The sky was dark and ominous. Rain fell down in moderate amounts with the occasional rumble of thunder. The combination of rain and cold caused a fog to slowly arise from the forest and move towards the graveyard, giving it a ghostly aura.

In the cold dark silence a single figure knelt by an isolated grave - his palms put together in a praying gesture. His eyes were closed, his lips unmoving whilst his silver hair shone like silver with the setting sun. He made no effort to rise as another tall figure approached him.

"Why am I surprised to find you here? Are you still so attached to the dead mortal?" This new arrival made no effort to hide his angelic features. He had fiery red hair, electric blue eyes and skin that glittered silver. He wore white and silver elegant robes and had an ethereal glow around him.

"You were mortal too once, were you not? The disdain you appear to have for them is quite hypocritical of you, Metatron. Now what do I owe the pleasure?" He replied without moving or opening his eyes.

"We find it concerning that you have chosen to abandon your duties, Azrael. It's one thing to step down as the harbinger of Death. It's another to pass that mantle to a mere mortal."

"I don't answer to you or the rest of the Heavenly host."

"You are an angel..."

"But I was first and foremost the harbinger of Death. As such any decisions I make... Whatever I do in that regard is really none of your business." Azrael said with a nonchalant tone. "I take no sides. Heaven... Hell... it means nothing to me. I exist to maintain balance in the universe."

"I see. But that was before you gave away your power to the mortal. As of now you are but a mere angel and your allegiance is first and foremost to the Heavenly host. You will carry out the orders that have been given to you. You will retrieve the mortal and deliver him to us.

You don't want to be the harbinger of Death anymore? That's fine with us. We will choose a more suitable host.
Refuse to carry out this instruction and you shall be charged with treason. I'm sure you're well aware of what we do to traitors. You and Samael will catch up on that should you choose to defy us. The last thing we need is for the pentagram to acquire this mortal and corrupt him to their own desires." Metatron said with a grim expression.

"Samael didn't fall because he chose to side with Lucifer. He fell because he chose a side." Azrael replied. He appeared uncaring and unaffected by Metatron's words and this drove the other angel mad.

"And once again I remind you, Azrael, that you are no longer an angel of Death. You are an angel and the allegiance of every angel is first and foremost to Heaven. Chose wisely. You have no friends in Hell. I'm sure they'll have a field day if we were to cast you into the pit." Metatron 's eyes blazed with the threat before he spread his wings and took off.

Azrael remained standing in front of the grave, his face calm and emotionless. After a few more minutes to himself he turned and walked away.

🔯🔯🔯

Raul had been throwing up for the last three minutes. His stomach still felt queasy after what happened and he wasn't even sure how he would explain any of it.

Having spent his entire life believing in nothing he found himself overwhelmed by everything that was being thrown at him. It almost felt like the universe was mocking him. Every single thing he had considered a fairytale up to now seemed to be coming to life and he didn't know how to react anymore.

He had gone to sleep last night thinking that by the time he woke up it would have been all a dream. In the end that had been nothing but his own wishful thinking and they had been attacked by a fallen angel.

A cold chill went down his spine as he suddenly realized that it meant he would probably run into angels who would want to harm him as well.

"Are you alright?" He heard Kali's voice from outside the bathroom.

"Yeah, just give me a minute," he replied as he walked over to the sink to wash his face and rinse his mouth.

He felt awful and the worst part was he wasn't sure if he'd even get better. Whatever was wrong with him was not something he was familiar with. It felt like something dark and powerful slowly tearing at him from the inside out but he didn't know what it was. He just knew that that nausea kept getting worse no matter what he did.

Swallowing the bile in his mouth, he slowly walked out of the bathroom. Kali was relieved to see him and gave him a smile when she saw him.

"Are you okay?" She asked him again as she fussed over him like a mother hen.

"I'm fine. I'm sorry I made you worry." He replied as he shied away from her. "So where the hell are we anyways?"

She narrowed her eyes a bit trying to call him out on his bluff but he remained adamant and kept up the smile. In the end she had no choice but to play along with it.

"Come. Let me introduce you to the others." She said with an encouraging smile.

"Others? Like other reapers or just normal people for once?" He asked her, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"Other reapers. I'm afraid we're your new normal now, Raul."

"... Right. So how many reapers are there exactly?"

"Well there are an infinite number of reapers just as there are infinite universes..."

"You're kidding, right? You don't intend to introduce me to all of them, do you?"

"Oh no no no. I'm only introducing you to six. There are seven of us who you could oversee the rest."

"I see. So the kid who attacked us before?"

"That is no child. That is Samael, a fallen angel."

"Fallen angel? You mean demon?"

"No. Fallen angels are not demons. Fallen angels originated in heaven from where they fell. Lucifer, Samael, Gadreêl among a few I could name are fallen angels. Demons are either hell born or they were once the souls of sinners so wicked and twisted their essence was transformed upon their damnation into hell. People often confuse the two but they're not the same. Fallen angels have higher ranks in Hell and are way stronger. They make up the princes of hell, Lucifer's own personal henchmen if you can call them that."

"All of this still sounds like a bedtime story to me, by the way. If I hadn't just seen that child monster try to kill you I wouldn't believe any of it. And you... You had four arms."

"You saw that, huh? That is my true form but it is quite rare for mortals to be able to see me in that form or to see the true forms of other beings and entities. I suppose it must be your power that allows it." Kali replied as she gave him a strange look.

Before he could say anything they came to two large black doors with a large skull doorknob. The hall beyond the door was large vast and very dark. A large fire burned bright in the middle of this hall eliminating the eight stone statues that rose high and majestic, arranged in a circular manner around the large hall. The eighth statue in the center looked different and it seemed somewhat to be embracing an element from each of the other seven.

At the feet of each of these statues was some sort of throne molded to suit the design of each statue. He quickly noted that five of these thrones were occupied.

"Kali, there you are. We were getting worried you wouldn't come." Came the voice of a more familiar face. Raul remembered he was the same man who had somehow rescued them.

The young gentleman now wore a deep crimson suit with black highlights. Unlike everyone else he seemed to have a thing for high fashion and stylish outfits of the 1950s with a top hat to match. He also wore glasses with no lenses and had a cigar with him. His skin glowed a rich coffee colored and his rich black hair was nicely trimmed.

"When has she ever been on time? She likes to be spontaneous. Whether it's early or late." Another voice said. Turning he saw a beautiful young woman with shimmering long black hair and striking blue eyes.

This woman wore a simple long black gown but the more he looked at her he began to realize that the right half of her face was showing bone and that the same side of her throat had bone exposed. Even half of her hair was white. It was almost as if half of her was nothing but bone.

"Instead of starting a fight with me maybe we can get on with the issue at hand." Kali snapped.

She took a deep breath to calm herself before she turned to Raul.

"Allow me to introduce you to the Reapers."

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