A Wayward God

by Natasha Weber

in terrible pain, my brother, not realizing what I was doing, took his soul. It seemed as if I could no longer even remember why I hated him. I just wanted to watch him burn.

  After finding out how immensely I enjoyed making those mortals suffer like the insignificant bugs they were, I did it whenever I felt like it. My brother noticedthe odd spike in sickness and he had his suspicions about me.

  Yeshua, are you… have you been killing these mortals?

  I gave him a smile and crossed my arms. “No. But you have.”

  He was angry. Which was strange, because I’d never seen him angry before. He grabbed my arms. You’ve been killing for no reason! What has happened to you? Weather will have you exiled for this! Stripped of your powers! Do you wish to live amongst mortals for an entire year?

  “Don’t touch me, wretch! I hate you! Those mortals deserve anything they get, and I will never live among them!” I shoved my brother away from me and attempted to walk away, but he seized my shoulder.

  What happened…? He looked into my eye, which made me uncomfortable.

  “I never wanted to be your brother….” I blinked; I couldn’t even remember where this supposed hatred came from… I just knew I had some sort deep resentment towards him.

  My wild eye put off Chandra, and he let me go. I started walking away, leaving him alone. Yeshua…?

  It was the first time in my life I ever heard his voice tremble with sadness. “What?”

  I wish… I wish you to speak to me more often, he suggested.

  “What makes you think I wish to talk to someone as despicable as you?” It was the last thing I would say to him for a long time. And I would always regret it.

 

  I killed mortals at a dangerous rate. And my madness spread until I no longer knew who I was. It was a strange madness where I couldn’t stop smiling. I decayed the mortals, I decayed the land, and I decayed the animals. Of course, Weather noticed, and he called a meeting between the Gods. We gathered around in our circle, and I tapped my fingers on the clouds, feeling bored, as he droned on about the rapid deaths of the mortals.

  Weather lowered his eyes and said quietly and sincerely, “the mortals are dying at an unnatural pace. We were made to look after and protect these mortals, not play with their lives. Who among us has been doing these awful deeds? Going against our very nature?”

  I said nothing. Chandra, sitting next to me, clearly wrestled with his conscious, he had a conflicted look on his face. But in the end, he looked down and away, and protected me like he always did.

  I thought he was a fool.

 

  With no proof, they could not punish me, so, I continued on as I was, except that I was much more careful and secretive about it. I killed decayed the health of things at a much more even rate, but still a bit rapidly.

  I carried on for another five years, killing all the humans I wished. The more I saw of them, the more disgusted by them I was. Without me as their guiding light, they killed, raped, burned, and maimed each other. And with me, they only wanted me to be apart of their malicious activities. I had no qualms about killing them off after five years of watching them do things I could not get out of my head. They deserved everything they got and more.

  But, on that same fifth year, the mortals did something unforgivable.

  They killed a God.

  The mortals bred like wild animals. There were so many of them now that—even with me purposely killing so many of them--they swarmed the mountain, stabbing it, burning it, and shooting it with arrows.

  I watched from The Above as my father morphed into his real form, his screams were horrifying--something so loud and high-pitched that it ripped into my brain--he stomped about, killing many of the mortals as he did so. But Gods were not invincible, and they tore him down within an hour, I watched in horror as he collapsed and the resounding thud was so loud I heard it even in The Above. He left a crater in the earth that was still there to this day.

  I was enraged, not because he was my father, but just because they had the audacity to bite the hand that fed them. I even heard some of them say that we never did anything for them, that we were to blame for their wars.

  My head was hot and my blood was on fire. I could not think straight, and with a pounding head, I spread my arms and slammed them towards The Below. The Below, and all its people, were enveloped in deadly vapors.

  I remember watching them suffer and suffocate to death made Decay happier than anything. Deep down however, Joshua was weeping for the mortals he gave his soul to.

 

  The Gods called another meeting, and I sat quietly next to my brother. He looked at me sidelong, and it was the first and only time I would see him cry in front of me. They were bland, emotionless tears, because he was not used to crying.

  He knew it was me. And, I knew he would not tell on me. He loved me, and he would always do what was necessary to protect me.

  Weather was looking at us the entire time he was droning on about the vapors, which I was frankly proud of. But he was looking at Chandra more than me, because he thought if it was anyone; it must be the God of Death.

  “I know mortals can be wretched, selfish, violent creatures. But it is not our job to kill them unnecessarily, and it is certainly not our job to completely wipe them…” Weather had a tear in his eye. This was a first too, and also the only time I had seen Weather cry. “They are all dead. Our purpose is to protect them… not kill them. Who has done this heinous crime? This crime against the people we are meant to love? If you have any respect for life and your fellow Gods, please step forward. We will give you a fair punishment.”

  I was quiet, and I tapped my feet impatiently. The silence was nearly unbearable. At least I knew I was safe.

  But, I was shocked when my brother wiped his eyes, got to his feet, and said something I would never in my life forget. “It was Joshua,” he told the truth. “Please, go easy on him.”

  I looked at him, completely shocked and betrayed. But my expression changed from shock to rage. And I started screaming at him, my red eye going wild. I grabbed his collar and shook him violently. “I knew it! I knew you were no better than any other God! Saying you’ll give anything to protect your precious mortals when you wish to have nothing to do with them! You favor them more than your own brotherI” I yelled and cursed at my brother until all the Gods around me seized me. I resisted.

  With a wave of my arm, they were all knocked back. I made a mad dash away from them, and then I teleported down to The Below. I would probably be safe there. No one knew where I went, and most Gods would be too afraid to set foot on The Below.

  Except one. Chandra appeared right in my face.

  The problem with having a brother you loved was that you shared everything with him. Your favorite spots, colors, food, your secrets, and even your most buried thoughts. Chandra knew me inside and out, and, he knew where I would try to escape to.

  Yeshua, it’s time to pay for your crimes. Please, come with me, you’ll feel better afterwards, he grabbed my arm.

  “Traitor!” I screamed, I tried to punch him, but he caught my fist with his free hand.

  It’s time to go, Yeshua, he waved a hand in front of my eye, and I fell asleep, he caught me before I slumped over.

 

  I awoke to my brother was talking to Weather. “So,” my Brother said. “What do you plan to do?”

  I pretended to be asleep still. My brother was leaning me against his shoulder.

  “We’ve built a prison for him. He won’t be able to escape, and he will spend one million years within the prison, where he cannot hurt anyone. If I see an improvement in his behavior, we will let him out by then,”

  Chandra said nothing for a moment. He was quiet and somber when he said, “that long? I know he’s done wrong, but I love him… please, can’t you let him go earlier?”

  “No. I’m sorry, Chandra. Your brother is as monstrous as his father…” Weath
er said solemnly.

  “Don’t you ever compare him to my Father! Joshua is… Joshua is the sweetest thing. I know he’s been angry in the past, but I know what he’s really like…” Chandra protested. “He only wanted what was best for them, it was thanks to him that they got as far as they did. Deep down, he has an infinite capacity for love and affection, more than any God.”

  I’d had enough. I opened my eye, socked my brother in the stomach, and made another mad dash.

  Weather lifted a finger and hefted me into the air without touching me. He dragged me back and engulfed me in a cage of wind, and I could not move enough to do anything.

  He dragged me along and my brother followed us. Chandra looked at me with sad eyes. He mouthed he was sorry.

  I could not even speak while I was wrapped in Weather’s binding wind cage. Eventually, we came upon a transparent, bright box of shifting colors that looked like it was made out of electrical energy. Weather opened the cage with a free hand, and tossed me in with the other. I tried every power in my arsenal to get free, but none worked. I fell to my knees and started crying. “Death! Please help me! You said you loved me! You owe me happiness!”

  Weather ignored me. “Do you know what this is made of, Death?”

  He shook his head absently, watching me scream his name over and over again. I had never seen him look so heart-broken.

  “It’s made of an extremely rare metal that absorbs the power of the Gods. It will sap his powers away slowly, and eventually, he