Between Life and Death

Lost and Found Part 3

●DEATH●

Death wouldn't stop pacing a hole in the floor, and he had begun to make others nervous.

"Death, cut it out," Mercy pleaded. "You're setting us all on edge."

Death ignored Mercy and continued to pace the room. The vase of lilies stood in the center of the table, the petals turning brown and droopy at the tips, and it was obvious Death was going out of his way to avoid looking at the flowers. He sighed loudly and slowly shook his head, rubbing his temples. He muttered something to himself at such a low volume, no one could hear it.

"We all know you're worried about Life - that much is obvious, and we are too - but remember that we're leaving to begin the first step of our mission later today. We have to stay focused," Mercy said, but she only got a grunt from Death in response. He continued his unsettling pacing, stubble beginning to grow on his cheek.

When the door opened to reveal Truth with Justice in tow, Death's steps didn't falter. He only stopped when he heard Truth say, "While you guys were in here, worrying like a bunch of old grannies, I took it into my hands to find out why Karma decided it would be a good idea to kidnap Life."

"What did you find out?" Time asked.

"I was able to figure out that he captured her to restore the balance, but his real intentions are to reveal her memories to her. All of them," Truth responded, inhaling as she waited for Death's reaction.

Death finally broke from his vacuous state of mind to whirl around and face Truth. "What? How?"

Truth shrugged and said, "Karma can't physically give her memories back to her - only you can - but he can tell her about them, he can tell her everything. It's up to her whether or not she wants to believe them."

Death shook his head with more intensity. "She cannot know about those memories. We took them away for a reason, and we cannot - will not - let an idiot like Karma endanger us all. He cannot meddle in a story he doesn't understand."

Mercy spoke up. "What if this was for the better? Maybe she should know..."

"How could this be for the better? We erased them purposely," Death asked Mercy.

"He might only tell her the good ones," Mercy said, but Death only growled.

"Okay, so he tells her about the good ones. He would also tell her that I was the monster who took them from her, unprovoked, which would probably lead her to asking more questions. Karma is a crafty man, and he will do anything in his power to make Life hate me with all she has. Why would he pass up an opportunity like this? I cheated Karma once, and he's never forgiven me for it. This is perfect for his revenge, Mercy. Nothing good could come out of this, especially given that we don't know what he could possibly do once she has turned on me."

Fury rolled his eyes. "Stop being such a drama queen, Death. We don't know how Life will take the new information - or I guess old information? Anyways, we're leaving today, and if all goes well, we should have her by the end of the week, back at your side so you two lovebirds can get back to your awkward teenage flirting."

Death responded by walking out of the room, a muffled response thrown over his shoulder that Fury chose to ignore.

"Death -" Mercy started, but was shushed by Justice.

"Leave him be, Mercy. He needs time to himself so he can think things through," she said.

Death didn't care that his eyes were wet, and blamed the wetness on the smoke from the fire in the fireplace. What he failed to notice was that there was no fire in the fireplace during the meeting, that there was no possible thing to blame for his tears other than Life's disappearance. He walked briskly towards his room, and when he got there, he locked the door behind him and slid to the ground. As soon as his bottom touched the ground, tears began falling, drawing rivers along the planes of his cheek, through his ungroomed bread that had begun to form. When he traced the path of the tears with his finger, he laughed bitterly. He was crying for the first time in centuries - no, millennia - and it was over a girl, a girl that would hate him the next time he saw her face.

If he ever saw her face again at all.

To be fair, it was over a girl who had unwittingly captured his heart 750 million years ago, and he had never let go since. It was over a girl who had become more than a friend to him, someone who he would've been more than happy to start a family with. It was over a girl who now had no idea what had once happened between them, and it was over a girl who he had sacrificed everything for.

There were no sobs that racked his shoulders - rather, he cried silent tears, forcing himself not to make a sound, to not let his court know how distraught he was. The tears gained mass and rolled down to his chin, lumbering slowly. He sat there, memories of the past flashing through his head, tears falling as he stared into space, alone and empty. The last thing he had told her was about how he found one of her Guardians dead. He didn't even say goodbye, couldn't even tell her how he truly felt, and there was a chance he could never talk to her again.

Death sat there for a long time, silently shedding tears. His chest felt like a giant, empty pit that swallowed all happiness, a hole that he had buried himself into, in solitude with his tears. Life had been the light in his life, but with her gone, his world was dark.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Death, wiping the tears from his eyes, stood up to unlock the door. He opened the door and stared, expressionless, at Mercy, who was crying herself. He tried to blink away the tears that still leaked from the corners of his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Death," she cried as she crushed him into a bear hug. "I wish I could do something to help."

Death felt what little was left of his heart melt at seeing Mercy so helpless. He hardened his feelings and mentally stepped into the mindset of a leader, locking away his tears for another time. "It's okay, Mercy," he soothed, gently patting her shoulder.

Mercy sobbed and hiccupped as Death continued to pat her shoulder. When her sobs died down, she sniffed and said, "Everyone is worried sick about you, Death. You just stormed out of the room without any warning. We could see your shadows, Death - it got us so worried."

Death sighed and said, "I'm sorry. It got hard for me to keep hearing you guys talk about Life in trouble, knowing that I couldn't do anything about it."

Mercy smiled a small smile and said, "Well, we're getting ready to leave. All plans have been finalized. Will you be okay? Are you ready to do this?"

Death nodded with a grim determination. "I was ready as soon as she got taken away."

A little bit of a shortie but cutting it off here seemed best... next week's will be longer!