Writing

So I managed to actually get some writing done yesterday. Not as much as I had hoped, but i am farther ahead now.

Anyway, not much else to say right now.

[Untitled]
23

Julius stretched, and looked out the window. His stretching stopped. The sky was becoming dim. He hadn’t realized how much time he had spent talking, it hadn’t seemed as long as it actually was.

Maureen looked at him expectantly.

“It’s getting late, Kyra. I think that we should get you fed.”

Maureen looked out the window. “Wow! I didn’t notice the time passing. Yeah, I agree I should probably have dinner.”

Maureen moved to the edge of the bed and tried to stand up. She ended up standing for a moment, then resumed a sitting position. Julius moved to her side and offered his assistance. She smiled at him and took the proffered arm.

***

While Maureen ate, Julius checked on the bloodroot that he had planted.

The results were not what he had hoped for, but were better than they could have been. The bloodroot was regenerating, just not nearly as fast as it would have in his home world.

He reentered the living room. Maureen had nearly finished her dinner. He watched her for a moment. She still looked weak.

Maureen finished eating in silence. Julius took the empty plate and set it in the sink. He then returned to the living room.

Maureen had moved to the recliner, and had covered herself with a light blanket.

Julius took up a spot on the couch.

“It’s not easy to accept is it?”
Maureen shook her head. “No. I grew up trying to decide which was right, religion or science. Now I have another option, one that resembles neither of the two options that I had before.”

“What you believe in is always completely up to you. You don’t have to believe in just one thing. Don’t try to fit into a box that somebody else created. Take the ideas that you like from each option and work them into the reality that you know.”

“What if what you believe in is wrong?”

“Who has the right to tell you that it is wrong? Other people? Their beliefs could be as easily flawed as your own. Believe in what you want to believe in. Don’t take the beliefs of others and try to make them your own, for if you do that you will always question whether the choice was the right one.”

“What about God? What if your beliefs aren’t what he wants you to believe in?”

“Tell me of this ‘God’. There are as many gods as there are religions.”

“The God that I grew up with created everything. The one God created the world, people, and all of the plants and animals. Even the nemesis of God was created by him.”

“So God created everything?” Maureen nodded. “Then you have nothing to fear. God created the base from which your thoughts and beliefs spring. If he was truly against your beliefs then they wouldn’t exist, or if they did you would know in your heart that they were wrong.

Kyra, in my experience all beings know in themselves whether they are good or evil. They define themselves as such. Your fears that you could go against the wishes of the creator only prove your fundamental goodness.”

Maureen smiled. Then fell silent for a minute. Finally, “Is there one creator?”

“Most of us believe so. The continued involvement of said creator is what is usually in question. Some believe that the creator is involved with everything that happens and has happened.

I am of another camp on the involvement issue. I do believe that the creator made everything that we know, but then handed of the actual control of things to subordinates and has no current involvement. It is a test of the subordinates and the entirety of the creation.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you have a game called chess on this realm?”

Maureen nodded again.

“Good, that will make explaining this part easier.

Think back to what I said about the different energy realms. What research we have indicates that the highest realm is sparsely populated, so sparsely that we place the number of occupants under ten. Of these, two are extremely powerful. They were the only occupants when the realm first formed.

We know very little about these two. We refer to them as the chess masters. They alone are powerful enough to highly influence the events and actions of the other realms. To them we are all just pawns in a cruel game, to be manipulated so that they can decide which is the better strategist.

Both seemed to be present almost immediately after the creation, and would be the subordinates of the creator. They would have been charged with the task of making sure that the world went as planned. But one of them got bored with the creation and decided to destroy it, the other is now permanently locked into a battle to save the creation.

Evenly matched they had to find another way to achieve their goals.

That was when they decided to interfere with the other realms. Now, because they are in a stalemate, they use those with lesser energies. They strategize, and plot.

One day they will assemble the forces that they have acquired, those forces will fight until a clear winner is decided.”

Julius fell silent for a moment, then resumed. “My belief is that the opposing forces are being controlled by subordinates of the creator. I don’t believe that a subordinate could become powerful enough to oppose the creator, as would be the other case. So I think that the creator watches, but does not interfere.”

Maureen sat in stunned silence. The explanation was more than she had expected.

Julius saw the stunned expression on her face, and a blush crept into his.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to thrust all of that upon you at once. I guess that you were able to guess my feelings on the subject though. I really do hate knowing that I am being used as a piece in a game. I hate that all I can do is play my part.

Don’t get me wrong. I love this world, and would fight to protect it. I just wish that I had a little more control over how I fight my battles.”

Julius sat back down on the couch, unaware that he had even stood up. He stared straight ahead, absorbed in his thoughts.

“What can we do, Julius?”

He turned to look at Maureen. “Play our part, and play it well. The chess masters are evenly matched, most of the rest of us aren’t. Somebody will usually win. We need to be prepared, we need to be strong. Only if we are prepared to win will we have a chance. That is why your training is so important.

Always remember. I am training you for a fight to the death, but I am training you so that you may stay alive.”