Natasha watched him go with a sense of loss, but warmth filled her when she breathed. Azrael’s demeanor had changed drastically since last night. Wasn’t it only yesterday that her life was turned upside down? Yet there is so much she doesn’t know about him, and so much she doesn’t know about herself.
“Well, since they’ll be a while, how about you join me for a stroll outside?” God of War offered.
Natasha shakes herself free of her thoughts. She smiled, nodded, and followed him, still thinking this had to be the strangest encounter of her life or afterlife. For a month following her death, Natasha reassessed everything she thought was real in her life, and she is now at the start of this life. She kept discovering things she never thought were possible.
Natasha’s mind was racing with questions, but she didn’t know how to ask them or where to begin, so she settled for polite silence.
“Azrael told me you lived in the western world on Earth?”
Is this a celestial version of small talk?
“Yes,” she nodded.
“There are so many mortal realms, but once you enter a modern one, it is always difficult for a soul to enter the celestial realm; it is admirable that you manage it,”
“Morality and spirituality have vanished from the world; the trial tests a soul’s ability to do the right thing at the wrong time; it becomes more difficult as the mind begins to believe it can achieve anything.” He explained.
It appears to be judgmental. “Do you mean mortals are egotistical?”
“No,” God of War says with one of his mysterious and proud smiles. “I’m saying that a soul becomes tainted when the mind becomes egotistical, and it makes no difference whether the mind is mortal or immortal in that regard.”
“Was that a compliment?” Natasha inquired, feeling smug.
“Yes,” he nodded.
They’re back outside the castle, walking past the lake. Natasha looked at the disarray of the giant bolder and staid broken by too many sights. Underworld was no longer a desolate land, but the memory of it lingered.
“You appear confused,” the statement said.
Natasha looks at him, unsure whether she should tell him how she feels.
“I can’t force you to share your thoughts, but I am Azrael’s preceptor; I have raised him from adolescence to youth; I am his elder.”
They come to a halt by the lake, and God of War invites her to take a seat on the stone opposite him. “He is like a son to me, so I am also your elder, and also because it was me who brought you back from your captivity of the ghost emperor, this way it is just not my responsibility but an honor to guide you in your life, so if there is anything that you need or any question or doubt you need an answer to, I will do my best to help you, just not now but whenever you need me,”
Natasha’s feet felt like they were back on solid ground. She found an anchor in Azrael’s love, but everything feels settled now. Her hesitation appears to be lifting. She felt like herself.
“I still don’t understand my role in all of this,” she began, “I don’t know anything beyond my connection with Azrael.”
“It’s okay to be confused; you have an identity crisis, but the person you’re picturing is Natasha.” Natasha looked down, and a lump formed in her throat.
“Many immortal beings go through trials in the mortal realm, live a lifetime, and when they return, it is difficult to accept the end.” His gaze set far away.
Mortal life is valuable because it is fragile and fleeting. It is what gives it meaning, but don’t look at this life through the lens of your previous one; you will find it overwhelming.” He stands up, clasps his hand behind his back, looking across the lake.
“When you look at the creation from here, you see infinite space, uncountable galaxies, stars, and planets, and many different lives and species on those planets.” He turns to look at her.
“The truth is that you are in the same creation, but your lens has widened,” he says as he smiles at her.
“You lived many lives, breaking the cycle of life and death. You have arrived here; your mortal life has ended; it is like nature,” he extended his hand to her, and she took it, standing up.
“Live the one you have now and live it well, get curious, search again, study, and learn, and you have a far better anchor to hold you than anyone could,”
Natasha frown, the question clear in his eyes.
“Love,” He smiled, “it will keep you here,” he said reassuringly.
“Death is inevitable, and even we immortals will die one day, but love is eternal,” He clasps his hand behind his back.
It’s not as tense as it used to be, but she has to let go of what she knows. She needs to broaden her horizons.
Natasha nodded.
“There’s nothing to be concerned about; now, we must depart. We don’t want our tea to get cold, do we?”
Natasha grins.