Time and Death, personified as living, breathing individuals, hold a mystical power over their respective domains of the cosmos. But peace does not exist between them. Time, weary of watching the world pass away over the millennia, becomes bitter at the existence of Death, who robs him of the living things he comes to love. When they strike a bargain for the life of one person, it becomes apparent that perhaps Death is far more necessary, merciful and welcomed than Time, or any of us, might have imagined.—Anonymous