Between Life and Death

Memories of a Lifetime Part 4

●DEATH●

As soon as the others had left, Death glared at Karma through the bars of his cage, his sadness gone and replaced by anger. "What's the meaning of this?" he demanded, and Karma laughed.

"I just didn't want you to get your happy ending. You know me - I make sure everything is balanced, and what you did to me back then really tipped things out of balance. Not to mention I just love to see you pissed. It's really entertaining," Karma said, arms crossed with a smirk on his face.

"Look - I was young, and I was naïve. Besides, I've already apologized to you, Karma. Why do you still hold a grudge against me? What could I ever do to make it up?" he said, and Karma shook his head.

"You're asking the wrong questions, Death. The question you should be asking me is 'why not?' You quickly grew much more powerful than the rest of us by the time you were ten million years old. You had all you wanted - the most territory, the most subjects, the most power, and when Life came along, you had yourself a beautiful woman. That is why I should hold a grudge against you, Death. Because you were living your happy little life - no pun intended - while the rest of us were fighting for just a scrap of the magic you had, to just get a taste of land and power," Karma sneered, taking off his glasses and rubbing away some nonexistent speck of dust.

"Karma, that happened before Life existed, so don't bring her into this. This was supposed to be between just you and me," Death said, voice low and even.

"Oh, I will, because having her gave me more reason to hate you. It was like a punch to the stomach, to see that you'd moved on so quickly. But I have other methods of getting what I want," Karma said, and he began pacing in front of Death's cage.

"Stop acting like a child, Karma! I've told you before - I was young and foolish back then, the equivalent of a human teenager. Not a day goes by without me remembering what I did to you, and I swear that I feel bad for what I did, but we can't be holding onto petty grudges, to be looking for revenge! We're supposed to be over a billion years old!" Death said, gripping the bars in front of him.

Karma instantly stopped his pacing and glared at Death with the intensity of the sun, his stormy eyes boring into him, the clouds inside swirling angrily. "You think remembering and feeling bad will atone for your sins? Do you think that because you apologized, that everything will return back to normal? I will never get her back!" Karma yelled, and Death released the bars.

"Fine. You're right. Saying sorry doesn't fix anything," Death said looking at the ground.

Karma, his anger all spent, grit his teeth as tears welled. "You killed her. You took her from me. You say that not a day goes by without you remembering what you did to me? Well, not a day goes by without me wondering to myself where I would be right now if she was here. Of thinking that I might be a better person with her, having parties and chats with friends by a fireplace with her laughing joyously by my side. We could've built a life together. We could've been truly happy. Grown old together..." He shook his head, as if clearing his head from the thought. "I loved her the way you love Life, and you took her from me, so I will take Life from you."

Death inhaled sharply and said, "You know what? I'm done playing nice. What would Destiny say if she were still here, huh? Would she approve of your petty revenge? Would she be okay that you're trying to replace her with Life?"

"Don't you dare play those games with me," Karma growled.

"Oh, yes I will. Destiny treated me like she would a son, and she always smiled through the tough times. Do you think I meant to kill her?" Death challenged, his voice rising. "I loved her, too, though not in the way you did. I loved her like a mother - why would I want to kill her? Do you think me so heartless? Do you ever think I would purposely kill her? "