58
I continued my list of questions now beginning with Ethan's story.
'Were the gods involved in the lives of Ethan's parents?' I asked.
'What do you think about that Adam?' He in turn asked me.
'I think they were.'
'Oh! Why so?'
I had scanned Ethan's past memories hundreds of times. I iterated the memories I saw.
'I saw the color of the souls of the friends of Ethan's father. The same friends who brought him in when he first got wasted on alcohol.'
'Oh! So what did you see?' He asked.
'The same colors as Seth and Charlie. Were they also disguises of these two?'
'Yes, you are absolutely correct. Zord and his apostle probably Sabastian disguised as his father's friends. Got him wasted and that probably started the cycle of his addiction.'
That made sense. If they had not interfered, then his father would have remained the same and Ethan would have never become a murderer. This cemented the Project's participation leading to the chain of events. My next question was probably the most important one as it was not just concerned with Ethan.
'Next, I want to know, what is an inner voice?'
He looked at me and stood still for a moment.
'This info is something that no living being should know. But since I gave you my word, I'll tell you. But the moment you tell this to anybody else, you will die on the spot.'
I laughed. I only had like a year or two left. So dying was the least of my concern. But I still gave Him my word.
'The inner voice is also called the voice of the Gods. A living being can only hear the inner voice in 2 circumstances: Either he has become strong enough that he can communicate with a God or the God Himself is communicating with the mortal via this voice. In this case, Zord had become Ethan's inner voice disguised as his father's voice to manipulate him.'
So again it was Zord who was manipulating Ethan from the very start. It was Him who made Ethan set fire to his house, kill the broker, cut me and the others from Ethan's life etc. But then again I remembered something else.
'The broker who sold Ethan the questions, was he also a form of Zord? His soul color was also pitch black,' I asked Him.
'That's correct. The broker was also a form of Zord.'
So that was the reason why the broker's dead body was never found. The guy never died in the first place.
'Then during the final exams. Did Seth really fall ill when he coughed up blood? Was Ethan falling ill on the last day of the exam a coincidence?' I continued bombarding Him with questions.
'Seth coughed up blood just to boost Ethan's confidence. A poison can do nothing to Zord. And that incident boosted Ethan's morale to kill. To harm others. It gave him false hope that Seth is now gone. When He came back the next day, Ethan fell in despair. That's what Zord wanted. And as far as Ethan is concerned, it was again Zord who made Ethan ill with a petty spell just before the final exam. Adam, there are no coincidences when the God of Death is Himself involved,' He said.
So from the moment he was born till his death, Ethan was just dancing in the palm of Zord. Such an unfortunate life he had lived.
But now there was a bigger question.
'Why did God do such a thing? Why would a supreme deity like Him push a mere human to such ends of despair?' I asked.
'It seems you still don't understand how the world works,' He said.
'Have you heard the saying that all that happens, happens due to the will of the Gods?' He asked.
'Yes of course,' I replied.
'Then have you ever thought that all the disasters, wars, crimes, serial killings etc. are also happening due to the will of the Gods?'
He was absolutely correct. I never thought about these events. I instantaneously asked Him, 'Then why do the Gods do such evil deeds? Aren't we humans the children of these Gods? How can a parent be so cruel to his own child?'
'It's very simple. Gods are cruel to humans on behalf of all those that humans have wronged. Gods are parents for all the beings on earth, not just humans.'
'Your kind has killed billions of wildlife, destroyed millions of forests, harmed the same planet where you are supposed to live, all in the name of technology and advancement of civilization. And you ask me this.'
I became mum. I had no answer to his allegations because they were all true. Humanity did do a lot of cruel acts on all life forms including their own fellow mankind.
'No need for you to make such a grave face Adam.'
'You are an innocent child.'
'As far as Ethan's story goes, I think this was all to it. Zord made a plaything out of him. Made him a serial killer who enjoyed tormenting others. And then finally made him to commit suicide which ultimately led him to sign the contract and become an apostle.'
He confirmed all my life's findings with regard to Ethan's story. I didn't have anything else to ask about Ethan.
The next set of questions revealed even bigger secrets. Secrets concerning the other two apostles.
59
I was now going to ask about my dad and Ivan. But before that, I wanted to know something else that nobody had a memory of.
'What is the village of Zest? What are its origins?' I asked Him.
'So you want to know more about Zest? Alright. I'll tell you the history of one of the most evil places that has existed on this planet, Zest.'
'The chain of events started a long time back. Could be more than 1000 years ago. There was a village called Zest that existed in the shadows. It was known as "the Village of Blood" or "the Village of Death". The villagers worshipped Zord. In His name, they committed atrocious acts like murder, cannibalism etc to gain His blessings.'
'One day their twin priests did a ritual. They sacrificed 100 human children below 15 years of age and called for Him. Naturally, the belief that sacrifice can please Gods is an absolute myth but still Zord was pretty bored so He played along.'
'He went to them and asked their request. Apparently, the two of them wanted to get immortal. Now immortality is something that none can grant to anybody under no condition. But stupid greedy humans didn't understand that. It's a rule that Gods directly do not interfere in the affairs of the mortal world else He would have killed both of them then and there.'
'So He devised a plot. He granted their whole village 100 years of life for each member. He also granted both of them the boon that the two priests will reincarnate again as future priests after a long time and when that would happen they would be eligible to live indefinitely if they successfully followed the rites.'
'Zest was planned to perish 1000 years later for its inhuman acts and these two evil priests would be reincarnated as Kelvin and Erwin. The greedy priests readily agreed and from then onwards the village became known as "the Village of Life".'
'The boon was granted to these fools but their insecurities never stopped. They thought that they would lose the boon if the sacrifices stopped. So in a month, on the night of the full moon, they would sacrifice 100 young children from outside the village and they continued this heinous tradition for more than 1000 years.'
'Mass murderers would become shy in front of these sinners. And then came your fathers' time. This was the time when everything had to perish.'
I just ran some numbers in my mind. Zest sacrificed 100 children per month. So by a rough estimate, they had sacrificed more than 1 million children in the span of 1000 years. Astounding.
'So I get that dad and Ivan had powers but how are their powers different than mine? And what about their inner voices?' I asked.
'The powers of those two were just gifts for the short term granted by Zord. In their case as well, Zord had become their inner voice and granted them those spells. When He thought that His plot was complete then He simply took back His knowledge and those two forgot all the spells they had.'
'In your case, the powers you have are limited. But these powers are consistent. They will only disappear when you will die. These are my gifts to you and luckily you made good use of them,' He said.
'I can understand that both dad and Ivan were murderers. But is there any reason as to why their final spell of eternal life failed? In the case of dad, the child in the mom's womb was lost so he failed but what about Ivan? He did everything right. Why did he fail?'
He looked at me and started laughing. I couldn't understand what was so funny.
'Kid! There is nothing like eternal life. Nobody can be granted immortality. This is something beyond the powers of any God. Though in the distant past, there were one or two men who came very close to achieving immortality. But that was due to their own powers. No God can ever grant eternal life.'
'The spell of eternal life was fake from the start. It was the final card of Zord to bring down these evildoers. Both of them enjoyed hundreds of spells. All of them worked fine. These two believed in their inner voices more than anything else. Their belief in God was way lesser than their trust in Zord's voice.'
'That's how He manipulated them. Zord manipulated Kelvin to cause the destruction of the village which was needed from the start. It was He who took the unborn child from its mother's womb. It was He who made Kelvin forget about all the spells and drive him into despair. Everything was according to Zord's plot in order to make Kelvin His apostle,' He said.
It all made sense now. In the end, no matter how mighty dad was, he was still a pawn in Zord's plot. But I still had a few doubts concerning Ivan and Irena from my past life.
'I think that Ivan's story is very similar to that of my dad but why did he use Irena as a medium? After Irena told him about us, he could have directly met with me or my dad and done whatever he wanted. He still had his powers so he was strong and dangerous. Why did he use Irena at all?' I asked.
'It was because Zord manipulated Ivan. This was His plot for him. Zord didn't want Ivan to kill both of you so early. And the reason of involving Irena was to get to you. This plot was devised so that the three of you die of your own rather than being killed. This was to fulfill the condition in the contract.'
'And that eternal life spell was already fake and Zord added a twist to it. He did tell Ivan that if he can find Kelvin and kill him and his son, then both he and his daughter will be bestowed upon eternal life.'
'Ivan who just came back from death with the power of spells had no reason not to believe it. Without a doubt he then made the mission of his life to find and kill Kelvin and you.'
'He himself wanted to go and finish Kelvin. But Zord told him that he cannot kill either of them by his own hands and it was his daughter who should be the medium for your deaths. It's her destiny or else the spell would fail.'
'Ivan had become so blind by his greed that he didn't question Him at all. He just thought that this will be something that he would eventually realize that happened for the greater good. So in the end it was Irena who met with Kelvin. It was also through her that he made both of you fall from the hill,' He said.
So basically Irena's involvement with me was also a part of the plan. And as expected both dad and Ivan paid for their sins and they were just Zord's pawns till the end. But then I remembered something peculiar.
'I had also seen the color of Iris's soul. She was Irena's friend in the previous life. It was the same as that of Seth's. So was she also an imitation of Zord?' I asked.
'That's true kid. Zord was also Iris. She became Irena's friend and influenced her decisions. It was on Her recommendation that Irena took the same class as you. It was She who suggested Irena to make a social media account so that she can see your pictures of the past. '
Now I recalled that it was again Seth and Charlie who recommended me to join the soft skills class. So both me and Irena were also dancing in their palms for all the time.
'What you think is absolutely correct. Not just recommending you the subject but also the seat selection for both of you was as per them. Sabastian then played his part in getting both of you together. It all went according to Zord's plot,' He said as He read my mind.
60
I confirmed my findings with Him. I was now confident about the events that took place before the 2nd time reversal. Now the only thing that remained were the questions about my past life between the 2nd and the 3rd reversals.
'Lastly, I want to know about my own life. Why was I seeing such good dreams and then suddenly such brutal nightmares in my previous life? Were these also influenced?' I asked Him.
'You already know who Seth and Charlie are. It was all because of the amulet that Charlie gave you. That is called the tear of sloth.'
'On its user's command, it can show its target the most beautiful dreams. Dreams which make reality seem dull. Dreams that make beings lose touch with society and sleep most of the time. That is the power of sloth.'
'But again its user can command what the target is dreaming about. Dreams can change to nightmares in a blink of an eye depending on the wish of its user. Here it was per the wish of Seth as he is the master of the amulet. And you were the target,' He said.
So it was all because of that pathetic amulet? Damn that Charlie. I kept that piece of stone with me till I drowned thinking that it was a lucky charm. Zord made a mockery of my life. I hated myself for giving in to temptations and becoming an addict. But now what more could be done? I have lived and somehow survived the past. And then the desired life from the contract more or less compensated for that.
I let go of my anger and then asked the last few questions.
'When I first went to the white room, why did I interact with Ethan using the voice? For the other times I just saw the memories of the dead but why did I interact with Ethan, my dad and Irena when they first died?'
'So the skill that you call as the voice responds to your wish to know the truth. On all the occasions when you went to the white room you wished to know the truth, you wished to meet the dead. I amplified your power a bit more than usual and that materialized the memories of Ethan etc into a human form. But these forms were not the user themselves. It was all due to your power. That's why nobody remembers meeting you in the white room,' He said.
I finally understood what had happened. I was convinced. I got the answer that I needed. Next, I needed some information on my findings about Alex.
'Is Alex's destiny what I am thinking now?' I asked Him.
'Yes that's his destiny,' He said.
I knew that was the case. So even Alex's appearance in my life was as per their plan.
And then came the last question.
'Why did you show me the nightmare about Alex's disappearance? Why did you want me to explore the truth in the first place? If I had been ignorant like others, then it wouldn't have created a difference' I asked.
Upon hearing my question, He laughed aloud. He then continued to talk.
'When one lives as long as we do then life becomes monotonous. We seek interesting events that bring change. From the start, you have been a curious person. I was expecting that unlike others you might be able to reach the truth. That's the reason that apostles retain their past life memories. It's an opportunity provided by Zord for you to find the truth. The truth which most chose to ignore.'
'You started well but then you became scared. You gave up. I wanted to see you reach the truth. So that's why I made you see that nightmare. It's for the same reason that I blessed you with these powers in a cycle of 18 years. And kid, you did well,' He said.
'I am glad to know the entire truth before I died. That ends my list of questions for You but I do have one last request,' I asked him.
'What?'
'I only have a year or two to live. Please take away all my powers. I now only want to live and die as a normal human being. I want to spend these last years in peace along with my family. Neither I want to see the memories of the dead, nor do I want to see the life spans of humans. I just want to die as a normal human being.'
'Haha!' he laughed.
'Humans like your dad would have killed for powers like yours but you on the other hand want to relinquish them. Aren't you a strange kid?'
'You have known me from birth. You know that powers are not something that I ever wanted. I just wanted a happy and fulfilling life surrounded by my family.'
'I know that very well kid. I accept your request. When you will wake up from meditation, your powers will be gone.'
'This is the last time that you are seeing me, kid. As the person who had remained closest to you, I'll tell you one last thing.'
'I am proud of the life you have lived Adam. Now spend your remaining time in peace.'
I bowed to him and there was a flash.
I was back again in my room.
61
And we are back in the present where Sabastian bowed down to Adam.
'You are young but you do seem to have a good head on you. Tell me Sabastian why do you bow to me?' asked Adam.
'My Lord! Please forgive this foolish child. I didn't know. I beg for your mercy,' pleaded Sabastian.
Adam snapped his fingers. A throne as big as that of Zord's came out of nowhere. He then sat on it. His hair turned white and his eyes became red.
'Ahh! This act took a toll on my knees. I had to stand for so long. So child, tell me who do you think I am? And how did you realize my identity?' asked Adam.
'My Lord! I still cannot gauge your powers but I was taught by eldest brother about mind reading.'
'When a user acquires mind reading then they also become capable of blocking it. But the one using mind block should be at least at the same power level as the other user.'
'Naturally, I cannot read my Lord's mind but I can't even read your mind. This means that you are at a higher level than me,' said Sabastian.
'You are sharp. Continue,' said Adam.
'But the most astonishing thing is that even my lord can't read your mind,' said Sabastian in a terrified voice.
'Oh! So tell me Sabastian, what does this imply?' asked Adam.
'This implies that you are at least my lord's equal.'
'In this whole world, there is only one such being.'
'You are our heavenly father. Our creator. The God of Life, Aaron,' said Sabastian.
'Yes you are correct Sabastian,' said Aaron.
'Our Lord! Please forgive me. I was naïve,' Sabastian pleaded again.
'No need to worry. Just relax. I am the creator. I don't have the right to punish anybody.'
'It's the right of brother Zord to punish for He is the destroyer. And either way, you are innocent. You have committed no sin child. But I can see that your mind is not calm. You have plenty of questions for me. Go on and ask,' Said Aaron.
'Our Lord! Who am I to question the Great creator?' said Sabastian.
'Sabastian! Go forward and ask. It will be a learning lesson for you,' said Zord.
Sabastian mustered courage.
'Our Lord! I still don't understand. Why were you there on the earth in the first place?' asked Sabastian.
'The answer to this question lies within you,' Aaron said.
'What do you mean sir?' Sabastian asked confusingly.
'I am the creator. All the life has spanned from me. But because of this, I have never lived a life.'
'The humans are my greatest creations. They are supposed to be my reflections but they are more fortunate than me. They are born, they live a happening and interesting life and then they die. And I always remain the same. Just watching all the events occur from afar. I was done being a spectator.'
'And grim reapers and Zord, even though you are also spectators but still you experience life by inheriting the memories of the dead after sending them to their afterlife. It was just me who didn't get to experience anything,' Aaron said.
'So sir, you have been within Adam from the very start? From the day he was born?' asked Sabastian.
'Yes I was. But I stayed dormant. It was only later in his life that I was able to meet him. Much later after he had signed the contract,' Aaron said.
'But even though you are sharp you still lack in some ways Sabastian,' Aaron said.
'Please forgive me, sir. Please tell me my faults,' said Sabastian.
'It's good to see that you are genuinely interested in knowing your faults. I can see that your words match your thoughts,' Aaron said as he read his mind.
'I think this is the first time after your birth that Zord himself came down to earth. Right?' asked Aaron.
'Yes Sir. We usually run the apostle project once in a century, but in the past 23 centuries from my birth, this is the first time that my lord set foot on the planet,' Sabastian explained.
'Then you need to study the history kid,' said Aaron.
'If the God of Death descends on the earth then his death energy would drain the life energy out of the life forms. This is why I have to accompany him so that our energies get neutralized. It's always been the case in the past. Whenever either one of us comes down, we come together and also leave together,' Aaron explained.
'If I were to come down on the earth then my life energy would make all the living beings immortal. This would hamper the cycle of life and death and again the world would plunge into chaos.'
'So whenever we arrive in this world, we arrive in a pair. Our powers get neutralized and the world progresses in the way it is meant to.'
'Then Lord, please also tell me how frequently do you visit the earth?' asked Sabastian.
'Both of us visit the earth once in a century to see how humans have progressed. Usually, my avatars are unbothered by their powers and tend to live normal lives as humans and do not achieve any great feat. Sometimes they are born to eradicate evil and such avatars eventually become popular heroes in history which are passed down in myths and folklore,' said Aaron.
Sabastian now understood everything.
It was not that Zord had come to the earth only once in the past 23 centuries rather both of the gods went to earth 23 times in this duration. But it was just this once when Aaron's avatar was also supposed to become an apostle.
62
'I really had a lot of fun this time Zord,' said Aaron.
'Yeah, I can see that. It's been really a long time that an avatar of yours was finally able to meet you in this mortal life. This kid Adam was someone special,' said Zord.
'I know. This kid really stands in my favorites now.'
'I think then it's time for me to leave.'
'I'll take the core of this soul with me. In the shell of the soul that is left, I am leaving a copy of Adam's memories behind and you can make an apostle out of this,' said Aaron.
'Do as you wish,' said Zord.
'Our Lord. Please answer this one last question of this poor soul,' asked Sabastian.
'Ask kid,' said Aaron.
'You said that both god of life and death need to be present at the same time to maintain neutrality. I can see that in the form of Seth, Iris and the broker, my lord had divided his powers into three and altogether they neutralized your powers in Adam. But what about after we left? It was only you on Earth. Am I missing something?' he asked.
'Yes you are Sabastian. You don't have the power of the eyes of the truth to see the nature of the souls of living beings that Adam earlier had. If you had that power then you would have known that Zord didn't divide his power into three rather it was into four,' said Aaron.
'Four? Who is the last medium of my lord?' asked a confused Sabastian.
'Sabastian! Check Adam's family history now. You will find something interesting,' said Zord.
Sabastian did as told. He looked at Adam's family and he was shocked.
'What did you find?' asked Zord.
'On the day Adam died it wasn't just he who died. His younger brother Alexander also died of a heart attack on the very same day. And even his time of death is the same as that of Adam,' said Sabastian.
'So do you know what this means?' asked Aaron.
Sabastian finally understood what was happening.
'What you are thinking is correct Sabastian. I was also Alex, Adam's younger brother. After my other forms left earth, I as Alex remained back along with Adam till the very end,' said Zord.
Sabastian bowed down to the two gods. He deeply respected the gods' will and it is rightly said that the gods work in the most mysterious of ways.
63
Aaron then took off. As told, He left the shell of the soul behind with Adam's memories.
Adam's soul knelt on the floor before Zord.
Zord commenced the procedure of creation of the Apostle. He extracted all the emotions from Adam's soul and assimilated them into Himself. There was a huge flash of light. The process was now complete.
Adam now was in the same robe as the others. His eyes were dead. He had lost all his previous emotions even though his past memories still remained with him. He had truly become God's Apostle. He bowed in front of Zord.
'You are now one of my own. I bestow you with a new name and you will continue to work as my apostle and humanity's grim reaper for eternity. You will be called Austin from here onwards.'
'Go Austin. I give you your first job. Guide the soul of a human to the afterlife. She is the one you once knew. She is Irena,' said Zord.
***
A year had passed since Adam's death in the mortal world and now it was the turn of the old Irena. She lay in a hospital bed and she knew that her body was going to give up now. She had no regrets. She lived a happy life till the end and she accepted that it was her time to go now.
Her children sat beside her and a photo of her and Adam lay on the table next to her. She drew one last breath and closed her eyes. Her mortal body gave up. She ascended from the human world.
Irena opened her eyes. She was in a blank room. Pure white. The roof, the floor everything pure white. The room was totally empty with just 2 chairs in it. On one she was sitting and on the other one sitting was a guy in a black robe with a mask on.
'Am I finally dead? Is this the afterlife?' she asked him.
Austin took off his mask and his face was that of a young Adam.
'This is not the afterlife Mrs. Irena. I am the grim reaper Austin and I will guide you to your afterlife. This is the room of Null where one's life is judged.'
Irena was shocked.
'Adam!! Is that you?' she shouted.
'I am sorry I am not any Adam. I am Austin. A grim reaper. I am a faceless entity and my face takes the form which the soul wants to see the most,' he lied.
Irena understood.
'You look like the spitting image of my husband but I guess he is already gone.'
Austin was her husband.
Even though his face was the same but he was not hers anymore. The pain of seeing a loved one but not being able to love them clenched his soul but now he had lost the emotions to feel anything. He just smiled back at her. A smile that had immense pain but the pain was not visible to anyone.
'So Mrs. Irena, you have lived a good life. You have not committed any sins. You have helped the poor with your riches and you were a loved person. You have two choices from here on.'
'You can ascend to heaven or you can go back to the cycle of rebirth. Your memories of this life will either way be gone and you will start from scratch in both heaven or the mortal world. But do remember that if you choose to go to heaven then you can never go back to the mortal realm. Please decide what your choice will be.'
Irena thought for a moment and she made up her mind.
'I choose to go to heaven. I have completed my human life. I had no desires left. I led a good life and don't want anything more.'
Austin gave his approval. He called on the gate of heaven and suddenly a white door appeared. Please enter through this door and you will reach heaven. But before that please give me your hand.
Irena gave him her hand and Austin absorbed all of her life's memories.
This is what a grim reaper's job was. To extract all the memories of beings whether good or bad and become repositories of such memories.
Irena started losing memories of her past.
But the hand of the reaper felt nostalgic. She had known this touch forever. This feeling was something that she didn't forget even after her death.
'Is it really not you Adam?' she asked again.
Austin just smiled at her. He didn't answer.
Irena smiled back. Maybe she knew who Austin was. Or maybe not. But she was glad that the last face she saw was his. Austin now had absorbed all of her past memories and he led Irena to the white door.
She opened the door and left for heaven.
He was happy that he was able to depart her peacefully and her memories now became his for lifetime.
He wanted to cry but now he had forgotten to show any emotions. He firmly kept Irena in his memories and then moved back to do his job as the grim reaper.