Seeking Souls

:// Chapter 24 //:

The sweet smells of the surrounding flowers always brought him back to peace. The free world, a world without his family, easily calmed him down after a long day of decaying bodies and burning villages.

He's never participated in these acts of course, he isn't old enough yet, but whenever father and mother would return home from a hunt the smell and carnage would linger on their clothes.

That alone was enough to haunt the poor boy; he hated that smell.

But it was everywhere now as the 'free world' was quickly becoming his 'father's world'. The natives were always brave in the beginning; brandishing sword and shield against the Bolton's lavish scythes, but as the story of repetition goes it ends the same way too, with bloody shields and broken swords.

He'll be fifteen in a few months, which was the age of his christening according to his father. That was the day he'd join them on his first hunt.

His younger sister of thirteen, Lillian, couldn't wait until her christening, but their youngest sibling, Karden of twelve, shared his brother's hesitation. They weren't blind by the greed for the power they would gain the moment they first feasted, but instead worried more on what the 'power' was doing to the world around them, and to themselves.

"Zakariah."

A voice called out behind him. A woman's, wise with age but taut with superiority. The boy knew this woman without needing to see her face, but he turned anyway toward her towering figure shrouded in charcoal and gray. Her black hair draped over her shoulders with the stark white bangs loosely pulled back by a single ribbon.

Her eyes were a fierce green, just like his father's, and all their children, but hers always reflected a certain shade of disgust. The boy frowned at her.

"Mother."

~%~

Eventually, with Basil's help Corin managed to move Zakariah onto the couch before her parents woke up. They were a distraught when they realized how late in the day it was as they had things to do, so they barely even noticed the stranger dozing on their couch as they hurried out. Corin introduced him as Basil's boyfriend and that was all the confirmation they needed.

A few minutes after that the Reaper finally began to stir. Basil waited, patiently holding his hand until their eyes finally met. "Hi."

As soon as the previous night's memories clicked the Reaper shot up to his feet, before he stumbled a bit. Basil helped him steady while whispering words of peace. "Wait!-Calm down, the Hunter is gone."

"Hunter?" Zakariah questioned as he returned to the couch. He stood up too fast and now the room was slightly spinning. "W-What?"

The room was oddly bright, which clued Zakariah in to exactly how long he's been sleeping. At this point Basil grabbed both of his hands and just started talking. Out of his mouth came the events of last night and the morning after; the Angels, the Demon, Synthia's death and the book's current location were all revealed within mere minutes. Zakariah listened attentively, understanding every word that Basil said and every which-way he meant it, which was entirely new.

The explanation was over as quickly as it started, but the Reaper couldn't think. He knew what Basil said, he understood, but he couldn't think-at least not correctly.

"I-" Zakariah started several times, but he always seemed to lose sight of what he was saying.

"Are you okay? Stuttering is usually my thing" Basil finally asked, slightly concerned. He pressed the back of his hand to the Reaper's forehead. "He isn't running a fever..."