Chapter Seven: Creation of Magic
The following is The Creation Of The Underground, as written in the ancient
books:
"When it all began there was only bleak and utter darkness. This lack of anything
disturbed and bored the Great Overseer. He thought about the nothingness often and
wondered why there shouldn't be something of some interest in that spot. It certainly
seemed like a terrible waste of space. The Overseer, as we all know, is not one to waste
anything.
"Then, one day when he was particularly bored and upset with the great void an
idea occurred to him. He would create something in the blackness and change the nothing
into something. He was very pleased with himself, but soon he grew discouraged once
again. What was he going to create in the space? It seemed as if he had made everything
at least once, and he absolutely detested the idea of doing anything twice. That was
unheard of. So, once again, the Great Overseer was discouraged and bored.
"The Great Overseer decided to busy himself with the other projects. He watched
as some of his other creations developed and began to change. It all happened remarkably
fast. In fact, it seemed like no time before they were creating their own stories. Those
stories greatly intrigued the Overseer. He yearned to read them, but the creatures kept
their stories closely guarded.
"One day in the near future the Overseer was once again observing the intelligent
creations. He noticed that one of the more forgetful creatures had abandoned his writing,
for the time being, and hurried off outside to enjoy the day. The Overseer waited only a
brief moment and then hurriedly snatched the stories away. He hid in the great darkness
to read the stories in silence.
"He opened the book and read. The Overseer's eyes grew wide as the words flew
before his gaze and the creature's plot began to unravel. Once he had finished and looked
around the desolate area that had plagued him so often, the Overseer shut the book with a
snap . Perhaps he knew what to do with the nothingness, after all.
The 'humans' as they so quaintly called themselves, had a fascination with Magic.
Of course, the Overseer had no idea what this Magic was. It was a creation of the
humans. They had simply made it up, as the writer had done with the story. The Overseer
once again looked into the nothingness. He would have to learn all he could about Magic
before he truly decided what should be done.
The Overseer went about his days as he would have during any other century, but
this time he observed the humans more closely. He watched every writer or poet, waiting
for them to leave some piece of literature where he could read it. In every story there
seemed to be some undertone of Magic. The Overseer was quite sure that he was nearly
knowledgeable enough to go through with his plan.
The next day the Overseer ventured to the nothing and watched it for a brief
moment. It would no longer be nothing, for he was ready to create once again. He waved
his gargantuan hands before the abyss and a bright flash of light immediately followed.
"Magic," he said in a deep and powerful voice. The sound seemed to echo over
the whole vast space.
The light soon died away to reveal a newborn land. The ground was covered with
lush green grass. The trees were full and shadowed the ground in cool shade. The sun
was a sweet and magical sun, that never allowed a dreary day to overcome the lovely land.
There were flowering plants adorning everything and sending sweet aromas into the air. It
was all perfect, and yet it was lacking something.
The Overseer scratched his large chin in thought and looked down at the peaceful
land. He looked at the trees and the plants and the clear sparkling water. It was all fine
and everything was in its proper place. He suddenly removed his hand from beneath his
chin and smiled.
"Of course," his voice boomed.
The Overseer waved his hands once more and the land was instantly populated
with every magical creature about which he had ever read. He had even created some
from his own infinite imagination. There were elves and fairies frolicking through the
thick, wild forest. The beasts roamed freely across the open grass plains. He created
talking birds, insects, beasts and plants. Everything that he pointed to was immediately
given life.
He leaned back away from the land and observed his work. It looked peaceful and
wonderful. The Overseer knew that he had done a good job. He left his new land and
retired to his great bed chamber. All of his creating had left him drained and sleepy. He
would wake early to check his infant land in the morning.
The next morning the Overseer hurried to his land filled with giddy anticipation.
He had so much more to do that day. In fact, he had dreamt about more animals to add
the night before. The overseer hunched over his new land and peered down at all of his
creations. However, something strange caught his eye. There was something new in the
land that he could not remember creating.
The Overseer fell to his knees in shock. There was an ugly, short thing hobbling
around in his pure, lovely, newly created land. The thing was like a wart upon his
wondrous creation. The Overseer realized in horror that hundreds of the little things had
inhabited the land.
He also noticed that some of the forests had grown dark and foreboding over
night. His perfect and beautiful land had been damaged. He had no idea what to do, but
he had to try something. The magic was supposed to keep everything perfect. Was it
failing for some strange reason?
The Overseer quickly changed himself into a bird and flew down to the land. He
would have to inquire among the inhabitants. They would surely know what had
happened the night before. He would have to fix everything after he got enough
information.
The Overseer swooped down to one of the repulsive little things that had formed
over night. He landed in front of it and looked at the thing's stupid face. It was clearly
not a thing of any notable intelligence. The Overseer scoffed at the dumb thing and shook
his feathery head.
"Of what reason have you come to this pure land?" he demanded.
The thing bent down by the Overseer and plucked at his wing. The Overseer
squawked and jumped away. However the shrimp continued after him, laughing stupidly
all the time. It obviously thought that this was some sort of a game. The Overseer, on the
other hand, was quite taken aback. He jumped out of reach and transformed into his
human form. The short thing instantly halted.
"Birdie change," it muttered.
"Yes! Now I demand that you tell me how you came to this land! I will not take
any more of this useless ignorance!" The Overseer was awfully upset with the thing
The creature simply shrugged. It then fell to the ground and played with its bare
feet. The Overseer watched the creature with disdain and then turned away from it.
There would be no intelligent conversation with such a mentally inferior pest. He would
have to talk to some of the other, more intelligent animals.
The Overseer stopped an elf who had been hurrying the other way. The elf looked
at him strangely. He then smiled.
"May I ask you if you, my dear brother, know anything about the repulsive
creatures that seemed to have been born overnight?" the Overseer questioned.
The elf looked at him as if he were a devil. He backed away a bit and then turned
to run. However, he halted abruptly and then carefully looked over his shoulder. He
seemed to be deciding if the strange man could be trusted. He then shrugged and walked
back.
"If you are a friend you must tell me why you do not know about the horrible
plague that has struck our young land. It seems that my brothers and sisters are
disappearing at an alarming rate. Did you not realize that nearly a fourth of everyone has
disappeared? Even the forests are turning against us. And, have you noticed the sky
overhead has darkened considerably?" the elf asked
The Overseer did look over his head at that time. The elf was right. The sky had
darkened horribly and the wonderful magical sun appeared to be sickly. It just didn't seem
right for his wonderful land to be destroyed so soon. Of course, he never destroyed
anything. It was his brother who controlled that. The Overseer decided that his brother
would know what was happening.
"My friend, I will find some help for you. Do not think me rude, for I have to
run," with that the Overseer transformed into a bird and flew quickly away.
Once he was far enough away he changed back to his normal form and stomped
angrily to his brother. There was no reason to destroy the young land. The Overseer had
not even had enough time to name the land and enjoy the creatures' development. It was
not right!!
"Brother!" the Overseer demanded.
Destruction looked over at his brother and walked out. He glared at the wonderful
Overseer, whom all the worlds loved in some form. It wasn't fair for him, a great and
powerful god as well, to be ignored. He should have shrines for him and people praying
to him.
"What do you want my great brother?" Destruction questioned.
The Overseer motioned back towards the new land. Destruction looked that way
and smiled evilly. It seemed that one of his brother's worlds was dying rather quickly.
The sun had turned a sick red color and the light was only a slight glow. It wouldn't be
long before the sun died and the land simply froze to death.
"Why are you killing my new land? It is only a day old and it deserves to be
around for a long, long time," the Overseer argued.
Destruction shrugged the Overseer's words off and turned to walk away. He
didn't need to listen to anything. His brother had never done anything kind for him, so
there was no reason for Destruction to help the Overseer. He had many lands. One less
wouldn't be too bad.
"It is dying because of a mistake you have made, oh powerful brother,"
Destruction replied wryly.
"No, no! I have crafted this land with love and hard work. I have done everything
to ensure its survival. You have done something to it, brother. Please save it. I know
that you understand what is wrong. I will do anything you desire in return," the Overseer
begged.
Destruction immediately stopped. It was a very intriguing offer. He knew what
was wrong with the new land. It wasn't that hard to figure out, and he knew that his
brother could figure it out with enough time. However, time was something the new
world didn't have. Destruction smiled a sinister smile.
"Well, good brother, perhaps we can bargain. I do, indeed, know what is ravaging
your world. Do you swear that you will give me anything I ask in return for the
information," Destruction inquired.
The Overseer looked back to his land. He would have to make the sacrifice if he
wanted it to survive. He so loved the new land. It was worth anything his evil brother
would ask in return. The Overseer turned back to his brother and nodded gravely in reply.
Destruction's laughter echoed around them.
"Please, tell me what is wrong with my lovely land," Overseer asked.
"Dear and sweet brother, your land was created filled with magic. You have made
everything based on magic and so that is the basis of the whole world's survival.
However, you were too excited with what you created and forgot how you had created it.
Have you not thought what would happen if the magic left? How is the magic remaining
in the land?" Destruction asked.
The Overseer instantly jumped to his feet. His brother was right. The land was
losing its magic very quickly. He would simply have to create something to hold the
magic in the land. He smiled happily, but remembered that his brother was going to need
something in return. His smile instantly fell from his face.
"You have fulfilled your side of the bargain, brother. It is now time for you to tell
me what you require for payment," he spoke softly.
"I do not need to be paid quite yet. I will let you repair your poor world and nurse
it back to health. After the world is back to normal, come back to me. I expect this to be
in a week, brother," Destruction spoke as he walked away.
The Overseer was overjoyed. He had time to be with his new land. He had never
known his brother to be so giving. Perhaps Destruction had decided to turn away from his
evil ways. The Overseer also turned to help his world.
"Wait, brother!" Destruction called, " I have one more thing to tell you before you
go. I do not want you to heal any of the changed world. You wait until the week is
passed and come and get me. Only then, after I have looked at your world, can you repair
it."
The Overseer felt a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew that
his brother was still very much evil and still up to his sinister ways. He let out a sigh and
hurried to his land. There wasn't much time left to save the world.
"Worries about my brother will have to wait," he thought to himself.
The Overseer immediately took the stars from the very sky and placed them at his
feet. He had grabbed thirteen from the sky. The Overseer waved his hands over the stars
and they turned to large crystal orbs. The Overseer lifted them carefully into his arms and
hurried back to the land.
He placed the crystals about the entire world. He then stepped back and waited
for the magic to find the wonderful crystals. He waited silently, holding his breath.
Perhaps his brother had been lying the whole time. The Overseer watched closer, but still
nothing happened.
"Damn you brother!" he exclaimed.
Suddenly the new sun brightened and returned to its usual yellow color. The
world was bathed in gentle sunlight. The greens of the trees and grass returned to their
previous vibrancy and the flowers instantly opened to show their faces to the sun. The
creatures ventured out from their hiding places and resumed their frolicking nature. The
thirteen crystals had captured the magic and saved the new world. However, would it be
safe for long?
* * * * * * * *
The week passed as if it had merely been a day or an hour. The Overseer knew
that the time had come to go back to his brother and pay him for his advice. In some deep
recesses of his mind, the Overseer knew what his brother was going to do. However, he
couldn't admit it to himself.
The world had thrived and the Overseer nursed it back to health as if it had been
his child. However, the corrupt little creatures, that he had taken to calling 'goblins' still
infested the beautiful land . There was one section of the world that had become dark
with lack of magic and had never healed. The Overseer had been tempted to help the land,
but he knew better than to contradict his brother.
Destruction was waiting patiently for him, as he had said. The Overseer scuffed up
to his brother and stood before him, head hung low in sadness. Destruction smiled
wickedly at the pain his brother was experiencing. He smiled even more when he realized
that Overseer would have to suffer much, much more.
"How is your world, brother?" Destruction asked with a smirk.
"It is fine. Do you want to see it? I am sure that its beauty will please even you.
It is remarkable," the Overseer stated.
Destruction shrugged, but followed his brother to the new land. He looked down
at it with disgust. However, his cruel gaze fell on the dirty goblins and the dead land past
the rise of the mountains. He smiled widely as he thought about the possibilities these two
corrupt aspects of this lovely world offered.
"I have decided that you owe me a lot, brother. This land is lovely and obviously
means very much to you. If my advice helped much, then you owe me much. So I shall
tell you what you must do for me," Destruction said in a sinister voice.
The Overseer sat down and awaited his brother's demands. There were going to
be many of them. Destruction had made that perfectly clear with his little speech. The
Overseer was only frightened that the demands had something to do with his fantastic
world.
"I am waiting," the Overseer replied simply.
Destruction placed his hands behind his back and started pacing around. He then
turned to his brother and held his finger up.
"The first thing you must do for me is to leave the small creatures and the
destroyed section of land on your world!"
"No! Brother, that is not right. Those..those Goblins! have no right in such a
beautiful world. Neither does the destroyed land. Please, anything else?" the Overseer
begged.
Destruction's eyes burned with anger. He rushed to his brother and pointed at the
world. His face was pulled back in a sneer. The Overseer cringed away from his brother.
"YOU WILL DO IT!" he screamed.
The Overseer nodded meekly. He knew that his brother could easily destroy the
whole world. He could smash the crystals and force the Overseer to watch the world die
in a frost. The Overseer shuddered at the horrible possibilities. The Goblins and the
blighted land would be much better than anything else. He consented to it with a nod of
his head.
"Good. I also want you to place a king in the land. This king shall rule over all.
He will have power and he will control time so that he will not age as your other creations
do. I want him to have an evil embedded deep within his soul. You may add goodness as
well, but the evil must remain part of him, forever. This king will torment your 'humans'
by taking their babies." Destruction laughed at his wit.
The Overseer was utterly shocked at the extent of his brother's evil. He had never
heard of anything so heartless before. He felt helpless. There was nothing that he could
do to save the innocent world from his brother's tight grasp.
"Please brother, do not torture my other world so. I will do as you say, but I beg
you to lesson this king's power just slightly," the Overseer could only attempt to
compromise.
"Fine. He will take the babies when the people wish the children away. Then the
babies will be doomed to remain in his castle and become goblins!" Destruction laughed
again.
He started away and then a slight twinkle formed in his eye. Perhaps it would be
better to give his brother some hope. Or, some false hope. His smile broadened at the
thought. He turned and grabbed his brother by the arm.
"What do you want? Have you not tortured me enough?" the Overseer demanded.
"I want to give you hope, dear brother. This is all too much for your pure heart to
take. I want you to put this spell over the king: when love enters his life the evil and the
good will battle in his soul. If good should win, then he shall lose the evil. If evil should
win, he will lose the good. However, when he falls in love, this is a true love mind you, it
will mean..." Destruction was cut off by the sound of his brother weeping.
"I have yet to name my world and you have already sealed its future in evil and
cruelty. I have never known anyone of such an evil nature as you, my brother. I do not
understand why the fates have put us together in the same family. Allow me to name my
world, and then you may tell me the rest of your horrid plan," the Overseer begged.
"I will name it for you, brother. We shall call this world the Underground, for it is
a place of beauty and evil, love and hate, friendship and enemies. Even the king has a
constant contradiction of emotions running through his very soul." Destruction turned to
leave.
The Overseer watched him go and almost wished that he could let his brother
leave. However, his curiosity was ravaging wildly. He had to know what Destruction
was going to tell him earlier. The Overseer raised himself to his feet and beckoned his
brother to return.
"I fear to ask you the question, but my curiosity will not allow me to avoid it.
Brother, what were you telling me before I stopped you. I must know if I have any hope
that my world will someday be perfect once again," the Overseer asked.
Destruction loved his brother's curious nature. It would have been a shame if he
had forgotten to tell the Overseer about the most evil part of his revenge. He held his
hands together and looked deeply into his brother's innocent eyes. It was going to be
funny to watch the reaction.
"When the king finds a true love, that will mean destruction of the Underground!!"
So the fate of the Underground was sealed for eternity within the golden bindings
of the ancient book.
The following is The Creation Of The Underground, as written in the ancient
books:
"When it all began there was only bleak and utter darkness. This lack of anything
disturbed and bored the Great Overseer. He thought about the nothingness often and
wondered why there shouldn't be something of some interest in that spot. It certainly
seemed like a terrible waste of space. The Overseer, as we all know, is not one to waste
anything.
"Then, one day when he was particularly bored and upset with the great void an
idea occurred to him. He would create something in the blackness and change the nothing
into something. He was very pleased with himself, but soon he grew discouraged once
again. What was he going to create in the space? It seemed as if he had made everything
at least once, and he absolutely detested the idea of doing anything twice. That was
unheard of. So, once again, the Great Overseer was discouraged and bored.
"The Great Overseer decided to busy himself with the other projects. He watched
as some of his other creations developed and began to change. It all happened remarkably
fast. In fact, it seemed like no time before they were creating their own stories. Those
stories greatly intrigued the Overseer. He yearned to read them, but the creatures kept
their stories closely guarded.
"One day in the near future the Overseer was once again observing the intelligent
creations. He noticed that one of the more forgetful creatures had abandoned his writing,
for the time being, and hurried off outside to enjoy the day. The Overseer waited only a
brief moment and then hurriedly snatched the stories away. He hid in the great darkness
to read the stories in silence.
"He opened the book and read. The Overseer's eyes grew wide as the words flew
before his gaze and the creature's plot began to unravel. Once he had finished and looked
around the desolate area that had plagued him so often, the Overseer shut the book with a
snap . Perhaps he knew what to do with the nothingness, after all.
The 'humans' as they so quaintly called themselves, had a fascination with Magic.
Of course, the Overseer had no idea what this Magic was. It was a creation of the
humans. They had simply made it up, as the writer had done with the story. The Overseer
once again looked into the nothingness. He would have to learn all he could about Magic
before he truly decided what should be done.
The Overseer went about his days as he would have during any other century, but
this time he observed the humans more closely. He watched every writer or poet, waiting
for them to leave some piece of literature where he could read it. In every story there
seemed to be some undertone of Magic. The Overseer was quite sure that he was nearly
knowledgeable enough to go through with his plan.
The next day the Overseer ventured to the nothing and watched it for a brief
moment. It would no longer be nothing, for he was ready to create once again. He waved
his gargantuan hands before the abyss and a bright flash of light immediately followed.
"Magic," he said in a deep and powerful voice. The sound seemed to echo over
the whole vast space.
The light soon died away to reveal a newborn land. The ground was covered with
lush green grass. The trees were full and shadowed the ground in cool shade. The sun
was a sweet and magical sun, that never allowed a dreary day to overcome the lovely land.
There were flowering plants adorning everything and sending sweet aromas into the air. It
was all perfect, and yet it was lacking something.
The Overseer scratched his large chin in thought and looked down at the peaceful
land. He looked at the trees and the plants and the clear sparkling water. It was all fine
and everything was in its proper place. He suddenly removed his hand from beneath his
chin and smiled.
"Of course," his voice boomed.
The Overseer waved his hands once more and the land was instantly populated
with every magical creature about which he had ever read. He had even created some
from his own infinite imagination. There were elves and fairies frolicking through the
thick, wild forest. The beasts roamed freely across the open grass plains. He created
talking birds, insects, beasts and plants. Everything that he pointed to was immediately
given life.
He leaned back away from the land and observed his work. It looked peaceful and
wonderful. The Overseer knew that he had done a good job. He left his new land and
retired to his great bed chamber. All of his creating had left him drained and sleepy. He
would wake early to check his infant land in the morning.
The next morning the Overseer hurried to his land filled with giddy anticipation.
He had so much more to do that day. In fact, he had dreamt about more animals to add
the night before. The overseer hunched over his new land and peered down at all of his
creations. However, something strange caught his eye. There was something new in the
land that he could not remember creating.
The Overseer fell to his knees in shock. There was an ugly, short thing hobbling
around in his pure, lovely, newly created land. The thing was like a wart upon his
wondrous creation. The Overseer realized in horror that hundreds of the little things had
inhabited the land.
He also noticed that some of the forests had grown dark and foreboding over
night. His perfect and beautiful land had been damaged. He had no idea what to do, but
he had to try something. The magic was supposed to keep everything perfect. Was it
failing for some strange reason?
The Overseer quickly changed himself into a bird and flew down to the land. He
would have to inquire among the inhabitants. They would surely know what had
happened the night before. He would have to fix everything after he got enough
information.
The Overseer swooped down to one of the repulsive little things that had formed
over night. He landed in front of it and looked at the thing's stupid face. It was clearly
not a thing of any notable intelligence. The Overseer scoffed at the dumb thing and shook
his feathery head.
"Of what reason have you come to this pure land?" he demanded.
The thing bent down by the Overseer and plucked at his wing. The Overseer
squawked and jumped away. However the shrimp continued after him, laughing stupidly
all the time. It obviously thought that this was some sort of a game. The Overseer, on the
other hand, was quite taken aback. He jumped out of reach and transformed into his
human form. The short thing instantly halted.
"Birdie change," it muttered.
"Yes! Now I demand that you tell me how you came to this land! I will not take
any more of this useless ignorance!" The Overseer was awfully upset with the thing
The creature simply shrugged. It then fell to the ground and played with its bare
feet. The Overseer watched the creature with disdain and then turned away from it.
There would be no intelligent conversation with such a mentally inferior pest. He would
have to talk to some of the other, more intelligent animals.
The Overseer stopped an elf who had been hurrying the other way. The elf looked
at him strangely. He then smiled.
"May I ask you if you, my dear brother, know anything about the repulsive
creatures that seemed to have been born overnight?" the Overseer questioned.
The elf looked at him as if he were a devil. He backed away a bit and then turned
to run. However, he halted abruptly and then carefully looked over his shoulder. He
seemed to be deciding if the strange man could be trusted. He then shrugged and walked
back.
"If you are a friend you must tell me why you do not know about the horrible
plague that has struck our young land. It seems that my brothers and sisters are
disappearing at an alarming rate. Did you not realize that nearly a fourth of everyone has
disappeared? Even the forests are turning against us. And, have you noticed the sky
overhead has darkened considerably?" the elf asked
The Overseer did look over his head at that time. The elf was right. The sky had
darkened horribly and the wonderful magical sun appeared to be sickly. It just didn't seem
right for his wonderful land to be destroyed so soon. Of course, he never destroyed
anything. It was his brother who controlled that. The Overseer decided that his brother
would know what was happening.
"My friend, I will find some help for you. Do not think me rude, for I have to
run," with that the Overseer transformed into a bird and flew quickly away.
Once he was far enough away he changed back to his normal form and stomped
angrily to his brother. There was no reason to destroy the young land. The Overseer had
not even had enough time to name the land and enjoy the creatures' development. It was
not right!!
"Brother!" the Overseer demanded.
Destruction looked over at his brother and walked out. He glared at the wonderful
Overseer, whom all the worlds loved in some form. It wasn't fair for him, a great and
powerful god as well, to be ignored. He should have shrines for him and people praying
to him.
"What do you want my great brother?" Destruction questioned.
The Overseer motioned back towards the new land. Destruction looked that way
and smiled evilly. It seemed that one of his brother's worlds was dying rather quickly.
The sun had turned a sick red color and the light was only a slight glow. It wouldn't be
long before the sun died and the land simply froze to death.
"Why are you killing my new land? It is only a day old and it deserves to be
around for a long, long time," the Overseer argued.
Destruction shrugged the Overseer's words off and turned to walk away. He
didn't need to listen to anything. His brother had never done anything kind for him, so
there was no reason for Destruction to help the Overseer. He had many lands. One less
wouldn't be too bad.
"It is dying because of a mistake you have made, oh powerful brother,"
Destruction replied wryly.
"No, no! I have crafted this land with love and hard work. I have done everything
to ensure its survival. You have done something to it, brother. Please save it. I know
that you understand what is wrong. I will do anything you desire in return," the Overseer
begged.
Destruction immediately stopped. It was a very intriguing offer. He knew what
was wrong with the new land. It wasn't that hard to figure out, and he knew that his
brother could figure it out with enough time. However, time was something the new
world didn't have. Destruction smiled a sinister smile.
"Well, good brother, perhaps we can bargain. I do, indeed, know what is ravaging
your world. Do you swear that you will give me anything I ask in return for the
information," Destruction inquired.
The Overseer looked back to his land. He would have to make the sacrifice if he
wanted it to survive. He so loved the new land. It was worth anything his evil brother
would ask in return. The Overseer turned back to his brother and nodded gravely in reply.
Destruction's laughter echoed around them.
"Please, tell me what is wrong with my lovely land," Overseer asked.
"Dear and sweet brother, your land was created filled with magic. You have made
everything based on magic and so that is the basis of the whole world's survival.
However, you were too excited with what you created and forgot how you had created it.
Have you not thought what would happen if the magic left? How is the magic remaining
in the land?" Destruction asked.
The Overseer instantly jumped to his feet. His brother was right. The land was
losing its magic very quickly. He would simply have to create something to hold the
magic in the land. He smiled happily, but remembered that his brother was going to need
something in return. His smile instantly fell from his face.
"You have fulfilled your side of the bargain, brother. It is now time for you to tell
me what you require for payment," he spoke softly.
"I do not need to be paid quite yet. I will let you repair your poor world and nurse
it back to health. After the world is back to normal, come back to me. I expect this to be
in a week, brother," Destruction spoke as he walked away.
The Overseer was overjoyed. He had time to be with his new land. He had never
known his brother to be so giving. Perhaps Destruction had decided to turn away from his
evil ways. The Overseer also turned to help his world.
"Wait, brother!" Destruction called, " I have one more thing to tell you before you
go. I do not want you to heal any of the changed world. You wait until the week is
passed and come and get me. Only then, after I have looked at your world, can you repair
it."
The Overseer felt a horrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew that
his brother was still very much evil and still up to his sinister ways. He let out a sigh and
hurried to his land. There wasn't much time left to save the world.
"Worries about my brother will have to wait," he thought to himself.
The Overseer immediately took the stars from the very sky and placed them at his
feet. He had grabbed thirteen from the sky. The Overseer waved his hands over the stars
and they turned to large crystal orbs. The Overseer lifted them carefully into his arms and
hurried back to the land.
He placed the crystals about the entire world. He then stepped back and waited
for the magic to find the wonderful crystals. He waited silently, holding his breath.
Perhaps his brother had been lying the whole time. The Overseer watched closer, but still
nothing happened.
"Damn you brother!" he exclaimed.
Suddenly the new sun brightened and returned to its usual yellow color. The
world was bathed in gentle sunlight. The greens of the trees and grass returned to their
previous vibrancy and the flowers instantly opened to show their faces to the sun. The
creatures ventured out from their hiding places and resumed their frolicking nature. The
thirteen crystals had captured the magic and saved the new world. However, would it be
safe for long?
* * * * * * * *
The week passed as if it had merely been a day or an hour. The Overseer knew
that the time had come to go back to his brother and pay him for his advice. In some deep
recesses of his mind, the Overseer knew what his brother was going to do. However, he
couldn't admit it to himself.
The world had thrived and the Overseer nursed it back to health as if it had been
his child. However, the corrupt little creatures, that he had taken to calling 'goblins' still
infested the beautiful land . There was one section of the world that had become dark
with lack of magic and had never healed. The Overseer had been tempted to help the land,
but he knew better than to contradict his brother.
Destruction was waiting patiently for him, as he had said. The Overseer scuffed up
to his brother and stood before him, head hung low in sadness. Destruction smiled
wickedly at the pain his brother was experiencing. He smiled even more when he realized
that Overseer would have to suffer much, much more.
"How is your world, brother?" Destruction asked with a smirk.
"It is fine. Do you want to see it? I am sure that its beauty will please even you.
It is remarkable," the Overseer stated.
Destruction shrugged, but followed his brother to the new land. He looked down
at it with disgust. However, his cruel gaze fell on the dirty goblins and the dead land past
the rise of the mountains. He smiled widely as he thought about the possibilities these two
corrupt aspects of this lovely world offered.
"I have decided that you owe me a lot, brother. This land is lovely and obviously
means very much to you. If my advice helped much, then you owe me much. So I shall
tell you what you must do for me," Destruction said in a sinister voice.
The Overseer sat down and awaited his brother's demands. There were going to
be many of them. Destruction had made that perfectly clear with his little speech. The
Overseer was only frightened that the demands had something to do with his fantastic
world.
"I am waiting," the Overseer replied simply.
Destruction placed his hands behind his back and started pacing around. He then
turned to his brother and held his finger up.
"The first thing you must do for me is to leave the small creatures and the
destroyed section of land on your world!"
"No! Brother, that is not right. Those..those Goblins! have no right in such a
beautiful world. Neither does the destroyed land. Please, anything else?" the Overseer
begged.
Destruction's eyes burned with anger. He rushed to his brother and pointed at the
world. His face was pulled back in a sneer. The Overseer cringed away from his brother.
"YOU WILL DO IT!" he screamed.
The Overseer nodded meekly. He knew that his brother could easily destroy the
whole world. He could smash the crystals and force the Overseer to watch the world die
in a frost. The Overseer shuddered at the horrible possibilities. The Goblins and the
blighted land would be much better than anything else. He consented to it with a nod of
his head.
"Good. I also want you to place a king in the land. This king shall rule over all.
He will have power and he will control time so that he will not age as your other creations
do. I want him to have an evil embedded deep within his soul. You may add goodness as
well, but the evil must remain part of him, forever. This king will torment your 'humans'
by taking their babies." Destruction laughed at his wit.
The Overseer was utterly shocked at the extent of his brother's evil. He had never
heard of anything so heartless before. He felt helpless. There was nothing that he could
do to save the innocent world from his brother's tight grasp.
"Please brother, do not torture my other world so. I will do as you say, but I beg
you to lesson this king's power just slightly," the Overseer could only attempt to
compromise.
"Fine. He will take the babies when the people wish the children away. Then the
babies will be doomed to remain in his castle and become goblins!" Destruction laughed
again.
He started away and then a slight twinkle formed in his eye. Perhaps it would be
better to give his brother some hope. Or, some false hope. His smile broadened at the
thought. He turned and grabbed his brother by the arm.
"What do you want? Have you not tortured me enough?" the Overseer demanded.
"I want to give you hope, dear brother. This is all too much for your pure heart to
take. I want you to put this spell over the king: when love enters his life the evil and the
good will battle in his soul. If good should win, then he shall lose the evil. If evil should
win, he will lose the good. However, when he falls in love, this is a true love mind you, it
will mean..." Destruction was cut off by the sound of his brother weeping.
"I have yet to name my world and you have already sealed its future in evil and
cruelty. I have never known anyone of such an evil nature as you, my brother. I do not
understand why the fates have put us together in the same family. Allow me to name my
world, and then you may tell me the rest of your horrid plan," the Overseer begged.
"I will name it for you, brother. We shall call this world the Underground, for it is
a place of beauty and evil, love and hate, friendship and enemies. Even the king has a
constant contradiction of emotions running through his very soul." Destruction turned to
leave.
The Overseer watched him go and almost wished that he could let his brother
leave. However, his curiosity was ravaging wildly. He had to know what Destruction
was going to tell him earlier. The Overseer raised himself to his feet and beckoned his
brother to return.
"I fear to ask you the question, but my curiosity will not allow me to avoid it.
Brother, what were you telling me before I stopped you. I must know if I have any hope
that my world will someday be perfect once again," the Overseer asked.
Destruction loved his brother's curious nature. It would have been a shame if he
had forgotten to tell the Overseer about the most evil part of his revenge. He held his
hands together and looked deeply into his brother's innocent eyes. It was going to be
funny to watch the reaction.
"When the king finds a true love, that will mean destruction of the Underground!!"
So the fate of the Underground was sealed for eternity within the golden bindings
of the ancient book.
