Megumi opened her eyes, finding herself in the same dream from when she was still alive. It was a dream that always haunted her from her childhood that never left her. It was a scene of herself as she stood in the middle of a pile of dead people she knew. People she liked, disliked, even Eric was among the people included.
As she looked back to her copy that stood tall with her back facing Megumi, she noticed the hair turning a scarlet and crimson red. It didn't take long to understand that it wasn't her.
She prepared herself for the worst and mustered up all her courage as the bodies around them dissolved away into ash. "How boring. I thought I could at least get an 'eep'." Dark Megumi said.
Megumi's dark doppelganger turned around showing her hollowed black eyes to Megumi, her white pupils were more round and bigger than when they first met. In fact, her face had no cracks like before either.
Megumi glanced around, seeing that the space they were in was completely white with the floor being a deep pitch black. Shuffling her feet around she noticed how the floor rippled across like water yet missing a reflection that should've been there.
She turned back to Dark Megumi who stood tall with her arms crossed, exuding a complete aura of confidence.
"What happened to me? And… Where are we?" Megumi finally asked.
"Hmph. Do you like it? I put a lot of effort into making it nice and spacious."
"But what did you do to me!?" Megumi clutched her fist and darted her eyes at her dark counterpart, searching for answers.
"Relax. You fell unconscious. I could take over if you want… But then you'd be here all by your lonesome." she mocked.
"But as opportune as it would be for me to snatch up our body for myself, that'd be violating our agreement, wouldn't it?" Dark Megumi raised her hands, conjuring forth some couches and a little table. Some tea then appeared before them and without hesitation, Dark Megumi poured herself.
The scent of the warm tea wafted Megumi's nose. She recognized it as a tea Eric once made for her. It was a simple sweet tea where he added one too many spoonsful of sugar.
A cup of the tea was passed to Megumi as her dark counterpart took the other and sat down. It was a bit of a strange sight to see so she quickly took a double take, glancing at her dark copy then at the tea and the couch behind. Although hesitant, Megumi took the tea given and sat down herself.
She watched as her dark counterpart calmly drank her tea and slowly followed suit. The sweetness was unmistakable to her.
"Do you like it?" Dark Megumi asked. "I've had a myriad of drinks before, but tea has always been the best in my opinion. It's one of the simplest, and deadly drinks one could have honestly."
Dark Megumi glanced into the now half empty teacup. "This one is too sweet for taste, but it's exactly how you like it, Right Megumi?"
Megumi slowly sat the tea and looked back to Dark Megumi who sat across from her. "Wh- Why am I here?" she asked.
"I wanted to congratulate you on being able to adapt and use our powers." Dark Megumi sat her tea down too and blurted out a chuckle. "To be honest I thought you would die for sure, a pathetic girl like you, you should've bit the dust a long time ago here in purgatory… But you seem to be adjusting exceedingly faster than I expected."
Megumi slowly dropped her head down, a hint of bitterness building up. "It's not like I want to. I don't want to hurt anyone. I never did. I just wanted… a normal life."
"Ironic. Seeing how you want to become a Reaper."
"That's only because I want to see Eric again! I… I want to at least say goodbye at the very least…" Megumi looked more grimly at her hand. "but this…curse… Because of it, I couldn't have a normal life."
"Yes. I suppose I am partially at fault." Dark Megumi took her tea back up and sipped it.
She set her empty teacup down and looked back at Megumi, gauging her reaction. "Look, it's not the most ideal spot I like to be in either. But rest assured. touching people here in purgatory won't be designating them to a fatal death."
Megumi's eyes brighten a little. But as she looked back up to speak, her doppelganger burst out in laughter.
"Pff. Ahahahaha!!! I still can't believe what you said that demon! 'I can kill you. With just a touch you're destined to die-'." Dark Megumi slammed her hands on the table and held her guts as she retched over with laughter.
Megumi became beet red. "H-h-he still died, didn't he!?" she retorted.
"That was the cheesiest thing I've ever heard you say!" Dark Megumi's laughter continued, leaving Megumi increasingly embarrassed.
Eventually the laughter ceased with Dark Megumi wiping one of her eyes. "That moment was a ten in my books. And watching that fight was more entertaining than watching your life unfold for those past twenty-three years."
"So, touching people with my bare hands won't destine anyone to death?" Megumi inquired.
"Seriously? Of course not. Everyone in purgatory is already dead, dumbass." Dark Megumi then pointed to Megumi's hands. "And wearing gloves won't do anything here either. They're practically aesthetic here. So, there's no practical use for them."
Megumi couldn't help but become a little more flustered, listening to her dark copy.
Dark Megumi leaned back into the couch and crossed her legs and arms. "Now that we have that out the way. Do you still remember our deal?"
Megumi froze from the sudden change of topics. O-oh… Uhh. Yeah." Megumi placed her full attention on her dark counterpart. "You can't take over my body unless I give you permission. In exchange I have to… Keep you secret from everyone else and… Keep things entertaining?"
Dark Megumi gave a visible clap of her hands. "Good work. You remember. But don't forget. I'll even give you a little prize if you ever surpass my expectations."
"You never said what they would be." Megumi noted.
Dark Megumi then pointed to her own head. "What better prize is there, but knowledge?"
"Wh… What am I supposed to do with that?"
Dark Megumi laid back more confidently. "You'll understand in due time. But I think that's enough chatter for the both of us for now…" Dark Megumi raised her hand, ready to snap her fingers.
"W-wait!" Megumi raised her hand to stop her Dark counterpart. "What am I supposed to call you?"
Dark Megumi paused and pondered that very question herself. "Hmm… I went by many names in the past…"
After a while, Dark Megumi brought her head down and smirked. "For now, just refer to me as your shadow. After all,… I am your shadow…" She then brought her head back. "And you are my vessel…"
"Shadow?"
"Yes. and I'll be seeing you around… Vessel."
Dark Megumi snapped her fingers, and Megumi awoke in a bed just under a tent. She gazed around finding the Cider was atop her, sleeping soundly. To her far offside she found K sitting down, reading a book.
"K?" Megumi Attempted to get up, but her body felt a lot heavier than normal.
"Relax." K brought his book down. "You should rest. I heard of what you and Dino did. Taking on a demon general is no easy feat. You should consider yourself lucky."
K paused and softened his tone. "But you did well. And you deserve some rest, Megumi."
"Is Kailey and Dino alright? And Liang?"
"Yes. All of them are just fine. Liang right now is reorganizing the transports right now. By tomorrow we'll be back on the road to Arc." K stood back up, closing his book. "But for now you should sleep."
With those last words said, K began to depart from the tent. Of course, he didn't forget to drag Cider out with his bone tentacle.
Despite seeing Cider being literally dragged out from the tent, she could help but feel immense relief. She smiled and pulled her hands into view. She clutched them with a newly filled hope.
"I'm almost there…"
********
A breeze flowed through the dunes of Purgatory and in the pitch darkness. Just outside of the camp by several large rocks, Dino stood outside simply enjoying the breeze outside the view of everyone else.
After a while, he sighed. "I had a feeling that you were around…"
"Annabelle." Dino turned his head to the side, finding Annabelle standing.
Her pitch-black eyes and narrow white pupils focused squarely on Dino She brought down her brown hood allowing her short black hair to flow more freely.
Annabelle stared sternly at Dino, slowly approaching him. She then stopped, as if there was an invisible line drawn in the ash. "So, you expected me… So, what now? Are you here to stop me or did you have some change of heart?"
"Pah. After what you did to me, you think I'd actually come crawling back to you? Besides I already know what happened to my brother now. And I already have a good idea where he is now thanks to your dead companion." Dino flicked a thin shard of crystal, no thicker than a toothpick, at Annabelles feet.
She glanced at the shard and narrowed her eyes at Dino. "So now you want to get in the way of letting me reunite with my precious Cider."
Gust of ash swirled around both Dino and Annabelle alike. "If you think you can still win against me, you're sorely mistaken." Annabelle perked a smirk. "If you and that master of yours couldn't beat me, what hope do you think you have by yourself?"
"You're right. Probably can't beat you… But I think you're forgetting that there's a camp full of reapers behind me. And who's to say they won't notice our commotion."
The swirling ash ceased. It stifled as Annabelle grumbled. Her expression then contorted to that of frustration. "So that Skeleton reaper made it back…" She then darted her eyes at the big rocks behind Dino.
"And here I thought I had a chance to at least sneak him out. But I suppose you did save me the trouble of getting myself killed by that reaper. Annabelle said.
"You're turning tail already?" Dino mocked.
"Don't get the wrong Idea 'demon hunter'... I'm not so stupid as to deal with that skeleton reaper in there. I've already seen what he's capable of already. Consider yourself lucky today." Annabelle then turned to leave. "The next time we meet I won't be so nice."
As if Annabelle herself was a mirage, her body disappeared into a gust of ash that flowed away. Dino could only sigh. A wave of relief washed over him.
Not having much to do, he also departed back to the camp. As he passed the rock he stopped as he passed someone familiar.
"So… Have you finally made your decision?" Liang asked. He leaned on the huge rock. It became clear to Dino that Liang was eavesdropping on his conversation.
"Yeah. I think I'll take you up on your offer." Dino looked back up into the sky. "I mean, what else is there for me? My master and brother became demons and as a hunter I'm practically homeless."
"Heh." Dino turned his gaze, remembering a rough past. "But I guess that's always how I lived. Both here in purgatory and my life before as a mercenary."
"What? Being homeless."
"No. no matter what happened, whether it was with my brother, or that old man. We just kept… moving forward."
"Ah, yes. The tried-and-true method. "Liang noted. He then stepped up and patted Dino on the shoulder. "Hey, how about I treat you to a nice drink, on me. We can celebrate your decision in style with the others."
Dino couldn't help but smile. "Sounds like a plan."
Dino and Liang rejoined the group of grimms and their escorts, swinging around cups of alcohol in the air with Liang giving out one of his personal favorites.
It became a rare moment of joyous comradery with Grimms telling stories of old as K and Dino listened, with Liang telling stories himself. All the while Megumi stared up in her tent hearing the indistinct chatter outside.
But despite all the noise she slowly found herself slipping into slumber hopeful for the next day.