The Half Lilin: By The Light Of The Moon (Chapter 9) By Shinieris She looked worried when she said, "Umm, I don't know. Maybe you're seeing the date of death for this body. You're likely seeing the death of 'Sue', not 'Mihael'. "I don't like it either way, Sue." "Death is the fate of all things living. Through death, life is born and prosper, until death claims them too and the cycle repeats again and again and again." "See, this is the problem with you angels. You always sound so positive about everything."

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I almost screamed when I saw a pair of hands push through the rip and pulled the rip apart. Behind the mirror was Tartarus, that gloomy, depressing place. At the center of the rip was Uriel's face, smiling like he owned the world.

"That's how you use the scythe to open a gateway to the Hall of Reception. You used the backdoor last time, so that's probably why you don't recognize this place. Well, I'm done here. See you again at the turn of the season," he said as he pulled the edges of the rip back together and smoothened the edges from the other side until in the end it appeared as if there was nothing wrong with the mirror in the first place. As if I didn't just cut it into two with my deathscythe.

Hm, my deathscythe. I like the sound of that.

I ran my hands along the rip, expecting to feel a sharp edge, or just anything that could hint at an imperfection, a sign left over from when I cut the mirror with my scythe. But there was none. The mirror was as smooth as if nothing ever happened to it.

I looked at the deathscythe in my left hand. It no longer appeared as if it was made of ice, but there were still fragments of ice covering parts of the scythe. Unfortunately, now I also have a problem. I'd be arrested if I walk with this outside Halloween.

I tried initiating a Vault Call, to open the door to my own storage bubble in the Void. As expected, nothing happened. The ability to initiate a Vault Call must be one of the abilities that I was restricted from using. At least I ould still manipulate my auras. Still, this is a problem.

I whipped out my cellphone and rang the first person that came to mind. "Sue?"

"Patty? I thought you're still sulking. Calmed down already?"

"Sue, I need your help. Come to the toilet now. Hurry! I don't want anyone else to see this."

"My floor or yours? I assume this is related to the supernatural?"

"Mine. Yes, it is. This is nothing but supernatural."

"Okay, wait there. Just hide in the stalls or something before I arrive."

"Sure... thanks, Sue."

"No problem."

Ten minutes later, my phone rang.

I picked it up and heard Sue say, "Is this payback? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, okay? I'm not allowed to tell you, you must understand that."

"What are you babbling about? And why aren't you here yet? My arms are getting tired holding up this blasted thing."

"I'm here already. The only thing I saw was two lesbians doing the nasty in one of the stalls. Not exactly the kind of thing I hoped to see when I walked in."

"How can there be lesbians in the men's toilet?"

"Men's? Oh..."

"Sue?"

"Yeah?"

"Hehehe, you went to the wrong toilet, didn't you?"

"Shut up... how was I supposed to know you meant the men't toilet? What are you doing there anyway?"

"What do you mean? I... damned her," I replied before I heard the 'disconnected' tone.

Then there was a knock on the door the moment I put away my phone. Not the door to the stall I'm hiding in, but the main entrance.

I opened the door and Sue suddenly made a grimace.

"What in heaven's name is that stench?"

"It is the men's toilet, Sue," I said, trying to blame my stench on the toilet.

"I'm so glad I didn't choose a male body to borrow," she said as she stuffed her nose with her fingers. Very unladylike.

"Well, I don't care if you think it's unladylike. How can you stand such a stench?"

I didn't know I spoke it out loud.

"Well anyway..." she said quickly, "...start talking."

"Don't you want to come in first?"

"Hello... that's the men's toilet. Have you forgotten that?"

"But I can't show you here, what if people see?" I protested with a firmer grip on the scythe.

"Relax, I've put a ward here. Anyone who wants to come here will get redirected somewhere else. Now what is so urgent?"

"Here?" I asked.

"Yes, here," she nodded.

I took out a deep breath and brought the scythe into view. "This..."

She spontaneously covered her mouth with her hands, looking so shocked it appeared as if her eyes bulged. "Great divine Father in Heaven! Is that..."

"Deathscythe," I said, "Archangel Uriel dropped by just now and gave me this."

"No wonder I felt a crushing pressure from somewhere in the building just now. I thought it was that whore acting up again, so I just let it slide. Oh dearest Father in Heaven, I'm starting to assume too much. I'm becoming human..." I cut her sentence with a downward smack on her head.

"Oww! Why did you do that?" she said as she rubbed her head.

"Focus! I called you here because of this, remember?" I shook the deathscythe, "Don't go running off into your own space..."

I looked at her face and my stomache twisted into a knot."Hey Sue, angels live forever, right?"

"Yes, unless God wants us to vanish. Why?"

"Then how come I see the date of your death three years from now, Sue?"

She looked worried when she said, "Umm, I don't know. Maybe you're seeing the date of death for this body. You're likely seeing the death of 'Sue', not 'Mihael'.

"I don't like it either way, Sue."

"Death is the fate of all things living. Through death, life is born and prosper, until death claims them too and the cycle repeats again and again and again."

"See, this is the problem with you angels. You always sound so positive about everything."

She pushed out her tongue out at me. "As if you're ever seen any angel other than me. I bet even now you can't see 'Mihael', can you?"

"Actually, I can," which wasn't that far from the truth, because beside her normal body, I could now see a glow that accompanied her silhuette. I know human auras and it's not that. It has the same feel as Uriel's Grim Reaper form. Besides, that glow behind her that was shaped like a pair of wings was pretty telling.

"Oh right," Sue said, "You're an angel of death now. One of the Reapers. It's not surprising that you can see us now. I wonder if you'll be the one taking my soul when the time comes." She looked pretty sad when she said that.

"Don't talk nonsense. I asked you here because I wanted to ask you how to get rid of this thing," I said as I shook the deathscythe.

"Get rid of it? Err... I don't think that's possible. Angels of death remain in their position until their own deaths. I suppose Uriel can release you from that position. There has certainly been a precedence that hint at such things being possible. You'll still need to see Uriel, though."

"I meant, how do I put this," I shook the deathscythe again,"... away, as in hiding it? It doesn't seem to want to part from me, see this..." I threw the deathscythe to the far end of the washroom. I blinked my eyes and the familiar feel on my palm tells me that the scythe has rematerialized in my hand.

She giggled. "I wonder how some reapers could lose their deathscythes even with such enchantment."

"They did? Gotta find one and ask how. Anyway, as you can guess, I can't ruddy well carry this massive thing around. I imagine Mr. Stuart will get a coronary when he sees me carrying this thing around the office."

She giggled again. "If you have an old torned robe, it will be perfect."

"He'll need a bypass by the end of the day," I giggled along.

She grinned, "Yup, such a mean prank."

"Gosh, we're so evil."

"Hehe, you're evil. I'm angelic," she grinned.

I coughed to clear my throat. "So... do you have any solution to this?" I shook the Deathscythe again.

"Can't you just put it away in a dimensional pocket or something? I've seen you lilim do that before."

"I would if I could. Problem is, I can't open my Vault. It's likely that the ability was sealed along with my lilin self."

She puts her forefinger on her lips and she had a faraway look in her eyes. "Well, I wouldn't know... The angels of death kept their secrets fairly well..."

"Or maybe you can hold it..." I pushed the handle to her as I was speaking. But before the handle could touch her, she jumped so far back that her back hit the wall with a loud sound.

"Uhh, why are you looking so scared?" I asked as I pulled my hands back close to my body and rested the end of the handle on the floor.

"You don't understand, Patty. Angels of death are highly respected in Briah. At the same time, they are also reviled and feared, as the mere presence of an angel of death means that someone is about to die. I know what you're thinking, yes, Reapers can reap angels too. It is not the same, human death and angel death. When humans die, they will be sent to the Hall of Arbiters, and depending on their sins, they may be reminded of it in Purgatory, allowed to reside peacefully in the Island of the Blessed or undergo punishment in the hells of Tartarus. When angels die, it's not because we're old, but because we had failed in our tasks and God decided that we should be cleansed. The presence of Reapers in Briah always caused entire areas to become deserted in less time than it takes for you to blink, because every angel knew that when 'death' didn't follow them, they're safe."

"Wow... that's..."

"That's not all. Angels of death can also stop time. It has always been the source of gossip in Briah, as most believed that the angels of death enjoyed appearing in a crowd because they love watching the other angels scatter in fear and they will always play a game of cat and mouse before finally getting bored and stopped time, thus 'cleansing' us. They could just stop time, come in, 'cleanse', leave and restart time and none would be the wiser. Instead, they liked to make it a game."

"O-kay... putting that aside, how do I get rid of this?"

"Have you tried willing it to go into your body?"

"Doesn't that sound dangerous?"

"Not at all, assuming that a deathscythe is no different from other angelic tools."

"What angelic tools?"

"Ah, you probably have never seen one before," she started pulling at the ribbon at the top of her blouse.

"Sue, why are you taking off your clothes?" I said as I saw her moving to undo the third knot of her blouse.

"I'm not taking off my clothes," she said as she worked to undo the fifth knot from the top.

"Then what the heck are you doing?" She had managed to undo the sixth and last knot now.

She started pulling down the left part of her blouse, which made me look away and said, "Just showing you this." I took a glance and saw that on her left breast, right where her heart would be, is a tattoo of a sun.

"What's that?" I asked once she pulled her blouse back up and started tying the ribbons again.

"My tool and weapon, the 'Light of Passion'. As an angel tasked with ensuring harmony and union between spouses, I have the power to reawaken the fire of passion that has been extinguished by age or winter's unforgiving embrace. I make those who were once in love remember the best times of their lives, when their love could overcome death, move mountains and drain rivers, all for the sake of their loved ones." She sighed, her eyes looking sad as she looked at me. "Unfortunately, I can't do that while I'm in Assiah."

"Why not? What will happen to those couples who need your help if you don't do that anymore?"

"Well, they'll just have to rediscover their passion on their own. In my current form, I can only inspire them at the most, and even so, I can't help everyone. As for why I can't use it. If I use it now, half of the city will turn into ash. The 'Light of Passion' is extremely hot. Only in Briah can I use it without worry."

"Can I borrow it? I joked.

She made a little snicker. "Alright, enough talking. Why don't you try changing the scythe into something else?"

"Uhh, such as?"

"I don't know, anything. From what I heard, the scythe is more than a weapon, more than a tool. It is an extension of the owner's power. Its corporeal and ethereal form depends entirely on the user. It remains in this shape now, probably because you watched too many movies that portray the deathscythe looking like a scythe."

"What else would it look like other than a scythe?"

"Well, I have at least seen deathscythes in the shape of a sickle, a lance, a claw and a whip."

"Let me get this straight. So this..." I shook the deathscythe, "... is not necessarily how it look like?"

"Yup, it's supposed to look like whatever you think a weapon of death supposed to look like, I think."

I rolled my eyes at her last two words, but chose to ignore it. "You know, I think AK-47 is a weapon of death," I said referring to my favorite weapon in Counterstrike, "But that won't solve my problem at all now, would it?"

"Erm, I think the deathscythe has a... sleep mode... or something like that. Maybe you can change it into a penknife or a letter opener?"

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the scythe turning into a letter opener.

After a few minutes, I opened my eyes with a sigh. "Not working, I can't imagine it change. Even the image of the letter opener was a blur on my mind."

"Maybe... ah!" She leaned forward and pushed her fingers into my shirt pocket, before pulling out a ballpoint pen. "Change it into that," she said as she raised the pen in front of my face.

"I can hardly imagine a Pilot pen as a weapon of death, Sue."

She patted me on the chest. "Just try to believe in 'a pen is mightier than a sword and you should be just fine."

"Fantastic," I said drily. Then I closed my eyes and tried to imagine the scythe turning into a pen through my mind's eye.

"Try again. You almost got it, Patty," Sue said, breaking my concentration.

"Really?" I asked as I opened my eyes eagerly.

"Actually no. I was just trying motivate you. It didn't change... hey! What's with that look?"

I closed my eyes again, trying my hardest to imagine when she said, "Think of it as like casting a spell. I think you need to change the ethereal bonds of an ethereal structure to achieve the desired effect, right?"

I opened my eyes and glanced at her. "Your words sounds like it came directly from a textbook, Sue. Why're you asking me anyway? Don't you use magic too?"

"Patty, didn't they teach you anything in Yenne Velt? Angelic miracles are different from demonic magics. Angelic miracles require faith, hence why it's called a miracle. Demonic magics on the other hand require manipulation of ethereal and physical bodies. I wouldn't know how to instruct you on that. Barbiel will know, since he was one of The Watchers. Unfortunately, he's a bit busy nowadays, what with this end of the world thing coming up."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't The watchers supposed to be fallen angels? How come Barbiels still up there if he's a fallen angel?"

"Hey, don't ask me. I don't do politics. That's the role of my boss and the senile old angels of the Thrones. I just follow orders. By the way, sorry I couldn't be there to help you back when the Thrones sent an assasin last Christmas. I was too weak after saving your ass from that hellhole you called 'home'."

Then Sue grimaced and her left hand shot up to massage her upper right arm.

"Hold on... are you trying to say that it was you who pulled me out back then?" I asked as she froze suddenly.

"You were the one who told me to reach up?"

"Erm, yes. But don't tell anyone that you know, okay? Sue's such a bigmouth," she muttered.

"What are you talking about? You're Sue!"

"Actually, I'm an amalgamation of Sue and Mihael. We have each other's personalities melded together. Anyway, I'm sorry about not being able to grab the other you too. Someone else beat me to her, literally."

"The other me?"

"Don't play dumb. There was another one inside you back then, wasn't it? A real demon, inside you, a half-blood. Whoever beaten me up and pulled her out of there must be extremely powerful. Banish didn't even touch it. It must be either another, more powerful angel or a greater being."

"Greater being?"

"Gods, saints, prophets, et cetera, et cetera."

"Something like Loki? Or... Eris?" I added, when Amphillogiai popped into my mind. Amphillogiai was still missing after the Ritual Banish that I cast back then.

"Or it can be Buddha. Point is, I don't know who it was and try as I might, I couldn't trace where your other self went off to."

"Could it be that she's still inside me?"

"It's possible. If she could hide undetected for 20 years, it's very likely that she can stay hidden until now. There's no way to confirm that though, unless of course, you kill yourself, then we can see if she'll take over, heheh."

"Not funny, Sue."

"Oh come on. Where's your sense of humor? You used to be fun."

"It's hard to laugh when this..." I shook the deathscythe, "...is in my hands."

"H'okay... what spells have you successfully cast since Lilith clipped your wings?"

"Umm, well , I mostly just manipulate my aura and... umm... that's basically it. Oh! I forgot. There was that time at the cemetary when I successsfully cast Corruption Field. You know, just to scare off that old jerk."

"What's Corruption Field?"

"Erm, it's something like modifying your aura so it would become so sinister it can mutate living things into a more sinister version of themselves."

"I've seen that kind of technique before. Agrat Bat Mahlat taught you, didn't she?"

"Wow, you got it in one."

"Not that hard to guess, really. The only ones I know who could wield that technique regularly would be Lucifel, Agrat Bat Mahlat, Uriel and those black twins."

"Uriel can do Corruption Field?"

"Actually, the opposite. Uriel can create a Corruption Field that negates Corruption Fields. That's how he thwarted every attempt to break Tartarus's borders. That's also how he disperse all tangible deceptions from his domain."

"It seems like you know Uriel very well, Sue..."

"Err, umm, well... he kicked me down to Papua New Guinea once, several centuries ago... Hey!" She suddenly gave me a knowing grin. "Are you jealous or something?"

"What? That's absolutely ridiculous!"

"I thought that you're in love with Chris?"

"I'm NOT in love with Chris!"

"Yet you're also the new Queen of Tartarus. SO I can understand this dividing interest and such."

"Would you stop going off to your own space and start listening to me?"

"Oh, don't deny it too quickly. I heard it took Persephone centuries to admit that she had fallen in love with..."

"Sue! I asked you here to help me with this!" I shook the deathscythe furiously, "Who I'm in love with is not the issue here."

"O-kay! Was just trying to have some fun. Can you change your aura into something resembling water?"

"Water? No, don't think so, but I can make a frost aura."

"Okay, try that," she said as she took a step back.

I closed my eyes and tried to focus on switching my usual aura into the frost aura that I've used back during the duel with Dinah. That was the time when my nose caught the stench again. Great Mother, my usual aura smells like rotting meat that's been cooped in a small, unventilated box! I disgusts myself!

When I saw Sue putting her fingers under her nose, I decided to tease her a bit. "Oh, come on. It doesn't smell that bad."

"Actually, it does, Patty. I can't understand how you Angels of Death - just an expression - can stomache such a stench."

"I'm not an angel of anything, Sue."

"Never said you were. It's just a generic term, for those who carries with them the burden of death."

"Burden of death? How can you say that? I think the ability to kill anyone I don't like is very liberating."

"Eh, I don't think it works that way. Better doublecheck with Uriel before you do something like that," she said looking slightly worried.

I looked at the scythe in my hand, then I turned to look at her face.

"What's the point of having this..." I shook the scythe, "... if I can't use it to kill anyone I want?"

"With great power, comes great responsibility, Patty. Haven't you ever heard that?"

"No, Sue. With great power, comes greater opportunity to abuse that power."

She blinked. "Which movie is that from?"

"8-bit theatre," I answered.

She looked at my face, before she said. "What movie again?"

*Sorry for not posting for some time. I thought I had already posted this chapter before. Chapter 10 will be posted in a few days. My proofreader is a bit busy nowadays. Major fighting scenes will only appear in chapter 11.

*Thanks also to Jaden who reminded me a few days ago. As always, any comments are very appreciated.