Disclaimer: Don't sue me for this, the idea is all DD's. If you did sue me… all you'd get is an ancient Playstation whose lid doesn't close, a whole crapload of books (I counted a couple of days ago – it was something over 215), which I'll never give you, a mattress that my incontinent fifteen-year-old dog has pissed on one to many times (but she's so cute – I just *can't* kick her out), and a discman and something like a total of ten CDs. Oh, and three-hundred-fifty HARD-EARNED dollars from WORKING and SLAVING on a paper route for THREE YEARS. I DESERVE THREE TIMES that. (granted, I spent most of it). I was so underpaid. Then I quit it, thank the Powers.

Sex and Death

"The difference between sex and death is that with death you can do it alone and nobody's going to mock you."

-Woody Allen

The Lone One paced. Yes, it was something of a mortal habit, but what of it? Being omnipotent got boring sometimes. It was entertaining to take a mortal form sometimes, something more limited than His usual energy presence. With limitations came the unknown, the dangerous. Of course, nothing was ever really dangerous for One who couldn't die.

His most favored form, for some strange reason, was that of a man. There was no good reason for it, really. Out of the many thousands, millions of life-forms in as many universes, why pick that one as a favorite? Maybe it was because man was so physically and mentally weak, yet they maintained their grasp on their tiny little planet fiercely. Maybe it was their patterns of thinking. Maybe it was their ability to convey so much emotion in a single glance, a twitch of the lips, a raised eyebrow. Maybe it was the simple fact that man was one of the stranger races in the universes. They had continually fallen into his grasp, but, at the last moment, they escaped out from under his nose. Holding on by their pathetic little fingernails.

Being what He was, He could shape His body at will. Sure, He could be a She, but He enjoyed the male body more. He made Himself slightly taller than the average human, dark, muscular. He supposed, by their standards, that he was physically attractive. But since when had He tailored Himself to others' needs? Never. The other Powers would never accept Him as he was, and He was loath to change. Why should He?

He had always been the One apart, on the sidelines. He had watched as the other Powers had made Their decisions on creation, scorning Their pathetic choices. He had wanted to choose something extraordinary, different. Something that would show him as superior to the rest of Them. Instead, They had cast Him out.

Like I was really surprised. It was so easy to predict everything They would create and do.

But what He had never told a single soul was the real reason why He had created death, entropy. Life got tired. Life got old, wanted to rest. He gave life rest, what was wrong with that? In death, there was no pain or suffering or anything at all. Just nothing, just death.

Sometimes he wondered if He was the only Power who saw it. The Powers couldn't live forever. All Power eventually corrupted, no matter how pure the bearer. He had caused that very corruption often enough to know. Living, if you could call it that, couldn't last forever. He'd never wanted to live as long as he had. He had created death to end Himself. He knew they would abandon Him, that He would have to die alone.

And, in the end, it had all been for nothing. The One's Champion had beaten Him, as always. Ever more, as something died, another would spring up out of his ashes, like the mythical phoenix that these humans were so fond of. Eventually, when each universe dies, another would come to replace it. Eventually, when He died, another One would come after Him.

I wanted to do something exciting, unexpected. Seeing the universes live on, perfectly happy, without worry a single problem. It made me sick. Mortals need something to live for, something to strive for. If they are there the moment they are born, what have they to do with their lives? How interesting is bliss? The other Powers never saw that. They were all so predictable. Always. Except…

"Me."

The voice came like a breath of warm wind on the back of his neck, brushing against his hair as no mortal voice could, and definitely no human one.

"You."

"Yes, Me." It was Her. She'd taken a human from as well, no doubt for Her own twisted purposes, or maybe just to level the playing field. Her wavy, golden hair cascaded down bare shoulders and over Her breasts to Her waist. Her eyes were blue and deeper than anything describable. Like Him, She did not share the odd human habit of covering themselves up with clothing. To hide their weak bodies, no doubt.

"Why are You here?"

She smiled. "Is that even the correct term? You aren't even in space. You just created Your mortal body in a pocket of absolute nothingness. So strange, as always."

He scowled. "You never answered my question."

"If You really wanted to know, You would take it from My mind. You're stronger than Me, You know that."

"Oh, but You wouldn't like that. You can be very strange when You are annoyed."

She smiled, tracing a finger down His chest. "So? I wouldn't be able to anything serious to you. You never let anything like Me stop You."

He slapped Her hand away. "Stop it. It's annoying."

"You like it. Don't argue. That's why You use a mortal body more than any Power excepting Myself. Because You enjoy the sensory perception, the limitations that give excitement and risk to life." She smiled, moving Her hands up to His shoulders.

The problem was that She was right. "Why must You always do that?"

She smiled again. "Because that is what I do. You know as well as I do that when We gave Our gifts to creation, they would be a part of who We are. That is why I am desire, passion, lust."

"That is why I am death."

"You say it like it's a good thing."

"No One seems to agree with me. I must shove it in Their faces even to get Them to acknowledge it. They will never accept it. Even now, They are denying it's existence with their wizards." He spat that last word out. "No One will love death."

"I think You're exciting." Her lips twitched with amusement. "One day They will stop regarding You as a blight and accept Your gift."

"I doubt it."

She laid Her mouth on His chest, moving Her lips slowly upward, up His neck to finally reach His mouth. His body shuddered under the very power of what She was. No One could do this like Her, for She had created it.

Her tongue traversed His mouth, running over His teeth and around His own tongue, then slowly withdrew.

"Don't think," She whispered. "Let Yourself go. With thoughts comes pain. Empty Your mind."

His body shook for a moment within Her arms until He let go, surrendering Himself to His desires.

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I will never write another fic about the Powers again. My fingers are sore from writing all the capitalized pronouns. Anyway, I got this partly from Greek myth – the only deity who loved Aries (god of war) was Aphrodite, goddess of love. She thought he was exciting. Pretty strange. Then again, there's the high incest level in Greek & Roman myth. But if you wanted to be specific, the Lone One would be more like Hades, not Aries.

Whatever. Review, please.