HoloMythos (Oneshots & Short Stories)

Tête-à-tête Between Life and Death

Summary:

Life and Death, two concepts that occupy the opposite sides of the same coin, have a little chat to catch up with the times and discuss the things fate has thrown at them ever since their last interaction.

Many things can happen within a year, let alone over a thousand. Revisit old wounds and uncover the events that have transpired over the millennia.

Originally posted on Archive of Our Own on: December 3, 2023

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Humanity has grown a lot...

Why was I mad at them in the first place?

I close my eyes as I reminisce, the memories flow like a raging stream of water. Why did we fight? Why did we spill blood on the soil that bore both of us? Why did we hate each other? I ponder to myself but I know very well the answers to those questions and it pains me to relive those memories that constantly remind me of my shortcomings as protector as all living beings. Actions that I regrettably made towards mankind, and towards her.

She's not the same person as I remembered, and neither does she. She's not created by the Gods like the rest of us, nay, she was created by the willpower of Man. She told me humanity still loved me, she gave me a reason to bring my children back to my embrace, she showed me that mankind can change; a reason to love them as my own again. If only Eden was still intact, I would welcome all of you back to the floral gardens that gave birth to you.

Here I stand, at a cliff overlooking the lands below me. I stare at the golden sunset—a beautiful mixture of purple and orange that tints the sky—as I oversee one of the human settlements, or "kingdoms" as they call it, that litter all over the world. The stone from mountains and ravines make their formidable fortresses and walls, while the wood for ancient woodlands are used to make housing for their kin. Now that I think of it, it's no different from beavers who use sticks to build dams or even ants to expand their crawling colonies below the dirt, making our old feud look more ridiculous as I speak. When she showed me that humans still care for me, it's when I realized my hatred for them was more personal than factual. Shame me, a deity to stoop so low as to hold a grudge on their little mistake.

I continue to watch over them, it has become a sort of routine of mine. Curious of what my dear children have created. I wish I was there to see you grow, I wish I was there to care for you like the mother I should've been.

The Keeper of Nature, I am. It is my duty to nurture all life on Earth, but I betrayed my post the moment I expelled them down from the gates of Eden to the unruly land below; blinded by rage and a broken heart.

Hn?

I feel the bushes behind me rustle.

I sense it, a small fawn separated from its mother. I approach the berry bush just behind and just as I suspected, a baby deer pops out bleating. I smile as I crouch down to pat its head, instantly putting the animal in a calm state; nature's touch. Its beady eyes shine as the light from the setting sun reflects off its lens. Cute, adorable even. I then sat down on the ground as I pat my thighs, telling the young fawn to lay its head on it; and so it did.

"There there," I whisper as I resume patting its delicate head, "you must've lost your mother on your way here?"

It bleats again.

I chuckle, "Don't worry, your mother is coming to get you." The deer buries itself in the plumpness of my lap causing me to let out another little laughter, "For the meantime, I'm going to take care of you."