Reapers - Master of Souls (Reapers Chronicles Book III)

36 - Offering

Credits to MJ Longos for the anime opening theme~

You always respond once,

You are always vague

Never can I leave my heart

I'm lost in the same place

Waiting for you to hold my hand

----∞XIII∞----

36 - Offering

For what seemed like hours I watched him sleep. I kept thinking that everything that happened was a dream. With his one arm under my head and the other around my waist, it could only be a dream.

His slow, steady breaths sounded to me like a song. I was afraid that if I closed my eyes for a minute and fell asleep, I would wake up from all of this.

The moment it started to get light, I carefully got out of bed and got dressed. The hallways to the baths were still empty. After last night, everyone else would probably wake up late.

When I entered the baths, I was surprised to see Belial at the far end of the pool. Her long hair floated in the water like black serpents. Her back was turned to me but I could tell that she was looking at the sky.

"Seems like a great day to make an Offering, ain't it?" she said, her tone all but encouraging.

I dropped my robe and went to the showers. Letting the cold water awaken every muscle in my body, I closed my eyes. Once I opened them, I realized everything might as well be a dream.

Yes. The dream was over. Now, I had to face the nightmares again.

Wordlessly, I headed to the end of the pool right across Belial. The warm water brought back feeling to my limbs. I looked up to see what she had been staring at. All I saw was an endless stretch of cloudless blue.

"What's going to happen to me?" I asked her. "During the Offering."

"It ain't the Offering you should be worried about, Hun. It's what happens after."

"What do you mean?"

She began to gather her hair into a bun before finally looking grimly at me. "The Offering is just an appointment ticket to Eldest' office. Once you're inside don't mean you'll get what you want. Eldest ain't a genie, Hun. She would test you. She may even want somethin' in return for helping us."

My breaths became shaky despite the warmth of the water. I stared at my empty hands.

"B-but, what could she possibly want from me? I have nothing to give her!"

She threw me a pitiful look. "There's always somethin'."

"It's not over until it's over," I murmured to myself, echoing the words she said last night.

"Come to the arena when you're ready," Belial told me as she climbed out of the pool.

Blankly, I nodded.

Panic began to overwhelm me. What little spark of courage I thought I had began to dwindle. I thought the sacrifice ended with witnessing a friend die. But it was just the beginning.

----∞XIII∞----

Belial was hunkered in front of the lodestone when I arrived in the arena. She was drawing symbols on the ground with what looked like blood. The symbols formed a triangle, three feet wide.

"Great timing," said she, eyes still on her work.

She pushed herself up, wiping the crimson stains on her fingers with a washcloth. Eyeing me from head to toe, she raised a brow.