“That’ll kill you.”
   She takes a long drag in response, cheeks hollowing to prolong the silence, revelling in the familiar relief that only a cigarette could provide these days. The sounds of city life below provided a sort of ambiance, something she might have deemed ‘aesthetically pleasing’. Mina’s mouth jerks up subconsciously at the thought, an automatic side effect that she developed from her presence. She’s long since stopped trying to fight it.
   She gently releases the smoke she held in, hand moving to stub the cigarette out on the ground next to where she was sitting. Her legs that hang over the rooftop move restlessly, leaning forwards to press more of her weight against the sturdy guard rail framing the building.
   “I know”. 

   She feels rather than see’s Jihyo sit next to her, the sounds of clothes scraping against concrete and skin wrapping around metal, securing herself in place against the railings. They both sit there in agreed silence, staring out at the never ending movement of city life. She almost forgets that she’s beside her, having sat there so long without saying a word, until she speaks - her words tired and soft.
   “You shouldn’t be doing this.”
   She hears the words but she doesn’t, already knowing the context of this conversation before it began, already knowing the outcome. They both do.
   “I know.”
   These words seem to be the only thing she does know, if the current state of her life had any implication on her knowledge. She say it so softly it’s almost a whisper, but she hears you. She always has. Jihyo exhales heavily, the exchange taking more of a toll on her than it has for Mina. She’s  already accepted the outcome, after all - there’s only one more thing that she can lose, and if she does?
   There’s no point in living an empty life.
   Jihyo chuckles, the sound a little hollow to Mina’s ears.

   “Does she even know what it is exactly you’ve done for her? What you’re giving up?”
   Her voice is filled with an age-old sadness, Mina knows that she knew the consequences of her actions before she had even laid eyes upon her. Mina’s fingers drum senselessly against the railing, itching to hold another cigarette, craving for something to do. She’d kill for another one right now, she thinks, the thought ironic seeing as she knows she’d only kill for one reason. That she has.
   “I’d rather she didn’t,” Mina replies, holding a hand to silence Jihyo’s indignant reply, “If she found out, if she knew what kind of monster I really am…” the soft voice tapers off, looking down at the lives of the city below.
   “I never want to see the way she’d look at me, if she even would,” she stabilises her voice, though she’s sure Jihyo had heard the threat of tears that won't come, “I can handle being looked at with disgust, betrayal, even horror… but not from her.”
   She takes a shaky breath, her fingers had stopped drumming at some point and were now wrapped around the railing in a bone-shattering grip.
   “Never from her.”
   Mina’s tired eyes close, her head suddenly awash with a reluctant acceptance of events to come. If she opens them she knows that she’ll only see empathetic eyes staring at her slumped figure, a silent plea to heed the advice within them - but she won't. Mina feels a familiar hand resting upon her own, providing a sense of comfort she hasn’t received in years, decades even. She had long since stopped feeling the touch of God, since she began to fall from grace with the birth of a mortal girl who made her feel more alive than any of the eons she had lived through have ever had. Entire civilizations have risen and fallen in her time on Earth - she’s witnessed countless lives come and go and not once did any of them affect her like she has.
   The hand on Mina’s shoulder is now cupped on her face, thumb swiping comfortingly along the top of her cheek. Nuzzling into the warmth, she waits. She cherishes every second of contact, she know this won’t last.
   “You know I have to do this.”
   Mina finally opens her eyes, finding Jihyo’s own awash with tears spilling shamelessly down her face. It is only when she tastes the salt on her lips that she realises that she was crying too, her breath becoming laboured as her chest heaved erratically.
   “I hoped it would never come to this.”
   The apology lodged at the back of tore vicious streaks that left raw, forcing her to swallow them down lest she choke. Fingers that had moments before been clenched in an unbreakable mold now trembled as she traced Jihyo’s fingers on her face, feeling every groove and curve in the hand that had shaped her, that had shaped the universe. It was somewhat fitting that she would die by the hand of her creator, Mina thought.
   “You,” Jihyo began, her voice trembling in its effort not to break, “you were my favourite creation.”
   They were both standing now, the wind that played so delicately across the rooftop had now become a raging torrent that ripped at their clothing, but oddly enough Mina had never been so at peace as she had now.
   “And now, you fall.”
   She lamented the loss of warmth from her face as it instead pressed on her chest, the gentle touch morphing into an unfamiliar one that she didn’t know as it forced her backwards, backwards until she felt the hard metal of the guard rail at her back. And suddenly, all Mina could see was the night sky as she fell, reaching out too late with a cry when she realised for the first time in her life that the stars did not speak to her as they once had before.
   She hits the ground, the impact not hurting nearly as much as watching the brightest star in the sky fade into oblivion as her eyes shut for the last time.