On My Way
Much to her surprise, Death enjoyed hearing her soulmates thoughts rattle around in her head.
It was disorienting at first, mostly because of how new it was. The thoughts that flooded in were incoherent for a while.
Over time though, they gained structure. There were some mistakes in the girl's grammar that were easy to correct. Sometimes she would use present tense on something that happened in the past or could not remember what a word meant so Rio helped guide her.
In the past, the entity had no reason to keep track of time, but Elijah insisted she keep track of it. “Should you not keep track of where your soulmate is in life? If you are likely only to meet them once they reach their end, then would it not be good to track how long they have left?”
They tracked her soulmates age by using each change in the seasons that Rio observed.
Time flowed differently in her realm but together they mapped the passing years.
As this went on Death began keeping track of everything, she learned about her fated one.
The first thing Death learned about her soulmate was that it was a girl. It was hard to distinguish at first but once they started imitating sounds it became more apparent. It did not come as a shock to her, though she had never dated, she knew a specific gender was not on her list of preferences. After all, Death does not discriminate
The second piece of information Death learned was that her soulmate seemed to be developing at a rapid rate. While every spirit she asked had told her that children develop fast, the amount of progress she had made within a year was telling. It was clear that her soulmate was not of Asguard.
More than likely her soulmate was human or something with a similar lifespan. (Her theory about her soulmate being human was proven true by the time the girl turned three.)
When the child was four Death knew her soulmates mother had little patience for children and their curious nature. The child often called her mother mean in her thoughts.
Even before the snow could melt Death had already needed to assure her soulmate on multiple occasions that she as not bad. ‘Bad children do not ponder if they are truly bad nearly as often as you do’ she repeated each time.
Around the age of five her soulmate had begun learning different languages. It became commonplace for her to correct her grammar in Latin. It caused her to reminisce, after all, it was such a brief time ago that the girl learned proper English.
Age six was when she had truly learned what her soulmate was, a witch. Death was uncertain how to feel at this revelation. Her soulmates fate was uncertain with an ending that could be years from now or it may be centuries. The only reason she could even tell was that the Germanic people were said to have created a spell that quiets one's thoughts.
The spell enchants an item of the casters choosing so that when they wear it both the thoughts they project, and their soulmates thoughts grow quieter. It does not cut the connection off completely or so she had been told later on.
A spell like that being used so commonly put her on edge. It had been jarring to have such a loud voice turn to a faint whisper.
Her only consolation on that was how much the girl apologized for doing it. ‘Me and the other girls had to do it. Temperance said i would help us focus better on our spell work. I am sorry if it worried you. Forgive me.’
For months it was much of the same, correcting the girl when she begins learning a new language, aiding with her spell work, and consoling her from her mother's words. It seemed that everything had become routine.
At least until one day she heard her soulmate screaming in fear, a sound that would replay in her mind for years to come. At the same time Death found herself appearing in Salem over the body of a little girl who could not be older than 10. The girl’s name was Ann, she had long red hair that was partially pulled back in a braid and she wore a blue dress.
‘No! Oh no, no, no, no! No, no!’ echoed the terrified voice of her soulmate
The girl’s spirit was looking down at her body in disbelief, “We were only pretend fighting.”
‘What have I done…’ panicked her soulmate.
Death took note of how her body was grey and the girls face looked sunken in almost like that of a mummy. She directed her gaze back at the spirit to question her, “Then what happened?”
‘I killed her…’ Is what came next.
“She didn’t block the spell in time,” She said “It hit her and then I could not stop it. After that I felt really tired, and I fell.”
‘I didn’t mean to…” she sounded as though she were crying.
When Ann fell silent Death sighed, “I’ve never heard of such a thing happening before.”
‘But I killed her…’
“I’m not lying, you have to believe me” asserted the spirit.
‘Maybe mother was right…’
Death directed the spirit to look into her eyes, “I am not calling you a liar, merely saying I have not heard of such a situation before.” She tried to think of any reason for such a thing to occur, but no one has ever drained someone of their power that way before. “Explain to me what happened one more time.”
‘Maybe I am a monster…’
“Agatha and I were playing just as all the other girls were. The coven says it is to help us protect ourselves, to throw and block harmless spells that would knock each other down. I hit her with a spell to try and trip her but then my magic turned purple, and I could not stop.” She paused, looking back at her body.
‘This is all my fault…’
It did not take a genius to figure out her soulmate was the reason for the girl's untimely demise. Be it fortunately or unfortunately, it would seem as though her soulmate, Agatha, had fled the scene just before she had arrived.
‘I am sure she doesn’t blame you.’ tried the entity, ‘Take deep breaths. Whatever happened, just know your mother is not right. You are not evil or a monster. You, my little witch, are alive and that is what matters.’
While a part of her did wish to meet the girl she also knew it could scare her to find her soulmate in such a way, so she redirected her focus.
“All will be okay.” It was a message both to the spirit and Agatha.
She offered her hand to Ann who took it after only a few seconds of hesitation. “Once you have calmed down a bit I will answer your question, whichever one’s I can.” That was a promise, one that once again was for both girls.