2The creation of the world, as told by word of mouth between fishermen and pirates, and written down for posterity by Diamante Civikratis, one of the deposed High Council members of the former republic of Politicka:
In the beginning of existence, there was only water and air, stretching far and wide to infinity and beyond. Then, the brother gods Sun and Moon appeared. With them came change, and with change came time. Because they quarreled over whose light would shine first, Sky brokered a peace so that they did not have to exist in the same plane as each other. Thus, Sun took the daytime, and Moon took the nighttime.
Meanwhile, from within the liquid nothingness below came forth a bed of foam. Calypso emerged as the physical form of the sea goddess. Unlike her sister, Calypso wasn't content to stay in suspended animation for all time because she was bored easily. When she learned to move her waters, she became fixated on stirring and churning the ocean. She enjoyed disturbing the surface even more because it annoyed her vain sister who liked looking down at her reflection. Yet, Calypso eventually grew bored of that activity and began to populate her waters with countless pets. The more playful and peaceful of them—whales, turtles, dolphins, orcas—became her favorites. Calypso and her pets had fun exploring the ocean's depths, and she would hide treasures everywhere below for her pets to find them.
Sky fell in love with Sun and Moon but couldn't choose between them. Sun's reliable light gave her warmth and made Sky even more beautiful by changing her body into different colors, but he didn't want children. Moon's light was less reliable because he tired out more easily and needed one night every few days to sleep and regain his energy. Yet, he was more than happy to promise to give Sky children so she had company when he was asleep. As a result, Sky took them both for consorts. Sky and Sun never had children as per his wishes, so she and Moon had millions of bright stars to be with her at night when Moon had to rest.
Sky eventually noticed something was amiss when she became confused for a brief moment that she accidentally had made more children. Yet, she realized it was their reflections off of the sea's smooth surface. As she couldn't find her sister above, Sky assumed a physical form, Celeste, and dove into the depths of the ocean. At the bottom, she found Calypso lying listlessly on a bed of sea grass. Her sister didn't move an inch as Celeste settled next to her.
"Dear, I noticed the waters above have stopped moving," Celeste began. "What ails you?"
"Nothing," said Calypso. "I'm bored. Unlike you, I don't have husbands and children to keep me so busy."
"That is true," Celeste conceded. "Yet didn't you like being untethered to anyone so you can be free to roam around wherever you please?"
"That was when I knew I could still have my sister around," Calypso said crabbily. "Then she replaced me with others."
"Don't be like that," her sister chided. "I'll always love you. It's just my heart is large and has much more love to give. It's also not my fault Sun and Moon love me in return."
"I have love to give too!" Calypso snapped. The ocean around them began to pulse with her anger. "You'll see!" Calypso swam away. Sensing her distress, all her pets gathered around to try to comfort the sea goddess, but she waved them away. "I want someone to love me too!" she told herself before she began to collect every piece belonging in her domain. She took vibrant corals, fluttering sea grass, and even chunks of rocks that made up underwater mountains. After twenty-seven days of gathering, Calypso began to combine these materials until she created her own consort.
"You are Monde," Calypso said once her new consort opened their eyes. She lovingly took one of their hands. "And you are my love. We will create a family together."
The sea goddess's initial happiness soon turned to dismay when she saw that Monde didn't tolerate the ocean well. Despite being made of materials found in the sea, the combination of the materials used to make them and the strong currents that moved the water around caused the new god to slowly fall apart or erode. Calypso tried her best to put her consort back together or replace broken parts, but Monde grew frustrated with their imperfect existence.
Despite her pleas to stay, Monde went up to the surface and used their new powers to create land for them to reside on at night. Seeing Calypso upset every time they visited her under the waters, Monde tried to make the land enticing by creating rivers and lakes, but Calypso scorned these pitiful imitations of the sea. She pleaded and cried for Monde to return to her permanently, but when they refused, Calypso unleashed her anger on the land. Tall waves crashed down on it. Monsters rose from the shores to drown and wash away the soil. Underwater tremors shook and ripped the land apart.
After several days of enduring this abuse, Monde confronted their maker. "How cold is your heart that you would let me die just to stay with you forever at sea?"
Calypso replied, "That same sea you scorn is your true home. You were made from things found in it. Now come back! Don't abandon me like my sister."
"Why can you not visit land just as I visit the sea? As I was made by you, that means you do not need to choose one or the other to live because the land is a part of you."
In shame and embarrassment, Calypso called back her waters. Monde created animals different than the ones that lived at sea in order to compete with and destroy the monsters that now lurked on land. Not long after, the animals were accompanied by the first two humans who rose from the sea to take their first step on shore. Together, Calypso and Monde taught their children how to hunt and how to sail so that their descendents could learn to adapt to any environment the humans encountered.
As the centuries passed, the majority of these human descendents slowly forgot where they came from. They had their hands full taming the animals and conquering the monsters. Then they fought each other for claim to the meager amount of land that Monde made. Many now go their entire lives never setting their eyes on the ocean and are even content with the rivers and lakes that make up for the sea. They prefer the solid refuge of land like Monde. Yet, among these humans, some can't help but look out toward the distant but thin line between Sea and Sky. These chosen few still contain in their souls the restlessness for true freedom that was Calypso's greatest gift to her children. They alone can hear Calypso calling to her descendants to return to her. Some of them even heed this call and set out to the place of the beginning.