Italy
1918 AD

4,436 years since initial death
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A cold breeze brushed through the quiet battlefield.

The Central Powers, consisting of the Austro-Hungarians and the Germans, were defeated and forced to retreat. Those left behind were captured and taken as war prisoners. The Allied Forces prevailed and Monte Grappa was defended to the end.

It was October 24th, the day the battle ended. Monte Grappa had been at war for almost a year. What was once a beautiful location filled with the grand mountain ranges, had been turned into a dusty warzone that desecrated the earth in craters. 

Matteo was treated for his bayonet wound, and the young Austrian boy was taken away as a prisoner. Many Italians gathered to celebrate their victory, but Matteo wasn't interested in any of it.

He had to return to Valerie. She needed to explain everything to him, but so did he. And with both of them being immortal, they had all the time in the world. But as Matteo walked past his allies with a frown, he heard yelling from behind.

Relief overtook him when he realized the shouts were joyful, not horrified. His gunner from the plane was alive and well, and he rushed up to him with a handshake and pat on the shoulder.

"Matteo! I can't believe it," the gunner exclaimed, "I never saw you bail from the plane. I thought you perished."

"I got lucky." He didn't expect to see him again and made up a response. "Glad to see you made it, Marco."

His gunner, Marco Avisaré, gestured to him happily. "You must join us, Armando Diaz is about to give a speech. The war is finally nearing its end."

"Enjoy the festivities, I have my own affairs to attend to." Matteo would have joined them, if not for the return of his ancient wife.

"Where will you go?"

He continued to walk towards the closest motorbike. After a brief pause, he turned to face him. "Home. It has been a long and conflicting life. They said this is the war to end all wars, we'll never have to fight a day in our lives again."

Matteo chuckled at the thought. He'd most likely be charging into another battlefield by winter. But until then, he sat atop the bike and smiled. "Arrivederci, Avisaré."

"Addio, Settimio."

He sped off across the rough terrain during the sun's downfall. A vibrant orange haze spread across the sky by the time he had arrived back at that small cabin overlooking the horizon.

Goats lingered around the cabin. He only ever spotted up to four of them, but they were accompanied by their immortal being. Valerie stood with crossed arms, her figure leaned against the shelter. When he stopped his bike and stood up, all the goats rushed to her side.

Matteo shared a glance with her. She watched him with her dagger clenched. He carefully approached her with raised hands. She stopped him however, and her dagger froze beneath his chin. The goats surrounded him, but a lion's roar from behind startled them.

Set growled at Valerie, but she never budged. She locked eyes with Matteo, and it seemed she was about to speak when one of her goats interrupted them. The light-tanned animal walked towards the towering lion. It bleated and nudged its head against Set's fur.

"No, Tadeas." Valerie ordered the goat, and Matteo slowly turned his head to look. He recognized the name.

"Tadeas?" He asked aloud and searched his memories. "You spoke that name in Madrid."

She turned her attention back on him, her dagger still held against his neck. "You remember that?"

"I remember many things from that day." He beckoned Set to stand down as Tadeas the goat circled the lion to feel his fur. It touched Set's tail, forcing a reaction and another roar.

The two immortals stared at one another again in silence. The other goats beside Valerie rubbed themselves against her legs. She kept her dagger up. "You shot me."

"These past few centuries have changed me, Violet. Everyone I ever came across either died or suffered because of my own actions. I saw your dagger and it brought up memories of London and Venice." 

"And your first instinct was to kill me?" Her blade pressed against his neck.

"That has always been my first instinct. The last time I ever saw Kara, she had that same weapon of yours, and I thought it was because of me. I wouldn't have shot you if we you were mortal."

She traced her dagger gently down his body until it stopped in front of his heart. He noticed how still she was, and he took the opportunity to speak some more. "I'm not the same man you met in Lisbon, Violet. The things I've done because of Madrid would terrify you."

She touched the side of his head. "And I'm not the same woman you remember. Each failure to find you led me down darker roads, but I never gave up because of you. That day in Madrid was the happiest day of my life because of what you said to me. I know it's ridiculous to say that after the plague, the fires, deaths and even our short-lived divorce. But your last words gave me the hope I needed to push forward. I always thought I was the only immortal being in this world, and you changed that."

"I just wish you had told me." He didn't want to blame her for it, but so many things would have been different if she confirmed his suspicions at that time. "I waited for you, but I never had the patience nor the heart to stay."

Valerie frowned. "I made an oath long before we met that I would never reveal my immortality again. I wanted to tell you, but I was scared of my past. Millions died because they knew of my power. I don't want it to happen again."

The goats around her bleated, and Tadeas left Set to jump to her. She knelt down to pet them and smiled. "These goats were once people. My power made it possible to preserve them in these forms. They watch over me and protect me from anyone they deem a threat. Is your lion someone that was close to you in a previous life?"

Matteo glanced at Set. "We don't know each other, not that I'd know. He doesn't talk much."

"Where are the others then? Do you only have one lion?" Valerie's question made him glare at the lion.

He crossed his arms. "Can you multiply?"

"No." Set grumpily sat down.

"He speaks?" Valerie gasped. "I often wish my goats could. They only communicate through signals and actions."

"He only speaks when he wants to, which is once every average mortal lifetime."

Set aggressively nudged his head to shove Matteo back. Valerie stood back up with Tadeas in her arms. The goat licked her face as she cradled it.

The sun had finally set, and their surroundings turned dark. Matteo took a step towards her and held his arms out. She didn't comply and twisted her body to avoid him. He tried to persuade her. "I missed you, Violet."

He put his arms around her just as Tadeas shrieked in his ears. It clearly didn't like him, and Valerie set the angry animal down. Matteo hugged her and noticed she didn't move. He smirked as a thought came to mind.

"I'm sorry for shooting you in the head." He sensed her chuckle after saying that. It's not everyday he ever had to apologize to someone for that reason.

She lifted her head and stared into his eyes. "I had plans for us. I wanted you to feel every ounce of my love for you that I carried for centuries. But that moment has passed."

He tapped her nose. "No it hasn't, you still want it."

"I'm still angry at you." Her serious expression shifted and she cracked a soft giggle.

"Then why are you smiling?"

She cursed under her breath, then her hand grasped his collar and she dragged him towards the cabin. All the animals had disappeared on their own. Inside the cabin, she led him to the bed and pushed him over it. She climbed atop of him, her body pressed against his.

"I assume your sin is lust?" His face was an inch away from hers, and she laughed. Her nod then confirmed it.

"You have no idea how long I've waited for this." She whispered into his ear. "I have loved you for a thousand years."

"It's actually six hundred years."

"Shut it, Settler." She stopped him with a kiss, one that he couldn't resist. Their intimacy only grew higher with each passing second. He hadn't felt love like this in several decades, and it only made him grasp her all over as both their clothes loosened off their bodies.

By the time the candles surrounding them had diminished, they had already fallen into a deep slumber within each other's embrace. Matteo awoke to daylight beaming through the windows and burning into his eyelids.

Valerie was already awake, eating from a bowl of beef stew. Beside her was an empty can of Maconochie, one of the only canned foods many soldiers were forced to enjoy during the war.

He wore his pants and jumped out of bed. The serenity of the early morning didn't last long when Valerie suddenly spoke. "Morning, Jack."

His heart nearly burst out his chest. "Jack?"

In total silence, he just looked at her in response. She continued. "I just keep recalling that one night when I fought the ripper. He could see my goats, and from the second I saw him, he looked just like you."

Matteo froze, his mouth opened to speak but no words came out. After a few seconds, he replied. "Valerie, let's be sensible here."

"Why did you hesitate?"

"Be-because that's not a chapter of my life I wish to discuss." He stuttered and said whatever came to mind. "It's not for the reason you might think, but there was a motive behind my sudden departure."

"You disappeared after the last murder, and it was when I realized you were Milton." She kept interrogating him, and it only frustrated him.

"I left because of my own private affairs. There was a cosmic cobra and some mythological beast; it's a lot to go over. But I did not leave London because of the murders. Besides, you should know me. Do you really think I'd go around butchering women for my own amusement?"

She finished the last spoonful of her cold stew and set it aside. "The way you effortlessly murdered dozens of civilians in Madrid and riddled the streets with gore makes it very difficult to look past it. Not to mention the mangled corpses you left behind in Venice."

"You ripped a man's throat apart with your bare hands in Madrid." Matteo argued. "Who's to say you're not Jack? You could have used that name to make us believe the killer was a man."

Valerie stepped closer to him until she was unpleasantly inside his space. "I am not looking for a confession, Milton. I only want to understand why you killed those women."

His temper rose. "I am not Jack."

She tilted her head to mock him, her eyes still burning deep into his soul. "Right."

Then, she turned and walked away. Her tone shifted, and she spoke again. "I suppose it could have been someone else. There was one man, I believe his name was Benjamin. He had the sin of pride. He returned to London shortly before the murders started, and all he ever talked about was his time in Africa aiding the British in their conquests. I couldn't stand him for very long."

She laughed at the end, but he never smiled. She returned to the table and looked his way. "And by the way, thanks for shaving that mustache. I'd have recognized you sooner in London without it, it really never suited you."

He sighed and wore the rest of his clothes in silence. Valerie gathered a few of her belongings in a briefcase. By the time she was ready, he waited for her outdoors in the sun. He leaned against the cabin with his arms folded.

Valerie stopped beside him. "Come on, I was thinking we could head west. I know a few places we could see together."

He stepped forward and towards the motorbike ahead. It had a passenger seat attached to its side. "I'll drive."

"No Milton, don't strain yourself." She walked in direct contact beside him. "You can't drive with an untreated injury."

He blinked. "What inj-"

A piercing jolt of pain struck his waist. Valerie pulled the dagger out of him and placed a hand over his back. Just as he tried to clench the stab wound, she shoved him towards the bike until he collapsed over the sidecar. 

His legs kicked in the air as he awkwardly found himself upside down. He held his waist and cried out to no avail. Valerie sat beside him and brushed his feet aside. He tried to speak and ask why she did that, but his teeth bit down into his lips instead.

Though it seemed Valerie already sensed he would ask her, so she spoke. "That was for shooting me. You didn't think I'd forget, did you?"

She picked up two aviator caps that rested behind Matteo's rear and wore one of them. She then tossed the other one over him. 

He was still stuck with his head inside the seat and his legs dangling above him. Valerie never decided to help him when she revved the bike. "Relax, you'll be fine; maybe. If you bleed out and die, that's your problem."

Finally, she drove the motorbike down the valleys, over the hills and far away. Within the next few weeks, peace treaties were formed and signed. The Central Powers were stripped of military power, politically humiliated and economically ruined.

On November 11th, the great war was called off, officially marking an end to it all. The War to End All Wars was over, and many believed there would finally be everlasting peace and justice throughout this world.

But it was all a lie.

Peace was never an option when humanity was involved.

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Historical Notes:

World War I ended on November 11th at 11AM. It is seen as the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. A ceasefire came into effect, forcing all combat to come to a stop. However, some fighting in the frontlines continued briefly as commanders desperately tried to gain new territory before the war would officially end.

Armando Diaz

The Treaty of Versailles, which officially ended the war between Germany and the Allied nations coincidentally happened to contribute to the start of World War II as fascist regimes were rising as a result.

The Ottoman Empire was destroyed and disbanded by the end of the war until Turkey won its independence in 1923. A majority of Germans felt resentful towards the war's conclusion. Many of the Central Powers were deprived of military power, became economically ruined and were politically humiliated.

WWI marked an end to empires and brought forth the beginning of new political, economic and social orders in not just Europe, but the rest of the world in due time.

As a result of the war, Europe overall saw great improvements to industrialization, nationalism, and imperialism.

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