Death and the Lady

Chapter 4: Soul Blade

Ryo bowed to Death and nodded towards Lily. “Follow me.”

Bending briefly to grab her crutch, Lily gave death a quick nod and a wave before hurrying after Ryo. She was elated that she no longer needed the crutch to move around or that she could move without aches and pains plaguing her.

Ryo, on the other hand seemed agitated. His face was locked in a stony scowl as he walked briskly down the corridor. Lily had to jog to keep up with his fast pace. They passed more and more people as they walked down the endless corridors. Lily seemed to grab everyone’s attention and she felt their gazes on her skin.

They turned down yet another corridor lined with plain looking doors. He walked swiftly and seemed to stop at a random door. Lily looked at him and then at the door. To her amazement her name was on a little plaque in the middle of the door.

Ryo opened the door and lead the way inside. It was a sparse room, containing little more than a bed with a nightstand, a desk and another door that lead to a small bathroom. Everything was still in stark white.

Ryo seemed to sigh and his shoulders dropped. “Why would he do this?” he mumbled, drawing her attention.

“Do what?”

Suddenly Ryo swung around and grabbed her arms. He slammed her against the door, pinning her arms above her head. The only other sound in the room was the clatter of her crutch hitting the floor. She stared into his dark, angry eyes in horror.

“Why would he choose you?” Ryo snarled. “Why would he choose someone as broken and battered as you?”

Lily stared at him with wide eyes and then realisation dawned. “What the hell?” she snarled back at him. She tried to struggle but there was a sudden stab of phantom pain from her leg. This didn’t escape Ryo’s notice.

“That’s why I want to know. You’ll never be whole! Your injuries will always burden you. You will be a liability to any Reaper in the field.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The master cannot heal injuries, not really. He can mend them, but he cannot restore that has been broken. You will never be as strong or as fast as us.”

“Get off me!” Lily yelled and there was a pulse of power. It flung Ryo back, making him slam into the desk. When he looked up there was a momentary flicker over Lily’s body. For a moment she was dressed in black, tattered robes and her face seemed to be half skeletal. They grey in her eyes flickered blue and her voice was harsh and hard when she spoke again.

“What is your problem?”

Ryo was stunned into silence. He hadn’t expected an outburst like that and had only seen it a handful of times before. He stood frozen where he was, leaning back with his hands pressed to the smooth surface of the desk.

“You’re one of them,” he breathed, “that’s why he chose you?”

Lily glared at him, in no mood for games. “One of what?”

Ryo sat down heavily on the bed, pressing his palms to his eyes. “I can’t believe it. I’m the benefactor to a Master Reaper.”

“What are you talking about?” Lily snarled again. Her head was aching and her leg was throbbing with ghostly pain.

Ryo looked up at her. “Master Reapers are very rare and very powerful. They are born with… well, you could say, a twist in the soul. They are natural Reapers.” He shook his head in disbelief. “But it runs in families and there’s only one other Master Reaper here now. There’s no way…”

“What are you mumbling about.”

“Look, you’re different from us.”

“Different how?”

Ryo shook his head. “It’s hard to explain, apparently each Master Reaper is different. That explains the Cleric too. It’s harder to identify a Reaper from a Master Reaper. That’s why he hasn’t done anything yet. He couldn’t be sure.”

Lily walked over and sat down next to Ryo. “You know that you’re not making any sense, right?”

“I don’t understand it either, not really. It goes against everything we understand about genetics. Somehow there are some individuals who are naturally born to be Reapers, Master Reapers they’re called. Where we Reapers are still mostly human, Master Reapers like you are mostly not. You are even closer to the Master than any of us could ever dream to be.”

“So, what does that mean?”

Ryo shrugged. “Every Master Reaper is different. They’re very rare and there have only been a handful of recorded Master Reapers to date.”

“So what? I’m on my own?”

Ryo shook his head. “We have one other resident Master Reaper here, but Master Helandel is a recluse. Sometimes months go by without any us seeing him. Some of the Reapers say that he is in mourning after the deaths of his son and wife. He refuses to go back into the world.”

Lily jumped. “Oh crap, how long have I been here? Mom must be worrying herself sick!” She jumped up and hurried to the door.

“Don’t worry, she won’t have noticed that you’re gone. Time moves differently here. You could spend days here and then only an hour or two would have passed.”

Lily hesitated, hand on the doorknob. “Are you sure?”

Ryo nodded and ran his hands through his hair, making it stand out at all angles. “To be honest, I don’t even know why I’m so annoyed with you. It’s not like me at all.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“Sorry about that. Did I hurt you?”

“Apart from my ego, not really.”

Ryo got to his feet and walked over to the door. He looked down at her and gave a smile. “Get some rest, I’ll come fetch you in the morning.”

After he left, Lily stood in front of the door, considering her next move. For the first time in ages she felt as though she had energy. She couldn’t sit still, she ached to move. Walking into the corridor she looked up and down. The corridor was empty.

Just as she was wondering how to get anywhere, two young boys walked into the corridor from her left. They were as alike as two peas in a pod. Both had a mop of red hair and the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. They couldn’t have been more that maybe fourteen or fifteen. They spoke animatedly in an Irish accent and seemed not to notice her until they were almost on top of her.

They stopped and stared at her. “Hey, you’re-”

“-the new girl, right?”

Lily was immediately unbalanced. She’d known her fair share of twins before, but never a pair like this. It was impossible to tell them apart and the way they spoke it seemed like they were two parts of a whole.

“Um, yeah. Hi, I’m Lily.”

“I’m Ashton-” the one on the left said.

“-and I’m Clayton,” said the one on the right.

“Nice to meet you,” they said in unison.

“But you can just call us Ash and Clay,” the one on the right said.

“Um…” Lily said uncertainly, “sure.”

“Can we-”

“-help you with anything.”

Lily felt as though she was watching a tennis match. “Um… could you show me around?” she asked and the two faces lit up.

“Sure!”

They lead the way down the corridor. Lily followed closely, trying not to think about what she’d gotten herself into.

Lily woke up in an unfamiliar bed in a small room. For a moment she panicked, unsure of what was going on. Then memory came back and she settled back on the pillows. The twins had been completely exhausting. They’d jabbered all the time, throwing in Irish slang every now and then as they gave her the ‘grand tour’.

The whole place was slightly depressing. Everything was in their shades of white or black in stark contrast with each other. People had stared and whispered as she passed them in the corridors. Eventually she’d pleaded fatigue and they’d brought her back to her room.

Now she lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. There was a soft tap at her door and for a moment she’d panicked. What if the twins were back to continue their ‘grand tour’? She didn’t feel quite up to it.

The soft knock came again and to her relief Ryo spoke. “Are you alright?”

Lily breathed a sigh of relief as she got up and opened the door. “Hi,” she said and Ryo looked her up and down.

“Everything okay?” he asked and she smiled.

“I thought you were someone else,” she said with half a smile.

“Who did you think it was?”

“I ran into a couple of twins and they were absolutely exhausting.”

Ryo grinned suddenly. “Oh, that must be the Ton twins?”

“You mean that they’re in the mafia?” she asked horrified. “That does explain a lot,” she murmured.

Ryo laughed. “No, we call then that because both their names end in ton. And they can be a bit of a handful.”

“You’re telling me,” Lily said with a yawn and stretched. “How long was I asleep for?”

“About a day.”

“You don’t sound so sure.”

“It’s hard to tell time here, clocks don’t really work.”

“Ah,” Lily said and walked into her room. Ryo followed and carefully closed the door.

“Best get dressed, we have a lot to do today.”

Lily yawned again. “Alright. I need to take a shower first. Need to wake up.”

Ryo nodded and turned to the door. “When you’re finished just tap this panel here and I’ll come get you. There’re clothes in the closet if you want to change. Only colour choices are black and white, unfortunately.”

“Yeah, this place is a bit sparse on colour.”

Ryo laughed again. “Yeah, and don’t worry if they’ll fit you. They always do.”

After Ryo closed the door behind him Lily quickly locked it and went into the tiny bathroom. The shower was warm. The plain white soap and shampoo smelled surprisingly of citrus. She always used citrus scented products; it was her favourite. She spent what felt like ages leisurely turning under the warm spray of the shower.

After her shower Lily sorted through the wardrobe. Ryo had been right, she and an almost infinite selection of styles, but it all was limited to either black, white or a combination of the two. She quickly got dressed in a plain black t-shirt and black jeans. She found a pair of black and white converse on the bottom of the wardrobe. She brushed out her wet hair and pulled it into a thick braid. After feeling that she could now face the world she tapped the panel beside her door.

She nearly had a heart attack when she opened it and saw Ryo there, grinning at her. “We’re you standing there the whole time like a creep?” she exclaimed and Ryo burst out laughing.

“No, the panel notifies me that you need me and I head over. Like I said, there is no real time here. People make their own. You’ll get used to it.”

She noticed that Ryo was holding a bunch of papers.

“So, what are we doing today, doc?” she asked and he glanced down at the paperwork in his hands.

“First off I think we should get you a Reaper blade.” He turned and started down the corridor.

“What’s a Reaper blade?” she asked as she hurried after him.

“It’s what you’ll need to be able to do your duty.”

“Ah, okay.”

Five minutes later Lily was standing in a massive gymnasium. In front of her, mounted on the massive wall, was a huge selection of edged weaponry. There were battle axes and scythes and some things she didn’t know the names of. Behind her there were a few groups of people training with an array of weaponry. The clang as their blades met was the only sound in the room.

“Alright, explain,” she said.

“We need a bladed tool to sever the soul from the body so that the spirit may move on. If we do not do this you find lingering spirits.”

“But why weapons?”

“It’s also for protection from the Clerics.”

Lily nodded and looked over the massive array of glinting steel. All of them were bladed, no ranged weapons, she noticed.

“So, I just take one? Any one I want?”

Ryo nodded. “You can try your hand at any style and you’re free to swop it out until you find one that fits your style.”

Lily walked down the wall, looking at the weapons in astonishment. She never even knew that there were so many different styles out there. Some she recognised, some where odd and some simply looked like torture devices. She reached out and picked up a pair of blades attached to a handle at the base.

“Those are called Katar,” Ryo said and Lily put them back hurriedly. Her eye fell on the rack of different types of swords.

Walking over to them she ran an expert eye over the different styles. She saw one that she liked and started to reach out to it, but hesitated. It felt like something was calling out to her. Her hand stopped inches from the sword and she looked to her side. There seemed to be a smaller room off the gymnasium. She dropped her hand and purposefully headed towards it.

A massive man suddenly blocked her way. “Whatcha think yer doin’?” he growled at her. He was holding a massive battle-axe that he’d been handling with apparent ease.

“What’s in there?” Lily asked, trying to see past him.

“Ain’t none of yer concern.”

“Now now, Michael, there’s no need to be like that.”

“Them’s the Master’s weapons. T’ain’t hers to take.”

LET HER PASS, a deep voice suddenly said and everyone swung around.

Death strode into the gymnasium, his bony feet clicking on the floor. He was flanked by an older man holding a clipboard, almost jogging crabwise to keep up. He seemed to be having an animated conversation.

“Master,” everyone but Lily said and bowed. Michael reluctantly stepped out of the way and Lily hurried inside.

The force drawing at her grew stronger in here and she hurried to the furthest wall. There was a hilt of a sword hanging there. Completely unadorned and plain. She felt it calling out to her. Reaching up she took the hilt down. Almost instantly the blade sprang to life in flickering blue.

IS THAT THE BLADE THAT YOU WISH TO USE ON THE DUTY? Death asked and Lily nodded.

“It… called to me,” she said and Death nodded.

IT IS ONLY NATURAL THAT THIS BLADE WOULD CALL TO YOU, CHILD. IT IS THE ONE YOU FACED ME WITH.

Behind them there was a collective gasp of disbelief. Lily looked up and saw almost all the Reapers clustered around the doorway.

YOU MAY USE THIS WEAPON, LILITH KNIGHTLY. IT HAS ALREADY CHOSEN YOU. ANOTHER WEAPON WOULD ONLY BE MEDIOCRE BY COMPARISON.

Death nodded to the man by his side and turned to take another sword from the wall. The man started up his chatter again. Lily took the chance to examine the blade closely. She didn’t even hear Ryo sidle up to her.

“You faced the Master in battle?” he whispered and she nodded distractedly.

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“No, that would be suicide.”

“Well, since we’re already technically dead at that stage.” Lily shrugged. “What was your test?”

“We played shogi. It’s like Japanese chess.”

“He did say that he was bored with chess,” Lily commented and Ryo gaped at her.

“He said what?”

“You heard.” Lily held up the flickering blue blade so that she could examine it closely. “What is the blade made of?”

“That’s a Death Weapon, the blade is a fragment of your soul.”

“Why is it blue?”

“Because souls are blue.”

“Fascinating.” She lowered the sword and looked at Ryo. “So, what’s next?”

Ryo seemed to remember himself and looked down at the papers in his hands. “Next up will be your induction lectures. They should take you the rest of the morning.”

Death placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the pinpoints of blue light, the same blue as the Soul Blade. She chuckled about it later as she remembered the old idiom, the eyes are the mirrors of the soul.

I WILL BE GOING OUT ON THE DUTY MOMENTARILY. DO YOU WISH TO JOIN ME? A PRACTICAL LESSON WOULD AID YOU FARM MORE THAN A LECTURE WOULD.

Lily returned Death’s grin with one of her own. She moved the hilt oddly and the flickering blade disappeared.

“Alright, sounds fun,” she said happily.