Chapter 1 – From Colorless to Colorful
God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1: 3 -4
Every answer humanity had was answered. There is only black and white. The human body is only made of flesh and bone. Good and evil don’t matter anymore. Everything on earth is concrete, metal, and other man-made materials. The only thing that gives the planet light beside the artificial light that humanity creates, is the one great light in the sky that never rises nor descends. No one suffers. No one dies. No one is born. Everything is a safe, known, relaxed, but dull existence.
Aaron is a boy who lives in this existence. He goes through a school system that produces the workers that the world needs. Children are given the attention and skills they need to be the cogs in the machine that the adults are. They are nothing but replacements. Human tools. When humans grow old, they enter machines which will revert them back to their youth at the cost of their memories.
Even though human rights exist, they aren’t differentiated from one another besides by name and function. Everyone looks similar. Everyone has the same color skin and eyes. No one is special. Everyone is just a replacement for another person. Nothing more. Nothing less.
Right now, Aaron is on his way back from another boring day of school. He gets the same grades as everyone else and receives the same honors. The only thing that’s special about him is that his head is a bit rounder than other people’s. His generation of children are the youngest and have yet to grow old and reborn, so they’re legitimately experiencing youth for the first time or whatever goes for youth these days. A mysterious young man approaches him in the streets. This man is wearing a jacket and pants of a mysterious and glowing color with no shoes. His eyes are covered by his long hair, but they do peer out every now and then. When they do, Aaron feels an immense power radiating from them. The young man’s very presence freezes Aaron in place despite the man’s welcoming smile.
“Hello, Aaron,” the young man says, “How are you doing today?”
“I’m fine. How are you? I’m sorry, but do I know you?” Aaron responds.
Most people in the city know each other, however, this man is new to Aaron.
“Sort of but not really. My name is Emmanuel. Tell me, are you enjoying your life.”
“I guess so. There’s not much to complain about.”
“Do you care about your friends? Your family? Yourself?”
“Of course I do. Why?”
“This life your living won’t do any good for them.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Nothing changes in this world, but I can change it. With your help of course.”
“Really? It’s not like humanity needs any help. What can you do that’s special?”
“I can give it the life it needs.’
“You can? Show me.”
“Okay.”
The young man touches the ground and a weird object of a strange color comes out of the ground. Its beauty is something that human hands cannot craft. The smell that comes from it is also foreign but nice.
“Now that you’ve seen this, will you help me?”
“Okay. I will.”
“Take my hand.”
Aaron takes the young man’s hand and they both phase through the floor. Along the way to their destination, Aaron’s body becomes more complex. It grows organs, hair, and other parts that would’ve been normal for a human body years ago. They fall until they resurface into a new place from a lake. Despite Aaron’s new body, his senses are overwhelmed by everything he’s experiencing at once. Different colors, senses, and visuals are so new to him that almost collapses. The beauty of this world is beyond human imagination. At one point in time, humanity had the capacity for art that could imagine parts of this place. Aaron emerges from the lake and walks onto land.
Emmanuel shakes Aaron a bit then says, “Great, isn’t it? I made it all myself.”
“You did?” Aaron asks with astonishment.
“I did.” Emmanuel points to a shining castle that shines brighter than the sun on a hill. “That’s the center of this entire world. It’s also my house.”
“Are we going to go there?”
“Yes, and that’s the place where we’ll start to change the world.”
Emmanuel leads Aaron through a place full of taller versions of the thing he saw before. They come to a road that parallels other roads as well. There are other people being lead by a young man who looks similar to Emmanuel.
Aaron looks back and forth then asks, “Do you have twin brothers?”
“I don’t.”
“Who is that over there and over there then?”
“Me.”
“What? How?”
“I can make this world. I can do many things. You can say that I’m limitless in potential and ability. Have you noticed that you changed?”
“Oh yeah. Why do I look like this?”
“Because that’s how you’re supposed to look. The world you came from made you look featureless and plain.”
“If this is how I’m supposed to look, then what about the world? Is the world supposed to look different too?”
“That’s right. You’ll get more information once we get back home.”
Emmanuel leads Aaron to his shining home along with several other groups of other people who came from different roads.
“Wow!” Aaron says, “This place is wonderful!”
“Isn’t she? You’re going to be part of her and as beautiful as she.”
“How so?”
“When you work together with me and your fellows, we’ll act as one body. One force for good and unity.”
“Can we really do that? I mean we all are different.”
“You’ll be of one mind, but you’ll do different things. You’ll see once we get started.”
The inside of the castle is even more incredible with different kinds of house decorations and pieces of art. There are different beings that reside in this castle that have wings. Some are just heads with wings, others look like humans but have wings, and there are a few that look horrifying but beautiful with their many eyes on their wings and many faces. Most people wander the castle, admire its beauty, talk to each other and the other beings. People like Aaron walk to the throne room with Emmanuel.
“Should we get the other people going to come with us?” Aaron asks Emmanuel.
“They’ll come eventually. I understand that they haven’t seen anything like this nor have they experienced so many emotions at once, so they’ll get their assignments later.”
Emmanuel opens the throne room doors and in it is the most amazing room out of all them in the castle with decorations and light that could make a person feel happy for all eternity. On the throne sits a person who looks almost like Emmanuel but a bit older. He’s clothed in light and his smile radiates like the light in the room. His eyes are covered like Emmanuel’s. Everything in this room could blind a person for life.
Emmanuel bows then says, “These are the people you requested to see father. The rest are enjoying our house and will be with you shortly.”
“Thank you, my son. Convince them to hurry. Time is short. I will instruct these children for now.”
“As you wish.”
The throne room door closes, and everything becomes silent. The atmosphere is almost uncomfortable because of the man’s eternal smile.
Aaron is the first one to break the silence. He asks, “Who are you? What’s your name?”
“I am who I am. I am who created everything you’ve seen and will see.”
A girl steps forward and says, “Emmanuel said you are his father. If you are his dad, who is yours?”
“I don’t have a father. Emmanuel and I are the same technically speaking.”
“Well what can we call you to differentiate you? Can we call you Father?”
“You can. You will be my children after all. Hopefully, I can reclaim as many of you as possible.”
“What do you mean?” Aaron asks.
“I created everything you’ve seen and will see from nothing. Even though I can bear to lose some things, I cannot bear to lose humans like you. You are created in my image and that’s why you can’t see my face. If you did, your head will overload because you will see every face that has existed, is existing, and will exist. You can only really see it once you completely join me in this realm.”
Father then teaches the people in the throne room about basic and advanced words and concepts in the world like colors, good and evil, different kinds of animals and plants, and what would’ve been common knowledge hundreds of years ago. Armed with this knowledge, everyone in the room are sent to their own rooms to digest what they have learned. The rooms have multiple beds and a great view of the area with decorations to be expected from this castle. Aaron is in a room with two other young teenage children like him. One is a black-haired girl with fair skin like everyone else, but then again, everyone’s skin is new and hasn’t seen actual sunlight. Her eyes are brown and she’s slim. The other boy in the room has blond hair and light blue eyes with an average sized body.
“So…since Father told us to get to know each other better…My name is Aaron. It’s nice to meet you.”
The girl smiles and says, “I’m Alexis. It’s nice to meet you too.”
The boy smiles brighter then says, “I’m Lars. It’s great to see other kids like me here.”
“Where are you guys from? I’m from Section 5 of the earth.”
“Section 25,” Alexis says.
“Section 95,” Lars answers.
“We’re from all over the world. What was your job going to be? I was going to be a writer with my side job being a car mechanic.”
“Medical research. The most boring job of them all since no one is able to die, but it did interest me.”
“My job was going to be a jack of all trades. If a person failed to come into work, I could replace anyone’s role in the company.”
“How was your life though?”
“Mine was boring,” all three kids say at the same time. They laugh at the fact before talking more about what they learned and what interests them.
Alexis is interested in saving souls while Lars is interested in fighting for the greater good. Aaron, on the other hand, just wants a normal life with a wife and kids and to make them happy.
Lars snickers then says, “Are you serious? You need to dream a little higher than that my brother.”
Alexis puts her hand on Aaron’s shoulder, “His life’s goal is a fine one, Lars. Don’t make fun of it.”
She smiles at Aaron who returns the smile.
“Oh well uh. I didn’t mean to make fun of him, Alexis. I just wanted him to do more. He has a lot of potential and I think it would be wasted on such a small goal.”
Aaron picks up for himself. “Father said that the family was the center of society. If I can create a good family, then my family can help create a good world.”
“Exactly. See Lars? A simple plan with potentially massive results.”
“If you’re such a fan of it, you should be his wife.”
Lars gets hit in the face by Alexis and flies into his bed.
“Ow! What was that for? I was just giving some helpful advice.”
“Do you want another?”
“Ok, I’ll shut up!”
“So what do you want to do?” Aaron asks, “Do we follow what Father says? We’ll be bringing life, meaning, happiness, and truth back to our world, but…death, suffering, and evil will come along with it. The earth and humanity will have its rightful owner back in their lives, but still.”
“Who cares as long as the right thing is done?” Lars nonchalantly says.
“Our grandparent’s generation and beyond will care. They’re the ones that did this to the earth and will pay the greatest price. Sure, some of them are innocent or have repented of what they did, but they will be the first ones to die.”
“You act like you care about them.”
“I have to care a least a little about them even if I don’t want to. We also have to think about those who will just turn away from us because they like their lifestyle.”
“It’s basically like Father said. When good enters a world of evil, good will look like evil. We’ll be devils to the people,” Aaron interjects.
“How about we call ourselves something like Society’s Monsters when we gain a reputation?” Lars jokes.
“I think we should still do this. We’ve seen what Father and Emmanuel can do. We know that they are the good and want to share the infinite love they want to share. It’s honestly a simple answer for me.” Aaron crosses his chest with a clenched fist. “I’m in.”
“It wouldn’t be right to let the good of this world stay hidden even if death is kept at bay.” Alexis claps her hands. “I won’t let evil continue to masquerade itself as good.”
“I’m itching for this fight especially since it’s for a good cause." Lars brings his fists together. “I’ll give this everything I’ve got.”
There’s a knock at the door and Aaron answers it to see Emmanuel.
He says, “So you three have decided I see.”
“You were listening?” Aaron asks.
“Of course I was. I can listen to everything you speak and think.”
“Uh…ok,” Lars says as he makes a mental note to keep his thoughts pure.
“You’re going to be going out on your first mission soon after you’re finished your fighting training.”
“Oh, we get to fight?!”
“Yes. I along with all of my angels can fight, so you have to as well. Even though we want to be as peaceful as possible, fighting may occur, so you have to know how to defend yourselves.”
Lars is excited about fighting while the other two are interested. The three spar along with their fellow allies until they are deemed ready to fight by another being known as the Spirit. He looks similar to both the Father and Emmanuel, but he has a fiery look to him.
When Emmanuel is near, Aaron asks him about him. He asks, “So who is this spirit?”
“He’ll be your helper. If needed, he’ll give you the strength and intelligence if the situation calls for it.”
“How do we get him to come to us?”
“Just call out his name or my name and he’ll come only if you truly need him.”
The humans who follow the Father are trained in; hand-to-hand combat, combat with knives and swords, bows and crossbows. They are trained until they have a good understanding of how to fight with all these kinds of weapons. Since the Father’s angels not only practice their minds but also their bodies, the humans are told to do the same as well.
Once their training is complete, the Father brings the children together and tell them what they need to do. He says, “Take these swords of light and cut open the sky. I will give you the temporary ability of flight so that you can do this. Once that is done, the light and the darkness will be restored.”
“Are we really going to be able to do this?” Lars asks because he is uneased by his task.
“Have faith in me, my child. You have seen the many wonders I can do, know of the ones I have done, and know of the ones I will do. Why does this seem too farfetched?”
“I-it’s not. I’m sorry, Father.”
“Hold fast my children. I will restore the world in seven days. In that time, you will face doubts, hardships, anger, fear, and sadness, but do not despair because I will always be with you.”
“We will do our best to serve you as faithfully as we can Father. Thank you for all you have given us,” the three say in unison.
The children are given the three swords and sent back to their world. Their bodies change back to their stick figure forms since normal human bodies cannot live in their own world. They appear together in Aaron’s home section. All three look at each other almost unsure of what they’re supposed to do.
“So, uh…ready to fly?” Aaron asks his friends.
“I guess so…” Alexis says as she tries to fly.
She pushes herself up, raises her hands, and jumping in the air. None of it works.
But then, the three receive a message in their head through the Father. He says, “Take yourselves more lightly. Let your bodies help you fly.”
They take his advice and fly to the sky until they land on the clouds. Completely confident now of his ability, Aaron takes out his sword and cuts open the sky. Alexis then Lars follow his leads and the sun’s light begins to break through the barrier. True light and true darkness come back into the earth. The sky is clear with no clouds in the sky as the morning sun rises from the horizon. Color comes back into the world and everything that can be colored is given its proper hue.
Every human who got their original bodies back is turned back to normal while people who are still stick figures are frightened by the light and the dark. The natural affects their bodies and makes them feel sick and forces them all to hide in their gray buildings. Those with their normal bodies get a rush of happiness and good feelings while the others are afraid and confused. Aaron, Alexis, and Lars fly down back to the ground as their temporary flying ability fades away.
“Everyone seems afraid,” Lars says, “Are we really doing the right thing?”
“It’s going to look like we’re doing evil. Remember what Father said,” Aaron says.
“R-right. I’m already experiencing doubts. Dang it. I’ll try to keep it to myself next time.”
“Don’t do that Lars. Talk to us when you feel troubled.”
“Oh, that’s right. Thanks, man.”
“So, this is the start of the end of our world,” Alexis comments, “It looks more beautiful than I imagined.”
“I’ve seen people more beautiful,” Aaron says.
Alexis blushes and giggles as she assumes the words are meant for her. Aaron let his heart speak for him despite never knowing love in its true form until now.
“Ok guys. We can compliment each other when we get back. Let’s go!” Lars says somewhat jealous of Aaron.
Aaron and Alexis smile at each other before they are taken back to the Father’s world.
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