Brook X GN Reader || I'm The Grim Reaper

Chapter 45

Fan art by @Mr_Soulls on Twitter :)

The gentle wind was blowing in the vast forest. Snow was covering the branches of the dozens of trees around, layers of it on the ground and the lake and rivers half frozen. The sky had a cloudy, early-morning look to it.

Chase walked, barefoot, in the snow, further into the trees with no idea where his destination was. The sound of snow crunching under his feet was comforting. For some reason he wasn't cold, only wearing a long-sleeved white shirt and pants, no socks or shoes.

Looking up at the sky, it had begun to turn pink. Squinting his eyes, he looks at the dozens of trees that towered above him as snow fell. "It all looks the same..." He muttered to himself. Turning to look to his side, his voice dropped in volume again. "...And I've been walking for days."

Bringing his hand up to his side, he felt his torso, which was the only color in sight; his shirt was drenched with red. Blood, he knew. "...Am I dead?"

Looking out again, there was a clearing of rough ground with snow covering it all. "I wish Scarlet was here. She would know. Maybe she has some crazy good reaper nose that I didn't know about and could sniff us out of this forest, back to civilization... Ahh, she probably can't do that." He smiled at the silly thought, uncertain.

"I guess I just miss her." He looked down at the snow. It was a while before he spoke. "...Am I becoming weak again?" "You've always been weak." His eyes widened at the voice behind him, the only small indicator of life that he had seen or heard in days. 'That voice...'

He turned around sharply, seeing a black crow perched on a branch in a high tree. It was unsettling, the red eyes of the small creature as it looked at him. It tilted its head to the side. I always knew you wouldn't be able to make it out in the real world."

Chase settled down, letting his body relax. "Well, you're wrong. I'm not weak." "Hekhek. I'll be honest. You got very close to being strong. But now you've developed an emotional attachment to your little murder tool." "She's not a tool. She's my friend, and we have overlapping interests."

"That's why you're weak. She should have always remained a means to an end." The crow's beak seemed to become distorted, a curved smile carving into it as it kept growing. "When you think of someone as a friend rather than a tool, you have to acknowledge their humanity and let them into your heart... And they'll crush you from the inside out. They always do."

The water from the rivers had turned red, Chase noticed. "The only truly flawless fortress is one with no weaknesses. no doors. No way in." Chase narrowed his eyes at the bird, a hand on his hip. "If there's no door, then I can't get out." "You idiot, you're not supposed to get out! You stay inside! Alone! Forever! That's where it's safe! That's the only way you'll never be hurt! Things like friendship and love will only weaken you! It'll make it more difficult when you have to cast them aside to do what must be done!"

The crows' head jerked up as it continued to screech to Chase, its voice becoming more frill and its beak becoming larger and sharp and distorted.

"I'm not going to cast Scarlet aside."

"I can make pragmatic decisions for the good of this world, and value Scarlet at the same time. These are not mutually exclusive things." "...What if Scarlet exists to the detriment of the world? You saw her true form. You saw those bodies." The bird's beak unhinged and grew, like a snake's jaw, the eyes becoming distorted red swirls. "She's a murderer! She's going to kill every day, for eternity! She's what's wrong with the world!"

Chase grabbed the crow aggressively with his hand from the tree, returning it to normal, and stopped its yelling. He held it out, still squeezing it with his hand. "Then, I'm a hypocrite. Nothing new. We will become the last villains on Earth. Then she'll kill me. And after that, it's up to her to decide what she does. My job will be finished, and I'll go burn in Hell." He squeezed the bird harder.

The bird started melting slowly in his hands. "Love makes you weak. You loved your sweet mother too much, and that's why you couldn't kill me. And because of that... your siblings are dead..." Its voice deflated as it did, before Chase was left staring at his empty hand wrapped in some sort of black liquid, that of which the crow was previously made of.

"You lost the right to call yourself my mother a long time ago." He muttered under his breath, putting his hand to his side. "I've grown. And the person I am now wouldn't hesitate to kill you. Too bad you're already dead..."

The world around him faded before all he could see were branches and then darkness.

Chase groggily opened his eyes, moving slightly. He saw Scarlet, a hopeful look on her face and a twinkle in her eye, and Lightstalker with the same look. He narrowed his eyes at the odd sight. What?

"Chase! You're awake!!" Lightstalker rubbed against his chin as Scarlet leaned down, he heard rustling, like she was searching for something. "...Scarlet? How... How long was I asleep?" She popped up again, eager, with something in her hands. "Three days!" She seemed shocked he was awake, snapping open the box in her hands full of food.

Chase carefully sat up, Lightstalker still perched at his side carefully, trying to get his attention. "...Didn't you stab me? How am I alive?" He stared blankly at her for a response, even as she shoved a cookie in his mouth. "Y...Yeah. I did stab you. But I took you back here and sewed you up. There's a lot that I need to talk to you about. But... You just woke up, so don't worry about that! Just eat and drink something!" She shoved a few more cookies in his mouth and he tried to say something that was muffled by the cookies, and she shoved a bottle of water at his chest.

They sat there awkwardly in silence as Chase ate the food he was given, finally swallowing it. Chase watched Scarlet look down at the bottle of water wrapped in her hands.

"...Scarlet. Let's just talk now."

"Scarlet had to clean cat litter for three days, it was a very humbling experience." - Graveweaver

"She ripped you to pieces?!" The leader snapped at Brook who leaned awkwardly on the stone wall behind him. Deer sat on the floor, scraping rocks on the dirty stone. "She lost control of her demon. There's nothing we could have done." Deer said from the floor, falling back to lay on it. Brook scrunched his face. "You should have just killed her before! You're stronger than her anyway! You shouldn't have failed!"

Deer stood up from the floor, stretching. "Look, lady." Brook sent them a warning glare, which they ignored. "You don't understand reapers, I get it, but you can't just boss us around. There's nothing we could have done, end of discussion. If you want her gone so bad do it yourself, or stop complaining and let us do our jobs." She remained silent, staring at them for a short moment.

"If you're gonna keep bossing me around without understanding shit, I will walk out of this door right now." Again, she didn't say anything, giving them and deer-in-headlights look.

"That's what I thought," They muttered turning around. "I'm gonna go order some Indian food. You coming?" They turned to look at Brook, who shrugged, following them out with a "we'll be back tomorrow."

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