Areva Misotalles had only recently been inoculated into the company of Death. She was, for all intents and purposes, a rookie Reaper; an amateur in all respects. She barely even knew how to pass a soul on to the next world, let alone defend herself if she absolutely needed to. But it was fine to her, as long as her sister was all right . . .

. . . because unlike most Reapers, her reasons for joining was entirely selfless. It was a life for a life--her life contractually given away to the service of others, so that her little sister would make it through an illness which would have otherwise taken her life. The decision was made entirely on the fly, much like the somewhat legendary decision of a Reaper whose name was known by at least half of his fellows, if not more. Areva knew of him, and the tough decision he made almost six months ago, and she respected him for it. But she never thought her life and his would ever cross--even if it was only for a moment.

Though she was still fairly new, other Reapers had quickly come to know of her, and she was described by most as "a complete and total sweetheart," which went alongside a fair deal of innocence, and, of course, naivety. Areva rivaled the youngest Reaper, the fourteen year old Etsu Hikane, for the place of the youngest enlisted Reaper; Areva was, after all, born within the same month. Technically, Etsu Hikane was older--but either way, Areva had much less combat experience than Hikane.

The frail young Reaper had paid her sister a visit in the Esoniah City Clinic, with the permission of her superiors. After all, Areva never died. Her family in Igoras were simply under the impression that she took a job outside of the island, and could visit sporadically--and she took the opportunity whenever she could, which still wasn't frequent enough for her tastes!

Content to see her sister in good shape, and talk to her mother for a short while, Areva bid her family goodbye, possibly to not see them again for the next few months, and left the clinic. It was terribly sad whenever she had to say goodbye. Rather that going back to the Reapers directly, she did the same thing she did when she had to say goodbye the first time: she lost herself within the sea of people in the fish market.

It was easy to miss the girl in that crowd. She was only four feet and eleven inches tall, and just thin enough to still go on living without alerting doctors to a possible disorder. With her long dark hair pulled back into a pony tail, a brown vest over a tank top, and a long skirt, she blended in with the crowd. Here, she could get lost for hours on end, with no hope of ever being found--until she decided it really was time to leave.

For hours, she walked with the flow of the crowd, smiling all the while. She really did miss this place. But Areva would be back, she knew she would. And so, as the sun started to go down, Areva zigzagged her way out of the crowd and out to the docks, which were all closed down for the evening. That was as good of a place as any to go back . . .

And she would have done just that, had someone else not been there.

At first, she didn't realize it--but she'd been followed. Once she heard footsteps coming from behind, she glanced back, but it was too late. Whoever it was, he or she was already behind her.

"A-- ahhh!! Ow-- ow, hey!" Areva shouted and snapped her head back as she felt a sudden and forceful pull on her ponytail, "Wh-what are--"

She was interrupted, and during that, it felt like a cement block had pummeled into the back of her knee. Areva let out a gasp and bit her lip to avoid screaming, all the while collapsing to one knee. And after that, there wasn't anything she could do. The girl didn't know how to fight. She had just learned how to pass souls--and that was all . . .

I-it . . . it can't be! S-so soon . . . it's . . . it's an Ame Voleur!

Areva sulked forward. It was the end already, she was convinced of it. "P-ple-please . . . m-mi-mister . . . please don't-- please don't do this . . ."

"I'm not going to do anything to you," the voice replied. Areva didn't know what to think of it.

When Areva opened her eyes again, the figure the voice belonged to was standing before her. It loomed, but only because she was on her knee. Foreboding as it was, it wasn't actually that tall. Still, it was a threat, and doubly as intimidating, as it wore what appeared to be dark cloak, with a hood up to cast a shadow over its face.

"Th-then . . . what are you--?" Areva started to ask, meekly, but was cut off--

"Do you love your family?"

This frightened her even more than a possible threat to her own life. "Wh-what?"

"I said-- do you love your family?"

"Y-yes! More-- more than anything . . ." Areva replied hastily, before coming to a harsh conclusion. Areva covered her mouth with her hands. "Oh God . . . no-- no-- no . . ."

"Deliver this," it extended a hand to Areva, a note held within. The demand was clear. It didn't have to say much at all. This wasn't a threat Areva could take lightly, either. She shakily took the note.

"If he does not follow my instructions to a T, you will not enjoy the consequences. Do you understand?" It declared, as if giving Areva a choice in the matter, but didn't wait for her reply. Instead, it left her alone, and personally moved back towards the fish market.

"W-wait!" Areva called out to her aggressor, and tried to chase after it, but her leg hurt too much to stand. The figure was gone in the crowd, anyways. All she could do was whimper and resign to an unwilling delivery service--and written in ink on the front of the envelope was the recipient's name: Eldridge Tsukimono.




Offtopic: Continued in: Dear Reaper, part 2.