Curiously Frightening

Settle down, my children, settle down. It is time for a story. A tale of crowning glory. The first story ever told: a tale of magnificence, a tale of old. A tale even older than me, if you can believe it. Settle down, my children, sit. You do not want to miss this shit. Ah, now I have your attention. You weren’t expecting that, were you? Now, without further ado….

Fahn and Fel—more commonly known today as Light and Dark, as you already know—have existed side by side, unable to touch or communicate with one another, for more millennia than anyone can count or comprehend. For the longest time, they did nothing but push and pull at each other. Fahn harbored curiosity for Fel, pulling at him in an attempt to try and learn more about him. Fel, however, harbored fear for this element so strange and opposite from himself. Unable to comprehend Fahn’s wishes, Fel pushed her away.

One day, Fahn realized that Fel wanted nothing to do with her, and that pulling him towards her would not fix this problem. Still, her curiosity would not waver. “I will just have to go about this another way… Oh, I know! I will leave Fel alone completely, and disappear from his side. Surely, this will spark his curiosity, and then he will pull at me!”

Acting on this new idea, Fahn stopped pulling at Fel’s side and fled in the opposite direction, giving Fel free reign over the light rays she had once commanded. As she gave up her rays, he consumed them with his shadows, following her without hesitation.

Fahn reveled in her success. “I knew it! He does want to know more about me. He is just too shy to speak up or listen to what I have to say!”

Fel, however, did not see it this way. He saw Fahn’s retreat as his chance to get rid of the element he feared, in the hopes that it would finally go away and leave him be. He followed Fahn in order to consume her, fearing she would come back to consume him if he did not act first. Despite his advances, her retreat only strengthened his fear of her. “She is plotting something devious. This is nothing but a trap in order to erase me from existence!” he cried. Even still, his paranoia would not allow him to stop following her. If he could increase his shadows and steal her rays at the same time, he would surely have the advantage, no matter what Fahn was plotting.

Still intent on establishing some sort of communication with Fel, Fahn conjured up another idea. “I know! I will make something so amazing with my rays that Fel will just have to ask me if he can be a part of it. I know that he is hesitant to speak to me, but this is sure to cause his own curiosity to win out over all else!”

And so it came to pass that Fahn created millions and billions and trillions of stars. She crafted each one with care by shaping her rays into perfectly round spheres. As she finished each one, she sent it off into the distance. They say the stars are still travelling away from Fahn to this very day, spreading her love across the universe.

Of course, Fel did not fail to take notice of this. “What is she doing?! If she is not careful, those…things could land in my shadows and destroy them with their rays!” Furious, he used the power of his shadows to infect the closest star he could find. His shadows began to eat away at the star’s rays from the inside out, causing it to collapse in on itself. The raw energy his shadows had obtained from the rays only increased their power and made them hungry for more, and they began to suck in everything around them.

Still unsatisfied, Fel began to infect more and more of Fahn’s stars with his shadows. Fahn had started this war with him, and he was going to take extra steps to make sure he finished it. Maybe if his shadows could consume all of her rays, he could finally live in peace and harmony without fear of her constant interference.

Naturally, Fahn only saw Fel’s actions as an invitation. “Yes, that’s a brilliant idea, Fel! Using both my rays and your shadows, we have created something entirely new! Oh, this is so exciting! Much better than that monotonous game of tug-of-war that we used to play.”

Fel’s contribution to Fahn’s stars had inspired her to create other things with her rays in order to see how he would affect them, warp them, and change them into something new using his strange shadows. And so it came to pass that Fahn created an entirely new element: particles of dust, which she called Mah. She sent her newborn daughter off into the distance alongside the stars that still remained unaffected by Fel’s shadows. The stars, overjoyed by the company, called Mah to dance around them.

Once again, Fel was furious. “What is this, now? Is she trying to prevent my shadows from consuming her stars? Or maybe they have some other purpose…?” Refusing to be bested, Fel decided to make an element of his own. He shaped his own new particles in Mah’s image, but he made sure they were different enough to be under his control instead of Fahn’s.

And so it came to pass that Fel sent his element of ice, Zah, to clash with Fahn’s element, Mah. Once again refusing to be bested, Fel created yet another element to aid in his assault. He created Lah, a powerful force of wind that would cause Zah to collide with Mah and consume her completely. “With these two new elements at my beck and call, your pathetic Mah shall never win!” Fel howled to Fahn, who could neither hear nor understand his taunt.

Fahn could barely contain her excitement. “I never would have thought of that! Yes, let’s keep going,” she chimed as she observed this new battle between Mah, Zah, and Lah.

Both Fahn and Fel were surprised by how these new elements acted around each other. Rather than consume each other, as Fahn and Fel did, they had somehow found a way to combine with one another. Zah began to form himself around Mah to trap her, and Lah had surrounded them both in a ferocious turmoil to further prevent Mah’s escape.

This new concept of coexisting elements was something far greater than either of them could have imagined. “Maybe I can finally talk to Fel with Mah’s help!” Fahn hoped as she watched their creations clash together.

Over time, these element balls—better known today as planets—began to settle down and orbit their companion stars in steady ovular patterns, forever tracing their baby steps. For many more millennia after the creation of planets, both Fahn and Fel watched them twirl steadily around their stars, unsure of how to proceed. While still fearful of Fahn’s influence, there was nothing Fel could do to destroy Mah without destroying his own creations as well. Although he controlled two of the three new elements, he did not know how to separate them now that they had combined so intricately with each other.

Fel minded his own business as best he could, despite still being fearful of his polar opposite who remained seemingly dormant now, though still at his side. For countless more millennia, nothing changed.

But no matter how long time went on, nothing could change Fahn’s curiosity for Fel, nor Fel’s fear of Fahn. Fahn still tugged eagerly at Fel, and Fel still pushed her away in fear. Again, Fahn became frustrated with this unchanging pattern of push and pull. She wished once more that she could find a way to establish some sort of communication with him. Although she couldn’t ask him directly, she had been sure that he enjoyed their little game of creation.

For countless more millennia, she thought. And so it came to pass that Fahn created yet another element, a tiny spark of energy. Rah, she called her, as she breathed her into existence. Fahn gave Rah to all of her stars, which in turn helped spread Rah’s warmth to their respective companion planets.

This was exactly what Fel had been dreading. He had expended most of his creative energy making two new elements, and could not bring himself to make more. Until now, Fahn had only made one. He watched in horror as Rah spread her warmth across the planets, unable to retaliate against her or Fahn.

The addition of Rah caused great change in the planets. They became more active as she shared her warm energy with them. Before long, the elements themselves began to mature. What they became are the elements we are familiar with today. Mah combined with herself and stabilized to become Earth. Lah calmed down to become Air. Zah warmed up to become Water. Even Rah was able to grow and mature from her exposure to the other elements, and became Fire with their influence.

Fahn and Fel watched as their elemental children grew and changed. On one planet, they even began to make children of their own. This planet is none other than our own, Zamalar.

These children were unique from each other in many ways, but they all had a few things in common: for one, they did not have the gift of creation, like their parents or grandparents did. They also held a part of each of the four elements somewhere within them. Some elements were more dominant than others. Lah’s children were light on their feet and capable of soaring through the skies by use of wings; Mah’s children were heavy and slow, but sturdy and capable of moving objects several times their size and weight; Zah’s children were the most adaptable of them all, able to change their forms at will; Rah’s children were rarest of all, unstable as they were, but they attracted the attention of all the other elements with the light and warmth they shared. These strange new creatures looked similar to animals, even Figma, but they were much larger than any we have seen: several times larger than any one of the Enspired Cities, if you can imagine that.

Both Fahn and Fel contemplated the appearance of their grandchildren in their own ways. Naturally, Fahn only wanted to learn more about these new creations. “Oh, how wonderful! Without even realizing it, Fel and I seem to have made something entirely new together! This is what I’ve been longing for! I wonder if he will try and reach out to me this time.”

Naturally, Fel could only be frightened of these “grandchildren.” He saw them as abominations: Zah and Lah, his own immaculate creations, had allowed themselves to become corrupted by Fahn’s own elements, despite knowing that they were the enemy. These new creations could not even be called elements themselves, for they had been combined with parts of all the elements. Just like the planet they lived on, they were impure compounds, horrendous-looking mutts, and not even powerful enough to create anything on their own. Fel was enraged at his own inability to prevent this outcome. He should have paid more attention to Zah and Lah while they were still simple fragments of ice and wind. He should have prevented them from becoming too attached to Fahn’s elements—even though he had not realized that anything as horrifying as this was possible until it was too late.

…Or was it? In a desperate attempt to set things right again, Fel reached out to Zah and Lah. “You must stop this at once,” he commanded them. “Destroy everything you have created, or I will destroy them for you: along with Mah, Rah, and everything I have created. If you value your existence, you will do this one thing for me.”

Like father, like sons, Zah and Lah had inherited much of their father’s natural terror, and they very much feared his threat. However, they had also picked up on some of Fahn’s traits from interacting with her children, Mah and Rah. They, too, were at least a little bit curious about their creations, and wished to see what they would become. Unsure of what to do, the two brothers turned to Fahn’s daughters for help. But they did not know what to do, either: they knew even less of what Fel was capable of than his sons did.

And so it came to pass that Mah and Rah turned to their mother for help, as they too were unwilling to destroy the children they had spent so many millions of years creating. Fahn listened to their concerns, but they fell on deaf ears. “Fel would never do that, sweet darlings. He is as proud of you and your creations as I! But even if it were true, there is nothing I can do to talk to Fel. I have tried and tried for many a millennia, and not a peep comes from his dark corner of the universe.”

With no one left to turn to, the four elements developed a shared feeling of hopelessness. Because of their despair, the secret of impending doom could no longer be kept from their own children. Mah’s children felt her trembling chills; Zah’s children saw his rippling cries; Lah’s children heard his whispering whines; Rah’s children smelled her sighing smoke. It was not long before all the creatures of Zamalar were aware of an indescribable danger incoming.

Fahn could not help but notice this strange behavior, and so she came to Zamalar to investigate it for herself. She reached out to each creature with her rays and talked to them, asking them what had happened that had gotten them to react in this way. One by one, they told her what they had felt, seen, heard, and smelled.

But it was already too late. No one had known what sort of doom Fel had in store for them, nor what he was even capable of; but everyone on Zamalar knew their demise had come the moment the brightest light in the sky—Zamalar’s star, Reiya—was snuffed out completely.

Just like that, night and day became eternal night. This was it: Fel was finally showing them his power, and it was worse than any of them had ever imagined. He was more powerful than Fahn, his supposed equal, and he was proving it for all to see by taking her power away.

Fahn tried to dispose of this crazy rumor going around Zamalar, but no one would listen to her. She tried to go to her children for help, but they were too frightened and confused to consider anything she had to say, either. She realized that they had not bothered to ask any questions about this strange situation. Fel’s power over Fahn was not a rumor to them: they truly believed it to be fact. They were even helping spread this “news” to everyone else. Fahn could not help but feel disappointed in her children for jumping to conclusions. Was it due to this strange reaction they were having? Was it clouding their judgment? Did they learn this behavior from Zah and Lah—from Fel?

Finally, her curiosity got the better of her. If no one on Zamalar could tell her why they were acting in this way, then her only choice was to turn to Fel for answers. She knew that she could not speak to him directly, but maybe his act of extinguishing the light could point her to some answers. Of course, she was curious about this as well: she just had to leave Zamalar to find out what had happened to Reiya. Fel had not used his shadows to destroy her, like he had done with previous stars—had he done that, then all of Zamalar would already have been consumed. Maybe he had found some way to move her?

And so it came to pass that Fahn bid the inhabitants of Zamalar farewell and disappeared into the starry night skies, leaving Zamalar’s surface darker than it had ever been. Even with the help of Rah and her dominant children, there was not enough light to go around. In Fahn’s absence, widespread panic began to consume the whole planet.

What Fahn found waiting up above caught her by surprise: Reiya was still there, shining as bright as she had when Fahn had first created her. But her light to Zamalar’s surface was being blocked by another round figure, this one much smaller. Curious as always, Fahn decided to investigate.

It was one of Mah’s children, with traces of Zah and Lah’s lineage as well. Peculiarly enough, Fahn sensed no presence of Rah within him. He was nearly opposite of Reiya, who only contained Rah and Fahn’s rays. “What is your name, young one?” Fahn asked him politely.

But there was no response. He should have been able to understand her, as he was clearly one of her descendants though Mah. Even more desperate for answers now, Fahn turned to Reiya. She was one of her first daughters, after all, and her loyalty towards her mother knew no bounds. “My dearest Reiya, what is happening here? Who is that young fellow over there?”

“His name is Lynor, dearest mother,” Reiya told her in sequential flares of vibrant light. “Fel has brought him here to prevent my rays—your rays, mother—from shining down on the lovely inhabitants of Zamalar.”

Fahn was surprised by this. “What? Why would Fel do such a thing? And how did he do it? He should not be able to control one of Mah’s children.”

“I do not know why, dearest mother,” Reiya shimmered. “Lynor would not tell me that much. But he was part of Zamalar’s surface before Fel broke him away. I watched him use the powers of Lah and Zah to do so. Then, Lynor moved here on his own to intercept my rays. I am surprised you were unaware of this.” Indeed, Fahn had been too preoccupied with her questioning of the Zamalan natives to notice such a thing. She scolded herself for her momentary ignorance.

Just then, Lynor addressed Fahn and Reiya. “I speak in the name of Fel, my one and only heritage. From this moment on, my words are not my own, but his.”

Fahn instantly became excited by Lynor’s words. Finally, she had found a way to communicate with Fel, her opposite, after countless millennia of being unable to understand his actions. “Yes, yes, go on, already!” she harped eagerly. There was a moment of silence as Lynor translated her message to Fel.

“…I have defended myself against your attacks for many millennia, but I will do so no longer. Your rays will never prevail over my shadows, foolish Fahn. I am taking the offensive,” loomed Lynor as Fel’s proxy.

Fahn did not understand this way of thinking at all. “What is all of this about, Fel? Why have you brought Lynor here to block out Reiya’s light? Whatever you have done, it is causing the inhabitants of Zamalar to act very strangely. Have you not noticed this?” Lynor translated her message to Fel.

“Oh, I have,” Lynor gloomed. “But it would appear that you have overlooked it.” With these words, Lynor drew Fahn’s attention back to Zamalar.

Fahn could not believe the chaos that had ensued in her absence. An all-out war had started between the four elements and their children. Mah had acted alone to shake the earth with deafening earthquakes; Zah and Lah had joined forces to create hurricanes big enough to swallow entire continents whole; Rah and Mah had created volcanoes that spewed angry-hot molten rock across the entire planet; Zah and Mah had formed devastating landslides; Lah, Rah, and Zah had formed terrifying dark clouds in the air that dropped water and bolts of fire down on the land. Every single inhabitant was at war with one another. They were destroying everything around them: something Fahn had never imagined them to be capable of.

Fahn turned to Fel and Lynor, still harboring nothing but intrigue for this occurrence. “Fel, this is… fascinating. I do not know what you have done, or how you have done it, but you have succeeded in creating something new. Something I never would have thought of! Please, tell me more!” Again, Lynor translated this to Fel.

“I despise the abominations we created on the planet of Zamalar. I despise even Zamalar itself. But rather than destroy these things, I have given them the willpower to destroy themselves.” Lynor’s surface dimmed with Fel’s words.

Indeed, Fel’s actions had blinded the inhabitants of Zamalar in more ways than one. Instilled with the idea that their existence was coming to a promised end, Fel had implanted in them a sense of uncontrollable fear. Unaware that Fel’s act of extinguishing Reiya’s light was completely harmless, they drove themselves insane from fear of their own imminent demise. No longer able to think clearly, they began to attack each other, and even kill one another. If life itself could be called an element, then Fel had created the concept of death, its polar opposite, on that dark eternal night. It was on this very same night that Fel came to be known to the remaining Zamalans as the Fearfather.  

“Yes, it all makes sense now,” Fahn said to Lynor so he could translate. “You could have destroyed Reiya and Zamalar, and along with them everything we created together. But, had you done that, everything between us would have gone back to how it was before, and we would just end up repeating ourselves until we arrived once again at this very moment. Yes, you desire new things just as much as I do. You desire change, so you created something new.”

Fel considered this statement. She was not entirely wrong, but he saw it a bit differently. “Something new? No. I have not added anything into existence, Fahn. Quite the opposite; I have subtracted from it.”

And so it came to pass that Fahn and Fel agreed to keep Zamalar and its constant cycle of life and death: for the time being, anyway. Both of them were satisfied with this outcome, but for entirely different reasons. Fahn was happy with Fel’s contribution to their changing of the universe with the invention of this exciting phenomenon known as “death”: the end of existence for certain individuals. With it, he had also introduced the concept of mortality, which redefined their own existence as that of “immortals.” This excited Fahn to literally no end, and to this very day she continues to contemplate her own immortality in the face of the life and death that she surrounds.

Fel, on the other hand, was satisfied in his belief that he had finally won the “war of creation” that Fahn had so foolishly started, by tricking the Zamalans into initiating their own demise. Indeed, he had taken away their immortality: something that only he and Fahn could have. To this very day he contemplates how to end Fahn’s existence whilst keeping his own, but he has yet to come up with a solution to this problem. If he does, my children, we’ll be the first to know!

Zamalar had suffered quite a bit of destruction, but life had not been wiped out completely. With Fahn’s partial influence over Lynor, she moved him out of the way of Reiya’s warmth and sent him on an endless path around Zamalar. They had agreed that, as atonement for his actions, Lynor would watch over Zamalar while Reiya was sleeping and make sure its inhabitants were never in complete darkness. Of course, Lynor still holds Fel in higher regard than Fahn, and does not comply with her wishes on all hours of every single night. They say that Lynor’s crescent shape is an imitation of Fel’s ever-smiling face, an expression he wears like a trophy of his alleged victory over Fahn.

And so it came to pass that, at long last, the inhabitants of Zamalar witnessed the first dawn in what would have been thirty days and thirty nights. The whole planet seemed to cheer Fahn’s name, the savior of Zamalar. This is how Fahn came to be known to the Zamalans as the Dawnmother.

The Night of Thirty Days had had lasting effects, however. What inhabitants were left on Zamalar were now capable of dying in a variety of ways. They harbored anger towards each other over what happened in the war, and even sought revenge that could only be satisfied by more death. Those who did not harbor such negative feelings found themselves hungering for each other’s very flesh. Those strong enough not to act on these urges ended up perishing from hunger. Those fortunate enough to avoid these unpleasant perils found their demise in old age. No matter what they did, the Zamalans had to face their new reality of mortality.

However, not all was lost. Many Zamalans were able to find peace with each other after the war, and in this they found that they had been bestowed the gift of creation: just like their parents had created them, they were able to come together and create children of their own. As new lives were brought into the world, Zamalans made sure to teach them everything they knew: including the timeless tale of Zamalar’s birth and the Night of Thirty Days—this exact story!

Little did they know that Fel had not been defeated at all, and would soon return with even more destruction once his own fear reclaimed its hold upon him. 

…But that, my children, is a story for another time.