Chapter Text
In the beginning, there is nothing. Before the creation of Man, before the Big Bang, Everything holds hands with Nothing as the two join for the last time. But then, there is Her. Everything’s hand is ripped away from their lover that is Nothing, and She is stood. She is not alone, but She is the most important. She inhales for the first time, and looks.
Hello, you. The universe is not even a minute old, and She is already in love with it. She has no idea what the universe is, for she has no idea what anything is. She, along with the infinite being that is outer space, are infants.
“Hello.” She turns at the sound, and there another stands. He is bright. She is intrigued.
“Hello. Who are you?” She is kind, for hatred does not exist yet. For humans do not exist yet.
“I am the World. Who are you?” The World wears a smile. She enjoys The World.
“I am Death. Do you know what we are?” The World does not change its view on Her, for Death has not been experienced yet.
“I do not know. All I know is my purpose.” Death is confused. She does not have a purpose yet, all she knows is to see and observe.
“What is your purpose?” There is no offense, for it does not exist.
“To create. To fulfill and build a sense of belongingness. What is yours?” She frowns slightly.
“I do not have one yet. I suppose I will just sit and watch creation, watch you and the others fulfill theirs.” The World puts its hand on Death's shoulder.
“Come observe me, Death. I will build up this planet, and you shall join me.” The World points to one of the thousands upon millions of planets. This planet is smaller, but it is stunning.
“What will you call it?” Death asks, intrigued.
“Earth,” The World answers. “I will call it Earth.” Death smiles.
Hello, Earth. As fast as she fell in love with the Universe, she fell for Earth twice as fast. And as the World began it’s job to fulfill and achieve, Death watched. She would find her purpose sooner or later, she surmised.
Her purpose arrives millions of years later, after the lava that was Earth’s surface cooled, flooded, and then created land. It arrives in what The World calls, ‘Life’. She falls in love with it, just as she fell in love with Earth and the Universe. When she first meets Life, it is nothing but a small microbe at the bottom of the ocean. She watches as Life duplicates itself, over and over until there are hundreds of these micro beings.
The World comes to her one day, panicked. “Death, I need your assistance.”
“How can I help?” She is hopeful and ready, Death has been preparing for years for this exact moment.
“Life, what I had shown you. It has made the sky blue, and now is up to the surface. I did not plan for that.” Her shoulders slump slightly, her instincts telling her this is not her purpose.
“They are learning, friend. Let them learn. You can only control your creation so much, do not let your fear taint your mind. This is your purpose!” The World pulls Death in for a hug, the words of encouragement exactly what it needed.
“Thank you, Death. I will speak to you soon!” She nods, and watches as the World runs off again.
She sits and waits 100 million more years. Death will be the first to admit, it is quite boring. But then, she feels it. Her purpose has arrived. It comes in the form of a small fish, one who had attempted to walk on land. Death had watched as other fish had begun to grow legs to leave the ocean, but this one had not. She picks up the fish, a frown on her face. She had not seen this before. The fish, once flopping around, stills. This continues to occur to the animals she interacts with, her touch stopping their bodies and making them become one with the ocean.
The World names this action ‘Death’, after the one herself. The World tells her it is why they were together in the beginning, for they are interlocked. The World was always meant to find Earth, and Death was always meant to find The World. She agrees. Time continues on. She watches as the fish form into lizards, the lizards grow. An asteroid from the Universe touches Earth, and she brings lots of lizards into her embrace. The survivors become Dinosaurs, and yet another meteor touches the surface of Earth.
She tells the World that it is the Universe telling him to try again, that this is not what it exactly has planned for him. The World believes her, and goes on to create what he calls, ‘Mammals’.
As she fell in love with the Universe, Earth, and Life, she fell in love with Mammals.
Hello, Mammals. She will admit, they look nothing like what Dinosaurs were. She finds them adorable nonetheless.
“What did you change from the Dinosaurs to the Mammals?” She asks The World.
“I gave them a soul,” he replies. The World sees the look on Death's face, and adds clarification. “I gave them what we have. That energy in us, the one that gives us a purpose. I gave them a small part of me, to help change them for the better. The Universe has yet to tell me if that is incorrect, but I do not think it is.” The selfless action of The World makes Death smile. She does not smile, however, when the first Mammal meets her embrace. She feels it’s soul, the energy just sat there. She has no idea what to do with it. So, she sends it back to the World, bringing the energy back to its creator. The next time The World and Death meet, are when he shows her his newest creation.
“I call them ‘Humans’. They come from monkeys, but I added more to make them like us. That is the answer, Death. They have to become like us!” She is intrigued, to say the very least.
And as she fell in love with the Universe, Earth, Life, and Mammals, she fell in love with Humanity. Hello, Humans. And for the first time in her life, she receives a small, “ Hello” back.
The humans do not love her back. She watches as they start to fear her, do anything and everything they can to never meet her. She watches and The World apologizes constantly, knowing that it does not feel good for your purpose to be rejected. She starts to get angry, and she revokes her love for some of them. For the ones that she is glad their soul is no longer on Earth, she sends them deep into the Earth’s crust. She never enjoyed the lava, and so the evil resides there.
The humans, as time goes on, are nothing like the Mammals they once were. As the Earth becomes cold, they dissipate, away from one another. The World names that, ‘Curiosity’. That word brings a lot of humans to her, a lot of souls back to their creator. She watches as they explore, becoming the dominating species on Earth.
“Did you mean for them to become this?” Death asks the World one day. He shakes his head.
“I do not mean for them to become anything,” he replies. “I gave them a soul, and I gave them a brain to create free will. They can become whatever they want to be, for I have served my purpose. Humans are my purpose. I may have created them, but I serve them. They just do not know it.” She enjoys his words.
As much as the humans do not love her, they respect her. In the beginning days of Humanity's existence, they did not, but they learned to. She watches as they build the first houses, farm their first land. She watches as society is created, and she loves every second of it. As much as she does not want to, she loves the humans.
She loves them so much that she created ‘The Afterlife’. The name was not as original as what The World had created in the past, but she is proud of it nonetheless. The system stays the same, the Good go to their creator and the Bad go to the Earth’s crust. But now, their journey’s only begin there. It was created when The World brought up ‘Memories’, and the two decided they wanted to change the system ever so slightly.
The Good’s life force goes back to The World, where their personality and memories go to the Good Afterlife. The Bad’s life force goes down to the Crust, where they are sat with knowing their actions were bad. If they learn with time, Death sends them to the Good Place. Some of them may never learn, but that is the curse that comes with ‘Free Will’. Death is proud of her system, and The World is proud of her. They understand that Humans are not perfect, and that is okay.
“Even we are not perfect,” she tells The World.
“Even we are not perfect,” he repeats.
The humans learn fast, and Death is grateful for that. She had waited millions of years before, and now she only waits hundreds. She watches as Mesopotamia is created, as horses are tamed, and the pyramids of Egypt are created. She begins to experience as humans meet her, but then are healed. Human’s medicine improves, and some of them live to tell the tale of her. Some of those fears turn back into love, and she can’t help but smile. It feels as though she blinks, and the Greek Civilization is created, along with the Persian Empire and Buddhism.
“The last one is not a society, it is a thought?” When The World tells her about it, she is confused.
“I call it religion. It has occurred before, but not to this extent. Since they do not know about us, they have created their own ways to explain it.” The World explains.
“Will you ever tell them if they are correct?” She asks.
“No.” He responds. “You see how fast the humans move. By the time I am here to explain, it will fall and be replaced. So, we shall continue to do what we have done. We create, and observe.” And so that is what they did.
The World is right. Empires rise and fall in what seems like seconds. Alexander the Great lives and dies in the matter of a breath, the Roman Empire falls in what seems like milliseconds. It is overwhelming at first, how quick it all changes. But she learns from the humans, and adapts to it. She watches the Golden Age of India, the birth and death of Jesus, the fall of Rome. She watches as China can seemingly never be whole, and the Mayans grasp the concept of time. She has never examined the stars, but the Mayans make her want to.
“Will you give them magic?” She asks The World one day.
“Of course, just not yet. They still have so much to explore.” The World answers.
And so she waits. She watches the Islamic Golden Age, the Norse explorers, and the birth and death of Genghis Khan. She asks again. “Have patience, Death. I will give it to them soon.” She huffs, but goes back to observe.
She gets bored. She tells The World that. “Then create something,” He replies. She creates what the Humans call, ‘The Black Plague’.
“What? You told me to create something, so I created it.” She tells The World when he brings it up. “Will you give them magic now? The Dark Ages are over, they have begun what they call ‘The Renaissance’. If not now, when?” The World goes to respond, but hesitates.
“You’re right.” He agrees. “After this, they will go on to create more. We both know that. Humans need a new beginning.” With that, The World gives the Humans magic, and the two watch as it unfolds.
The path Earth had seemingly begun to be on changes, and it is different. They continue to explore, but the need for new metals is over. They just enchant the ones they have. She watches as they continue to explore the findings of America and the brutality of Christopher Columbus. She watches as they form more empires, while exploring the new tool they have founded. Wars break out over it all, America seeking its independence from Britain. She watches as they stop their innovation, never looking for more. Magic gives them everything, why would they need it?
“Do you regret it?” She asks The World one day.
“I will never regret any of it,” he responds.
She grows bored, yet again. The system is less hands on than ever; it is almost automatic. She feels lonely. The World is never around anymore, creating humans and making sure the Earth is safe.
“I want to go down and interact,” she tells The World one day. “My purpose lies down there, I can feel it. You can feel it too, I know you can.” The two have been companions for nearly a billion years now, and this would break that.
“Are you sure? I do not want you to fall victim to their free will.” She laughs at his words.
“What will they do? Send me to my Death? I am her, they will only be sending me home,” She replies.
And so at the ripe age of 13.77 billion years of age, She stopped observing, and walked on Earth for the first time. She had told The World to put her wherever his gut told him to, and so she had no clue as to where she was. All she could see was forest.
The Universe saw my love of nature and gifted my first moments on Earth with it, she thought.
So, she begins to walk. She walks and walks for a few days and nights (she does not count, Time never really matters to her) and she finally arrives at a settlement. It is booming with people, she can’t even count how many there are.
“Hello, Miss, do you need help? You seem lost.” She turns to see a man, the first one she has ever come face to face with. She has no idea if he is tall or not, but he is taller than her. He has blonde hair, a thin nose, and gorgeous wings.
“Yes, actually. I’m new to the settlement, I got lost in the forest while hunting and made my way here.” The man’s face turns into a large grin, and he laughs slightly.
“Ah, it happens to the best of us. It must have been uncomfortable, since you are wearing a dress and not the appropriate hunting gear.” She looks down and feels her face flush, slightly embarrassed. “It’s alright though, nothing we can’t fix. I’m Philza, the leader of this settlement. You may call me Phil. And you are?” She watches as the human extends a hand, and goes into a small bow.
And as she fell for the Universe, Earth, Life, Mammals, and Humanity, she fell in love with Phil.
“Hello, Phil. I’m Kristin.” She picks the name her gut tells her to, and looks to the extended hand. She fears to put her hand in his, not wanting this human to go to the Afterlife. She likes him too much for that. But, she wants to blend with the humans, and this is common courtesy. Reluctantly, she puts her hand into his, and waits for his body to drop like the fish did hundreds of millions of years ago.
He does not, as he brings her hand to his lips and kisses it.
“I thank the world for intersecting our paths of life. It is my pleasure to meet you, Kristin.”
I will thank him too, she thinks.