2. Characteristics of Life

When Ardex awoke the next day, and sunlight clearly lit all corridors, the crumbled stones were gone. The hallway had been repaired and contained no hint of what happened last night. He’d stood on guard with Eeris most of the night, but no intruder returned. Staying awake had not been an issue, for Darus had loudly chiseled notes into Bella’s “book” all night. And sang songs doing it.

Ardex was mostly disappointed. He had hoped for more objects from the Heavenly Palace. His Firering would have been nice, and Eeris would have been happy with her flower fields. Oh, and if Cosmo had his Windgustwing, he’d be able to fly even further. But no, they had to be satisfied with their favorite toy ball. An object that made him laugh and cry holding it.

His paws felt heavy as he trudged through the throne room. Feria’s and Cosmo’s corners stayed empty. They were exploring the world, hoping to find Movelings elsewhere that, well, moved.

And of course Hanah’s corner. He hadn’t seen her since just after their landing here—just after discovering DNA. What did she mean with her final remark? he thought. “I love you too much. That is the problem.” If his sister loved him so much, why did she stay away? All would hug and accept her.

His tail was shredding fast. Bella walked with more effort, but she didn’t mind. She clutched fresh stone papers to her chest as if it were her babies. “Our book is going great, Ardex! And we have a new plan!”

“Tell me.”

“Eeris explained the characteristics of life yesterday. Things every being should have to be considered alive. We’re going to test them all until we find the one that’s missing.”

Ardex thought this was the silliest plan he ever heard. But he had no better plans himself—no, in truth, he had different plans. “Great work, sister. You don’t need me for this, do you?”

Bella gently placed her paw on his tusks. “Always you think far too little of yourself. Of course we want you with us! Maybe the Movelings will rapidly run if you give them some fire.”

“They will burn, Bella.”

“We are underwater! You can’t burn there!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” He feigned a long, long yawn. “I am tired. Darus’ singing last night was the opposite of a lullaby.”

“Oh. Alright. Then rest. We will devise some tests for the Movelings!” Bella ran away, followed by Eeris, Darus, and Gulvi, all missing parts of their body now.

Ardex immediately ran into the nearest hallway. It had to be Father, right? He could make a portal from the Heavenly Palace to here. Maybe he felt guilty. Maybe he wanted to check how his children were doing. Where are you, mysterious figure? Where is that portal?

The left hallway was empty and silent. The entrance was empty and silent. He tried all rooms, the back door, the garden around the Throne of Tomorrow, and even the roof. Only once he looked out over this world, from the balcony, did he find what he was looking for.

A trail of pawprints traveled from the back door to the beach. They were too small and round to be of any animal species he knew, but it were surely pawprints: they came in pairs of two, diagonally offset. Many pairs, so an animal with small legs. And they ended at a round stone with a hole, filled with blue and purple vortexes which regularly created thunderclaps.

Ardex jumped off the roof. His landing was elegant, perfectly on all four paws, but the fall from so high—ten tree lengths—hurt. Another bad sign. His eyes never left the distant portal—but the portal itself had other plans. It sank into the water, so slowly that Ardex thought he’d arrive in time, but still fast enough to prove him wrong.

By the time he sprinted through the sand, the portal was completely submerged. When he arrived, all that remained was a blood-red ring with a diamond in the shape of a flame.

Eeris was pleased. She was finally allowed to create as many Solidlings as her heart desired, especially now that Feria wasn’t here to complain there were too many plants and too few animals. She was Goddess of Nature, so she could help plants that struggled, but also grow new plants.

But only if they already existed, dear reader. Invent the truly beautiful plants, as you know, with a stalk and leaves, was still impossible. Soon the entire seabed was filled with plant-like puddings, as if she painted with them.

Bella was less pleased. Why was the playing ball back? Couldn’t they have received a more useful object? Something that helped survive? Her own Heavenmatter would have been far more applicable. She predicted they wouldn’t have room for play anyway for the next centuries.

“First characteristic of life,” Bella yelled, as if she gave a presentation. “Respiration. Or breathing.”

“Duh!” Darus put his paw to his forehead. “Of course the Movelings can’t breathe underwater. We have to pull them ashore.”

“No,” Gulvi squeaked. “Breathing just means you get oxygen from somewhere, and push out carbondioxide. I breathe underwater.”

“But you’re just weird.” Darus stuck out his tongue. The tip was chipped away as soon as it hit the air, removing the smile from his face.

“I take my oxygen from the water. The Movelings should be able to do that too.”

Eeris hobbled onto the beach. “But maybe there is too little oxygen in the water. Fortunately we have something that makes oxygen, namely …”

“Magic?” Darus said.

“The sun?” Gulvi proposed.

“The endless sighs of Ardex?” Darus said more confidently.

Eeris looked disappointed. “Plants. The answer is plants.”

She had painted so much with her plant magic that there were far more Solidlings than Movelings in this area. A jungle of underwater plants with barely any animals.

The gods saw green, shiny shapes alternating with transparent blobs that sometimes moved. They clearly saw threads of DNA and dark spots inside every cell, as if they were as large as their paw. Each cell a tiny factory that tried to generate energy from sunlight or oxygen.

You, dear reader, had probably assumed the water was empty. The magic of nature to small to see or feel.

The multitude of air bubbles that appeared almost turned it into a bubble bath. Bella thought this was enough and pulled Eeris ashore.

Gulvi turned in a shining blue dolphin, bright enough to light up the ocean until the horizon. And that was necessary, for night had fallen. To be sure, Gulvi blew extra air towards all Movelings.

The godchildren leaned against each other and bent over to look into the water, as if they were one joint animal. The bubbles shrank, slowly, until the water was clear.

And nothing had changed.

Some Movelings had died anyway. Some lay still in the water, not larger or smaller than before. Bella felt that the Lifeforce hadn’t increased, her head and paw still hurting. She sighed deeply. She longed to be back at the Heavenly Palace, without worry and without millions of years of trying and achieving nothing.

“Write that into your book,” Eeris said sadly. “More and more oxygen does not help survival.”

“And add this,” Darus said. “Darus’ theory about oxygen coming from magic seems more and more correct. Oh how brilliant he is.”

A silhouet appeared on the horizon. It raced closer, across the beach, until it stopped before Bella.

It was Ardex. Eyes open wide, he studied the water for … something. “Have you, erm, seen a big round stone?”

“I thought you were tired?”

Ardex stomped the sand and roared. A flame as large as Eeris shot from his jaws and turned the water surface into hot steam. It enveloped the gods in a thick mist, forcing them to extend their paws to find each other again. But when the mist cleared, they all stood stunned.

Suddenly the Movelings did feel like moving.