Salem

Agatha realized pretty early on that Rio was fairly shy. Not in bed, thankfully, but she was otherwise… reserved about her life (or lack thereof).

She also thought it was funny to mess with Agatha.

"Do you have a soul?” the young witch had once asked.

“Well, everyBODY has one. So I guess I’ve had a lot. Briefly.” Rio cackled, throwing her head back.

“You’re laughing at me.”

“I am not laughing at you. It’s a good question.”

“So answer another one. How many souls have you had?”

“A lot, Agatha. I don’t talk about this with anyone.”

“Okay.”

They continued their conversation, but Agatha's curiosity lingered, gnawing at her.

Several months into their relationship they lay in bed in Agatha’s room, the two of them wrapped in each other’s warmth. With Evanora out for the day, there was finally no need to sneak around. The only sounds were the faint rustle of trees outside.

As Agatha gazed into Rio’s eyes, and Rio held her gaze in return, she felt a profound sense of peace. Peace that was interrupted by a gnawing thought. Her lover was completely flawless, with no mistakes. She’d seen her up close, been intimate with her, and she was perfect. She had absolutely nothing to show for her many centuries of being alive. Agatha tried to understand how she looked so young. She knew that witches lived a long time, sometimes forever, and Rio was a very powerful witch in addition to being Death. But still.

“Agatha,” Rio said softly, slipping her hand around her waist. Warmth coursed throughout her body, igniting a familiar spark. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Agatha replied, as Rio’s hand found its way onto the small of her back. She arched with pleasure.

“Yes, there is something.”

Agatha sat up. Rio’s loving attentiveness and her caresses were too much for her to handle when she wasn’t in the mood yet. “There’s nothing wrong, it’s just… How old are you? Sometimes looking at you… it’s just hard to forget-”

Rio laughed softly. “That I’m ancient?”

“Yes,” Agatha said, relieved. “It’s a bit distracting. Can you tell me?”

Rio looked at the ceiling for a few minutes, then rolled onto her side facing Agatha. “No.”

The witch groaned loudly.

“I’m not saying no completely,’ Rio raised her voice to match Agatha’s. “Give me a number. And you can guess how many times older than that I am. But not too high.”

Agatha sighed, facing Rio again. And to think, people sometimes considered her vague. “Okay, my age, eighteen. Eighteen times… 100.”

Rio looked a little puzzled. Agatha laughed and knocked her knees against hers. “Good, so you’re younger than that.”

“I never said that, but carry on,” she replied with a wave of her hand.

“Eighteen times… 50? Am I close?”

Rio smiled. “Pretty close.”

So that would make her around…900. Someday, Agatha thought, she’d like to live to be at least 400. 900 seemed excessive.

Agatha wrapped her arms around Rio and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. “My old lady.”

Rio shrugged her off playfully. “Do you want me to leave?” she started tickling her.

“Stop!” Agatha giggled. Rio straddled her on the bed, and attempted kissing her while Agatha’s head turned wildly, shaking with laughter.

Eventually she subsided, and the two of them lay next to each other again while Agatha caught her breath. Rio, she realized, had no breath to catch.

“You do look amazing for 900.”

“Thank you. Picked the body myself.”

“So you can decide what you look like?”

“Yes,” Rio nodded. “But I like this appearance the best. It feels the most like me.”

“I like you this way too. Obviously.”

Now it was Rio’s turn to ask a question. “Would you like me if I looked like someone else?”

Agatha thought for a second. “Yes, I think I would no matter what. But…” she smiled sheepishly. “I only like women.”

Rio nodded. “I only like women too.”

They took a beat.

Speaking of other forms…“Rio,” Agatha said, turning to look at her. “I want an answer to something I can see. Will you show me what you really look like?”

Rio got up from the bed abruptly with a grave expression on her face. “No. NO way.”

“Why?” Agatha pressed her.

“What do you mean why? There’s a million reasons why. For one thing, I’ve never done it before. I’ve never done this before.” she gestured between the two of them.

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“No. I’m afraid-”

Agatha scoffed. “You’re afraid?”

“FOR YOU, Agatha.” Her voice boomed and echoed. “Don’t you understand?” she started pacing the room.
Agatha stared at her, suddenly realizing how anxious Rio was. This was not fun and games anymore; she had never seen her like this before.

“Understand what?” she whispered.

“Agatha, what you’re asking is… impossible. You will never want to see me again. You will tell someone. You will run away. All of these things and more will happen. And you’re so young…”

“But how do you know that? I couldn't tell anyone. I’d be a heretic. They would kill me.” Agatha stood up and grabbed Rio’s hands in hers. The more she worried, the more Agatha became convinced she needed to see her.

“I love you,” she continued, trying to meet Rio’s eyes while she kept avoiding her. Eventually she took her face in her hands. “I love you. And when you love someone, you want to see every part of them. Don’t you trust me?”

Rio held her hand against Agatha’s. “Of course I do. I love you too, that’s why I can’t do this. I can’t lose you. All my conversations are with the dead except for you.”

“Which is why I won’t be afraid of you when you show me. I’ve-I’ve seen you do things..”

Rio laughed cynically. “This is very different.”

Agatha sighed… “Rio… please? Please just trust me. Please. I won’t be afraid. I won’t run from you. I love you.”

Rio turned away from her, and the young witch tried to read any cues in her posture that would tell her what she was thinking. After what seemed like forever, she turned back around.

“Because I love you, and you say you love me, so be it, you can see. You can see what no living person has ever seen before-unless it was by my mistake. I am warning you right now that this will change everything between us. Nothing can be like it was."

Agatha tried to prepare herself. She had some ideas of what Death would look like, but she knew it would be nowhere near the real thing.

There was a flash of green light- Rio’s magic, that concealed the both of them for a bit. Agatha shielded her eyes until it faded away and then.. And then her blood turned cold.

There was Death, standing right in front of her.

On a first glance, Agatha could find no trace of Rio here, not on this face. Death was thin, so much thinner than Rio normally was, and so pale she could see the dead veins in the body that was now merely a vessel. She was crouching slightly, perhaps trying to appear less threatening but it didn’t work.

Death was somewhat covered by black shawls that hadn't been there before, that did nothing to conceal her true form. Rio's hair that Agatha loved so much was also mostly gone. The skull, the skull that took up much of her jaw and nose was twisted into what looked like a horrible smile. Only the eyes, with no eyelashes, no skin, no anything, which followed Agatha’s every movement without blinking, gave her a sense that there was something there beyond a black pit of despair. The hands were outstretched, almost beckoning towards her.

Agatha tried to move back until she realized she was already pressed up against the wall on the other side of the room. Her heart was pounding so loud she could hear it in her ears.

She lied to Rio. She was afraid.

She forced herself to remember that Rio was still in there somewhere. That this only happened after you die. And you didn’t have to see her for very long.

Death was still watching her, her arms outstretched. It moved very, very slowly, but Agatha thought she was moving towards her. Agatha’s hands were starting to hurt from gripping the wall behind her. She willed herself to move forward. Death turned its head towards her. She held its gaze. Without breaking eye contact, she grabbed her arms. She felt what seemed like claws clamp down on her skin.

“Rio” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “You look…” Powerful? Threatening? Still beautiful in a different way?

“You look like you.”

She felt Rio’s fingers caress her hands softly. She was taking great care to avoid scratching her. She was still in there, of course she was still in there. Agatha felt stupid for being scared, even for a minute.

“Can-can you talk?”

Death nodded slowly. Her jaw started to move. Agatha half thought bats were going to start pouring out of it.

“I……love……you.” The voice was raspy, and seemed like it belonged to millions of other people, but Agatha found Rio’s voice at the center of it. She teared up.

“I love you too. And I’m not running.”

This is Rio, this is Rio, this is Rio, she thought to herself while she closed her eyes and kissed her cold cheek. It was bone.

Suddenly everything was green again and Agatha could feel herself pressed up against someone. She gasped, feeling arms that were full of skin and muscles again.

“Rio! Rio… let me go.” She was hugging her so tight she could barely breathe.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just.. You kissed me!”

“What?” Agatha was still stupefied from the experience, and she had never seen Rio so happy. She looked like she was about to cry.

“Agatha, you stayed! You kissed me! You really do love me! I was so worried.”

“I was afraid at first…I’m sorry,” she mumbled.

“Oh, don’t be!! Everyone’s afraid.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad!” Rio guffawed. “You KISSED me!”

Agatha smiled. “Yeah… I guess I did.”

Rio spun Agatha around. “You saw Death itself and gave me a kiss. You’ll be a very powerful witch someday.”

Agatha felt a rush of happiness take over her. She officially met Death in its true form. She loves Death. And Death loves her.

“So,” Agatha said, putting her arm around Rio’s shoulders. “Does that mean I can finally take you to meet my mom?”

Rio smiled and kissed her. “Baby steps. You know, I don't like that woman very much.

"But she's still my mother. And she's important to me. Will you think about it?"

"Fine." Rio grumbled.

Yes, Agatha thought. Things did change between them. But in many ways, it also stayed the same.