Elie sighed, resting his cane against the wall.
"No," he replied, "and don’t use that word again. It’s disgusting."
He waved a hand and his top hat flew off, resting atop his golden cane, which was somehow standing without support.
"What are you then?" Yi asked, perplexed by the appearance of this strange man.
"I am an incorporeal being of immense power, and near immortal strength." Elie smirked, adjusting his skinny tie and sitting down on nothing.
"So…a god?" Yi asked hesitantly, earning a cold glare from the being.
"In layman’s terms, yes," he grunted, "but all you need to know, is that I made you."
Yi scoffed at this, turning away to continue her walk home.
"What? You don’t believe me?" Elie laughed, his cane and hat appearing in their rightful places on his body.
"No, I don’t, Mister Floaty-Man." Yi thought to herself.
"Well then," Elie’s voice protruded into her mind, shocking her still, "let me prove it."
"You’re in my head." She screamed aloud, shivering as she felt the physical effects of his essence leaving her mind.
"Oh, that’s right, I’m telepathic," he bragged, "I’m also omnipotent and omniscient."
"But not omnibenevolent?" Yi questioned, regaining her composure for a moment.
"Told you, I’m not a god." Elie reminded her, before spinning his cane in his hand, slamming it to the ground with a glimmer of light, and the two of them flew into space.
"Oh no, oh shit," Yi panicked, "I’m in space, I’m actually in space!"
"Calm down, the novelty quickly wears off." Elie moaned, throwing his cane to the side, where it scattered into a burst of stars, rejoining the universe.
"O-kay…now I’m curious." Yi admitted, floating backwards in an endless, gentle free-fall.
Elie readjusted his three-piece suit, before checking his watch and gently gliding towards the teenager, leaning on his arm as he approached her.
"Now, let’s get you home," he smiled, "not that time is of any concern to me."
"Why are you really here Elie?" Yi shouted, Elie’s cane pressed up against her throat.
"You wouldn’t believe me if I said." He insisted, as Yi’s kicks knocked his hat off of his head.
"Try me." She gasped for air. Elie glared into her opalescent eyes, the will to fight slowly fading from them, and eventually let her drop.
"Fine," he grunted, throwing his arms out to the side in a dramatic show of his powers, and Yi saw the second hand on her watch slow to a halt, "you possess a ring. The ring of one of my fellow Creators."
"This?" Yi asked, holding up a banded steel ring.
"Yes, that," Elie could barely contain the excitement in his voice, "it belonged to Ovao."
"How many Creators are there?" Yi asked, holding the ring back from Elie’s grasp.
"Four," he explained, "Ovao, myself, Prinya, and Ra’Tuo."
"Like the four horsemen of the apocalypse?" Yi quizzed, trying to buy time, fully aware of the irony in her attempts.
"We inspired the legend of them, yes," Elie continued, "see, while the Horsemen are specialised in dealing with their respective…apocalypse-y stuff, we Creators have exactly the same powers, but have allocated roles…jobs to fulfil if you will."
Elie sat down on Yi’s bed, tossing his hat up in the air and catching it as he spoke.
"And while the Horsemen dealt with strictly destructive characteristics of the World, we deal with both positive and negative. For example, I am responsible for War and Peace. Ovao is responsible for Death and Life. Prinya is responsible for Pestilence and Wellbeing. Ra’Tuo is responsible for Famine and…" Elie paused, "well, whatever the opposite of Famine is.
"We sat, in our little realm, controlling you people and tending to our jobs. Every death is the handiwork of Ovao. Every illness is Prinya’s doing."
"So every war is just because you felt like it? Felt like destroying lives?" Yi snarled, earning a worried look from the being.
"Yes and no," Elie admitted, "believe it or not, it’s incredibly dull creating an entire realm. But, like a video game that you mortals play, even doing everything there was to do several times over got boring. So we let you go. We gave you the power to shape your own destiny," he paused, thinking of something, "that was around 1202."
"Year of the Fourth Crusade?" Yi asked.
"Eh, 1200 seemed to logical," Elie laughed, magicking away his hat and cane and floating around the room, casting images of historical events.
"The Renaissance, The Ottoman Empire, The War for Independence, The Ōnin War, World War One, World War Two," Elie watched Yi’s expression as images from the participant’s eyes flashed in front of her, "all humanity’s doing."
"You haven’t answered my question." Yi reminded him.
"Ah yes, I was distracted," Elie smiled, dissolving the images, "I believe that you are a descendant of Ovao. See, we weren’t always incorporeal. But we lost our ability to take a form once we gave control over to your miserable species. We still had all our powers, but we could only possess people and things for temporary measures. Eventually, we got separated, but discovered that while we had a form, we’d somehow…" he stopped, blushing, "given our DNA to your race."
"Y’all had sex with humans?" Yi laughed, "isn’t that, like, your version of bestiality?"
"It’s more incest than anything else," Elie grunted, "but in any case, we had people with our powers on Earth."
"So you think that because I have Ovao’s ring, and I’m their descendant, that I might have their powers?" Yi summarised.
"Exactly," Elie sighed, "and, while being an all-powerful being may sound pretty good, I can tell you that…well, it wouldn’t be pleasant for you."
"That’s not something we need to discuss right now," Elie dodged the question, "but the point is, to protect you and the rest of my creations, I needed to get that ring. Because it’s an artefact that is linked to our people, I can’t just steal it or possess you into giving it to me. You have to willingly hand it over to me."
Yi considered this, before slipping the ring into her pocket.
"I’ll make you a deal," she finally spoke, "you have a month. Convince me that it’s a good idea, and the ring is yours."
Elie nodded, satisfied with this proposition.
"Just remember," he warned, "I can see into your mind, so if you lie about being convinced, I can tell."
"If I’m convinced," Yi shot back, "I won’t have a need to lie."
