Chapter 1: 1 | Before you go

I know that the American people share my deep belief that if a danger exists in the world, it is a danger shared by all; 

and equally, that if hope exists in the mind of one nation,

that hope should be shared by all.

—Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

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There seems to be a cruel irony to this world, I’ve observed. 

For as much as it gives, it takes away too. As much as it creates, sustains and nurtures life in all its beautiful forms, it destroys, erodes and kills life too. 

I’ve seen the same cycle repeat hundreds of thousands of times. How many civilisations have prospered and flourished, only to be laid to waste by violence and hate, by the greed and selfishness of the heart? And yet how many more civilisations have been created out of the devastating wars and bloodshed that destroyed those before them?  

In a sense, life begets death. 

Death, paradoxically, also begets life. 

‘Why is that so?’, I’ve wondered many a time in the past, but none could give me an answer. This, I realised, is yet another irony of this world; the more you try to question it, the more that ends up unanswered.

Perhaps this world is nothing other than a paradox of ironies; anything and everything that derives its existence from it, as a result, are also contradictory. 

Then, that may explain why humans—the greatest creation of this world, as Life once proudly said so herself—are also the most ironic. Illogical, discordant…why, a borderline antithetical existence in my opinion. To the point that they could end up obliterating the entire world, killing themselves and everything that depended on the earth, for a purpose I can never fathom.

When the armageddon happened, I tried to stop Life from intervening. We are mere embodiments of nature, I reminded her. I insisted on letting them suffer the consequences of their own actions.

But Life didn’t listen. She tried everything she could to help the unlucky survivors. She tried to protect her foolish creations, the very ones who created the device that annihilated everything in its blast. 

It’s too soon for their deaths, she pleaded when I stopped her with my scythe. They can’t all die. 

I was torn between my duty and her distress. In the end, I chose to simply watch. I watched her fail and fail again. I watched how she forced herself to save everyone, even as her power began to weaken and die out. I watched her eyes grow hopeless and despair at the ruin of a world she loved. I watched as her existence slowly faded away in front of my own teary eyes. 

In time, I knew that she had gone past the point of no return. She had violated the laws of nature by intervening with the world order, and though she ultimately failed, she cannot escape the consequences. I believe she understood that too, because when I finally appeared before her in her last moments, she didn’t flinch in the slightest. 

“I’ve been waiting,” she whispered. 

“And I’ve been watching,” I replied. 

Her lifeless eyes smiled. “…why do you sound so sorrowful, Death?” 

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I narrowed my eyes at her serene face. “No, I don’t.” Gripping the handle of my scythe tighter than ever, I pointed the ink-black blade at her weakly beating chest. This wouldn’t be considered killing her, I convinced myself, for embodiments cannot ‘die’ in the human sense. I would simply be hastening her extinction. 

She sighed languidly. “Once I’m gone…there’ll be no more life left in this world. Is that truly what you want?”

“If that’s what nature dictates, I can’t do anything against it.”

A rueful laugh. “Don’t you understand, Death? The nature of the world that we know is long gone. The world has changed too much, in too little time. It’s going to die out sooner or later. And when that time comes, you will meet with the same fate as me.”

“…”

“You and I can’t exist without one another.” Life met my wavering gaze squarely. “Without life, there is no death. Are you going to just sit by and accept your fate?” 

For a moment I averted my eyes away. My hands, still holding the scythe above her, trembled for the first time. 

“What do you want me to do, Life?” I finally asked. “What can I do that you can’t?” 

“There…is something,” she answered, painfully standing up to her feet. Even in her dying breath, she looked as beautiful and majestic as when we first came to be. 

She has always been the beloved one, hasn't she? The peerless beauty of life is what makes her so revered and worshipped across the world. Despite knowing that her time was imminent, I still couldn’t help but feel a hint of jealousy towards her. 

So I was stunned silent when she suddenly fell to her knees. 

“Please take my remaining power,” Life desperately begged. “Use it. Promise me you will do what I couldn’t.” 

“T-this, I—” 

My words were cut off as she grabbed my shoulders with a shocking grip and plunged herself into my scythe. 

Her death was quick. She had already weakened so much, the slightest pierce through her frail heart was enough to shatter her entire being. I didn’t even have enough time to cry out before she disintegrated into fine dust. 

Just like that, Life was gone forever. And the world around me, already devastated and barren, suddenly felt a lot more hollow, a lot more desolate. 

I lowered my gaze to where she had been standing moments ago and choked out a suppressed cry. “L-life, that’s…that’s so unfair, you know?” 

On the cracked ground was an orb condensed with what little power she had left. It was her parting gift to me.

And though it was in a blink of an eye, she had whispered something into my ear just before my scythe pierced her. 

“Promise me you will save this world.”

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