• three hundred and fifty six years i have lived since making that deal, but you're the single worst person I've ever heard about. I've shook hands with Hitler that fateful day when he tried to pass the exam at the art school, I've seen London burning, ruined and dishonoured many times, yet you are the worst there is to man. It's almost poetic, you know?

The woman shook her head, moving a stray lock of hazelnut hair out of her face. She didn't look a second over twenty five, yet the deep colour of her eyes was giving out her true age.

• why did you do this? What were you trying to achieve? World domination? Fame? What was the purpose of this senseless slaughter?

A man stood up from his hi-tek chair, that sank into the floor a moment later, and walked around the desk before him. With a snap of his fingers the shutters on a panoramic window behind him closed, leaving the dim holographic screen the only source of light in the room for a brief moment, as an ambient light slowly lit up the walls, impenetrable to bullet or sound.

• my dear nemesis, - he started his speech - you know me like no one else in this world. Together we took our vows, shared the sunrise of a day our son has died because of human malice, together we have faced the injustice of the people we have once called "friends", and together we have took upon the offer of eternity, even though it separated us until the day the death shall bring us repose. We've seen, heard and felt everything the world could offer us, we've drawn blood and soothed the afflicted, we have witnessed one calamity after another, and i have grown tired. Unlike you, - he smirked - I didn't lie dormant for fifty years, even though it was me who sent you into slumber. Yes, all that which you have seen upon awakening was indeed caused by me, indeed, it was I who has done it to those people. It is I, the sole god of this land, - the sarcasm in his voice was blatant - who has shown the people what a man shall never become, what one shall never do. The revolt against me, the one that lead to countless deaths of people, was also orchestrated by me. I wanted them to feel powerless, hopeless, and for myself to become the perfect villain to a heroic saviour of this world.

A chill ran down the Woman's spine. She has heard these words before, way back, before the war, spoken by the same man who was now standing before her, with an ornate sword in his hand.

• This, my dear, is the part where you come in.

• Why are you doing this? - a sole tear traced a line on her face, her calm facade giving in to pain.

• To show the world the evil they shall not wake. And, - with another snap he turned on a camera, emerging from the wall - to make you, my love, a Goddess. This camera will broadcast my execution to the whole planet, and my death will release all locks in this tower. You will be set free, alongside the captives held on the 5th floor, and will be cherished more than the second coming of Christ. Let's finish this play, the actors need their rest.

• Wait, there should be another way-

He turned the handle of the sword towards Her. The line on the screen behind him changed from "offline" to "setting up broadcast". The handle fit Her hand perfect, as if it was made for her. He put on a tattered shirt, took a dagger from the wall and took a fighting stance. The line changed once more, now to spell "on air".

• The choice is made. Die, you foolish mortal, you're no match for a god!

• Stop, it shouldn't-

He has rushed towards her, with a blade in his hand. The sword has gone through His chest like a block of butter, his hand flying past Her face, following the momentum of the body. There was no fountain of blood, no blood-chilling scream of the damned, only a faint smile on a face, that camera couldn't see.

• Do you remember the rules of our deal, honey? - The Woman's voice, to the surprise of the defeated, was growing more faint with each word - One shall not touch another, 'till Death embraces us both. And of all weapons, you chose a fucking sword. You were always a half-ass, a damn joke...

Her body fell to the ground before his eyes, as fear has taken whatever was left of his heart. "It shouldn't have ended this way", thoughts raced through His head, "what did go wrong?"

And then he noticed a small bruise on Her cheek, where his palm met her face. ":Qiqi_fallen:", the last thing a dying mind has conjured before the reaper's scythe took him away.

Hours later, the last warriors of the resistance have rushed in the room, only to find two dead bodies, a woman, with a sword in her hand, and a tyrant, with a mask of dismay on his face. The universe doesn't care for the hubris of men, and it did not care for the ambition of a single soul's ego. The deal has been fulfilled, and the rising sun has marked a start of a new era for people of Earth, whose suffering was, in the end, for nothing.

"You know, we've only talked a few times."

"We can talk. My hearing isn't very well, you'll have to come closer."

I smiled. Her humor has always been weirdly comforting, or maybe that was her voice. I don't know. I just knew I liked hearing her speak.

I don't know what she is, exactly. I'm sure she's human, like me, but her and I are both immortal. I looked at her fingers creep around the rusting, metal bars that I spent months constructing. Another one of my traps, of course, her one weakness is that her supernatural devotion to killing me doesn't allow her to think logically. She follows wherever I go, sometimes I feel bad for exploiting it.

"This tunnel will be submerged in water within the next coming week, the caves will erode and collapse, I think you'll be in here for at least another century if not more. Aren't you curious about what I'm like? Don't you wanna have a conversation?" I questioned her, moving in such a way that she could see my face and I could see hers. I found it astonishing how beautiful she looked for her age. I understand that immortality keeps us young, but her grace was in no way less surprising.

I'm a fool for getting lost in such beautiful, murderous eyes.

"You of all people understand that any fraction of time means nothing to an eternal soul. These mere inconsequential moments you buy yourself are worthless. It'll all be forgotten in the end."

I pondered on her words, it's true, I found no lasting connection in my time on Earth. A rather bleak life for someone who has endless opportunities. All those who I find comfort in, I watch die. I watch my cities rise and fall, it becomes a repetitive bore after a while.

Why I was offered this deal in the first place, I don't know. I assume death- what I call my hunter- has done this before. I gave up trying to find an explanation the more I learned that everything in this universe runs on a cycle. I can only assume she had hunted an endless amount of other men in other worlds, in other times, what I do know is that everything balances out eventually.

Regression toward the mean and all.

I sighed, perhaps I'll try to talk to her again once she escapes her circumstances, waiting one thousand years is an easy task.

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