Her name is Noah. It wasn't at first, not the name her parents gave her. It wasn't even her second. Black also isn't her natural hair color, and her eyes aren't naturally hazel. Her voice shouldn't have the slight European accent, and that lisp shouldn't be there. She is seventeen.

Her name is Noah, and she is the last hope among with three others.

Her name is Noah, but she doesn't seem to really care at all.

/ 4 \

His name is James. It's his middle name, he doesn't like his first very much. Blond is his natural hair color, a light, nearly bleach blond. His eyes are a bright blue that darken with rage. He eyes shouldn't be so dark, and that rage needn't be there. He is nineteen.

His name is James, and he is one of the four.

His name is James, and he feels like he's meant for more.

/ 4 \

His name is Castiel. He likes the name a lot, but that doesn't really matter. His hair is more unnatural crimson then red, and he gets called demon and monster from most. His chocolate brown eyes are naturally narrowed and he wears a permanent scowl. His hands shouldn't be so old yet so young, and those burn marks should not be littered across his skin. He is nearly eighteen.

His name is Castiel, and he is the third.

His name is Castiel, and he just wants to get away.

/ 4 \

Her name is Mira. It's a nickname, short for Miranda, which she deems too long and boring. Her hair is a light brown, usually in a single braid or pigtails. Her eyes are a dark green, almost like the forest leaves at night. Her life shouldn't have to end where it will, and she shouldn't have to remember it.

Her name is Mira, and she is the last.

Her name is Mira, but she is only ten.

2: Chapter 1: James

We are in a place called Reaper City.

 / 2 \

James sighed once again from behind the counter as the last customers left, leaving in a fit of giggles while glancing at him with her friends. As the door closed her pulled off his dark blue Harry's Hot Dog Emporium employ t-shirt. College had been rough the past week with all of the strange murders going on. All the teachers were on edge which made them harder on the students, and his boss was making him work shorter hours so he wouldn't be walking home in the dark.

And he was already nineteen. He would think his thirty-eight year old manager would think he could take care of himself by now.

James was in no way out of shape, but he wasn't bulky either. His arms were muscular from working as a furniture mover with his father over the summer, and his chin was sharp. He reached about six feet and had broad shoulders. His skin was relatively dark which contrasted nicely with his light hair and blue eyes.

In short, he was eye candy for the girls who came to the fast food restaurant who came in hopes of catching his eye.

James scowled as he pulled over his plain white shirt and waved bye to his boss. Cody, his fellow employ, hadn't showed up for his shift, so James was forced to take over. Not that he was complaining, he needed the money.

"Be careful, darling! I hope to see you Monday here, not tomorrow morning on the local news!" He grumbled under his breath as she called after him. His boss could be strange sometimes. It was Friday, he planned to call some friends and drink the night away. He reached for his phone just as he felt it vibrate. Looking down at the glowing screen, he realized that he didn't recognize the number. Shrugging his shoulders he touched 'answer.'

"Can you hear ME?" Each word had a different voice, female and male, and there was static messing up the connection.

"Who is this? Look man, if this is a prank-"

"Can you HEAR me?"James nearly growled at his phone. He thought about hanging up, but something stopped him. Instead, he answered.

"Yeah."

"You are ONE. You are the SECOND." This time he wasted no time hanging up.

"Damn prank-" at the sharp sting of pain running up from his abdomen, he looked down. Blood was quickly painting his white shirt crimson. Sticking out of him was the blade of a scythe. "-callers..." Falling to his knees he carefully, slowly, turned his head around. A human-like figure stood behind him, cloaked in shadows. Glowing yellow eyes flashed down at the fallen man. In his hands he held the handle of the scythe that was currently piercing his body. It too, was black, but a neon yellow glow seem to radiate from it. He felt a pull and suddenly the figure had the weapon laying lazily on its shoulder.

"Finally found you, Reaper. Second, if I'm not mistaken."

"W-what..?" James' world faded into blackness as his eyes shut and he felt the dull pain of the concrete breaking his nose as he fell face forward. His phone lay beside him, flashing the date.

April 4, 4:44 A.M. 2024.

/ 2 \

James awoke to the dull throbbing flowing through his body. With a wince, he sat up, gently touching his nose and flinching as it shot pain through his nerves.

"Ah, the other is finally awake. What's your name, Mister?" Delicately, the blond boy opened his eyes and looked around, observing the surroundings around him.

He was on a street, surrounded by silver buildings, crumbled and in ruins. Shadows covered the ruins in black. James suddenly noticed the three dark shapes looking down at him. His bright eyes widened and he stumbled backwards, frightened.

It wasn't a dream!

"Hey Mister, don't be frightened. The Angels are gone. You're safe!" With his back bumping into a tree, he was forced to look at the figures, still wary. The one closest to him was pale all over, from her flowing ripped dress to her skin, which seemed to emit a soft grey light. She was small, only a kid, with dull brown hair is a single braid down her back. She almost seemed to be floating off the ground. James contributed to his lack of awareness, not because she was. It's just in his mind.

"My name is Miranda, but call me Mira! I find Miranda to be very dull and unexciting. What's your name Mister?"

"J-James." He cursed himself in his mind for stuttering in front of this little girl. The little girl smiled brightly back at him, glad he was now starting to speak. She gestured to the figures behind her: a girl a little shorter than him with black hair and a lazy slouch and a boy about his height, with bright crimson hair and a glare directed at him. He narrowed his eyes back.

James then took notice of what the other boy and Noah were wearing.

The boy was wearing brown old leather pants, as if they were worn every day. I long sleeved, frayed white shirt with baggy sleeves that tied around his wrists and a shabby black vest was not something James was used to somebody wearing. Noah's was just as weird.

She wore a sleeveless shirt that hung to her body, outlining the muscles in her stomach. She wore it tucked into too-big, baggy off-white jeans (which she held up with a bulky belt crisscrossing) that were tied at her ankles. Her feet were only covered by tightly wrapped bandages. A long red scarf tied around her neck and still nearly reached the ground. Strange tattoos started at her shoulders and disappeared under her shirt in the front and back.

This is not what people is 2024 wore at all.

"These two just awoke before you, though Noah tried to go back to sleep. Noah is the tired looking girl right here. Beside her is...well, I don't know his name. The Mister won't tell me," she stated sadly, before brightening up and looking back down at James.

"Where the fuck am I?" Mira flinched slightly at his language but smiled apologetically and shrugged.

"I don't know. I just woke up before those two."

"We're in a place called Reaper City." James looked away from Mira for the lazy remark. Noah was speaking. "I guess there's no denying it now. We are the Reapers." A loud yawn interrupted her and she blinked away the tears as she closed her mouth. James had noticed the sharpened row of teeth though. His hair stood on ends.

"What does that mean?" She sighed, as if the question drained her of energy. In that same careless tone she replied: "Ask village boy over here." James glanced at the other boy, who glared at Noah for a split second, his face pale before his color returned some as he took a deep breath.

"Reapers were once a great race, made from the fires of the Blacksmith. Since they came from the Blacksmith, they were weapons in human form. Most of the time. For every three Reapers that were born, they had a Death. The Death was able to form the three Reapers into their complete weapon forms. After the Blacksmith was replaced, it says that Deaths and Reapers turned on the other races. So they were eliminated."

"E-eliminated?" Mira squeaked, her hands, shaking, coming up to cover her mouth.

"Yes, eliminated," Noah repeated. "As in exterminated, took out, eradicated, done away with, shall I go on?" James nearly snapped at the young woman for being so harsh on one so young. "Yet here we are, not disposed of. Oh dear, someone is going to get in trouble for this," she added lazily. Like she didn't care if they were the mythical Reapers.

"Does that mean we will be hunted?" Mira's whispered question brought James out from his shock and he quickly reassured her that they "had nothing to worry about," and how he doubted they "were some mythical race." Noah put a stop to that too, in that bored drawl that he had grown to hate already.

"Of course we are Reapers, foolish boy. How else would you survive that Angel? And how else would you be here, in Reaper City?"

Yes, James was really growing to hate her voice. And brown eyes that continued to glare at him; those weren't among his favorite things either.

3: Chapter Two

The Angels have arrived, and are heading towards the other three.

/ 2 \

"So what is an Angel?" The four sat in a sort of circle, James near Mira with the boy on the other side of the cracked sidewalk. Noah was laying against the wall of a ruined silver building, her hazel eyes closed, asleep. Nobody bothered to wake her, since she seemed to already know most of what they were talking about, and Mira and James -mostly James- was the ones completely clueless.

"Angels are simply created beings. While Reapers were made from the fire of the Blacksmith, Angels were made by the Blacksmith. They take whatever shape the Blacksmith gave them, unlike Reapers, so not all of them are human. They were the first to turn against the Reapers when they started going after the other races, and they were the ones to convince those same races to wipe them out."

"Why do the Angels think we are Reapers though? The one stabbed me before I even knew what was going on. And who is this Blacksmith person? How was he able to create Angels and Reapers?"

The other boy looked over at the lazed form of Noah and nudging her away. She woke with a start and James glimpsed a flash of metal before it was gone, and she was stretching, her bones popping.

"They don't think we're Reapers, they know. I'm not sure about the three of you, but I've always known. I'm guessing from that dumb look on your face you did not, Candy boy?" James felt his eyes narrow at the lazy girl.

"Candy boy?" Noah waved her hand, dismissing the question.

"Anyways," she drawled, "Angels are very hyper-sensitive. No doubt they could smell your stench from worlds away."

"Stench?" James got out through gritted teeth.

"Yes, stench. You reek of death. How many did you murder before he found you? Four, five, maybe even ten from how strong it is."

"I did not murder-!"

"The Blacksmith is supposedly the one who created all of the races. Reapers, Angels, and anything in between. No one knows what happened to the original One, but one day He was gone and another Blacksmith replaced him," she interrupted him, her eyes closed as she leaned back against the silver building. "That was when the Reapers declared war. They felt cheated by the new Blacksmith since no new Reapers being made, and therefore the Eldest of the Reapers stated that if no new Reapers would be made, then-"

"Look, I don't care anymore, okay?" James said, irritated at the younger girl already. "Just tell me why you think I'm a murderer right now." Instead of Noah answering, it was the other male of the group though, the one who refused to give his name.

"I'll just be going now, since I don't want to be stuck in such a demonic place as this. Don't follow me."

"See ya, then, boy. Don't lead the Angels back here!" Noah called after him before getting up herself, stretching until a sharp pop sounded and she sighed. "I'm going, too. There's no reason for me to stay here. I have a job I need to complete. See ya Candy boy, Ghosty." After that, she seemed to just melt into the dark shadows the buildings cast, like she wasn't even there to begin with.

"You won't leave me here, will you Mister James?" James looked back and saw Mira sitting in the same spot, hugging her knees and staring at him with watery eyes. "Please...don't leave me alone with the Angels around..." He slumped back against the wall, smiling bitterly at the young girl.

"Y-yeah. Come on, let's find a way out of this place." Standing up, James reached out his hand to Mira, who enthusiastically jumped up and grabbed it. Foreign yet familiar faces flashed out of the corner of his eyes, their eyes accusing him before they disappeared.

/ 1 \

Noah walked through the empty streets, being sure to avoid the too bright places where the shadows didn't cover. Letting her lazy persona slip, a frown marred her face as she stopped and messaged her abdomen with one hand.

She could still feel the blade of the Angel cut through her muscles and kidney. The Angel had surprised her during a 'job,' which allowed it to quickly stab her from behind.

Crack.

Noah froze. Someone was walking down the street, breaking the already broken pieces of glass into smaller fragments as they walked. The scent of anger and blood assaulted her body and nose, nearly forcing her to her knees. But Noah slips onto the wall, her fingers digging into cracks as she presses her body as close to the cold surface as possible. As she hides in the long shadows, a dark blur outlined in bright yellow passes by without a second glance in her direction.

The Angels have arrived, and are heading towards the other three.

Noah calms her breathing and continues walking away, making sure to not step into the light.

/ 3 \

Castiel knows immediately when the Angels enter Reaper City. The air is denser and closes around him, making his breath come out in short pants. The absolute rage of the beings unbalances him, and soon he can barely stand up. Grabbing a hidden silver dagger from his boot, Castiel slowly turns around, meeting the dark grey eyes of a female Angel.

Her hair is pure white, nearly brushing the dirty ground. The Angel's skin is nearly the same pale white of her hair, erasing any doubt in his mind that she wasn't human. And as she stared at him with her grey eyes, Castiel can feel the power radiating off her, along with the anger. Strapped to her back is a black katana, nearly as long as she in. He is reminded on a picture one of the Village Elders showed him when he was young of the deadly looking blade.

"Where is the girl?" Her voice is cold and like steel, and he forces himself not to tremble as he tightens his grip on the only weapon he has.

"I don't know. I left them about ten minutes ago. No doubt they have moved, too." He prides himself on how strong his voice sounds.

And she's gone, leaving him alone on the ruined street. He didn't even see her as she drew her katana. All he knew was that blood was flowing rapidly from the slash on his chest.

/ 4 \

Mira was scared. Miss Noah had called Mister James a murderer, and though he tried to deny it, even she could smell the faint scent of blood and death. And she was dead.

Adding to that, she felt like the breath was being forced from her lungs, and a weight was pressing down on her. James seems to be having the same problem, even though he tries not to show it. Floating beside him, she can hear how hard he is breathing, and how they have been slowing down after only a few minutes of walking.

Mira knew this feeling very well; it's the same feeling that washed over her right before she woke up here, electric purple eyes playing in her mind. It wasn't just one Angel this time, though. There were four, and three of them were heading in their direction.

"M-Mister James, we need to hurry up...The Angels...!"

"You're not the one I'm looking for! Where's the red head?" The two companions freeze as the sharp voice rings out from behind them. Turning around, Mira was met with a tall male, with long black hair reaching his waist and glowing violet eyes. His face was sharp and angular, and danger seemed to scream from his body. He wears nothing but a pair of black ripped pants, leaving his olive skin on display.

"Temperance." The black-haired Angel scowls and turns around, facing his pale companion. Her white hair seems to move in the wind, though there is none to speak of.

Mira can't help but be awed by her beauty.

"What do you want, bitch? Can't you see I'm busy?" The woman doesn't even bat a lash at the insult.

"I have found the one you were sent after. I left him in a pool of his own blood. Would you like to go finish him off?" If there is any sarcasm in her voice, little Mira wasn't able to detect it as she shakes in fear.

Temperance's face contorts. His features seemed to darken except his eyes, which only seemed to glow brighter in the darkened world. And then he is gone, leaving only a sense of rage behind him.

"My name is Charity. I am looking for the girl called Noah. Where is she?"

"S-she left. We don't know where, so we couldn't help you even if we wanted to. Know just...just leave us alone!" Mira clings to the back of Jame's shirt, hiding behind him as he fought of his own terror.

"I will leave, but I warn you two, Mercy and Zeal are coming for you." Mira watches as the she-Angel disappears, leaving only a fading white glow behind.

"Mister James, w-we need to go warn the other two! Those Angels will kill them!"

"I think you should worry more about yourself, Ghosty. I am Mercy, and I've come to finish the job."