Karma

Unfair. This was too unfair! What did he ever do to deserve such a death? All civilian #3207 wanted was to live a meaningful life. He always tried to do the right thing even if the world continued to wrong him. He always believed that if one person persists with the act of kindness, eventually someone else will be touched by the act and pass it on. All it took was a spark to light the forest ablaze, or so he thought.

Drifting through time and space for an unknown amount of time, civilian #3207 wondered what he would do now that he was dead. There were no more customers to serve, no more bills to pay. No more starving nights, no more living in fear. No more worrying about paying his bills or if his landlord was going to evict him. 

For the first time in his busy life, civilian #3207 was bored. There was absolutely nothing to do in the afterlife.

“Civilians are humans too! Why does God favour the mafia over civilians? What have I done wrong? This death is too unfair!”

As if God had been waiting for this moment, a bright light stabbed his non-existent eyes. Civilian #3207 wasn’t expecting to see his feline friend and wanted to go over when Celine scowled at him.

“Insolent one! What do you know?”

For a moment, civilian #3207 was too stunned to do anything. Celine was talking? Moreover, Celine sounded like a man! Did he mistake his feline friend’s gender this whole time? Was this why Celine gave him a hot and cold treatment? No, wait! That shouldn’t be the first thing on his mind… his friend was talking! His feline friend… was God?!

The cat that looked like Celine also behaved in a similar manner, licking its paws and cleaning its ear.

“Civilian #3207, I’ve been watching you.”

God looked disinterested, and the cook wondered if there was a purpose to this meeting.

“Are you going to pass judgement on me? Where am I going? What am I going to do? I’m dead now, this has to be the afterlife right? Where are the pearly gates to heaven or the barbed wire fences leading to hell? Surely I have to go to either one of these places, right? Did my karma points fail the requirements to enter heaven?”

God rolled his eyes and jumped up, kicking civilian #3207 in the face. The startled civilian fell backwards and landed on his bottom. Fortunately, he was already dead and couldn’t feel any pain.

“You fool! Do you think your measly karma points will allow you to enter the pearly gates so easily? People have reincarnated thousands of times to gather the necessary karma required to enter those gates. You’re a thousand years too early for that! Besides, your soul is incomplete. You have unfinished business.”

Confused, the civilian asked why his soul was incomplete.

God yawned. “You have a twin soul in the mafia. This is him.”

With a flick of his tail, God created an image in a milky way. The boy looked no older than fifteen and was Asian. He looked very innocent for someone part of the mafia and civilian #3207 wondered how this had anything to do with him.

“His name is Zen. He is one of the few that I chose as the alterer of fate. I’m sure you know about the Godfather of this world. The Godfather stands on the opposite side of the mafia as an individual power.”

Civilian #3207 nodded even if he didn’t understand what everything meant. However, he was excited. He had a twin soul brother! After being alone for so long, it was nice to know that there was still someone he could call family out there.  Even if he wasn’t part of the underworld, this was common knowledge. The Godfather was the only person the mafia feared and revered. They didn’t know why, but the reason wasn’t as important. Choosing the next Godfather was a significant decision for the civilians. Typically, civilians were usually not allowed to participate or know anything about the underworld. However, every few decades, the Godfather will host a huge event for the civilians to choose the next Godfather. The last Godfather election event was over fifty years.

Celine smirked. “There you have it. This child is my top candidate for the next Godfather. As his twin soul, you’ve gathered enough experience and karma to assist him. That’s your true purpose and why your soul was split. I’m sorry kid, but it’s still too early for you to go to heaven. Maybe if you did a good job as a Godfather, I would put in a good word for you to be accepted after you die.”

Before God could blast civilian #3207 back onto Earth, the panicked cook yelled out to wait.

“I can’t just go back there!” he cried. 

The Godfather elections were always cruel and brutal, even for top mafioso. As a civilian, he had no skills or abilities. They’re just going to kill him before he could do anything, much less become the next Godfather.

God thought it over. Unlike the other Godfather candidates, Zen’s case was slightly special. God split his soul at the start because he thought Zen could awaken the blood in him to listen to the inner voices of others, including his twin soul to gather information telepathically. However, the Taro family that Zen was born into neglected him so much that the gift was incomplete. Thankfully, his twin soul met an early end. By fusing the two souls and their experiences together, perhaps Zen would be able to quickly master that ability.

“I guess I can’t just send you there without anything. The challenges ahead of you will be difficult. If you were to become the next Godfather, you’d need some help. How about this? I’ll give you a blessing to make up for what you lack. This should give you an equal footing as the other candidates.”

Civilian #3207 didn’t reject God’s blessing and accepted it without knowing what it was. After all, a gift from God couldn't possibly be a bad thing, right?

God didn’t give him any time to find out about his abilities. Instead, he took a look at the time and kicked him down onto Earth to be reincarnated and fused with his twin soul. 

“Just in time for the games, all the best my golden child! Let’s watch you change this shitty world.”