Yin & Yang

Chapter 22: Knowledge (Gabe)

I sat on my bed, a thick, heavy, dusty, and bejeweled book propped against my knees. Several similar books were stacked on my desk. Even though Lilith had said we would research together, I couldn't resist getting started a little bit early.

So far I had found out that I was called a Reaper, and that it wasn't as uncommon of a trait as I had assumed it was. Apparently there was some whole society of Reapers, but I skipped over that because it was boring. The first book I'd read hadn't had too much information on the specifics of my powers, but the one I had in my hands looked promising. Flipping through the pages, I finally found it, sandwiched between Quetzalcoatl and Revenant.

"A Reaper," the entry read, "is one of the most dangerous magical beings in existence, solely because of these ease with which it can kill. Whether in human form or in full Reaper form, they can kill you just by touching you. They do this by absorbing the soul from a person's body. The soul is then trapped by the Reaper and used as an energy source for the Reaper to power his or her abilities for the rest of eternity. It is perhaps the worst death it is possible to endure."

I paused at this, thinking about what I'd read. If I'd taken Cam's soul, all those years ago, how was he able to survive? Maybe because I'd stopped myself I'd only taken part of his soul, or I hadn't finished absorbing it. Either way I couldn't go around touching people anymore, under any circumstances. Pushing the thoughts from my head, I turned back to the page.

"The Reaper is also very difficult to face in combat. When the Reaper attains its full form, it becomes something not quite alive, but not quite dead either. As a result of this it is able to revert between a spirit form and a corporeal form with ease. This often manifests itself as invisibility, seeming teleportation, or an inability to make physical contact with the Reaper. The Reaper also creates a weapon which serves as a conduit to steal souls. In most cases, this is a scythe, although it doesn't have to be."

"In full form, the souls the Reaper has collected will manifest themselves as a cloak or a cape. The power a Reaper has increases as it steals more souls. Therefore, the power of a Reaper is proportional to the souls it owns. An easy way to tell a Reaper's power level is by the length of their cloak. In general, the longer the cloak, the more souls that comprise it, and the stronger the Reaper. The cloak also indicates the relative malevolence of the Reaper. The darker the color of the cloak, the darker the intentions of the Reaper. A Reaper with a lighter shade is more human and more in control of the Reaper's powers, whereas a pitch black cloak indicates that the Reaper has taken complete control. In this state, it is impossible to reason with the human that is the vessel for the Reaper."

I pushed the book away from myself and sat back, dazed. The importance of keeping my powers in check was more obvious to me than ever before. I was like Bruce Banner, and I couldn't release the Hulk inside. Hell, I was a walking killing machine. I couldn't believe I'd ever thought I could have a normal relationship, normal friends, a normal life. It seemed like there was no way to prevent me from accidentally killing people. Upon this realization, I deflated, and for the second time in two days, I wept.