Dialogue with Death

Prologue

We think about death more often than we live.

The red disk of the sun slowly descended below the horizon, as if melting into the azure blue of the endless waters. It was a brief moment before the world plunged into sleep. A moment when everything around took on crimson hues. A high cliff towered over the abyss, its sharp ledge threatening to crash into the boiling maelstrom of the surf. Nearly at the edge, a massive oak grew, which over centuries had become a majestic giant, its monumentality scoffing at the futile attempts to destroy its foundation.
Time is fleeting and relentless. Another century, and the roots themselves will shatter the stone that holds them. Everything in this world has an end, it knows. It is a silent witness that has seen the land it holds cry with the blood of those deemed gods. It witnessed the birth and the fall of the Greatest Empire of Light. It saw how the world appeared. And it will see its end.
Dark curls slowly swayed in the wind, caressing my weary face. I sat on the edge of the cliff, feeling the unevenness of its surface, enjoying the last rays of the sun. My eyes were closed, and I was immersed in my thoughts. Complete silence and peace reigned around me. This was the only place where I could calmly be myself, the only place I hated yet also needed.
I knew that every year my silent guest, to whom I came to gather my thoughts, missed her just as much as I did. I knew the day would come when I would conduct the last harvest and destroy everything. These feelings made me reflect on the fact that everything passes and everything changes. Yet, I could not help but enjoy the beauty of the surrounding world. I felt how the warmth of the sun saturated every cell of my body, and the wind caressed my hair. A brief moment of beauty in the eternal cycle of chaos.
"I hate you," I uttered, feeling the gentle magic of tranquility evaporate from this place. "I've already warned you, if you come here again, I'll throw you down."
"Oh, really scared. So scary," came a voice from the shadow. The uninvited guest stepped into the light, jokingly raising his hands. His hair was the color of dark honey, and bright chestnut eyes completed the image. A slightly arrogant face and a constant beige suede suit complemented his impeccable taste. Those who didn't know him personally, at first acquaintance thought he was always looking for a reason to fight and couldn't sit still for a minute without seeking adventures. But once you got to know him, you understood that this was the exact definition.
"I'm tired of looking for you in all the dumps and morgues. Especially since only a blind person doesn't know that this is the only place you visit every year," he replied, seemingly oblivious to my mocking tone.
"Did you really look?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "I thought bordellos and taverns were more your style, not the aftermath of visiting them."
"Funny. Glad to see centuries haven't changed your sarcasm. Ismir, there's a conversation to be had," he moved straight to the point.
"Not interested," I closed my eyes. "I'm no longer in the Council."
"It's important! And it's not about the Council!" I felt him start to boil. My brother couldn't stand being interrupted.
"Lucifer, I've made it clear. I'm not interested. We've long put an end to it. Set our priorities and accepted what we must do. At least, I have. You've always been bored: intrigues and secrets, 25 subplots and triple meanings. Enough for me. I've been tired for a dozen centuries."
"Listen! This is really important..." I felt him grab my arm with a steel grip.
"First of all, today is not the best day to drag me into another one of your intrigues! Centuries ago, I sent your entire Council with its petty squabbles into the Abyss. Want to stage a minor apocalypse over who screwed over whom more? Be my guest. Just don't involve me! And get your hand off, it's annoying." I knew I had gone too far. Sprinkled salt on his sense of justice. But as I said, today wasn't the day to bother me. Oddly enough, I too started to boil. Strange. I thought I had long since lost the ability to feel anything.
"Ismir! It's not about the Council! I'll deal with my brother's schizophrenia myself. You need to listen to me. She would have wanted it!" For a moment, his eyes glinted with predatory red. A sign he was on edge. It had been a long time since we'd seen each other. He'd forgotten that I was the only one who wasn't afraid of him. The only one who could contradict him without fearing being impaled.
"Lucifer!" I stood up abruptly. It felt as if a volcano had erupted in my chest – "We haven't seen each other since you decided to show the world once again how petty and pathetic humans are! You orchestrated quite the genocide of a couple of peoples. That's when we clearly decided that each of us has our own path! What did you say to me then? Huh? Remind me!" I heard his teeth grind, and his jaws ready to tear through the skin. But I didn't care, the rage in my chest was burning brighter – "The blind reaper, who revels in her victims? Do you know that I hear them? All of them! Every single one! Always! You think I chose this path? You think I wanted this? Did anyone ask any of us? They presented us with a fait accompli! Just like they did with you!"
"Stop..." I was dumbfounded. The world turned gray. The air disappeared. Everything disappeared. The oak began to creak and lose its leaves. Lucifer's hair turned gray, his eyes became cloudy, he was gasping for air, slowly sliding down the tree. I lost control again. Close your eyes. Count to ten. Calm down. I heard Lucifer start to breathe with a wheeze and a whistle, heard the leaves rustle indignantly. I was here again. But how tired I was...
"I'm sorry." I carefully helped my still somewhat pale brother stand up. "My nerves have been shattered lately. Too many of them."
"Understand. You apologize too. Too much time has passed. I relaxed. Got used to everyone either fearing me or hating me." He put his hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye – "But we still need to talk. They're back."
"Who? The renegades of the north? Alcoholic Odin? Pervert Zeus? Who's back, Lucifer? For whom you almost flew into the Abyss." I smirked slightly.
"The Offspring of the Abyss, brother." I wanted to step back, but his hand caught me. I looked into his eyes, hoping to see laughter. But no. He was telling the truth. Or believed it.
"Can't be! We destroyed them all then!"
"Apparently not all. I don't know. At the last council, we were missing a couple of brothers. Those who didn't particularly like joint gatherings and discussions about who was more to blame. But still, it was strange. We immediately started searching. A week later, we found them in some abandoned village, gutted, like that chicken. The wounds on their bodies matched those we had seen before." He pulled out his phone and showed me the photos. Seeing my surprise, he waved it off - "We're not savages, Ismir, it's time to move with the times. Get yourself one, it's handy. Better look here." He opened the first photo. Four even furrows along the body. It was visible that there was our armor under the shirt. But it didn't save them. Like before. In the next photo were pictures of a hut where one of the walls was splattered with black goo. Apparently, they tried to fight back. But even two were not able to do anything against a skilled ambush. Apparently, they were attacked from behind, plus the fact that they did not expect to see what should have been dead for a hundred centuries. - "That's exactly why I immediately went looking for you."
"What nonsense? Wait, what's this?" – Lucifer showed the second body. He was kneeling, and his sword protruded from his throat. The massive wings of the artifact on his back were spread and pinned to the wall. Someone forced him to activate that artifact.
"I don't know, and it's even more frightening. As if some psychopath repeated one of the church frescoes. Whoever did it, but it's them. Who's guilty of the second brother's death, I don't know. Looks like a cruel public execution. After so many years. They've returned?" - Lucifer hid the phone. He was himself again. The former ruddiness and the eternal spark of mischief in his eyes. But now he was scared. I saw it.
"Sorry, but I don't feel when one of ours crosses the line. The quirk of my gift." I turned back to the surf. My mind was in turmoil. Memory began to awaken, stirring old wounds.
"I know, brother. But I remember what it led to last time. The price we paid for our arrogance and belief that we were invincible." A vertical wrinkle on his forehead showed that he too began to remember.
"This place has never let me forget, brother." I took out a bouquet of white peonies and laid it on the gravestone that had been set up next to the oak. The inscription had long faded, but everyone knew what was written there. After all, I was the one who put it there.
<Lilith. Faithful assistant and leader of the Grey Reapers.
Someday we will rise with you as birds to meet a new life, renouncing the fleeting world. Thank you for giving hope.
Ismir. Master of the Grey Legion of Fear>