Something occured to me the other day: Kalas is technically a Child of Malpercio, right? So... does that mean that any kid he has would have Malpercio for a grandfather? Or as some other kind of relative? That's a truly frightening thought. X(

Disclaimer: I don't own Baten Kaitos. ...Yep, not a bit. Not at all. Nope. Not me. At all...

Chapter XI: Reaper Of Souls

The blue haired man made his slow way through the Ice Cliffs, the bitter cold winds of the blizzard biting at his exposed skin like a pack of starving dogs. The snow reached easily up to his knees, and froze his exposed calves. He was beginning to suspect he already had severe frostbite on his legs, as he could barely feel them anymore. He tried wrapping his cape around his shoulders to warm himself up, but the thin fabric did little to shake off the terrible cold. The snow carried by the swift winds bit at his face, forcing him to squint to see anything. His injured leg constantly slowed him down. He had to drag it behind him, like a dead weight, for it would no longer carry his weight at all. He kept hoping that if he kept moving he might find a shelter of some sort, where he could hide, maybe even start a fire. His hope seemed to drain away along with the heat, and maybe some small part of him already accepted the inevitable. It was hopeless… there was nothing he could do…

I can't think like that! He thought to himself desperately, I'm not going to die here, there's still hope! Despite these optimistic thoughts, it took every scarp of will he had to keep moving. Never before in his life did it take so much effort to keep moving. Some part of him just wanted to give up, lie on the ground and let all his troubles simply slip away. He fought this desire with everything he had, and did everything he could to keep moving. The blizzard winds suddenly changed direction, the force almost made him loose his balance. He stood stock still, all his focus on staying upright, trying to withstand the storm. When the winds had subsided a little, he continued on his way. Everything looked the same to him, and he could not see the sun, moon, or stars, so he did not have the faintest clue as to where he was going. He had lost all track of time; he could have been out there for minutes, or days.

He fell over into the snow when his exhausted and frozen body could not hold him up any longer. He shivered when he fell into the thick snow, now almost completely covering his body. He reached out in front of him with one hand and tried to drag himself foreword, but could not find the strength to go any further. He lay on the ground, breathing hard. He raised his head a little trying to see something other then just swirling white snow, and saw the last thing he was expecting. About ten feet away, stood a little girl, dressed in white. Her skin and hair were white as well. Neither her hair nor the dress was disturbed by the fierce winds of the blizzard. She looked down at him with eyes that were nothing but dark pits. He stared up at this little girl, seemingly undisturbed by the cold. Then he must have blinked, because she disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.

I must be going mad, he thought. No! he thought angrily, I can't give up! I can't die here! I just can't! Xelha and the others need me! He tried to drag himself forward again, but could not find the strength to move. His labored breath left him in billows of white mist as he strained to move. But he could not, his numbed, injured and frozen body could go no further. He felt a cold, though this time, it seemed to be deep inside him, in his very bones. He could do nothing more than watch, as the cold devoured him like a great beast, and the whole world slowly faded to black.

He laid still in the snow, completely unmoving, his eyes closed. His chest remained still, and no white mist left his nose or mouth. He just lay completely still on the ground, as snow slowly buried him, an unmarked grave of white.

Kalas was dead.

"Death?" said Kalas incredulously, "Death? This shrimp is supposed to be Death?"

"Kalas!" hissed Allyr, "Right now, you're the last person who should be calling Death a 'shrimp'!"

"Well," said Kalas, looking down at the little girl, "I've always imagined Death to be a little… you know… taller. That's all."

"I don't need height," said the little girl, Death, "When I can take a life with as little effort as you would to crush a bug beneath your heel."

This comment shut Kalas up very fast. "Well… um… Death," said Allyr nervously, looking at the little girl, "What exactly do you want from us?"

The little girl looked up at Kalas, "I want him," she said, very calmly. If Kalas could have stiffened, he would have, "He evaded me once before. His brother gave him life, so he would not die. Now, he is but a lost soul doomed to wander the earth for the rest of forever. I have come to take him with me, to where all the dead go."

"Are… are you going to separate us, and then take him?" said Allyr nervously, suddenly very aware that if Death wanted to take Kalas, she probably could. Death was not something they could burn or blow to bits.

Death shook her head, beaded braids swinging slightly, "No," she said, the child's unnatural voice unnerving Allyr and her Guardian, "Your bond is something sacred, and I will not break it. However," she added, "Though I will not get in your way, I shall not help you either."

"Um… and why would we want your help?" asked Allyr. True, Death might be a good ally, but there was something about the little girl that made her instincts scream at her to run away as fast as she could. Staring Death in the face was not something done lightly.

Death looked up at Kalas, and she seemed to looking right into him. She seemed to know exactly what he was thinking, and what it was he really wanted to do. She seemed to looking into the deepest part of his being, and see everything in there, plain as day. He suddenly felt very exposed under her gaze. "I can take you back to your world, Spirit," said Death, "You, and your partner."

"You… you can?" said Kalas, stunned, "Um… will you?"

"Yes," said Death, "I will. On one condition."

"What is it?" asked Kalas, sounding as if he had already decided to agree to any offer Death made him.

"I cannot interfere with the affairs of mortals," Death began, "Unless it allows me to complete my task in the great machine of the universe." She seemed to look into Kalas again. It took every scrap of focus and willpower for him to keep looking her in the eye, "I know what it is you want and seek. You cannot have it, for it is in another world. I need to take you on, but I cannot forcibly separate you from your partner. My offer is this: I will open a gate for you, and your partner to enter your world. There, you may find, do and see what it is you need. When you have done, seen, and found all that you need, I will come to you. Then you will separate yourself from your partner, and come with me without struggle or complaint."

"Deal." Said Kalas without hesitation.

"WAIT!" shouted Allyr, afraid that if she did not shout, she would go unnoticed. "Um…" she said, suddenly aware that Kalas, and Death, were looking straight at her. Admittedly, this had been her goal, but she suddenly felt as if the whole world was looking at her, rather than just a freaky, Immortal girl and a disembodied Spirit. "Uh… Death," she started, "Can you give me a minute to talk to my… partner?"

"By all means," she said, nodding.

Allyr rounded on Kalas then. She looked angry, but seemed to be doing a reasonable job keeping her temper under control, "Kalas," she said, talking slowly, as if talking to fast would set her off, "Do you remember that talk we had? Back when I was your Guardian?"

"Which one?" asked Kalas, "We had a bunch of 'talks'."

Allyr sighed heavily, "The one right after the Imperial Fortress."

"We had a bunch of those to."

"The one about selling your soul, and not doing it?"

"Ah…" said Kalas, vividly remembering, and his tone suggested that it was not exactly a pleasant memory, "That one."

"So…" added Allyr, as if talking to a slow child, "That means you shouldn't be…"

"Selling my soul," completed Kalas, "But I didn't think you wanted me to offer your soul."

"Damn it Kalas, that's not the point!" snapped Allyr, "Don't you think it's stupid to be offering your soul to Death? At all? I mean, I know you miss Xelha and everything, but is it really worth your soul?"

Kalas glared at her, though the only way Allyr could tell was by his feelings of frustration and anger, "What do you know about it?" he snapped, "So what if I'm willing to offer my soul to see Xelha and the others again?"

"You do remember where this kind of thing led last time," said Allyr, "Offering everything to someone you barely know, right?"

"Vividly," growled Kalas, almost to himself.

"So," said Allyr, "There's no reason for you to do it."

"There's every reason!" retorted Kalas, "I'm already dead so what's the point of trying to evade Death herself? Besides, if I can at least go back and see if Xelha's okay, and that nothing's wrong…" he trailed off, and was silent for a minute. "Anyway," he continued, "As long as I can do that, and finally get back at Morjidza, then I can finally go on truly happy."

Allyr stared up at Kalas, a worried look on her face. "Kalas," she said, "Are you… all right?"

"Relatively," he said, "Why?"

"You're… acting funny," said Allyr, "I've never heard you talk like that before."

She felt him give the equivalent of a shrug, "Being dead does that." He said simply.

"No," said Allyr, a little harder than she really meant to, but felt no qualms about snapping at Kalas, "You've been acting weird ever since we fought Morjidza's illusion monster. No scratch that, you've been acting weird ever since I boned with you. You've seemed lost in thought a lot, even before we fought that monster, more than normal. For the longest time after the fight with the illusion monster, you wouldn't say any more than four consecutive words to me at a time. And you were completely silent unless I said anything to start with. Even after that you've seemed really distracted and a little blasé about your own problems and safely." She gave him an accusing stare, "You're hiding something really important from me, and it's been bothering you. And it has something to do with what that monster showed you. What was it? And don't you dare try to tell me it's nothing! It's not 'nothing'! If it's driving you to do this then it's got to be something really important!"

"Um…" said Kalas, not sure if he should tell Allyr or not. He and Xelha were the only ones that knew about it, and it was kind of personal. He was not entirely sure why he wanted to hide it from Allyr; there was not any real reason to. Maybe because it was one of the dearest things his death had taken from him, and he did not want to think about the pain. Everything he would miss… everything he would never see… never do… never feel…

When that monster waved it arm in front of Allyr, Kalas felt her enter a trance of sorts. Then all the colors seemed to blur and run together, like watercolors. Kalas looked on alarmed wondering what the hell was going on. What was wrong? Then colors mixed and shifted, disorienting Kalas, making it impossible for him to tell which way was up. Just a fast as it had started, the colors realigned themselves, and Kalas found himself somewhere very different. He looked around the room he was in, shocked and amazed at what he was seeing. This was most definitely Wazn, likely inside the palace. The walls, ceiling and floor were made of the characteristic blue ice of Wazn. He was in a bedroom, a four-poster for two to his left, and beyond were a pair of double doors. Right across from him, was an arrangement of furniture, also made from ice. A two tables and a bureau lined the far wall. Between the Spirit and the far wall were a round table and a couple chairs. To his right was a railed balcony, overlooking the city if Cursa, the capital of Wazn. He stared at the person leaning on the rails with disbelief.

It was him, or at least, someone or something that looked like him… when he was alive. The vision-Kalas leaned his elbows on the rails, looking out onto the city, blue hair ruffled a little by a slight breeze. He stood with his right ankle crossed behind his left. He was wearing what Kalas normally wore, whatever the occasion, dark leather cuirass, cape, and all. The vision-Kalas's back was to the watching Spirit, so the Spirit-Kalas could not see his face. The Spirit looked around nervously. What is this? He thought, looking around, trying to make sense of it. What does this mean? He tried reaching out for Allyr, but could not find her. He could still feel her, but could not reach her. It was like the effect hyper-toxic sound waves had on him before when he had fought Giacomo at the Celestial Alps; he could feel Allyr, but could neither reach nor hear her.

The Spirit-Kalas looked around when the doors to the room opened. The vision-Kalas turned around also. The Spirit noticed that he in the vision looked a little older. Not significantly, maybe somewhere in his mid twenties, but older all the same. The Spirit was so intent on the vision-Kalas, that he did not see who had come in. When he finally did, he felt very numb and his world seemed to shrink down to the one who had just run into the room. A little girl had run in, smiling at the Kalas in the vision. She wore a dark blue dress, reaching down to just above her ankles, as she ran barefoot on the icy floor. She had pale gold eyes that reminded the Spirit vividly of Xelha. The little girl's long blue hair flew wildly behind her as she ran over to the vision-Kalas. As if some force had heard Kalas's thoughts, Xelha immediately walked in after the little girl. She too looked older, again may be early to mid twenties. She smiled at Kalas, and he at her. The little girl had already reached the vision-Kalas and had adhered to his leg. He smiled and kneeled down at her and arms speared wide. The little girl practically jumped into his arms, wrapping her own around his neck. The vision-Kalas stood up and spun the little girl around, laughing. The Spirit could hear the little girl giggling as she was spun around. When the Kalas in the vision stopped spinning, he and the little girl started talking. The Spirit could not hear them; it was as if an invisible barrier had been placed between him and the other people, filtering out all sounds except for their laughter. Xelha walked up to them then, and hugged the pair. The three looked like they cared little for the outside world. As long as it continued to turn, nothing else mattered.

The Spirit stared at them, the vision-Kalas, Xelha, and the little girl, feeling numb and strangely unreal. What is this? He thought, Is this what will be, what might have been, or just some trick? The Kalas in the vision laughed at something the little girl said, and hugged her tighter. She rested her head on his shoulder, and said something the Spirit could not hear. Kalas was good enough a lip reader to know what she said, and it was easy enough to guess:

"I love you daddy."

"STOP IT!" shouted the Spirit, looking away, "Stop it! I can't take it anymore! Just stop it PLEASE!" It was lucky for Kalas that his shouts did in fact break the spell, and he and Allyr snapped out of their trances. Lucky again, that it saved Allyr's life. For days after, that vision continued to haunt him. Could that still happen, could he live again? Or was it just what might have been, if he had not died? Or was it just a trick, an illusion, and nothing more?

"…Kalas?" said Allyr, "Are you okay?"

"I… I'm fine." Said Kalas, sounding a little shaken.

"What's bothering you?" asked Allyr, though not unkindly.

"It's…" he started, apparently groping for words, "I…" he muttered something that Allyr could not hear.

"What?" asked Allyr, genuinely confused. Death simply smiled, looking like she was enjoying watching Allyr try to pry the truth from Kalas. Kalas mumbled something again, and tried to find something to look at that was not Allyr, or Death. "Please tell me Kalas," said Allyr gently, "I won't think any less of you for it, if that's what your thinking. I promise."

"I…" started Kalas, "Xelha and I… we… uh…" Allyr looked at him, looking like she was willing to wait as long as she needed to. After a pause, Kalas blurted, "I have a child!"

There was a very, very long, very awkward silence. Kalas looked away, feeling embarrassed.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Allyr looking at Kalas, "You've got a kid? How's that possible? You've only been married to Xelha two months, right?"

"Um…" started Kalas, unsure of where to start, "Well, yes," he mumbled, "The day before Morjidza was found, Xelha came to me and told me she was pregnant. This wasn't anything we planned or thought about, so, it a surprise for Xelha and me. We talked about it and decided, might as well go ahead with it, there was nothing either of us can do about it anyway." There was a silence, "And that's what the illusion monster showed me," he added, "It showed me with my daughter."

Allyr opened her mouth to say, "Wow, that was fast." Before shutting it again, realizing that this was the wrong thing to say. Another long, awkward silence followed.

"Well?" said Death, finally breaking the silence, "Will you stay, or go?"

"We'll go" said Allyr, turning to look at Death. Not like I have the heart to make Kalas stay after this revelation. Thought Allyr, deciding she did not want to voice this aloud.

"…Wait," said a voice meekly.

Allyr turned to see Vivian, who was still sitting at the base of the oak tree. Allyr had to stare at Vivian for a few seconds before remembering how and why she was there. Silently chastising herself for forgetting Vivan, Allyr ran to Vivian and knelt down by her friend, "Are you okay!" she asked, sounding panicked, "Did… did Malice do anything to you? I know she threatened you…"

"I'm… I'm fine." Said Vivian, "Are you?"

"Oh yeah," said Allyr dismissively, "Nothing's wrong. It's you I'm worried about."

"Are you really going?" asked Vivian, "What about Takei and your mom? It's not like you can just leave them."

Allyr hesitated. What about her family? "I'm coming back," she said, "So it's not like I'm dying. But could you do me a big favor?" added Allyr, making a quick decision.

"Sure," said Vivian.

"Could you tell them everything?And I really do mean everything. I don't care of they believe it or not. Just tell them, and tell them I'll be coming back. Can you do that?"

"Yes," said Vivian.

Allyr smiled and stood up, and with out another word, walked back over to Death. Death was smiling as if at some private joke. "What's making you so happy?" asked Allyr shortly, unnerved by the smile.

"So you will go?" asked Death, avoiding the question, "You must leave now, or you shall stay here forever."

"Then what are we waiting for?" said Allyr, more to steady her own nerves then to anyone in particular, "How are you going to do this?" Death closed her unnatural eyes, and stood completely still. "Are you listening?" asked Allyr annoyed, "If you're just going to ignore me-"

Allyr jumped with a surprised yelp as she heard something like fabric being torn behind her. It was loud and the sound was very close by. She turned around and saw what looked like a vertical rip in the universe. Suddenly there was an impossible black space where once there was something. "What's this?" asked Kalas, staring in awe, feeling unnerved by the black gap.

"It is a gate," said Death, opening her eyes, "Just step into it, and you shall find yourself in another world."

"...My world?" asked Kalas, making sure that he and Allyr were not going to end up in oblivion rather than their intended destination. He trusted Death as much as he would a known serial killer.

"Yes," said Death, "It shall return you to your world."

Allyr took a deep breath, "Well," she started, "Ready Kalas?"

"Yes," he said simply.

Allyr looked at the great gap in the universe again, and just suppressed a shudder before stepping into the gate. As soon as she was gone the gate shrank and vanished. Leaving no trace of its existence, or Allyr's. For all that anyone could have been able to tell, they had never been.

It was inevitable. There was no way I could finish this fic without bringing the pair back to Kalas's world. So, please review, once again.