High high above the tempestuous surface of the Earth lay an entirely separate world— Olympus, Heaven, the residence of the gods. This realm has many names but they all allude to the same thing, a divine dwelling of radiant beauty and the birthplace of the Gods, Goddesses, and all other divine beings that rule over the world. At the very beginning, when the world exploded into existence, there were two opposing forces— the force of the full sun and the force of the full moon. Not yet had they formed into the planetary orbiting bodies of today, no, then they were simply pulsing orbs of new energy, the sun a blinding force of warmth and nourishment, the moon a shimmering force of haze and frigidity. The full sun and the full moon were forces of equal power, they illuminated the earth and fed their energy into it. The sun provided light that fostered life and sprouted plants, it offered the warmth and nourishment to allow the beginnings of humanity to formulate. And yet, the Earth remained barren and uncultivated, for the presence of the moon brought darkness—darkness where magic festered and shadows swarmed, a cold and electric force.
The two remained equal opposites for thousands of years. Their opposing energies barred the surface of the Earth from developing any further; where a new plant would push through the Earth a penetrating darkness and a glacial cold would cause it to wither away before it even matures, and where the coiling waves of magic would intertwine and sew together creatures of their own, the searing light of the sun would pierce through and set it aflame. All the while these forces wrestled with each other, new gods and goddesses emerged and began to populate the dwelling of the divine. These beings, completely new to this world, began to explore the true meaning—the consequence— of their abilities. They learned how to manipulate the energies that bend to their will; nymphs cultivating their own forests of trees, a god learning how to heal a wound, a goddess creating her first hurricane right in her palm. Each one born, emerged, with their own affinity.
Eventually, two new entities were welcomed into the vast universe. They were powerful beings and with their emergence came a new pulsating energy throughout the air. The previously unruly and squalling bodies of the full sun and the full moon became all at once complacent. The Maiden who nurtured the newly emerged beings opened her arms wide and welcomed into her embrace a little boy and a little girl. The boy had a head of fiery gold and red tinged hair and his skin glowed and shimmered, his entire being radiated an energy—the same energy as the full sun. The little girl was shy, but kind and curious. She examined the world around her with two eyes of pure glittering silver, her head topped by flowing curls of hair like shadows with curling tips of a vibrant purple. She too emanated a powerful energy—the same energy as the full moon.
Time continued and the two grew older. The Maiden took them under her wing, brought them up together. The boy and the girl did almost everything as a pair; they slept in the same room, they ate together, they were taught together. Day in and day out they grew and came into their powers and personalities—but, while they shadowed each other in nearly all aspects, the boy and his friends never did let the little girl accompany them on their adventures. “She asks too many questions.” They’d say. “She knows the mystical arts, she’s a freak.” They’d say.
So, instead of playing with the other young gods and goddesses she spent her time reaching up to the moon. She could feel it, at her fingertips. One day she would have complete control over the full moon, and then the other beings would accept her as one of their own. At least she hoped.
The curious little Moon progressed quickly in her studies and her control. Above the Earth her full moon shimmered and emanated an increasingly powerful force. The blossoming of her own being strengthened the orb in the cosmos, it gave it direction and purpose. She guided the intertwining waves of magic on the Earth’s surface and she learned how to create and build. At first, her creations would combust into flames, just like all the other formations made by the full moon, but she learned from her mistakes. She learned how to focus the light and create pockets of darkness that flourished. The boy grew jealous. He grew scared. Powerful was the embodiment of the full sun, but even so, he could not compare to the little Moon. While her moon grew and developed its surface, his sun remained only a mass of un-controlled energy, energy that could not compare to that of the full moon.
Little Moon became more and more confident and while she built up life on Earth she also built up a life for herself in the dwelling of the divine. Moon was intelligent, driven, but for all of her intellect she failed to realize the implications of her rise to power. The boy’s jealousy grew and grew—an uncontrollable fire of envy, fear, anger— until he could bear it no more. He and his friends started to devise a plan. None of them could defeat the formidable Moon, not directly. Instead, he would pull her strings and push at her weak spot. Moon was smart, taught well by the Maiden—but so too was Sun.
“Moon, have you ever wondered what else is out there? Look there, do you see that light? Imagine what could be there!” Sun pointed up and past the full sun and the full moon. His sly red eyes studied her face, Moon’s own eyes followed his pointing finger. She stared, the same curious glittering in her eyes as when they were kids.
“Of course I have!! How could I not?! Sigh It would be amazing to see the rest of the universe, to learn about all of the other planets, the star systems!” Longing shadows her expression, “And who knows!! There could be other beings just like us out there, real living creatures! Isn’t that amazing?” Her black and purple curls cascade over her shoulders as she turns her gaze to him, a bright smile plays out on her face.
He’s already snared her in his trap and with that the Sun chuckles. “You don’t know?”
“Know what?” Moon turns her full attention to the boy, her pursuit for new knowledge overtaking her mind.
Sun suppresses the smirk threatening to overtake his face, instead offering her an expression of mock surprise. “They’ve already discovered other intelligent life, out past the system. They don’t know anything else except that they exist, not what they are, how many of them there are, or what they look like.”
“What?! A whole new civilization out there and they haven’t bothered to learn anything else about them? It’s ridiculous, just think of all of the new things we could learn! Oh how I wish I could go and see it for myself! Just to see it would be a dream.” A sense of yearning enveloped her suddenly. She reached one delicate hand up, reaching, reaching, reaching for…more.
“You can. You are Moon. Goddess of the full moon. Who would stop you? If that is truly what you want then surely you should not deny yourself, after all, you’ve been working very hard as of late. Traveling the cosmos would teach you more anyways, I mean it isn’t just these other life forms that haven’t been studied. Think about it, a short trip and then you come home— all in exchange for a possibly limitless amount of knowledge.”
“You’re right! The knowledge I could gain from an experience like this could offer all of us the key to furthering our society! But who would care for the full moon? Much work is still to be done, and regulation of the full moon would be abandoned.” Moon wraps her arm around her torso and holds her hand to her chin, deep in contemplation she almost doesn’t hear Sun as he begins to speak again.
“Why me of course!” He cocks his head and flashes a toothy grin at Moon, “While you’re away the full moon’s power will be weakened and it will wane, that will make it easier for another god such as myself to regulate it. You should leave now Moon, the next cycle is about to begin. If you want to give yourself the most time to explore then you should leave just as the cycle begins anew. You can exit the system and re-enter only once each cycle. I will come up with an explanation for Maiden and the other gods and goddesses, don’t worry about a thing little moon.” His warm smile and his endearing eyes left no doubt in her heart, she believed the boy, trusted him and his information—just as he wanted her to.
There are no known signs of other life forms outside of the system, and when a divine being leaves the safety of the system they risk never being able to get back home. Sun had gotten what he wanted. He had gotten rid of Moon and with her gone the full sun could finally envelop the Earth.
Moon wasted no time and set off on her journey immediately, each second another opportunity to discover something new. “Goodbye Sun, take care of the full moon for me- and tell Maiden I’ll be back for supper by next cycle!!” With a final wave goodbye Moon takes off for her adventure, she flies through the cosmos on a road made of pure energy, a road only she can access. She giggles to herself as she flits past Pluto and comes to a stop, “Oh how exciting!! I’ll be the first to learn about these new life forms, I’ll be able to see completely new things, things I’ve never even imagined before!!!” With that, she reaches out and pushes herself past the threshold of the system.
She looks behind her in glee at having really done it, but she’s greeted by something unexpected. Her smile fades when her silver eyes land on the full moon, her full moon, diminished and small—and the sun now an immense sphere of searing light. Something is wrong. “NO!” A scream rips through her, sending energy flares all around her. This is how she notices the barrier. The waves of energy she sent out hit an invisible wall before her and fade out. Tentatively Moon reaches out her hand and lightly taps the barrier, as if afraid that it will shock her. When nothing happens she tries again and this time she lays her palm flat against the surface, it’s cold and warm all at the same time beneath her touch. “No, no no no NO-” A harsh sob rips through her and reality washes over her.
“SUN! HELP ME! PLEASE PLEASE!!!!!” Moon bangs her fists against the wall furiously, a frenzied panic overwhelming her. Her eyes scan the system before her, her home. She can see it all, all the way to the divine dwelling where Sun stands with a grin on his face and a newly placed crown on his head. Moon’s breath stills, her fists go slack and fall back to her side. “He tricked me…” Her silver eyes are turned a dirty gold by the reflection of the massive full sun, no longer is it simply an orb but now it has formed into a star.
Moon steadies herself. Breathes. Turning her gaze back to her full moon she gathers up her power and once again reaches reaches reaches towards the barrier. Her immense power pushes against the barrier, but it does not break. She continues, the barrier recedes further—whilst she takes back ground from beyond the barrier, the full moon grows brighter and shimmers with her magic. Moon continues this herculean task till she can no longer. She pushes and she pushes but the barrier will bend no further. By now Moon has drawn herself near enough that the full moon now glimmers brilliantly in its entirety, no longer cast over by shadow. So Moon, now desperate, pulls the planetary body toward her. The rise of her power affected the planets across the system, on Earth the oceans toil and the tides grow high, pulled up by Moon’s reaching hand. Until she could reach no longer—subsequently being flung out into the cosmos once again.
Moon refuses to give up and now spends her eternity caught in the same cycle of reaching. With Moon’s endless efforts come the phases of the moon and the rising of the tides. When the full moon illuminates the sidewalk at night and one can feel magic hanging in the shadows, that is Moon, reaching eternally for her moon, for her home.