Six years later...
●LIFE●
Life pumped her legs as fast as she could, dashing to get to the meeting on time. She finally reached the doors and burst into the room, huffing for air, earning amused glances from the other gods and goddesses sitting around the conference table. A blush developing on her cheeks, Life took her assigned spot next to Death and set a small child in her arms in the chair to her right, a bright light flaring when the child shifted into her normal form, grumbling about the nuisance of shape-shifting.
"So nice of you to join us, Life," Wisdom said stiffly, and a few chuckles rose from around the table.
"Don't give her such a hard time, Wisdom," Love purred. "Besides, she has a child to take care of."
Wisdom completely ignored her and said, "Death, could you tell your wife to come on time? This is our first meeting, and I don't want this laxity and tardiness becoming habitual. And why is she running - can't she just teleport?"
Death shrugged. "She's ten seconds late, Wisdom, so that's not so bad. As for the reason she can't teleport, our daughter gets nauseous from teleportation, and I think you would appreciate it if she didn't throw up on the table or all over your beautiful silks," he responded casually, a grin tugging at his lips.
Wisdom's nostrils flared and he opened his mouth to respond when Luck slapped his arm. "Instead of picking on Life and Death because you're jealous, how about we begin the meeting?" she said with a sly smile.
"Just get on with it," Wisdom grunted through grit teeth.
The meeting was dull. The god and goddesses discussed borders, disputes within their lands, potential disaster zones, and the such. After the meeting, they mingled and socialized, exchanging gossip or chatting about their lives. Life, with her child (who had shifted into a smaller form once again) in her arms, was about to leave with Death when Forge and War approached them.
"Congratulations again on the child," Forge said with a kind smile. "It's not every day another god is created."
Life nodded. "Death and I are very fortunate to have her."
"Oh, she's beautiful!" War exclaimed. "How long ago was she created?" she asked, and Life shrugged.
"I think it's been about six years now," Life said, glancing at Death for confirmation, and he nodded.
"She really takes after you, Death," Forge commented, and Death laughed.
"She may look like me, but when she's home, she's just like her mother - loud and whiny," he jabbed, and Life scoffed and rolled her eyes while Forge snorted.
"Shut up, Death. At least I'm not moody like you. Honestly, I think she looks more like me. She wouldn't have looked this good if she had turned out entirely like you," she countered, and Death cocked an eyebrow, earning a snicker from his wife.
"Well, Life and I better get going, we'll see you next month," Death said.
They had turned to leave when Forge called, "Wait!" as he dug in his pocket for something. "I made this when I had first received news of your child," he said as he handed Life a wooden carving of a night sky. "I usually don't work with wood, so it's not the best," he admitted sheepishly, and Life shook her head.
"No, it's beautiful, thank you," she said, and she turned around with Death. "We'll see you guys next month!"
"All right!" Forge and War responded as Life and Death teleported away.
When they teleported back home, Cycle jumped out of Life's arms and dashed to the nearest bathroom. Life and Death made eye contact, and both of them sighed. Hopefully her nauseousness gets better, Life thought, and when Cycle came back from the bathroom, she glared at Death as she shifted into her normal form from the shrunken form she was in.
"You know that teleportation makes me sick, Dad, so why did you do it?" she demanded, and Death smiled.
"If you wanted to walk all the way back here from Wisdom's palace, then, by all means, you could have," Death countered, and Cycle sighed.
"You're hopeless," she said as she walked away, throwing her hands in the air, and Life laughed.
"I'm tired - that meeting was so boring. I can't believe we have to go through that every month. I'll be in our room if you need me. Love you," Death said before striding away.
Life smiled to herself as she watched Death walking away. It was true that she and Death were extremely lucky to have Cycle - it wasn't often that a new god or goddess was created. When Life had first discovered that she was pregnant, she had squealed with joy, and Death's court had thrown them a party. Of course, giving birth wasn't easy, but thanks to Mercy, it was a lot easier than it would have been if she hadn't been there. Cycle didn't have a name for a few months - gods and goddesses who are born from parents (not those who appear out of thin air) aren't given their names until their powers begin to manifest, which could be anywhere from days to months. Cycle represented the cycle between life and death, and escorted the souls of the dead to Death's kingdom, and those who were being reborn to Life's - at least, that's what she would do once she was fully matured. She had matured so quickly - it was only six years since she was born and she was already the equivalent of a human teenager, though maybe it wasn't the best thing to have a moody child running amok. However, even though her body and brain matured quickly, her powers would take a few hundred years to master, as did every god's and goddess's.
Clutching the wooden carving in her hand, Life smiled. She and Death had wed under the night sky, wanting to thank the stars for their happiness. All the gods and goddesses had attended their wedding - the men congratulating Death for finally getting back with Life, and the women crooning over Death's dashing looks, much to Life's annoyance. Not too long after the wedding, Death had moved his home (with the help of his court) to the wall, with half of it in Life's kingdom, and the other half in Death's, and in doing so, joined the two kingdoms as one. Even so, Life continued to rule her kingdom, and Death continued to rule his, but there were times they switched just for fun. Sure, it never went too well when they changed roles for a day, but all problems were fixed when they went back.
"Life!" Truth sang as she ran to Life. "How was the meeting?"
"Ugh," Life groaned as she facepalmed. "It was pointless and boring. All they did was talk about their kingdom's problems, whining how so-and-so did this and some idiot did that."
Truth laughed, throwing her head back. "At least us minor gods and goddesses don't have to go - sucks for you!" She laughed a little longer before saying, "Everything's ready for the group picture - we're just waiting on you guys. Grab Death and come on down when you're ready!"
"Got it," Life said as Truth turned around and pranced away.
"Don't take too long!" she chirped over her shoulder.
Life began to walk towards her room that she shared with Death, and when she opened the door, she found Death sprawled on a chair, snoring. Silently laughing to herself, Life quietly tiptoed over to Death and sat on his legs. With a loud yelp, he woke up, and when he saw Life peering at him, he groaned as the corner of his mouth curved up in a smile.
"You'd better have a good reason for waking me up. I need my beauty rest, no matter that this face is already perfectly handsome as it is," he grumbled, and Life smiled. Seeing her smile, Death chuckled and loosened up a little. "Well?" he prompted.
"Truth wants us in the common room - they're ready for the group picture," she said. "Cycle is already there - they're just waiting for us now."
Life nimbly hopped off Death's lap after pecking him on the cheek, and groaning, Death slowly stood up and stretched. "I feel like I've been losing sleep ever since we got married, and I'm willing to bet that you're to blame, Aisha. Or maybe that's Cycle's fault."
Hearing her true name roll off of Death's lips made Life's heart race, and she figured it would be that way for the rest of her life. "Shut up, Mortius, and let's get going to the common room."
"Okay, My Queen," he said mockingly, and Life rolled her eyes.
"Just follow me."
They continued their banter on their way to the common room, and didn't stop until they got into position for the picture. Life and Death were positioned in the center, with Cycle in between them, and the rest of the court fanned out behind them. A camera stood on a tripod facing them, with Time behind the camera.
"Okay, 3... 2... 1, smile!" Time counted, and right before the camera flashed, he teleported into place.
Within minutes, copies were printed and handed to everybody. As Life held her copy in her hands, she smiled. It was she who had requested they take the group photo, and looking at the smiling faces of her friends and family, she was glad she had. She knew that memories could be unreliable, and she knew for sure she never wanted to forget the amazing people in the room with her. In her hands, she held physical evidence of their friendship, something she never wanted to lose. Now that she had it, she would never forget about those she held dear ever again - once in a lifetime was enough. Infusing the picture with magic so it would never be destroyed, Life felt a tear roll down her cheek.
"How do you like the picture?" Death asked as he strided up to Life.
Life bound the picture in a frame and placed it on the mantle of the fireplace because life brings tears, smiles, and memories. The tears dry, the smiles fade, but the memories stay forever, and no matter what hell puts one through, some memories are irreplaceable.
"This?" she asked, brushing her tear away, pecking Death on the cheek.
"It's perfect."
AAAHHH IT'S DONE!!! Thank you for reading all the way until the end, and thank you so much for giving me any shred of support, it is all appreciated. :) I'd like to throw thanks to a friend of mine (who doesn't have a Wattpad account) for editing this and adding much more life (*nudge*) to the character known as "Karma" (sound familiar? haha).
Tossing more thanks to any and all of my readers, thank you for sticking with me all the way through. If you really enjoyed it, please drop a vote and comment! Feel free to waltz on over to my profile and leave me a message- I don't bite :)
Yes, there will be more stories to come (not BLAD related, sorry, but I may write occasional one-shots if you guys would like), and they're already in the development stages, so keep an eye out for them!
This is getting long and sappy so I'd better get going now. I know I've said thanks at least ten times, but I mean it. Thank you for sticking with my until the end. It means a lot to me. Goodbye my truth-finders, mercy-givers, vengeance-seekers, time-wasters, justice-servers, and fury-burners. I'll see you all in the next book over!