A moment and consciousness eluded him as he descended into darkness.
But after a time that didn’t seem either long or short, his eyes opened.
He looked before him into a void of dark, and right above him, something floated down.
A grimoire of black, with star-like purple motes hanging around it.
Unconsciously, Ryuk’s hands reached for it, and it landed in his palms.
The second it did, the purple motes trailed down the grimoire, surrounded him, and a force lifted his body from its lying position, and he found himself hovering in the void.
His reasoning returned, and as he turned to look at the grimoire, a glint flashed in his eyes.
"This... this is the Grimoire of Abyssal Energy."
’Odette’s unique Abyssal Energy, to be exact. It’s finally done?’ he thought, unable to believe it.
He had checked the grimoire last time with his Bloodline Manifestation, and it had only been a quarter formed.
Yet now it was fully formed.
He opened it, flicking through its pages.
One thing was immediately clear: the pages weren’t white like his other grimoires but pitch-black instead.
There were no drawings on them, meaning he had not stored any Abyssal art, but it still kindled hope in Ryuk’s heart.
’Now I have my Void, Frost, and Abyssal Energy back. The only thing missing from my past is Aetheris Energy,’ he thought, relaxing his grasp and watching the grimoire float back to the other two grimoires.
For a moment, Ryuk’s gaze swept the library, and a thought entered his mind:
’How amazing would it be if every inch of the Echo Library space were filled with Energy Grimoires...’
_________
When Ryuk opened his eyes, he was welcomed by a familiar sight.
He was in Odette’s room, and he exhaled raggedly, his head throbbing from a headache.
"You’re up?"
The voice called from the side, and he turned and found her, currently tying up her hair.
He sat up, his hands gripping his head, but it didn’t take long for the memory of the time before he fell unconscious to catch up with him.
He paused in shock, his face quickly reddening like a tomato.
"Finally got the flashback?"
The voice came from mere inches before his face as he lifted his head to find Odette looming over him with a mischievous grin.
Unconsciously, his eyes strayed from hers and dropped to her neck.
Right now, the gash he remembered on her neck had already closed, leaving not even a single scar.
"How did you get that scar?" he asked.
Her brows furrowed, and she stepped back, returning to the mirror at the corner of the room.
Odette looked into the mirror and saw the scar had completely faded, muttering softly, "Don’t worry about it."
"It’s been—what?—almost a week or so? What have you been up to anyway?" she asked, curious.
"Just working on some things..." he replied.
"What?" she pressed.
"My artifacts. I’m trying to upgrade some of them."
She hummed under her breath.
"And you? What have you been up to?" he asked, getting off the bed and onto his feet.
"I figured sitting around doing nothing would get boring sooner or later, so..." she said, pausing a bit before continuing.
"I accepted that old foggy’s offer to meet, and we agreed to a little deal. So I ended up doing small missions here and there, and one bigger mission."
"Was the bigger mission what almost got you killed?" Ryuk asked, watching as her hands paused for a second before she continued fixing the coat she was wearing.
"Got me killed?" she echoed through the mirror, and through it, she got her answer: his ’obviously’ expression.
"A little poison can’t get me killed, Ryuk. All it would have done is knock me out, and after some time, be devoured by my body, and I would wake up perfectly healthy," she said.
He asked, "That ’some time’ you mention—how long would that have been?"
She hmmed underneath her breath, her eyes here and there in thoughts before replying,
"Maybe a couple of months? half a year max."
"I think that’s enough time for someone to cut you into tiny bits and burn them until you become ashes, no?" he said, bringing back her mischievous grin.
"You know, in a way, I think you’re right."
"I should have thought twice before retiring back here. You or anyone could have walked in and, like you said, reduced me to tiny bits."
"I guess I didn’t think things through, or..." she trailed off, finally turning away from the mirror and moving closer, lowering her face toward his.
"I was sure a certain someone wouldn’t cut me up and turn me into ashes?," she said, with that same confident grin of hers.
His eyebrows tightened.
"That was a bet, with the wager being your life."
"Stupid, right?" She asked, and he nodded, replying.
"But I don’t see you falling prey to that word. So the only thing I can think of is that..." he began, pausing as her brows furrowed.
"Is what?" she asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"You got tired of living?" he asked, expecting her to burst into laughter or grin mischievously, but instead, she fell silent.
His expression shifted to disbelief.
"You... you really wished to die?"
"Not anymore," she said, standing upright with a focused glare in her eyes.
"You really want to know how I got the scar in the first place?" she asked, watching him nod seriously.
"I got into a fight with someone at the end of the mission..."
"Who?" Ryuk asked.
"An Exiled god."
"Exiled god..." Ryuk mused under his breath, his eyebrows furrowing.
Surprisingly, that word didn’t seem that strange.
"You’ve heard it before?" Odette asked, noticing his expression, and she watched him nod.
"Yes."
"How did you come by it?" She asked.
"When I wanted to become an Archguard. I was told I needed to go through a soul purity scan, which will help to determine if my soul is under the boud of Forbidden Beings."
"I remember asking her what she meant by Forbidden beings, and she mentioned Exiled Gods, amongst the list."