holoMyth SMP

Living For Another's Sake

Calliope sat on a hill and looked at the houses that she and the others had built. She gave a half-hearted sigh. She had thought that the five of them would enjoy exploring Minecraft as one last hoorah for Kiara before she would leave Japan and possibly Hololive. They even found an End Portal and everything, a fine set-up for a grand finale.

But things didn't seem to go as planned. For whatever reason, the portal didn't take them to The End. Rather, it sent them to a random place on the map. As though that wasn't weird enough, an hour into their adjusting, they came across two people who had a roofless dirt house set up, a key indication that this was some beginner's attempt.

More disturbingly, one of them seems to be a ghost. As the apprentice of the Grim Reaper, her duty is to guide these departed souls to the afterlife... But... This was just a game of Minecraft, right? Everything had that same voxel look that made Minecraft so endearing.

Whatever the case, as Calliope saw the portal they came from, now broken and having lost its power, she wondered how they'd make do with their new situation at the recently named area of Logstedshire.

"Hello!" Speak of the devil, Calliope thought, as the ghost came to her. "I don't think we've met... Either now or back when I was alive." The pale-skinned, shaggy-haired man paused, then shook his head. "Not that it matters now. Let's start fresh! Call me Ghostbur."

"... Ghostbur." She's met quite a number of people who embraced being a ghost to the point of being called one. These kinds of people were the most stubborn to reap. At least with other souls, they had a form of unfinished business that she could sort out and then they give up the ghost, pun not intended. "My name is Calliope. I'm guessing you two just started a new game?"

"I would say so. It's a nice starting place if I do say so myself." Ghostbur got up and saw the houses before smiling. Calliope looked over to his friend, a teenager with short blonde hair with a mostly white shirt and tan cargo pants, as he was hopping alongside Amelia and Gura in a quest to find more resources. She gave a faint smile. She could take him away, she has that power. But, in doing so, she might end up separating the two friends. It'd be just like what'll happen to...

Calliope shook her head. Now isn't the time to think about that. There was a burning question in her head.

"So... How exactly did you end up like this? Mind me asking." She knew this would most likely be a question too personal for Ghostbur to answer, but it would also give her an idea of who this person is as a whole.

"I... don't remember..." Ghostbur bobbed his head sideways. "I don't think I want to remember."

"I understand. It's already scary to think about death. That's why Grim Reapers like myself try to make it... less scary. If that makes sense." Calliope said.

"Wait, you're a Grim Reaper?" Ghostbur's smile quickly vanished.

"In training. I can do the basics, like reaping people." Calliope said.

"So... is there an afterlife then?" Ghostbur asked.

"... I don't know. I merely transport the souls to the other side." Calliope shrugged.

"Well, I was able to see the other side... It's nothing. Just an empty void." As Ghostbur said that, Calliope suddenly felt a giggle come out of her gut.

"I see... So that's why there's ghosts. I get that. I wouldn't want to stay in a void myself... Not that it'd be possible for me. So, you stayed... I guess for your friend's sake?" Calliope asked.

"Yeah. Out of every one of my friends and family... Tommy needs me the most." Ghostbur gave a smile as he saw the boy jumping around. "You have someone important too, right?"

"Yeah," Calliope quickly wiped her face before she dropped any tears, "I do."

"So, you'd understand those times where they need someone to be by their side. That's how I feel with Tommy right now. No matter what happens... I'll be with him." Ghostbur said.

"Yeah... I think I get it now... Why you're here and everything." Calliope got up and stretched her arms. "Well, might as well head into bed. Sun's getting low." Just as she was about to walk away...

"Wait. There is... something I remember..." Calliope turned around. "My death... it's perhaps the best thing that's happened to me." Ghostbur gave a pause. Just as he was about to say more about what he remembered; Calliope gave a smile.

"It's okay. You don't need to say anymore. I think I got the idea." She held her hand up slightly. Ghostbur gave a slight sigh. While it was customary for Grim Reapers to see a person's last moments to see the state of their well-being, the idea of someone being happy with their deaths meant one of two things, and given what Ghostbur had said previously, Calliope knew it wasn't because he lived a full life. "It's a chance to start over. Be a new person. I don't know much about you two, but so long as we're stuck here, we might as well help you out. Until we find a way back to our place, we have your back. Just like you have Tommy's." Calliope said.

"Thanks. Well, night Calli." Ghostbur retreated to the dirt house while Calliope walked to the house that she'd be sharing with Kiara.

To be there for someone when they need you... She couldn't help but think of Kiara when Ghostbur talked of Tommy. Perhaps this trip to Logstedshire was a blessing in disguise. That night, she made a vow to herself... Ironically, for a Grim Reaper such as herself, she decided to live every day like it could be her last, always helping her fellow holoMyth members, just as Ghostbur was to Tommy.