"We enter the Grim Reaper's territory. Let us grasp our souls tight, lest the cloaked Harvester reap them."
Lipan Apache Chant of Protection.
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Chapter 28: Plans In Motion
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Tezca was having some issues. A lot of issues actually, all of them of varying importance, but very puzzling nonetheless.
The less troubling of the sort was the Grave Colonies affair. Thought it was a headache for Tezca, it was at least rather straightforward and had been dealt with. First of all, Tezca had been informed at the last moment that the Academy had traced down and came in agreement with one of the Grave Colonies. This was new to him, and not only had he the responsibility of dealing with the details of the negotiations with the leader of the Colonies, but also pacify the government that their operations would cause minimum disturbance.
The last part was easier said than done since the officials were rather paranoid that the Academy would somehow try to usurp power from them -rather rightfully so considering the Grim Reaper's return and Theodore's ambitions. Thankfully, Tezca was not aware of any such plans officially or not, so he did his best to calm down any overly twitchy politicians. The elimination of the Grave Colonies was a pleasant coincidence since the official word was to ignore their very existence and pretend everything was fine.
But the Grave Colonies affair wasn't the only thing on Tezca's mind. Yesterday, Tezca had gotten word that a bunch of kids, the same ones that had taken part in the escape, had turned up in the Resistance's supposedly secret HQ. Initially, Tezca wanted to chew out whoever was responsible for leaking their hideout, but then got word that among the teens were Black Star and Tsubaki, who had visited them before, along with Spirit's daughter and her Weapon. The only new and relatively unknown additions were Kim and Jacqueline, who the former, if Tezca remembered correctly, had been accused of being a Witch.
The last part had troubled Tezca. Witches had never been good news, and for one of them to have infiltrated the Academy… there were many explanations why and they all ranged from neutral to downright dangerous. However, when questioned about Kim's nature, Tezca got word that they all denied the charge.
Still, even if Tezca would take their word for Kim's humanity -which he was ambivalent about- there was still the matter that officially, they were all supposed to have perished. The official report of the escape attempt by the Academy stated that any escapees had been 'dealt with', all implications included. Tezca's own sources of intel supplied that the Grim Reaper had turned up covered in blood, supposedly from the Witch and the rest. When asked about the discrepancy between the records, all teens had remained tight-lipped, citing uncertainty and 'not-our-secret-to-tell'.
So, either Tezca was dealing with very solid soulless ghosts, a new type of ghoul or a big piece of the puzzle had escaped his notice. And he still had a potential Witch to worry about.
However, this was not the end to Tezca's worries. Far from it. The most troubling issue he faced sat silently on a chair across him, staring blankly at nothing.
The Deathscythe let out a silent sigh and sat back in his chair.
On a level Tezca was glad that he even knew where the Grim Reaper was. They had left a while back and had been unaccounted for, for about an hour or so. To what purpose, no one knew, and it caused a bit of chaos. The Grim Reaper did eventually show up, claiming some matter had been taken care off. They had also informed the people of the Grave Colonists' last wishes, which were to take their belongings to the Academy. And then there were the Thompson sisters… they had also been unaccounted for at about the same period the Grim Reaper went missing. However the sister's apparent absence had lasted much longer, so Tezca couldn't confirm that the three absences were related. Unsurprisingly, it appeared the Thompson sisters did not enjoy the company of others.
After the minor disappearances had been resolved, all that was left now was for the actual gathering of the Grave Colonists' belongings, which Tezca had delegated to the Meisters and Weapons lazing around. Then they would have to gather the tents and return to either New Mexico for Tezca and his people, or the Academy for everyone else. The only thing that had to be done was grunt work and Tezca would be back at his relatively safer Heaven at the capital.
So it was with a small amount of frustration that Tezca had entered the tent and sat on a chair directly opposite to the Grim Reaper, at the time when he could be expediting the return to his base. At least Theodore was not in the tent, the High Priest having to deal with a couple of slackers in the ranks. Thank goodness for small miracles.
It also wasn't as if Tezca could object to the meeting. The Grim Reaper had motioned for him to enter and Tezca had done so with some reluctance.
Nevertheless, he had entered determined to at least make some progress on the matters that concerned him. After all, Tezca faced one of the greater sources of his confusion. The issues with the Grave Colonies and miraculously alive escapees were confusing and time-consuming matters on their own, yet they all had one thing in common; the Grim Reaper.
In the plainest terms Tezca could muster, the Grim Reaper had been acting strangely. Well, stranger than what Tezca had expected. On one hand, there was a surprising lack of smiting or other 'vengeful deity' events, which Tezca was grateful for. On the other hand, there was a general lack of 'deity' events, which was… confusing.
Initially, Tezca had been of the opinion that something had gone wrong in the Ritual and the revival was half-assed and Theodore had summoned something else, anything but the Grim Reaper. This theory had been boosted upon news that the Grim Reaper had been isolated from the Academy. Tezca knew that the few people the Grim Reaper often interacted with were made up of Theodore, Joe under Theodore's orders, and the occasional hapless guard. Even then, they had always stayed within the Academy's main building. This excursion to a Grave Colony was the first time they had ventured out of the Academy, and it was done with secrecy. It also did not involve any sort of fighting or any challenge that would require a show of force from the Grim Reaper. Already there were rumours that Death had been permanently weakened, that they were already dying, and so on. Then there was the Council meeting where Tezca finally took a look at the bright yellow soul and Tezca did not put much weight on that theory anymore. In addition, as seen with today's events with the Grave Colonies, anyone that could put to rest a battalion of souls -not that Tezca was aware if that process was energy intensive or not- could not be anything but the Grim Reaper.
However, this strange pattern of behaviour kept puzzling him. The lax attitude towards Sid, Naigus, the captive Deathscythes and the other so-called 'traitors' -Tezca had also been informed that the reason nothing much had happened to the latter came from very high-up, which eliminated Theodore and left Tezca with the Grim Reaper- had been a pleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless. Combined with the attitude Tezca had witnessed today…
Was there a reason behind the deviation of the Grim Reaper in tales and the one he faced today? Had the tales been wrong all along? Or was it something else, something Tezca didn't know about yet? If only Tezca could find out the reason behind the unexpected behaviour-
"What will you do after this?" the Grim Reaper asked. Their tone was neutral and Tezca couldn't figure out the most important part of the question; why was Death asking him this?
"I'll return to the Capital," Tezca replied.
"Do you stay there most of the time?"
Now, why would Death care about that? Did they have an assignment? Were they just curious? Well, there was no point in lying. "I do."
"What about when the Council meets?"
The curiosity theory got a boost from that question.
"The Council does not meet very often," Tezca said truthfully. He still had no reason to lie. "When they do and I cannot attend, I communicate my position by written word, usually a list of what should be done." A very nice, neat list that almost always went ignored, since Theodore could twist the words on paper to mean anything, if not disregard it completely. On the other hand, Tezca's lack of attendance meant the Deathscythe didn't have to worry about anyone, i.e. the Buttataki spy, breathing down on him, checking if his every word was a falsity.
Still, why did the Grim Reaper ask Tezca this? Why did they care? "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"
The Grim Reaper didn't respond immediately. They kept looking away, not meeting Tezca's gaze. Though, form their way their eyes were dilated, Tezca figured they were using Soul Perception. Not unexpected. Tezca was doing the very same -though his efforts resulted in staring at an inscrutable big solid yellow ball.
"I want to get Marie, Azusa and the others out," the Grim Reaper eventually said and looked Tezca straight at the fake eyes of his disguise.
Well, that was a more blunt and manageable request than what Tezca had expected. Also very un-Grim Reaper-like. "Why?"
"Can it be done?" The Grim Reaper said, in a tone suggesting he wouldn't let anything slip until their request was met.
Huh. Two could play at that game. "And if it could, why would I do so? And why would you care?"
Tezca knew he was venturing in unknown waters. The Grim Reaper had interacted with very few people and all of them very briefly. Theodore appeared to be the Reaper's main confidant and that worried Tezca. Still, there were all these discrepancies in his records that couldn't be ignored. Tezca was onto something here, so he had pushed.
"I can ask you the same thing," the Grim Reaper replied, their tone faster than usual. Evidently, they were getting tired of their cat-and-mouse game. "You know the Deathscythes. I know you helped them escape North-" The Grim Reaper cut themselves off, coming to the same realisation as Tezca, in that they couldn't have known about that in the first place. They cursed softly.
"You do realise," Tezca slowly said, feeling with soul thrum with agitation, "that because of what you just said one of us may not leave the room alive."
To his surprise, the Grim Reaper huffed and crossed his hands much like an irate teenager. Perhaps a bit too much like one. "If I had any desire to report you, I would have already done so."
Tezca paused. What the Grim Reaper said was true. Which begged the question, why hadn't they already done so? The only reason that did not bode well for Tezca was that the Grim Reaper was bluffing hoping to catch a traitor in the act, but Tezca doubted they'd go to such lengths to do so or even use that particular piece of obscure information. All other explanation implied a… rebellion.
Tezca was missing something and it frustrated him to no end.
"Not a fan of Theodore then?" Tezca asked as a long-shot, hoping to get a clearer look at the situation and even confirm some of his suspicions.
"Yes."
Tezca felt like Christmas had come early. It was a good thing he wore a disguise. As stuffy and choking the head could be, it hid his grin perfectly. "Go on."
A frown. Crossed hands pulling themselves closer. "I don't think I can trust you."
"I can trust you more if you give me the full story though," Tezca pushed. "Why?"
The annoyed frown intensified. "Must I have a reason for not wanting people killed?"
"If you were anyone but Death," Tezca politely said. He left the 'which I am starting to have doubts,' part unsaid. "And this was about any random person, no."
The Grim Reaper's lips became a thin line. They wouldn't give away anything else.
Tezca sighed. At least he had gotten himself some very useful info. The Grim Reaper's displeasure of Theodore was a table-turner. Time to do his part. "There is an assault planned, isn't there? As discussed in the last Council meeting."
The Grim Reaper nodded "Yes. Theodore seems eager to-"
"Get them on the frontlines," Tezca cut the Grim Reaper off, eager to get his plan out and work out all the kinks later.
Truth be told, Tezca had formulated a couple of plans about getting the Deathscythes and Meisters out of the dungeons. His conscience demanded he do so, especially after his failure to save Marie and Azusa's child -and perhaps a bit more guilt from the plan Tezca had concocted earlier, one he had thought a success until he got word that Kid had somehow survived a slit throat.
Now that he thought about it, that incident was peculiar. At the time, Tezca had bigger things to worry about so he had put aside that little detail, which was then forgotten completely when Kid was sacrificed. Still, maybe the boy's resilience had something to do with the Grim Reaper's strange behaviour.
"That's dangerous."
One example of said strange behaviour was their open concern towards the 'traitor' Deathscythes and their Meisters. Things got curiouser by the second.
"Of course it'd be dangerous. That's how we'll convince the others that the Deathscythes wish to re-join the Academy," Tezca explained. "I can bring up the motion in the meeting and you'll have to approve it or at least push for the motion to be accepted. However, try to not appear too eager; it may look suspicious." Giving subterfuge advice to Death. Oh, the twist and turns that were Tezca's life.
"You won't be suspected?"
"As head of the Weapons division, that proposal isn't uncharacteristic," Tezca said, which was partially true. It also was a known secret at the Council that he was old friends with some of the prisoners, including his fellow Deathscythes.
The Grim Reaper nodded at the information. Their face was still unreadable. "What about the other members? How will we convince them?"
"Auntie won't be too hard. The woman has a soft heart and even if she doesn't wield much influence, the more people we have on our side the better," Tezca said. "George can be convinced if I focus on the benefits and effectiveness of having supposed traitors as the first ones to march and the ones more likely to be killed."
The Grim Reaper did not hide the flinch this time when they heard those last words. Their mask was cracking yet still Tezca couldn't see what it was covering.
"Don't worry, they're Deathscythes. They've handled themselves before, they'll be able to handle themselves now." It was strange, plotting like this. Tezca was used to discussing his plans with himself, or Enrique. "Because I will be the one making the proposal, Theodore is a lost cause," Tezca continued. "Mind, I will try convincing him, it won't be a genuine effort. That's where I will need your support. I'm sure you can find a way to rationalise this somehow to Theodore."
"I'll manage," the Grim Reaper said with a frown.
Tezca nodded, knowing he would have to take their word for it. "Finally, Misery will probably be neutral; I have no idea how that woman thinks. Joe is a wild card as well."
"I can handle Joe as well," the Grim Reaper said absent-mindedly.
Huh. Interesting. "Whatever you do, make sure you don't blow your cover."
A mild pout. A rather childish gesture. Tezca would find it amusing if it didn't further muddle the waters about the Grim Reaper's situation. "I'm not incompetent."
"No, but it's better we minimize any risks. We must not make out intentions obvious for fear of exposure," Tezca said bluntly. Then a thought occurred to him. "Case in point, what would you have done if I was on Theodore's side all along?" It was a redundant question. Tezca knew where his allegiances lay; still, he was interested in the Grim Reaper's answer.
A guarded expression. "I trust my sources."
Ah, they were learning already. Enough info to have anyone second-guessing, but enough to make any concrete conclusions.
"Really? I'm guessing it was the Deathscythes who told you about me." Now, how the Grim Reaper had gotten access to the Deathscythes and convinced them to share that info with them was another matter entirely. "Even then, what if I was running a false flag operation to lure out any supposed traitors and capture them?"
"If it was, you wouldn't have sent so many to stop the Ritual," the Grim Reaper stated. "And they wouldn't come this close to stopping it…"
Ok, pause. Rewind. How on Earth did they know about that? Unless Theodore told them. Even then…
"The fact that I tried to sabotage your revival does not bother you?"
Their jaw clamped down. They looked away. "I cannot fully explain yet, but no."
…Huh. Just what on Earth was Tezca dealing with?
"There is one more thing I want to talk to you about," the Grim Reaper said. Tezca filed away his many questions for further musing and concentrated on them. "It concerns Mr Barrett and Miss Naigus."
"What about them?"
"There will be a motion to reinstate Mr Barrett as Head of the Academy's Intelligence Agency," the Grim Reaper stated. There was a pause and they stared straight at Tezca. Soul Perception, Tezca realised after a brief moment. They were trying to gauge his true feelings on the matter.
Tezca tapped his hand and willed his Soul Wavelength to spread over his soul, like a particularly reflective coat of mirrors. The Grim Reaper blinked. Evidently, they didn't expect that. Tezca smirked from under his disguise.
A small sigh, an averted gaze. Success, Tezca noted. "I want you to support it."
Well, Tezca had little objection to that. Sid, despite any ideological differences they had, was a reasonable man. Tezca had been saddened when he had heard of his demise. When he had gotten news that the man wasn't fully dead yet but returned as some weird undead being… Tezca may have gotten so far as to say he was happy. Tezca didn't know Mira well enough to celebrate her return, but he knew she was loyal and, though not a Deathscythe, was a Weapon of considerable power. Also, it would be nice to have a Council session where he wouldn't have to face Joe's piercing Soul Perception. It was a miracle he had enough wits to endure the previous one.
"I will. I may have to be a bit hesitant at first as to muddle the waters, but you have my approval."
The Grim Reaper let out another small sigh of relief. Tezca couldn't bring himself to relax just yet.
Still, even if Tezca did agree to the plan, he had to figure out the Grim Reaper's motive. To reinstate someone on the Council, one who had taken part in an open rebellion… No matter what Theodore would claim about Sid being in Death's realm thus under their control, Tezca knew full well Sid's mind had not been affected by his demise, evident when he was among the first volunteer for the assault during the Ritual.
Well, there was no point in speculation when he could get some info about the situation.
"What are you planning?" Tezca bluntly asked. Short, simple and straight to the point.
Truth be told, even if this talk had been illuminating about the Grim Reaper's short-term agenda, Tezca was still in the dark about any long-term plans they had. Did they still wish to fight the Kishin? What about the Witches? What about the Academy's role in the world stage? Tezca didn't know about any of that, and perhaps this was at the heart of his true worries. Because Tezca did have opinions about all of the above, plans and strategies that he thought would be more effective and most humane. Sure, Tezca had some leeway built into his plans, because when it came to the Kishin and a few other matters there were things he did not know. However, being strung along someone else's plan was not how Tezca did things, even if this 'someone else' was Death.
For example, to get back on the Grim Reaper's request of Sid and Naigus; Best case scenario was that the Grim Reaper did truly believe that the two deserved their freedom and their reinstatement into their previous positions. That would mean their morals agreed with Tezca's which was all well and good. It was the best-case scenario, but Tezca couldn't be sure if it was the most probable one. But, if this was some power struggle to get complete control of the Academy… At first, such a gesture would seem redundant. The Grim Reaper could take them all out in terms of power. Unless they weren't confident in their abilities or power. Unless the Grim Reaper was worried about someone from the Council planning open rebellion. Again, his reasoning circled back to one thought. Unless something had gone wrong with the revival.
"I can't say yet," the Grim Reaper eventually replied, gaze still averted.
Not a denial. Yet no information either. The yet was important though. It implied there'd be a time where Tezca would learn about them.
This time, Tezca did not mask their disappointment, curious what reaction it'd trigger. "I see." Slowly, he stood up and pretended to prepare to leave the tent.
Tezca had just turned around to start walking towards the exit when the Grim Reaper spoke. "I don't mean any harm."
This was a strange thing to say. Unprovoked in some way -but in other ways very deliberately provoked.
Tezca turned around and regarded the Grim Reaper.
Their face had fallen. Their brows furrowed. They looked distraught.
And at this moment, Tezca became acutely aware that the Grim Reaper's form was a sickly young boy. A deliberate ploy, a devious use of their appearance, or something else entirely-?
"Look, this probably appears to be very confusing…"
Understatement of the century. Also made Tezca lean into the 'not a ploy' theory.
"And it is," the Grim Reaper continued, "but I can't fully explain it to you. Not yet."
There was the 'yet' again. "Lack of trust?"
The Grim Reaper grimaced. "Sort of," they admitted. "But I do want you to know that I mean well." A pause for recollection. "And, I realise this still sounds quite vague…"
"True," Tezca agreed, nudging them to reveal more.
The Grim Reaper took a breath. A gesture made for mental reasons or for physical ones? "The Academy was founded to fight back against the Kishin's madness."
"And to restore you to your previous power. Though that was after your uh..." Tezca tactfully trailed off.
"Defeat by the Kishin," the Grim Reaper continued. "Right."
Another pause. A fiddling of arms. Nervousness?
"And we can both agree that something has to be done about the Kishin," the Grim Reaper continued. "Eventually."
This wasn't a 'yet,' but its implications were close enough to one.
"But I can't do anything about it. Not now at least." Another disguised yet.
"And that is because…?" Tezca trailed off. When he received no response, he folded his arms. "Reasons you can't explain."
An inclination of the head. "Yet."
Another one.
"And when will you be able to tell me what's going on?" Tezca asked. He opted for the straightforward route. It had worked moderately successful last time. Besides, Tezca did not like being kept in the dark.
This time, the Grim reaper bit their lip.
Curious. They had not done that before. A very nervous gesture -and very human, but Tezca did not dwell much on that.
The Grim Reaper's next words were quick and quiet as if fearing for eavesdroppers. "When Theodore is deposed."
Well. Well, well, well. Well.
Not just displeasure. Not a simple power-struggle of sorts. An outright plan of removal!
Tezca bit down on his tongue hard. Now was not the time to celebrate. There was still much he did not know. For example...
"Why not kill him?"
For the record, Tezca was not a big fan of that plan, though with what he knew about Theodore, it would be the most effective. But Tezca had to know why the Grim Reaper thought so as well.
"I can't just kill whoever I disagree with."
Fair enough. Solid base argument. Not so much though when one considered the actual man.
"So, what will happen with Theodore? Prison? Exile?" Tezca asked. "If you plan on changing his mind, it is a lost battle," he continued. "And, if left unchecked, his ideas are dangerous. This is not just about disagreeing."
No answer. Perhaps there wasn't one.
Yet.
"I want you to trust me," the Grim Reaper said. An evasion, as clear as day. "And I want to know I can trust you as well."
Another stare. Soul Perception again. Tezca's defences were already up, but the Grim Reaper persisted.
This wouldn't do, not at all. The tension was high too high. Tezca had to lower it.
Tezca let out a bellowing laugh, which caught the Grim Reaper off guard. "Well, it seems we'll just have to trust each other!"
Tezca slapped his knee for good measure. The Grim Reaper's face fell again. Their shoulders slumped. Yet, no more questions or words. Just a quiet acceptance of Tezca's words. Exhaustion? Probably did not expect Tezca to be this inquisitive. It was a mistake many had made. Oh well, that had always worked for Tezca's advantage.
It was with this sense of victory that Tezca stood up and stretched. Such conversation always renewed him. Made him understand more, gave him hints of what to expect, made the world just a little less unpredictable.
Still, his biggest questions had remained unanswered. The waters were still very muddled. Though enlightened in some short-term plans, even a long-term one, the core cause of these pans eluded him.
One possibility ran though Tezca minds. Was he truly dealing with Death? What if he wasn't?
No that couldn't be, what had happened in the Grave Colonies...
Could they be a soul eater? In which case, they had handed him hundreds of souls on a silver platter…
No, someone would have sensed that. Joe, anyone with any working Soul Perception would have seen that yet they all treated the... boy as a Grim Reaper. So that was certain.
Another possibility ran through Tezca's mind. An extraordinary one. By all counts, a mad one. One that required a test of one of his basic assumptions.
All he needed was a piece of his Soul Wavelength, expertly manipulated. Tezca felt the mirror shard form. It was hidden in a corner, out of sight, yet Tezca still caught a glint. He always did.
Tezca recalled a very specific memory. A feminine face, one-eyed, golden eyes and golden hair. Only one word uttered.
"Kid?" came a warbled feminine voice. It was low enough that Tezca couldn't technically hear it -even if he had given the order for his Wavelength to do that. The Grim Reaper should be able to hear it.
Evidently they did, as they turned their head to where the sound came from, as if they had been called. Their expression flickered. Distraught.
At this, Tezca gulped, took a deep breath and left the tent. His mind was racing.
The Grim Reaper had heard the name. They had responded to the name. He had responded to the name.
This confirmed one of Tezca's suspicions.
Something had gone horribly wrong.
\*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*/
Another chapter done. Tezca is such a confused boy. Also, I hope you liked the style this chapter was written in. I felt like it suited Tezca's character more.
Feedback is appreciated.
