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Mortal.
Perhaps it is because she is the only mortal to ever step foot in my home, and likely the last. Or perhaps, it is because so few mortals ever look upon me.
They know when I am coming for them. They can feel my presence in their final moments, but they do not know me but for a brief moment.
Her presence here is as strange to me as I am undoubtedly to her. It suddenly strikes me that I am becoming sentimental toward her.
Her. A creature of such insignificance. she is but a fleeting moment in the great expanse of time, despite what the Fates may say otherwise.
With a deep sigh, I push my feelings aside, allowing indifference to fill its place.
It should be a relief that she will be the last and only mortal to step foot here. My palace, my realm, would not survive the test of time if there were others.
Especially, if they were all like her. Her cheerful optimism in the face of certain death ... it throws off the entire atmosphere of my sanctuary.
Death is a cold, cruel thing. I should know.
IamDeath.
I have spent my entire existence embracing it. I have cloaked myself in darkness, forgotten what warmth feels like.
And yet here she is, bringing the very thing into my home.
Should my palace not be a true reflection of myself? I do not know how to process the way her sunlight seems to melt away the very shadows that make up my being.
It does not matter. I will not have to endure it for long.
She is mortal, after all, and we have a deal. Nothing more, nothing less, exists between us.
One month of sunshine will do little to thaw an eternity of darkness.
I am simply playing the part of a good host. It is my job to keep watch over her soul, until our deal is complete.
That is all.
"You need not fear me," I say, rising from the stool. "Not yet, not before your time has come. Now, if you will excuse me, I have business to attend to."
She does not say anything, my presence clearly unsettling her.
As it should.
"My name is Hazel," the girl whispers, giving me pause. I had not expected to hear her voice again so soon.
Not knowing how else to react, I simply nod once to excuse myself and turn toward the kitchen door. If I am to watch over her soul until the next moonless night, it seems I will have to make myself scarce. I will not have her living in constant fear of me until then.
My brow knits together at this, surprised by the strength of my desire for her to be comfortable here.
"Please, what am I to do all day?" the girl asks, her voice quiet.
I turn to look at her, finding her eyes wide and uncertain as she looks at me. I frown, wondering why she would feel the need to ask me this. Do mortals now require a keeper for the structure of their days as well?
I consider her question for a long moment, before finally deciding on an answer.
"What is it that you would like to do with your time here?"
Her mouth opens, but no words find their way past her lips. She blinks, her brow furrowing as she closes her mouth again. She looks almost as confounded by my question as I was hers.
How strange.
