA! Good one!" he gasped for air as he doubled over. He continued to laugh and gasp as Gregor stepped back, flinching at the sight. Since when did Death have a reputation of being so… charismatic?

"Oh, yes. I like you very much." Death managed to stifle his laughter and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Ah… sadly no. I do not need an executioner. Death doesn't require one. But I may make an exception for you." He winked. "But no, I need you to get something for me. If you do, you can go back to your life again and do all your little shenanigans." Gregor blinked. He didn't expect to be taken so lightly. Was this guy really death? He acted far too lightly to fit the role.

"So what, exactly, do I need to get?" Gregor asked suspiciously.

"My tool. That thing I'm always represented with. What's it called in mortal terms?" he furrowed his brow. He snapped his fingers repeatedly, muttering under his breath. "Ah yes. My scythe." He clapped his hands together. "Several reprobates from the depths of my prison escaped to the Underland and took it with him. He and his friends are causing all sorts of problems, raising an army from the dead and whatnot." Death wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Stealing my ideas and using much of my power in that scythe. And they say I'm the demon." He scowled.

"Why not just go and get it yourself?" Gregor narrowed his eyes. "Why choose me – a mortal?"

"Because," Death grimaced. "I'm Death. If I leave this place, everything will become chaos. The balance will be unstable. The whole system of life and death will be changed as we know it. "

"Okay then…" Gregor looked around. "Why not just kill the guy who stole your scythe like how you killed me. He'll end up here, won't he?" Gregor countered, still not ready to trust so easily.

"I can deal with men who escape me. That happens all the time." Death scoffed. "What I cannot deal with are men who escape… AND steal my scythe. That scythe grants them immunity from, well, Death itself." He frowned.

"What?" exclaimed Gregor, "How am I supposed to go and get it if I can't kill the culprit? And how can you lose your own scythe?" Death rolled his eyes.

"Killing is always the solution with you, isn't it? Simply knock him out or take the scythe away. Simple! No need for killing, which is my expertise, unfortunately." Death stood up. "So, I am going to send you to the Underland. I don't know exactly where the thief is, since the scythe masks his presence, but I can send you to where I think he'll be. Also, I can't keep watch of my scythe all the time. Don't blame me." Death growled. He then seemed to remember something and rummaged for something in his pockets. Finally, he took something out. "Here."

Death tossed a dark bracelet to Gregor. He caught it expertly and tried to examine it. But before he could take a look at it, the bracelet seemed to come to life and latched onto his arm. Gregor squeaked in surprise for a moment as it nestled onto his arm. We waved his arm and pulled at the bracelet, but it stubbornly stayed put.

"No, keep that on. Whenever you need to fight, twist it and you'll be fitted with the appropriate armor and weapons that I chose for you. Tap the bracelet hard to revert it. It may also help you in times of other needs." He smiled. "Think of it as a gift for your new recruitment. Oh yes, and before I forget." Death crossed over the Gregor and placed a hand on his cheek. "This may sting a bit, so hold on."

Suddenly, Gregor's cheek burned with intense heat as Death traced some pattern on it with his bony finger.

"Augghhh!" Gregor gritted his teeth. "What the hell-" He tore away from Death, holding his cheek tenderly.

"I've branded you temporarily. Just to show that you work for me at the moment." Death yawned. "It's not too bad. Here, take a look." Death pulled out a mirror.

Gregor looked into the mirror and turned his cheek. There, in the middle of his cheek, was a design of a skull sitting on top of a pile of bones. Gregor grimaced. It sure didn't look good on him. He'd probably be better off going to a rookie tattoo artist and getting him to draw on his face while he was on a skateboard. He traced it several times and looked back at Death with a defiant stare.

"Wait. I never agreed to this." Gregor tried to cut in. "I don't want to have anything to do with the Underland anymore." He crossed his arms. Death merely threw him an exasperated look.

"I don't think you have a choice. Bring me the scythe, and then you choose what you want to do. Those are the terms, Warrior. Now go."

"But-" Gregor tried to object, but Death cut him off with a wave of the hand.

"I doubt you didn't want to go back to the Underland, Warrior." Death rolled his eyes. "Just think about how you got here, remember? Hook, line, and sinker?" he cleared his throat pretentiously.

"Then why am I doing this?" Gregor called out. "That means I don't have a reason for doing this if I want to go to the Underland, right?"

"Good point." Death laughed. "Don't worry I'll think of something." Death smiled eerily. Suddenly, Gregor regretted saying that. But before he could say something, Death interrupted.

"Good luck, Warrior. Oh, and by the way, welcome back to the Underland."

Gregor was about to retort again, but then masses of darkness seemed to envelop Gregor in a cocoon. The last thing Gregor saw was Death waving goodbye. Gregor would later swear he saw a strange, warm smile crossing Death's face before the mass took his eyes.


AN: Rewrite for Chapter 2 is finished! (7/19/2012)

I don't know if you guys can read the subtle changes I made, but enjoy anyway!