They were standing on the rooftop of the same hospital where they had first started.
The rooftop was quiet. The city below was full of sirens in the distance, drones humming and construction still ongoing from the chaos earlier but up here, it felt disconnected. The wind carried the sterile scent of the hospital mixed with smoke.
A man stood near the edge of the rooftop. One hand was in his coat pocket while the other held a cigarette between his fingers. He wore a doctor's coat that was slightly wrinkled.
"Miss Death. Took you long enough. My time's up, yeah?"
Ely blinked slightly at that. There was no fear in his voice.
"You always did know how to read your Deathwatch, Ryan."
The man chuckled under his breath, taking another drag.
"Hard not to when you've been staring at it for decades. I don't recognize the guest."
"I'm just an observer."
"Figures. You don't look like someone who belongs in my mess."
Greshina didn't waste time.
"His name is Ryan. And his story is a little more complicated than the others."
Ryan scoffed lightly. "That's one way to put it."
Greshina continued anyway.
"When he was a teenager, he committed suicide due to bullying. One of my Heralds intercepted him before he fully crossed over. She gave him a bet. If he survived, went back and made something of his life, she wouldn't take him. His death would be postponed indefinitely."
"That's not how death usually works."
"It isn't, but Heralds have limited authority to interfere under certain conditions. It comes at a cost though. He survived his attempt, went back to school, pushed through and became a doctor."
"So he won."
"For a time. She stayed with him. That was part of it too. The Herald remained by his side, ensuring the terms of the bet were fulfilled."
"And extending them," Ryan added quietly.
"Extending?"
Greshina finally turned her head toward her.
"When a subordinate of Death grants additional lifespan to a mortal, it doesn't come from nothing. Time after death isn't created. It's transferred. Since I have the Death Divinity, I can give it without effects."
Ryan let out a breath that almost sounded like a laugh, but there was no humor in it.
"Took me a while to figure that part out."
Greshina continued.
"For three hundred years, she stayed with him. Every time his Deathwatch approached zero, she pushed it back and gave him more time."
Ely's eyes narrowed slightly. "And he didn't notice?"
"I noticed," Ryan said quietly. "I just… didn't care enough at first."
That hung in the air for a second.
"I got used to living and having more time than everyone else. I watched people age, die, move on while I stayed the same. She was always there, smiling and telling me it was fine."
Greshina didn't interrupt.
"We… got closer than we were supposed to. I stopped thinking of her as… whatever she was."
Ely didn't need to ask what that meant.
"You two fell in love."
"Yeah. Funny, right?"
"And the cost?"
Greshina answered her immediately. "Every extension she gave him shortened her own existence. He didn't know until it was too late. The last time she extended his life, she gave him fifty years. That was the moment her lifespan ended."
Ryan's hands clenched in his coat pockets.
"She disappeared right in front of me. I liked for everything that could explain it. And then I found out. I killed her."
Greshina didn't correct him. Ely's eyes softened slightly, but she didn't speak. Ryan dragged a hand down his face.
"All that time I thought I was just getting lucky. Thought I beat the system somehow. Turns out I was just draining her dry. I tried to fix it. If I died, maybe… I don't know. Maybe something would balance out."
Greshina shook her head slightly.
"She prevented that."
"Yeah. Of course she did."
"She placed a curse on him," Greshina explained to Ely. "It was immortality until the borrowed time expired. And he would experience pain every day. Seems he didn't reciprocate her love for him so she did that. And now, those fifty years are over."
Ryan looked up at the sky, then back down at the city.
"Funny thing is, I used to be terrified of dying. Now it's the only thing I've been waiting for. So, are here to take me now?"
"That's why I'm here."
"Figures. If I could go back… I'd stop myself from ever asking for more time and using her like that. But what's the point of regret when it's already done, right?"
Greshina stepped closer.
"You're right about one thing. I don't usually punish mortals."
"Good to know I'm special."
"Subordinates of Death are bound by the Universal Laws. If they break them, the punishment is absolute. She paid for it with her existence and you paid for it with regret."
The wind picked up slightly, carrying the last traces of smoke away. For a moment, none of them spoke. Then Ryan stood upright like he was finally done carrying something.
"Alright. Let's get this over with. I'm ready."
Greshina didn't move immediately when he said he was ready. She just stood there, looking at him. Then, slowly, she shook her head.
"No."
Ryan was thrown off for the first time since they arrived.
"No?"
"I have another offer for you."
"What kind of offer could you possibly have for someone like me?"
"Become my Herald."
Ely's eyes widened but she didn't interrupt. Ryan, on the other hand, just stared at her like she had just said the most absurd thing imaginable.
"You're joking."
"I'm not."
He let out a short, incredulous laugh, running his hand through his hair.
"You want me to become a Herald of Death after everything I did?"
"Yes."
Ryan scoffed, shaking his head as he paced a few steps away, then back again like he needed movement just to process what he was hearing.
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would you even consider that?"
"Because you qualify. My Heralds aren't bound the same way others are. I give them more freedom than most Death Deities would ever allow. That's why I allowed what happened between you and Evelyn."
Ryan flinched slightly at the name.
"Normally, a Herald forming emotional attachments like that would be impossible. It would be stopped before it even begins."
"And yet you let it happen."
"I did."
"And now you're offering me a position after I basically killed her?"
"You didn't kill her. The Universal Laws did. She broke them and paid the price."
"Because of me."
"Because of her choices and yours, yes."
"I was expecting… I don't know. Punishment, torture—"
"You expected me to make you suffer for eternity?"
"Yeah. Feels like I earned that much."
"I don't punish mortals that easily."
Ely raised an eyebrow at that but stayed quiet.
"I give them chances. Always."
"That 'curse' she put on me didn't feel like a chance."
"It was. Evelyn deliberately cursed you before she disappeared. That wasn't random."
"What?"
"She turned your remaining fifty years into a trial of immortality, regret and reflection."
"She… did that on purpose?"
"Yes. She wanted to see if you would change."
"That's… twisted. Guess it worked."
"It did. You spent fifty years trying to die. You have twenty thousand and twenty-three suicide attempts and every single time, you failed because you were being forced to live with what you did. You learned something from that that most mortals never understand. You understand the weight of death and just your own. That's why you qualify."
Ryan let out a breath, running both hands through his hair now, clearly overwhelmed.
"Even if I accept that, even if I become a Herald, it doesn't fix anything."
"No, it doesn't. It won't erase your regret."
"Then what's the point?"
"I did say it was a trial, right? Every passed trial has a reward."
Before he could respond, Greshina lifted her hand and her two fans materialized instantly, appearing with that familiar shimmer of dark violet energy. One of them floated beside her. Without hesitation, Greshina reached out and pressed her fingertip against the edge of the fan.
It pierced her skin.
Ely felt the sheer resistance behind that action. This wasn't something simple. Greshina's body wasn't something that could be injured easily. The fact that she forced it meant something. A single drop of black blood formed at the tip of her finger. The moment it touched the ground, purple mist erupted from that point. Greshina reached into her inventory and pulled out a scythe.
It was a simple, bone-white weapon with a curved blade. She held it for a moment before lowering it into the mist. The mist swirled violently now. It twisted around the scythe, forming something out of nothing.
The mist began to take shape. Slowly, a woman emerged from within it.
She knelt the moment her form stabilized with one knee touching the ground and her head lowered in submission. Her hand rested on the handle of the scythe, which now felt like it belonged to her. She wore black robes that draped naturally over her frame. Her hair was dark, falling over her shoulders in soft strands and her skin was gray. There was no sense of hostility from her.
Ryan staggered back a step.
"No way. Evelyn?"