In the beginning, the Powers awoke, the first offspring of Life, and they knew it was their role to craft form and order from the chaos, and to make the Universes fit for all the life that would follow. And so they began to devise shapes that matter and energy could take, and to impose rules that the creation would obey.
One ordered energy into a form most fit to nourish that life, and so were introduced Light and Heat. Another crafted sources to produce that light and heat, and began to kindle them across the expanse of creation, and so were introduced Stars.
One set rules by which these stars, and other bodies crafted, would remain whole, and which would help govern their motion, and so was introduced Gravity. And some began to order the stars into great groupings, that their placement and paths would not be random, but would form an ordered dance throughout creation, in many great pinwheels of light. And so were introduced Galaxies.
Now one of these Powers was tasked with the defense of the life under them from all that might trouble it, and she was both strong and swift, that she might carry out her purpose. And she saw that her brother stood apart and did not lend his aid to creation. So she flew to him, on his perch at the edge of the Universe, and she asked, "Brother, why do you stand here alone, while all others carry out their work?"
And he answered, "I have not yet conceived of something worthy to add to this creation."
"Surely," she answered, "anything you imagine would be worthy, and as glorious as its creator." For his beauty and glory were unrivaled among the Powers.
"All that has been created is glorious," he told her. "But I see that each creation follows on from the next, taking inspiration from what came before. I would introduce something new, something that no one else could have ever conceived, and would thus have it known that here is truly something special, something worthy to add to these Universes we craft."
"And will you remain here, alone, until you conceive this thing?"
"Yes, for here I can see all that passes, and may perhaps better decide what I would create. Or do you think me foolish and vain?"
"No," she told him, "for you are my twin brother, and I would never give you less than my support and my love. But in any case I understand your desire. Seek your inspiration, then, and know that I stand by you, even when I am called elsewhere, for we are two halves of a whole, though you seem alone to all others."
And she hung two stars, side by side, where he could see them always from where he stood, in token of this.
Now the Powers had taken thought for where much of the life that was forming might dwell, and they set energy, and matter, to gather about the stars, and to form habitats of many forms and substances, that circled the stars, or each other. And so were introduced Planets, and Moons,and many other bodies. And many forms of life grew and flourished upon them, and among them.
The Powers watched and governed as necessary, and guided all energy to flow through all that was, as a great current ever expanding, yet never diminished, as creation itself continued to expand. And it seemed that all would grow and thrive without bounds.
The Defender of Life came again to her brother, and she asked, "Have you still found nothing to contribute to our work?"
He said that he had not, but would continue to seek inspiration.
"It may be," she said, "that by the time you act, all else will have been long created, and by merely contributing something new after so long a gap of time will your efforts be unique."
"You know I would do better than that," he told her. "I would be known to our brethren, and to all others, for true inspiration."
"I know it. But already the children of Life form stories of their own about us, and of what we have done, and see it through their own myriad perspectives. It may be that they will say of you, 'he lost his way on route to creation, and so was his contribution late.' Perhaps you will be known as a patron of the slow and wayward, or a lord of those with poor sense of direction."
And he smiled and said nothing, for he knew that she jested, but her own merriment rang through the heavens, and so was introduced Laughter.
After she had gone, however, his mood was somber, for he still sought a great inspiration, and he was no closer to one. He did not wish to wait until great ages of creation had passed, and all life had formed their stories and their myths, with little room left for new additions.
Furthermore, a nebula now hung between his perch and the two stars his sister had placed, obscuring his view of her testament. This frustrated him, but it could not be helped. "For," he noted, "all that is introduced becomes part of creation, even that regrettably-placed nebula, and so it must remain, for the process cannot go backwards."
Then he stopped, and thought, "Can it not? Cannot what is, cease to be, and what begins… also end?" And he knew that he had found indeed a unique thought, a concept that no other had or would conceive. And perceiving that his time had come at last, he arose in excitement from his perch and declared that it should be, that all matter should slowly wear, and all energy slowly disperse, and everything that was would eventually end. And the current of the creation's energy was broken, and it began to be lost, never to be regained. And so was introduced Death.
Then the other Powers were greatly angered, and the Defender said to her brother, "What have you done? We were born to serve Life, and you have betrayed it, and doomed it, and all that we have created."
And he was hurt, and angered in turn, and answered, "You knew that I sought a contribution that could not be compared or equaled, and you promised that you would support me, always. Yet now you condemn me for that very accomplishment, and speak words of scorn. So tell me, which has truly betrayed the other?"
"Brother," she said sadly, "I would always have supported you if I could. But remember that I am also tasked with the protection of all life, and now you have become its greatest enemy. I am left with no choice but to oppose your work, whether it be a betrayal or not."
Her words wounded him deeply, but he concealed it in his pride, and hid his hurt beneath his anger. "If that is your stance," he said coldly, "then let it be that we are enemies. And I will continue to be an enemy of Life as well, since you so name me, and afflict it as sorely as I may. Then perhaps you will regret your haste to scorn me and my work."
"So be it," she said flatly. "You have made your choice, but still I must fulfill my task."
And there was battle in the heavens, in the places between the stars, as the twins fought bitterly against each other. And the other Powers joined their strength to the Defender, while her brother fought alone, as he had stood alone. And though the might of the Lone Power was great, he could not defeat the combined strength of all the others. He was defeated, and wounded, and driven from the created cosmos, and he fled far beyond the existing borders of what was, into the empty darkness. But even as he fled, he vowed that he was not vanquished, and that creation would continue to feel his touch, and to suffer from it.
Then the other Powers feared what might yet come. And the Defender said, "To me is it given to devise a countermeasure for my brother's vengeance, and his malice, that Life's children might endure them. I will grant power and knowledge to those willing to accept them, and teach them to defend themselves, and help themselves and each other. If they must die, it will not be in helpless misery, whatever he may intend." And so she and the others were determined to thwart the Enemy's designs as they might.
Yet still she grieved in her heart for her lost brother, and she looked at the twin stars she had made, and they still burned, there at the edge of the Universe. And she thought, "Though he has decreed that all things shall die, let these remain as long they possibly may, in memory, though all the rest of creation may forget them. Even when age has worn them red and cool, or if one or both collapses into a black hole, let them endure if they can. And I will not forget my brother, for in spite of everything, he still has my love."
And her grief was heard in the heavens.
And so were introduced Tears.