A/N: HELLO GUYS! I would have reviewed and posted this chapter sooner, but during work I had this pain splitting headache, which, I guess, means I haven't gotten over… whatever it is I'm sick with.

Great.

I'm not sure if it's because of the seasons changing… or something else. I think it's something else, but it's driving me crazy! Well, it's about time, if I'm going to be honest. Everyone at my work has gotten sick with something. I'm just surprised it took me so long, but it sucks. I wasn't going to post this next chapter, but… meh. I'm feeling a bit better. So I'll at least do that. I don't know if I'll post another chapter after this, or just wait until the pain goes away. We'll see.

And~… here's a few more reaper OCs. Once again, if there's some specific ones you want to see again, don't be afraid to ask! Cause I probably won't reintroduce all of them… most of them, maybe, but not all. But that won't be for quite a while.

Anyways… I'm starting to feel like crap, again, so I'll stop this here. THANK YOU for reading over my story, and ENJOY the rest of your week!

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

You chuckled as you played with the reaper kids, waiting for Rosie to come back. Sadly, this place barely has anything fun to do except a few deteriorating old toys and a few bookshelves, which weren't exactly spilling over with books or anything, but right now you were sitting in one of the bedrooms, children's book in hand. "And… the evil~ step mother danced on hot coals until she burned to death, and our little Snow White and her dashing prince lived happily ever after," you smiled, closing the book with a sigh, and letting Uriel scoot the book off of his lap as he shoved it onto the mattress. "The end."

"Not as fun as Disney's Snow White," one of the children commented, as another snorted in response.

"Disney? What strange magic is that?"

"He makes films! From fairy tales, but they're tame compared to whatever that story was," another child of yours explained, but as they began to argue, again, you sighed, letting Uriel grip the upper collar to your shirt as you stood to your feet, picking up the book as you made your way to the bookshelf.

"No need to fight. And children, remember that the ones who belong in this time period have no idea what you're talking about. Explain the new inventions that came out, in the 20th century and beyond. That way, they can understand at least half of the words you're saying."

"Ms. Lara," one of the girls called out to you, tugging on the side of your pants until you turned to acknowledge her. "Are you… not staying with us?" she asked in a curious, but nervous tone, and you smiled lightly as you knelt down briefly, patting the top of her jet black locks of hair. "That Mrs. Stewart is a very mean lady. S-she hates us kids."

"Hate is a strong word, Charlotte," you began, kissing the top of Uriel's forehead before gently placing him into a baby's crib, before turning your attention back to her, "but yes. I will eventually leave –"

"But why?" David responded with a scoff leaving his breath, his foot stomping the ground slightly before he continued. "We like you here. You're nice. Mrs. Stewart is not nice. She starves us if we're being 'bad children', and her rules are extreme!"

"… Come over here," you told the children, kneeling down onto one knee as they all walked over to you, some a bit quicker then others, and you sighed as you corralled them over, your hands patting the top of Charlotte's worried head while your other hand was on David's shoulder. "If you children haven't noticed, I'm not exactly a reaper. I'm not the dead, and at the end of the day, until my time amongst the living is over, I'm not supposed to be living here.

"Time works differently here, amongst you reapers. The longer I stay, the more time passes among the humans, and before I know it, a week or two weeks may pass… Ms. Rosie told me I can go back home," you explained, turning your attention to David, "and I know you're mad and frustrated, but understand that I cannot stay here forever. I only let the reapers whisk me away because there was a war, and David, is there one right now? At this very moment?"

"Ah… n-no," he mumbled, shyly, and you smirked, patting the side of his face, before you tugged on Charlotte's dress, fixing it so it was straight, before you stood to your feet and sighed lightly to yourself. "… B-but Ms. Lara. What if something terrible comes? Ms. Rosie is nice, but she's not the best fighter. You are."

"Thank you for saying that David," you responded with a light smile, patting his head before you crossed your arms and sighed once more to yourself. "… In that case, we're going to have to fix that," you began, calmly shifting into your pockets as you fished out a small blue item, and you knelt back down, to David, and gestured for him to hold out his hand, which he does. "… Do you remember how the older ones used to call me? When danger came knocking at the realm? When the demons started to attack. This, David, may look like a simple smooth blue stone, but I've infused it with my energy. If you squeeze this stone tightly and think about me coming here, and the dangers you're facing, I'll be here at a moment's notice to come and help you," you told him, placing the stone into his hands, and you closed his fingers around the stone, giving him a grin at the nervous look on his face. "I entrust this to you."

"M-ms. Clara… I-I don't think –"

"David, don't you say you're the responsible one out of the bunch?" you snorted, though your snarky smirk gave away your amusement over his uncertainty. "Besides, by now I would hope you know the difference between a dangerous situation, where you children can die, and just being angry or annoyed by someone. Do not call me unless it's a life and death emergency… okay? If one of you kids are in danger of death or even Ms. Rosie, come call me and I'll show up… Can you promise that you'll do that, David?"

"Ah… y-yeah. Yes'um," he nodded, though you could see the hesitance upon his face.

Still, you smiled, rustling up his scruffy hair, before you sighed and slowly stood back to your feet. "Anyone of you can use the stone, in fact, but remember, I am living a mortal life, now. If I jump between the realms too often I'll start to lose who I am as a human.

"Again," you finished with a slight snort, but your head turned to notice Rosie was walking in, two kids right behind her as she gave you a meek smile.

"Sorry it took me so long. The orphanage caretaker, Mrs. Stewart, stopped me in the hallway."

"See? She's mean!" David stated, bluntly, but as he noticed the stern look you were giving him, he quickly closed his mouth and looked away, pouting in response. "… S-she's not as nice as you, Ms. Lara."

"Everyone is different, David. Some people are nice, and others are not. At least you know how this woman is, now, and can determine your actions based on her own," you explained as reasonably as you could, but you accepted the plastic bluish item into your hands, sighing contently that you finally had an inhaler again. "Thanks."

"Come back in about a week's time, and we should have some new medicine made for you. In the meantime, if something happens you can use this inhaler, but the expiration is rather close."

"Yeah. I figured," you chuckled nervously, before sighing to yourself. "… Thank you, Rosie. Seriously. For everything."

"N-no problem, but it must have been a few hours, now. I'll help you back –"

"No, no. I can get back to the humans on my own… Just… it may be a while before I'll see you again," you smiled meekly, pocketing the inhaler into your coat before you turned back to her and sighed deeply to yourself. "You take care, and please tell the others I'm not actually dead."

"Don't worry. I'll tell everyone. I'll walk you to the door," she told you with a smile, before telling the kids to wait for dinner before she grasped your arm, and began to tug you along into the hallway as you waved goodbye to the children.

You sighed, relieved. Your worries melted away like snow on a hot sunny day, the moment you saw the children. Saw the spunky David and little baby Uriel. All the children that you were worrying about… well, most of them, sadly not all, but at least they're here. Alive and well.

But you needed to give them a way to call you. You sensed demons, and they always target the orphans. Always. The abandoned. Abused and forgotten. You don't want to leave them, but… it seems to you that the reapers should be able to handle themselves.

You hope.

! #$%^&*())(*&^%$# !

"Who are you?" a wrinkly, round old lady scoffed in disgust as she brushed her dirty hands onto her dirty apron, her shinigami eyes staring into your light green gaze, while the two of you were having a staring contest.

It took all of your energy not to lash out at this ungrateful woman. After all, at least she has a job that's worthwhile, but you've only met her for less then five minutes, and already you want to wring her little neck. "The name is Clara."

"Well, Clara, we have rules here, and no unwanted visitors allowed. We already have enough of you… weird folk showing up, as of late," she scoffed, glaring at Rosie in particular, but before she could do anymore harm, you stood in front of the woman, in defense, as you matched her glare with one of your own. "Trying to change the natural order of things, and such. Our association is at the top of their class! And you little ingrates want to ruin everything our great council has built up. Now, Ms. Clara, are you one of these… newcomers? What? Were you sent to spy on me?" she scoffed, but before you could unleash your rage you heard Rosie whispering into your ear, gripping your upper arm to stop you from physically assaulting the woman.

"Remember, we need to play nice," she told you, indicating you can't just kill her… or at least beat her up. Whatever.

You sighed, giving her a light nod, but you were a bit too irked to actually give her a reassuring smile. "This is rich," you began with a disgusted smirk, "coming from a woman who mistreats the future of the reaper association in such a pitiful way. You spank them, make them starve, and live in their own filth for weeks on end? Not even bothering to make them wash their own clothes, but let me guess~, that'd be wasting water, now wouldn't it?"

"You don't understand!" she began in a weepy tone of voice that was enough to make you gag in disgust. "The higher ups do not provide me with enough money to help these poor souls. How am I supposed to take care of this many reapers without the proper money to spend on them? –"

"Oh, sure~ that's your excuse, but from my understanding you are given, at the very least, two hundred pounds per child, and three hundred for the infants," you spoke, or rather spat, and the fact that you knew that particular piece of information was enough to make the woman stop, and instead stare at you as you continued. "The real question is, where does that money go? The building is in shambles, but even if you have just enough to provide for the children, I hear you buy the worst sorts of garbage in order to feed them. Maybe they get three square meals, if they're lucky, but no seconds. And, no new clothes. You were given at least a thousand extra to help with the newcomers. Where is all that money?" you finished with a hiss, feeling Rosie's hand gripping your arm tightly.

But you didn't care. You're mad.

"… Exactly. You're not woman enough to tell me the truth. Typical," you stated bluntly, and she scoffed.

"What do you know?! You're just a child! Pah, me, I've had to deal with these ingrates for centuries! And these ungrateful worms never thank me –"

"Because you're a horrible caretaker, and a worse mother. You give them no amount of kindness, and don't even know their names, I bet. Who's that child? What's his name?" you asked, pointing to the open door as a few children popped their heads through, overhearing the conversation and becoming curious to see what was happening. "… Well? Speak."

"T-that's… Donny –"

"David," you scoffed in disgust, glancing over to point to a girl, who shied away once she noticed she was being targeted. "And that one? The girl with the curly brown hair. What's her name?"

"A-ah… Anne."

"No, it's Annabella, and she goes by Belle for short," you huffed in disgust, "and I only just met that beautiful little creature a couple of hours ago. She's not someone I know, yet I know her name. In my humble opinion, you have no right to be raising the next generation of reapers, let alone have any children of your own. If you did, they'd end up as delusional and abusive as you are," you scoffed, but you calmly waited for the woman to respond.

Or rather, lash out.

"How dare you! You know nothing, you brat! In fact, who even are you?" she scoffed, but you simply smirked as you stood a tad bit straighter, and you felt Rosie's hand leaving your arm as you stood in a matter fitting for a prideful noble.

If you had any pride for being a noble, which you doubt you'd ever have. Ever.

"My name is Clara, also known to my friends as Lara. You, you spit, may call me the Phantom," you spoke bluntly, waiting for her to respond.

And all she could do is laugh.

"What? What sort of name is that? You're not part of the Dispatch! No woman can be part of their ranks, anymore –"

"Fine. Then I'm a rogue. How about that?" you smirked in such a manner that looked more like a predatory hyena then an actual human smile. Nothing like you usually do, but you're holding back the urge to punch her in her little face. But before you could think about summoning your reaper energy and show~ her what you really are, a voice broke whatever tension that was in the air.

A male voice.

"What is this~? My little assistant showing a crabby old lady whose boss~~?" the man snickered into his long black sleeves, and you noticed the children were whimpering, moving behind the doors, except for David and two others because, well, they're either too stubborn, too curious, or brave to care.

"What are you doing here?" you scoffed in disgust and began to growl in annoyance as he wrapped his arms around you, suddenly pulling you into a hug against his chest. "H-hey!"

"What am I to think? When my little assistant has been gone for two solid days, now. You had me worried," he sighed, running his hand through your head and brushing through your locks as if you're some irritable puppy.

Or kitten.

And you cursed yourself for letting out an irritated hiss in response. "Hey, hey! Off!" you scoffed, shoving him once, then twice, until he finally let you go, and you took a couple of steps away as you glared up into his covered face with a growl leaving the corners of your breath. "You kept insisting on avoiding the issue, and I just got fed up with unknowing. If you had just told me that you could get the information about the children or not, then I wouldn't have left. Besides," you continued, crossing your arms over your chest and huffing, "I wasn't planning on being gone for very long."

"That's right… sir," Rosie continued, for you, and the two of you glanced over to her, while Mrs. Stewart snorted underneath her breath at how soft and sweet the younger woman's voice actually was. Not just to superiors, but just about to anyone… except her, these days. "It's my fault. I would have sent her home, but we had to… talk," she chuckled nervously to herself, before continuing. "My name is Rosie. Are you that mortician she's working with in the human world?"

"Indeed I am," he grinned, and you wonder if it's because it's Rosie who's asking or if he was expecting a different reaction, entirely. "You may call me Undertaker~."

"I thought it was the Undertaker," you smirked slyly, only to be playfully nudged by the man's elbow, and you couldn't stop yourself from snickering.

"Whichever works. We are in London, if you wish to visit. Are you one of her little friends from the future?"

"Yes sir –"

"I see," he responded, causing your eyes to roll as you grabbed his arm and nudged him in response.

But before you could say something, Rosie spoke instead. "I'm glad you decided to take our Lara in. She tends to get bored easily, but the only thing that keeps her around is the dead."

"Not all the time," you scoffed, but she shrugged her shoulders in response before returning her gaze to the much taller man.

"She enjoyed her job as a grave keeper, you see, and she was planning on going to college for forensic investigations, but sadly that never happened… I still feel bad for dragging you away from that life you had always wanted, Lara."

"Hey, hey. Don't get all weepy on me," you responded with a nervous chuckle, before rubbing the back of your neck. "Besides, considering everything that was happening, I would have been roped into the conflict, regardless if I avoided it or not. It's the end of everything. And you either give up and roll up into the fetal position, hoping it all blows over, or do something about it. And when have I never~ done anything?" you grinned, but she scoffed in response.

"You're stubborn. That's all."

"Indeed," you grinned a bit wider, before turning your attention back to the Undertaker, and letting out a sigh, "and you, I would have been back soon. I was just about to leave, but I got stopped by –"

"Yes. I noticed. Mrs. Stewart, is it? Or was it Mrs. Tanner?" you noticed Undertaker smirking at the woman, though he didn't seem kind about it, and you thought maybe his glaring through his bangs was enough to frighten the woman.

Apparently, you were horribly mistaken.

"Ah! I see it now! You're the Legendary Death, aren't you?" she gasped in an excited fashion, but you just gave Rosie a confused look, which she returned. "Where~ did you go? We were so worried about you," she spoke, but your eyes narrowed at the way she was obviously swaying her hips, smiling a sweet smile you've seen on multiple women, for different reasons.

It took all of your energy not to growl, but instead you sighed, deeply in frustration, and her sharp eyes turned back to you as she scoffed. "How dare you act so casual with the Great Death? –"

"Great Death? Legend? If he's legend, shouldn't he be dead? No offence," you stated bluntly, and he chuckled in response.

"None taken, child –"

"And even the legends are grim reapers. There's nothing that sets them apart from anyone else –"

"Says a stupid child like yourself! You know nothing about reapers," she scoffed, putting her hand upon her chest. "I~~ do. You're an infant compared to me –"

"Yes. I am. Which is a shame, considering I know a lot more about the association then you apparently do. Blind loyalty leads to a foolish downfall," you stated bluntly, scoffing before turning a grin over to Rosie. "Am I right, or what?"

"Most certainly," Rosie responded with her own smirk, before sighing and continuing, "but a Legendary Death. Isn't there a few of them? And all legends died off by the 20th century."

"And why's that, my dear?" you heard Undertaker ask in a curious, but also pondering tone of voice, and she shrugged in response.

"A war we're not supposed to talk about… right, Lara?"

"… Let's just say certain things happened before the end of the world. Sure, humans are to blame, but us supernatural entities didn't help the process. Reapers got too… full of themselves. I'll say it that way," you began to explain, glaring over at Mrs. Stewart before continuing with a sigh. "There was a lot of deaths. Too many souls to reap, and not enough reapers to do so. No, that wasn't the problem. There were enough. Death made it so, but they were not trained properly. Slow and sloppy. They lacked training against other supernatural entities. Sure, disgust, but nothing to combat the actual threats.

"So, when demons and devils poured out of the underworld and onto the earth, easily gobbling up human and reaper souls alike, the situation became dire. And it just became worse and worse… but I won't go into the details," you decided to say, causing Rosie to pout.

"The entire reason why reaper children like ourselves were created," she responded, and you gave her a curious look as she continued, her eyes glaring over at the orphanage caretaker. "The reaper children were too weak and feeble to get the job done. They were slaughtered like calves in a slaughterhouse, fattened and then chopped up. The council became sooo~ desperate that they sent out a few selected reapers to… impregnate human women."

"They hoped it'd be enough, but of course, it wasn't. What they wanted was –"

"A child that could embody Death itself," Undertaker frowned at that knowledge, and you gave him a light nod in return, while Rosie looked shocked that the man knew and Mrs. Stewart just looked utterly confused.

You'd be laughing if it wasn't for the fact that you were still annoyed with the female.

"Exactly. When my brother failed, they had my father produce another child. I was the next hope," you scoffed in disgust, "but considering everything that happened, my father didn't care about me. No one really did. And sure, if I die in battle today maybe I can become that embodiment, but I can tell that's not what Rosie wants, is it?" you stated rather bluntly, giving her a critical look as she frowned in response.

"You don't deserve a life like that," she replied, but you sighed and rubbed the back of your neck at her words.

"You know what? It doesn't even matter. Not really. Because, as you said, you reapers can handle this… So handle it. But, if you dumbasses decide to try again with a new human child… I'm going to come back. I'm come back from the grave and take care of those narrowminded bastards myself," you scoffed in disgust before continuing, "because no child needs to be put through the same pain and suffering I've endured. Not if it can be helped."

"Yes… No child should," Undertaker responded, and you cast him a curious glance, but he simply smiled lightly in reply. "Yes… Well, we have wasted enough time here. Can we go home, now?" he asked, holding out his hand to you, and you gave Rosie a look as she grinned and waved you off.

"Be a human, Lara. You deserve it."

"If you say so," you sighed to yourself, but then you let your hand fall on top of Undertaker's, and you stared at it as he grasped your hand before tugging you along.

"You better take care of those children from now on, little miss Stewart. I wouldn't want to have to come back here because my assistant killed someone for being too greedy~" he grinned, but you could tell it was an irritated, serious smirk, and when she shuddered, finally feeling the threat his words brought, you sighed, tugging on your gripped hand to get his attention.

"Hey. I can defend myself, thank you," you scoffed, but he smirked deviously in response.

"I know~. I just couldn't stand by and let her insult you," he responded, and you turned back around, noticing the orphans and Rosie… and even Mrs. Stewart, and you gave them a slight wave before turning back so you could tell where you were going.

"I suppose I should thank you… but I'm more worried about what you overheard," you decided to say, but he smirked in reply.

"Enough~"

"Enough isn't a good enough answer," you scoffed, but he simply snickered at your response, causing you to roll you eyes and sigh deeply to yourself. "… You are Legendary Death, huh?" you decided to say, causing his eyes to look over at you, and he let out a rough, irritated huff.

"Yes… I am. Sadly."

"Explains some things, like how we have a very obvious reaper barrier, but not even demons will notice it, unless they step right into it. Or how your aura is so suppressed that even I couldn't tell, at first. Just faintly," you decided to say, causing the man to look over at you as you frowned. "But… it's true, though. Any legend, rogue or otherwise, ends up dead before I'm ever born."

"Hmm… Then all I am is a legend, by then," he stated, and you gave him a curious look.

"Sure, but I'm more intrigued then shocked. My father always talked up the fact he knew this famous Legendary Death. Idolized him. Wanted me to idolize him. Thing was, he kept blabbing saying he was the perfect embodiment of the reaper ideal. To do your job efficiently and swiftly, without any delays or mishaps… Now that I see you in person… I'm going to have to wonder just how much the council lies to their reapers, or if he was the liar," you decided to say, a thoughtful look crossing your face, but before he could respond you continued with a sigh leaving your breath. "Every legend has their flaws, but they saw the Legendary Death as the one without flaws… which means it's a lie."

"Yes. It is. We all have our problems," Undertaker responded, but he was surprised when he saw a smile on your face, instead of a sad, confused look. "… Why are you smirking?"

"Oh… It makes me feel a tad better that even legends have their flaws. That no one is perfect," you grinned at him, before you sighed and rubbed the back of your neck. "So, ah… did I miss a lot?"

"A bit. I became worried~ after all. I was hoping you'd return, but…"

"… Sorry. I could have left a note, but it was rather spontaneous," you decided to say, causing him to snicker in response. "… What?"

"Here I was, thinking you had been kidnapped, but now I see you're perfectly fine," he snickered, but you rolled your eyes at his snickering.

"I may be human, but humans are more then capable of defending themselves –"

"Perhaps~, but that doesn't mean I won't worry," he retorted, and you sighed to yourself.

It didn't matter, at the end of the day, and you're too tired to argue. But… you pressed your hand up against your inhaler, hidden away in the pocket of your jacket, and smiled lightly to yourself.

One of the things you lost, but certainly the most precious, to you. Out of anything you may have owned, not having your inhaler can mean the difference to life and death. To living or dying. Sure, these days you don't necessary need your inhaler as often, but… it's better to be safe than sorry. And you should probably tell Undertaker about your inhaler, just in case. If anything can kill you before a demon or old age can do it for you, it'd be having an asthma attack. And in this day and age…

Nah. That'd be the worse way to go. Especially since you have no way of fighting back, except with an inhaler and maybe getting some fresh air.