[Dave and Clarissa's House]

Oooo! Agitating dead people! How fun! Clarissa would normally leap at this offer, chain it to her wrist, and steadfastly deny any attempt Dave made to weasel his way out of the agreement, but she has much more grave issues to deal with right now, lamentably.

"Actually, Dave, we need to talk. About these, if you're wondering."

Clarissa motions to the spread of nine tails arrayed regally behind her like the plumage of a male Indian Peafowl. They are quite animated for pieces of flesh grafted onto a body, almost as though they possess their own will and at times go so far as to embark on their own flights of fancy.

"These are the seven sins, Death, and Life. You're already well-acquainted with the seven, but I'd sincerely hoped that you'd never have the chance to meet Death."

"While I've been able to control the seven for most of my existence, Death, a curse imposed on me for..."

"Promise you won't hate me now, Dave..."

"Designing and properly implementing death."

Clarissa holds her tongue to allow those words to sink in. She feels no need to elaborate on them further, thinking them more than enough for any mortal living in constant fear of death to comprehend.

"Everything dies because of me. And I mean everything. Some gods die too. Death conquers all. It can even best my own spirit and usurp my body for relatively short parcels of time."

"To prevent that..."

"I need to kill. Daily. Whatever Death demands as payment. Before the incident, I used to be able to wipe out an chunk of a population amounting to a little over 400 people per year if I decided to kill whenever it was most convenient for me. But now the rules have changed. I'm getting these urges... I know I must kill again."