Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Go on then, give me a reason, why should you stay?"

Lloyd gritted his teeth, his body is still cold, face planting on the ground. While his soul is just a couple feet on top of it, talking to a grim reaper.

"It's unfair, obviously!! I am still too young, I can't die just like this!"

The grim reaper has said it before too, it's not his time, his soul seperating from his body is an anomaly.

"But that can't be a reason."

The grim reaper replied coldly.

"You need a proper reason to stay, a reason for your soul to chain itself into earth. The way you are living now, you might as well die earlier."

"!!"

Lloyd is stunned, what kind of situation even is this? Why must he negotiate with death just to stay alive?

Lloyd opened his mouth, he tried to bark back but there's nothing he can think of, the grim reaper isn't lying. He is wasting away his life, there isn't much he looks forward to, not even alcohol excites him anymore, he drinks for the sole reason that drinking have the magical property of speeding up time.

"Not even a single thing? Why are you so adamant to stay in the living world?"

Lloyd couldn't answer either.

He hated the dingy barony and a part of him wishes he is dead already, but..

He doesn't want to.

Is it pride? Is it greed? Fear? He doesn't know but apart of him wanted to stay, heck, he couldn't imagine a life outside of it.

The grim reaper studied him.

"10 days."

"What?"

"That's as much time I can give to you."

The grim reaper touches his head, slowly lowering his soul back to his body.

"Within those 10 days, you will need to find a reason, just a single reason to stay."

Lloyd wanted to protest, he has been wasting away for years, how come a measly 10 days be enough?

His vision blurred, he finds himself on the dirt floor, he can feel his own body shivering.

"Bloody hell!"

Lloyd wanted to dismiss the whole interaction as a drunken hallucination, that was until he saw something, at his wrist, a timer, exactly 10 days from now, and it's steadily counting down.

Fuck!!

Lloyd scratches his wrist, trying to get rid of it, but to no avail, blood starts to pour but he doesn't stop, he kept on pinching at it, trying to get rid of the skin.

It's burning, he is in so much pain.

"!"

A hand stoped him from scratching further.

Lloyd wanted to swat the hand away and continue scratching, just a little bit more, just a little bit and I can get rid of this black spell...

But alas, Javier is stronger than him. He forces the other hand away, not letting Lloyd continue his diligent scrubbing.

"Please, Young Master, you are hurting yourself."

Lloyd continues to try and scratch himself, after so much struggle, he can feel his other hand throbbing, he gave up, his time is limited anyway, why must he waste it by doing something so stupid? He knows even if he get rid of his hand, he won't be spared by death.

Seeing that Lloyd has decided not to struggle anymore, Javier takes out his handkerchief and wrapped it on the bloodied wrist.

"Let's get you home."