Death was never the same after Vitae died.

He never smiled.

He never spoke.

He returned to solidarity, the same way it was 2,000 years ago, before he met Vit- his friend, only this time he didn't have any souls to guide to take his mind off things- they were all in the afterlife. They'd all gotten a direct pipeline, it would seem.

The minute Life had died, Mortem was filled with such anguish that he killed everything. Everything. He lost control, and nothing survived. Even Linea Vitem didn't know how far the circle of death had spread, whether it reached the edges of the universe or not.

A meeting had been held to decide what to do with Phlà, since she had, technically, even if it wasn't her intention, killed the Spirit of Life.

In the end, Linea Vitem decided on exile, and cast her into Tartarus.

Mortem hardly felt anything, not even after hearing her plead and beg for mercy.

There was nothing for anyone to do anymore. Without Life, nothing else could function. Time stood still for 1,000,000 years.

Then, one day, it moved forward.

You couldn't kill life, it would seem, no matter how hard you tried. It was a lesson they all learned. Vitae was bound and determined, and somehow, he came back. To this day nobody has any idea how he did it, but he did.

Well... Almost everybody.

Vitae confided with Death in secret after the tearful reunion.

"You saved me," he whispered. "Because you killed everyone- the zombies, the humans, everything- all that reserve Life Energy was released in tandem. I was able to build a new form around that and come back," he gave Death a wobbly smile. "It took me a while, but I did it." Death gave him a watery smile and crushed the spirit with a hug.

"Thank you. Thank you," he choked out. "For not leaving me. Thank you." Vitae squeezed the Spirit of Death back, and deep down, he had an epiphany.

Life was right. He could feel emotions. He wasn't broken.

And they all lived happily ever after.

The end.

(Y'all's didn't actually think I was gonna kill Vitae, did you? Pssh, no, I could never live with myself for doing that. I brought him back, and I don't care if it makes no sense.)