Arkhelios Adventures
Reincarnation is messy.
I was born Apophis Xechasménaeizam, son of Queen Neith Xechasménaeizam. I was once king of Yacothia.
I remember the throne room. The wood, the statues, the beautiful stained glass windows...all of it. I remember when I came of age and accepted the crown. Back then, it was the happiest day of my life, but now, I've definitely known happier.
My mother died early on in my life, and I don't remember her. I do remember the portrait of her that hung in the hall, reminding everyone of who they had lost. Of who I was replacing. I'd like to think that my mother would have been proud of my reign, until the end of it, at least.
I had a sister named Ranya. We were as close as two siblings raised to lead very different lives could be. She tried her best to be a good princess of Yacothia, but even when she wasn't, she was always a good sister.
Ranya married into the lands of Tredony. Not the Tredony that was separated from our realm and became Pleasantview, but the remnants of that separation. The few Tredonian lords trapped here in Jubilant Accosts tried to rebuild their lands and power, and Ranya was devoted to the cause. From what I've read in the history books, after my death, she died brutally after trying to protect Yacothia. She didn't deserve that end. I miss her.
My wife never had my love. I'm not ashamed to admit that, as I know that she felt the same. It was an arranged marriage that produced only one child. My queen was fragile, too frail to have other heirs, but she often stood beside my throne, to remind our subjects that she still lived even if she was not seen very often.
I first met Absydee in a garden. She was working nearby, and decided to take a break to wander through the flowers. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in all my life. I made it a priority to wander through whatever garden I could find, hoping to find her there. In the end, I had my own gardens planted, hoping to draw her in.
It worked. We spent many happy days together, breathing in the scent of the blooms, and being warmed by the sun.
She told me what she was, what she did, but my heart didn't care. She was mine, and I was hers. I was proud of her for defending our realm, for doing a thankless job that never got the same praise as I did for doing absolutely nothing. She often teased me for looking so old, while she looked like a young woman, and was countless centuries older than I was. The old man who had a midlife crisis with a young girl who was old enough to see the night sky be formed.
I loved that woman until the day I died-or I would have, had I properly died. I remember my vision getting dark, feel my breathing hitch and then end...and then the familiar warmth of Absydee next to me. I heard her scream and then cry and then...nothing.
And then, by a miracle, I was reborn as Helle Dean, daughter of Winnie and Ezra Dean. Twin sister of Gabriel Dean. I can see it all now, as easily as reading a book. My mother knew that her family would be targeted by the Proxy one day, and they would take her twin babies and sacrifice them to the Watcher to continue the blessing of Jubilant Accosts. Winnie couldn't bear to lose both of her children to the Watcher, so she hid one of her children.
Under the cover of darkness, my mother took me to the edge of the settlement, where I might be discovered and taken in by the Proxy. There is nothing like the DNA tests they have in Tredony here, and I was taken in without question. I had no vampire fangs or werewolf teeth, so I passed the screening.
Away from my family, I would be safe. I wouldn't know the love of the Dean family, but I would live. I can't imagine what it must have been like to have me over at the house, playing with her other children. I regularly hung out with Tiffany, Abercius and his little brother, Jason.
I even met Gabriel, though I'd never know my connection to him while he was alive. He was kind and sweet, and never teased me for not having a family like some of the other kids did. I wished I had known that he was my brother back then. Maybe I could have saved him.
But I'm different in some way. I'm special. I am the fulfillment of the prophesy of the reborn king. I was born to defeat my former enemies and avenge Jubilant Accosts. It's my job to somehow make things right, but reincarnation is so messy.....
Reincarnation is messy. I was created alongside the universe to serve the realm of Death. From the very first days of the stars, I have been at their whim, and destined to serve.
I was not created with parents or a family. I don't have memories of living a life, dying, and then ascending to be a reaper. Humanity has always intrigued me for that reason. Their lives were fleeting, and then they ended up in an eternal afterlife, longing to return to the brilliant light of the realm of Life. Eventually, my lord, Izanami, allowed dead mortals to ascend and become reapers like me so that some of them had a chance to return to their old realm. So long as you weren't a ruling monarch in your life, the only heir to a title or one of Life's servants, a soul could return as a reaper as long as they were willing to serve for centuries at a time.
It's not an easy job. You see suffering, illness, and lives cut short far too young, and you're powerless to change it. Once a death is recorded in Death’s books, it cannot be undone. Reaping children who could have been saved by any mortal intervention would surely devastate a mortal born reaper; it was hard enough for reapers like me to endure and I had never had a family. Just my coworkers, and our brilliant leader, Izanami.
And then I met him and my whole existence changed.
Apophis was funny, attractive, and sure of himself. He knew what he wanted from life, and he wanted me.
Reapers are designed to fit in among the living in order to do their jobs. We help the living, even if they don't appreciate our efforts. A reaper is safer with a living spouse to hide them, and we were created with this in mind. A reaper can form a powerful attachment to a living soul that binds both parties until that mortal passes into the realm of death. We feel their heartbeat stimulate our own until both organs beat together. We ignore all reason if it could save our partner. We feel them next to us even when separated by great distances. It is a bond too powerful to risk on a fling. It is a sign of true love and commitment.
I loved him with everything that I had, and I know that he did the same. He would often speak of impossible dreams, like him taking me as an official mistress of the king while his wife lived, or making me his queen and removing his daughter from the succession.
He wanted children with me. I told him that wasn't going to happen. Reapers must blend in with the living population and having a member of the royal family who was immortal certainly wouldn't help. I would fired if I became his queen. It went against every rule a reaper lived by, and I had no doubt that I'd be expelled from Jubilant Accosts, forever separated from him if I gave into that temptation. He had my heart, and that would have to be enough.
I had a job to do, and as leader of the entire Jubilant Accosts reaper team, I was very busy. I was friends with the Timelady of Ticktop, despite her snobbish attitude. I often wondered if Ticktop had nominated her for the position just to get rid of her, or if all Timelords and Timeladies were as stubborn as she was. No place was ever as good as Ticktop was, and we could only aspire to become more like them. I know now that Ticktop fell after my betrayal of my duties, and I wonder if she can ever forgive me for it. So many bad things happened to so many people because of me and my failure. I don't know how to set any of it right again. I don't think I ever can.
I warned Apophis that the bonds between a reaper and their bonded soul were strong, though I doubt that he realized just how strong they were. I've seen reapers take a new living spouse soon after their last one had died, and I've seen reapers driven mad by their spouse's passing. There were even reapers who took reaper spouses just to avoid the pain of losing a mortal spouse, only to be driven mad by the power of two reapers trying to join together. Every reaper was different, and no one knew just how they'd attach to a mate. I assumed that I would be one of the reapers who took a spouse every century or so, just to blend in enough to become better at my job. I couldn't have been more wrong about that assumption.
If you asked Rani about my love life, she'd tell you how happy I was with Apophis. She'd listen to every detail I could tell her, and then ask for more. She was always looking for a love of her own, and I hope that she found one when I passed. It would be cruel to ask her to serve so long without the love and support she deserved.
I would often visit the castle, not as Absydee, leader of the reapers, but as the humble maiden, Abby, who spent far too much time in the king's bed to actually be a maiden.
But as happy as we were, the throne always loomed over us. Apophis' sister resented our relationship because she had had to marry for power, and would be executed for taking a lover like her brother had.
His daughter was a nightmare, who acted like she was already the queen of Yacothia, while her father still lived. She had a lover of her own, but unlike her father, she did not have an heir. Apophis arranged a husband for her, who was kind and had deep pockets. He was so kind hearted, he might even turn a blind eye to his wife's lover, so long as their children still looked like his. Herepheres had everything her father could give her, but she lacked basic sense. She managed her money poorly, and flaunted her relationship with a knight of the realm. The few times she allowed me to share a room with her and her father, Hetepheres acted like I wasn't there. Every day, she waited for the day her father would die and leave the kingdom in her unsteady hands.
Until one day, she grew tired of waiting.
Apophis was shot in the back three times while out hunting with his court. As team leader, the reaping assignments appeared in my book so that I could distribute them to the team. I felt Apophis' spirit leave his body before I saw his name engrave itself on the page.
Apophis Xechasménaeizam. Cause of death: homocide. 11:34 am.
The book doesn't tell us who the guilty party is when a death has been ruled as a homicide. That's up to the mortal justice system to discover; we just collect the soul.
I knew what had happened before I even arrived at the scene. It was Hetepheres. Her father's body was barely even cold and she'd already called for someone to confirm the "accident" so that the bloodied crown could legally pass to her.
I had to reap my love, my bonded mate. His name was in Death’s book and that couldn't be changed. There was no way of just stuffing his soul back into his body and hoping he'd wake up. Apophis was dead.
Already, I could feel the physical changes start. Once Apophis' heart stopped beating, mine had nothing to sync to. It lay dormant once more in my chest as Apophis' soul detached itself from his physical remains. In our years together, I'd forgotten how cold and lonely the realm of Death was. No wonder some reapers immediately sought new spouses when theirs died. The silence became unbearable.
I thought of Lord Izanami and my training. This could not be undone.
I could visit Apophis in the afterlife. We could talk and reminisce about his lifetime and our time together, but reapers worked among the living. There are teams of reapers who staff the afterlife, but at the time, no reaper no matter where they were stationed was allowed to be with a dead soul. I hope that rule has been changed in the centuries since, but it was non-negotiable when Apophis died. I had always planned to end our relationship and move on after a number of years with a new mortal. That was the plan, but now that I was here, standing over his dead body, I couldn't let Apophis go.
I was about to despair when my mind recalled something I'd seen concerning Lord Izanami and the replacement Life deity. Some spark of hope, no matter how dangerous or forbidden it was.
It would cost me everything, but I knew how to fix this. I told myself that I wasn't really needed here. My team would select a new leader and perhaps hire a formerly mortal reaper to replace me. My team would support Rani and the Dream Guardian.
I could hear Izanami curse at me in my mind. He would be devastated that I was abandoning my post and responsibilities. I don't think I could even endure the wrath he would hurl at me if he knew what I was doing.
But I had seen the way his eyes followed the new Life deity myself. Even if Life was angry with him, Izanami had fallen for them just as hard as I'd fallen for Apophis. He'd be furious at me, but I know that he'd understand. He would do to same to save his soulmate.
Apophis always wanted us to be together, away from the throne and my responsibilities. Just Apophis and Abby. This would give us that chance. We'd have nothing but each other, but that was exactly what we wanted.
I would find him again. He was the other half of my heart, so I knew that I would find him again, no matter where we ended up. I will always find him.
I broke the laws of the universe itself so that we could be together.
Apophis and his Abby.