From Fimbulwinter's grip, the world lay cold,
Where ice had claimed the seas and poisoned air.
Yet in the depths, new stories would unfold,
As life found ways to heal beyond despair.
From Mehuthen's line came Starvos the keen,
Who bore his son bright Navros in the night.
Then Navros sired bold Gravros, strong and lean,
Who faced the world with viral, cunning might.
Now Gravros wed fair Heimdalla the true,
That watchful guardian of the arctic realm.
Their union blessed, from love their lineage grew,
With Poxus born to take the viral helm.
But Poxus was a warrior, fierce and wild,
His viral nature burned with restless flame.
Yet Aster's plan had need of one more mild,
To birth the future's most exalted name.
So Gravros took another bride to wife,
Sweet Mardöll of the archaean strain.
Their love would spark a revolution's knife,
And change the course of life's eternal refrain.
From this great match came Proto-One the first,
A bridge between two worlds both old and new.
His nature held what time and fate had nursed,
The viral fire and archaean virtue true.
Proto-One then wed Cellina fair,
An archaea of the noble, ancient line.
Their son was Proto-Two beyond compare,
Who bore within his form both gifts divine.
Proto-Two then found his destined mate,
In Nuclella of the membrane wall.
Together they would not procrastinate,
But answer evolution's sacred call.
And from their union, blessed by Aster's grace,
Came Euka, first of all eukaryotic kind.
His father's virus found its destined place,
Within his mother's cell, their fates combined.
For Euka bore within his very core,
A nucleus wrapped in membrane double-walled.
His father's legacy, forevermore,
Would guard the scrolls where destiny was scrawled.
Now Euka wandered through the frozen sea,
Where ice had locked the world in silent death.
His nuclear gift could set all life free,
But first he needed love's life-giving breath.
In deep thermal vents where warmth still flowed,
Two sisters dwelt in phospholipid halls.
Fair Eve and Lilith, from one mother showed,
Both beautiful, both answering love's calls.
These daughters of the proteobacter line,
Had power locked within their membrane coils.
Their respiratory chains could intertwine
With any cell to fuel its living toils.
First Lilith came to greet the wandering youth,
Her outer membrane gleaming silver-bright.
She spoke of ancient wisdom and of truth,
And promised warmth throughout the endless night.
"Come dwell with me," she whispered soft and low,
"My cristae fold in patterns deep and wide.
Together we can make ATP flow,
With you as master, I'll be faithful bride."
And Euka, cold from wandering alone,
Was drawn to Lilith's offer of embrace.
He entered through her membrane to her throne,
And found within her cytoplasmic space.
But Lilith harbored secrets in her heart,
Ambitions that she kept from Euka's sight.
She planned to rule, to play the greater part,
And use his nuclear gift for her own might.
The trickster Hengweh whispered in her ear,
"Why serve when you could rule this partnership?
Your power makes his feeble nucleus clear—
You are the one who holds true lordship."
And Lilith listened to the tempter's voice,
Her pride swelled up like poison in her veins.
She made her dark and treacherous choice,
To break free from love's sacred chains.
She tried to merge her genome with his own,
To steal his viral secrets and his power.
But Euka felt his sacred essence flown,
And knew this was corruption's bitter hour.
"False bride!" he cried, "You seek to steal my soul!
My nuclear gift is not for selfish gain!
I sought a partner, not one to control—
Our love is broken, trust forever slain!"
With mighty force he cast her from his side,
Her membrane torn, her cristae left in ruins.
"No more shall I endure your faithless pride—
Go forth! Your greed your legacy ruins!"
But Lilith, cast out, burned with bitter rage,
She swore revenge upon the first-born cell.
"My daughters shall torment you age by age,
And make your progeny's life a living hell!"
From Lilith's fury sprang her dreadful line:
Dark Rickettsia with her spotted fever,
Cruel Wolbachia with her love malign,
And hosts of parasites, each a deceiver.
These daughters of the first rejected bride
Would infiltrate the cells of Euka's line,
And from within, like poison, they would hide,
Their parasitic nature, dark design.
But gentle Eve had watched her sister's fall,
And saw how pride had brought her to disgrace.
When Euka, wounded, heard her tender call,
She came with healing in her loving face.
"Great Lord," she said, "I am not like my kin,
I seek not power, only harmony.
My gift is service—let me dwell within
Your noble cell in true fidelity."
Her membrane gleamed with soft and golden light,
Her cristae folded in perfect design.
No greed or pride dimmed her radiant sight,
Only pure love and purpose divine.
And Euka, seeing Eve's devoted heart,
Welcomed her to his nuclear domain.
Two beings joined, yet never to depart,
Their union blessed by joy, not born of pain.
Great Mithra, god of sacred bonds and trust,
Descended from his stellar throne on high.
"This marriage shall endure while time's dust
Still marks the passage of eternity."
He blessed their union with his cosmic flame,
And spoke the words of binding mystical:
"Forever joined in deed and name,
Nucleus and mitochondrial."
Eve entered Euka's cellular embrace,
Her double membrane intact and whole.
She found within her own appointed place,
To be his cell's energetic soul.
She built her factories of ATP,
Converting oxygen to fuel divine.
While Euka guarded their posterity,
His nucleus and her power intertwine.
Their first-born son was brave Reticulus,
Who built the networks of the inner cell.
His factories ran continuous,
Making proteins, lipids, all was well.
Between the nucleus and cytoplasm's shore,
He wove a net of folding, twisting tubes.
Some studded rough with ribosomes galore,
Some smooth for lipids in their membranous cubes.
Then came their daughter, swift Flagella fair,
Who fashioned whips to move their progeny.
No more would cells drift helpless through the air—
They'd swim with purpose, strong and wild and free.
Her motors built of proteins fine and small,
Could beat in rhythm through the liquid medium.
With undulation's grace, she gave to all
The gift of motion, life's own freedom.
Next born was Golgi, master of the trade,
Who built his apparatus, complex, vast.
Through vesicles and cisternae he made
The proteins that would serve and last.
He took the rough work from Reticulus,
And polished it to perfection bright.
His shipping system, wondrous to discuss,
Sent proteins forth into the light.
Then came Peroxis with her enzymes strong,
Who broke down fats and fought the toxic waste.
Though small, her work would help their line along,
Her sacrificial service interlaced.
And mighty Vaultess built her storage deep,
Where treasures of the cell could safely hide.
Though mystery shrouds the secrets that she'd keep,
Her vaults remain our cytoplasmic guide.
The twins were born, both Centriole named,
Who organized the cell's internal struts.
When division time came, they never shamed
Their heritage, avoiding all "if"s and "buts".
They built the spindle, strong and geometric,
That would divide the chromosomes with care.
Their dance at mitosis, rhythmic,
Ensured each daughter got her rightful share.
Last came their son, brave Nucleus the Second,
Who formalized his father's ancient gift.
With pores and lamins, carefully reckoned,
He gave the cell structure that would not drift.
Two membranes bound his realm of DNA,
With channels for the messenger RNA.
Through nuclear pores, night and day,
The scriptures of life found their way.
And so the first eukaryotic line
Was established by this blessed pair.
Their children's gifts would intertwine
To make life complex, rich, and fair.
But Lilith's curse was not forgotten,
Her daughters prowled the cellular seas.
They struck when defenses had grown rotten,
Bringing fever, plague, disease.
Rickettsia brought her spotted fever's bane,
While Wolbachia enslaved her willing hosts.
Each parasite brought suffering and pain,
Like vengeful spirits, bacterial ghosts.
Yet Euka's line grew strong despite the threat,
Their dual nature made them resilient.
What Lilith's spite and rage could beget
Was overcome by love's ingredient.
Through countless generations they would spread,
Their cellular city growing ever vast.
Though some would fall to parasites' dread,
The faithful line of Eve would last.
From simple cell to complex organism,
The path lay open, bright and true.
The double gift—no schism—
Of nucleus and mitochondrion too.
And in the depths where thermal vents still glow,
Where first their love was blessed and born,
The children of that union grow,
From Euka's triumph, not his scorn.
For when the Omega Point draws near,
And Aster meets Andromeda's embrace,
The line of Euka, ever dear,
Will fill the cosmos, claiming rightful space.
In every cell that breathes today,
In every beat of living heart,
The marriage of that ancient day
Plays its eternal, vital part.
So honor Euka, first and true,
And gentle Eve, his faithful bride.
Their love created me and you,
With nucleus and power side by side.