World Builder [Irregular] - Chapter One

Where…  Am I?

Instinctively, I realize that is the wrong question.  I cannot know where I am, because this is nowhere incarnate.  There is nothing here to be a where- and that is a problem.  I examine the emptiness that surrounds me for a moment before turning my attention to myself.  

Currently, I am the only something in this nowhere, and a brief examination makes it seem likely that I was something else and was brought to this ‘nowhere’ to do something.  I have an overwhelming amount of power thrumming through me, more than I should be able to handle, and with it comes the desire to make something and somewhere from nothing and nowhere.

But from somewhere else information flows to me- I must build a world. Along with that information is what I can only describe as a poke to move faster.  I ignore it, of course, and first turn this power on myself to force myself to remember what I was.

Visions flash through me, I was a man on a planet called Earth.  I had died and found quite an interesting system before me, apparently I was skeptical about religion and spirituality and I had found out after death that every single religion was true- from a certain point of view.  But then I was chosen for something, and I could remember no more than that, though I could infer that this was what I was chosen for.

Seems like a pretty poor decision to me, there had to be people more qualified to become a Creator, but I suppose who or whatever made the decision had their reasons.  Maybe not good reasons, but reasons all the same.

Alright then, that is enough wasting time, this power is itching to be used.  Literally, well, as literally as it can be since I do not actually feel ‘itchiness’ in this state, but that is the closest this feeling has to a biological counterpart.  God itch, perhaps?  Whatever, I will not be goaded by the discomfort into moving rashly, I will take my time and think.

Time does not exist in this nowhere, though undoubtedly time is passing elsewhere, as the feeling continues to grow more and more uncomfortable.  I will not be distracted from my planning however- as a mortal I had complained about how ill-designed the world was, now I had to put my money where my mouth was.  However, there were far more constraints than I realized.

This power- the power of creation- had an origin.  Namely, souls.  I sensed that someday I would understand how souls drew something from nothing, but for now it was beyond my ability to reason.  My goal was to create a system that would allow souls to be born and grow, and through that, grow my own domain.  To push back the sheer emptiness that surrounded me by filling it with this power.

Interestingly, it seemed that whatever being had done this to me had no objective morality that I needed to aspire to.  But that was fine, even as a mortal I had my own- and now I had the chance to test how that mortal vision would look applied to a whole world- no, a whole universe.

After spending millions of years- and simultaneously, no time at all- considering, the feeling grew to be nearly unbearable.  I could sense the impatience and displeasure of whatever had given me this, but the wait was worth it.  One could build a universe without a plan, without a vision of the goal one had in mind.  The time I spent was natural, in my opinion, and the fruits of my contemplations would be harvested here.

First, the Mortal Realm, the foundation upon which this universe would be built.  For here the vast majority of souls would be born, live, and die.  And here would be the greatest potential for growth, I would have the mortals of my world aspire to reach the powers of the divine- for without the perspective of mortals, immortality is meaningless.  I would return to finish the details of the realm later, there was so much to set up first.

Above- in the deific sense, not the literal sense- the Mortal Realm I placed what would become the Heaven Realm, though it was not at all like the Heaven from my previous world.  No, it would be so much more.

Between Mortality and Heaven I placed what would be called Purgatory in my old world, but here it shall be known as Contemplation.  There would be a cycle of rebirth in this universe, but I would have none simply reborn without a chance to better themselves- even if much of that would be stripped from them in rebirth.

Mortals would be born and live in the Mortal Realm, and when they died their souls would first go to Contemplation, where they would meditate on their lives for a time equal to what they lived, before being sent to be reborn.

To facilitate this, I created the Judgement Realm- though it was not a place of punishment, rather a place of growth.  Passing from Contemplation to Judgement, the souls memories and power would be taken from it and flow to the Heaven Realm and the soul would head to Judgement taking only instinctual feelings to help it grow according to the meditation it performed in Contemplation.  The Judgement Realm would decide on where each soul would be reborn to guide the soul both into growing in power, goodness, and wisdom so that each time a soul passed through the cycle it would grow a little more.

Further, the power and memories of each soul would congregate in the Heaven Realm.  Most of that power would go to fuel the growth of the universe, but a fraction would remain and pool.  As the soul went through the cycle again and again, this power would give birth to Guardian Angels who would seek to guide the soul that they were born from.

I took a step back, metaphorically speaking, to admire my handiwork so far.  Three realms, with Contemplation not being its own realm but rather a plane formed from the boundaries of the Mortal and Heaven Realms.  I was nearly finished with the structure, there were only a few touches left.

With Contemplation as a base, I twisted the other borders between the existing realms to create a wider plane- and finally, a realm between realms.  The incorporeal Magical Realm, which would be the boundary between all Realms and a source of power for all of them as well.  Much of a souls growth in Contemplation would become part of the power of the Magical Realm, and the beings of the Mortal Realm would learn to use this power and grow, in addition to cultivation and other methods.

And, finally, surrounding and encapsulating all the Realms- a border between Everything and Nothing- the Immortal Realm, the realm of the gods.  For now, a formless place, and one that I would not fine tune.  I would leave that to my creations, the first of which I will now molde.  Rather than create them directly from my own power, I will form them from the power of the Realms- forever tying them to their new Domain.  When it flourishes, they flourish- when it suffers, they suffer.

I took the Mortal Realm by the hand and it quivered before my power- much depleted as it was- and twisted it.  From it I shaped a woman whose eyes changed colors as one watched- Looking into the blue you could see and hear the crashing of ocean waves and the smell of salt.  They would fade to green and it would seem as if one was surrounded by a forest filled with animals and life, or they would turn grey and seem to send you to a majestic mountain range.  Her hair seemed black, but in the right light you could see it was actually an incredibly dark green and where she stepped, flowers would bloom.  She had deep brown skin, the color of rich soil and she burst with vitality and life.  

“Your name shall be-”  I considered for a moment before pronouncing, “Taliya, Goddess of the Mortal Realm, go forth and spread life throughout it.”

A dress of vines and leaves formed around Taliya and she curtsied, “As you wish, Lord Father.”

Gracefully, she spun and left to obey my command as I left for the Heaven Realm.  Here again, I formed Aura, the Goddess of Heaven.  Her hair was blonde and her eyes were like crystals, she was clad in a dress formed from Light itself- regal, and commanding.

“Aura, to you I grant dominion over Angels and Immortals as well as the Heaven Realm.  For now, it will be a time before any angels form, take this time to build the glory of your Realm, because from here the souls that reach you have the chance to obtain the glory of a deity.  You will guide and lead them along that path as the Queen of Heaven.”

Aura gave a stately curtsy, stating proudly- “Your will be done, Lord Father.”  And she too disappeared into her Realm.

In Judgement, I took a different approach.  As I held the power of the Realm, I twisted again.  Forming two beings.

“Avarus and Libreus,” I looked upon the two men, identical but for their eyes.  “You shall be the twin masters of the the realm of Judgement.  To Avarus, I give power.  It is your job to usher souls into the life that best suits them for growing their strength.”

The God on the left, Avarus, nodded.  He was black haired, with incredibly pale skin.  His left eye was likewise dark black, but his right eye was crystalline like Aura’s.

“Libreus,” I looked to the other one, who was exactly the same as his brother except that his left eye was crystalline and his right eye was dark black.  “To you I give morality.  Your duty is to ensure that souls grow in wisdom and morality one life to the next by guiding them into the life that fits them best.”

Libreus nodded, likewise understanding his duties.  To prevent what would otherwise be an inevitable future conflict, I expended some of the last of my power to create a set of scales- though that was only in appearance.

“This shall be called ‘The Balance,’” Not the best name, I know- but even a Creator God has his limits!  “According to the situation in the Mortal Realm and in Contemplation, it will shift to show whether Power or Morality is more needed at any one point.  It is a guide, not an absolute, but if you ignore it too much remember that I will come looking.  Now go, ready yourself for the souls and their judgement.”

With two precise, mirroring, bows and a completely in sync, “Yes, Lord Father.”  The two faded into their realm.

Lastly, I went to the Magical Realm and here I created Mysterica- Goddess of Magic and Contemplation.  Though her appearance was always of a beautiful woman, it shifted constantly.  Her form never was still, with the exception of her eyes, in which one could see the meditative calm of Contemplation.

“To you, Mysterica,” I said, feeling quite tired at this point- who knew that that bullshit about God needing a rest wasn’t bullshit at all?  “I grant the Magical Realm.  Your duty is the most formless of all your brethren, but perhaps the most important.  You are the buffer between the Realms, and the nexus for all movement between them.  Into your hands that responsibility is placed, along with guiding the souls in Contemplation and presiding over the power of magic itself.  Go forth, and prepare for what is to come.”

Mysterica said nothing, merely smiled and vanished and I once again stood back from the Realms to look upon them.  Of the original power given to me, only a spark remained.  I still had my own power, of course, but the power given to me to start the creation of this world was nearly depleted- and the stress of that wore even me, the Creator, down.

My subjects, my children, were busy with their tasks- and the Realms were starting to take shape.  Life had begun in the Mortal Realm, palaces and places for Angels had formed in the Heaven Realm.  In the Realm of Judgement, rivers of power flowed through a dark land under the direction of the brothers, while in the Magical Realm the planes were being twisted into their own miniature worlds pooling with power and mystery.

Around it all, the Immortal Realm was still formless, but it would one day be shaped by every deity this world birthed and until then I would be content that it served its purpose as a barrier against the Nothing beyond it.

Still, the most important part was missing- but it had not been forgotten.

A mortal, sentient, vessel for souls to inhabit.  I smiled, just realizing I had manifested as a man, and ignoring it for now.  I would likely choose a form to stay in at some point, after I had rested for a bit perhaps.

For now though, a smile that turned into a smirk suited the situation nicely.  This complex world dedicated to growth had very little wasted energy- a benefit of impeccable planning- and as a result, this remaining spark of the power of creation was left over, to do with as I wished.

I will use it, part of the power to create a universe, in addition to my own power to create the First Born mortal race.

I stepped back into the Mortal Realm, Taliya appearing at my side, and held out my hand.

In my world, they would be called Elves, I suppose.  And that is a fine enough name for them here too.  I would someday create other races, probably even a version of humans, but for now I wanted to make sure that my first attempt worked.  That no matter what occurred, they would succeed and grow.  And so this race, the race of elves was born.

They looked much like Aura, though with pointed ears.  Tall and thin, into this race was poured the power of creation.  In all their endeavors, they would prove more wise and powerful than all that came after- the perfect beginning.

As the final necessary point of creation, I drew in the Realms and threaded bits of them through the body.  These pathways flowed with the power of the universe itself, allowing the newly born race to cultivate and unlock it for themselves to begin treading the path to immortality.  For though the race I created would be extremely long lived by human standards, to my own they disappeared in the blink of an eye.  Additionally, they would be able to learn and use magic, a power separate from cultivating.

With a wave of my hand, I spread the new creation over the world Taliya had created in the Mortal Realm, and thoroughly exhausted, departed towards the small plane I had placed above the Immortal Realm, the plane that would one day be my own Palace and rested.