Nymaane has a minion!

der Tod the Oowel

Long before Empress Elisabeth of Austria, Death fell in love with another: Nymaane. She was a simple girl from the small town of Stavanger; nothing eventful ever happened to her. At least not until she met Death. It was an accident really; she didn’t mean to tumble down the hill, hitting her head on a rock in the process. Thankfully she didn’t die but afterwards she was able to see the being known as Death who became a constant companion.

*~*~*

Nymaane awoke slowly, letting her eyelids drift open and gaze at the room around her. It was bare of all furnishings besides a burning fireplace and the bed she slept on. She tried to turn on her side to better survey her surroundings, but it brought a pounding, searing pain to her temples. She screamed, seeing sparks behind her eyes, and blacked out.

When she came to, a familiar face looked down at her. It was her grandmother, wise and older than their tiny village of Stavanger. The old woman smiled briefly, but her expression changed back to impassive almost immediately. "What were you thinking, walking around those cliffs? You could've been killed, Nymaane! You nearly were! The good doctor--" At this point she turned to gesture at a severe-looking man in a large white coat, "--had to come in from the city to fix you up! You had a huge gash in your head. It was terrible, terrible..." She continued murmuring about luck and doctors and idiotic jaunts around the hills as she tucked the blankets around her granddaughter, kissed her on the forehead, and walked out. The doctor followed to speak to her about Nymaane's requirements for a successful recovery, and the girl was left alone.

She closed her eyes and slept.

She was awakened by sunlight streaming through the single window of the house. She grinned at the brightness, glad to feel the warmth, but then stopped. Something in the room felt odd, off, wrong. No one was there. She painstakingly turned her head to look around and was startled to see a shadow in the corner, but there was nothing there that could possibly cause a shadow...

Suddenly, a man stood in the corner, appearing almost as if he had been the shadow himself. His light hair was a stark contrast to his dark clothing, and Nymaane knew immediately he wasn't from around here. Her village was full of darker-haired folk who dressed in clothing that had been repaired many times over. His well-tailored cloth definitely belonged to richer sorts than lived here.

"Who are you?" she asked, staring at him. "Why are you in here? The doctor told Grandmother I wasn't to have any visitors."

He chuckled. "I, my dear, am no regular visitor. As for why I am here, it is to see you, of course."She had never seen him in her whole life. "Get out, please." He shook his head, so she repeated the order a little louder, but he merely smiled at her and took her hand.

"Nymaane, I will never leave you. I will stay with you until your dying day, and then you will be with me still."

She looked at him, for some reason much calmer than one usually is in the company of strangers saying they will follow you for your entire lifespan. "Why?" she inquired, although she had this feeling in her gut that she already knew.

The man took her hand and kissed her knuckles gently. "Because, Nymaane, darling, I am Death. And no one ever gets away from me."

*~*~*

"Why are you wasting your time with this man? He doesn't deserve to be in your presence," Death, who Nymanne had taken to calling Tod just to make things easier, said sounding annoyed with the drivel coming out of Cenric's mouth. Nymanne painted on a smile that probably looked forced but she held her tongue. "No man deserves you, you're mine."

"Cenric, I have to go...uhh...I just remembered that my grandmother needed me to go get something from Finn's store for her. I'll talk to you some other time, okay?" Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and glared at Tod. He just smirked at her and walked alongside her, following the now familiar path to her home.

"Did you really need to insult Cenric like that? He's a nice guy and I'm not getting any younger so I do have to start thinking about...getting married soon and Cenric isn't the worst choice out there," Nymanne exclaimed once they were safely in her home.

"Oh you mean like Alaric? Trust me darling, I know you could do worse but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you marry Cenric, he doesn't deserve you. None of these sad excuses for men deserve you," Tod scoffed at the thought of her marrying any of the men in her town or any man for that matter. She was his and no one would take her from him, he would stop anyone who tried.

"Oh really? Well if not one of the men here, then who? Do you expect me to travel to Tunsberg so I can marry some wealthy merchant just to please you?"

"That would not please me because no living man deserves you, you are mine until the day you day and beyond even that so you might want to keep that in mind." Nymanne sighed and turned to walk away from him, she was too tired to argue with him this time.

*~*~*

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Nymanne pushed Tod against her bedroom wall, eyes red and still wet from the crying she had done throughout the day. She had just come home from Finn's funeral and had overheard some of the older women gossiping about what happened. "They're saying that he didn't just fall off the cliff side, they're saying that it looked like he was pushed off. You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

"Of course I did, I am Death and I am always there when someone dies."

"You know that's not what I mean, now answer me!" Nymanne moved away from him, feeling uncomfortable with the lack of distance between them at the moment. She wiped away the rest of her tears and stared at him harshly.

"And if I did? What would you do?" She stayed silent and just stared at him blankly, all emotion left her eyes

"Why? That's all I want to know."

"He was going to try to take you away from me, I couldn't let that happen." Tod took a deep breath, or what would've been a deep breath if he were actually alive. "You're mine and you know that." Nymanne shook her head and tears threatened to start falling again.

"I want you gone, if you're going to hurt the people I love...I don't want you anywhere near me." She turned to leave the room but was stopped by a hand grabbing her arm. Tod spun her around and pulled her closer to him. She stared up at him, anger still in her eyes but he could also see the feelings she held for him hidden underneath.

"It was his time to go, darling, I didn't do it just to keep him away from you, it was his time and I had to take him." Nymanne searched his face for any lies but spotted none, he didn't even do one of his nervous tics. Her bottom lip quivered and she fell into his arms, crying over the loss she had just been faced with. And to his credit, Tod didn't make a snide remark about how Finn hadn't been good enough for her in the first place.

Italic parts written by User not found: tobilollipop

Art

1 by Opundo

2 by Boofrickityhoo

3 by odduckOasis


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