My legs dangled off the edge of the Eiffel Tower as I stared out over Paris. Death sat next to me, both of us eating meals we swiped when we reaped a choking victim in a restaurant.

"It's prettier than I thought," I said, covering my mouth with my hand. You couldn't see the stars due to clouds and light pollution, but the city below looked like stars bound to Earth. A strong wind pulled at my cloak and I pulled it tight around me.

"I'm not really a fan of Europe. Too many memories," Death said and turned his face skyward. Even with him being backlit, his eyes shone brightly, though something lurked behind them.

"Black Death?"

"That wasn't all me. I think it was God who sent the plague, or was it Lucifer?" Death's eyebrows drew together and he stared out at the city. "Or was it both? I don't remember, but they both like cats."

I tossed a fry into the air and opened my mouth to catch it. It hit my face and bounced, falling over the edge. My eyes tracked its plummet until I couldn't see it.

"So what would happen if I jumped off of here?" I asked.

"You want to find out?" A mischievous glint replaced the darker look in his eyes.

"I'd rather just have you tell me."

"Well, I don't know so-" he shoved me off. "Figure it out."

I screwed  my eyes shut and screamed as wind whipped around me. My life didn't flash in front of my eyes, instead I got 'We are currently processing your request. Please stand bye.'

Loud laughter caused me to open my eyes. I hadn't moved and I was floating face to face with Death. Wide smile on his face, he wiped his eyes.

"That's hilarious, kid. You thought I was actually going to hurt you."

"You pushed me off the Eiffel Tower!"

I tried to move towards him. I didn't know what I was going to do when I reached him, probably strangle him. I swam through the air like a ladybug on water.

"You need to pretend you're Jesus."

"I don't wear sandals."

"Then pretend you're a Jesus bug."

"How is that any better?"

"They don't wear sandals."

I glared at him. He reached out and pulled me by my cloak back to the landmark.

"How'd you know I'd float?"

"I didn't." He shrugged. "I mean, if you would have fallen, I would've caught you. Hitting pavement from this height is never fun."

"Let me guess, Life hit you into pavement once?"

"Eight times actually. You finished eating?"

"If I wasn't before, I would have lost my appetite."

"Good. You want two pages this time?" He pulled out his book. I nodded and he carefully ripped them out. "If anyone has any desserts in their house or bread, steal it."

"Why?"

"It's good food. Plus I promised Uriel I'd bring him something from France."

Before I could question him further, he disappeared, leaving me to rush down the seemingly endless staircase by myself. It didn't take long, but I almost overshot a couple of times and my stomach got well acquainted with the banister.

Once I was clear of that place, it was a simple task to go track down people and break their chains. It was a bit harder to do once I was carrying a baguette, and it probably didn't look as cool.

"Hey, Death, I got a baguette! And some weird dessert thing!"

He didn't show up. I called out for him again, and he still didn't show up. I frowned. He usually showed up a second after his name left my lips.

I figured if I sat down and didn't move, he'd eventually come to find me. That worked for a little bit, at least until the clock stopped ticking. I didn't pay attention to it, thinking it ran out of batteries.

Unfortunately, when people run out of batteries, they're dead. There was nothing dead about the girl frozen mid-grab, her phone hovering in the air.

I got up and took the phone. Eleven fifty-nine. The same time that's on the stopped clock, the oven, and the microwave. This wasn't good. I sat the phone on the coffee table and put the baguette in the girl's hand. After that, I started wandering the streets. There was no telling where Death was, he could be on the opposite side of the world and I would have no way of knowing.

Metal scraped against the pavement as I pulled my scythe after me. I walked the old pedestrian streets, past closed shops. I could feel my heart beating against my chest. I would glance back over my shoulder, my fingers tight around my scythe. You'd think the quiet would settle my nerves, since I would be able to hear anybody coming after me. It didn't. If anything, it made me more nervous.

"Come on. Where is he?" I mumbled, growing more desperate with each stalled minute. Is this him playing a prank on me? Or is he upset about how I used his cups for ammo? I shook my head. "This isn't funny, Death!"

There was no answer. He never told me how else I could get ahold of him, or any of the others. A memory bubbled to the surface, an uninvited one at that. I scowled as I remembered being scared witless by my friends at a sleepover while we watched a horror movie. The scowl turned to a smile though. If this works, it might just make getting made fun of for three months worth it. Maybe.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to find what I was looking for. I stared at the board in front of me.

"Time to break at least one rule," I mumbled and placed my fingertips on the planchete. "Can anyone hear me?"

The piece didn't move for a little bit, but it slowly moved over to YES.

"Who am I talking to?"

It moved again and I listed off the letters.

"U."

"R."

"M"

"I"

"S"

"T."

"O."

"P."

I stared at the board. "Do you want me to stop?"

The planchete didn't move, but three fighting angels materialized out of nowhere and crashed on the coffee table. Wings fluttered and kicked up wind as Gabriel, Michael, and Uriel wrestled with each other.

I stared on, not sure how to break this up, or even if I should. Turns out angels solve their problems the same way mortals do, by pinning the others down and sitting on them.

"Hi, Ardia." Gabriel waved from his spot under Michael.

"What do you want?" Michael said.

"You know it's dangerous to use those by yourself." Uriel struggled to get out from under his brothers.

"I can't find Death. And yes I know, but look." I tossed a coaster in the air and it never came back down.

"That just means Death doesn't have everyone off of his list yet. It's normal."

"He normally comes and gets me when I get done with my part of the list. He hasn't showed up. I'm starting to get worried."

"Relax, it's not like there's anything that can hurt him."

"What about Life?"

They stared at me, eyes wide and feathers poofed.

"She's nothing to be worried about," Uriel lied. Horribly, I might add.

"Nothing to be worried about? The lady hit me with those stupid razor frisbees. I almost died a second time!"

"They're called chakrams. And technically she wouldn't kill you."

"I guess that's not as-"

"She'd just obliterate the essence of your being."

"You really need to shut up, Uriel." Michael said. He stood up. "If it'll make you feel better, Ardia, I can take you to Death."

I laughed breathily. "Thanks. Oh, and Uriel? We're in France. Get your own baguette."

Michael offered me a hand and I took it. In an instant, we were standing in sunlight and the people around us were moving.

"How is this possible?" I asked, gazing around. Halfway across the world, people were stopped in what they were doing, here they went about business as normal.

"You know, I almost forgot you were mortal." Michael looked down at me. " Listen, the mortal perception of the world isn't how it is. There's only so much they can handle. Same with us angels. We stay in the time stream, we don't leave it. To us you tossing that coaster in the air didn't make it do anything weird. It just hit the ground. You exist outside of it now, like Death and Life."

"I think I'm going to need an aspirin later. Does aspirin work on dead people?"

"Do I look like I would know?"

"You're an angel."

"So? Just because I'm an angel doesn't mean I know everything about dead people. If you really want to know, you'd have to ask my brother. Now Death should be over there if I'm picking up his aura correctly. Have fun."

"Wait, do- and he's gone." I sighed. I looked at the building he pointed to. "Guess I might as well find Death."

I walked inside and the corner of my mouth twitched at the faint sound of the bell. A couple people stood at the counter, waiting on the cashier to make an appearance. I wandered the aisles, looking everywhere for Death.

I didn't find him. I looked back at the line, where people were beginning to get antsy. One tapped his nails against the counter before ringing the service bell multiple times.

The employees only room was locked. I took a running start before phasing through the door, coming back together on the other side. My entire body stung like someone skinned me, dipped me in alcohol, lemon, and salt before sewing my skin back on.

The dead body of the cashier laid on the floor in a heap. Beside him rested a bruised and battered body, white hair matted down.

"Death!"

Chapter: 1,669

Book: 18,697

How was this chapter?

I'm gonna go play some games or something

I might end up fleshing some sentences out in the earlier chapters so If you see the word count change don't be surprised or think you're crazy

See yah