Palaton and Terela

The creation of the world

Written by weirdnon-binarywriter

No one is sure when the physical world started. It could have just popped into existence in the hubbub of the cosmos. Some, if not most, believed that it was formed over mortal lifetimes, and with that slow formation, a consciousness was created too. Her name is Terela. She was not the first deity, though. The first immortal was Palaton. They are the ruler of all things cosmic. They rule the sky and stars, all galaxies and all that goes about in them. The only thing they couldn't control was Terela. She was slow developing and stubborn. That infuriated them.

Palaton would check in on Terela every few years, growing increasingly frustrated when they were brushed off by a seemingly unbothered Terela. She would say 'But I'm developing a new species of tree that will be important when I get creatures!' or 'My rivers are dry, though. You don't want to control me when I have dry rivers, do you?' and Palaton would always leave, only to return and get brushed off again. They wouldn't admit, no absolutely not, that they were falling for Terela and her rich dark skin and eyes that felt like you were staring into that broadest of forests and the deepest part of the ocean at the same time. They refused to love her. How could a god that had never known another immortal love one? Love had only hurt them before.

Terela, being the naive deity that she was, had embraced her love for Palaton wholeheartedly. She only refused their control so they would keep coming back. She knew, by some strange notion, that once they controlled her land, her body, they would lose interest and she would fall into the catalog of worlds controlled. She wouldn't be special to them.

In contrast, Palaton wouldn't, couldn't, accept their love for Terela. It hurt thinking about the possibilities of loving her in full. They knew the only reason they met her at all was based on the selfish desire to control all they could see and touch. They wanted her to be free, but they wanted to control her. It was confusing and frustrating. They wanted to dig out their heart and lock it in a box on the outskirts of the cosmos.

On what would be one of their last trips to Castyon, Palaton wandered around one of their favorite spots. It was on the beach of an ocean yet to be named and it's land stretched far until a distant forest cut off the field. They loved running around and lying down after they were tired, curling up in the grass and savoring every little detail until, inevitably, Terela would show up and turn their oasis into heaven. She would come tumbling out of, seemingly, nowhere and attack them with affection. Rolling around on the grass, they eventually stopped from laughter. Palaton said the dreaded words they never thought would come out of their mouth again and they regretted every syllable. Terela just smiled from her place above them.

"I love you too!" She said it with such ease and confidence that they almost believed her.

They spent the rest of the day laughing and goofing around. Terela even forgot to give Palaton an excuse to postpone their control. Palaton was falling faster and faster, quickly forgetting their other duties. Worlds fell into war, greed, envy, destruction. When they finally checked on their other worlds, they were heartbroken. Their worlds were in ruins, they closed themselves off from everything. They hated themself for letting their people's lives go to that. They thought about all that had happened since they had met Terela. They didn't come out for centuries.

In the time Palaton was locked away Terela saw several deities form. But they are not important at the moment. When Palaton emerged they traveled as fast as possible to see the one person they loved more than all the creatures that were gone.

Amazed by the change Terela and the other nameless gods had made on the world, they wandered around, marveling at the strange animals living their lives. Tearing up at the thought that with more care and attention all of their people could have lived like that too. Carefree and loving one another. Terela came to check on the strange energy she hadn't felt in centuries. Palaton ran into her arms.

Palaton cried onto Terela's shoulder. They told her all they thought about in their isolated time. She hugged them tighter.

"Don't leave again."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Summary

The story of Castyon's creation and Palaton and Terela's love story.

Historical Basis

The myth is recorded in mainstream history, but most versions misgender Palaton to make the relationship straight.

Spread

The myth is spread all over the world, but as I said before it is altered almost everywhere you can find it.

Cultural Reception

The altered version of the myth is widely accepted even by people who don't follow the religion that has its basis in this branch of mythology, but the actual version, where Palaton is not misgendered, is only accepted by a small portion of the religion that had broken off 400 hears ago.

Terela goddess of the earth (Tear-el-a), Palaton deity of the cosmos (Pal-a-ton)