Sarah Moody

D

Dating

efeating Death

Life woke up with a tongue licking her face. Groaning, she pushed her wolf away, "Iylva, stop!" The wolf ignored her and continued.

"Fine, fine," She conceded getting up. "I'll feed you now, stop whining." The wolf whimpered again.

"What's your problem now? I'm up," Life chided. She hated waking up no matter the reason, even if it was to feed her wolf. Life cherished her sleep; it was the one time she did not have to worry. Turning straight to the kitchen, Life reached into the refrigerator and grabbed a pound of ground beef. "Here," she said putting the meal on a saucer and sitting it on the floor.

Iylva turned and whined some more. "What are you trying to say? Good Zeus, wolf it's six o'clock in the morning."

"And just the right time for you to help," said a melodic voice to her right.

Life jumped, "Way to announce yourself, Artemis."

The Greek goddess smiled, "It was quite entertaining, actually. Anyway, I'm here to tell you that Death is at it again. You must stop him before he gets too carried away."

"Good Zeus, why can't he just control his urges like most men do! And the moods he's been in lately, you'd think he was a girl or something. Why must I stop him? Can't all of you gods get together and just squash him or something?" Life ranted.

Artemis watched her prodigy. "You know it's not that simple. There must be life just as there must be death. One cannot survive without the other. It's your duty, Life." She said. "He's at St. Petersburg." Artemis said before disappearing.

Life remembered back to a few years ago, when she had a different name and a different lifestyle. She was as normal as any foster child could have been. She went to school, did her homework and followed any of the rules that her current foster parents applied. One day, when she was taking a walk through the forest, a blinding light flashed before her. Shielding her eyes, Life vaguely made out an ethereal figure standing before her, gold radiating around her.

"Do not be afraid, dear one. I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt and wilderness. I have been sent by my father, Zeus. You are very special, my dear. Here is a necklace; with it you shall have some of my powers. Never take it off, for you never know when you will need it. Do not be afraid, I shall visit you later and explain your role in the world," the figure notified.

Life frowned, "Powers? Mission?"

"You are to protect the essence of life. And with it, comes the ability to control animals. You are to protect the living from Death and his carelessness, but remember everything must die at one point," and with that, the goddess disappeared.

Life was left alone with the golden necklace clutched in the palm of her hand.

She lightly shook her head moving the flashback to the back of her mind. Artemis was right, besides if she didn't do it, who would? Sighing, Life turned to her wardrobe and pulled out her dress, styled in the Grecian times. Usually, Death could be distracted by a pretty figure and it was obvious Life didn't lack beauty. Her copper locks hung down her back, twisting and curling in all the right places. Her green eyes peered out from her sun-kissed skin.

"Ready, Iylva?" she asked turning to her wolf. She barked a reply. "Alright, St. Petersburg it is then."

Closing her eyes, Life imagined the city in front of her and felt her self being transported from her little cabin in the woods to the sprawling, Russian city before her.

Looking around, she noticed Russian papers screaming the same headline. "Plague Erupts in Country!, Death toll reaches 500 overnight!, and more," Hopefully the plague could be stopped soon. Hurriedly, Life searched for Death.

Her search was soon ended as the black clothed figure landed beside her, "What are you doing here," he asked gruffly.

Life smiled, "To see the famous Russian ballet, of course. Oh, and to tell you to knock it off with the plague. Russia already has a negative population rate."

"Whatever," he shrugged and walked toward the nearest church.

"Not so fast, mister. Why are you doing this?" she asked running up to him and grabbing his arm.

He turned and smiled, "Because I can. You can do the same, Life." He said bring his gloved hand up to her face, caressing it. She was used to his forwardness and though she knew she should be creeped out, he was Death and Death wanted to be touched out of love. Besides, the slightest things she could give in to, the greater the chance she had to win. He continued, "Go ahead, create a kid right here. You know you could do it."

She moved away from his hand, "Yes, I could, but then who would take care of her, or him? You can't just do something because you want to. There are consequences to every action."

"Not if you get away with it or fight for your way. We have more power than those who made us, Life. And you know it. Together we'd be unstoppable." He whispered seductively in her ear. "Come on, haven't you ever thought about it before? Creating someone solely for your use? Someone to call your own." He circled around her.

Life bristled and pushed away the temptation he laid in front of her. She recalled the last time her and Death had a confrontation. He was setting into plan to spread a rumor that would cause a Nuclear World War, one that would destroy the entire human population. Death was so engulfed in passion that he would not back down without a fight. Thus, Life had to call all her powers into play and used her loyal animals to fight the ghosts and spirits Death had conjured. Just because they were dead, did not mean they could not inflict damage.

In the end, she won. After all, Death, as much as he didn't want to admit it, could not refuse Life, unless it was commanded by the Fates that the people had to die. Sometimes, Life wondered if they controlled the outcome of the battles and if they did why were Life and Death having to constantly duel it out.

Nevertheless, that was their job and they never questioned it. "Look, I don't want to fight you. What will make you stop the plague?" Life asked.

He paused and thought for a second, "A date," he replied simply, at last.

"A date?" Life questioned, taken aback.

He nodded and smiled, "You, me, a dinner and a movie. What do you say? I pay, you show up in a little black dress and look…well like you. Gorgeous, stunning, beautiful…" he trailed off, grey eyes mixing with Life's green.

She frowned and thought it over. They were enemies. Were they not? She was tired of fighting and maybe they could reach some common ground. She dared not dwell on the fact if the date ended badly. Besides, why did he want to date in the first place? "Fine, but first, call off the plague."
"Done," he said and with a wave of his hand the stench of death lifted from the streets. "I'll pick you up at eight."

Zeus and Artemis watched the two from above. "Took them long enough," Zeus commented.

"Hey, it's just a date. We don't know how things will work out," she bantered. "If it goes good, then all is well in the world. Death and Life giving and taking equally. But….if it goes bad, then the epidemics and wars will only continue to get worse."

Zeus nodded, "We'll just have to wait and see." He said thoughtfully. "Hopefully, Death will come up with something more creative than the swine flu. Like really, they are pigs!"

Artemis laughed, "I couldn't have said it better."

Death arrived at Life's house at exactly 8:01. Biting the corner of her lip and taking a deep breath, she opened the door. "Sorry it's not black," she replied sheepishly. "I don't have anything in that color."

Death let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Don't worry about it. You look great. Are you ready? I booked us a reservation in Italy. You like Italian food, do you not?"

She smiled. "I love it actually. Let me grab my purse and then we can go."

"Take your time," he replied. Offering his arm, he transported them to a little restaurant in Italy. "Table for two, under the name Thanos."

Life shot him a look. He whispered, "I couldn't exactly reserve it under the name Death, could I?"

She agreed with him as he pulled out her chair. "So, why a date? This is so unlike you." He shrugged. Silence hung over the table. "I'm serious, Death. Why? We hate each other, you must have an ulterior motive or something."

He shook his head. "No, I've been wanting to ask you out for awhile. Can't you feel it? The pull of us being together? True, we fight. But who doesn't?" He asked hopefully.

Life thought for awhile, she couldn't deny she was attracted to him. Physically he was as handsome as Adonis, and although he killed, Life had seen him emotional before. One day, he had ventured to her cabin, carrying his prized polar bear in his arms. Life could tell he had been crying. He spoke one word and that was help. She revived his dead sidekick, but did not ask any questions about the scenario. Afterwards, Death sang her praises and thanked her, taking the polar bear side kick back to his home. The next day a vase of dark red, almost black, roses were on the doorstep with a simple thank you not penned in Death's hand. He cared, he just didn't show it all the time.

The date was perfect, complete with a harmless non genre specific movie that they watched afterwards. Walking hand in hand out of the theatre, they both joked about the cheesy lines uttered.

"Would you like to see where I live?" Death asked cautiously.

Curious, Life agreed. "I've always wondered where you lived."

Smiling to himself, Death transported them to the mountain covered snow top where he lived. "What do you think?" He asked opening the door to his cabin.

"I'd think we are more alike than I originally thought," Life replied looking around the spacious cabin. "For some reason I imagined you living in an ice castle or something of the sort."

Death laughed freely, something Life had never seen before. Setting up a fire, Death and Life began talking about … well everything. They talked, laughed and sometimes sat in silence thinking about what the other said.

"Look, Life. I'm tired of fighting. Can we just compromise on stuff now?" Death asked hopefully. "We'll discuss if and when to unleash a plague, war or whatever."

Life thought it over, "I couldn't agree more. We could have done this earlier if you hadn't gotten carried away all the time."

Death shot her a look, "I do not get carried away, but for the sake of not fighting. You're right."

She laughed. "I'm always right." Laughing, the two continued to talk all night and well into the morning.