The False Prophet

A long time ago, the world was full of life. During this time a plethora of creatures infested every corner of the globe. Animals of varying size, shape, and color were said to have existed. Land that was green as far as the eye could see, and water so vast and deep that it was blue permeated the Earth. Or so it is said in the songs that are sung.

Men grew arrogant with the knowledge they bore. They fought amongst themselves seeking power over others. Their plight led to destruction as the Earth was scorched into desolation. The greatest gift men had was their undoing in the end.

The world today is barren and dead. Covered by mountains of moving sand devoid of any life, save for the garden. The garden is our home. An oasis in an otherwise empty world. It is where we all live. Here we have water to drink, soil for vegetation, and even animals to eat. A thousand of my kin occupy the garden. We do not live, but merely exist and maintain for the next generation, just as our ancestors have done before us.

Today is a special day since we rarely sing of the past. Such occasions are reserved for a specific date once a year. That day is the birthday of the garden. Today the garden reaches a millennium in age. A thousand years we have survived and lived here. It was on this special day that I entered the world ten years ago: a day that I would come to loath more than anything.

My name is Eevee and I live in the pilgrim's orphanage. Today is my birthday and I have reached ten years of age. Once a child reaches ten years of age they must leave the pilgrims orphanage and fend for themselves. After leaving the orphanage, many children perish without a family to support them. Only the brave and strong children have survived, or so I've heard. This is why I am scared. This is why I loathe the new year. Every birthday is a year closer to death.

The pilgrim's orphanage was created to house the children whose parents left them behind on the tenth voyage. Every hundred years a hundred people who are not of noble birth are randomly selected to participate in the voyage. The voyage banishes you from the garden and the only salvation would be to find life in the dead world. None have ever returned. My parents were selected and chose to leave me behind. I do not hate them for this for I am sure they have perished while I survived.

Since I was the youngest child left behind, I am the last orphan from the pilgrims journey. After my departure today, the building will be repurposed for a noble family until the next voyage arrives. Here in the garden, those who are descendents of the original nine families that founded the garden are given special treatment. The songs say that when the world was destroyed, people wondered into the garden from the dead world and were given residence for as long as they worked. After a year though no more people came.

In a few minutes I would have to leave and quickly seek work so I could survive. I looked towards Ms. R, the caretaker of the orphanage. She is a cruel women who hated her job. She would punish us whenever we asked her for anything, and give the same lecture always saying "worthless orphans who don't work should not ask for more when they are already blessed with what they have". What we had was a worn woolen bed far beyond the point of comfort with the addition of three glasses of water a day. Food did not always come daily which prevented many children from developing muscles strong enough to work. Since the day I was born malnutrition was evident. I already knew I would not be able to work. I looked at Ms. R, my thin frame quivering as my eyes began to water.

"Better save those tears child, a lot of work is required to earn water so it's best not to waste any" she said with a sneer. As a single tear began to roll down my cheek I heard Ms. R chuckle mirthlessly.

"I always knew you were weak. Such a frail mind stuck in a even frailer body."

With that said she shoved me out of the door. I scrambled to try get my leg out fast enough to catch the first step outside, but I could never properly move my body the way I wanted. I ended up falling flat on my face. I stood and patted dirt of myself. Not really sure what to do next I looked at Mr. R who just finished locking the door to the orphanage.

"I can finally get back to my job of tending the gardens." she grumbled.

Since speaking often led to some form of punishment in the orphanage I rarely spoke and instead chose to convey my thoughts with actions. As Mr. R began to walk past me I grabbed the hem of her bulky linen pants. As she felt the contact she looked down at me with cold fury.

"Let go of me you pest! I lost ten precious years watching you filthy children and I could have got off with nine if it wasn't for you."

Instead I grip her pants harder and pulled. By no means was Mr. R a kind, caring, or a loving person, but I thought of her as a child would their mother. I spent my entire life with Mr. R and a whole year alone with her in the large orphanage. Everything I had in life came from her. From the words I learned to speak, to the clothes I wore on my back. How could she feel nothing while I felt as if the world was ending? I decided actions were not enough. I would have to convey my thoughts with words. So I said the only thing I was thinking "Mom."

I wasn't entirely sure what I was expecting but the hard shoved that forced me to the ground was not one of them. My shoulder began to hurt. I started wincing in pain as the unpleasant sensation flooded my senses. I gripped my shoulder with my good arm and began to curl into a ball.

"You are not my child! In fact I don't think I will every bear children because of you pest! My beauty is far past its prime, so what hope do I have of finding a husband now", she berated.

Her words made my chest hurt and I felt tears begin to stream down my face. I'm not sure when Mrs. R left or for that matter when I stopped crying but eventually I must have fallen asleep since when I finally regained my senses I could see the sun's glow on the horizon.

Today is the second day of the new year. The day of giving. It is on this day that we appreciate all we have by offering the noble family that governs us something we hold dear. Every year the orphanage would offer a gem that one of the children found within the sands of the desert. Last year I spent a month on my own searching the desert until I was able find a sapphire to which Ms. R said "that will do."

The garden is a circular city divided into nine sections. The outer rim of the city is evenly split eight ways each governed by one of the nine noble families. In the center of the garden lies a palace that houses the observer. The observer is the founder of the garden who discovered the oasis in the dead world and welcomed the other eight noble families. All are welcome in the garden to use its water and land in ways the nobles find acceptable. This gift is also a curse since all we need in life must be provided by ourselves. From the water in the wells to the houses built from clay. To live, one must be a farmer, carpenter, and laborer; important skills that were never taught to us orphans.

Since today was the day of giving and having nothing to give I made my way to the edge of town. Looking around I saw the variety of buildings made. Most came from clay and were nothing more than rocks that provided shelter but some were even made out of wood using the trees grown and cut over the thousand year residence at the garden. At the edge of the garden there was a freshly made clay house that held enough moisture to reflect light. Walking up to it I was able to see my reflection. Each step I took brought pain to my shoulder which seemed to hurt more and more. I stop a few paces from the wall which functioned well enough to be a mirror. I wanted to look at my injury, so I slowly began to remove the stained white shirt I was wearing. My throat tightened when I looked at my shoulder. It was black and blue appearing to be the worst bruise I had ever seen. I did a once over my body and doing so seemed to sap all the energy I had. My frame was so thin that I thought people would not be able to tell if I was a boy or girl, being a boy that was quite disheartening. My bones were easily visible with jutted shoulders and outlined ribs. My hair was a messy mob of black that was never given any attention. My eyes a blue hue with dark circles under them. I didn't know much about the world but I knew enough to realize I was dying.

I pulled the shirt back on just as carefully as did when I was taking it off and walked into the cool clay hut that was dark and damp. The water in the clay had yet to evaporate making the environment soothing in the days heat. So I laid there resting like I did every other day of my life. My weak constitution made it so the majority of my day was spent resting or unmoving. I never had the extra energy to spend like some of the children who were lucky enough to have fat to burn while they ran about to play. I would simply be off to the side doing the thing I did most with my time, think. I would think of what the world was like before it died. I would picture what was described in the songs that were sung. Animals that were bigger than huts walking on green grass that would cover everything. Creatures that lurked in the large oceans who sized as colossal beings. My thoughts were the escape from the world that frightened me. So I kept thinking until my thoughts turned into dreams.

When I awoke there was no more pain. There was no more fear. There was only silence in the small hut. The third day, the day of observing had began. On this day it is said that the observer will patrol the garden in disguise. It is on this day that everyone works harder than any other day of the year. No words are spoken on this day. The only sounds to be heard are of those that move about doing their work for the day. As I started to sit up to begin the day something felt wrong. The unpleasant feelings that normally plague me were absent. The cold that could never be warmed gone, the thirst in my throat gone, the hunger in my stomach gone, the pain that always encompassed my body gone. The absence of these feelings unsettled me. Curious I touched my damaged shoulder only to feeling nothing. There was a pressure that let me know I was actually touching my body, but the sensation of doing so was gone. Then it dawned on me. My body was numb to everything. I once heard an old man saying something similar to me in my sixth year of life. I did not understand what he was saying then and I never got the chance to ask him to elaborate since the next day he died. This must have been what the old man was trying to tell me, the feeling of death was the feeling of nothingness.

I didn't know what to do so I did the one thing I knew and started to think. The more I did the harder it became. Simply imagining that tomorrow my existence would be extinguished only caused me confusion. No matter how hard I tried, no matter how hard I thought, I could not come to comprehend the thing I knew as death. Where would I go once I died? Where does anyone go once they die for that matter? My thoughts only led to more questions. Questions that only led to more confusion. So I stopped thinking and decided to act. If today would be the last day for me to do anything I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to visit the castle of the observer. I never visited the grandest building in the garden and always wanted to. So I left the small hut and began walking to the center of the garden. Each step I took seemed to leave a part of me behind but I did not care. All of the pain and fear that plague me were gone. The only thing that seemed to keep my feet moving was a burning desire. A curiosity so strong propelled me to see the palace in the garden before it would be gone forever, no before I would be gone forever.

I'm not sure how many steps I took or how long it took but eventually the palace was right in front of me. It was unlike anything I ever saw before. I have seen houses of clay and wood but never before have I seen a building like the one before me. It was made of smooth white stone with black lines running through them. At first I thought they were cracks but at closer inspection they were nothing more than black streaks a part of the stone. I always thought the gems found in the desert were the prettiest things in the garden but now I tossed that assumption out of the window. Nothing could be compared to the palace in front of me. From the large central structure to the towers that spiraled skyward. So I just stood there and watched oblivious to the world around me.

I was still staring at the palace but with some difficulty now. The entire building radiated light that was reflected from the sun high in the sky, signifying noon. My eyes were forced to a squint until someone walked in front of me obscuring my view. Everything about the character in front of me was shrouded by a gray cloak. The person in front of me stopped and simply began looking around. After five minutes or so he continued doing nothing more than observe the world around him. I wanted him to move so I could go on looking at the castle so I decided on something to say.

"Move" I decided to say since I had not the energy to move.

The man stopped his vigilance almost immediately and turned to face me. The cloaked individual's features were still indistinguishable since their form was nothing more than a blurred silhouette from the light behind them. They stood there just looking staring at me I assumed. After a minute or so I decided to try and move so I could continue to look at the marvel I knew as the garden castle. I stumbled as I tried to stand up not really moving anywhere. I tried a second time with even less success.

"Please" I mumbled knowing that moving myself was almost impossible.

To my surprise the person in front of me started to walk towards me. Once they were close enough for me to reach out and touch them I realized him to be a man. He crouched down and now I could see the features the cloak hid from me. The man had golden hair and eyes something that was rarely seen in the garden. Most of us had black hair and brown eyes, anything else was considered a rarity. The man just continued to look at me with a piercing gaze. His eyes were flickering to and fro from one part of myself to another. I was not sure why I was being scrutinize but eventually he stop his analysis and a small smile tugged at his lips.

"What is your name child" he asked me. His voice was smooth and everything about the man was alluring. I wanted to answer his request so I said "Eevee".

"Well Eevee it appears you are a prophet for our little garden. Come with me." He said before gingerly picking me up.

I liked the feeling of being carried, it had a soothing effect. The strange sense of pleasure that permeated throughout my body was welcomed since the entire day I was left cold and numb. After a few steps my head was already full of questions I wanted to ask. What was death? What is a prophet? Who are you? Where are we going?

After I had thought of every question I had for the man I said "Can I ask you something?"

"You may ask me anything you like child, but for now try to keep it to only three. I don't think we have time for anymore." he said before I noticed we just entered into the palace. That revelation prompted my first question.

"Why are we in the palace?"

"It is my home, as it is yours now." he replied with a smile adjusting the features on his face. The smile that found its way to my face didn't seem to leave no matter how hard I tried, so I stopped and asked my second question.

"What is your name?"

The man stopped walking for a second and furrowed his brows in confusion. "Hmm. I don't think I have a name. I have always gone by the titles I bore so how about you call me father?" he said with a skeptical glance at me. The revelation of what was happening brought me more happiness than I thought possible. This man who lived in the garden palace was making me a part of his family. A family was something I always wanted but told I would never have by Ms. R. So I mustered what little strength I had and dug my head into his chest. The raw emotion fogged my thoughts and I never did ask him a third question.

We arrived at a large room with a table big enough to seat every person I ever met. Father carried me over to table and sat me down at the head which was adorned with silver containers. Every container he opened revealed to me the sight and smell of a enticing dish that I had no idea existed. He would put a scoop of a dish on my plate and I would greedily gobble it up until nothing remained. On the six time Father went to refill my plate I lightly grabbed his arm and shook my head. Father smiled and put the plate down only to pick me up.

He carried me to a new room much smaller yet still very big. The room was strange to say the least. There were two white containers. One round and small and the other three times my size, full of steaming water. Father began to undress me until I had no clothing to wear. When he saw my shoulder he frowned but make no comment. Once I was naked he tried to guide into the tub but I resisted.

"Too much to drink." I decided to tell him.

I was met with a blank stare until Father erupted into laughter. He continued laughing grapping his sides all the while I was left confused. Eventually he stopped and took off his shirt. I could only stare since he seemed to have double the amount of muscle anyone had in the garden. He picked me up and placed me in the tub smiling.

"This water is used for bathing not drinking" he said with a small chuckle. "Now keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them".

I obeyed as he put a weird goo in my hair and scrubbed. Once he was done with that he used a sponge to wipe every other part of my body. While he was doing so, the numbness was slowly ebbing away. The pain of my body began to return to me, but this was not unpleasant like normal. It was the type of pain you felt when a cut would began to close. A good kind of pain that let you know the body was healing.

After the bath, Father put a robe on me and showed me to a mirror. I was shocked at first. My hair a dark crimson that must have been black from the accumulated dirt and grime that was caked on my body. I felt refreshed to say the least.

After that Father picked me up again. While he carried me through the castle I could do nothing but marvel at the beauty of its halls. Large windows that were square at the bottom and rounded at the top covered every few feet. Golden chandeliers with candles hung to illuminant the castle at night. A intricate pattern of growing vines on the floor made the place seem alive. Everything in the castle spoke of pinnacle craftsmanship that had over a century to display. Various pieces of art adorned the walls, some depicted the history of the garden, others the world before it was dead. Eventually Father stopped in front of two large doors that seemed to lead into another wing of the castle. When he opened the doors two children around my age came running to him.

"Welcome home." They said in unison.

Father smiled back at them and sat me down.

"This is your new brother Eevee." Father said while he gestured to me. "He is very special and a prophet like the two of you. Eevee this is your older brother Lucifer", Father said pointing the older of the two children. He was somewhere around my age who already was showing defined muscles. That however was not the most interesting aspect of Lucifer. His hair was raven black with his eyes being a peculiar shade of blue that almost looked violet.

"This is your sister Aero Eevee." Father said pointing to a girl who had white hair! Only elders had white hair so seeing it on a girl my age was interesting to say the least. Her eyes also were a peculiar shade of blue that made them appear a light gray.

"Now Eevee is very weak and meek. He will need some time to adjust to our home so be sure to be patient with him. For now show him to his bed and let him rest", Father said closing the door and leaving the three of us alone. My first feeling was panic as my chest began to tightened. The man I came to know as Father was my only tether to happiness. My fears and anxiety soon were swept away as a warm hand took my own. I looked to see whose it was and met a smile with so much kindness in it that all my worries vanished that instant. Aero guided me to a door being extra careful not to move too quickly for me. When she opened it up I was met another room far too large than most I have ever seen. The room had a window with a bed three times the size of the one at the orphanage along with various furniture that I saw Mr. R had in her old room.

"This is your room!" Aero proclaimed. "If you need anything mine is the one to the right of yours." She looked at me and I give her a weak smile. She returned the smile with one much more radiant than my own. She left the room and closed the door behind her. With nothing better to do I climbed into bed and thought until my thoughts turned to dreams.

It has been five years since the day I was adopted into Fathers family. There are seven of us in total. Father who provides us with everything we need and more, my three brothers Lucifer Michael and Terra, and lastly my two sisters Aero and Kairi.

The past few years have been some of the most cherished parts of my life. My broken body was fixed. The bones that protruded are gone and have been replaced by muscle and fat. Not only has my body developed but so has my mind. The most interesting discovery I had was what I was able to reap with the knowledge I learned. How to grow food, to build a shelter, and even to raise animals. All of this I learned. However, knowledge paled in comparison to the truths of my family. My brothers and sisters were all 'evolved' as father would say. He would provide the catalyst necessary for them evolve. Once changed they could never go back, but why would they with the gifts they received. Aero with the power of wind, Kairi blessed with life, Terra control of the Earth, Michael bringer of light, and lastly Lucifer harbinger of darkness.

The powers my family held were kept a secret from the people of the garden. In secret they would maintain the garden. Aero and her wind to cool the garden, Kairi who grew life in a matter of seconds, Terra to make tunnels and wells, Michael who could heal the sick, and even Lucifer who would kill. Each sibling with their own power contributed in their own way. It was during these five years that I learned how much Father and my siblings loved me. It was also during these five years that I learned something was WRONG with Father.

At times he would hear thousands of voices in his head that brought unimaginable amount of pain. The voices wouldn't stop until he did what was asked of him. I learned of the horrors that the voices forced father to make. The voyages were nothing more than ways to reduced the garden's population to a thousand. The pilgrims that were selected had the smallest and weakest families of the garden. Some of the secrets of the garden were to dark for me to fully except.

I once decided to ask Father where the voices came from. He forced a smile and said "They are the voices of those who inhabited the Earth before it died. They have guided me and my predecessors to rebuild the world like it once was."

His explaining did not sooth me at the least. In fact it angered me. "Why should be build the world to what it was? Aren't the voices in your head responsible for the world dying to begin with." My father's smile immediately faded as the voices began to attack him. I came to realize that certain choices would burden Father and for the man who gave me everything when I had nothing, I chose to become anything for him.

Father told me that I am the most special prophet to be born. I unlike any before have the ability to evolve into any of the seven powers. He showed me seven stones with a unnatural glow emitting from them. The color of the stone signified the power. The seven paths to chose from were Light, Darkness, Life, Earth, Air, Water, and lastly the forbidden power of Fire. He asked me which one I would like to become.

I pondered the question for a little bit until deciding to say "Whichever one you want me to become."

Right after I told him that he started to cry.

"Father, what's wrong?" I asked afraid I did said something I shouldn't have to angered the voices.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. You could not know how happy I am to be loved so much. I however love you more, so please tell me if you had to chose, which power would you like to evolve into?".

The tears of my father kept flowing but the smile he had provided so much more emotion. I could not lie to Father just as Father would never lie to me.

"Fire..." I said hiding my face. The desire of something forbidden was more than enough to earn resentment from Father. However, after I spoke my mind Father was not angry at all, but simply confused.

"You have always been such a reserved child. I thought you would like to have water as the voices desire you to have." he pensively asked.

"My life until I met you was bottled and trapped like the water in our wells but these last five years I have tasted freedom. I want more. I want to be untamable and free like the power of fire promises."

Father's expression softened and he told me to go ahead and get some sleep. My sixteenth birthday was in a week and on that day I would be given a stone to evolve.

Today is my sixteenth birthday. My family has filled the alter room in the castle. Even Lucifer who has grown to detest the light of day is here. Father lays the seven stones down.

"Eevee, you are the first child born to be able to evolve into any branch of power. As such I think it's only right that you chose which one to have."

"Water." I responded immediately. The garden would no longer be short of water. No longer needing wells and the time to draw water from them would provide unimaginable help to its populace.

"Very well." Father said resolutely "Now close your eyes and open your hand."

I did as instructed. He place a stone in my hand and began to speak in a tongue long since forgotten. As he did I could feel a tug in my chest. The feeling began to spread throughout my body until the foreign feeling encompassed my entire being. The feeling of the foreign presence soon began to disappear as my body adjusted to the new power it would house.

As I opened my eyes I was met with a variety of shades of red. An inferno encompassed my body that spirited to the ceiling. As the flames began to die I saw a smile of pride on my Father.

"What little freedom I have left, I leave to you Eevee. Become my flame, untamed and free. Lead your siblings out of the garden and find a new place to live. You are the representation of mankind's mistakes. When you are able to prove to the voices that they are WRONG then I will be free of my burden and join you all."

The second Father finished speaking his face contorted in pain. His breathing immediately became haggard. He dropped to his knees and arched his back release a scream that was laced with excruciating pain. His episode stopped just as abruptly as it came.

Father looked at me with a cold stare and when he spoke it was filled with a thousand different voices all saying the same thing "Eevee you are banished from the garden. Return and you shall die. Children of power escort Eevee to the desert and quickly return unless you want Fathers pain to intensify."

I have been wandering the desert for three days now. The blistering days and arctic nights did not affect me in the slightest. I wandered and kept wandering until something came into my view. Land that was green as far as the eye could see covered my left, and on my right rested an expanse of water so fast and deep it was blue. The world was no longer devoid of life it seemed. A thousand years it was given to rest and heal, a thousand years the garden held all the corruption of the world.

I decided I would return to the garden and free those who would be willing to follow me. Safe passage through the desert has been impossible with the journey's weather. One would burn to death in the day or simply freeze at night in the first day they set on a voyage. I however had the power to overcome the barrier trapping man and with this power I would provide safe passage for those seeking a new life in a new world.

I am the false prophet of the garden. Join me in damnation and I promise you salvation.

Notes: Well it has been about a month since I uploaded anything and I apologize. I have been spending all of my free time recently playing a game called league of legends, however I'm starting get bored playing the game so I might get back to writing. I'm sure that anyone reading this is most likely a fan of my only fic and I can tell you that the chapter has been 33% complete for about a month. I'll get to finishing it eventually so please bear with me and my procrastination.

- Light