The mergeverse

Ghosts

Listening to Tavnora sing Ash and Alora a lullaby just reminded me more of myself in ways. More good memories surfaced themselves, and I couldn't help but smile a bit as she herself fell asleep after them. Hey, you should sleep as well. I can always wake you up if something happens. I heard Reaper say. I suppose maybe I should. I can't really remember the last time I actually slept. 

Yeah it's been a while, you need it. Even if you just sleep for a bit. I could wake you up in like an hour or two if you'd like? It'd at least be better than nothing. You need the energy. I agreed, and found a decent place to sit where I could fall asleep. My wings wrapped around my body as a bit of comfort, and I felt myself drifting off to sleep for the first time in ages.

My dreams weren't exactly pleasant though. Just lots of old memories. Some were better than others, some not so much.

I ended up waking up on my own, after only around 30 minutes, according to Reaper. So much for trying to get some sleep. I thought, sitting up a bit, and stretching my wings out slightly. The others were of course still sleeping, which I assumed they would still be, considering I myself hadn't been asleep long.

I got up and went out of the room, just to have a bit more space to stretch out my wings. They got cramped up really easily, and the room we were in wasn't exactly very big compared to the space I needed to fully stretch my wings out. Sooo, any ideas for what to do while we wait for the others to wake up? I asked Reaper, hoping he'd have at least some kind of an idea. I think I saw a bookstore while we had been exploring, wanna go check it out for a bit? It's not far, so we wouldn't have to worry too much about the others waking up before we get back.

I agreed, I mean it was better than nothing. Reaper led me to where it was, and surprisingly enough it was one of the more intact shops. I figured out a way in, and began looking to see if there were any books in good enough condition that'd be worth it to read. In the end I did actually find a few, so I took them back with me to the room with the others, who were still asleep.

I sat back down where I had been sleeping earlier, and just began reading while I waited for the others to wake up. I'd occasionally glance out the window, every now and then noticing some wandering ghosts. Most were usually adults, but very rarely I'd see a few kids as well. Ghosts were always so fascinating to me. Even now, as someone who's job literally works with them in a way, I still have yet to fully understand them. Sure, I know a lot, but there's still so much more to know.

I eventually started humming to myself a bit. The song itself was nothing crazy special, just a small lullaby I used to sing to my daughter. It brought back some good memories, which made it special enough to me. You do know you can see them again right? You don't have to keep lying to yourself.

I know. But it's not exactly easy to do so and you know it. The afterlife is.. not somewhere that's meant to be accessed. You of all people should know this. He was quiet for a moment before speaking up again. But you still could. I know you miss them, wouldn't it be worth it?

Yes, it would. But I still don't want to risk it. The risk with it is not worth it. Not after I've finally found people I want to protect in the living world. I knew Reaper was right, I could technically access the afterlife, being Death and all. But it was risky. The living just aren't meant to be there, immortal being or not.

Hey, cheer up at least. Maybe one day they'll visit the living world just like a lot of ghosts do. I know they wanna see you just as much as you wanna see them. And hey, it's better to hope for that than to risk the afterlife, right? He was right, they could very likely visit the living world. It was possible, many ghosts did it. And yeah, it was better than trying to risk anything else. Yeah, I guess you're right. For now I guess I'll just try and hope.

I went back to reading and quietly humming to myself, making sure to also keep an eye out for whenever the others woke up.