Captain Tomboy had arrived at the hotel in Arusha using Ransom's portal. She checked in and went straight to sleep. Her phone's alarm woke her hours later. She bathed, ordered room service, and left for the meeting in her black dashiki.

Arriving at the Conference Center, everyone turned her way. Shame cloaked her body like an infant wearing an adult's shirt. Being late was an unhandsome thing. She would've arrived first if she hadn't been preoccupied with Big Brother Africa. Still, the embarrassment lasted a few seconds before she held her head high and marched to the front.

The room had a theater-like setup, with three seating sections and a small stage at the front. The regional representatives sat in the middle and back seats, ignoring the front rows.

Why are unhandsome people so afraid of sitting up front? Captain Tomboy thought.

"Good to have you with us, Vanessa," Meister Tobias told Captain Tomboy as she sat. In the Tanzania Soul Reaper Association (TSRA), he was in charge of the Arusha Division. Dressed in a black boubou that highlighted his bowl-shaped stomach and a matching hat hiding his bald head, he stood behind a wooden podium with three members of the Committee of Tanzanian Soul Reapers (CTSR) sitting behind him.

CTSR was made up of twenty-five former soul reaper captains, elected to ensure the eradication of revenants and maintain peace in their respective regions. They quickly became an out-of-touch group that sought to preserve the status quo rather than make changes for the betterment of everyone.

The fact that their members served for life was ridiculous. Term limits were required so that young soul reapers could lead. Each generation had different wants and needs, requiring a leader who would understand their concerns and take affirmative action.

A significant issue CTSR faced was the current generation's desire for people to know about soul reapers and revenants, which would enable them to do their jobs easily. But the committee refused, claiming the kids sought fame and didn't care about saving people. And thus, they denied the motion every time it came up.

Captain Tomboy stood in the middle of the issues. She was a centrist at heart, seeing the arguments from both sides. She wouldn't mind non-sorcerers knowing about revenants, but it would also expose the whole sorcerer community. And no one knew what repercussions that would have.

This wasn't a simple yes-or-no question. Even if CTSR accepted, they'd still need the Soul Reaper Supreme Court—a worldwide organization that governed soul reapers—to agree. And if the CTSR were old fools stuck in their ways, then SRSC was worse.

Captain Tomboy dove deeper into her thoughts, swimming to the depths of her mind in search of a solution to the problems affecting her community. The revenants were getting more powerful, and their rate of entering the earth realm increased by the day. She used to take down a seven-eyed revenant with ease. But lately, she needed Ransom's help to defeat one. It was such an unhandsome experience. But when other captains complained about the same thing, CTSR scheduled this meeting.

"Vanny," a familiar voice whispered beside her.

Captain Tomboy's heart skipped a beat. Her breathing slowed. The saliva in her mouth dried. She hadn't noticed when she arrived. And why did she have to sit next to her? There were plenty of empty seats available.

At that moment, she recalled a specific moment in the meeting with her squad:

"Do you know who'll represent Arusha?" Babe asked with a playful smile.

That unhandsome woman, Captain Tomboy thought. She had tried to avoid thinking about this moment, hoping she'd avoid it. But alas, she had failed.

Turning to her handsome seatmate, she said, "Unice, it's been a while."

Unice, aka Captain Lover Girl, was the former captain of the Smiling Jokers. She had led them for five years before being forced to step down and move to Arusha after the Committee of Tanzanian Soul Reapers discovered her secret relationship with Captain Tomboy.

Sexual relationships between squad members were prohibited—another thing the new generation wanted to remove from the bylaws. Unice and Vanessa's desire for each other had grown as they spent time together and got to know one another.

Other soul reapers believed Unice chose Vanessa to be the vice-captain at the time because they were in a relationship. The truth was that no one else wanted the job. Members of the Smiling Jokers were lazy, and the promotion meant more responsibilities, which they avoided profusely.

When CTSR called them in for questioning, Unice and Vanessa had two options: Suspension, or Separation. The former would've lasted for two years, and the latter meant one of them had to leave the region. They agreed on the second.

This was their first face-to-face meeting in four years. Even though they had interacted on social media a few times, the long distance put out the fire that had ignited between them. Or so they claimed.

"How have you been, my love?" Unice asked.

Captain Tomboy looked away from her; her face heated. How could she say such an unhandsome thing? Everyone there knew of their forbidden love. The hair on her neck rose. They must've been staring at them. Her. Oh, dear! This was why she had initially refused Meister Draco's offer to represent Dar Es Salaam before being forced to do so.

Covering her face with her hands, Captain Tomboy screamed internally. Her face heated more, her heart raced faster, and the saliva in her mouth dried quicker.

Focus. She clenched her jaw, took a deep breath, and sat upright. Ignoring Unice, she focused on Meister Tobias.

"Good talk," Unice added before staring ahead.

"—apart from the increase in revenant attacks, one of The Lords showed up in Mwanza a few days ago, killed the meister, and kidnapped the soul reapers. We're not sure if they're still alive. As of this moment, Mwanza doesn't have a meister or soul reapers. Other regions have sent some of theirs to protect the residents. We need to be prepared to deal with whatever The Lords have planned next," Meister Tobias said.

Meister Draco had informed Captain Tomboy of this. She was there to help come up with a solution.

"And what solution has the committee come up with?" Unice asked.

"Squads have an uneven number of members in each region. We're thinking of disbanding them and spreading soul reapers evenly across the country to better deal with the revenants."

Chatter spread among the representatives.

Unice smiled. She seemed to know more than anyone since she worked for Meister Tobias. He was the one who asked her to go to Arusha after she volunteered to leave Dar Es Salaam. It wouldn't have been a surprise if they had planned their back-and-forth.

"What about the other solution?" she asked.

Meister Tobias cleared his throat. Everyone stayed silent. "Yes, if the revenant attacks increase, we're thinking of shutting down the academies and assigning the students squads."

The representatives gasped.

"But they're children," Unice said.

"No, they're more than that. They're soul reapers," he clarified.

"That's not true." Unice stood and faced the other representatives. "They're not just soul reapers to you—they're soldiers. Weapons to be used and discarded when it's over. We've heard stories from veteran battle sorcerers who helped this country during the world wars. So we know what this is and how it's going to end."

Unice was the one leading the charge to remove most of the CTSR members and replace them with fresh faces. She had the support of most captains and squad members, with some calling for her to lead the committee. Her defiant nature attracted people to her.

She continued. "We need new leadership. What future do soul reapers have if we send our youth to their deaths?"

"There won't be a future if we can't defeat the revenants," Meister Tobias said.

Unice turned to him. "Then why don't we ask for help from other sorcerers? Occult detectives, battle sorcerers, all the hunters, and so on. If the revenants pose this big of a threat, then the other groups would have to help us."

"We can't."

"Why not?"

He said nothing.

Unice turned to the representatives again:

"Do you know what the other sorcerers call us? Exterminators. We're filth to them. The soul reaper committees around the world have allowed us to be looked down on, mocked, and denied resources that would help us defeat revenants for good.

"Why are our leaders getting fat while our squads are slimming?

"Three months ago, the only two reaper squads in Kagera disbanded. They hadn't received money for four months to pay their bills. Their members left, and the people of Kagera have no one to protect them from revenants.

"It won't be long before The Lords realize it and take over the region.

"What happened in Mwanza was a symptom of something that's been going on for years. Many regions are without support. If we can't help our squads, then how can they help the people?

"We need competent leadership."

"And you think that's you?" Zoey Bishop asked. She was the former captain of Children of Meru (Unice's current squad) and a current member of CTSR.

"Yes," Unice said. "With me in charge, I'll make soul reapers the most respected sorcerers in our community."

"And the revenants?"

"They'll cease to exist."

Zoey and the other two committee members glanced at each other with a smile on their faces, nodding approvingly. There were rumors that Unice had support from some committee members because she promised to keep them in charge. These three must've been them. The fact that they were the only ones here, alongside Meister Tobias, another supporter of Unice, wasn't a coincidence.

This meeting seemed more like a campaign to get Unice elected to lead CTSR than to find solutions to deal with the increase in revenant activity.

Still, Unice just promised to eradicate every revenant in the country, something no one had dared to do because of its impossibility. She knew the representatives would spread her vow country-wide, bringing more attention and scrutiny her way. But Unice didn't let roadblocks stop her from achieving her goals.

"We believe in you, Unice!" a representative shouted.

"Yes, we do!" another added.

"Let's go, Unice!"

"U-nice! U-nice! U-nice!" they chanted.

As Captain Tomboy stared at Unice while she smiled at receiving love from others, she realized she was still in love with her even after all these years.