Allen was still going over the words that he read in disbelief.
"That can't be true, can it? I'll really turn into one...of those things?"
Nera looked at him uneasily trying to put on a brave face but her worry was plainly clear.
"Of course not...why should we trust what some old dusty book says? You don't think I'm connected to someone like the Grim Reaper, do you? That's way too hard to believe, isn't it?" She said this as if she was trying to convince herself as well. The knowledge that the Grim Reaper did give out portions of their power to certain people gave an uncomfortable amount of credence to the idea of the Grim Pieces and her having one.
"I don't know, but it's all we got to go off of, and what if it is true? Do you just want to wait and see what happens? Well, I'm not that patient. Can I see the book?"
Nera handed the book over readily, not having any sort of affection for it.
"Sure, it's yours, but I'm not sure why you want to look over that again, trying to see if we misread it?"
"No, I'm sure we both scanned over those words too many times for that to be the case, but there's something here we're missing. A way out."
He opened the tome and began flipping through it incessantly, his eyes bouncing back and forth treading quickly through the words of the pages. Nera was looking over his shoulder, and they both spotted a few details that piqued their interest such as an illustration of what was known as the mark of the Grim Reaper. Allen kept on skimming the book until he found what he was looking for.
"Hi-score! This is just the thing I need!"
"You mean 'just the thing we need', right?" Nera asked worriedly. She had looked more at ease with a giant ax moments away from chopping her in half.
"Yeah, sure. I think this will be able to help you out too. It's called the Theurgist's Periapt, a powerful talisman that's said to be able to purify all sorts of dark magical influences such as possession, curses, and even miasmal degradation." Allen then showed her an image of it in the book, a black and gold amulet with an inscription of a crescent moon overlapping the sun.
Nera let out a sharp exhale in surprise.
"Miasmal degradation, that's exactly what it said caused "spectral manifestation". That really can fix your problem then." She looked pleased with this for a moment before becoming agitated once more.
"Hey! What about me? You said this was able to fix both our problems didn't you!?" She yelled loudly.
"Oh, you mean being the potential next in line to be some megalomaniac ghost criminal and involved in a ritualistic battle royale with people who want to tear off chunks of you?"
She nodded sternly with her arms folded. "Yeah, that."
"Well, that Grim Piece the woman with the funky eyes mentioned sounded like it was some kind of curse even though I couldn't find any details about it in the book. If you do have it on you somewhere then that means that this Periapt will be able to cure it and then I figure those Inheritors won't care anymore about you since you'll no longer be in the running."
She closed her eyes in thought as she ruminated over it.
"Hmm, that could definitely work. Hopefully, it'll return to whatever it came from and gives them the heads up." She was looking a lot more relieved now.
"Sounds like a plan then, that was actually a lot simpler than I thought it would be. One more thing though, you sure you're alright with just leaving this Grim Reaper stuff alone?"
"There's a saying around here, "Chase the beast long enough and you eventually find yourself in its belly". I may want to help those around me, but I know my limits and I already have enough on my plate as is. It's better to just leave it to people whose job is actually to deal with that kind of stuff."
"Good, likewise, my limits are even lower than yours. It just isn't worth it at all," Allen dismissed shaking his head.
"But, I can't help but wonder...if what that spirit said about the Grim Pieces is true then what about what they said about the Grim Reaper not being behind the Trial?"
A frown appeared on Nera's face and she folded her arms as she contemplated the scenario.
"Maybe it's some sort of internal dispute in the Grim Reaper's posse. I could see one of her lackeys starting up the idea of whoever winning this 'Grim Reaper Trial' becoming their leader to stir up infighting among everyone else then claim a bunch of power when the dust settled. As for how I would fit into all of that...I don't know. Maybe it's just a case of mistaken identity."
"...Or maybe a Grim Piece got misplaced somehow," Allen mumbled. It had been a suspicion he wanted to keep to himself, but he revealed it since he also thought it could be a credible one.
"Unfortunately, that could be it too. Even if I don't think I have anything to do with Grim Reaper, the Periapt will give me insurance either way so let's hurry up and get it."
Allen firmly slammed the large book with a slam and looked forward hopefully.
"Alright, let's go get this over with and get on with the rest of our lives!"
"Yeah! We'll be in the clear in no time!" Nera followed.
***
"We don't have that here, and even if we did have it, you probably wouldn't be able to afford it."
The cashier, a twenty-something looking man with a scraggly beard, replied to Allen and Nera in a shop that was filled with all sorts of mystical items and potions. In the Underside, it seemed that places like these were as common as convenience stores.
"Are you sure about that? Someone just recently got a bonus at their job, so I have a lot of extra cash lying around." Nera said smugly waving a fan of dollar bills in the air.
"Last time I checked, the current market price for a Periapt if you can find where to buy one from was $10,474.26. Do you think your bonus covers that?"
Nera's closed fist crashed onto the store counter with a loud thud.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me! Why does some shitty magic charm cost so much!? Is it made with gold, platinum, and fairy dust?!" She shouted vehemently. She looked like she was about to leap over the counter and assault the bewildered shopkeep.
Meanwhile, beads of sweat appeared on Allen's face thinking about how expensive the price was. He frantically started counting something on his fingers.
"This is why I hate the Underside! Everything looks nice and flashy, but your prices are all overly inflated. Well, you know what? You can shove your greedy pompous stuffed rancid pockets up your-"
"Let's go, Nera. Complaining about it won't change the price," Allen stated defeatedly as he tugged her by the back of her jacket and she allowed him to pull her out of the store but not before threatening the frightened cashier with a loathing glare.
'If only that Periapt was as cheap as this weird charm thing I have on me.', Allen wistfully thought as he fiddled with the small circular metal object in his hand.
Once they had exited the store, Nera sighed dejectedly.
"There goes my attempt at bargaining."
"Bargaining?!" Allen let out with a startled yell. If he had been drinking something, it would have been sprayed all over the pavement at that moment.
"It was more like you were threatening the poor guy. Actually, you were!"
"Well, it's not as if we're going to get better results from being nice. We need that Periapt."
"Yeah, but with it being that expensive, I don't think shouting at random cashiers is going to help much. Geez, I could save up a thousand paychecks from Coffee & Chronicles and it still wouldn't be enough to afford that Periapt."
"Likewise, let's check some more stores and see what they have to say." Nera suggested.
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