The First And The Last Forever

Written for the Second Indulgence, Prompt #16

How long had I been lying here, watching the stars turn, when I heard singing? Long enough that the rock I settled against had worn down several centimetres. But then, that happens much faster now, with the acid rain.
I sit up. Look around. This mountain top would’ve been desolate before the final war, but now it is no more barren and lifeless than the entire rest of the planet. And has a good view of the sky. Which is all that remains worth looking at. The only thing not choked by stinging ash.
Not now, at least. I’m glad the atmosphere settled down eventually. It was a very tedious eternity, sitting on ashy rubble, ash swirling overhead, the air filled with endless acidic ash. All of creation painted the same dead grey.
The song continues. I don’t recognise it. Not the tune, not the words, not the voice. That last one does not surprise me, but… after seeing all of human civilisation, after walking the entire earth for these countless years, I can’t remember the last time I encountered music which felt novel to me. And I have spoken more languages than scholars imagined existed.
Perhaps I am hallucinating. Perhaps, after all this time utterly alone, I have finally gone mad. A thought that might, long ago, have concerned me. Now it is almost a relief.
But, just in case, I stand, dust myself off, and follow the singing. Along the rock ridge, down the slope, to where a stream trickles, still sounding merry despite the poison filling it.
The singer is sitting on the bank, dipping their toes in the water, seeming oblivious to how dangerous it is. They are inhumanely beautiful, in a way I have never seen before outside my own reflection. A way that is not quite alive.
“Oh!” They look up and smile at me. “There you are!”
They beckon, and I sit beside them. Mesmerised and lost.
I ask “Who are you?”
“I have many names. You know how it is, I’m sure.”
I nod. I do.
“But to you… I am Death.”
I blink. I scrutinise Death. “Where have you been?”
They laugh. “Everywhere you were, twin. But you couldn’t see me.”
“Twin?”
“You don’t know who you are.”
“Nobody knows. I’ve wandered the earth a million times, seeking a single clue.”
“Ah.” They nod. “You are Life. A human ideated you, and there you were. There you had always been. The Oldest. You came into being at the same time as the first living creature.”
“…What? How can simply imagining something cause it to exist? And how could I exist before I was imagined?”
“Imagination is a remarkable thing.” They wave a hand at the ravaged land below us. “It can change the world in all kinds of ways.”
“Hm.”
I am not sure I believe them. But I have no better explanation.
For a while we are silent. The sun rises, and sets, and rises again while I think. Think back to every person who tried to help me answer my question. All the guesses they had. How none seemed quite right. Is this one right?
Finally I ask “What about you?”
“The same. I came into being immediately after you, our births separated by a moment too wide to reach across yet too small to measure. And I have walked everywhere that you have. But we could never meet until now. You were the first, and you were always destined to be the last. Only once all life was gone could we be together. And then…”
They sigh. An aching pain creeps into their voice. “I lost you. In that moment, when the whole world burned, I was everywhere. And then… I was nowhere. And neither were you. I was alone. Alone, for the first time. I… I didn’t know what to do.”
Ah. I nod. I had felt the same, when it happened. After it happened. Suddenly out of place, in a way I had never felt before.
“At first I waited. Hoping your wandering would bring you to me. But then… I started wandering myself. Hoping to find you.” They hug their knees and smile at me. “And here we are.”
Here we are.
It’s funny - my whole existence, I’ve been searching. Trying to find answers. Trying to find what I could sense was missing.
Trying to die.
It’s what defines life, after all. Without it, I had not truly lived. The living are the living because they will one day be the dead. My unkillable state was unnatural. Unfinished. Half of a clap.
And now…
I look up at the sky. It hasn’t been blue since the end. I wonder if it will ever be blue again?
I ask “Are you in a hurry?”
They’re surprised. They rest their chin on their arms and consider. The sun sets, and rises, and sets again as they think.
Finally they say “I don’t think so. My work has lasted millennia. I have walked by your side and never counted the steps. I am not lonely anymore. I can wait.”
I smile. “I’m not lonely either, now. Being with you… I am at peace. And, after so long wandering, aching for you without knowing you… I would like to enjoy being together for a while.”
“Then I will wait, twin.” They smile back at me, and lean against me, and we relax. “And when you are ready, we will find what comes after. Together.”
I wrap an arm around their shoulders, and they start singing again. I still don’t recognise the tune, or the words. But I know that this song, unlike the last, is a happy song. A song of being where you should be.
We gaze out across the ravaged, lifeless, deathless world. Savouring what beauty remains. Together.

Prompt was “You cannot die. You are immortal and invincible. You have seen civilisations rise and fall. You know the true terrors of immortality. A final, terrible war has wiped out all life on your planet. You’ve been wandering alone for centuries, but then you meet someone. Someone like you. Someone who promises they can finally help you die.”

For other stories written for this prompt check here.