"Why him? How did Rohan mess with his fate?" Belle asked, knowing she could never be able to take Rav’s life. No, she wouldn’t. She would take anyone’s life but his...
"He wasn’t supposed to live until now. He was supposed to die on the day the rogues attacked his village."
Belle’s brows drew together. "How come? Rohan caused that attack. Wasn’t it supposed to be the other way around, where he’s not supposed to die?" she almost shouted, then collected herself, knowing she was begging for mercy here.
"That’s not how it is. Those rogues were destined to attack that town. The only thing Rohan Dagon did was make it happen faster than it should. Christian Hathaway’s destiny was to die with his family, but Rohan Dagon interfered by saving his life and prolonging it. You are to fix it because you were the reaper destined to take his soul until you messed with time."
Belle couldn’t believe this. She couldn’t imagine herself taking Rav’s life when he had just set out to start a new one with Evenly. How could she do that? But then... how couldn’t she when it concerned her family?
"What happens when I fail to bring back any of the souls?" she asked.
"Then you shall face the punishment you ran away from," the Elder said simply.
She would stop existing without a soul. And then what about her son and husband? But the thought of taking the soul of someone she had come to see as family...
"You should know that Christian Hathaway is already dying slowly, and if you fail to take his soul, you will be prolonging his misery. Look at him."
Belle raised her head to see the vision of Rav standing in a corner, coughing out black blood and gasping for breath as he clasped a hand to his chest. "His heart has been corrupted, and if the time comes and you don’t take him, he will kill innocent people and further ruin others’ fate."
Belle blinked in disbelief at Rav’s image. He was dying already? Was that the vision she had seen that day? That realization did nothing to make her feel any better about taking his soul. It made her feel even sicker in her stomach at the thought of losing him.
"Can I keep my human form along with my reaper form?" Belle finally brought herself to ask in a small voice.
"You don’t have a reaper form anymore. You can only do it in your human form."
Belle’s eyes widened. That was impossible! As much as she would be happy to keep her human form without having a reaper form, her human form had no ability to disappear and reappear on time to take a soul. It would not only slow her down, but there was a big chance of failing this mission given to her to fix what she had ruined.
As if reading her mind, the Elder continued to speak, "You discarded your reaper form when you played with time. You can only get your scythe. But know this, if you go back in this form and let yourself die in the mortal world before you finish, it will be the end of you, and your punishment will naturally take effect and wipe you away."
---
Five days had gone by now, and Rohan didn’t let the white witch rest for even a second as he stood and hovered after giving out one clear command, "Bring her back to life, or you will die first before everyone else." He had said the words with nonchalance, but beneath that calmness, a storm was brewing as each day passed without a flicker of life in Belle’s body.
The only thing that kept him hopeful was the fact that she wasn’t decaying anymore, and the flicking skin like ash had stopped, slowly restoring itself. Nonetheless, she wasn’t breathing, nor was her heart beating.

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