CENTURIES AGO - PART VI

"HOW LONG ARE YOU guys going to do paperwork?" Niccolo complained.

Vox Dei was arriving, which automatically meant it was the busiest day of the year for them. At least, for her and Helio. Niccolo had managed to get permission to be absent from both of them after years of persevering, so now he was just lying on Helio's couch while they were busy writing behind their desks. Helio's rooms were simple, but Delilah always preferred being here instead of in her own home. The castle she had been gifted was gorgeous, but even after all of these years, the towers she was supposed to spin the souls in still felt like a prison at times. After moving in with Helio she didn't have that problem anymore, but he always had had a calming effect on her somehow.

Their desks were opposite each other in the living room, both spilling over with paperwork. Niccolo frequently came over, mostly because he was evading all his own responsibilities. Besides, even if he denied it, he had become friends with Helio and getting a reaction out of the Reaper had become his new favorite game. She played the same game, but the stakes were more in her favor. After all, Helio had proposed to her a century ago, her answer one she had never hesitated about.

They weren't married yet, but they still had en eternity to go, so there was no rush. Five centuries already they had known each other and they had been the most peaceful years of her life. Sometimes she still felt the effects of being locked up for so long, her nightmares all about her mother pulling her back into that tower again. But she couldn't, Helio reassured her, he never would let her. They were both stronger than her mother, but either way it didn't matter that much, because her mother had disappeared completely ever since she had broken free.

Niccolo threw a pillow at her then, interrupting her thoughts. "Are you skipping Vox Dei again this year?"

"Yeah," she said," so I'm up for whatever strange plan you have concocted this year, Nico."

"Don't break anything this year," Helio warned.

"It's fine," Niccolo grinned," we have you to help clean it up after all."

"I will not."

"You will so."

"Okay, you're right, I will. But I'll be complaining about it, so be prepared for that."

Delilah chuckled, continuing the work so they could be finished on time. Vox Dei was more a formality than anything else, after all every problem that was to be solved was always sent to them beforehand. After her display of power at her inauguration, most of them were still scared of her, to the point where they didn't dare to speak to her. It wasn't because they thought Helio was weaker, but they certainly did think she was crazier. Honestly, they were right.

Still, there wasn't much use for her being there when they were too scared to look her in the eye. It wasn't like she enjoyed Vox Dei anyway, the whole formality just extra work on top of everything they already had to do. Helio complained about the tradition as well, but he would never dishonor it, his sense of duty so strong at times that Delilah was almost jealous of it. She never had been prepared for anything like this, so to her, the Soulweaver position had always been more of a way to be free rather than her birthright. Perhaps she would've been kinder and more loyal to the cause if she had grown up otherwise, but she didn't care much for it. Without her youth she would never have been this sharp. Her naivety had been lost long ago, in that tower.

"What's wrong?"

She hadn't realized Helio was standing beside her until he spoke, his paperwork abandoned on his desk. Usually she'd brush any concerns off, but she never wanted to lie to Helio. He noticed her hesitation, offering her his hand as he waved at the balcony leading towards the garden on his left.

"Do you want to take a break?" he said.

She took his hand, the both of them turning towards Niccolo in a silent question for him to follow. He shook his head, fully focused on a shady tabloid which Fama published every week, the rumors always scandalous yet entertaining. Before they left he tapped the cover, his red hair sparking like fire on the frontpage as he was sprinting full speed at the photographer.

"ORACLE OF THE GODS AVOIDS ALL RESPONSIBILITIES AGAIN: ON PAGE 7 A LIST OF EVERYTHING HE DID INSTEAD OF HIS DUTIES."

"I made the cover again," Niccolo grinned.

"I'll talk to Fama," Helio frowned," why does she keep following you?"

"You're busy enough with Vox Dei, Helio," Delilah said, affectionately cupping his cheek before she turned towards her friend," I'll talk to her, Nico. I think she's forgotten how easily replaceable a god of rumors is."

"No, it's fine," Niccolo said," I like reading about the things I did yesterday. This feels like a diary."

Helio didn't seem quite convinced, but Delilah had already thought up the exact threats she was going to use on Fama as they nodded. Niccolo only said it was fine because he knew killing a god would add more paperwork for them and he didn't want to bother them. Despite the arrogant facade he put up, he was one of the most selfless people Delilah knew. His followers already bothered him enough, so some minor Greek goddess didn't need to add onto that.

"I can see your murder plans forming, Lilah," Helio chuckled as they entered the garden.

Colorful flowers bloomed amidst the richly green grass, the path leading them towards a fountain surrounded by statues of the previous Reapers. The sky changed with Helio's emotions, a vivid blue now, stars visible even though it was day.

"I just get protective," she said," you and Niccolo are the only two who truly matter to me."

"I understand," he said, raising their intertwined hands to his lips as he pressed a kiss on hers," you are my world."

"You're mine," she whispered, the both of them looking at each other in silence for a moment.

She pulled him along to sit down in front of the fountain, the grass tickling her legs as she leaned against Helio, her eyes wandering across the Reapers around them. Helio spoke first, his gaze trained on the castle.

"I remember growing up here and thinking it was normal to not be able to breathe." His hand grazed past his neck absentmindedly, as if he could still feel himself choking. "It's lonely, this job, the knowledge that I can't do anything wrong, because I'm supposed to be an example."

She squeezed his hand to indicate she understood, because she truly did, not speaking up as she waited for him to continue. Helio didn't often talk about himself, so when he did, she always took care to place the conversation in his hands, so he could decide what he wanted to say.

"When I saw you in that tower, you looked like an angel," he said, looking over at her," you still do. I don't know why it has always felt like you rescued me, but being with you makes me able to breathe again." A hint of a smile tugged at his lips then. "That was the first and only time I broke the rules, you know, while coming to visit you. It was a strange feeling."

"We have many more centuries to go," she chuckled," so many more rules to break." Her amusement faded into sincerity then, their gazes locking. "To be honest, it feels like you rescued me. You carry everything on your shoulders: your duties, your title, the pain of the dying. It makes me want to take your hand and run away, because I want you to be free as well. You, out of all people, deserve that the most."

"Freedom wouldn't suit me," Helio said softly," I don't think I'm the right person for that."

"It would," Delilah said," but I know you would never run away from your responsibilities and that too is one of the reasons I love you. Just know that I am here and that I want to take some of the burden from you."

"Lilah," he said, so affectionately that it almost felt like a kiss.

She cupped his face in her hands, the ache of lost souls seeping through her fingers. It was one she was accustomed with herself, but not to the extent of which Helio felt it. After all, she always had been more intertwined with the living than the dead. Gently she pressed her forehead against his, closing her eyes as she dulled the pain for him. In the silence of the garden, it felt like time stopped.

When he pulled back after what felt like an eternity, his eyes were glittering with galaxies, focused on her like she was his sun.

"I love you, Lilah," he said," to death and back. I would do anything for you."

She leaned in and he kissed her, the both of them falling on the grass as flowers tangled in her hair.

"I love you too, Helio," she whispered against his lips.