Chapter Text
A FEW MONTHS LATER...
The World Guardian walked towards the exit of the Reaper’s office, satisfied with the work she had done for the day.
Just before she stepped out onto the faux-derelict stairs, the Reaper added one final question to their conversation. “Oh, I must apologize, World Guardian. I had failed to ask you before, but how has Revna Sigvǫrsdottir fared in her training?” he asked.
Sepulchre didn’t turn around, but paused at the doorway. “She’s doing well. So well in fact that I think she’ll ‘graduate’ much sooner than I expected.”
“I am pleased to hear as such, after the trouble you went through to save her soul,” he replied. “And that’s to say nothing of the arrangement you and I have made where she is concerned. You’ve made quite the investment in her.”
“Well I don’t know if I’d call it an investment,” she commented. “I’ve always tried to help people where I can, and she needed a lot of help. Her having all the skills necessary to be a large force for good was just luck.”
There was a brief pause before Death’s response. “Yes, I’m sure she believes herself very lucky to have left such an impression on you that you saw fit to take her under your wing.” Death was clearly leading the conversation in a specific direction.
“Which makes me wonder,” he went on, “how do you suppose she will react?” He posed this question to the World Guardian.
The World Guardian’s posture stiffened slightly in response.
“React to what, Harold?” she questioned with a touch of agitation.
“To the last-minute realization that pushed you to offer her that spot as your apprentice,” the Reaper of Souls clarified.
Inhaling deeply, Sepulchre slowly turned to face her friend and fellow Guardian of Guthix. Though she was not necessarily angry, there was a small hint of a scowl across her features.
“You’ve known from the start, then,” she surmised. “Is this the part where you lecture me again, like the last time?”
Death remained still and silent.
“Because it’s not like last time, Harold,” she continued. “Last time I was being selfish and acting like a coward, trying to escape the duties I had brought upon myself; I’m not afraid to admit that. Looking back, it was shameful, at best…”
“And this time?” the Reaper pressed.
“This time my reasons make sense, are sound and are based on logic, not emotion,” the World Guardian asserted. “She’s in a much better position to do it than I ever was.”
“Does that make it right for you to deposit the weight you swore to carry with your own strength onto your apprentice’s shoulders?” Death countered her argument with the most important question right out of the gate.
Her glare hardened. “You say that like I’m running in and tossing everything on her in her sleep! It’s not as if I’m training her just for the hell of it, y’know. The whole point is to make sure that she’s ready for the job.”
“You know that is not what I meant, World Guardian.” the Reaper responded. “You will put everything you can into preparing her, of that I am certain. But that does not justify what you intend to do.”
“I don’t intend to justify it at all,” she rejoined. “Logic more than supersedes duty in this case, in my opinion.”
“Very well. What logic has led you to this conclusion?” he queried, clasping his hands together, elbows resting against his desk. “What makes you believe that she, and not you, should carry the title ‘World Guardian’?”
“Revna has no allegiance to any gods,” Sepulchre pointed out. “My position as World Guardian has been jeopardized from the start, by my ties to both the Zamorakians and the Zarosians. A World Guardian with an active distrust of the divine is exactly what Guthix would have wanted.”
“Are you certain of this?” Death wondered. “Hatred of gods can drive a person to do many things, and not all of them are good.”
Sepulchre shook her head. “That’s the point of the special training I’ve been giving her. Whatever hatred she has for the gods can be tempered with discipline. Believe me, the last thing I want is another Nomad…” Pain flashed across her face momentarily. “But the fact remains that guarding the world against gods is easier when you don’t have any allegiance to their followers nor have any love for the gods themselves.”
The Reaper was silent for another moment before replying, “Very well. Your argument is valid and the assumptions made are likely correct,” he conceded. “However, I cannot condone nor support this course of action, should you choose to take it.”
“You’re going to try and stop me, then?” she asked, disheartened.
“No,” he corrected, “but I will not aid you in this endeavour. What I will do is warn you of the consequences. I have taken some time to study this ‘Shadow anima’ as you call it, which Guthix weaved into your soul.”
“Shadow anima is compatible with her soul already,” Sepulchre said, taking a shot in the dark at his point. “The shadow mercātor’s touch on her soul assured that much.”
Death shook his head. “These consequences are not hers to bear,” he clarified. “The Shadow anima was not merely placed in your soul, it was infused directly into it, and it has diffused into the rest of your soul. I suspect that removing this Shadow anima is impossible without also taking a large part of your soul alongside it. Do you understand what this means, Sepulchre?”
She nodded, already aware of these consequences. “It means that giving up my powers as World Guardian also means giving up my chance at an afterlife,” she confirmed.
“Having the Shadow anima removed could kill me. If it does, Icthlarin won’t be able to take me to the afterlife, nor will Amascut be able to reincarnate me; I’d be gone for good.”
“You already knew this…?” the Reaper questioned. He was showing surprise, something he hardly ever did. “So this is why you do not actively pursue these plans outside of your own mind.”
“Among other things,” she added. “If you’re not going to help me, my only other option is… him. His student was deranged, and given he supported Kranon’s lunacy, I don’t think our goals come anywhere close to aligning.”
“Naturally, your own personal feelings are the main driving force behind your hesitation, but that is indeed a cause for concern as well.”
“Personal feelings?” the World Guardian echoed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her gaze broke away from his own, distracted by something.
Laughing was something else Death rarely did, but her response drew a small one from him. “Of course, of course.”
He cleared his throat, somehow. “World Guardian, you have protected the world from multiple threats already. Regardless of the reasons you were chosen, the results are undeniably in your favour. Keep in mind that just because you are the World Guardian, that does not mean you have to stand up to the gods alone.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a soul to collect.”
Before Sepulchre could even think to respond, the Reaper had disappeared.
No, I suppose I don’t, do I? I wonder, would she even need these powers to want to stand against them?