A Mother's Love

"Hey, what took you so long? You are late fifteen minutes after I departed at the IRISH." Andreus with his hand on his waist scolded Frey who had just arrived at the Central Hospital.

What Andreus didn't know was that Frey had been lost on the way to Hospital. Her Teleportation skill is only at Level One and the only distance it can reach is every 200 meters. He went back and forth just to finally get the exact location of the Hospital.

Frey just scratched between the part of her shoulders and neck, she couldn't even tell Andreus her reason because she was sure he would just laugh at her.

"I'm sorry Andreus, it just happened that I passed by a child earlier that needs help." she laughed a little, the lie in her voice was obvious. Good thing Andreus didn't pay that much attention at.

"Didn't I already tell you not to interfere with people's lives? Especially if it has nothing to do with our work. You have to be careful Celestine, the Council's attention is on you. If they hear of any sloppy news about you, they will have you incinerated." Andreus gave him a long explanation. Sad to say, Frey doesn't care about things and just keeps on doing what she wants. She carries the attitude she has in the human world into the world of Grims.

"Yes. Come on, I'll always remember that." Frey pretended to be irritated by his repeated reminders. Even if those are only for Celestine.

"So, you found the body?" Frey changed the topic and asked him about Yuri Palermo.

He nodded at her detailing Yuri's body location. It was at the Morgue and ready to be claimed by her bereaved family.

"From what I had overheard, they wanted a cremation. No autopsy needed."

Frey stopped and twisted her head in the direction of Andreus, who was also stunned by what she heard. Andreys raised his eyebrows with her, saying yeah-I-know-that-was-suspicious.

The two detective-like partner reapers were standing beside Yuri's body inside the scary room of the Hospital. It was not dark at all, but the ambiance is a little cold.

Yuri was beautiful and did have a perfect body figure. According to the source, she was a model. Had done several commercials for brands and photo shoots for some popular companies. She was indeed a star.

"I think I knew this lady, I just can't remember where we met."

"Really? Well, maybe we had bumped into her in some of our soul cases. I don't know her," Andreus replied. He walks on the other side of the body, towards Frey. He was examining Yuri's face on the side, as he thought maybe he would have an idea where they should have met her.

Frey didn't respond to him, she knew she had met Yuri not being a Reaper but as herself.

Their conversation went silent as the door swung open, and three people entered. The Reapers immediately saw that three out of five classes of Aura humans have appeared on those humans. The one wearing a Hospital mask and gown, who was supposed to be the embalmer had a yellow aura. It was tired, gloomy, and stressed, he must be over fatigue due to work. The second man in his middle age, wearing a plain shirt and black checkered shorts, and top-sider shoes have a blueish aura. He looks like having breakfast outdoors in a beautiful and fresh garden with a woman he loves. And the lady who ran and directly hugged the lying corpse had a messy bun of hair, and she was in her pajamas. She had a yellow with black aura – stress, lonely, suicidal she had it all.

"My baby . . ." the woman began to cry, louder and louder as she stamped her feet on the cold tiles. She kept on begging to return her child's life. She was talking to her, calling her by name, and caressing the body even though a white piece of long cloth was wrapped around the corpse. She didn't bother to look if she had the correct room or not. A desperation drew her in bursting with her emotions.

"She's the mother," Andreus whispered to her. They are both eyeing the miserable woman. "A task of burying a child before a parent is very hard, she must have a very hard time about it."

Frey bobbed at his partner. 'Yes, it must be.'

Later on, the father of Yuri Palermo talked to the man who assisted them. Andreus was right about the none autopsy case and cremation. Both the reaper argued with the family's decision, they suspected there is something they must be hiding at.

"We must report it as soon as possible to Captain, the soul cannot cross over if there is anything that will bother her or him on the way to Afterlife. It will just cause us problems." Andreus was now leaning his back on the white-painted hospital wall still plastered his eyes on the crying woman.

She was still crying even after thirty minutes, her bloodshot eyes confirmed it.

"Do you think there is something they are hiding? I mean they are parents, they wouldn't let their child be harmed or suffer. I think they are just doing it to protect their daughter. She's a model, reporters, and media will go rant about this girl's whereabouts. And also, they can decide whatever they see is best, it's their family."

Frey's eyes were trained on the lady and then on Andreus' direction. She wanted him to think just what she was thinking right now. He thought her not to meddle in human life, and they shouldn't.

Why not let things flow in the direction they should be?

Andreus straightened up, sighed, and put his hand in his leather jacket's pocket, as his usual gesture was. "Maybe you are right about that, let's still report it to Captain and help her find Yuri."

"Okay." Frey stepped up and smiled at Andreus.

Helping their Captain is one of the best things they should be doing at the moment, as she was struggling to hold a hand and soul. The Midnight Reapers were right about Yuri being a childish one. She hides and runs with Farvati. She was not reacting as a twenty-nine-year-old, instead, her mind turned out to be a six-year-old child. And for the explanation, Farvati is still into it.

But even before Frey and Andreus went out of the room a scary last words came out of the mother's mouth.

"My baby, m-mommy is here," she's stuttering. "I will p-protect you no m-matter what, huh." She's going insane at the moment, feeling the corpse's face behind the blanket. She was tracing the face from head, and nose to its lips.

"They will not g-going to know a-anything, we will bury the s-secret into your grave. You should rest in peace my s-sweet baby Yuri. It was their fault, not y-yours." Mrs. Palermo doesn't seem to be in her right state, she began to laugh with tears streaking down her face. Her sudden change in mood is such a skill. Frey couldn't imagine how fast the mother shifted into poker-faced and in a minute smiled cheerfully.

"What is happening to her?" Frey curiously asked Andreus. The young man swung his burning sword into his hands causing a metallic noise to trigger the shadow tailing at the old woman. The shade turned out to be a creature with horns, four legs and a tail. It was a monster in Frey's eyes, but to Andreus it was a Superior Demon Shadow, hiding in human shadows eating anger, loneliness, fear, and secrets.

"It was a Demon Shadow, we can not beat her at this stage. She's powerful and we are only Reaper, we can't deal with them," Andreus explain to her. Frey overlooked about it thinking what a Demon Shadow can do.

Then not being surprised to hear the buzzing sound from her System, details were shown to her. [ Demon Shadows are also described as the Snatchers. They eat negative thoughts and feelings from their target. After three days of living in the Vessel, she will gradually unite with the body and take over. Great power will then be revealed to humanity. The hybrid Vessel then becomes mature to find his/her mate to hatch an egg and populate. Power level equals Deities and Gods. Hate to be loved and cared for.]

It was hard for Frey to listen to two explanations, especially since Andreus also talk as the System explains to her. They also have the same context and details for her to understand.

Frey moved and decided to get a hold of the Demon Shadow but Andreus had to stop her. The Demon's ears twitched and sniffed from the surroundings. The trail connecting him to Mrs. Palermo stretched and she seems like playing with the walls.

"She must sense us," Andreus' point finger was pressed on his lips signaling her to take it easy. They would be killed in an instant if the Demon finds them.

The two waited for Mrs. Palermo to leave the room before going out. They stepped on the imprints she had left until it lead them to the stair going down.

"Why not take an elevator?'

They were both curious but continued the plan, and there they figured out why.

The Demon Shadow is taking over the body. It has been three days since Mrs. Palermo picked up a mysterious egg from the front of their house one morning.

The old woman's body keeps on having a jiggling and twitching movement. They both witnessed it as the Demon also knew there is an audience watching her. She simply swallowed the human's soul and the control of the body.

The Demon Shadow smiled at her two guests, she was too overwhelmed to see such a warm welcome.

"Hello, are you my first meal after a very tiring day?"

"No!" Protested Frey. "L-leave the body a-alone, you M-monster!" She was scared but she tried to send courage to herself.

Andreus stopped her with grinning teeth on his face while the Demon laughs wickedly. She seemed amazed by the attitude Frey had. Nobody in her entire existence that a lower creature tried to threaten and shout at her. But it doesn't take any change in what she wants, her inner self had been shouting for a 'MEAL'.

She plastered the most malevolent smile she had and aimed her pointy and sharp adjusting tail at the two options she have.

Well, nothing changed in Mrs. Palermo's appearance, the Demon can freely use and do what she wants without causing any trouble in the crowd.

"The girl one is brave and smart, your juice must be very sweet. I'll eat you, then. And as for you, young man . . . Do you want to be my groom?"