Punishment
Punishment
Theodore shot a quizzical glance at his father who was talking in riddles. He furrowed his brows and stuttered, "Y-You're not going to kill me?"
The almighty was silent for a while but Theodore could swear that he was deliberately doing that. And he could swear that instead of anger, he saw sadness in his father's ocean blue eyes.
"What parent kills their own child? Do you think of me as being so cruel?" His father asked while a hint of sadness lingered on his face.
But it quickly faded away and his ferocious expression overtook. "Well, I'm crueler than that."
"It's not your life that I am going to send to the afterlife today. It's of those who have over-lived." The almighty walked around Theodore and then stood while facing Adeline.
Theodore's heart was crushed into a million pieces when his father stared at the unmoving body of Adeline. "Father, ple–"
"But don't worry," the creator instantly cut his words and said, "I won't wipe all of them. You took one life so I'm going to do the same. An eye for an eye."
Theodore instantly dropped his head to touch his father's foot and held his leg tightly. And he began to plead to his father as though he was a baby, "Father, please don't do that. I will die even if you don't take my life. So, please, take my life instead. Don't punish her for my sins."
At this point, Theodore's eyes were already tearing up. And he kept on begging in his broken voice, "If you ask me then I will throw myself into the pit of hellfire. But please, spare her life. She hasn't even lived a quarter of her life yet. Please, father! Please! Spare her!"
The almighty kept on glancing at his son who kept on clinging onto his leg and kept on crying and begging for mercy.
Theodore hadn't pleaded this much when he was being thrown down to Earth.
The father in him looked at his son with pitiful eyes. He even stretched out his hand to caress his son's head. But he folded his fingers into a fist and pulled his hand away.
He also pulled his leg away from his son's grasp and then stood a little far away from his son's reach.
Theodore was bawling as he had never before. He was touching the floor with his forehead and began punching his fist on the floor. The thought of having to lose Adeline gave him immense pain than the thought of his own death.
His father clenched his fists behind his back. It hurt him to see his son in that state.
He wanted to forgive his son and hold his son in his arms. They were meeting after such a long time.
The almighty heaved a sigh and said in a bit softer voice, "I wouldn't have heeded to your request if it wasn't for Azriel who has sacrificed so much for his little brother's happiness. I won't take this human of yours with me."
Theodore immediately pushed his head up from the floor to look at his father with grateful but wet eyes. He was about to bow to his father and thank him.
However, his father was too proud to be that soft. And he wanted to punish his son for breaking the one rule that he wouldn't tolerate.
So he instead announced another punishment in an unrelenting voice, "But… I will take her father away. And that is my final verdict."
Adeline's eyes moved a little upon hearing those words from God. All this time, she was able to hear and see everything that was happening in front of her. And she had been screaming and crying in her mind the whole time.
She wanted to break free out of the trap that her body was in and wanted to scold God for being so cruel to his own son, and to her mother, her father, and her. "What have we ever done to receive such a cruel fate?" she was constantly banging her hand at the walls of her conscious mind and was wailing.
She wanted to ask God all what's and the why's. But all she could do was quietly listen to the father and son. She couldn't even shed the tears that were already accumulating in her eyes.
Theodore was now irritated at the irrational decision of his father. He frantically glanced at the frozen body of Adeline and he didn't know how he was going to face her if her father would die because of what he did.
He finally broke down and raised his voice at the all-powerful celestial being, "Father, why are you doing this to me? Please, punish me instead. Why do you have to take his life? He hasn't even done anything. I committed the sin so punish me directly. Why are you making all this so complicated?"
God firmly replied in his fearsome roar, "Because I want you to know the pain of losing your family member. It is the greatest punishment one can ever get. And I want you to rethink before you take such actions from now on. Let his death be the constant reminder for you to stay away from the path of sin."
"I already know I sinned. And I will stay away from that path. So, plea–"
"I already said it is final. I will send in a reaper to collect his soul," The almighty roared with finality, sending a series of tremors in the vicinity.
Both Theodore and Adeline were terrified that he would add in some more punishment just because Theodore tried to protest against him.
Theodore still gave a pleading look to his father and begged for his father-in-law, "Father, King Dragomir has done great deeds in his lifetime. Please don't let his life end this way. At least let him walk his daughter down the aisle. Don't take away that happiness from him because of the dispute between us."
The almighty was not immune to emotions. And his son's pleading look melted his hard resolve.
He silently thought to himself, "Oh, my dear son. If only you had pleaded this much for yourself… if only you had fought with me like this all that time ago… I wouldn't have been a fool and cast you down here."
He gazed at his son and said a little softly, "So be it then. I will send a reaper within this month to collect his soul. And don't mistake this as a favor to you. I did it for the sake of that poor man. Make sure to make his remaining time memorable."
Theodore was a little bit relieved to hear that his father had at least agreed to that request of his. "Thank you for your benevolence, father. And I am really sorry to have disappointed you and mother. Please tell her that I am ashamed of my action and that I miss her."
The last word pinched God's heart a little. But he didn't say anything to console his son.
He simply disappeared from the room without even conveying how much his mother missed him every day, and without expressing how much he himself missed his son.