For days and days he had imagined getting to this point. Now that she was here staring intently at him, the fear fading away by the second, he was lost for words. He looked at Chaos’ slowly rippling force field keeping them inside Pagoto’s, as if it contained the solution.

  “It’s not that easy,” Ever said.

  “Why?” Taylor asked. The corner of her mouth quirked up as if to challenge him.

  “Well for one thing, I’m also trapped in here.” Ever walked past a flinching Taylor towards the open door. The moment he strode through the frame, the flux of Chaos’ realm wrapped itself around his limbs, letting him get about a foot outside as if to tease him, before pushing him back inside the ice cream store. People walked past outside, oblivious to the fantastical barrier.

  “So it really isn’t you trapping me in here,” Taylor said, standing up.

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  “So who’s trapping both of us?”

  Ever hesitated. “A relative of Death, my mentor.”

  “Why?” Taylor urged. Her eyes got so big when she was curious. It just like the day they went for a walk together to explore the shops during Mid-Summer Nights.

  “He likes to cause…” Ever didn’t want to use his name, in case she joined the dots, “...havoc.”

  Taylor walked up to join Ever at the door. Standing next to him, she put a hand out and extended a finger into the force field. It lazily sucked her finger for a moment before a tendril pushed it back out.

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  “You said that I will stay here until I believe you,” she said. “I won’t believe you until I see you reap someone, but you can’t leave here either. So are we just going to be stuck in here forever?” The thought was teasingly delightful.

  Turn into reaper form, Death said.

  Ever’s eyes lost focus. *Mentor?*

  This has taken so long that I’ve run out of popcorn, the skeletal being grumbled. Yes Chaos has trapped you, yes you can’t leave, but you can always transform.

  *Is that alright with you, Mentor?*

  What other choice do you have?

  Taylor gazed at Ever’s face. “Wait, are you... are you talking to him right now? Death?”

  Ever shook out of his reverie, blinking. “Yes. He told me to turn into a reaper in front of you.”

  Taylor gasped. “Cool! Yeah can you? Will you be holding a scythe?”

  “I can, but…” Ever cupped his chin in his fingers. “You won’t see anything.”

  “Why?”

  “Because,” Ever smiled - a curious Taylor was much better than a cold Taylor - “I become invisible. Only souls of people who have died can see me.”

  “Soooo…” Taylor said, thinking out loud. “You’ll go invisible in front of me?”

  “Yes.”

  “If you do that, I’ll believe that you are Death’s apprentice.”

  “Really?”

  She nodded solemnly. Ever smiled broadly, feeling lighter than he ever did as a reaper. He stood up. Arms to his sides, he shook his hands out.

  “Are you ready?” Taylor nodded. He drank in her unblinking gaze like it was ambrosia. “Here it goes.”