Chapter 65 - The War Within Ourselves (Part Two)

Everything in the vicinity instantly was covered in darkness. Michelle was the only one visible, as she was the one controlling the Domain. She began to walk up to Grenzo. The Domain began to lose the darkness, and slowly it was turning into light. "You think you can win?", said Grenzo for the first time.

The smirk upon his face was stemming confidence. But Michelle didn't back down. Countless emotions were running within her. Countless memories. "What have you done, my dear?", came her mother's disappointed voice. "I'm ashamed of you! Can't you behave a little more lady-like? I'm disappointed", came her father's voice. "Little Girl, do you think you will be enough to wield me, Death?", came Death's voice. And every other voice she heard and they all tried to put her down.

But, she was pushing through all these. She was forging her path ahead and buried all these sorrows within her. As she was nearing Grenzo, she saw a little girl just like herself. She was standing there with a teddy in her hand, and she had her hand outstretched. "Are you leaving me again?", said the little girl in a cute and yet sad voice. 

Michelle stopped advancing for a sec. Everyone who saw thought that she had snapped. She had lost her mind. Because nobody could see anything that she was seeing. But Lucas, although couldn't see was trying to find out what she was feeling. "From her words, it seems like she has been chasing something her whole life, and she has always been denied it. Maybe, but maybe, that sorrow is one of the things that is driving her?", he thought.

Michelle squat on the floor, and she patted the little girl's head. "No, I am never leaving you. You are me. Although we may have sad memories, we have happy ones too. So, if your question is am I leaving you to suffer alone, then no. I am not. But I want you to come with me. Let us leave this place", she said with an outstretched hand.

The little girl looked at Michelle. "But what about Mom and Dad? What will they say? What about the other people? The people who see us will talk bad things behind us, won't they?", she asked in a naive voice. The tears were streaming down Michelle's face, and Grenzo was near her about to make his killing strike.

"Yes, they will. People talk behind our backs because they can never be who we are. Just by putting us down, they will achieve happiness. In their sad and pathetic lives, they do not want people to prosper. So they put us in cages. Cages, that are known as etiquettes and opinions. What is it to be lady-like? What is to feel? What is to be happy? What is to just not think about anything for one second, and just enjoy the moment?", she said.

Lucas and everyone were on their edges. The magic that Grenzo was preparing was done. A large sword made of Light and darkness combined was floating, and he was going to let it go. "Michelle!", shouted everyone. "I'm jumping in", said Robert but he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw no one.

But then, something happened. The scythe that was broken began to repair itself. Then, a figure appeared out of it. He was wearing the costume of the Grim Reaper. "No one will interrupt her. She has finally taken the step that needed to be taken. I, Death, will not allow it", said a voice.

The scythe spun and blocked the large sword. The scythe grew in size, and a black Aura was surrounding it. "Kids, if Michelle saw you people hurt, I'm sure she would blame her incompetence. So, if you may hide", said Death to the others. Everyone obliged to the command and hid inside a room that was erected. Death then used his Aura and protected everyone from his deathly attacks.

"Dance Of Death: Eight Form. A Hundred Cuts", he said and the scythe began to spin, and it generated cuts made from the Aura of Death, and every single one cut down the sword. Michelle was holding hands with her child version, and she was talking. "Remember the day, you climbed a tree and ate almost every single fruit that grew on the tree? Remember the day, you ran out of the house and went to the marketplace, just to have some fries on the street? How did you feel?", she asked.

The kid looked at her with large round eyes. "I felt that I was, free. And happy. And there was also a tinge of fear, I think", she said as she tilted her head. "Now, what if I told you that we are going to take our first step towards the same feeling, only this time. We will face the fear head-on", she said. "So we are going to be happy? And free?", she asked as she sniffed a little.

"Yes", said Michelle as she wiped the tears off the little kid version of hers. "I thank you. I hope that you find what you are seeking. And have a safe trip, mature me!", she said as she slowly began to disintegrate. Michelle stood up from the floor, and she wiped her tears. She looked into the place where she saw her little kid version disintegrate, and she kept looking.

"Time to unbound me from these shackles", she thought as she took a step forward. Slowly, the room in which she had trapped herself began to crack. The room then broke apart, like an illusion. Her heart, which had been heavy all these years, felt like something had been lifted off from it. 

"Alright, you green old monster. I'm coming for you. You think you can reverse my Domain?", she said in a haughty voice. She then saw her scythe fighting against swords made of light and darkness. "About time you came back", she heard a voice from behind. She turned and saw all of the people she met on this journey. "I thank every one of you", she muttered as she resumed her fight.

"Death, come here", she said and the scythe came back to her. She stood there, looking at Grenzo with a confidence newfound. "Will you accept me as your wielder?", she asked Death. "No, I won't", he said in a half-joking voice. "I don't care anyway. I am going to wield you, whether you like it or not", she said.

"That's the change I wanted. Now, repeat after me", said Death. "I, Michelle Cooper, hereby announce that I, be the Wielder of Reaper's Blade. I shall command Death, the Grim Reaper. And hereby, I shall be the new Grim Reaper", she said. In an instant, the surroundings began to change.

The darkness which had been reversed into the light was reversed back. Grenzo was shocked. He saw the strength of his opponent on a steady rise. The eyes of Michelle were glowing red, and her sclera turned pitch black. Her scythe was pulsing, and they both began to float in the air.

"Darkness Scythe", she called out and the two scythes she prepared before came to her. She held them both, and she channeled the newfound energy into it. Red veins began to form on the handles, and she threw it towards Grenzo. He tried to reverse it. "Impossible. How can a mere human call upon this forbidden power?", he said.

She didn't know what he meant, but all she knew was that it was something that he couldn't reverse engineer. "Well, seems like you're going to die", she smiled as she saw the scythes nearing its neck. It disappeared and appeared in a different place. She once again began to redirect them, and it kept repeating the same.

"But I thought it could only reverse and make its own magic?', she thought as she saw Grenzo teleport around. She was frustrated, but then she did something. "This is my Domain, so let me look at it differently", she thought. "Domain Authority, Eye of Darkness", she said.

Her eyes, which couldn't see where he would teleport, could now predict the place according to the patterns. She began to damage it slowly, and Grenzo was losing his life to the spinning scythes. "Human, you made me do this", he said and began to chant. 

"I call upon you, Mighty Maglubiyet. Grant me, Grenzo, the Dungeon Warden, your powers to fight against the Forbidden Powers. This Humble person asks you!", he said as he knelt on the ground. The air began to change.

"Michelle, bring out the hidden power. The one you've hidden for so long. He is calling upon the God of War, for the Goblins. Even I, can't defeat them", he said. Michelle without hesitation brought out her hidden deck.

"Domain Authority: Infinite Loop", she said. After receiving the powers, Grenzo began to reverse the domain. It was extremely slow, but he was doing it nonetheless. Michelle threw her scythe, and it cut through one of its hands. It began to regrow it and began to reverse again. The same thing kept happening again and again.

Grenzo didn't know what was happening, so it just thought it was something with the domain. Then, she threw her scythe, but this time, Grenzo moved his body and dodged it. Michelle smiled. "Just where I exactly want you to be", she said as Grenzo felt the scythe cut his head from the back. "I, Grenzo, have lost today", it said its last words as its head rolled down on the floor.

"Well, if you monsters can evolve, so can we humans", she said as the scythes sliced the head of Grenzo clean off the shoulders, and it rolled on the floor. "Death, guess you have a big...", she stopped midway as her eyes fell droopy and she fell to the ground. 

"That was an epic fight.. Now, take some rest", said Lucas as he caught her before she fell.