Greyashe chapter 313 is entitled 'A most delightful conversation with the reaper.'

Previous chapter 312: Deductions and farewells.

Next chapter 314: Malease.

Summaries page.

-Short summary-

As his time draws near, a certain alchemist reflects on his past and feelings...

-Long summary-

Richter McCullough slips in and out of consciousness again today as he had for the day before this and the day before that one. That he is still able to discern one day from another at this point is nothing short of a lifetime achievement to him; what with the pain from his forced agape metamorphosis had caused and the madness that grips him. Since he had awakened to agape and magic during his fight with Desmond Larter, he was now subject to the effects of the recall, and now his body is gripped by an insatiable desire to maraud and maim despite him being in too much pain to move.  Pain. He is thankful to it as it acts as an inhibiter to these emotions that threaten to take him away should he yield himself to them and leave pain’s cold but familiar embrace.

He slowly turns his head to the side, and sees that he is still in the small cottage that Anna Rose had procured for his recovery. He is thankful to her of course, since she could have left after Larter had been subdued. Although he hates to admit it, he found her presence to be calming, and at first simply did not want her to leave. From there he had developed feelings for her, and now despite himself found that he simply could not fathom the idea of life without her. She had been the very first person that he had wanted to protect without ulterior motive, and ironically her son had been the first person to truly intrigue him. He had joked with her when she was here that it seems the Rayleigh family has an invincible pull on those who encounter them, an unseen charm that attracts all sorts of people. Anna Rose had laughed it off and chalked it up to his imagination and delirium, but he really thinks he’s on to something. Why else would meeting her have changed his destiny so?  

As if he needed any other reason to fall for her, he knows that she had become immensely worried about his metamorphosis due to his forced awakening to agape, and had concerned herself with finding a cure, despite him asking her to worry about herself and leave him be. He’s sure it’s why Anna Rose had departed while he was sleeping, to avoid worrying him. She had made sure to make some food for him and leave it within his reach, and he can tell that she had only made this tough decision because she feels to some extent his current form is her fault. Richter would tell her otherwise, but the farseeing woman would have none of it. So now he’s here alone, and she’s off somewhere looking to save him, though whether he could and should be saved is up to debate. Richter sighs and thinks about his own difficult decision. He closes his eyes tightly and for a moment lies in bed with his eyes shut, wading in a pensive silence, the pain in his body only becoming more intense. Finally he opens his eyes and immediately looks to a window where a shape not there previously sits in a relaxed pose.

Richter smirks and welcomes ‘the Reaper’. The figure looks up upon hearing this and Richter can see it clearly. Its black cloak covers it’s whole body and its arms are wrapped in chains. Leaning against it’s shoulder is a scythe and where its feet should be is nothingness, as it seems to float in midair. It’s face is obscured from view, but it’s breaths cause the cloak to move in an almost organic---or alive motions. Though it is very clear that this figure is not quite human…and may not be alive. It sits pensively turned in Richter’s direction upon hearing it’s title from him and for a moment silence returns. Richter thanks it for coming on such short notice, though he knows it’s been here several times just to be chased away by his own subconscious desires. That being said, he’s finally decided that this is time….that he will not chase the Reaper away. The Reaper seems to silently acknowledge this, and reaches out to him but Richter says in a stern voice that he will not go silently into that quiet night with the Reaper. He is a man with principals, and that has not changed despite his current situation. He has always acted upon deep retrospective and this will not change. The Reaper will have to wait a moment if it is truly interested in taking him. The Reaper sits back on the windowsill and crosses it’s arms in an act of rebellion, and Richter allows himself a chuckle. He tells it that things aren’t going to be so bad, and just to listen to him for a moment. Maybe it might learn something about human nature if it’s lucky, and if not well…he is promising to go once he has thought about his decision long enough. He knows no matter what he does that the Reaper will have him, as it has visited several times during Anna Rose’s absence, and he figures by going voluntarily it helps both of them out.

He had seen it as a child…the abuse of agape by those foolish people who believe that magic loves them…first hand even. His parents had chosen to rely on magic rather than themselves and eventually succumbed to magic abuse, killing each other in a fit of jealous rage. Since then he decided that he would never associate with agape and would instead travel down the path of knowledge and discovery. This had been what lead him to discover the implications of alchemy, and the alchemic route. To him knowledge could be trusted, people cannot. They (people) can be used as a stepping stone to further knowledge, but never could they be trusted…since it is all too easy for magic to influence their thoughts and feelings with desires for more power. That had always been his credo, even when he had hired Rage, Sahpan, and even Frieda the farseer whose abilities can see right through people’s lies. Even then it had been all about gathering knowledge and understanding. The alchemic route had never lead him astray with its rigid structure of formulas and restrictions….

Though now he couldn’t utilize the ‘route’. He muses how ironic that is, as it was during his fight with Larter that he really understood the true limit of the alchemic route…knowledge is developed by people which is obvious…knowledge does not understand people. It is people who analyze it and then come to an understanding all of their own. In short he could not defeat a person like Larter who’s ability lies outside the realm of practical use. Practical use being magic applied through agape levels and power, or in the case of alchemy; adherence to the ‘route’. Larter collects magic through a grimoire which acts as an agape conduit. He had heard that such a thing was possible if the conduit was strong enough, but to see it in use was nothing short of incredible. Despite this, he had elected to fight against it rather than gain knowledge….he could have stayed out of the fight as Larter only came to collect Anna Rose and not to fight him. Yet he fought, and in turn had activated his own agape when the alchemic route had failed him, due to the grimoire being outside of his calculations.

Anna Rose Rayleigh. She had been forcefully involved with him by Kutkh who had forcefully broken him out of prison. He had been turned in to the authorities by Van, Kani and Guy  after the dark blood fiasco, and Kutkh had freed him on a whim because he had already planned to kidnap Anna Rose simply because he wanted to impress a point to Van who for one reason or another had caught his eye. Richter had forgotten to ask the God why he was so interested in the boy, and although he’s not sure where he is now gets the feeling he may never really know. The irony that he would meet with Van’s mother after being soundly defeated by Van and his friends does not escape him. Yet with his nature and distrust of people he had fallen for her. Why? There is nothing on her exterior that really places her on a higher pedestal than any other woman, and he really hadn’t spent enough time with her to find her interior appealing either. So why?

Richter McCullough. A man who trusts no one. It should not be surprising then that in turn no one trusts him. To trust and be trusted, to doubt and be doubted are the only two possibilities that make sense to him. He had become accustomed to doubt simply because it is all he knows, and all that he had for others around him. It is through doubt that he is able to establish normalcy, to keep his insignificant little world from collapsing upon itself. Love is trust, and doubt is Richter. So what had happened? Surprisingly the answer is as simple as the question. Why do fools who doubt fall in love? Answer:  Doubt is curiosity incarnate. Doubt isn’t something one is, it’s something one does…one believes in. As soon as that belief is shaken then….

Anna Rose didn’t doubt him for a second.

     So he could not doubt her.

          Because he cannot doubt her….

               He had to feel something else.

                    Admiration.

                         He admired her inability to doubt something she believes in.

                              Admiration is a form of ‘love’.

                                   Therefore, his ‘admiration’ is ‘love’.

                                        Because he ‘loves’ he must then protect, and protection comes with sacrifice.

                                             So the sacrifice for protecting her is…

The alchemist turns to the Reaper who more or less has followed Richter’s logic to its logical end. It nods and then reaches out to him again. Richter closes his eyes again and apologizes to Anna Rose for his decision. He loves her despite knowing how impossible ‘they’ are, her being an endangered species on the run, and he being an immoral scientist. However, he had already decided that he would protect her….her inability to doubt immediately, her scent, her voice her very existence that had in turn given his meager ‘self’ a meaning. Maybe she would hate him, but better hate now than pain later.

He suddenly sees himself above his body, embraced by the reaper. The two rise higher and higher until even the skies have disappeared from view. The alchemist fades into the Reaper who brandishes it’s scythe and disappears into the atmosphere.

Anna Rose opens the door to Richter’s room and apologizes for being away so long, but she will depart again before long since her journey is not yet over. She pauses for a moment, and tip toes to Richter’s bed where she regards him for a moment. Her lip quivers for a moment and she sinks to the side of the bed as tears roll down her face. She curses her eyes, as they have already told her the sad story. Her journey ---whether she likes it or not has ended. The man whom had saved her at great risk to himself has passed away. She removes the blanket gingerly and gasps upon doing so.

Due to the nature of the agape metamorphosis, Richter’s body has been altered, and was slowly calcifying, becoming metallic through a painful agape reaction. Anna Rose had been searching for a means to stop this process, but hadn’t been able to find any leads. When she left him last only his legs had been changed, but now everything save his head has become metallic. She then realizes what happened….Richter had sacrificed himself to protect her again. Truly if he wanted to keep living he could have, and become more powerful than before. Though with the effects of the recall, that would mean he’d literally become a lethal killing machine, and with her being closest in vicinity to him she would have been his first victim. By choosing death, he had taken the one way out that secured the future of many…and herself.

Anna Rose can only weep bitterly as she realizes now why her son is fighting so desperately against the sentinents, and can only imagine how many times he must have felt this bitterness…the sadness of knowing you are too weak to do anything to help anyone. True she is free now to pursue whatever she wants, but she would take the shackles of taking care of a man who she owes her life over freedom without question.

Meanwhile far away, a man watches a sunrise on a grassy knoll while eating an apple from a nearby tree. He muses that all is quiet, which is something he’s not used to with his background on the path of carnage. Though it is because of his experience with carnage and war that he knows silence only gives birth to trouble. He takes another bite of his apple and wonders how long they have until noise is born from this silence…?

Suddenly from behind, a figure in a black coat and hoodie attacks the man with a dagger. The man steps out of the way and toys with his attacker, weaving around his attacks without countering. The black coated figure is a young lad, who’s movements are indeed swift and deadly, but the older man is just too experienced in combat to be hit by his strikes. Finally the man leans in and catches the dagger and snatches it away, just to find another aimed at his adam’s apple. The man laughs and applauds his attacker, though he reprimands him….if he’s not going to go for the kill he shouldn’t launch an attack in the first place.

The lad takes off his hood and reveals his identity. The man’s eyes twinkle and he proclaims despite his lack of bloodlust, he’s still got some potential.

Van stares back at the man, gone are his eyes full of hope and naivety. His hair is a spikey mess, and his gait is that of a child soldier. His farseeing eyes are dark and without mercy, and it seems he may have grown a bit taller. His face has many miniature scuffs and scars as do his hands. He looks up at Aschner and remarks that he shouldn’t misunderstand. He has no intention of showing his bloodlust to anyone but his enemy.  With a swift motion of his hands, he takes out another dagger from his jacket and points it Aschner, reminding him that his true enemies are the sentients.