The Stygian

Story Time

"Mommy, mommy!"

A woman turned from her work at the bench, smiling when her two little girls came running up to her. "Yes dears?"

The older of the two thrust a book forward, her dull yellow pajamas rustling together. "Read us the story again!"

Her mother smiled. "Oh, that's a long book. Are you sure?"

They both nodded, one with gold hair, and the other with red-tipped ebony locks, falling down to cover both their faces. Their mother giggled and took the book from the blonde's hands, leaving her work for later. "Alright, if you're sure. Come along, let's get you two in bed."

Her daughters grabbed her hands, and pulled her out of the workroom and up the stairs. Her husband was out on a hunt this week, so the house was all but silent. She paused at the door to the girls' room, smiling as they raced to their beds. A single chair stood between the beds, awaiting its occupant.

"You two should have told me sooner," she laughed. "I'd have started reading earlier if you'd told me after dinner."

Her youngest daughter bounced on her bed. "But we didn't know we wanted you to!"

Her mother laughed again. "Alright, alright. Now, I'll start at the beginning, ok? However, I stop when I say we stop."

Her daughters' faces scrunched up at the idea, but they gave in. "Fiiiiiiine."

Their mother rolled her eyes at the simultaneous response. "Ok then, here we go."

She pulled the book open and took a deep breath. "The story of man is a complicated one, but perhaps the most disputed is how he came to be. This tale has a lesser known, mythical origin."

She glanced to her daughters and found them staring at her, bored. She hid a smirk and kept going. "In the beginning, there were two gods. The elder of the two was a creator of light and life, whilst his younger brother was a destroyer that sucked all into darkness. The eldest created a planet that, on every morning, would be filled with life, and flourish for as long as the sun held in the sky."

She glanced at her daughters again, their faces growing a tad more interested. "However, every night the younger would swallow the world in darkness, and snuff out the life that had grown. This cycle continued for untold ages, before one day, the eldest stepped forward to find a miracle."

She had their attention now. "Some of his creations had survived. From grand snakes that stretched across mountain ranges, to the smallest unicorn that could call forth lightning, they had fought off the darkness and survived. While the older brother was pleased, the younger was infuriated and went against his purpose. He made something."

Her daughters were enraptured. "What'd he make?"

She smiled at her youngest. "Hush, Ruby, I'm getting to that. Ahem! Anyway, he created creatures of shadow bearing a single purpose, destruction. These creatures were modeled after the creations of his brother, and for an eternity the two forces waged war. Eventually, growing tired of the ceaseless conflict, the older brother offered his younger brother a way to solve the dispute."

She looked to her daughters, their eyes shining. "They would make something that had both good and evil in them, so that they may choose the fate of the world. They gathered the dust of creation in their hands, and from it rose humanity. The creatures of shadow, what we now call Grimm, were unmoved by the arrival of man, but the original creations felt betrayed by the elder brother. Generations of them had fought and died in the war with the Grimm, and now they were to be replaced."