Shun

Somehow, I had found a way to fall asleep in the cell that I had been thrown in the by the guards. Perhaps it was cause of the deathly still silence that flowed like a river through the stone walls, but one would have thought that a prison filled with prisoners, would have held more noise.

But it did not. The prisoners that accompanied the neighboring cells, had never even muttered a word. Before I had drifted off, I wondered how long some of them had been locked away in here. Months? Years? Or even eternities? It made me nervous to know how long I would be in here and joining them. It's a bit too late to be second guessing my choice though.

When I confirmed to Death that I was never going to take Alice's soul, I had immediately accepted the consequences that would be handed to me. So what if I was stuck in a dark, soggy cell for a couple of years? Those council Reapers could have done worse to me, I was sure of that.

Although, I couldn't help but feel foolish. In all of the logical reasoning I had, how could I never have seen that it would come down to me taking one of my own friends' souls? Through my half-awake and half-asleep state, I heard the rattling of metal.

The only sound in this entire place woke me, and when I opened my eyes, I was surprised by what I saw. Knelt down in front of the iron bar door of my cell was Grim. He had his long fingernails stuck in the lock, and with one twist of them, the door slowly swung open.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" I asked, still not sure what of this. He pulled his fingernails out and examined them for a moment. "I'm getting you out of here, little Reaper. What else does it look like….Darn….Looks like I chipped the end of one of my nails doing that."

He then shrugged his shoulders and walked over to me, where he proceeded to pick the locks on the cuffs that pinned me against the wall and made sure that I wouldn't run off if given the chance. The locking mechanism came undone, and the cuffs fell at my sides.

A rush of relief came to me now that I was able to put my arms down. Rubbing my wrists where the cuffs had been, I asked, "Why in the world are you doing this? You'll get in trouble if somebody finds out." So far, Alice was the only one that was possibly paying for my choices, and I wasn't going to let anyone else suffer because of me.

Grim's hair hid his twisted looking eyes from my sight, and a coy grin slid across his face. He said smoothly, "Because…..You still have a task at hand." He then grabbed onto my wrist and pulled me up to my feet. "Now, let's get a move on!" he shouted, his voice returning to its shrill tune. Grim then ran out of the cell, and cautiously, I followed behind.

Shun

Grim had snuck us out of the Reaper council castle through a secret passageway. While winding through the tunnels, I asked, "Why can't you just teleport us out of here? It would save some time…." I still wasn't sure if this was a good idea; breaking out of prison probably wouldn't settle well with the Reaper council since it hardly set well by human law.

Grim ran a hand along the stone walls as we walked. "The castle has powers held over it by the council to limit what Reapers can do inside of it. Teleporting is one of those things, little Reaper." Grim continues to navigate these tunnels as if he had been in them all of his life.

He probably has, knowing him. Then, I asked him something that had been bugging me since he broke me out of that cell. "What will they do if they find out I'm not here anymore?" Grim chuckled.

"You'd be lucky if they even remember you were ever here. The council is really bad about forgetting that prisoners are down in those cells. For all we know, most of those that were locked down in there were probably way past there release dates. I'm doing you a favor by getting you out of here, little Reaper."

He then stopped walking, nearly causing me to run into his back. Grim then began to run his hand along on the stone wall, and when he passed a certain stone, a door that I had not noticed at first, opened. He smirked and crooned, "I love that the Reaper council created this escape route. It's so handy."

We stepped out of the door and into the cool night air. Hanging overhead, was a full and bright moon in the sky. The landscape was filled with rolling hills, trees, and lakes that secluded this place from the eyes of the rest of this world. It really was a paradise lost.

And when I thought about it, this was actually the headquarters of death. To be honest, any normal person would have pictured such a place with more doom and gloom, but I had come to think otherwise. Not everything was as it appeared to be when you started to look closer.

Grim extended his arms up above his head and took in a deep breath. "It's good to be outside! Is it not, little Reaper? Oh! I suppose we should leave now that we're out of the castle. Yes, that would be a good idea." He then swung his cloak up and the tattered ends of it wrapped around me.

Just like the other times that I had been teleported via Reaper cloak, I was in a totally different place when it lowered down. The moment I was able to see my surroundings, I saw that I was back in the city. The streets were empty, the lights of businesses and apartments didn't even glow with the faintest of lights; all the signs of it being late in the night.

Above me, I caught the glimpse of a black cloak. Then, Grim waved his hands above his head and shouted, "Death! Look what I've got with me!" The Reaper landed on the roof of the building he was jumping to, and looked down at us. I didn't even have to see his face to know that his eyes were probably ablaze with either anger, disapproval, or surprise.

He then jumped down from the building and stomped over to us. "Grim! What in the world are you doing with him! He's supposed to be locked away by order of the council as punishment!" Grim waved a nonchalant hand and paced in a circle around Death.

"Now, Death, you know I couldn't just let the little Reaper rot in that cell. Besides, he still has much to do, and you know it," he said the last part almost with a growl. Death then shot a look at me, creating that deer-in-the-headlights feeling.

Already, I felt that I would be thrown back to the Reaper council before the night was over with. Grim then placed his hand on Death's shoulder and said, "Oh, come, now! Get the scythe out of your back end, Death! I think he learned his lesson, have you not, little Reaper?"

Realizing that I was being spoken to, I nodded my head to give my answer. It was true; I had learned my lesson, and would never go against what was now my job. That is, as long as it never came down to my friends again. If that was ever the case, then I wasn't so sure if I could bring myself to Reap their souls.

Death sighed and said, "Whatever. This will be discussed some other time. Now, if you'll both excuse me, I have work that needs attending to." Grim ran in front of Death and asked with a twisted grin, "What kind of work?" Death turned his head and looked at me from under his hood, and for the first time, I actually saw his eyes; they were ablaze with gold, and held an ominous aura that told those who saw him, that he was not one to mess with.

"I was on my way to do the job that your 'little Reaper' was unable to," he said harshly. My eyes widened. Alice had still yet to have her soul taken, meaning that she was still in this world for the time being. I wanted to shout for him not to go and take her soul, but I held my words back. It was no use.

There was no point in trying to stop what was inevitable from the beginning. And yet, I had enough of my foolish human feelings left that I had tried to stop an already planned out fate. Sadly, I had been in too much shock to realize that there was nothing that could have been done to change what was already written down somewhere.

Death looked at Grim and I and said, "I must be on my-" He was cut off by a laughter from above. The laugh wasn't twisted like Grim's, but more evil than anything else. I looked up as well and followed Death's gaze. There, I saw a figure leaning over the roof of a building, two bat-like wings silhouetted by the silver disk that was the moon.

One red eye blazed brightly against the rest of the blacked-out figure. Grim tapped his fingers together and said in an amused tone, "Ah, Rogue. What do we owe these pleasantries?" So, this was Rogue? Death had told me about this Reaper's evil deeds that he had committed, and his appearance fit the bill of one that had hatred in his heart.

Rogue ignored Grim's question, and I saw his red eye shift towards Death and I. It was like an arctic chill shot through me, and I was unable to keep eye contact. Rogue chuckled.

"So, Death, this is the latest sacrifice you're giving me? I have to admit, he isn't nearly as…..Ferocious looking as the previous ones. Pickings must be slim in the Reaper world. Regardless, I will enjoy this being our last encounter, Death. And when it's all over, there will be nobody else left to stand in the way of what I love to do."

Some of his words got to me. Like sacrifice. That one grabbed the majority of my attention. "What's he talking about?" Death had told me that Rogue might have been looking for me, but he never truly told me why. Rogue laughed.

"Why, Death, you haven't even told your little pet why he was chosen by you? How….Amusing. Listen, kid. Death and I have been at odds end for quite some time now, but he has refused to fight me Reaper to Reaper. He's always had a pet Reaper with him, and it's safe to say…..He has had no winners so far. They have all been sent to a flaming eternity thanks to me. But Death knows like I do, that this shall be our final, grand encounter! It will be me against him, and you against my pawn."

Now, I knew. I had been nothing more than an unknowing chess piece for these two. True, I had been given a second chance, but I had not been told what else I had signed up for. I cut a look at Death, who was too busy looking up at his future opponent.

It sickened me that I had not been told. This was somebody that I had started to trust, and I hadn't known any of the truth. Now, I was probably going to suffer the same fate as every one of Death's Reapers before me. My hands tightened into fists by my sides, and I shouted up at Rogue, "Alright, then! If I'm supposed to fight this 'pawn' of your's, then let's see him! I'm ready to go whenever you are!"

Rogue appeared to be surprised by my outburst. Or maybe, that was amusement. His lips curved up to a twisted smile. "Now, I can tell why there was some interest taken in you, Reaper. You have plenty of fight to go around. Alright, then. I supposed I've wasted enough time. Let the game begin."

He lifted up his hand and snapped his fingers. Then, the sound of metal cut through the air, and a scythe was slung down from somewhere above, and stuck into the asphalt of the street beside me.

I fell back onto the ground, and stared at it in shock. That was when I noticed that the scythe stuck in the street, was about the size of one cut in half, but attached to the end, was a chain.

My eyes followed up the chain and saw what was connected to the other end. It was a cloaked figure, holding the other half of the scythe. Then, he yanked the scythe out of the asphalt, leaving behind a thin cut. The cloaked figure that was my opponent, jumped down from the building and landed in front of me.

Everything about this individual oozed rage and hate. The figure stood there for a moment, and I knew his eyes were examining over me like a predator does its prey. He then chuckled darkly, and tore the cloak off of him. When it fell on the ground, I saw that it was Dan that had been hidden underneath.

remember, people! tomorrow is the ABSOLUTE LAST DAY to VOTE on the new TITLE to my zombie fic! after that, you have to deal with what the majority voted on! read, review, and other things! ~Copperpelt~