Between Life and Death

Truth Be Told Part 3

●LIFE●

Once he was asleep, Life turned to face Truth, who was in a neighboring cage. "Death said you'd tell me what Karma was talking about. About... Destiny."

Truth sighed. "Why is it always me who drops the bad news?" she muttered under her breath, and Life managed a short laugh.

"Please, Truth," she begged, serious once again. "I'm tired of being in the dark about these things. I want to know everything."

Truth sighed again, but this time it was submissive. "Fine. Back when Death was young, maybe a few thousand years old, he was still getting used to his powers and ruling a kingdom. By then, he had acquainted himself with the rest of the gods and goddesses - there was Karma, Destiny, Wisdom, Luck, War, Forge, and Love. He was pretty close with most of them, but especially close with Karma and Destiny. They were close friends, and saw each other almost like family.

"One day, out of the blue, Karma began yelling at Death, accusing him of thievery or something like that. He said some really inconsiderate things, calling him a terrible friend and some other names I refuse to mention, but you get the point. It wasn't long until Death snapped - he lost it. Since he was still exploring the extent of his powers, he didn't know that he was capable of killing everything in a small radius with a wave of dark energy. That was exactly what happened when he snapped. Karma had riled Death up to a point where he lost control of his magic. Karma was expecting some sort of outburst, so he had made himself a shield, but Destiny, who was in the radius, had no idea what was going on and had no time to prepare. By the time Death was out of his rage, she was dead.

"When Karma realized that Death had killed Destiny, he exploded at Death and banished him from his realm. He forbade Death from ever visiting his lands, and Death never did - until he came to save you a couple days ago.

"Karma loved Destiny the way Death loves you, so you can imagine the pain Karma was in. However, Death felt remorse for his actions as well - Destiny had taken him under her wing when he was first created, often helping him learn to control his powers and such. With Destiny gone, there was no one else to keep him company, no other major gods or goddesses willing to stick up for him - everyone else had shunned him for killing her.

"Have you ever wondered why Death has good control over his anger, or why he's so antisocial? It was the incident in which he killed Destiny that made him this way. He promised to himself that he would never take the life of another, no matter his name, title, or job - a promise that has yet to be broken.

"Life, I know this is really shocking, but I beg you to try and understand. He didn't kill Destiny unprovoked - Karma, his closest friend, was accusing him of something he didn't do. He didn't mean to kill Destiny - he didn't have proper control over his power, and he was really young. He made the same mistakes you did, and no one can blame him for it. He forgave you for your actions. It's only fair if you do the same for him. Please, Life, don't shun him like the others did," Truth begged, and Life tore her gaze from Truth to peer at Death's sleeping form.

"I could never," she said quietly as she ran her fingers over Death's cheek, tears spilling silently over her own.

Truth sagged and sighed from relief. The rest of the court, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, did the same. "I don't know what we would've done if you hated Death. Dammit, that would've made things so much harder," Truth admitted.

Life smiled, laughing quietly when Death snored softly.

"Nice lovey-dovey conversation you gals are having, but maybe we should discuss how we're going to get out," Vengeance said. "Just a suggestion. I think I left the oven on... my muffins are going to burn."