So yes, if you can guess why everyone is worried about Val I will be very happy. At the moment it's meant to be cryptic but I'm guessing it's easy to work out.
Val: I thought I was meant to be awesome and butt kicking?
RitS: Yeah, sorry, but my evil side is being evil…
Andrea Bacallado - You'll see if you stay tuned, and it's a bit of a cliché. I'm very happy you reviewed this!
Guest – No, North shouldn't make the eggnog too strong but he does anyway because he can't really tell when he has.
Mystichawk – I'm glad you liked the story! The robot is actually based on a robot from the Guardians of Childhood books by William Joyce.
sasha taylor – Val will be okay, I guess… Unless I feel extremely evil. I'm glad (extremely glad) that you liked my story.
ON WITH THE STORY! It's Bran this time!
Grim sighed contentedly as he held the scythe – Bran, rather – in his arms, drinking in the clinging emotions of the souls his new weapon had reaped. It was a gorgeous thing to have his full amount of power back, to be able to sever the bonds of life as he once had an age ago. The scythe may have been emotionless, but it was deadly and sang when it cut through the air.
So the Nightmare King had lost his son, boo hoo. Grim hadn't exactly achieved his heart's desire, seeing as ideally Val would have become his and cut off her relationship with Jack and become a stereotyped Queen of Darkness, but having a powerful scythe was rather better than nothing. And this scythe was potentially more powerful than Val would have been by his side.
It was the raw hybrid power that enchanted Grim about this. Even if Bran was inside the weapon, he didn't particularly care as long as the scythe was okay.
And it wasn't too bad, was it?
/
Bran shook in the small magical metal room, huddled in the corner and shaking. The deaths. The thoughts of the dead swirled throughout his mind and screamed out to him, pleading for his mercy while his power was ripped from him to strip their life force away from them. The ghosts stayed with him while more died and casts of thousands freaking screamed profanities and sad stories at him.
He really wanted to get out, but the room didn't have a door. What was the point in a room that didn't have a door? This was insane, and he wanted it to end. He didn't think he could put up with this much longer. There was that horrible girl, the Morrigan's daughter, who had been killed by the scythe and came to talk at him for hours at a time.
A ghost tapped his shoulder and he turned his head (did he still have a head?) towards her. Oh, great. It was Little Miss Annoying Ray of Sunshine herself.
"Hey, so I was wondering, what's it like giving him all this power?" Her eyes shone. By the shadows, she was sincerely and utterly obsessed with Grim, and he wouldn't have liked to have been in Grim's shoes had she managed to become his scythe. As the daughter of the dread goddess she could appear in three aspects, but for him usually chose to appear as a teenager with dreadlocked red hair, gothic crimson top and orange jeans. She looked like a barefoot pumpkin that had been set aflame.
"I find it to be pure purgatory," he spat, turning and facing the wall.
She made a face. "You would think that. I'd have loved to do what you're doing. I literally died for it. You're just an ungrateful priss." She turned her back on him and began to sing a little and he closed his eyes and basked in the music. She may have been annoying and obsessive and creepy, but she was a good singer.
He thought of something and fought the death filling his mind to talk to her. "Don't you miss your mother?"
She blinked, and seemingly mulled it over. "I guess I do slightly, but she doesn't really care for me. She may be up in arms about my death, but she never would have cared had I not died in the process." Her hair fell over her face and he guessed she was crying. He got up and awkwardly put an arm around her shoulders, thankful for once he was inside the staff so that he didn't simply pass through her.
She looked up in surprise. "Hey, I thought you were in purgatory." He looked at her, very embarrassed. "I am. But you are too, so…" He removed his arm and went to sit back down. "It's awful, knowing that so many people die. He only stops taking souls when he decides to go out and even then this bloody prison takes people's lives."
She looked at him. "Ah, it's the deaths that bother you? That's why Val would have been ideal, she could have telethingummy blocked them. He always was so set on getting that little Princess to become his queen…"
He turned back to her. "It's telepathically. And it still would have bothered her, and she would have broken the scythe. And she wouldn't have ever become his queen. She loves Jack, for one, and she loves the people of Earth for another. She will never associate herself with the person who tortured Fabian, if you need another reason." He tried not to let this stuck up little girl get to him, but in truth that plan wasn't working very well.
She stared at him. "You're a dark spirit too. Why are you so close to her?" She seemed actually amazed that he knew anything at all about the Lunar Princess. He sighed. "Because I tried to use her for my own means too, and ended up becoming friends with her due to a fault." He really didn't want to discuss stuff like that with her when she was completely blinded by her love for Grim, and when in all probability she wouldn't understand.
She came a little closer. "Do you love her?" He was surprised by her understanding and nodded. "She's like my sister and Jack is my brother. When I first met her, I did fall a little way in love with her but soon she was my best friend rather than a love interest. I wouldn't let anything harm the two of them-"
"And you didn't," she continued for him, a little smile upon her face, that for once was rather genuine and kind. "You protected the people you loved. I've always just messed up to get attention. My mom was never a mumsy type if you know what I mean, and she always left me to my own devices. Grim told me I was powerful, and I know he loves power. He made me feel worthwhile so I wanted to help him when his scythe began to crack. He was utterly distraught. I couldn't protect him from that even though I love him."
Bran chuckled in a bitter manner. "Really?" He sincerely doubted that. She simply had a crush that had turned into obsession with Grim. She glared at him before vanishing. Ah, well. For a short while there she had been good company. And she was right; he had protected the people that he loved. But they probably didn't see it like that, if he knew anything about the pair of them. Jack was probably blaming himself and Valentina was most likely on her own or with him feeling absolutely miserable. He had to get out of here…
What about Grim? He was probably happy, and from what Bran had been able to learn about him that was a bit of a rare occurrence. Did he have the right to take away that happiness? And would that girl forgive him?
It was a tricky problem, if you wanted to put it lightly. He wished he could call her back and ask her what her name was. She probably knew his, but he didn't know hers. Maybe he could get through this if they kept each other company.
He decided instead to think about why she didn't like Val. Aside from being a rival, Val had actually broke her mind (although the girl seemed pretty much stable now) so that can't have helped things. Maybe it was seeing the person she was obsessed with obsessed with someone else who was far greater than you in rank and power. Perhaps that wasn't exactly a nice thing to witness.
