CHAPTER 1

-Chaos-

Yama, Dohn, Supay, Thanatos, Macaria, Keres, Mania, and Mors are just some of the few names given to me throughout the millennia. Most people, however, call me Death. I am neither he nor she, God nor Goddess; I am all. If you are confused by such phenomena, it is only customary that you refer to me by the pronoun of your choosing. No need to feel uncomfortable. This is a story of my beginning and infinite eternity as the Reaper of Souls.

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In the beginning there was chaos. From this chaos; the all-powerful Gaia (Earth) emerged. And from Gaia, Ouranos spontaneously appeared as the Starry Heavens.  The two Gods created many beings over time including three sets of prominent creatures—the Titans, the Cyclopes’, and the Hundred-handers. While many believe I was birthed from these early gods, such myths are highly incorrect. Much like the spontaneous production of Gaia, I, too, was created from chaos when the need arose. With the legendary castration of the mighty Ouranos, I came into this world. While his very unfortunate mishap didn’t result in death, it was clear to the universe that death was a possibility—or, rather, the idea of death. However, it was that day that I discovered a piece of my purpose.

After the son of Ouranos, Cronos, cut off his father’s gonads, he threw the remains into a nearby lake. As the severed testicles flew through the air in what seemed like slow motion, they glowed with an energy I knew only I could see. I followed their migration through the air like a cat tracking a fly. I was transfixed. I didn’t know why my body was eagerly moving closer to the mutilated scrotum haphazardly floating in the murky water, but somehow my body knew more than I did. Against my will, I touched it. Immediately, I felt a power like none other—a power stronger than the power of any God or Goddess. The power I felt, for lack of better words, is something we’ve come to understand as… a Soul. When Cronos castrated his father, he essentially cut off a piece of Ouranos’ Soul. How’s that for symbolism?

Upon retracting my hand, the Soul stuck to me. As I held it in my hand and inspected it, I could see… color. Not just one color, but all colors. As I transferred it from one hand to another to get a better look at it, I could feel and see it start to change. I was so hypnotized by the beauty of the Soul’s power that I neglected to notice its transformation. When I first held the Soul, it smelled of almond and bark. As I continued to examine it, faint smells of cherry and lavender started to emerge. With no real thought as to what I was doing, I kneeled down and carefully placed the renovated Soul back into the floating testicles. Immediately a white foam began to bubble and form around the flesh. As I watched the foam grow, a life form surfaced—a beauty like no other, golden hair, blue eyes, soft caramel skin, lips the perfect shade of berry… and a faint smell of cherry and lavender. It was the Goddess Aphrodite.

It was on that day that I revealed a necessary characteristic of my purpose in this universe. Not only am I the Reaper of Souls (something I only shortly after discovered), but I am the Resurrector of new ones.

Life After Death