Eric stepped out of the train, eyes staring at the starry night sky while clutching his suitcase with gloved hands. Faced with the swarm of people, he maneuvered past them and walked out of the train station and into a loud bustling city. Walking with the crowd, he looked around, enjoying the familiarity of his home. After a few minutes, Eric came up to his red bricked apartment and went inside. He climbed the stairs and went down the hallway where his room was located at, passing by woman with golden hair, fair skin, and beautiful wings that lit up the hall, deep in thought. He found his room number, took off his gloves revealing his dark brown hands, but when he reached for the doorknob, he stole a glance at the woman who was about to open a door.

“Ah! Excuse me, miss.” he said.

She jumped and turned around, staring at him with shining purple eyes. “Y-Yes?” Eric pointed towards the sign on the door saying Sorry but we are currently rebuilding this room. She hit herself on the forehead. “Oh. Haha, thank you. I’ve been daydreaming way to much lately. Can’t seem to get my head out of the clouds.”

“No problem.” he smiled shyly “Um, do you know why that room is being rebuild?”

“Oh, I think the floorboards were rotting in a lot of places so, they removed them.” she smiled back. “If I had gone in there, I might have fallen and died.”

“Ah, I see. They weren’t like that the last time I came here.”

“You’ve been here before?”

“Yeah a while ago… my job requires me to travel around to all sorts of places a lot.”

“That must be exciting! I’m still looking for a job.” she sighed

“I...I could help you look for one if you like.” Eric offered.

“Really?! I... that would be great! Oh, my name is Natela by the way.” she said holding out her hand.

Eric shook her hand. “I’m Eric.”

They promised to meet each other the next day before the afternoon hit and they went their separate ways. The next day, he woke up early and ate his breakfast. About a few hours later, Eric and Natela met up outside and began with the job hunt. They traversed through most parts of the city, taking breaks, getting sidetracked, and eating every now and again. With no luck that day, they tried again and again for the next couple of days but were only met with failure before they called it quits for the day.

Moments later, he got a text from his friend, Melanie, telling him to meet up with her soon. Meeting her at a small pizza place surround by other restaurants and shops, he sat down across from her with a slice of his own. After finish catching up with each other, Eric told Melanie about Natela and him helping her find a job.

“Eric Blake Monday! He’s finally done it! He finally went on a date and himself got a girlfriend.” she laughed

“Please don’t use my full name and it’s not-” he sighed

“Uh huh, I’m pretty sure what you did today counts as one. But you do know that you’re pretty much like an assassin, right?”

“Yeah…”

“She can’t be in your life for too long. She’s already ruining your reputation thanks to a rumor spreading around that you saved a life instead of killing it.” Melanie told him while Eric finished his pizza. “And-”

“And if I keep this up then I’ll lose credibility, yeah I uh...I know.” he interrupted avoiding her eyes. “But I would like to help her find a job first.”

“...Alright.” she said as she got up and threw Eric and hers leftovers away. “I would like to help you but I’m super busy, plus Flynn and Gwen are on the other side of the world.”

Eric departed and went back home. Over the next few days, Eric continued to help Natela look for a job. However, everyday they went out, Eric noticed that the glow in her wings were fading and soon... they stopped glowing and she started coughing a lot. While Natela tried to pretend not to notice, Eric was worried for her up until she coughed up blood and fell down to her knees one day while they were walking in the park. Eric rushed to her side and grabbed hold of her. Her skin felt cold and she looked at him barely able to keep her eyes open.

“W-Well I guess this is it.”

“Natela…”

Hey...Eric. Thank you.”

Eric shook his head as tears started to fill his eyes. “No...you shouldn’t thank me. This is my fault. You shouldn’t have been around me.”

“No it isn’t. Truth is...before I met you, everything was going downhill for me. But... when you came into my life, you were the first person in a while who wa… who was good to me.” Natela leaned forward a bit and gave him a quick kiss and smiled. “So...thank... you…”

“Ha...hahaha...I should have known this would’ve happen. After all...I’m death itself.” Tears fell from his eyes as he laid her down and pounded his fist against the ground. “Why...why must she be taken from me as well! Why can’t I ever be happy?! Why can’t I have anyone to love in my existence!? Tell me, why?!...why?”

Her body disappeared into the air leaving him by himself. Eventually, Eric got up and dragged himself back to his room. Later at night, someone knocked on his door. He ignored it at first but when they knocked again he opened. It was Natela smiling, wings glowing again but her golden hair turned black. They hugged each other and from there on, they carried out his job together as Death and Charon.