Dearly departed dreams

The water way is always been the main transport for coal and wool. Long walking with horse pulling the at the side. It was just the way of the times to find no good persons up to some trouble. The lock houses were sort of the safe moment of break before continuing the week traveling. This particular lock water gate is the where the canal joins the Trent River. The little cottage stood here has overseen this place up keep for generations. The small knit community knows everyone well and word spread fast. Even the new comers were subject to having business nosed in.

The painters house was on the fringe of a pub not doing well with the recent fire burning it down. The painter himself draw the eclipse of what happened all in pencil strokes. A witness to the tragic miscalculations. The new land owners just showed up to the rubble remains a day later then they should have. Some claim it was meant to be a set up for their murder.

All of this doesn't seem to matter now, the bar member that was sorting out the gas pressure for the beer barrels. He sort of shurgs to it all. Looking at the living removing the corpses and the injured. His buried right under it all. They aren't going to find him soon.

"It seems quiet a tough turn of events." The odd lady with only a white clay surface for a face. She spoke more living then the spirit staring at the pull of team work. The new owner getting stuck in with instructions and demanding names. Taking charge of an otherwise sad event. The man in neat rich finery was getting among the dirt, dust and blood. Pulling back out to be a leader thst works with his team.

"Mistakes happen. It's life really." The dead man in spirit frowns at it all, "It going to be tough for them that I left behind. Not thst I can do anything about it." The man takes his situation well, "What about you, Miss?" She closed a book and tucked it away into some strange fold of clothing or something.

"Just waiting for the right moment." She posed her hand in pointing direction, "Best you take this door. Some folks will explain where or what next. If you fit the bill, maybe you can tell the day you met a odd thing you thought was a woman to your friend's over a nice drink." She wasn't wrong, "Just remember, your just another Seer. They call Tricksters. You must be careful of that." The staff man shrugs at this warning and found the eerie lone stood door. He brushed the surface amazed of how real it is to him when the world before him seems to slow and blur. She waved that he needs to hurry and he opens the door. He steps through looking about confuse that it actually worked at all at taking him somewhere he never been to. Right as he let's the door go, it was gone. He stands even more confused that the door was gone then the place he was.

She collected the lone page off the floor and added it into a book. She hovers just barely among the crowds and still off slightly out of the way to. Hovering the shadow looking at the choke of black flame and smell of cooking alcohol. Anyone with sense began to throw sand and ash to the place, water would only make it worse at this stage. What she actually came for suddenly swoop in a demon in human glamour. He plays off as some patron that was drinking inside, Playing up is sudden appearance like he was coughing up a storm. He began to see what everyone else was doing and was about to join in.

"Excuse me." She stops time for her any anyone nearby that was sensitive to veil shuffle. She steps out the darkness of shadow and snags hold of the demon. She had torn the empty bucket from his hand.

"Oi. What you think your doing?" The demon makes on look at that clay white and lost use of his limbs as if turned jelly. She pulls this demon to the shade of a tree in the yard in front of this pub with her. And slowly time around blurs and turns back to motion. Even the licking flicker of flame was in patterns of dancing. She stays hovering this lone shaded spot, even when humans retreat away to let the building burn itself out. The flame ate away something which made a larger bang. The walls shuffled slightly outwards while staying retained for now.

Time slows again, by the gate of undertakers that came through. Fast was many troops with weapons out and ready to fight. She throws the demon among them now and she shuffled more hidden then before. The world was at a stop but the building was still moving, spring the roof there was a creature. It had been the spout for where the flames grow strongest from, excretion from its skin was the exacelarant that no humans could put out the flame of. Some of the undertakers was casting blessings and throwing ashes to contain the flame from further spread. The few for combat began the climb the unstable building and pull each other to fight the hissing creature. Team work talked of the gate still being open inside and that more were coming. The demon feeling partly guilty goes to help the gate closing. She watched on at how well worked the undertakers have it covered. So many good souls that were about to be gone or at least this was what the time was indicating to happen. She here to be that witness, to study what really killed them. Another oil akin creature manages to pull itself put from rubble, it hissed in surprise of the undertakers being ready.

She studies about the gate, was it that they can't reach it to close it without collapsing the building over it first. No. So it must be a form of sabotage. The undertakers gate was waning in energy. She wonders if that's is her fault or not. The thing at the roof was dispatched and they hop to help the folks keeping the second on occupied. The gate lost place, the undertakers were technically stuck here. She sees that no one has noticed, they took out that second creature easier. The demon finally had the energy at closing the hell gate. They all seem to cheer of the complete mission and then loose that steam with the gate lost. They hiss at how there wasn't a church nearby for them to make it back through instead. The Tome flutters open, indicating that their names were about to be moved. So it's a matter if what or who. She sees that there is a undertaker taking a mask out. They went to aim for the the partner frist. She looks to the book and it shows that indeed. A Trickster.

"Dave!" She exclaims loudly and steps out the darkness, "I do not care who ordered it. Touch any of these souls and I will kick you out of here!" She hissed at the guy that shivered in hearing his name used that way.

"Fake!" He turns at her and she sighed aggravated of him. The undertakers stood back and the demon posed confuse.

"That is a human under that nightmare disguise?" She was at hand to hand combat with the trouble maker. She had a smooth move of snatching the mask off his face. Once she has this, a norm Trickster would panic. She studies how they passed out instead. So it's possession. She looks to the mask.

"Everyone one of you, get out of the darkness and come try to return the favour." She waved the mask of Dave about like a ticket, "I am sure you don't want your souls smashed. Harvesting soul dust is a miracle after all. Would you like to fill the jar instead?" She provoked the undertakers at least. She carved the light grin, "Dave this is pitiful. Your making these poor victims of yours fight me. You took there gate home away and was about to murder them."

"Who are you?" The mask finally hissed.

"A dearly departed and rather bored spirit." She throws the mask and he floats himself to form. He fights the regardless, "I would think that Sigil has my level banned. But if you ask the admin really nicely, he might tell you that you screwed up." She draw daggers out and readies. She doesn't care to bother the undertakers, she aimed to hair thin slash on the mask of Dave. She is a step ahead of blocking the mask from surrounding damage. She made time to play on with making humans shuffle. The undertakers stood among the suddenly moving humans. It was easier flames for both humans and undertakers to directly put out. Now that time plays, she froze it. The undertakers moved and there is one human tricked. She jumps evading the mask and slide evading plenty of others. She brought herself upon the living human that froze in shock of her.

"Dave. Just why would you want to wipe out a bunch of nice people. They came here to deal with the gate from hell. Did someone tell you to?" She doesn't look to be getting anything, so she snatched his clothing collar. She pulls him, "Speak child." She growls.

"I..." He was looking at someone about to pull her off him or aim a weapon. But the book is quiet thrilled, it floats about in great distraction with fluttering pages in a singing tone. Dave realized she was here because of the tome, "You being here achieves what we been looking for." She kicked him to the floor. Time returned back to play and she provides a gate for these lot to go home. The book dances playfully around all these undertakers, so happy that they were fine.

The painter scratches perplexed of what he done. The strange shape of a woman was staring back at him then a picture of the pub burning down. He sets his pencil aside and goes makes a cup of tea. The painting alters back to what he was up to, the details altered to not invite anything bad to happen. His own guardian angel preventing any supernatural things from getting into his paintings.

Lea walks last through the gate, brushed away any illusion she wears to protect humanity from her new form. She had even removed her mask and pinch a non-existent nose. She puts the mask on when reaching the queue for whatever the undertakers do. Airport customs it seems. Weapons checked in and returned to the stands. Register to account the time spent in the living land. She leans at the desk with nothing to say. She had nothing to hand in and no names to give.

"Echo!" The undertaker she fought in Sigil. She laughs slightly.

"How are you? I thought I would return your lost undertakers back home. Their names were making the book on edge." She had quiet a thin pulled smile carved about the mask and thin eyes in matching, "Have you any idea where my Loki went? His quiet the raptor. I lost track of him." Clearly this does ring any matter this moment and further did nome make the connection that she was once the little girl in a boarding school. Even if they did, the persona of being the page eater seems to out weight this fact. She did twist a real smile, burning at her own pain. Even a real smile here was further mistaken as relief, the undertaker seems to sigh in relief of her added grin. Clearly he didn't read the handbook about souls of the damned. In fact, she wipes away all traces to give a blank space. He jolts at nervous with sort of being back to business. He expressed a negative attitude, she can taste that. Indeed he did not read the hand guide.

"You're a newbie to the whole business. Quiet the armature." She comments with her left hand dismissively flutters. Her right hand cradling her torso as always. She stands stiff and the impression of how the dead seems to her. The undertaker on duty to sign all known undertakers posed a board at her, she flickers her left fingers and the tendrils of clothing do the work. 'Tricky Trickster' was printed onto the entry but there wasn't a point of adding a signature. Only the dead do that. The clothy limbs hung about in a playing flutter at the man on duty, pushing the board away.

"Miss Echo, would you mind following this way?" Shad offered.

They all fall into this routine and often the forget or that they draw more acceptance within themselves. Undertakers are truly not human. They do not breath, feel temperatures or often pain. They salvage what little they do remember about being human to sustain thier abilities to not fall as a sinner or lift as a angelic nymph. She seems the only one here that seem to have this in her mind. Even the cursed damned breath a sort of air, even if it isn't air like humans do. Damned are errier but at least the had more human qualities. These undertakers are truly lifeless, meer dolls even in the realm they work from. She follows with mute considering if she needed less layers to wear or to be worried to have a coat on at the ready when the temperature drops. The damned souls of the dead can't feel temperatures. That must be a quality that all dead people are burdened or free from.

"Are you in the loop for what has been going on lately?" Shad asked and he is nervous. She really would like to do anything to lift that mood but it would just seem worse.

"I am not a god that oversees humanity. I am just the watcher of the boundaries. If its a inside thing, no. Of course not. Not really. If there the slightest hint of it bothering about some god eater or a aquantance of the othersides. Well... I would may know of them." She flutters with taking interest in how many eyes have scaled her since walking this direction, "You wouldn't happen to need a name transfer back to its owner?" She tilts pondering.

"Are you sure that your not some god in disguise?"

"I am a book keeper. Names are my job too." She sighed but she had done so with quiet a breathy tone. It made him shiver, "It seems that you lot have forgotten me in a way. Of that you do and are chicken to state it." She crossed both arms around her torso, "Does it even matter? Just as you watch history flowing among humans and let it slip between fingers. The tome itself watches names flitter in and out, change and restore. Chapter names even change as the eons pass through the working pages. The poor thing will not even be in tatters before the last name is claimed within it." She ended her tone in a slight low tone. Shad peers confused a moment.

"So your not the core itself?" He asked.

"Is that what they all think now? It's quiet the paradox. The universe has so many to make, mend and change. Not even time has enough to consider those useless things." She tilts, "I guess it's what we have humans for. They say plenty of pointless nonsense. Yet does it never cross someone's mind to track that truth?"

Shad tilted very confused. She isn't the core but she talks so beyond herself. She seems old yet her overall appearance was young with hope. He feels like his misjudged her completely. It had even made him unease.

"Chill out man. Its normal to feel creeped out by a damned." A clear freind of Shad jumping in for the rescue.

"Yes please. Anything to man this man less moody. Its annoying." She snapped honest, "Also... I don't need escorts." She took a instant turn into a wall painting. Like Alice in wonderland. This place is a maze of mirrors that reflect the wrong things. These paintings are short cuts but not all the undertakers knew them well enough to not get lost by them. She steps lightly out of surface, she had even tilted at how this was a gate right into such a locked section of tomes. She sighed at plastering her left hand in annoyance that there lacked security.

"I demand what was promised!"

"There he goes again." She throw her right hand at freezing the room still. She puts herself in a better place and flicks it to return.

"Demanding things that isn't under our laws can't be exactly helped. It was true a duel was made and the winner gave that name onwards as reward. But that is..." The current king froze at loosing himself a moment, "You might want our help to make agreement to ask you name back." He give quiet a little uneased cough, "Welcome back."

"You really shouldn't welcome me at all. Although I guess you can't exactly get right of me. Just quiet the paradox. Gladly there are easy ways and hard ways to go about considering. Unlike other paradoxs." She twirls in altering her shape, mocking more a human then anyone here can muster, "Indeed when I was given your name as the reward to the duel. I just knew that I was never going to have such opportunities to use it ever again. Trouble as it may have made misery." She posed a knife, "You only need to disarm me to take back the name of echo. I have no other names to give you. I would rather walk hell otherwise." She twirls the dagger playful at this notion of a deal, "Don't be playing any more words against me. You don't exactly want my misery. It's not like you wished that you carried the weigh of your own nightmares to yourself so closely."

"I like this stranger." The spirit had actually giggled, "Your not a demon or a damned."

"Indeed." She stands at then sighing. Inspecting this spirit back. A ghost too. They belong to a living world, "Does flame burn like ice?" She asks and there that twitch. It was plenty, "A living dweller with the gift to walk the afterlife during waking hours. It's not uncommon. It's what you do with yourself in your awareness. It's interesting. I should not have meddled as I did yet bending the laws is sometimes needed." She points the knife carelessly, or that it seems that she did. It was bait to make them disarm her. With no further terms of words.

"Do you know why I choose the nickname echo?"

"I am not prying into the history here." She cuts the lass short, "My known names are that I am the keeper of the core index. You lot follow some sort of belief or myth that the core is the answers to everything in the universe. You lot coin the term, the book of immortals. It was due to having the soul names of the true titled gods... at somepoint." She smirks glad of being cut off.

"I wasn't finished!" The spirit snaps and was at the moment to knock the dagger out of hand. Yet the spirit was stopped by a near undertaker. Lea is forced to twirl the blades balance firm again.

"Your afraid of something little Miss?" The king notes, "I find it off that the renowned fearless watcher of the boundaries is actually scared of something."

"Everything had a fear. Not everyone treats the fear the same way. It would be only the soulless that have no concept of fear. Are you trying to suggest that I am soulless?" The flickered a cloth at snapping her attitude, "You make all this fuss of wanting the name back. Yet you still not in a hurry to have it returned. Does having the names you do seem like freedom? Do you beleive that you have evaded the grasp of God's? thst arrogant assumptions that they can not see you though they will not know it was you." Attampting to antagonise the spirit seems to only make it more interested of her.

The shelving of many tomes made a thundering pattern of sounds, would seem that the core was browsing through. The occasional clatter would be a book putting itself in the right order from being removed off the shelving by undertakers. The swift stop as the king turns to glance at the shelving behind him a moment. It's rare the book so any interaction this way. He gently turns slowly to watch the shelving still but it be the tome open on his desk that flustered and settles. The jolt of the many on show in this section dancing in page checks and ordering.

"Stop it!" Finally the spirit took the knife from Lea. There is a sigh of relief and that of the tome making the transfer. Pages float alone in the air making the chain of letters filting the layers to return safely back to the real Spirit of Echos. The tome do still continue clattering and that knife is turned to Lea's mask, but on a section that was illusion. After all it was broken and chipped in many places. The point pokes in they surface and Lea was dead still. The spirit being stops with seeing a mark carved in the clay. The shock.

"I am a lonely person. You didn't hurt me because I am already damaged." The knife taken back and slipped away to concealing it on her. She removed her mask all the same and brushed off the illusion. Putting back on the spirit looked scared more then before. Maybe it was the notion of being able to remove ones face. The books are done clattering and Lea twirls once more at fixing her illusion shape. Just in time of the doors thrown with Shad panting.

"Your majesty." Shad kneeling, "We found the papers you requested." The king points it to the desk. She recognised those, her original entry sign in when Curiosity brought her here the first time. She didn't use a signature back then but she did use her nickname and her living name at the time.

"Its not unheard of for living people to cross over accidentally or that it is necessary for a trial. I am sure that among the other names here was another Kings past spy. Sent to watch you carefully. We known about your soul crossing over into the universe because it was us whom asked such a request to the gods at the time. Waiting for some sort of hope you would take out side." The king speaks honest and it makes sense, "Yet of course dealing with god requests in exchange. We lost a lot of history, time and entire tomes. We ourselves were brought in before you. And before the people that brought us here was folks with gloomy masks like yours. In truth, this universe isn't a beginning at all. It's the last ember of several, kept alive by each other." She knew that already. Yet still she plays at the assumption everyone else wanted to beleive to not break the immersion.

"I take it that the original pages are to be returned to the universes that been restored. That an another stranger with a broken mask came to make his case, break the immersion for you." She sways her left hand and her right hand is returned back to her torso, "Picking apart lives of humans and others wasn't exactly your job description. If I remember right, you all about not breaking the glass around the living world."

"Leave it to the watcher to be so highly in the know of what we kept secert." The king snarls.

"A book keeper to another. And another. I am sure your aware of the folks that are allies of Ender. Even god eaters shudder at the depth." She twirls, "So its the end of things. Everything has been ending a while. Its time to let the last flick of creation turn soft and cold." She crosses her torso, "The internal conflicts were never to really matter. But now I must let the boundaries shatter. I feel rather jobless."

"I didn't know there were any still left at all." The king argues, "Dreams have invading the waking world. Mortals have murdered gods. Dead spirits walk among the living. Just what is left?"

"The known and unknown." She shurgs like it wasn't a big deal. The king was confused then even conflicted, "In spite of the end of things. New stuff keeps happening. There is no explanation and the wrapping energy has had a knock on affect. Flame that turned solid. The breaking of the last iceberg flooded the world and release the creatures trapped within." Turthly a baffled man and his companions. The spirit of echo even feeling weird of it. She was right. These was still new stuff the defies explanation of laws.

"I guess it's time." The books peels and shuffles as thier own many figures, "This was what we waited to hear. With your consent... we shall do the honour of returning souls and pages."

"I guess it's why even loki is gone." She notes, "It seems time is ended."

The pages of paper people began to colour in and form into the reality. Entities that she kept the souls of from preventing the inevitable. But now that the word came from the king from another masked elder. She has no obligation to prevent these guys doing thier duties. The title of watcher was erased and the sins she endorsed began to hurt her. She calls a gate a last time. They will come to collect her eventually. She doesn't need to run or hide. She really is just a spirit that thought it was alive. Lacking breath, she really does fool even herself with well wrapped lies.