The Encounter with Death!

"In the same stone are found, as the people translate, when a star is born - when a star dies - a cross. And believe me when I say that death does not improve anyone ". - Mario Quintana.

The cemetery gates opened with an icy wind that shivered even the simple beings who slept comfortably in their warm beds. The wind ran like a strong, sharp howl that ran across the world, starting at that cemetery.

— This being that you will know. . . — Nyx replied entering the cemetery first.

Their children, very frightened, were close behind, ready to react to the slightest sign of danger.

— Stop it, you would not be able to react, if she wanted, we would not even approach. — Nyx argued.

— She? — Asked Apáte.

— Who would she be? Asked Dolos.

— The perpetual that we will find. . . — Nyx replied.

— Death itself! Exclaimed the female voice so sweet and soft that it didn't even seem to have uttered a word so cruel.

As much as the two brothers looked, they could not see anything. They looked around, tombs, crows, bushes, plants, but they did not see who could have spoken or where the delicate voice came from.

— Stop playing with my kids. I have many years of meeting you, I can see you perfectly! - Nyx said.

Their children were amazed at the beautiful tree that was almost in front of them that just came out of nowhere! It was a huge showy apple tree with large trunks and leaves, full of bright red apples. A unique and rare image to see, even more from inside the cemetery.

— But what does a gem like that do here? — Dolos asks.

— It should not happen, the soil is not fertile, what is happening? And how did it come about? — Said Apáte completing the lines of the brother.

— Hmm. Children. You better never doubt what Death can do. . . — Nyx replied approaching the tree.

A very illustrious figure jumped from the tree so gently and silently that the brothers didn't even believe it. A beautiful young woman who looks to be in her twenties, maybe twenty-one years old. Very pale, contrasting with her black robe that covered her naked body with her golden sandals. A flashy spot under the left eye, accompanied by thin pink lips with very full and messy hair, but short in dark color.

What was most unusual for the time was the flashy red lipstick, the bright purple umbrella in his hand and the sunglasses on his face.

— Hello! I am Death, it is a pleasure to meet you!

The brothers could not even speak, as they were still amazed at his simple presence. All the hairs on their bodies were standing on end and they really couldn't react to anything, not even a simple question.

— What. . . What's that in your hand? — Dolos said, very afraid and referring to the umbrella.

— It is. . . That on your face? — Said Apáte, frightened and referring to the sunglasses.

— That? Just a few trinkets from the future! Sorry, you shouldn't see! — Replied Death, very smiling and playful, removing his sunglasses, revealing a penetrating and flashy black look that accompanied the expression lines of his face.

— The future? As well?

— Children, she is Death in person, one of the few beings who can do this grace. — Nyx replied greeting her friend.

— Yes. I am present in all plans. I am now in the Past, the Present and the Future as well. I'm here, there, everywhere. While I am with you talking here in France, I am also with a poor little boy in Africa, an indigenous person in America and an old couple in Japan. Much pleasure and forgiveness for the fright, I always cause this in living beings, I am Death, a Perpetual. — Said Death itself.

— So really. . .

— There is someone superior to our mother. . .

— Yes, but I don't like to treat anyone like that, like a superior, you know? I am for everyone, I am for everyone. From an ant to an inanimate being. Death is for everyone on this continent, this planet and the many other planets in various galaxies! I was there during creation and I am bound to be there during the end to take everyone and turn off the light when the universe ends. Can you two understand? That is what it is to be a Perpetual, something superior to a concept, a god or an embodiment. — Said the beautiful Death with her attentive, gentle and calm face.

— All this stuff that we can't know and that is in today and in the future. . . Do not confuse them with trivialities and use that form that you usually use, please. . . — Commented Nyx.

The conversation left the brothers Apáte and Dolos very confused.

— What did Death mean? - Whispered Dolos.

— What did mom mean by shape? Is death changeable? - Asked Apáte.

— Yes. . . I'm changeable! I come in different ways and I belong to many, I belong to everyone, I belong to everyone! I am for humans, insects, animals, Martians, Plutonians, Kryptonians and all the other diverse forms in creation. — He pronounced Death before his final touch.

She smiled, snapped her fingers and reappeared in a very long dress that drags on the floor with bare feet with the shiny black hair loose on her body as pale as the moon. Blurry makeup on her eyes and beautiful purple wings in her hair.

Well, if you don't know, the purple alamandas, in turn, actually deceive many people: despite their name, they are not always purple flowers, appearing normally in pink tones. But anyway!

It looks like it's easy to swallow, right? While the brothers stop to reflect on what Death said, we can also meditate not only on the truths it said, but on the parallels between these beings and reality. How the night is the mother of all evils, and how it is always accompanied by malice, fraud, evil deeds, deception and inevitably drags us towards the encounter with death. . .

— How's it going, Night?

— Im fine and you?

You know me. . . But I am sorry to tell you that today we will not be able to sit down to talk.

— Why? Today is the date we have to talk, isn't it? — Questioned Nyx disappointed with her friend.

— Yes, you are right, but today we don't need to discuss what we have learned about humans.

— As well? — Asked Apáte.

— You are Malice, are you called Apáte? Right? So. . . Night and I met once every thousand years to talk about human beings. We don't have many friends, our service consumes a lot of us, but we always choose this day to talk, because of the subject, you know? — Answered Death.

— I understand, but why won't you be able to talk today? Is it because we are here? Dolos asked.

— You're Dolos, aren't you? Deception, right?

"Yes," replied Dolos, shaking his head.

— Before it was. . . Today is the day that an irremediable meeting will take place for human society. Two couples will run into each other, a big mouthful will happen and a new couple will form. And humans will never be the same after that. . . — Answered Death, very reflective.

The trio looks at each other without understanding what Death said.

— She really is on another level of existence. — Said Apáte.

— That means living in the past, the present and the future at the same time. — Argued Dolos.

— How rude of me! Do you want apples? - Asked Death while offering an apple to the trio.

— Why apples? Asked Dolos.

— I think it's symbolic! Death likes this bullshit of reflection and meditation. — Nyx replied playing with Death while picking an apple.

— Some time ago, an individual beyond my own imagination offered a apple to a certain woman. He triggered as many problems as those that will be born today. — Answered Death smiling.

The brothers look at each other and comment.

— She's not talking. . .

— Probably yes. . .

— Let it be. We don't know if it really was an apple! But where is this couple going? — Nyx said irritated because she wouldn't talk to her friend for a long time.

— It's not a couple, but two pairs! There are four beings. . . And one of them you know well. — Argued Death.

— Then let's get on with it! Exclaimed Nyx.

Death snapped his fingers and made them disappear from the cemetery. The newly formed quartet appeared serenely under a house watching the events unfold when those beings met.

Curiosities about Chapters I and II:

The Père-Lachaise Cemetery really exists! It is the largest cemetery in Paris and one of the most famous in the world. It is located in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, you can play on Googlemaps there.

The cemetery was actually named after one of the Catholic priests, François d'Aix de La Chaise (1624-1709), said le Père La Chaise ("Father La Chaise"), confessor to King Louis XIV of France, about who exercised a moderating influence in the fight against Jansenism.

The design of Père-Lachaise was really entrusted to the neoclassical architect Alexandre-Théodore Brongniart in 1803 and, since its opening, the cemetery has undergone five extensions.

The Death described in the story alludes to the famous Sandman Death of the author Neil Gaiman! Don't you know him? Never read Sandman? You're living wrong!

The phrase in Chapter I was taken from the famous "Chansons de geste" or "Canção de gesta", which is a set of epic poems that emerged at the dawn of French literature, between the 11th and 12th centuries.

The sentence in Chapter II was removed from the Inscription for a cemetery gate by the Brazilian poet, translator and journalist, Mario Quintana! As incredible as it may seem, there are several poems and meditations on cemeteries.