Once nightfall had finally come, Axis was waiting up front of the area Lunalie wanted her to go. Key, with a stubbornly irked expression still, stood next to her, looking back onto the abandoned building, it certainly gave off a more eerie presence about it. If her eyes weren't playing any tricks on her, she swore she saw what looks like a stuffed rabbit by one of the windows, staring right back at her as if it was aware of both Key and Axis.
"Hey! You actually came!" Lunalie had shouted, walking towards the two of them, with two other rabbits following behind, "I thought you we're just gonna laze about at home."
"I'm not gonna let Axis be alone supporting someone like you!" Key had shouted angrily, causing alarm to one of the two other rabbit characters so jump in surprise. To which, Lunalie chuckled in response,
"Now now, don't be so sour! I invited my two familiars so you won't feel so left out too. Meet the younger sister Nora, and your older sister Asimi!"
Key looked at the two familiars Lunalie had pointed out, both of them definitely having rabbit like ears, but along with that, Nora looked to be an angel, and Nora the devil. Both of them did have blue hair, but it was of different hues, much lighter then Key's locks that looked like the deep sea.
Asimi was the first to speak, "Don't worry too much about Luna, he tends to enjoy teasing people a lot. Anyways it'll be nice working with you."
The politeness Asimi had caught Key off guard, especially since she looked to be a demon, "Ah- yeah, it's nice to meet you too.
Key stared at the other sister of the pair, that shyly seemed to hid behind her older sisters back. Ears drooping down to cover her flush colored face.
"Come on now Nora, you gotta say hi too." Asimi ended up having to encourage her younger sister, nudging her slightly with her elbow that her face did peek out for a bit. A small, and soft tone of voice as she introduced herself in front of Key.
"Ishverynicetomeetyou."
"Nora, you sound like you're chanting some sort of spell."
A friendly smile would itch Key's face, leaning down a little so she's face to face with Nora, "It's nice to meet you too Nora. I hope we can become friends."
Nora returned the friendliness with a small smile, nodding as she went back into hiding like a small animal. Asimi would apologize, but Key understood easily that she wasn't the type to be open towards others, in a way Key was the same.
"Well, now that introductions are out of the way, lets quickly disperse that barrier and go on a spring cleaning spree~!" Lunalie had sang, however when the group had turned to Axis, the barrier was already gone, the witch waiting patiently for the group instead with a smile.
"I've already got rid of the barrier as you guys were chatting." she would then say to break the silence within the group, who were left dumbfounded. Lunalie had to give out a laugh seconds after upon hearing Axis' comment.
"Right! As I expected from you! Er- I guess we should head inside now!"
Thus, the group had treaded forward. The place was abandoned enough to leave mold almost everywhere due to the moisture. The eerie silence and emptiness was enough to give a chill, almost as if it were a horror setting.
"Hm, this is strange..." Lunalie questioned, looking room after room, "I was told there was a large amount of spirits to be reaped, but I don't see even one in sight."
"But there is something sour in the air," Asimi added, walking ahead of the group and towards the direction of a room that looks to be an office, "A mix of envy and gluttony? No, lust? Either way there's definitely a corpse in this place, and it has a strong desperation of staying alive."
As soon as Asimi had finished her sentence, the ground let out a tremor, alarming the group. It felt someone, or something, was coming towards their direction. But before it can pop out, Axis quickly opened a door everyone else heading inside and shutting the door to hide. Without a second to waste, the sound of something breaking in the distance was heard. Lunalie peeked out of the window to see what looked like a human with spider-like features. Its clothes were tattered and gave out a rotten smell, as well as its face. Seeming to look melted off and missing a few pieces. Key could only cover her mouth as she hid behind Axis. What a horrifyingly grotesque creature.
The creature slowly walked past the group, moving to the other room as a sigh of relief would hit them. Lunalie opening the door and being the first to get out, staring at where the creature went.
"W-What on earth was that?!" Key's voice was trembling down to her ears, clutching tightly onto Axis as she stared at Lunalie, jokes and games were now put aside.
"Luna, just now... that was a ghoul, wasn't it?" Axis said.
"Yeah, but from the way it looked, it's odd." Lunalie had a serious look on his face, then turning to Asimi and Nora, "You two, go keep a close watch of the ghoul that passed by us, make sure you're not spotted, and keep me updated on its behaviors while I clear out any spirit that was roaming around this place."
The two rabbit familiars had nodded, heading towards the same direction the ghoul went and leaving the group. Lunalie had turned the other direction, summoning his weapon from underneath his skirt, which was a large hammer that bore only a mouth. He said nothing more as he treaded forward, having both Axis and Key follow behind them.
"I don't get it," Key had to speak, "Whats a ghoul? Is it that bad of a thing?"
"Ghouls are creatures that feed on the dead, they're creatures that are a mix of the undead and spirit." Axis started explaining, "Usually they pop up at around graveyards, or in an area where there was previously a massacre, like this place apparently."
"But its strange." Lunalie added soon after, biting his nail as he had to think, " There are no corpses around here anymore, so surely that ghoul would have to move to another area before it starves. Yet it's too fixated on this place, which is gonna pose a problem for us. Ghouls have always been nasty creatures to us, because unlike the undead, they're rather swift, and have a bit more of a brain then plain undead."
Lunalie had then let out a loud groan, rustling his hair frustratingly, "What more annoying is that theres no soul in this place! What even is going on?!"
"Who are you?" a voice would suddenly then echo, causing Key to jump in surprise.
There, around the corner, would appear a single spirit. A little girl, who wore twin pigtails and bore stitches all over her body as if she was nearly falling apart. She looked harmless, and if anything, apologetic.
"Oh well hello there, Im a reaper." Lunalie would go ahead and introduce himself, "You're a spirit right? Surely the first one we seen in this whole damned place, maybe you can tell us where your friends are hiding?"
"A reaper...? Ah, then surely, you're here to help the others rest in the other world..." she spoke, pressing her hands together in a prayer, then looking at the small group with a look of hope, "Everyone has been taken away by Sister Angela, and I am now the only spirit left, hiding, in hopes that perhaps someone will come and-"
"Listen kid," Lunalie would interrupt, raising his hand that held his hammer and point it towards the little girl, "I have no time to listen to your sob story. Is this, Sister Angela, that ugly looking thing back yonder? If so then that saves a lot of time, kill that creature and then reap all the souls, and be back just in time for lunch!"
"What do you mean lunch its the middle of the night-" Key says in retort, "Also, you shouldn't be so rude to a little girl! Just because you're busy doesn't mean you can be a jerk about it!"
Lunalie stared at Key for a moment, then gave her a quick smile, before going and swinging his hammer towards the little girl, her spirit dissolving as it collided and out came a little golden medal.
"Listen, around 360 thousand people in this planet alone die every day, imagine combining that with creatures that live beyond Earth. A second wasted is a spirit wandering around and possibly causing havoc towards the living, envious for being alive." he continued on as he walked back the same way from when they came in, "A reaper's job is never ending, thats why we don't die, time doesn't flow through our bodies to understand the concept of death. We may get cut into pieces, stabbed, burned, turned into dust. But we will still live on and still continue on with our jobs. As long as the concept of death still lives on through you living folk."
Her words shut Key right up, frustrating as it is, what he says makes sense in a way, which also makes sense as of why reapers are rarely seen. Its because they're constantly busy with their jobs 24/7 without a second to rest. Axis noticed the look of frustration and let out a small chuckle, patting her hair to comfort her assistant.
"Reapers are amazing though, in their own right." Axis stated, as they follow Lunalie who seemed rather far away now, "After they reap a group of souls they then turn them in to the Bible of the Soul, a place where they hold a record on every living beings life. With every soul they get a scroll of all the things they have done while they're still alive. Then the reaper has to go ahead and read through the whole thing, placing judgement on whether they deserve to be placed in eternal rest, or if they get reincarnated to a new life. This cycle repeats for them from the moment they were born, till perhaps if everything comes to an end."
"You sure know a lot about reapers."
"Well, I have had many experiences, and hopefully you'll grow the same way, seeing many things, and eventually..."
Axis had paused for a moment, looking as if she slipped her tongue for a bit, but continued off, "and eventually you might even surpass me I suppose."
"I doubt it." Key replied, she noticed Axis' little slip-up, but she didn't say anything about it. At least, this wasn't the right time to ask about it.
The conversation then cut short, hearing the high pitched scream of Nora, which alarmed the group. It wasn't till a few seconds afterward where the two rabbit familiars were seen, approaching them in an alarmingly fast rate. The creature they had meet earlier, was chasing them.
"I'm sorrryyyy~!!" Nora would yell, in tears as she flew towards Lunalie. Asimi followed behind her, but halted immediately to turn behind and face the ghoul. Taking out her rifle and taking a shot. A powerful bullet popped out of the barrel in a flash of red and had struck the creature on the lower waistline.
"Tch- damn..." Asimi had clicked her teeth, going back to run near Lunalie, readying herself to fire another shot, "Sorry. The thing is smarter then we thought, so we let our guard down a bit."
"Its fine, if anything, it's a good thing you brought it over here." Lunalie had a wry smile across his face, "Axis, can you do anything to paralyze that thing?"
Axis quickly nodded, going near and placed her hands on Lunalie's hammer, chanting a spell as the base gave off a faint glow.
"Excellent!" Lunalie said, as soon as the spell finished he charged on ahead. Not even wasting a second to swing his hammer towards the ghoul, but it missed. The ghoul took a jump back, no longer running towards the group as it how stared at its new opponent. It continued muttering on on something that was too quiet to make into words. Lunalie took another swing at the creature, which resulted in another miss, as the creature then bared it claws, taking a scratch off Lunalie as both his clothes and skin became tattered. Miasma steamed off of the wounds as Lunalie clicked his teeth in dissatisfaction.
"Come on now," he spoke, brushing away his hair, blood trickled down the open gash and he seemed rather unaffected by it, "You gotta take me out to dinner first before go ahead and do something like that."
"W̵̛͉̗͚͍̘͆̐̀͒͒ͅh̶̲͇̮͎͈̗̟̰̼͚̑̌̃̔ȇ̷̜͇̘̞̲͉̘̳̮͌̑̀͐̃̀r̷̖͊̑̈́̃̋̀͆̒̓̾̇͐̆͗ȩ̴̩͔͕̰̞͚̮̭̜͔̪̗̅̊̈́͌̂̒̃͌̚̚ͅ'̶̡͖͍̱̝͔͓̗̙̥̗̱̰̜͐͊̓͜ş̵̪̥̤͚̙͔̍̃̓̕ͅ ̴̛̘͎̰̎́͐̈́̈́̿͗̈́̈́̀Ǐ̵̧͎̮̘̙̠̒̉̒̈̓ȓ̴̗̜̇e̵͔̩̻̱̠̘̺̖͓̓̓̊̌̑̊́̀́̒͋̚ͅn̸̖̻̼͉̑̽̍̾̔̀̌̅͌̃̍͘e̶̛̛͈͚̱̤̖̪̤͓̤͖̩͗̄͂̑̅̈́͊̚?̶̡̧̪̩̭͓͚̪̬͔̝̖̙̿͛̋̓̚̕͝ͅ ̷̭̠̽̾́̒͊͂̊̀̿͒̓̂͝W̷̡̺͈̘̳̲̣̅̀̓̀̂̈͝ḧ̶͖̣̗̜͖͂͘͠e̸͍̺̮̍̍͐͑͊́̇̃̅̽̾͠ͅr̵̡̨̛̰̗̲̘̻̺̤͓̺̪̈́̿̂͊̃̕ͅͅë̷̻̣͓̘̥͍͙̫̳̘̝̀ ̴̘̳̗͔̥̼͙̪͚̈́̍̉̓̓̀̒̅̈̎̈͘͘͝͝ĩ̵̡̧̛͓̦̤̫̤̮͎͖̦̤͇͖͗̑̄͑͐́́́͘̕͝s̵̪̈̽̈́͘ ̶̟̟͓͚͖̼͇̳̰͚̺̜̠̐͂͝͝s̷̨̬̖͊̐́͐̈́͛̅̎̓̾͌ȟ̸͈̱̲̫̊̉̈̈̈͌̓͛̽̋e̶͇̟̾̌̀̍͋̃͝.̵̧̖̬͔̼̯͇̭̻̦̳̦̦̇̒͝.̵̛̥͂͌̓̾̀͝͠.̵̛͇̩̅̈́͑̅̀̋͂̔̌ͅ?̴̢̢̛̫̱̫̱̤̹̘͌̂̊̑̄́̒̓͒͝ ̸̭̦̍͂̐̀͋̏̽̅̌̚G̶̨̡̬̙͍͓̖̥̽̋ï̷͍̣̘̟̓̊̉̽̒͝͝v̶̧̧̖̝͚̗̦̄̇̿͗̂̓̇͝͝e̸̮̩͈̮̯̘̣͓̯͖̜͒͛̐ͅ ̶͙̯̈́͆͗̍͝ḧ̷̬̱̘̳͎͙̠̖͕̱́̉͋͛̐͒̚͝ę̷̨̗̘̣̙̩̭̾̎͗͌̓̚ŕ̸̡̟̲̬̗̣̜͚̿̑̇̈́̈́͂̚͝ ̷̢̝̬̗͎̮͙́̀͑̈́̇̋͂̊̋͋̑͝͠ͅb̷̢̝̰̪̬̰͋͗a̵̛̘͍̐́͋́̀͛͛̃͘͝c̴̞̱̹͈̳̪͈̭͚̺̫̤̔̈́͂̓̑̀̂k̵̛̥͑̾͒̒̈́̄̅͊͛̈́̚͝.̶̣͌̈́̆̄̔̽̿͊̈́͋.̵͍͇̫̪̻̓̈́̾̈́̃.̶̦̳̌͛͐̎͌̂͋̾͗́̔̕͜͝"
"What? You gotta speak a little clearer than that!" Lunalie charged one again, swinging his hammer as it was able to bite a nice chunk off the ghoul, chewing sounds from the weapon echoed the hallway, "Now, why don't you be a good girl and stay still for a few seconds, otherwise it's going to be more painful for the both of us."
Lunalie raised his hand into the air, as if signaling something, and not a second passed as two bullets would whizz past him, striking the already injured creature. One hitting the other hip and the other struck on the shoulder. The two rabbit familiars didn't waste anytime to go ahead and click their rifles, aiming for another shot. But before they can pull the trigger, the ghoul let out a high pitched scream, deafening everyone in the hallway. The ground would quiver, the whole group would have to cover their ears to prevent their eardrums from bursting, but of course it didn't lessen the pain drastically. Once the screeching stopped it was then the ghoul's turn to charge ahead and attack, grabbing Lunalie while he was distracted and slammed his body into the nearest wall. The reaper let out a gasp, the sounds of bones cracking and blood spewed out of the wound. All there was left is a dangerously conditioned body, unable to move around as much.
Lunalie let out a few coughs, more blood was spat out of his lips as he struggled to breathe. The ghoul's grip was still there, and strong, "Fucking christ... if I was human I would've been long dead, but this still hurts like a bitch. I'm surely gonna get an earful from Morihara after this..."
He looked over at the rest of the group, all of the rabbits, including Key, were on the ground, trying to recover from the sounds. Surely with how sensitive their hearing is, they'll end up paralyzed for a few minutes longer.
Axis was the only one to look fine after that screech, however she didn't do anything. Well, if anything she couldn't do anything to save him, as it something was holding her back from truly releasing her true strength. All she was able to give him, was a pained expression. As if it were already checkmate, which made Lunalie chuckle.
"God Axis, you really haven't changed from decades ago." he said, "Even if you have a completely different form, that shackle of yours still remains. The fine you had to pay for your past crimes...
I wonder if you looked the same as back then. You know, when you saw your husband burned at stake by the humans you enjoyed killing."