Between Life and Death

Hide and Seek Part 3

●LIFE●

Life silently watched Death from the cover of the trees, his smiles and laughs very foreign to her. He was so friendly with the doe's spirit as he gently coaxed it into leaving. Something about him seemed... different. Only just a few minutes ago he had been brimming with rage at Life's accusation that he had killed the doe, and earlier that day he had been snarling at her to leave him. Death had such different personalities depending on the situation. What Life was trying to figure out was which personality was his true nature. While it was true that she had known him for thousands of millennia, he had seemed guarded and hostile whenever she tried making friendly conversation. His guarded personality had only gotten worse over time as his own people forgot who he once was.

Even her Guardians didn't know what kind of man Death was, and the Guardians had been alive since she had been created. When she had first begun ruling the humans, she chose a select few and gave them eternal life, calling them her Guardians of Knowledge. While it was true that she wasn't supposed to give anyone immortality (it was one of the terms agreed upon with Death alongside the ban on resurrection), Death didn't know about it, so she figured it was okay. Besides, she knew Death had a few secrets of his own, and her logic told her that if he had secrets, she could, too.

Once the soul had flown away, Life watched Death wave at the soul, then teleport away to reap the next. Now alone, Life sighed and walked out of the forest and towards her castle, rubbing her knuckles absentmindedly, thoughts in disarray over Death.

"Anything to report today, Guardians?" Life asked, smiling brightly as she strode into the Guardian Chamber, her mood having cheered up during her walk. The Guardians, who were a healthy mix of gender and age, straightened their backs upon her entrance.

"Nothing is amiss, ma'am," the Guardians responded in unison, their voices a single harmony. Their synchronization scares me more than Death does sometimes, Life thought with a shiver. Pushing the disturbing feeling aside, Life clasped her hands behind her back and glanced at the ground with a sullen look.

"Anything on Death?" Life asked, her voice quieting. She didn't lift her eyes from the ground.

"No," the Guardians responded in a single voice, frowning at Life's sudden sadness. "We're sorry," one of the Guardians added. "We'll keep trying." The Guardian who spoke up was a younger man, maybe early twenties, with black hair and seemingly pupiless coal eyes. Though his eyes were blank and somewhat creepy, the structure of his face was soft, and the slight furrow of his eyebrows conveyed an apology.

Life smiled sadly as she said, "No, don't be sorry. I know you've all been trying for millennia now, and in all honesty, this is my fault. If I had just taken the time to get to know Death before he withdrew into himself, I would already know what kind of man he is, and wouldn't have to ask you." Life slowly slid to the floor in defeat and began to punch the tile beneath her, trying to get rid of the gloominess inside her. "So stupid! Why didn't I think to be nice? Stupid, stupid, stupid!" With each word, Life punched the tile harder. Pain jolted through her hand but she ignored it and began punching with extra vigor. "I can't do anything right, and I never have! I'm ridiculous, I don't deserve this power!" Her knuckles started to scream from the pain, begging her to stop, but she continued to punch the floor and yell about her naivety and stupidity. The Guardians watched with concern, but they knew better than to disturb her - they all knew the consequences of it. It was, after all, why they had lost one of their friends and fellow Guardian.

So they left their queen to punch the expensive tile beneath her, brimming with concern but making no move to express it. Slowly, her punches began to weaken until they stopped completely. Only then did the Guardians dare utter a sigh of relief.

After sitting on the ground in a slack position for a few minutes, Life slowly stood up like the living dead and grumbled, "Well, I'll leave you to contemplate the meaning of life or whatever."

The Guardians only muttered various responses of Of course Your Majesty or As you wish, Your Excellency, noting the bruises forming on Life's knuckles and the cracked tile behind her, but, once more, saying nothing about it. Centuries ago, they had not been so passive, but the passing of one of their own led to them learning to hold their tongues. Shaking her head in frustration, Life walked out of the Guardian Chamber, fuming over the mystery man named Death.

Breathing heavily, Life continued to clench and unclench her fists as she stormed out of her palace and into the streets of her kingdom. Sensing her bad mood, the people avoided her path and only stopped for a quick bow before scurrying away from her. Will the plague sweep through once more? they whispered amongst themselves, and Life gritted her teeth before walking faster. Any whispers were hushed.

She needed to calm down, and she knew the perfect spot to do so. As one of her favorite meadows materialized in front of her, she felt herself relax with every exhale, the air crisp. Plopping down on a grassy knoll, Life directed her thoughts to what Death had said earlier that day. He had spoken of her being a beautiful lie and him being an ugly truth, and Life was trying to discern its meaning.

She had begun to whisper, "Beautiful lie, ugly truth," under her breath when she sensed a disturbance in the atmosphere around her. She began searching her surroundings, casting her magic out across the world in a gust of wind, when she found some shadows gathering not too far in the distance. Curious, Life stood up and walked towards the them, rallying her magic to cleanse the darkness.

When she reached the place where she had first sensed the shadows, she found thinner tendrils of darkness leading in the same general direction in a web-like pattern, like broken glass. Determined to find the source, she continued to follow the tethers of night, using her own powers of light to chase the shadows away. They eventually led her into a small cottage in a secluded valley, and when she peeked through the window, she saw none other than Death standing in the middle of the room, shadows swirling around him like the legs of an octopus, branching and curling. The dark swarm seemed to be angry, (or as angry as an inanimate shadow could be) and with reason. Death was yelling at a soul, and even from her position outside, she could hear what he was furiously saying.

"How dare you assume I killed you!" Death roared at the soul. "Your time was done, and all I did was to come pick you up." He stepped towards the soul, similar to the way he did during her encounter with him earlier that day, pointing at the soul with an accusing finger.

The soul only flew around angrily, and the shadows around Death grew more violent. "You throw such empty accusations at me -" Death began, but he seemed to have been interrupted by the soul. Brows furrowed, Death continued to argue with the unwilling and stubborn soul. "No, I am not a monster, and you sure as hell cannot kill me. If you had half a brain, you would know that you can't kill death!"

Life almost laughed at Death's snide remark, but what he said next stifled any laughter.

"You assume incorrectly. I do not hate her - what in the world makes you say that? Why am I wasting my time with you - I should just get this done and over with. I have more souls to reap," Death said, annoyance lacing his voice. He held out a hand and began to summon darkness when the soul, using whatever little magic it had, said aloud, "Well, maybe you should hate Life, because I know she despises you. You are undoing all she has created, and not only that, you are rude, a brute, and a heartless creature. Burn in hell! Oh wait, you already are."

A look of hurt flashed across Death's face - too quick for Life to have noticed if she wasn't paying attention - but then his face morphed into a deathly calm, devoid of any emotion. Without saying a word, he summoned his scythe with a slight wave of his hand, letting it materialize from shadow. Holding it with both hands, he swung it at the soul, one eye faintly glowing black. Life froze as she watched the soul disintegrate and burn away. She swore she could hear the soul scream. Death, still with the blank expression said, "Hope you like hell," as he teleported away. Shocked by what she had just witnessed, Life stared down at her hands. She had just seen Death at his worst.