She’s very thankful that Life had gone along with her quick ‘godsyer’ improvisation with Maia. There’d been no communication at all, but he’d synced up with her quick cover-up without a word. Maybe their sibling bond made her easy to read, and he felt kind. But this was worrying. Her connection to Maia was so thorough that she could even channel the energy necessary to kill a god. War was definitely still alive somewhere; or rather, they were already reforming back in their domain within the realm of the gods.

  After all, the gods were tied to humanity and their psyche. As long as enough humans desired to kill one another, War would return. As long as humans wanted to live, Life would be there, and as long as humans feared death and hoped to at least die well, Death would be there. But this was a humiliating way to go. Previous syers of War had done it ‘honestly’, after all.

  But there was no time to think about the matter more deeply. Maia had been seated to the front and her friend was being taken care of, so they could now focus on the actual main event. Despite the pomp and grandeur for the mortals, the actual task of the gods for the day of rebirth was actually rather minor; in their eyes, at least. Death stood at her end of the ptform and connected herself to her throne mentally; it had to be here, she had to stand right here, for the positioning was *just* right to create this mental pathway-

  And this connection allowed her to open a direct pathway to the lifestream. This was her sole role. Life in turn reached within the lifestream, gently guiding the souls of the departed back to their bodies. As long as the body was well preserved and the dead soul had been tethered long enough through prayer and strong enough yearning, it was retively easy to break the ws of Life and Death to return a dearly departed to the world of the mortals.

  Year by year it happened, and year by year Death simply could not understand the swelling of emotions when the departed returned. People hugged their lovers, cried and thanked the gods, prostrated themselves, some unleashed their bottled up anger at the returnees, others barely showed a flick of emotion besides passing approval at their pawn returning; after all, all of these people were of nobility. Sometimes the returnee was just a convenient pawn on their board of political intrigue.

  And Death never understood it. Those outpourings of emotion. She was not alien to them, of course; this year she had a beloved waiting for her in the pews. But it was like watching a different species entirely, so alien and foreign, feeling things she could feel yet she did not. Was she just fundamentally damaged in some way? All she felt- besides her affection for Maia- was dourness, lethargy and the desire for the world to move on as it was.

  … This was the first year where she truly pondered these questions. Maybe that meant she was going through some level of personal growth. The small breaks between resurrections gave her time to scan the pews for the other gods as well. Comedy seemed entertained for once; the jester-like god had been in his doldrums for decades, having decided that nothing was “funny” anymore now that he’d heard every joke and gag. Maybe he found Maia killing War funny.

  Diseases and Cities together, making awkward small talk- their differences were fundamental and their opposition natural, yet Diseases was making an attempt at actual discussion instead of babbling about her diseases endlessly while presenting vague threats; Arts, Harvest, and so on. She could even feel a slight treble in the air, like someone was watching from far away.

  Maybe father Time truly had turned his eyes to this rare occasion of a martially talentless mortal sying a god?

  Eventually it came to an end. The day of rebirth was not special to the gods, after all. It was rote. Simple. For the mortals partaking it was the most important day of their lives, yet for the deities it was just lip service paid for their good retions. The following pomp was also rote. Everything was. When the final mortal had been brought back to life, the priests began a hymn of thanks, and both Life and she were to stand in the middle of the ptform, joining the hymn.

  Her singing voice was not very pretty, she had always thought, yet the mortals seemed transfixed all the same. Even Maia was staring wide eyed; her admiration made Death feel like she ought to try a little more; although the following side eye from Life made her quiet again, since she clearly wasn’t harmonizing very well.

  Dammit.

  There’d be other celebrations after this. They were not sanctioned by the church, but the nobility and even the emperor himself all arranged their own vish day of rebirth celebrations, and they even passed food and entertainment to the commoners, who often had a day free from their work to enjoy the ceremony and its afterparties.

  Some of the gods went. Life had his own pns, a great orgiastic feast in the sacred grove, Diseases would go where Cities went, and Arts would be creating a new masterwork to memorialize this event where a god had perished;

  and so the cathedral emptied, emptied and emptied, until all that was left were the priests, Maia sitting on the front pew and Death standing on the ptform. The priests had the good sense to give them a wide berth and privacy at least, and eventually Death stepped down from the ptform to stand next to the pew. Then she sat, the two- divinity and mortal- quietly sat next to each other.

  “Did I misuse my power?”

  Maia speaks, quiet.

  “One would have had to give you instructions and rules for there to be a misuse, my dear. Yet… I will admit, indulging in your anger and desire to deal death to another was not what I’d expected from you. But I am not disappointed. Merely surprised.”

  Death answers, finally pnting a hand on that hood to tug it down so that her fingers can gently roil through the ocean of Maia’s hair, eventually sliding down her cheek.

  “... Do you wish for me to remove it, now that we have finally met physically? There are no barriers. No projections, no convoluted rules. Just you and I, face to face. I can take the proof of my love away now, if you so desire.”

  Death didn’t want that, though.She wanted Maia to embrace her love, to accept the blessing, and to ascend with her.… But she did not say so.Because Death was not selfish enough to y her desires bare in fear that it’d influence Maia’s choice. Because she was both hopeful enough to believe that Maia would want this without any influence- and scared enough to fear that she would say no, and if she was convinced to say otherwise, she’d let a hatred fester within her heart;

  come what may, Death needed to hear Maia’s answer from within her very own soul, said by her and only her.

  And it was clear that Maia needed to think about the answer she was going to give. Her expression was thoughtful, staring down at the tiles of the cathedral’s floor. Her feet swung a little as she sat on the pew, a telltale sign of uncertainty. Or maybe Death was just reading far too into the other’s little motions. Her own nervousness made all the signs too easy to read into.

  “I… I am scared of these powers. I’ve arbitrated the death of two beings now. One a simple mindless animal, another a literal deity. And both times it was just as easy. All I had to do was to want it hard enough.” And both times she’d wanted it so hard because her friends had been in mortal danger. “Is that sort of power fitting of a mortal?”

  No, Death would answer- if this was anyone else besides Maia, that is. Since it is Maia, her mind goes to trying to formute some sort of justification, but she stops herself. Her good sense cannot be overcome by her lovesick self.

  Since she’s quiet, Maia takes this as a sign to continue talking.

  “But they are still a sign of your love. And I’ve journeyed all this way to find answers about these abilities. My conclusion is just that- you love me, and I love you. I desire you, and want to spend more time with you. And these powers are the bridge to that. They were what brought me here, to sit next to you, no barriers between us, no tricks of the mind…”

  Her lips feel dry, her heart feels like it could explode, her hands tremble for a moment but calm the moment Maia takes one of them into her own.

  “... So please, help me learn how to control these powers. Take me with you, o Death, and let me learn to appreciate your love with my whole chest, with my breast afme for you, and with an open mind to understand the weight of it.”

  A confession of true love here at the apex of the journey. Death’s pale white eyes close, and she takes a shaky breath in, exhaling out just as tensely, and she feels the warmth of tears going down her cheeks. Tears of happiness and of relief.

  “I- Yes. I- I will, I accept, you will-”

  Death had thought of what she’d say in this moment for days. She had meticulously thought out her response to this exact sentiment, just as she had pnned her response to a denial of her love. Yet now that she was on the spot, the words didn’t come out right. Felt like she was stumbling with every step, a god brought low by such honesty.

  “But,” Maia speaks, “can you give me some time? Not long. A day, or two.”

  “A-Ah?”

  “Not for any special reason. I would like to see that Homer will live before I take my leave with you, and I’d like to talk to Aymanah, and I need to pass thanks to Theodora and her brother, and I need to thank Hermes’s trading company for giving me guidance, and I probably should also meet with Homer’s friends to try and assuage them of their worries…”

  Death’s expression slowly melts into a smile, and she puts Maia’s tirade of names to a pause by pushing her hand out to stroke her cheek again, finger on a lip before trailing down.

  “I must head homeward tomorrow, and your heart must come with me. But yes, you may have an afternoon, a night and a morning here. And my realm is not a prison. While my travel is limited, I’m sure you could come visit more often than I. And perhaps you’ll convince me that my duty is not *so* important.”

  A clear jest on her part, and Maia ughs.

  Her life would change tomorrow, so… She ought to spend this st day tying up loose ends preparing for her new life-

  with her beloved, Death herself.