The Moth Crown: Mythology
The Birth of Praetris
Pronunciation guide:
Empheryne - em fair in ay
Kronyle - crow knee lay
Praetris - pr eh triss
Word count: 732
"When the universe began, long before life and even before the formation of Earth itself, there were a pair of gods: Empheryne and Kronyle. They were not the first beings to exist, but they were the closest. Siblings before there was such a concept. Together, they were the Hands of Time.
Empheryne represented long stretches of time - events far in the future and far in the past. She gazed upon a wide scale, a constantly unfurling landscape so vast it was hard to focus on a single instant. Kronyle, on the other hand, represented the miniscule passage of time. Each moment was new, and he reveled in the novelty of it all. The two complimented each other; Empheryne’s foresight and ability to look at the bigger picture kept her brother from harm, and Kronyle’s enthusiasm for the world in each instant, and each detail captured within it, reminded his sister to appreciate the small things.
The two were never seen apart. Together, they watched planets form, humanity rise, civilizations fall. They watched the birth and death of gods and the ideas they embodied. They were timeless, and they were time.
Kronyle quickly grew to appreciate the mortal world, fascinated with its temporary nature and with the passion of each moment lived. He spent more and more time with mortals, living among them sometimes for days and sometimes for decades. And he fell in love. Not only with humanity itself, but with one man. He wasn’t a noteworthy man - the son of a leatherworker whose mother died in birth - but that’s part of what Kronyle loved.
As the two grew close, Kronyle spent more and more time in the mortal world. Empheryne, used to his constant presence, grew bitter and jealous of his lover. She couldn’t understand how her brother could fall for something so temporary, and feared the pain her brother would feel once the man’s life was over. She tried to tell Kronyle this and convince him to end the relationship and spare his future feelings, but he refused, furious at the very suggestion. He tried to explain to her the nature of love and the beauty of each moment they did have, and how he could never give that up, but Empheryne simply couldn't understand. So, Kronyle turned away from his sister with a finality that cracked her bitter heart..
Empheryne decided that she would save her brother from his future pain, even if he did not agree, so she visited his lover one night - one of the few nights Kronyle was away - and she stole the time he had left in his body, bleeding every precious minute from him as he slept, and as each year abandoned him, it took physical form, sprouting wings and settling atop the goddess’s head in an insectile crown - a ring of moths adorning her hair.
When Kronyle returned to find the love of his life dead in their bed, he let out a cry of such deep agony that it shook the heavens. Empheryne heard his cries. No matter how far she went or how she tried to block them out, his pain rang in her ears, and when the wailing lasted for days and she could take it no longer, Empheryne cut off her own ears so at last her torment might end.
From her pain and holy blood, a new being was born - a child of suffering, of difficult decisions made and memories best left behind. This was Praetris, god of the past, and with his birth and the tragedy that befell the world that day, Empheryne’s and Kronyle’s roles changed. Empheryne refused to look back, unable to bear the consequences of her choice and the sight of her brother’s pain, and thus became the goddess of the future, always looking ahead. Kronyle became the god of the present, of every moment one has and the joy or pain that can be found in it, but every moment he lived was in misery, for it was a moment his love would not be able to share. He never left his lover’s side again, and as years passed a canyon carved its way through that very spot. The flow of water and time buried them, their names and their story forgotten, but Empheryne will forever bear the marks of their pain, and Praetris will be a constant reminder of her worst moment."
Bonus info:
**Statues of Empheryne always have her hair covering the spot where her ears would have been, hiding them or their absence
**Since that moment in time, the world has gotten progressively worse, the god of the present’s suffering bleeding into the world, and some gods worry that if he cannot be shaken from his lament, it may bring an end to the world itself.
