Grim held the kiss for as long as he could, but eventually doubt seeped in. I messed up the ritual. She's gone. She's gone forever.
Logic gave way, and he thought, It must only work when I pull away. That's it. So, he did.
Immy was still frozen. Smiling, dead-eyed, stiff...
"It... it didn't work," He uttered, feeling his throat tighten.
"Grim—" Gabriel started, cut off by blinding light filling the room, startling both of them.
This is it. This is—
But then he was back in the room.
He looked at his hands, turning them over in front of him. Where's—
"Grim!"
Warm arms wrapped around his neck, soft hands touched his face, and he looked up.
Immy was crying, and shocked, and grinning, and divine. She was there. There to stay.
Grim felt as though all air had left his body. He wasn't supposed to be alive. She wasn't supposed to be there with him, but...
She pulled his face to hers, and he understood. How could this ever not happen? In what dimension were they not meant to be?
They defied dimensions. They were beyond possibility. They were divine, together.
Grim pressed his lips to hers, entangling his fingers in her hair. She didn't taste like vanilla or cinnamon, but she tasted like her. She was perfect, and unexpected, and she caressed the sides of his face gently, and Grim couldn't help but shudder at the touch.
She pulled away and laughed, crying as well. Crying golden, pure tears.
He couldn't help himself. He kissed her again, because god, she was there, and she was wonderful, and he was bathing in the moment, trying not to question it, trying not to think of the what ifs—
"What the fuck is going on?"
Grim tore away and stared at the door where Xen now stood, wide-eyed.
"Xir!" He laughed anxiously, wiping tears from his face. "Um..."
"I—um, could ask the same question, honestly," Immy's shaky voice laughed, soothing him.
He turned and took her in. "Well, uh—welcome to divinity, I guess?"
"You revived her," Xen stated, causing him to turn back.
"Yes," Gabriel answered. "We can explain everything, but—"
"—Xir, I swear it's not his fault. He didn't want to, I pushed him—"
"—Don't lie on my behalf, Grim. I wanted her back, you know that."
"Shut it, both of you," Xen commanded. "Now, start from the beginning. How did Immy die? How did she get stabbed?"
Grim took a deep breath. "I took her to Exustus. I did my research and found out it was her old dimension, she wanted to see her parents again. It was dumb."
"Damn right. Is Sam dead?"
"Yes, Xir."
"Good. I take it he stabbed her?"
"Yes," Immy mumbled. "And I ran to Grim."
"And I killed her," Grim uttered. "And came here to find Gabriel."
"I was working late. I found him in the vending machine room and took him here because of the teleportation block."
"We stole from the library and performed an illegal revival. I don't know why I'm..."
"Wait, so I'm illegal? Do I need to go into, like—hiding, or something?" Immy asked.
"No, Immy. Your existence is not illegal," Xen answered. "The act of reviving someone, however... We can deal with that later. Nobody will be arrested if I can help it." They saw Grim's expression and added, "Or fired, for that matter. But the council will decide that."
"I'm pretty sure even if you were illegal, the council would bend the rules," Gabriel laughed. "You did nothing wrong."
"How did you do it?" Xen asked Gabriel.
"We—" Grim started.
"Not you."
Gabriel stared back at Xen. "...I told him he would die. He was willing immediately."
"What—" Immy looked at Grim, a puzzled expression crossing her face.
"I don't know either."
"You never had to die, Grim," Gabriel started. "You only had to prove what she meant to you."
"So you..."
He nodded, shooting him a small smile. "Theater really did pay off, huh?"
Grim laughed, tears begging to spill once more. "Guess so."
"Wait, you thought..." Immy trailed off.
"Yeah," Gabriel answered. "He did."
Immy sniffed. "...Goddammit, Grim. I love you."
He felt his face grow warm. "Love you too. But you already knew that, huh?"
"Hell yes!" She laughed, wiping the gold tears off of her cheeks. "...I'm alive. God, I'm immortal."
"Divine," Xen concluded. "You're here to stay."
"Uh... did the book say anything about that?" Grim glanced over at Gabriel, gesturing towards her face.
"What?" She laughed.
"Look at the cuffs of your sleeves."
She glanced down at the cuffs of her wool coat, tilting her head slightly.
"It's like... glittery?"
"It's normal, I promise, I can explain later, but... Immy," Xen called. Immy hummed in response. "Forgive me, this may be rude, but—what was it like?"
"Dying? Um... Not too bad." She leaned against Grim as she spoke, the sudden movement startling him. "I had this weird dream..."
"Dream?" Grim asked, attempting to regain composure.
"Not exactly. It was before I died. Like, my brain stopped time."
"What about?"
"It was a dinner party with a bunch of dead people. Oh, and reapers too, I guess. They were all really nice, but then everything got weird... whatever. It ended well, I guess. I got to come to peace with dying."
"Huh," Gabriel breathed. "And this was before you died?"
"I know for sure. It was my brain's little send-off, I guess. I know it sounds weird now, but... it was exactly what I needed." Grim smiled. "And the actual dying bit didn't last long. It was like falling, and it was really cold, but I couldn't really think about it. I fell asleep in Grim's arms, and woke up here. Not bad at all," She sniffed, pressing herself further into his side.
"Well," Xen sighed. "You'll need to tell the council about it when we meet. They'll want to be sure it was really before you died. Reaping is sacred, it's... well, our society needs that option."
"Option?"
"Eh... the fear of not existing, while it may seem cruel, is vital. It's half the purpose of reaping itself."
"So she'll be seeing the council?" Grim asked, growing defensive. He put his bare hand on hers and inhaled sharply at the feeling. His voice wavered as he muttered, "When?"
"Not anytime soon, Grim. I need to tell them first. This may be a matter more suited for the reaping council, or even the professional-divine council—"
"There are more of them?" Immy laughed nervously.
"Only four. The council, which you know, the reaping council, which is all current reapers of major dimensions, the professional-divine council, which is all divine beings of major dimensions that work for the council, and the divine council, which is literally all divine beings of major dimensions."
"Even retired?"
"Especially retired. That's what makes it such a humongous congregation—"
"Where do you even hold the meetings?"
"Here. It only happens once every century, there's an amphitheater... never mind that, though. The point is that we will hold a council meeting to discuss how to properly move forward with this... predicament. Until then... I'm sure leave is in order and—don't argue, Grim," Xen refused, seeing Grim's defiant expression. "You are in no place to argue anything at the moment. You will go home. Besides, I'm sure you wouldn't mind too much, considering what I saw when I first walked in."
Grim's face heated once more, and he sighed. Immy smiled, looking up at him.
"Yeah. Um—I guess we do need to talk about that, huh?" She mumbled.
"Think so," Grim agreed, holding himself back from asking too many questions.
"You'll have all the time in the world," Xen sighed. "Or, at least, however much I can give you... I need to get a substitute, I'll do it later tonight..." They rambled to themself.
"Don't you need to go home? Sleep?"
"Oh, I don't sleep," Xen laughed. "I'm kinda god, so..."
"Do you just stay here all the time? Maybe you need some morale leave," Immy suggested.
"I'm not constantly working. I am able to take breaks, and how much I work in a day depends on what's needed."
"Still..."
"You're very sweet, Immy, but that sort of thing doesn't affect me," Xen chuckled. "Of course you'd be worried about a god in your state, my stars—"
"My 'state' is perfectly fine. I'm alive, and happy, and my arm kinda hurts, but the rest of me feels fine!"
"Can I see?" Gabriel asked, tilting his head slightly. "Your arm, I mean. I don't know if your body fully healed or not..."
"You can check. I don't think I'm losing any more blood."
"Thank god," Grim muttered.
Immy held onto his shoulder and pushed herself to her feet, only for her legs to give out and send her back to the floor.
"Careful!" Gabriel exclaimed, instinctively reaching his hands out.
"I'm okay!" She responded, laughing. "Just—My legs don't work. Okay. I can deal with that."
"Your body isn't ready to be alive yet," Gabriel laughed back, kneeling beside her. "You were kinda dead for a half an hour."
"Was it that long?"
"Ish, yeah. I don't remember what time it was, though..."
"9:47," Grim answered. "Maybe 9:49, all things considered... let's say 9:50."
"Specific," Gabriel commented.
"I am nothing if not weirdly specific. But yeah, about a half-hour."
"Um—Take your coat off, please." Gabriel instructed Immy. She nodded and unzipped it, shrugging it off. Her arm was smudged with blood, but she wasn't wounded. "Xen, do you have wipes?"
"I've got tissues," They responded, pulling a small box off their desk and handing it to him.
"Grim." Gabriel nodded to the pile of things he had pulled out of his pockets. Grim, understanding instantly, took a handful of tissues and his flask, pouring vodka over them. "Thanks." Grim nodded and Gabriel gently padded at Immy's arm with the tissues, blocking Grim's view of it. "Does it sting?"
"Only a little."
"...Huh. Hey, Xen?"
"Yes?"
"Come look at this."
They did as he had said, kneeling next to him.
"That's a physical representation of value to others. It's normal. The book didn't say anything about that, did it?"
"What is it?" Grim called, moving to Gabriel's other side.
The skin of Immy's arm had a gash across it, scarred a glittering gold color.
"Wow." Gabriel smiled, looking over at Grim.
"Wow," He agreed, resisting the urge to reach out and touch the scar.
Immy raised her arm to look at it. "So I cry gold, I scar gold. What else is gold?" She laughed in shock.
"Your blood turns to gold when it oxidizes and your tears turn to gold when they hit your skin. As for anything else, it would depend on contact with blood. Your skin may shimmer slightly, but that's not exactly a gold thing," Xen answered.
"...Cool. But... Why?"
"Pfft—I don't know the complete answer. Marcus was in charge of developing the magic system, and he has a sense of... 'everything needs to be pretty or I will cease to exist,' y'know?" Immy snorted at them. "Well... I suppose it's a deterrent to anyone who may not have the full drive to do it. The gold makes you very, very valuable, which could cause people to..." They trailed off.
"Farm my blood?" Immy completed their sentence. "Well, I don't think I'll need to worry about that." She scooted over to Grim and nudged him affectionately.
He grinned. "Damn right."
"It's symbolic as well," Xen continued, getting to their feet. "Gold is pure. Gold is rare." They cracked their fingers and walked behind their desk, sitting down in their chair. "A revival is supposed to be near impossible to complete, especially without council instruction. The fact that you are speaking to us, Immy, is a gift. Those two dumbasses broke the law to bring you back to life, and Grim was okay with dying, and Gabriel was okay with being blamed for this mess, and it's a miracle."
"...Dammit," Immy wavered. "I didn't want to cry again," She laughed, shaking and hiding her face in Grim's shoulder.
"And what were the chances of that happening?" Grim chuckled, wrapping an arm around her.
"Zero, now that you're doing that! Christ," She sobbed.
Grim smiled and leaned closer to her. He hesitated for a moment before kissing the top of her head.
The sensation was unfamiliar, but it felt so right. It was miraculous, just as Xen had said, and a touch he hadn't felt in five whole years. His throat closed up as Immy tilted her head towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Their lips pressed together, but it wasn't like the kisses before. This one was gentler. This one was sweeter. God, he was desperate, but he held it together. He returned the kiss as soft as he dared, bringing his hands up to her face and gliding his fingers across her jaw.
He wasn't going to cry. He refused to cry.
But then she fluttered her hand down the back of his skull, and the entire act crumbled.
He pulled away and let out a shaky sob before pulling her tighter, aggressively kissing her cheek.
"Immy—"
"I'm right here, Grim," She murmured, sniffling. "It's okay."
More tears came as she held his head in her hands. He cried into her neck, hopefully not staining her t-shirt with his tears.
She hugged him tightly and called over his shoulder to Xen. "Can we go home now?" She laughed through her tears.
"Yes. Grim," They uttered, causing Grim to snap to attention, drying his eyes. "You have a month. I'll call with details tomorrow night, okay?"
"Yes, xir." His hoarse voice responded, hurrying to gather his things and stuff them into his pockets, handing Immy's necklace and amethyst to her. "Sorry."
"For what?"
"...I don't know," He realized.
Xen, out of the blue, snickered. "You instinctively apologized, I know, but you're not sorry. If you were sorry, you wouldn't have been able to bring her back to life."
"I guess I'm sorry for staining your carpet?"
"That was me!" Immy exclaimed. "Don't blame yourself—"
"Yeah, like you had control over where I moved your bleeding corpse," Grim sighed.
"I—" Immy cut off, stumbling over her words. "Fuck you!"
"That's justified. I did literally murder you tonight."
"And you also did literally raise me from the dead!"
"But—"
Gabriel groaned from where he stood beside Xen—he must've moved at some point, but Grim had been a little too preoccupied to notice—and spoke. "Grim. Stop. I love you, man, but go home!" He exclaimed. "Uh, speaking of going home..." He looked over at Xen.
"I won't require you to have morale leave, Gabriel. I can give you up to a month, though, if you'd like."
Gabriel went silent for a moment, looking over at Grim and Immy. "...Nah. I'll stay and hold down the fort."
Grim smiled. "Thanks, man. Someone's gotta keep the substitutes from traumatizing folks too bad."
"No promises! Some of those dinosaurs scare me."
Immy wheezed. "The dead, or the substitutes?"
"Both!"
Grim snorted and shook his head. "Well, thanks anyway. Actually..." He pulled his gloves from his pocket and put them back on. Gabriel, already knowing what he wanted, walked to him and carefully hugged him.
"Love you, man." Grim could hear the grin in his voice.
"Love you. Thanks for convincing me I was gonna die," He teased. "And for putting up with my angst. And stupidity."
"Your welcome, Mister Liquid-IV-On-Person-But-No-Water."
"Hey, my waterless Liquid IV raised the dead, Mister Lucas Cabon."
"Oh my god. Luke's gonna beat the shit out of me."
"I'll laugh," Grim bit. "But, um... really. Thanks."
"Don't worry about thanks right now. Go be with her. Cry a bunch."
"Pfft—Okay." Grim finally pulled away.
"That was gay," Immy declared.
"Hey, we're both wearing socks!" He glanced down at his still shoeless feet. "Oh my god."
"What?" Gabriel asked.
"I think I left my shoes in the library."
"Why would you take your shoes off in the library?!" Immy snorted.
"They were loud! I had to be sneaky!"
"So you played ninja and lost your shoes." Xen let out an exasperated sigh. "I swear, I'm running a daycare."
"Sorry—"
"Shut the fuck up, Grim!" They groaned, laughing a little. "Oh my stars. For the last time, go home, I'll send you your shoes."
He watched Gabriel mouth something to Immy, who giggled and gave him a thumbs up.
Immy carefully stood, still a little wobbly. "Let's go home, please," She laughed. Grim moved closer to her so she could brace herself on his shoulder.
"Okay," He sighed. "Let's go." Waving to the others, he looped an arm around Immy's shoulders. "Let's go home."
He teleported into the void.
~~~
AAAAA LAFKENKJR EARLY CHAPTER EARLY CHAPTER EARLY
KJRFUAF
AAAAAA
KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE
GUYS FJ;SJ;J;A
AAAAAAAA
-Alice/Craz <3