Wishes Do Come True Just Not Completely
Strong light flooded the room as silence bounced from side to side. The figure in the long black cloak waited patiently while observing the only other person in the wide empty space.
The tall thing huffed a bit and that small sound reverberated through the entire place, awakening the young female laying in the center of nothing. Slowly she opened her dark as night eyes and was presented with nothing but an outstretched hand wrapped in a sturdy silk white glove.
"Welcome, Alexandra. I realize you may have questions but please try to contain any of them until the end of my clarification."
The girl reached for the hand that felt awfully stiff and stood. She didn't say a word but stared desperately at the hooded man ahead of her.
"I am Death. You have just died and, due to a process of selection directed by the Counsel of the Endless Realm, have also been appointed as my new apprentice. Please do your best to do as your told and do not under any circumstances look away or close your eyes when I'm about to kill someone." The girl opened her mouth ever so slightly but remembered what was asked of her and closed it immediately. The hooded persona nodded at her obedience and went on.
"Doing so will cause mass deaths, tragedies and sometimes comas. These are very difficult if not impossible to undo and cause me quite a lot of trouble with the Jury of Saints." It was plain to see how perplexed the girl was but she kept true to being mute.
"For now you will be training in your location of death but will soon be granted jurisdiction of the entire province's deaths. During that time your job will be to retrieve the bodies according to how worthy the person was of living and to what would hurt them the most or the least. Also after the deaths occur you will be completely responsible for withholding the souls until The Arbitrary Demons come for it. The former will escort the soul to the Superior Titling Court and from that point the souls will no longer be of any importance to you." The monologue was intended to be an explanation but only confused the girl to the point where she felt she would cry but nothing inside of her concocted tears, she figured it was a side effect to being dead.
"You may now ask questions." The dark figure announced but a thin layer of breathing was all that was heard.
"I'm not sure I even remember them all." The female responded gloomily. She looked down as and noticed she was floating which opened her mind to the only question she thought truly mattered at the time.
"How did I die?"
"Pneumonia." Death stated simply almost as if it was unimportant; "perhaps to him it was like the days of the week" the girl thought to herself.
"I see." She remarked and nodded slowly.
"Very well, let's begin."
After a robust flash and a rather strange gust of something that felt like a mix of water and wind, Alexandra and Death stood in the familiar streets of Florence. The girl noticed how her vision was distinct; although it was obviously the dark of the wee hours she could see everything in explicit detail.
"Your first task will be to bring death by misadventure upon this man." The cloaked oddity spoke as he faced towards the entrance to the straight alley they found themselves in.
"What man?" The girl looked from the same direction to Death's hooded profile. At that very moment a large body sprinted past the two entities. Alexandra gasped and ducked as she tried to shield her body from the impact that never happened. When she raised her head Death's invisible yet ever present cold eyes stared at her stalely.
"The task is to kill him." He repeated a dash of sarcasm and amusement in his plain statement.
"I'm aware." The girl retorted and palmed her frizzed strands of auburn hair down. They followed the stranger in an inhumanely speed and ended up a few meters ahead of him again.
Alexandra lost her stance as she took in the face that ran closer by the second. If she hadn't already been drained of life her face certainly would have ran out of color at that very instant.
"I can't do it."
Death turned to face the girl; although wordless his demeanor inquired as to why and worst, seemed as if to warn her to not do such a thing.
"That soul…that man…is my love."
"You lie. You had no lover when you left the humans."
"Yes…" A nervous chuckle escapes her as the body past them once again and this time Alexandra didn't hide her face but rather aligned it to the one passing her and inhaled as he did. "But, in life, he was the one I aspired to possess. I was a sort of…admirer."
"I see no wrong in love…" Death's voice was softer than before and Alexandra felt that perhaps even otherworldly deities weren't barren of emotions. "… but it comes to my attention that that man is, to the humans who are somehow blind to the fact that they are all equally filthy, considered a lower type of scum. I believe it's his half-blood and the fact that he is a street sleeper that brings him the disapproval of others. And you Alexandra were of a respectful family…" He pronounced the word 'respectful' with the crisp stretching of each syllable that could only be interpreted as disdain.
"I was what my family was and now I am dead. We all live for ourselves, do we not? I did not choose Zoroaster; my heart yearned for him. He is unjustified but he is not weaker for being of half-blood." The ferocity in which she spoke made it visible to anyone that her heart truthfully did burn for the man.
"I agree, nonetheless, it is your obligation to carry out your tasks. Alexandra, you must kill this man." How the girl wished she could produce tears at that moment; inside of her a pain greater than death thumped and nailed at her. She and Death were levitating above Zoroaster who was hiding, utterly out of breath, behind a stack of hay. She saw his face and observed every detail. His disheveled brown locks, the dirty face so rough and youthful simultaneously, the unkempt shirt mix-matched with other scruffy pieces, his wide chest heaving with each deep breath; they all spoke too loudly, louder than death and with all confidence much louder than obligation.
"I will not murder the only earthly thing I'd ever loved." Death sighed at the response.
"So be it."
And with those three words the two were found in a large room made entirely of a stone Alexandra had never set eyes on before. Ahead of them were two women sat on silver thrones, each one mounted on the head of a sleeping dragon. One held a scepter and the other a large bow with no arrows in sight.
"Notaries of the Yield, daughters of time, may your verdict be just and superior." Death kneeled and greeted the two clearly powerful beings. Alexandra simply shadowed Death's every movement and waited for what was to come.
"My apprentice has refused to serve a certain mortal his destiny." The dark man rose and continued. The two seated women looked at Alexandra for the slightest second.
"What is your plea, novice?" The one with the scepter said and waited with a slicing gaze.
"I…I…" The girl looked over to Death who observed her as well, as composed as ever.
"Tell her what you've told me." He advises calmly, giving the girl a drop of hope.
"I'm aware that this is my duty; to complete the orders that are given to me…and I'm disappointed to not be able to accomplish even my first command but my worldly heart, if I still own one, won't allow me to slaughter the sole thing I've had any affection for since my human mind could understand physical-emotional attraction."
"You've never spoke to that gypsy have you?" The entity with the great bow in her hand questioned, the object starting to light up.
"No." Alexandra answered simply and felt Death slump his stance slightly, the action bringing her a distinct uncertainty.
"Then how can you know if this human deserves more life than he has lived?" An obscure smirk on the female's lips brought the girl's fingers to twitch in distress. She recalled the man's face; the frazzled sight of the wanderer had always brought the girl to think of what lead him to being discriminated. To her it was nothing of importance to categorize men by their blood; after all it was a well-known fact that every man was an animal; killer of his own kind, both humans in general and his own brothers. She bit her lip and pondered if what she was about to say would be the correct response, either way she'd let her words start spilling before she realized.
"It is not that this human who deserves to live more…it's why this human deserves to live less, if it's known that all humans are…" She looked to Death then back to the women on their thrones. "…Equally filthy." The girl quoted her intended mentor and the entirety of the room grew more hushed than when they'd first arrived.
Suddenly the dragon that the being with the scepter sat on opened his eyes and rose to its enormous feet. Alexandra stepped back and the mystical serpent twisted it body in the air and came to her, baring its piercing teeth and in a blink of an eye swallowed the shrieking girl. She was consumed by darkness but felt no pain. That was when she realized she could not die; she was already dead, leaving her to question what did happen.
"Alexandra. Alexandra, awaken." Death's familiar tone coaxed the female to consciousness. She does not open her eyes but she is sentient to his words.
"Death…what was done to me?" A heavy thumping in her brain floods her body all at once.
"One might say your words were well chose, if not cited." Alexandra recognized the hidden lark and felt herself smile despite the splitting headache she endured for the time being.
"You've been granted a return to life. I realize you may have questions but please try to contain any of them until the end of my clarification." The words caused the girl's smile to grow even wider, half because of the good news, half because of the almost comical way Death repeated his initial statement to her.
"The Notaries of the Yield found your supplicate worthy of grant. You were returned to this horrible place…" The being's humor was much more exposed now that he'd developed a liking to the resolute female causing a grin on her lips, revitalized with pumping blood.
"However a feature has been added to this unlikely exception; your soul was retrieved at age 28 and now your body returns at age 28, the detail being your soul has been dated 2∞. And by "eight" of course I mean a lemniscate." Without knowledge of the symbol, which was only to be created a century later, the girl was left confused and utterly speechless. Death was well aware of this.
"It means, Alexandra, you are to live two eternities. Your body and face are new ones, meaning your family will never recognize you. In this life you may try to enamor the heart of your beloved but you will eventually see him parish." The female's smile morphed into a frown and she swallowed hard, to contrast with such a fact she was greatly happy to feel the tears swelling up in her shut eyes.
"In this life I shall love to my fullest…in my second I shall teach man about the vastness of the universe." Death smiled; a fact that might have caused both shock and fear to the girl in her first life but now that she had seen the truths of the cosmos only caused her to smile as well.
"Very well. Soon we will meet again." With those last words the girl opened her eyes.
"Shit. Hey? Hello, are you alright?" Alexandra's vision was blurry but she could still identify the male face that hovered over her, looking worried and annoyed all together. It was the first time Alexandra had seen Zoroaster's features so closely…in life that is. She could feel his body heat and at the same time her whole being started heating up as well.
"I'm…I'm sorry." She sat at looked him straight in the eyes.
"What? What is it?" The boy noticed the scrutiny of her strident gaze and was taken back.
"Um…nothing…I…can…can you help me?" She finally spoke and Zoroaster's eyebrows furrowed at once as he scoffed giddily.
"Do you know who I am?" He smiled quite shocked. Alexandra had to contain her own smile at his unknowingly ironic question.
"No…I'm…I'm not from here. I don't know much about this place."
"Where you from?" Zoro sat back with curiosity and stared at the girl.
"There'll be lots of time for explaining, for now can you take me somewhere safe?" At that the man was speechless yet amused.
"Yeah, sure." Zoroaster smiled and nodded.
The snow outside fell slowly and Alexandra sat quietly in a corner of the observatory.
"What do you see, Galileo?" The female questioned the astronomer as she sipped at the glass of wine in her hand.
"Those…those stars I told you about…do you remember? I told you just a few days ago?"
"Yes. What of them?"
"You were right. There was something different about them. They…they truly do move around the planet….They orbit Jupiter. I believe they are moons."
"Extraordinary. What will you name them?" She feigned ignorance and encouraged the discovery.
"There are four…." He pondered as he waited for ideas. Alexandra waited for the names with true inquisitiveness for it was the part she didn't know of. She had a perfect recollection of the planets she didn't even know existed the first time she saw them. Only a century after she'd first seen the reality of the universe had Alexandra realize that the place she'd been transported to after death was actually the Sun. The strong light that surrounded her was the only memory she needed to connect all the pieces and spoon-feed Galileo the truth about the planets and Sun.
"Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto." The answer finally came and snapped Alexandra out of the remembrances. She smiled.
"The lovers of Zeus." Alexandra chuckled as she looked at the man sitting behind the telescope.
"On the subject of lovers...Why have you none, Alexandra?" Galileo spun completely and stood to move closer to the girl, still as youthful and beautiful as the day she'd been granted her two eternities.
"I've had my love."
"And there is no way you may come to love again?" The man asked genuinely curious about the girl's lifestyle.
"My love lives for lives on end. Would you like to know his name?" She looked up from the red liquid in her glass to reach Galileo's gaze. He nodded and she smiled.
"Zoroaster."
"Pure star." The man translated and realized the reason for both Alexandra's interest in astrology and her metaphor.
"Galileo…do you suppose Venus is the only planet with moons?" The man realized she was trying to change subjects and looked down in order to keep himself from asking more questions.
"There's only one way to discover that." He looked back up and grinned ever so slightly.
"On to it then."