Strings of Life and Death

Nova Genesis

   Dark fingertips brushed against the pool of fluid blue and glittering stardust, golden sun eyes glowing with wonder at the creation that spread out into a vast ocean of midnight and silver. 

   Burnt ashes and freezing cold winters wafted through the non-existent breeze as she gently held a twinkling star and touched it. It rippled for a moment before expanding into a circular tear that burned bright like the sun, warming her skin with its fire. 

   The air tingled with raw power, a lingering presence hanging heavy within the domain like a fog.

   “Death,” a hearty laugh escaped her. “It is a pleasure to be in your company. What brings you here in my domain?”

  Black smoke hissed and clumped together like fluffy thunder clouds. A pale face with equally pale white hair appeared and stepped through, their robes of black fluttering gently with silver strings attached to its ends. 

   He inclined his head at the woman dressed in dark blues and pale green flowing robes, a bunch of red strings sitting neatly on her lap. 

   “My dear, can a visit have a purpose or does one really have to state their intentions?” 

   “Ah, but I was merely curious. Won’t you let me in on why you’ve come here?" 

   “Life, sweet Life, must you always be so curious about my motives and reasons when you already know them by now?”

   Death sat down besides a laughing golden haired Life, transparent souls whispering and rounding up around the pale skinned man like a carousel.

   She extended her arms, golden fireflies and tears shimmering into existence, bursting into many different colored flowering trees floating in the middle of a domain without ground. 

   Petals scattered across the floating space as Life tugged at the red strings.

   “My dear companion, even I cannot solve you for you are a mystery to my creations and myself.”

________

   Death cocked his head to the side, dark eyes trained on Life who was tracing the seams of the portal with utmost decadence. Flowers and meadows sprouted underneath her feet in endless abundance, bringing in the sweetness of honey and spring.

   “My Life, may I ask why you are so delicately tracing the portal as if it is your kin?” 

   Life’s fingers paused on their ministry. Such a small gesture that embodied many emotions even Death could not grasp them for they slipped between his hold like an eel. 

   “Come up here now, will you? I’ll show you the secret that this portal holds if you get up from there.” 

   "Very well."

   Death stood next to Life as she swiped her hand across the portal opening. It flickered for a moment before bright sunlight and towering mountains with colorful birds soaring above the iridescent skies replaced the once white background. 

   She swiped her hand again and it changed into a crowded village that had butterflies and people walking along golden streets and tree-like structure buildings, hanging gardens and vines clinging on to the walls.

   “It’s the fabric of Destiny and Reality. This is where I watch and make my creations breathe and live,” she said.

   “What a strange portal. I only have but a river to watch mortal souls fall when their Fate has met their due.” 

   “If yours is a river filled with souls begging to meet your face, then mine is a portal who faces away from their creator and makes them live.”  

   Death blinked and reached out his hand to touch the image that ran with pure energy and joy. He jumped back when lightning zapped his fingertips, some flying little creatures being shot down by arrows. 

   A handful of silver strings appeared on the edges of his shadowy garments just as a red string frayed on life's flowing dress.

   “Oh,” he shook his hand. “I apologize. I did not mean to make your creations fall. I forget about the capabilities I have sometimes. I'm still fairly new with all of this…”

   Life heaved a sigh. “It is alright. You did not know that you couldn’t touch the portal without condemning a few souls. It is inevitable. I should've warned you in the first place so you would not have apologized.” 

   “You seem unperturbed.” 

   “I give them everything they need. It is up to them on how they will survive and tackle the world that has been moulded for their beautiful existence.” 

   Lotuses bloomed underneath her feet, the blue night sky replaced by a clear and fresh still lake that extended far and beyond with white fluffy clouds on a light blue world.

   Death stretched out his hand. A flitter of snow bursting into translucent birds that flew within the domain, their echoing chirps loud and sweet but distant like a day long gone.

  “I have no worries when they pass because I know they’re safe in your domain and hands.” Life smiled.

   “You are strange.” He looked at his opposite half. “But you are a giver that doesn’t hold back.”

__________

   Life tugged at the frayed strings that were connected to her heart. Wondering what would happen if she cut them off. She didn’t know her capabilities nor the full extent of her powers so she was generally curious and began to pull at one of the worn yarns. 

   “Life, what are you doing?” Death asked, peering over her and floating along the domain that he and his companion were in.

   Her skin crawled, her throat locked up when pinpricks of agony pierced her like a sword. The surroundings began to shake and tremble as she kept tugging, unable to quench her curiosity. The earth she was standing on split open. 

   Screams and shrieks of her creation rang in her ears like a funeral bell. 

   “Life, stop!”

   The spews of lava from a nearby volcano sent pungent fumes through the air. Life gasped, letting go of the string swiftly and watching with horror at the devastation that a simple thing had done. She looked at her hands, then at the wrecked domain.

  Her vision was getting blurry, and oh great domains, she was trembling, falling to her knees in defeat. Someone was in front of her, were they speaking? 

   “Life, deep breaths. Deep breaths. You’re okay, they’re okay.”

   “I hurt them,” she choked out through golden tears. "I hurt them with my curiosity of the string that was connected to my heart." 

   “... you did.” That was the voice of Death. Who else could it be but him? “Curiosity and sometimes our own creations can lead us to drastic decisions. Some good, some bad, and some necessary. But this… it was done out of impulse and it was not right.”

   “I was only curious. I didn’t mean to…”

   Death made a strange noise at the back of his throat, the floor underneath them rippling from a peaceful blue to a violent orange sunset. 

   It was alright. She deserved the silence for her own curiosity and stupidity. What she didn’t expect was the coldness that swept over her and wrapped her up in its embrace. 

   Life choked around the lump in her throat and grabbed onto Death’s shadowy robes, clawing at it until no tears were left for her to cry. 

_________

   “Have you ever wished that you were different? Wished that you didn’t have what you already have so you can trade it for another?” Life asked. 

   Death looked up with a frown on his face, crystal hyacinths held delicately in his hand. One that would never die even with a single touch of his finger or sword. 

   “I did, once,” he answered. 

   Life wandered around the crystal gardens, patting pristine, pearl like leaves that jingled and sang like chimes. Flowers and butterflies turned alive at every glitter and sparkle that escaped her hands and feet.

   “And what happened to that one?”

   “To wish for something to be changed is one thing, to insinuate such an act of changing what you have is a mission that puts everyone and yourself at risk.”

   Life turned to Death, her brow raised. “You think that changing is something that is dangerous for yourself and others?”

   “It is not wrong per se. You may strive to become greater but what we have been given, we cannot change it. If we were to say– put a pangolin in the sea– Would it adapt or get drowned by the everlasting depths?”

  Life hummed and strode over. Their surroundings turned dark then rippled into the bright salted waters with fishes swimming and an underwater garden that was filled with seagrass and anemones dancing with the currents. An eel darted into the rocks as a whale circled around a few minnows. 

  “You are comparing a pangolin to changing?”

   Death twirled the solid flowers in his hand before presenting it to Life, a new silver string appearing on his garments. “There is a time where you need to change for the better, another for when you wish to heal. I find not to question what or who I am for this is what I was destined to do even if such tasks exhaust my heart and core.”

  Life took the flowers with a heartfelt smile, her delicate hand twirling one violet crystal hyacinth like a fragile prized possession. 

   Death looked away from her, finding the ocean life and reflecting waters more interesting. 

   “Tell me, would you change yourself to become different so you could fit in?” 

   Life hummed as if she was thinking what to say. The groaning of icebergs and the sound of penguins chittering along with the seals barking echoed like a thousand voices.

  She shook her head and cradled the flowers closer, the loving smile on her face forever etched on Death’s mind.

_________

    Life leaned down over the running and babbling river, watching with barely veiled interest at her creations, both young and old live their lives. She didn't see any other designs or even background in the waters. It was just… plain. Nothing new and nothing special. 

    “Is this where you collect the souls of my creation?”

   Death let out a small hum. The sighs of creations that long passed answering his call as they brushed and tugged against his shadowy robes. 

  The domain he was in had little to no colors, only varying from grey, black, and translucent white, Life wondered how Death hadn’t gone insane with its dullness. 

   He reached down to dip his hand in the river waters. A few souls rose up with laughter on their lips. 

   Another set of red strings frayed away from Life's dress.

   “This is the river of Fate. It is where souls show up so that they may wait for their time of rest and end,” Death said. 

   “How would you know if my creation deserves a good afterlife? Would their good deeds be enough to pass their entry?”

   “A good deed for a good deed. A bad deed for a bad deed they say but I choose not to follow such standards. Repay them with kindness no matter the consequence and give them rest.”

   “But what if your kindness will only make them more cruel than they already are?”

   “Then it is their downfall. Not yours or mine. The rest they deserve is a thing they earn themselves. Maybe they’ll change for the better or for the worse. I have no influence over them. The least that I can do is give them the eternal rest they asked and didn’t ask.”

   Death’s hollow eyes stared up at the darkness. The space rippled and shifted, sunsets over the horizon cast its dying glance over broad mountain faces and meadows filled with insects. 

   A golden tear slid down Life's cheek as she cradled her hands on her chest.

   “Do you not hurt when their merits lead them to their demise?”

   Death smiled a melancholic smile. “I would be lying if I said it didn’t. It is out of my hands to judge their actions. That is up to Consequence on what they will deem is a necessary trial for them.”

_________

   Death wandered around the burnt forest and seas spilled with oils and scum, watching with exhausted eyes at the crying gulls, ocean life, and forest spirits mourn for the remnants of their lavish homes.

    Souls of the dead whined and shrieked in his ears, his claymore sword lagged behind him. No ordinary fire was the cause of this but rather it was done by the many hands that had taken far too many times.

   The screams continued to persist and Death fell on his wobbling knees, silver tears falling to the ground, rain thundering down and extinguishing the fires and spreading the oils of the sea in scattered ruins.

    He was tired. So exhausted of such duties that made his heart and head burn with cold sorrow and deep emptiness. 

   But he had to go on. Had to move forward.

   Death pushed himself up and continued on his journey. 

   Somewhere within his mind, he heard the cry of his dearly beloved companion for the lives that had been taken on such a tragic day. 

   A little seedling sprouted upon the dark ground, its leaves standing proud even when the rain and suffocating smoke tried to beat it down.

_________

   “What are we really?” Life asked as she wandered barefoot through the thick forest of the mortal world. 

   Death followed with utmost caution lest he kill the plants, the bushes, and trees by touching them. He floated an inch away from the ground, sighing heavy when no plant was harmed in his way. 

   Good. He could control his capacities and powers better now. He hoped that Life too was able to control herself, equipped with the knowledge about their control over mortal existence.

   “A difficult question you ask, my dear Life. Intriguing to say the least. What brought this up?” 

   Life laughed loud, spreading her arms out. A wave of sparkles flew in starburst, landing on a few dead flowers and grasses which made their colors and greens return swiftly.

   “I was merely curious. No one has ever really asked it, nuh?”

   “I suppose you’re right…”

   “So what are we? Are we The Balance? The mystery? Yin and Yang? Or any of the likes?” 

   Death bent down to a fallen deer. He swiped his hand over its body causing its soul to rise and shudder. The soul of the deer looked around. Then it stared at him before nuzzling his white palm.

    It soon wandered over to Life and let out a small bleat to catch her attention. Life cooed, trying to pat its small head.

   “I would say… that we are all of them.”

   Life looked up. “And why is that?”

   “To be without life, then nothing lives to tell tales and pass it on to the next generation. To be without death it will overrun the world and wish that it was there when things get too much.”

   “And you think that's what we are?”

   “No, we are more than that. But even I cannot answer it. Far too deep and far too troublesome. It will take lifetimes,” Death said as he watched the deer spirit loop and bound around Life like a child. 

   “Hmmm…We are the mystery then?” She asked. 

   Death nodded, seeing a few lizards and koalas peeking behind newly bloomed tree leaves and barks. The forest spirits chittered loudly and came out fully, clothed in newly sprouted floras and faunas as they danced and sang to their hearts content. 

   “A mystery that your creations, you, and myself still have yet to solve. Sometimes, it's best that something be left alone to thrive on its own when it is capable.”

   Life let out a small chuckle and floated her way over to Death, holding a flowering tree branch in her hand while earth spirits and animals of different kinds, both alive and dead danced around them with cheered laughters and harmonious chants. 

    “And you think we are capable?”

   “We have our ups and downs, our exhaustions and sorrows. But we are a balance that has been achieved that’s best left to do its own thing.”

   Life leaned her head on Death’s shoulder, red and silver strings glowing in the afternoon sun and reflecting off of the rainbow colored trees. 

   “You might be right. We are a mystery. A mystery best left unsolved.”