My hand closed around the faceted surface of the crystal. Warmth spread up my hand and into the rest of my body. Purple sparks crackled around my hand, burning me. Hm, now was this really the key? It didn't seem keyish. Then again, neither did the piece of paper Death made a key out of. At least this had the supernatural ability to make me feel like this, the warmth I mean, not the spark still burning my hands. How did I keep my grip on it? Pure force of will.

I cradled the crystal in my hands. I closed my eyes and reached for that strand of energy again. It was easier to find, more of a ribbon than a thread, so it was easier to summon. Fire and ribbons flared around my arms.

Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and stared at the key. The fire and ribbons were mingling the same way they had earlier when I activated the key Death made, but that didn't change the fact nothing happened. No glowing, no shining, no spinning and flying around while playing hip-hop. A frown painted my face, and I shook it, as if doing that would magically make it work. When the key still didn't work, I did the logical thing. Look for a way someone without mystical arms would activate it. Unless the immortals were hiding their true powers, they didn't have them.

My pants stuck together as I walked around the clearing. My shirt stuck to my skin, though my left forearm was free from sap; the flames burnt it off. Speaking of the flames, I paused long enough to let the powers disappear back into my arms. I didn't want to start a forest fire. With the luck I've had, Smoky the Bear will materialize from nowhere and attack me.

Not like it would be the first time I've gotten attack by a bear this week, but still.

Towards the edge of the clearing, I found a path overgrown by weeds. I walked the rock lined path, wondering how much free time Clara had in order to maintain even the three prior areas. Almost immediately after that thought, I rolled my eyes. She has plenty of free time, she's an immortal. Plus, Ivy said Clara only does stuff for herself, so it's not like she was volunteering at a soup kitchen or anything.

In the middle of the path, too long to jump over and with brambles on either side keeping me from going around, was a mud puddle. I picked my way across, resting my weight on the smallest bits of rock that showed about the surface. In between steps, my foot slipped. It sank deep into the mud, up to the middle of my shin. "I hate this," I said, pulling my foot out with a loud schlop. "I really, really hate this."

With every step I took, the warmth flowing through my body increased. It kept going up and up, until I felt alive. I could feel the coolness of the cloak, the chill of the wind, the heat of the sun, all things I forgot how much I missed. Those weren't the only things I noticed. I could hear my heart beat, I could feel every breath I took, and holding my breath made my lungs ache. My footsteps cut through the calm air as I walked towards a stone pedestal. It was the only thing in the clearing, so it had to be important.

The closer I came to it, the more the crystal sparked. At some point, it started to hum and vibrate, almost like I struck it with a fork. The vibrations traveled up my arms, making them tingle. I stopped in front of the pedestal. Carved from dark rock, it would've looked pretty, if not for the weeds and grasses overgrowing it. Upon closer inspection, I could make out symbols and letters carved into it by two different people. One was probably Life, and I was willing to bet the second was Clara.

I tried to brush the wilted plants from it, only to find them rooted in dirt. I rested my hand on the smooth stone. With a sigh, I rested my forehead on the cool surface. The moment I let go of the key all of this would disappear; I wouldn't be able to feel things like this.

My hand tightened around the key as voices echoed through my mind, whispers which disappeared everytime I thought about them. Only when my mind wandered did they return. I should've been happy about that, being able to focus on them to shut them up, but the bad thing was, I couldn't tell if they were my thought or someone else's.

Keep the key, they said as I wondered about how to activate the key. Leave Death alone. He doesn't care about anyone. He doesn't care about you. Become an immortal, you'll be able to feel warmth again.

I found myself wishing Death were here. The silence, and the whispers that came with it, left me with an uneasy feeling. I ran my finger along the edge of the crystal. Maybe I should go get Death, I thought, play things safe. The whispers grew more and more tempting, promising things like rejoining my family, going to visit my friends. They even tempted me to tell my friends to become immortal. Before my resolve could waver, I shoved the crystal onto the pedestal. The symbols carved in the stone began to glow with golden light, each one a different way to spell Life's name. The glow spread to the plants ontop, causing them to flourish and burst into bloom. Clouds parted overhead, allowing a single stream of sunlight to stream onto the pedestal.

The crystal absorbed all of that light, along with any glow put off by the writing. The beam of light disappeared as the clouds began to swirl. I stumbled back.

I didn't like that.

Every instinct in my body screamed run, but at the same time my body felt like it was four thousand pounds. Even if I could've worked up the energy to run, I wouldn't have done it. As much as I liked having Death's company, he'd only get himself hurt further. This way if someone gets hurt, it's me. I'm a horrible reaper compared to him. I took a deep breath

No backing out. No running away. No more letting Death handle everything. I was going to get Death's scythe back, even if it killed me again.

Light flashed, blinding me. When my vision returned, I wasn't sure where I was. I certainly wasn't in Kansas, and I definitely wasn't in the clearing where I had been standing a moment prior. For one, the pedestal no longer sat in the middle of the clearing. No key could be found. Once I stopped looking for things which weren't there, I found myself taking in my surroundings in full, with eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

Life's dimension, the opposite of Death's, lived up and exceeded my expectations. Trees with metal leaves, flowers which would be at home in a pride parade, unicorns. A herd of them grazed in one of the areas I passed through. Only a few had the traditional white coat, mist had chestnut or black fur; some even had scales. I shook my head. Don't get distracted, I told myself.

Don't get distracted, I told myself as I got distracted for the eighth time.

It proved harder than I thought it would've been. Not only were there all sorts of mystical magical things that would never exist on Earth, such as two unicorn foal playing together, but bubbles floated through the air. They bobbed and swirled in a dance not unlike the butterflies. Though if these tried to carry me off somewhere I was going to file a complaint. Getting picked up by things that shouldn't be able to carry me went one over the limit.

This particular distraction happened to be one I should've noticed earlier, especially considering the amount of them. The bubbles, they weren't normal. I'm sure if Uriel or Death had been there, they would've told me why, how, and everything about them. I stared deep into a bubble. No ordinary swirls of colors caught my attention. The thing that piqued my interest were the things shown in the bubbles. I could see people going about their lives, each one a different perspective.

"Woah," I said, watching as a woman was handed her newborn child. Death would've loved this or he might've hated it because this wasn't his job, it was the exact opposite of his job.

I shook my head and pulled myself away. I begged my mind to stop letting me get distracted. I walked further into the dimension, weaving around trees and rocks and flower bed. The further I went, the more relaxed I grew. No sign of Life seemed to be a good sign, so I didn't rush. My stomach rumbled, and I pulled another smack from my pocket. I ate it as I walked.
Eventually, I found my path blocked by a worn wooden gate. No fence connected to it. A post held it up on one side, while a loop of barbed wire held the gate closed. Instead of opening it, I walked around. I didn't know what might've happened if I did. I didn't know what I might've caused by going around it, only time would tell.

Stained glass trees replaced the ones with metal leaves. Unlike those, these new ones were made completely from stained glass: the trunk, the branches, and the leaves. Never ending sunlight shone through them, making the ground into a palette of color. I walked past them, rubbing my eyes. Under my feet, light spread tracing my path.

I passed under a stone arch and into a winter wonderland. I sighed and walked into what looked like the world outside my window in February. My fingers brushed over the leaves of rose bushes. The odd thing about these wasn't that they were perfectly fine in the cold, the rises were. Formed fully from ice, they held their shape in my hand. With my eyes focused on the flower, I didn't hear the ice creak and crack underfoot. I didn't react as I plunged into the cold water. At least, I assumed it would be cold. I couldn't feel if it was, but something else about the water bothered me. It curled around me, stroking my hair and arms, and whispering things.

My feet slipped on ice and I felt like Spyro in one of the levels Uriel played. Until I crashed through thin ice. The cold didn't bother me, mostly because it wasn't cold, but something wasn't right about the water. It curled around my limbs and whispered things to me.

At first, my dad's voice rang in my ears. "Honey, wake up," he said. "Come on, wake up. Please. Honey, can-" he cut off as someone else started talking to him in hushed tones. I didn't know who. I didn't care. "Ardia-" something brushed against my hair. I think it was a hand. "-I love you. Wake up, honey. Lindsay's here to see you."

"Hey, Ar," Lindsay said. "Can you hear me? Twitch your fingers if you can." Her hand wrapped around mine. I wanted to say something, I wanted to move. "Come on, I'll let you copy my homework."

"Is she awake?"

The moment I heard that voice I jerked awake. I kicked my way to the surface, growling in frustration as the cloak tried to drag me down. I scrambled at the ice, hands grazing the top as they failed to gain traction. Piece after piece collapsed in. I braced my hands on the edge and pushed; finally, having found a thick enough piece of ice, it worked. I spun in lazy circles as my momentum wore itself out. I felt like Spyro in one of the level's Uriel played.

Turtle crawling across and off the ice, I laid in the snow and laughed. Who knew Mom would ever do anything to help me? Who would've thought the most helpful thing would've been her abandonment?

I couldn't wait to tell Michael about this, or even Luci. Hope began to fill my chest. Hope I'd find the scythe without much weirdness, well, more weirdness. I passed a tree with eight faces, and that was less weird than my mother showing any amount of care towards me. Actually, since one of the faces complimented my outfit, I'd say it would be a better mom.

Actually, the truly weird thing that happened was finding Death's scythe. It was in a normal forest, leaning against a normal tree. I thought Life would put it in a dangerous part of her domain, or at least station guards. Apparently she wasn't as concerned about trespassers as she should've been. I stared at the scythe, at the the wood and metal object that held so much power yet looked so unassuming. The area around it looked brown and wilted, dead. From a branch above it hung Death's scarf. I glanced around, trying to figure out if it was a trap. Was it? Probably, but I'd hate myself if I came this far and turned back without getting what I came for.

I snuck forward and grabbed the scarf.

I pulled it down and tucked it into one of the cloak's pocket. I reached for the scythe. The moment my fingers wrapped around the handle, energy and power coursed through my body. Not the same as the the stuff from the key. I had no feeling of warmth, or chill, and I didn't regain my heartbeat. Pure energy surged through my veins, washing away my exhaustion and hunger. I ran my thumb along the flat of the blade. I had the scythe. I smiled. I had the scythe.

I sighed. I couldn't celebrate yet. I still needed to get out of here and home. That left me with a huge problem. Did the wards work two ways?  I sat on a stone, scythe resting against my lap. I had to think about it, but I didn't get a chance to.

"I'm surprised you made it here," Life said.

I fell backwards. I managed to turn it into a backwards somersault. "I meant to do that!"

"Of course you did." Life rolled her eyes. "Give me the scythe back."

"Uh, no?" I tightened my grip on it and stood up. I had a bad feeling about this.

A hard glint appeared in her eyes. Her chakrams appeared in her hands. She bared her teeth. "Run."

Chapter: 2,429

Book: 75, 519

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