Redemption

Chapter 27

Snapping his fingers, a man and a woman materialized into the room. Their incorporeal form shimmered as they took in their surroundings. In the same clothes they were in since the day they died, Azalea stared, afraid to approach.

"Mom, Dad." she breathed out her voice barely audible.

Her parents focused on her voice, their brows furrowed.

"Azalea." her mother choked out.

Gliding forward, her father closed behind his wife's heels. They stopped, inches away from her face.

"You have become such a beautiful woman, sweetheart." her mother

whispered.

Her father nodded as tears welled up in both their eyes.

Her mother's hand drifted to Azalea, she leaned in the touch but her hand just passed through. Her heart filled with sorrow as she realized she wanted to be able to touch them, but seeing them and talking should be enough.

"I am sorry Mom and Dad," Azalea uttered a phrase she had never once said in the past decade, the words foreign to her tongue.

"What are you sorry about, if anything we are at fault." her dad said kindly. Smiling.

"I did not live my life the way I was raised to and for that I apologize, if I did I would not be here."

"Don't say that. Fate works in mysterious ways. If you did not follow the oath you did to get here we would never have met, and given a temporary revival from our punishment." her mom said.

"I did a lot of things that would be considered inhumane. Many things I am not proud of." Hesitating, "I killed Creed and Samael." her eyes cast downwards afraid of her parent's reaction.

They were both silent for a moment, her father spoke, "Creed was always ambitious. I knew he would go down a dark path but I always thought I would be there to pull him out. If you killed him, I can assume he had become unrecognizable. As for Samael, we cannot judge nor chastise you for circumstances we know nothing of. We trust in your decision."

Azalea's body felt lighter than she ever did, a burden she did not realize was weighing her down, was lifted. Smiling blinking away the wetness in her eyes. She asked the question she dreaded the most.

"Do you blame me for your death?"

They glanced at each other, confusion painted on their faces. "Why would we blame you, Azalea, you were a child. Never has a day gone by in here have I cursed you or blamed you. It was our poor planning and the cause of insensitive people that caused our death. The actions that we lived by are what put us into Gehenna. It was never you sweetheart, seeing you, even from afar was my only plea and that after I don't know how long mysteriously got answered." She smiled sadly.

For the first time in ages, Azalea had a huge, genuine smile on her face. Swallowing the lump in he throat she said she wanted to affirm,

"So you don't blame me, you have never hated me for dying?"

"Never Azalea. Please don't tell me you lived your life like this, carrying this burden for years. We would never blame you, after all, you are my only child." Her dad said, his eyes crinkling.

"Hate to interrupt this touching moment but I believe all three of you have places to be." Irams cut in.

Her parents exchanged glances. Hastily bowing. "And where are you taking us, your highness."

Smirking, "I see you have manners, sadly your daughter received none, a shame it would have made her experience here much more easier. You are all going to Caelum," He said, spreading his arms wide.

"Caelum, for us? Impossible, we did not do anything to deserve it."

"You have a loyal and stubborn offspring," Iram replied. "Shall we?"