Jack surfed on the wind, the sun just beginning to peak over the horizon. The sky bloomed with a burst of colors, while the sea opened up below him. He could see huge cargo boats carrying buildings of shipping crates, and even a few navy ships filled with sailors. The world shifted around him as he got closer towards Burgess, but his mind was filled with Nymph's words from the night before.

'I don't know if I could ever befriend you, Jack Frost. But I believe in you.'

The spring spirit's words rested heavy on Jack's heart. In fact he wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond to it. On the one hand, Nymph had screamed at him for being irresponsible. Getting angry at him for never coming to the gatherings, and yet wanting him to leave when he did show up. She wasn't wrong. He had made plenty of terrible choices. But he had never intended his blizzards to cause any harm. All he wanted was some fun. That was his job wasn't it, that was his whole guardianship! He shivered, gripping his crook. The look on her face when she had argued with Ambrose had truly scared him, for he never thought that someone would ever feel hatred for him. Her bright green eyes which were normally so kind had turned raged with darkness, like a tree in a forest fire.

He shook his head and pressed on, spotting the New England coast. He didn't think he would ever understand. Nymph was a complicated person. Jack only hoped that by finding the grim reaper and putting an end to this nightmare, he could earn just a little bit of her respect. Jack swooped down, closing in on the skyscrapers of New York City. With a thrust of his crook, a flash emitted into the sky. Not a moment later, small white flakes filled the city, building up on rooftops, streets, and sidewalks. Hey, there may have been a gathering, but winter wasn't over just yet.

Taking a seat on the balcony of an apartment building, he looked out into the beautiful city. Early-bird pedestrians were beginning their morning commutes to work, filling the streets like the pigeons that shared them. Even the homeless who wandered in and out of traffic, waking up on the curbs from the clumps of shoes, shaking their cups and holding their signs. In a strange way, even they seemed beautiful to Jack. He spotted one walking straight down the middle of a busy street like it was nothing, cars threatening on both sides.

"That guy must be crazy!" Jack said to no one, watching on in suspense. The pigeon beside him seemed to agree, bobbing its head and settling beside him. Still weaving through traffic, the homeless person suddenly burst into a sprint. Cars shot by as if nothing were there, while they quite literally jumped in front of and over some of them. At one point they leaped an impossible height onto the roof of a bus going in the same direction, and took a seat. Jack stared in shock.
"That guy definitely is cr-" He stopped midway. Just before the bus rounded a corner, he spotted the sun bounce off of something strapped to their back. His eyes widened as he recognized it. The curved blade. It was the black hoodie.

"Not again," Jack muttered to himself. He grabbed his crook and leaped off the building. Flying through the air, he willed the wind to follow the bus, never taking his eyes off of the black hoodie. How could he have missed it? Slightly off grey, a huge white eye sketched onto a black patch on the back, sleeves covered in more white eyes just like it. He shook his head. 'Now's not the time.' He thought 'She's going to kill someone again!'

At a red light, the black hoodie jumped high off of the bus and began to fly. Jack's eyes grew wide. As soon as she jumped two black wings sprouted from her back. Wings covered in huge, black feathers. With a massive flap, she took to the sky, soaring over a building. Jack shot after her on a gust of wind. The two flew through the air, Jack slowly closing in on her. They twirled through low allies, dipping in and out of small neighborhoods. Just as he was about to reach her, close enough that he could stretch out his crook and hook her ankle, she dropped. Her wings pulled back into her back and she plummeted straight down.

Jack landed in front of a small townhouse that couldn't have fit more than two people. So it came as a surprise when he heard the equivalent of a crowd coming from an open window. Quietly, he snuck inside. The house looked just as bad on the inside as it did on the outside. Peeling wallpaper, popped lightbulbs, a rug littered with moth holes. From where he stood, he could see the entrance to a kitchen. There were patches in the wall where tiles had fallen off, and a window with a crack in it. To his left, a staircase where each step bowed in the middle. He quickly floated to the top and came to another hallway with three rooms. A wave of voices spilled out from each one except the third one. A room at the end of the hall had its door slightly ajared, and although daylight streamed into the house, Jack could see a silver glow shining from inside. He gripped his crook angrily and shot through the door.

Before him, the black hoodie sat crossed legged on a bed and across from her sat the silver mirage of a little girl. Without even slowing down, he tackled the black hoodie off of the bed, her scythe clattering to the ground. The two crashed to the floor.

"What are you-!" the black hoodie shouted, trying to wring herself free.

"I won't let you!" Jack fired back struggling to keep her pinned. She launched forward with her head, baring her needle-sharp teeth. Had Jack not let go, she would have clamped down on his throat. Before he had time to react, her heel had struck him hard across the face, slamming him into the wall. Jack fell to his knees, a heavy groan knocked from his chest. With a growl, he hopped to his feet and swung his crook, a jet of blue light escaping the tip. The black hoodie dive-rolled to her scythe, strewn on the other side of the room, and took it up just as a second jet of light shot towards her. With a swift flick of the wrist, the blade of the scythe blocked Jack's attack, sending it flying back at him. His eyes went wide and he dropped to the floor. The blue light froze the wall behind him. Breathing heavily, he slowly climbed to his feet, his crook at the ready. The black hoodie stood at the other end of the room, her scythe angled blade down, tip up, and her hood off. Now that he had a chance to see her in daylight, he realized she was actually quite pretty.

Her black hoodie covered in eyes was unzipped. Underneath, she wore a pair of short, black overalls, littered in pins and patches, and a pair of punk style, knee-high combat boots. The kind with both laces, pockets, and buckles. He almost missed it, but in the sunlight her skin appeared almost translucent. He could make out the mirror behind her reflecting his own image.

"Hey," the girl growled at him, pulling him back to attention. "I don't know what you're trying to do here, but you'd better leave before you get seriously hurt."

"I can't do that," Jack said, glancing at the little girl. While the two of them had been caught up in their brawl, she had been calmly sitting on the bed, legs crossed, waiting patiently. "A little girl?! Seriously?! How could you do such a thing?!"

"What are you…" she started. "Are you asking me why I'm doing my job?!"

"What kind of job means killing innocent people? I don't know who, or what you are. But I do know that I'm not gonna let you continue."

The girl looked completely baffled, even lowering her guard and letting her arms drop by her sides. Her mouth gaped open and shut a few times as she struggled to figure out what to say. "Do… do you seriously think that I'm here to kill her?"

"If not then what else? I'm here to prevent what you did to that man at the hospital!"

"You're gonna have to be a lot more specific. The amount of people who die in a hospital are-"

"Why are you doing this?" Jack cut her off.

"Because she's dying."
"So? What right does that give you to end her life? She could survive if you gave her a chance!"

"Whether that's true or not isn't my problem. I'm not here because I chose to be here, I'm here because she called me here!"

Jack froze. His gaze jumped from the two of them and back. Slowly, he lowered his crook. "I don't understand…"

"Maybe you would have if you had taken a moment to listen the first time." She heaved a sigh and made her way over to the edge of the bed. The wisp watched carefully in silence "This," she began by gesturing to the wisp. "Is a soul. The soul of Masha Hayden. The real Masha is sleeping right there."

Jack's heart suddenly dropped as he noticed the sleeping girl. Unlike the wisp, she looked minutes away from death. Her dark skin had lost its color to the point that it looked grey. Her body had no weight and clung to her bones. Her eyes were sunken, and unlike the wisp with bouncing curls hanging past her shoulders, Masha barely even had peach fuzz. Looking back up, he saw the expression that the black hoodie had on hers was exactly the same as his. Utter devastation. Heartbreak.

"I don't kill anyone." She said, not taking her eyes off the child. "I listen to them. Their screams and cries of agony. They call for me, begging to be free." She turned to Jack, his heart climbing into his throat. Her demonic eyes bore directly into his. Not to mention her grip had become tight on the scythe. "This scythe doesn't have the capability to kill anyone. At least not a human. It's for severing the ties of a soul to its body. But when a soul is on its way to death, it begins to feel pain. The closer it is the more agony it feels. At a certain point, their bodies are just cages. The soul trapped inside, crying out for something to release them.

"During death, the soul is still inside. It doesn't pass on to any afterlife, it doesn't die out with the body. It stays there until someone comes along and frees it. And that is what I am here for. I am the one who severs those ties, and guides them to the afterlife. That man you saw, Alex? He was ninety-seven years old and had been on life support for nearly a year. This girl? She's 11 years old and has been dying from cancer since she was seven. Without me, they would still be suffering even after they died."

Jack stood back, watching the girl as she climbed back on the bed. She sat in front of the wisp and just like before, she began to talk to her. Their conversation lasted a long time.

"Is it going to hurt?" The wisp would ask her.

"No," the girl would answer. "But even if it did, you're hurting a lot right now. There's no way it could hurt more than right now." They spoke for an hour before the wisp finally said she was ready, and disappeared back into her body. Just like before, she slashed at her chest, releasing the soul from Masha's body. The wisp had a smile on her face that warmed the entire room. The girl raised her scythe again.

"Thank you, Miss Reaper." the wisp said. The girl slashed at the wisp, and her image faded away.

Jack stared at the girl for a long time, a sudden movement from her made him jump. She had raised a hand and rubbed her face with her palm. She was wiping away tears, leaving black trails down her cheeks.

"Who are you…?" Jack asked, barely above a whisper. She turned to him, standing.

"My name is Thana. I'm the Azrael, but you probably know me as the Grim Reaper."