My name is Skotádi. I am the embodiment of the dark. When I rein, chaos ensues, the sun quivers behind miles of clouds, men and women begin fighting one another. I'm all that is malicious.
Then there is Fos. He is the embodiment of the light. When he reins it is the opposite of me. There is peace, the sun shines upon the earth, men and women feel free and are kind. He is all that is loving.
Our names originate from the area of the Greeks. Before then, we had no name. We were just there. We fought for domination, if only for a day or a few hours. Once the Greeks found us fighting, they shouted our names and so that is what we've used.
For decades afterwards, Fos and I fought and fought. Both of us struggled to maintain a hold on the earth. Neither one of us can be killed and neither can one live without the other, as is everything else. I never grew tired of this endless cycle. I enjoyed the fighting. I enjoyed making the wounds that never bled red but gold.
I enjoyed feeling the sting of my wounds that bled wispy black, never blood, never just air. Thick but airy. Sometimes after a fight, we'd call a truce for the day and fix each other up, discussing the trifles of the humans.
Eventually, we began to stop fighting. Simply acknowledged each other and kept going, our forms blending with the human race as we watched their technology advance and their styles change with years.
In the 1700's, we had our last standoff. It was during the British Revolution. It had been after a battle had just finished.
And the last battle had just finished when and I lay on the ground laughing. My limbs ached and leaked not-quite-blood black, eyes starring at the cloud covered sky. The adrenalin from any kind of battle always made me feel as high as the clouds themselves.
My my shaggy black hair was brown with dried mud, my clothes torn and tatters from both blades and the muskets they fired at each other. My laughter died away as I took in a deep breath of the smoke hazed battleground, littered with bodies and abandoned weaponry.
The clouds began to disappear, the suns warm rays landing on my pale skin. "Are you done playing general?"
Sitting up, I was greeted with a grinning Fos. "Yes. For now."
He came to me, short golden hair gleaming in the sun. He held his hand out to me and I took it, letting him help me to my feet. His skin was sun-kissed and warm. His eyes were soft hazel while mine are a cold gunmetal. Instead of standing, I yanked him down to the ground with me. He yelped in surprise and hit the ground with an oof.
I laughed as I grabbed him in a loose headlock. He had faked trying to break my hold before flopping limply. I gasp and put a hand over my mouth. "Oh no! I've killed him!" My voice reeked sarcasm and he sat up laughing.
"So, shall we call a final and total truce?" He held out his hand and I looked at it then him.
"As much as I love the fighting," my lips curled into a wicked grin. "I'll accept your truce." I clasp his hand and we squeeze each other's hand tightly.
"From now until the end of all things?"
"From now until the end of all things."
And to this day we've been friends, close allies and practically brothers. Which, in an odd way, we are brothers. All the way up to today, September 25, 2017.
Fos and I had always told ourselves that we shouldn't get attached to anyone. Being immortals, we couldn't afford to fall in love or become friends with a human.
But this one girl. I couldn't help it. She was so different from everyone. Yes, I kept my distance, but one day she came to me and we began talking. Fos and myself tried to stop me from seeing her but I just couldn't help myself.
Today, I felt what I was like to have your heart ripped to shreds. I sat quietly in a small grove by myself, the moon a Cheshire smile peeking through the trees. I've been here for hours on hours. Inky shadows spread out from my body, clocking the grove in a pitch-blackness no light could puncture.
My eyes still sting from crying so much, my hands shaking in my lap. The woman that I loved despite all of my own warning and Fos's, died today. I didn't ask why. I don't want to know. If I knew, I would probably be in more pain.
My shoulder brushes a tree before I lean heavily against it, head bowed and eyes closed. More minutes pass, maybe an hour, all the while more silent tears leak from my eyes. Dull light begins to filter through my eyelids, slowly growing in intensity.
Opening my eyes, I squint against the suddenness of the light. My eyes adjust slowly before I realize that it's still dark out, little lights shaped like lilies float and slowly spin in the air before me. It had an ethereal feeling to it. Then I was puzzled. I've never seen a light that could pierce the darkness that I'm able to create.
Except one.
I lean my head back and see Fos standing behind me, the lilies thickest around him as they slowly float out into the grove. Slowly he steps around me and sits in front of me, legs crossed. "I know, I'm stupid. You warned me, I warned myself but I-" he stops me, pulling me in a tight embrace.
"I know. This happened to me once too. I know what it feels like and I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have to feel this way." I let myself be comforted by him, wrapping my arms around him.
"But I shouldn't at all. I am pain. I am suffering and chaos. Why do I feel so hurt?" My voice cracks a little.
"That's what falling in love does to you. It messes with your head and changes the way you see things." Fos says quietly, rubbing my back in soothing circles.
"I'm sorry." I let him go and sit up, wiping my face dry with the back of my hand. "I've learned my lesson."
He smiles at me. "That's fine. Come on, you need to rest some. Even you, the soul of night, needs sleep." He stands and pulls me to my feet. Then he leads me to our small house we're we will live in a balancing act until we, and the earth, are no more.
