Soul Music - Death ends the universe

He strode forward, snatched the scythe from Susan and, in one movement, whirled it over his head and brought it down on the stone.

The blade shattered. He reached down and picked up a fragment. It glittered in his fingers like a tiny star of blue ice.

IT WAS NOT A REQUEST.

When the music spoke, the falling snow danced. You can't kill me.

Death reached into his robe, and brought out the guitar. Bits of it had broken off, but this didn't matter; the shape flickered in the air. The strings glowed.

Death took a stance that Crash would have died to achieve, and raised one hand. In his fingers the sliver glinted. If light could have made a noise, it would have flashed ting.

He wanted to be the greatest musician in the world. There has to be a law. Destiny runs its course.

For once, Death appeared not to smile.

He brought his hand down on the strings. There was no sound. There was, instead, a cessation of sound, the end of a noise which Susan realized she'd been hearing all along. All the time. All her life. A kind of sound you never notice until it stops . . .

The strings were still. There are millions of chords. There are millions of numbers. And everyone forgets the one that is a zero. But without the zero, numbers are just arithmetic. Without the empty chord, music is just noise.

Death played the empty chord. The beat slowed. And began to weaken. The universe spun on, every atom of it. But soon the whirling would end and the dancers would look around and wonder what to do next.

 It's not time for THAT! Play something else!

I CANNOT. Death nodded towards Buddy. BUT HE CAN.

He threw the guitar towards Buddy. It passed right through him.

Susan ran and snatched it up, holding it out. 'You've got to take it! You've got to play! You've got to start the music again!' She strummed frantically at the strings. Buddy winced. 'Please!' she shouted. 'Don't fade away!'

The music screamed in her head. Buddy managed to grasp the guitar, but stood looking at it as if he'd never seen it before.

'What'll happen if he doesn't play it?' said Glod.

'You'll all die in the wreckage!'

AND THEN, said Death, THE MUSIC WILL DIE. AND THE DANCE WILL END. THE WHOLE DANCE.

The ghostly dwarf gave a cough. 'We're getting paid for this number, right?' he said.

YOU'LL GET THE UNIVERSE.

'And free beer?'

Buddy held the guitar to him. His eyes met Susan's. He raised his hand, and played. The single chord rang out across the gorge, and echoed back with strange harmonics.

THANK YOU, said Death.

He stepped forward and took the guitar. He moved suddenly, and smashed the thing against a rock. The strings parted, and something accelerated away, towards the snow and the stars. Death looked at the wreckage with some satisfaction.

NOW THAT'S MUSIC WITH ROCKS IN.

He snapped his fingers.

***

Sould Music - p247-249