In the beginning, there was only Luxis, the goddess of light, and Umbrus, the god of the darkness.
The two siblings had existed for time immemorial, though had always been separate. It was the nature of light and dark to always exist alongside each other, but never together. Luxis had grown weary of her years alone, as Umbrus had always been Luxis’s only companion though never in her company, and she yearned for someone to share in her light. Out of that desire, Luxis decided to create a world of companions.
Luxis knew that to create life, life must first have somewhere to exist. As she was light, and her brother simply darkness, neither could hold life. So she made the earth, making it large enough to support a plethora of life. It was only a simple stone, floating there just beside her, rough and dry. So Luxis created the water, filling the largest crevices of the stone and spreading the water throughout the new planet to give the life she would create a way to flourish. After water, Luxis made the air, granting the living room to grow and breathe. She connected the air and water, allowing water to move and change in the air so they could purify each other in turn. Finally, Luxis made fire, so that her creations could always have a piece of her light to protect and warm them even when she could not.
As Luxis worked on her creation she spun the planet, working diligently over every inch of the world to make it all just so. With the spinning stone growing more complex, Umbrus began to take notice of her creation just at the edge of himself. He felt his sister’s hand in the creation and drew closer out of curiosity. He, like his sister, had become lonely over the many years and never having the joy of looking upon his sister he reached out to touch the creation. Umbras loving drew a hand over the waters on the planet and a piece of himself sank into its depths. He marveled at the creation and briefly wondered why he had lost a piece of himself to it, but it made him feel closer to his sister and so he cared little.
Finishing the last of the elements, Luxis spun the new planet back around and she saw the darkness that had settled into the bottoms of her oceans and lakes. For the first time since the beginning, she saw a piece of her brother and her heart soared. Finding evidence of her brother's hand in her work reaffirmed her confidence in her plan.
She now felt less alone than ever, and she knew that she must continue. So Luxis made the plants many in their size and variety to feed, heal, and comfort her creations. Again, Luxis worked diligently, spreading her new creations over the entirety of the world. And again, Umbrus saw the creations of his sister and drew closer to inspect them.
As before, when Umbrus touched the plants his sister has made, his darkness bled into them. Some plants grew sharp at his touch, growing barbs and thorns, those that had been medicinal soured and became poison. Still more plants grew cold and hard, thickening themselves against the dark and hiding the light of Luxis deep inside. The best and most beautiful of Luxis’ plants became the most twisted at Umbrus’ touch, his darkness created a void inside that left them with desperate hunger.
Umbrus had not meant to warp or pervert his sister's works, it was simply the nature of his being. Darkness always brought out the worst and hardest parts of creation. Fear of never seeing the light again, the cold of the world, and darkness simply twisted the best into rough and hardened edges.
Again, Umbrus marveled at his sister’s work and even more at how they had changed with his touch. He found himself left in wonder of his sister’s gifts and excited to see what was next to come.
When Luxis first saw the way her creations had been twisted by her brother’s touch, she recoiled. She had worked so fervently to make a beautiful and bountiful world, that now had become twisted and dangerous. A single tear fell from Luxis's cheek as she viewed the twisted plants, and as it fell into the waters of her world it crystallized sinking into the darkness at the bottom of the ocean.
Then, Luxis recalled her joy at first seeing that darkness. She thought about her time spent without ever having seen her brother, and how poignant the absence had made that first encounter. With that, Luxis realized that she could not make the world she wanted without her brother’s help, for a world without them both would be an empty world.
Conviction renewed again, and Luxis went to work making the animals. Rodents and lizards, birds and bears, insects and fish; Luxis exhausted her creativity to fill the world with such a variety of creatures that there would always be more of them to find. She created the animals through many passings, going back and adjusting her past creations to make them more capable of living alongside the mutations of her brother.
Umbras continued to be enthralled by his sister’s works, reveling in their complexity and ingenuity. With each new creation, Umbrus could not resist touching them, and with each touch, they would again become warped. The creatures shifted into creations that were dangerous, venomous, and barbed. Many grew claws or thicker hides, some developed sharper teeth and raging appetites. A few even developed into creations all their own, diverting from the beautiful creations they once were entirely, now craving destruction and chaos.
Luxis continued her work still. Many cycles of the planet passed as she recreated and refined her creatures, balancing the mutations of her brother and the desire to keep her creations safe. Finally, Luxis saw that there was equality in the animals. Many were still vicious and wild thanks to her brother’s hand, but there were many still that were calm and beneficial.
She took her time to admire the world they had created together, the world that neither could have created without the other. She rested as she thought about her true plan, the creations she had wanted since the inception of the idea. She wanted creatures as complex as this beautiful world, creatures that would be designed by both her and her brother from the start. She had to make a creation with all the aspects of her light as she had originally planned, with a capacity to withstand her brother’s touch as well.
And so it began. Luxis crafted a creature that would hold every quality they needed to thrive in this new world. She gave them compassion, bravery, strength, honesty, creativity, and most of all she gave them love.
Luxis worked feverishly, the planet remaining still as she toiled. She crafted each creature with every quality that she knew would help them to live the best they could and she worked carefully with each making sure to leave just enough room within her creations that they might withstand the dark.
When she had finished to her satisfaction she again let the world spin. Though not before blessing a single tree. A tree that was at the center of where she had left all of her new creatures, and that tree would keep them safe while they began their life in this new place.
When the world finally spun again, Umbrus laid eyes on the latest of his sister’s creations, and his heart broke as he saw that they simply laid there, still and unmoving. He quickly reached out to touch them, nudge them, hoping they would rise. And they did. With the touch of Umbrus filling the hollows that Luxis had left each new human sprung to life.
Umbras had finally seen what his sister had been seeing the entire time, life springing from his fingers. With this gift from his sister, Umbrus shed a single tear. Like Luxis before, his tear fell and crystallized deep in the mountains. Then he watched the humans take their first tentative steps in the darkness of the world, unchanged from the touch of Umbrus and exactly as Luxis had planned.
As the world spun, Luxis waited nervously to see if her plan had succeeded, anticipating her creations to come back to her warped and changed, much like all those before had. Though as the first dawn rose for humanity, Luxis was greeted with her new companions, the same as they had been, though now fully alive and ambulating before her. And humans were greeted by the smiling face of their creator. The beautiful shine of Luxis filled their hearts with hope and encouraged them to greet their new lives.
Comments