Fate of Aphroganites on Narcipia

the 3rd book (second chapter after introductory--the first is not up yet, but that's okay). It follows one of the Pure Sons of God as he tries to correct a planet of beings obsessed with beauty and love nothing but themselves.

Aphroganités was sent to a less troubled people on the Mother Narciphia. While the children of Narciphia did not brandish all the faults of Iuyeden, those they did were quite severe. They were vein and shallow, judgemental and fake. They constantly carved their bodies to fit their newest ideal of beauty, which was grotesque and unnatural. They destroyed natural beauty, shunned inner beauty, and defiled the beauty of art with their own defaced bodies.

            In their love for their outer beauty, they let their inner beauty wilt and die. They could not be bothered by those they believed to be less beautiful. And anything deemed ugly they could not be bothered enough to even see. The mother was purged of all “imperfections,” that is, imperfect individuals. Nature too was purged, for their eye for beauty had deformed so much that even their own Mother was ugly to them. But surely they could not deny the beauty that is God.

Aphroganités appeared in their true form to show them the beauty that they once were, but this disgusted them, so he changed his appearance. Then he tried to show them the beauty of kindness, but this confused them. He tried to show them the beauty of mother’s nature, and sprouted great forests, and canyons, and bodies of water, but they quickly set to destroying them.

            Now he turned to the greatest of the beauties that they have once known: Love. He tried first to win the love of another slowly, by loving her, but she would not return his love. This broke his heart, for he had to actually fall in love to show her love. Determined to share love, Aphroganités used his power to force someone in love with him. However, this love was short-lived. It was undermined by the selfish love she had for herself, and the lust of other beautiful bodies. Even his now-beautiful body was not enough for her. When he made himself more beautiful for her, she became jealous and concern with matching his beauty. When he made her more beautiful than he, she became certain she could have someone more beautiful, and so the love could not survive.

            Now he was frustrated and mad. What was wrong with these pathetic creatures? Could they seriously love nothing but a reflection? He had only one this left he could do. He had hoped he would not have to resort to this, but it was sure to work. He would reveal his true form. Being a Pure Son of God, he shared God’s very essence. This essence is radiant to all beings. They will love the image, and thereby love God. The essence of God dulls all other beauty, but since they are already blind to true beauty, it will not matter.

            So Aphroganités drew a crowd, and before everyone, he revealed himself. His radiant beauty drew people from the world round, and the crowd grew and grew into the largest crowd ever gathered. But as the awe wore off and they were again able to think of more than just what they saw, they began to whisper. They began to whisper, “I want that. I want that thing to be mine. I want to own that beautiful being.”  And the crowd began to try and get to Aphroganités, but he was above their reach. Yet they pushed and pushed and the crowd grew more dense and more rowdy. Some fell and were trambled, and others were smushed standing. A pile grew under his feet as they climbed on top of each other with no concern for others, and little for themselves. They yelled, “I want it,” and “I want to be it” and “I want to consume it,” and “I want to mate with it.”

            Disgusted and embarrassed, Aphroganités fled and resumed his previous form. His only hope was that they realized they can never make themselves beautiful through the artificial ways they tried.

            He walked the streets and observed them. They were depressed. The beautiful being was gone, and they all felt ugly. They were unhappy, but this was not much different than before. At least now they should stop trying to achieve the ultimate physical beauty since they saw that it is beyond their capabilities.

            A short time after, and they overcame their depression and they resumed their struggle for beauty. Only this time they wanted to physically capture the look of the essence of God, and because they great Lord and his pure children are not really male or female, the being they saw so radiantly beautiful that day, was without genitals. And this, a long with other attributes, they decided to copy. This left them with no future.

Seeing no way of helping them, Apphroganités started roaming the streets looking for just a few individuals who would be capable of reproducing and not leaving other Narciphia lifeless. Upon not finding any after hours and hours of searching, he could not contain his rage any longer.

A thing—no longer male or female—walked past with a small pet creature on a leash. Even this creature was mostly fabricated and genital-less. Upon the thought that not even “lesser” creatures—nor the plants which were all destroyed by now—could reproduce, Aphroganités unleashed his rage.

He kicked the animal in the jaw and smashed half the former-lady’s face in with his fist. He yelled, “You have no beauty! You are ugly and I will make you ugly! Your insides shall come out.”  Then he continued to attack people, destroying the physical “beauty” and revealing their inner bones and blood.

After having his way with the surrounding pedestrians, he used all his might to create nature once again, and give Narciphia her former beauty back, but without regard to her disgraced offspring.

Aphroganités flew into the sky and roared so all on the planet could hear. “You ugly creatures! You would not recognize beauty if it crushed you, and now it shall!”  And it did.

The ground trembled and the sky darkened. Lightning flashed and thunder crashed. The sky poured like never before. The ground split and water rushed out. The ground rose and lava bubbled out. More splits for canyons, and more rises for mountains. After forty hours of flood, the oceans and rivers were formed, and all the bodies had washed away. Then the sky cleared and the sun shone. Then plants sprung out of the debris below as the exhausted Aphroganités fell towards the ground. The plants grew instantly as if Mother Narciphia was reaching out to catch her step son and savior, but she did not. Aphroganités fell into the ocean and quickly dissolved. He was drained, and with his last breath of power, turned his body into the earliest stages of animal life, which he hoped may one day evolve into creatures deserving of this planet.

 

 

Reviews

[Greg Close]

NIce writing - had the feel of religious verse to it. The allegory was very well developed. I liked especially where you described Aphroganit�s making himself more/less beautiful than his chosen mate, and each yielded less than ideal results because of the selfish notions of beauty these mortals had.

Next stop for Aphroganit�s... Hollywood! There's work to do! :)