A new day dawned on Brema. And just like the day before only death and silence reined on these plains.
Slowly sunshine hit the broken buildings, further illuminating the ruined city. It went inside every crack and cranny, making the them she light in the endless darkness.
In one particular building, there was no hope brought by the Sun... Only sadness.
When the fight ended the rest of the group arrived soon after. Bea went towards Lucy first, but quickly realized that she was already dead. With a heavy heart and teary eyes, she approached Sera's broken body.
Her face was plain white, very similar to Lucy's, but her chest still rose and fell weakly. Swiftly Bea began trying to heal her, but it didn't work. Even Vicky tried to help and give energy to Sera's soul which helped a bit, but soon she went back to the same state.
It was like her body was already a foot in the grave and only her spirit kept it alive.
While they were trying everything to save Sera, Clockwork just knelt next to Lucy's corpse. He put her head onto his legs and just stared at the lifeless face.
He didn't cry, not even a teardrop. His face just turned empty and emotionless, like the only good thing in his life was lost... Forever.
Eventually Bea and Vicky used all their essence trying to heal Sera, but they haven't succeeded... She was slowly dying and there was nothing they could do.
Between the constant sound of crying, wailing, bargaining and pleading to some unknow higher existence, there was one particular sound that drew everyone's attention... A small groan.
Clockwork's head snapped to the source, and his face after god knows how long finally shown emotion.
Lucy's eyes gradually opened, but quickly close from the sensory overload. After spending so much time in limbo without any of her senses, suddenly being able to hear, see, touch, taste and smell, pained her mind and confused her.
It took a few minutes to fully be able to focus on the incoming sounds. And only after ten more minutes could she finally open her eyes.
With foggy vision she looked up and saw a young man looking down at her. A small smile crept onto her face and she said in a whisper, "What is it James? Did you think I'm so easy to kill?"
His face turned relieved and without thinking he kissed Lucy's lips. It lasted for a few seconds, but after stopping he stayed near her face and replied onto her lips.
"No... But don't make it a habit... Okay?"
The smile from her face disappeared as she nodded.
"Fine... It wasn't fun anyway... Death was kind of mean and strange, not how I imagined him at all..."
With a very confused expression he helped Lucy onto her feet and only now did both of them see the state of Sera, Bea and Vicky. They were all passed out next to each other. Bea and Vicky from exhaustion and Sera because of her approaching demise.
Lucy turned her head towards Hellfire waiting for him to say something, but he was occupied by trying to comfort Faith. Because of her devoutness, she was taking Sera's dying nearly as bad as her partner and child.
With no one else to explain the situation Will and Sarah were the ones to step up.
"They tried to save her, but even after using up all their power..."
Even her abilities changed as well, her items and essence counter also disappeared!
Then there was her title, which contained sovereign in it. That meant her power should be close or at the same level as Sera and Bea. The whole situation was just surreal.
With nothing else to do and curiosity killing her, Lucy opened the first of her new ability's description.
<Fog of the Dead>
Description: <In most cultures they consider souls to be a misty substance. That is inherently wrong since souls can't be seen or interacted with by most people. In reality the misty substance many observed near the dead is called the 'Essence of Life and Death'. This is the fuel that keeps a body and soul living, and some races adapted to using it as a form of energy.>
You gain the ability to control the 'Essence of Life and Death' to a small degree.
'That explains NOTHING! Why did this happen?!'
She was starting to freak out and to distract her mind opened the next one.
<Slaughter>
Description: <In a forgotten realm, in the birthplace of Death, there was one ruling race called –– reapers. They had an affinity to death like no other and with each kill they absorbed their foe's strength. With each genocide their strength grew and after an unknown amount of time their realm became a higher plain, known for the mortals as 'Afterlife'.>
With each kill you become stronger.
This description made her stop for a moment and rethink everything that happened to her in limbo.
'That light, the afterlife... It's all just a higher realm?... I thought it was something more mystical...'
She didn't know how to feel about this new information, and from the corner of her eyes she saw James staring at her. He read the previous descriptions as well, but unlike her he didn't understand any of it.
After a quick staring contest between the two of them Lucy sighed and recounted her experience in limbo, leaving out the part where she was in total despair.
He looked really concerned, but instead of making any remark he just placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. Lucy closed her eyes for a few moments, and let James's warmth seep into her, giving her enough strength to open the last description.
<Eternal Rest>
Description: <With your time spent in limbo, you absorbed a very small amount of its energy and with that your soul became much stronger than it was supposed to. Your race changed, also your power and potential drastically increased.>
You gain the ability to summon your race's signature weapon, the Reaper's Scythe. This weapon can bypass any defense and can kill stronger beings. It will also rank up with you and eventually be able to kill Death itself.
They looked at each other with raised eyebrows, then large excited grins appeared on both of their faces. Quickly they jumped to their feet and she summoned her new weapon.
In her right hand a large two meter long scythe appeared. Its blade and handle was the same color as Azriel's sword, but there was something different as well. There were golden lines like veins spread throughout the weapon, giving it an exotic feeling.
When the weapon was fully formed the temperature in the room slowly decreased, it felt like death itself had arrived.