His Maid, Her Butler

Orea transported you right to the headquarter back grounds. The greenery was beautiful and neat, not a one out of place. There was an area closer to the flower garden that was closed off with a picket gate; it was reserved for tea and formal gatherings. You were in awe of the place the Reapers called home; it was defiantly more colorful than the demon’s sanctuary. Orea led you through the back entrance and up several flights of stairs before she stopped before a door and opened it. Following her in you gasped at the mess; she did as well. The room had been ransacked; everything had been turned or thrown about. A crunch sounded under your foot; bending over you picked up a picture of a man and woman, in the corner was a redheaded boy.

“Who are these people?” you asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She turned from picking up items and looked at it. “That is my mother and father and my twin brother,” she replied.

“Where are they at?” you asked.

She hesitated before replying. “My parents are dead and my brother is in the Soul Collecting department. He has no knowledge of me.”

You were in awe. “No knowledge, yet you are both in this building?”

You shook your head. “No, we are in separate areas; no one knows who I am besides the few others here on this floor.

“You are that well hidden.” You grinned.

She rolled her eyes. “I take my concealment personally. I do not need all of the other Reapers coming to me and asking personal favors, that is why there are other departments who contact me.”

You sat the picture on the nightstand and stopped her from cleaning. She jumped. “Go take care of that business you were prattling on about and I will work here.”

“You do not have to do that,” she said, reaching for another article.

Taking her hand, you pulled her towards you. “You are a Reaper, and souls do not wait.”

She laughed at your play on words. “You are right, I should be going.” Wiggling out of your arms, she went for the door. She turned on her heels as she got to the door; coming back to you she kissed you quickly. “Stay here,” she giggled.

You were shocked that she had done that. She was warming up to you after all. ‘That is a good place to start.’ Looking back over the room, you sighed. “Whoever did this was obviously out of his mind.”

You tidied up her room easily. There wasn’t much in there already so replacing the items that were destroyed didn’t take you long to fix. You went through her belongings as you cleaned; she didn’t have much other than her Reaper work that was now strewn about. There were a few articles that looked like they might be for a child; all were signed ‘from Dad’. You found a picture of a young man with a small redheaded boy; her father and brother. The brother was grinning as wide as he could, holding a fake scythe. His father was trying to smile just as big as his son was, but you could tell he was laughing as he did. You chuckled at the scene; something struck you though, would she be wanting to have children someday? In your entire life, nothing like that had ever come to you; you did not know how to handle a child. You were still thinking over this when the door opened.

Stepping inside, Orea gasped at your work. “It is spotless in here, thank-you.”

You shoved the picture back into the drawer in her closet and went to her side. “You are welcome,” you said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She observed the room as if searching for something. “Where is the cabinet that was in the corner?” she asked.

“There was no cabinet there when we came,” you replied.

You stared at the spot for a long while. Tears ran down her cheeks, though she tried to hold them back. “My mother’s things were in it. Why would he have done such a thing with them?”

“Who?” you asked puzzled.

She shook her head, wiping away her tears. “A friend of mine, but no longer.”

You raised an eyebrow at this. Wrapping your arms around her, you set your chin on the top of her head. She didn’t mind, she stuffed her face in your chest. The two of you stood there like that for a while; her body shook, she was crying again.

“Mfhth.” Orea was trying to talk to you, but it was muffled by her face in your chest. Releasing her, she took a breath and started again. “I am sorry; I did not mean to burst out like this.”

“You are fine,” you said, cupping her face in your hands.

She smiled weakly. “I should probably tell you that he had an interest in me. He tried to take me over the past three days, but whatever you did when you marked me would not let me.”

You grinned deviously. “Then it worked, that is a joy to hear.”

She stared at you blankly. “You intended something like that to happen?”

“I do not know you at all, so how would I know what you did out of my sight,” you replied. “Also, a bond like that requires a limitation.”

You could see anger rising in her eyes; she held it in though and pushed away from you. Her jaw was set as she sat down by the window and stared out over the green fields that stretched before you. A strained chuckle came from her. “I use to play at a window just like this when I was little. While my mother took care of other business, I sat and played with dolls and imagined an entire village down there on the green. It had a castle and alligator mote, a festive collection of cottages, and I always imagined a dragon lived over the hill there.” She pointed to it, smiling at the memory. “It was one thing I could do in this place; I had no friends until just a few years ago.”

“You have me now.” She stared up at you. Looking out over the field, you grinned. “And what if I took you to a place that I could make your dream a reality?”

Her mouth dropped open; she closed it quickly and sat back. “No, that is not necessary. I am no longer a child.”

You chuckled and scooped her off of her seat. “Who says you cannot have what you wish for?”

In the blink of an eye, you were through the portal and came out in a very bleak looking place. Trees were everywhere and the smell of the sea wafted through the air. “Michaelis, where are we?” she asked.

“This is the demon’s sanctuary. Though it does not look like much, it is in its own way a beautiful place,” you said.

You strolled through the woods till you came to a small dilapidated house with a bench in the middle of it. Orea was puzzled by this. “Why are we here?”

“Close your eyes,” you instructed. Doing as she was told, Orea shut her eyes and waited. Turning to view the house, you went to work. It didn’t take long and you were pulling Orea up onto her feet. “Look,” you whispered to her in her ear.

Opening her eyes, she was taken aback. Before her was a wonderful foyer, a gold and scarlet scenery. “What did you do?” she asked, laughing in pleasure.

“I only spruced it up a bit,” you answered, wrapping your arms around her waist and resting your head on her shoulder.

She giggled and took your hand, pulling you towards the stairs. “Let us go and see the rest of the place.” Letting her pull you along, you laughed and followed after.