Did you miss me? I sure missed you guys!

Welcome to DELMGA Book 2! We'll kick things off with a bit of foreshadowing by throwing back to the past!

Gentle bells tinkled and a young woman in a white hanbok entered the tea shop, her head bowed and her eyes downcast. She walked smoothly- a surprising change. She felt no weight on her heart or no thrumming in her mind.

In pure clarity, Hae Soo stepped into the tea shop where a pale man with red lips addressed her. He wore black from wide brimmed hat to hanbok to pointed shoes and greeted her with blank eyes.

"You are the Grim Reaper," Hae Soo said as she removed her shoes and sat at the table. An ornate jade tea set sat on the table, steam curling from the curved spout of the teapot. With her right hand, she handed the bracelet of gold coins over to the man. It seemed Jung had spared no expense with her funeral.

The Grim Reaper accepted the clinking coins with grace, setting them aside. "Hae Soo, daughter of Hae Hong Ha Jin and Go Myung, wife of Wang Jung, and mother of a nameless girl, you have passed away," he stated gently.

Nodding, Soo touched a hand to the place where her daughter had been. "I guess I died of a broken heart," she chuckled softly. "How cliche."

"Cliche?" the Grim Reaper asked.

"It's a term used in the future," Soo airily sighed. She waved her hand as if to suggest it was unimportant. "I guess I'll never see that man again. Him, my baby…"

The Grim Reaper nodded. "In this life, you will not meet anyone again. Hae Soo's body has been burned and she has been interred. You have suffered in this life, child."

Nodding, Soo wiped her eyes. "I did, didn't I? I tried to protect everyone, but I couldn't. I tried to save everyone, but they all fell. And in the end, I betrayed he who needed me the most… because I wanted to save the daughter I did not live to name. How selfish of me." She gasped a laugh that bled into a sob.

"Hae Soo," the Grim Reaper's deep voice brought her attention towards him. "Your trials were harsh and your penalties even harsher, but the gods smile down upon you. Your rebirth will be into a world much kinder than the one we currently walk in. Your future is bright and your fate kinder."

He use two hands to pour a light tea into one of the jade cups, not letting a single drop spill over the brim, and filling the cup. Soo inhaled and smiled. "Loose leaf tea… this was his favorite," she recalled.

"Incidentally, it also became your favorite tea, did it not?" asked the Reaper.

Nodding, Soo accepted the glass. She watched as the Reaper poured himself a cup of tea.

They drank together, speaking quietly.

"What will happen to me in my next life?" Soo asked. She inhaled the aroma of the warm tea with a sigh. Her hands no longer shook, and her mouth was no longer lined with sores and open wounds that bled and ached before she could put food to her dry lips. She felt at peace.

"You will live," said the Grim Reaper. "Your life will be easy, but not without hardship. You will be happy, but not without sorrow. You will be joyful, but not without sadness."

Soo nodded at the cryptic man's words. She sipped her tea. "And that person? The one I love? What will become of him?"

The Reaper paused as his lips touched the cup in his pale hands. "Wang So, fourth son of Taejo Wang Geon, third son of Yoo Shin Myung Sun Seong…" he muttered. "That child's death is too far for me to see. He will not join me in this house for many years."

His answer seemed to satisfy the young woman and she nodded. "I suppose he was always healthier than I was," she chuckled. Humming a wandering song, Soo gazed out the window at the flower petals that fell from the trees. The trees seemed to fade into red and yellow before her very eyes, showing changes in season in the blink of an eye. "Will he be lonely?"

"No." Soo smiled at the Grim Reaper's words. "The nameless girl will be his comfort and sole joy. You have seen to provide him with a faithful companion. She will keep him company now that you are gone."

The Reaper placed a cloth napkin before Hae Soo, allowing her to wipe the tears that fell from her wide eyes. "I would like to meet him in my next life," she whispered. "I would like to truly be happy with the man I love the most."

Nodding, the Reaper stood from his seat and retrieved a new pot of tea. This pot was of black jade and on it was a carved turtle. "This tea will help you to forget this life," he explained. "You will not remember those who wronged you and those who loved you. Your memory will fade and you will start anew."

Soo watched as he poured a dark tea into her cup. The tea did not ripple as it fell.

"And if I don't wish to forget?"

"Child, your fate is one that will not require all of this tea," the Grim Reaper said. "Drink half the glass and you will forget only until you need to remember. Drink the full glass and you will forget everything forever. The choice is yours."

Lifting the cup to her lips, Soo drank a single sip before setting it down. "Thank you, Grim Reaper," she murmured.

They stood together, moving away from the table and walking barefoot. "Hae Soo," the Reaper said as he led her toward a door, "go forward and begin again. Heal and mend that of which has ailed you during this life. Live happily and do not fear, for you will be rewarded."

They bowed to each other and Hae Soo took one final look back at Goryeo through the window of the Grim Reaper's tea shop. "Find me," she whispered to the wind, hoping it would carry her message back to Wang So. "Find me, please."

Backwards, Hae Soo stepped into the void, her eyes watching the white Goryeo snow that fluttered in through the open window.

The soft tinkling of bells filled the tea shop as an old man in a white hanbok entered the small house. His hair was streaked with silver, his face wrinkled with burden and trial. He walked slowly, but as he stepped into the shop, the old man faded into a younger one. Wrinkles faded and gray hairs disappeared until a tall, handsome man stood before the one who prepared his tea.

"Wang So greets the Grim Reaper," the dead king bowed as the Grim Reaper set a teapot onto the table.

"Sit, child," the Reaper welcomed the former king to his table, watching as he removed white shoes to step onto the raised dais.

Removing the rope of gold and jade coins from his body, So handed the Reaper his offering with two hands. The Reaper accepted the coins, setting them to the side. "Wang So; son of Taejo Wang Geon and Yoo Shinmyung Sunseong; husband of Hwang Bo Yeon Hwa, Gyeong Hwa Gung, and Kim Hyun; father of Wang Ju and Hyo Hwa, Cheon Chu Jeon, Bo Hwa Gung, and Mundeok, and father of Seol, you have passed away."

Wang So nodded his assent, accepting one of the cups of tea poured by the Grim Reaper. "Loose leaf tea," he murmured as he sipped the fragrant water. A splash of flavor against hot water warmed the inside of his mouth. "I enjoyed this tea."

"You did," replied the Grim Reaper as he drank from his own cup.

"Is there such thing as a next life?" So asked. He met eyes with the Grim Reaper, staring into the dark orbs that swirled with clouds of gray, forever changing. The Grim Reaper paused as he continued. "I promised someone very dear to me that I would find her in a different life. I wish to keep that promise."

The Grim Reaper chuckled. "Hae Soo spoke the same of you," he said. "Yes, child, there is a next life."

"Will I be able to meet her?"

"Yes."

So dropped his gaze in relief, his silent heart remaining still and his eyes growing wet with relief. "So I will see her again," he whispered. "After so many years, I will see her again."

"Hae Soo asked for you many times when she herself was in this tea shop," the Reaper noted. "She asked the very same question as you."

They drank their tea and the Grim Reaper poured So another cup. "Child, you have suffered much in this life but you were also the cause of much suffering. Your hands are stained with the blood of hundreds, but there is one soul whose corruption you must pay for during your next life."

So looked up in worry. His eyebrows knitted together as he searched his memory for one person he had wronged more than any other. "Is it Wang Jung?" he asked.

Shaking his head, the Grim Reaper laced his bony fingers together. "Wang Jung held no ill will toward you when you died. He will pass in peace fifteen years from now."

Leaning forward, So pressed a hand to the table. "Who have I wronged, then? Wang Yo? Wang Won? Wang Wook?"

"Your hatred is pointed to your brothers but they are already gone," the Grim Reaper shook his head. "Wang So, your penance is for the corruption of a soul who did nothing to deserve your wrath and hatred. Your blind hatred for him hurt him more than any sword or any dagger. You will know who that is when you must know and never before."

Bowing his head, So nodded as he listened to the Grim Reaper's words. "I understand."

The Reaper stood from the table and returned with a new teapot. This one shone with the muted essence of black jade. It did not steam, and it did not slosh. He placed a new cup before So and filled it with a different sort of tea.

"In your next life you will face hardships, but not without ease. You will be lonely, but not without company. You will be blessed, but not without punishment. The road you take will be one of many blessings, but will also have its downfalls. The weight of the Crown will follow you, child. Such is your destiny."

Nodding, So reached for the tea. "If it means I will be able to see Hae Soo again, I will risk anything. I'm ready to face my punishment."

The Grim Reaper stilled So's hand. "Half the glass will do, if you wish to remember that of which you love. Drink to forget your hardships until the time comes when you must remember. If you drink the entire cup, you will forget everything from this life."

The young man nodded. Lifting the jade cup to his lips, he drank half its contents and set it back down onto the table.

He followed the Reaper when the pale man beckoned for him to.

Stepping toward a door with no handle, So felt anticipation fluttering in his body, his dead heart beginning to thrum. A breeze from an open window and sifted through the bells that hung from the door, filling the tea shop with quiet chimes.

"Find me," a gentle whisper called. "Find me, please."

Wang So looked back at the wind as it carried a voice he had not heard for twenty-five years. A voice so beautiful that it brought tears to his eyes and joy into his dead heart.

"Wang So," The Grim Reaper rested a cold hand against the King's shoulder. "Go forward and begin again, child. Heal and mend that of which has ailed you during this life. Find that of which you most cherish and make it yours once more."

The two bowed to each other.

Wang So did not look back when he entered the void.

A/N: Please don't comment about Goblin. Grim Reapers have been a part of Korean folklore since long before that TV show and I tried to include some of my culture into the story. Because the prologue took place in Goryeo, a layer of fantasy was brought forward that might otherwise explain what I didn't in the first book. The Grim Reaper led the dead into the afterlife and was a widely believed folk tale. The Grim Reaper in Goblin is not the one being featured in the Prologue. Please be respectful. Thank you.