Terraforming

**Author's note: This was going to be for the Sci-fi Guild's Terraforming Contest, but it's 18+. I didn't realize that until after I had written this, and though it would be a waste to delete it. Plus, I like the prompt.**

         From the very beginning, we watched the universe form. Space had always been unstable.There was a bright light and an explosion and we saw stars expand for thousands of years before things started to take shape.We had been inhabitants of Genesis, the first planet to exist before even the universe was formed. We were the first lifeforms to exist, though we had no names. Terra was the first planet to catch our eyes. We spent thousands of years travelling just to get there, wanting its barren landscape.

         Only those skilled in the art of Change were allowed to go. I was one of the hundreds of those on the ship. I had shown a natural talent from age five hundred, which was average for a Genesite. I quickly climbed the ladder until I was ranked number fifteen. And that was what I was called, for we had no names on our planet. Only ranks.

         The moment we arrived, we spread out across the planet. We all had agreed on territories and what we would do with them before we arrived. Some of us only wanted a small space and traded land for energy. In the end everything settled without conflict and we set to work.

         Terra had been a giant rock with a molten core and not much else. But we all took our time to make it beautiful. Some of us made land while others made water. It was a grand planet, much smaller than our own, and yet something we cherished greatly. It was our creation, and yet it felt so empty.

          I was the first one to do the unthinkable, the forbidden. I created life. We were all able to do it, and yet it was a taboo thing. I didn't care. It would be thousands of years before I could receive my punishment.

         I looked out at my land, dry sand with rivers every now and then. The sun shone down on it, making the grains glitter fantastically and I smiled to myself. This was too beautiful to not share with someone else. I mixed the water and sand together, giving it my shape. Then I created one in the image of my brother, who I had missed dearly. Slowly, I gave them my energy and breathed life into them. They slept for three weeks before finally awakening to their world. I decided they would not suffer my fate. They would have names and a language all on their own.

"Ra. Shu. Pay close attention."

          So I spent hours thinking, formulating a language for them. They watched me with dark, warm eyes. And then I whispered the knowledge into them. The first words they said were the ones that had weighed on my heart for years, but never spoke. "It's lonely."

          They weren't humans. No, these were different. I had given them too much of my own energy. They needed life to sustain life, and I could not give it to them. Vampires, as the legends came to call them. Slowly, I watched them become colder and colder, until they stopped moving all together. I gave them grand tombs and sealed them.

         The next time I got it right. Half life, half energy, which I called blood. It was easier on me, and I made thousands of them. They weren't as intelligent as Ra and Shu had been, but they learned quickly. I taught them what they needed to know and left them to their own devices, always watching over them from the shadows. They called me Nu. I called them Humans.

         I traveled Terra, or Earth, as the Humans in the north came to call it later on. I went until I met number seven. He had created Angels alongside his brother and resided in the clouds. I frowned when I found him alone, neither his creations nor his brother with him. When I asked him what was wrong, he gave me a sick sort of smile and dug his hands into the ground.

"They called me God. They called us Gods. The angels... They worshiped me..Us. It was such a rush. But I got greedy. I didn't want to share the glory. I sealed him to the core of Terra, sealed the Angels in the sky. The Seal of Banishment."

I regarded him sadly. "The seal cannot be undone unless the sealers life is sacrificed."

         He only nodded and relapsed into silence. I left him with my knowledge on humans and continued on until I had traveled the entire planet. We all traded knowledge, all of us "gods" to our creations. Tepeu, as his people called him, taught me about animals. However, not all of the animals I created could survive in the rough terrain. Cats were a favorite among my people.

         As the years dragged on, I watched as humans met and fought and loved. Slowly, they forgot about us. Slowly, God became the "supreme." His followers waged war against humans, and against us. Though they will always deny that we exist. Genesites were never violent, so we let ourselves be driven away. Humans had long since turned from us.

         Most of us left to the other planets, shaping them to suit our lifestyles. Though none of us created again. I stayed on the Sun. Only God chose to stay on Earth, the only one of us welcomed there. It was peaceful for a time, until Satan, God's brother, found a way to break the seal without death. War waged on and destroyed Terra. God left only his followers alive.

         Although I had left my people, although all of us had, we felt remorse. We could have stopped him, but we didn't. We were still bitter. Yet we mourned the loss of life that we had made. Saddened, I traveled the universe for thousands of years aimlessly.

         I just stopped a few days ago, on a planet like Terra. This time I will do better. This time, no one will die.