It had been a month since my funeral.
In that time, I've spent every waking moment preparing for my first job with York, which I was only allowed to go on when Aster said I was.
And yesterday, he had said I was good to go.
I was now "one with" my new body, it felt like the same one I had been walking around in my entire life. My eyes no longer hurt after using them for too long. I could focus in on things I wanted to look especially close at and had used them to read some of the books Aster had on his shelf. On the topic of the foreign language thing, Aster brought it to my attention that only eleven of the Reapers actually speak English. It had come up when I had asked when I was going to get to test my ears out.
He had looked at me, his head tilted to the side, and then laughed. He said it wasn't my fault, there was no way I would know, but apparently Nico didn't speak a lick of English, just Korean. Vito spoke English, but it wasn't the same as mine, apparently. Aster told me my ears were making everyone's tongue sound how I needed it to for me to understand them.
Pretty cool, to be honest.
Other than that, I could clear the obstacle course I had done on my first day of training in under a minute and had even decided what I wanted my weapon to be.
I had asked Aster what his weapon was, and he had smiled, pricked his fingertip with the tip of a pointed tooth, and let the drop fall onto the ground.
A portal had opened, and he crouched down to reach in, and pull out a five-foot-tall hammer.
"That wasn't what I was expecting." I had said, genuinely surprised.
"Why?" He'd asked. I had just shrugged, not wanting to say that I was expecting a scythe because of how much like the stereotypical grim reaper he looked.
If he nor anyone else used one, then there was no reason left for me not to.
So, Aster was making me one, he had started a week ago and said it would be ready by the time I was ready to go out on my first mission.
Which was today.
I was sitting on top of the giant table currently, twiddling my thumbs, waiting for York to get back from wherever he had gone. Honestly, he could just be working. He had been around less and less recently, leaving me with Aster for sometimes a couple of days at a time. It's not like I was offended, it just made me realize being a Reaper might be a kind of lonely life.
At least I knew I would have this place to come back to.
And I knew I was serving a purpose now. I was actually contributing to society, even if no one alive knew I was.
It felt good, even if I hadn't actually done anything yet.
"Are you ready?" I'm pulled out of my thoughts by York leaping on my back like he liked to.
"I've been ready." I grumble, falling backwards so York is smashed under my weight. He squirms around for a second and then lays back in defeat.
"You have to let me up if you want to go." He grunts. I get off him, standing up and offering him by hand.
"So. Where are we going?" I'm actually starting to feel a little nervous.
I was going to see a human soul get reaped for the first time.
Aster had told me for my very first time out watching a job, I wouldn't be doing anything but watching. I wasn't supposed to talk or do anything, just follow York's lead and do what he says. I said I would, no matter what.
"First, Aster wanted me to give you this." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a thick tube, maybe four inches long with a couple of noticeable lips on it.
"What is it?" I ask as he places it in my hand. It's got a good weight to it. I roll it around a little, raising a brow and looking up to York when my thumb comes across a button the size of a bottle cap.
"Go on." He encourages. I push the button, quickly grabbing the middle of the now four-foot-long metal pole that was about to fall to the ground.
"Uh." I stammer, twisting it around and looking at it. "What exactly is this?"
"It's your weapon. Or part of it. Aster wanted you to get used to holding and swinging the weight of the pole before he attached a blade. That alone is a very good weapon to have. You'd be surprised how handy that could be for you." I nod a little at the thick metal pole in my hand, twisting it between my fingers. I had messed around with my grandpa's Escrimas he'd left behind for me when he'd died, so it's not like I was totally unused to fighting with pole-like weapons, but this was a lot heavier and longer, and eventually, it'd have a blade attached to it.
Aster was right to wait. He was once again looking out for me.
"You look pretty legit with that thing already." York grins at me, and I smile back a little. I push the button again, and it pops back into the center bar. I slip it into my pocket.
"Let's do this. I'm ready." I nod, and York claps.
"Yay! I have a feeling you'll be a fast learner, to be honest." He turns away, reaching into his sweatshirt and pulling his katana out. "Just remember, don't talk, don't try to stop or correct me, and keep close. Cool?" He glances over his shoulder at me as he slices through the air and slides his sword back.
"I understand. I'll stay in my lane." He nods, then turns.
"Let's go then, friend."