“We are never alone in the fight against the infernal.”

  -Book of the Reaper, Volume 1.

  Ludwig had spent the next few days in a cycle of recuperation. Locke had arranged a small temporary room for him in one of the large tenement tower blocks, telling him that he would get a much better place to live once he had finished the final stages of his probationary period. As a result he’d spent the previous few days upon returning from his expedition moving between his room, that he could barely stand up in, and sitting in the place he had learned was called ‘The Baths’.

  The Baths were actually the place he’d first emerged in. Although the pool resurrected Reapers emerged from, somewhat grimly known as the Charnel Pits, was built in a seperate part to the rest of the building. Ludwig, who’s back was much more wounded than he’d first thought, had been consigned to The Baths on the order of Locke and another Reaper, who was some sort of medical savant.

  This Reaper, who he had later learned was named Lius, operated out of an office nearby the elevators. It was perhaps the most decorated place Ludwig had seen in the whole Field of Flowers. The walls were dotted with helpful posters explaining the basics of dealing with various types of Injuries. The one that had caught Ludwig’s attention the most, as he sat in a small waiting room alongside a Reaper missing an arm and one who seemed barely able to walk, was a large red poster with a drawing of a five pointed star in a circle surmounting it. Written above and below were the words “there’s no coming back without a disc. Collect all fallen allies.” Something about it had made him, anxious. Locke hadn’t said anything about discs to him, so he wasn’t sure if they were something he shouldn’t care about or something that Locke assumed he would just know.

  When he had finally met Lius he had been met by a rather plain looking man, with a neat beard and well kept hair, who was like most people in the Field of Flowers dressed in a suit and red tie. His tie had a green stripe running along it, which Ludwig had seen a few times by then and which he was reasonably sure meant they didn’t go out and do field work like most Reapers. Lius had inspected his wounds for a few minutes before he’d written on a piece of paper, rolled it up, placed it into a leather tube and handed it to Ludwig with a short, ‘this is for you’. After which he’d been quickly ushered out of the building to make way for more injured Reapers.

  As he lay in one of the isolated pools of The Baths, Ludwig looked up at the ceiling. It was tiled in a sort of mosaic, he couldn’t make out the whole thing due to the steam of the baths and the nearby incense but it appeared to be some set of robed figures surrounding a ball of light. Ludwig exhaled deeply and shut his eyes, trying to focus his mind. He’d only be there for a few moments the first time, but he wanted to try and find the beach again. He swam in the inky blackness of his mind, on the surface there was no memory beyond what he’d already experienced but he knew somewhere inside him that if he plunged deep enough into the darkness he would be able to find something.

  There’d been a moment when he was fighting the Legionnaire where he’d seen someone, but since returning he hadn’t been able to summon the vision up again. He exhaled deeply and sank below the water, it was warm. After some time in the all encompassing blackness of the bath, he surfaced, only to be met by the sight of Locke. Locke was dressed down, having left his suit jacket and tie behind, and had sat himself down on a nearby bench alongside a glass bottle. He smiled at Ludwig,

  “Are you ok Ludwig?” Locke asked, “you look…troubled.” Ludwig nodded, and pulled himself up partially out of the water, pulling a towel over himself as he sat down next to him.

  “Yes im alright. I’m surprised that I’ve healed so well, considering my back was sliced so much.” Ludwig laughed a bit, as Locke gave him a look of understanding and passed him the glass bottle. Ludwig furrowed his brow, “what’s this?”

  “Its rum.” Locke answered very matter of factly, “its brewed by the lord himself.” Ludwig furrowed his brow,

  “The Lord? Who’s that?”

  “One of our bosses,” Locke paused for a moment for Ludwig to take the bottle, then continued. “It’s made in such a way that it helps with the healing, usually it comes last after The Baths which also make us heal faster.” Ludwig nodded as he took a sip, the drink tasted like drinking smoke, he stopped and coughed into his arm in between sips. Despite the strange taste it did give him the same warm feeling bathing did.

  “Who actually are our bosses? Are they different from ‘central office’ or whatever?” Locke leant backwards and pulled a small piece of chocolate from his pocket, and began eating it as he gestured with one hand and spoke,

  “Ok so at the very top is central office, they’re not us. But you go down all the layers there and you get to our department, and at the top of our department…well I think up at the top is The First, but no ones seen him in aaaaaaaages. But underneath that, the people who are right up at the top and are in charge of us are three Reapers, they dont get out much unless they’re talking to central office. Mostly their emissary, a guy called Yama, talks to people on their behalf. Understand?” Ludwig nodded, it was far more simple than he’d expected. “Good.” Locke continued, “like I said, theres three of them. They’re so old no one knows their names so everyone just uses titles for them. The Lord, The Lady and The Crow.” Locke stopped, and ate some more chocolate.

  “Have you ever met them Locke?” Ludwig asked, Locke shook his head.

  “I’ve met Yama. And I was in the same place as them once, but they don’t fraternise with anyone, least of all random Reapers.”

  Ludwig took a slow sip of the rum, and looked up towards the mosaic ceiling again. The steam had dissipated somewhat and he could make out the figures more clearly. There were four of them, all clad in robes and with wings emerging from their backs. Together they appeared to be restraining the orb of light between them all. Ludwig took another sip, the taste of the rum was growing on him. Then he asked something that had been on his mind for a while, turning towards Locke he asked,

  “So what now?”

  “Now? Well, that’s why I’m here. The last part is ready. That being your evaluation.” Locke responded. Pushing himself up onto his feet and making his way towards the door.

  “How does my evaluation work?” Ludwig questioned, rising follow his mentor out. Locke paused and turned, flashing Ludwig a smile,

  “Now Sport, I can’t tell you. You have to learn there. Otherwise its not a test.” He stepped through the door and walked to the right, “I’ll meet you outside, I need to escort you to the evaluation myself, then you’ll get informed from there.” He then poked his head back around the corner and added, “oh. And goes without saying, get dressed.”

  Ludwig was left alone in the room. Somewhat confused, but also intrigued and to an extent determined to succeed in whatever the evaluation would involve. He walked over to the small chest where he’d been told to store his suit and pulled it out. It was neatly folded. As he dried off and changed back into his uniform he chose to button up his jacket, which he’d neglected to do before.

  Together, the two Reapers walked from the Baths towards one of the buildings Ludwig had glimpsed upon his first time in the Field of Flowers. Originally Ludwig had assumed it was some kind of temple or market, but as they approached the large circular structure Locke indicated to the large pair of double doors,

  “This is the Arena of the Damned…intimidating name I know. This is where I leave you though, you need to go through those doors, they’ll sort it all out in there. Byeeeeeeeeee.” As Locke held the last word he ran off, before Ludwig could even ask what he meant or shout after him he had disappeared. Where he had gone, Ludwig was unable to tell. He looked around and noticed the whole area felt more, quiet than usual. Even in the days he’d been resting he had gotten used to the presence of other Reapers but now, it seemed like everyone had disappeared.

  ‘I reckon I don’t have much of a choice.’ Ludwig thought, as he made to push open the double doors to the arena. As he stretched out his hand to push on the door he was struck with a bizarre sensation as he felt his hand, then his arm move through the door itself as if it wasnt there. He let out a yelp and tried to move backwards, but it was of little use. It seemed like the moment he had touched the door he had begun to be pulled into it like metal to a magnet. He let out a short yell as the bizarre door consumed him and he moved into whatever the evaluation had in store for him.

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  Ludwig emerged into a small room, about the size of the Bath he had been in. In the middle was a small circular brazier positioned on some sort of pillar. The small fire burning in it was being tended to by a weird looking figure, a small and squat creature wearing a cloak. One thin bony arm extended from its robe, and poked the fire with a small pole. Without turning to face him the creature spoke to Ludwig, with an oddly nasally voice.

  “You, you are here for test. Yes?” Ludwig didn’t know how to respond at first, then answered

  “Yeah, uh yeah I am…who are you?”

  “Not important. You are here for test, not me. This one would not ask why the sky is blue. No?”

  Ludwig cocked his head to one side, trying to figure out what exactly the thing was saying to him.

  “Look, I’m just trying to figure out what’s going on.” The thing pointed at Ludwig with its arm, he couldn’t make out what was under the cloak, as it remained in shadow.

  “You are here for test. You will deposit all contraband in the fire. Then this one will prepare you. Understand yes?” Ludwig blinked a few times.

  “I don’t, um, have contraband.” The creature pointed at his jacket pocket.

  “Yes you do. Give Scythe to this one. It will manage without you. Hand it over. Yes?” Ludwig moved his hand up to his pocket and paused, ‘this thing is crazy,’ he thought to himself, ‘and it wants my Scythe? Is this a trick? Or am I meant to do this without a Scythe.’

  “What if I say no?” He asked, trying to determine if the creature was tricking him.

  The creature let out a dry laugh, then gestured towards its cloak with its thumb,

  “Then this one gobbles you up. Like berries off the bush. You will understand now. Yes?” Ludwig was, slightly concerned by that, but if this thing was seemingly threatening him into compliance, it was probably a bad idea to play along. As he reached up towards his Scythe to prepare for a fight he remembered what Locke had told him, “they’ll sort it out in there.” ‘Maybe, I need to just see what happens.’ Cautiously, and gingerly, Ludwig removed the Scythe from his pocket and held it out for the figure, who snatched it with its one bony arm and inspected it closely, commenting

  “Yes yes. This is fine craftsmanship. This one thinks you will do well. Yes?” Before it threw the weapon into the fire. “Now.” It added “go through door. Yes?”

  “Which door?” Ludwig asked looking around,

  “Door is all door. This one does need to show you. You are idiotic. No?”

  Ludwig looked back at the creature, he’d been confused since he’d entered and by now he began to wonder if perhaps he had died during his fight with the Legionnaire and everything now was simply his brain conjuring up images to console him. Before he could ask any follow up questions the creature began to shuffle towards him at an unsettling quick pace, before it extended its arm out, grabbed him and pushed him hard backwards towards the wall. Ludwig let out a short yell of protest before he once again fell through the wall as if it was the curtain of a waterfall.

  Locke made his way up the spiral staircase that led up to the top of one of the towers overlooking the arena, as was commonplace during most evaluations and tests in the Department of Death he, along with the other Great Reapers, was barred from conversing with anyone else, most of all the two Reapers being tested. He had faith in Ludwig though, he may have been knew but he certainly knew how to fight already. The main problem, of course, was that Ludwig had no idea who he was about to come up against, or that he was about to fight another Reaper in the first place. To be fair, Locke didn’t know who his opponent would be either, but he wished he was able to at least tell his charge about the fact he was going to fight.

  Locke paused on the landing at the top of the stairs, in front of the door that lead to the private box stood one of the arena’s overseers, despite all his time in the department they still unnerved him. The small figure extended its arm from beneath its cloak,

  “This One is happy you could arrive. This One is glad to let a Reaper of such renown as the Great Reaper Locke within. This One will open the door right away.”

  Locke sighed, “You dont need to talk to me like that, you can just open the door.” The figure, who had begun to work on opening the intricate locking mechanism added,

  “This On does it to honour you. This One is speaking the respect deserved of a Reaper such as you.”

  “Yeah yeah, now let me in inside.” Locke retorted, as the figure opened the door and he quickly moved past it, before it was able to engage in more sycophantic behaviour.

  The inside of the private box was spacious, filled up with a few tables and comfortable chairs. There was a large looking glass in the back of the room through which one would be able to view the events of any fight much closer, although the room itself did overlook the whole arena. Locke stepped forward, taking his sunglasses out of his jacket pocket and donning them as he walked towards the window overlooking the arena as a whole. There were four other Reapers in the room, Locke’s colleagues. Standing by the window was Razan, a gaunt-faced man with a small beard, he turned to Locke and lifted the corners of his mouth in an imitation of a smile.

  “Ah, Locke, you arrived. Prepared to see what my newest protege is capable of?” Locke did not like Razan, the man always had an air of dishonesty around him. He had once been the highest ranked among the Great Reapers, but had fallen after a number of replacements including Locke himself. Razan quietly curled his beard, as Locke laughed.

  “If by that you mean lose then yes I am. Ludwig’s a skilled fighter.”

  “Oh Ludwig is it?” Razan said, “I heard about him from Morrigan, they said he had the demeanour of a wet dog. Perhaps they were wrong.” Rather than engaging in a further spat, Locke turned and made his way to one of the chairs, sitting down next to another Great Reaper, his former mentor Astrid.

  Astrid was a rather imposing woman, with dark blonde hair and a powerful stare. Around her neck hung a pendent depicting a bear, Locke had never asked her about it but he assumed it was connected to her Scythe.

  “Locke. Do you need something?” He shook his head,

  “No, I just want to make conversation. Is there anything wrong with that?” The two of them paused and looked at each other in silence for a few seconds before Locke added, “and also. I want to apologise.”

  “For what?” Astrid eyed him cautiously. Locke leant back and crossed one leg over the other and with a deep exhale responded,

  “For being difficult to train. Or being a nuisance. I don’t know which is a better description. I had a realisation while training my new Reaper, and I thought I’d apologise if I caused you trouble.” The two sat in silence again before Astrid let out a hearty laugh and bent over slightly,

  “Finally you’re owning up to your actions Locke.” Locke began to laugh as well.

  Down in the arena Ludwig emerged from a shadowy alcove, blinking in the light and making to cover his eyes. He stepped out onto flat grass, surrounded on all sides by rising circular rows of seats, filled mostly with other suited Reapers. He looked around, trying to see if anything was waiting for him, when his eyes rested on the side of the arena across from him, where there was a second alcove. He watched as out of the darkness emerged another suited man, standing much taller than Ludwig with swept back hair and fair skin. The man across from him smirked as he looked up at the crowd, then back towards Ludwig, who he shot an intimidating look.

  Before Ludwig could prepare to attack, or prepare to weather an attack from the other man a sound like eight bells rang out, and an odd looking man sat atop a large bull made his way from somewhere to the centre of the field. He glanced at Ludwig, then his opponent, before he raised his arms above his head and declared,

  “Cherished workers of the Department of Death, I give to you all, your new Reapers. Prepared for their competitive evaluation!”

  Celestial Bureaucracy Central Audit; The Field of Flowers, Section Five, The Arena of the Damned:

  The Arena of the Damned is a central fixture of the infrastructure used by the Department of Death. In its base state the arena appears as an oval-like mostly featureless structure. The Arena is overseen by a number of celestials, who are able to shift the dimensions and nature of the ‘playing field’ of the Arena itself. The Arena is equipped with facilities for observation from roughly one and a half times the number of the Department’s employees, as well as two sectioned off viewing areas for the department heads and other notable members.