Life and death are bound eternal.

I remembered saying that to Ua many years in the past but I was just rambling at the time.

I spouted something so obvious and although I knew what it meant, I had stubbornly refused to accept it.

I would live eternal, something a crew of fishermen couldn’t say as they and their ship were ripped to shreds by the Snatcher Rays.

The two-meter wide, pale grey monsters shot out of the water and bit into the skull of the last sailor, who desperately clung to the last floating piece of the ship.

He was then dragged into the ocean and ripped further apart by the other Snatchers.

I knew the humanoids were at a disadvantage on land but they were absolutely helpless on water.

I wondered if there was a way for me to help them.

Jua had already done part of the work by building sturdier ships with closed-off decks but there was not much he could do to stop the Snatchers from ripping the hull to pieces.

I decided that a northward current would be best since I didn’t want to outright remove the Snatchers from existence or remove them from their home because just as I felt the humanoids needed a chance to survive on my surface, so too did the Snatchers.

I felt this way about all the life that called me home.

We were all marching to the end and, if I could help it, I wanted as much of the life on my surface to accompany me as far as possible.

With all that in mind, I turned to Ua who sat in a dark chamber, half-naked, and covered in blood, in front of two gazelles as they were made to have intercourse.

Using life Magic, she and the Blessed Sisters made the female gazelle ovulate and they watched as its egg was fertilized.

They, like Ua, were half naked since they did so many gruesome experiments, they ended up always getting their clothes dirty and so they chose only to wear their waistcloths along with their head wraps.

The women all gasped upon seeing a small pulsing green light within the female’s belly.

They then all peered closer and their eyes all widened upon seeing a small cluster of white strings within the belly as well.

“So...” Ua droned.

“The soul is brought into this world at the very beginning.”

Her fellow Sisters let out agreeing hums.

This blood-soaked scene was illuminated by a handful of Shangazi who used their hair to emit dull yellow light.

The smell of rot was lacking in the air simply because so much residual Life Energy was in the room, that nothing would be able to rot for a while.

Regardless, Ua saw to it that the chamber was frequently cleaned.

“So, in order to capture or store the soul, we would need to study the mechanics of conception.” One of the Shangazi said but she was met with only silence in response.

I’m sure this was because none of them had a clue of how to create life from scratch and even then, if anyone ever created life, it would have its own soul that would need to be removed for the old soul to be stored.

Ua let out a sigh before leading her sisters upstairs into the main part of the building which was a large house in the town at the foot of Mount Kupumzika.

They all entered one of its many bathrooms and cleaned themselves of the blood from the chamber.

Ua let out a deep sigh while gently placing her hand on her belly.

Banter filled the air as the Sisters all discussed the day’s findings among other things but Ua sat in silence.

This was how she was like most of the time these days.

Silent and with a faint smile on her face that smile faded a little for a moment and I wondered what had caused that.

Whatever it was, it would have to wait because I was more interested in the breakthrough she had made.

Life began at conception.

If that was the case then I was born or reborn just as clouds of space dust gathered to form me.

Mmm…

But what was in charge of the distribution of souls and why had I been reborn?

Not only that, I had been reborn as a planet, did that mean other seemingly inanimate objects also housed souls?

I didn’t know but I did know how humans were born and with this knowledge along with the power of Glass, I could potentially create myself a suitable host body.

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So, with all this in mind, I returned to the Temple of Tablets where I sat in the central chamber, in front of the Mega Crystal.

I closed my eyes and thought back to how humans reproduced.

A sperm cell entered an egg cell and the two combined their genetic data to create a new human.

The soul seemingly came to be at the moment of genetic combination and so that was my focus.

I imagined my old body and used Glass Transference to try and recreate one of my cells.

This was somewhat successful only the cell was made out of Glass.

It seemed as though the universe knew that I had attained a new form and so whenever I used Glass to make something resembling me, it went with my new self.

This was fine, however, since I didn’t really care which form I took.

I then split the cell into two and reconfigured its halves to form a sperm and egg cell.

I realized that I would need something to house the conception process so I opened my eyes and looked around.

I could have easily created a tube or something for the process to take place but this was potentially my key to ultimate rebirth and so I turned to my tummy.

I placed my hand above it and created a cavity within which I then moulded into something that resembled a womb.

After removing my tunic, I opened my belly and placed the egg and sperm cells within me before closing my tummy, however, I didn’t allow the two cells to meet.

There was still a puzzle piece missing.

If the two cells touched… new life would possibly be born and that was not my desire.

I did not want to birth something only to kill it so that I may wear its body.

To add onto this issue, my soul was gargantuan, meaning that even if I did create a proper vessel, it was unlikely that it would be able to withstand housing my soul.

And if the key was simply creating a large enough vessel, then I’d need an entire planet’s worth of Glass which I definitely didn’t have.

I let out a defeated sigh.

Why is becoming truly immortal so difficult?! I cried internally.

I crawled into my feet and did what I always did after running hitting a dead end… I rode a dragon.

It soared gracefully across the evening sky and it seemed to have no care in the world.

It just… was.

I wonder what it thought about death.

Did it ever fear that one day it would no longer be able to fly?

I turned my eyes to the southern continent and watched as the humanoids lived their lives.

One of them was Jua and he was having a secret meeting with Imani, Pele, Heziyn, Emunah, chief Ayit, Mashouah and Thabiti.

They were in his farmhouse and on this rare night, it was mostly empty.

Jua tapped the table around which everyone sat with his bone-thin index finger.

He tapped it three times and each was slower than that before.

“All those who think my decision unwise are free to speak for their words will be heard and considered.” Jua wheezed but this just made everyone’s already stiff faces harden.

He had decided that Pele become the leader of the Chofumah when they reached my island.

His scouts had reported that the Island was devoid of dangerous life even though it was partly covered in plant life and small, mostly harmless insects.

This served only to make Jua worry, however, and so he decided that warriors should be the ones to lead the Chofumah so that they may defend the weak.

He ultimately decided on Pele after seeing his dedication to duty.

This didn’t go well with Imani and the others who, apart from Imani himself, thought they were best suited for the role of leader.

Imani agreed that the leader be of Chofumah blood but he had mixed feelings about letting a Fire Breaker be the one.

Emunah parroted Imani’s thoughts while chiefs Ayit and Mashouah volunteered themselves for the role.

These four now sat before Jua and were asked to present their objections so that he may consider them but none of them spoke.

They could barely manage to look into Jua’s eyes as he sat before them.

“I think Pele will make a fine leader, with a little bit of guidance and counsel on our part,” Imani said with a weak smile.

It seemed as though he could not bear to deny Jua’s wishes any longer.

Ayit crossed his arms and sighed.

“I suppose that could work if he is willing to listen to the needs of the people.” He scoffed as Emunah nodded.

Jua nodded as well before turning to Thabiti.

“I will ensure that, when the day comes, the Chofumah are allowed safe passage.” He said making Jua weakly smile.

He wasn’t even twenty five and yet his face was lined with wrinkles.

“Good. Go now-“

“Oh- how will we know when the time is right?” Imani asked and this seemingly caught Jua off guard as well.

“Err…” He droned while his eyes darted back and forth.

“Horns,” Pele said from behind.

Everyone turned to him as he stood with crossed arms.

“Just as warriors do before battles, we will blow horns, signalling that the Exodus begin.”

“And who will blow the first horn?” Ayit asked.

“A more important question would be how would the people know?” Imani asked making Jua turn to Pele.

“Mmm… this may be risky but we could subtly let the people know of the coming day through stories, legends and songs, just as the Umande ancestors told us of the Crystal Lands,” Thabiti suggested making everyone thoughtfully drone.

“I suppose that could work and that can always be worked on as the day approaches but back to Chief Ayit’s question… who will blow the first horn?” Imani asked.

A moment passed.

Then everyone turned to Pele who’s eyes widened a little.

He then took a deep breath before bowing.

“I will perform my duty diligently.”

Jua’s smile brightened.

“Good. Now, off you all go. There are legends that need to be written.” He chuckled.

Imani, Emunah, Ayit, Mashouah and Thabiti left the farmhouse and went separate ways while Heziyn walked up to Jua with a bowl of fruits.

“I’m not hungry-“

“Could you at least try?” Heziyn pleaded making Jua wince.

He then grabbed a handful of grapes and placed one in his mouth before allowing his shoulders to droop.

“I have a feeling that one of these days you’re going to tell Pele to hold me down while you feed me like a toddler.” Jua chuckled but Heziyn and Pele remained silent. Their expressions were permanently of concern.

“Haa… but I guess it can’t be helped.” Jua sighed before standing up with the grapes still in hand.

Pele moved to help him but Jua weakly smacked his hand away before leaving the house with Pele and Heziyn in tow.

Jua looked up at the moon and winced as he continued to eat the grapes.

“Our Lady once said that beyond the moon lies the infinite. She said that there are countless other stars which have their own orbiting worlds some of which surely have life growing on them. Do you think that there are other gods out there? Where do you think they come from?” Jua asked while slowly chewing.

“I… couldn’t answer that for I know far too little of even this world,” Pele said as he joined Jua in stargazing.

“All I can say for certain is that they are lucky.”

“Because they are gods?” Jua smirked but Pele shook his head.

“Because they live eternal.”

.

..

Jua, Pele and Heziyn eventually returned to the palace at around the same time that Ua did.

She was accompanied up the stairs and into her room by the maids all without even glancing at Jua whose jaws were visibly clenched.

He made his way to his room where he stared at his bronze chest piece which sat on its stand.

He hadn’t worn it in years and so he walked up to it and gently placed his hand on it.

“This would have fit you perfectly.” He muttered before making his way to his bed where Heziyn helped him lie down.

She then made her way to the door alongside Pele and, after wishing Jua goodnight, they left.

As they left and as silence filled the room, tears fell from his eyes.

Just as all those that had fallen before to stain his pillow.