Chapter 4: The Joy of Creation – Chapter 4

The two wandered through the endless expanse. Clearly the woman was leading them to somewhere, but everything, everywhere appeared to be the black void. The man too, did not know, and so he asked, “Where are we going?”

“Back to your universe,” replied the woman, still treading on.

“How long must we walk?”

“Usually an eternity,” she answered, “even for a Keeper. But we are of the same line, so we will arrive soon.” They kept onwards for a few seconds before she continued, “This is the only way between universes, and for a Keeper to transverse into the universe of another, they must be willing to make the journey. It is why you should not fear other Keepers, for by venturing into the realm of another, they leave their own exposed for the length of their absence.”

“I see,” responded the man, “but why must we make the walk back to my universe, when we could have stayed in yours?”

She turned her head to look at the man, though continued to walk, “Because a Keeper does not possess power of a universe not their own. They may control themselves, but not the ground they walk on. It takes immense skill and willpower to sustain the burden of affecting another universe. I will show you myself when we arrive,” she turned back to face the empty void.

They continued to walk for a while. Every so often, the woman would steal a look at the man, making sure he was following close behind. The man trudged onwards, alternating his gaze between the woman and the void. Perhaps he was getting lost in thought, perhaps not.

In time, the woman eventually came to a stop and turned to face the man, whose skin now emanated a soft, white glow of light. “We have reached your home,” said the woman.

“How can you tell?” asked the man.

She smiled, “You are glowing.”

The man looked down and examined his chest, then he brought his hands up to his face and ogled their light. “I see,” replied the man.

The woman again began to speak, “Well,” the man broke his stare and dropped his hands back at his side, turning, instead, to look at her, “now you must create.”

“Create what?” he inquired.

“Anything, anything at all.” The woman spun and moved rhythmically, continuing now in a kind of singsong, “The Sun, the moon, the stars above. The night itself, or a dawn of love. A grain of sand amongst the grass or an ocean in the sky. A mass of moss, a crack of rock, or a simple bit of ply. Anything at all will do, O Keeper, anything at all will do.” With a small spin she finished her monologue as the man stood dumbfounded with his mouth agape and his brow furrowed.

The woman took a moment, and, finding embarrassment, tried to collect herself. The man, for the first time since becoming a Keeper, smiled and spoke with a clear voice, distinct from his usual roughness, “How do I create?”

The woman appeared a bit more relaxed, though some redness still remained on her face, “You just do. Try what I did in the forest when I raised that mountain. Know what you want to create, and then make a motion to create it.”

He raised his hand to his chin, pondering the notion of motion and the facet of creation itself. After a few moments he dropped his hand, but before the woman could ask what he came up with, he took a seat upon the void. He closed his eyes and remained cross-legged as his mind wondered and wandered.

The woman stood a bit puzzled and stared at him inquisitively. If the man felt her gaze, he showed no signs of it, continuing to seemingly meditate for an answer of opinion. Yet, none appeared to come to him, as he maintained his posture in complete silence, time dragging on and on.

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While she never had a successor prior to this, the woman compared herself to the man, which only grew her frustration with his inability to derive anything at all to create. Even for a being with infinite time, she was growing impatient. Soon enough, her frustration with his inactivity caused her to speak, interrupting his pondering, “You have had long enough to think, now I need an answer – what do you wish to create first?”

The man looked up at the woman, apparently unable to detect her frustration, “I am not sure, there is not anything I particularly want, nor need. I must have more time to think.”

“No,” said the woman assertively, “you have done quite enough thinking. You do not need to learn how to think, you need to learn how to create. So, instead of forming something completely unique, how about you start with recreating something you already know. The tropical forest, for instance.”

The man, still sitting, again brought his hand to his chin, “Hmm,” he verbalized, “but I don’t wish to create the tropical forest. It was too hot and humid, and if you were to suggest I add insects, then they would be everywhere.”

In response, the woman put her hand to her brow, squeezing her fingers across it in annoyance, “It was only an example, nameless one, there are many other things you can create.” She dropped her hand from her face, having come up with an idea, “What did you like most about the world I showed you?” she asked.

The man’s response came quick, “The view.”

The woman broke into a wary smile, “Then remember the view and try to create everything it consisted of. Remember the landscape as one big mass, not as individual parts. Remember the cliff we stood on. Remember what you enjoyed looking at.”

The man stood up and closed his eyes, slowly moving his head from side to side, as if staring at the edge of a horizon. “I remember,” stated the man.

The woman sighed softly, and breathed deeply, regaining her composure, “Good, now open your eyes and return to your universe.” He did as she commanded. “This place is not like the overlook, is it? You must make it so.”

He recalled what she had said, and began a motion with his arm, bringing it across his body before raising it into the air. With this action, alpine trees materialized out of the void, and the air seemed to get thinner. The man smiled at what he had done, then he continued his creation. He made the sky above and stretched it into the heavens. The ground beneath their feet was turned into a forest floor, with bushes aplenty. He grimaced and swept both his arms into the air, raising a cliff out of the ground, propelling both himself and the woman high over the forest. From there, he walked to the cliff’s edge and made the town appear with a quick flick of his wrist. Like before, he took a seat, his legs dangling over the edge. No signs of fear emanated from him.

The woman, having watched in silence, stood with her mouth agape, her vision affixed upon the man. For some time, he sat as she looked on. Then, with a wave of his finger, a gentle breeze washed over them. “How did you do that so quickly?” asked the woman.

In a puzzled tone, the man turned to answer, “I simply did what you taught me. I thought of what I wanted to create, and then used motion to do so.”

She shook her head in disbelief, “When I was in your place, I learned from my predecessor step-by-step. We created each individual particle of dirt. Then we created the leaves, then the bushes. Soon enough, the ground itself. I had to focus on creating each individual part of every individual thing. Yet…” she trailed off.

“You told me not to do that,” the man stated, “you told me to think of the landscape as one big mass, so I did. Sure, I had to create the ground and the forest separately, but it was my first time.” He paused momentarily, “I’ll try to do it all at once when I make my next creation.” With that, the man faced back at the town and stared intensely at it, waiting for something to happen.

After a bit of time, he was struck with a realization, “Ah,” he said, turning to look at the woman¸ “I forgot to create the people.”

She laughed in both amusement and relief that the man had not yet eclipsed her in his understanding of their powers. "Well, I am glad there is still something I can teach you.”

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