Chapter 18

When we arrived back at the office, Thanatos called a meeting. He waited until everyone had arrived, even the night shift, and informed them of what had happened. There were hushed whispers and shocked voices. No one could believe what they were hearing. Charon was dead.

"Quiet down, please." The voices slowly hushed at the request. "As you all know, only a Reaper with a scythe can kill another Reaper who has a scythe. So… I can only assume that The Memitim have access to scythes. If not, then it was one of us." The murmuring started again, and, once again, Thanatos requested silence. "I think my first theory holds more weight than the theory that it was one of us. So everyone can calm down. There's more to be discussed. Now, you all also know that there has to be one to take their place when a Reaper dies. We're not allowed to be understaffed here. So, unfortunately, Any will have to choose her scythe sooner than intended. Hades and Anubis are on their way. We will complete the ceremony when they get here. You are all free to go back to work. Night crew, if you so choose, you can go back home and rest." With that, Thanatos ended the meeting, and everyone went about their business. However, they still murmured about Charon's death and the slight possibility that it could've been one of them.

"I'm not ready," I said when Thanatos walked over to me once everyone had left.

He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear and smiled gently at me. "I have faith in you, Andy. You'll be able to pick your scythe, and then I will assign you to be a processor. It's that simple."

I bit my lip nervously and nodded my head. "How do you have so much faith in me?"

"I've seen you come a long way, Andy. Yeah, we dropped the ball with you, and your training started later than anyone would have liked, but you have come so far and learned so much. You far exceeded anyone's expectations. And I will tell you, I have high expectations of every Reaper that comes through those doors."

I blushed and murmured a thank you.

"Andy?"

"Yeah?"

"I umm… I know this is probably a stupid time to ask, but…" Thanatos swallowed hard, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he tried to get his words together. "May I kiss you?"

"W-why?"

"I...I like you. And I would like to court you."

I blushed even more and looked at Thanatos with shock in my eyes. " I should go to processing. I was helping out there any way this week." With that, I turned and rushed off to fill in for Charon. Granted, there wasn't anything for me to do since Thanatos wasn't out reaping any souls at the moment.

Part of me felt horrible for running off the way I did. I wanted to say yes to him, but I was scared. He was right about it not being the best time to ask, but I felt wrong for running and not asking him to wait.

* * *

It was several long hours before I was called into the meeting hall once again. This time I was asked to the stage at the front of the vast hall.

Climbing on stage, I stood by Thanatos, who was rather tense, as he introduced me to the two men before us. Both men were taller than Thanatos and gangly. The one I was introduced to first, Hades, appeared to be close in age to Thanatos. While the other, Anubis, I looked to be old enough to be their father.

"This ceremony takes place in three parts," Hades said. "The first two parts, you will pick your scythe. In the last part, you will find out your new name if you have one."

"Seems fairly simple and straightforward," I said.

"Anyway. Let's begin," Anubis said, waving a hand and revealing a portal.

I hesitated a moment before following the three men through the portal to a small, dimly lit room. In the middle of the room stood four racks, each holding an item. The items were a scythe, a sickle, a bow and arrow, and a violin. Each item was illuminated by a singular light from overhead.

"Pick whichever of these four items that you like," Thanatos said, moving to stand beside me.

"Just walk up to the one I like? That's it?"

"You'll see. Just walk up to the one you like."

I gave a curt nod of my head and walked over to the racks. I paced back and forth before them, eyeing each item before settling on the scythe. "This one." As I spoke, the lights over the other three items went out. A row of lights beyond the scythe flickered on, not only revealing at least eleven more scythes but also that the room was a lot bigger than it had initially appeared.

"Now, pick the one that calls out to you, Andy."

I looked over my shoulder at Thanatos and then down the row of scythes. Taking a deep breath, I began walking up and down the row, waiting for one of the scythes to call out to me. I stopped in front of the fifth scythe, an old-looking scythe with a rusty blade, and picked it up during my second pass. I carried it over to the older three Reapers and held it up.

"It'll just be a moment while the scythe bonds with you. Then your name will be revealed."

"What if I don't have a name?"

"Then it'll be blank. It takes about five minutes."

I nodded to Thanatos and turned to Anubis and Hades. "You guys go through a lot just to initiate new Reapers." I then looked at Thanatos again. "It's no wonder you don't try harder to find us."

Hades doubled over in laughter at my comment, and Anubis tried to stifle his own laughter.

"In our defense, your mother was a helicopter parent. And she coslept with you," Thanatos said, blushing.

"Excuses. Excuses," I said in a teasing tone, smiling up at him.

After about five minutes, Thanatos took the blade of my scythe in his hand and read the name aloud.

"Kifo?"

"Why do you sound so confused?" I asked.

"Your name...It's my name."

"Wait. What? Your name is Thanatos. Do you mean like your name before you became Thanatos?"

"No. Thanatos is Greek for death. Kifo is Swahili for death. We have the same name." Thanatos looked from the blad to me and then to Hades and Anubis. Both of whom had stopped laughing when they heard the name.