|The Tale of the Wandering Immortals (re:0)

"The Tale of the Wandering Immortals" / "The purpose of the nameless"

Authors: Chie Ari, Kuzuya Reo

Once upon a time, there lived two immortals. They were born from a whim of the gods, with nothing to call their own. They chose their own names through mixing letters from ancient texts.They named themselves Vik and Lu. Both were sent from the heavens with the same goal in mind..to break down human nature and determine if they had strayed from their purpose.

Vik was as innocent as a child. With the word ‘worry’ nonexistent in his vocabulary. He was tall and meek with a strong love for nature. Lu on the other hand, was rash, brash and cruel. A truly brutal maiden. Perhaps that was an understatement. No matter the offence, she showed no mercy.

However, she wore her heart on her sleeve. Add that to her beastly instinct that allowed her to effortlessly navigate through any environment, and you had yourself a force of nature.

Although she had his utmost respect, he still considered her an incompatible partner. No matter. Ultimately….

“The gods know best.”

They muttered this, with lost hope in their hollow hearts. After all, it was already set in stone. So they set out on a journey. Two, in fact. For both the fulfillment of the body and the soul. These naive immortals held each other tightly as they journeyed across that spherical abnormality we’re all too familiar with. Endless civilizations erupted and fizzled out just as quickly.

The harsh and cruel weather that was beneath them, but devoured various settlements, served as an important reminder. Animals feared them both, for they knew what the humans did not.

No matter how many decades or centuries it took, the two took their time and acknowledged the existence of every type of person, be it tribe, colour or race. At the end of their first mission, they returned to the place of their birth, pleased by a feeling of change that came upon first sight. Thus, they came to a stunning conclusion…

“Just like the various seasons, the inhabitants of this world change as frequently. The world can be hot and cold, but it can never tamper with the warmth of the heart. Whether it’s the true sustainers of life, the ones that breathe their essence into the world but are ultimately fated to be used by the humans, or the animals whose endless thirst for violence serves as nothing but inspiration for these humans.”

In their mind, the fact that humans had the intelligence and the capacity to possess a moral compass made things different in the grand scheme of things. It was a question of whether you could justify intentional violence masked as instinctual violence.

“In nature lies true humanity. Civilization raises the true monsters.”

Those with the soundest of educational backgrounds couldn’t normally be qualified as that, but the contents in their hearts quaked in contradiction. Some of the ‘heroes’ whose names were burned in the golden sands of history were the actual monsters. History just spun them a fairytale.

Vik and Lu watched as countless ages flew by, and with that, human behaviour reared its ugly head. Love, jealousy, sacrifice, betrayal, devotion, manipulation, corruption, peace, war. In all that time, only two things prevailed. That’s right, only two concepts remained throughout history, and they were good and evil.

In such short, simple words, they summed up humanity as a whole.

“In other words, there is no good or evil.”

The dichotomy of good and evil was wrapped around a thick contradiction of itself, enough to either merge or cancel each other out. This caught the gods’ attention. After careful observation, they ordered the second command.

“Go into the world, separated. Do not merely observe, be an undeniable presence in their lives and wait for us….Once more, we shall gather at the same place. The stars shall bear witness to your conclusion.”

“Separated??”

For the first time, the immortals questioned a direct command from their creators. As meticulous as they planned, surely they never accounted for something like this. Right from the start, they judged humanity with their hands in harmony. Nonetheless, the gods knew best.

Upon observing this dilemma unfold in front of them, the gods held firm with their decision. From that singular point, they were to walk in opposite directions and fulfil their missions. Although the pain was unbearable for both of them, they kept walking.

“The gods know best.”

With clenched fists..

“The gods know best.”

With heavy breaths and slow steps…

“The gods know best.”

Just like that, the immortals disappeared from the mysterious garden, from

each other’s sight. With no connection, all they had was hope. Hope that they will reunite with the same partner they journeyed with.

Centuries passed and flowed by just like the hands on a clock. At this point, time was irrelevant. Like animals attracted to their habitat, Vik went into society and managed to become one of the main pioneers of civilization. He was a stunning inventor, soft-spoken yet passionate. On the other hand, Lu was drawn to the wild and relished it. Much her surprise, there were like-minded individuals. Ones that rejected civilization and sought the simplistic lifestyle nature provided. She managed to make a name for herself in a place full of nobodies. People who were deemed unfit to live with normal people.

She was given the nickname Artemis for various reasons. She was clearly skilled with the bow, her instincts were second to none and her beauty was astonishing. However, the reason she had this name was that she never aged. Eventually, they were embedded in the memories of the people, just as they were asked. As years became decades and decades became centuries, they waited patiently for the arrival of the gods, the day their mission would end.

In this process of waiting, all their friends and loved ones grew old and died. Thus was the nature of man. Just like the animals they killed and ate, they too were forced in the cycle of life and death. The codependent cycle that governed the universe. At times, envy filled their hearts. Even the thought of living forever was bound to get tiring.

At last, they were summoned. It wasn’t a sign or a message delivered. Simply instinct. They left all their belongings, their bonds, their lives and walked the earth, back to the place of their birth.

“What have you two been able to understand about the humans as you ventured deeper into human society?”

“Even if we spend another couple of centuries here, we will never be able to fully understand them.” Vik replied with his eyes lowered.

“However, we were wrong.” Lu shouted at the top of her lungs.

“Humans are..” they both uttered, turning to each other.

“Complicated.”

“Huh???”

Even the gods were caught off guard. Surely, humans could not have strayed from their purpose? Just what had they created?

“Hmm. So does that mean the mission was a failure??”

“From being with these humans we understood something. There exists good and evil, and every other thing in between. There is hope and there is despair. There is purpose and there is ambition stained purpose, a mere shadow of itself.

There is humanity and there is a monster, but that monster is deep in every one of them. No matter where they stay or the families they are raised in. Some are nurtured in accordance to their environment while others are nurtured in contradiction to it.

In other words, anyone can possess these. Humanity doesn’t just define humans, it defines the ones who have fought and beaten the monsters in their hearts.” They both uttered this with their gaze fixed on the blinding light.

“I see. In that case, they have strayed, yes, but not too far. Your perspective is rather refreshing.”

The mission was complete. The observation of humanity had come to an end. They were never a threat to begin with but their nature could never be predicted. Of course it couldn’t. For the very first time, the two immortals had a wish of their own.

“We want to be humans.”

The gods looked at them from above in intrigue. Although they lacked the capacity to fully love or hate humans, them trying to be one was surprising.

“You were this close to ascending to godhood, yet you choose to become lesser beings?”

“We could never touch the sky, because humans were all we could ever be. And we are fine with that.”

“We shall strip you of your immortality, then. From this moment on, you are free. Your life or what is left of it is yours to do as you please.”

The gods vanished from their sight. After living through what felt like eternity, they never had any sense of purpose. They were merely fulfilling their purpose, nothing more, nothing less. However, this time was different. They wanted to live their lives, as short as they may be, striving for purpose together. A life well lived was never determined by the length but by the purpose one received from it….

The end….