Death and the Lady

“Oof!”

Lily landed hard on her back in the training room of Death’s domain. She lay staring up at the ceiling, wondering when she’d be able to breathe normally again. Someone walked closer and hunched down next to her head. She felt the vibrations as the hilt of a weapon was set hard onto the ground.

“You are not concentrating,” Helandel scolded and Lily looked up at him.

He was leaning on Zeis as he glared at her from his hunched position. He didn’t look particularly agitated, but he did look annoyed.

“Sorry... about... that...” she wheezed as she sat up. “There’s a... lot on... my mind... right now.”

This earned her a smack from Zeis on the back of her head. “There will always be a lot on your mind. Life doesn’t stop when you fight for your life! You are full of openings today.”

“I’m not fighting for my life today, am I? We’re training.”

Helandel sighed as he straightened up and glared down at her. “You are not prepared. You have a Cleric following you, remember? You cannot be unprepared. You might not wish to kill him, but he surely wishes to kill you.” His face softened and he leaned down, holding out a hand to Lily. “The other Reapers look to us for guidance, Lily of the Valley, and we must not allow them to waver.”

Lily took his hand and let him pull her to her feet. She bent to pick up and sword and scowled at it.

“This is not a shape I’m used to,” she said and Helandel nodded.

“That I am well aware of. You are used to wielding a single edged blade.”

Lily thought of her wooden katana she’d trained with for years and years. Strange that, even though she was used to swords, the double edged blade was giving her this much trouble.

“I’m not complaining, I love this sword. I’m just not used to a double edged blade.”

“Have you tried asking?” Helandel asked and smiled at her confused look. “Ask and you shall receive.”

“More cryptic elder advice?”

“Common sense, child. Take your stance.”

Lily stepped back and gripped her sword in both hands. She just had enough time to notice the flicker of soul blue on Helandel’s blade before he swung it around. She ducked low and her sword clattered out of her hand. Zeis passed over her head, making a humming noise.

“What the hell?” Lily snapped from floor level as Helandel swung his scythe around for another sweep.

“Now we fight for real. You will concentrate or you will die.”

Lily rolled out of the way as the blade swept down low. She managed to spring to her feet and jumped out of the way of another sweep from Helandel.

“Seriously?” she asked and saw Helandel’s smile.

“Seriously. Now fight!”

It was hard to follow Helandel’s movements as the scythe orbited his body. Lily was being pushed back, further and further from Inoue. She needed to concentrate, needed to focus. Since she’d gone back to the world she’s been off. She blamed it on Haji and the Sending.

She ducked too slowly and the tip of Zeis’ blade cut across her cheek. Hot blood gushed over her face and splattered onto the floor. Lily barely even felt the pain, the blade was too sharp. Her skin just went numb. Helandel was serious.

“What are you without your weapon? You are defenceless!”

Lily stopped for a moment and thought feverishly. She saw Zeis’ blade swing around towards her and she thought. Clarity came in an instant, calm flowed into her mind. Fighting was what she’d grown up with; it was the one thing she and her father agreed on once upon a time. It was the only reason why she continued with kendo after he left.

The bade swung around and passed through her body at chest height. Her body disappeared like the blade had swung through smoke. Helandel blinked for a moment and then swung around in time to see Lily pick up Inoue. She lifted the sword and swung it like a katana. Then she grasped the hilt in both hands and drew it back to level with her eyes.

“Sing for me, Inoue,” she said and the double-edged blade sprang to life.

Helandel started swinging his scythe around his body as he walked closer to her. Lily closed her eyes and formed a picture of her bokken in her mind, the one she’d practiced with until her hands were covered in blisters, until even the blisters went away. If Inoue was the representation of her soul, then she would shape it to suit her. Slowly she opened her eyes.

“Dance for me, Inoue,” she said and Soul Fire raced along the length of the sword.

Helandel paused for a moment as he watched Lily stand stock still while her sword burned in her hands. He started moving forward again, keeping a wary eye on her. Her eyes never left his as the sword burned in her hands.

“Foolish child!” Helandel yelled as he swung his scythe around.

Lily moved strangely, sinking down on one knee and lowering her still burning sword parallel to her body. There was a loud clang and the fire burst outward. Helandel managed to turn the recoil into another sweep, but Lily met it on the other side. Helandel jumped back and looked up, both hands gripping Zeis’ shaft.

Lily straightened up and swung her sword around. Helandel stared.

The blade was solid silver, but flickered blue along the edge, the single edge. There was an ornate oval handguard, dark against the silver of the blade. Blue fire still raced along it, but was dying out now. The diamond was still in place, but sunk into the hilt rather than standing prominent. Inoue had changed shape, forming into the shape of a katana.

Helandel smiled. “Well done,” he praised as he started to swing his scythe again. “Glad to see that you’re finally serious. Very well done on the smokescreen.”

Lily said nothing as she lowered herself back into her attack position. Her eyes never left Helandel’s face and she barely seemed to even notice Zeis’ orbits around the old man’s body.

“That’s a good face you’re making,” Helandel said as he started to move towards her.

Lily watched for an opening, but the orbiting scythe made for a very dense defence. She felt Inoue’s crackling power race up her arm and she thought hard. There had to be something she could do. Blood oozed from the cut on her face and dripped onto the ground between her feet.

Her mind was calm for the first time in months. Her body relaxed for the first time in years. Now she had nothing else to do but survive and fight back. Simple, clean-cut objectives.

She heard shuffling around the training hall, but never looked away from her grandfather. She concentrated on cutting out every other sound but the swish of her grandfather’s blade and the sound of her own breathing. Her heart rate slowed down and her arms no longer felt the sagging weight of her weapon. The pounding in her leg dissipated and disappeared.

Lily drew a deep breath as he neared and stepped forward once. She shifted her grip on her sword’s hilt and adjusted her arms to allow for her movement. Everything around her slowed down and she could clearly see the arc Zeis would follow. It was now or never.

“Kill for me, Inoue!” she said and swung her left arm out.

Fire flared along Inoue’s length and something strange happened. A second, shorter sword appeared in Lily’s hand and she swung that one out and up, connecting it with the hook between Zeis’ shaft and blade, stopping the scythe dead. The other sword Lily swung up and stopped where it just touched Helandel’s neck.

For a moment they stood in frozen tableau, unable to move. Then Helandel threw back his head and started to laugh. Lily stepped back and frowned at him.

“Very well done!” Helandel laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. “Very, very well done!”

That was when Lily became aware of the cheering around her. The training room was filled with watching Reapers. Slowly Lily lifted her hand and rubbed blood from her cheek.

“Let’s have that checked out.”

When Lily moved searing pain ran up her leg and she gave a cry as she fell. She landed hard on her shoulder and pulled her leg up against her chest. Pain pulsed through her and she bit down against another cry. The pain effectively immobilised her and she barely felt thin arms lift her as though she weighed next to nothing.

She couldn’t move and screwed her eyes shut as she felt herself carried through the halls to the infirmary. There she was laid on one of the beds and heard someone talking urgently to the nurse.

Lily managed to open her eyes and saw Death’s skull looking down at her. Even though there shouldn’t have been an expression on that face, concern radiated from him.

I should not have chosen you, he said heavily and she shook her head.

“Don’t say that.”

You are in great pain.

“It’ll pass.”

You will always experience this pain after intense battle.

“I’ll have to build up my tolerance then.”

If only it was that simple a task.

“I’ll make it that simple.”

How will you fight this?

“I’ll have Helandel train me like this every day. My body will have to get used to this eventually.”

Foolishness. You will destroy your body.

Lily managed a smile. The pain was fading now that she wasn’t paying attention to it. She lifted a hand and tugged at Death’s robe, almost as if to add weight to her words.

“What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.”

How amusing, this human foolishness, this desire to destroy yourselves. It will take an age for your body to adapt.

“How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?” Lily said with a smile.

Death grinned. Ah, your beloved Shakespeare. I had wondered when you would quote him.

Lily laughed and waved the nurse away as she hurried closer. She managed to sit up and smiled to her grandfather’s worried face.

“I’m fine now,” she said and swung her legs out of bed.

The nurse pushed her back. “Oh no you don’t, young lady. We still have to look at that cut on your face. Shame on you, Master Helandel! Cutting a young woman’s face like that! There will be a scar, mark my words!”

Helandel looked ashamed, but it was all an act. Lily threw back her head and laughed, but suddenly remembered her sword. She looked around wildly.

“Where’s Inoue?” she asked and Helandel held out his hand.

He gripped both swords and looked down at them in surprise. Death made a strange clicking noise with his teeth and took the swords from Helandel.

Fascinating. You have managed to transform the sword with your soul wavelength. I had not thought you strong enough yet.

“It took me fifty years to manage,” Helandel said, looking at her proudly.

Lily looked surprised. “Really? What was Zeis before?”

Helandel shrugged. “Still a scythe.”

One cannot alter the weapon’s shape, only the style in which it appears. I see you favour the katana, the sword of the noble samurai.

“I don’t really favour it; I’m just used to it.”

I would like to see how you wield it next time you train, child. It would be an... educational experience.

Death handed Lily the swords and, with a nod to Helandel, left the infirmary. Lily watched the skeleton leave and then turned to see Helandel’s frown. She looked down at the swords and concentrated. Blue Soul Fire raced along both of them and she moved the two swords together. The flames moulded together and formed one blade with a scabbard. She smiled. The scabbard had delicate white lilies decorating the soul blue surface.

“I think he’s taken quite a liking to you,” Helandel said and Lily frowned suddenly.

“Grandfather!” she exclaimed and he raised his eyebrows at her.

“What?”

“Not cool.”

“What did I say?”

Lily glared at his innocent expression and sighed. She had to try and remember that he’d been out of the real world for more than thirty years. She pressed her fingers to her eyes.

“Saying that someone has taken a liking to someone else means that that person is romantically interested in someone.”

Helandel’s face cleared. “Oh, my apologies. Would it have been better to say that Death’s taken an interest in you?”

Lily gave him a hard glare. “To anyone else that would have sounded like a death sentence.”

Helandel seemed to think this one over. “Good point,” he conceded.

“Well, I guess having Death take an interest in me might be slightly better than having a Cleric do the same.”

Helandel gave her a sympathetic look. “Life is never as easy as that, child.”

The nurse walked closer with a dish and cotton balls. These she arranged on the bed beside Lily and then poured some clear liquid into the dish.

“Don’t I know it,” Lily muttered and yelped when the nurse pressed the alcohol soaked cotton ball to her cut cheek.

One thing that was great about being able to go to Death’s domain was the study perks. Since time didn’t really move here she could study leisurely in the massive library and not have to worry about time running out.

Claire, who was studying law at a university somewhere in France, wholeheartedly agreed. They were sitting together in the massive cafeteria, eating lunch. You could get anything in the cafeteria, from bacon and eggs to caviar. Lily settled to a peanut butter and syrup sandwich and Claire had some ratatouille.

“How long have you been a Reaper?” Lily asked around a mouth full and Claire looked up in shock.

“Almost six months now. The twins, Kenny and I all started together.”

Kenny was the small boy who walked around with a frayed bunny. It still shocked Lily that such a young child could be a Reaper. Kenny was nine and the bunny was actually a weapon. It came alive and fought for him. He had an easier time collecting children than the older Reapers, apparently.

“And you’re still attending beginner’s lectures?”

The look Claire shot Lily could have frozen a volcano. Lily floundered a little under the glare.

“Aren’t you?” she asked and Claire shook her head.

“You were advanced to our level.”

Lily looked down and paged through her textbook. “Well, at least we’re not expected to write exams on the stuff we get told here. Look at this,” she said, holding up the book. “I have to study a third of this book for the next test! How do they expect us to manage this and actually engage in a normal, healthy social life?” she snapped, making Claire laugh. “I hate linguistics.”

“You’re one to talk! I have a Latin test coming up. It’s a dead language!”

“You should ask Death to help you with it, then.”

Claire actually yelped. “What? No!”

“Why not? I’m pretty sure he can speak Latin fluently, you know, since it’s dead and all.”

“What are you talking about?” a small voice asked and Lily looked down.

She smiled and scooted over to allow Kenny to clamber onto the seat. He was carrying a bowl of fruit and had his bunny tucked under his arm. That bunny called for quite a measure of respect. Lily had watched Kenny in the training hall. The thing grew as big as a grizzly and had the same temper to boot.

“Tests, what else?” she said and Kenny yawned.

“You’re boring.”

Lily laughed. “Well, what do you want to talk about?”

Kenny’s eyes lit up. He told them about what he’d done at school that day. Kenny was actually from the Canary Islands where his dad worked as a professor at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. It was unbelievably cute whenever he said the long name. Naturally, Kenny was very popular among the Reaper girls.

He didn’t talk much about the time when he’d been asked to become a Reaper, but it seemed as though he’d been in a car crash. It was always uncomfortable to ask the little kid about it.

Lily smiled and leaned her head on her fist as she listened to the child talk animatedly. She liked Kenny. He didn’t worry or care about the fact that she was a Master Reaper and treated her like any other person.

“Do you all wanna come to my house this weekend? The Tons can also come.”

“What about us?” Ash asked as he walked closer, carrying a tray of what looked suspiciously like lobster.

“Hey squirt. Long time, no see,” Clay said as he joined them, ruffling Kenny’s pale hair.

It came as a shock to Lily that the twins were actually from somewhere in Russia. They’d died together at the same time because of a bank bombing.

Lily made a face at the food on their trays. They saw her face and grinned at her over their food. They were eating what looked like a deep red-purple soup.

“And Ryo too! I like Ryo,” Kenny piped up.

“Kenny’s invited us over to his home for the weekend,” Claire said to the twins and then looked at the little boy. “Won’t your parents mind?”

Kenny shook his head. Before he could speak Ryo walked up behind him. Lily looked up to see her benefactor walking towards them, also carrying a tray. She rolled her eyes.

“What is this? International lunchtime?”

Ryo was still stationed at the same hospital Lily had woken up in, looking out for more Reapers who still had to pay their dues.

“Good day, Lily. It’s been a while. How are you?”

“Been keeping busy,” she said sourly, gesturing to the book on the table.

“Ah, exam time.”

Claire made a face. “Tell me about it! If it wasn’t for this place I would have died long ago.”

The twins laughed. Even after all this time Lily still found it strange to watch them do things at the same time. Even watching them fight was an education.

“You were the one who chose to study law.”

“Be nice,” Lily warned and they stuck out their tongues at her.

Ryo chuckled and settled down on Lily’s other side. His tray held simple toast and marmalade. Claire made a face.

“What is it with you two? You’ve got the world’s finest cuisine at your fingertips and you eat scraps!”

“Simple is always better,” Ryo said as he lifted a piece of toast and spread marmalade over it. “Any case, it’s breakfast time back home.”

“Anyway, getting back to the subject at hand. Won’t your parents mind us coming over?”

Kenny shook his head. “My mom and dad want to meet my Reaper friends.”

This was met with shocked silence. Ryo broke it without even looking up from spreading marmalade on his toast.

“Minors’ parents are told when they become Reapers. The Master visits them and explains to the parents what their children’s duties are.”

Lily started to laugh, but tried to suppress it. Claire gave her a stern look and turned back to Ryo.

“And they agree?” she asked and Ryo shrugged.

“When it is the choice between losing your child and having him be a Reaper most parents choose to let their children become Reapers. Children are never sent to brutal scenes, and only ever to other children.”

Lily was having a hard time suppressing her laughter. Ash and Clay were looking at her as though she’d gone crazy. Ryo looked at Lily.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“I’m sorry. I just imagined what it would look like if Death visited some kid’s parents. That would be the worst possible parent-teacher meeting in history.”

Ash and Clay both burst out laughing and a smile even tugged at Claire’s mouth. Only Ryo remained stoic.

“I am not sure what happens; Master Helandel may be able to tell you more.”

Lily smacked him on the shoulder. “Spoil sport,” she growled and he smiled.

“I don’t share your strange sense of humour.”

“So, do you wanna come?” Kenny asked and looked at Ryo. “You can come too! Mommy and daddy will remember you. They like you, Ryo!”

Lily waved a hand. “Wait, you’ve met Kenny’s mom and dad?”

Ryo nodded. “Yes, I have. I took him back to his parents after his link was established.”

“Isn’t that his benefactor’s job?”

Kenny looked down at his bunny that he held on his lap. “Sara was killed by a cleric named Stephen that day.”

Lily felt her body grow cold and her arm slipped off the table, causing her head to slam into it. She barely even felt the shock.

Stephen was her dad’s name.