Players Assemble

Michael paced back and forth across his study. He was furious at the loss of the System. He had not yet had a chance to study it. The potential for such a system was endless. If there was one to help low-level demons become stronger, who's to say there couldn't be one to make Angels stronger as well? And now he'd lost the opportunity for examining it.

He needed to learn more. He knew there would be many interested parties after it. He had to be the one to gain control of it first.

That idiot Nicodemus had been the one to discover its existence. At least that's the way he understood. He could be wrong, but it wasn't likely.

It didn't really matter at the moment anyway. However, perhaps, Nicodemus still possessed some valuable information. Michael decided to send for him and those other two incompetents he always hung around with.

"Well?" Michael asked none-too-pleased to see that the courier sent to fetch Nicodemus returned alone.

"He's gone." The lesser angel said with eyes downcast.

"He's what!?!" Michael barked. Michael didn't bother to learn the angel's name.

But before the angel could answer, Micah and Malachi entered the study bewildered as to why they had been summoned again.

"Where is Nicodemus?" He demanded.

"Gone" repeated the lesser angel much to the shock of Micah and Malachi. They had no idea he was gone. After they left Michael's presence earlier, they had gone their separate ways.

"How? Where? When? Why?" Michael's questions came fast and furious, but they were all academic at this point. "Oh, never mind" he said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

He turned to Nicodemus' hapless friends, Micah and Malachi. "Find him! And when you do, bring him directly to me."

The two angels muttered acquiescence as they turned to go. They couldn't do anything but comply.

"And if you don't find him, don't bother coming back to Heaven at all!" Michael warned to their hastily retreating backs.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Micah and Malachi grumbled as they left. That idiot Nicodemus was making things worse. They were in enough trouble as it was. There was no need to bring about more.

They both decided independently that when they did catch up with that fool, they were going to pluck every feather from his wings themselves!

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Now that Sariel sort of remembered what happened before he was knocked unconscious, he went to the Mortal Realm to complete his interrupted task.

He didn't know how long he'd been in Purgatory before he'd awakened, but it didn't really matter. Time ran differently between the various Realms. So, only a few days at most should have passed in the Mortal Realm.

He arrived at the hospital and warily entered the room even though the nurses bustling about could not see him. They adjusted machines and checked IVs on their patient who lay motionless in bed. It never hurt to be cautious, he reasoned.

The woman in the bed looked peaceful and serene, oblivious to the flurry of activity around her. He knew her Soul was still inside her and that she had not awakened from her medically-induced coma.

He waited until they were gone to approach the woman's bedside. He watched her for a few more minutes. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Well, from a Reaper's point of view that is. But from a human's perspective, a miracle had occurred.

The woman whose Soul he was sent to claim was no longer on the brink of death. True, she was still in a coma. But she was also very much alive. And as such, he could not touch her.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

<That stupid Reaper is back> muttered the System. <I thought I taught him a lesson last time> The system's chuckling at that memory caught Grace's attention.

"What?" Grace asked. "Reaper! What Reaper?" she was suddenly alarmed.

<The Reaper sent to claim your Soul, of course> the System replied nonchalantly. It was enjoying her fear a little more than it should. But it considered it healthy for her as it would build character.

"What!?!" she exclaimed truly fearful now.

<Relax. He can't touch you anymore>

"He can't? Are you sure? Why?"

<Because you are ALIVE> it stated as if that should be obvious.

"I don't understand" she admitted.

<Reapers can only take Souls from dying humans. You are still in a coma, but you are very much alive> the System explained patiently.

"So, he can't kill me then?" she asked still fearful.

The system sighed. <It's a common misconception, but Reapers don't kill. They just escort the Souls of the dying to Heaven or Hell>

She seemed unconvinced.

<Think of them as a celestial taxi service>

"…"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Sariel was very confused. How could this woman still be alive? He would not have been called to her if it wasn't her time to go.

He's never lost a Soul before. Never! He'd never even heard of anyone else losing one either.

He had no idea what to do. And there was no one to ask. This situation was absolutely unprecedented. If anyone ever had encountered such a problem, it was likely they didn't want anyone else to know about it.

At a loss as to how to proceed, he decided the only he could do was to keep an eye on her. So that is what he did.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

<I'm telling you to stop worrying. They can't even take a Soul that they weren't specifically sent to retrieve>

"Why is that?"

<I don't know> the System sounded as if it shrugged, which confused her as it did not have a corporeal body. <I guess it cuts down on the competition between Reapers>

"There's more than one?" She was alarmed again. The System was thinking that it didn't take much to scare her.

<Of course! There are tens of thousands! As that many die each day, they all need to be taken quickly to their celestial destination>

"That's very sad." She said pausing to feel pity for the many Souls that were lost each day. Ever the optimist though, she quickly brightened "At least they get to go to Heaven! And not that other place."

<Heaven isn't all it's cracked up to be> the System replied. <And you can say 'HELL'>

"No, I really can't" she admitted truthfully.

Once again, she felt as though the System was rolling its nonexistent eyes.