Cassandra and Garret stood on the rooftops looking down at the busy street to their target, waiting for moment. They both had training reaper death scythes, a sickle, strapped to their sides. There were other reaper trainees after their targets as well. There were some cinematic records floating in the sky from not too far off. Cassandra pulled out the to die list reading it over again. James Darcy-son of Richard and Mary. A noble man who runs a successful tailor business. Married with a wife and two kids. Scheduled to die at 6:00 at Cheapside Market. Such a shame he was going to die soon.
"Do you think we should let this guy live?" Cassandra asked her partner.
"No. We will claim his soul as requested."
"But he has a wife and two kids!" Cassandra insisted. "What's going to happen to them?"
"Not my problem." Garret grumbled.
"How can you be so heartless?" Cassandra frowned at him.
"I'm just want to pass this test and be far away from you." He replied.
"But he's still a human. And so was you at one point. He should be treated with some dignity at least." Cassandra told him. Garret smirked.
"If you're scared to do it then stay here. I'll do all the work."
"I'm not scared. I just think we should go about this a different way." Cassandra insisted. Then there were sudden screams not too far off. "What was that? Is it time already?"
"No. It's something else." Garret answered. "You stay here and watch our target. I'll go and check it out."
"No, wait! I really think we should stick-" Cassandra shouted but Garret quickly left, leaving her behind. "Together." She sighed, seeing him leap to another rooftop, disappearing. Cassandra looked down at the target again before leaving following after Garret. Those screams sounded like they were coming from other reapers, testing as well. What was going on?
Back at the Reaper Headquarters, Grell and William were going through paperwork. Mostly Will though, Grell was filing her nails.
"I wonder how the test is going."
Suddenly, alarms began to ring loudly in through the building echoing.
"What the hell?" Grell stood up, wondering what was going on. An exam proctor quickly rushed in looking at Will and Grell.
"William T. Spears, Sutcliffe! There's an unknown entity found in Cheapside. Some of the trainees have been wiped out. A few managed to make it back here but severely injured!" He quickly told them urgently. Will frowned, while Grell's eyes widened a little in shock.
"What!?"
"Was it a demon?" Will asked. The proctor shook his head.
"We don't know what it is at the moment." Grell bit her lower lip a little in concern. Cassandra...What if she-!
"Will, Cassandra is in that area, isn't she?"
"Come along, Grell, let's go put a stop to this." Will, calmly walked out. Grell smiled eagerly.
"Oh yes! I am going to rip them to bits!" and she quickly pranced, following after him.
Cassandra took the long way around, not being able to jump far, like a normal reaper. She landed on the rooftop looking around. She could sense something nearby and started to walk closer. Her partner was still nowhere to be seen. That idiot better still be alive, otherwise, the test is over for the both of them. In fact, there were no other reapers around as well. Was this part of the test or something? An initiation of some sorts?
"Come out, I know you're there." She spoke. There was silence for a minute, before a clang of metal was heard. Cassandra saw a tin can rolled out from behind a pile of boxes and she slowly walked over. She heard scared whimpers coming from behind it and peeked over. It was one of the reaper testers, a young man. Cassandra could see that his eyes were filled with quickly knelt down beside him.
"Hey, get a hold of yourself. What happened?"
"I-I don't know. I was with my partner! It all happened so fast! The others they're all dead!" He began to panic some more.
"There's got to be someone still alive. Did you see Garret come through here?" Cassandra asked him. The young reaper didn't answer, still trembling. There was no use questioning him further. Cassandra stood up.
"Come with me. It's better to stay as a group then alone." She held her hand out. The young man stared at her hand for a moment, slightly trembling and took it and Cassandra pulled him up.
"Be ready for anything." She told him and he quickly nodded his head. The two quickly darted, looking for Garret. Cassandra heard noises coming from up ahead and quickly ducked down. The other reaper quickly followed behind her. Cassandra's eyes widened as she saw Garret, struggling as he was fighting against a tall person who was completely cloaked, wielding sharp blades. She couldn't see their face. Then Garret was knocked down and his reaper scythe was knocked out of his hand when he fell. Cassandra quickly turned to the reaper beside her.
"We have the advantage! Let's attack quickly before they notice us!" She whispered. The reaper quickly nodded and the two quickly pulled out their death scythes and lunged at the enemy before they were about to deliver the finishing blow to Garret. Cassandra managed to dig her weapon into their shoulder while the other reaper made a small slice on their back. The two were knocked away when the assailant quickly spinned around, knocking them off their back. They slowly began to make their way over towards Cassandra. She groaned as she slowly sat up, seeing them inch closer towards her. They silently raised their blades to strike her down. Cassandra screamed holding up her weapon to block the attack. The enemy managed to land a few slices onto Cassandra's body then kicked her. Cassandra flew back, landing on her side. Garret quickly got up when he saw the attacker raising their blades to attack Cassandra again. He grabbed his weapon and ran over only for the cloaked person to easily strike him down. Cassandra's eyes widened in horror.
"Garret!" She cried out, seeing him fall to the ground. The other reaper quickly rushed over to him, checking Garret.
"He's okay! But he's lost a lot of blood!" He shouted. She quickly grabbed her death scythe and got up glaring at the person, completely enraged.
"You are going to pay for this!" She shouted furiously. The assailant quietly turned towards her, to attack again. Just as they lunged at Cassandra something strange happened. A strange light emitted from her death scythe and it transformed, turning into a longer scythe as it extended out with a curved end. Along the tips were filled with black roses. She quickly deflected the blades, spinning her scythe around her fast. Cassandra began to move at a faster pace, striking back harder as well. The cloaked person was barely able to keep up with Cassandra's strikes. Cassandra managed to land a deep wound as she slashed down on the attacker's shoulder. They quickly sheathed one of their blades, holding their injured arm.
"Cassie!" Cassandra eyes widened and she quickly turned around to see Grell and Will as they landed down. Will narrowed his eyes looking at the cloaked person in front of them.
"I assume you are the reason behind this mess." The person still didn't answer.
"Yeah, it's kind of a thing they're doing." Cassandra told them. "They don't say much."
"Then let's make them talk!" Grell shouted. Then the person quickly put away their other weapon and quickly left.
"Get back here!" Cassandra shouted about to follow after them, but Will stopped her.
"No. You are not qualified for this. Let the others handle it." He told her. Cassandra stared at him for a moment wondering. Others? Will must mean Ronald, Alan and Eric. Grell quickly went over to Cassandra, looking her over."Are you alright?"
"I'm fine-" Cassandra heard a groan and quickly looked over to see Garret slowly sitting up, while the other reaper supported him up, and she quickly rushed over to him.
"Hey, are you okay?" she reached out to touch him only for Garret to pull away from her.
"I thought I told you to watch our target."
"You shouldn't have rushed off like that!" Cassandra frowned. "But it's nice to see that you're still alive."
"Gravesfield, what is that you got there?" Will asked. Cassandra turned to him and Grell as they walked over.
"Yes, what is that?" Grell asked her.
"I don't know. I guess it's my reaper scythe! Pretty cool, right?" Cassandra smiled.
"That's impossible. A reaper's death scythe doesn't just appear from out of nowhere. It gets customized." Will said.
"Well, it did. See." Cassandra replied and showed Will and Grell, shrinking it back down and transforming back again repeatedly.
"This isn't a toy." Will reprimanded.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop." Cassandra smiled, tiredly. "I guess we've failed the test. The target wasn't collected." Suddenly, there was a loud bang and a loud commotion coming from down below. Everyone looked over to see James Darcy lying on the ground in a pool of blood a horse driven carriage driving away. The man was dying alone. It was such a sad sight. To the group's surprise, Cassandra hopped down, landing beside the man, who was slowly dying as he bled out. She could see it in his eyes that he was scared as he saw her approach him. Cassandra knelt down and pulled out her death scythe.
"Please, I don't want to die!" He cried out. Cassandra hesitated for a moment before she made a soft smile. She lowered her weapon a bit and reached out to take the man's hand holding it.
"It's okay. You won't have to suffer anymore." Slowly tears began to fall from the man's eyes.
"But my wife, my kids-"
"They will be fine." She told him, softly but calmly. The man stayed silent, and Cassandra raised her death scythe and stabbed it into the man's body. The man screamed out in pain as he saw his life flash before his eyes. Cassandra began to collect his cinematic record into her death scythe for the achieves to retrieve it. The clock struck 6:00 as it rung out throughout the city, echoing its chimes. Jame's head rolled on side as he let out his final breath. Cassandra slowly closed his eyes and stamped the book. She quickly hopped back on the roof and saw the others looking at her strangely.
"What? He was scared. I had to give him some comfort at least." Cassandra told them.
Then some proctors landed on the roof along with Ronald, Eric, and Alan, who was carrying another reaper who was unconscious, mumbling and crying out in their sleep.
"Did you catch the person responsible?" Will asked them.
"No, they got away." Eric shook his head. Cassandra looked over at the young man that Alan was holding.
"What happened to him?" She asked.
"This one here accidentally touched the cinematic record. He's relieving their target's life for the moment." Ronald explained. Grell smiled, leaning over Cassandra's shoulder.
"Remember when I told you not to touch Madame Red's. That it wouldn't be a pretty sight. That's what will happen." She smiled. Cassandra hummed. Oh, so it's like a sensory overload.
"I'm glad I didn't." She spoke. "Will they be alright?"
"The symptoms will go away for a few days." Will told her. "Now, come along. We must report back." Cassandra's eyes widened, beaming a little.
"Oh! New glasses, I forgot! I can't wait!" She exclaimed.
The proctor told Cassandra and Garret that they passed the test, and they went to get their new glasses made. Garret picked out square frames with a dark blue tint. Cassandra picked out circular frames with purple tints. She showed off the glasses she picked out to the others.
"What do you think?"
"You look fantastic!" Grell smiled. Cassandra smiled back.
"Thanks."
"You're finally a full-fledged reaper now!" Ronald smiled. "Let's go celebrate!"
"Yeah, let's go!" Cassandra smiled.