Death Has a Daughter

Ch 5 The Real World

My hands began to sweat as I anxiously awaited my assignment at graduation. Ten years of training had led me to this moment. So much waiting, so much ridicule and debate if I would ever make it to this day. Here I was, first in my class, and I was ready. Soon I would have the power to end a life. To watch the light of a soul slip from is shell into my scythe. I wanted that moment, I'd been craving it for sixteen years, and finally I would be able to silence the aching.

The entire realm seemed to be able to make it to the stadium for our graduation ceremony today. After what felt like forever, hearing name after name called, Herald finally stepped in front of me, and I took a deep breath.

"I know you, out of all these Grim Reapers before me, have been awaiting this day the most.... Cendall, on this scroll are two-hundred souls that I expect to be collected by the end of the year. Go quickly, watch for Guardians, observe your souls, and remember to always be alert. Remember, also, that every second counts towards a win or a defeat. Nice uniform, by the way."

"I'm ready...and thank you," I said with a smile. Since I was the first female, they hadn't known what I should wear. Dave's mom made some custom outfits for me that were amazing. One was made of black, flexible leather that felt like another layer of protective skin—to guard against the Guardian's blade. It had belt loops already placed in it for my scythe and knife that I would always carry on me for protection against Guardians. The mask completely covered my face, leaving only my eyes visible. We thought this was best, since the Guardians didn't know that a female existed among the Reapers. Some of the men did the same with the mask, for extra protection. Drake was also in uniform but, of course, he wore no mask. He once said in training that he wanted Guardians to see who was defeating them. Such a cocky asshole.

Herald handed me my scroll, and he moved on to address the audience. My eyes looked down at my list—two hundred souls that were mine to collect. My lungs let out a deep breath, and I felt a slight pain in my chest. The wound from the Reaping still hadn't quite healed, but I smiled. It had been worth it to get the first place win. The scroll gave me locations and DOBs for all of the souls.

Their ages were varied, but I found that most of them were typically older, which was fine. It was my first run. They weren't going to give me all the difficult ones first. That came with talent and reputation. Once I proved I could collect these souls, I would definitely be on the fast track to the big leagues. I wouldn't ruin my family's reputation. If I had it the way I wanted, I would be a high-profile Reaper in two years tops.

"You got a lot of oldies?" Dave whispered to me as Herald began giving a boring final speech. He had already put the crowd to sleep with his introduction.

"Yeah, about half of my list," I whispered back, just as Herald ended his rant to the crowd.

"Before your eyes are the new Reapers who will bring much high praise to this realm," Herald said, ending his speech. The crowd erupted in applause. Part of me thought they were just grateful he had finally stopped talking.

"That's better than my list," Dave replied, after the applause had died down. "I think I have three under the age of sixty." He laughed. Dave wasn't too disappointed, although his parents might be. He was only a Reaper because of birth. Truthfully, he would have preferred to be a claimer or a researcher, but he would never admit that to anyone but me. He always said he found honor in those roles, but I thought they seemed boring, especially the claimer role. All a claimer had to do was take a soul to wherever it was going to lie in hell. Of the two, a researcher sounded a bit more interesting, because they at least had some say in where a soul could potentially reside. A researcher's job was to investigate a soul's entire existence. They were meant to find evidence to support that the soul shall reside somewhere in hell. That, at least, seemed challenging and would have some reward. If they could unfold more evidence than heaven's claimers, the case was usually won in our realm's favor. It was also a stepping stone to get into our judicial system, as researchers had the potential to eventually become prosecutors and judges. More roles I didn't have any interest in. They weren't busy enough for my liking, due to the fact that the decision regarding a soul's final resting place was usually pretty cut and dry. If they were good, they went to heaven; if they were bad, hell. Depending on how bad determined what level in hell they would reside. But, because the decision was not cut and dry for every soul, we had to have a judicial system.

In the judicial system, a prosecutor who would argue for the soul to go hell, and a defender from heaven would argue for the soul to reside in heaven. Once they pled their cases from the information given to them by the researchers, eight judges would decide. Four were from heaven, and four were from hell. One of the four from heaven was the Executive Guardian Judge, which would give the final say from the upper realm. It was the same way with our four judges. One Executive Underworld Judge would give the final decision from our realm. If it ended in a split decision, the soul went to purgatory. According to Dad, it was all politics, and something in which I had no interest.

"They just want us to prove ourselves," I said, giving him an excuse to throw at his parents later.

"Yeah, that and because you weren't even in the top five, so why would they delegate higher-risk souls to you?" interrupted Drake, who apparently decided he needed to be in the conversation. "What's yours look like?" he asked, looking in my direction.

"Don't worry about it," I snapped. Who was he to make Dave feel like shit? The Drake who was mature at the battlefield was gone now.

"You should be focusing on your list. Because if you don't, when I finish mine, they might want me to help you out with yours!" I shouted.

"Ha, that'll be the day!" Drake responded. "You got lucky at the Reaping. Soon enough, everyone will know who truly deserved that number one spot." He stormed off the stage and ported into the stands, probably in hopes of getting his ass kissed by the rest of the realm. For many reasons, the realm assumed he was the next big thing.

"He's such a freaking prick."

"Yeah, but he's good, Cendall, so that's why you have to finish your list before him. Then maybe he'll lay off of the rest of us."

"I will, but damn, I thought that winning first place would have hit his ego a little bit and he'd lay off. But it seems it's only made him into a bigger, more competitive jerk. He was so different right after I won on the field though. He was like normal, for a second, Dave."

"Normal, no, he's crazy. Maybe he was just having a lapse of sanity," Dave said with a laugh.