Prologue

There was a world.

One like no other.

It was a cold place. A dark place. You did not want to go there, oh no. It wasn't for little kids like you. It was filled with strange creatures. Monsters of the night.

Demons that killed you at will.

One uneventful day, one of these unspeakable beasts grew bored of his world. He made it a habit to visit the human one. He started going there once a year, then gradually increased his visits to twice a year, then every two months, followed by every month and soon enough, he went twice a week.

Today was one of those days. He was on his way.

"You shouldn't leave our world, Than," another creature said. His voice was raspy and one could tell he wasn't used to wording out his thoughts. He followed the curious creature that was drifting slowly away into the distance.

They walked – or the term hovered seemed more accurate—yes, they hovered for a couple of minutes.

Then all of a sudden, without a warning, the first creature, presumably known as Than, unfolded his dark purple wings and started flying down towards the forbidden world. He was a frightful creature. He had two wide, observant red eyes that never missed a single detail, two small slits as a nose, deep hollow cheeks and a wide black mouth that housed razor sharp yellow teeth. His body did not arouse any comfort either as it was a just a somber skeleton. The creature's prominent ribcage looked like an organic prison and if you looked closely enough, you would notice the absence of a heart; or any living organ for that matter.

That, my friend, was because this creature was a Shinigami. He was a God of Death. He was not a normal living creature like you, me, or even the neighbor's dog. He was a God that could see a human's lifespan and kill any of us in order to increase his.

Their existence, of course, was kept a secret from us human beings down below. Our ephemeral presence on Earth, in comparison to an eternity of immortality for them, meant that we held no importance to them whatsoever.

The protagonist of our little fable, Than, was prepared to go down to planet Earth, much against the protests of his friend Eaton, who was also a Death God. The latter had a less frightening appearance – well, as un-frightening as a Death God could possibly look – and was chubbier than his fellow friend. He looked like a rhinoceros and he even had a few horns that lined up vertically from his nose to the back of his head. His murky yellow eyes studied Than closely from behind.

"You must not." Eaton insisted. He had never gone down to our world, but was always told to keep away from it. Centuries of killing humans off had taught him that we were evil creatures that only brought pain to those around us.

As usual, Than ignored his friend's request and continued flying away.

Eaton had no other choice but to deploy his own pair of wings – they were stubbier and smaller than Than's but they did the trick. Than was the only one out of the Death Gods whom Eaton was prepared to call a friend and he did not want to lose him.

"I won't be long." Than said as he noticed his grey companion following him closely from behind. "Don't you worry, my friend."

Eaton kept up with Than's pace and didn't give up. They were about to leave their world, he could feel it in the atmosphere, and it was making him uneasy. The air had become denser, warmer and more humid. It made the hair on his back stand on end.

"Death Gods and humans do not mingle face to face." Eaton said, trying one last time to convince his friend that what he was doing was wrong and unethical.

Again, his comment was left unanswered.

Eaton did not know what to do anymore. The only solution was to follow his friend and keep a close eye on him. But he had to be careful.

A human woman was a deadly creature in the eyes of a Death God.