Chapter 5: Aunt Marie's End and a Grimm's First Case
The hushed silence of the hospital room was broken only by the steady beep of Aunt Marie's life support. Nick sat beside her, his hand clasped in hers, the weight of his new reality pressing down on him. His aunt, his only link to the Grimm world, was fading. He felt helpless, adrift in a sea of ancient prophecies and hidden monsters.
Suddenly, the door creaked open. A figure, cloaked and hooded, dressed like a priest, slipped inside. Nick's Grimm senses screamed. This wasn't a priest. This was a Reaper. A black-eyed, scythe-wielding hunter of Grimms. He instinctively lunged, but the Reaper was fast, its movements fluid and deadly.
Monroe, who had been keeping vigil, reacted with a primal roar, woging into his Blutbad form. He threw himself at the Reaper, a blur of fur and teeth, buying Nick precious seconds. The fight was brutal, a clash of ancient forces in the sterile confines of a hospital room. But even Monroe's strength wasn't enough. The Reaper was a trained killer, a specialist.
As the Reaper raised its scythe for a killing blow on Nick, a faint, almost imperceptible shimmer of light flickered in the hallway outside. Adam and Ciri, alerted by the heightened Wesen activity (and perhaps a subtle System alert about a "High Threat: Reaper"), had arrived. They observed from a distance, Adam's face grim, his sarcasm momentarily subdued.
"Well, that's just rude," Adam muttered, watching the Reaper. "Killing a Grimm in a hospital? No class. And a scythe? Seriously? So cliché."
Ciri's eyes narrowed. "Reapers. They are relentless. We should intervene."
"Patience, grasshopper," Adam said, though his hand was already hovering over his inventory. "Let's see how Nick handles this. Character development, you know? Besides, the System just updated."
[ New Wesen Type Discovered: Reaper. Information added to Library. ]
[ Grimm Lore Update: Reapers of the Grimm. Threat Level: High. ]
"High threat, indeed," Adam mused, watching Monroe bravely, if futilely, fight the Reaper. "Okay, Ciri, let's make a subtle entrance. Don't want to steal Nick's thunder too much."
They moved in, a blur of motion, distracting the Reaper just enough for Monroe to land a solid blow. The Reaper, momentarily disoriented, turned its attention to the new, unknown threats. Adam and Ciri engaged it, their combined Witcher skills a deadly dance. Adam used his enhanced strength to parry the scythe, the metal groaning under the impact, while Ciri darted in, her silver sword flashing. They didn't kill the Reaper, not directly. Their goal was to ensure Aunt Marie's death was quick and painless, and to leave Nick to deal with the aftermath, cementing his path as a Grimm. They merely incapacitated the Reaper, leaving it for the police (and Nick) to find.
As the Reaper lay stunned, Aunt Marie let out a final, shuddering breath. Her hand went limp in Nick's. She was gone.
Nick collapsed, grief washing over him like a tidal wave. He looked at the unconscious Reaper, then at the empty hallway where the mysterious figures had been. He didn't understand who they were, or why they helped, but he felt their presence, a strange, unsettling force that seemed to operate just outside his comprehension.
Later, as the police descended on the hospital, Nick was tasked with solving the murder of the Jägerbär from the previous case. He was a detective, and this was his job. But now, his job had a terrifying new dimension. He used his nascent Grimm abilities, his heightened senses, to track the remaining Jägerbär, piecing together the clues. Adam, from a distance, subtly guided him. He might have left a piece of evidence, a discarded Jägerbär claw, in a place Nick would easily find, making it seem like a lucky break.
"Well, that's one less bear for the picnic," Adam muttered to Ciri, watching Nick from a rooftop. "And one more step on Nick's hero journey. You're welcome, future Portland. You're welcome."
Ciri, her face impassive, merely nodded. "He will need more than luck. He will need strength."
"Oh, he'll get it," Adam said, a knowing smirk on his face. "And we'll be there to make sure he does. From the shadows, of course. Can't have him knowing all our secrets. Where's the fun in that?" He paused, then added, almost to himself, "Besides, a 'Grimm Reaper' is a bit on the nose, don't you think? I mean, come on, universe, at least try to be subtle."
Nick, back at the precinct, stared at the case file. His aunt was gone. His world was irrevocably changed. But he was a Grimm now. And he had a job to do. He just wished he knew who those mysterious figures were, the ones who seemed to know so much, and whose methods were so… efficient. He had a feeling his life was about to get a lot more complicated. And a lot less mundane.