“And don’t you dare blame Marcos for my death,” Mariana went on. “And don’t let him blame himself. None of this is his fault.”
Emiliana frowned. “It’s not yours, either, Mama...”
Mariana blinked at her. She exhaled a curt breath and took Emiliana’s face in both hands in order to kiss her on the forehead, just above the horns. Then she knelt down and hugged Ramira more tightly than she’d ever hugged her before.
“Mama--that hurts...”
Mariana released her. “I’m sorry, mijara.”
“It’s okay.”
Time was running short, she knew. Mariana composed herself and considered what else she needed to say. She eyed the two reapers present. “Listen to Shenado and Chergoa,” she told her girls. “They are both wiser than I could ever be. They will guide you well.”
“What if they don’t agree with each other?” said Emiliana.
“Then listen to Shenado.”
‘Hey,’ Chergoa pouted.
Shenado smirked. ‘Seniority rules.’
‘Ugh, you sound like my brother.’
Everyone but Ramira looked at her.
Chergoa cocked an eyebrow. ‘What?’
“You said that as though your brother was still alive,” said Mariana.
‘He is. At least, the last time I checked, he was.’ She squinted. ‘It’s been a while, though. I suppose he could’ve gotten himself killed. Sounds like something he’d do.’
‘That is very rare,’ said Shenado. ‘You truly have a living sibling? Why did you never mention him before?’
Chergoa shrugged. ‘Didn’t think to. I have no clue where he is. Haven’t seen him in... a while, like I said. I did tell Axiolis about him, though.’
“Your brother is a reaper, too?” Emiliana asked.
‘Yeah, of course.’
‘What is his name?’ said Shenado.
‘Garovel. You know him?’
‘No.’
‘I figured.’
The reapers’ chatter lasted a bit longer, only continuing to lose poignancy and relevance as it dragged on. It seemed apparent to Mariana that they were just trying to delay the inevitable now. Oddly childish of them, she thought--but not altogether unexpected. In her experience, most reapers tended to hold onto that quality in some small way. She always figured it was just something they did to help keep themselves sane.
A dark serial novel. Set in a modern fantasy world called Eleg. Mature language. Updates every night at midnight PST by ~400 words.
Holy crap....Garovel and Chergoa are brother and sister? Damn that just opened up a ton of fan fic and questions.
ReplyDeleteOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MMMMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY GGGGGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU FUCKING GENIUS I DID NOT EXPECT THAT AT ALL. I WENT FUCKING CRAZY AT THAT! CAN'T YOU TELL BY MY OVER EXCESSIVE USE OF CAPS?
ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeleteHaha. I CAN TELL, YES. THAT IS AWESOME.
ReplyDeleteI'm just kinda waiting to see if/when all these new characters are gonna meet up with hector and make there own group. Cause hector has all the room and then some.
ReplyDeleteDAME YOU FROSTY, IT IS TOO EARLY IN THE MORNING FOR THIS FREAK OUT! WHY YOU SUCH A GOOD WRITER?!?!
ReplyDeleteDAMN*
ReplyDeleteAnd now we know the connection between the two plots! :D
ReplyDeleteExciting stuff.
When is this set? As in, is it just after the previous part with Hector, at the same time, or years before?
(Please say years before. Preferably two. Hector needs a love interest.
..... Wait......... That wouldn't count as incest would it? Since their reapers are siblings....... DAMN IT GEORGE!)
..funny how Hector keeps getting babies to babysit.
ReplyDeleteGeorge, please don't be predictable. If the theme if this book is how Hector reunites the kids with their father and/or brother... and along the way garovel teaches emiliana the wisdom to 'use' her 'curse'... that is sort of predictable.
ReplyDeleteI APOLOGIZE.
ReplyDeleteUnless otherwise specified, you can just assume that events are happening more or less chronologically.
ReplyDeleteEheheh.
ReplyDeleteIs Chergoa using a different since of the word "alive", or is this set WAY in the past before Garovel died and became a reaper? The fact that they specifically talk about how rare it is to have a living sibling makes me think it's the latter, but it feels as if you meant the former.
ReplyDeleteWas not expecting that....wow...awesome!! Love this story!!! You should consider putting in a fan art section, it would be pretty awesome to see what people thought everyone looked like
ReplyDeleteYeah, she's using it in the sense that Garovel isn't "dead dead." Reapers still have their own consciousnesses , and they can still be killed, too, so in a sense, they just exist in an alternate state of "living."
ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeleteTZK doesn't have any fan art, as far as I know. I suppose I could just make an empty page for it, but that seems kind of presumptuous, haha.
The very first line: Marian -> Mariana
ReplyDeleteUnless this is some kind of nickname for her that we are not aware of. Then disregard.
Yep, got it. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteWell great now since you said that he's going to kill EVERYONE! ARE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELF?!?!
ReplyDeleteHOLY SHIT I LITERALLY YELLED OUT LOUDED "THIS CRAFTY SON OF A BITCH" YOU MOTHERFUCKING GENIUS THIS FRISTY IS WHY I LOVE YOU YOU SNEAKY FUCK
ReplyDelete*Frost* Got so i excited forgot how to spell
ReplyDeleteLoving this story <3
Haha, thanks. Glad you're enjoying. :)
ReplyDeleteBing...connection made. Now we have a reason for Hector to manage to get involved in all this.
ReplyDeleteHOLY UNCLE OF ALL THAT IS THE GRAPEFRUITS OF WRATH!!!
ReplyDeleteI did not see that relation to Garovel coming.
I'm incredibly impressed.
<3
ReplyDeleteA reply to an earlier comment of mine reminded me that when we first met Chergoa, I thought her sense of humor was too similar to Garovel's. And holy cow...they're related!
ReplyDeleteI had the EXACT FUCKING SAME REACTION.
ReplyDeletedidnt see that coming, although for some reason i never pictured chergoa as thousands of years old before
ReplyDeleteThe second I read Grovel's name I gasped so hard I started coughing.
ReplyDeletelol 30 comments i assume due to the relationship
ReplyDeleteHAhaha, Holy Mother Of God! I have to say. Thank you for this story! That relationship is like wow. I Haven't had a reaction like that to a story in a long long time.Thank you again!
ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeleteProbably missing a word, not sure if you can leave it out:
ReplyDelete"Then she knelt down and hugged Ramira more tightly [than] she’d ever hugged her before."
Got it, thanks.
ReplyDeleteLol like everyone else, I had a strong reaction to the bombshell. I dropped my phone (thankfully it didn't fall far) and started bouncing away, repeatedly whispering, "ohshitohshitohshitohshit"
ReplyDeleteLol a part of me would have liked some foreshadowing (I'm a downright whore for foreshadowing) on this twist but I can't even think how that could have been done without losing its impact. Ah well, so now we have our connection. That coupled with Helen apparently having gone to Sair for assistance when Abolish took over Atreya could have Hector meeting up with the Elroys much sooner than I anticipated.
+imagine.
ReplyDeleteNO IM TOO BUSY SHATING MYSELF
ReplyDeleteAll who are bout to read the comments...
ReplyDeleteLET'S SEE YA GRIT THOSE TEETH
Holy shit nice plot twist, you sir are a fucking genius. I love this story so much and i have little to no way to really express it sadly but typing this out ;-;... i'm sorry. Maybe one day(hopefully soon) i will donate to you because i fucking love you.
ReplyDelete<3
ReplyDeleteIf shenado is older than chergoa garovel's sister then shenado is ridiculously old.
ReplyDeleteIn this instance, Shenado isn't talking about seniority in terms of actual age. She's just saying she's been with the Elroys longer, and is therefore more trustworthy 'n whatnot.
ReplyDeleteI was going to reply with "<3" but then I thought you deserved better so here you go ;)
ReplyDelete