Nox POV
Present day
The Grimm reaper, the god of death, devil killer, the ghost. But so far, baby killer was not on that list. Nox cursed into the night sky at his current predicament.
He had been assigned a new target by the reaper's guild. It was a family in a quiet corner of the second ring of the kingdom. Not a big bounty but Nox didn't do it for the money. He had prepared and headed out as he always did at the last slither of light, ready for another hunt.
Nox had killed and destroyed countless families over the years. But when he had turned up to the small well kept town house, home to a family of three, Nox hadn't expected to find the third target of the night to be a small sickly infant bundled up in hand made clothes.
Nox had stood over the baby's cot, his body swallowed by the shadows in the dimly lit room. A constant drip of blood running off his dark clothes filling the silent room as Nox stared at the peaceful child sound asleep. Nox felt no emotion for the infant, his true expression as blank as his mask. But still Nox had no interest in killing something that gave less of a fight then a rotten fruit.
What a pain. Nox grumbled to himself as he lifted his blade above the child's tiny chest ready to end its life.
~
Running over the rooftops he headed home, the wind whipping violently at Nox's clothes. He wrapped his cloak tighter around himself and the little bundle of hand made clothes in his arm.
Something told him he was going to regret this. The very much alive baby wriggled and wormed against Nox's hold on its frail body.
This wasn't the first time Nox had spared a target's life. The tiny sleeping baby under his arm was the second survivor of a Grimm reaper attack.
Nox pushed every thought to the back of his brain, shutting them away tightly so that he didn't end up changing his mind. His darkness slithered up to the baby with innocent curiosity, curling up Nox's arm cautiously. Nox growled in warning to his dark friend and it quickly receded back to the depths it came from. It would only take a flash of darkness, a single sharpened claw to dig itself into Nox's mind for the baby in his arms to become yet another victim. Even if Nox didn't know why he was doing this , even though he knew the baby would most likely die some other way, he still wouldn't let himself be the one to do it.
~
The kingdom was a vast place divided by rings and then sectioned into towns. At the very centre of the walled kingdom was the wealthiest and most beautiful part. Buildings of all colours, shapes and sizes lined the streets. Gardens of the brightest flowers winding like a river in waves of colour between each house. The cobblestone streets made way for horse drawn carriages and strolling ladies hidden from the sun under lace umbrellas. The high end reapers patrolled the streets in uniform riding motorised two wheeled bikes dressed all in black. A polished castle hugged by climbing roses stood in the middle of it all, home to the royal family and the mysterious government that over saw the workings of the kingdom. People in the centre lived in relative peace, only those who had openly opposed a royal or governor would face a reaper's cold stare.
Outside of the centre was the first ring. The first ring was made up of crop fields and farm lands stretching for miles long and wide. It was divided into two towns. The farming families would sell their goods in the market squares where servants and merchants would transport their food and supplies to the centre ring and everywhere else in the kingdom. The market squares were full of shops of all kinds, supplying anything you could think off. If the centre was the brain controlling everything then the first ring was the heart of the kingdom pumping blood to every corner. The first ring was a respectable and peaceful place to live, not many reapers were sent there on missions. Nox had only killed six people in the first ring over all the years he'd been a reaper.
After the first ring came the second ring which was made up of four towns. Being so close to the farm lands the second ring was generally well taken care of. The majority of residents in the second ring's towns were soldiers and their families. A perk of being a royal's dog, you got a nice kennel. The houses were tightly packed but every home and street was clean and well lit with electricity. Most people lived and worked in the numerous shops that lined the main streets. They traded the goods from the first ring and some shops even provided training for people to become skilled in different crafts in hopes of moving to the stalls in the first ring towns. But everything had a price and education was more expensive then most reaper bounties.
Nox had heard stories of reapers spending all their wealth just to be taught how to read and write their own name. And reapers could make a lot of money if they were good at what they did.
The last two rings of the kingdom; the third and fourth ring, were the worst place you could end up. The third ring was nothing more then a shithole. There were eight towns in the third ring, each town worse then the one before. The buildings barely standing, rubble and mud making up the street floor. There were bars and taverns everywhere, sending streams of drunkards and sleezy men into the streets at all times of the day and night. Disease plagued every filth ridden home. Most houses there didn't have the luxury of running water, forcing the people to leave the safety of their home to find wells that were shared by thousands of others. Some had to travel days to get to the dirty water source only to wait in line for days and die of thirst before reaching the well metres in front of them. It was the breeding ground for all things rotten. The rare visits of traders who dared to pass through the gates of the third ring with goods and supplies were the only source of food these people had. Your only hope was to be employed by a tavern or brothel owner.
The final ring of the kingdom was the largest, sectioned into ten towns. It was the graveyard for the entire kingdom. Ruins of old stone houses remained as the only shelter for the damned that lived there. People who were so diseased or close to death were cast out into the fourth ring. Orphans with no hope abandoned by their relatives at the giant iron gates. Corpses piled high from 100ft holes in the ground drowning in bloodied water. The living that were forced to endure life in the fourth ring had only the pooled water at the bottom of the graves to drink and food was anything they could find. But even the unfortunate residents of that cesspit weren't free from their life bounty. Reapers were sent to kill and extract the life energy from even the forgotten souls.
The life energy of a person was very valuable, it powered the electricity of the kingdom, fertilised fields for the best crops, fused with diamonds to make them glow, crafted into the strongest weapons. The amount of life energy a person had depended entirely on their souls structure as well as the strength of their will.
Nox remembered the first time he'd seen an extraction. He was still training to be a reaper and his small eight year old frame stood over a dead elderly man he had just poisoned. Nox's teacher lounged against a wall his arms crossed against his massive chest.
"Put on the gloves and hold your hand above his heart, then do exactly as I showed you before." His cold grumbling voice echoed over the stone walls as Nox did as he was told. The glove crackled with a kind of electricity as a flash of sea blue jumped from the man's body onto the glove. Nox pressed his gloved hand against a small smooth black stone he kept in his pocket. It flowed into the rock, that same blue lighting up the surface showing the transfer was completed.
When Nox grew up he discovered his ability. A simple ability that allowed him to manipulate his energy. Over the years his powers had evolved and grew, allowing him to change his energy into a shield or enhance every throw of his fist or cut through metal with the flick of his finger. Another advantage was he could extract and manipulate the life energy of a newly dead person. And to Nox's lazy delight he didn't need to use the bulky gloves that reaper's wore to extract the life energy from someone.
With his skills and his unique abilities Nox had earnt the title of the Grimm reaper. Kill after kill and not a single person left in the guild's ever increasing numbers left able to defeat Nox in training by the time he was nine. He was the youngest reaper among his comrades, leaving him a pariah amongst the people who were meant to be his new family. The rumours about him had spread around the kingdom soon after he'd completed his training at the age of ten. The masked reaper, the story of the Grimm a bedtime story told to naughty children and feared by every man in the kingdom. Even the reaper's from the guild had turned their backs on Nox out of fear. Not that he cared even a little. Nox only wanted to kill. And sleep.
~
Nox reached his destination and stood at the gates of the fourth ring. His cloaked figure ominous in the moonlight. People stopped to stare, curiosity close to getting them killed.
Nox turned to the small crowd of chattering folk and at the sight of his black mask only two slits for his eyes, they scattered like rats squealing at the sight of the Grimm.
One rumour the people seemed to like, said if the Grimm were to look into your eyes you would collapse and die right where you stood. Nox sighed at the dramatics but was thankful for his reputation if it meant people didn't hassle him.
A click sounded and a small door carved into the gate opened for him. A thin old man shut the door behind Nox, not that anyone was eager to break into this place.
The stench and humid air hit Nox like a wall as he physically cringed. The sun was starting to rise and Nox wished he was in his bed for the hundredth time. He walked for a couple of hours following the winding paths carved in between the piles of corpses and wading through a small river full of pale bloated bodies floating down the current.
At the end of a worn dirt track Nox reached a small dusty clearing, a barely standing house hidden behind a burnt carcass of a church. Barging straight in he walked over to a collection of tattered rugs on the floor and laid down, placing the now awake baby on the floor as far away from him as he could.
"You better not fall asleep you lazy piece of shit." A voice too soft and sweet for such an angry tone, sounded from another room. Nox already knew exactly where she was as soon as he had neared the house. Her energy was louder then most and he could feel it on the air like a fresh spring breeze.
"Be careful how you speak to me or I might just kill you this time." Nox stretched his arms above his head about to close his eyes when a book came soaring towards his face. He caught the flapping piece of literature centimetres from his mask and turned towards the entrance to the other room where a woman stood.
Her hair was braided in a circle around her head like a crown. Freckles splattered across her nose and cheeks. The little brown flecks had always reminded Nox of blood, making it seem she'd just walked away from a bloody crime scene. Strands of her dirty blonde hair fell across her face framing her pale green eyes. She was a few years younger then Nox but life had aged their hearts well past their young years.
She glared at him murderously until her eyes moved to the wriggling bundle next to him.
"What the hell is that?!" She exclaimed eyes wide, completely ignoring the fact she'd just hurled a book at Nox. She strode towards it avoiding the reaper's long body like he was plagued and crouched down next to the baby.
"It's a child." Nox explained blankly and matter of fact.
That seemed to make her glare harder at him. She picked the child up gently swaying it from side to side.
"I'm not your babysitter you know. If you're gonna go around having kids now you better find someone else to look after them. Better yet where's its mother? If you got a woman pregnant and then killed her I'm going to rip your eyes out." She seethed with rage through gritted teeth while smiling tensely at the baby in her arms.
"I'm not the child's father but I did make it an orphan. The child was my target but It's sick, I can feel it, it's life energy is barely there. I thought you could heal it and then I'll find a new place for it. It's not worth anything to anyone with an energy like that" Nox said in a flat tone to the woman.
Lillian was the only other survivor of a Grimm attack and for as long as she was useful to Nox she would keep her life.
"Where will you take him?" She asked after unbundling the baby and wrapping the boy back up in a fresh towel.
"I'm sure I can persuade a family to take very good care of him." Nox mused.
"What with your outstanding people skills." Lillian mocked with a tilt of her head scowling at him.
"Heal the child Lillian and I will be on my way tonight." Nox stood up and left the house carefully shutting the door held up by a piece of rope. He ignored the rising feeling in his heart just as he ignored the pool of hidden emotions he had seen behind the glare Lillian had given him.