As Jade’s world darkened, she fell into a deep slumber, undisturbed by the elements. The immense pain caused her body to go into shock to protect itself, it had to put the brain to sleep so the body could heal or at least not have the mind scream in total agony. She was meant to be safe, alone in her own mind, where no one could speak to her. But someone, something, noticed her and it demanded an audience.
Like emerging after being submerged in water she gasped for air, Jade awoke to a world of pure darkness. Coughing and gagging for air that didn’t exist. She looked around, confused, unsure what brought her there and how. She shook her head, thinking it was a strange nightmare thrusted upon her by her subconscious mind. ‘Well, that is one strange place.’ Jade said aloud after taking a deep breath.
‘Indeed, it is.’ A voice came from the void. Its voice, deep and raspy, sounded like it belonged to a person ancient beyond her understanding.
Jade darted around, trying to find where the voice came from. She remembered reading about monsters that could invade her mind even upon their death. The thought of the monster infesting her mind terrified her, for it would mean that her body would soon be under the influence of the creature if she couldn’t find a way to stop it or find help of a magic user to exercise the monster out of her body. ‘Who are you?’ She demanded.
The moment she asked that question, a towering figure emerged from the darkness in front of her, wearing a tunic and coif made of shadow and a thick cloud that hid its legs. They have a belt made of the bones of unfamiliar creatures with a trowel, hand rake, and other gardening tools on it. Its face was that of an exaggerated representation of a human skull that was stretched out and elongated with rows of sharp teeth. ‘I am Death.’ It replied. Its mouth wasn’t moving as words escaped from the closed gaps of its teeth.
Jade stared at it in shock, unsure of how to take its presence. She heard of stories of the other horsemen of the apocalypse that once roamed the world. She never expected to see one that was alive. Well, she suspected she was talking to a horseman of the apocalypse. For all she knew, she was just speaking to her subconscious, yet for some reason, she could feel that the presence of the creature was Death, the one and only.
With a wave of a hand, a table and two chairs made of ivory emerged from the void in front of Jade. ‘Sit,’ Death insisted with a kind gesture which Jade obliged. ‘You already know me, so I am happy to skip any unnecessary introductions. But before I continue, I suppose you have a lot of questions on your mind.’
‘I…’
Death raised their hand to stop Jade from continuing and stated. ‘You are only allowed to ask three. I don’t have all day.’
Jade paused, knowing her limitations she figured she needed to ask questions that are relevant to her situation. Place, are they a threat, and hold the last question till the end, that’ll work. She thought to herself. ‘Where am I?’
Death chuckled, ‘a classic. We are in your head. I am telepathically communicating to you from a more… hidden location.’
Jade gave a satisfying nod. ‘Okay, are you a threat and am I dead?’
Death wagged their boney finger, which had a silver nail ring on it. ‘That is two questions in one. Pick one of them.’
‘Okay, am I dead?’
‘No,’ Death bluntly replied. ‘You are alive, for now, at least. But one bone fragment is dangerously close to an artery and I am doing my best to keep it away so you can stay alive. I do it out of the kindness of my heart.’ Death replied sarcastically, it was clear to Jade that it was only keeping her alive for leverage.
‘Okay, I’ll hold my last question till the end.’ Jade said. If it had any flesh, Jade could’ve sworn Death was smiling.
‘Smart,’ they admitted. ‘In that case, I will skip to what is important. I want to make a deal with you.’
Jade nodded to Death, ‘I’m all ears.’ She said, doing her best to avoid asking a question when it wasn’t necessary. She had a gut feeling that her saviour had an ulterior motive and would do anything to trick her out of asking her last question in an attempt to trick her and make her unable to understand the extent of her supposed deal.
However, Death noticed her quick observation and was impressed by her deduction of the situation and their tricks, even though they were lazy. ‘You don’t want to know what the deal was about? You just want to hear it now?’ Death asked, wanting to enjoy their little game with Jade.
Jade shrugged, ‘I don’t intend to waste my last question.’
Death chuckled as they leaned back in their chair. ‘That is good to hear. In that case, the deal is quite simple. In exchange for saving your life, I request you to do something for me in return. As you can tell, it is not a good deal.’
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Jade frowned, not liking the direction the conversation was going. ‘This sounds one sided.’
‘It is, but that is only because I want to guarantee your loyalty. You might say, why wouldn’t I just ask you? Simple, because humans have a tendency to walk away from their responsibilities unless they are on a tight leash. See it as a way to ensure a species like yours honours their contract, and I needed a way to tug on that leash to remind them what they had to do.’ Death waved their hand dismissively. ‘Don’t fret, it won’t be dehumanising or dangerous. I need you to be the face of the Order Horrifica, to be a model on every recruiting poster to encourage those to join your cause.’
Jade stared at Death, confused beyond belief why an entity like them would care about something so trivial. They want me to participate in a recruiting campaign? Why do they even care? Jade thought to herself.
‘Now, that is a good question. I will answer that one for free.’ Death nonchalantly said to Jade.
‘How did…’
‘I am in your head, remember?’ Death interrupted Jade before she could finish her sentence. ‘Your thoughts are as loud as your voice. But to answer your question, I care because I demand for the survival of humanity. The Cascade had caused… issues, issues that I wanted to be fixed immediately. However, one of those issues is the creation of monsters that needed to be dealt with or it could spell the end of humanity.’
Jade raised a brow, unconvinced of Death. ‘I thought you wanted everything to die.’
‘I do, but there is no point in wanting all of humanity to die at once,’ Death explained before scratching their lower jawbone. ‘Having 8 billion souls in one go is a delightful thought, but I could wait for a hundred years and have those souls and still have more on the way. I’m patient. I can wait for everyone to die and consume their souls later on, even if I have a few competitions in that department. But I digress, humanity, and thus my food source is under threat and I require the Order to do their part to ensure the survival of humanity.’
‘So let us do all the work while you sit back and relax. I didn’t expect the embodiment of Death to be lazy.’ Jade remarked.
Death chuckled, finding amusement at her jab at their ego. ‘Let’s just say I made a deal of my own that prevents me from interacting with humanity and the Order directly. This talk of ours is a small violation of that agreement, but one that is necessary because of the situation at hand. But please, don’t confuse with what seems to be a lack of action on my part for laziness. For one, I am a gardener, I like to ensure my food source is self-sufficient and doesn’t require my intervention. Secondly, you are not the only one I spoke to that can help humanity. You are a piece of the puzzle, but not the only one.’
Jade crossed her arms. ‘I fail to see how me being on posters encouraging people to join the Order Horrifica would make a difference.’
They chuckled, the bones around their ribcage rattled and clanked. ‘With a body like yours and a face of beauty, people will form lines just to meet you in person. People need heroes to look up to, and I know you have the skills to make yourself appear larger than life that can inspire others to join your cause. It is small, but it is the small things that make up something much bigger than you or I. Your part is to bring those with the potential and drive to fight for humanities right for survival. All I need to do is plant the seeds for that to happen.’ Death reached their hand out to shake Jade’s hand. ‘So, how about this? We have a deal?’
‘It doesn’t sound like I have a choice. Either I die, or I become a poster girl.’ Jade responded hesitantly.
Death shrugged while keeping their hand out. ‘All life has the right to die and when they desire to end it. I gave you the choice to end it now or to work for me.’
Jade felt the cards were against her, but she didn’t feel ready to die so young. ‘When do I start?’ She asked her last but most important question.
‘I will tell you soon. In the meantime, I will ensure your safety and survival until the time is right. To display my goodwill, I will heal all of your injuries when you wake up.’ Death replied.
Jade sighed, believing she had made the deal with the devil themselves. ‘I suppose you don’t fear me telling everyone about our deal.’
Death laughed, ‘no one except for one will believe you. I don’t fear the Order, if I did, we wouldn’t be talking.’ With a click of their fingers, Jade’s vision went dark again. Reawakening the moment she heard the engines of the armoured transport car rushing to her location before slipping back into unconsciousness.