-----------
I tossed the file down on my desk, and solemnly gazed out the small tinted window of my office, down past the clouds, to the Earth below. If I squinted, and looked below the Earth's surface, I could see a bit of the other part of my department - the department of Life Lessons. I blinked as a flash of red swam across my vision. No, it was not a hallucination. It was my partner.
"We have a problem!" he barked at me, ceremoniously sitting himself on my desk. For an Id, he wasn't what most humans would expect. He was not a sleazy or shady sort of man, though he did get rather vain about his thick black hair that he often wore slicked back. He wore a white dress shirt, and a purple pinstriped vest and matching pants, and polished black shoes. I myself would never be caught in such a thing. Instead I preferred the time-honored uniform of the venerable Superego, a white robe with a gold sash. Simple, but made quite an impression during emergencies.
"We have a problem," he repeated, glaring at me. His eyes were dark and deep, the sort that sort of drew you in and held you. That was part of the reason he was an Id, he told me once. Because he could persuade people just by looking at them. And I was a Superego not because I was an image of goodwill, but because I knew exactly what could set a person off.
"And what would that problem be?" I asked, dreading the answer.
"He's not learning. At this rate, they're threatening to Reassign us." His voice was angry, sad. A paper in his hand stood no chance against his white-knuckled grip. "We've tried everything, an agent of Luck, Ghosts, and we've even tried scaring him into submission. Nothing works. They're going to-"
"I know what they're going to do," I interrupted coldly. He looked down at me, startled. Slowly, I stood up and and locked gazes with my partner. "And they're not going to do it. They're going to have to pry the boy's cold lifeless body from my grip. He's going to learn if it kills him. And knowing his ancestor, it probably will."
My partner stared at me, shocked, then leaned in close to me. I could feel his breath on my cheek, but I stood my ground. However, it did take much willpower to stop my heart from leaping out my chest. As Ids went, my partner was one of the best. And I, and I was still fairly new to this department, having only been here a few hundred years. He continued to stare at me, then lightly ruffled my hair. As much as I protested, he always treated me like a child. Because I was new, that did not give him the right to take advantage of me however he pleased.
"I like the way you think," he chirped, throwing me out of my ever-growing thoughts of resentment towards him. "But forget it, it's hopeless."
"He is not hopeless!" I snarled at him. He reared back, almost falling off my desk. He glared at me again.
"That's not what I meant. I meant, you're hopeless. Everyone except you knows you have the biggest crush on me." He crossed his legs, the crumpled papers from the Higher Powers long forgotten.
"I-I-I do not!" I stuttered. But it was too late, I could already feel my face burning.
My partner rolled his eyes. "Things like that don't matter here. But this is going to be a big issue, I can tell. No wonder we're going to get Reassigned." There he went dropping the bomb again. I swallowed nervously. "I hate to point it out - well, normally I'd love to, but never mind that - you're the problem here," he accused me. Right as I was about to snap back, he hushed me with a single finger over my lips.
"Don't expect any miracles in this business. This is your first big case, right? Don't let your title go to your head. It means nothing out there. Teaching a Lesson is a team effort, and the boy can't afford to not have us in perfect harmony. So here's a lesson for you, sweet cheeks." He hopped off the desk, a ghostly image of dark wings coming from his back. "The Superego never makes a big move. Nor does the Id. Our business is based on taking time, repeating things, waiting for a delicate orchid to bloom properly. Too much fertilizer burns, too many bugs overwhelm and devour the plant. That's what this boy is, a plant. And he's-"
My partner's rant was cut off by the phone. I reached over and picked it up. "Hello?" I greeted politely. I listened for a few moments, before the message sank in. I tried to breathe, but I couldn't.
"Hey, hey, are you okay?" my partner demanded, alarmed. "s**t!" He grabbed the phone from my clammy hands as I sank to the floor, my eyes welling up with tears. As the message was repeated, a stream of curses, of which I could never repeat if i even remembered them, were loosed. My partner in a blind rage, threw the phone at the wall, where it crashed and broke.
He's dead. When my partner voiced my thoughts, I chocked up a bit. My first big case, and I... I failed. I guess He was right. There would be some souls that just could not be Saved.
----------
