CHAPTER 16: THE NATURE OF THEIR OFFICES

Chance grinned sheepishly at Reaper who didn’t look the least bit amused at all.

“We need to talk,” she told him.

Chance winced at the feel of her bony fingers on his shoulders and a shiver went up his spine. Although immortal and he knew that Reaper had no power over him, still the mere thought of having to face a grim Reaper was not something he was particularly looking forward to. Nevertheless he was glad that she had chosen to appear in front of him in her normal self rather than the skull and bones that are the apparitions of her office.

Maybe a little explanation is due here with regards to how the Aspects appear in the mortal realm. It’s simple really. If you think of them as ghosts, you tend to get the general idea. They can choose to appear or remain invisible to the eyes of mortals. Some of the Aspects like Eros and Reaper have uniforms that go with their office, whereas Chance and Spyda have distinct attributes rather than uniforms.

For instance, Reaper appears to mortals in the form of traditional Death - skull and bones cloaked within a black robe and holding a scythe. But when in front of her colleagues, she reverts to her normal self - humanlike, flesh and body. Eros, on the other hand, had long ago discarded the uniform of his office. “You want me to wear that diaper-looking thingy, sprout wings, fly around with some bow and arrow and look cute at the same time? You’ve got to be kidding!” Those were Eros’ exact words when he decided he was better off looking the way he was now rather than some pesky mosquito buzzing about shooting darts at people.

And Chance and Spyda? If one didn’t know, one would have assumed they were immortal enemies. Then again, these are only the nature of their offices. Think about it. Luck and Fate. Two totally different elements that are always at loggerheads yet at most times also need to work hand in hand with each other. Fate spins the web of life but it takes Luck to make certain things happen.

One also needs to understand that the Aspects view what they do as merely jobs - just like mortals who go to work 5 days a week from 9 to 5. Each has their own responsibilities and offices to take care of. Chance’s office is Luck, Reaper’s is Death and so on. As such, it must be understood that it is not their will that things happen the way they do. Like how Spyda had stressed many times to Chance that the threads of life have already been determined from the very start, she holds no power to manipulate them according to her whims and fancy. That is the nature of Spyda’s office. She only oversees. Chance, however, holds in him the power to change Fate. Both Aspects know this but because Fate is such a tricky and intricate matter, even the tiniest of change would spark the slightest imbalance that could result in some form of catastrophe or disaster. No matter what, the threads would still try to work themselves out and stick to the same pre-determined paths they were slated to take. The only way to ‘change’ the paths would be if Luck intervened time and time again until a certain point when the threads eventually do get diverted for good and embark on a new and different path altogether. This is what we call, changing Fate. It is tedious and it takes a whole lot of patience and monitoring on Chance’s part. Which is why there have been very few success stories. Somehow or other, luck tends to run out of steam.

As for Eros, even though it seems that he’s better friends with Chance, he really works more closely with Spyda than with Chance. Because the threads are already determined, all Eros needs to do is weave his little magic to help the more stubborn couples realise that they were meant for each other. Again, as it has been said that Chance is the only Aspect with the power to really manipulate the threads, he is thus able to convince his colleagues to see things his way. That is, if they allow themselves to be convinced. Eros is one who does give in to Chance’s persistency, and whether you see this as fortunate or unfortunate, is up to you.

Then there’s Reaper - probably the most misunderstood of all Aspects. Mortals see Reaper as a cold-hearted killer - one whose purpose is just to take life - a bringer of death. But Reaper does not kill. She merely collects. A dying man is not dead until his soul leaves his body and that’s where Reaper comes in. One could say she helps them on their way. For without her, there would be no one to collect the souls and thus, the dying would not be able to utter their last breath. All the better, you say. But think about it. For there to be life, there needs to be death. That is how the earth revolves.

There is no good or bad Aspect. There are only their offices. It is not intentional that Spyda or Reaper seem to be at opposite ends of Chance and Eros. Each is merely carrying out the duty of their office. Each have their own responsibilities. Even with the immortals, it is inevitable that some of these responsibilities will clash. But this doesn’t mean they are enemies. On the contrary, they are allies. For without any one of them, life would probably not be as we know it.

So these are the Aspects of Life and their offices. Invisible to the mortal eye at most times, visible when they wish to be so. In this case and at this point in time in the bistro, all three Aspects were as normal and as visible as the person sitting next to you.

“My car is outside. Let’s go,” Reaper said, nodding towards Chance and Eros.

The two guys gingerly got up and followed Reaper. Reaper’s Lamborghini was no ordinary car. You’ve heard of Death on a pale horse. Well, this Lamborghini was Reaper’s pale horse. And because it is the vehicle of an Aspect, it too is able to transcend all barriers of space and time. Reaper got into the driver’s seat, Eros climbed into the back and Chance made himself comfortable on the passenger side. Not another word was exchanged until they finally pulled up in front of the Observatory.

As usual Spyda was waiting for them when they stepped into the lounge. Eros was surprised to notice that her face held no visible signs of anger. Just a very resigned look. Reaper was the first to speak.

“You can’t always be around to save her, you know,” she sighed, her remark very obviously directed at Chance.

“I don’t need to. There will be a time when I don’t have to anymore,” Chance said matter-of-factly as he looked towards Spyda.

Spyda knew what Chance was implying. She was the only one who knew when he could stop - when the mortal’s thread would finally travel a different path all on its own, when the looming threat of death before time would eventually dissipate. But it was beyond her duty to tell him that and she had no intention of doing so. It wasn’t as if she was doing it to purposely annoy him. Her responsibility was to make sure fate ran its course. Telling Chance would mean going against that. So she just kept quiet and turned away to avoid his stare.

“Fine. Be that way,” Chance muttered.

“You know Spyda can’t say anything. It’s no point holding a grudge against her,” Reaper snapped.

Eros, who was standing next to her, quickly put his hand on her shoulder. She turned to glare at him. He shook his head as if to say, let it lie. Eros knew his colleagues were all frustrated. Chance seemed to be the only one who was interested in saving Ellen and Spyda and Reaper couldn’t wait for the whole thing to be over. But he knew that wasn’t the case. Everyone was just doing what they had to do. Reaper sighed and calmed down at the sight of Eros’ pleading glance.

“I said I was going to see this through and through and I’m going to,” Chance uttered stubbornly. “With or without your help.”

He got up and stared at all three of his colleagues. “You’ll see. Ellen Hsuan shall have luck by her side all the way until her thread diverts onto a new determined path,” he calmly said before walking out.

Spyda, Reaper and Eros looked at each other. Chance had said those words with such conviction that they found no reason to doubt them.

“I guess I’d better go keep an eye on him,” Eros said as he ran off after his colleague.

Reaper eyed Spyda carefully. “Well?” she asked.

Spyda shrugged. “It’s all up to him now.”