Thabit felt it all.

  Their thoughts came as waves of emotion that were at times clearer than their words. Words which could be heard across all of creation.

  She finally got upset at her students, a moment which was exacerbated by their feelings.

  Both of them wanted to be right, but the courses of action they wanted to take were too extreme.

  That’s why she ended up assigning Kōritsu to a life-bearing planet of his own and Fogo to the top of the Diamond Needle, which, she hoped, would teach them temperance.

  Thibet sat in the lobby of the tower at the centre of the Hereafter, where she deeply sighed.

  Unlike when she was human, her thoughts and feelings rang like ever-echoing bells. Her sigh was an attempt to distract herself.

  This moment in eternity, where she stretched her wings, was followed by a wave of excitement and wonder as Vidente experienced the aforementioned emotions at incredible levels.

  A wave of extreme pain came next, and it came from Fogo, which would have made Thibet jump to action, but she had since learnt that Vidente was experimenting on him and subjecting him to all kinds of pain as she cut him open only to heal him using Kilnessence.

  Over in her auditorium, Vidente finally returned the last of Fogo’s bones into his body before promptly healing him.

  Her wings inscribed her findings onto countless sheets of paper as she helped a wide-eyed Fogo sit upright.

  After receiving a stern word of caution from Thibet, the two had used each other as guinea pigs to test various things, which led to the discovery that they couldn’t fully heal, even with the help of Kilnessence.

  This was tied to the fact that none of them had even begun to master the art of creation.

  The best they could do was combine or mend what was, but the more complex the entity, the harder it was, and they were the most complex.

  It was Vidente who eventually dubbed them all Angels, a name that had been on everyone’s mind until then.

  Due to their ceaseless self-mutilation, Fogo and Vidente were covered in scars that would never heal. Golden seams that lined their once perfect skin.

  The two also discovered that the essence of all living things was held in an ethereal crown or halo that floated above their heads. The Angels were no exception, and since an organism faded from existence after its crown was removed or destroyed, Vidente and Fogo didn’t touch theirs.

  That didn’t stop Vidente from experimenting with the halos of lesser life forms, however.

  [Phew… so I won’t die until something happens to my Halo, huh?] Fogo stretched his arms lazily.

  [Apparently, and we know that death is assured if it’s broken, as seen by the countless dead globs around us. Now let’s see what happens if we take some Kilnessence, create another blob and then give it one of the many Halos I… borrowed from some of the life in the third dimension.] Vidente cracked her fingers before stepping away from the operation table where Fogo idly sat.

  The floor was lined with the blood of countless dead organisms mixed with that of Fogo and Vidente.

  Angel blood was a brilliant gold in colour and as thick as honey; however, it had no taste. Any organism that came into contact with it was healed immediately, although any damage a Halo took couldn’t be undone due to the complexity of its design.

  Which is why Vidente was using the now dull grey Halos she’d pilfered from the corpses of dead organisms.

  She took a glob of fleshy matter and poured into it Kilnessence, which she linked to the second-hand halo above its head.

  The halo flickered a little before glowing a pure white as the flesh it actualized writhed below.

  Fogo watched apprehensively as the grey thing in Vidente’s hands squirmed.

  It was roughly the shape of a pear, had two pathetic tentacles jutting from its sides and had three eyes on what vaguely resembled a face. The third eye, which sat slightly above the others, had a dull golden hue.

  The thing didn’t have a mouth, but it seemingly expressed all manner of emotions as it looked up and beheld its creators, who could feel the faint waves of emotion its soul was releasing.

  It was in pain.

  Agonizing pain that was a result of the haphazard way Vidente put its body together, jamming as many organs and nerves into it so that it may better survive in Hereafter.

  She took into account that it wouldn’t be able to breathe, so she didn’t bother giving it a mouth or note and instead made it feed off of residual Kilnessence, which was potent enough to keep it alive for years if need be.

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  The part that amazed Vidente the most was the fact that the Halo actively changed to better suit its new wearer. Meaning that the universe had recognized it as a denizen of the seventh dimension.

  [Aww… what in all worlds is that?] Lilium, who had droopy eyes and the longest hair among the Angels, asked after being drawn into the auditorium by Vidente’s awe at her creation.

  [It is… my final failure.] Vidente sighed deeply as she motioned to crumple the thing like a piece of paper, but Lilium stopped her.

  [Wait! You don’t feel disappointed, so why are you killing it?] Fogo rolled his eyes at Lilium’s typical and smothering response as she gently snatched the grey thing from Vidente.

  [I have succeeded in making or, at the very least, assembling life in a form that can persist in the Hereafter. With this knowledge, I can make as many as I like.]

  [How can you be so cruel?] Lilium gasped while gently petting the thing.

  [It will be the first step in what will ultimately be a grand design of our own making, which I see as an honour for something as ugly as it is. And besides, it’s in lots of pain, so it’d be best to put it out of its misery.]

  Lilium stuck her tongue out at Vidente.

  [Ignore those two. I’ll take care of you in their stead, okay?] She spoke to the thing as she left the auditorium. Her adoration for it mixed with the joy and excitement felt by the two she was leaving behind to fill the Hereafter with a positive air.

  [Well, see ya later.] Fogo waved while ascending towards the exit.

  [Training?] Vidente asked, even though she knew the answer.

  [Yep.]

  [Don’t push yourself too hard, okay?]

  Fogo turned back with a raised brow.

  [Huh… I didn’t think you cared that much.]

  [I don’t. I just need you in tip-top condition for when I cut you open next.] Vidente winked, making Fogo roll his eyes.

  [Yeah, yeah.] He scoffed before flying to an empty part of the seventh dimension, where he tested his strength by lifting entire planets and he tested his speed by flying from the first to last reachable dimensions as fast as possible, getting impossibly faster each time.

  [Knucklehead.] Vidente softly smiled.

  She never spent much time with Fogo back when they were on earth, and that was simply because they were of two worlds.

  She read her days away, getting lost in old encyclopaedias and the occasional romance novel after she studied, and he barely passed his test after having spent most of his time playing sports.

  They rarely ever talked, let alone acknowledged each other, now they were transcended beings who were coated in each other’s blood.

  She bit her lower lip at the absurdity of it all.

  Yes, she missed her parents, her friends and the vague concept of normalcy, but she couldn’t deny how much fun she had been having since she was reborn.

  She was bearing witness to the unravelling of the cosmos, and like the ever-keen botanist to a flower, she was determined to bear witness and archive it all.

  Which is why she was delighted when a uncharacteristically nervous Kōritsu entered her halls.

  [What do you want?] She asked as the light of her wings probed her peer, searching him up and down for insight.

  [No need to be so brash. I- I’ve just come to see how far your work is coming along.] Kōritsu’s eyes didn’t meet hers as he walked up to her.

  [Uh-huh. We created a lifeform capable of persisting in this realm, but I'm more curious about what you want, class rep.] Vidente smirked, making him finally face her.

  [Is there was way you could develop some kind of wall or a barrier to… maybe keep us here.]

  Vidente’s eyes narrowed.

  She then let out a deep sigh.

  [Did you think about how hard such a feat would be before you stumbled here?] She crossed her arms but Kōritsu furiously shook his head, transferring some of his anxieties into her.

  [You don’t have to do it immediately or even anytime soon! I… just want a failsafe in the case that any one of us tramples on that oh-so-delicate garden.] His sincerity reached Vidente clearly, and she knew why he felt so strongly about what he wanted, unfortunately, her own desires were directly opposed.

  [I’ll see what I can do but I can’t say what form it’ll come in yet.]

  Kōritsu nodded before turning to leave.

  [Oh- and could you please keep it a secret?]

  Vidente felt his sincerity again.

  He genuinely wished they would stop interfering with life but the new universe was far too exciting to lock away.

  [Alright.]

  Kōritsu nodded before leaving the auditorium, leaving Vidente in a deep silence.

  One which she immediately broke by resurrecting several fleshy blobs which screamed out in pain.

  .

  ..

  Nozh disliked the silence of the Hereafter.

  In this unchanging, eternal place, there was no noise, no banter and no arguments since everyone either agreed with each other or settled things peacefully with the occasional help from Thibet.

  This was because they each deeply understood how each other felt on a level that was deeper than she could have ever imagined back on earth in the small home she'd grown up in.

  The lastborn in a quintuplet of sisters, by a matter of seconds, she always had to fight for attention, affection and even time.

  It was always loud, chaotic and unstable.

  But it was home.

  She loved each of her sisters and hoped that they loved her just as much.

  But now they were gone.

  Or maybe it was she who left them.

  Did they mourn her passing?

  Did they even care?

  These questions gnawed at Nozh as she floated far above the Hereafter.

  She chose to consult someone who had been, in what seemed like self-inflicted torture, pursued his grief and pain while others tried their best to move on.

  Beneath the Diamond Needle and the streets of the city was his modest chapel where he prayed as he knelt, with closed eyes, before a stone sphere which sat atop of plain wood and cloth.

  [To thee I pray, oh Kiln. Oh, all of all.

  So yond I may come close to thee.

  In thee, I’ll find content and grace;

  From the first to the last of mine days.]

  Nozh felt her chest both swell and ache with longing and grief.

  A single tear almost fell from her eye, but she was used to the feeling she got when she was near Yana at this point.

  She knelt by his side in the dimly lit chamber, as was custom and joined him in a moment of silent prayer.

  Calling out to her family before scoffing at how ridiculous Yana’s routine was.

  [I swear, sometimes l think you forget he was once just a kid, like the rest of us.]

  [What else would you have me believe?] There it was again. That endless sorrow anyone who heard him speak felt.

  Nozh bit her teeth as she fought it back. That which only deepened her own sadness.

  [I mean… anything else? Have you found anything yet in all your meditating and prayer?] Nozh knew she was being needlessly harsh, but she needed this.

  She needed him to argue, to open his eyes and glare at her, anything.

  [No. I have not heard even a breath from his sleeping self.]

  [So…] Nozh pressed, but all Yana did was take a deep breath and sigh.

  [So, I will continue to pray and search until I reach him or until he awakens, however long that may take.]

  Nozh gnashed her teeth.

  He wasn’t being aggressive enough, and so she turned her eyes to someone who might have had what she was looking for.

  Fogo.