Eros

“Dear God, if you're there, please give my wife one more chance at life.” These words trembled from his lips, heavy with the burden of a love strained by the cruel hand of fate.

His wife had waged a battle against cancer, and as he stood outside the hospital room, his heart ached with the realization that this surgery was her last hope.

“We did all we could, but I’m afraid your wife couldn’t hold on any longer. We’re deeply sorry for your loss.”

The days that followed her passing were a relentless descent into emptiness for him. Despite his wealth, his opulent cars, and diamond-studded cutlery couldn’t fill the void left by his beloved wife. The once-vibrant mansion now echoed with silence.

Yet, fate had more in store for him. For one fateful night, as he lay sleepless, staring into the abyss, she materialized before him.

“Save me,” she implored with a ghostly voice, “save me from Thanatos.”

“Lilly?” he gasped in disbelief, his eyes locked on the spectral figure of his departed wife. “I thought I lost yo—” His trembling hand reached out to touch her, but she dissolved into the night, leaving him with an emptiness even more profound.

Driven by an unquenchable yearning to be reunited with his beloved Lilly, he channeled all his wealth into the relentless pursuit of this “Thanatos” his wife had mentioned.

For five years, he delved into realms of the supernatural, exploring ancient texts, consulting seers and mystics. In the darkest hours, Lilly’s ethereal presence would manifest, comforting him and urging him to persist.

Finally, after years of research, he believed he had the knowledge and the means to summon Thanatos, the God of Death. With a spell crafted from the culmination of his acquired wisdom and arcane ritual.

As the room crackled with mystic energy, the veil between the realms wavered, and before him, I appeared… wait, wtf?

“Thanatos! I have bound you to this place. Return my wife, or you shall be trapped here forever.”

“Eh?”
𝑊ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑚 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑑?

“Eh…?”

“You got the wrong person. I’m Eros, not Thana.”
𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑎.

“Eros? The God of life? You’re lying! Lilly told me you would try to trick me into releasing you!”

“That wasn’t her. That was Thana. She tricked you so she could prank me like this.”

“You’re lying!!”

“You always knew it wasn’t her, didn’t you?”

“Shut up!”

“She appeared so many times, yet not once did she ever call you by that special name she used when she was alive. You knew the truth, and you ignored it.”

“I just… I—”

𝐻𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛’𝑡 𝑏𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑡ℎ… 𝑇ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑚𝑦 𝑓𝑎𝑢𝑙𝑡. 𝐼 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑𝑛’𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑎’𝑠 𝑙𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑔𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑟.
“I’m sorr—”

“If you’re the God of Life, You can bring her back!”

“Unfortunately, neither I nor Thana could ever bring her back to you.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a God? Can’t you use your godly powers to bring her back?”

𝐺𝑜𝑑𝑙𝑦 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑠?
“Existence is linear. It only moves in one direction, from the point before you are ‘born’ to the point after you ‘die’ and further after. We are merely guides on this line. I take your existence from before birth and bring it here, and Thana takes it from here to the next point on the line. Just as I have no power to take you back once you’re born, Thana cannot return anyone from her plane. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do. So please release me so I can go back to doing my task.”

“So she’s… Gone… Forever…” His eyes became blank, as if he lost his soul and purpose for existence. I pleaded with him to release me, but he no longer heard me.

For hours, he remained frozen on his knees, and during those hours, life itself seemed to stand still. No newborns arrived in the world, leaving the universe in a state of eerie stasis.

𝐼𝑓 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑖𝑒. 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝐼 𝑎𝑚 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑛𝑜 𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑠 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑤 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒. 𝐻𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑜𝑦𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒.

“‘Pookie.’ That’s what she always called you. Thana didn’t know because she doesn’t watch over this plane.”

“I loved her… So much.”

𝐹𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦, 𝐼’𝑣𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑖𝑚.

“I know… I saw it all. I brought her here, I watched her being born, I watched her first steps, I heard her first words, I watched her fall in love with you… I saw her cry more times than you did because she always wanted to look strong in front of you, I saw her lose all hope, and I saw her die. I could do nothing but simply watch and listen, and it’s the same for every being that has ever lived since the beginning of existence. After bringing them here, all I can do is watch and listen.”

“What are you?”

“Well, you call us gods, but in truth, we have no idea what we are. One day, we just came to be with no explanation. The only thing we knew was our purpose in existence, so we started doing exactly that. Like robots, we follow a strict code without knowing why. I’ve wondered countless times if there was any meaning to all of this, and thought about stopping just as many times. But if I stop, then what? All I am is a guide. To stop being that is to stop existing for me.”

For a few minutes, he just sat there, pondering everything I had said. Until finally, he spoke, “Ok, I know what I have to do now,” and he stood up to release me. But just as he was about to, she appeared.

“Don’t do it, Pookie! He’s lying to you!” she said to him, tears glistening in her eyes. However he was unfazed because he had always known the truth, and now he had accepted it.

“Why are you doing this, Thana? Do you realize how much damage you’ve caused?”

Thana’s laughter was bitter and filled with anguish. “Ha… hahaha… haha haha. ‘Damage,’ you say? Are you just pretending, or do you really not see it, Eros? Can you not see that I am tired?”

“Tired?”

“We’ve been doing the same thing for eons, brother! And all this time, I have suffered the most. All of them hate me, all of them blame me for taking them from their loved ones, from their wealth. I didn’t choose to do any of this. So why? Why am I hated for simply existing? Tell me, brother!”

“Thana…”

“You, human! Don’t you want to put an end to this endless cycle of suffering? No one will ever feel the pain your wife and countless others have suffered if you just leave him here. You would have single-handedly ended all wars, racism, suffering, disease, famine—all of it would end. Don’t you want that? Don’t you wa—”

“Love! I would have single-handedly ended all love as well.”

“Exactly! Love. That is the reason you suffered, isn’t it? It’s the reason for all suffering. The reason for all that is wrong in this world. The reason they all hate me.”

“Don’t you want to know why we exist, Thana?” I asked, “Don’t you want to know why we’ve suffered for so long? If we stop now, then everything would have been for nothing. There would be no meaning in all we did before. There would be no meaning in our existence. Are you really okay with that? If you are… then I’ll stay here, for you.”

After I said that, the human giggled and looked at me with a smile. Then he proceeded to release me while Thana watched in silence, as if he were now sure she wouldn’t try to stop me anymore.

𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒𝑖𝑟𝑑.

After he released me, I walked to Thana and hugged her. “I know it’s been hard, but being together with you all these eons is something I’ll always be grateful for, sister.” She hugged me back and stayed quiet.

“Thank you, Eros. Thank you for not giving up on your task. Because if you did, I never would have met Lilly. And Thanatos… please take me with you.

“Huh? Your time here hasn’t ended, so I can’t… ah! Could it be? Are you going to…?”

He only gave a slight nod with a smile as an answer.

“Why? There’s a chance you could never meet her again, even if you go there. So why?” she asked him.

“Hahaha! I’m surprised you still underestimate the power of love. You gods are so weird,” he said and walked away.

That night, under the moonlit sky, he stood at the edge of the roof of his grand mansion, took one final deep breath, and left with Thana.