This is the Grim Reaper: Death Incarnate and his story begins at the dawn of time, during the creation of the universe. In the beginning there was nothing, absolutely nothing. And then there was the big bang that created the universe as we know it. When the universe was still in its infancy there was no balance.  The laws of physics were mere suggestions, and the concept of time was uncontrolled moving backward and forward at random, gravity would crush planets before they could form. Then the deities were born. The celestial creatures that humans labeled as “gods” brought control and balance to the universe. When the first forms of life came to be, Life herself was born. She brought beauty to the universe, and everything flourished and thrived in her presence. But every light casts a shadow. Death was born to bring balance to life. When the first life was lost, Life cried, and her sadness turned to anger, screaming at Death, “why? Why must you take them”. Death responded sorrowfully “I do it because I must, not because it brings me joy. I admire your beauty, every life has value and so I care for each and every soul I take. To you the souls simply disappear, but to me, they become a part of me. I feel their feelings, I see their memories as if they were my own. I feel their pain and their joy.”. Life’s anger changed to sympathy. Life came to understand Death’s purpose. As Death continued he began to not just value Life, but to treasure her. Death’s job was hard, but Life made it all worth it. But every soul death took, he felt like he was doing something wrong. 

Many millennia later (present day) Death came across a dog tied to a pole. The dog was barely a foot in size, and he had a golden fur coat;but it was caked in blood. There was a group of teenagers throwing rocks at the dog. The dog was still alive, but its left paw was broken, and there was a large dent on the right side of his skull. Death knew what he had to do, but something inside of him told him not to. It just felt wrong, this dog did nothing wrong, and even though he was about to die he loved the man throwing rocks at him unconditionally. This dog did not deserve to die. This man deserved to die. The man grabbed a big rock-laughing as he did “alright guys I’m bored let’s finish this up.” He threw the rock with pinpoint precision. It was sure to kill the dog.

Death is usually not visible to the living. But in that moment death appeared catching the rock. He had just saved a life from Death. He knew what he did was wrong, and yet it felt like the right thing to do. “Who the hell are you, get lost man”They could not see Death’s face, for he was turned away. He spoke only one word “why?”. Death turned revealing his face- a clean white skeleton, with cold empty spaces blacker than night where eyes should be.  The rock crumbled to dust in his hands as he repeated his question with anger this time “WHY”.  The boys didn’t respond, they didn’t even move. They were terrified. Death approached them and took their lives. He had committed two sins. He had saved a life fated to die, and he had ended one prematurely. 

Suddenly his blade began to glow red, his robes changed, gaining red marking, and a branding on his back. His skeleton changed from white to black, and his eyes glowed red. He didn’t know exactly what it meant, but what he did understand is that there was no turning back now. 

He went back to the dog, but could not do anything, for if he laid even a finger upon the dog it would die. All he could do was sit and watch as the dog struggled in pain. Death decided it better to put the dog out of its misery. It didn’t deserve to suffer. Just as he was about to touch the dog, Life appeared. “Hey Dea-” Death cut her off, “Save him”, Life looked at him almost confused like he was speaking in a different language “What?”. Death stood “I want you to save him please”. Life looked at him with remorseful eyes  “I can’t do that. Also why are your eyes red, what happened to you”. Dismissing her question Death pressed “Yes you can save him. Why won’t you save him?”. Life suddenly became very serious, it was unlike her to have so little emotion in her face “Because he must die to keep the balance. It’s how we keep everything stable. Every life must die.”, Death was getting frustrated and the dog was running out of time “IT’S NOT RIGHT! It doesn't make sense. Things don’t have to be this way we can change things. We can make things better.” He gripped her hand “Please”. She looked sad, she looked back at the dog, and then back at Death. She gripped his hand tightly, “But this is the way things are” she said, before she suddenly pulled Death’s hand, and put his hand upon the dog. Death reeled back clutching his hand, realizing what just happened. Death had no eyes and could not cry. Even though there were no tears, Death cried. “HOW COULD YOU DO THAT!?” Life ignored his question, she looked at him with that emotionless face again “Do you know what that mark on your back means?” Death was still sobbing. “It means ‘God of Death’. That’s what you are, so act like it. You take the dead when they die and that’s it. Do what needs to be done or else you’ll be messing with powers beyond your comprehension.” She said it coldly, almost hatefully. Death collected himself “This isn’t like you. You care for everything. You hold nothing but love for the living-” Life screamed with rage “I HATE THE LIVING! Those ungrateful little snobs. All they do is they take and they take and they TAKE. AND I MADE THEM. I tried to make them good, to show them the way towards the light. I created so many different messiahs. Jesus, Moses, Buddha, and look at what they accomplished. Most people are at each other's throat for reasons they’re not even sure of anymore. Mother Earth-Gaia has been suffering at the hands of the living.   I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!”, Death was taken aback “But we can fix them. What happened to you?”