The Woodland Mansion

Télos sighed. "Something tells me that whatever I do isn't going to get you to change your mind about me," he commented, folding his long, scaly arms as he looked down at her. He shrugged. "Well, that's okay. I'm used to people not liking me." He snapped his fingers again, and suddenly the man from before was standing in his place.

This conversation, however, was something that Grim only noticed out of the corner of his eye - he was preoccupied with the conversation between himself and Leo. Even though the boy hadn't said it, he had understood the sentiment. And it had really, really touched him. Not that Leo could see that - that was part of the problem of have a skull for a face.

"Uh, thanks," Grim said. He was starting to guess that Leo was also from a world where the Grim Reaper didn't exist, since it seemed like everyone here had no idea who he was. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Griffith's actually not my real name," he admitted. "I'm the Grim Reaper."

Télos froze a few feet away from him.

"The Grim Reaper?" he repeated. "Isn't that-Isn't that the guy that takes people's souls after they die? The chosen from Earth mentioned him before. You're him?"

Grim straightened a little, noting the terror in Télos' voice. "Yes, but-"

Télos interrupted before he got a chance to finish his sentence. "You're not going to do anything to Lex, right? Because if you are, I'll..." He hesitated. "I actually don't know what I'll do, but I won't let you take Lex."

Grim stared from underneath his hood.

"I don't even know who Lex is," he said, exasperated, "and I can't do that. I'm just...I'm just the Grim Reaper. That's it. I can see certain things that other people can't, but I don't actually reap people's souls."

Télos relaxed. "Phew. That's a relief, then. Didn't want anything happening to my chosen."

"Oh. Oh." Leo blinked. "Well, the skeleton thing actually makes sense, then. If you don't reap souls, then how does it work? You said you can see things no one else can see?"

Kit listened in from a few feet away, interested in hearing Grim's response to this. It made sense now, all the strange energy she had been sensing from him.

Grim was surprised by the relatively calm reaction from Leo, but he didn't linger too long on it - Marisol's reaction before the last change had prepared him for the possibility of people reacting relatively calmly to his identity being revealed.

"I'm not sure," Grim hesitantly replied. "I've...I've heard stories, and seen things. I don't know what they are, but they're the ones who take the souls. Not me."

He took a deep breath - one out of habit, and not because he honestly needed it. His hood slipped back ever so slightly, but he didn't hurry to pull it back up. They all knew what was underneath it, and he had the strangest suspicion that none would be too flustered by the sight of his skull being clear for all to see.

"I can check statuses," he said. "I can see if someone is alive or deceased, and I can see a countdown to when they're supposed to die. I can see souls, and I can see ghosts. That's as much as I can do."

"Well, that sucks, then," Kit interjected. "You get a bad rep and you don't even do the job? Plus all that spirit mumbo-jumbo."

Leo nodded, though he wouldn't have put the statement exactly like that. "I mean... it sounds useful, in a way. But also kind of lonely. When you can see things like that, you're just carrying other's burdens, aren't you?"

"Pretty much," Marisol said, internally breathing a sigh of relief as Télos turned back to normal. "But I hate a lot of people, so don't worry about it. And Arlais kinda likes you, so I guess I have to."

As soon as she heard Griffith's comment about death, she quickly turned to him. "So who's bitin' the dust first?" she said, all too fast. "Me or Arlais?"

"Hey!" Arlais shouted. She had stood next to Télos even during his transformation, but had done a much better job hiding her discomfort at his other form.

"It better not be me," Marisol said, not looking at Arlais. "Because she ain't gonna handle me being gone as much as the other way around. It's gonna suck anyways, but."

Arlais opened her mouth to respond, but thought otherwise.

The Grim Reaper straightened at the question.

"I'm not going to check your statuses just to satisfy your curiosity," he stiffly said. Télos had already felt guilty about his earlier comment, given how the Grim Reaper was actually a pretty decent person, but hearing the tone he used when answering the woman's question made him feel even worse. Despite his name and appearance, it seemed that the Grim Reaper wasn't that fond of dealing with the possibility of death. "You could die of a heart attack in a minute, and I could see that you had a minute left - and, for all I know, the heart attack would be because you knew you were going to die and were terrified."

"Please," Marisol said. "I've known I was gonna die a million times, and it never bothered me."

"But it bothers me!" Grim said, losing the little composure he had gained. "I don't-I don't want to know when people die. Statuses aren't always up. I have to pull them up, and I'm not going to pull yours up just because you want me to. You're acting just like all the others. Either people are scared of me because I'm a skeleton and the Grim Reaper, threaten me because they think I'm going to take their loved one, or ask me for when they're going to die like it's some game! It's horrible. Being me is horrible. And you don't get that. I know you think I'm crazy, and maybe I am! Anyone with a half a brain would be if they had to deal with what I have to on a regular basis!"

Leo gently reached out and patted Grim's bony shoulder, not knowing what else to do. His eyes were wide in sympathy.

"You're right, Grim, no one here knows what you have to go through. I'm sorry." He said softly.

Kit stood a few feet back, her eyebrows raised. She didn't trust herself to try to come up with any sort of response to that, whether it be of sympathy, inquisition, or retort.

"Fine!" Marisol said. "Ya think ya'd be used to it, but I guess it ain't gonna work like that. I was just a bit curious. It's kinda the rest of my life we're talking about here."

"And it's the rest of my life, too," Grim quietly said. "You don't live forever. I do. I'd have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life."

"But you've kinda got forever to get over things," Marisol said. "If you didn't, you'd probably go nuts."

Grim somehow managed to give Marisol a deadpan look, though Télos didn't have the foggiest idea how that was possible without facial expressions. "Which is why I'm trying to avoid those things in the first place," he said, turning and starting to head towards the stairs that led up to the next floor.

Télos looked over at Marisol. Didn't she get how uncomfortable Grim was getting with the conversation? He got it, and he knew he had a tendency to be oblivious to social cues. But before he could decide if he wanted to address Grim's discomfort, and before Grim could say whatever he intended to say, a sudden burst of warmth shot through the building.

Télos immediately took a startled step back before the change even occurred; he recognized it as the feeling that had overtaken him right before he had become a ghost. Then the change happened, and he promptly stumbled back in the nearest wall - his balance was completely thrown off by the sudden addition in height. He stared down at his hands, then spun wildly around to stare at his reflection in the window closest to him.

He was tall - at least seven feet tall, and possibly more than that - and was completely made up of darkness. He had taken on forms like that before, namely to scare Lex that one time, but had never once been in a form like this. Small strands of darkness licked the air around him, and a pair of golden eyes were the only facial feature that peered out from the darkness.

Until he tried smiling, that is. Then an absolutely menacing smile decided to show itself as well, and he honestly didn't know how he felt about that.

"Not again," he heard Grim say from nearby, and he immediately spun around to face the giant skeleton. Who, weirdly enough, no longer looked like one. He wouldn't have even been able to recognize him if he hadn't known that Grim was the only one standing that close to the stairs. He looked almost like a player. His short black hair was curled, and a pair of dark eyes peered out from among a youthful face. He had a splattering of freckles. He was average height, with lean, lithe limbs, and light clothing that almost seemed like it was made of plants. His feet were inside a pair of leather sandals, and a flower crown was nestled in his hair. His ears were more pointed than the players that Télos had seen in the past.

And, probably most importantly, he had a pair of wings coming out of his back.

Not like Sevy's were. Those ones were more like something he would find on a bird. These wings were...different. Télos had never seen anything quite like them. They were almost transparent in the light, and looked like they belonged on some sort of insect.

Kit groaned loudly in frustration as the uncomfortable warm feeling once again washed over her. Hardly daring to, she peeked down at herself. All her clothes were in place, but her arms were covered in a decent layer of ginger fur. Sighing, she turned to Leo.

"How bad is it?" she held out her arms for his inspection, trying to swallow her opinion of his transformation as she got a look.

Leo looked unchanged, aside from the pair of reddish-brown ears sprouting from his head and a bushy mass of what looked like fox-tails enveloping him. His face also seemed nearly un-altered, if not for a slightly animalistic look to his eyes.

Leo surveyed her fur and ears, along with the glint of canines he caught. "Not... too bad. You just look kind of dog-ish. How about me?"

Kit couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she reached up and tugged one of his fox ears. A few of his tails swished in response, though it was unclear whether this was out of annoyance or something else.

"Foxy." She chuckled a little, beside herself. "You definitely got the better end of the deal this time."

Sevy frowned as the feeling hit him again. When it subsided, he found that it had taken some of his sight with it. Or... something. He couldn't put a finger on exactly which of his senses had left him, but it was definitely noticeable.

Following Télos' example, he rushed over to a window and gazed at his reflection. He looked exactly the same, except for maybe a change of color in his eyes. He wasn't exactly sure, but when he looked closely, they looked... brown? Or at least a duller shade of their usual gold.

Oh. Oh. He was missing his wings. Trying to reach a hand awkwardly to paw his back, he double-checked. Nope. They were gone.

"Guys- I'm human!" He turned and called loudly. It was unclear exactly who he was addressing.

Kit rolled her eyes heavily at this. "Good for you!" She called back, still exasperated with him over their earlier conversation.

"Well," Marisol said, throwing her hands up. "You're sure doing a good job of it!"

Then the wave of warmth hit her, and her vision shot up towards the ceiling. She, in the meantime, shot towards the floor.

Fortunately, she was able to catch herself just in time. Marisol almost dropped her head when she realized she was carrying it her in hands.

"S***," Marisol said, more out of frustration than alarm. "Not lookin' pretty over here." Out of the corner of her eye, Marisol could see Arlais - or a giant bunch of droplets shaped like Arlais - curl up on the floor, arms over head. Marisol could relate, but she was a bit too concerned about dropping her head to move.