Between Life and Death

Lost and Found Part 4

●LIFE●

Life stared at Karma, dumbfounded. "What?" she asked, her voice barely over a whisper.

Karma averted his eyes and cleared his throat. "Death used his mind wipe on you."

"No. He would never do that!" Life said, clutching at the metal bars, imagining what it would be like to be set free so she could throttle the man in front of her, but Karma shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, but it's true."

"How?" Life asked, and Karma looked at her with a concerned glance.

"Are you sure you want to know the story? It's not a pleasant one," Karma confessed, still not meeting Life's eyes.

"Tell me. If he took my memories, I have a right to know," Life argued, crossing her arms, and Karma began retelling her memories.

"Okay, alright. I'll keep it short, for your sake. It happened a decade or two after you entered this world, and you and Death were very tight. He courted you, too, and it got to the point that you and him were more than friends, two lovebirds, courting each other like inexperienced awkward children. The two of you were pretty happy, him especially - he talked to the rest of us about what a wonderful person you were. You guys were going steady until, one day, without warning, you killed off almost half of the mortal population.

"When you got out of your cold, killing rage, you were shocked at what you had done, and locked yourself away, with no one allowed to see you. Your kingdom fell apart - people were committing suicide just so that they could go to Death's kingdom instead. Those who chose to stay alive feared you, and shut all windows and locked all doors, cities becoming ghost towns, void of the markets and laughing children that used to be in its place. For months, it carried on like that, and you still didn't leave your palace.

"Death was devastated. He really did love you, you know, and seeing you hurt drove him insane trying to find some way to fix what had happened. He so desperately wanted to revert things to the way they were before your mass murder - he wanted you back, for himself and for the sake of your people. His love for you drove him over the edge, and he decided to wipe your memory of the event, as well as the people who witnessed it, to get you back. He teleported to your palace and invited himself into your chamber, where you had locked yourself up the whole time. Just as he was about to wipe your memory, he realized there was no way to wipe your memory of the event without wiping your memories of him. If he wanted you to forget the mass murder, he would have to make you forget your feelings for him, too - all happy memories and seaside picnics gone in an instant.

"I'm pretty sure that he was about to leave, hoping that you would sort things out yourself, holding on to the thought that maybe, just maybe things would work out. But something in him swayed him the other way, and he decided to carry on with the mind wipe. Once your memory had been cleared, he left before you noticed him in the room. A few days later, he visited you again, to make sure everything was alright, but in the process of wiping your mind, your memories must have gotten jumbled up, for you didn't recognize him, didn't have any recollection as to who he was, who he was meant to be. Before he could get a word out, you asked him who he was and what he wanted. Heartbroken, he left - it had never occurred to him that you would have forgotten who he was, who you were together.

"He knew any chance of getting back with you had been destroyed, for he knew you would get information about him from your humans, and knew that any information they gave you wouldn't be good. It hurt him. Over time, he convinced himself that you hated him, that you somehow remembered him wiping your mind and despised him for it. It was that thought that pulled him away from society and what shaped him into the person he is today."