Where Geno takes the brave decision to commit suici-

I MEAN!

to do anything possible to go find his dad in the afterlife, but death on purpose won't be as easy as when unintenionally planned.

No one's POV:
-

The whole crew was awake, going about their day around the ship and doing their tasks. Or simply hanging around. Amongst them Geno was observing and thinking, trying to decide in what way he could get killed to go back to the monster afterlife.

Get crushed? Choke? Overdose in sleeping pills?

How could he do that? Hmmm...

Ask Reaper to-?

No.

He was conflicted. He was in a hurry and he had to be so to find his dad, having wasted way too much time being sick and his mind not functioning well. But just this morning he had solved the misunderstandings and issues with the Captain.

Asking him suddenly to simply send him to the monster afterlife... sounded like way too much. Why go ahead and ask him such 'favor'? Geno groaned. Dying this time had to be on purpose, not by luck. But if he wasn't finding any solution soon to end up dead, he would have to ask Reaper eventually.

Frustrated from trying to find a solution, the small skeleton tried to relax by singing lowly any songs he knew. Perhaps that could help him think of a good solution. And ironically enough, singing was exactly what had almost given him what he wanted.

Just as Geno was doing exactly just that, after 3 or four songs, that was then when he felt something like a big hand snatching him.

"What THeEe-?!" He yelled unstably as he was dragged away.

~

"He seemed to be really calm this morning. What didja tell him?" Reaper asked grinning in that mischieving way of his as he stared at Alter. "Good words 'bout me?" They were in his office.

"Somethin' better than simple good words, Reaps." Alter replied grinning back at the small necromancer. "The truth anyone on this ship will claim like I did. The truth I know 'bout ya and Andrés does. Even if you're a pirate, that doesn't mean you've forgotten your old discipline and manners. It shows all those years."

"If only I wasn't forced into this path..." Reaper murmured as he looked away, losing almost completely his smile. The priest huffed as he walked closer to the shorter skeleton.

"You might not own him anythin' except condemn for making you sail this path. You didn't wanna be an outlaw of the sea..." There Alter grinned gently. "... Even so, takin' this path caused this incredible collision of your fate with Geno's. The first reason might was just because I was assigned as his guardian and me with him had to stick together for his protection. But until today, this has stopped bein' just about us. The way you look at him? The way you're concerned for his well-being, or these looks of admiration and interest? Maybe there could be any other way and any other circumstances under which you 2 could meet. But even like this, hasn't he make your fate more tolerable?" Reaper slowly looked at the taller, less gloomy, but still a little down.

"The way my soul beats? It's incredible how it acts when he's anywhere near me. But I'm not sure yet if..." He stopped and Alter looked at him much calmer.

"When the first of your ancestors chose to seek and tie themselves for the rest of their existence with their significant other, when they realised that the living could be much more tolerable if they found somebody to love and the other way around, mother nature was kind enough to choose and tie them only with souls that can withstand their own dark aura and power."

"His aura feels off and strange, yet intriguing and... vivid. And I find myself for the first time incapable to identify somebody's aura. It doesn't feel common, yet nor abstract. Both his sickly and siren nature are confusing me..."

"Still, ya can't be any exception from how the rules of Eros work for you Reaps."

"... Even if I can touch him without him dyin', will he reciprocate the feelings?" Reaper asked quietly.

"You and him are both still young and trynna figure out love. You're on a good path to fully figure it out, yet I'd say Geno hasn't been exposed for long in such sensations, whether we talk about friendly or family love, whether what you claim to feel for him. We've talked about it before, a lil' bit. With time, he learned seeing me as a real friend. With ya, it is that just recently you started more obviously trynna get his attention. Like I did with him, maybe, if ya find reasons to spend more time around each other, he'll warm up to ya, enough to start realising if he feels somethin' for you. And you will get to identify better what he really is, if he feels compatible as much as he feels right to you."

Reaper lowered head to think. Eventually he exhaled from his nose.

"So be it."

"I believe you'll find your chances. Don't worry Reaps." Alter said with certaincy.

And boy oh boy, how right he would actually be.

~

He was grabbed tightly by the collar of his shirt, then he felt his feet leaving the floor as his back was slammed abruptly against wooden wall. Once he was motionless enough, Geno dared to look forward and up. He gulped silently seeing the crazy and mad look in Ramirez' eye, the Hellish snarl in his throat causing a heavy vibrato. They were in the medbay.

"... Where did you hear that song???" He asked, barely heard. Geno looked at him confused and panicked.

"... Wha-?"

"NON ENTZUN ZENUEN ABESTI HORI?!" Ramirez barked loudly the same question in Basque, slamming Geno once more against the wall. Well this was bad, this was a dangerous situation, this was-...

This was possibly the chance Geno was looking for to die.

It had taken him a few seconds to connect the dots and realise stuff, all surprised and off guard he was from his abrupt snatching. The last song he was singing was the one he had hear from Alejandro. And while he hadn't thought and realised that this song would have such impact on the Ramirez, now it was great things had turned out that way.

Even though it would hurt, he had to piss off the doctor even further. He hadn't thought and realised that this song would have such impact on the alsatian monster. But seeing him so triggered, the small skeleton dared to smile in his face.

"Oh, ya know. Just a song I heard randomly. Why, ya don't like it?" He asked. He clearly saw the other's good eye twitching and he grinned wider. "I can't understand why you're starin' at me like that dogface. Why does it look like I hit a nerve? Is there somethin' you so badly try to keep hidden?" He kept asking 'inoccently', challenging him.

"Start. Talking." Ramirez snarled in his face.

"Ah ah ah! That ain't a very nice way to talk to others doc-." His sentence near the end was interrupted as Ramirez slammed him once more against the wall. Geno groaned, but kept staring at the dog monster grinning.

"Don't you F*CKING test me you piece of-... HITZ EGIN!"

"Let's see. Last time ya almost got me killed, I stumbled upon a little dead monster boy. Poor thing was so pathetic and so ugly, I almost emptied my non-existent stomach lookin' at it." Geno spoke. "Sorry in advance Alejandro, I ain't meanin' anything from what I'm sayin'." He thought then, still trying to keep his smug expression towards Ramirez, who was becoming more and more mad by the second. "Let's see. From what I could make, it looked like a puppy, I couldn't really tell from how disfigured and melted it was. Good singing voice though, I'll admit that. That's how I learned that song!"

He felt Ramirez' hands changing grip and from the collar of his shirt, Geno felt them around his neck. The sting of pain and lack of flow in his body started being felt vividly, yet he kept smiling mockingly at the other's face who was growling louder than before.

"Quiet..." Ramirez almost whispered, one step away from barking his lungs out.

"But ya told me to speak! Also, why would that matter to ya dogface? Why are you trynna kill me? I thought you despised kids. I thought you wouldn't care less hearin' about some random dead kid, with a kickable face I shall add!" Good Lord, Geno was surprised by himself about how he could talk with such cruelty, even though he didn't mean such words. But he was on a 'good' path, it wouldn't take much longer for Ramirez to completely snap and send him to the monster afterlife once more. "Man. I almost pity the mother that birthed such monster- no, thing! I can almost pretend to pity her for carrying it inside her. And all for what? Just to die!"

Yelling loudly, Ramirez increased the grip one more time around Geno's neck, who could already sense the monster afterlife calling for him.

Only to feel the very next moment the relentless hands letting go of his neck, falling abruptly on his feet, stumbling and hitting the floor on his pelvis.

Geno looked up to Ramirez shocked and surprised. He was breathing heavily, he seemed capable to kill a whole army by himself if let loose... yet, a few seconds later he closed eyes, inhaled and exhaled deeply and seemed to calm down.

"You're attempting to make me kill you, purposely... Are you not?" He asked.

He had figured it out.

"Wha-... What are you talking about!" Geno tried to play it cool and clueless, act like that wasn't exactly his goal.

"Stop. LYING TO ME!" Ramirez walked again towards Geno, leaned forward, slammed his right hand near the smol's right side of his skull, while the other gripped tightly his face from the middle and below. "I had guessed you take me for a fool just out of spite, but didn't realise until now that you take me for a f*cking idiot!" He snarled loudly and Geno shivered. "... You almost got me. I'll admit. But you forgot one important detail."

"Whmpfgm?" Geno tried to ask as his mouth was muffled by the other's hand. Ramirez let go of the other's face as he stood again normally.

"I was raised for some time by the side of a necromancer, I can understand when somebody tries to f*ck with my head. You tried to do just that, thinking that if you piss me off enough by mentioning him, I would send you to the dead. And that's another problem with your lying: you were saying the most infuriating things possible. You did that too much, letting me understand in the end that you were doing this on purpose. Well now that I figured out your little game, guess what." His glare became even more vicious as he stared at the small skeleton. "I won't kill you, just so you don't see him ever again. No. I won't."

No no no... That wasn't in Geno's plans!

"Wait!" Geno did as he tried to stand up, supporting himself against the wall.

"Whatever horrible things he has told you about me, I won't let you hear any more."

"Dogface, wait!"

"You will not interact with him again."

"Do you think about how unfair it is everytime you look at me? He was to have a happy life and yet-."

"Leave."

"Somebody like me is still alive, while your son didn't make it. Is this why you hate on me from the day I stepped foot on this ship?!" The 2 stared at each other, rather glared as Geno too had gotten more serious. "Same illness. That's what he told me. You knew, you had guessed!"

"GET OUT!"

"Or what, Ramirez?!" Geno closed eyesocket, inhaled and exhaled quietly and nailed his look again at Ramirez. No matter what, he tried one more time to carry on with his plan, hoping to achieve what he wanted. "You might have guessed right that I wanted to purposely get killed. Yes. But not to find him. I must find somebody else. I gotta make sure that-."

"I don't care." Ramirez cut him off. "I don't care what other goals you have to accomplish by going in the monster afterlife. No matter who that is, they are in the same place as him." He walked again towards Geno, yanking him by the collar of his shirt. "Get the f*ck out of my face. You've already seen my memories, you've interacted with him, leave. Unless you figure out if there's anything else you can breach from me."

"Well I didn't see your wife that time you killed me, sooo-."

Ramirez growled loudly and pushed Geno back causing him to fall on his pelvis. But the small skeleton simply stood up and dusted himself off. There was no point trying anymore, he had lost his chance. Staring at the alsatian chilly, he crammed hands in his pockets and walked out.

~

After this conversation, the mission to die proved to be extremely difficult.

Alter wasn't much of a problem at first. He would stay on the same part of the ship as Geno, but just from a distance when the 2 weren't chatting. After all the small skeleton had assured and had shown anyways that he could stand up for himself if anybody was to mess with him.

The real problem was Ramirez.

Anywhere Geno went, he was a few steps behind him, glaring him down murderously. Everytime the small skeleton tried to cause 'unfortunate accidents' with him being the victim, it would only cause damage around the ship and no deaths.

Did he try to take fall damage? Yes.

Did he try to get crushed by letting heavy ropes or scantlings drop? Yes.

Did he try to piss off others who were brutes quick in anger? Yes.

And each time Ramirez was there to give mixed signs to the crew. Because while everyone could see how he was staring at Geno, he was also doing that while saving him.

Right below ready to catch him before he could hit the floor after 'slipping' from up high, dashing and grabbing the small skeleton before he could get crushed, there to beat the living out of any crewmember that was about to lash at the half-siren who had challenged them in the first place.

And of course that was so damn infuriating for Geno. He couldn't die properly if Ramirez kept interfering. Plus, after so many attempts to die the crew had started realising from a point and after that those 'accidents' including Geno weren't coincidences.

"Careful garfish. Sir Reaper needs you as you are, not as a pile of dust." The doctor had commented after saving Geno for the 14th time from hitting the floor after falling from up high. "As for you, priest, keep your eyesocket locked on him more often, can't you see your little princess has suicidal tendencies?" He had commented at Alter, who immediately started knocking on wood hearing that.

Unecessary to say he returned on being close to Geno and keeping him company so he wouldn't have any more 'accidents'. Also, from a point and after everybody started forbidding Geno from climbing up the masts, or getting near any dangerous and big objects.

The small skeleton groaned even more frustrated than before after his... 16th? 17th attempt? He had lost count about how many times he had failed to die. And as his frustration grew, he realised that he was also out of options.

Just one left.

He had to ask Reaper's help.

But he had to escape Ramirez from closely watching him.

It did feel greatly ironic and awkward in Geno's skull. In reality it was confusing to him, the mixed feelings and thoughts clashing inside him about how right or wrong that idea felt, asking Reaper for help in such way.

The thought of even asking help from him was getting Geno annoyed and nervous and... hesitant. Not from fear, just... he couldn't identify what it was.

Yet Reaper was the necromancer, right? Like, the guy with the deadliest of monster nature. He probably had the way to send Geno in the monster afterlife in the quickest way possible... Right?

...

Yeah. That whole plan and that whole idea wasn't just confusing and making one wonder if it was right or wrong. It was simply utterly and completely absurd. Insane.

But Geno eventually had to suck it up and try. He hoped that his relationship with Reaper was somewhat stable enough for his favor to be granted, even though like this.

And if the Captain needed reasoning about why send the half-siren in the afterlife of the monsters, Geno had one or two arguements ready.

~

The plan sounded simple, but could pretty much blow up easily.

Quietly Geno asked Alter for a favor, to walk away after a while and return again to tell him Captain Reaper had called to talk with him. Yes, this fishy and strange the favor was. One which the taller skeleton listened to while smiling chilly with raised brow.

But in the end he simply nodded. The 2 friends stayed on each other's side for 10 more minutes or so and talk before the priest excused himself and walked away. In the meantime Geno was trying very hard to keep a poker, indifferent face.

Because he knew a few steps away the angry doctor was still keeping his eye on him. He walked around and ended up chatting for a while with Adrian, Yalin and Sam. Until at last, about 20 minutes later Alter returned, approached the smoll with rather quick steps, kneeled to be closer on his level and pat his shoulder.

"Excuse me gentlemen, but the young man has been called by Captain." He said as he stared at the huge cattle, the python and rat. Then he looked at Geno. "You should go, son." He said chilly.

Slowly Geno started walking away, trying very hard not to look anywhere around or at Ramirez. Only when he was about to go downstairs to the bottom of the deck he dared to peek from the corner. He watched as the doctor was staring up to Alter. They were talking.

What did Sir Reaper call the garfish for?~

How should I know doc? He simply commanded me to tell Geno~

And how do I know your princess isn't going to try any tricks?~

Now why would Geno try that~

And what or who reassures he won't do anything?~

Of course and Ramirez sounded like he was suspicious of what was going on, at least from what Geno could make since the wind was changing a little bit the voices of the doctor and the priest. In fact he was ready to turn around and follow after Geno, until Alter gripped him by the shoulder gently.

Alone. Captain Reaper said he wants to speak with Geno alone. It ain't just a request, it's a command~

The alsatian seemed to look intensively at Alter and Geno held his breath. But many seconds later he snarled at the priest, then walked away, to a completely different direction from the one Geno had taken. The half-siren exhaled in relief. Finally the dog monster was out of his way.

Godamn, Alter had lied so convincingly, even Geno, who had asked him to do so almost believed it...

Wait a minute.

He had lied in Ramirez' face? Who had claimed a while ago at Geno that he could detect lying???

Then again, Alter did seem so extremely convincing, he looked like his absolutely familiar self. Generally rarely he had ever shown to break from character when talking.

Was he always that good at lying???

"... Damnit, enough overthinking! Later that, actions now!" Geno walked down the corridors of the bottom deck. Heading towards where he could remember Captain's office was...

This was absurd.

He took a step back, before he started walking again forward.

This was completely insane.

He took 2 steps back, then walked to his destination.

There was no way he could ask such favor from the necromancer.

Geno stopped walking completely, for just a few seconds ready to walk around completely and abandon this plan. Waste the chance Alter had given him on silver plater...

"... SCREW THIS!"

He started walking ahead with fast determined steps, about 10 seconds later being in front of the Captain's office. With no time for hesitations he opened the door abruptly, almost slammed it open and walked in the office, where Reaper was sitting behind his desk. Despite slightly surprised with how his angelfish had entered, he grinned at him.

"Well well!" He did as Geno was climbing a chair on the opposite side of where he was sitting and slamming his palms on the desk. "What do I owe such dynamic visit from y-?"

"Kill me."

3550 words. welp *pet pet pet pet pet*