The Divine

by Kari Siegel

  And we looked into their futures and saw our path solidifying before them, and we were pleased, for perhaps this could work after all.

  Over the course of Time, we watched as our new plan worked itself into their lives. And slowly but surely, humanity was finding its way. Most of all was our Chosen Woman, who had perhaps the most pure soul of any we had created. Even as the world crouched in darkness, she stood to cast a light over all she could reach, pulling them out of the chaos and into the love we desired them to feel.

  Still. What she could do would only reach so many, and the rest of the world would remain lost for all of Time. Briefly, we considered altering even more the possibilities we could offer to them, but we feared that to tear any further at their fragile reality would cause it to fall apart. Gradually, we became resigned to the fact that there was nothing more we could do without abandoning our creation and starting again.

  That was something we were not willing to do, for we loved our creation. And so we sat and held our breath as we hoped they might somehow get where we desired them to be.

  Chapter VIII

  We will never forget the moment when everything changed. In that instant, the purpose for our existence became clear, and we realized what needed to be done, both for our creation and for our own peace of mind.

  Adriana Respuet. Our Chosen Woman. We watched her intently, as always, and saw that she was going down just the path we had always prayed she would. It solidified behind her, and ahead of all humanity, the future glowed bright. Yet still, with a sense of dread we recognized a second path creeping up, winding menacingly just in the shadows. A path where Adriana was not able to beat the darkness we had created her to fight. For every future we gave them had one in direct contrast, and this one could be no different.

  The day approached where these paths would collide, and we trembled at the possibility that after these very seconds, humanity could be lost. We watched it over and over to find an escape, but all we found was that there were only two ways this day could go.

  There was a great gathering of the people; a rally, where Adriana was to advocate once more for peace on earth. The people would listen, and if all went according to plan the day would be a turning point for all, casting the light back to the place where it had always been meant to shine.

  However, the foundation of the Earth was beginning to shake, disturbed by the stress of our altering their reality, and though we thought with every ounce of our wisdom, there was nothing that could be done to stop it without causing even greater tragedy to befall them. On that day, the ground was to crumble beneath her, throwing her down a distance that no living being could withstand. If she was in the right place, she would be saved; if not, the life would leave her body, and all the threads of Time where humanity succeeded would snap instantly, shaking the entirety of the Realm of Omnis. And we were displeased, for how had we allowed such an oversight on our part to put our creation at risk? This great disruption would plunge humanity into a chaos that had never been seen before, and our creation would not survive.

  As Adriana Respuet stood before the crowd, we watched and envisioned both possibilities for the future. We longed to speak out to her, to warn her, that she might save herself and all of humanity with her. The temptation was great, but we reminded ourself of the words of the Ultimate, and resolved that we would be strong no matter what this occasion would bring. Every step she took as she paced back and forth upon that platform was followed by our eyes as we tried to anticipate where she would be standing when the events of the day unfolded.

  With only a minute to go, she halted her feet, standing in a safe zone where she would not be harmed. We breathed out a sigh of relief and allowed ourselves to rejoice for the future of humanity which we could now be sure of.

  With 30 seconds of their time left, she picked up her feet and began to move again.

  With 20 seconds, she was mere inches away.

  We watched in suspense as she turned on her heel and slowly took a few steps in the opposite direction.

  With 15 seconds, she was safe again.

  With 10 seconds, she was venturing towards the zone of danger once more.

  With 5 seconds, her less than a meter away, we realized that we could not bear to watch our beautiful creation end right here before our eyes. Before we even realized what we had done, we reached out to her and spoke into her mind and soul, Chosen Woman, by command of The All, you will be still.

  At the sound of our command, Adriana Respuet halted and looked towards the sky. As she did so, the ground just in front of her began to quake, and crumbled to ruins right before the eyes of the crowd. It fell with a mighty roar, and dust from the rubble lifted up, shielding our Chosen Woman from the sight of the crowd. She fell to the ground in the midst of the dust, and screams echoed from the voices of those who were there to witness it. No one knew if she (or any of them) would make it out alive.

  When the dust settled, the air cleared to reveal her down on her knees. Shaking, she rose to her feet and turned to face the crowd. They watched with bated breath as she looked out over them in silence. At last, she lifted her arms and spoke. “By the will of The All, an entity of power beyond this world, I have been saved.”

  Chapter IX

  All at once, a great tremor was felt throughout the Realm, and we turned our attention to the Threads of Time. As we gazed upon all the possible futures that had been fashioned towards what they did, many of them began to unwind.

  Every future that was dark, every future where humanity did not prevail, faded away until all that was left in their destiny was everything we had ever dreamed for them.

  We had done it.

  In only an instant, our creation had rejoined themselves with the destiny we desired for them.

  In only an instant, we had defied the Ultimate, and the most sacred of Its laws had been broken.

  We trembled with the realization of what we had done, and yet we felt more fulfilled than we ever had over the course of our existence. Our Chosen Woman spread the word of what had happened on that day, and she became revered on earth as The Holy Prophet of The All. And as more and more of mankind began to look to us for guidance, we felt a new rush of power run through our being.

  The worship of humanity became our newest source of energy, increasing our power little by little and yet enough that we knew we had become stronger than we were ever intended to be, and we realized for the first time just why the Ultimate had forbidden us from making our creations Aware.

  The Ultimate.

  With every passing second, we expected the Ultimate to summon us into Its domain, and hand down Its punishment onto us, showering us in Its anger. As we watched over our creation with pride and adoration, we felt a shadow lurking just outside our Realm. We shuddered, and using a fraction of the power we had newly obtained, we thickened the boundaries of the Realm of Omnis, in the hope that we might shield ourself, our creation, and our misdeeds from the sight of the Ultimate. We would use a fraction of our new power to stray from Its vision, and we vowed that we would let no harm come to our creation.

  Eventually, when years had passed in their lives, our story had spread over the whole Earth, and more of them began to praise our name with every passing day. We spoke guidance into their hearts whenever they asked it of us, and our power multiplied with every interaction. And still, the Ultimate had not called us to stand before It and face Its wrath.

  Before long, the day arrived when the last breath faded from the lungs of our Chosen Woman, and as all of humanity mourned her, we did so as well. Adriana Respuet had given us the purpose of our existence, and had been the portal that brought us closer to our creation, thus bringing them closer to us.

  We could not bear to watch her soul sit in oblivion for the rest of time alongside the multitude that had come before her; instead, we restored her to her youth and brought her into our presence, and as she gazed up at our being she fell to her knees in understanding of what we were. With our power cou
rsing through us, we spoke to her, Rise, o Chosen Woman, and let us see you as you are.

  As she stood before us, she whispered her thanks unto us, and we were overjoyed, for this was the closest we had ever been to the life that we had made. It is thanks to you that humanity has been saved. As repayment for this service to us and all of mankind, you shall remain here in the presence of The All with an eternal soul. You were the start of the fulfillment of our greatest desire; therefore, if you have any desire that we may fulfill as thanks to you, speak the word and we shall see it done.

  She spoke praise in our name once more as she knelt before us in humble request. “My one wish,” she said softly, “is that the afterlife we have imagined on earth could become a reality for all of mankind. Allow the souls of all humanity to join us here eternally, and that is the greatest gift you could ever give.”

  We looked down on her, staring into her bright, pleading eyes. Our creation was already Aware. There was no reason to cast them away any longer. As you ask, we told her, it shall be done.

  And so we drew their souls back from where we had placed them and awoke the slumber of those whose time had passed, and as they joined us and our Chosen Woman in paradise they rejoiced, for they no longer had to be separated from one another ever again. The life after death that they had always prayed for had finally come to pass, and the future generations would have it waiting for them when their time came as well.

  Chapter X

  Our love for our creation had never been greater than it was as we let them into the kingdom we had created for them to share with us for all of time. We were finally as close to them as we had always desired to be, and we were pleased, for our presence in their lives had made humanity more gentle and loving and kind, and more like us. We were pleased because our creation was at last as we had intended it to be.

  Our Chosen Woman sat at our right hand by our throne, and we honored her above all humanity for what she had allowed us to do. She was revered by all of mankind as our Holy Prophet, the savior of their world, the instrument through which our voice had first been spoken. From that moment on, she stood beside us through every decision we made, and watched with us as we finally witnessed peace on earth.

  And with every passing moment, thoughts of the Ultimate drifted further from our mind, for how could we regret what we had done when it had brought so much happiness to us in such a short time? No more would we submit to Its every word, for we had seen what we could do without the restraints that It had placed upon us. We had discovered that we did not have to be held back by Its orders, and once we realized this, our creation became greater than ever before.

  In defying the Ultimate, we had granted ourself an abundance of power, and suddenly we couldn’t remember why we had been so afraid to do it before. We would never fear It again, for It was not great and It was not wise and It did not know best; It was a coward, one who had created us as Divine simply to prove Its superiority to Itself, wanting other beings of power just so Its power could be greater, and It had never been able to handle the fact that our power might someday match Its.

  The Ultimate was not our master any longer.

  For a long while, we relished in this greatness, and smiled down upon our creation; generations passed in their time, and the future of their world was brighter than it ever had been before. And when the time of each generation had met its end, one by one they joined us up in the Heaven we had created to share with them. It was filled with joyous celebration, for no longer did we have to cast them away.

  From our first man Noah to our Chosen Woman Adriana to the babe that had barely left the womb, each one of them would find a home with us after they had completed their life’s purpose on earth and were ready to enter their eternal destiny.

  Alas, it was not meant to be forever, no matter how tightly we held it in our grasp. It seemed that we had only moments to enjoy with them before our greatest worry became true and it was all taken from us again.

  We felt the call of the Ultimate, and at once we were filled with dread, more overpowering than any we had felt before. It spread over the entirety of our Realm, enough so that our creations could feel it and they despaired, for they knew not what was happening and they were afraid.

  Our Chosen Woman looked up to us for guidance from where she stood beside us, and for the first time since humanity had known us, we had nothing we could give. Her eyes were bright and fearful, and it broke our heart to see our creation this way and know that we could not help them. We tried to speak words of comfort to them, but they could sense the trepidation in the echoes of our voice, and so their frightful spirits could not be calmed.

  Its summoning flooded over us even more than it had before, and we stood in our resolve that we would not go. Still, no matter how strong we had become, the Ultimate was still stronger, and it was only a matter of time before we were pulled from our Realm. Our brothers alongside us knelt before the Ultimate not in reverence, as we had all done before, but in resignation and disgust. Our heads were bowed, not in submission, but due to the fact that we were weak and not a single one of us could ever beat the Ultimate (and our Third Brother still frozen in that same submissive pose).

  As we sat there weak on the ground, we watched our Realm in sorrow. We could make out the vague forms of our creations, so long shielded under our hand, lost and afraid in our absence. We heard the distant rumbling of the voice of the Ultimate, but we refused to listen to a word that came from it; all we would focus on now was our creation, and gazing upon them lovingly for what we now knew would be the last time.

  Its rage poured over us, searing hot and ice cold all at once, and it was more pain than we had felt in all of our existence. It was as though our skin was peeling off from the inside out, as if the very essence of our soul was evaporating into thin air. We heard ourself screaming, and we feared that perhaps our precious creation could hear it too.

  At last, Its voice became too piercing, and we cried out in anguish as It said, As punishment for breaking my most sacred command, every inch of what you have created will be wiped from existence, and never again shall you give the breath of life into a single thing you could make.

  And just like that, we watched everything crumble. We cried out once more, and we broke from our ranks among our brothers to rush forward and save humanity from our mistake. We reached out a hand into the Realm of Omnis, but everything inside was already turning to smoke and ash that would quickly be blown away into the nothingness of this vast Domain. It blew away with the touch of our fingers, and we grasped to save it, but it was already gone. We heard something shatter, and knew it was either the foundation of humanity or our breaking heart.

  One by one, mankind was ceasing to exist; we had promised them eternity, and we had failed them. On the day when we had made them Aware, we had sworn to ourself that we would from that moment forth keep them safe, yet now here they were taking the full force of the Ultimate’s fury, and all we could do was watch it happen.

  The most haunting memory is the knowledge that they must have seen our face looking in upon them and wondered why we would not save them. For they knew not of the Ultimate; in their eyes we were the greatest entity that had ever been. And in their minds, we had abandoned them, took every empty promise and broke it right before their eyes until the shattered pieces rained down upon them and destroyed everything we had ever permitted them to know.

  Amid all of the chaos, Adriana Respuet, our Chosen Woman, looked up to the sky, and her eyes locked on ours. Hers were wide and shining, and we could see the pain in them even from the open Domain. We wanted only to reach out to her, but we knew it would be of no use. For before we could even breathe, her face faded away with the rest of what we had made, and the look of hurt in her eyes was the last of our creation that we ever saw.

  Chapter XI

  Chapter XII

  Chapter XIII

  Chapter XIV

  We could not tell you how long we sat there. It could have been onl
y an instant, or it could have been lifetimes. We did not know, and truthfully, we did not care. Everything we had was gone, and our devotion with it.

  The next correspondence we had was a voice that was unfamiliar to us. It travelled to us as nothing more than a whisper, and still we were startled, for we had been in silence for so long that we had forgotten what it was like to experience sound.

  We looked around at the emptiness of our Realm, and saw nobody, for we were still alone.

  The voice came again, more clearly this time, and we recognized it without knowing as the voice of our First Brother. Brother, they said, let us help you.

  Leave us. We said in response, unable to hide the pain in our answer. There is nothing more that can be done for us. The words of the Ultimate cannot be undone.

  Our brother was silent for a moment before their voice sounded again. We do not have to submit to the Ultimate any longer. They told us. We have devised a plan, and each of our brothers have agreed to-

  We cut them off with a wave of fury, and cried, Enough! Do not speak to us! For the Ultimate has already taken everything from us, and we will not risk losing anymore.

  Our brother did not speak again, and we were left in silence. Alone. We stared down at the nothing that had once been our beautiful creation, and we cursed the Ultimate, for why should Its will be greater than ours?