"And the rumor of this new presence having spread itself whisperingly around, there arose at length from the whole company a buzz, or murmur, expressive of disapprobation and surprise -then, finally, of terror, of horror, and of disgust… And now was acknowledged the presence of the Red Death. He had come like a thief in the night. And one by one dropped the revelers in the blood-bedewed halls of their revel, and died each in the despairing posture of his fall… And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all."

Gajeel strode through the quiet streets of the parish. As he cast his eyes about, he noticed all the doors locked and the windows shuttered. Not a soul was about during these dark morning hours, so close to the witching hours that the superstitious townsfolk were still apprehensive of. Sometimes he had to scoff at the strange delusions that humans would create about the world around them, although, he was finding more and more of them to be accurate.

Before he didn't believe angels could exist, much less a tiny man dressed in green that would randomly pop up to check in on him over the past couple of days. He never had anything particular to offer besides that fatherly look of his and obscure words of wisdom that Gajeel had no intentions of utilizing any time soon. Sometimes he would wonder if he was being punished for something, since why else would fate drop so many annoyances in his life?

As it had turned out, Natsu spent much more time around now that Lucy could see Levy and he. He hadn't the slightest idea why, but for some reason having a audience he could now openly recognize had made the strange pink-haired boy much more friendly, a fact that grated on Gajeel's nerves to an endless extent. Oh, and come to find out, he was friends with Grey, of course, which meant now that he was hanging around along with Juvia.

He looked up to the heavens, a silent and peaceful reprieve from the rather hectic turn his afterlife had taken recently.

Despite everything, he wasn't sure if he'd change a single thing. He preferred his solitude, true, but this all started because of Levy, and he wouldn't change their meeting for anything in the world. He'd grown strangely fond of her over their time knowing one another. Whenever he thought of her, his heart always skipped a few paces and warmth flushed through him as if the light that followed her wherever she went also came alight with his thoughts of her as well. His thoughts were slowly becoming consumed by her and he couldn't stop it even if he wanted to. Even now, walking down the darkened streets, he could picture those golden-brown eyes, full of smiles and stars as they gazed on him…

He stopped short in his tracks as a chill wrapped itself around him. His brow furrowed as his eyes focused around him. A thin mist had settled itself through the street, pooling around the small houses and reaching its icy fingers up his cloak. He brought his hand through the wafting fog, feeling the supernatural cold as it cut into his fingers and he brought his hand back abruptly.

Gajeel didn't know much when it came to the world around him, but he knew that for all intents and purposes, he was dead. He had no physical form. All he was was a soul with a purpose bestowed upon him when he was judged. Because he was a soul with no physical body, that meant he didn't feel the cold or heat. Wind passed through him even though it would toss his cape too and fro. This feeling, though, the feeling of cold he recognized instinctively despite the half of eternity he had spent without such contact. Cold, foreign and yet familiar, seeping into his flesh to lick his bones as he stood in the night.

Narrowing his eyes, he looked into the depths of the swirling fog, as unnatural for this time of year as snow. Despite the nagging sensation in the back of his mind to leave, he walked into the density, casting his keen eyes through it as best as he could. Then a noise, so faint at first but steadily growing stronger, had him stopping once again. An aged creaking noise, the gentle groanings of a contraption far past its limit of use, came from the source of the unnatural fog, along with the tired sound of hooves hitting the cobblestone.

Gajeel tightened his grip on his staff as a dark figure appeared in the growing white. As they approached, he could make out the silhouette of a cart though no horses pulled the front despite the sounds of hooves and tired huffs. He can up beside Gajeel, his cart stopping just a few feet away from him. His clothes were dark grey and tattered and a wide-brimmed hat pulled down over his face so Gajeel couldn't make out his features. White hair tumbled over his shoulders and pooled around him on his perch. With subtle alarm, Gajeel noticed that the specter carried a scythe in one hand while the other gripped a lantern that exuded an eerie light blue light with no fire or source.

"Hello, Reaper,"

Gajeel felt his blood run cold at the voice. Seemingly disincarnate from the figure before him, it was raspy and low, drawing out his words as if it took an effort to speak them.

"Gentle night, is it not?"

"Aye," Gajeel regarded the man warily. Something didn't feel right.

"Tell me, Reaper, how do the stars fare?"

"The… stars?"

"Yes," he stated slowly, lifting his head and turning it towards Gajeel's direction. He took a decaying hand and pushed gently back the brim of his hat, revealing to Gajeel his face. Gajeel recoiled at the sight that offered itself to him then as two rotting, maggot infested sockets met him instead of eyes. The flesh of his face was decaying and dry; pulled tight against his skull but so decrepit around his jaw that Gajeel could see the bone and his rows of bottom teeth. It was then that the stench of rotting flesh hit him with full force and made bile rise into his throat.

"I'm sure they are as majestic as you'd remember," Gajeel forced out through his teeth, his mind working quickly. If this man was blind, how could he tell of Gajeel's presence? He had been standing still when the carriage rider had come upon him, which meant no footsteps that would give away his company. And furthermore, what was this creature? He'd never seen a reaper of the like, not to mention this was within Gajeel's reign. Jose wouldn't have added another reaper without first notifying him. And yet he carried with him a scythe, which would lend to an extremely powerful reaper, especially if it was kept in its manifested form.

"That is good," he voice was like the mist, cascading past him in wisps like wind.

"I've never met one such as yourself before," Gajeel said deliberately, studying the decomposing face before him, "May I ask your name?"

"Death has stripped me of my name," he droned, and Gajeel felt the creeping suspicion that his eyes weren't as blind as he had originally thought as he stared at the maggots that were writhing in his sockets, "I am just a simple servant to his deeds, much like yourself, though I am borne of something much different."

He pulled back down the brim of his hat and turned forward, as if he were to disembark.

"Tell me, Reaper, what to you is the life of a mortal?"

Gajeel stayed in shocked silence for a moment before answering, "It matters not to me whether a mortal lives or dies. So long as their time on earth is up, I will bring them to the gate,"

"Humans are such reckless creatures. They slave under each other's names and fight fruitless wars. How their race has survived is a phenomenon to me. I wonder if their darkness is too much for even themselves to quench,"

Gajeel heard the nervous stamping of hooves and the cart began to roll lazily forward once again.

"We are not so different, you and I, Reaper," he crooned, turning his head almost completely around to meet Gajeel's gaze one last time, "We both see human life as a frivolous venture,"

Before Gajeel could reply, there was a rush of wind and cold, biting into him harshly so that he pulled his cape about himself to stave of the incorporeal chill. When he opened his eyes once again and turned his head to face the specter, he was gone, leaving Gajeel with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Without hesitation, he headed for the Heartfilia mansion. If anyone would know about human legends or otherworldly things, it would be a certain bluenette who spent almost all of her time in a library. But as he travelled swiftly through the now ominous darkness of the streets, he couldn't help the feeling that something strange was underway.