zombzeh (7:56:53 PM): Eldridge Tsukimono had been a member of the Dirige--the organization better known as the Reapers, although that name differed with each language--for some time, now. Even the most "senior" of members had only been amongst the organization for ten years; it was, for all intents and purposes, fairly new, and being there for three months was considered admirable. Souls came in and out, Reapers died on dangerous assignments fairly often, and were always replaced; there were no shortage on lost souls to harvest the dead. Eld, and his companion Etsu, were both alive, and although they had been in a few sticky situations before, they showed no signs of being run down. These two often stayed in the same room together, and it was easy to fill in the blanks in the mind regarding what they must have done together. On this day, though, they hadn't the option--Eldridge was on duty.

"Hey, Eld," Scott's voice could be heard in Eld's ear--their "technology" was a truly wonderful thing, "We got a sort of a problem--going to need you down here ASAP."

ZachKaiser (8:06:22 PM): When on active duty but not in the field, there wasn't a whole lot to do. Fortunately, Eld wasn't a person who became bored easily, so as he waited to see if something would come up he passed the time with a good book while curled up in the lounge, occasionally going for a brief patrol to stretch his legs--they patrolled the compound, but it wasn't as though an Ame Voleur was going to attack it. With as many Reapers as there were--not to mention Death himself--it would be akin to suicide. The voice in his ear signalled the end of his break, though.

"Alright, I'm on my way," he whispered, so as not to disturb the others in the lounge.

He set his book down (he was trusting enough to believe no one would take it) and left, heading for the command room where Scott would no doubt be located. He wondered what signified a "problem," though, especially one that he'd be called for. It didn't sound like they'd just found an average Ame Voleur for him to go after...

zombzeh (8:37:22 PM): It wasn't often, at least--rare, in fact. So far, the only instance that Eld may have been told about was a situation where Etsu and Addison had to hunt after and destroy an Ame Voleur that had wormed its way into the compound, searching for high spiritual energies with which to use for sustenance. In the last ten years, there had been other instances of it, but Eld hadn't been told of them, at least. Not many were. Some things were simply kept hush-hush. Scott Thompson had his own "command center," really: his office. There were two large screens, one for Scott and the other for his assistant, who was currently off duty, much to her preference; it was difficult to be with Scott Thompson for any huge length of time. Scott sat before the screen, the focus on an overhead view of Ulster, a quaint nation across the ocean from Cizok, Algeroth, and that continent as a whole.

"Yo, Eld. Glad you could make it. Check it out. See the yellow dot there? It's been flickering all day--and it's no Reaper," Scott stated, before remembering that Eld didn't really know what these things meant, "Er, oh yeah--that's something we see when there's a spirit flux. Usually, a spirit flux is either caused by a Reaper, or happens on its own; we don't see when it happens on its own, 'else this whole map would be yellow. Here, though, it keeps flickering. A strong spirit flux--Reaper strength--should do that."

ZachKaiser (8:45:22 PM): "I see."

Scott wasn't usually a difficult person to be around for Eld, for two reasons. One was that Eld was a fairly easygoing person who wasn't easily bothered by others' personalities, and the other was that Eld was male and therefore not of much interest to Scott most of the time. Other than being teased about his relationship with Etsu periodically, he got off fairly light. His poor secretary, on the other hand...

"So...there's a spiritual flux being caused by someone, but no Reaper's have been sent there?" It was a puzzle, but there was one idea that Eld had--specifically because of who he was. "Could it be someone like me?" he asked. "I mean, like I was anyway? A person who gained powers but hasn't actually joined. Did my spiritual fluctuations show up as a yellow dot?"
That was his best guess--presumably, fluctuations caused by an Ame Voleur were indicated by something else,

zombzeh (8:56:58 PM): "Hm . . ." Scott thought for a moment, "We actually had you registered after Hikane observed you enough, but before that . . ."

Well, shit. Now he actually had to think--no, not think, remember. There were few things in the world that were a total pain in his rear, and being forced to remember things in the past were one of those. This wasn't to say that he couldn't, or that he even had any memory problems at all--he just didn't like putting forth that much thought!

"If I remember correctly . . . yeah. Yeah, you were. I have no records of a Reaper meeting someone in a near death experience recently in Ulster, though. If it's like you, then I guess we'll see when you get there . . ."

ZachKaiser (9:02:58 PM): Eld let out a sigh; he figured it would come to that. Not that he had any particular issue with doing his job, but there was one thing he felt the need to point out.

"Wouldn't someone else be better suited to this, though?"

Investigation...just wasn't his forte when it came to spiritual powers. He had a large amount of spiritual energy, and while his control over it had significantly improved since he arrived he still found the more subtle applications difficult. When it came to combat, Eld could hold his own with many Reapers who'd been with the Dirige for much longer; when it came stuff like this, though, someone like Etsu--who had good spiritual sense and was capable of those more subtle tricks--was probably a better choice.

zombzeh (9:15:03 PM): It was true, there were several different reasons why Etsu Hikane would be vastly more effective in this type of situation than Eld. Indeed, she had much more control over her spirit, and even could exert considerable control over the spirits of others, but there were some tricky things to take into account, here.

"Well, originally, I figured that it would be fair training for you--to get you out there, doing this sort of work. The more versatile the Reaper, the better, right? Second, if we're talking about a hairy situation, Hikane isn't best suited for it. I don't mean to bad-mouth your girlfriend or anything, but when she's fighting by herself, she has a higher chance coming back dead than she does with any positive results. You remember the whole issue in Xexoria. I've been asked to keep her out of potentially sticky situations 'til she's better off, combat wise." Scott went silent for a moment, taking a drag from his cigarette. It was a cold day in hell when he wasn't smoking. "Lastly, and I juuuuust thought of it: how would you feel about your girlfriend encountering a guy just like you?"

ZachKaiser (9:20:58 PM): For the most part, Eld had to admit Scott had a point: while Etsu was better for investigations, if whatever it was turned out to be dangerous, he had a higher chance of dealing with it. They were truly at their best when they worked as a team, but that wasn't always an option--besides, if he could handle it on his own, there was no reason to bother anyone else with it. The last think Scott said kind of irked him though.

"As if she'd fall for a guy just because of that," he stated confidently.

Though he knew the uniqueness of their situation had played a large part in getting them to become closer, he believed knew that had they sent anyone else to observe him, he wouldn't have fallen for them--and he believed the reverse, too.

"Alright, I'll go. What's the weather like there right now?" he asked.

It was an innocent enough question, but with Scott it would serve as a return jab as well.

zombzeh (9:30:50 PM): There were many ways to easily quiet Eld via direct spite. Many of these came natural to Scott. A bit dejected, with a look of disappointment on his face, he let out a puff of smoke, directed towards Eld's face, to intentionally inspire a fit of coughing to shut 'im up. It worked like a charm in the past, he just had to avoid overusing it, that was all. Eld was a health nut enough that he avoided second hand smoke when at all possible, and the guy that used to spend a lot of time with him, who also smoked, usually didn't do it around him--so, Eld didn't get a lot of it, anyways. Scott spun in his chair over to the screen, tapping his fingers on various colored orbs beneath the screen, manipulating the view.

"Looks like rain. Might want to bring a coat."

ZachKaiser (9:39:10 PM): Indeed, Eld's reaction was just as Scott expected: he coughed and frantically attempted to wave the smoke away from his person. While it would be an understatement to say he'd changed since that fateful night several months ago, one thing that remained constant was his insistance on healthy habits...something which occasionally annoyed the much more laid back Etsu. He gave Scott a brief glare, but quickly regained his composure.

"Alright. Anything else?"

Despite his personality making it hard to place trust in him, Eld quickly learned that Scott was good at what he did, and he really did value his opinion, especially when it came to preparing for a mission.

zombzeh (9:54:23 PM): "Two things. You might want to bring Kageko along. Since she's connected to your mind, not your spirit, you can't recall her anytime you need to," a bit of information Eld already knew, but it was the sort of thing that being reminded of could cause no harm.

Unlike Etsu, Eld couldn't call his "weapon" back if he lost it. Etsu could just extend her hand and recall the weapon, linked to her spirit, to reform within her hand. Eld couldn't do the same with Kageko, which meant hiding that four foot long bent up wooden polearm with a sickle at the end was strickly impossible. It was exceptionally difficult for him to come off as anything but menacing to passing souls sometimes, with the scythe and all--the image of death that so many were expecting.

"Second: this is a populated area. I'm talking about Emain Macha, here--Ulster's capital city. If you're armed, you might want to take a lot of precautions."

Now, going out into the field wasn't all that horrible of a process. They had "gates" throughout the compound that could be programmed to permit transport to particular locations in the world, but only those locations. Etsu Hikane had learned this the hard way. The closest Scott could get Eld was just outside of Emain Macha, and the feeling of being ill after transport was something that Reapers had to get over . . .

ZachKaiser (10:09:16 PM): "I know, I will."

That was, unfortunately, one aspect in which his powers were a lot less convenient than those of other Reapers. Another reason why he was best suited for fighting Ame Voleur, as opposed to other parts of the job. The irony of the situation was that he preferred not to fight, but it was one of the things he was best at. With that, he left to prepare--which mostly involved grabbing his scythe (which, technically, was Kageko, but he didn't feel right calling the weapon by her name) and changing into appropriate clothing. When he arrived at the gate, he was in a coat like Scott suggested, with his scythe strapped to his back at usual but with one change--the blade was covered in thick cloth, something he'd thought of at the last minute. He figured if he was going to be walking around a city, it'd be a good idea to cover the blade. He was just grateful that, when not activated, his scythe still looked like a beat-up old farmer's scythe. Hopefully, he wouldn't draw much attention.

"Alright, I'm ready," he declared as he walked up to the designated gate...

Offtopic: This story is continued in [Darkness Revoked].