Colin's posts

89!

....wait...

"For what it's worth to hear it from me, you're not a failure of a mother." he assured her.

"This world is random. Unpredictable. Arbitrary. Indiscriminate." he said.

"We can't prepare for EVERYTHING." he went on. "It'd drive someone insane to try to." he continued.

"Casey, you are an amazing mother." he assured her further.

"Don't beat yourself up over this." he said.

"We'll get answers. One way or another, we'll get answers."

"...I feel the same way." Gregory told her.

"Seriously. I wish I had information for you. But I don't." he lamented.

"I promise you, though, they WILL be found." he then vowed.

"If I have to go straight to fate herself." he continued.

"If it gets THAT bad, I WILL go to her, and I WILL get answers." he said.

That was easier said than done. Especially for one such as him. As a reaper, he ranked WELL below Ana, and seeing her would be impossible, just about. But he meant what he said to her.

Gregory was silent at first, as Casey wrapped her arms around him. He'd remembered doing something like this many times in the past... for her, and for her mother when she was still alive. He had become a confidant to them... to the Kiczys' line as a whole, really. Not that he was really complaining... it was nice to feel actually wanted and needed in a good way, as opposed to just being seen as some malevolent force to be naturally feared. He responded by wrapping his arms around her as well, and holding her close, gently stroking her back.

"...I'm sorry." he then said.

"I'd do more if I could." he continued.

"For what it's worth, I know they're not dead." he went on. "Not even their names are being penciled into the book." he assured her further. "Not since a checked last, which was recently." he added.

"But if all I can do is be here for you... then so be it." he finished.

Gregory nodded in response.

He then looked around, shook his head, dropped his scythe and allowed it to dissipate into thin air, and she felt a small pulse of mana. It was then that she noticed that Gregory had lost his mana glow.

And she knew what that meant.

Right now, he was solid. He wasn't a spectre, he was in solid form before her.

He could tell she needed to latch onto SOMEONE that could be seen as a parent. As family. If nothing else, he could give her a brief chance to let any emotions she may have been keeping in check out. Even if for a moment.

"Probably not." Gregory agreed.

"Hence this preemptive information." he said.

"No, I don't know how long she'll be gone, but I'm sure either her or I will come back here with info, whether good or bad." he then told her.

"For now... keep believing." he continued, this time a little more quietly.

"Your kids are resourceful and scrappy." he went on.

"...there's not a lot they CAN'T handle." he chuckled.

"It's always possible." Gregory responded.

"All it takes is one ripple out, and we can't sense them any longer." he told her.

"So yes. It IS possible. Highly unlikely, I admit, but still possible." he continued.

"I know what we're all thinking it is, so I won't pontificate on THAT any longer, but suffice to say, if there's a chance, it's still a chance." he went on.

"But I'm letting you know that your mother is out of contact for a bit."

"...." Gregory was silent as Madison said what she said and did what she did before she vanished, and then sighed quietly.

"And I, you." he responded in an even quieter tone.

He then looked towards the night sky, before disappearing from where he was in a fine black mist, appearing again in a manor he knew well, in front of a young woman he knew well.

And he knew she could see and hear him right now.

"Don't try and call your mother." he told her.

"She's gone shifting to try and find your children." he said.

"..." Savra was silent as Eke said this, before getting closer.

"I don't want to talk about things like that." they told him.

"It's too depressing." they said.

"Can we just enjoy the here and now?" they then asked him.

Gregory just sighed quietly.

"Go." he said.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned, as well." he told her. "I want to know what's going on." he continued.

"Because I know your daughter is distraught over this. Rightfully so." he went on.

"The least you can do is try and find some answers."

The man crossed his arms over his chest and was silent for another moment, thinking about it.

"...well... it... IS, but... the ways to do that are... FAR more... bombastic, shall we say?" he told her. "We'd know about the erasure happening FAR earlier than the actual erasing." he reasoned.

"And I know what you're thinking already." he then said.

"While that is, unfortunately, a very possible and plausible scenario, there IS another consideration." he told her.

"They may have plane-shifted." he posed.

"Remember, when a soul is no longer in this dimension, even if it's just one ripple out, we can no longer sense it."

Savra looked a little confused.

"Fiancée?" they asked. They then paused and thought for a moment, before they snapped their fingers.

"Oh!" they exclaimed.

"Your betrothed." they said further.

"I'll bet she's really nice."

He sighed heavily as the woman before him made the request she did. He looked at the smoldering pile of steel and flame that used to be an automobile, and the man on his hands and knees, crying softly.

The figure just shook his head and raised a finger to the woman, before brandishing the large scythe he had been holding with two hands. He brought the blade down, swiping through the man and causing him to vanish in a fine mist.

Once that was done, he removed the black hood attached to the black cloak he was wearing, revealing his red-striped hair. He looked at the woman again, and then closed his eyes, seemingly concentrating on something for a few seconds... before opening them again.

"I can't, either." he told her.

"I just tried with a concentrated effort, and I can't sense them, either." he confirmed.

"Samantha and Evan... I can't find them." he lamented with another sigh.

"I'm sorry, Madison." he apologised with a shrug.

Savra was silent for a moment, before nodding.

"Yes, I suppose so." they replied.

"Admittedly, this has been the first time since I can remember that I've had the chance to 'overdo' it." they told him.

"But it WAS very nice." they said with a smile.

"Something I'd very much like to do again."