How 3 became 1

Once the Universe was vastly different. It was split into three interlinked planes. There was the Void, a place of great cold and quiet. The Inferno is a place of great energy and terrible chaos. Lastly was the Firmament where mortals and beasts dwelled.

Each of the three planes was each ruled by a celestial being. Those Gods personified and exemplified their domain. Each balanced the other and was an equal part of the cosmic whole. Things worked as they should. That was how it had been since the great star exploded and the verse was created.

Ethos was the mother of the Void. She was the creator of all things firm, frosty, and contemplative. She created glaciers that melted to become the rivers and the seas and rain that made life possible for the verse. She was the shaper of hot energy that flowed from Inferno. She worked them into solid form. She made order from chaos.

Logos was the great creator. The logical one. He was the builder and crafter. The engineer who inspired the design of all things. He ruled the Firmament. From his great Workbench he shared his knowledge with mortals so that they could create wondrous things. He had an immense beard, long legs, and carried a mighty hammer on his belt.

Lastly was Pathos, the fire of endless consumption. The devourer that made energy. Pathos’ domain was inferno. The plane to which decay was sent and burned up so that energy was released. It was inhabited by fire, sparks, and all things that burned hot.

Our tale starts in the land of Void. It was an icy place and still but it wasn’t. Void was rife with chaos, wind, and violent storms. Something was very wrong in the Void. The eidolons who loomed matter cried out. The ghouls who served them scattered off to hide. The wraiths that wandered began to moan. The ice knocked about. Even the foolish mortals who had crossed Ethos were distracted from their suffering by the rumbling and tumult. All that lived in Void were afraid.

They cried out in unison to their Goddess, who was resting within the greatest mountain of the Void.

They cried, “Great Ethos! We beseech thee! Rise from your slumber! Deliver us from this ill fate!”

She did wake. Ethos slowly stretched from her long slumber and snow shook from her mountain. The frozen seas rippled and their crust cracked. The whole of the void gave a seemingly soft sigh as if the very land were relaxing because that help was on the way.

Ethos reached up and took some clouds from the skies. She donned them to cover her nakedness and then came down from her mountain to address her small folks.

She asked, “What is the matter with my denizens? What troubles my many children?”

They all replied in a chorus,“The void! The void is ill at ease! The skies grow apart! We are afraid. Please, deliver us!”

And she smiled. It was a smile that always put them at ease.

“Of course, I will deliver you from this. For in my dreams I saw the source of these ill happenings. I will correct what is wrong,” she assured them.

They fawned over Ethos. They worshiped and sacrificed to her.

They waved her goodbye as she set off to save the Void.

Ethos took the form of a great white hawk and flapped her wings skyward. She flew upward from the Void, entering the empty space between planes that connects them.

She checked Inferno first. The heat of it melted the ice from her wings. It hissed and became steam where it landed. She found Inferno abandoned. Fires were running loose. Explosions were stuck and growing far too large. Piles of decay were starting to fill up the whole place. Sparks were clashing. It was chaos but the wrong kind because Pathos was gone.

Ethos took flight again and made her way to the Firmament. She looked for her husband Logos, who should’ve been at his Great Workbench. He was not and his mortals and beasts were gone. They were in hiding and refused to come out when she called. Logos’ tools were scattered carelessly. Only his hammer was missing. The place was turning sour and mortalkind despaired.

Ethos took flight again. She flew up high, higher than anyone ever went. She, who was the mistress of frost, shivered in the blackness of other space between planes. She endured it as she started to backwards against the Universe. She pressed against matter, time, and forced her way backwards. Soon she reached a sacred place at the very edge of the Universe.

It was called The Garden. A place that only the 3 Gods knew about. It was their place, in its center was The Heart Tree.

The Heart Tree was the connector of all things. It was the pinpoint of the Verse. It was the first place that the 3 fledgling Gods had ever known. It was crafted from the energy of Nothingness by them in their primordial days, when the great explosion was still cooling.

It was the place all three God’s had dwelled for eons while they developed their skills and grew stronger. It was the mother from which everything came.

Now, underneath The Heart Tree’s vast canopy was who Ethos sought. The other Gods. The burning God Pathos waited there. They were napping against the great tree. Pathos’s long red hair was made of lava that chewed over the bark of the Heart Tree, scorching it.

Next to Pathos was the bound and very annoyed looking Logos. His beard was scorched and there was ash smearing on his apron.

Ethos descended on her wings. She landed gently, her form shifting back to that of her true celestial nature. She stood over Pathos.

“Wake you fool. What have you done?” Ethos questioned.

Pathos stirred. Great blazing eyes like seas of fire. Those eyes inspired reckless abandon in mortal hearts. They conjured destruction and made immolation. Pathos was the taker of the dead. The eater of entropy.

Pathos woke in a cherry mood. They chirped, “Oh Ethos, you’ve finally come. I’ve missed you greatly. I am so glad to see you.”

Pathos stood and offered Ethos a hug. Ethos stepped back from it. There settled a palpable tension between the two. They were soon sizing each other up.

“How about a meal? We could find a nice place to sit down together,” Pathos offered.

“I am here for my husband,” Ethos demanded.

Pathos frowned. 1000 mortals died across the Universe from broken hearts at that moment. Whole forests erupted into flames across the Firmament and much misery befell mortalkind.

Pathos replied, “You don’t have to be so cold. I just wanted to see you. There seemed no other way to compel you.”

Ethos said, “But I don’t want to see you. You must return to Inferno. The balance must be restored.”

Pathos frowned and then changed form into a giant crimson serpent. They grew longer than the longest field and coiled higher than the highest mountain. They hissed and slithered forward. They produced fangs the length of small moons that bit Ethos.

Across the Universe illnesses claimed the lives of 10,000 mortals starting their lives. They died without ever really living at all.

Ethos vomited up Pathos’s poison. She became a hawk once more and took to the sky. She swooped around and snared Pathos in her razored claws. She carried them both skyward.

Pathos screamed out in pain as they were taken from the heat of the tree into the cold of the other space. Ethos dug in her claws and Pathos’s blood rained down onto soil of The Heart Tree. It scorched the ground. 20,0000 children were born from the heat that coursed throughout the Universe. Ethos gave them a silent blessing and they lived good lives.

Ethos carried Pathos upwards until their flames sizzled out, leaving only a smoke husk. After Pathos hardened with frost she dropped them to the ground.

Pathos fell hard and left a great crater where they landed and they were broken into countless frozen pieces.

“But all I wanted was to warm you in my embrace. Is that so much to ask?” Pathos begged as they tried to coalesce into a single pool and take their shape once more. They were weakened so it was a slow and arduous process.

Ethos scoffed and changed form again. She swelled and hardened. She became rock and muscle and iron. She manifested strength and power to become a mighty earthen warrior. She was fueled by vengeful might.

The Universe trembled from her immense strength and wars broke out between mortals across all creation.

When Ethos rubbed her hands together frost was created and flung forcefully. It peppered Pathos like shrapnel and wounded them. Ethos stomped over to Logos and snatched his hammer from his belt. She leapt onto Pathos.

With one mighty swing she smashed Pathos' face. She stood and snatched up Pathos and choked the other God. They kicked and struggled breathlessly.

Ethos raised the hammer high to deliver a killing blow but missed.

Pathos turned to smoke and slipped from Ethos grasp. She tried to catch the villain once more but could not grab them.

The smoke that was Pathos entered Ethos’s mouth and nose. She choked on it. The giant warrior fell down to her knees, thrashing and gasping. She reached her hand into her mouth and forced it down her throat. She grabbed Pathos' tail and yanked them forth.

Pathos, wet from Ethos juices, was flung, shaking to the ground.

“I yield!” Pathos cried.

Ethos spit on her opponent in disgust. She shrank back down to her natural form again. She wept the icy tears onto the roots of the Heart Tree. The wetness spread through the verse and life flourished from it.

Pathos admitted defeat,“Take him! But you must give me something in return. If not, I will never leave you both alone. Not as long as I exist.”

Ethos scoffed, “Who are you to make demands?”

Pathos whispered, “I make no demand. I ask for that which I am owed as the conquered. I wish for death.”

Ethos was stunned. She turned from Pathos and met Logos’ gaze. In his eyes she saw forgiveness, she saw pity, even love for the lowly Pathos. Ethos rage softened and she moved to free her husband.

The lovers embraced and all across the Universe life bloomed. They kissed and a chorus of celestial joy rang out so loudly that the Universe grew a shade brighter. All grew happier as a result.

Logos touched his lover's brow and gave her a small memory. It was of the three Gods sitting beneath the newly created Heart Tree many eons ago. Ethos saw the Pathos that once was, a happy creature, burning brightly, full of promise and joy.

She remembered the Pathos who held her hand. She could almost feel the great steam it made again. She remembered Pathos wiping away her tears when she cried. Of how they once whispered soft promises of love and hope to one another. They’d spent so many nights and days together sharing.

She saw it clearly then. In absence of that love Pathos had broken. They’d burned too hot. They’d become wild and uncontrollable. Without Ethos to temper Pathos they went out of control. They burned everything they touched. They became pure destruction.

Logos moved kneel next to Pathos’.

“Why have you done this? Why have you attacked us? We are your friends,” Logos implored.

Pathos broken down. Tears of fire dropped to the ground and they whispered, “I am sorry. I have become bitter from being alone for so long. All I have are the flames and sparks and the bitter taste of ashes and decay on which to sup. You have each other. I can no longer endure the jealousy and envy of it in my molten heart. I’d rather burn up than be abandoned. If I cannot have your love then I would ask for silence. I wish to return to nothingness once more.’

Logos cried as he knelt down and kissed Pathos’s forehead. Logos offered them the spirit of forgiveness. He stroked Pathos’s locks and they burned again. Logos forgiveness healed Pathos’s spirit and relit their fire. That love stilled the hatred inside them for a time.

Pathos shrank as they realized what they’d done. Regret painted their fiery visage. “What have I done? In my hate I have damaged those who I love most. I have erred. Could you ever forgive me?”

Logos said, “I cannot be mad at you, Pathos. I see that you feel so small and alone. A flame cannot burn in the darkest shadows without something to fuel it. I see the immense weight that you carry. I see how it has driven you to madness. I forgive your acts of jealousy. I cannot blame you for that. I love you, even if you’ve hurt me, and I forgive you.”

Pathos cried tears which burned the ground underneath them more.

“Then help her kill me. If left alone I will grow uncontrollable once more. I know that I will only cause more pain.”

Logos gritted his teeth but nodded. “If there is no other way. We will give you what you wish for.”

He went to Ethos, who was weeping icy tears. Logos embraced her softly. They shared another kiss. After that they sat together for a time and used strands of her icy hair to weave a rope. It was unbreakable as it was formed by the energy of the two Gods. It was hardened by the love they had for one another.

When the noose was completed the duo reluctantly strung Pathos up with it.

With love they hung Pathos by the neck. Pathos purpled. They hissed. They shook. Pathos struggled but the coils would not be broken. After an eon of struggle they died. Strangely enough they had a look of great peace on their face as they stilled.

Shortly afterward Pathos started to wither to dust. Pathos drifted away. The last bits of Pathos that landed on the ground were made into a great star by the other two Gods. They shined that star up brightly and pinned it in the skies above all things. Its light warmed The Heart Tree and its light shined brightly for all time.

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To put the Universe back to balance Logos assumed half of the duties of Inferno. He stoked the fires bright and used his great tools to forge the flames. From them he created wonders unlike anything ever conceived. Each thing he made he showed to mortalkind and they learned to make, which quickened them. Civilizations became greater under his care.

The other half of Inferno was taken by Ethos, who forged it into solid matter. She helped to process destruction. She wielded Pathos’ energy and molded it. Logos and Ethos shared the burden of eating entropy. They suffered the bitter taste of it with humility.

They destroyed the old and made the new. 3 became 1. The Universe came together again but as we know it now. One great and balanced thing, tempered by Fire, Earth, and Ice. Together the Gods loved, they shared, they guided.

Ethos and Logo often looked to the great sky. When either of them felt the fire inside that they shared growing too hot, or too cold, they looked up. They remembered. They loved with renewed passion. Life flourished.