The Man Above

Anki Nigba

The sky. The great blue expanse which covers all the regions beneath it. A space so beloved by those who dwell below it, yet too barren in resources to be populated by their embrace. It is within this pure blue fountain of solitude that he chooses to spend his time. Up there, the wind flows through his long hair and matching beard of snow-white strands while the sun makes its presence known to him at all times, scorching his brown, caramel skin. He floats cross-legged over clouds because their water is the only nourishment he has at those heights. Being what he is, that sort of sustenance can get him by for several hundred years at a time. He absolutely abhors being hungry, but even he has his limits. Solid food is necessary for all humans, even the "special" ones. To kill his appetite, he has to make his way to the ground. He wishes to not have to do it, but there is no way around it. It's not as if the land below or its inhabitants have been unkind to him. Whenever he does make his way to lower elevation, he receives nothing but praise and treatment reserved only for the gods. However, the overwhelming power he possesses is triggered by strong emotion, and such preferential treatment reminds him of his past. Therefore, his extended hiatuses from humanity are intended to prolong an inevitable display of his power. 

Life wasn't always like this for him. It used to be much simpler. Especially when he was back in his birthplace of Ancient Sumer in 2000 AD. Back when he went by the name his father bestowed to him, Anki Nigba. He longed for those days the way an infant longs for their mother's attention. At that point, Anki had yet to harness any abilities and played with boomerangs alongside kids his age. Not a single one of his peers could come close to his level of proficiency. He never failed to have it return back in his hands. Not once. He believed himself to be highly adept at reading the wind, unaware that he had willed it in his favor. This realization wouldn't come until the age of nine when the elders noticed how impossible his skills were. To test their assumptions, they threw his favorite boomerang on top of their highest temple, turning what was usually a calm child into an unforgiving force of nature. His tantrum brought forth a tornado over the exact spot the boomerang was thrown, destroying the building and other surrounding structures. From that moment on, his people praised him as Enlil, the Mesopotamian God of Wind.

With the help of the village elders, Anki learned different natural disasters happened when he felt certain emotions. With his sadness came rain. With his anger came heavy thunder and lightning. With his happiness came endless sunshine. With his fear came extreme cold. When he was calm, he was able to control the wind at will. The elders believed his affinity for the wind was because of his love for the boomerang. Now aware of how his abilities worked, the village elders taught him to meditate and keep calm. He and his people were able to know uninterrupted peace for six years.

After those six years, a plague made its way to Sumer and ravaged Anki's people. His mother, father, and younger sister caught it, but he never became sick. He tested it to make sure by sleeping next to his sister at night. Still nothing. It was from this occurrence, he learned he was impervious to disease. His family was not that lucky. One by one, he watched his loved ones pass on to the next life. Yet he was unable to mourn their loss, for if he did, he was bound to cause some natural disaster and put the village at risk. As the pain continued to fester within him, he couldn't take it anymore. Against the elders' wishes, he decided to float to the highest mountain and let out all the grief within himself, thinking that he'd be far enough not to cause damage to his people. When he reached the top of the mountain, the most guttural screams left his 15-year-old frame. That moment of catharsis served as the catalyst of what we call "The Great Flood" and is the reason for his retreating to the sky.

Knowing that he caused the flood brought Anki even more turmoil. It took several months for him to purge the grief from himself. As soon as he regained his calm, he drifted towards the sky where he would be of no harm to anyone. He decided that he would not go back to the ground until he was on the brink of starvation. This decision taught him that he could go hundreds of years without eating. While waiting to be hungry, he meditated as the elders showed him to keep his calm. He'd only gotten hungry 3 times since then.

The first time he felt hunger after years in the sky was in 1153 BC. He landed in a heavily populated city in Ancient Egypt. The people were terrified. They gave him food and praised him like in ancient Sumer, sparking a traumatic response. It was at this moment he learned traumatic response cause his powers to be unpredictable. As his mental anguish was occurring, a heatwave enveloped the land destroying the vast majority of oases forming Egypt's desert landscape we know today. The Egyptians that survived granted him the name of Ra, God of the Sun.

The second time he felt hunger was in 79 AD, landing in the city of Pompeii. Once again, the people showered him with praises and lavish treatment, yet again causing him to respond negatively. This time, the manifestation of his trauma came in the form of thunder and lightning. One of his bolts hit Mount Vesuvius, causing it to erupt and the event to be known throughout history. The Romans in nearby towns gifted him the name of Jupiter (Zeus).

The third time he felt hunger was in 1027 AD. Learning from his past mistakes, he decided to land in the countryside away from all people. Or so he thought. After landing, he used the wind to guide the animals he wished to eat at his feet. As he skinned them and put them over a fire, he overheard noises coming from the bushes. Fearing that it was some sort of feral beast looking to make a meal of him, he formed a gust of wind containing enough pressure to kill 3 grown elephants and sent it that way. He went over to investigate what it was. On the ground lay a family similar to his own in Sumer. Grief and regret surged through his body, but no natural anomaly was formed.

Since then, he has not made his way back to the ground, but who knows when he will feel true hunger again. After all, it's been almost a thousand years since his last visit.