Crimson Murders

Chapter Eight

Filler chapter and background as to why Midoriya is Death's champion and how it happened. And since this is a short filler chapter, I decided to update twice today.

Death would watch and do their job, meaning that they never step into human affairs. If one is destined to die, they die. No one can change it unless they're lucky enough to be able to save them. Humans have always been interesting, have always been curious and always trying to avoid them. The Grim Reaper likes the fact that they have a view of death as cruel and frightening. The young teen, Midoriya Izuku, is the only one that understands death. Maybe that is why—why he is scared of the Grim Reaper. He is not necessarily scared of dying but that he knows that the Grim Reaper is merciless and will do whatever they need to get what they want. Death is greedy. The afterlife is not cruel. The afterlife has nothing to do with what one was during their life. It does not matter if someone is one of the most powerful, they will be treated as nothing but a soul that needs to be taken. Death will do anything to take that soul.

While the Phantom of the End does not interfere with human affairs, they choose a champion every now and then. Just like the other beings: Life, Fate, Coincidence, War, Famine, etc. They choose champions that they know will do good in their lives. Since the beginning, they have chosen the right champion every four centuries. Since then, Death cannot remember a day when they have met such a person. They believed them to be a good person, they don't know how something like this could've happened. They watch as their beloved champion slowly grow darker and darker, slowly become something that Death never foresaw. They didn't kill them, no, they could not bring themselves to. They stripped away the title of Champion and went on a search for a new one.

Something—well, not something but the being Fate draws Death to the hospital. Once they arrive, Fate turns to the male version of Death and explains the situation. Remorse is held in the man's voice as he says, "I know you lost her. I know why it was to happen, but I cannot say. The main priority is this boy." Fate points to the baby that is in an incubator fighting for his short life. "This boy should become your new champion."

The skull moves, seeming to look between the small and recently born human to the immortal being that stands beside him. The raspy voice fills the short silence. "Why?"

A faint smile crosses the male's dark face. Amber eyes slowly flick over to look at the baby, whose eyelids crack open and showing pale green eyes. A wide, gummy smile spreads across the baby's face and laughs slightly. "Because he can see us." As the man turns, he accidentally hits the now female Death with his thick, black braided hair. "I would've told someone else, but everyone already has a champion. You lost her, didn't you? I didn't even see her becoming like that." The spike in the air is enough to tell the man to drop the matter. He clears his throat. "Fate can change, you know. If you ignore this boy, you can change his fate drastically. If you accept this boy, then you'll be setting the right path."

Death doesn't speak for a long. She taps the glass that separates the human and the being, watching as the boy's eyes stare at her. She tilts her head to the side and waits for a reaction. The baby reaches up as if wanting to touch the odd-looking figure. She reaches a hand in and watches as the baby curls his fingers around the bone. "How . . . Fate find . . . ba-by?"

"I found him first," says a newcomer with an Irish accent. A female with long, strawberry red hair, freckles sprayed across her skin. She radiates an aura of warmth and life. "I noticed when his eyes landed on me. He's so cute. He will be a hero, but I can tell he'll have hardships. The boy is blind but even then he can see us. See our world. I have a champion who has one more year left, but by that time, this boy would be claimed."

  "Blind?" She turns and looks into the eyes of the baby. They're unseeing, yet they see the three beings in the room. The boy is in fact blind. "Death . . . new cham-pi-on."

  "You will take him?"

  They watch as the rotting flesh slowly forms and stitches itself together, her hair slowly growing and thickening. Death's corpse-like appearance changes to reveal a healthy woman with long black hair, lightly tanned skin. She wears a white dress that shows her shoulders and collarbones. Gold necklaces around her neck. "I—will take the—boy as my cham-pi-on." She turns to the boy, biting down on her thumb to injure it. With the beautiful blood, she draws a symbol of death one the boy's forehead. As the two other beings watch, the pale green eyes slowly brighten. The color is the same green of Death's irises.

"What will he be seeing first?" Life asks Fate. The male reminds her of that man in those old Thor movies. What was his name? He had the sword and was able to transport the people. Heimdallr? Yes, that's him. The one from Norse Mythology. He reminds Life of the actor who played Heimdallr.

"Corpse Ghouls. And Death won't be able to change it unless he asks her to."

La Muerte sighs, pulling her hand away from the boy. "Sad. Hope—he like—my gift."

They smile. While Death can be greedy and get what they want, they can't help but notice the way they care for their champions. How can people fear such a being? Life hugs the other female in the room, smiling widely. "He will love it. I'm sure."

Death never intended to actually regret their decision. They regret choosing this boy to be their champion if they knew what would've happened, they should've killed their old champion. But in their moment of weakness, the Phantom let the future turn into something darker than what their new champion should go through.

Humans are interesting. Humans can be monsters as well as kind people. Hopefully, this world won't make the same mistake as it did with the last Champion of Death.