Harmony

Day nodded. "We take him in?"

Night nodded. "We take him in."

They smiled together. They gently put the stubby, ungrown form with their children. The Sun and the Moon smiled in their sleep as they found the new brother that Day and Night had given them.

Day lightened and Night darkened as the Sun and Moon learned their roles and, far before anything else, the Sun and Moon came into being.

The newest stirred as they did. He awoke, and was named Harmony, and given a task, and, foolishly, accepted.

Time clutched them all -- all but the outsider, for he was strange to the world and did not belong -- and He stepped from the near bank of the River of Eternity into its raging waters.

And the world began.

And Harmony was never again seen by any.

Except for Time.

The tall one unfolded its body from the ball it had been in. It rose onto two feet and began to walk. The trees were frozen mid-breeze and the world was silent as Harmony carefully dodged everything.

The short one did not stir.

The tall one came back, an overly trusting and oblivious elk following him. In a movement so fast it hurt the eye to see, he slit the elk's throat. The beast fell as it's life drained onto the hard rock floor under him. It was the only movement in the cave. The tall one relaxed. The blood stopped moving.

The short one did not stir.

The tall one roasted the meat from the prey over a frozen but warm fire. He stared forlornly, thanking the elk for its sacrifice, then ate the meat. It filled him with energy. He grasped the short one around its barrel and heaved her onto his shoulder.

The short one did not stir.

The tall one walked through the forest, his eyes easily picking out obstacles and his thin form moving fluidly between them. As before, he avoided everything. The frozen limbs of the half-dead trees held no menace for him, separated as he was from Time's grasp.

The short one groaned.

The tall one froze and gently set the short one down. His voice as soft as a whisper of a breeze, yet sliding effortlessly through the air like a knife, it spoke.

"Sister?"

The short one did not stir.

The tall one did not weep. It had expected no less.

The tall one arrived at a ruined castle in the forest. Six mares fought one in a brilliant display of stilled power. The tall one's face slid into an expression of regret as he walked into the stone entrance. Too long ago he had made a mistake and taken an oath he did not want, and now it forced him to fight his family.

The short one did not stir.

The six were frozen in time, eyes a brilliant white, and even those without wings found themselves floating. Their victim was as well. Her coat was a terrible, corrupted black, painful to see. The Moon had grown jealous, and now it forced her to fight her family.

The tall one pulled on the being of the Moon. She fell out of Time's grasp and found herself in his. She kept a wing over her eyes, as though expecting the beam of magic to continue and kill her. The tall one smiled and gently put the short one down, doing the same to her as he had to the Moon. She knew what must be done, though she did not know how she knew or how she was to accomplish it.

Neither saw the tall one.

The short one stirred and stood up. Her fur was the white of her Sun and her father. The Corrupt Moon noticed her and guarded herself, but the Sun did not attack the Moon as the Moon feared.

She simply stood before the Corrupt Moon, unafraid, and said three words.

"I forgive you."

The tall one smiled unseen as the Corruption bled out of the Moon. It tried to coalesce again but could only form shattered pieces, for without a host, it's power was nothing.

The Sun and the Moon embraced as Time's grasp was restored and He moved again forward, fording the River as he had for an eternity before and would for an eternity again, and the Elements slowly fell to the floor.

By the time either Grandchild of Time awoke, the tall one was again gone.

Such was his lot in life, and gracefully would he shoulder it.

The Sun and the Moon stood together before a statue of the tall one. The plaque below his figure was only two words.

"Beloved brother"

The tall one saw.

He was freed from the grasp of Time, having to step through the River on his own. The Sisters had assumed him dead and mourned him as he hoped -- begged -- prayed that his task was accomplished.

The sisters still did not see him.

For Harmony's final job had not been finished.

And somehow, in his heart of hearts, he knew it never would. Not until Time finished fording the River.

The tall one did not weep.

At the end of everything, when Time finished crossing the River of Eternity, the tall one drew level. Time smiled at his child and, together, they stepped onto the far side of the River.

The Sisters felt their world end.

And finally, after the infinity of sorrow, after billions of millennia of mourning...

The three were again one.

And as the Sun and Moon slowly stopped shining, Harmony felt his burden lift with his soul as Time picked him up.

And with his beloved sisters, his task -- his final assignment by the greatest teacher of all existence -- ended.

And together, they died.

And then Time set their souls on the far bank of the River.

And Night and Day sat next to their creator.

And then Night and Day, next to their beloved children, lay down.

And then Night lightened and Day darkened.

And they died.

And Time, as every life of every being slowly ended, sat down. He lay next to his family.

And he died.

And all was still.