Let there be light…
With these words came the light of life, a pillar of souls shining down onto the barren rock. First came the air, the atmosphere that was the planet's soul. Then the fire, the returning hearts of the mountains. Next came the waters, then the great Golden Apple trees, their Roots the pillar of the world, that quickly bore children and seeded the whole planet with green life. Creatures of all kinds began to return to their rightful place, especially the rabbits – the will of the planet really liked rabbits for some reason, liberally festooning the entire world with them. Finally came the most intelligent life, the self-aware, with the spark of destiny-shaping or even destiny-defying.
At the Tree's Roots was a hollow big enough to hide another forest, a forest of midnight and dreams, and inside lived a witch named Chai, whose duty was to watch over the world and pass on her powers to her own children and other promising girls. Those who knew of her, mostly animals and strange visitors from another world, held her in the same regard as a Goddess, until she snapped at them and told them not to.
As they looked up to the sky, the newly rebuilt planet's inhabitants wondered where Leviathan, the Wandering Star, was going next, in its journey that sent it slowly drifting through space. Some of the younger children thought they were trying to reach Heaven. Then the Elders, those who still remembered the Grand Reset, told them sternly that Heaven was barred from humanity for good, until their souls reached that land in the usual way. The Dragon was more vigilant these days, they explained, and seemed permanently angry. Others thought they were trying to reach the Moon, the birthplace of all those rabbits that nobody could get rid of, or the Sun, from which the world of Soleil got its name, as well as that of its legendary hero, Corona, whose fate could eclipse entire worlds.
And sometimes, when the skies were clear and the moon bright, they congregated at night around the Plaza Fountain, to sit on the benches and look up at the stars. In the centre of the Fountain was a white marble statue of a cat lounging regally, one paw resting on a solid gold apple. The inscription on the plaque at the base of the statue said, rather cryptically, 'I have to return now, but don't feel bad, okay?'
If you asked the old man who sat perpetually on a bench in a corner of the square, he might tell you what the sign meant, if he thought you were wise enough to understand.
