The Desert Wildflowers [Lyvia's POV]

After what I saw in the clinic, after I met Sephtis, I no longer felt the desire to give life to any other person. What was the point in doing it if all they were going to do was give those lives to Sephtis? 

I refused to let him achieve victory that way. 

I roamed the Earth continuing my work on plants and animals, wondering how I could destroy Sephtis. It didn't take long for me to realize that I couldn't. But I was certain some other being was able to. Everything in the universe has a factor that cancels it out. It was then up to me to find that being, whoever he or she was. 

One of the favorite things I gave life to was an elephant. I saw it grow up. It truly is a beautiful creature. The way it plays with its friends, the way it sprays water from its trunk, the way it flaps its ears...It reminded me of humans. 

Humans and animals are very similar. They are born. They grow up. They eat, they drink, they sleep. They play, they fight, they explore. I felt a pang of guilt then. I realized that my keeping human babies from be born was very selfish of me. 

Sure, their mothers could decide to hand them over to Sephtis just because they didn't want them, and sure I could think that the logical solution is to just prevent them from being born. But it isn't my place to make that sort of decision. I decided that from then on, I would give life to those babies and just hope for the best. 

It was very hard for me to do it. I was entrusting treasures to families and in one fell swoop some of them would just toss that treasure away: for both themselves and for the life that never really had a chance. It wouldn't just be abortion. Some young women that I gave babies to were all alone and, right after they gave birth, they'd abandon the baby or dump them in a trash can. I would cry close by, and Sephtis would come a few minutes later to take their lives. 

Nevertheless, if my being persistent in my work allowed for those who value what I give to them to give birth to, nurture, and raise those children into amazing men and women, then persistent I shall be. 

The second time I confronted him was when I knew something was wrong with the elephants I had given life to. When I found them, I saw Sephtis and another character I couldn't name. The unknown being seemed to be the one pulling the strings. The elephants were running away from a group of men dressed up in vests, cargo pants, and boots with muskets. When the unknown being ran towards the elephant, the men followed aiming their guns. I watched horrified as one of the elephants was left behind: it couldn't run anymore. 

The men aimed. 

The men fired. 

BANG.

BANG. BANG.

The elephant screeched on its way to the ground. I couldn't contain my scream.

"No!"

Sephtis began walking towards the elephant. The unfamiliar being turned on his heel with a disgusting smile on his face. 

"Ah, ivory!" he said walking towards Sephtis, "Ivory fetches a good price these days."

"Get lost Kratz, your work here is done," Sephtis growled, shoving past him to stop at the elephant's side. 

"Don't tell me I've touched a nerve Sephtis," he sighed, "You're always so dismissive."

Kratz. Of course. The representative of greed. Us beings have a ranking system just like any human society would. Beings like Sephtis and I are at the highest level as we are considered essential to universal balance. Beings like Kratz are on a secondary level. He finally turned his attention to me.

"And who do we have here? Why are you crying love?"

I then realized that I was a sobbing, shaking mess, my knees about to give out under me. Sephtis turned around and locked eyes with me. 

"Lyvia. Go."

But I couldn't move, not after what I had just saw. I wasn't going to simply walk away, much less listen to anything Sephtis told me to do. I take orders from no one.

"Lyvia..." said Kratz, coming closer to me, "The lovely representative of life. I'm honored."

I couldn't stop my feet from walking up to him. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I took a deep breath and slapped him square across the face. The fiery sting I felt on my palm was satisfactory. 

"Be thankful I don't have the power to destroy you here and now," I spat back at him.

I walked up to the lifeless body of the elephant. The poor creature. I missed the way it played with the others, the way it sprayed water out of its trunk, the way it flapped its enormous ears... I traced the streaks of blood coming from the bullet wounds with my fingertips.

"What are you doing here Lyvia?" Sephtis asked.

"What's it to you?"

"You have no purpose here. But I do."

"I have a purpose here. I'm here to properly honor the life of this elephant."

Before he could speak again, I made a green grass cover the entire body of the elephant. From there, I wiped some of my tears onto my fingertips and flicked them onto the grass to grow some wild desert flowers on top. I turned towards Sephtis.

"There is one thing about death that you've overlooked: if something is dead, that means it was once alive. By my hand."

I was surprised by my own words. Had I just pointed out something remotely positive about death? Sephtis eyes widened as he was just as surprised. After staring at me curiously for a while, he finally spoke.

"Yes...that's right...I will never forget that Lyvia..."

I was shocked at his response. For a fraction of a moment I thought maybe Sephtis wasn't evil after all. Maybe I had been selfish and made a mistake about him.

I thought of the incident at the clinic. Sephtis killed the unborn baby...but he didn't... what happened there was the result of a choice a mother made and a doctor who agreed to perform the procedure. Then I thought of all of those other children that died. I cried because of the choice their mothers made...not because of what Sephtis did. Then there was the elephant. Sephtis didn't do anything really. The poachers did. And even if I would've loved to blame Kratz for everything, he was only a facilitator. He wouldn't have been able to make them do what they did if there hadn't been greed already in their hearts. 

Every now and then I go out of my way to stop at the patch of grass and desert wildflowers. It still reminds me of the day I started wondering if all along I had been wrong about everything.