"Did you love her?"
He was back on the cliffs. Ambrose's cottage stood tucked into the grooves of the open fields behind him. Sheep grazed calmly, a large Komondor dog running back and forth between each one. The sea spread out below him. Sparkling blue waves crashed against the rocks and sand. The sky was dotted with fluffy white clouds, small V's of sea birds flew overhead, disappearing into the horizon. There was no storm.
The woman that had spoken to him was not the human version of Thana. She had striking blonde hair tied up and teased with braids. Black charcoal lined her silvery grey eyes, and her cheeks crisscrossed with tattoos. She wore a long blue dress, adorned with leather belts.
Jack had a feeling he knew who she was, but instead of lingering, he looked back to the sea.
"I don't think so." He said back. "I felt something. And it was strong. It wasn't love, but it wasn't fear either."
"Someone who made you feel so strongly after knowing her for only a few hours. And you say it isn't love?"
Jack shook his head. " "I cared about her. I wanted to keep her forever, but not because I loved her. She was just…" he stopped to think. "She was wonderful."
The woman watched him, her eyes hard.
"Wonderful…" she repeated after him. She lifted her hands and showed Jack her palms. They were calloused and hard. Layers of scars made their home there. Jack could see more creeping under the long sleeves of her dress.
"I thought these were wonderful." She said, "They tell stories. Stories of mine and others'. And I remember I loved to tell them. The grip it held on people's attention!" She squeezed her hands into fists. "And then others thought they were wonderful too." She relaxed. Her arms dropped by her sides And she turned back towards the sea.
"They are wonderful." Jack assured her.
"But not the same wonderful." She said back quickly.
"Two wonderful things don't have to be the same. A lightning storm is wonderful, but so are birthday parties, giant fish, and exotic fruits. And they have nothing to do with each other." He gingerly touched her shoulder and gave her a smile.
"You are wonderful, Gunza."
The woman frowned at him. "Gunza?" She said, confused. "Who is Gunza?"
Jack blinked, and the woman was gone. Vanished into thin air. The sudden clashing of metal startled him and he whirled around. There was a battle taking place several meters away. Axes and swords clashed against circular wooden shields. Faces painted with clan marks screamed in agony and victory. Men and women fought together and within the mix, Jack could see the woman, Gunza. She fought ferociously, swinging a sword alongside other Norsemen. It was a battle of warring Viking clans.
Their screams got louder. A ring in his ear grew with each clash of steel. Jack saw people begin to fall. The paint on their faces mixed with freshly spilled blood. He saw Gunza step over fallen bodies, slashing down foe after foe. And then she was shot in the back. Three long arrows poked from her spine and surprise spread across her face. She managed to turn around, to face her slayer. Her eyes focused on a woman, kneeling on one knee with a longbow in her hands. Gunza's agony washed away. Replaced with eyes of bloodlust. Jack wasn't sure how, but he knew that the kneeling archer was Gunza's own sister. Gunza fell to her knees. As a final act, Gunza raised her sword, and pointed it straight in the direction of her sister.
Suddenly, it wasn't Gunza on her knees, but Jack. He could feel the arrows in his back, bursting hot with pain. His vision swam, and the sword in his hand was ridiculously heavy. But he was angry. His mind was filled with the strong desire for vengeance, violence and for the sister's blood to be spilled. 'I will kill you!' He wanted to scream. Finally, he felt himself go light. His vision darkened, and he collapsed.
Jack opened his eyes. He was on his back in a light brown room. To his left was a circular table with a teacup and a vase holding a single flower in it. There were three chairs, one was knocked over. To his right, a two person couch, a rug, and a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf with only one book on it. The couch was placed in front of a sash window, framed by a set of curtains. Everything, even the little individual squares of the window, was painted in beige.
He glanced down at himself. There was nothing different about him. His body looked fine. There were no wounds, cuts, bruises, nothing to indicate that he had gone through a war or a cyclone. However, there was something strange. Resting in his hands, about the size of a tennis ball, was a goldfish. He stared at it, sitting up as he did. The fish was brilliant orange, a golden hue around each scale, and a fiery red tail. As if having a fish in his hand wasn't strange enough, it's eyes were closed. Jack didn't think he had ever seen a fish close its eyes. Was it dead? He raised a hand to try poking at it.
"It's her soul."
The voice sent a shiver down Jack's spine. He looked up. It was Thana. Not human Thana but undead, Grim Reaper, guide of souls Thana. She was dressed differently this time, in an oversized grey sweater, black jeans, and massive platform boots. She had the same demonic eyes that made Jack's stomach somersault, the same long, black hair, the same translucent skin and pointy teeth. This was Thana.
"You must be pretty shocked to see me, huh?" She said
Jack didn't know what to do. His mind was racing. 'But she's dead!' He thought.
"I saw you die." He said quietly. Thana blinked and looked at the beige floor.
"I know it's not the most pleasant thing to see."
"But how are you here…?" Jack stumbled around his words. "What is this place, anyway?"
Thana gestured for him to stand.
"This is where souls are brought when they are neither dead, nor alive. Think of it as a waiting room."
"Not dead or alive?" Jack asked.
"Jack, welcome to Limbo." She shoved her hands in her pockets.
"Limbo?" Jack repeated after her. He finally stood up on his feet. "But I don't understand. I thought you died."
"Technically I didn't." She began. "When the Hela killed me, or rather tried to, I divided my soul up into individual smaller souls."
"You turned into a bunch of ravens…" Jack remembered aloud.
Thana nodded.
"It was my best chance to escape. And I almost did, but the shadows caught and destroyed all of them before they could get away. All except one. Thanks for letting her out, by the way."
Jack knew she meant the raven that was captive in Gunza's dungeon. Which meant she had fought with him in battle, led him and Ambrose to Gunza, and saved Cassius from being killed.
"Does that mean you could still come back? If a piece of your soul is still alive out there then couldn't you be brought back?"
Thana smiled sadly and shook her head. "Unfortunately, taking a piece out of Voldemort's book doesn't reap all the benefits. It might have been possible if more ravens had been left alive, but there isn't enough to keep me tethered to the realm of the living. There is only one after all."
Jack wasn't sure what to say. It had only been a few days since Thana had supposedly died. Now here she was again. Jack looked down at the fish still sleeping in his hands.
"So," he started. "This is Gunza's soul?"
"Angrboda." Thana corrected him.
"Angrboda?"
"Gunza before she became the Hela. A powerful warrior, named after Loki's wife. She adopted the name Gunza only after she became a deity of death. Angrboda was her human life."
"But why a goldfish? Yours was a raven."
Thana shrugged. "It's a secret I haven't figured out yet. But every soul is different. Mine is a raven, Angrboda's is a goldfish. Souls come in all forms, mostly animals."
"Why do I have Gunza- er, Angrboda's soul?"
"You were the one who severed its tie to her body. It's your responsibility to make sure it can continue to move on."
Jack stared at the sleeping fish.
"I severed its ties? But I thought-"
"That my scythe was just an ordinary weapon?" She shook her head and tutted. "The scythe is the source of the powers that made me the Grim Reaper. It contains the ability to sever souls from bodies, and to open a path to a trial."
"So does that mean I killed her? Gunza I mean."
"Yes and no." Thana took the fish from his hands. "Yes, because her soul is no longer in her body because of you. No, because technically she died a long time ago. Now she's just moving on."
Jack felt a tension in his chest, that he wasn't aware of, slowly release.
"I saw her die too. Angrboda, I mean. And then I died instead of her…for her."
Thana nodded. "That's what it means to be a reaper. You experience their deaths. You understand their traumas and the hints of life that flashed before their eyes. It makes moving on a lot easier."
There was a heavy silence between the two spirits. A mix of emotions brewed in Jack's chest. He couldn't bring himself to look at Thana's face, and he couldn't relax on his own. So many things had happened to him in the short span of a few days. He had lost people he cared about, and then found them again. His trust had been gained and broken, and he watched many around him, including himself, nearly die. Now he was in a monochrome room, stuck hovering between life or death, and he was entrusted with the dying soul of the person who caused it all.
Without warning, Thana slipped her arms under his and hugged him around the waist. Jack stood stiff. His heart was beating rapidly and something overwhelming was building up in the pit of his stomach. It reached his chest, stuck into his throat and finally brimmed at his eyes. Jack buried his face into Thana's shoulder and threw his arms around her. He began to cry.
Sobs wracked his body. Hot tears pooled from his face and eventually left a soaking wet blotch in Thana's sweater. Everything that had been building up and pushed down came bubbling out. He cried and cried and couldn't stop himself even if he tried.
Thana was silent. Her eyes were closed and her chin rested on the frozen boy's shoulder.
Minutes passed. To Jack, they felt like hours. His eyes were dry now. His forehead rested against Thana's shoulder. He was just breathing now. Slowly, he picked his head up, and felt his arms relax from her back. It wasn't until his arms dropped completely to his sides that he felt Thana let go. After a moment of taking her in, Jack rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly.
"I uh… thank you. I needed that." He managed to say.
"I know." Thana smiled. She took his hand and placed the goldfish in it. "If you're ready, then you should finish guiding her soul."
Jack took a deep breath and nodded. Thana led him to the windows above the couch. As they approached, the paint covering the glass began to crack and peel away. Jack couldn't really see anything beyond an empty whiteness. They now stood a foot from the windows, the peeled paint floating around them unaffected by gravity. Thana pushed the window open and a gentle breeze hit Jack's face. He took a step forward and raised the fish to the window. When it's face touched the light, it's eyes opened. It wriggled around in Jack's hand and jumped out. The goldfish swam through the air, circling around a few times. Finally it looped once more and glided through the open window. Jack felt an extreme lightness to his body now, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Thana stepped up onto the couch. She turned around to face Jack once more. He was watching her, his eyes filled with wonder.
"Will I ever see you again?" He asked.
Thana smiled. "Perhaps. But never like this." She gestured to herself. She took a step forward. As she reached the light her body transformed, ravens taking her place. They all flew out the window in a flurry of caws and rustling feathers. They were all gone.
Jack exhaled. It was really over. All he needed was a way out of Limbo. As soon as the thought entered his head the window slammed shut. The paint floating in the air rushed back to the window, slamming back into place. At first Jack was worried the window would break, but he wasn't expecting the drop. Suddenly the floor disappeared from under his feet, and he plummeted down. A scream caught in his throat. He fumbled around instinctively for his crook, with no luck. Jack plunged into darkness.
