Reapers

Chapter 55: Roman's Babysitter is Sal Now

"Roman!" Patton shouted when he opened the apartment door. The wind spirit pulled him into a hug, holding tight. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I told you that you two don't need to come over," Roman reminded them.

"Nonsense, we want to make sure everything is okay," Logan said. "Is... everything okay?"

"Well no one's about to die or fade so..."

"I'm watching over them until Virgil's better," Sal said from behind Roman.

Logan looked past the new reaper to see her better. "Oh, you must be Sal?"

"And you're Logan! I've heard a lot about you, I wish I could have met you sooner but... well work has been hard lately."

"Where's Virgil? Is he okay?" Patton asked, rushing past Roman and further into the apartment.

"He'll be fine, he's resting. Have you ever heard about when reapers get injured, we can turn into a glowing orb of light to heal faster? Well he's doing that now."

"Where is he?" Logan asked as he closed the door behind him.

Sal summoned a jar, in it was a ball of light. "It's only been a day, so I know for sure he's not ready to wake up yet. I heard that he already tried once and that it didn't go well, so I'm keeping this little fucker in a jar to make sure that he rests."

"I still don't like the idea of keeping him in a jar, or in a dimension pocket," Roman whined.

"It's easier to keep him safe like this." Sal shrugged. "Of course, I need to be careful because if I fade then there's no way he's coming back."

"Don't say that!" Roman took the jar from her hands, hugging it close to his chest. "I'll watch over him, I promise that I would anyway."

"So if you fade, will the things in your dimension pocket be destroyed?" Logan asked.

"No idea, either they're destroyed or they're trapped there forever since I'm the only one that has access to it."

"When you send things there, are you sending them to a different dimension entirely?"

"No, it's more like sending them to a fold in space. I'm the only one that knows where it is, so I'm the only one that can access it." Sal crossed her legs as she leaned back on the couch.

"Wait, is that what it is?" Roman asked. "Maybe that's why I couldn't do it earlier."

"You're not a reaper, you shouldn't be able to do it anyway," Patton told him. "Not even nature spirits can do that weird trick."

"Wait, you didn't tell them?" Sal asked, looking over to Roman in surprise.

"I was going to! But as soon as I told them Virgil got hurt they insisted on rushing over," Roman explained. "They hung up before I could tell them anything else!"

Patton went over and sat down on the couch. "Well Virgil is a really good fighter! He fought that class four while we were able to get to safety! So when we heard that you two got in a fight with a class five and he was down, we had to come over to make sure he's okay."

Roman looked at the orb in his hands. "I guess he's not, but he will be. I can't even imagine the pain he must have been in."

"What was it that you were going to tell us?" Logan asked as he sat next to Patton.

"Right! Um... so... a really weird thing happened last night-"

"He turned into a reaper," Sal finished for him.

"What!" Patton shouted, turning back to Roman with horror in his eyes. "But-but you're in your body right now?"

"I know," Roman responded.

"Aren't reapers supposed to be... dead?" Logan asked.

"I know! But I summoned my reaper weapon last night when fighting the phantom and destroyed it!"

"You destroyed a class five?!" Patton shouted, standing up.

"I don't know how! Apparently the first strike with a reaper's weapon is the strongest but I didn't know that, all I knew was that Virgil was hurt and the phantom jumped at me and I just did it on instinct!"

"And this all happened last night?" Roman nodded, making Patton sigh. "I wish I was there to help."

"You're not a reaper, you don't need to help us," Sal reminded him. "You need to stay safe."

"It's hard to want to stay put when Virgil's like that!" The wind spirit gestured to the jar in Roman's hand. "He's in a fricken jar!"

"It would be harder for us if you get infected and turn into a phantom. With how powerful you are, you could turn into a class five or even six! And a class five did that to him!"

"Okay, calm down!" Roman interrupted the yelling. "Virgil is going to be fine, everything will be okay. I know we're all concerned, but yelling isn't going to help anyone." He turned to Patton. "Sal is right though, you and Logan don't need to worry about this, unfortunately there isn't anything that you can do but keep yourselves safe."

"I can't imagine Virgil enjoys being in a jar," Logan commented.

"He doesn't even know, he's not aware of anything while like that," Sal told them. "Trust me, I know. I wasn't the best fighter when I first started out as a reaper."

"Oh yeah, you used to have a bow didn't you?" Roman asked, setting down the jar and sitting down.

"Yeah, but it snapped in half and well..." She summoned her pistols. "By then humans had created these bad boys and I got much better at fighting."

"When did you die, if I may ask?" Logan questioned.

"Ooh... c'était quand? Oh right! My king was Louis VIII, the Lion! Well, he was who ruled above me when I was alive, I didn't care much about him, I had just cared about my next meal. I ended up getting sick and dying when I was in my early twenties, but that was normal back then." (When was that?)

"That was during the 11th century, correct?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

"Do you know how Janus died? I haven't had much time to talk to him, so I was never able to ask him any questions."

Sal barked a laugh, "Don't even bother asking him, he doesn't tell us anything. The only person more secretive than Virgil is Janus, we know nothing. Though... I have a feeling he was killed, or more specifically executed. I can't explain it, I just have that vibe."

"Interesting. I wish I could ask him more but I suppose I'll take what I can get."

Roman sighed, tapping on his knee. "Virgil's scythe broke. When he first woke up, he held the two pieces and it turned into two... tiny scythes?"

"You're thinking of sickles," Logan told him.

"Right, sickles. They were connected by a chain. It was cool but I still feel bad that it broke in the first place."

"He'll be fine," Sal told him. "Our weapons are created to fit our fighting styles. All he has to do is learn how to fight with it, and he'll be fine. You need to learn to fight with a gladius."

"Yeah, I'll try to teach myself while Virgil's resting. Maybe he'll feel better when he wakes up and sees I'm not horrible with a sword."

"He fought with a gladius so he can definitely help you." Sal gave him a smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine when he wakes up."