Dark Moon - Michael Langdon

Part 34 - Immortality

"What?" Michael scoffs.  "That's ridiculous."

"You have a heavy favor you are asking of me," he shrugs.  "Let's not forget that I had to turn a blind eye to allow you two to resurrect yourselves after Satan killed you."

"But that's an unfair offer," Michael continues as I remain silent.  "She ages at three times the rate of a normal human.  She'll barely have any time left!"

Cordelia walks up behind me and Michael and places a hand on each of our shoulders.  "Now, I have to agree with Michael," she states.  "You're basically giving Esmeray only a few more years to live.  We all know that beings as powerful as her don't make it far past the physical age of thirty; she'll have less than four years left."

Papa Legba simply shrugs.  "She'll be sacrificing the rest of her life for the fate of the world.  Besides, she'll only have a few years at most left to live if Satan causes the apocalypse."

"Can't you make another offer?" Myrtle asks from behind Cordelia.

"I only make one offer: take it or leave it."

"We'll take it," I respond.

"No, we won't," Michael argues.

"Yes, we will," I press as I turn to Michael. "You don't get to make my decisions for me."

"Yeah, well this is the wrong decision!" he protests. He turns on Papa Legba. "This is bullshit! You can't just take away her immortality!"

Papa Legba chuckles. "Oh, but I can. So, Esmeray, do you accept?" he asks.

Michael scoffs. "No, she does not-"

"I do," I cut Michael off.

Michael looks at me, taken aback, while Papa Legba's face twists into a smile. "Very well. Consider it done."

He snaps his fingers and disappears, and the lights in the room turn back on. I stand up and begin to walk out of the room while everyone stares in silence.

"Esmeray, you can't just give away your immortality to bring Marie Laveau back!" Michael yells, following me out of the room.

"Yes, I can!" I retort as I continue walking. "And I did!"

"You can still take it back!" Michael shouts as he transmutates in front of me.

"But I won't," I respond as I push past him and begin walking up the stairs.

"Don't you understand?" he asks. "You're going to keep aging at three times the normal rate while I stop aging once I reach 18 in less than a year. Then you're going to die in less than four years because your human body will be too old to handle your power!"

"Don't you think I know that!" I shout as I turn on my heel, looking down at him from the landing on the stairs. "If we do manage to stop the apocalypse, I'm going to die before I get to enjoy the world anyway! I'm giving up more than you are, so this is my decision to make!"

I turn to walk back up the stairs, but Michael transmutates in front of me and grabs my arm. "No, you are not giving up more than I am," he states, his voice growing quieter yet more aggressive. "You are my only reason to live; a world without you is not a world worth saving. If you give up your immortality, you are dooming me to live out the rest of eternity without you, and I don't want to do that."

I sigh as I look down, refusing to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry, Michael. Just think; there are almost 7 billion other people out there, and at least half of them have some great love story ahead of them."

I begin walking up the stairs again, but he grabs my wrist and pulls me back to him. "I don't care about the 7 billion other people; the only person I care about is you."