Oh, that’s easy, Snooze said, twirling a finger in the air, I choose Death.

It made sense to her. It was an element she never used, and if she was being honest, was afraid to ever since the day she’d unlocked it--and she didn’t like the idea of wielding death anyway, thank you very much.

UNFORTUNATELY, IT SEEMS I’VE NOT EXPLAINED WELL ENOUGH.

IF THIS IS THE PATH YOU SELECT, YOU CANNOT PICK JUST ANY ABILITY. NO, YOU MUST CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOUR PRIMARY ELEMENTAL CURIOS: EARTH, AIR, FIRE, WATER.

Ah, so there’s a catch.

Compromises tended toward that sort of thing.

Well, okay, Snooze said, crossing her arms.

AS WE HAVE FORMED THE WORLD NOW, PROGRESSION OF TIME HAS BEGUN TO EXIST IN THIS PLACE, AND IT IS OF THE ESSENCE.

Okay, okay, Snooze said, thinking, right… which to choose? Earth is the one I’ve had the longest, and I feel as though I’ve become quite accomplished with it. Air is the most fun to play with--and Water is the most relaxing!

She knew too that Fire, while dangerous, was important. It not only combined well with the other elements, and kept things hot. Which, while her plane of existence never got so cold she couldn’t change it, she’d found that it was often nice to hunker into a cave during a storm and bathe her limbs in the warmth of a campfire flame.

It was a tough call.

SNOOZE, I APOLOGIZE, BUT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE A DECISION.

The god nodded and sighed deeply.

I suppose I will have to go with Fire, she said, but I’m not happy about it!

HAPPIER, HOPEFULLY, THAN HAVING TO USE MEAT’S SEED OF LIFE? WHICH, AS WE SHOULD REMIND OURSELVES, IS THE ENTIRE REASON FOR THIS WHOLE EVENT.

Oh… right.

YOU’RE CERTAIN THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO REMOVE FIRE FROM YOUR ABILITIES? IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT WITHOUT ANY LEVELS IN THE ELEMENT, YOU WILL BE UNABLE TO CONTROL ITS ESSENCE AT ALL.

Snooze was immediately filled with the imagery of the out-of-control grassfire when she’d first learned the ability, and something akin to anxiety began washing over her.

That had been bad. I don’t want something like that to happen again. That settles it…

Snooze looked into the display, where she liked to imagine the Book of Leaf’s eyes were if it had had any, and harrumphed confidently.

I am going to choose Earth, then.

YOU’RE CERTAIN?

No, she said, it's been a good friend to me, but, I’ve had it the longest, and perhaps it is time to let it run wild and free… you know, like at a farm. Upstate.

THAN IT SHALL BE.

In that moment, her elemental Curio for Earth appeared in the air next to her, shimmering with its light. She watched as Meat seemed to perk up from his position of rest, cocked his head to the side, and slowly began to approach the Book of Leaf as if being summoned by some silent beckon.

He rested his haunches on the platform, and faced Snooze happily.

Is this going to hurt him?

IT WILL NOT HURT. HE MAY BE TIRED FOR A TIME, BUT HE WILL RECOVER.

LET US COMMENCE, SNOOZE.

Snooze nodded stiffly.

Suddenly, both Meat and the Curio erupted with a bright burst of energy. A rose-and-green flame covered both of them, and Snooze moved back a half pace in shock. The two sources were separated by ten feet, but the tongues of their fire met across the distance, entangling with one another and coalesced into a tiny sphere. To Snooze, it almost looked like a BB, or a pebble. But it grew, slowly, and soon, it appeared to Snooze that another Curio had formed. The Earth tablet began to crumble, turning to dust in the air, and fading away as if by breeze, and it made the god a little sad to watch it go.

The new Curio glowed with a seafoam and pink light, and hovered in the air, slowly pivoting in place. Snooze was delighted to see that on the face of the Curio was emblazoned an adorable heart shape, and she reached out to trace the contour of its design. But that was all it took to activate the magic, it seemed, because it suddenly exploded into a shower of glittering stars and flowed away in an energy current directly toward the newly formed world before her.

The stream of stars hit the orb dead on, and Snooze watched as the planet was swallowed by the magic. After a moment, the magic disappeared, and her little world, formerly overrun by the darkness and rot of what Death had done, began to spring to life. The grass grew green again, flourishing with its new injection of life, while the air cleared of its smoky choke. The waters grew darker as the plantlife from before began to fill the space beneath its waves, and from deep within its crust, the earth roared in ignition as the fires of its belly began to bellow.

Slowly, the world became magnificent, far greater than it had been before.

Snooze was happy. She regarded again as to whether or not she had a heart in her god body, but if she did, it was singing. She felt a sense of pride that glowed from within her, as she marveled at her creation.

The god’s glance fell to Meat, still to her side. The archangel seemed exhausted, and its low buzz and whistled trill slowed. He opened his maw wide in a yawn, and curled into a ball, falling into a deep slumber. She’d never seen him do that, but it warmed her heart as well. She’d kept her friend, and now, her world would be more interesting because of it.

Big day, little guy? She mused to her slumbering companion.

The Book of Leaf flashed, and she moved forward again.

SNOOZE

YOU HAVE SOWN THE SEED OF LIFE, COME, LOOK UPON YOUR CREATION.

Snooze activated her Omnituens Ability, and peered at the hovering globe before her. She focused, and just like she remembered from her many excursions of fancy back in the old world when she’d stalk her pizza tracker, she zoomed in to the surface of the world.

Snooze was taken aback. It was all so beautiful.

Lush grass, sky-high mountains, fluffy clouds. She thought very seriously that this world created all at once made her practice world look like hot trash. It was a gem, wholly unrecognizable, yet still familiar. She scanned across the ice caps, and across a vast desert. Finally, she saw something.

Zooming in a bit more with her Omnituens, she was able to see something near the ocean. Much like how she was able to see the Air, even though it was invisible, so now, could she catch the slightest indication of something else in her ocean, something she’d not yet seen.

She zoomed, and zoomed, until she was at a level where she could see the fibers on blades of grass, seemingly hundreds of feet tall, and with her vision, switched to where the sandy shore met the waters of the sea.

There it was, swimming in the lap of water at the mouth of the vast ocean. It would've had to have been microscopic, by comparison, but that made sense to her. Hadn’t the earliest life in her old world begun that way? It looked like a clump of translucent grains of rice, and just faintly, Snooze could detect a subtle, rose-and-green hue to it. Life.

There you are, she said, her chest welling with pride, my little baby Meatlings.