The Divine

by Kari Siegel

  Our treasonous ideas came once again to the front of our mind, the desire to make our creations Aware, and we cowered internally at the notion that the Ultimate could sense those thoughts and was prepared to put an end to that thinking with the power of Its rage. It was as though It could see right through us, to know that we had, however briefly, considered breaking one of the sacred laws. And we felt ashamed, for how could we even think to defy the Ultimate when It was so great and we were so small?

  The Ultimate said something that was muffled to our ears, and then, Stand before me.

  Uncertainly, we watched our brothers to see what they did. Trembling, our Second Brother rose to their feet and took a small step towards the Ultimate. The rest of them seemed just as unsure as we were, but the Ultimate seemed satisfied with that response.

  Once again, the muffled words came from the face of the Ultimate, and we understood that It was speaking the name of our Second Brother, and we could not hear because It did not wish us to know.

  Rule number 3. Heat began to radiate from the Ultimate’s being; we knew that the heat meant anger, and we were afraid. For we had never seen the Ultimate angry before. You have been permitted to create as much as you wanted. Within the limits of your Realm. The Realm of [...] (this name we still could not hear). But never were you to try to extend beyond that.

  The Ultimate lifted a hand, and suddenly before our eyes was a vision of a Realm overflown, with creations we had never seen before trailing out into the open Domain. This is the Realm that I had bestowed upon you, and it was vast and plentiful. Yet it wasn’t enough for you. You desired more, and defied me to obtain that for which you wished.

  Our Second Brother whimpered and fell to their knees, whispering pleas of remorse, begging for forgiveness. They were shaking, terrified of what the Ultimate might do, and all we and the rest of our brothers could do was kneel on the ground and watch.

  As punishment for your disregard for my request that you remain in your own boundaries, the Ultimate declared, the Realm of [...] will become merely half its size, and all that falls outside its limits will become ash to vanish into the Domain.

  We felt a sense of relief at those words, for such a punishment couldn’t be so bad. Our brother would not be harmed, and within all reason half a Realm was still more than enough to rule over for all of time.

  Our brother, however, let out a cry and began to weep. Before our eyes, the vision of the Realm began to shrink, and as it did so dust fell from its edges, pieces of their creation being destroyed for all of Time. They grabbed the ashes and held them in their hands, grasping for them even as they vanished from sight.

  And we did pity them, for we knew how much we loved our creation, and we knew it must be hard to watch one’s creation get ripped away.

  Smoke was emitted from the shrinking Realm as it burned apart, and it troubled us to see how destructive the power of the Ultimate could be. It reminded us of our own fit of rage, and we looked away, not wanting to imagine or ever have to see our creation in such a state again.

  Once the punishment had been completed, the Ultimate spoke. Let that be a lesson to the rest of you. It dismissed us then back to our own Realm, and we were left to gaze at our own creation and try to forget (though we never could) the sight of our brothers broken heart. We knew all too well that it could have been us instead.

  Chapter IV

  It took a long time for humanity to find its way back to where they had been. And we watched them all the way. We saw into their futures, and we felt tormented, for there were only 4 out of millions of possible timelines where our people did not go back to the way of war.

  And go back they did, even sooner than they had before. It had worked its way into their hearts and minds, and it was the way of the world for them. There were those who fought for pride, and anger, and hurt, and love. Then there were those who fought for the sheer pleasure of it, and nothing brought us more sadness than this. Our beautiful work had been corrupted, and all we could do was stand and watch.

  We could have started over. Abandoned this creation, moved to another corner of our Realm and tried again. But we loved them, and we did not want to give up on them, for in the threads of time we wove we saw a chance for them to be good. They could make that choice, and it was this ability to decide that made them truly alive.

  And many of them were good. For all the hatred in the world, there was an equal amount of love. We had created them with this dual nature to give them free will, and for every one who chose evil, another chose good. It was this that made this creation worth all the pain and suffering, because their joy and love held the power to outshine all of that.

  Still, war was an unavoidable thing in this world we had made, because the will of man was power, and this power contained darkness and greed and much more. They continued to destroy the world, and we could do no more to stop them without making them Aware.

  For that reason, we never again destroyed their civilization, never again killed masses of them and wiped their traces from the dust of the Earth. Because it was us who had given them free will, and so us who had led them into this trap of madness and destruction. We had created them beneath us, with a lower understanding, and so without us as their guide, how could we expect them to be strong enough to resist the darkness they had grown accustomed to and live a life of love?

  We longed to make ourself known to them, because we loved them and wanted to help them find the right path to take. We would never wish to choose for them, only to allow them a more educated view, that they might see what it was that they did. We wanted to be their merciful leader, and with the power of a Divine, we should have been able to; instead, we were stuck watching from the sidelines, trapped behind the words of the Ultimate.

  The Ultimate.

  For the first time in our existence, which seemed to us to have been infinite, we cursed the Ultimate. What use was it to let us rule over worlds if we could not guide them and be for them? Why let us know this power if we could not use it as we wanted? Why give us the entire Realm of Omnis if we could not share it with our creations in an everlasting life?

  Our creation needed a leader. But that leader could not be us, for we could not make them Aware. We pondered what to do, and decided we would make a being that could lead them. She would be like them, but above them in her will. However, we could not deny her free will, so futures were created where she did not rid the world of evil, despite how we hoped it would not go that way.

  They called the date April 19th using their measurements of time. That was the day that we witnessed the birth of Adriana Respuet. For the first time, the existence of one held more significance to us than that of any other. We watched over all of our creations intently, and she would be watched over even more.

  We made her many different futures, those that we hoped she might follow, and those that we desperately hoped she would not. As with every other, we granted unto her the potential to do great things for her world. We gave her the power to save nations or to rip them from the ground. Only time would tell what path she would take, and we could only sit and watch as she made her own destiny.

  Their world was in a time of great tension, and we had written in the stars that one way or the other, she may be the deciding factor. She could choose to rise up and conquer, leading her people in a time of rebellion against the tyranny that had befallen them, or she could join the ranks of evil in a force that should not be reckoned with. Or, she could choose to sit back and do nothing, which would ultimately, allow the darkness to win.

  Somebody must be given this power, there always needs to be one who can change the world, and we had chosen her. And so she became above the others, because she could save all of our creation or she could bring it to ruin. As we could not interfere to help our people, she was our last hope. All we had left was our hope, to believe that she could save everything for us.

  As she grew up, so quickly, even from our relative perspective of Time, we continuously vie
wed her timeline, smiling as it solidified behind her. Thus far, she was doing well; she was growing to be kind, and caring, and thoughtful, but also determined. She was a natural leader, and from even a very young age her peers would turn to her for guidance. We had made her strong, and she was thriving from what we had given her.

  Over and over again, we looked into her Threads of Possibility, and watched every possibility, even as they changed with Time, all the while never missing anything on Earth, for we had all eternity to spend without a single moment going by. We watched her glowing threads, the paths she seemed at this time most likely to take, and we were pleased. We saw her leading our people to victory, and back to the joy they had possessed at the time of first creation.

  And we were pleased, for perhaps there was still hope for man.

  Chapter V

  We gazed down over our beautiful creation as if it were the first time again, filled with a sense of hope that they might be able to find their way to the greatness that we had always dreamed they would achieve. Our chosen woman, Adriana, was actively making the decisions that would lead her where we wanted her to go, even without our guidance, and we were pleased. We were pleased because it meant that our creation was still good, and there was hope for the redemption of mankind even after all the misdeeds of their many generations.

  Each day, though for us only a fraction of an instant, was for them a revolutionary moment, paving the way for the greater things that were in store for them. Quickly Adriana became known among her fellow men, and we had blessed her with a spirit of charisma that the people were eager to follow. With every word she spoke, we watched another dark future fade from existence, allowing the ones of our favor to gain more prevalence in the heart of what we created.

  Still, we realized that one person could not do it all alone; the best efforts of our greatest creation could never be enough to drive evil out entirely from the soul of man. We sat in meditation for countless moments and pondered what more we could do.

  We longed for peace in the world we had built by our own hands, but we had allowed too much room for mistreading in giving free will to our creation. For an instant, we pondered taking that free will away, having them do exactly as we would ask of them and nothing more or less, but that notion was quickly discarded. The joy would be lost for us in knowing that everything they did had been the product of our direct command.

  Then again, we rationalized, wouldn’t the joy be even greater were we to speak our truth into the hearts of our creation, and help guide them along the way that we felt was best fitting in our purpose for humanity? Could it really be so bad to defy the words of the Ultimate? Would it not be worth it to see our creation thrive?

  We remembered what had happened to our brother and did our best to cast that thought from ourself, knowing that it was a violation of the Ultimate’s commands. Yet it lingered still, the twinging desire to allow our creations to know us, and to fill out our purpose through them instead of hoping they would by chance fulfill it on their own.

  They did not have the wisdom nor the strength to survive on their own, we realized as we were hit once more with a wave of regret. What had we done, placing such fragile creatures into a world where they had no chance to make it? How could we ever hope for them to please us Divine when we were not permitted to give them the assistance they needed to be worthy?

  We realized also, at that moment, just how weak we truly were. We felt it coursing through every part of our being, the power that we had only a fraction of what we needed to reach what we aspired for. And as we looked down at our creation, we noticed for what may have been the first time just how far from us they truly were. They would never be any closer to us than they were right then, neither physically nor emotionally nor spiritually.

  They would forever be separated from us by the vast expanse that we could never cross.

  Chapter VI

  The Ultimate called us once again to the Domain, and we were frightened, for we remembered what had happened the last time we had been in Its presence. Our treasonous desire to make our creation Aware had grown even more prominent since that Time, and we were afraid that it was our turn to face the wrath of the Ultimate for wishing to go against Its commands.

  We knelt again before the Ultimate, and this time It wasted no time in stating Its purpose for summoning us. Was the example I made of your brother not clear enough? Light burst forward from the Ultimate, blinding and angry, and we ducked our head with our brothers in silence. Must you continue to disobey me even after I have shown you the consequences of your disrespect?

  Our Second Brother sat still, and we could tell without knowing that they had not created anything new since the Ultimate had destroyed most of what they had made. We were filled with sadness, for our brother was in pain and more pain unto us all was soon to follow.

  The Ultimate called a name that couldn’t be comprehended by our ears, and our Third Brother rose to their feet. The fury of the Ultimate washed over them like a wave, and we shuddered as the outskirts of it hit us with a chilling impact. Our brother winced in pain and sunk to their knees, their hands in their lap and their head bowed down.

  My second law was that you were never to leave your Realm unless formally invited by the word of the Ultimate. Our Third Brother didn’t move, and the Ultimate continued. Only once before now have I granted permission for you to enter into my Domain. And yet you, [...], have wandered from your Realm on four separate occasions, for reasons unfathomable to me.

  Still, our brother remained frozen. The Ultimate said, As punishment for your refusal to remain where I had ordered you to stay, you shall never again be permitted to move even a finger unless assisted by one of greater power.

  Once again our brother did not move, and we recognized now that they were unable to do so. It was disheartening to see them in such a state, but there was nothing we could do to stop it, for the Ultimate had more power than we as Divine.

  After locking our brother into a frozen state for all of time, the Ultimate still did not dismiss us back to our own Realm. And even still, more of you have defied me. It called the names of our First and Fourth Brothers, and they both stood in unison.

  Our Fourth Brother looked to the ground, averting their gaze from that of the Ultimate, afraid to find out what their punishment would be. On the contrary, our First Brother met the gaze of the Ultimate with a look of defiance in their eyes, an even higher offense than whatever they had done to evoke the Ultimate’s wrath.

  The two of you have spoken, I understand. The Ultimate said. You have shared with each other the names of you and of your Realms. This is forbidden by my 4th law.

  The rage of the Ultimate burned hot this time, and although we were not in the line of fire, we could still feel the blistering heat of Its anger. Our Fourth Brother screamed out in pain, falling to the ground and weeping. Our First Brother winced and closed their eyes, yet still remained standing upright.

  This refusal to submit to the punishment of the Ultimate seemed to make It even angrier, and a loud eruption sounded from somewhere we could not see. Instinctively, we covered our ears, along with all our brothers except the First. They had tears of reflex streaming down their face and yet still refused to break. We did not know how long the contest continued, but eventually our First Brother lowered his head, glaring down towards the ground.

  As soon as the challenge was dropped, the noise faded away and we took our hands from our ears. The Ultimate exuded an air of disapproval, and spoke once more to our brothers. In exchange for your disobedience you shall be unable to create anything more within your Realms. You must watch as your creations fade from existence over time, unable to sustain themselves without the continued supply of your power, and then sit in oblivion for the rest of eternity, alone.

  Our First Brother remained expressionless, and we were perplexed as to how they were able to control their emotions in what must have been a time of great despair. We would have been a wreck, much like our Fourth B
rother, who sat crying and whimpering and begging for mercy.

  Despite these pleas, the Ultimate was unmoved, and with a wave of Its hand we were cast back into our own Realms. Even still, we heard the voice of the Ultimate echoing only to us.

  You are the last who has not failed me. Do not let me down.

  Chapter VII

  We were deeply shaken by this interaction with the Ultimate. We despaired to know that none of our brothers had been strong enough to withstand the temptations placed before them, for if each of them had weakened under the weight of their desire how could we hope to remain strong? The words of the Ultimate echoed in our minds as we gazed down upon our creation, and fitting right inside that resonated our own wish to allow our creation to become Aware.

  But we could not defy the Ultimate. Now, more than ever, we must obey Its commands, for It was angry and had warned us individually already now. We would have to cast all treasonous thoughts from our mind and focus solely on adhering to the will of the Ultimate.

  With this in mind, we turned our eyes back to our creation. Not a moment had passed since we had last looked down upon them; Adriana Respuet, our Chosen Woman, was still reaching out towards our people, attempting to pull them back from the darkness and into the light. And still, her efforts fell short of what was needed to gear humanity back to our intentions for them.

  Our fingers itched to reach out and touch the heart of our creation, to show them that they had another way, that they could choose a better life for themselves and their progeny, but we turned our head at the idea and refused to pay it any mind.

  We could not defy the Ultimate.

  Instead, we searched into the threads of Time to find what could be done by us to help them, to find how we could interfere without breaking the sacred law. We thought about creating new futures of good to outweigh those of evil, but we came to the realization that to alter their reality so drastically could yield disastrous results. We would need to be more subtle, working with what we already had made. We picked out individual possibilities from the infinite chances offered unto our creation and wove them together into a new destiny for mankind, giving them a new chance without tearing the fabric of their Time any more than they could handle.. We cast favor upon this new thread of Time that our creation might find their way to it, doing as we desired without us speaking a word.