Chapter 11: Life and Death - Chapter 11
By the time the man awoke, the Sun's place in the sky had been stolen by the Moon. He groggily reached his hand to his head and rubbed the dry blood from his scalp before pushing himself up off the ground and into a seated position. His vision was blurry, and his body rocked with fatigue. There he rested, looking over the state of the crater clearing, its floor still slick with blood.
The man took a moment to recall what he was doing, then sighed upon the realization of his continued failures. He went to stand up, but as he reached his feet, his legs buckled under his weight, still exhausted from the activities of the days prior. Following this collapse, he decided to lay back down upon the rocky floor and close his eyes.
As he had previously done in the forest, he imagined himself in the state he was and identified the points of injury. Though, this notably highlighted his entire body. He sought out the laceration on his skull first and pictured it closing as the dried blood washed out of his hair. Then he turned his attention to his broken soles, which carried layer after layer of blood that stuck to what remained of his skin. Once more, he sought to revert to blood into a more liquid state and repaired the pebble-sized holes in his soles.
With his major injuries healed, he considered the rest of his body and all of its lassitude. This was something he had not approached before. But how to restore that which is not injured, he thought. When the answer did not immediately reveal itself, the man opened his eyes and sat up, leaning against the nearest wall, his body still slumped and weary as his shoulders hunched forwards.
For a short time, the man sat there, again assessing the state of the crater. As he examined the bloody ground, he lethargically dangled his hand in front of him and snapped his fingers, disappearing the blood and restoring the floor to its previous, undirtied state. With that issue taken care of, his eyes came to rest among the sleeping ones. From where he sat, he could just about see the rise and fall of his predecessor's chest, but no such movement could be spotted for his creations. Perhaps the woman lay in a position wherein her breaths simply did not disturb her silken blanket. Perhaps the man's breaths had become so shallow that the rising and falling of his chest could not be identified. Perhaps they were both dead.
Yet, as his eyes lingered, an idea abruptly struck him. A few days prior, he had changed his creation's face to resemble what it had been before. Of course, the man thought, he could just return his current state to his past one, thus repairing any remaining damage and replenishing whatever energy was wasted in his futile pursuit.
Once more, his eyes closed, and he visualized his current state. Then, he conceptualized his past self, which was, at least compared to his present situation, full of vigor to be expended. As he imagined his body transforming back into what it had been, he felt his muscles throb with anticipation of any activity. His hair was clean and smooth, and his feet no longer ached like a pilgrim's.
The man's eyes flung wide as he felt reinvigorated. He quickly jumped to his feet, testing his replenished limbs with a light jig around the floor, as he had done before. After a few loops around, he settled down and went to check on each of the three individuals.
His predecessor remained the same – so unchanging she could be mistaken for an embalmed corpse if not for her steady breathing. His created woman, however, now took rapid, shallow breaths, seemingly on the verge of hyperventilating. A foul odor beseeched the man's nostrils, and as he peeled the silken blankets off the woman, he found that she had soiled herself. The man hastily set his hands upon her and restored her to a past state, stabilizing her breathing and cleaning her in the process. For just a second, he stopped and wondered whether his constant reimposition of their previous selves prevented them from stirring. Though, that thought was quickly purged when the only alternative appeared to be death.
The man then walked through the crater opening to inspect his other creation. While he had, just as the woman, soiled himself, that was the least of his problems, as the man was swift to notice the lack of color throughout the man's body. The pale shade only reflected one thing – death, a fact the man confirmed by assessing his breathing, or lack thereof. Yet, the man was hesitant to immediately dispose of the corpse, rather, he put his hands over the body as he had done several times before, and again sought to return it to its previous state. This time, he clapped his hands together. His creation became unsoiled, and the color returned to his face as blood pumped through the body once more. Most importantly, the man drew breath and with it, he took in the wind of life.
The man considered what he had done. Within his hands, no, not his hands, within his very being resided the power of life and death. A rush of emotion filled him, though it was particularly indescribable. It wasn't happiness, nor anger, nor fear nor exuberance, nor was it sadness nor envy, neither exhilaration nor trepidation. It was a mix of all emotions and none at all. He felt, truly, like a God, as if he were finally filling in the role he had been chosen for. Perhaps, at this moment, he felt worthy of the title ruler of the universe. A worth that comes directly from realizing absolute power, and make no mistake, for this power was absolute, what else could the very function by which all life is covered, both man, animal, plant and all, be governed? For nothing discerns the similarities of life like death itself, and control over life and death, is control over all things that think or feel, or merely function in the endless expanse.
In what capacity could one wield such power, the man asked himself. For to be so absolute is to become infallible, any and all errors to be corrected at a later date. Yet, for the man, this was the one thing that demonstrated his destiny as Keeper. Yes, he could fly amongst the wind, manifest wondrous landscapes from nothingness, alter living beings while they walked, and create life itself, yet, with all those things there is an end, presumably should the man die, either in a natural end, as his predecessor intended to do, or if another Keeper were to choose to devour him or his universe. Dominion over death is domination of fate, and all things that tie the world together. This, he thought, is what truly makes him God, master, ruler – Keeper of the Universe.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Kana_Haisha
Kana_Haisha Sorry for the strange release time, I scheduled this one wrong and am only realizing a few hours after I usually publish.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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