Page 31 of Down from the Tower

I open my mouth, feeling the shakes take over. It’s like I’m losing my mind, suffocating beneath the heat I’ve created. I can’t get a read on Zarev, but if he’s disgusted or afraid my parents will be a million times worse.

Before I can speak, Modred’s pained voice drifts through the silent room. “S-shadow man.”

9 Zarev

I offer Modred a slow smile. Welcoming people to the afterlife is something I'm used to doing, and usually I add a touch of empathy since passing can be hard. His words hang in the air around the room, sending a new wave of uncertainty into the suffocating silence. Only three of us know what he’s talking about, and one is in the middle of dying.

But for him, I have no pity. He's hurt the princess, and my eyes flick again to the deep red splotches showing through the sleeves of her gown. It looks terribly painful, and he left behind something in her skin. I haven’t figured out what it is yet, but Modred pierced her with something deep enough that she's still bleeding.

He sees me now, and I sense his soul slowly leaving his body. Something I haven't felt in Tressa for the two weeks I've been behind the wall.

Death is stunted here, and spirits don’t pass on as they should. My mind drifts briefly to Midas’ mention of the water when he was secretly talking to his wife, but Rapuznel takes all of my focus as I move to help.

Rapunzel turns to Modred, a pained cry escaping her when she catches sight of him. Whatever her magic did, it caused his skin to melt down his face, exposing the muscles of his nose and the blood vessels beneath. Even some of the mass beneath his skin is dripping, making him look like an elaborate wax figure despite all the blood. It’s not a slow progression, he’s quickly becoming less of a human and more of a puddle.

His soul is vacating the body as it dies, but I can’t grasp him yet. When a person passes on, the soul is freed from the body. They join the afterlife, entering my domain. If Modred is inaccessible, he’s still clinging to life. And I’m not feeling charitable enough to invite him to Death, not after the strange stint he just pulled with the princess.

Rapunzel screams and I catch the sounds of people cursing around the room. There are guards still piling in, unbeknownst to them that the princess started this mess.

Technically, Modred did, but I have no idea what tale Midas is about to spin.

Modred still holds out a hand towards me, terrified eyes nearly falling from his head as her magic takes over. I watch him, glancing down at the hands that somehow made her bleed. They are red from the blood, but it doesn’t appear that he can do something supernatural like Rapunzel can. So if he didn’t use magic to harm her, what happened?

Arthur screams something senseless at Midas who fires right back at him. Leaving Rapunzel's side I walk towards Modred, whose head and hand drop as his skin continues to melt off.

He opens his mouth to speak, but blood spills out instead. His body heaves as I watch. More skin melts away, weighing his clothes, and he's disintegrating as the seconds pass and the screams pick up.

“Greed is a common way to die,” I tell him, fingering the handle of my sickle. I can feel the pull; he's quite close to death. Once he crosses to the spirit world, reaping him is a necessity so his soul doesn’t splinter. Until that happens, I’m content to watch him struggle as he dies. “Had you been less selfish, you would likely live. Taking what the princess didn’t offer you will be your demise.”

Modred works his jaw, which turns into part of the slick mess and continues to roll off his face. But he does speak though, in a voice only I can hear. “I am… dead?”

“Soon.”

“How is he speaking,” Rapunzel gasps and I pivot my head around. I knew she, like everyone else in this room, could see Modred dying. I didn't think she would be able to hear him by this point. not when he's passing over, speaking in a voice usually only Death can hear.

Midas is stalking towards her, the guards who ran in a step or two behind. His eyes are wildly livid and some of that golden curse he carries radiates from his hands. I always believed his curse only came out if it were something he touched.

Arthur screams across the room, and I watch Modred choke once again. His body should be convulsing and bleeding, yet he's simply melting. Gruesome as it is to watch, his insides join the floor of the dining hall, dying much more quietly than one would imagine.

When I glance back at Rapunzel, she has huge fistfuls of her hair clenched between her fingers and her shoulders shake as she stands there. Midas is oblivious to that, storming over to her. She's close enough now that I can still touch her if I wanted.

As Midas approaches, I lift my shadows higher. He slows, blinking rapidly as he tries to understand what's making him hesitate to approach.

It's me. Death isn't meant to be interrupted, so I can persuade people to turn away. But I only ever use my curse for myself, and shielding Rapunzel as well is taking a toll on me fast.

I’ve never used my influence on the living. For the most part I prefer watching and staying away from them. Even the souls that haunt my mind forever weren’t granted access to my gifts but a swift death instead. Yet with the Golden Girl, I’m keeping her father at bay with the influence of the shadows.

Death can be ugly, hallowing. Sometimes it’s easier to be influenced away than to face that reality. But Midas is far too familiar with death, and the same goes for Arthur. I can’t make them turn away just because it’s gory.

“I am dead,” Modred goes on, and when I glance back again Rapunzel screams. His corpse is almost skinless on the ground, blood and guts running across the golden floor.

But the Modred standing at his corpse's side is wispy looking, detailed like a spirit without mass. Rapunzel whimpers; I don’t think she’s ever seen the dead before.

“Yes. You'll cross the border in a few moments and pass on. Your soul isn't tainted like it should be, so nothing tethers you here.” There’s bitterness in my voice. Asking him about Rapunzel is on my mind, but watching the two Kings pacing towards us is more important right now. He’s too conflicted to pass on his own, and I can feel the tug of his spirit calling me to reap him.

I don’t leave souls to suffer in Mystica once they pass. Bitterness turns to hate, hate turns to rage, and rage turns to revenge. Some spirits take years to pass through the four phases unchecked, some take hours. It’s all based on the individual's mind.

Staring at Modred, I don’t think it will take him all that long. He already had a vendetta against Rapunzel for not giving him more of her magic, and opposing Midas didn’t even phase him. He’ll be a problem for sure if not dealt with.

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