The Origin of the Moth

The first god and goddess were made with a spontaneous flash of light and darkness which resulted in the creation of Aurora, the Goddess of light, and Noctus, the God of darkness. The sister and brother upon their existence created Earth, which they populated with people, plants, and animals. The siblings took turns watching over the small globe, at the same time, showering Earth with light and darkness; what the humans refer to as day and night. Both the god and goddess loved their creations, and kept adding more to Earth and in turn, inspired the people to create even more, such as cloth, paper, and houses. From the building of houses, sprouted the creation of towns, castles, and finally kingdoms. But despite the constant growing ability and knowledge of the people, they had grown to forget their creators, and slowly ebbed away from praising them. Although this bothered both Aurora and Noctus, they agreed they wouldn’t punish their creations, Aurora believed that they should be above jealousy and wrath, but Noctus was having difficulty controlling himself. It wasn’t until a certain mortal caught his attention that Noctus snapped, going against his sister’s wishes.

This certain mortal was Brunneis. Brunneis was a boy raised by a family of hardworking people. His father was a blacksmith who armed the king’s soldiers, and his mother mended clothes for the royal family and commoners to earn money. Brunneis was the couple’s only child and because he was small and weak, his father wouldn’t allow him to become a blacksmith. His mother however was glad because with Brunneis at home, he could help around the house.

First, she taught him to clean. She showed him the broom, the rags, and the duster, and it became Brunneis’s least favorite task to dust the house’s surfaces as it collected easily and the dust would cover his mother’s fabrics. Dust collected so quickly, he would have to dust twice a day in order to keep his family from sneezing uncontrollably. But despite his hatred of dusting, he continued to clean to the best of his ability in order to help his mother maintain the house. It wasn’t soon before Brunneis could clean the house in record time.

Second, Brunneis’ mother taught him how to cook. This was a simple task because the family couldn’t afford too much food, so the recipes she taught him were also simple. This didn’t stop Brunneis from succeeding further though. Despite the simple recipes, Brunneis was able to make the bland food interesting for he would search the woods for herbs to add to the food.

Finally, Brunneis’s mother taught him how to mend and sew clothes. He enjoyed this task the most, and ended up helping his mother with her job, as well as providing the family with clothing fit for royalty. Due to his great infatuation with this craft, and his mother’s increasing age, he took over the shop. In this way, he could continue his work, and earn money for his family as his parents were both growing too old to work. He featured his original work and continued to offer mending jobs as well. He decorated the place modestly in order to have his designs stand out and with the extra clothing he made, he would give to the poor. He also offered quilts and cloaks for them as well.

In his free time, Brunneis would venture ‘round the kingdom in search of inspiration, and when it struck, he would plunge his hand into his pack and retrieve a notebook and pencil which he used to plan out all his designs. Brunneis’ business continued to grow and became renowned all throughout the kingdom.

Due to the rising population of Earth, both Aurora and Noctus didn’t notice Brunneis and his talent at first. They were still busy implementing more materials to Earth such as gemstones and more unique flowers. While the gods were busy elsewhere, Brunneis’s business kept growing, and word reached the King of the tailor’s talent, so the King sent an emissary to retrieve the tailor.

Upon meeting, the King and the tailor became great friends. They ate together, told stories, and it was a while before the King asked the tailor to make him a cloak that would outshine the sun. He offered the tailor all the supplies he needed and after he had finished making the cloak, he would reward him with all the riches he ever asked for. The tailor happily accepted and immediately started his work. All while Brunneis was busy at work, the King took care of his parents, the King knew the great amount that Brunneis’ father and mother had contributed towards the soldiers, and the royal family. The King occasionally visited the tailor to check on the work, but mainly left him alone so he could work in peace. The King loved how the cloak was coming out, and he found that even the thread Brunneis had made was shinier than the stars that shone at night. Brunneis worked day in and day out and after a year and one day of working, at the stroke of midnight, he had finished the cloak. He was so fixated on the cloak, he didn’t notice the thick layer of dust that covered him. But he didn’t care, the cloak truly shone brighter than the sun. But the King never got to see the finished cloak, for just as soon as Brunneis had lifted the cloak from his lap to admire, a light brighter than the sun beamed out the window, catching Noctus’ attention.

Noctus saw the beam, and followed it to the castle, he peered closer to see a mere mortal, a tailor nonetheless, had replicated his sister’s power. He squinted with anger, “The audacity, the pure disrespect this person is showing. His ego matches the light of that cloak. Now, let us hope that you learn your lesson, I curse you to be much smaller and weaker than you appear right now.”

And with a flick of the wrist, Noctus turned the poor tailor into a butterfly, but the butterfly had colorful wings that put shame to his sister’s flowers, “Even in this form you spite Aurora!”

So he zapped Brunneis again, this time taking the color right off him. “Now, you will only follow my sister in praise, never to spite her again.”

So Noctus, satisfied with defending his sister, left the moth in the castle, but Brunneis had no memories of his past and in panic, for he had just met a god, nibbled at the cloak. He was still dusty from his work.

The King returned to the castle with the tailor’s parents for Brunneis had told the King he was nearly finished with the cloak. The King was preparing the castle for a grand dinner to celebrate the creation. But once the King set foot in the room where his friend had worked for so long, he found the cloak in shambles, random holes spotted its surface, and the fabric and thread that once had shone so bright, were now a dark yellow. The King cried for his friend, who was nowhere to be seen, and in honor of his best friend, supported Brunneis’ parents for the rest of their lives.

Brunneis’ shop was closed, and little by little, people forgot all about the tailor and his skills. All they came to find from his disappearance was the brown moth, a nocturnal, annoying dusty little creature that follows light wherever it goes.

Aurora never learned of her brother’s act of wrath, but Noctus never forgot. Every night when it’s his turn to watch over Earth, he watches the moths fluttering around, which only serve as a reminder of his wrath and the secret he could never tell.