Story 1

Long ago, in ages past, there were the Three Brothers of Death. These three men were the Kings of all, and widely worshiped by mortals. The Three Brothers of Death were Cremation, Decay, and Deathitself. All three were powerful yet the eldest brother, Deathitself, was the strongest of all of them. The eldest death was known as the King of the Gods, even if he had long since given up his throne to another. One day the God of Life, the new King of the Gods, ordered the Three Brothers or Death to marry the Three New Deities of Life. None of the brothers were happy about this, the Three Deaths were enraged, however they had no choice in the matter.

So, Cremation married the God named Crow, Decay married the Goddess named Avi, and Deathitself was to marry the Prince of the Gods. The first two weddings went as planned, with Crow and Avi being wed to the Brothers of Death. However, on the night before their wedding the prince struck a deal with Death Itself. The prince did not wish to marry Death Itself, he wished to live his own life. So he and Death Itself made a deal. This deal would allow the prince to go to the mortal plane and live 1 life as a human, his life was not to be ended by a deity or magical being and Death Itself was to ensure that the life was a long one. In return for this mortal life of freedom, the prince would behave himself and marry Death Itself without issue and then continue to be well behaved after their wedding.

Deathitself agreed to this, wishing to at least have a well behaved spouse. So the deal was struck and Deathitself sent the prince's soul into the body of a mortal boy, keeping the prince's body safe within the temple of Deaths. The Prince of the Gods was born into the most powerful royal mortal family, a family that worshiped the Three Deaths and were well favored by the Eldest Death. It was now that the Prince's mortal life began, with no memories of his true self as a God. Deathitself kept a close eye on the prince, often watching and interfering with the prince's life in order to keep him safe. It was because of this constant watch and interference that the prince saw Death Itself.

The prince did not know that this God was his fiancé, nor did he know of his previous feelings of indifference towards him.

All the young mortal boy knew was that Death Itself was a curious creature and the prince wanted to know more about him. So it began that the prince started to watch Deathitself. Every time the powerful deity was around the prince, he would see that their eyes would meet and that the boy would smile. So Deathitself knew that the boy was aware of his presence. One night, while the prince slept, the Eldest Death entered his room and watched him quietly. The prince, perhaps sensing his presence, awoke from his sleep and saw Death Itself before him. The boy quickly flew out of bed and rushed to Death Itself, clinging to his robes and starting to ask many questions. The Eldest Death was confused, but found this amusing so he stayed and entertained the boy.

When morning came Deathitself had to leave, which made the young Prince upset to the point of tears. In an attempt to calm the child Deathitself agreed to come visit him again and to continue watching over him. The prince's mood changed instantly at this, and he happily made the God promise to do so. So for many years, enough for the small child of 8 to become 18, that Deathitself would visit the boy at night regularly and the two would spend the time talking. It was during these 10 years that the prince began to fall in love with the God, and he continued to fall deeper and deeper in love with him.

However the blissful years would not last, and finally they came to an end on the prince's 19th birthday. Deathitself had come to visit at night again, only to find the boy laying in bed with tears falling down his face. He was to be married to another, the prince of the neighboring kingdom. He didn't wish to marry, at least not with this other person. Out of fear of losing the God he had become so close to, and being taken away by another, the prince begged the Eldest Death to take him away. To marry him, to stay with him, or to at least take the prince into his domain so the boy may stay by the God's side. Death Itself wasn't shocked, for he knew of the boy's feelings for him. It was then that Death Itself realized that he too loved the prince, too much to lose him to another. However Deathitself could not do as the prince asked, for if he did then the deal would be broken and Deathitself would lose the prince forever. So the God denied the crying mortal his wish, not giving a reason as to why he would do such a thing. The prince did not know of his past life, or the deal that he had made with the God, so he became more bereaved than ever and fell into a deep depression when the God stopped visiting him after that night. Death Itself would remain close to the prince, watching and protecting him, however he no longer allowed the mortal to see him nor did he visit the prince at night.

Knowing that the prince's mortal life would be over in a short time, for 60 years is not long for the Gods, and that once his mortal life came to a natural end he could wed his beloved, helped to sooth the God's aching heart and soul. Deathitself did what he could to distract himself from the pain of knowing that the prince would marry another, however he could not stop the rage that came during the prince's wedding. The Prince's mortal husband was enraged when his spouse would not love him, worse still when the boy would not even sleep in the same bed as him. In his rage the husband decided to kill the Prince, thinking that the boy had a lover and was unfaithful.

Deathitself wasnt aware of the upcoming murder, for he was kept busy with multiple mortal wars that he and his brothers were needed for. Nor was Death Itself aware that the King of the Gods knew about his deal with the prince, and that he did not wish for his son to marry the Elder Death. Rather he was hoping that the prince would be able to rid the king of Death Itself permanently.

Seeing that the boy had fallen in love with the God of Death, the king created a new plan. He would bring his son back to the God Plane and marry him to another God, a God of the Sky. So he controlled the mind of the prince's mortal husband and distracted Death Itself that fateful night. It was on the night of the new moon that the husband approached the prince while he slept, a knife raised in order to kill him.

*That's it for this story for now. I'm working on writing the full version of it.

- Moki-Mori *