55 Follow shadows
The eclipse between any undertaker realm that has attached entry on the living world, makes that area more valued as a kingdom then one attached between heaven and Hell or between God realms. There are many spirits who wish to gain back properties to 'live' again, hoping that the undertaker crossing would do this for them. As for undertakers themselves either they are the spirits of the dearly departed staying close to watch over thier loved ones left behind in life. Or they are living people who had been removed from time sequence due to meddling changes. As the duty of a undertaker is to help soul density balance in living realms and to help changes ordered by gods to make the Mircales of God's happen. They are mediators of demons whom curse, plague humanity and bring misfortunes. Undertakers are also the mediators of angels and good fortune, to much of a good thing can turn worse off. Undertakers are people who turn into the doll golem that enact these balances. As they can not be returned back to the living world once infected by the afterlife. Rouge Undertakers are said to be the cause of the four human families that cause the largest issues of mediating.
"If you walk shadows, I can not follow you." Omens warns his follower.
"I know but we will be OK. I will be back at my room once she begins her changes enough." The god gives blessing over his follower and the Curiosity steps backwards into the depth of cold. Omen stayed for a while watching Curiositys departure in glaring upon the many trying to steal the prize. It will not be long before she awakens soon, so he better be somewhere she will not harm fragile relations. The boundaries of shadows touches even to the highest of gods, no hiding from the titles of true titles.
In the meantime, the raven of tome page lands upon a order of Death desk. Altered into a page of names whom been altered by someone not qualified as a death carrier. There is very few whom can change names in tomes, even less of them that aren't high title. The page was inspected closely by the desk worker, who thinks nothing to out of the normal about it. Yet as he felt the paper quality as he went to place it down, he froze. The tome has never felt so beautifully loved this way, silky and soft. Repairs of the page was extraneous. Someone had to spent many years of dedication in being trained to repair the tome paper and elevate it to such standards. Peering down at these lucky names, these folks were unimportant in a grander scale. The very lives at exchange here was nothing like the paper quality for even respected high gods. Some parts of the tome are so fragile, writing upon them is skilled slow work. Some tomes are entire teams just in the act of rewritten name changes.
"Her hand work is so beautiful." The worker spoke thoughtlessly in petting the page more, "Why can't we hire someone this talented to even teach us the ounce of skill into such page repairs?" Waved up the sigil panels to search up and stares upon the crystal floating screen changes. As it turned solidified and blacken, the words sooner broke creaks in the surface of the floating system crystal. 'Lady Trixie Trickster is unavailable. Any information attached about her must be of her permission to give. Oath order - Cog Zero.' The crystal stays suspended, stuck locked over the desk side. The worker turned away expected the panel to disappear, feeling the page and fine enough with such code order. But the panel doesn't vanish, it instead snaps sounds and glitched in broken law. It had even dripped a thick tar liquid on the wood of the desk, as if drooling in staring at the worker. The worker peers perplex of the panel breaking and softly more afraid of the liquid that fizzes the desk.
"It is dangerous to request information about cog rankers." The panel was stabbed through and split in two wedges on the desk. Bones fingers grasped ash and salt. Clumping this mixture over the crystal wedge remains. The worker kneels to the true title. Presents the tome page that caused this research. The page was collected from his worker, gazed over and tucked away to his long sleeve. A last touch of collecting the wedge stone slates stuck behind from purification, tucked under arm and moved away to other businesses. The worker watching his high lord take leave with no further instructions.
"Control over the undertakers is our next major issue. It is them who hinders out sweep to rule humans." Slammed fist of a unethical god. Death opened his gate and slips by with placing these wedges of stone onto a stack pile of other examples. Death stares how the pile was no larger or smaller then his previous visits. Instead it is the condition of the debt chamber of all gods that distorted. Flaws have become worse and repairs were barely managed. Some chairs of gods have been not the way they should have been. Even mother nature's seat was rotten in decay in core places. Direct visible properties of the tome pages affecting the soul names. Death concern have long been ignored when he mentions them. He sits down at his chair in silence, taking the tome page out. He felt the pages repaired quality and echoed the sentiment of his worker. Such love and dedication. Why couldn't they return someone so skilled back here? He sulks here, petting the page thoughtlessly in ignoring the stupidity the other gods diluted wishes. The mental dialogue was not standard enough to even say they were the so called ones in charge. Disappointing Death further in feeling undeserving of this ladies hands. The gods are at fault for letting the clothus, abyss monsters and the change of soul law enforcement. The sway of letting human stupidity claim power over them. And allow outsiders to break things. This is the fault on them, the way time is shattered and reverts continues to be thier fault. Chronos looking ever more worse each visit back. Chronos is loosing his name, a letter at a time. Soon there will be no concept of time itself and collapse foundations of keeping it all together. This universe should have shattered already. Someone or something has been hiding in the shadows making vague small enough repairs to prevent this. He felt the the soul names, the grain of ink used. It's as he suspected, such masterary.
Sigil has many paths and branches. It will always find a way to squeeze itself between realms. It ignores norms and assumptions that demons and angels have. Most undertakers evade taking the darker roads to not be snatched by the sigils habitats. The only things that float freely are souls and damned ones. The twisted things of dreams that became the protectors against God eaters. The god eaters who erase useless and unwanted things. Entire concpet works that have no soul population are often left to be devoured by eaters, the natural things of decays design and are ruled over by the god soul (not that the host of death and decay knows this). It was of this moment a undertaker disturb the meal of such eater, has now gained tail of these monsters. He hopes on spending time away from the living realm, this will induce a unrecoverable change of his kidnapped.
He like other undertakers are in a competition to take humans from the schools and make them worthy servants under thier laws. They do this before time reverts substantially, so that the humans are entire cut off and removed history from the main time cloth. It's became a way of undertaker kingdoms to show who has the most power, be it in their current undertaker citizens and recruiting new ones. For a human without dying to become a undertaker, thier soul need to be corrupted by energy that doesn't exist in living realms. This will help later turn the flesh to clay stone in the next stages of undertaker creation. There is a process and to make sure the undertaker being made has the best body, these steps must be done with diligence. For every perfect made undertaker. The ratio of failed ones differs by kingdoms handling. The unicorns have a monopoly for producing able crossing undertakers whom can look so human after their final made, they can stay hidden in human populations as spies. But the souls picked for such high quality must have no interest of backstabbing the monarchy. So they choose often carefully in quality personality then other aspects. Curiosity isn't the only unicorn crest in this competition, but there is a heavy-duty at his shoulder to pick someone who will be recruited into the shadow undertakers.
His choose here will be the make or break of ranking him to commander of shadow undertakers. The left hand of the monarchy. He choose Eliza because she has hidden her real talent and skills from everyone. He had been aware of her peculiar actions and is very aware of there being soul history between himself and her. He can't even take away the gut feelings that omens makes him feel about her. Omens never acts afraid of the scariest of monsters and high gods. Omens is some play toy in her hands. Omens acts afraid of her, that's sometimes had prevented Omens being successful in his greatest scheme. Just her appearance in some place has made Omens flee and abondoned dire situations. Curiosity was done leaving this strange girl unattended.
Someone has to have a better leash on someone extremely dangerous, someone who make court judges accept her requests at not questioning or doubt of her. She is someone that makes the wolves who devour the convicted tremble and bow at her. Call her mistress. She caused strange outcomes and seemingly cheated death many a time. She even claims the god her freind, staring upon death into his eyes. She so warm and leave you ice cold. Colder then you were before she even spoke a word.
He skids across between two closing walls of sigil, and lands himself harshly through this gap. Taking the brunt of the slam into a unknown feature in keeping them safe. At least this pathway is cleaner and occasionally used. He staggered up with her in his arms, bringing her close to him to keep going. He crossed a doorway to the other side of the shadow short cut he took. He checked her over, inspecting her arms and skin. Soul corruption makes patterns over the flesh body and those tattoos are his seek. She wasn't alive anymore, she isn't relying on breathing as living do. Rather she coma locked, this is when the brain is at its last actions in the process of dying. The individual will not wake up until they make themselves do or are influenced by enough energies to stir.
"If your looking for the tattoos, they are not on my human body." The shape of a lady appearing over Curiosity and seemingly has to be her soul echo - a dream form. It's thanks to Omens that Curiosity sees these echos and hear them speak, "I am a Seer and Fallown. I am cursed the same way they are of both ways." So she is high awareness as a echo and a damned. These qualities make for a most successful spider kingdom undertaker. But even the spider kingdom has failed to take her. They should have at least tried. Unless she herself has stopped undertakers from kidnapping her. So why is she allowing him and now?
"Will you walk with me?" He asked her echo. She studies into him, she always has to everyone. She's a cautious person, another good personality quality. She had also looked at the place they are in too. This wasn't the final destination of this kidnapping. The echo vanished and at its place was a broken damned mask. The mask attached over her human body. Thus she awakened functionally. Her frist reaction was to cover herself. She recalls barely being changed from before. She has nor finished touches to her dress for it to fit better.
"When we get there, I have some clothes you can use." He voices gentle. He gave left hand in helping her stand up. She does something strange that cloaked her in materials. A spell craft casting, something only Gladers tend to do. Adding more layers to her dress outfit.
"I had been studying them a long time." She said in like replying to the strange thoughts Curiosity had. Like she knew he ask about her abilities.
"This way." Holding hard around her hand, not letting her go. He guides them through this shady area. It was a pocket between demon realms. There is merchants of soul slave traders and sinners slaves in such contracts. Curiosity takes a sharp turn evading a high demon, the echo attached to this fella was a bad type. This echo will alert the demon to anything deemed interesting. He pulled her at his front as they peer upon a stall merchant set up. She looked at the items and Curiosity sheilds her from being trouble for them both. He was ready to move but she was swapping trades with the merchant at this table. She makes court gestures and sigil poses - the sort of no vocal conversation between sigil walkers. It breaks no rules and has no soul binds. It doesn't allow cursing, blessing or procession over souls in conversation. It wasn't hard to guess. She was sold off a bunch of broken down curse letters. She sold parts of creatures that would be contracted to kill humans. She sold gear of hunters who gone missing. The worse shock was trade of black sand. She gave this trader a small measurement. The items in return were abnormal and disappeared faster then Curiosity could track. The preoccupied will to gaurd them both has priority, slipping a massive cloak to cover them both. She wasn't done but her pulled her at breaking this trade to its end. Dragging her close at his front I under the massive cloak. She had no problems at being taken away from the deals. They moved with the foot traffic under the cloak, taking stop for a queue. He went over her again, now that the marks he was seeking are visible. The most important sets being inspected closely. He twirls her around to check her back and was tracing some he never knew. She blushed in putting her dress backing as it should be.
"I am a direct blood born of both families." She spoke in continuing the talk of her curse, "I have a my own tomes library. I have status among the damned. I write letters to strangers and gods alike." She was gentle in her next words, "I have another shape that isn't my dreams or this one. One looked down upon by many and cursed the race." She only peels away a small bit of herself to prove a point. He took hold of her ethereal material, touched like skin - tracing another tattoo. These marks are proof of crossings other realms, some are blessings and others are a curse. They are the passport stamps of a soul, only visible by the energy's that the stamp was created with. A scythe over the heart or right arm is a mark that prevents return back to the living world, it's deaths way of knowing he already changed over your name from the book of life to the book of the dead. The mark of death can have special added bonuses, it seems that Curiosity notices she had a very abnormal one.
"Documents." They were at the top of the queue and Curiosity proved his ID with a notepad. The item is a undertaker exclusive and details living world shifts. It's a all access database to track changes. It's id enough for him. He then took a card with a stamp, the paper of this card was as special as the monarch stamp wax. He points at her in meaning she was ordered to be here.
"Ah, you not the last one." They mark them through a panel, "Go now." Pushed her along past the security scanner section and avoided the pat down checks. There was another scan but they were cut from doing it and directed to a private corridor. Once far enough in, he puts the cloak away. He sighed at relief to be this far. He takes her left hand they rushed. She noticed that soon they stepped around the wall and then on what should be the ceiling. It confused her that gravity was at her feet no matter which direction they were. He stopped to was a painting and pulled into the canvas. She went through too, pulled around without time to adjust in what was direction.
"Here." They exited through a painting and she thrown into a fish pond. Or this was a lake. The size of it was hard to tell. She was on the shallow end of it. She noticed it was a thick water, full of clay silts. She waited as the water beads off, leaving streaks of white silt. While distracted with the water quality, someone took a hold of her waist and legs. Although she is in the shallow - she sank beneath the surface. Curiosity sighs glad his Intel about this lake wasn't wrong.
"His a fool." She heard under the surface. So these were his competitors in his own kingdom. She doesn't want herself anymore dragged around by total strangers. She kicked these guys where it mattered in how they were made and she used her damned side to pull herself through the slit to buried under a darker spot. The fools waved around thinking she blindly swam to evade them but now she was clinging to a shadow as a damned, she wasn't going anywhere. Rather she spends the time to let this soaking process to do its job. He didn't throw her into just any pond of water. Water in an undertaker realm is important to how a spirit or human lost from time is turned into a undertaker. They are clay puppets, flesh is replaced by layering of this silt. The damned around here are quiet loud talkers, even in this gloom she can hear conversations of lost undertaker partners taking about this pond fondly. The denser silt ponds are always the first ones they throw folks in. Those whom crawl out quickly tend to be made fragile later. Those who lay or go under the surface for a while are made to last. They have more to work with when they dry and carve features.
"Lost her!" The two come crawling to shore, Curiosity swiftly dealt with them. He stands peering to the pond when they were gone.
"So you brought one back and they been this calm and willing this far?" Someone asked.
"As expected from someone who writes to death gods on a regular basis. A tome keeper of her own." Sounding confident of his choose, "If we are going to find someone ranked enough to enter the death tower like her. Then she not going to face any issues to enter the god courts. As this is what we need right now." So there a peculiar need for her strange. They want someone able to stand God courts.
"The courts are no longer as powerful as they could be. It's became lawless as the chaotic disruption continues. The core density isn't making sense." The freind or coworker stops. Riddle wades into the surface. She had not realized herself but she was floating the surface now. He couldn't lift her out but has her standing.
"I find it weird that I am not seeing chains of burden binding her. She had a divine protection?" Leaving the shore and seated her to a cart. The two pull her along to the next place as Curiosity mentioned about Omens. How the god tends to enact strange occurrences or that he breaks fates outcome. But he doesn't believe omens has the god ability to shatter soul judgment chains. Rather it could be some of the marks he seen on her back. Just as she has a high ranker death blessing over both arms.
"Both? That tends to be for those that crossed beyond the middle and outer realms. Although, it could mean her soul made a trip to the central core. Some demons punished by gods have such marks, and disfigured by flame of creation." They both take stop with collecting some parts, put at her back as she sits blindly at the carts edge. The smooth ride meant paved or well used road. The sounds of passing people and the conversations about the competition of kingdoms. The final call of went time reverts, if the candidates they kidnapped are going to fade back to the living world or been made enough to be trapped in their system. She felt her flesh reactive to the drying clay cake over her. It is the same feeling she had when god eater acids reacted over her soul flesh. But it's only her living world vessel that was melting. Her original bones and damned mask are unaffected. It is around this time that her soul threads to puppet her bones are being developed, these threads will puppet her clay shape as a undertaker. And the maker of undertakers is no differ to a doll maker. And now the mock Victorian styles among the undertakers made sense, as many famous doll clay craftsman came from such times. There are some who been around even longer but they are for higher quality making.
"Who are you going to for this one anyways?" Bundle was clattered in the cart with her.
"Omens said something about it." Curiosity got back to pulling, "The soul of this person isn't compatible with undertaker standards." His friend clattered another bag, "She has a reputation as an Oath to the cogs, ranked as a cog outcast. Given she both Fallown and Seer. Casts magic like the Gladers. She even out ranked the Darkwoods in society of shadow. She doesn't attend the mandatory meetings the noble damned do." The pushing stopped as Curiosity had made the coworker freeze, "I know that look. I don't know why she so accepting of me." The little push of just him.
"I can't allow the breaking of laws around me. Especially when you talk in my face." Her mask breaks away from the clay wrap and it unnatural floats about. It inspected the change of scenery, a market full of undertaker realm dwellers. A market street with strange items of trade. She was even completely lost of thoughts as she felt the emotions and energy of this realm. It was overwhelming of peace and good feelings. A sour foul flavour at her damned taste buds but even she cannot ignore the warmth. That even in bad taste to a cursed, it was beautiful.
"What are you?" Waved at her mask. She backed from being touched and adjusted back over her skull face. There no face over the surface.
"It's peaceful in this kingdom. The souls here must be a shock for you to turn silent." If he meant that many souls around them were potential title god titles for thier lack of imperfects. The unicorn kingdom chooses its people citizens in such merits, not even a chip or letter of the soul out of place.
"So Inheritance of the Seer curse." The coworker got his own way through, "Already began building a reputation and relationship. Your own network of business. You would or should have a tome too then. Or had one before you died. You can't now if it relied on your human health." The cart now full of the items needed, they went to push together. But it was so light that they both stumbled. Curiosity rushed over to her and went to touch. She swats with her left hand, gentle in being a non-vocal hiss. But seeing she was just bone of threads, chains and cloth. He posed that he wasn't trying to offend her. She adjusted a chain of her left hand since it was moved out of alignment by that. The coworker tips his hat and left now. Disappearing around the people. The cart is light enough for him to push alone. He kept one eye back at her and the the crowds around them. There still not safe from competition yet. He seems even higher alert at the moment. He must be expecting something, seen some echos or felt warned by his blessings. She lowered more into the cart, hidden by the purchased goods. He tossed over that thick cloak from the market before. It shaded her perfectly. She had even hide into the cloaks embrace like how they walked through a painting before.
"There he is, where is your kids?" The team got back from the school grounds and there are students who hadn't been pond dropped yet. The child's have been putting up a big fight for those that didn't want this afterlife. There was some whom know they are dead and have turned comatose in shock. There is a Seer with a mask and tome, had been arguing with the book a while to save them. The tome isn't as sentient as it used to be due to soul law changes gods imposed. The tome is powerless to the fate of their accessor. Curiosity helps the other undertakers, he trusts that Eliza will stay hidden in the cart.