Part 1
Eigengrau was inwardly glad this charade was finally nearing an end. She has so much to get done, and so little time to do it. So as she strode through the palace gates, she almost didn't notice the guards shouting at her.
"Hey! Stop!"
She looked around and blinked. Oh right, the code word.
"Guardsman, Harlequin's End." She stated.
The Guardsmen's eyes grew wide as dinner plates, and they started shouting at each other, with a messenger running off into the palace immediately.
"His Majesty will be awaiting you in the throne room. Please go without delay." The Guard said, bowing.
She raised an eyebrow, and kept walking. All around her, the palace seemed to have immediately gotten into an uproar over the code word. Doors were being opened for her, servants and staff were disappearing from sight, and the halls to the throne room become disquieting at how empty they were. When she reached the heavy 20 foot tall doors of the throne room, they creaked open just enough for her to enter, then creaked closed.
Emperor Rurrack was sitting not on the throne, but on the steps leading up to it. He looked as if he hadn't slept properly in months, if not years, and nodded his head at her entrance.
"So, Harlequin's End? It worked?" the Emperor asked wearily.
She nodded. "The task is done. I'm ready to make my report."
The Emperor smiled, and nodded his head. "Continue."
"It was as you suspected. A death cult attempting to bring about the end of time itself." She said, crossing her arms. "They were carelessly using time magic in an attempt to cause me to prematurely end the kalpa to fix their mess."
She stepped forward, and sat on the stairs next to the Emperor.
"They were like children, flailing in the dark. They did not even sense my walk along their path, as I snuffed them out one by one. They took many years to track, I had to walk the shape until I found them all." She was already slipping back into Eigengrau's manner of speech, her tone starting to flat-line. "Oh, it appears the spell is at an end."
She stood up, clapped her hands, and her appearance shifted back to that of Eigengrau, with short black hair, grey robes, and bare feet. The Emperor was shocked by this and jumped to his feet.
"Lady Eigengrau!"
"This was not a task I could entrust to my Apprentice, Rurrack. Still, you did the right thing by asking her. You have helped me preserve the flow of time, so that everything may reach its conclusion. 27 Awop, 9920. That is your reward."
"What?" Rurrack asked, confused.
"The date of your death. Most mortals are not so lucky, for they only know their doom, but not the hour."
The Emperor sat back down on the steps. He didn't know what to say, he had been prepared to reward Sirene for her efforts, but instead he found himself talking to the Death God herself.
"No rewards are required, little King. Neither me nor Sirene would need anything you could offer." Eigengrau eventually said, after a long silence. "Do not forget my gift to you."
Eigengrau began to walk towards the doors of the throne room, before vanishing mid-step, leaving behind no trace she was ever there.