Part 4 of 5, just one update left to go after this.
Disclaimer: This is a dumb tradition, especially since disclaimers are completely pointless, but I find them sort of endearing, so that's I use. Don't own Adventure Time.
"Drink the water," the talking skull by her feet kept telling her, Betty being smart enough to not quite heed its request just yet.
She had found the Land of the Dead to be not as frightening as she had imagined that it would be, although, there was still an easiness that she felt whenever she saw one of the walking skeletons that kept following her and Death from the shadows where the skeletons had felt positive that they were out of her sight. However, they weren't, and every time Betty looked in the direction of one of them, she felt that there was something that they wanted from her.
Ignoring them, she and Death were standing just off to the side of a bridge, staring at the river that flowed in front of them. It was water that the talking skull apparently wanted her to drink, and as she looked at the water, she wondered if maybe that wasn't such a bad idea, after all. Before she wouldn't have ever thought to even think about taking advice from a skull of all things, though before she also didn't believe in the supernatural either, but her time spent in the afterlife had taught her that things or people weren't always what they appeared to be.
"Is the water safe?" Betty asked quietly, not taking her eyes off the river that had somehow enchanted her.
"That depends on your definition of safety," Death responded, also watching the river that had taken so many memories in the time that it had been there.
"What do you mean?"
She still didn't look at him, still wanting to maybe actually go through to the skull's request, and she remained quiet, just as Death was, and listened closely to the flowing water in front of her. The sound it made reminded her of the mountains where Death had taken her to when he had first reaped her, it also reminded her of the forest in which they taken a stroll, and it had a sort of calming aura about it, even in this Dead Land that she found herself in.
"I don't think it's something that you want," Death finally said after the silence that had come over Betty and himself. Her soul was rather pleasant compared to many of the others that were his duty to reap, and he thought that it would be a shame for the water's effect to claim her mind.
Hearing this, Betty couldn't help but look towards Death and laugh. She wasn't sure if that was concern that she heard in his voice, especially considering the inconceivable number of souls and the dead whom Death had encountered due to his job, but she found comfort in the fact that maybe the old Valkyrie actually had a smidgen of care for what happened to her. Though, she felt that it didn't actually matter in the long run, of course taking into account the fact that her life had already ended.
"What's the worst that can happen? I'm already dead, you know?"
Frowning, Death thought for a moment and didn't say anything in return. He was one of the most powerful beings in existence, and as such he knew that there were certain things that could happen to a soul that were much worse than simply dying. All he had to do was think about the great Hunson Abadeer and his realm of chaos, and the unimaginable horrors that the denizens of that world were subjugated to.
Abadeer had more than once tried to claim what was his duty to guide, and although Death gotten the better of the Lord of Evil on most occasions, with the exception of not yet finding a way to somehow reap the deathless one, there were times where certain beings had made bargains wagering their souls that he had been forced to allow. He hated the everlasting torment that he knew Abadeer would put them through, and as he pushed the thought out of his mind, he finally met glances with Betty. She was intelligent, but she was still just a mortal, and Death hoped that she would never learn about the things that were worse than the death she had already experienced from the bombs that had covered the Earth in fire.
"This is the River of Forgetfulness. The water that flows through here will make all your memories, happy or sad, go away."
Moving her attention away from Death and back to the river, Betty bent down to get a better look at the flowing water. She wasn't as frightened as she had been since she found out that she was dead, but she couldn't deny the fact that her mind went to dark places when she wasn't preoccupied with one thought or another.
The last night of her life after the bombs fell were spent in the dark, listening to the screams of people in the city that were never ending. If the river's water could in fact make her forget all of that darkness and all of that suffering, she thought that maybe it was worth taking a drink? However, just as she was about to decide to cup some water to bring to her mouth, she realized that there was something else she would also forget if she decided to take a drink. She would forget about Simon.
There were things that she wanted to never have to dream about again, to never have to remember, but giving up Simon wasn't worth that price. Finally standing up, Betty took a deep breath and spoke, "Is there anything else that you wanted me to see?"
It would have been a lie if Death were to say that he wasn't happy about Betty's decision, and instead of answering her he began to walk away from the river and to the bridge they needed to cross to get to the other side. She followed him as the two of them walked in a comfortable silence, and the moment that Death's shining palace came into view he saw that Betty's eyes too began to shine, metaphorically of course. It was something that made him smile, and it was moments like this that made him be thankful for his job.
Introspective? I hope so. Anyways, I'm almost done here. Nice chapter will be at the palace, and it will also be the last update that I'm doing for this here thing. See you next time, folks.