Chapter 1: The Mysterious Mortician

It was one fairly normal day in 19th Century Great Britain. The sun was already setting, so those who wanted to get certain things done before sunset would have to hurry. A man and a woman were walking down a certain street, going to handle business affairs. They stopped at a shop with walls painted purple and a sign that read 'Undertaker'.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" The woman asked.

"Of course this is the right place. The Undertaker helped my father get ready for his funeral. He'll do the same for your mother as well." The man answered.

The woman only nodded and the two of them entered the shop. It seemed freakier on the inside than on the outside. At least they could tell it was a mortuary. "Excuse me, is anyone here? The man called.

He tried again. "Hello, we're here on business."

The shop was silent yet again. They figured that the owner was out, so they decided to come back and try again later. They were about to leave, when they heard a coffin door open, causing their blood to run cold. An eye peered out as the rest of the coffin door opened.

"Why hellllllo, my dear customers. What brings you into my humble shop today?"

The man was freaking out internally, but tried to maintain a normal appearance on the outside. "Y-Yes. We've come here because we need you to take in my late mother-in-law."

The Undertaker stepped out of the coffin. "Why of cooooorse. I would loooove to take in a new guest."

The Undertaker turned to the man with a bone chilling smile. "But I charge for my services, you see."

The man had to work hard to keep his composure. "Y-Yes, of course. How much is it?"

"Oh, I have no need for money as I'm not a big fan of The Queen at all. You must make me laugh in exchange for my services."

The man blinked. "H-How do we do that?"

"That is for you to figure out. If you can come up with a way to amuse me, then I will take in your mother-in-law as my guest."

"U-Uh, okay, let's see, uh..."

"Oh, I know" The woman said. "I have just the thing."

A few moments later, The Undertaker was just bursting with laughter. He had to wipe the tears from his eyes. "That was hilarious. Your wife is incredible at telling jokes."

The man laughed nervously. "Heh, yeah I guess she is."

The woman smiled. "Why thank you."

The rest of the business arrangements were taken care off and the couple left the shop. "Come back soooon! Maybe I could have you two as guests sometime."

The Undertaker retreated back inside his shop and closed it for the night. Being a Grim Reaper, The Undertaker needed sleep to run on, unlike those demons. However, he was planning on staying up some of the night and getting the majority of his work done.

He absolutely loved his job and he wouldn't give it up for the world. Plus, many of his guests were victims of a murder, so that makes him a good source of information for The Queen's Watchdog. He went back to attending to his guest who was currently on the table.

The next afternoon, The Undertaker had decided to take a nap inside one of the coffins and maybe even freak out the next person that walked in. He found a simple joy in scaring people, as he considered it amusing.

Undertaker woke up once he sensed the presence of someone else entering his shop, and although he loved his job, they would be receiving a real scare for waking him from his nap. However, this customer seemed different from the others. His senses told him that whoever walked in was not human. Still, the coffin door creaked open and he saw a man standing there, waiting for him to fully appear.

"I need to have a word with you." The man said.

"Yeeeeeesss?" The Undertaker asked when he stepped out of the coffin.

Upon further inspection, The Undertaker saw that the man had greenish gold eyes and glasses, which could only mean that he was a fellow Grim Reaper. "I haven't seen a Grim Reaper in years. What brings you here today?"

The Reaper adjusted his glasses and kept his cool demeanor. "We of the Grim Reaper Dispatch would like to ask a favor of you."

The man got out a clip board and explained the situation further. "As you know, whenever a Reaper is born, they start out as children and they are cared for by the Grim Reaper Childcare Services."

The Undertaker nodded. "Yes, I know. I went through the process when I was but a Reaperling."

The Reaper nodded and continued. "The Childcare Division is overflowing with children, so we would like you to take care of three of them while everything gets sorted out."

The Undertaker's never ending smile, turned into an expression of confusion. "Children?"

The Reaper nodded. The Undertaker motioned for the Reaper to look around the room. "But this is a mortuary. It's not exactly fit for children."

The Reaper nodded and adjusted his glasses. "There are other rooms, aren't there?"

"W-Well, yes, but-"

"Then it's settled." The Reaper said with his stoic look. "They will arrive within the next week. You have until then to make this place suitable for children."

That was the last thing the Reaper said before he left. The Undertaker was still left in the dust, and he never felt like this. He had to make the place suitable for children. How was he supposed to do that to a mortuary, a place purposely filled with dead bodies? Well, they were Reaper children, so they would be exposed to it eventually.

Still though, it just didn't seem right to expose children to things like that. The Undertaker took a look at the coffin he was previously sleeping in and decided to go back inside for another nap. He figured that the nap would clear his head and he could figure out what to do later. He stepped inside and shut the door, seriously considering closing up for the day to take a long nap.