Creation of the Rulers

Broken-nailed fingers worked at the paper as chapped lips let out every word that was being written. Reddened eyes looked around, stopping on every face, examining each closely. One bruised hand raised up and summoned one expressionless face closer. One broken-nailed finger traced perfect lips, then fell to a little jar of red paint. The broken-nailed finger raised once more and slid across the perfect lips, leaving them red and glossy.

The expressionless face smiled then, and retreated back to it's original position.

Another expressionless face was summoned, and the lips were painted pink by the broken-nailed finger. The second expressionless face frowned a little, then returned to it's original position.

The third and final expressionless face was then summoned. The broken-nailed fingers did not paint its lips. Rather, the broken-nailed fingers on the bruised hand played at a paintbrush for a second before picking it up and dipping it in black paint. The paintbrush was lifted by the broken-nailed fingers and pupils were painted on the face approximately where the eyes should have been.

"When the paint dries, I'll add your iris, my dear boy..." the chapped lips let out a hoarse voice, rasping not with age but frailty.

"Mistress," the first face whispered, having just gained control of her mouth. Her voice was full, but child-like, yet it was evident that when the face gained control of herself fully she would be elegant and beautiful, though a little frivolous.

"Yes, Korrine, darling?" the chapped lips spoke, the red eyes turning back to the first face as the third face retreated.

"Mistress, where are we to be sent?"

"Why, Korrine, you are to be sent to watch over my other creations and take care of them with your brother and your sister. You three will take my place and keep them all safe."

"Take your place, Mistress? What will happen to you?" the second face asked. Her voice was like Korrine's only in that it was childish still. Once this second face gained full control she would be rough, rather than elegant like her sister, and very strong and smart.

"Oh, dear Trecia, I will die... I am ill, and frail."

"But, Mistress, how can you die? You are our creator..."

"Trecia, I am mortal... I am naught but a human who was given the task of working to keep this world safe. The stress has given me great weakness, though, and I have fallen to a fatal illness. I will die, but before I do I must finish creating you three. You will take my place, for I have been told by He who charged me with this task that no other human is pure enough or kind enough to take up this responsibility."

"Oh, Mistress... We shall grieve for you..." Korrine spoke softly.

"We cannot grieve for long, my sister. We must do our best to fulfill this task as our Mistress wishes us to." Trecia's voice was sturdy and definite as she said this.

The third face merely nodded.

"Mistress, why does our brother not speak?" Korrine asked.

"Your brother is mute, and shall remain so. He will show the people of this world that it is possible to accomplish great things even without something everyone thinks so necessary," the chapped lips replied.

Trecia nodded slowly, then moved towards her Mistress and spoke while the broken-nailed fingers on the bruised hand held a paintbrush to paint on the pupils. "Our brother shall serve as a symbol of hope, Korrine, and he will create beautiful masterpieces in many varieties of art and literature. He will inspire the people of world to make everything beautiful once more, as it was in the beginning."

The Mistress nodded, cracking her chapped lips as she smiled. Her reddened eyes crinkled at the ends and she laid one bruised hand gently on one of Trecia's cheeks. "It pleases me to know that you are such a smart and gentle being, Trecia. You and your brother and sister will rule well. Maybe the world will be at piece again, as it was when He charged this task to me."

Trecia nodded and retreated to her original position once more as Korrine was summoned forward to have her pupils painted on.

"My darlings, you will do great things for this world, if you keep your thinking kind. Do not let this power corrupt you... If you do, the world will fall to ruin and you will be destroyed... I would hate for that fate to fall to my beautiful creations..."

Korrine retreated as her brother was pulled toward Mistress.

"Dear Casimir, never let anybody, even your sisters, tell you that you are lesser simply because you are mute. You have a beautiful and artistic soul. You will speak with your art and your eyes, rather than with mere words." The paintbrush held by the broken-nailed fingers on the bruised hand was dipped in a special paint, a paint that swirled with every color imaginable. The paintbrush was then lifted to Casimir's eyes and his irises were added.

He blinked, then smiled, and retreated once more to his original position.

Trecia's eyes were painted green, and Korrine's were painted blue. Nobody spoke for a long time.

"My darlings, we must hurry with your completion. I will be leaving you soon," Mistress said, her reddened eyes and hoarse voice filled with sorrow.

Korrine was summoned forth and the broken-nailed hands lifted yellow fibers, blonde hairs, with a pair of tweezers. The fibers were placed in small holes all over the top of her head, and slightly darker, much smaller ones placed in holes around her eyes as eyelashes.

One of Korrine's hands, which she had just begun moving around, raised to touch the hair. She twirled it gently around on finger, then let it drop. After a second, her whole head of hair was changed. It was now slightly wavy, rather than simply straight, and Korrine retreated once more.

Trecia moved forward then, and a dark red color of fibers was selected for her hair and eyelashes. The hair fell straight and short, dropping only to her shoulders, and it stayed that way. Trecia smiled and retreated, satisfied with any decisions her Mistress would make.

Then it was Casimir's turn, and he was brought forward to have shining black hairs placed upon his head. The hair sparkled in the light, and every color in existence could be seen in it. His eyelashes were a dull black, though, so that his eyes might offset them. As he moved back, his hair spiked up.

"My darlings you are complete... I will leave the paint for you, so that you might add any markings you would wish to your perfect skin. Trecia, you are to make most of the decisions, as you are the wisest of the three. Korrine, you are the most charismatic, so it is your duty to be the voice for both your sister and your brother. Casimir, you are the artist, the inspiration. It is your duty to ignite the souls of the mortals and teach them to change the world for the better. Together the three of you will make this world a better place, but you must work together for it to work."

"Of course, Mistress," Trecia spoke, watching the Mistress.

"Now, my darlings, I will leave. Do not forget to clothe yourselves, or the mortals, the humans, might find that you are not like them, for you are not human, and thus have no human organs or functions. If they find you to be inhuman from the start, they may not follow your rule. Humans are prideful and stubborn in that way. Many will try to steal your power, but you must not let them have it. Darlings, leave me now, that I might be able to slip into a peaceful slumber. I could not stand to have you here as I leave you alone to fend for yourselves."

"Yes, Mistress..." Korrine said softly, turning to leave. Trecia followed slowly. Casimir, though, stayed behind for a second.

He lifted the paintbrush and turned towards the wall that his Mistress faced.

"Casimir, my son, what are you doing?" the chapped lips cracked and bled as she spoke.

He looked back at his Mistress for a second, and the sorrow and flame in his eyes shone brightly. Without hesitation, he faced the wall once more and began painting.

When he was finished he laid the paintbrush down on the table where he had found it and left the room.

The painting on the wall was a beautiful one, one that brought tears of happiness to the Mistress's reddened eyes.

It was a painting of the world in which they lived. The world was broken and crumbling as it was at that time, but in place of the fighting and looting and warring that was occurring at that time there was peace. The people of the world were helping each other and feeding each other.

The Mistress quickly identified three faces that only she and Casimir could easily pick out without years of studying the painting. The three faces were those of Korrine, Trecia, and Casimir. They had blended into the crowd, and were helping the humans, the mortals, rebuild their world of new-found peace.

The Mistress's lips cracked and bled more as she smiled and closed her reddened eyes. She was peaceful as she slipped off, one thought prominent in her fading mind:

Yes, Casimir... Maybe one day the world will be in such a state that it no longer needs your rule and guidance...