She wore a black tank top with some jeans of the same color. A pair of studded boots and a studded belt. On her chest rested a small necklace - attached was a small silver ankh. On her right eye was a small spiraled circle-like pattern.
In short, Death looked like a goth girl. It was kinda hot.
I didn't try getting closer to her and neither did she. We simply just stood a couple of feet away from each other.
"Can I hel-"
"What do you see with those eyes of yours, I'm curious."
Looking at her I focused on her outline. "You're shining. Brighter than anyone I've seen today. You're so full of life it's almost daunting. Which is weird since you're Death and all."
Her brow slightly rose at my observation. "I see there's no point in introductions". She softly smiles. "Come here." She sits down on a nearby bench and taps the spot next to her. "I've been really curious about you since you arrived. Those eyes of yours in particular".
Walking over to her I take a seat and face her. "Before we go any further. Can I ask if you're Death the concept right now, or Death the person?"
She smiles at my answer. She really likes smiling it seems. "I'm 'alive' right now. My stroll is almost coming to an end, so I figured I'd be best to approach you now since we probably won't be seeing each other for a while. I have quite a few questions, you know?"
"Fire away. Maybe talking to you will also help me understand myself better." I try to get comfortable on the bench.
"I had already guided you once to the afterlife, however you've returned? Or rather another version of you. It's weird to be honest. There's currently two versions of you in this universe. One in the afterlife, and you who's in possession of a body that doesn't belong to you but is you".
"I mean there's an infinite number of timelines right? Maybe? I don't really know, but maybe I was just destined to meet another version of me-err replace another version of me".
"I guess so. Then let's talk about your eyes." She leans closer and slowly hovers her small hand in front of my face. "May I?"
I didn't really know what she was trying to do but I felt her hand trace around my left eye. "Do you know anything about this? You know since you're the personification of both life and death".
"I can't really tell". She frowns, that's not good. "Have you ever heard of the eye of Horus?"
"Uhh, doesn't ring a bell. Why, what is it?"
"In layman terms the Wedjat eye represents the concepts of healing, and protection. Are you able to harness any of those things?".
"Wait, yes actually. I've been able to heal myself, and just recently went through, like a small awakening? I don't really know what happened to me, but basically most of my senses have been enhanced. That and I'm able to see 'life' within people now. It's kinda strange. But I'm sure I'll have a better understanding later on."
She simply nods and removes her hand. "It'll be interesting to see how you turn out after the end of your journey. Oh, and also what you're seeing isn't someone's 'life' but rather their soul."
"Their soul…? But then, how do you explain the constant change of light within a person? It's weird. Some people are full of light like you, and others are on the verge of being extinguished. There's also someone I know. She seems fine, however the 'light' around her Injury is waning. What's that about?"
"Well, the soul is monist. Everything that represents what it means to be human can be traced back to it. So it would make sense for any sort of change - whether it's physical, spiritual, or mental to be branded onto the soul. Don't you think? It's also why you see everyone as being surrounded in a 'white light' the soul - at its core - is pure. Humans are products of their environments; The soul just happens to be a stone waiting to be carved."
"Doesn't that seem…I don't know. too black and white? How can I truly judge someone without knowing their circumstances? My 'eyes' may tell me that a person's soul is 'stained', but how can I be certain of their circumstances? I…I don't know, this is all confusing."
I look over to her. She seems more…tired. I'm guessing she's gonna 'die' soon. It's 15 minutes till midnight.
"That'll be up to you to decide." She says matter of factly. "Thread carefully. I'm sure you'll be bound to meet people with 'stained' souls who're merely victims of circumstance. With that, you must be sure of what you're doing."
"Yeah" I sigh, this is becoming an even bigger pain in the ass. I wasn't Superman who only had to punch his way through most of his problems. I was human, a weak one at that. There's gonna be times where I'm most likely gonna be put through the wringer. Especially in a city like Gotham. This place being cursed tends to bring out the worst in people.
"Five minutes to midnight. I guess this will be goodbye for now."
"Yes I suppose so. Do you mind if I lay my head on your shoulders? Having someone near me while I experience death is a nice change of pace from how It usually is."
"Sure." Following my agreement she rested her head on my shoulder and closed her eyes. We stopped talking after that. Simply waiting out the time was all that was really left.
…4 minutes
…3 minutes
…2 minutes
…1 minute
Midnight.
The girl next to me is dead.
"Goodnight Teleute."
—-
Thursday, April 14, 1:27 a.m.
I wasn't really tired. I had waited to see what would happen to Death, after dying and it was kind of a surprising sight. A couple of minutes after her passing, she slowly disintegrated before me. She left this world like she had barred the consequences of someone snapping their fingers.
After that, I decided to walk around Gotham. Probably not the best decision to make, but this side of the city was a bit more calmer.
The city was eerily quiet, the only sounds being produced were distant sirens, and the occasional car passing by. Tonight would've been a decent night to go out if it weren't for clear mugging happening across the street from me.
"Hand it over bitch! Don't try anything stupid!" The guy didn't look that imposing. Typical fit, all black clothes adorned with a ski mask. That gun is the only intimidating thing about him. But then again, that's all you really need to gain power over someone.
"No please!" She struggles holding on to the purse. I don't know why she's gripping it so hard, if she valued her life she would drop it. Is it sentimental? Maybe grandma gave it to her, or maybe she just got paid and lives check to check.
It doesn't matter. I wasn't under any oath to do anything about it, but it felt hypocritical to leave her be after I went on about how I wanted to be someone looked up to.
Shit. Okay, approaching this should be easy. Guy hasn't seen me yet, so running up on him shouldn't be too hard. Quick strike to the head with the built up momentum should knock em off his feet. After that, scram for the gun, aim it at his head, and that should scare him enough to piss off.
"Damn it! I said let-huh?" Within the span of 3 seconds all he could process was the booming sound of steps closing in on him, trying to turn around and react, he was met with a bare knuckled fist straight to the back of his head slamming him into the ground. Feeling slightly concussed he tried getting up but was forced to stay down, after feeling cold steel pressed against his head.
"Stay down man, trust me I ain't afraid to fire." I turn my head to see if the woman's okay…and she's gone. That's great. She could've at least said thank you damn. Actually no, i'm impressed that she was able to haul ass like that in heels "We'll chicks gone so there's no bad blood between us right? I'll let you run since I don't think this would hold up with the cops." I grab the man by his clothes and stand him up. "Don't look back, just run away in the direction you're facing okay?"
"Y-yeah man whatever." He begins to run away. Once I make sure he's far enough to not come back and try anything I throw his pistol into the drain nearby and start walking in the opposite direction.
Damn, that was my first ever act of vigilantism. I may not be showing it but my adrenaline was through the roof! Sure it wasn't grand or anything, and I didn't even get a thank you, but it felt…nice to do some good.
Now I just needed a spandex suit, a sprinkle of family trauma and I would be eligible to apply for the Batfam!
I should probably start going out more if I want to build up any experience. Maybe I'll warn the next guy so he can put up a fight. Sigh, i should've mugged him in return, funds are running kinda low.