Brennan and Death

Brennan stood on a hill in the realm of the gods, looking down at Earth and all of its people. His sister appeared in a flurry of feathers beside him, her messy brown hair catching almost all of them. Her long yellow dress billowed out around her as they both stared. He had developed a certain resentment for her over the years but he couldn’t bring himself to hate her. She was his sibling after all. 

She had bracelets adorning her wrists and crystals hanging from her ears. The crystals looked new, maybe she still had a follower among the humans after all, or perhaps she had simply found them on one of her many visits. The latter seemed more likely considering the fact that humans had all but forgotten the old gods. They were now myths and fables but they still had work to do. 

“I had a prayer today.” 

“Oh?” He said with fake interest, he also had a human that still prayed to him. A long distant relative of the family he’d cursed for locking him up all those years ago. 

The man always asked for forgiveness for his family’s actions with a bunch of lies that he would have never done that to him. It was nonsense really and the curse persisted. He could always hear the man, in the back of his mind. He had learned to tune him out. 

“She found out that one of her ancestors used to worship me and decided to give it a shot, her words not mine, I gifted her a child. She thanked me. It was nice to be thanked.” 

Brennan just nodded, he didn’t care for this story. He knew that she could tell, just by his pursed lips. “Have you been down there recently?” She asked. 

He shook his head, the three scars adorning the left side of his forehead seemed to burn. “You know how I feel about humans.” He said in reference of his imprisonment. 

“It has been a long time since then. I think you should go down there, take a look at them.” He scowled at her but he knew it was the only way to shut her up, so he jumped off the ledge and spread his wings. He landed somewhere in Britain and his form rapidly shifted to a human disguise. 

Before his human disguise was not unlike his godly one, but now his purple skin faded to tan, his black curly hair laid flat against his head, his scars faded slightly, and his purple and black eyes turned to human looking ones that were a very dark brown. Almost black. His cape turned into a coat and his shirt turned to some kind of formal wear. His pants to denim and his shoes to boots. 

He stuck his hands in his new coats pockets and headed down the dark street until he found a pub, he slipped in silently through the crowd of drunken patrons and stopped in front of the bar. A weary old bartender greeted him with what could have been a genuine smile. “What can I get for you lad?” 

“A gin and tonic please.” 

“Coming right up.” 

As the bartender worked on his drink, he stared out across the bar. He could see the lives of these humans if he wanted to, but instead he opted for watching them make fools of themselves in various ways. A man got a drink poured over his head, a woman stepped on her dance partners toes, another woman was nearly in tears as her boyfriend broke up with her, and a haughty businessman hoped that the girl he was chatting with wouldn’t notice the imprint of a ring on his middle finger. 

“Here you go sir.” The bartender said behind him, offering him his drink. 

He took it from him with a tight lipped smile and took a sip. It was good for human alcohol, the man certainly knew what he was doing. A little of his old benevolence appeared and with a wave of his hand he eased some of the old man’s arthritis. It wasn’t a cure or a reward, merely a thank you for a job well done. Though he figured the man wouldn’t notice until he got home that night. 

Brennan felt a thick familiar presence at his side and a cool voice said “That was uncharacteristically nice of you.” 

He turned to find death, not the new bumbling idiot, but the old god, standing there with a barely concealed smirk on his face. He was ghostly pale with long slender fingers. His eyes were a light milky gray and he wore a dark blue turtleneck, which took away some of the grandeur from the retired man. “Death.” He said to him. 

“Brennan.” He greeted. 

The bartender, who had come back over their way, brightened at the sight of Death and greeted him in a jovial tone “Harald! Nice to see you.” 

Death smiled at him in return, looking at him up and down. “Hello Marvin. You’re looking better.” 

“I think it’s this new medication I’m on.” Marvin said. “It’s definitely put a spring in my step.” He chuckled then refocused back on his job. “Whisky for you then?” 

“You know me all too well.” 

Marvin wandered off down the bar and Death turned back to him. “Harald?” He asked with a tilt of his head. 

“A preferred moniker. You can use it if you’d like.” 

Brennan took another sip of his drink “I think I will. It suits you better then Death now, doesn’t it?” 

“I guess so. Tell me, why are you here?” 

He scoffed as Marvin came back and offered Harald a glass. “Magpie told me to come. Did you two set this up?“ 

“I haven’t spoken to your sister in years, this was a chance meeting.” He took a sip of his own drink. “I am surprised you took her advice though. Usually you have such contempt for them.” He gestured across the crowded bar with a sweep of his hand. 

“Well she wouldn’t shut up otherwise.” 

“That does sound like you.” 

“Tell me Harald,” He said with narrowed eyes “You could have gone anywhere after retirement. Why here? Why live amongst them?” 

Harald shrugged once, looking out over the flushed faces of the people surrounding them. “I would only meet them in death, I could see their life before me but I never experienced any of it for myself. I wanted to see what it was like when they weren’t at their lowest point, in pain or otherwise.” 

Brennan hummed, finishing his drink. “I guess that makes sense for you.” 

“You think they’re all the same Brennan, but you’re wrong. We see their lives but we do not know what goes into it.” 

He set his drink down on the bar and pointed across the room where a woman with long straight red hair in a green tank top and shorts was staring at bearded man across the table from her. She was resting her chin on her hand, elbow on the table. She didn’t seem to notice anyone else but him. 

“I can tell just by looking at her that she will marry the man in front of her. They will be together for nearly forty years before she is killed in a car accident. She will be a kind mother and her children will miss her terribly when she’s gone but how can I truly know her unless I go up to her and say hello?” 

He fought the urge to roll his eyes, even without his cloak and scythe, Harald was still powerful and a fight would not be a good idea. “I thought it was your job to be an impartial judge.” 

“That got boring my friend, that is why I retired.” 

Brennan just asked for another gin and tonic, nose scrunched. He didn’t turn around again until a familiar woman was making her way across the bar to them. She had white hair down to her shoulders but a youthful face, with bright green eyes and a blue checkered dress. She took one of Harold’s hands into her own and pressed a feather light kiss to his cheek. 

“Life?” He asked in disbelief. 

She turned to him with eyebrows furrowed in confusion before her face softened in recognition. “Brennan!” She stepped away from Harald to clasp his hands in hers. “It’s been so long, you looked different when I last saw you.” 

Her saying that pulled up a distant memory from before his imprisonment, back when he was rosy cheeked and emerald eyed. He was walking in the garden of the gods when he saw her, sitting in the grass weaving something together with nimble fingers. Her hair was longer then, nearly down to her waist, and she was wearing a long light green dress that didn’t cover her vine entwined feet. 

He remembered how she looked up at him, her sparkling green eyes nearly hidden under the blooming flower crown that rested on her head. Butterflies swarmed her as she patted the ground next to her, clearly offering that spot for him to sit down. It turned out that she was making bracelets out of clover, she tried to teach him but he wasn’t any good so she gave him the bracelet she made and went on her way. 

Life “retired” sometime while he was imprisoned. She did not truly have any responsibilities to uphold, the cycle of life and death kept going as long she was alive and didn’t matter where she was in the world as long as she still breathed. He was shaken out of his thoughts by a question she asked. 

“What are you doing here in the mortal realm, do you have business here?” 

Brennan shook his head “No, I am only here for a visit.” She smiled at him before letting go of one of his hands and pushing back his hair. “Where did you get these?” She asked while tracing his scars. 

He swallowed thickly “That’s a story for another time.”

She took a step back “And I hope to hear it. For now, I have business on the other side of town. I only came to say hello.” She kissed Harald’s cheek again and went on her way. That was when he noticed the glint of a ring on his friends finger. 

“You married her?”

“Yes I did.” 

“But you’re so different.” 

“Not entirely. We both love mortals, all the creatures of earth really, we just saw them at different stages of being.” He finished his drink and asked Marvin for another. Once he had his new drink in hand he sighed “She makes me happy and I try to do the same for her.” 

He was about to comment on that when he turned to look him straight in the eye. “Have you ever been in love Brennan?” 

He opened his mouth then closed it. He couldn’t think of a response so he tried to dig into his memories, he had loved a lot of things, too many things, and he struggled to think of one god or mortal he loved more then all of the rest. One that was particularly special. 

When the answer hit him he felt almost winded and his friend smiled knowingly “Who was it?” 

He thought of him, the wisp of a god with shining white eyes. His form so ghostly he could almost be mistaken for a spirit. “Spector.” 

It was now Harald’s turn to be surprised “The ferryman?” 

Spector was the ferryman of souls, Death was the judge but he was the one who would sail them across the endless mist to the fate that Death had assigned to them. Either to become his reapers for awhile and experience reincarnation, or to go on to their afterlife in the library of the gods. Spector had many names, the ferryman, the traveler, the ghost king, the sailor. 

He used to sit with him in his boat and talk to him for hours. At the time he thought he was being charming but he was likely annoying. Still, he had been fascinated by him and his wispy form. When he spoke his voice was soft and low, almost ancient sounding. He felt his heart jump just by thinking about it. 

Brennan shook himself out of his thoughts “Yes. I doubt he’d speak to me now.” 

Harald had another knowing smile on his face as he got up and threw on his coat. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that my friend, it doesn’t hurt to try.” Then he was gone again, swept through the crowd as if he weren’t an ancient god. He’d paid his bill at least. 

He didn’t stick around for much longer after he left. He just paid his bill and went off into the night, hands in his pockets once again. He thought long and hard about their conversation and the appearance of Life. Somehow it had eased his pain, just a little bit. 

Brennan shifted back to his godlike form and spread his wings, flying back to the hillside. He almost felt lighter on the way back.