Aurora Borealis

         Long ago, there was a family with two children. The first child was a beautiful and healthy girl. They named her Patranone. A few years passed and the mother bore a second, tiny child. Being born under the twilight, her father named her Aura. The children grew up playing and fighting with each other as siblings often do, but as they each grew older, the parents of these children began to favor the radiant Patranone. As the years passed, Patranone grew more beautiful, more charming, and more dazzling than any other girl in all of the land, but she grew ever more unhappy. She began to believe herself to be worthy of more than the life she had been given. Patranone then decided to leave her family to seek the life she always dreamed of.

         After Patranone left, her parents grew more and more bitter as the years passed. Their beautiful daughter had been a light in their lives. A light which often blinded. She blinded them so much, that they ceased to notice the tiny Aura. She understood that the favoritism was an element her parents could not avoid in Patranone's light. This lack of attention made Aura resourceful and deep thinking in her solitude. But in time, Aura became very lovely and beautiful too. She possessed a beauty far different from her sister's. Whereas Patranone's beauty was forceful and obvious, Aura's beauty was subtle and mysterious. Those who had been blinded by Patranone's light never noticed the lovely Aura. This being the case, Aura had no idea that she was beautiful.

         Aura's bitter parents, grieving over their runaway daughter, sent tiny Aura after her sister to bring her home. As Aura left her longtime home, she looked back. A few steps into her journey, and her parents  already had returned to the house without a wave of farewell.

 

Patranone

         Patranone ran off to the North where she caught the eyes of many men. The princes tried to win her hand with extravagant riches, but she only had her eye on the great Prince Borealis. He had an enormous amount of power in the land. He was a beautiful man with unlimited riches, but he was in love with someone else. It was said by his people that he was heartsick, because the woman he loved would not acknowledge  him. Weeks later, it was rumored that the Prince had given up on his hopeless love. Upon hearing this, Patranone entered his royal house and pleased the great King and Queen (the parents of Borealis) with her loveliness. They too were blinded by her light, and strongly encouraged their son to offer her his hand in marriage. Borealis loved his parents very much and agreed to marry the beautiful Patranone. An extravagant wedding was thrown and the beautiful couple were married. Patranone noticed that the Prince was not as enthusiastic about their marriage than she expected, and knew that Borealis still thought about his former love. Months  later, she watched as he left their house in an ominous cloak and headed toward the woods. She followed him as he approached a small cottage in a clearing. From behind the cottage approached a woman not much younger than herself. She had long dark hair and a tiny frame. She was holding a basket filled with flowers and greeted Borealis warmly. Patranone watched as her husband offered to carry the young lady's basket in warm tones. Tones that he would never use with her. She was enraged and ran furiously to the temple of Aphrodite to ask for her vengeance against this strange woman for the crimes committed against her. The goddess heard her prayer and gifted her with the ability to charm people with her speech. With this ability, she could cause all people to obey her words out of pure love.

 

 

Aura

         Coming out of her home country, Aura followed the rumors surrounding a beautiful young lady. It seemed to her that her sister left a trail of broken hearts. This was not surprising considering what she knew of her sister. Despite her disapproval, Aura loved her sister very much. Over time, the two sisters became close friends. As children, they played together, and when they grew older, Patranone became her only friend. While the whole town was hypnotized by her light, Patranone would be the only one who would talk to her. There was also envy in the sisters' relationship. Aura envied Patranone's beauty and the love she received. She envied the attention given to her sister from her parents, but because the sisters were so close, Aura never uttered a complaint. She kept her feelings inside of her out of love for her sister.

         As she approached the Northern lands, she heard rumors of a beautiful woman who was pursued by all of the richest princes of the land. She headed off in the direction of these rumors but soon became weary of her journey. She knocked on the doors of a cottage for hospitality. An elderly couple welcomed her warmly, fed her, and gave her rest for the night. They also gave her directions to another cottage that would also offer her hospitality on her journey. Upon departing the next morning, she ran into a young man in rich clothing and a kind face. He was a beautiful man, and from his dress it was obvious he had access to unlimited riches. Aura cast her eyes down and apologized for interrupting his journey when he smiled warmly and offered her assistance in her journey. Aura declined and continued. As she walked away, the young man was captivated by her mysterious beauty. Upon returning to his house, he saw the same tiny young woman enter a trail into the woods. He followed her as she entered a clearing with a small cottage. As he watched her, he fell more and more in love with this strange and delicate woman. Aura entered the cottage and puzzled over the rumors in the land. All of the rumors seemed to gather and intensify as she entered this part of the land. Realizing that her sister would be near, she asked for, and was granted a prolonged stay in the cottage.

         The next day, the young man Aura ran into approached her and introduced himself as Borealis. He would try numerous ways to attract her attention, but the tiny Aura would always have her mind elsewhere. Whenever Borealis would take her anywhere, she always seemed to be searching for something and would not acknowledge his growing love for her. Borealis realized his pursuit was futile, and Aura was now making excuses for not going with him. So in order to continue to see Aura, he approached the cottage and promised Aura that he would assist her in any way possible in her mysterious search. Aura was warmed by Borealis's promise, and they became good friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Crossroads

         After a series of Borealis's visits, Patranone decided that the witch that stole her husband's heart from her deserved to be chased to the very ends of the Earth. She made special sacrifices to Aphrodite and Hera before proceeding with her plan. The many Gods and Goddesses were very entertained with Patranone's little crusade, but the goddess Nemesis disapproved.  She had been watching Aura's journey and understood that there was nothing unjust in her actions. With this, she descended and warned Aura to flee, for her sister was calling for her blood. Aura would not heed Nemesis's warning, because after so many years, she yearned to see her sister. Patranone's Charmspeak gathered the soldiers and citizens of the land to aid her in her mysterious chase. Her  speech even charmed her husband who, after hearing his wife's lovely voice, became entranced. Aura stood outside of her cottage in anticipation of her sister, but Patranone's hatred clouded her eyes. As the angry people charged, and Aura had no choice but to run. The goddess Nemesis took pity on her, gave her swift feet, and guided her North, but the other gods and goddesses granted Patranone's people great speed also. They ran in hot pursuit all the way to the Northern Pole. Here Aura ran until she reached the very edge of a cliff of ice and finally faced her pursuers. She saw the face of her beautiful sister, mad with hatred, and the handsome face of Borealis looking back at her. There, with emotions of betrayal and sadness, Aura jumped off the cliff and into the twilight under which she was born. Her broken heart shattered her body into millions of shards of sand, each glowing with a different dying emotion. Reds for betrayal and blues for sadness. Nemesis, with great sadness, took her shards and blew them into the sky where they whispered across the twilight stars. When these lights illuminated the sky, Borealis came out of his trance, realized what happened and, took a soldier's sword and pierced himself with it. In shock, Patranone kneeled in front of her dying husband. His last word was clearly spoken: Aura.

         Now, without her rage, she realized what she had done. As her eyes unclouded, the enormity of her mistake caused her to cast up her spirit in despair. Her body instantly turned to ice where she would always be reaching out to catch the sister who had already fallen.

         The mysterious lights were named Aurora Borealis to tell the story of the beginning and end of Aura's twilit life.