White was leading me further and further away from the others. It was fascinating how the entire place changed with almost every meter we walked. Black and grey were still the main dominant colors of everything around, but the state of the nearby area slowly started to lose its ruined look and returned to something I could only call "almost normal." Trees, hills, and even the buildings around us were all made of stone. It was almost as if the entire world gazed upon Medusa and this was the outcome. Eventually, after a few turns and twists on our road, we finally reached the first object that seemed like a habitable building. Tiny white flames were dancing around it like little wisps, shining their bright light on the surroundings, yet creating no shadows. This place was surprising me more and more. Everywhere I looked, there was only a void and a few floating rocks here and there. The darkness seemed to avoid this place. The light here wasn't exactly bright, but one could still see what was ahead of them very well. Not only that but there were also no shadows whatsoever. It almost felt like the entire place was glowing softly. As if the light was coming out of everything, yet in such a small amount it wouldn't blind the inhabitants of this world if there were any other than me and the Deaths.

“Come inside. I’m sure you’ll love it. It’s rather… minimalistic, but very cozy.” White waved at me and entered the rather tiny building. It had no doors and a few windows which lacked any type of cover, so one could climb right through them without any trouble. I didn’t want to keep her waiting. The moment I entered the place it completely changed my definition of minimalistic. True, the furniture was absent in most cases, but there were all kinds of trinkets everywhere. Most of them were nothing but broken objects of everyday life, gathered from all kinds of worlds. There were shattered glasses from one world, an old and rusty knife from another, and much more just scattered around the corners of the rooms. It didn't seem like there was an order for any of the items. They were either just lying on the ground, or on the few shelves that were present.

“Your house is…” I was thinking about my response. The last thing I wanted was to insult her. “very unique.” Judging by the wide smile, which was now decorating White’s face, she took it as a compliment.

"Thank you, Eddie. This is one of the few places in this entire world that still looks decent. Did you know that when heaven and hell merged, this place stayed intact as one of the very few buildings? I find it fascinating."

It was White, that’s for sure. Her talkative nature was always a bit troublesome and although I didn’t mind it too much, there was something in my head that was telling me to be cautious when asking questions. I knew far too well that she was able to drown others in interesting facts and fascinating thoughts. Who knew what could bring out a monologue that would drag on to eternity?

“Okay, now that we’re here, let’s focus on learning to use your Divine creativity.” Those words sounded just as exciting as scary. I knew that at this point there was no turning back and that I promised them all to save this world, but when it came to action, I started having doubts again. After all, I was no hero.

*What if you won’t learn to use it?

*What if you can’t learn it?

*What if you can’t save this world?

*They will be disappointed.

*They will all die.

*They will hate you.

“Eddie?” White snapped her fingers a few times, waking me up from the dark trance. “Are you alright? Is it still the nausea after the teleportation? I can give you some snacks if you want. Or was it the snack? Did it make you feel ill?”

"No no, I'm fine." I shook my head and started giving White all my attention. After all, having some sort of a superpower sounded kind of awesome, so why should I see it as something bad?

"Alright, let's start with the basics. I'll try to explain as best as I can, what the Divine creativity is." My heart was beating faster and faster with every second. The moment of truth was here. My very own "magic" was about to be revealed to me. "First of all, it's not something you activate. It's just something you either use on purpose or accidentally. Have you ever experienced the feeling that something is happening too well? Like, have you ever felt as if luck was on your side?" I gave those words a quick thought.

“Yeah. When I was in Nordan, I found my way around easily. It almost felt like the city was shifting around me. Wherever I went, there was a shortcut. The chance of that happening is…”

“Almost zero?” White interrupted me. I nodded to confirm her question.

“Yes, that is basically it. You can write rules that have not yet been written. You are in control of this world’s physical laws.” That sounded amazing. Suddenly, I felt as if I just outsmarted Isaac Newton.

“So… if I say that I want to change gravity or stop time, I could just…”

“No, it doesn’t work like that.” White quickly threw my dreams of shattering physical laws out of the window. “You can only alter things that nobody has witnessed yet or that have no witness at the moment they happen. It’s like… writing a book. Some parts are written, and those are set in stone. You can’t change what already exists. You can’t snap your fingers and destroy an entire village. But everything that you haven’t fully established yet, that can be changed. Details that do not yet exist, can be added to the big picture. Pathways that are not there can be forged. Dices unrolled can land on perfect sixes.”

Although her speech was very poetic, I didn’t understand my power any more than before. “I don’t get it.”

“Hmm… alright, let’s try an example. Imagine that there is a map. On the map, there is an unexplored area. A place nobody has ever visited or documented before. Without you, it’s a wasteland, up until at some point somebody explores it. But if you say so, a village or a city could exist there. An entire civilization, hidden up until now. That is the power of Divine creativity. To create.”

“But… that doesn’t make sense. What if somebody explores that place? And Nordan, that city already existed. I’m sure it had a map. I couldn’t have just forged those alleys. They had to be there.” This was far more confusing than a high school physics class.

“That is just the point. They were there. Your powers can place them throughout time. You can write the history of anything up until this point. It is truly a godly power. And of course, somebody can draw a map, but the moment you say otherwise, the map becomes wrong, and the city is different. That is, if nobody is physically looking at the map the moment you alter it, and nothing gets destroyed in the process. As long as your changes aren’t seen by others the moment they happen, they can go throughout all history. That’s why shifting Nordan’s streets and alleys a little bit is not a problem.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

I couldn't believe it. Such power. With this, I could create anything. Even something that would eventually save this cursed world. But where to start? And how to control it? Those were the questions digging through my head at that point.

“But there is a catch.” I was waiting for this. Something that would be a downside to my powers. After all, everyone had a limit. I guess that included me. “Once something has been created, it cannot be undone. You could create an artifact that would save this entire world, but it would have to exist somewhere even after it has been used. And don’t forget that you’d leave it behind. Creating something powerful or large can bring a new era to this world. There will always be people who will abuse anything you would create. Not to mention that you write the rules, but there will always be a way around them. If you don’t create something foolproof, it can be used against you. And lastly, the law of action and reaction applies even here. If you create something, it must have a weakness. If it doesn’t, the reaction comes in the form of destruction, inflicted upon a random part of the world, to balance the creation. So, our goal today will be to learn how to use your ability on a much smaller scale. That way, it’ll be mostly safe.” She once again finished her speech with a smile.

I didn’t feel good about this. The power had to be balanced and it had to be perfect. If I was to create a law of nature that wouldn’t be properly thought out, my enemies could exploit it. Just thinking about something like that was making my heart beat at an incredible rate. Because of all those factors, I decided to stick to whatever White can teach me at the moment.

“Alright, here’s a simple exercise.” White pulled a little green tennis ball out of… somewhere. I was so busy thinking I spaced out again. Where exactly in the mess of a house she found it, I did not wish to know. “I want you to throw that ball directly into that hole over there.” She pointed at a little tunnel outside the house, which almost seemed like it was made by some kind of a rodent.

“That’s impossible! How can I hit it?! It’s at least ten meters away and big just enough for the ball to fit in. That’s…”

“That’s why you are going to use your power.” White tore off a piece of her dress and came closer to me. She wrapped it around my eyes and made sure I couldn’t see anything. “Don’t count on your senses, your strength, or your accuracy. Use your imagination. Imagine the ball landing in the hole. Turn that imagination into a wish, and then into reality. Influence the probabilities in your favor. That is the basic principle of Divine Creativity.”

She turned me around so that I would be facing the window. I tried as hard as I could to get a clear picture in my mind. I imagined the ball stuck inside the hole. Just like when thinking about a new piece of art, I tried to imagine every detail. And then I threw the ball out of the window.

*BAM!*

I didn't know what happened at first. Something hit me in the face and because I couldn't see, I backed into some of the rubble lying on the ground, which made me slip. I couldn't see anything over the blindfold. All I remember was the pain in my right ring finger. I quickly took the blindfold off and White rushed over to help me.

“Are you alright?! Did you get hurt? I’m sorry, I should’ve cleaned this place a bit more. Can you stand up?” I quickly calmed her down and explained what happened as best as I could. According to her, I threw the ball so high it missed the window, bounced off a wall, and hit me right between the eyes. I assumed that would be quite likely. After all, I tended to be rather clumsy.

After that, White went outside, picked up a tiny twig, which looked more like a long chunk of stone, and tied it to my finger using another torn-off part from the dress, in order to keep it from moving too much. It was a shame she was wasting her clothes on me like this. I knew that the dress would eventually grow back its missing pieces, but still, it was a waste of magic.

“Don’t let that small injury discourage you. You must not think about throwing it correctly. Let go of what your eyes know. Just let the imagination guide you.”

I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do that. My brain was used to thinking with physics in mind, and so removing them just like that was not something easy. But I picked up the ball again and closed my eyes. This time, I decided not to focus on the wall. I imagined that there was no obstacle in the way and that ahead of me was just the hole. Deep breath and another throw. I could hear the ball land outside about a second later. I took off my blindfold, eager to see the first success of my abilities but my enthusiasm was quickly gone. The tennis ball was rolling in the dust outside, far away from the original goal.

“Ughhh! What am I doing wrong?” White came a bit closer and it seemed like she was thinking for a moment.

“I think you’re focusing on the window way too much. Just see the hole and abandon all else. Let your imagination become the new reality.”

I went outside and picked the ball up again. At this point, I was starting to think that White was only playing the most complicated prank in history on me. After all, how the hell could I be able to just ignore everything else? That’s not how physics works. But then again, I had no choice but to try.

*Give it up

"One more try." I put the blindfold back on and tried imagining the ball, but this time, I got an idea about a new method. I pictured the tennis ball in my hand as a brush. With it, I was drawing in the air, imagining that I'm painting the hole. I tried to think about as many details as I could. In my mind, I gave the image colors, shading, and a realistic appearance. And then, when my glorious masterpiece was done, I took a good look at it and threw the ball right into the middle. A soft thud could be heard from the distance. That was it. I knew it had to be it. Without a single shard of doubt in my head, I looked, and… was greatly disappointed. The ball was there, on the ground, but nowhere near the hole.

I turned over to White. "I can't do it. It's just too difficult."

“Hmm..." she took a moment to think. "What is going on in your head right now Eddie?"

"In my head? Well... umm..."

"Are you afraid? Disturbed? Not feeling alright?"

"Yeah, you could say it like that." I did not want her to know how much anxiety and fear I was truly feeling.

"Then that is the issue. Divine Creativity requires a perfectly clear mind. You need to believe you can do it. No, more than that actually. You need to be one hundred percent sure that you can. It must be used with absolute certainty."

"Then I don't think I can do that. I don't recall when was the last time I was certain of anything."

"Don't say it like that! Look, it's been a rough day for you. Running around the city, being tossed into a new world, teaming up with a bunch of reapers... I get it, it takes quite a toll on your mental state. Why don't you go rest for now, hmm? We can continue tomorrow." Up until this point, I didn't realize how tired I was. The mix of excitement and constant fear for my life were keeping me up and running, but now that rest was so close, my legs slowly started to turn into pudding.

“Yeah, that would probably be for the best.”

White led me to the ruins of one rather small building. Only a single room was still standing with its roof where it was supposed to be, so it was usable as a bedroom. An old mattress and pillow were already waiting for me there. I didn’t ask any questions. Something in my head was telling me that if I wait any longer my body will just shut down automatically. I simply dropped onto the soft bed and almost instantly fell asleep. The last thing I remember from that day was White’s voice.

“Good night, Eddie.”