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Chapter 2

Present
     "You have reaper eyes," Art says, still dragging me by my ankle.
     "What?" I ask. I hope that doesn't mean that weird thing going on with her eyes. "And what did you mean back there? When you said you were my mentor? And when you called me a demon?"
     "Exactly what I said. I'm your mentor," she slows down and sighs. "In this world, there are three sides: exteriminators, demons, and humans. There's also grim reapers, but I don't want to go into all of that. The demons attack humans but exteriminators attack demons. Exterminators are dead humans, so it's only natural we'd want to save them. And we eat them. But so do demons. You're a demon. I should exterminate you," she pauses. "But I'm trying out something. I'm gonna train demons to fight other demons."
     I desperately try to keep up with what she's saying, but it's hard trying to learn about a new part of your universe. "But I don't eat humans," I say.
"I don't really know, it's just... kinda... maybe you're half demon half human or something? I don't really know?" she replies. She's just as confused as I am.
     "So why do I have reaper eyes exactly?" I ask. "What are those?"
     "Exterminators get them... like my eyes. It's hard to explain... because... I guess because you joined our side?" she responds. "Well, anyway, I'm taking you to the agency."
     "Agency?"
     "It's a group of exterminators. God, they're gonna have a field day when I bring you in and explain it all."
     I make a note to be careful around her friends. "So do I get a cool-stick thingy?" I ask, gesturing toward her scythe.
     "Those are for exterminators only. Figure out your own weapon."
      "What about my brother, Link?"
     "What about him?"
     "Is he a demon, too?"
     She shrugs. "I dunno. Could be. I'll focus on that later."
     "Can I walk on my own now?" I ask after a twig scratches my face.
      She releases her whip. "Oh, yeah, sure."
     I untie the knot, and walk beside Art. "How far away is this agency?"
     "Well, we'll have to take a trian after we find our way out of this forest," she answers, moving a branch out of her path. Now that we are side by side, I realize that she is a lot taller than me. I look up at her soft features, when she suddenly turns to face me.
     "What?"
     "Nothing..." I reply, looking at the ground.
     We walked in silence until we found our way out of the thick trees, and catch the first train to a city called Farlanville. It's supposedly a small town for humans, but is very active among reapers. I followed her all the way down three streets, when she stops in front of an old looking building.
     "Well, this is the spot," she says. She pulls a key out of her dress pocket (those pockets are roomy) and unlocks the door. I awkwardly follow behind her as she leads me past a gross desk and up a flight of stairs to the immediate right. She walks in silence, gracefully up the steps. I have to admit, she is kind of pretty when she's not always trying to kill me.
     A light at the top of the room grows brighter, until I find myself surrounded by people in a huge library-like place. Art grabs my hand and leads me past everyone. They all had a variety of hair colors, ranging from red to blue, though not a single one of them was natural. All of them had the same ghostly skin as Art, though everyone's choice in fashion was different.
     I let myself be dragged by Art, until we leads me out of the crowd and to the corner of the room, where a long desk sat.
     Art cleared her throat.
     The door behind the desk burst open, and an older lady comes out.
     "What do you want? Why is this scum here?" she asks gesturing towards me.
     "I'm making him my assistant. His name is-"
     "Atticus Castle Tereth," I finish for her.
     "And he needs a starter pack. His choice in weapons are-
     "Uh... swords."
     "His preferred eye color is-"
     "Green?"
     "His birthdate is-"
     "October 28th 1993."
     "And his Taik is-"
     "..." I want to keep the finish the sentence thing going, but I have no idea what a Taik is.
     Art looks at me. "Also green," she says.
     The lady behind the desk sighs loudly, and goes back behind the door.
     "What's a Taik?" I hiss.
     "Your little color thing. Y'know... like how mine is purple. My hair is purple, my blood is purple. Yours is green," she replies.
     I look at my wrist, and sure enough, my veins are a green color... a lot like grass. I look back up when the door swings back open and a backpack flies at my face. I catch it before it hits me.
     "Thanks," Art mutters, and pulls my arm towards another flight of stairs. "Since you aren't an actual registered reaper, you'll have to room with me until we get better arrangements chosen."
     I follow her up a second set of steps, and ascend until I reach the top. A long hallway with many doors stretches beyond either side of me. Art leads me to a door at the end, and unlocks it with a second key.
     "I had a roommate, but she died. All of her stuff was cleared out, so you can get the left half," she says. Inside is a room not much bigger than a hospital room. Each side of the room mirrors the other; a dark oak bed, a matching desk with a captain chair, and a tall bookshelf. That's where the similarities end, though. One side is covered in dirty laundry, papers, and empty glass bottles. The other side is completely spotless. Assuming that side is mine, I throw my backpack onto the desk and sit in the chair.
     Art takes a seat at her desk, and pulls out a laptop. "I need to make a report on this, so do whatever over there while I type this up. You also might want to wash those sheets tomorrow, my roommate was a bit messy," she says, as she begins typing.
     I tear off my shoes, and hang my jacket on the chair. Not caring about how dirty the bed may be, I throw myself into it, and fall asleep almost as soon as my head hits the pillow.