ability that comes with touching it. It shows you ghosts.”
Silence settled over our group as the fact sank in properly. My heart was rushing. Raphael had an eyebrow up—he probably didn’t like that my blue ghost girl didn’t immediately fawn over him, like most females would. Like I already was, even though I’d done my best not to show him.
“Reapers walk the fine line between the world of the dead and that of the living, which is where ghosts reside, as well,” I added. “Spirits that have yet to move on. That’s what the girl is. That’s what all the people I’ve been seeing are.”
“You didn’t see any on Hellym, though,” Taeral replied.
I had an answer for that, too. “It’s been a long time since its inhabitants died,” I said. “They were likely all reaped. If any of them were left behind, what were the odds I’d see them, right there, where we had our incident with Yamani?”
“Minimal, I suppose,” Taeral mused. “Fair enough. So, the scythe lets you see dead people.”
I turned to look at the girl, offering an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry… I mean, I’m sorry you died.”
“It’s not like it’s your fault.” She sighed.
“You knew that you were dead, then,” I concluded.
She shrugged. “I figured that much. Maybe I should be more alarmed by this, but… I think I’ve been like this for a while now.”
“Maybe you’ve had time to adjust,” I said.
I had no idea how a person would react upon hearing they’re dead, that they’re going to leave this world and move on. Ben’s and Lucas’s accounts had painted a rich picture, yes, but even so, I had no emotional state of my own to compare it to. All I had was a fear of dying, complete with heart palpitations and burning heat soaring through me—something I’d recently experienced with Yamani, back on Hellym.
Therefore, I didn’t know how this blue-skinned girl felt, only that I was sorry for her. Deeply sorry. She’d obviously died too young, unable to reach her potential in this life. That was tragic, and it pained me to see her like this.
“Maybe. But I still don’t know where I am,” she said. “I was hoping you’d know, but when I heard you all wonder, I realized you’re as lost as I am.”
“Is that why you came so close to me?” I asked.
She nodded once. “I’m tired of all the dead people here,” she replied. “They’re all sad or confused or angry. You, on the other hand, you’re trying to do something. You’re trying to figure out where you are, at least.”
I relayed everything she told me to Lumi, Raphael, Eira, and Taeral. They had questions of their own for the girl, but she didn’t have any useful answers. Lumi took the scythe, then Eira and Taeral, each of them wanting to know more about her and what she’d seen around here.
But she had only seen what I’d seen while holding the scythe. Spirits wandering through the endless woods. A sea of green stretching overhead, for miles and miles on end, with the occasional clearing of a waterfall or a river. Cliffs and mountains in the distance. Animals rushing past bushes and through narrow crevices, then more spirits, most of them quiet and wondering what they were doing here.
“There’s one thing I know for sure,” the girl added as I took the scythe back from Taeral. “I’m not home. I don’t think any of the others are home, either. There are so many species, from worlds I’ve never even heard of.”
“Do you know what your planet is called, or where it is?” I asked.
“I could tell you, but would you be able to find it?”
“Not right now, but I could ask our friends back home. They could look through all the records we have. The more you tell me about your world, the higher the chances of eventually finding it.”
She lowered her head, her shoulders dropping. “What good would that do? I’m still dead.”
“Yeah, but maybe someday I’d be able to go there, find your parents or anyone you left behind, people you might know of,” I said. “If you have a message for them, some last words… I don’t know. Closure isn’t a bad thing, is it?”
The girl smiled, a sense of hopefulness beaming through her. I now understood why they were all semi-transparent, too. It was part of being a ghost. One’s soul manifested in different forms, but for those who had yet to move on, the body they’d left