Coming Of The Reaper

 "Well, what will I do with you about it?" Sylvie groans.

She is giving in I believe. I need her on board if we are going to actually accept this mission. It's a huge responsibility for a first mission. I think of this as a great honor and opportunity to prove myself to Death.

We get the one opportunity to keep showing Death that we are an extraordinary pair. I have determination and she has all the knowledge. If we work at our job right we can be the best reaper squad ever. Maybe I am getting ahead of myself.

"Do you realize what we are being asked to do?" Sylvie asks.

"We kill my father." I say. "If we do this, we may just become one of the most legendary reaper squads ever." I grin.

"Why are you happy about that?" Sylvie asks.

"Because, I can prove I am better than him. I never had something like this in my life as an option before. I think it would say alot about me and you as reapers. It's a display that they believe us to be ready to take down whatever we manage to come across." I explain myself.

"I see."

We make our way to the training area and keep looking at one another as if we never thought we would see this day. So it is now time to see the fall to my father. I keep walking and my head fills with all kinds of thoughts that I can't begin to separate. The mixture of feelings is a lot to have to handle right now.

Not only am I a family based reaper, but I am partnered with Sylvie and we together are seeming to make a bit of a unique team. I never would have expected that when I came back from school that day I would be walking Death's hallways. I would never have though death as a living being either though.

"You alright?" Sylvie asks.

"Yeah."

"You seem in your head."

"What do you mean?" I inquire to her.

"I don't know, like your in deep thought." She replies as she pushes the doorway to the training area again.

"I just am getting ready to kill. I've never claimed a life. Let alone a soul." I sigh.

"Oh, that's right, you probably don't know how you and I get stronger together." Sylvie laughs.

We walk through the training room and equip our weapons. This is the day I have to end my father. I guess the power effected him when he lost his father. I refuse to be like him.

"Not really, I figured we would train a lot." I say.

"We absorb the strength of the souls we claim as reapers. Your father has claimed millions." She says.

"So we start smaller and carve a path to him." I say.

"As we do that he could seriously hurt or kill someone." She admits.

"I guess we better get to work then." I say.

"Fair point." Sylvie seems at a loss for words.

We both leave the training area. Sylvie takes the lead in showing me to the room where we are supposedly able to travel anywhere in the world. The reapers call it the 'Calling Gate'. She hands me a scroll from the shelves in this little room. the soft red walls seem to be a calming feeling in here. Sylvie stands on this stone orb that is in the floor.

"I'll catch up with you on the other side." Sylvie says.

"Wait, where are we going?" I ask.

"The Gates of Tartaros." Sylvie says.

"Why?"

"It's a great place to get some experience fighting against souls." Sylvie explains.

"This is a faster way to getting to my father?"

"You wanted a way for us to get to his strength, im giving it to you." She huffs. "Now... Gate Open, Destination Tartaros!" Sylvie calls and she is washed away with blinding light-blue tinted flashes.

"Woah.." I say.

I walk into the circle and look at the scroll. The Calling gate seems to be whispering all kinds of things I can't clearly define. I sigh as I try to focus.

"Gate Open, Destination Tartaros!" I exclaim and my world flashes white.

When the white fades, I can see Sylvie taking in the sights. the heat from these lava pools is far too intense for me to handle. Sylvie seems to be in all her glory when she notices the legendary gatekeeper, Cerberus standing tall behind her, all three heads having open maws with their teeth exposed. The ones who try to escape must get past Cerberus. The three headed dog seems to just be watching us.

"Can it speak?" I ask.

"I never asked."

"Of course we can." The middle head pipes up sounding like a british resident. "We simply don't get many who try talking to us."

"That's right, since Death absorbed Hades we get no company. aside from escapee's." The left head speaks, sounding as if he was american.

"Wait, all three of your heads can talk?" I ask

"That's cool." Sylvie chimes in.

"It wasn't mentioned in mythology." I say.

The room goes quiet. Me and Sylvie look at one another. I think she gets what I am thinking. We need to get gathering souls.

"Cerberus, would you be able to tell us the most recent source of unnatural deaths?" Sylvie asks the dog.

I feel as if i must be insane. I stand at the gate to Tartaros and im talking to the great guardian Cerberus. I never would have thought of this being a real thing even a few weeks ago. I am in utter disbelief with my surroundings.

"Death has asked us only to help reapers at the entry level." The right head speaks sounding soft and kind.

"Well, we are before our first mission, would this qualify?" I ask.

"You are the son the the latest turned reaper arent you?" The middle head lowers itself to me.

Cerberus is much larger in real life than i had ever expected. i would have never expected the fur of a dog from the gates of the underworld to have shining fur, much like black tourmaline from the surface world. The teeth of this great beast shine like opals. many bright colors glisten from their teeth.

"I am." I admit.

"We shall aid you, however, remember that we will also ask a favor from you in return when you are stronger." The left head answers.

"Are you sure you want to make a deal with Cerberus?" Sylvie asks.

"Why, what's the harm?" I ask.

"Divine beings have a way with their deals." She sighs.

"Well, it seems this little sprite knows their way around the spirit realms." The right head speaks as it sniffs at Sylvie.

"We could always eat you two." The middle head speaks to me.

"You could try." I say.

Sylvie and Cerberus' three heads all look at me rather confused. I know what I say sounds insane, but perhaps Cerberus will see intimidation will not sway me. I will be stronger than my father. Regardless of what i must do to get there. I only know that i will fight until the end of my live to get there. I only hope Sylvie has the same kind of raw dedication to our work that i have. I wouldn't want her holding me back at all.

"Are you nuts?" Sylvie says.

"Huh?"

"You don't challenge a divine being." She says.

"Either way, we need to start work and it looks like we wasted our time coming here, Sylvie." I sigh.

"So we are a waste of time?" The three heads peer over me.

"Not what i mean, i mean we came here to collect some souls and get stronger. it seems like we walk away with nothing." I say.

"Well, I wouldn't recommend cutting a deal with divine beings." Sylvie says.

"Why is that?" I ask.

"I made a deal with a fae once, that ended me up becoming a reaper. I think you get the gist." She says.

"Ouch."

"Yeah, so anyways, Cerberus, would you let us know where an insurgance is?" Sylvie asks.

The heads glance over one another. I keep a hand on the hilt of my sword. Sylvie never looked so nervous. The dog bows their heads in order to whisper something into Sylvie's ear. I only figure this would be the location we go to next. Sylvie turns as the heads of the dog rises and they let out a soft sigh of relief.

"I want to see you two do well." The middle head speaks.

"I want to succeed, no matter the cost. I will be better than my father." I say. "If I doe well enough, prehaps we will be assigned to protect Tartaros with Cerberus later on." I add.

"That would actually be cool." She smirks.

"If you bring a steak for us, we would love that." The right head speaks.

"It is still a bit odd to see three headed dog, let alone it speaking with us in a normal talk." I laugh.

"I don't think talking to divine beings ever gets any less odd." Sylvie says. "I think Death himself is a Divine Being, but I can't say for sure." Sylvie adds.

"He actually is. He was once a deity of great potential, who grew jealous of the other gods." Cerberus' heads rotate speaking each piece.

I cannot fathom the world we are learning about. Perhaps there is a way to become the next Death even. I wonder what happens when a divine being like Death dies? This now begins to interest me.