Death's Blessing

Blessing Part 1

Death materialized in the hallway of a primary school in a small town in Ireland. He listened for a moment to the sounds coming from the room he'd been called to and sighed. Someone was being beaten, a small someone based on the cries.

Over the many millennia since Life had created humans, Death had become somewhat...removed emotionally from the suffering of these creatures. They had a tendency towards stupidity that often made more work for Death. The exception to this were the children. The suffering of such small, innocent beings always tore at his heart.

Death steeled himself and entered the room just as the largest child, no, teen kicked another child in the stomach hard enough to almost lift him completely off the floor. The little one curled into a ball and let out a wet sounding groan. His face was bloody and starting to swell, blood leaked from his mouth and his clothes were torn, almost ragged.

Death had never wished to be able to interfere more than in that moment. Something about this child called to him. He leaned back against the wall, hugged himself tightly and sobbed as the violence continued mere feet away. When the oldest boy threatened the child sexually, Death felt his resolve weaken and he screamed his frustration out to no one. There was no one there that could hear him.

Or so he thought.

Life stood hidden in the doorway, out of site of the tall beautiful god now sitting in the floor hugging his knees, screaming impotently at the children to stop what they were doing. Life cried with him, wishing he could stop what was happening. Not only to save the child being abused, but to stop the pain the scene was causing his beloved god of Death. He had never seen Death so affected by his job. He wanted to go to him, hold him, hide him away from the pain he was feeling now. Something told him to stay where he was, though. So he stayed and watched and cried silently for both the boy and the god he loved.

Finally, finally it was over. The children became bored with 'Skunk Boy' and left him in a heap, dying on the cold floor. Death crawled to the boy and lay next to him. He wished fervently that he could take the boy now, but he still had time left. So Death did the only thing he could do. He gathered a small bit of his power, channeling it through his heart and touched the boys head, mentally locking him in his most happy memories.

It was a special function of the god of Death that he could remove a creature from the violence of their deaths if needed. It was also a small gift from the Lords Ithis and Nim to make it easier for Death to complete his work with cases such as these where the person dying was greatly suffering. The boy rested easier now that his mind was sheltered from what would be his last moments.

"Oh little one. I wish I could do more for you. I wish I could have stopped them or even take your soul early to save you from this pain." Death said softly. "But Time says that even mere seconds early could shift the balance. I have never been so tempted to break a rule. Well, not in a very very long time anyway." Death said. He studied the boys face and noticed something odd he hadn't seen before because of all the blood. He smiled slightly through his tears, "So that's why they called you skunk boy. Do you want to know a secret? The amber in my hair is false. When I was created, it was white as snow, just like yours. I change the color to match my eyes because I did not wish to be so monochromatic. Don't tell Life though. It would be centuries before he let it go and he might even tell Wisdom and he's a damn gossip." He said. Death realized he was rambling and sighed. It was almost time. He sat up and as he gathered his power, he looked down at the boy, "I'm sorry, little one." He whispered. Just before he reached into the child's chest, his own began to ache, "Ahh, what...?" he said, releasing the power harmlessly into the air and pressing both hands to his chest.

Thoughts or more accurately, voices came into his mind:

'Bless him and lives.'

'Refuse and he dies.'

'Choose, God of Death.'

Death, confused but sensing truth to what he'd heard, decided. He gathered more power, channeling it this time through his heart then his mind. He raised his hands, closed his eyes and prepared to do something he had never dared do before.

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Ok, so I've been working for weeks to gather the courage to post this. I have not written anything 'creatively' for others to read in many...many...MANY years. Honestly it took more than a bit of vodka to post this much.

This is basically an intro. There is much more. So far the story spans about 27 years and includes both cannon characters and the Human AU.

Positive feedback is more than welcome. I am very out of practice and could use helpful tips!