Chapter 6 "Couldn't care less"

"Is this what you wanted?" He said. His voice was terrifyingly soft, like a brass section in a smooth jazz orchestra, yet it pertained a semblance of a braggadocious tone. An aura of duel charm and superiority.

"Are you a...?" My voice quivered, being met with such an unearthly presence, it was as if my vocal chords buckled, and froze on me. 

"Yes, yes I am a demon." He chuckled to himself, summoning a softy burgundy bull plushie, which he gripped tightly. "I've heard of you, you know that right? A lot of people dream, and y'know a lot of them happen to be about you." He smiled coly "My man! Am I right?" 

"Wait... really? Who?"

"Relax kid, I'm just joking, ever heard of humor?" He pauses, a subtle smile reaching his face, which soon floods his eyes. "Dreams taste too good, y'know that right? Like a fine wine. However, unlike a fine wine, the older you get the worse the taste."

"So... Why are you at a school? Just eat children's dreams."

"Well, that's the conundrum." He sits up from his brazenly golden throne "The dreams of children are too... Primordial, they're unrefined, unsophisticated. "

"Adults then? "

"Yuck! Too gray, dull. It's like licking monochromatic paint as it dries on a wall."

"Then..."

"Aha! Now you get it, do you want an award kid? Anyhow the dreams of teenagers, that primordial chaos gets molded, and shaped, yet it still shines bright like the sun. " He holds his face, erratically. Licking his lips and pure euphoria. "Now that's what I'm after." He turns to me, the saliva leaking from his face, dribbling downwards. "Now, I have a question for you, if you don't mind asking." He looks deep into my eyes, I try to turn away, yet he grabs my chin holding me, containing me. His eyes, spiraling, deep hues of neon reds and yellows, all rotating, spinning, spiraling.

"Just, who are you? Y'know little boy, you've been on all of our radars. Yet it seems like you're just a nobody." He lets me go, throwing me off. The floor... it felt like water. My body causes the floor to ripple seemingly. "Now, I'm not some bad guy, a little misguided but not evil. And my eyes are pleased by what I see. Now remember, no talking about this with anyone, alright?" He cackles, eying me up in down, licking his lips in the process. "Now, some advice, never come to this place again. Don't think I don't know about that little death girl following you. Now for your sake. Leave" A gasped I try and stand, yet as much as I try. He plunges a sword through my body. "Now nap time little boy."

I awaken school grounds, empty and devoid of anyone. I pull out my phone and check the time. The time was, "4:05. Dammit!" I ran to the meet-up spot: outside the school, by the entrance gate. 

"Where the hell were you? We were meant to meet here, at three, on the dot. On the hour!" Shiori yelled. 

"What information have you gathered? Please don't tell me you were asleep the whole time." Akira remained disappointed.

"Well- I kinda did. But, but, but wait, there was this man!" That last part seemingly saved me from imminent death at the hands of these two. The two looked at me intrigued. Explaining the situation left both Akira and Shiori gasped. Their combined shock trickled down to make even me surprised. 

"Miss reaper, what could this mean?" 

Shiori frantically grabs me, shaking me. "Did they tell you their name, Nicola?" 

"No, they never mentioned it." Her forehead wrinkles the stress slowly getting to her. In a haphazard daze, she pulls out her shiny scythe. There it was again, this bad sinking feeling. The feeling of fleeting hope. My stomach sunk, eyes started to wide, widening so much it began to hurt. And with one swift motion, both me and Akira were decapitated.

Maybe I had a bad habit for this feeling. The feeling of death. Dying, it was a weird feeling. As if your whole world turned upside down. Nothing felt real, it all felt synthetic, an illusion that can be broken at a moments notice

Waking up on top of the soft, sunken clouds. Reminded me of reality. For a while, I had managed to forget... everything, dying. I had died again, and therefore I reawaken again. Therefore I only die, because I can be reborn. I feel my body slowly sink into the clouds, their white purity being besmirched by my body lying atop. I look up, feeling Akira's soft subtle hair resting on my soft skin. 

"Nicola! Nicola, where are we?" I pull myself up, meeting Akira's eyes, who at the moment was lying on top of me. His body confusingly light body is being pressed onto mine. Their hands firmly onto the pillowy clouds, his eyes wide confused.

"Hey, you're a bit too close to me. " He flusteredly gets off me, standing up and soaking in the surrounding environment. Eying the luscious eye candy that was the elevated luxury of the cloud district. His eyes lit up, the shimmering light being reflected, shining some of the light gaze down onto me at the same time. "This... This is the cloud district." I too pull myself up, looking around, I realize Shiori had seemingly abandoned us. 

Now stuck, with nowhere to go. Where is Shiori? I look over to Akira, noticing the precise circular line engraved around his neck.

We wander the cloud district aimlessly. Wandering past building after building, catching the eyes of random passersby. Their eyes are full of weary mistrusting judgment. We as mortals were foreign to these lands, nothing but trespassers to the land of the cloud citizens. 

As for Shiori... Shiori's perspective

"My you really are a smart one aren't you?" A man? No, A demon, Nearly nude wearing a soft cloth covering the majority of his body. My body internally trembled. Feeling my organs rumble, getting cooled by the glistening swimming pools of sweat slowly dripping from my clothing. He was a threat, clear as day. Yet why? Why must I feel hesitation? "Shaking in your boots are we?" He could read me as clear a glass. No, I must remain calm. 

"And to who I owe the pleasure?" I snarkily remark

"Does that really matter?" He eyes the environment, assessing, calculating. If I only knew what he was thinking. A porcelain fog between us, a fog of war. We both could make out our general figures. Yet neither could understand each other's finer details. "I knew that boy would talk, sadly I couldn't kill him." 

Wait is that true? I knew the boy was more special than usual, but... No. "And how do you know the boy?"

"Sorry Miss Death, that's not important right now... and boss lady would kill me if I told you anyway."

"Wow, didn't know I was sheltering a celebrity."

"Celebrity... Yes, I like the sound of that." He chuckled loudly, the sound seeming to echo throughout the entire world, bouncing off walls. "Our little celebrity. Ohh, which side will he take."

"Couldn't care less." I clench my scythe, pulling it close to my side. "Whether the boy is on our side or not, I couldn't care."

"Ah, right. If we were to fight, might as well chop to it then, right?" He raises his fists, furious fire blazing on each of his fingers, flickering between vibrant blood to calming blues. He smiles, a sickening smile that stretches inhumanly across his face. His eyes widened burning with the same flames as his fists. It was as if, he was nothing but pure flame.

"Agreed."