Death and the Lady

\Lily stared at the stranger who stood in front of her, wolverine smile playing around his lips. His short, dark hair was laced with grey; his handsome features bore age lines. His muscular physique was not hidden by his suit and tie, even in this weather. Everyone else around them was all wearing summer clothes. Even Lily wore hot shorts and a t-shirt, showing off the still red scars that marred the skin on her leg.

“Stephen?” her mom asked again, her voice filled with shock. “What are you doing here?”

He transferred his dark gaze to her mother and the smile widened a little. He looked loving and welcoming, but Lily felt uneasy about his presence. Behind his smile was coldness and he looked at her, coldness and hate. Why would he be here, now of all times?

“I’ve come to visit you. I’ve missed you so much, Rose.”

Her mom gave a sob and ran towards him when he opened his arms wide. As she passed Lily, she reached out and grabbed her mother’s wrist, pulling her back. Her mother looked back in shock.

“I don’t trust him,” she said coldly.

Stephen placed a hand over his heart. “I’m hurt,” he said mockingly and she felt her hand tighten around her mother’s wrist. “How can you not trust your own, dear father?”

“You’re no father,” Lily spat, “twenty years, in twenty years you never so much as called. Now all of a sudden you show up out of the blue all warm and fuzzy, wanting to see us? Bullshit.”

“Watch your language, young lady,” he barked.

“Screw you,” Lily snarled back. “You don’t get to tell me what to do! What is it you really came here for?”

Just then Lily recognised the blond young man that stood in his shadow, trying hard not to be noticed. As well as the thirty or so other young men who were all entering the yard. All were dressed in full suit and tie in the blazing heat of the day. Their suits ranged from black to steel grey to white. Haji was wearing a dark grey suit and looked hot and flustered, also, he was trying to avoid her gaze.

Stephen took a few quick steps forward, taking advantage of her distraction, and gripped her chin hard in his calloused hand. He wrenched her head sharply upwards, sending a stab of pain through her neck.

“I have come here with a proposal for you, my little Lily.”

“You don’t get to call me that,” Lily managed through her forced together teeth.

He chuckled. “So rude. We’ll just have to find a way to rid you of that.”

“Stephen, what are you doing?” Lily’s mom snapped as she took a step closer.

Stephen glared at her, halting her in her stride. Then he turned back to his daughter, whom he was still gripping harshly enough to bruise.

“I have a proposal for you, as I said.” He gave her face a cursory glance. “My, my. Who cut you?” he asked as he rubbed a finger over her newest scar.

Lily fell back from his touch and rubbed at her bruised jaw. She could see that everyone that was filling the yard were Clerics, and here she was without Inoue. She was well and truly screwed, if she coined a phrase from the Twins.

“You see, I have this little... organisation and I would like you to join me,” Stephen said as he spread his arms wide.

Lily wanted to spit. He said it as though he was giving her a once-in-a-lifetime-never-to-be-repeated offer, as though she should grovel at his feet in thanks for this honour. She actually felt nauseated by his arrogance.

“No thanks,” she growled, still rubbing at her chin.

Up close she’d seen Helandel’s features etched into the hard lines of his face, but he lacked her grandfather’s kindness and understanding.

“I haven’t even told you what we are yet.”

“You don’t have to. You’re murderers!” this she spat at Haji.

Stephen looked hurt. “Murderers? Quite the contrary. We are exterminators. We have a holy duty to remove Reap...”

“Not here,” Lily snarled and snapped her fingers.

Everyone around them froze and the air turned frigid. The shadows around them grew deeper and darker and became edged with blue. Stephen looked around and whistled in surprise.

“Well done, little Lilith. You’ve grown quite powerful. As expected of my daughter.”

“I couldn’t have done it without Helandel,” Lily said coldly.

The name seemed to cause a spasm of rage to cross Stephen’s face. He smoothed it over and looked around again, like an interested connoisseur.

“You’ve even brought all my men with us, how thoughtful.”

“I couldn’t have them running amok, now could I?”

“So thoughtful.”

“Cut the crap, what do really you want?”

“Exactly as I said, I want you to join us.”

“And how many others have you extended this invitation to?”

Stephen looked surprised. “None, why have vermin join my operation?”

“So why me? Because I’m your daughter?”

Stephen stepped up to her again. “Because you are a Master. I need you by my side, and since you’re the only one available, I just have to make do,” he hissed.

“If your know that I’m a Master Reaper then you should also know that my loyalties are unflappable.”

Stephen gave a look of mock hurt. “Is there no way I can persuade you?”

Lily steeled her expression. She needed to get armed, she needed to get Inoue. She needed to act fast; she could feel that their conversation was nearing its end. She wasn’t sure what he would do, but it would not be pleasant.

“None at all.”

“Well then, if you are certain.”

“I do have one question.”

He looked surprised. “Ask away,” he said benevolently.

Lily wanted to claw at him, claw at that horrible, self-satisfied, arrogant smile of his. “Who are you to choose who joins the Clerics?”

“The Holy Order of Clerics, my little Lilith. I am Master Cleric Stephen Rush.”

“You changed your surname?”

“Anything not to be associated with that old fart.”

“Don’t talk about Helandel that way! He’s a thousand times better than you will ever be!”

Time, Lily thought, she needed to buy time to arm herself, to find a way to get to Inoue.

“I tire of this idle chatter,” Stephen said with a wave of his hand. “You’re merely buying time in order to summon your weapon to you. It is a sword, I presume. I know you never stopped kendo after I left.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Oh, you admit freely that you cannot summon your Reaper Weapon to your side. How stupid.”

Lily smiled. Act confident, do not let your character waver. Be calm, be in control. Keep acting. She said this to herself over and over again. Act strong, keep them off balance.

“Not stupid. I’m just telling you that I can’t summon my weapon to me. It’s only fair to know that I’m not trying to buy time for that.”

Stephen gave her a bored look. “So you refuse to join me?” he asked and she nodded firmly. “Fine then, kill her,” he said with a bored wave of his hand and turned his back on her.

Thirty pairs of hands drew one or another kind of gun. Lily felt her heart freeze over. She knew Reapers never used guns, since their weapons are designed to sever the soul from the body. Now she understood why so many Reapers fell to the Clerics. They had almost no defence against guns.

A barrage of gunfire assaulted her senses and she thought fast. Stephen stood and watched as the hail of bullets entered his daughter’s body, tearing though her flesh and...

Lily disappeared as though she was as insubstantial as smoke. Everyone looked around wildly and he saw her running pell-mell towards the house.

“Get her! Don’t let her get armed! Kill her!”

Everyone started to chase after Lily, but Stephen called Haji back to him. He had that wolverine smile on his face again.

“Let the raw recruits deal with her first.”

“Sir?” Haji asked.

“Cannon fodder, boy. Tire her out and then we’ll strike.”

“But she’s your daughter, sir.”

Stephen’s fist slammed into his jaw so hard that it threw him aside. “That thing is not my daughter. That thing is an abomination and deserves to be put down like an animal.”

Haji got slowly to his feet. “Yes, sir,” he said.

Lily ran through the house to her and her mother’s bedroom. She was glad that she’d managed to stall long enough to throw up a smokescreen, something she’d never done in the real world. Helandel had been surprised when she’d managed it in Death’s Domain, but said that it was much, much harder in the real world.

He’d been right. She’d barely had enough time to throw it up before they fired. Now she needed to get Inoue and get armed. They couldn’t fight here, either. She’d seen the bullets they were firing. They were blue, so they were constructed of their soul energy. That was how they killed Reapers, who were unable to be killed by normal weapons. They broke up the soul, shattered it into tiny fragments. No wonder only Death came for Reapers. He was the only one who could reassemble the broken souls.

Lily grabbed Inoue off the bed where Robert had casually discarded it. It came to life at her touch and she gripped the handle firmly.

“Sing for me, Inoue,” she said and withdrew the blade from the scabbard.

She swung the scabbard around in her hand and held it up to her face. Concentrating, she listened to the pounding of the Cleric’s feet.

“Dance for me, Inoue,” she said just as one of the Clerics burst into the room and fired at her.

Something like a bubble of soul blue surrounded her and absorbed the bullets, but cracks appeared along it and she backed towards the window, keeping Inoue’s scabbard level with her eyes.

“Kill for me, Inoue!” she screamed and dove through the window as another two Clerics joined the first and sent a hail of bullets towards her.

The bubble around her shattered just as the window did, but the glass fragments hung motionless in the timeless word as Lily rolled on the grass and brought both swords up.

Several Clerics surrounded her and aimed their guns. At least now they were away from the rest of the family, behind the house where no one could get hit by stray bullets. She got her first good look at the Clerics. They were all young, some even younger than she was, but none younger than mid-teens. Sixteen at the youngest.

Raw recruits, she figured. She felt like a dog at bay, unable to do anything until they made the first move. Lily closed her eyes and waited for the first assault.

Haji wanted to cringe when he heard the gunfire behind the house, but didn’t dare move. Master was in a very strange mood today, he’d been in a strange mood ever since he’d found out about Lily.

“Sounds like it’s getting fun. I wonder how long she’ll last.”

“Yes, sir,” Haji said and stared at the back of the house.

Then he saw Lily tear through the small orchard that stood behind the house, ducking and weaving as the blue bullets tore through the air around her. Was it just him or was she moving strangely. It was hard to see through those black robes that she wore.

He remembered her changing appearance every time she drew her weapon. He heard the Master whistle under his breath.

“I knew that Master Reapers changed, but this much? Astounding, if only she’d joined.”

“But you knew she wouldn’t?”

“Ah, one must always be optimistic in such matters. One must always give a choice.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You don’t sound impressed.”

“Merely quietly contemplating, sir.”

“Yes, you have that habit.”

They watched as Lily suddenly doubled back and bring her swords down on two chasing Clerics. The two boys fell to the ground and Lily jumped over them, but stumbled when she landed. Haji watched in horror as she staggered upright, ducked the bullets fired towards her and ran in a different direction.

“Two swords? That’s new. I’ve never seen that before. In your report it stated that she had only one blade.”

“Something must have happened in the intervening time, sir. I have not seen her for weeks.”

Stephen looked thoughtful as he tapped a finger to his chin. “Yes, I remember that time moves differently in Death’s Domain. Oh, to be able to get to the nest itself! We must get a Reaper on our side.”

“You’ve never spoken of this before, sir.”

“Haven’t I? I have been thinking about it for quite some time. But, alas, Reapers are noted for their loyalty to their,” he spat, “master.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Strange, I wouldn’t have thought her to actually kill my Clerics.”

“It is surprising, sir.”

Lily ran through the orchard, praying that the trees would give her enough cover for the moment. Two bullets had grazed her and she felt the hot blood seeping into her clothing. And her leg was starting to act up too; soon she would be a sitting duck.

A Cleric appeared from behind the tree in front of her and she ducked wildly to avoid his fire. She slammed the butt of her sword into his stomach and brought the back of the blade down on his neck, knocking him out cold.

She wouldn’t kill them, not while she had the choice. She would not stoop to their level. She ran through the orchard, ducking and weaving between the trees, listening to the pop and zing of bullets around her. There couldn’t be that many left, could there?

Then, suddenly, the firing stopped. Lily ran out onto the grassy lawn and swung around. No one was chasing her. She heaved for breath and tried hard to keep her leg from collapsing under her. The moment the adrenaline wore off, pain would assault her. She couldn’t dare let that happen, not now. She needed to get away, needed to get far away, but she also needed to make sure her family was safe.

She didn’t have the time nor the energy to get them all into Death’s Domain, nor could she just leave them here with the Clerics. The moment she popped this silent bubble of a world, time will resume and they’d all be in danger.

“Where are you looking?” Stephen’s cold voice asked and she swung around.

Something slammed into her stomach and drove all the air from her lungs. She fell to her knees and threw up.

Stephen looked down at her with barely concealed hate. “Look at you, little Lilith, rolling in your own vomit.”

He yanked her to her feet by her hair and she winched from a stab of pain from her leg. She was out of time.

“Some Master Reaper you are,” he growled and pressed his gun under her chin. “You deserve to die.”

Lily opened one eye at him. “We’ll... see...” she managed to wheeze and brought Inoue around.

Stephen cursed and fell back, dropping her. Lily managed to roll away from him and staggered to her feet, but another warning stab from her leg drove her options into the bare minimum.

“Master,” Haji called and Lily shot him a poisonous look.

He was lifting his own gun, but hesitantly, as though he really didn’t want to. Stephen called him off.

“I’ll deal with the little tramp, hold your fire. She’s mine.”

“But, sir...”

“This is a family matter, Johannes! Stay out of it.”

Haji holstered his gun. “Yes, sir.”

“What... a good... little... soldier boy,” Lily wheezed at him and he made a face at her.

Stephen fired a shot at her, but she managed to roll out of the way. She felt it graze her cheek just under Helandel’s scar. Great, another scar to her face. What was it with the men in her family?

“You’re sloppy, little Lilith. You managed to dispatch thirty of my raw recruits and I would have said congratulations if it wasn’t such a pitiful accomplishment. None of them were even field ready, so feel good about killing thirty children, little Master.”

Lily staggered back a step. “Didn’t... kill them. Just... knocked out.”

Good, her breath was returning, but the lack of motion was making her leg spasm wildly. She needed to plan, but right now she couldn’t think beyond the next step. Fatigue ripped at her body.

“Foolish child! You should have killed them! You’re a Reaper aren’t you?”

“How many damn times do I have to say this to you idiots?” Lily snarled. “Reapers do not kill! We take what has been spent! Get it right!”

Stephen fired at her again and this time she couldn’t move fast enough. The soul bullet ripped into her shoulder and she felt her arm fill with ice. She screamed and staggered, but Stephen was on her. He pressed the gun between her eyes and glared down at her.

Lily sat on the grass, unable to move as the paralyzing pain ran from her arm and from her leg to meet in her chest. She couldn’t breathe, her arm felt as though it was turned to ice and all the time pain assaulted her from every direction.

She closed her eyes. “Help me, Death,” she said softly and received a blow from the butt of Stephen’s gun.

“Don’t beg for help, it’s unseemly!” he snarled.

“Why not?” Lily snarled. “Death’s been more of a father to me than you ever were!”

“Shut up!” Stephen snarled and pulled the trigger.

Two things happened in that moment. The air around Lily froze, the grass covered with frost and there was a ripping noise. Lily watched as a blue blade came down between her and the gun, heard the bullet hit the metal and bounce away, felt bony hands scoop her up.

When she looked up it was into Death’s skull. His eye sockets were blazing red and his scythe swung around in a wide arc. She watched as the blade cut through Stephen’s gun, severing it into two.

Time resumed around them and Lily saw more Reapers pouring out of the rip that hung in the air. Helandel hurried to their side and Lily was unceremoniously thrust into his arms.

Take her, Death snapped and turned towards Stephen. You have trespassed on this ground for the last time, Stephen Rush.

“What’s going on?” Lily asked and Helandel looked her over.

He paled when he saw the wound to her arm. “You’ve been hit. This is bad, we have to get you back as quickly as possible before there’s permanent damage.”

“Helandel, what’s going on?” Lily insisted and the old man gave her a tired look.

“Death heard you calling out. I’ve never seen him so angry before. Why is it always that trouble follows you?”

Lily watched as Death raised his scythe and prepared to bring it down on Stephen. She broke out of Helandel’s grip and staggered towards him, falling every other step, her injured arm dangling uselessly by her side. Strange that there was no pain anymore.

“Don’t!” she cried as she grabbed a piece of Death’s robe and fell to her knees. “Don’t kill him.”

Death turned his blazing eye sockets towards her. Why not? He would have ended your life in an instant.

“Because we’re not like him. Just don’t kill him. If you get involved, I’m not sure what’ll happen.”

He would have killed you, yet you plead for his life. Is it because he is your father?

“He’s not my dad worth jack shit,” Lily snarled and saw Helandel flinch at her language. “But he is human and if you kill him you will become exactly what he says we are. Leave him to the humans. We will deal with him accordingly.”

Death looked down at her and the red faded from his eyes, being replaced by the cold, soul blue. He lowered the scythe and bent down to scoop Lily up.

I shall leave my Reapers to deal with them, we shall return and fix your arm.

“What’s wrong with my...?” Lily asked and gasped.

Her fingers were turning black and tendrils of the same black were snaking up her hand and arm.

Your arm is without a soul to sustain it; it will rot if something is not done soon.

“You can fix this?”

I can try.

Stephen swung around and ran towards Haji where he still stood frozen. He yanked the young man’s gun out of its holster and swung around, firing three shots at Death’s back.

As he watched, the bullets passed through the spectre and did no damage. Death twisted suddenly and appeared in front of him, eye to blazing-red eye-socket.

Would you attempt that again, Stephen Rush? Death hissed.

He watched the seven foot skeleton straighten up, still holding his daughter cradled in his bony arms, and turn to walk away. Lily’s words seared through his mind again.

“Death’s been more of a father to me than you ever were!”

He gritted his teeth and raised the gun again. A blade sliced through it and glittered in the sunlight. He looked up into a dark haired, young man’s face. The glasses the boy wore reflected the sunlight back, masking his eyes.

“I would not try that, if I were you. The Master is very protective of our little Lily,” Ryo said with a satisfied smile. “Bells, Tons, Teddy! Secure the other Clerics. I’ve got everything sorted here.”