Lucus and Vivian stood on the Egyptian pyramids. He looked agitated.
"I swear to-- fucking God dude!!"
"I think I have travelled all around the world in these two weeks. To be honest, this life is pretty good"

"You like it? You'll eventually get tired of it" Lucus said as he opened his book. "Goddamn, three people died together!" He said as he slapped his hand on his forehead.

"Oh! By the way, how do you know so many languages?"
"So many? Nope, I only speak one language."
"You speak a different language in every different country" Vivian said. "No, I speak the same language. The language of Death. Every living being can understand it and interpret that as their own" Lucus tapped his feet.

They suddenly shrieks. Three people shouted as they jumped down from a helicopter. "Here it comes," Lucus said as his eyes turned grey and his hair turned pink.
"What are they doing?!" Vivian shouted.
"Sky diving. I tried it too."

"How will they die from this?" Vivian said. "The parachute is torn"
"What the!"
"Bang" Lucus said as all three of them fell somewhere far away. "Let's collect the souls, I'll have some coffee then."

"I still don't understand." Vivian said as she and Lucus sat on the terrace of the empire state buildings.
"What do you not understand?" Jericho asked.
"Who are you? And why are you here?"

Jericho held his book and looked at it "Do you know what this is ?" He asked as he pointed at the book.
"A book that writes the names of those who are about to die?"

"It's more than that" He said as he opened the book "This is called an antabulam, or what mortals would call 'A black note' something which God gave me when he made me. He made life, he made fate and then he made Death." Lucus said as he looked at his book.

Vivian looked at him as he spoke "People loved life, but she was an incurable lier. She always lied to get her way out of everything. But she was ugly, that maybe one reason why people started comparing her to death. Death was beautiful, so beautiful that people were afraid to come near her or even breathe the same air as her.

She was always honest and she was simple-- Maybe one of the most beautiful angels. Fate was an arrogant angel, she was strong and authoritative, but nevertheless all of them lived together in heaven, with the God himself.

Life brought the morning, the sun, fate carried it with time and finally death bought the moon.

As time passed, people started praising death's beauty, and stopped worshipping life. Life got jealous of Death and secrecretly started hating her. God was still creating the world at that time.

So life ran a conspiracy. She challenged death for a duel held in Eden. Death was much stronger and used her spells against life, life made death accidently break the fountain of immortal drink which gave eternal beauty to everything that existed.

God was furious and cursed death that the beauty and power that she was so proud of as a woman will be hated by everyone who lives! Nobody will ever love her again and she was banished from heaven-- To stay in the human world forever and guide the lost souls, to become a man and serve humanity till the day they exist."

Lucus looked ahead of him at the striking night lights.

"This book is a more like a proof, a shackle that will hold me down here in the human world, and I cannot even die since I'm immortal so I'll suffer till the time you exist" He said with sad smile.

"How old are you?" Vivian asked.

"I don't count my age. I have seen kingdoms rise and fall, I have seen wars and suffering, I have seen humans killing and eating each other. I have seen people loving other people and falling out of love when loving became hard.

But, it's not like its hell here, it just hurts that after all this time, people still love life even when she's a lie and hate me even when I'm the truth"

Vivian wrapped her arms around him and looked ahead "You are loved."

"You say," He smiled "So, Fate fought for me that I was just a victim but life was shrewd and did everything to make me miserable. Fate was the only friend I had but I lost her trust because of something stupid"

"What was that?" Vivian asked.
"Who cares, the past is the past." Lucus said with a smile as he got up "I mean, being a man isn't bad either. You've just got a weight between your legs and that's pretty much it"

"You know what, you still look beautiful" Vivian said as she looked at him. "Oh! Thanks-- I'd prefer to be called handsome though" He said as he turned back and almost fell down the terrace "Holy shit! I almost died-- I've turned like humans!! Oh no!!"

Vivian got up and pressed her hand on his chest "You really don't have a heart."
"Why would I lie about that?" Lucus chucked and Vivian hugged him tightly. "Vivian?"

"You are the end of all sufferings" He smiled and suddenly the book started glowing "Gotta go!"

Vivian's body lay on the hospital bed in ICU as Kirito signed the papers. Mr Hiomi sat beside him "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes." Kirito said with a smile and turned towards Vivian "I'm taking you back home"

At their apartment, Kirito stood in the balcony as Vivian lay on the bed with all the life-support equipments surrounding her and took a sip of the beer "Even if this breaks me, I'll run to you."

"Winter!" Vivian lay on the snow with Lucus beside her. "This feels like heaven." She looked up at the clear blue sky.
"Well, we are in the Himalayas. One of the oldest mountain ranges in the world."

"Hey, Lucus"
"Yeah?"
"Do you collect the souls of all things that die?"
"I do."
"Even plants and animals?" She asked.
"I do."

"Then, how many people die in a day?" She asked.
"One person dies every second, three million animals die everyday, one billion other life forms die everyday including plants, insects and even parasites."

"Wow, do they all have souls?"
"Everything that lives has a soul."
"Then how do you collect all of them?"
"Not all souls are lost, I only collect those souls which are lost"
"I have some alternatives that collect all the other souls."

"Sounds beautiful. Then, why did you come you me? Was I lost too?" Vivian asked. "No, I came to you because... Let's say I felt I needed to save you before the first snow hits the ground."

"What is this first snow hits the ground stuff?" Vivian asked.
"I don't know, someone told about it to me centuries ago. I seem to have forgotten it's meaning now." Lucus kept his finger over his lips. Vivian suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest.

"What is it?"
"I don't know. It just suddenly hurts." She said. Lucus just mumbled.

"So, it's time"

- To be continued

Kirito Hiomi || Vivian Hiomi
My Heart Hates Me