4 The Birth of the Fae

POV: Deity of Balance (MC)

I hummed to myself, staring blankly at the plans I had laid out before me. It'd already been half a million years since the start of [Stage 2], when I truly created my universe, and I had yet to create humans -or anything close to it. With a sigh I waved my hand, the image I had projected before me disappearing into thin air as I stood up from my desk, looking around at the relatively blank interior of my 'office.' I suppose workroom would be a better name for it though, as it is where I contained all my experiments in creating things. Jars filled with raw essences of the universe, from primordial chaos to each of the elements, lined the shelves while samples of soil and various stages of life that had been popping up in each of the Four Realms sat on tables or in preservation chambers. It would've looked like a mad scientist's den were it not for the brilliant chandelier made of stardust hanging from the ceiling, various tapestries livening up the dull workspace, and a veranda from which I could see my Four Realms. With yet another sigh I thought about how long it had taken to just get this far. While half a million years seems like a long time, in the grand scheme of things its actually incredibly short. The only reason the Mortal Realm is now habitable for life is because I exhausted myself speeding the process along in the first two hundred and fifty thousand years. It could've taken millions of years to form naturally, and now that the core of the Realms are created I will allow them to proceed naturally instead of interfering.

Speaking of expansion, after reaching the size of about twelve solar systems, which took the better part of a hundred thousand years, the Four Realms ceased to expand so dramatically. Now it's about the size of fourteen solar systems, which will encompass the 'core' of the Realms until they grow to a more respectable size. I can see now why the grace period is one billion years long. At this rate, it'll take forever to get to the size of a single galaxy, let alone trillions of the things. Right now my universe doesn't even constitute as a blip on the radar.

"Ma'am, are you still working?" My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my faithful child, and self-titled servant, opening the large doors to my workroom and poking his head inside. "Oh, good. You are awake. I was afraid you had fallen asleep again." He said, fully entering the room. He looked like a full-on butler, as he was wearing a black suit with coat-tails, a white under-shirt, a black tie, white gloves, and a white cloth draped over one arm. Apparently he had taken the idea from some of my memories of my time on Earth, having fallen in love with it upon first sensing the design.

"That happened one time, Randus. Besides, I've only been in here for a year. It's hardly on the level of my two thousand year power nap." I grumbled, leaning back in my fluffy work chair to glare at the grey-haired man. My child, Randus, the deity of dreams, could choose any form he wished (as the deity of dreams, his form is even more fluid than my own) and yet he decides to stick with an old man with greying hair and what he calls a 'butler beard.' It's just a goatee and mustache. "And how many times have I told you to call me Mother or Father?" I chide.

"I am Your servant. I could never call You so familiarly." He said with a bow. I frowned.

"You are my child, and will do so." I ordered.

"The effect of that statement is lessened when we are all Your children, Ma'am." He said, keeping a completely straight face. Did I say faithful? I meant aggravating and sarcastic. That's probably my fault though, seeing as how he was born from one of my dreams. He's only a lesser deity despite that, however.

"What do you want, Randus." I said in exasperation, rubbing my forehead. The corners of Randus' mouth twitched upwards into a smile as he took a step to the side, swinging the tall oaken doors to my workshop open fully.

"Lady Reika has come to visit you, Ma'am." Randus said. "Though I cannot imagine why." He added as an afterthought. Instead of retorting I flew forwards at high speeds, catching my green-haired daughter in a big bear hug as she stepped into my workroom. She stumbled backwards a few steps with a surprised oof, completely bewildered by my actions.

"Reeeikaaa! Randus is bullying me!" I wailed, burying my face into her shoulder. She just laughed, the sound rushing through the entirety of my palace like a refreshing spring breeze. "I've been so lonely with only him around! You hardly visit anymore!" I continued to wail.

"Unlike You, she has been busy managing her Realm. Life is very tricky." Randus supplied unhelpfully.

"SEE?!" I cried, pointing accusingly at Randus. Reika laughed again, giving Randus a mock glare as she wagged an admonishing finger at him.

"Be nice to Mother, Randus. She is doing Her best to keep the balance of all the Realms." She said, unable to hide her smile and doing absolutely nothing to extricate herself from my hug. While she was looking away, I poked my tongue out at Randus.

"Hardly. Were I not here, She would not get anything done. I even had to convince Her to finish the Grand Palace." Randus defended smoothly. Without giving Reika a chance to respond I pulled away from her, holding her at arms length and looking her up and down. The last time I'd seen her had been five thousand years ago, and she'd changed just a little bit. The flowers in her hair were now red and purple, and her hair had gotten longer. An aura of life flowed from her in waves, giving her an ethereal golden aura, which most higher deities like herself had. She and my other three original children all had these auras, though of the two hundred deities that had been born through various means since the beginning of Time (in this universe, at least) only three more higher deities had appeared -each of which had been due to Reika. The Goddess of Fire, the God of Earth, and the Goddess of Water. The other elements had yet to birth higher deities, but it was only a matter of time. Reika would just need to sit down and spend some time on it.

"So what brings you here, Reika?" I asked.

"Oh, not much. It's just that another little creature caught my interest in the Mortal Realm, and I thought you might like to see it." She said, stretching out her arm and shaking the sleeve of her green, leafy robes. For a moment nothing happened, until a snake the size of my forearm came flying out of her sleeve. Its scales were the color of the rainbow, shimmering in the lights that illuminated my workspace, with grey horns curling off of its head, looking suspiciously like Alexander's dragon horns. A pair of multi-colored, leathery wings fluttered on its back, while white feathers sprouted from its tail, likewise shimmering in a myriad of colors. My eyebrows raised as I took it from Reika's grasp, examining the beasty and running my fingers over its scales. "I've been watching its species for the past ten thousand years or so, and when it reached this point I just had to show you. Isn't it so pretty?" Reika gushed, gently scratching the snake's chin with one finger while I held it.

"It is very beautiful." I replied, nodding and holding the snake so I could see its underbelly. Then, with a wave of my hand, the snake's body was duplicated perfectly. I handed the original snake back to Reika, who was looking at me with a curious expression, while I made grasping motion with my other hand. In response to the action a section of the wall opened up, revealing rows upon rows of glass jars. One empty jar flew out towards my outstretched hand, the lid opening by itself and sealing the copied snake inside of it. Then the jar proceeded to fly back to its spot, the wall sliding back over it to seal it away. I'd want to map its possible evolutionary paths later, but for now I'm just going to store it for a later date. "Randus, if you would fetch the carriage. Just bring it to the veranda." I told my son with a small smile. He bowed and exited without a word, closing the doors behind him. Sure, I could fly and teleport around the universe if I wanted to, but it's no fun doing everything with my divine powers. That leaves no time for the journey, which I'm beginning to see as more than just 'important.' Absently I wandered over to one of the wooden desks in the corner of the room. "Now, where did I leave my cloak?" I mused.

After a few minutes of watching me rummage around the expansive workshop, Reika finally spoke again. "You know, if you didn't act so childish sometimes he wouldn't be as hard on you." She supplied. I glanced at her over my shoulder, an amused smile tugging at my lips.

"Oh, but that's no fun." I told her, which elicited a small giggle. "Ah, here it is!" I exclaimed, grabbing the purple cloak from where it was hidden beneath a bunch of seemingly random sticks and stones. The cloak fluttered as it fixed itself around my shoulders, accenting my robes well enough. The purple and silver design they held had remained unchanged for the most part, though I do have a number of other outfits. Such things matter little when I can create said clothes with just a wave of the hand. "Shall we go? I wish to visit the Mortal Realm." I told Reika, wrapping one arm around her shoulders and guiding her out of the tall, glass doors towards the half-moon shaped veranda. From here, I could see the entirety of the Four Realms, and the shapes they were starting to form. From afar it all appeared to be one giant picture. In the very center of the Heaven Realm was a gargantuan mountain, so tall and mighty that it appeared it could pierce the void itself. Atop of the mountain sat the palace of Elvira, made out of a pure white marble and carved exquisitely. A few lesser deities flew about the Heaven Realm, exploring the holy mountain or the lands below. Life had begun to spread there from the Mortal Realm, though it had yet to cover the entire Realm, leaving vast expanses of land barren. That would be fixed in due time, however.

The Karmic Realm was as dark as ever, with an enormous valley as its core. I preferred to think of it as a valley rather than a chasm, because chasm sounds too dreary. Deep within the valley, hidden in shadows, was the palace of Keilan, where he was training his legions of Karma Kings, who would help aid him in dealing with the karma of the universe (already a few spirits had accrued negative karma, so Keilan was training his Karmic Kings on them), once they were properly trained. A number of lesser deities had flocked to the Karmic Realm as well, and I could see them exploring the valley and surrounding ocean, seeking enlightenment in the silence of the realm. The Spirit Realm had undergone perhaps the most drastic of changes as it was teeming with spiritual life. It's hard to explain, but the best I can explain it is as follows; the phrase "as on Heaven as it is on Earth" dictates the relationship between the Spirit Realm and the other realms. If the Spirit Realm is nothing more than a molten slag heap, then the place parallel to it in any of the other realms will shortly follow suit, even if said place is teeming with life beforehand. The opposite is also true, and is a concept that is true in all universes that I know of. Now, to my eyes, I saw the Spirit Realm not only as the pillars the support my universe, but as a river that wound throughout all the Realms, starting and ending in an indeterminate area.

The Mortal Realm, where I aim to go, is much like the mortal realm from my old universe. There are currently two suns in the Mortal Realm, each with their own solar system. (I find it funny that the Mortal Realm created suns, despite the presence of a Realm Sun. I guess it's just the Earth copying the Heavens.) Both systems were very similar, with two planets capable of sustaining life each, and a total of eleven planets. The reason, however, that there were only two suns was because of the massive, life-giving tree that grew in the center, and the expanse of land it grew along with. Beneath its green boughs all sorts of flying creatures flew, hunting and playing as beasts and monsters crawled about on the lands the Tree had sunk its roots into. Reika lived in the center of the Tree, as it had grown from her will and was the source of all life. I had named the land beneath the Life-Giving Tree Pangea, with the two solar systems becoming Cradle and Regula. The name for Cradle should be self-explanatory, as it is the system with the planet most suited for a sentient mortal race (which was likewise dubbed Cradle.) All four Realms blended together into one Universe; The Mountain, the Tree, the Ocean Valley, and the River.

"Ma'am, the carriage has arrived." Randus stated as he appeared from the void, sitting atop an ostentatious carriage of golden sunlight and the darkest of shadows. It was drawn by no beast, as it moved through the power of the Realm Sun alone. Randus pulled up next to the veranda, the side doors opening and revealing the plush, velvety interior. Reika silently floated over the veranda railing, sitting in the carriage followed closely by myself. The door shut behind us and Randus silently awaited my command.

"To the Mortal Realm, specifically to Cradle." I commanded. Randus silently accepted my words and the carriage started to move, smoothly pulling away from my small, three-story, thousand roomed palace floating in front of the Realm Sun. It was a little large for me, personally, but I expected it to fill up once people started ascending. Currently only myself and Randus lived within, as the other deities were exploring the Four Realms. I rubbed my face in frustration. That was another problem to deal with; people ascending.

"Why are you coming to the Mortal Realm?" Reika inquired.

"To create mortals." I said absently, staring out the window. "It is time."

"Is the current life not satisfactory?" Reika asked innocently, tilting her head to the side cutely.

"No, that's not it. I love all of your creations, it's just...there needs to be a sentient race or two that will spread throughout the Four Realms." I said, shaking my head. Reika nodded, but obviously still didn't understand. I'd just have to let her see it on her own...though even I wasn't sure about the race's odds of success. Due to the nature of my universe, a race like the humans would be utterly annihilated in a matter of years, no matter their technological level. To survive they would have to step on the path towards immortality I unintentionally left open. It would become a necessity. The reason for this was because of the myriad of creatures Reika had created...many of which had magical powers. Certainly there were normal animals, but they were second to the mystical creatures that had appeared with the ability to bend elements and the like to their will.

"We are here, Ma'am." Randus said, the carriage pulling to a halt. I silently stepped out of the carriage and looked down at the planet that slowly spun beneath my feet, while its sun rotated around the Life-Giving Tree, its path just beyond the farthest borders of Pangea. The planet itself was teeming with life, looking like a blue and green marble as it circled its star. There were a total of twenty continents on the planet, which was at least five times the size of Earth from my old universe (gravity was wonky, due to the structure of my universe, so this large planet didn't exert much more gravity than Earth itself), and for a long while I simply stood there, staring at it.

"No time like the present." I said with a sigh, reaching forth and calling upon the elements. I had a general idea of how I wanted the mortals to be, but...I still felt that it wasn't enough. Seeing the rainbow colored snake had given me an idea on what was missing, and standing here the feeling that I was about to get it right got even stronger. I'd combined the energies of the Four Realms to try and make a mortal form before, but not quite like this. For the body, I crafted it with essences from five main elements; fire, water, earth, wind, and lightning. Each and every cell was crafted from these essences, which rapidly solidified into living flesh and blood with aid from the life-giving aura of the Life-Giving Tree. Here is where I began to deviate from my previous experiments; instead of infusing the body with the heavenly aura of the Heaven Realm, which had quite a bit of physical energy within it, I used that energy to craft passageways in the body through which all kinds of energy could flow, instead of crafting said passageways with the aura of the Karmic Realm. The Karmic Realm energy was instead utilized to create the mind. I snatched powers from the Spirit Realm to create the heart and the space in which the soul would reside. As soon as I was finished with that I clapped my hands, the body splitting into two sexes; male and female.

For a moment I admired my creations, knowing that this was the form my first People would take. They closely resembled a human, as my own form did, however they had long, pointy ears instead of round ones. In addition, horns curled around their heads, starting from their foreheads. The male's curled over the top of his head, ending in a dull point just behind his head, while the female's curled around the sides and ended in a hook-shape. Her hair was a brilliant shade of red and orange, whereas the males was a green color, the color of leaves and the essence of elemental wind. They had turned out different than I expected. I had intended to create full-blown humans, but I suppose it was simply not meant to be. I guess that's what happens when I leave parts of the creation process to chance. Now all that's left is to input the souls...

I let out a long, slow breath, the action causing a gentle wind to blow across the two mortal bodies, calling souls to them. Two souls responded to my call, emerging from the Spirit River and merging into the hearts of the mortal bodies, where I had created the cradle for the soul. As they merged into the bodies I waved my hand forth, allowing just a small portion of my essence to feed their growth, merging with the souls. The bodies began to shift in response to the souls, the mind bleeding into the body, the body bleeding into the mind, the heart encompassing all, the passageways absorbing and solidifying, and the soul taking control.

"I'm an idiot." I muttered, pinching the bridge of my nose. I'd had it right all along, nothing had been missing in the mortal bodies, it had just been missing a soul that could control it. Still, though, I can't complain. This is a beautiful People I have created.

"They're...amazing." Randus said in a rare moment of awe. Surely he could feel their potential as the deity of dreams -nothing dreams quite like a sentient race.

"What are they?" Reika asked, moving forwards and peering at my creation. The two beings were still simply floating there in space, in a temporary stasis, and she was thoroughly intrigued.

"Fae. They'll be called the Fae." I stated, nodding to myself. I certainly couldn't call them human.

Creation!

You are the first of the twelve souls to create a truly sentient race, whom you have named the [Fae].

Instead of fearing the path towards Mortal Immortality you have left, instead you embraced it, creating a method for the [Fae] to achieve immortality through their Passages. In a domain such as yours, such a thing is imperative for continued survival. Although their growth throughout the universe may not be as fast as others, they will be tenacious, and all will know that the Fae were the first of the mortal races created by their Origin Deity.

At the same time that the blue box popped up, I felt an influx of power. Since I created a sentient race, my personal power increased, albeit just a little. Still, it was an unexpected surprise, one which I have no desire to complain about.

"Now then, let's get you situated." I said, repeating my clapping motion from before. Around two hundred Fae appeared behind the first two, all different shapes, sizes, and colors, and with a wave of my hand I scattered them across the Cradle planet. After watching them for a while to make sure they'd survive I'd create a few more and scatter them across the rest of the Mortal Realms, but until then I would just observe. Letting out a breath I sat down, hovering over the planet and watching with tired eyes. Who knew that creating two hundred Fae would take so much energy?

Well, at least it was official now. A mortal race of sentient beings had been born in my universe.