Chapter 0
The moon
children
A flashing blue light hurdling at them from above, is the only thing the girls could recall before it was all gone.
In a small village the hard work never stops, farmers digging around in the soil, watering their plants all waiting around for the beautiful time when it comes the plants turn to pay back, and that time has finally arrived ‘the spring harvest’.
Everything and everyone are all over the place preparing for this time. "could you bring me that Vernon?", says the man calling for his son "alright dad" responds the son as he takes the boxes and goes, ready to give them to his dad, all of a sudden,Vernon stops in his tracks right in front the door of his home to see; not too far in the distance three cloaked strangers, they were frantically talking to people, perhaps asking around for something as they would receive a shake of the head, and an up n' down look from people and passers-by for an answer. strangers were no common sight in the village, let alone ones that look like them.
it wasn't a second more that he continued staring at them before one of them turned and looked straight at him and before he could even get a chance to look at the strangers face, she yells, "that boy has dyed hair!".for the boy has a blue streak in the middle of his hair . they ran straight to him only stoping a second before a collision occurs. Vernon drops what’s in his hands out of surprise. With the hood falling down off their head he’s able to see her, she looks like no one he had ever seen before, with bright golden highlights at the start of her hair framing her face and interesting attire. And on closer inspection he sees the others, two girls neither of them can be described as a familiar sight. But before he could get another thought in the girl yells asking ,desperation clear in her voice, " sir, do you have phone!?".
She continues not even giving a chance for a breath to slip by, “ or a landline.. uhh a fax machine anything-anything we can use to contact our parents, please!”.
As he takes all this in, only one question comes to mind,“ what’s a phone?” ,and as these words escape his mouth , the girls expressions change. A look of let down falling upon their faces. Unable to fathom what she has heard , “ are you kidding me?!” Golden girl says with clear irritation in her voice. “ what..?” Vernon responds. “ what the hell do you people mean you don’t know what a phone is?! , where are we?!; in the 1700s!” She shouts . “I really don’t kno-” the boy says trying to explain himself before he is cutoff by her , and she continues “ forget it ,sorry for wasting your time sir” , and stomps away, the other two girls following lead.
Then stopping a man that was making his way back to ask him the same thing only to be met with, “ sorry girls , I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about. Hey, Vernon do you know anything about this?”. He ushers to the boy, “ no, dad” he responds, the girls even more disappointed and annoyed start making their way while a frustrated mutter follows them. But before they despair, the man spots on one of the girls arms a device that reminds him of something familiar. He reaches for them, getting their attention back and he asks “the watch on your arm, where did you get it from?” .
Girl 2: “ I don’t know, my parents got it for me”, such an answer only gets the man wondering. He places his hand on his chin while thoughts race through his mind. V: “well, it looks like no watch I have seen before” , and as Vernon says that it confirms something in his father’s mind. “You girls are not form here, are ya’ ?” . The girls turn to him immediately, golden girl : “ no we’re not, where even are we?” , v: “ in sol…” , the girls look at each other unsure of what to say. : “and where is that ?” . V: “ in the kingdom of dawn”.“ and where is that ?”. As the dad listens in onto this conversation, a sudden realization dawns upon him. “ this cannot be possible!” ,he says as he runs back to his house and starts rummaging in between the shelves and in the cabinets.
His son following him into the house, “ come on in” shouts out the man, while he continues to rummage. Uncertain of what to do next they do not move. the man continues, “ come on ,you have to see this , if what I think is true then-” , he stops as he catches a glimpse of their hesitant faces. “ do we?” Asks one of them to the rest, “ NO, we can’t they’re strangers!. You don’t just get in a strangers house, thats how you get kidnapped!” responds the golden girl immediately , the man stops and starts making his way towards them. “ listen I understand you’re scared. you have every right to be and I want to help you, really. But to do that I need to confirm my suspicions. So if you may?” Says the man as he ushers with his hands towards the door. The girls glance at each other as they start walking towards the door, “ fine, but this door stays open”, demands the golden girl , in response the man , nodes his head “ yes, anything you want as long as it makes you comfortable”. He makes his way back behind them.
Now as all of them are around the table , two of the girls sitting on the one couch in the living room, the other standing with her arms crossed and so is Vernon. His dad comes rushing back into the room with a bunch of papers, in various sizes. He throws all of them on the table and sits in the empty space on the couch. He starts with the biggest roll of the bunch , rolling it open on the table to reveal some sort of map , “ do you recognize this map or anything on it?” . It takes one look before the one standing says “ what kind of fantasy-cartoon map are you showing us?!”. “ so nothing?” , the man looks around as he asks. The two other girls shake their heads.
“ well then, what about this?” , he hands one of the girls next to him a piece paper. “ do you recognizes any of these names?”. “ no” says the girl and as he receives that answer the worrisome look only grows farther on his face and he begins to search between the papers, increasing in speed with every passing second. “ Vernon , do you know where the map of dawn is?, the one with the red frame” , v: “ oh!, yes, its in my lab”.“ then go get it , fast!” ,He says without raising his head from the pile of paper . “ right!’’ ,Vernon says as he runs to the door that opens to batch of stairs, all leading down to his laboratory. He begins to make his through them. *smash* everyone turns their heads to the loud thud coming from the stairs direction. “ I’m fine ” Vernon calls out to reassure them . “ *sigh*, that room is a death tarp , he’s not coming back from there alive like this” says the man to himself, then looks up and asks the golden girl, “ can you please go with him to get it ?, if its not much trouble for you of course”. “ what me!?, down there!” , she points at the door with her thumb . “ oh , come on Lara!” , “ this will end much faster if you go” , “ so go!”, the two other girls shout at her , “ *sigh* , fine but if you hear another smashing sound know it was my bones” she says with an annoyed tone as she makes her way down the stairs with her hand grazing along the wall.
“ hey Vernon wait up!, I’m right after you” she shouts. “ it’s- oh you remembered my name” he says with a bit of a surprised tone in his voice. Lara: “yeah?” . He brushes it off saying , “it’s nothing. You don’t have to be here, I’ll get it myself” . “ your father’s wishes, man. I don’t think i can go back-ah” ,she bumps into his back as he suddenly stops in front of a door but he does not enter instead he turns to her and says with a very serious tone, “ alright, but you have to be very careful in there, if some of stuff is messed with or dropped! It will cause a disaster, an explosive disaster” he awaits for her to answer. With a bit of a condescending expression on her face she answers while nodding slowly. “ yeah, sureee” with a hint of disbelief and skepticism in her voice. V: “good”. He turns back and opens the door. They enter.
“ well lets see this ‘laboratory’- oh what the hell!, its an actual lab!” , she says as she enters. “ yeah that’s what I said , didn’t you believe me” he answers while looking around the room. Lara: “ no!”.
She starts walking around the lab taking in the various smells, colors and many random objects around the room ,and continues, “ what kind of kid has his own laboratory?!”, “ I’m older than you” he responds in a calm tone, Lara : “ you don’t know that”, she bumps her back into a shelf, dropping a ball with a mix of different bright chemicals inside of it .he catches it swiftly a second before it hits the ground, v: “ i can just tell”. She rolls her eyes at his response as she continues looking around, “ well for your own laboratory its kindaaaaa- disgusting” , v: “ hey, was my father’s wishes for you to look or to judge” , L: “ well i wouldn’t say he was all clear of judgement himself-” , a faint blue light attracts her attention away from her words, as she steps closer she is able to see what it is more clearly, it reveals itself to be small shard with a pattern that resemblance cracks. Perhaps the shard was a piece of a bigger picture. Nonetheless the alluring light is sure to attract.
Slowly but with no hesitation, she reaches for the shard , the second her fingers lightly touch it, it all goes blank. A luminous blue light flashes before her eyes , to reveal a vision. Blurry, unclear her head was, but she’s able to make sense of what stood in front of her. “ mom!,dad!” She shouts as she reaches her arm out. “ Lara!” They both shout back as they start running towards her, you can feel the glimmer of hope that came upon them and yet how its mixed with anxiousness and sorrow. And before they can reach one another it all fades away. Another fast vision crosses her. Unable to focus ,the figure in sight is blurry but it has the slight resemblance of a tree. And just as the last it disappears as fast.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
As everything spins around in a void, a faint voice guides her head back into the present. “ hey girl!, lady! Wake up-wake up” .as she opens her eyes slowly and her ears start to awaken, the voice gets louder ,her perception gets better and she starts to feel a grip on her shoulders. It was Vernon he was gently shaking her back and forth. He notices her eyes slowly open. “ girl are you okay?” He asks with relief clear in his voice. Before she could answer the sound of rushing footsteps coming down the stairs interrupts, “ Lara!” The two girls yell before sprinting right to her, crouching down to hold her. “ Maya ,Lyan” in a weak voice she calls out their names. “ she’s fine” ,Vernon says trying to reassure them. Lyan: “ Lara, your arm!”. Their eyes shift straight to her right arm and their it was on her arm. cracks , dark , slender cracks. With small veins, that have blue light running through them. There was no need for words, their faces spoke for them , their widened eyes, pupils moving fast and all around taking everything in ,they exchange glances at each others hoping that someone will solve their confusion.
“ *panting* *panting*, Vernon! ,what happened?*panting*” the dad comes running down the stairs , right after the girls . “ I don’t know, I think she touched the gem” he frantically answers . “Oh no” the dad says as he approaches her “ show me” he says ,and as his eyes lay on the cracks, a shiver runs down his spine, a shocked and frantic look is the only expression his face could muster. he takes the now dull and dim shard and puts in his pants pocket . The man:“ Vernon get the carriage ready and send a letter informing the castle of our sudden visit ,mention that it’s urgent” he loudly orders Vernon. V: “ the castle?!,why?” the man: “ I’ll explain on the way, just go now!. We’ve got no time to waste”, he turns to the girls and in calm and sincere manner he says, “ I’m really sorry about this but you need to come with us, I understand that this is already freaky enough for you, I reckon this kind stuff doesn’t happen often where you girls are from” . Maya: “no.” She answers with some what of a confused tone , one that sounds like her whole world view has been flipped.
The man nods slowly as to agree with her “I know, but understand that everything we do from now on is to help you , so really it’s in your best interest to come”, without sharing even a single glance with the girls, maya answers immediately and firmly , “ we’re going” . “Good,” the dad smiles a warm yet a bit of an anxious smile. “ I’ll go check on Vernon , he must be done by now . Don’t stay here for too long” .the girls help Lara up.
the man sprints towards the door, but stops right in front of it . He lays his hand on the frame ,tilts his head slightly down and asks, “ you girls are sisters right?”.“ yes.” maya answers. “Hah, yes I could tell you all are really smiler to each other , the same brown eyes and ..uh brown hair….but you know, family is truly the most important thing in a time like this,” he gives a quick glance at his hand, particularly his ring finger ,where rested an old sliver band. And looks back down, “ don’t let anything come between you girls, that’s best way to survive here”. He goes up the stairs. As the girls mind is spinning , they give no thought to what the man says , and get ready to go up ,Lara covering the cracks with the sleeve of her blouse.
Vernon sends out a white dove , moments before his dad makes his way up and out of the house. He gently pushes his shoulder as to move him forward. “good job” the dad says as they start to make their way to the carriage that was waiting for them in front of their house, increasing in speed as they go. The dad gets in front, ready to lead the horses. Slowly the girls make their way up. Lara gripping her right shoulder with her left hand. Limping towards the front door, her sisters helping her forward. But they’re stopped in their tracks as their only way out is blocked.
“ oi!, Cor where are you going?!”, Shouts one villager at the dad, bringing the attention of everyone onto them , as they start to swarm around the carriage. “What is this all about, chief?!”, “ you can’t just leave in a time like this Cor!” . The villagers yell and shout in refusal and irritation to their chiefs sudden leave . “ there is an urgent matter I’ve got to attend to, I won’t be gone long. The spring harvest will move forward as per-usual” , the dad shouts at the crowd. But he only manages to rile the people more as their confusion and frustration only rises. He tries to calm them down to the best of his abilities.
Beyond the crowd ,Vernon notices the girls struggling to make their way through , “ excuse me” . “excuse me” they’d say but nobody would listen. The shoving and the pushing was definitely their biggest obstacle, specifically for Lara. Unable to sustain her balance between the crowds ,She falls onto the ground, her sisters help her up immediately. This is the second time now, her expressions change, her frustration is building up. Not wanting to waste any more time and unable to keep watching them like this , he takes a certain something out of the pouch on his belt and jumps between the people, trying to get to them, but the crowd is of no help. suddenly near the tail of the crowd, “ would you get the hell out of the way!, people are trying to pass here!”, Lara yells at the top of her lungs at some of the villagers blocking their path. The crowd stops to see who’s unfamiliar voice was that. Vernon takes this to his advantage and moves fast between them.
It doesn’t take long for the villagers to get out of their shocked state and one them respond back with even a worst irritated manner , “ who do you think you are child!, to talk to-” . “ Lara”, Vernon yells out her name, breaking the commotion and ushering for them to move. the path is clear now. they move forward. “Tsk” the villager says with a mockers tone that can be recognized even from such a minuscule sound.
they pay no mind to him and continue forward “ so you’re with him, huh no wonder you’re like this”.Lara stops and doesn’t take another step, her muscles start tighten and her patience hangs by a thin strand. But he continues the same tone accompanying his words, “ well I guess rapid dogs only learn from each other righ-”, her left fist hits his face in a blink of an eye. He falls to the ground , hand on his cheek, “you little!” He stands up in an instant. “You wanna see a dog ,I’ll show you a-” she responds before she’s cut off by him attempting to attack her, trying to hit her back. But he misses.
The crowd’s voice begins to faint away, many people begin to flee away from the commotion. Fights are no common sights in the village let alone ones with strangers. As she tries to attack, she’s held back by maya, “ no-no, Lara you can barely walk”, lyan: “ yeah go!, beat him up” she cheers “ don’t!” maya responds. “Enough!” ,The dad yells, jumping between the crowd breaking the commotion once and for all. “Ah, but chief-” the man tries to fight back but he’s ultimately shut down “I’ve said enough!”. The dad makes his way back with girls in front of him. And as he passes Vernon ,he holds his hand and makes him put whatever was in his palm back in his pocket. When at last all is seated in the carriage and ready to go, the dad turns and says ,“ as I’ve said, the work will continue as pre usual. I won’t be gone long ,although this may take awhile.and I apologize for the disturbance this-this thing may have caused”.
The looks from the crowd don’t change, they remain as unpleasant as ever. “ uhh..alright then ,see you” he says before he rids off. As the crowd watch’s them go ,a weird cry for help like sound emerges on the outskirts of the village.
“Sit down, take some rest, you’ve already exhausted yourself enough” ,says the dad to Lara as she tries to stand up . She loses her balance and falls back onto the chair.“ ah, you’re right” she responds then starts to stretch while saying, “but don’t worry, I feel much better now”.“ looks like fighting that guy wasn’t too bad after all” she nudges lyan , who’s sitting right next her , with big cheeks full of water, and her chin dripping, she smiles back.
The atmosphere only gets heavier with such proud words leaving her lips. Lara cleans the water dripping from her chin. lyan hands her the bottle of water, as Lara takes a sip ,lyan crosses her arms on Lara’s lap and places her head on top, and says.
“كنتي جامدة , مالحش حتا يشوفك” .
She speaks in a different tongue, one that’s foreign to this world. Although Vernon’s and his dad curiosity is peaked , they remain silent , no question asked. Hearing what lyan said , a proud look wears Lara’s face.
But before she could even respond , maya cuts through saying ,
“ما تشجعيهاش”
, changing the mood immediately. Lara’s proud look falls and her expressions start to tighten.
“حنا مش هنا بانتفسح، حنا ضايعين، مش ف صالحنا خلاص نعد نعمل مشاكل مع الناس ”
she says to them, with a stern yet somewhat scared tone. Lara splashes her with little drops of water off her fingers.
Breaking the tension in the air. “Chill”, she says. Maya doesn’t respond as she’s busy cleaning her face off. Lyan chuckling in the back. “Lara,” , the dad says with a firm tone. Ending the chuckles and silly antics. They turn to him with their full attention. “ what you did there…I understand that man irritated you but acting irrationally like that , it’s not good for your situation” and as those last words exited his mouth. She turns her head back with an annoyed expression. “All I’m saying is you’ve got to pick your battles”.
“*sigh* we get it , I don’t have to hear it in two different languages”, she responds, her annoyed and tired tone shining through her voice. and a smug look falls upon mayas face as he statement was not reiterated but also supported. “ well let’s just hope the news hadn’t gotten to the queen yet”, all moods shift. A tense look falls upon their faces, “you think it would get to her that fast?” Lara ask , with her voice no longer dripping with attitude. No, it has become tense and uncertain, “ maybe. its depending on how chatty the villagers feel today”.
The girls gave each another a worried glance, afraid of what this may mean of their future. As the dad picks up on why the atmosphere suddenly feels so heavy he says , “ but don’t worry I’m sure even if that were the case ill be able to talk to her”, trying to ease their minds , the girls let out a collective sigh , but not one of relief, one of fear and uncertainty, they all stare aimlessly into the ground before lyan lays her head on Lara’s lap not breaking eye contact with the ground and asking,“ Lara, what’s gonna happen to us”. “ i-i don’t know” Lara responds and turns slowly towards the small window behind her, “i mean where even are we” .
At that moment she sees many things , the hustle and bustle of a moving town, a market swarming with people , shops n’ bakeries, and most notably a castle that towers over the entire town, with its shining crystal windows and the beautiful flower roads leading to it.
Straight out of a fairytale. It’s like nothing she had ever seen before. and that’s , that’s what made it terrifying to her.