"Oh Jack, it's just you." Nox let his scythe fall to his side, a small swishing sound accompanying the movement. The weapon didn't look quite right though, it was more curved than the ones you'd see in paintings of the Grimm Reaper, and the handle was far too short. Before I could get too caught up on it though his words registered in my brain.

"Jack? You know this kid?" I asked, standing up.

"He's one of the other souls I'm accompanying." Nox explained, "But there should be two of them. Where's Nona?"

"She's coming." Jack said happily, bouncing on the balls of his feet. He smiled at me and said, "She's really slow. Like a snail."

"Let's meet her halfway." Nox said. The scythe (was it even a scythe?) disappeared and his stance relaxed.

"Ok, but who is she?" Jack pointed at me.

"I'm Riley. Nox is helping me now too." I explained.

"Ok, but remember I'm in charge." He looked at me suspiciously.

"You got it boss." I saluted.

"Can you take us to Nona?" Nox asked.

"Sure! Follow me. I'm the leader." Jack puffed out his chest proudly and strutted down the road.

"Well alrighty then." Nox grinned and followed suit, copying the ridiculous stride of the boy.

I shrugged to myself and copied them, laughing as we awkwardly made our way. Callie followed, right on my heels. She seemed perplexed by our silliness and kept close.

My toes clipped Nox's heel, and both of us were sent whirling across the path. Nox crashed into Jack, sending him into a teetering fall, and just catching himself before he face planted. We all laughed as we awkwardly tried to regain our balance, continuing to strut down the road.

Swerving all over the road, Nox cut me off repeatedly until Jack came barreling in from nowhere and tackled him, catapulting them to the ground. They began to wrestle, palm to palm tousling.

Callie yipped and pounced on Nox, landing right on top of his chest.

He gasped for air and patted her lightly on the head, "Thanks for the help pupper."

"Puppy!" Jack squealed, forgetting him altogether and excitedly petting the soft animal.

"What is going on down here?" an elderly voice said.

I looked up, and smiled at the little old woman tottering down towards us, "Just making our way over to you I would guess."

Nox stood straight and gave a joyful cry, "Hey Nona!"

"Why were you on the ground?" She walked slowly, gently waddling from side to side. Dressed in a tea length dress with red gingham and bows, she screamed 'little old cat lady across the street'. The giant green handbag didn't help much either. The vibrant colors stood out brightly against her dark skin, and her frizzy hair stood up in all directions, only barely kept under control by a small white bandana.

"I kicked his ass!" Jack said excitedly, still playing with Callie.

Nona looked aghast, "And where did you learn that kind of language?" she glared at Nox and clenched her handbag.

His hands flew up, "It wasn't me I swear."

I laughed, "Don't worry, I can vouch for him."

She lowered the bag, "Well if you say so. How are you doing my dear? I'm Nona."

She extended a wrinkled hand, and I held back a moment before shaking it. "Nice to meet you, I'm Riley."

"Oh Riley is such a wonderful name!" she said. I had the feeling that would have been her reply no matter what name I gave her.

"Thanks. I see someone's got Nox in line." I glanced at her bag.

"Well after twenty grandchildren I better know how to use this thing." she patted it tenderly, "Don't know how it followed me here but I sure am grateful it did."

She glanced behind us and caught sight of Jack now running around with the dog, "Why is that a spirit guide?"

Nox shrugged, "We're not sure. I'm fairly certain she is, but no one told me Riley had one so there's a chance she's just a stray spirit."
"Now boy trust me on this, I know a spirit animal when I see one." she wagged her finger, "I can feel it in these old bones."

"You're probably right, it's just so unlikely for something like that to be overlooked." Nox conceded.

"A beautiful breed for a beautiful girl." Nona smiled at me.

"Well, now that we've made our introductions we should get going again. We've still got a ways to go before we reach the tree." Nox sighed.

"You're in charge Mr. Grimm Reaper." I nodded.

"No, I'm in charge!" Jack yelled as he ran past.

_____________________________________

Our pace was much slower with Nona and Jack now a part of the group, but there was a lot more life too, no pun intended. We had a lot of fun watching Jack's various shenanigans, and had even more fun watching her whack Nox with her gigantic purse when he accidentally swore.

"Nona I'm sorry!" He said, head down trying to deflect blows.

Definitely the best part.

Man I wish I had a camera.

After a while, the path widened up a bit, and a small campsite appeared off to the left. Some chairs and sleeping bags were just laying around, along with a small fire pit.

"We'll stop and rest here for a while." Nox said, "This is a popular pit stop for spirits, and is well protected by charms."

"Sounds good honey, these knees aren't what they used to be." Nona sat in one of the chairs, the ratty thing creaking.

"I thought death would fix things like that?" I asked Nox.

"They do, but Nona here has a flare for dramatics." Nox rolled his eyes.

Faster than light Nona whipped her bag at him, slapping him straight across the face. His expression told me he was more shocked than hurt.

"I do no such thing." Nona sniffed. Then she laughed. After my moment of surprise I joined her, my belly aching from laughing so hard.

Nox eventually laughed too, and sat next to her. Jack ran over and sat on top of one of the sleeping backs, Callie right on his heels. She flopped onto the bag next to him, panting happily.

"We should tell campfire stories!" Jack said, rubbing Callie's exposed belly.

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea." I said, "Hard to do that without a fire though."

"I can take care of that." Nox squinted, pointing his finger at the fire. A little burst of light erupted from his finger tip and flew into the pit, instantly lighting the log and paper laying there.

"Woah how did you do that?" Jack looked at him, wide eyed.

"Magic." Nox winked.

"Well who wants to go first?" I sat crossed legged on one of the other sleeping bags.

"Hmmm I think I've got a good one." Nona mused.

"Does it have dragons?" Jack asked, "Because I don't want it if it doesn't have dragons in it."

Nona laughed, "Don't worry about it, it's a good one."

"Let's see, once upon a time, there were two beautiful princesses who were the best of friends. They did everything together from a very young age, and loved each other very much. But when they got older they both were told they had to marry old and wealthy princes who were not very beautiful. They both ran to each other and planned to run and escape together. The night before each of their weddings, they snuck out the window and ran into the woods together. They eventually married and lived happily for many years."

"The girls got married?" Jack asked.

"Yes." Nona smiled, "Because they loved each other very much."

"Oh. That's kind of cool I guess." He made a face, "But I want to go next!"

"Go right on little man." Nox said.

"My story is about a superhero! Mr. Strong Man!" he jumped up.

"Wow, he sounds like a good superhero." I said.
"He is! He's the best superhero! He can fly and fight crime, and he always saves people." Jack said. Then, he leaned in super close and whispered, "Want to know a secret?"

He got even closer, "I'm Mr. Strong Man." he whispered.

"Wow really?" I said acting shocked, "Want to show us?"

He immediately jumped up and ran around screaming, "Look at how fast I can run!"

"Amazing." I gave him a thumbs up.

Nox looked at me, "What about you? Do you have a good story?"

I was stumped, "Huh. I don't think I know any."

"Well, how about your Dying Day?" Nona asked inquisitively.

"Oh, well you see the thing is..."

"She hasn't gotten her memories back yet." Nox shot me a warning look, "She's waiting to think it over."

"Smart girl." Nona said, somewhat surprised, "I don't envy you though. I'm sure the curiosity is eating at you alive."

I gave a weak laugh, "Yeah I guess. What about you? What happened on your Dying Day?"

She looked around, as if searching for eavesdroppers before she shrugged and said, "Died in my sleep. Old age, but you didn't hear it from me. I don't look a day older than forty."

"Want to hear how I died?" Jack had stopped zooming around, interested in the conversation once more.

"Do you want to tell us?" Nona asked, "You don't have to."

He nodded vigorously, "Of course! I died heroically, my mommy said."

"Your mom?" Nox asked, a strange note in his voice.

"Yeah, she took really good care of me while I protected her. When I got sick, she said I was protecting her from the germs that made me feel icky. My mommy said I was too sick to stay at home, so she took me to this big white building. Everything was white and clean." he made a face, "And the doctors had to come and poke my finger every five minutes. But don't worry, it didn't hurt that bad."

Realization dawned on me, and looking at Nox I could see he understood.

"I'm glad it didn't hurt." I swallowed, "Do you remember what happened when you died?"

"Well, I was laying in bed, and my mommy was crying. I think she was sad, but she said I was super brave to be so strong, and I would always be a hero." His smile fell, "I miss her."

"I'm sure she misses you too." Nona said softly, "And you were such a brave boy to go through that. Strongest hero ever."

Jack smiled.
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For those confused, Jack had a terminal cancerous brain tumor at a young age, but he passed without pain I assure you!