Welcome to Gaia! ::

There was a shock of coldness running through my body, and I puzzled at it as I drifted on the waves of sleep, wondering if this was how all humans felt when they slept. The feeling of falling pressing heavily on my body, a sensation I had never known before being sent away from Hell. Something crashed close by me, and I could hear yelling on the distant fringes of my mind. It wasn’t important, though, at least not to me. Roxanne could deal with it; that’s what she was here for after all. I smiled sleepily and rolled over onto my back.

When the noises persisted, I finally opened my eyes. For a moment, Roxanne’s form was blurry as she stared down at me, her expression the very semblance of fury. I grinned up at her.

“What’s wrong, Rox?” I asked as she solidified in my line of sight.

She stabbed a finger at my face. “What did you do?”

“Fell asleep. I thought you said that was normal. People sleep; that’s what you said.”

“No. What. Did. You. Do?”

Her face was suddenly just inches above mine as she leaned over me, and I didn’t think that she could get angrier. I had often seen her upset; Roxanne appeared to be the kind of girl that got mad at the smallest things. But this was something else. She had never looked at me with such hate, since the day we had first met, and that was understandable.

“What?” I whined, trying to roll away from her, but she persisted, shoving her hands down on either side of my head and glaring at me.

“Tell me, Thann. This instant.”

I glowered up at her, deciding that two could play at her game. “Maybe you should tell me what you did?”

“Oh, please. I’m not the one with supernatural powers.”

“I lost my powers, remember? That’s the reason I’m here on your godforsaken planet.”

“No, being here is the reason you lost your powers.”

I blinked. “That’s what I said.”

“No, you said—never mind.” She leaned closer again. “Now, get up.”

“But you’re in the way.”

Her mouth opened and she shot backwards, her face flushing red as she realized how close we had gotten in proximity. I sat up, chuckling at her embarrassment, and climbed out of the bed. I stood there, waiting patiently for Roxanne to regain her composure…and her fury. She walked over to me and grabbed my arm, forcefully pulling me out of the room.

“You know,” I said as she dragged me down the hallway and towards the front door. “I’m not going to run off. You can release me.”

She glanced back at me and finally let go. We stopped in front of the door and she threw it open, leading the way outside.

“Do you see something wrong, Thann?” she asked, looking at me again.

I looked around. “No.”

She swung her hand up in an arc, and my eyes followed the swing of her arm…and then I realized what the problem was. I smiled, happy that I had figured it out. I pointed up at the sky. “The moon is gone.”

She stared at me, aghast, as her arm dropped back down to her side. “The moon is gone?”

I looked up again. Maybe I had missed it during my quick sweep of the sky before, but…no, I still couldn’t find it anywhere. “It is,” I said, returning my gaze to her. “It’s not there.”

She didn’t move or say anything for a long moment, then, “What time is it?”

I blinked, slightly baffled at this sudden change in subject, but glanced down at the digital watch Roxanne had given me about a month ago. “It’s 10:35,” I replied.

“AM.”

“Okay.”

There was another moment of complete silence before Roxanne spoke again, “And what does that mean?”

“Ante meridiem, before noon,” I said, happy with my knowledge, but by Roxanne’s irritated expression, I decided that maybe I had gotten it wrong after all. My understanding of human things wasn’t the best, but that I thought I had known.

“It means that it’s morning, Thann. And when it’s morning, what should be out right now?”

I glanced around again. “Birds, early morning joggers, kids going to school…” I trailed off as Roxanne shook her head, exasperation clear on her face. She swung her arm in the same arc as before, motioning towards the sky. I looked up, studying it closely. Nothing—besides the missing moon—seemed out of place to me. The stars were still there, and sure, it looked darker than usual even for night…oh. I glanced at Roxanne.

“The sun. Morning means the sun comes out, and it’s not here.”

“Yes. God, Thann, you’re dumber than you look.” Roxanne watched me for a moment, her hands on her hips. “Now, what are you going to do to fix this?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Your being here has caused this to happen, and it is your responsibility to undo it.”

I looked askance at her. “No, my responsibility is to kill people; that has absolutely nothing to do with the sun.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit,” Roxanne said, her voice rising in anger.

She winced slightly when she realized that other people who had come to gawk at the sky were looking in our direction. She hunched her shoulders and turned her back on them, trying to look inconspicuous, but it seemed to me that she had the opposite effect. Some of the people were craning their necks to see what was going on, while others just stared impassively at us. I grinned at them and waved. Roxanne scowled at me and smacked my hand down.

“Stop that,” she hissed.

“Why? I was just trying to be friendly.”

Her expression darkened. “No one is in the mood, Thann. We are in the middle of a crisis, and people are worried so stop acting like it doesn’t matter.”

“But I don’t think—.”

“No. Don’t say a word,” she said, holding her hand up.

I fell silent.

Roxanne just stood there for a moment, her hand still in the air, and then finally she focused her gaze on me and lowered her arm. “Now,” she said. “What are you going to do?”

“I already told you—.”

“No. You have to do something, Thann. You’re the only supernatural being that I know, so you’re the only one that I can ask for help.”

Anger warred with humor inside of me. I was pissed that Rox wouldn’t even let me finish a sentence, and yet the fact that she was actually asking me for help was just too funny. I couldn’t decide, though, how to react, so instead I just stood there, watching her.

She frowned, her forehead creasing. “Well?”

“Well…” I glanced away from her. “That is probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

“What?”

I nodded my head as I looked back at her. “Mhm. Rox, you do realize that you asked for my help, right?”

“Yes,” she said, sounding like she was prepared to kill me.

“Well, then I’m sure you see the humor in this situation.”

“No. I don’t.”

I paused, studying her face, but it would appear that she was very serious. I guess she really liked the sun, though I couldn’t really see the appeal. It was just a glaring ball of light and heat and energy. I closed my eyes, a small smile crossing my lips. I much preferred the cool intensity of the dark, the glistening, milky glow of the moon. Yes, that was so much better than baking in the sun, squinting in its glare.

My eyes snapped open at the sudden pain in my shoulder, and I turned my startled face to Roxanne whose fist was still pressed against me.

“You had better wipe that smile off your face, Thann,” she said.

“You know, Rox? For someone who hates me because I kill people, you certainly are a violent person.”

“Punching is not the same thing as killing.”

I nodded my head thoughtfully. “That’s true. There’s no beauty in simply whacking someone. It’s neither graceful nor elegant.”

Roxanne drew her fist back and punched me again.

“See?” I said, my voice taking on a whiny quality. “That was just ugly. And at least I have a reason for what I do.”

She snorted. “Yeah, someone tells you to kill and you do. I don’t really count that as a reason. That’s just you being a mindless follower.”

I frowned. She really didn’t understand the delicate order of things. It wasn’t as if I could just refuse to do my job. After all, even the tiniest bit of disobedience had been grounds for indefinite banishment, so what would happen if I were to outright refuse to kill humans anymore? Surely, I would be replaced, and since there can’t be two Deaths in existence at one time, I would be…well, I couldn’t be sure of that. I didn’t know if I could die. At one point I would have instantly said that it was impossible, but after having lived on earth for months, my ideas were starting to change. Maybe I could die.

“Now,” Roxanne was saying. “Let’s get back to the main topic and stop jumping around on these rabbit trails. The sun. Fix it. Find it. Bring it back. Whatever.”

“I don’t know anything about the sun, Roxanne. I don’t know what you expect me to do.”

“Well, you can start by figuring out what the hell happened to it.” Her voice was quiet, but I could hear the barely constrained frustration brimming behind her level tone. “If you can figure that out, it should be easier to solve the problem.”

“But I don’t--”

“No.” She held up her hand. “You can’t start with an attitude of doubt. Nothing will be accomplished then. Got it?”

“What are you going to do? Take a nap?”

Her eyes narrowed considerably. “If you can’t recall for yourself, let me remind you. I’ve been working my a** off trying to find a way to get you back to Hell. Remember that? Or are you so caught up on her sorrows and woes that you’ve completely overlooked the fact that I’m helping you. And it only makes sense that you return the favor.”

Well, she did have a point there. I couldn’t very well refuse her when she had agreed to help me, but that knowledge didn’t make this any easier. I really didn’t have any idea what I was supposed to be doing. I was just as limited as she was. I was practically human now. The only thing that separated me from her was my past and knowledge. Aside from those, what differences were there?

“Thann.”

I turned my attention to her.

“Do you want me to help make up your mind?”

I wasn’t so sure that I actually wanted that, but I nodded agreement anyway.

“Without the sun, lots and lots and lots of people are going to die,” she said, speaking slowly as if that were the only way for me to understand what she was saying. “Humans need the sun to live. Otherwise, earth is going to get very, very cold, and we can’t survive in such extreme temperatures. Understand?”

“Why would I care about that? I kill people.”

“Well, first, if everyone’s dead, who are you going to kill? Second, there’s probably an eighty percent chance that you’ll die right along with us. Third, if for some reason those first two don’t scare you enough, who’s going to help you get back to Hell if I’m dead?”

Yes, that was a problem.