Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

2

The silence stretched on, only broken by the busy scratching of feather-strokes. Neatly and meticulously, Thanatos Vulture was filling in forms, doing the paperwork that arose from the daily deaths of thousands and thousands of creatures. The gentlemanly Reaper only ever stopped to take a sip from his coffee cup then resumed writing.

How very fast he had returned to his daily routine after Azrael and he had solved the case and captured the soul thief. But he wouldn't have been Thanatos Vulture if he had rested on his laurels and neglected his duties as a civil servant of Reaper. So day in and day out he tended to the many souls in his care and documented everything as if the incident had never happened at all. And none of his colleagues mentioned it ever again either.

However, there was one difference to the way it was before the case of the soul thief: the relationship with his colleague Azrael had finally changed for the better, and it had stayed that way for a good two months. There now was a delicate intimacy of something akin to friendship between the new Reaper and his former mentor — a tiny step towards that deep bond the older male had forged with Azrael's forgotten former identity as Jake Darjeeling.

Thanatos was utterly grateful for that minute change. Now a budding hope had sprouted in his heart. A hope that the blank canvas that was Azrael would sooner or later paint itself and once again become the beautiful masterpiece of art that had been Jake's personality and memories. Until then he would be patient, waiting for it to happen. And even if the day never came, these two Reapers at least would be on far better terms than the rest of the sextet.

Azrael would sometimes drop by, bring a coffee to go or offer to have a coffee break together. And Thanatos would never say no to a cup of coffee, and he wouldn't pass any chance to spend time with Azrael either. They didn't talk much though; they both enjoyed the quiet company of each other, or — for the lack of other topics — they talked about work related things. Azrael still would seek his former mentor's opinion on certain matters, and Thanatos gladly shared his values and expertise if only that meant Azrael would allow Thanatos to share a fraction of his existence.

Just this instant there was a quiet knocking on the door, and Thanatos looked up from his work to bid: "Please, come in." The door opened and to Thanatos's secret delight it indeed was Azrael, two cups of coffee in hand. The older Reaper offered his colleague the seat opposite his desk and thankfully received one of the cups. "If I may, what brings you here today?" he asked after a brief silence.

"I was thinking about the case of the soul thief again," Azrael reluctantly murmured as he sipped on his coffee. Thanatos laid down his quill and looked at the younger male with stern attention. "And I realized," Azrael continued, "that we've never recovered the souls Lord Fujimi stole, except for your friend's."

Thanatos nodded earnestly. "That is indeed a most unfortunate fact."

"And we've never found out why he stole them or what he did with them," Azrael stated and frowned a little.

Thanatos sipped on his coffee and blinked thoughtfully. "Why bring this up now? It has been a good two months ever since. Perchance, do you have any new leads?" he wondered.

But Azrael shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't have any clue yet. Still I have a certain feeling that the true cause of Lord Fujimi's still unknown motifs remained unsolved."

"And you suspect there might appear another soul thieving gent, doing the same deeds for similar reasons?" Thanatos asked.

The younger Reaper shrugged. "I don't know. I just wonder what happened to the souls he took and where their energy has gone, since they are removed from the cycle of rebirth entirely. What did Lord Fujimi need them for?"