A/N - Another En fic. Be warned, spoilers for The Shore in Twilight.

Half Dead Already

In the shade of crimson leaves, the inside of the pavilion was dark, and the vista of the plains beneath the mountains bright and lush beyond the gloom. The sound of rustling foliage was punctuated by sharp footsteps.

Now that the initial anxiety had faded, Enki found himself replacing it with sheer fury.

"Don't work too hard," he said, putting his hands on his hips and looming over the man reclining under the sweeping gold roof. "We wouldn't want you to wear yourself out now."

Shouryuu opened one eye, unconcerned.

"What are you going to get on my back about now? I came all the way out here to get a bit of peace for once."

Enki's teeth came together with a audible clash. "Aren't you going to do anything?"

"I am doing something. I'm taking a nap."

"You're-" he shut his eyes and moaned. "That's the third time this week. And you haven't even been giving us the usual two-minute warning before you skip. I had four ministers telling me to come out here and haul you back. I've got my own work to do. Let's get going."

"I'm not going back."

"What?"

"You said it yourself. You wouldn't want me to wear myself out now."

"Listen, you pompous..."

He yawned. "It's unusually warm for this time of year, isn't it?"

"We have autumn every year!" Enki snarled, impervious to the charms of the leaves around him. "We've already been away from work too long the past few weeks!"

"You were the one who wanted to rescue Taiki so much."

"Well he's rescued, ain't he? That doesn't mean you can go running off to mountaintops whenever it suits your fancy! What happens if the gods get offended at your laziness, eh?"

"If you listen to the ministers, I've done nothing but offend the gods for the last few decades."

"It's their job to be annoyed at you. That's what makes them good ministers."

Shouryuu propped himself up on one elbow and squinted at the boy through his eyelashes.

"Come here."

"Eh?"

"If you're not going to go away, at least come over here so I don't have to hurt my neck looking up at you."

Enki stalked over and sank stiffly down. At least he's not in a brothel this time, his mind said before he shut it up.

"Tentei obviously doesn't give a damn," Shouryuu continued. "We're still here, aren't we? If you want a little attention from him these days, you've got to either trip up on a technicality or do something really spectacular."

Silent for a moment, Enki wondered how he could insult his way to something approximating an 'are you all right?'.

"I get it," he managed, "you're still moping around because Nippon did something inconsiderate like changing while not in your honourable presence, right?"

Shouryuu opened one eye and scowled with it. "There's no need for that."

"But I'm right, aren't I?"

Shouryuu sighed. "How do you deal with it?" he asked. "You know what it looks like now. You've been watching it change for centuries now. How do you do it?"

"Guess you can get used to anything," Enki muttered, watching the wind sway through the the maples. "One world stays roughly the same, one changes so quick you can't keep track. There are so many differences between this world and that one, one extra doesn't give me a headache. It's really not so different to watching kings ascend and die, ascend and die, with the occasional bit of corruption and slaughter along the way."

"I understand why you keep going back. But I couldn't."

"Yeah."

"There's nothing there that was of our world, is there? Nobody that would recognise my name or my family. Our existence is swept cleanly away. I wonder how long it will take to erase us in En."

"Huh?" Enki's spine stiffened in alarm.

"Right now we're held as this great example. Everyone looks to En. And yet we all must die someday. The people who knew us will die. We'll be just a story in the history books."

"Hey-"

"People die. We've seen generations of them die and be forgotten. What's the point of it all? All we do is prolong the space between birth and death, a space that will always be filled with suffering no matter what we do. Look at Tai, how easy that was to sweep away. Will it ever recover? How long can our redhead taika hold on by her fingertips before she gets swept away as well? All those kings and kirin we were with not that long ago – how long for them? All that will be left of any of us will be a handful of posthumous names and lore. You kirin won't even get graves. Kind of makes you want to give up, doesn't it?"

Enki stared at him a moment, lost for words. He closed his eyes and sighed. Then he tightened his mouth into a scowl and whacked the man over the head.

"Ow!"

"Five hundred years and your idiocy still surprises me," he spat. "There's proof of divine intervention."

Sprawled on the stone floor, Shouryuu looked up at him with the usual stupid expression as he rubbed his head. "There was no need for that."

"I can't believe you're acting like this after half a millennium," Enki put his hands on his hips. "Of all people to get a mid-life crisis-"

"What?"

"Newfangled Hourai explanation for acting like an asshole. The saddest part is that you're only halfway there. I've got to put up with you for another five hundred years."

"You think I'm going to last a whole thousand years? Nobody's ever done that before."

"Nobody's ever been as stubborn as you," Enki snorted. "I've no doubt you're mule-headed enough to do it if you want to."

The ghost of a smile appeared on his master's face. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah."

"What if I get bored," he persisted, "and destroy the whole country? Tentei wouldn't have any choice but to kill us. We can start as soon as we get back."

"Bored? How can you get bored when we're always up to our necks in some kind of trouble?"

He shrugged. "But it's always the same kind of trouble. Youma, despotic ministers, food shortages, countries crying for help. When was the last time we got anything interesting?"

"You don't call rescuing a kirin from Hourai interesting?"

"It made a nice change, I suppose." Yes, now he was definitely smirking around the edges.

That was the thing about Shouryuu. To be honest, Enki was a little relieved whenever he found something controversial to ally himself to. If the world was neatly ordered and nothing went wrong, Shouryuu would start to destroy it all just to have something to do. Perhaps he'd play a game with himself – see how far he could push En to the point of no return, and then save it at the very last second.

At least, Enki hoped he would try and save it.

Even that infuriating leer was good in its own way. An Emperor was tied to his country. Enki couldn't help but feel that if Shouryuu began to have an existential crisis, the land would shake loose of its foundations. The sea would rise and cover the sun. That the only thing between En and that fate was Enki, stringlike and stretching, was a worrying thought. He didn't know how far he could be pulled before snapping.

"I bet I wouldn't be forgotten if I smashed the whole country to pieces," Shouryuu continued calmly, squinting up to the sky. "I'd be an astounding example of what not to do."

Enki snorted. "Keep talking that way and you'll end up choking on a fishbone in your dinner. You'd hate that, wouldn't you? It's a blaze of glory or nothing. You don't really want to start oppressing the people."

"I don't know. People start getting quite expendable after five hundred years."

Enki continued to banter on with half of his brain – but then he was doing it too, eyes fixed on something in the distance. He let himself relax against the banister.

If one of the ministers had been allowed to overhear this conversation, they would be horrified. But then they wouldn't understand what it was really about. How could they? There were very few people in the world who would, and that was part of the problem.

Five hundred years. So far beyond the normal bounds of human existence, it was little wonder the two of them were seen as gods.

But it wasn't merely that they were old. Plenty of kings made it to their second or third century. The problem, as far as they were concerned, was that they were heading into uncharted territory. Beyond the precedents and the fables. Sou, the only kingdom greater than their own, would shortly take the title of longest reign in history. In a way, Enki pitied the king and kirin of Sou. Things there must become a little nervous with nobody else to look up to. Nobody to ask for help. To be the greatest king in the world must be a burden indeed. Nobody to create a barrier between you and things intangible.

Shouryuu liked to be in control. Everyone did, or at least liked to know that they could deal with whatever was coming their way. Being a king was not impossibly hard, after one made the effort to understand it. Troubles would always come their way, but most of these they would have faced before, and thus there would be no doubt whatsoever that these could be handed with the minimum of fuss.

This visit to Hourai had shaken him. A world that he had once played a part in had changed beyond his comprehension. So much of his identity was based on being a taika, on the experiences that made him different, that to find that identity ripped away so suddenly had left him strangely adrift, and at the worst time too. Heading into an uncertain age. The blank space at the edge of the map.

Death had an allure. The ultimate unknown, it could send shivers down anyone's spine, but the fascination was understandably greater for immortals. After a while, it stared you in the face like a challenge, as all those whom one once knew disappeared. Most ministers couldn't stand it past the age of eighty, and resigned, voluntarily giving up their immortality. At the age of five hundred, it was always at the edges of the vision. How long did they have left, when they'd already outlasted most others? When they'd already been given much more than the allotted dose?

The tiredness of the battle-weary old soldier is poorly masked behind a youthful face. It starts to leak from the eyes.

"Oh, well," Enki shrugged."If you die tomorrow, I ain't got many complaints. En's in good shape. The next king won't have to do much to put it in order. We've got good ministers who won't blink an eyelid – hey, they do all the work around here anyway. Half the countries over here owe us favours. Youko sure won't be able to resist sauntering over and keeping an eye on things. Go ahead and die."

Shouryuu eyed him warily. "What's all this about?"

"I'm saying..." you're a good king, you idiot, and there won't be another like you "you're just being lazy again. You just want some sympathy so we'll leave you alone to get drunk for a week or two. You've been so careful with this place for so long, it's in your bones now."

Enki seized a clump of his hair and yanked it hard. Shouryuu gave a grunt and glowered up at him.

"You're accusing me of simple indolence?"

"You bet I am. You're not getting off that easily, you know. Like I said, another five hundred years, and doesn't that scare you? You should just be glad that it's half over. Keep working and you'll up in heaven drinking with your dead buddies before you know it. You know what to do now. Just be glad you're half dead already."

Shouryuu frowned, then his forehead smoothed. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah," Enki gave him a look of disgust. "Stop it with the drama, won't you? You're just trying to get out of dealing with the real world."

"Am I?"

"Yeah. You're sly like that. All ruthless when you need to be, especially with yourself, and creative too. That's why you've stuck around so long. You've always been right when you've said it's not because you're a great man that you've spent so long making my life a misery. 'Cause you're not a great man. You just know the recipe and you're good at dragging people into things."

"I don't know whether to be touched or insulted."

"Whatever. Just stop moping. What happens if Tentei hears your little moan, decides you've gone senile and strikes me with shitsudou, huh? What happens if I die?"

"I'd go up to heaven and make him give you back"

The hairs prickled on the back of his neck. "What?"

"You heard me. I'd march on up there and give the gods hell until they decided you weren't worth the trouble and handed you back all wrapped in ribbons."

Enki folded his arms. "And just how are you going to get all the way up there?"

Shouryuu turned his gaze to the sky, a smile lingering about his mouth. "Perhaps there's another sea up there. I like sailing. I'll take my boat up there and sail to Tentei's palace and sneak in and get you. How hard could it be?"

Enki groaned. "You really are an idiot."

"You've been saying that for the past five hundred years."

"I'll be saying it for the next five hundred as well."

"Hey, Rokuta. Do something for me."

Enki gave him a suspicious look. "What?"

"Change into your kirin shape and gallop through the sky for me."

"What?"

"Old soldiers like to see pretty things like that. It reminds us that life isn't all death and bloodshed."

Enki snorted and turned away. He could almost hear the smirk on Shouryuu's face as the man lay down with his arms folded under his head. A few minutes later, he began to snore lightly.

At least that was this particular little bout of morbid stupidity over with, Enki told himself, not admitting to himself that he had been worried, the same way he couldn't admit to himself that Shouryuu's self-important arrogance was soothing at times like this.

Five hundred more years of this, he groaned to himself, lying down and pointing his long nose in Shouryuu's direction as he flicked his ears. He'd probably strangle the man himself before then.