Summary (please read... important info for the story):
We've all heard it said that you reap what you sow. And we've all been lead to believe that there is some guiding force that balances the universe. Some call it God. Others refer to it as karma. While still others think it to be fate or mere chance. Whatever it's called it doesn't change the fact that it exists.
For the world to exist as it does there needs to be a balance.
There cannot be one without the other. Light cannot exist without darkness. Good cannot exist without evil. Death cannot exist without life. Strength cannot exist without weakness. And so on and so forth…
We need a balance in our own lives just as much as the world needs a balance. Without balance there would be chaos. And chaos leads to destruction.
In the matters of life and death, it was the job of a reaper and a scythe to even the scales. It was a task given to a select few. Many only knew of them from stories passed down that had been brushed off as the imagination of a child or superstitions of the elderly. But they are just as real you and I, walking among us, disguised as humans.
You may pass them on the way to work crossing the street or at your local coffee shop reading a book. They could be your neighbor or a complete stranger. Nevertheless, if one looks close enough there are signs that can point them out to you immediately.
Sign No. 1:
They always travel in pairs.
Because of the nature of the relationship between reaper and scythe they are never without their partner. This is a result of the necessity that they both share. A reaper cannot reap without the scythe, while the scythe would not know who to reap without the reaper. They balance each other so that without one the other is useless.
Sign No. 2:
They stand apart from a crowd.
It is unusual for a reaper and a scythe interact with people around them. In part because ordinarily most people don't notice them and if they do they are quickly brushed off and forgotten. There is only a select few that are able to not just notice them, but remember them as well. These individuals are rare, but as a rule are generally inhuman as well.
Sign No. 3:
Their eyes don't match.
Probably the most noticeable and easiest to pick out is the color of their eyes. A reaper and a scythe 'exchange eyes' as it were, when they form a bond. When the bond is first formed a scythe will trade one of his/her eyes for one of the reapers; an exchange that allows the scythe to temporarily see the amount of time that a person has left in their life as long as the reaper is near. For the reaper, it allows them to keep track of the scythe at all times even when they are far away.
It is a bond stronger than anything.
To Every Thing There is a Season
Prologue
…
"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven…"
…
1931 Chicago
"Wow! Look Weiss," the woman nudged her companion in the side and gestured to the steam locomotive, "Have you ever seen anything like it?"
The two women stood on the train platform in Chicago, Illinois admiring the train that would take them to New York. The Flying Pussyfoot was one of a kind. A luxury steam engine modeled after the British Royal train, it is on the same level with the Titanic in regards to class. Each train car was extravagantly decorated both inside and out with no cost spared. It was a train only for the super-rich and famous.
Weiss shrugged her slender shoulders brushing a strand of pale blonde hair from her eyes. She watched her friend prance around with a sort of childlike excitement then sighed. "It seems like a waste," she answered.
"Ah there you go again not being able to appreciate beauty. Really look at it Weiss. Look at the craftsmanship. Imagine how long it took to build. Did you know that there is a crystal chandelier in ever compartment? And did you know that those chandeliers were handmade? Handmade Weiss!" The blonde barely avoided getting whacked in the face by her friend's long red braid as she spun around and placed her hands on the woman's shoulders. "Just thinking about how long it took to prefect every meticulous detail and the dedication that those people had… It really gets my blood pumping!"
The blonde stared blankly at the redhead. How is it that this person was her reaper? The question had plagued her many times over the past three decades and she had yet to come up with a rational answer. They were complete polar opposites; where Weiss was reserved, rational, and fairly easy going, Ruby, her partner, was a dreamer all gun-ho and meticulous. They were an unlikely pair, mismatching in personality and physical appearance.
"At least we get to see it before it's put out of commission," Weiss smiled softly unable to resist Ruby's infectious grin any longer.
Ruby sighed dramatically and stepped away from the smaller woman. "Ah, yes it's a shame that this will be its last expedition. I thought it would be lovely to take a nice relaxing trip through the countryside, just the kids and us ya know. I'm sure that Octavia and Lincoln would've loved it," she flipped her braid back over her shoulder, "Maybe Thelonious could've come too."
"That would've been nice," the blonde breathed.
"You must be excited to be going to New York and seeing him. How long has it been now? Seven –eight years maybe, since you've seen your son?" Ruby pondered.
Weiss shift her weight and tugged at the green wool scarf around her neck thinking about it. "It was when he graduated from the academy, so yeah it's about eight years now," she realized.
Ruby hummed and shoved her hands into the pockets of her black wool coat. She looked out at the passengers boarding the train. "I'm happy for you," she told her honestly, "it's too bad though that we won't get to enjoy this train ride. So many people are going to die… We're gonna have to work through the night so there won't be any time to look around."
"It's going to be a long ride," Weiss agreed, "And remember we have someone to take care of before the train leaves."
Ruby groaned. "Sometimes I hate our job. You ever feel like that? Like sometimes you wish you were human and just enjoy your life while you have it?" She questioned.
"Almost every day," she replied, "but there is nothing we can do to change it. We were born this way. Without us no one would be able to live or die; caught in between life and death and suffering the agony of dying. We're necessary to keep the balance."
The other woman put her hands behind her back. They both started to walk down the platform while carrying on the conversation. Their heels clicked softly on the walkway like the ticking off a clock. "What do you reckon it's like to be born human?" Ruby wondered.
"I couldn't imagine it."
"Try."
"Well I guess it would be frightening," the blonde said, "I mean they're so fragile. Anything can hurt them. They're vulnerable and death literally follows them everywhere they go. They don't have any guarantees that they'll even be alive tomorrow."
"That's an interesting idea," Ruby nodded.
"What about you?" Weiss asked as they both came to a stop not far from a group of train conductors. The group was composed to three men of varying ages. All of them were laughing boisterously as some joke that the youngest, a red-haired man in his mid-twenties, had made. The two women watched them as silent spectators.
"I would say exhilarating. The fact that humans are so fragile makes it that way. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed and because of that they live in the moment. Take Tony for example," the redhead pointed to the oldest conductor, "he's retiring today. Right now he's thinking about the future and how's he's going to transition from being a train to conductor to a man of leisure. His life story is a blank page and filled with opportunities. Maybe he'll take up painting or finally get around to planting a garden and having fresh tomatoes… the possibilities are endless."
"But he's not going to do any of those things," Weiss argued, "Time has run out for him."
"Don't you see it Weiss?" She threw out her arms dramatically causing the blonde to swiftly duck out of the way again to avoid getting hit, "He doesn't know that. That is why it is exhilarating. Unlike you and me, humans can dream. They are not burdened by knowing the exact time they are going to die. That is why they are able to do things that neither you nor I could ever dream of. That is how they can build things like the Flying Pussyfoot or the Titanic. What I would give to be able to dream like that…"
The blonde chuckled pushing Ruby's arm down and brushed a strand of hair from her eyes. "You sound like such a romantic," she remarked fondly, "I think that you dream enough as it is."
"But not like them," Ruby sighed.
"Would it be worth it though?" she mused, "Trading the security that we have for the ability to dream, so many human's take their time for granted. Most never accomplish anything of importance." Weiss watched as Tony said goodbye to the other two conductors and began to walk down the platform.
The women began to trail after him only a few paces behind him. They made no move to stop the man as he neared one of the train cars. Neither of them called out for help either. It wasn't their job to intervene with fate. They could only watch as Tony was pulled between the train cars.
Weiss slipped her hand into Ruby's. It took less than a second for the blonde to shift herself into her scythe form. Ruby swung the long metal rod over her shoulder and balanced it as she climbed between the train cars. Her eyes and ears scanned for any sign of Tony honing in on his strangled pleas like a beacon.
"Please, no, please."
She saw two men standing at the edge of the tracks over the canal that led to the sewer. Tony was being pinned against the brick railing by a younger man decked out in a white suit. He had been forcefully stripped of his conductor's uniform that was lying on the ground by the two. Ruby clicked her tongue with distaste as she watched and waited for the time to act.
There was a brief struggle and then a pained gasp from the old conductor. Ruby sprang forward quickly as the man in the white suit hoisted Tony up and threw the man's body over the railing. She landed with her feet on the railing and swung Weiss out in a graceful arc. The scythe passed through Tony's torso and snagged his soul; extracting it from the bleeding husk. The light blue orb about the size of a peach stuck to the blade and Tony's lifeless body splashed in the sewer water below.
"What a stupid fool," the man in the white suit cackled. He stepped away from the railing and retrieved the uniform from the ground. Ruby glared as she twisted around from her perch on the railing. He shook the dirt off the jacket and pants. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Ladd is going to love this," he grinned swinging around in a circle and running off toward the train cars.
The redhead jumped down from the railing and watched at the man passed between the train cars. "What a sicko," she spat, "He's a vile piece of filth. That's one soul I don't mind reaping." She set the scythe against the railing and stuck her hands into her coat pocket pulling out a pen and a little black book. She scribbled the name of the conductor and the time and place of death.
Weiss, having shifted back to her human form, peered over the railing. She stared down at the lifeless face bobbing in the water. "How long do you think it'll take for someone to find him?" She asked. The blue orb in her hands glowed dimly as she lifted it up to her mouth and swallowed it.
"Maybe a week or so at least," Ruby sighed sliding the book back into her pocket, "The smell of the water should mask the smell of rotting corpse for a while. So when he is found he'll probably be all bloated and half eaten from the sewer rats."
"What a shitty way to go," she breathed as they began to walk back toward the train cars.
Ruby nodded in agreement. "The shittiest."
Author's Note:
I recently stumbled on to Baccano!and I had this idea pop into my head and I could not get it out. Usually I purge myself of these by writing them down so they're not in the forefront of my mind and I can focus on other things. And let's just say that the anime in general doesn't get enough love on this site because there's only like 300 fanfics and honestly it deserves a lot more than that. So you guys review and tell me what you think... (Personally, I think I may have gotten a bit to philosophical towards the end...) and thank you for reading the first chapter.