Disclaimer: I do not own Skulduggery Pleasant, Death Note, or the Discworld series
13—Memories Lost
Anita stared. Her husband, Death, he stood before her, and she could not feel his soul. With all of them, in order to save their life she had switched souls with them, resulting in a mixing which led to them being able to sense each other's souls. Now, most likely, she couldn't switch souls any more, but still she should be able to sense souls with which she was mixed.
A quick check verified that, yes, she could feel Ryuzaki's next to her and Skulduggery's in the next room.
"I NEED TO SEE THE ONE KNOWN AS 'LIFE,' 'THE IMAGINER,' AND 'ANITA HEATHERS' NOW," Death said. For the first time, his voice hurt as is went straight to being registered without first being heard, his eyes burned hers. He was not the Death she knew, the old familiar Death, the Death that had held her as nightmares ran across the planes of her mind.
When she spoke, her voice came out as a squeak. "W-why?"
"THE AUDITORS HAVE SEEN THAT YOU ARE NOT COMPLETING YOUR FULL DUTIES. SOMEONE, AN ENEMY OF YOURS, DIED, AND HE DID NOT COME BACK."
Serpine! But if he didn't come back, it meant she couldn't revive anymore. And in order for her to be allowed to exist, she couldn't allow for people to kill her enemies. Not ever.
Skulduggery stepped out of the kitchen, Valkyrie next to him. They froze upon seeing the invader. Before Anita could speak, Skulduggery's gun was out.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" he asked smoothly. The gun did not waver.
Without even turning around, without a single movement, Death replied, "THAT DOES NOT CONCERN MORTAL MEN SUCH AS YOU."
"Mortal!" Skuluggery cried in rage, and he was pulling the trigger. Anita tried to step forward, to stop the bullet, but she was not fast enough. It went through Death as if he were a ghost, crashing into the wall. Anita silently thanked God that she had made the runes only for living things.
"He means that you can die, Skulduggery," Anita told him shakily. "And he's right. I wouldn't test him—this isn't the Death we know."
L frowned slightly. "Death we know? You mean…?" he let the question trail off, unasked and unanswered.
"I HAVE NEVER KNOWN YOU. I WOULD REMEMBER IF I DID," Death informed her.
"Not necessarily. There is more at work here than you and I amount to," Anita said. And then she felt the change. Her borders became sharper, her skin went greyer, and the angle of her cheekbones became crueler. She had become Life.
"I did not kill him. It is not necessary for me to revive all. There was no duty for me there. If the auditors wish it, though…" Life told him, and her voice was the harsh rasp of a hundred dehydrated voices. Locust swarms and the cry of young children frolicked in the sound of it. Life held out a hand, a light appeared at the end of her fingers, and she lifted her face to Death.
"There. It is done. And now," she said, taking a step closer, "do you really not remember me? Let your memories…LIVE!"
Life's hand went to Death's head, and he let out a cry that echoed off of the walls, nearly collapsing. With a hiss, Life pulled her hand back. Her fingers were blackened, charred.
And then the grey was gone, the edges smoothed, and Anita staggered back until she hit the couch, unable to stop herself. Her hand was red and shiny, but not charred any more. Life howled inside of her, slowly consumed, and Anita ran to Death's side as he finally collapsed.
He may no longer be the Death she was wed to, but she still couldn't sit and watch him die. Voices yelled around her, but the words did not register. They were nothing but sound.
How could she heal Death? He was not alive, he was not dead…perhaps it was a matter of energy? She called up a Black Flame, the fire of death energy, and cast it on the reaper. But even as she did so, she realized, "This is not the world I know. What is this place? This world of pain and worry, of blood and flesh and bone, this is not my home world! This is not what I thought it to be!"
And then she heard hissing sand, and they were in the room of the life timers. She stood, yelling for Albert at the top of her lungs.
The man who was once a wizard stepped forward, muttering, "Can't believe the master's let a mortal in the room, doesn't he remember the last time he did, it never ended well and now Teatime keeps showing up…"
He let everything trail off when he saw Anita, face pale and written all over with fright, and Death, unconscious on the floor.
"What did you do to him, girl?" Albert cried.
Anita swallowed. "I touched him. When I was Life. I let Life touch Death…" She started to chuckle for no reason, the situation suddenly seeming bizarre. She looked down at Death's body, and her distress and terror only made her laugh harder.
Suddenly, in this world apart from the Disc or any other world, a world where a magic closer to hers was possible, she knew she could conjure again, and so she brought up a black rose, and then stared at it, chuckling quietly again.
Slowly her laughter petered out as she gazed at nothing. Stars blazed in front of her eyes when a bony hand slapped her cheek. She looked up from the floor where she had fallen and remembered, suddenly, Mort. Would she die, or, like him, be spared?
"THAT," Death told her, "WAS FOR LETTING ME FORGET YOU. AND THIS," (he pulled her up by the hand, planting a bony kiss on her cheek) "IS BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT. NOW GO. WITH THE CHANGING TIDES, I THINK I SHOULD NOT HAVE REMEMBERED. I DO STILL HAVE TO DO THE DUTY, YOU KNOW."
Anita smiled before it hit her. She was losing him.
"Is this goodbye for forever?" she asked.
"PROBABLY NOT. AT THE VERY LEAST, YOU'LL DIE EVENTUALLY, YES?"
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I am supposed to be immortal, but I get the feeling that that's gone now…"
"THEN YOU SHOULD BE CAREFUL. NOW, BE HOME…" Anita disappeared before she could hear the reaper add, "…MY LOVE."
A/N: Ok, so that was incredibly fluffy, in my opinion. Ah, well, so be it. I think will show up next. Or maybe no one else will show up because of . That's right, I am consistently not telling you ANYTHING. Now, until I get one more review, I will not update. So if you like this, you'll review (and, yes, anonymous reviews count) so that I keep writing.