Reapers

Chapter 29: Oof Ouch, Infections Hurt

CW: blood kinda? Infection kinda?? Animal death kinda??? (I know this is confusing so basically as a summary Roman is fighting a phantom that is shaped like a fox, gets bit and so slightly infected, and Virgil kills the phantom before patching him up, but spirit blood is different from actual blood so that's why I said kinda.)

Virgil bit his thumb as he paced around in the living room, Roman watching from the couch. He's been jittery ever since they got home, and Roman was really wishing Janus hadn't told him about the phantoms.

Finally Roman sighed and left his body, going to Virgil's side and putting his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure it's fine. It's Florida! Maybe there was some sort of protest I haven't heard about yet. Or the church could have done something stupid again. No one is ever satisfied with anything here."

"Maybe," Virgil agreed, finally standing in one place. "Or maybe something is wrong in the spirit world. Either way it could still affect us badly if things get out of hand. Not to mention I still have to protect you."

"Is that what you're worried about? Making sure I'm safe?" Virgil growled slightly but Roman ignored it. "I'm touched! You do care about me, my beloved emo!"

"I hate you."

Roman pulled him into a hug, ignoring his hiss. "No you don't, otherwise you wouldn't care."

Virgil pushed him away. "Whatever. Anyway, since you're already out of your body, let's start your training for tonight."

"Ooh, can we go hunting phantoms tonight? Since you're so worried about their numbers growing."

"I don't know, while there hasn't been any alerts for class four or five reapers, the weaker phantoms can still gang up on us. Usually we call them hoards, and they're typically rare but still a possibility."

"I'm sure we'll be fine, I have you with me after all!"

Virgil sighed, "Okay, fine. Just stay close to me and keep your cord hidden."

Roman nodded, quickly hiding his spirit cord. "Let's do this!"

~~~

"Don't let it bite or scratch you," Virgil advised as Roman jumped away from the phantom he was currently fighting. The phantom was shaped like a fox, it's body was green, where it should have been white it was blue.

"What happens if it does that?" Roman asked as he slashed at it, trying to keep it away.

"You could end up infected, which will have to be treated. If it doesn't get treated in time, you turn into a phantom. And with how strong your soul is, I wouldn't be surprised if you turn into a class four."

"You didn't tell me about that!"

"Were you planning to get hurt?" Roman sent him a small glare, only for it to be wiped off his face as he shouted in panic, jumping back as the phantom snapped at him. "Don't worry, I have an antidote. Death was tired of losing reapers to phantoms, so they made sure we had ways of healing."

Roman slashed at the phantom again, cutting off it's paw as it swiped at him. It yipped in pain and went in to try to bite him, this time moving faster than he expected. It bit down on his leg, latching on tight as Roman shouted in pain.

Neither had time to move before Virgil slashed the phantom in half, grabbing onto Roman. He lowered him to the ground, summoning a container the size of a short cylinder.

Roman held onto his leg, squeezing his eyes shut from the pain. It burned badly, was it infected? How would he know, would it be like a zombie bite? How fast does it spread?

"Okay, just keep breathing," Virgil told him. He rolled Roman's pant leg up and Roman managed to open his eyes for a moment. He could see the bite mark, and all around it was neon blue markings as if someone drew on him with a marker.

Virgil opened the container and Roman could see a white ointment. He scooped some out with his fingers before applying it onto the strange markings. It felt ice cold against the burn, making a shiver go down Roman's spine.

"This gets rid of the infection. You're lucky it's small, if a bigger phantom bit you, or if you had more than one bite then there would be little time to heal you," Virgil explained. "You would have two options then, fade away or go onto your afterlife. Once you're in your afterlife however, you won't be able to leave."

Roman took a deep breath as the pain subsided into a dull burn, but the pressure hurt just as bad. He looked over to his leg to see the blue markings were gone. Instead there was only the bite mark, and to Roman's surprise instead of red his blood was gold.

Virgil must have seen his eyes widen since he explained, "We don't bleed normally. While we call this blood, it's different. We don't need food or water to keep it going, and we don't bleed as much as we would have when we're alive, which is why this isn't pouring out." He summoned a bandage and started to wrap Roman's leg. "It does work like blood though, keeps us here. The more you lose, the more tired you become, and eventually you fade."

"It-it does heal, right?" Roman had to focus through the pain.

"Yeah, it heals quickly too. You'll be fine, but we should wrap this up for the night. You did good though, you managed to get rid of three class two phantoms. That's a record!"

"I wish it was four. I'm sorry you had to step in." Roman looked away from Virgil.

"It's fine, you haven't been training for that long. You're probably going to get bit and scratched more. But I'll be by your side so you don't need to worry too much about it. Though, I guess it still burns bad."

"Have you ever been infected before?"

Virgil helped Roman off of the ground. "Plenty of times. You don't ever stop getting infected, there's always a bigger fish. I'll need to ask to get you some of your own ointment. I don't know if you'll be able to carry it while in your body though."

They were about to walk away but Roman stopped them. "Wait, you forgot to pray!"

"Oh, right." He had been so focused on helping Roman that it didn't cross his mind. He quickly folded his hands and lowered his head, saying a small prayer in latin.

When he was done Roman gave him a smile before they both started walking back to the apartment. Roman limped slightly, but Virgil walked a comfortable speed for him.

Roman frowned for a moment before asking, "What happens if a reaper turns into a phantom? Like they're too late to go to the afterlife and can't fade?"

Virgil sighed, "Then they turn into what we call shadows. Most phantoms look like animals, bugs, or some sort of creature that isn't exactly humanoid. They could have been spirits, human or animal, or something else. That phantom you just fought looked like a fox, but it could have been a cat or even a bird. Shadows however look humanoid, but the proportions are wrong and the coloring is still neon. They're a shadow of what they looked like before, but they're stronger and faster, and way more dangerous."

"Have you fought one before?"

"Plenty of times during wars. They all have claws and fangs, I've never defeated one by myself."

"So they're not as common when there isn't a war."

"No, they're pretty rare then. I doubt you'll ever see one."

Roman sighed, "I hope not."