Death and the Swordsman

Chapter 8

By: Leelei

Author's Note: Well, I busted my ass to get it written, so I'm posting it. This is another chapter that I liked, so I hope you like it, too. It's very relieving to know that you guys are being so supportive of how different this story is. I'm glad to see how open-minded people truly are in this fandom! I love reading all your reviews, but I bite my tongue when it comes to all of your predictions. All I can say is that you'll be satisfied, don't worry. ;D Thanks again, and please leave a review. Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a happy and blessed holiday! : )

"So this is Sissi, age eighteen." Ulrich said absently as he gazed in disbelief. He and Death stood in a small apartment, cramped with some furniture in its tiny living room, and barren looking in the cold, tiled kitchen with only a stove and a fridge, the counters covered in piling dirty dishes.

Sissi Delmas sat at the small table in the middle of the kitchen, knocking the ashes off her cigarette as she gazed at the full ashtray. She had grown into a beautiful young woman, Ulrich couldn't deny it, with her long, black hair and clear complexion. She seemed tall, even though she was sitting, and dressed in stylish, popular clothes for the time. Overall, she was still thin, but Ulrich quickly noticed that she was heavily pregnant.

He gasped when he realized the bulge in her belly, her slender, vacant hand resting on top of it as she continued to stare. "Oh my god…" Ulrich mumbled. "She's…she's…."

"Expecting." Death finished for him.

"Death, what the hell happened?" Ulrich glanced to her, but quickly his attention jerked back to Sissi, doubting what he had seen. "This isn't a high school dorm…where are Herb and Nicholas? And how…" the questions all flooded out of him, but he had a hard time managing to ask the one that was beating at him. "And how….did she become pregnant?"

"You would like to know this story as well?" Death asked.

"Yes. Please, tell me." Ulrich pleaded, feeling the tears stains on his cheeks as he stood in utter disbelief.

"Sissi always remained popular and catty over the years, there was no changing her personality," Death began. "But after your death, she decided to dump her two normal best friends and move on to more trendy, popular friends that shared her style and attitude. Without that handsome brunette boy for her to chase around all those years, she found time for a more dangerous crowd.

"Nicholas and Herb were hurt by her rude departure from them, but as you saw before, one of them had no problems in high school finding a group of friends that treated him better, let alone a girlfriend who loved him for who he was. Herb, on the other hand, continued through high school conversing occasionally with Sissi whenever her new friends weren't around, mostly remaining silent and secluded. He graduated a year early and accepted the first job offer he was given to study abroad for a medical company that needed scientific research. Immediately following his finals, he went into the high-paying field of nanotechnology; the same job that Jeremie would have been offered had he finished school with his same grades from when he was younger.

"Sissi delved into her new life as a popular teen goddess. Every boy seemed to want her, and every girl wanted to be her. She dressed in all the top brands, in sizes too small so she always looked thin, and always nearing the borderline of what others referred to as 'slutty.' But she never cared, as long as the boys still followed her and there was another party for her to be invited to. Her father hated her new lifestyle, but it was growing harder to hold on to her as she became older and more dependent.

"She went through boyfriend after boyfriend; mainly choosing only the boys that looked the best and offered her more sex, alcohol, and drugs than the others. She picked up smoking at an early age –since all her friends did it- and refused to quit even after her father had caught her. It was no surprise to the other girls in her grade when they learned that she was pregnant, laughing and mocking her as they had predicted the fall of the teen queen.

"Her boyfriend at the time had convinced her to move out during her senior year, getting an apartment with him shortly before she conceived his child. He worked hard to support her while still trying to finish school, especially after she became pregnant, but his partying lifestyle always seemed to get in the way."

"So why is she still smoking?" Ulrich asked, still watching her. He moved his vision to scan the rest of the kitchen. "Why are there beer bottles and cigarette boxes all over the place? Shouldn't she be trying to change now, after all of this? For her baby?"

"Why would she quit smoking, Ulrich?" Death looked at him with a tone as if she had expected him to understand the image. "She isn't going to keep that child."

"No?" Ulrich's attention snapped to the apparition. "Why not?"

"It would interfere to much with her life." Death answered. "Think of it- she's beautiful and still young. Why would she want anything tying her down when so many offers for pleasure and fun are given to her at every corner?"

"What about her father? I'm sure he won't let her do that." Ulrich replied.

"Her father disowned her as soon as she told him," said Death. "He was angry enough as it was that she had moved away from him, and was fed up with her behavior by then. He called it 'the last straw,' and told her that if she thought she was mature enough to live on her own with her boyfriend, then she would have to live with her mistakes as well."

"So she's just going to abort her baby and go on with her life?" Ulrich asked.

"Yes," Death answered simply. "Her boyfriend is taking her down to the abortion clinic as soon as possible. It will still be a few weeks, however, since he's currently in jail for attempting to steal a car and getting into a fight outside of a night club at the beginning of the year."

"Nice," Ulrich said sarcastically. "She's involved with a drunk, loser jailbird." He looked back to her sorrowful, troubled image. "Death, how does she get by?"

"She was lucky enough to come in contact again with an old friend of hers," replied Death. "Desperate for money and support, she apologized profusely to her rich friend, hoping he would pity her and help her through the pregnancy and abortion." Death seemed to shake her head. "It's a shame…I'm sure if she just would have treated him a little better during high school, Herb would have given her so much more money than just rent and groceries…"

Ulrich couldn't believe what he was hearing. "And this is all because I wasn't there for her to follow me around?"

"Yes."

"No way…" Ulrich mumbled under his breath. He quickly changed the subject. "How long before her baby is due?"

"Seven weeks," answered Death. "She is in her last trimester now. It's lately been taking a toll on her, knowing that the due date will be so close to the time her boyfriend will be released. Although, she finds ways to occupy her mind elsewhere, other than on her baby's pending abortion."

A cell phone sat next to the ashtray on the table, similar to the one she had when Ulrich had known her. It rang, and Sissi quickly stamped out her cigarette and answered it. "What's up?" she asked, knowing from the ring tone that it was one of her friends. Her voice had matured, but still had that higher pitch to it, as it did when she was thirteen. After a short pause, she replied. "No, I'm just sitting at home wasting time." Another pause when the other person talked. "No shit?…No, I heard that party sucks." She laughed at her friend's response. "Are you drinking tonight?…Oh, come on. Your job can wait a night." As the conversation continued, she picked up the ashtray and emptied it in the trash as she walked out the room, carrying it with her as she held her cell phone to her hear. Ulrich heard her loud laughter from the other room as the image faded away.

"You can't link my death to all of this," Ulrich told the ghost. "She could've picked that up anytime."

"You're right," Death responded. "She always did want that lifestyle, but she would have never followed it if she had you to chase around." The spirit turned to face him. "Always she waited for you, never accepting that 'popular' life that tempted her, since she longed to be viewed as pure and true as you saw Yumi to be."

"But Yumi isn't a whore now," Ulrich interrupted. "So why did she become one?"

"She had no reason not to," replied Death. "You were gone, she was depressed…the chances were always there for her."

"And so she was lost, too…" Ulrich concluded under his breath, realizing how much she had changed since he had died. "One more person gone…"

"She's not the only other one."

"Oh, god, someone else, too?" Ulrich groaned, his brow creasing from the stress.

Death waved her hand, the image of the schoolyard reappearing again.

Sorry for the interruption, Kim. I hope you know RP'ing with ya does mean more to me than getting a chapter up. Talk to you soon…..Chapter 9 coming shortly after Christmas!