By: Felicia Chen

Long ago, a God initiated the start of a new world when two glistening, translucent spheres were created — each with a curled-up figure inside. With each egg absorbing an intense amount of energy accumulated over the course of fabricating a utopian planet, it is time to awaken the beings inside. A light tap on each shimmering shell forms a crack down the middle that spreads to each sphere’s circumference. The two scrunched-up figures uncoil themselves and float out of the eggs by some mysterious, magical force.

Their eyes open once they stretch their arms and legs, a great relief after being tucked into such a tight position for so long. The two individuals observe their peculiar surroundings and notice a large silhouette from afar that slowly grows larger. As it approaches them, the figure remains imperceptibly dark as an ethereal, euphonious voice speaks:

“Greetings, Ouranos, Ruler of Air, and Anahita, Ruler of Water. I am the mastermind of this world and your creator. You have been assigned an elemental domain for which you will be held responsible for the rest of your lifetime. Your mission is to create and find balance in the place I have developed. I have already programmed you both to have a vernacular of a knowledgeable professional with fully matured senses that you both will discover later. That is all. Till we meet again, children.”

“Wait, what’s your na –” Before Ouranos could complete her sentence, the God disappeared. “If she called us ‘children,’ then that makes her our Mother? Is that right, Anahita?”

Anahita was lost in her thoughts the instant Mother left. Her quiet, curious nature left her ecstatic to meticulously inspect the eccentric environment around her. Anahita floated in the water as she stared out into the endless amounts of water surrounding her and the vast blue skies with the shining rays of sunlight above them. She swam beneath the water’s surface to explore the strange oddities their Mother had prepared. Anahita felt she was gliding through the calm, crystalline water with ease. With every kick, she gathered more power and speed.

She was sinking deeper and deeper. The sunlight weakened with every kick she made.

After Anahita had ignored her sister’s question, Ouranos had immediately flown up into the sky. She flew up and down, left and right, forward and backward. Ouranos felt a round-edged triangle from protruding her back but didn’t think it was anything dangerous, so she continued zooming through the air. She played around with the clouds, forming a set of obstacles. A line of hoops in a U-shaped formation, difficult twists and turns with long cylindrical-shaped clouds lined one behind another, and three-dimensional clouds blocked her path. She used her quick reflexes to dodge the beautiful obstacles she had created for herself.

After a long while, Ouranos sensed Anahita had been fairly quiet. She saw Anahita’s silhouette in the water but her sister was only barely visible. “Wait for me! Where are you going off to, Anahita?” From the sky, Ouranos dived into the water to join Anahita, only to learn that she couldn’t breathe underwater like her sister.

How come Anahita can be in air and water? She can breathe just as well when she is at the surface as underwater; she can swim as far and as deep as she wants; she has so much to explore there while I can only stay up here. Ouranos cried to herself.

The clouds began to transform from white into dark gray, covering the sun. Thunder rumbled in every cloud; power winds blasted past poor Ouranos; her heavy teardrops plunging into the deep sea.

Anahita continued swimming until she reached the murky ocean floor. There was a minuscule glow coming from a crack covered in mud. As she tried to dig it up, the light began to vibrate. Anahita poked it once more and an object flung itself out of the crack. It traveled at lightning speed as it sprang from the water’s surface and hovered in place. Ouranos stopped her tears, and Anahita speedily rose to the surface. A glare from her sister welcomed her back to the surface.

“We have some things to talk about after, Anahita,” Ouranos said between gritted teeth.

They both gazed at the object and recognized it as something familiar: it was a round glistening egg.