Part 1

The sun shone brilliantly through the window of the cottage. It was early morning, and outside, the roosters were still crowing. Inside, a teenage girl was crying, holding the body of her lifeless brother. He had died last night unexpectedly, and she was the one who found him. After several minutes she stood, retrieved a knife from the bedside drawer, and held it in her hands.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

With a single motion, she thrust it into her neck, spraying the room in blood as it cut the artery in her neck. She fell to the ground in an instant, motionless.

Several minutes later, the air in the cottage froze as Eigengrau arrived. She had come for the brother's soul, but the presence of the sister's body as well was unexpected, causing her to frown. She sat on the bed, next to the brother, and pulled out the Book of Fates from her robe. When she got to the entries for the siblings, she shook her head, and closed the book. Identical death dates.

"I hate suicides." She said quietly.

She looked down at the teenage girl, the blood pooling around her cooling corpse. Such a waste, she thought. But then, she had a dangerous idea. If Vordea can have the demons, and Agbus can have the angels, surely she deserves something? The fairies didn't count, she supposed, as they held no loyalty to her. No, she would take the souls of the suicides, and make them something greater. She would harness the pain and tragedy surrounding their death, yes.

But first, the brother. She caressed his head gently. She always hated the deaths of the young, even after all this time, but she couldn't change their fate, as much as she wanted to. She carefully pulled his soul free, but was surprised to see no ghost, only the gentle pulsating of his soul. She closed her eyes and smiled. He had no regrets, he was too young for such things, she supposed. She opened her mouth and placed his soul inside, swallowing it whole with a gulp.

Now that he was dealt with, the sister. She turned her corpse over, and looked her over carefully. Her pale complexion from the loss of blood gave her an idea. Yes, a pale white spirit. White hair, and no irises. She grinned, and set to work. A horrifying mockery of the living, enough to make one uneasy when merely looking at the visage of the spirit.

The girl opened her eyes with a start. She was alive? Then she saw Eigengrau's stony face glaring down at her, emotionless as ever.

"Get up." Eigengrau stated to her.

"Who are you?" The girl asked, then covered her mouth in shock. That wasn't her voice! The voice was melodic,soft, but wrong.

"You speak to Eigengrau, Goddess of Death. Now get up." Eigengrau said, glaring down at the girl.

She sat up, finding herself still in the bedroom. But then she looked over at the bed, and saw her brother's corpse. She screamed, and the wail that came out of her mouth was anything but normal.

Eigengrau's face did not change, but she was happy. The shriek of her new spirit would be sure to cause alarm among the mortals, which was exactly what she intended. She left for a moment as she felt the parents approaching, drawn by the soul piercing scream of the sister.

The father was first into the room, and when he saw the lifeless body of his son, he stopped in his tracks. His face contorted into rage as he looked at the fiend slumped in the middle of the floor, looking like his daughter.

"Begone, devil! Haven't you done enough?" He shouted, raising his hand and a gout of flame pouring from his palm. "Leave!"

The girl could do nothing but flee, her pleas falling on deaf ears, as the misdirected rage of her father cast spell after spell at her. She ran through the town, her ethereal appearance drawing looks of suspicion and fear, and she kept running.