10. Epilogue

Within a short time, all of Somnia underwent massive changes. The explosion of these complex bacteria pushed a lot more oxygen into the atmosphere. It would be first step to creating a habitable world for more animals. Now that cells could generate more energy, they might be able to sustain larger beings, like insects, worms, bunnies. And, if they dared dream further, perhaps huge lizards.

This extra oxygen also entered the ocean, of course, where it interacted with all the metal at its bottom. It started to rust. This pushed even more oxygen and other gases into the atmosphere. Over time, it created a protective layer around Somnia that they would name the omni-oxygen zone, abbreviated to ozone.

Thanks to the explosion of energy captured by Somnia, the Enyrgias were all around them. They could spot them easily now, as they showed the movement of objects, or swarmed around something that was about to fall down due to gravity. They felt like living beings, they felt like creatures they could talk to and understand. So far, however, they remained a mystery.

They named this new part of every cell Mitochondrion. A combination of Mitos and Khondron, the god’s name for particle. It still felt more apt to name things the gods created using Father’s native tongue.

The invisible walls had repaired themselves swiftly. They were no closer to breaking out of their cage or actually getting one of those blue boulders up the mountain. For a while, however, this did not bother them. In fact, having so little space brought them closer together.

“Admit it,” Bella said to Ardex, nudging him. She had made a clean recovery, which had been a true worry for her siblings, for she had always been the weakest and the only one mysteriously without magic. “You were wrong. You can’t get more energy than there already is.”

“If you all admit you were wrong too.” Ardex looked dead serious. “My powers are as valuable as yours. Perhaps even more so!”

Bella kept her paws before her, crossed over her heart. “Well … maybe sometimes … a little force or destruction is what’s needed. A little … blind, naive hope in the face of overwhelming obstacles.”

“Or maybe,” Feria said, “we should learn from our creatures. Two completely different bacteria that could not live alone, but became more powerful than anything when merged. A revolution for this planet!”

Feria suddenly looked a young girl again, cheeks pink and batting her eyelashes. “We try to be godly. We try to not step on each other’s toes—oh, look how tolerant we are of each other’s magic and opinions. But we think too far ahead, uselessly so. Assuming things, instead of just communicating. Maybe … maybe … there can be a revolution for this family too?”

They all laughed and gave Feria a friendly nudge.

“We’ll surely try,” said Bella softly. She, more than most, knew how much living beings could be set in their ways, and she lacked the energy to explain that now.

“Well,” said Ardex with a steamy sigh. “Don’t hold your breath waiting for Father or Mother to show up, if that’s what you mean.”

“I actually think I will,” Feria mumbled. “Keep hoping they come back for us.”

“But as long as they don’t,” said Ardex softly, “let’s assume we’re on our own. Let’s assume they watch us, built the cage, expect us to do something. Let’s show them how they should’ve treated their own family.”

Gulvi chattered as he resurfaced from his bath inside the Throne of Tomorrow. He had nowhere else to go after Ardex made half the building crumble by drawing too much energy.

“Has anyone seen Darus?” the dolphin asked.

“Probably snoring somewhere,” said Ardex with a grin. “Or hugging a precious stone of his.”

“Playing hide and seek with bacteria, I reckon,” said Cosmo absently as he cleaned his feathers.

“Ha, tsh tsh,” said Gulvi. “That lazy bum has for once earned it, I say!”

They had carefully collected all remaining Marker Stones and placed them in a secret vault. They regularly guarded it, perhaps waiting for Father to show up and trap him.

Instead, a few nights later, Eeris spotted a shadow too late and before she knew it … all the Marker Stones were gone.

Darus stood underground. His body still rested on the numerous Marker Stones he’d taken with him. He’d been forced to drop them, though, scattering them in a circle before him.

Within that circle, a silhouette shone. A ghostly appearance that had trouble staying there. Darus would still recognize it instantly.

“That’s thrice you’ve cheated death now,” the voice said. “It is not natural.”

The silhouette faded. A soft wind was enough to contort it, and the jagged holes seemingly gave Mother dozens of eyes. Her communication sounded like speech under water.

“It’s hard to be here. Too far. Too painful.”

The silhouette seemed to shift between Mother and Father, or was it both at the same time?

“I see they left you alone again. To die a death not worthy of a god like you, Darus. You know you’re the most powerful, and they trample you like sand underfoot. The banishment stands.”

Darus did not respond, because he could not respond. He’d gone too far, dug too deep, held the Marker Stones too long. And their effect had been even worse than expected.

They’d severed his connection to the Energy web entirely. Darus was an unmoving statue, an unthinking slab of stardust, as no energy was able to move him anymore.

“Look at him,” Mother and Father said, pity in their voices. “No different from a boulder, a pebble. The God of Stone turned to Stone.”

Why had he done it? Why had he kept touching the Marker Stones, kept digging? He knew why; the silhouette had read his mind perfectly. He wanted to show what he could do, show he was stronger than Ardex, be the hero and reclaim a worth place within the family. Show he was not a lazy wolf—a snide remark he’d heard for thousands of years now.

And so the godchildren are a reminder of the fact, dear reader, that wounds do not always heal over time. Sometimes they harden and become impossible to dislodge. Unless you apply enough energy.

“Well, I guess conversation is going to be hard like this. Pity. All this effort to reach my children once more, and I can’t even speak with them. Goodbye, Darus, God of Stone.”

Darus could not wave goodbye. Darus could not tell them to stay. He was a statue now. Life eluded him; time did not matter to him. Thoughts were non-existent. Nothing was going to change his world. Without energy, he could not even wonder if his siblings would ever rescue him. Perhaps that was for the best.

Though the question remains, dear reader, if time is what allows energy to do its magic—or if energy creates the illusion of time. If your body would never receive energy again, it would never do anything again, so nobody would be able to tell how much time passed by looking at you. If the waters had no current, if the wind didn’t blow, every moment would look exactly the same. If Darus looked like the exact same statue, now and in a million years, would you say time has passed? Would you be able to tell?

Sometimes I wonder if we’re not just all statues of stone and stardust. It’s the application of energy that helps us fake being alive and move through time. And then I remember I am one of the creators of this universe—I know the answer but will never tell. Personal reasons.

As the ghostly Mother-Father appearance had said: the banishment stood.

And so it was that life continued …