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The Beginning was calm and serene.
Most wouldn’t be able to say that they remember Him creating the world. As The Creator, He was lonely before He Created the living mortal world. So He Created the first Angels, special Angels to aid Him in Creation and to be His temporary companions. These so-called Preverses were His direct aids, each tasked with assisting Him in different parts of Earth’s Creation, to enhance certain aspects of the new world in their areas of expertise.
First was Tide, dripping with light and energy. Ae took aer first breath, opening aer eyes to see the wide world that ae had been Created to help fill. Ae spread aer arms up towards clear skies, and brought forth rain. Ae gave the planet vast bodies of water called oceans, made smaller lakes and rivers and streams that hydrated barren landscapes, filled the skies with arcs of colors that were looked to as a sign of hope.
Star was next. Vir body was hewn from the night sky, a warm, gentle kind of darkness that held you close and traced your hurt with healing hands. Drawing vir hands through the inky black, vi left behind twinkling shards of power. Vi gifted the world pictures of light, individual puzzle pieces for the beings that would inhabit the Earth.
Poppy opened flower eyes. Greenery twisted within flowers soul, beneath purple light that wrapped around flowers heart. With careful hands, flower traced the barren landscape, filling in empty spaces with color and life. Poppy breathed life and color where there had been dust and rock, bringing trees and flowers and vines.
Cirrus emerged, clouds presence hailed by a soft wind. Cloud flew through the skies, tracing the stratosphere and coloring it with small pieces of cloud’s soul. As the sun set, cloud carved the clouds with the sun’s light, using the plain white as a canvas. When the sun rose again, cloud colored the sky once more.
Diamond floated through the ground, forming zirself from the dirt and rocks that had been left under the surface. Ze drew zir hands through the earth, shifting the stone to glimmering materials that ze hoped the others would value. Where Tide and Cirrus brought colors to the skies, Diamond hid them underground and made them sparkle.
Apis came from the living Earth but found Poppy’s stationary life uninteresting. Bee brought in creatures, bees own designs gracing nooks and crannies with things that moved and breathed and lived by their own free will.
The Preverses stood leagues above the tallest trees, could pass over mountain ranges in the time it took earthly life to draw and release a breath, and held much of Creation at their fingertips. They were not The Creator, they were not all-powerful, but they could Create, and that was what mattered.
Preverses were not solitary entities. They saw each other building the cosmos, and they made friends.
“I am claiming this one, everyone else go away for, like, not ever but just give me a bit,” Apis declared as bee stretched bees hands out towards the land mass.
“You can’t just claim an entire continent for yourself, Apis,” Star laughed gently.
“Nope, it’s mine, I’ve decided. Poppy can come help me later but this one’s my playspace,” Apis continued, breaking into peals of laughter as bee formed a creature between bees hands and released it onto the sandy shore.
“What was that?” Star asked, bending down to observe the creature. It had webbed feet and a bill like the ‘ducks’ Apis had made previously, but looked similar to what bee called a ‘beaver’ as well.
“I’m gonna call it… platypus.”
“You- what?”
“Platypus! Yeah, that is definitely called a platypus.”
“I won’t even ask where you get your names from,” Star muttered.
“Hey, your names are weird too!” Apis defended. “I mean, what even is a ‘Capricorn’ anyways? Or a ‘Sagittarius’?”
“I made them up, same as you! By the way, what did Tide name this area again?”
“I believe this is ‘Australia’.”
“Okay, the platypus is gonna live in Australia then.”
Star shook vir head, laughing quietly. “I don’t know how you think of these things.”
Poppy drew flowers finger over an already grown tree, crouching to reach the lower branches. A faint buzzing drew flowers attention. It was a small insect, buzzing about the budding flowers that had grown on the tree. Poppy watched it, curiosity brimming in flowers soul.
The insect buzzed towards Poppy before flying away, seemingly in search of something.
“Oh, Poppy!” someone called.
Poppy stood to flowers full height, looking to the youngest of the group.
Apis flew towards flower, an odd buzzing noise ringing in flower’s ears.
“I was wondering where the little one had gone off to,” Apis said. Bee cupped bees hands ever so gently around the small creature.
“It appears to like my plants,” Poppy smiled. “Does it have a name yet?”
Apis remained silent, bobbing up and down slowly as bee floated in front of Poppy.
“Apis, is it another one of those-”
“She’s a honeybee!” Apis said, soul brightening slightly. “For this area!”
Poppy chuckled, shaking flowers head faintly. “You sure like your honeybees.”
“They’re useful! They help your creations as well,” Apis defended, floating upwards. “I’ve gotta get her back to the hive.”
Poppy gently rolled flowers eyes. “Alright, make sure she’s safe.”
Apis moved to buzz back to the beehive.
“Actually,” flower called after bee, “I do have one question.”
“What’s that?”
“You always refer to the honeybees as ‘she’. Did you make any males, or are they all female?”
“Oh, there are males,” bee reassured flower. “But their only purpose is to mate with the queen.”
“They don’t gather food or anything? Nothing helpful besides making new honeybees?” Poppy asked, tilting flower head to the side in slight confusion.
“Nope!” bee smiled cheekily. “But in the wintertime, the females pick up the males and throw them from the hive, and then prevent them from coming back in, so they freeze to death or starve. It’s sort of like payback for the males barely working all spring and summer.”
Poppy looked at bee for a long moment before bursting out into laughter.
“You, my friend,” flower giggled, “are a genius .”
“I know, right?” Apis replied before flying off into the distance.
Cirrus raised a hand to Star as cloud descended from the sky, clouds duty fulfilled for the night.
Star grinned in return, causing some of the stars that vi had so carefully arranged to glow brighter.
Cirrus turned away from Star, looking about the landscape. Cloud saw Tide in the distance, aer form towering even where ae remain on the horizon. As Cirrus looked about, cloud noticed Diamond on the ground, slowly making zir way through the landscape. Diamond often preferred to remain on the ground, staying near zir element rather than straying. After a moment, Diamond looked up, meeting Cirrus’s gaze and smiling.
“Hi,” ze greeted as ze walked closer. “The sunset looked really nice this evening.”
“Thank you,” Cirrus responded with a gentle smile. “I thought Tide and Star might enjoy it.”
Indeed, Tide swooped low over the hills, smiling as bright as the sun as ae moved towards the coastline. Aer ocean reflected the last of the colors Cirrus had drawn into the sky.
“I, uh, made this earlier,” Diamond said almost shyly, drawing back Cirrus’s attention by bringing out zir cupped hands from behind zir back. Resting in zir palms was an orange stone that almost seemed to reflect the sunset.
Cirrus gasped softly, reaching out to accept the rock as Diamond offered it to cloud. “It’s beautiful,” cloud whispered. Cloud held it up to the sky, smiling as it refracted Star’s shards of light.
“I call it topaz,” Diamond said gently.
“Topaz,” Cirrus repeated the name to cloudself.
“It… reminded me of you, so I wanted you to have some.”
Cirrus’s eyes shone in the dim light. “Oh, Diamond,” cloud started, before stepping forward and enveloping the other in a massive hug. “I will treasure it always, my friend.”
The Preverses completed many jobs on Earth
And when their jobs were done… they moved on.
Once the lands had been filled with all the creatures that He needed, Apis closed bees eyes. Bee knew that this was the plan. Bee knew that bee was here for a reason, and bee knew that bees role had been fulfilled. There was no fear, there was no sadness. It was all part of a divine plan, that much they all knew, so none of them worried.
But still, living things do not want to be alone in the end.
“Tide,” Apis said one day as bee watched the sea creatures swim around ae.
“Yes?” ae responded, only half listening as ae gently pet the back of a whale that was circling around aerself. The creature barely took up the width of aer palm, so ae took special care to be gentle.
Apis shifted a bit where bee was sitting. “I think… I think I’m done.”
“What do you mean?” Tide hummed.
“I don’t think I’m… needed anymore. I think I’m finished Creating.”
“So… what are you going to do now?”
“I think I have to go.”
“Where?”
“Away.”
“Forever?”
“For right now, at least. And if I do come back, I don’t think it’ll ever be… like this.” Bee gestured vaguely to beeself. “Not in this same form. He doesn’t need us to be in power in this way anymore, so I think we’re all gonna go, at some point or another. Sooner, rather than later.”
Tide took a moment to process before nodding slowly. “I understand. When do you think you’ll be going?”
Apis looked up at Tide, something unreadable in bees eyes.
“Right now.”
Tide was by bees side in an instant, offering comforting, reassuring arms to hold bee as a faint glow of yellow and black and white began to trace its way through bees being.
“Thank you,” Tide said, “for all you have helped us to Create.”
“Thank you for helping me to be my best,” Apis replied. The glow increased in intensity and brightness, making it unbearable for the rest of the living creatures, but aer divinity allowed Tide to see aer friend even through the colors.
“We’ll meet again, in another day and age. I know we will,” Tide said with an air of certainty.
“Please don’t forget me,” bee said softly.
“I never will,” ae replied.
And with a final flash of white and black and yellow energy, Apis was gone.
Tide remained there for some time, watching the space where aer friend had been. The ocean swirled around Tide’s form, Apis’s creatures going about their lives without knowing how the universe had shifted.
“Apis!”
It was faint, but someone was calling for Apis.
Tide drew aer hand through the water. Ae watched as the water churned, bubbles rising to the surface.
Someone flew slowly towards Tide.
“Have you seen Apis?” Diamond asked. “I haven’t seen bee in a bit.”
Tide raised aer gaze, meeting Diamond’s eyes. “Would you like help looking for bee?”
“Alright,” Diamond acquiesced.
The pair flew higher into the sky, looking around for Apis’s beehives where bee had hung them in trees with gentle hands. There were many, and Diamond searched at every single one, but though Tide dutifully followed ae knew there would be nothing to look for. Apis was gone, had faded right before aer eyes, but ae didn’t want to break Diamond’s faithful spirit.
“Apis!” Diamond called once more, but ze realized it was futile.
“Bee’s gone,” Tide said gently, laying a hand on Diamond’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.”
Diamond nodded once, understanding. “I just wanted to say goodbye to bee before I left.”
“You’ll see bee soon,” Tide reassured zem.
Star circled just overhead, passively listening in on the conversation.
“Will… will everything be alright?” ze asked.
“Of course,” ae replied without a thought. “This is all part of the Divine Plan. We will meet again, someday.”
Diamond nodded, an amalgamation of teal-red-black energy suddenly biting at the edges of zir form. Tide reached out and took zir hands in both of aer own.
“It’ll all be alright, I promise,” Tide swore.
Diamond nodded again, a faint smile crossing zir face as the energy completely encompassed zir form.
Up above them, Poppy joined Star in flight, both watching the colors circle around and through Diamond at blinding speeds.
There was a last moment in which Diamond squeezed Tide’s hands.
And then Diamond’s essence vanished.
Star landed on the ground next to Tide as Diamond faded, watching as the colored light dissipated. “Is it… where’d ze go?” Star asked, confusion coloring vis words.
“Where we’re all going?” Poppy offered. “Wherever that may be, whoever we may be, I think we’ll still see zem.”
“That’s a nice thought,” Star said. There was a sad kind of smile on vis face.
The stars dimmed slightly.
Star landed, setting vis feet on the ground in this place for the last time. Vi tipped vis head back, looking up at the constellations that vi had so carefully crafted. “We did good here,'' vi said, voice soft.
Poppy nodded in return. “We did well.” Purple light danced around flowers feet.
Stars form shone brightly.
The stars shimmered back in response.
Stars form dissolved into green and blue, floating for a moment before dispersing. Flecks of energy floated up towards the stars, embedding into the night sky to join the already woven tapestry that Star had dedicated vis existence to.
Poppy met Tide’s eyes, nodding one last time. “We did well,” flower echoed, purple and blue and red energy wrapping around flower. The light enveloped Poppy before fading away.
“Tide?” Cirrus asked, voice quiet. Cloud raised cloud’s head, meeting Tide’s gaze. Cloud held clouds hands in front of cloudself. Cirrus’s hands had begun to shimmer with a lavender and orange haze, like a sunset.
Tide offered an easy and reassuring smile. “It’ll be alright, Cirrus,” Tide reassured cloud.
“It’s time for me to go, isn’t it?” Cirrus asked. The haze began to creep up the rest of clouds body. Cirrus took a piece of topaz from clouds palm and pressed it to clouds chest.
“I’m afraid so.”
Cirrus looked back to cloud’s hands, smiling sadly. “I’ll see them around, yeah?”
“I believe so.”
“Well…” Cloud smiled faintly as clouds form was fully enveloped with the sunset colored light. “I’ll be seeing you later, my friend.”
Cirrus closed clouds eyes, letting out one final breath. The purple and orange light shone brightly before dissipating, blown away by the winds.
And then the first was the last.
Tide stood alone, aer hand outstretched in a final goodbye to the last of aer kind leaving existence. Ae was there for a long while. Life continued on around ae for days, things living and dying, but ae was the only Preverse left, and ae was lonely.
A gentle white light finally appeared.
“ Thank you, for being the last of your kind, ” His voice echoed through aer being.
Ae bowed aer head in His presence. “Thank you… for not leaving me alone, Lord,” ae whispered.
“ I could never leave one of my own, little lamb. ”
Tide walked forward, taking His outstretched hand in aer own, and together they walked into the light.