Stein had been tuning Spirit out for the past thirteen minutes as the man ranted on and on about how attractive last night's lay was. And, being friends with the man for so long meant that Stein was well accustomed to staring forward and focusing on perfecting his skull shaped smoke rings as Spirit went on about attributes Stein was decidedly not interested in. Such as an ass to waist ratio. And the way the dude he slept with last night smelled like pine soap and Spirit was, evidently, not about that.

Slowly, Stein sucked in a deep breath of his cigarette, letting it fill his lungs, holding the smoke in whilst glancing around the room. He didn't know how he kept getting stuck with Spirit, time and time again, when he decided to go on smoke breaks, but, he supposed, with little else to do in the world of the immortal, Spirit was just trying to waste time. Besides, Spirit was the only one who didn't make a comment regarding the ridiculous nature of Stein smoking. The nicotine couldn't exactly kill him, but it also had no other affect, either. All placebo, Stein supposed. But it was placebo that he had decided to commit himself to, and, damnit, that shouldn't mean that he had to be privy to Spirit's ridiculous floundering about.

Slowly, Stein turned to look at Spirit's face, blowing out a plume of smoke right into his face with a deadpan, and Spirit scowled at him through the gray, waving his hand around.

"Rude. At least buy me a drink first," Spirit joked, and Stein rolled his eyes, cracking his shoulders back as he dangled the cigarette in his mouth.

"Has anyone informed you of how hilarious you are?" Stein asked, and Spirit seemed to puff up.

"Not recent-"

"Good."

Spirit pouted, slouching down slightly as he ran a hand through his hair, trying to get it to look even more like he belonged on the cover of a cheap romance novel.

"You're a rude one."

"Obviously."

"Anyway, as I was saying, have you seen the newest addition?"

Stein yawned as he smoked, filling his lungs completely as though to prevent having to answer. But Spirit didn't let up, only looking at him expectantly as Stein dragoned the smoke, blowing it out through his nose.

"No," he finally relented, having finished the majority of his cigarette. "Should I have?"

"A bit. She's hard to miss."

"You'd notice anything with a pulse that you could engage in coitus with, Spirit. Any woman is difficult for you not to notice."

"As true as that is, she's-"

"'Got a hell of an ass to waist ratio', as usual?"

"Well, yeah, but I was gonna say that she's-"

"Hello hello!" a new voice rung out, and Stein lazily rolled his eyes over to the doorway where the former Lord Death stood. Though, the man still wore the traditional robes that indicated his rank, as well as the bone mask that hid his general features from the world. The only person who knew what was beneath that mask was Spirit, and despite the fact that the man was used to kissing and telling everyone in the general vicinity, regardless of their interest level, he had been particularly silent about their former lord.

Regardless, now, it was Stein who wore the scythe strapped to his back; Stein who was meant to wear the boney mask, complete with calcified spurs and bottomless eyes; Stein who surrounded himself in a black shroud of a cloak.

Temporarily, of course. It would appear that their former lord still needed more time to recover. And until that time came, Stein was responsible for all the newly dead souls that came into their realm.

"Mmm? Yes, Lord Death?" Stein asked, more thankful than anything that Shinigami interrupted Spirit when he did. Regardless of the trust that Stein had in the well-known horn ball, that didn't mean he was interested in whatever lewd comments he would have about the new goddess that showed up.

"There's an assignment for you," Death said, and the relief that spread through Stein was particularly visible when his shoulders relaxed and he looked over at Spirit once more.

"Oh. What a shame. I suppose I have to go," Stein deadpanned, and Spirit rolled his eyes at his friend, but there was something almost smug and expectant in his expression. As the self-dubbed Cupid of the immortal realm, Spirit only ever got that look when two or more people were about to tangle in any sort of romantic or sexual way.

"Yeah, I guess you do."

"Wipe the smirk off your face, would you?"

"Ah, I'm just proud is all," Spirit said, and the genuine happiness on his face showed as much, but Stein shook his head. If Spirit was proud that Stein was being sent on assignment, he certainly hadn't shown it before.

"You're rather late to be proud."

"Not exactly what I meant. I just didn't know you had it in you, is all."

"Spirit, what-"

"Stein. It's rather urgent," Lord Death insisted, and at the somber tone, Stein turned back once more, sparing only a single, confused glance in Spirit's direction before he did so.

"Of course," Stein remarked, not paying much attention when Spirit said "Good luck with her!", convinced his friend was just joking.

Stein shook his head before he dropped his cigarette to the floor, making his way to his former god, the black cloak he wore swirling around and ghosting over the floor as the two of them walked out of the room Stein had been standing in, filling it with smoke. As they passed the hallway of guillotines, Stein matched his footsteps with his former lord's, though how he did so, he wasn't entirely sure. Lord Death wore his black robes to the floor, making it look like he was almost floating over the ground. Stein, instead, had decided to leave the cloak open so that it billowed behind him.

After a moment of only Stein's footsteps making noise, Lord Death finally spoke up.

"There's been. . .ah, a situation."

"I presumed," Stein snarked, but Lord Death didn't seem to be cheered by the usually amusing dry humor Stein possessed.

"A serious situation. One I've allowed to go on for too long."

"Is that so?"

"Mmmm," Lord Death said, and Stein noticed that he had dropped his voice almost drastically. Seemingly, it was rather serious.

"What sort of situation is this?" Stein asked, noting that Lord Death took a left where he usually took a right. It would appear that they weren't going into the general briefing room, after all, but the Death Room.

"Have you heard of Medusa? The two of you haven't interacted so I don't much expect you have."

"Poisons? Of course."

"She's. . .well, she's been rogue for quite some time now."

At this, Stein looked up sharply, his eyes flashing in a bright glimpse of sickly green.

"Rogue?"

"Roaming the human realm. Undetected, of course."

"For how long?"

"A few decades now."

"You've allowed a rogue to wander that long without repercussion?"

Lord Death's aura grew at the remark, and his influence seemed to fill the entire hallway, growing choking and oppressive. Stein almost felt as though he couldn't breathe when Lord Death turned around and his voice was deadly.

"Careful, boy , I can just as easily take back my cloak and send you down to pit with all the other wandering souls."

Even as the chill ran through him, Stein couldn't help but think that Lord Death couldn't. Not in the state he was in. He never did reveal exactly what had drained him of so much power, but the older Gods and Goddesses had whispered about Lord Death having fragmented around the time that Stein had originally died.

Still, just in case Lord Death's threat proved true, Stein held his tongue. He had been to the pit, before. Now, he heralded souls there himself, but when he first died, all those years ago, he had experienced it, first hand. He would never forget how his soul had felt as though it had torn apart, lost all sense of self amongst the others, all his individuality and agency drained from him.

Stein held his tongue, only looking at Lord Death, unflinchingly, until the God turned back around and began walking once more.

"Your mission is to find Medusa, through any means necessary."

"Is there a theory as to where she is?"

"Somewhere in the human realm. I've managed to narrow it down to a continent, but beyond that, she's covered her trail particularly well."

"Is she wanted alive?"

"She's wanted dead," Lord Death said, his voice icy. "She's caused too much havoc. There's been a series of murders I believe she is the cause of."

"Is there any trail to follow?"

"Not beyond that. She's too damn smart for trails. She's been planning something and if it is as I fear, it could break the world open."

Stein stared at the back of Lord Death's head before he processed the information, rolling it over in his mind. "Understood."

"I'll provide you with a map and a means to contact me, though I'm unsure as to whether the connection will go through between the realms. Medusa has. . .skewed the frequency, somehow."

"Tezca can't get through?" Stein asked, mildly surprised.

"He's been attempting. Regardless, you should have everything you need in the shelter I've secured for you. Surely, you remember from your days alive how society worked? Not much has changed."

"Is that so?" Stein asked, his head almost reeling from the idea of going back to walk amongst humans. It had been too long. Time moved differently when one was immortal. He hadn't the faintest idea what year it was, or what had happened. He wondered who the King was, now. Back in his lifetime, it had been Henry something or other.

"It'll take some adjusting, but I trust you can handle it."

"Naturally."

"Good. The shelter we've secured for you has enough monetary means for sustaining you for a long while. As much as I hope this assignment will be swift, I won't underestimate Medusa. And you shouldn't, either. She's a cunning woman. And ruthless."

"I'm aware."

"Excellent. Which is why you'll be working with Marie."

And at that, Stein's head whipped up once more, the two of them finally reaching the Death Room, and one of the side walls had been transformed into a rippling mirror, the bone throne standing proud and large at the front of the room. But Stein couldn't even appreciate that, all things considered. To start, the name didn't ring any bells. He had never met a god or goddess called "Marie", but even if he did, it wouldn't make any difference. It wasn't the who but the why that bothered him; the idea of working with any other creature rubbed him the wrong way. He must have resembled a cat rubbed in the wrong direction.

"A partner?"

"Medusa is dangerous, Stein, as you just admitted. You may not know it, but when she left, she was as strong as I was. There's no telling what has happened to her power now that she has been free. And you aren't at your full ability, either. You still haven't mastered all your abilities."

Stein bristled. "You let a rogue wander for this long. If she's built up strength, it is because she's been allowed to."

Lord Death looked taken aback by such a comment, by the impunity, and the skull of his face darkened once more, the features sharpening. "I am not letting her wander now, am I?"

Stein opened his mouth for a rebuttal, sour at the idea of having to work with a random god or goddess for what he determined was a simple assignment. Find and punish a random goddess who had gone off the grid: how difficult could it be? Especially when he was at full power and itching for something to do. Lord Death was correct when he claimed that Stein had yet to master all his abilities, but he had mastered most of them, and though he was a fledgling, he was dialed up to eleven. Just as he was about to tell Lord Death such, he turned away from him.

"Ah, that should be Marie, now," Lord Death commented, sounding almost smug as he turned to look at the doorway of guillotines that he and Stein had just entered through, and Stein huffed, his breath aimed upward so some of his hair came out of his eyes. The muttered "splendid" did nothing to ease his mood, and he kept his eyes rolled high.

He was already terrible at meeting new people. He really shouldn't be forced to meet them when he was already irritable. He wasn't one for looking at other side of things when he was in such a state.

The soft clicks were the first thing he heard, a gentle clacking over the floors, and it made him look forward. He supposed if he was going to be working with this Marie, he should at least know what they looked like.

It was jarring to see her. His silver brows went up in surprise.

He was death. Or, at least, temporarily. He was taking over the job of reaping souls. He sat upon a throne of bones whilst clad in all black, having been referred to as a shadow. It was all a tad melodramatic, but Lord Death was certainly one for theatrics, so Stein had little to do with it all. Hell, he carried around a massive scythe nearly as large as he was, which was saying something considering he was nearly seven feet tall. He was the closest thing one could ever find that resembled the darkness.

He was Death with a capital D and he was being paired with. . .mother nature?

The woman walking toward him couldn't have been more than five feet. In fact, he suspects without her heels, on which she was teetering with a slight wobble, she wouldn't even hit that tall. The flowers atop her head, looping petals of every shade certainly added nothing to make her menacing.

She was a walking sunflower, really. Her hair was the color of sunlight as she walked forward, each step producing a new bloom in her wake, and the strands looped over her warm shoulders. With every movement, the vines twined about her ankles and calves seemed to twist about, lending her footsteps a soft, liquid quality.

The truly eyecatching feature, pardon the pun, was the bright, beautiful bloom sprouting from what would usually be her left eye. Her right, the color of caramel, seemed to glow in the slight gloom of the Death Room, but her left was bright with vines extending out of it to twine with the flowers atop her head.

He didn't know if his mouth had popped open, or if he was simply staring, dumbfounded, but her grin seemed to widen as she finally made her way in front of him, her dress seeming to move even when she was standing still.

"Franken Stein, yes?" she asked, and her voice rung out like a sweet bell, a sigh of tenderness. "I'm Marie. Marie Mjolnir."

When Stein took the moment to look over at Death, he couldn't help but note that the God looked just a tad smug.

"I'm working with a plant?" Stein managed to wheeze out, his brows meeting in the middle. He had the distinct need to throw his hood over his head and bury his face in his collar when he heard a huff.

Lord Death, for his part, simply laughed. "Marie may not look like much, Stein, but she's not one you'd want to get angry," he warned, and Stein looked down at the woman to see her mouth scrunched over to the side, her fist already curling up.

"Ah, ah, Marie. I'm sorry for him. Born human, you know."

"He's had a few hundred years to learn manners," Marie sniffed, looking up at him. "If we're working together, I'd rather appreciate to be taken seriously."

"Yes. Yeah. Of course," Stein said, looking her over. When his eyes lingered a moment too long over her thigh, where her dress was brought high in a slit, the fabric of her skirt seemed to knit together, covering more of her skin.

"My eye is up here, buddy," she said, and Stein almost winced as he adjusted his gaze accordingly. Lord Death had laughter in his voice.

"It's good to see the two of you will get along," he said, and Stein grit his teeth.

"Mmmm," he hummed out, and Marie looked him over critically.

"You're the temporary God of Death, yes?"

"Mmm."

"Then let's start again. I'm Marie Mjolnir, Goddess overlooking the Natural World."

"There are few that know nature as well as Marie does, Stein. Medusa has likely created many a poison utilizing native human plantlife as well as whatever she'd managed to take from our realm, as well. Marie will be able to help identify potions and the like," Lord Death filled in.

"And her combat experience? Or is she simply going to be the bloodhound looking for Medusa's trail?"

Marie's eye flashed at that and the vines around her coiled tightly, looking tense and ready to strike.

"If you think plants can't be deadly, you haven't met a Venus Flytrap," she remarked frankly, and Stein locked his gaze with her.

"So you can fight?"

"Probably better than you can," she said smugly, her lips tipping up at the corners. Before Stein could snark back at her, Lord Death stepped back.

"Ah, the two of you can get to know each other when you get to the shelter provided for you in the human world," he said, and there was some kind of implication in it that made Stein want to protest. "But time is ticking, and I'd prefer Medusa's soul on a platter sooner rather than later. Are we understood?"

"Yes," Marie said, coiling her vines close to her once more, and Stein couldn't help but note that the plants moved with a liquid sort of grace that Marie lacked.

"Stein?" Lord Death asked, as though looking for clarity.

"We will find and incapacitate the rogue Goddess Medusa, Lord Death."

"Excellent," he responded, stepping to the side and Stein watched as the mirror rippled more than before. "Then the two of you may enter. Remember, however, there is no return until Medusa is caught. Tezca can only open such a large portal a few times, and I'd rather not burn him out."

"Understood," Marie nodded, adjusting the small pack that was tied around her waist, reaching in and pulling out what looked like a piece of cloth on elastic from the small purse resting against her hips. Stein looked at her in confusion, but Lord Death was the one who answered him.

"Marie is in possession of the map and the locations and keys to the shelter. As her eye and your screw are particularly prominent, it is important that you hide yourselves properly. I have faith the two of you will be prompt," Lord Death remarked, and this time, it was clear that it was the last say.

Stein only nodded, and Marie, after having put on what Stein could now identify as an eyepatch, did the same, resting her hand against the pack on her side.

"Oh," Lord Death added, just as the two of them were walking forward, each of them with one step already passing through the mirror. "Stein, remember when I said not much has changed? Aaah, I might have stretched the truth a bit. You may find the human realm a tad more. . .different than I'd previously suggested. But you'll certainly adjust."

But before Stein could ask any further questions, he could feel the mirror tugging at him, desperate to close the overwhelming gateway, and as it sucked him in, Stein couldn't help but wonder exactly what he was getting himself into.

New York, New York, 2005

If there was anything Stein had learned in the past ten minutes, it was that entering the human realm was equally as pleasant as leaving it. Arguably more so. While dying had just been a final, silent breath into the smoggy air, the darkness enclosing around him, being brought back to the human world had been a huge jumble, the portal materializing against a hard wall, landing both him and Marie on a disgusting looking floor that was not made of dirt or anything Stein had seen before, when he was last alive.

He and Marie had fallen into an undignified heap on what looked like liquefied rock, hardened and grimy and all too warm. Marie, despite her small stature, was heavier than she looked, and she'd fallen atop him with a small 'oof' at an awkward angle.

In other words, reentering the human realm was less than pleasant.

And, if there was anything else he had learned about the human world, it was that everything had changed.

Everything.

'Tad more different', Lord Death had said. Bullshit. After having dusted himself off and both he and Marie getting to their feet, the map being pulled out so they had some semblance of where they were going, Stein left the small, dark hallway he'd been thrown into and entered into a completely different universe.

The architecture was huge, for one. Larger than even the largest castle he had ever seen, and far more ominous looking. There were clear panes, as though the entire place was made of windows, and he didn't know whether to walk close to the buildings or stand as far away from it as possible.

The worst of it was the accelerated horseless carriages, the box-like machines making loud, angry noise. One of the occupiers of said horseless carriages had leaned out of the contraption to yell at him and Marie barely twenty seconds of them leaving the alleyway. Something about 'freaks from comic con! watch where you're going!'

If he had any semblance of what the hell had been said to him, perhaps he would have done more than stare, dumbfounded, for a few moments before he had to pull himself together and walk side by side with the miniature woman he was meant to work with.

Lord, those massive, looming buildings were ridiculous. He worried that would topple and fall onto him at a moment's notice. They were intimidating glass spires that trailed up into the sky where the sun and clouds seemed to laugh at him.

Or, that could have just been the other people in the street.

He couldn't help but feel that he and Marie were a tad. . .different from the other civilians. Perhaps because they weren't dressed like them, the two of them trying to analyze the ridiculous map that Lord Death had gifted them.

Everything was overwhelming.

Marie seemed to huddle closer to him as they made their way, and he looked up from the convoluted map that Lord Death had supplied them with, outfitted with a few rather unhelpful "clues" as to where Medusa could have been as well as instructions to get to their shelter.

Clues, Lord Death called them.

Ridiculous, oversized stickers of his face, more like it, sporadically placed over various parts of the map. Lord Death had prepared them for a grand total of nothing in the mortal realm, and he couldn't even blame Marie her wariness, considering everything around her was giant. And unfamiliar. She may be Goddess of Nature, but there was nothing natural about the human world, now.

For a moment, he couldn't help but remember the snippets of memory he had allowed himself to hold onto, from back when he was human. His mother, singing in the small, dirt-packed hut that they'd lived in as she cooked what he had managed to gather that day. His younger sister sweeping the dusty floors, rubbing the back of her hand over her cheek and leaving a smear over her skin. He remembered the fields he used to chase after rabbits in and the filthy markets.

It was still filthy in the human realm, now, though he had little idea what else was similar. Seemingly, nothing. And for the barest sliver of time, he almost mourned the time he had lost, the time he had spent disconnected from almost everything.

But he didn't have much time for that, since he heard Marie gasp and instantly snapped himself out of his stupor. Now was not the time for having his head in the damn clouds. There was a dangerous rogue on the loose and he was walking beside a Goddess he had little clue about. He felt her leaving his side and turned to look at her, his hands reaching out, ready to summon his scythe.

But there was no reason. Despite the fact that her singular eye was massively wide, the flower in her other socket likely twisting angrily beneath the eyepatch she'd been outfitted with, she was looking into one of the buildings, where there wasn't much, if any activity at all. Both her palms had flattened over the glass of the shop and she was looking into the building through the window, her lip wobbling.

Hesitantly, he took a step forward, trying to determine why she was so upset.

". . .Marie-"

"How could they!? This is murder, Stein! Murder! The human realm is barbaric," she said, her voice slightly too loud, and he cringed when the people around them looked over at them. It was bad enough that he was in a massive cloak, the hood pulled up to hide his silver hair, and that Marie's dress was moving like it was alive, now she had to go and make a scene.

He swiftly made his way toward her, looking into the building with keen, glowing eyes.

Yet, all he spotted was a plethora of plants in pots, sitting on the desk and before the window display.

"They don't even water them!" Marie said, her face darkening, and he spotted the way her fist clenched a moment before she reared back as though ready to smash the glass.

His gloved hand whipped out lightning fast, barely even visible to a mortal eye, before he grasped her wrist with a gloved hand clamped in a death grip. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed out, looking around at the wide eyes and surprised faces of the pedestrians around them. Even if he didn't know the extent of Marie's power, he knew she was a Goddess. None of them were lightweights. No human structure could withstand their wrath. "You can't go smashing buildings here."

She turned to look at him, her mouth scrunched to the side and her eye ablaze. "I can't let them suffer in there!"

"You're going to have to. We're here for a different purpose, or don't you recall?" he asked, and though it wasn't worded in a scathing way, his voice had become harsh and cold, as icy as tundra when he spoke to her. Marie seemed to wilt beneath his frigid demeanor and immediately yanked her wrist from his grasp, looking hurt for the barest of moments before she hid it. The flowers atop her head seemed to droop slightly before they turned away from him.

"Well, what do you have in mind, huh? We've been wandering for an hour now in this weird world," she muttered out, turning away from the shop and him both, her arms crossing before her chest. He felt like reaching up and pinching his nose but refrained.

"We need to fit in. No one has answered our question for directions, and if we draw more attention to ourselves in this manner, we're going to alert Medusa. She has an advantage in this world."

Marie looked over her shoulder at him, her eye still upset before she let her arms drop.

"And how do you propose we do that?"

He looked around at the people on the streets, and they glanced to the side immediately, the usual sign that they had been watching the scene Marie and he had created. Yet, as he looked at them, then to Marie, and then to a woman off to the side, he presumed the fastest way to hide themselves would be to dress like the common folk.

When in Rome, he supposed.

He watched as a woman walked into a small shop with plastic women in the display without anyone around her batting an eye.

Yes, that would have to do.

Though he didn't grab Marie this time, he quickly made his way toward the shop, crossing the street where the strange, horseless carriages were. A few made goose-like honking sounds at him, confusing him, but he supposed that once he was in proper clothing for the world, they would honk far less.

After a moment, he could feel Marie following after him.

Grudgingly.