As Lord Shiva walked into their coffee lounge, his wife instantly ran towards him and threw herself into his arms wordlessly. He just smiled and held her for a time, and then they looked at each other, and he took her by the hand as they joined the others.<\/p>\n
Shiva approached Vishnu, hugged him and whispered: \u201cThank you, my Lord. It helped\u201d, as Vishnu clapped his back and smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see you are stronger\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomewhat\u201d, Shiva grinned back. \u201cIt was a big motherfucker\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cLanguage, please; there are children at the table\u201d, Lady Lakshmi smiled, as Zee and Kay rolled their eyes.<\/p>\n
Krishna smiled, then his smile froze, as his eyes defocused; then he smiled twice as brightly. \u201cGuys, you won\u2019t believe what just happened. Mahadev, you\u2019re back just in time\u201d, he grinned at Shiva.<\/p>\n
\u201cJudging by your tone, I assume it\u2019s not another broken angel?\u201d, Lakshmi prodded her husband.<\/p>\n
\u201cBy your grace, oh Luck, it is not\u201d, he grinned and kissed her. \u201cWe have two new additions to the family\u201d, he smiled widely, and snapped his fingers.<\/p>\n
Lady Zina and Lord Buddha appeared from the shimmer in space, and everybody was instantly around them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so proud of you\u201d, Shakti whispered in her daughter\u2019s ear as she hugged her, and tears went down Zina\u2019s cheeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you\u2019re the guy who managed to figure out the particle theory of karma<\/i>, called Sanat Kumar by the name while there, or close enough, got initiated into vajra<\/i> while incarnated into that stupid gel, formulated entire theory of detachment and divestment, and became a God half an hour after getting back here, simply from talking to my wife and daughter? It\u2019s a great honour\u201d, Shiva grinned at Buddha, shaking his hand and pulling him into a mil-spec hug.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you are the guy who just ate a super-demon for brunch, after reconfiguring the Creation the day before?\u201d, Buddha hugged him back. \u201cI am honoured to meet you, Sir\u201d, he smiled.<\/p>\n
They all sat at the coffee table. \u201cYou know that stuff you\u2019re drinking isn\u2019t really coffee, right? I had coffee on Earth, and it\u2019s bitter and yukk\u201d, Zina frowned from the memory. \u201cWe had to put all kinds of stuff, like milk and honey in it, to make it even marginally palatable. This stuff is incredible, however. Tastes like the love of God\u201d, her smile widened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know\u201d, Vishnu smiled. \u201cWe just call it that\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, Zina, Lord Buddha, what are your plans?\u201d, asked Lady Parvati. \u201cAre you together or\u2026?\u201d, she winked.<\/p>\n
They looked at each other wordlessly, and held hands. \u201cIf you approve\u201d, bowed Buddha. \u201cI don\u2019t know what we are, but I see her as my gurudevi<\/i>, who taught me and guided me to greater wisdom. I never want to be separated from her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked you since I first saw you, Prince Siddhartha\u201d, Zina joked. \u201cNow I adore you. And cut out the gurudevi<\/i> business, please. If we\u2019re doing this, I want to be a proper wife to you\u201d, she curtsied to him and smiled as he hugged her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI officially call you husband and wife, then\u201d, Lady Shakti smiled and hugged them both. \u201cSo, in danger of repeating myself, what are the plans for the future?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to continue serving as a Judge of Karma, that is if my husband and Lord approves\u201d, Zina bowed to Siddhartha Gautama.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only do I approve, but I would request Lady Shakti\u2019s permission to join you. It is a most praiseworthy and compassionate job, and if you see me as worthy and qualified enough for it, it would be my honour to join your daughter there\u201d, Buddha bowed to his mother-in-law.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are slightly over-qualified, but we need all the help we can get\u201d, Parvati smiled and nodded, and his Title changed accordingly.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is quite fortunate, as we seem to have new arrivals\u201d, Lord Shiva raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you two were away for what, an hour, and not only did both of you become Gods, but you also got married, and Lord Buddha is now working here with us?\u201d, Azrael scratched his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe became a Goddess first; I was so amazed with her that I just followed suit\u201d, Buddha kissed his bride\u2019s hand and smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s too bad I didn\u2019t bet any actual money on it, because I just knew it\u201d, Azrael laughed. \u201cOh well. At least we have the most praiseworthy addition to the workforce\u201d, he bowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I hear there\u2019s been some new arrivals?\u201d, Buddha bowed back. \u201cAnd what exactly is the procedure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes; you\u2019ll see quickly enough. As for the procedure, it\u2019s simple. The normal souls need compassion, healing and knowledge until they are well enough to be placed in the astral Earth, the place where you sat with Zina in that apple orchard. There they can think things through and see what they want to be and do next. Then there are the corrupted ones, the criminals who caused the normal ones to be traumatised; rapists, murderers, bandits, warlords, clergy. They are the actual problem, as one would want to rehabilitate them too, but they need to be really seriously sorry, not just fake it to evade the consequences. That\u2019s where your legendary bullshit detector comes into play. Basically, if they are thoroughly corrupted and evil, throw them into the astral jail, designed exclusively for that purpose, and we\u2019ll see what to do with them at some later point. Maybe they change, maybe we return them to Earth, see what happens and revisit. If all other options are exhausted, someone will wipe them out and purify the karmic mass, but that part is out of our hands. In case of the most terrible demonic beings, and we only had one so far, we call the Gods to deal with them\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSounds good to me\u201d, Buddha nodded. \u201cSo, basically, we treat them compassionately, but not beyond the limits of reason and good taste?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly\u201d, confirmed the Angel of Death. \u201cIn any case, it would be cruel to let loose any unrepentant criminals among their victims and thus traumatise the poor souls further. That\u2019s why the brig is there; hold them separately, revisit, think of solutions and treatments at a later date, and in the worst cases, flush\u201d, he shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd by the worst cases, you mean \u2026?\u201d, Buddha raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who would make the normal devils want to escape hell just to get away from them\u201d, grinned Azrael, as Buddha laughed, and Zina held him close. \u201cYou didn\u2019t see Uriel, or at least what he became, and be thankful to all the Gods that this is the case. I still have nightmares\u201d, he shivered.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn any case, I have the two of you to rely upon until I get the hang of it\u201d, nodded Siddhartha.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking of which, here we come\u201d, Azrael pointed.<\/p>\n
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As Lord Shiva walked into their coffee lounge, his wife instantly ran towards him and threw herself into his arms wordlessly. He just smiled and held her for a time, and then they looked at each other, and he took … Continue reading