Our Eclipse

It’s said that when the sun and moon collide, causing an eclipse, it will bring an end to the world we hold so dear. What a scary thought that entails? How even though two shooting stars in a parallel formation may not meet in a singular lifetime, intersecting stars play by different rules. They orbit in an atmosphere unlike any other. Two shooting stars at a fixed point. Destined to meet. Destined to collide. Destined to explode. A force holding them away from each other, but like magnets, when turned, they are pulled together. Their collision becomes inevitable. It's clear the sun and the moon are an anomaly. 

Oh, but what story there is to tell when destiny already has a plan from the start. One that begins with a legend of a fate you can not hide from. It’s funny, legends always seem to tell you what is to come, but never how you can avoid it. Though, they sure do come, don’t they? And this legend is no stranger to an inevitable collision orchestrated by fate. It's a legend that speaks of two children to be born into royalty on the same night. One, a baby girl born of sunlight in the kingdom of Solana. The other, a baby boy born of moonlight in the kingdom of Galaxious.

 The two kingdoms were run by mighty kings with different ideologies that ochrestrated their ruling. The two, though neighboring, were neither enemies nor allies. They stuck to their respective kingdoms and made sure not to interfere. Though, intersecting stars have a way of interfering, don’t they? Because this legend foretold that the love between the two children would bring the worlds demise. Thus causing non-confrontational kingdoms tho then confront fate. What are they to do now with children destined to destroy the world? Of course, each king had a different idea on how to stop fate, or at least hinder it. So much in fact, it took days for the two of them to reach an agreement. But is it something they can out run? I guess we will have to find out.

For the time being, the two built a contract instructing the secrecy of the legend, the kingdom cease on contac, and the ensured safety of their children above all else (except in the case of an extreme emergency). The two kings left knowing that they were only buying time until the two children reached a suitable age. That fact terrified the kings.

As the years went by the two families lived their lives. The children grew up, learned how to walk, talk, just like other children. They were ordinary, though with a large secret. For the the spirit of the sun and moon rested within them. They felt as if they were merely parallel lines yet again. Safe and sound.

Though the normality they lived in eventually fled when the two children woke from a similar dream on their sixteenth birthday. One of glamor and light. One that spoke of an unknown emotion: love. They were captivated, thus feeding into a newfound curiosity. Young and still unaware of the world outside of their kingdom walls, we are left with a story: a story of two lovers, Sundella and Cres, whose love was doomed from the start.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

“Good morning my dear,” a woman of seventy years mutters. 

There, Madam Envy stands at the end of Sundella's canopy bed in a white dress paired with a yellow apron. She smiles wide and walks over to the bedroom’s looming window. Her elderly hands grab the end of the curtains and opens them eleganlty wide. With one movement the sun blares into the room with a start. A symphony of yellow and orange fill her floral painted walls, singing of the morning's opening scene. 

To this, Sundella awakes with her ginger hair tangled in a knot and crust sitting below her soft blue irises. She leans up in bed to stretch, scratching her eyes. A strap of her blue nightgown slips down her freckled shoulder and she lets out a yawn. The remnants of a beautiful dream lay glistening in her eyes.

“I think I love you.” he mutters.

“Love? What does love even mean?” she says.

“I don’t know, but I would like to find out,” he replies.

“I-I would like to find out as well.” she mutters.

Blue, white. Orbs of star-like sparkles.

Everywhere.

Green.

Moonlight.

“What is this feeling?” she thinks.

Blasts of cool air blow on her face, her heart pounds.

She feels at home.

Her lips grow closer and closer to his.

A white light flashes.

Sundella must have taken a long time to respond because Madam Envy is now in front of her waving her hands.

“Sundella dear, are you awake?”

“I'm awake. Good morning Madam Envy,” she replies groggily.

Sundella has never appreciated Madam Envy's morning routine of waking Sundella so early and abruptly. Yet, Sundella is always calmed by the sunshine, so she’s never too upset. 

“Up, up dear. Today is your birthday after all,” Madam Envy states as she walks over to a nearby dresser. “I thought today would be the perfect day to wear your new dress.”

She pulls out a yellow silk dress out of the drawer and walks over to lay it at the end of Sundella's bed. Sundella lets out a sad smile.

“Now why would a birthday girl smile like that?” Madam Envy states.

Sundella pulls her comforter closer to her chest, feeling the cloth agaisnt her lips. Madam Envy tilts her head and sits beside her.

“There’s nothing special about a birthday. It’s just like every other day,” Sundella states.

“Oh darling. I know you’re sick of being in this castle, but it’s for your safety."

“I know,  I’ve heard it plenty of times,” she sighs. “It still doesn’t help.”

Madam Envy takes a long look at Sundella and sighs. She knows the toll that being alone in a castle has done to Sundella. Madam Envy has attempted everything in her power to aid in Sundella’s life bt making it as bright as Sundella is. Yet, despite her efforts, nothing seems to help. There’s something missing, but Madam Envy can’t put a finger on it.

“Let’s get you dressed anyway," she says shaking the covers off of Sundella. "It will be nice. After all, we have the castle to ourselves today,” Madam Envy encourages as she helps Sundella out of bed.

“Mother and Father won’t be here?”

“No dear. It seems that something with Galaxious occurred. ”

Madam Envy helps Sundella out of her nightgown and into her day dress. Sundella's arms flow through the arm holes gracefully and then lifts up her hair as Madam Envy buttons the top of the dress.

“Might that be drama?” a curious Sundella asks.

Madam Envy, not thinking before speaking, lifts Sundrellas dress to adjust the under dress and continues, “Why yes. It seems a boy tried to leave the kingdom to come here," she says in a half whisper.

“Someone from Galaxious? Here?” Sundella askes with her head tilted.

“Yes and your parents are headed there as we speak,” Madam Envy confesses unconsciously.

“My parents are headed to Galaxious? Because of the boy?” Sundella probes.

Madam Envy stops in her tracks, eyes wide open. She over spoke, like usual. Though Sundella very much appreciates it, it makes life more dramatic.

“Oh forget I said that,” Madam Envy says as she fluffs Sundella’s dress. “No need for you to worry on your big day.  It’s completely under control.”

Sundella is not convinced by Madam Envy’s words. Galaxious is so hated in Solana that even the name is used like a swear. As for Sundella, she isn’t even allowed to speak of it nor even think of it. So why? Why, she wonders, would her parents be there of all places because of just one village boy. What could have happened that compelled them to travel there in such quick notice.

“Yes, I’m sure it is,” Sundella lies.

Madam Envy walks over to Sundella's dresser to a box covered in yellow daisies. She opens it to take out a golden broach. She slowly turns to Sundella and presents it with a beaming smile.The broach is oval with the carvings of sunshine, within the sunshine lay three yellow stones that glisten brightly. Across the sun, the word Solana is engraved in white metal.

“This broach has been passed down for many generations in the kingdom of Solana. Since today is your sixteenth birthday, it is customary for the first born prince or princess of Solana to wear it as a tribute and dedication to their kingdom.”

Madam Envy beams as she places the broach in the middle of Sundella’s dress. Sundella can’t help but think this broach is more of a handcuff than an honor.

“Normally, your mother would bestow this to you, but with their absence, I received the honor to.”

Sundella can’t help but smile sweetly at Madam Envy when she says this.

“I’m glad it was you,” Sundella mutters.

Madam Envy looks up to Sundella and taps the side of her cheek. “Well, I must be going. I have some chores to attend to. You go ahead and get your hair fixed and be down for breakfast in fifteen minutes.”

Madam Envy bows and leaves the room promptly, closing the door behind her. Sundella watches it close, and it's as if her whole body seems to relax. She walks across to her vanity and picks up a golden brush. She raises it, and gently brushes out her tangles. Slowly, her mind begins to wander. After all, her parents left the kingdom grounds without a single word. Not to mention that dream.  Oh, that dream she had.

“I think I love you.” he mutters.

Love? What’s that? she wonders. A love with a boy of all things. She laughs to herself. She isn’t destined for love. 

Sundella has always been a lonely girl. Her parents are often busy with kingdom duties. They rarely visted her, except for their scheduled meals during the day. Sundella was usually left in her room alone, or found company when Madam Envy came to report to her duties. 

Growing up, Sundella wasn’t allowed to leave the castle grounds per her father’s orders. She never knew why, but whenever she asked for an answer, her father refused to give her one. And her mother was much too scared of her father to give her one either.

Though, Sundella was still a curious girl, wondering what was outside of the castle walls, even more, the kingdom walls. She dreamed of escaping, exploring.  It’s like something was pulling her to leave. This dream, it was as if she were somewhere else. It stirred new feelings within her. feelings of freedom, of peace. As if she was finally...at home. Somewhere, or with someone, that wasn't her actual home. It confused her, but also excited her. 

Sundella finishes brushing her hair and grabs a yellow ribbon off the vanity to tie to the side of her dress. Her eyes catch a glance of herslef in the mirror before she stand. They seem to settle on the broach in the middle of her dress.

She stands and cascades to her looming window that looks out across the castle grounds. The sun is high in the sky, waving hello to her. As she soaks the rays in, a tear falls from her eye. It looks like her sixteenth birthday will be like each one before, spent locked away in the castle all alone. She wipes away the tear with a yearning for someone else to do it for her.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

“Have you heard word from the King of Solana?” the king asks.

“Yes sire," a lanky guard stutters. "He claims to be on his way.” 

“On his way?” the king asks, shocked.

King Atlas, of Galaxious, sits on his throne next to Queen Miranda worried about what is to come. Both have had a very stressful morning. Not only is it their son’s sixteenth birthday, but he has left the castle abruptly without a word. And it seems their guards are unprepared for the situation.

“Yes,” the guard mutters, worried. “He seemed quite angry and insisted-"

“Insisted?" he questions. "Another king cannot insist on coming to one's grounds unannounced. It's not wise for him to be here,” he states.

"I apologize, your highness. But, the King of Solana is..." the guard starts, shifting his weight and looking to the ground.

"Is what?" King Atlas pushes.

"Quite stubborn sir." the guard finishes.

"And?" King Atlas protests. "I don't care how stubborn he is!  Him leaving his castle grounds to come here puts our son in jeopardy. How could you be so foolish to let him-?"

“Honey there’s no use in getting angry now," Queen Miranda starts, trying to calm her husband down. "What’s done is done. At least now you can speak face to face about what to do about our son leaving."

King Atlas looks into his queen's eyes and takes a deep breath.

“You’re right," the king says softly, looking to his queen. "Our son’s absence is far more important," he then returns to the conversation with the guard. "So where is my son? Any word?”

“No sire. We sent out all the guards as you have asked, but he has yet to be located. We do have intel that he has left the castle grounds and must be in the villages,” the guard replies.

King Atlas leans back, baffled at the fact that his son has left the castle. A crease forms at his bushy browns, deep enough to look like a cut. 

“Keep looking then! We can’t let him leave Galaxious!” King Atlas declares.

“Yes sire. I will report this to the chief,” The guard replies as he awkwardly rushes out of the courts. King Atlas lays his head in his hands. His body begins to shake to causing Queen Miranda to lean forward to console him. Her hand gently falls ontop of his.

“Don’t worry,” she says, softly, like a breath of fresh air.

The king sighs, “You know Cres. The boy is mischievously curious. How can I not worry with a son like him?” King Atlas responds.

“I know. I knew he would be a troublemaker.” she smiles. “But all we can do is work to prevent what’s to come. Remember our agreement with Solana. We wanted to raise them both by keeping in mind the danger of them being here. We knew this would come.”

“But Miranda,” he mutters. “What if he’s already left the confines of the kingdom. After that, there isn’t anything we can do. I said we could prevent it, but what if I can’t?” 

“You always assume the worst.” Queen Miranda replies.

She pulls King Atlas’ head into her hands and looks into his eyes. His crease in his brows has settled to a wavy line at the top of his head. His eyes drop, and then look into his beloved's eyes. She kisses him and he feels relief for a moment. She then pats his shoulder as she makes her leave from the throne room.

    King Atlas was fearful when first hearing of the legend, was even fearful to have his son in the first place. A dooms day baby was not something he had in mind, yet over the years he’s come to love the boy. 

    Their motto while parenting was to stay as close as possible, to know when the signs would start to show. To make life interesting so he never wished for something outside of the kingdom. It worked. He enjoyed his classmates, his room, and family adventures.

    He grew up to be a fine young man, though a curious one at most. No matter how much he was given, there was always a pull, stronger than the ocean luring him somewhere. And King Atlas saw it. It kept him up at night.

    And now word that Cres has left the castle unannounced is enough to stop the heart of the old man. His mind is turbulent just thinking of what is to come. He just wants his boy home safe. For Cres’ sake, and everyone else’s.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

A group of guards run past as Cres is sneakily hidden behind a large oak tree. He smirks as they fail to notice him. He looks to his right, and before he knows it, his feet are running farther and farther through the villages and pass the forest to reach the kingdom walls. Though, despite all the guards around him, and with each step he takes, he can’t shake the feeling he had in his dream.

“I think I love you,” he says.

“Love? What does love even mean?” she says.

“I don’t know, but I would like to find out,” he replies.

“I-I would like to find out as well.” she mutters.

Yellow. Orbs of yellow sun beams.

Everywhere.

Orange. 

Sunlight.

“What is this feeling?” he thinks.

Blasts of heat burn his face, his heart pounds.

He feels at home.

His lips grow closer and closer to hers.

A while light flashes.

It’s the same feeling he’s had all his life. This pull. This magnetic pull towards something so bright, so strong, so..so beautiful. So without a second thought this morning, he ran. He hasn’t stopped since and he won’t until he finally chases the source of that feeling.

    A guard yells something from a distance and Cres comes to a stop crouching behind a bush. His brown hair falls in front of his face. He combs it back through his fingers to reveal his blue crescent eyes that even outshines the ocean’s blue. A drip of sweat falls down his forehead down to his jawline. He looks to where the person came from and notices two guards colored in deep purple.

    “He has to be here. Look over to the left.” one guard says.

    “We did.” the other replies.

    Cres sinks deeper when a third guard runs up. He observes this guard is in a deep blue with a badge on the front. Cres remembers this one, he’s the new chief after the old one retired. He has had a few run ins with him since he started. One being when Cres decided to sneak into the weapons room to play with all the fun gadgets. That wasn't very well liked by the chief. It seems he's had it out for him. Maybe because he can never remember his name.

    “Oh chief!?” one of them mutters. They both stand up straight as he walks over. He eyes them and then looks off into the distance.

    “I’ve heard word from King Atlas that the rulers of Solana are coming here,” the chief states. "Because of this, we are to more quickly aprehend the prince."

    “What? Just because they heard of Cres leaving?” a guard asks.

    “It appears the rulers of Solana are angry at King Atlas for the situation. They plan on conversing on their plan to prevent the worst from happening,” the chief continues.

“Why would Solana’s king be so upset about Cres attempting to enter Solana's kingdom?” A guard asks.

“Exactly. I know the kingdoms are at odds," the other continues,” but to this extent?”

    Cres leans in more, eavesdropping into the conversation only to slip on a leaf, causing the bush to slightly move. The chief guard looks his way for a moment, but returns to the conversation. 

“That is only for upper level chiefs in command, like myself, to know,” the chief states.

Cres wipes sweat off his forehead and  smirks at the thought that the chief guard would ignore such an obvious sign.  It’s then when he feels a tug at the collar of his vest pulling him up. He turns his head to see that the hand attached to his collar is none other than the chief guard.

    “Thought I would ignore it, did ya?” He smirks.

    “Ah. You got me.” Cres admits with a shrug.

    “That I did, birthday boy. Now what brings you out here in the farthest part of the kingdom, unsupervised?”

    “I would hate to bore you with the details Mr…”

    He rolls his eyes, "Chief Hale.”

    “Mr. Chief Hale.” Cres smirks.

    “No. Just Chief Hale.” he says annoyed.

    “Ahh, my apologies. Mr. No Just Chief Hale.”

    “That’s it.” Chief Hale spits.

    Chief Hale grabs a hold of Cres' arm. His grasp is tight, causing Cres to wince. Chief Hale then goes to lead Cres back towards the castle, but stops to address the guards.

    “Send word to the King that his brat was found and he’s being returned now.” Chief Hale growls.

    “Chief Hale? Should we be careful to not let him run into the rulers of Solana?” a guard inquires.

    Chief Hale turns his head to the guards and grunts as he walks off with Cres. The two guards look at each other as the two walk away from them. Cres smirks knowing that Chief Hale just got undermined and didn’t like it. 

Chief Hale begins to lead Cres away from the forest, causing Cres to think of possible escape plans. He knows Chief Hale is a tough man, but Cres has a curious and mischievous nature about him. He can’t possibly let this be the end. An idea pops into his head as his feet practically drag on the ground from how Chief Hale is dragging him.

“So Chief Hale, I know we’ve had some run-ins in the past,” Cres starts.

“Some?” Chief Hale probes.

“Okay, so many,” Cres continues as Chief Hale leads the two of them into the villages “But you never give me a break or an out. I was wondering if just this time, you could, you know, sweep this under the rug.”

Chief Hale stops and pulls Cres to face him. Cres backs away and his shoulders shrug up as Chief Hale’s glare stares into him.

“My orders are to bring you back to the King. Are you asking me to sweep my orders under the rug?” Chief Hale spits.

“No," Cres reasons. "But, maybe be on my side for a change. Doesn't the prince get orders too?” 

“King Atlas orders always come first. Anything I do comes from him. He did not tell me to follow your orders. Therefore your pleas are insignificant.”

“Well maybe I’ll have to talk with my father about getting some right to order you around,” Cres smirks.

Chief Hale pushes him away from his face, giving Cres a moment to breathe. He then pulls harder on his arm and walks forward.

“The moment your father gives rights over to you is the day I quit,” Chief Hale spits without even turning to look at Cres.

    Cres lets out a chuckle causing Chief Hale to grab his arm tighter. The two walk through Galaxious’ villages, causing a large number of eyes to be on the prince being dragged around by a chief guard. Chief Hale leads Cres to a horse and practically pushes him up on top of it. Chief Hale sits behind Cres and throws the whip causing the horse to begin with a start.

As they ride to the castle, wind blows through Cres’ hair. He can’t help but feel like a failure. The pull that was so magnetic, that caused him to chase it without a thought, is now further out of reach. He’s now made to go the opposite way, making the pull grow less and less. Though still there. He wants to know who that was. What this idea of love was. That’s something he’s never thought of for himself. He’s always had everything he wanted. He was loved, but not like that. Not the type of love that makes you feel…whole.

    He thought he didn’t need it, but now he knows what the pull has been all his life. It’s been a girl. One of light. He thinks to himself, no matter how many times he has to leave and be pulled back, he is always going to return: like a wave does to the shore. He won’t rest until he finds her. 

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Sundella sits in a dress of golden honey draped along her usual dining room chair. In front of her stands a long white table with a huge flower arrangement in the middle. Each side of the table lays an empty dining room chair with sunshine cushions. 

She looks down at her plate to see breakfast today is toast with jam and butter, along with a fine arrangement of fruits. Though, something is different. There, on her plate, also lays a chocolate eclair with a singular candle in it. She smiles a soft smile, but then looks up remembering the emptiness that surrounds her. Madam Envy is off doing chores and guards normally stand outside the room’s doors for security. With her parents being gone, it seems the guards are doubled.

    A match box lies near the eclair with a paper note. Sundella opens it to read:

Sundella,

Happy birthday dear. Sorry I couldn’t be there for your birthday. You know how your father is. Enjoy this sweet treat I had Madam Envy pick for you. 

Best,

Mother

Sundella crumbles the paper and throws it across the room. She sits there knowing that whether it’s for the betterment of the kingdom, or just for themselves, Sundella is always an afterthought to her parents. A burden. Always has been, always will be. She remembers the words her father once said to her when she was young. They have, and will forever stick with her.

“You are nothing but a meteor that hit without knowing, blowing up every part of the life I had.”

    If that's how her father really saw her, why keep her so close in the castle? The farther way she would go, the less destruction she would cause. So why won’t they let her leave?

 She looks down at her eclair and slowly grabs the match box and takes one out to light it. The single candle lights up with a flame that flows side to side. Sundella watches the flame for a moment,  pushing away her tears that have suddenly arrived without an invitation. She knows the ache in her heart can never be fixed by her parents. Her father hates her for reasons she doesn’t understand, and her mother is much too scared of her father to show any affection towards her. So she’s left alone, with a candle and a wish. She remembers her dream, that feeling of home, and she closes her eyes to wish. She wishes for her dream to come true: to escape what she knows and go into the unknown. To find something she’s never had before. She blows out the candle with determination and sits back, watching the smoke run into the air.

She sits there, not eating anything, just thinking about her dream,  that boy who tried to come to Solana, and her parents in Galaxious.The smoke settles and an idea pops into her head, one that wouldn’t be liked by her father, mother, or even Madam Envy. An idea that would change everything, but might put her on a path better than the one she's on. One idea that sets her out of orbit, into something new.

    Maybe this home she is searching for could be found in Galaxious. If not, at least she could run into her parents and see the look on their face when they realize their little meteor of a daughter came to blow something else up.

But she would have to be smart. She isn’t simply left in the castle, but she most seriously is locked in the castle. Guards surround her doors at all times to keep her in. Her shoulders fall as she realizes this idea seems impossible. But, she isn’t willing to give up. She may not have a well defined plan, but a wish is big enough to get you to your destination. 

Sundella stands abruptly, causing her chair to fall. She clumsily picks it up, pushes it into the table, and walks to the dining room door with determination written on her eyes and in her stance. She lifts her hand to knock, knowing this is the first step of going into the unknown.

A guard opens the door and looks down to her.

        “Guard,” she coughs” I feel ill. May I go back to my room?” Sundella mutters.

    “Ah, yes, yes your highness. I will send Madam Envy to your quarters immediately,” he responds.

Sundella panics. Madam Envy would read through her false illness immediately. She holds her hands together and stares at the guard.

    “Oh no please, I would hate for her to catch what I may have, with her being so old.” she utters out.

The guard thinks and nods. “That seems best. I will escort you,” he says.

    A relief flows through Sundella as the guard walks her to her room. Walking down the hall, she spots her family portrait. Her eyes glaze over it for a moment. Depicted in the portrait is her mother sitting in a chair holding her when she was about five years old, while her father stands to the left. She remembers how her father refused to be in the paiting, and had to be added in later, taking inspriation for a singualr portrait of him. She laughs to her self. How could she not tell his distane sooner? Even though they are all so close in proximity,  everyone in the painting is so…distant. The guard takes notice and she quickly turns to follow him once again.

 As they arrive, she enters her room, knowing the guard will remain standing outside.

“Feel better princess,” the guard says.

Sundella coughs and nods sweetly. Once the door closes behind her, she runs to her looming window searching for a latch. A metal surface sticks out and she presses on it, opening the window. With one glance outside she grows weak in the knees.

    “So high up,” she mutters.

    She gulps, clutching the window sides. She wonders why she chose to escape from her room of all places.

She turns around, looking around her bedroom. It’s neat, with everything in its place. All prim and proper, and yellow. Her eyes swim across the room and it's a part of her sheet that catches her eye.  She walks over to her bed and pulls at her sheets to begin tying them together to resemble a rope. She ties one end to her bed and throws the other end out her window. It stops just short of the ground, but it’s not far enough to scare her. 

Before she leaves, she holds onto her sheets looking down. Her heart is beating fast. A fire is within her, ready to burst. She’s so scared but also at the same time so excited. She takes a deep breath and begins to descend her tied up sheets, holding in her breath, thinking it might make her lighter.

    Sweat droplets form on her face, and red sweeps her cheeks. She eventually lets her breath out and begins breathing short breaths. Slowly she clasps and unclasps the sheets with her dainty hands, edging herself farther down to the ground. She begins to hear faint scratches on her floor in her room, though she continues descending the rope and begins to get into a rhythm. She’s never done anything like this before. It feels invigorating.

        All of a sudden, her bed slides abruptly and slams into the window, tilting upward causing a large bang. Her head moves up, and at once her hair is floating up to her face and she begins falling, clutching the rope for dear life. The sheets bounce back and tighten. She opens her eyes she didn’t realize were closed and looks down a foot from the ground. She smiles ear to ear and jumps down.

    “Hey!” a guard yells.

    Oh no, she thinks. She looks up to see the guard standing at the window where the bed is standing upright. Then at the bottom near a wall to the castle, another one looks up at the other guard and to her. Without a moment's hesitation, she begins running. Not looking back, not thinking about the fact they might catch her, but instead running as far as she can, as close to this idea of home as she can get with faith that maybe it won’t be ripped out from under her feet. Maybe, meteors can soar away from something without it blowing up. 

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

    Ah, destiny. A funny thing. How it is unavoidable. Once things are set in motion, nothing can stop them. No matter how many times we repeat that: “an object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force,” we will never be able to realize that we are incapable of being an unbalanced force in our own solar system. Oh, how we like to be tricked by passing fates.

    Sundella and Cres both are on similar journeys, running away to seek what pulls them. What an adventure it is to see how they will get there: how a meteor will land. Though we know what will happen with this meteor. Cres and Sundella are doomed. Fate is fate, and spoiler or not, this is how this story ends. But yet, we root for the two characters. They have this desire, this want, and we want them to have it. But is it worth it?

    This story is only the beginning. They stand in their Genesis, yet we see their Revelation. Oh how it pains us to watch a love we have yet to taste wither in our hands. I guess we will have to watch as these lovers continue to seek after their other half, for the sake of our humanity.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

   “Ow,” Cres mutters.

Chief Hale pulls Cres into King Atlas’ throne room by the vest. The room is massive. The ceiling moves into itself as a dome and there seem to be doors on every side of the circular room. This is the first time Cres has been in King Atlas' throne room. Most often, when Cres is brought in for trouble making, it's in a living quarter. Though, to be brought into the throne room is more a custom for criminals. This makes Cres question the severity of his soon to be given punishment.

Chief Hale begins to sputter facts and updates to King Atlas as Cres observes the room. There are large banners with their crescent moon emblem on them as well as purple carpet leading to the throne. Cres notices his father is a good five steps higher, causing Cres and Chief Hale to stand at the bottom at the mercy of the king.

 “Cres, what were you doing running away?” King Atlas inquires.

  King Atlas has his head sitting upon his hand watching his son stand before him. Cres’ boots are covered in dirt, his gray shirt slightly untucked and his brown vest a mess. His hands lay at his side, moving back and forth. Cres is a restless boy, always needing to move. Chief Hale notices and glares at him, to which Cres stands up straight, hoping not to be pulled by the vest again.

      “Nowhere father. Just thought I would get some fresh air,” Cres lies.

    “We have our  greenhouse and garden for that.” King Atlas states.

    “Not fond of flowers. Allergies.”

      “Allergies huh?” He grunts, “That’s the first I’m hearing of them.”

    Cres tilts his head confused. Unlike usual, his father isn’t amused. Most often, Cres leaves with a pat on the head and a warning to be a good boy, to which he never is. But Cres may be mischievous and curious, but he honors his parents. He's never left the castle per his parents’ wishes. This however, is the first time he tried to break this rule, which explains the change of location and his father's abnormal behavior.

    Cres examines his father attempting to gauge how the situation might play out. He sees that his eyes are wide and his lip is turned downward. His rough hands lay crossed across his torso, revealing his lean biceps. He lifts his hand to scratch his beard, letting his hand travel to the back of his neck. Cres realizes that his father looks…worried. But why?

        “Enough of the funny business, okay Cres. Why were you really leaving the castle?” King Atlas asks.

    “I got bored.” Cres replies.

    “Bored?” He looks at Cres with a lifted brow. This causes Cres to change his answer.

    “Uh,” he thinks. “I wanted to see what the village looked like. I hadn’t been out of the castle since I was younger and I wanted to see. I was curious about it.”

    “That curiosity will be the end of us all, Cres.”

    Cres laughs, knowing his father says it all the time, though his father doesn’t join this time. As he goes to speak again, a door swings wide open, causing Cres’ head to whip behind him to look at who could have opened the door. To his surprise, he sees a guard, lanky and confused. He is standing with a broad man who is next to a tiny, beautiful woman. Both are in yellow attire. Not only that, but golden crowns lay atop their heads. They must be the rulers of Solana.

    “Get them out!” King Atlas bellows.

    Cres whips his head back to his father who is standing waving his pointer finger. Cres steps back in fear, he’s never seen his father react like this. Cres gets another look at the back of the room to see the guard rushing to close the door apologizing to the Solana rulers.

    Cres observes the door closing, and what seems to be the King's piercing eyes pointed right at him. It returns to look at his father, hesitant. His father now sits with his head in his hand, allowing his fingers to cover the top of his eyes. A deep breath leaves King Atlas.

     “Chief Hale. Escort Cres to his room.” he mutters.

    “Yes your majesty.” Chief Hale responds.

    Chief Hale walks and grabs Cres by the arms, which Cres rejects.

    “Father, what’s going on? Why are the rulers of Solana here?” Cres pleads.

    King Atlas tenses up. He raises his head, “You saw no such thing," he states.

"But Father, I can not ignore what I saw!" Cres presses. "You've been at odds with the kingdom of Solana before I was even born. So why now are they here? It doens't make sense."

"Enough!" King Atlas steps from his throne and stompes over to Cres. Cres steps back as his father approaches him. He gets so close that Cres can feel his breath on his nose. “You will go to your room and forget what happened. Get this idea of leaving the castle out of your mind. You have everything you could want?” he says as he turns away, breathing heavily. “Why would you want something in the villages?” 

    “But Father-”

        “I said enough!” He whips around again. “I do not have to feed into your curisosity. You will do what you’re told.”

    Chief Hale grabs Cres’ arm again and begins to lead him out through another door, as they exit, Chief Hale rubs his head. Cres looks back again at his father to see him step up and sit again on his throne, only to yell to the lanky guard: “Let them in!”

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

    Her breath is heavy, and she’s only just reached the village of Solana. Sundella, stands out amongst the villagers. Their drab attie and dirt covered skin almost enhances the royalty that has been bestowed to her. As she walks the pave ways, most are nervous to speak to her because of her obvious title. On her way, she finds well in the distance with a canopy giving a generous amount of shade. She approaches it, breathing heavily, hoping for some water. She's never ran this much in her life.

It's her first time visiting the villages, though she wish she had earlier. It's always been a desire of hers to meet everyone and see what life looks like outside of the castle. As she walks towards the well, she sees children pass laughing. A smile forms on her face as she watches all the new people she’s able to be around. For once, it feels crowded.

Soon enough she approaches the well and sees a girl about Sundella’s age standing across from her with a bucket. Her skin is a brown tint and her eyes bulge out of her head, dark brown with long eyelashes. Dirt sits on her face and her cheekbones protrude from her face. Sundella’s smile fades looking at the girl. She’s embarrassed to be smiling in the village.

The girl moves her glare from Sundella to her bucket and drops it in the well. Her arms, covered in dirt, and sculpted with muscle, pull up the pail now full of water. She unhooks it and places it on the side of the well, and to Sundella’s surprise, the girl offers her a drink.

     “Oh, thank you.” Sundella smiles.

        Sundella looks at the bucket, unaware of how to drink from it. The girl must have noticed, because she demonstrates cupping her hand in the water and bringing it to her lips to drink. Sundella shadows her actions, but some of the water falls down her face to her chest. She finishes and wipes her lips gently. The girl just stares. Sundella averts her eyes but the girl seems curious. She looks right and left and then leans in, to which Sundella leans in as well.

    “Are you running away?” the girl pries. 

    “Not quite,” Sundella responds shrugging.

    “Not quite? What does that mean?” the girl asks.

    “Well,” Sundella sits for a moment confused on how to answer. “I just have somewhere to be, that no one knows about.”

    “So you’re running away.” the girl remarks.

    “If you want to phrase it in that way, I suppose. But that sounds too heroic,” Sundella mentions.

“Heroic? Nah. Running away is for cowards,” The girl states.

“Oh,” Sundella mutters.

“I only mean running away means you’re running away from something you’re too scared to face. I know, I’ve tried. But I had to face it anyway,” the girl states as she dips her hand in the bucket for another gulp of water.

“I see it as running to something,” Sundella says.

“Poetic.” The girl snickers.

The girl grabs her bucket, half empty of water now, and begins to walk away.

“Wait, what’s your name,” Sundella asks.

The girl turns around and tilts her head. She plops the bucket down on the ground and sits on a nearby bench.

“You know, you aren’t what I expected from the locked up princess,” the girl states.

“Oh,” Sundella replies. She is saddened by her nickname, but hears the truth in it. “I’m sure that nickname can give you a lot of why I’m running towards something.”

“Running towards something requires you to run away from something. That’s just logic,” The girl points out.

Sundella’s eyes fall, “I suppose you’re right.”

“Hey, not judging. Just making a statement. I’d like to get out myself. I don’t know how much you know being cooped up in that castle of yours, but we here in the villages are struggling to get by.”

    Sundella knew from a young age that there was a lot of poverty in the village, but she never saw it up close. She was very aware of her privilege at that moment. “I’m sorry for how my father governs the land,” Sundella confesses. “I assure you, if I had a say, I’d love to help.”

“I don’t need your frilly words. Not angry at you. Just the situation.”

“I understand.”

The two sit in silence for a moment. The girl starts to bite her nails while Sundella plays with the broach on her dress. As she sits, Sundella begins to think. Is she really just running towards something, or is she really running away. Running away from what hurts in hope there’s something better. Is she a coward if the idea of facing her father scares her?

“Did you want guards coming with you?” the girl asks.

Sundella looks up to see the girl pointing behind her.  There, in the distance, two guards stand conversing with a villager.

“Oh no,” Sundella whispers.

“That’s what I thought. I can help you leave.” the girl whispers back.

 “Thank you, I really appreciate it!”

The girl looks all around, Sundella assumes she’s trying to find a place to hide her. The girl looks at the guards who are almost looking that way and then looks to Sundella. Her eyes open wider when she sees the broach on her chest. The girl looks back at the guards.

“Hand me that,” the girl hurries.

“What? Why?” Sundella asks.

The girl slaps her own forehead, “Don’t ask questions in high stress situations. Just do it.”

Sundella eyes the broach on her chest, understanding what it means to give it up. But, if she’s running toward something new, she is also running away from something old. She has to leave Solana behind if she wants anything new to happen in Galaxious. She quickly unpins the broach from her dress and hands it to the girl.

“Now, start running that way,” She says as she points over to her left.” I’ll get them to go the opposite way. When you get to the wall, I’ll meet you there. Okay?”

“Thank you,” Sundella smiled.

“Don’t thank me until the plan works.” she says as she rolls her eyes.

Sundella hikes up her dress and runs in the direction the girl told her. As she does, she hears the girl behind her stating she found the broach on the ground over to the opposite side Sundella was running. Tears begin to flow from Sundella’s eyes. Tears of gratitude, joy, and pain. This is all so much for one day, but she knows it’s best.

Sundella runs and eventually finds herself in a forest. Soon, she reaches the wall that separates Solana and Galaxious completely out of breath. She leans on the wall and looks up, seeing just how tall it is. She approaches the wall and lays her hand on it looking up. It’s at least ten feet, almost looming over her as her window does. She laughs, because for some reason, this brick wall seems to give her more of a feeling of freedom than her clear bedroom window ever did. She starts to calculate how she will get behind the wall when she hears a crack of a stick behind, which causes her to jump.

“Just me," the girl states. "I brought a ladder.”  She places the ladder on the side of the wall, though it only reaches half way. The girl thinks for a moment and turns towards Sundella.

“I was afraid that would happen. You might be able to stand on the very top and jump and grab the top of the wall. Sound doable?”

Sundella laughs, “I don’t think so, but what do I have to lose.”

“Now that sounds heroic," the girl jokes.

Sundella begins to climb up the ladder but then stops. She looks down at the girl. Her curiosity gets the best of her.

“Why did you help me? You could have easily let me get my own water, taken my broach and sold it. Or just turned me over.”

The girl looks down and takes a moment. She looks off into the forest with a grim look on her face.

“I get wanting to run away, or towards something. However you want to look at it. The truth is, I don’t have that option. I got a family I gotta take care of. It’s hard, ya know. Though worth it. I’d do anything for them. When I saw you...I don’t know,” she says as she turns towards Sundella. “You looked like there was no one on your side to look after you.”

Tears well up in Sundellas eyes. She steps off the ladder and gives the girl a hug.

“Woah now, don’t get sappy on me. You still need to hurry. The guards can’t be distracted for too long.”

Sundella nods and begins climbing the ladder. She reaches the top and slowly balances. In one swift movement, she jumps and by fate and fate alone, she is able to grab the top of the wall and muster her strength to pull herself up. She sits at the top of the wall and looks over at Solana and then to Galaxious. A large smile erupts on her face. She looks down on the side of Galaxious to see a large body of water to jump in. 

She looks back at the girl, who waves a goodbye with her ladder in hand. Sundella takes a deep breath, holds her nose, and jumps into the water hoping to find that something, or someone, new to run to.

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

“I can’t believe you Samson!” King Atlas yells, pacing back and forth in the throne room. “You know our agreement! And then you barge in here where my son is!? Are you insane?”

“You can blame your incompetent guards for that Atlas. Last I checked, you should have had a better handle on your son seeing he attempted to run away. Who knows what would have happened if he actually left!” King Samson spits.

Since King Samson and his queen entered, it’s been an endless bicker. The queen left a moment ago to be with Queen Miranda because she could no longer handle the constant fighting. 

“Oh we know!” King Atlas laughs.” We know. The world we know, blown up. Gone. That’s what happens. Don’t think I don’t know what will happen if they meet.”

“This is exactly why we need to take action. It was fine when they were kids. They were too young to know of love then, but now. Now?!” King Samson argues.

“I’m not an idiot!” King Atlas fumes. “I know what you’re asking! I won’t do it.”

King Atlas walks over to his throne and sits down, breathing hard. King Samson steps closer to him and leans down to where he sits. His beard, long and untamed, grazes the shoulder of King Atlas as his arm lays on the back of the throne flexing his biceps. He’s got an unsettling aurora about him.

“Listen, we should have never let those pregnancies go through.” King Samson whispers. “It was you who said that there was nothing to worry about.” His tone is conniving, putting spears to each word he says. He backs away and turns away from King Atlas.

“Because I couldn’t let you kill your own daughter! Much less put your wife through that!" King Atlas screams, his breathing is heavy.

Stillness in the air. King Atlas can feel it, it’s almost suffocating. Even now with King Samson no longer leaning against the throne, King Atlas is intimated with how far King Samson is willing to go.

“If we want what’s best for our kingdoms, something has to happen,” King Samson reasons. Something has to happen to make sure that they will never meet.”

King Atlas sits looking into King Samson’s eyes. There's a fire of anger within them. Fierce and strong. Evil...even.

“And your solution is murder.” King Atlas breaths. “I can’t condone it. You signed that contract, so don’t think you can go back on your word you made sixteen years ago.”

“Then what do you suggest we do?” King Samson asks, knowing King Atlas won’t have anything to say. “How do we stop this? How? Tell me.”

Silence. They both stare intently at each other, waiting for King Atlas’ answer. King Atlas lets out a sigh. 

“I don’t know.”

“Exactly,” King Samson affirms. “Something has to be done. Those two never should have been born. They were born with something else in them, do you understand? They belong to the universe, not us. They never did.”

“I know what the legend said.” King Atlas replies.” But that doesn’t change the fact that Cres is my boy. My son.” King Atlas holds his chest tightly. 

“He’s no one’s son! He’s a monster on a mission to kill all that we know,” King Samson spits.

“So are you telling me you don’t have any feeling of remorse for thinking that about your own daughter?” King Atlas begs, hoping for just a piece, a piece of humanity.

“That thing was never my daughter. The only reason she’s alive today is because of my wife, and your idiotic contract.”

King Atlas stares at King Samson, anger festering inside of him.

“You are heartless.” He spits.

“So?” King Samson responds.

Enmity dances through the air, taunting the kings.

The door opens to show a guard, one of golden attire, and the Queen of Solana standing there. The queen has her hand on her heart and fear painted on her face.

“It’s Sundella. She’s left the kingdom grounds,” She mutters.

King Samson turns to King Atlas, both still, with fear deep, deep in their hearts. 

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Cres stands at his door, beating it with his fists hoping maybe someone will let him out. Trapped like a prisoner in his own room, something he’s never experienced, and something he’d never like to again. He didn't think that when he was sent to his room that Chief Hale would be locking the door behind him. But alas, here he is, stuck and unable to do anything but pout. 

Cress scoffs and crosses his arms. He looks around his room, scattered and messy like always. His walls are a cascading navy blue with star like shapes infused in the paint. His telescope stands next to his circular window as mid day light peaks through, leaving lines of light on his wood floor. He kicks a book lying on the ground, and underneath it lays a metal fishing hook. He smirks and leans down to pick it up.

He twists it and puts it through the keyhole of his door. Turning it right and left, eventually the door unlocks. He presses his ear up against the door to see if a guard is  there. Sadly, he hears Chief Hale’s voice along with footsteps.

“Don’t worry sir, we have him locked up. Even if your daughter managed to get into the castle, we would be the first to know.”

“Yes. Well, I haven’t been impressed with your kind recently," King Samson states.

“Excuse me?” Chief Hale asks defensively.

“Listen to me and listen to me clearly. If at any point you see Sundella get close to that miscreant in there, do not hold back.” King Samson spits.

“I’m sorry?”

“Do. Not. Hold. Back. Do you not understand?”

“Are you asking me to take extreme measures? As far as-?” his voice trails off.

“As far as killing her, yes.” King Samson states.

Chief Hale gulps, and shuffles his feet. His voice lowers down to a whisper.

   “I know about the contract. The legend. I am the Chief after all. From my knowledge, both you and King Atlas vowed to protect the children-”

“Unless there was a case for extreme emergency. I would say this is that case, wouldn't you say so?”

Chief Hale remains silent.

“Well?”

Cres is shocked at the fact that Chief Hale has nothing else to say. He presses his ear closer to the door. The voices walk to the left, farther from where the door opens. Cres readies his feet, but stays to listen longer. His curiosity again, has gotten the best of him.

“If you know the legend, then you know what’s at stake. This isn’t a game boy. This is life, and those two children can be the end of it all. So give me your word you will do what you must.” King Samson demands.

“I’m sorry sire, but I work under King Atlas’ orders only.” Chief Hale replies.

King Samson growls angrily, and turns to walk away. Chief Hale lets out a deep breath as King Samson footsteps slowly fade away.

“You know she’s your daughter right?” blurts Chief Hale.

“That thing is nothing but a meteor meant to destroy," King Samson grunts. "If we aren’t careful, her and that boy will do that to everything we’ve ever known." 

With that, King Samson stomps away. Once the footsteps fade off, Cres looks at the ground, letting go of the door knob. 

“And if we aren’t careful, her and that boy will do that to everything we’ve ever known.”

“I know about the contract. The legend.”

“As far as killing her, yes”

Legend? What legend? Who is this girl? Why does that man want her killed? 

Thoughts flood Cres’ brain. He questions who this girl is and what part he has to play in this. How is he going to destroy anything? He’s just, him. Then, the pull. The same from the dream. The same thing that got him to run away this morning. It tugs on his chest. Not his chest, his heart. Pulling him to his window. 

    There in the field of green, Cres sees a girl with ginger hair and a yellow dress running on his castle grounds. Without thinking, without knowing what he was going to do next, forgetting all he just heard, Cres opens the door and runs out. The door opens to knock Chief Hale backward, the doorknob taking the air out of him. Next thing Cres knows is that he’s running down the stairs with the sound of distant yells coming from behind him. But none of it matters. He’s on a mission. He has to know who this girl is, and why when he looks at her, he feels at home.

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Out of breath, Sundella reaches a water fountain. There, in the middle, water spews from a beautiful crescent moon shaped statue. Sundella turns to look at her reflection in the water and thinks to herself that she’s had enough water and running for today. After jumping in a lake, having to swim out of it, run through a village and pass guards just to get to the castle, she is utterly exhausted. Her reflection doesn't hide it, but she can't help but to laugh at her hair's present state. She takes her ginger locks in hand and then fumbles to untie the ribbon from her dress to put it up. Though, she realizes Madam Evny usually ties her hair for her and for some reason she can't seem to get it tied.

Then she hears footsteps. She turns to see a boy walking up to her. She can't help but notice how he seems to be looking at her with a mix of curiosity and amusement. He points to her hair and gently says, "May I?"

Sundella looks at him stunned. He stands there, brown wavy hair and a tall stance with broad shoulders, and seemingly out of breath. Though, it’s his eyes that stand out. Oh, so blue and captivating; like the ocean. Despite her sudden disgust in water, she wishes she could jump in them and swim for a while, but oh, she doesn’t know this boy. And that’s quite a strange request to make of someone she’s only just met.

“Oh well, sure.” She mutters. “Thank you.”

The boy comes behind her and takes the ribbon and begins to tie it. Though, as she expected, he's a boy and doesn't know the first thing about tying a ribbon. Though, his effort and desire to help masks it. So, she helps by holding her hair for him as he slowly ties a bow. His knuckles graze her neck, leaving a shiver to go down her spine. Who is this boy? She feels this…pull. It reminds her of-

“I’m Cres. By the way.” he says, his hands dropping to his side.

“Oh, nice to meet you.” she replies.

Their eyes meet for a moment, hearts fluttering and minds racing.

Cres raises his hand to scratch his head, but then looks off into the distance. Shock falls upon his face. He looks down to Sundella in a rush and asks, “Um, will you follow me?”

“Huh?” She replies.

Before she can think, Cres grabs her hand and begins to lead her running. She hikes up her dress and follows him without hesitation, though she doesn't have a clue what's going on. As she does, she looks back to see a guard running toward them. With one glace it seems his face turns from anger to horror. He yells off to the side to more guards, but she's so shocked and running so fast she doesn’t have time to process what he’s saying. She turns back to look at where she’s running to see Cres looking at her smiling. She’s never seen someone look at her so..so sweetly.

“I’m Sundella!” she yells while running. She barely gets all the syllables out. But yet..

“Sundella. That’s a beautiful name.” he replies, just as out of breath as her.

They keep running. Sundella notices his hand holding hers. His hand is strong looking, but still possessing the tenderness to hold. Her face grows warm and she decides to look at something else, but then she’s looking at his back...and then his hair. She finally settles on the ground.

 They end up reaching a towering greenhouse with a wide variety of colorful plants inside. Cres leads her into the door and promptly closes it behind them, never once letting go of her hand. He crouches down and leads Sundella to crawl under a table to hide. Their hands part and they sit down facing each other while dirt trickles down from table above. It lands on the both of them and the rocky ground they sit on. They sit for a moment, both breathing heavily, staring into each other's eyes. Cres seems to be in thought. He looks towards where they entered the green house and back to her. 

“Sorry to pull you into that," he smiles. "You should stay away from that guard.” 

“How come?” Sundella asks.

“That guard. He’s...” he hesitates, “He’s got it out for me, and anyone around me.”

“Oh. Alright then,” Sundella answers.

Silence, except for their breath filling the air, causing tension. Sundella has no idea who this boy is, yet feels like she’s known him her whole life. But he can’t possibly feel the same way. He’s only just met her, like she met him. She must be coming up with things. Is she that desperate for connection? Though she’s even more confused at the fact that he hasn’t taken his eyes off her.

“What?” she asks.

“You’re just, so radiant, Sundella.”

A smile creeps on her face. She hears Cres giggle at her reaction. She doesn’t know how to respond, so she doesn’t.

“I’m guessing you aren’t from Galexious?” Cres asks.

“What makes you say that?” Sundella chuckles.

“For one, you're dressed in yellow. We wear a lot of purple and blue here. Let me guess, Solana?”

“Is that bad? I know our kingdoms have-” Sundella mutters.

“Don’t worry, I won’t rat you out. Just curious is all.” Cres smirks.

“Oh. Curious about what?” inquires Sundella, turning her head ever so slightly.

“The fact on why are you’re here?” he smiles. Then fear rushes to his eyes. “Not like in a ‘why are you here, get out of my kingdom’ way.” 

Sundella laughs, causing Cres to laugh alongside her. Silence comes again. Cres looks deeply into her eyes, as if he's reading her soul. She shifts where she's sitting, but becomes very aware of his legs brushing up against hers. 

“I just wanted to get out, that's all.” Sundella answers, finding sudden interest in the material of her dress.

“Sick of being cooped up?” Cres suggests. “Wanted to explore?” 

“Perhaps.” 

His eyes look down and begins playing with a rock,“well, I was actually interested in going to Solana today, so I guess we are both explorers huh?” Cres laughs.

His smile shines so brightly Sundella fears it might blind her. It reminds her of the moon late at night, how it shines despite all the darkness it’s in. She’s never thought of the moon before, but she finds it soothing. Though something about what he says intrigues her. He was trying to get to Solana?

Could he be the boy who Madam Envy told her about? But she thought the boy was from the villages. But this boy, hes on the castle grounds, but according to his attire, he looks like a village boy. She wonders.

"Are you a boy from the village, or something more?" she asks.

"Why, does the money bag in my pocket change how you'll continue following me?" Cres jests.

"No," Sundella stresses. "I only assumed when I heard about a boy coming to Solana this morning. I ask because I am not a girl from the village."

"Then where are you from?" Cres asks.

"I'm trying to figure that out," Sundella smiles.

"Me too," Cres smiles back. "So I guess we are just a boy and a girl, not from the villages and nothing more," Cres says.

"I guess so," Sundella beams.

She watches Cres as he crawls out from under the table and stands up. Sundella can’t help but catch a whiff of him. He smells of fresh woods, strong and comforting. He looks above where they sit, viewing if the coast is clear. His eyes shift  down to her and smirks.

“Can I show you something?”

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Our shooting stars have met, lines intersecting: no longer parallel. It seems that no matter what got in their way, fate won, causing a spark to ignite in each of them. Thus pulling them closer to each other. It could be something outside of themselves, or perhaps within.

The two are completely unaware of their cosmic entrancement, and there is no way of escape. The sun and moon are meant to be together, as a pair. They are a team or a half of a whole. A solar system with just the two of them, and it’s only just begun. The eclipse, the joining of the two, is underway.

What are we expecting? A happy ending? That even when they meet, that the love they have for each other will outshine the fact that their love is doomed? We’ve said it, this story will not be a happy one, yet you’ve continued to read, continuing to fall deeper into this black hole of a tragedy. Is it because we enjoy seeing the singular star in a sky of black? The spark of…hope? Of something…bigger than ourselves?

Perhaps. Perhaps indeed. Though it doesn’t matter, the story is almost at a close, fate’s desire has almost had its way, and we are mere bystanders to it. What’s meant to happen will happen. The control we think we have is nothing like control at all, it’s a safety blanket helping us to think there is something we can do. We are mere mortals, no cosmic powers, no grand scheme to things, simply drifting in this world being blown to where fate has designed us to go. 

A greater power stands before us, and we are mere subjects to it. Sundella and Cres have been chosen to hold the sun and moon’s spirit within them. They do not belong on this earth but in the Milky Way, orbiting around cosmos and planets. Yet they reside on the planet earth, unaware of their true home. Could this be why they feel a pull? Because they remind each other of where they belong?

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

“They what?” yells King Samson.

King Atlas and King Samson sit at a table together inside of a meeting room in the castle. Chief Hale stands at the edge, pale and shock stricken in fear. He stands straight, fearful to look in the eyes of either king.

“They, they’ve met sir, “Chief Hale shakily states. “Sundella and Cres have met and run away together. We are unaware of their location.” 

Chief Hale exhales and looks to the ground while King Atlas puts his head in his hands. His mouth gaping open wide speaking of the loss of the battle. “We’re, we’re doomed” he whispers, “I..I really thought we could have a handle on this.” he clutches his fists and puts it down on the table. King Atlas has been defeated.

“We must do something. If we want everything we know to be here tomorrow we have to end this and end this immediately.” King Samson protests.

King Atlas shakes his hand, “I know I know. But what more can we do?” he looks up to King Samson in despair. “Fate has been played into our hands from the beginning of the children’s lives. We can’t fight a battle we were never meant to win.” King Atlas stammers.

King Samson growls and slams his fist on the table. “Like hell we can’t!” he screams. His voice carries across the room as if air was blown in both King Atlas and Chief Hale’s face.

“I gave you a solution eighteen years ago. One of them has to go.” King Samson reasons.

“I know your solution. It’s not right. And it’s not a proper solution. I agree, we were idiots to think we could prevent this.” King Atlas sighs. “I’m sick of fighting. All I managed to do for my boy wasn’t enough. I still couldn’t give him a fate that didn’t end in his and our demise.” King Atlas stands slowly, a single tear falls from his eye, speaking of this surrender to fate. King Atlas has been defeated.

“I refuse to let fate have its way!” King Samson presses.

“For what?! Huh? Because I know it’s not for your daughter,” King Atlas spits in a rage. “ You would rather sacrifice her to keep the life you hold so dear!” King Atlas protests.

King Samson stands, “And what? You wanted to love that boy simply because you think he is your son! He's not! He is nothing but the spirit of the moon!”

“I’ve heard enough about that from you!” King Atlas spits. He raises his head to look King Samson in the eyes. “The moon spirit may reside in him but Cres is still Cres, and he is my son. You may not realize that because you never got to know who your daughter was despite the sun spirit!” King Atlas breathes. He looks at King Samson, who wears a snarky grin on his face. King Atlas looks to the ground in exhaustion and plops in his seat, but still unwilling to give up. “So don’t tell me who and who isn't my son, because Cres is my son whom I raised.” King Atlas looks into King Samson's eyes again. “I would do anything to keep him safe! You understand?!”

 King Atlas breathes heavily staring into King Samson’s eyes. King Samson smirks, causing King Atlas to be taken aback. King Samson circles the table to stand behind King Atlas and whisper in his ear.

“If you would do anything for your son, then shouldn’t you continue fighting?” King Samson whispers.

King Atlas sits straighter, and looks over, at nothing all all. Chief Hale's silhouette in his peripheral. His words hit, greedy and mixed with a poision King Atlas can't name. He doesn't like where this is headed.

“I see it like this," King Samson starts." If I get what I want, you get what you want. I get rid of my meteor and you get to keep your son." He walks away putting his hands up in the air, "But alas, this needs to be dictated as an extreme emergency. Whatever will we do?” King Samson chuckles.

King Atlas thinks for a moment, looking now at the table. His eyes moving back and forth considering the possibilities. He speaks, but doesn’t look up to King Samson. Yet again, King Atlas is defeated.

“She is your daughter. I have no parental reign to her. Do what you must.” King Atlas mumbles.

King Samson smirks, “Very well." He turns," Chief Hale, follow me will you.”

Chief Hale looks to King Atlas. King Atlas raises his head for a moment and nods his head for Chief Hale to follow him and then lowers his head again. Chief Hale’s eyes shift to the ground, unable to look at the king he once looked up to. He follows King Samson out of the room, leaving King Atlas to sit alone at the table. Tears fill his eyes, and cries turn into sobs. The door is closed, and Chief Hale is face to face with King Samson.

“You know what to do. Kill her.” King Samson spits.

“Sir.”

King Samson eyes Chief Hale, making Chief Hale fix his posture. Chief Hale looks to him, then to the closed door. His alliance is with King Atlas, but King Atlas gave in. And now Chief Hale has to do the dirty work.

“Yes sir. As you wish.” he replies.

King Samson grins. Unlike a grin Chief Hale has ever seen. It seems almost… evil. Chief Hale then turns from King Samson and begins to walk out of the castle to find the young girl. He is fearful of what he is to do, but as he walks away, his hand lays on the sword to his side, the one that will conquer the sunshine.

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

She glows in the garden, hair up and her dress all tattered. Cres is unable to look away. Something about the way she stands, the way she speaks, the way she just….is. It excites him. He feels jitters in his stomach, looking ahead for each moment, hoping to make an impression on this sun soaked girl. Sundella, "What a name?" he thinks.

She sniffs a flower and looks up to Cres. Her eyes widen and that flush of rose red fills her face again. Cres has come to like that expression a lot. He finds it cute.

“That’s a black dahlia,” he mutters. “My mother told me once.”

“Ah, they’re very beautiful,” she responds joyfully.

“Yes, indeed.”

She smiles at the flower for a moment. Cres observes her admiring the flowers' beauty. He quickly looks to the flower, and then back to her. In a moment, he takes the flower and picks it. Sundella’s eyes widen as Cres places the flower behind her ear, moving a strand of hair out of the way that had fallen from her updo. He looks away to the ground and Sundella raises her hand to touch the flower. 

“It suits you.” Cres breathes, looking back to Sundella.

“Oh, my. That’s very sweet of you.” she answers nervously. 

Her hand is now playing with her hair as the red splotches crowd her cheeks. The corner of Cres’ mouth curves. He leans on a nearby tree and crosses his arms, examining her. He looks at her eyes intently, blue like the sky. He wishes he could just jump into them and fly around through the beautiful breeze. But that’s an odd request, especially since he’s just getting to know her. Instead, he asks something else.

“So, tell me,” he starts. “What’s your story?”

“My story?” she asks. Sundella looks around confused. She looks to him and then to her hands drawing up a shrug from her shoulders.

“Well you ran away from Solana because you were cooped up? What else? Tell me about yourself.” Cres answers.

“Oh, there isn’t much to say really.” Sundella mutters.

“I highly doubt that,” Cres smirks.

“How about you go first? Why did you want to go to Solana?” Sundella suggests, a smile creeping on her face.

Cres blushes. He didn’t expect her to want to know that. She can’t know that. It’s embarrassing. But he kind of likes the way her question makes him feel. He feels like the rug has been pulled out from under him. Like he isn't the cleverest in the room.

“Oh, a change of scenery I suppose,” he responds, unsure of himself.

“So you really just wanted to explore, no alternative motive?”

What’s with this girl, trying to know exactly what he’s thinking? Sundella must have noticed Cres’s his mind racing because she turns her head in concern.

“If it’s too personal you don’t have to answer,” she consoles.

“No. I don’t mind telling you,” he replies nervously.

“Then, what is it?”

“I just,” Cres puts his hands in his pockets and looks at his boots. “I'm often the one asking questions. And no one has  been so focused on my answer before. You have an intensity about you, I was just taken by surprise.”

“Oh. I understand that. Most often my words are seen as nothing but air.”

Sundella adjusts her dress and looks up to Cres with her big blue eyes. He looks at her shocked. She looks at him, nervously, as if she shared too much. He feels bad for making her feel like that.

“Your words are like a symphony, any one should be thankful to hear them.” he blurts.

And just like that, Cres realizes what he just said, and red flushes to his face. He puts his hands to his cheeks, hoping to hide the flashing red behind them. Sundella laughs. Cres is surprised by her laugh, but thankful. Her laugh is like sunshine. 

“My, you’re too sweet,” she giggles.

Cres sinks back to leaning on the tree, red slowly fading from his face. He looks to her, and then to the ground.

“To tell you the truth, I’ve grown up with everything I ever could have, but this morning I had a dream. It showed me something I’d never had, and I wanted to chase it. And Solana just stood out to me.” 

Cres looks at the ground embarrassed by his response. Saying it out loud makes him feel like a fool. Who acts on a dream like that? Certainly not normal people. He scratches his head trying to play it off as endearing, though Sundella must have seen right through to his embarrassment. However, instead of looking in disgust, she smiles.

“I had a similar reason," she beams.

“You did?” Cres asks eagerly.

“Yes. I too had a dream of something I never had. Though, I didn’t have an abundance that made it stand out. It was the one thing that I guess I had been searching for my whole life…connection.”

To this Cres is mesmerized by her answer. Connection. That’s what it was. He wonders though, if both of them had similar dreams with similar desires, if she really could be the connection he saw in his dream. 

Before he has the time to ask, a man’s yell comes from the end of the garden. Chief Hale. Cres stands up and looks to where it originated. Fear fills his eyes and his heart jumps out of his chest when he sees Chief Hale’s hand rested on his sheathed sword. He knows what Chief Hale has been sent to do and he can’t let it happen.

“Stay here Sundella. Don’t move, don’t breathe, and don’t do anything.” Cres whispers, wrapping his hands around Sundella's shoulders.

“Wait, why?” Sundellas asks.

Cres shushes her, putting his finger on his mouth. He turns her and leader her to a nearby bush. His hands slowly leave her shoulders, shaking, and he smiles sweetly at her before he runs to where Chief Hale is with his hands up.

“Cres. What are you doing?” Chief Hale shouts, unsheathing his sword.

“Just admiring the flowers.” Cres says, rocking back and forth. “The black dahlias are in bloom.”

“Since when did you start caring about flowers? I thought you had allergies.” Chief Hale states, his sword held out in front of him.

“Since when do you start walking around with your sword in hand? I thought you had morals.”

Chief Hale’s face drops while sweat falls from Cres’ forehead. Cres notices Chief Hale’s hand shaking while holding the sword. He can’t actually be willing to kill Sundella. Can he? He seemed against it before, but it seems that changed. Could it be that he decided to listen to King Samson, or perhaps...no. It can't be.

“You’ve always been funny, haven’t you.” Chief Hale responds.

“I suppose, though you’ve never quite liked my jokes.” Cres smirks.

“That's because they are foolish.”

“Ah, I only tell foolish jokes to those who are foolish.” Cres snides.

Chief Hales face scrunches up, his posture stands straighter. Cres steps back, takes a look in the direction of the garden and then back at Chief Hale. Chief Hale’s eyes gaze to the garden as well. In defense, Cres lowers his hands to the side to block him from entering.

“I know what you came here to do.” Cres says.

“What’s that?” Chief Hale asks.

“The girl” Cres spits. “The girl who did nothing wrong to you that’s what. You came to-”

Cres is shocked when the words won’t escape his mouth. He can’t think of the thought, much less bring it to be said from his lips. “I heard you talking to her father. Every word. But I thought you said that you only work for my father. So what changed?” Cres states, glaring at Chief Hale with determination.

“You always were one to eavesdrop. I shouldn’t be surprised,” Chief Hale instigates. He takes a step closer to Cres, to which Cres takes a step closer to the garden.

“I do take orders from King Atlas” Chief Hale states.

“Then is he the one who ordered this?” Cres yells.

“Enough is enough I won’t answer any more foolish questions. Now move!” 

“I won’t let you.” Cres pleads.

“I have my orders Cres. It’s not up to you. If you heard a word what her father said you would know why I must obey-”

“I heard. Something about a legend, and...and some contract? What the hell is that? What does Sundella have to do with any of that?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Let me guess,” Cres spits. “More orders of yours.”

“Listen Cres,” Chief Hale asserts. “My hands are tied. I-...” he trails off.

Cres looks to Chief Hale, for as long as he’s known him, he’s known him to be a stern man who only cared about rules, orders, and getting Cres in trouble. But in this moment, Cres saw more to him. A man shackled to orders and ideals that were never his in the first place. Cres observes Chief Hale’s hand clutching the sword and sweat falling down his cheek.

No. He looks closer, his eyes are wide, shocked, and red. That's not sweat, it's tears. Chief Hale, the last person Cres would expect to cry, is standing in front of Cres with tears trickling down his face.

“Even if they say your hands are tied Chief Hale, doesn't mean you can’t untie them.”

“That’s a silly thing only a foolish boy would say. You don’t understand what it means to be in this position. To- to not have a say!” Chief Hale argues.

“I do,” Sundella yells.

Cres’ eyes widen as he turns around to see Sundella standing against the edge of the garden. He looks to her and then to Chief Hale in terror.

“What are you doing? I said to stay there.” Cres snaps, walking to meet her.

“I understand!” Sundella yells, stepping closer ignoring Cres. Cres looks to Chief Hale and then stands in front of Sundella. She only pushes him aside to walk closer to Chief Hale. “I was silenced my whole life,” she mutters. “So I know what it feels like to not have a say. To have your hands tied. To not be…your own person.”

Chief Hale’s hands drop slowly, his expression falls slightly. Sundella walks closer to him and looks him in the eye.

“Your orders are your orders.” she says.

“What are you doing!?” Cres yells.

Sundella stands, closes her eyes, and accepts the orders. As she moves her head, Cres sees her flower tumble to the ground. Just as Cres is about to run to her rescue, not that she needed it, Chief Hale puts his sword away. Cres stops, his eyes widen, shocked. Chief Hale looks at the ground, breathing heavily.

“Go. I won’t say a word,” he mutters.

“What?” Cres breathes, completely confused.

“For once, I'm sweeping it under the rug," Chief Hale states.

Cres stands there in disbeief. 

GO!” Chief Hale yells.

Sundella grabs Cres’ hand and pulls him away. His foot crushes the black dahlia as they run away together. Cres takes one last look back at Chief Hale. He sees him, standing straight, his head bowed, and his sword concealed on his belt. And there, where the smirk usually lies, is a grimace. Cres’s curiosity ignites. 

A legend.

Sundella’s father wanting her killed.

Chief Hale’s grimace.

But what does it mean? Why a grimace.

Why did he look so…defeated?

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

    Sundella and Cres must have run far because they are nearly at the wall that connects the two kingdoms. Trees tower over them as they run through the maze of the forest. After passing the village of gawking people, the forest is a nice change of pace. Cres is panting heavily, but refuses to let go of Sundella’s hand, so instead keeps the pace. Sundella thinks this is cute. But she too wishes she could just stop running for once today, but it's better to be running with someone. They eventually run into an open space of land, a meadow with grass flowing in the wind with hills in the distance.

    Sundella finally stops, leaving Cres to almost run in front of her by accident. Sundella laughs and Cres scratches the back of his neck embarrassed. Sundella plops down, her dress flopping like fresh yeast ready to be kneaded. It slowly falls down as the air escapes. Then she falls on her back and lays down, breathing in the fresh air.

     Sundella notices Cres's eyes fall to her and she smiles. And in a moment, he too is on the ground laying beside her, heart racing. Though not just from their recent run.

        “Sorry I uh-tried to stop you back there.” He breathes.

        Sundella smiles, “I understand. Thank you for trying to protect me.”

        “Well, why wouldn’t I?” Cres asks.

“What a noble thing to say,” Sundella smiles. She looks up to the sky. The clouds reign majestic against the soft blue, giving a nice contrast of calm and fierce. She looks up, wondering why a boy she’s just met would put so much effort into protecting her from that guard. It’s not like they really know each other. But, she does have the feeling he might be…no. That’s silly of her to think. Cres must have noticed her internal battle because he turns on his side to face her.

       “Girls like you deserve to be protected.” he says, not batting an eye.

    Sundella slowly moves her face to look at his. They’re so close she can feel his faint breath on her forehead. Blood rushes to her cheeks and her heart beats just a bit faster. She smiles, and lets out a faint giggle. Cres smiles at her giggle.

“Oh my!” she laughs. Her head turns back to the sky, though Cres’ stays turned towards her, eyes large. At a glance, Sundella sees him, he looks curious.

    “Can I ask you something?” Cres starts.

        Sundella turns her head to Cres and nods, knowing a question was coming.

    “Can you tell me about your dream?” Cres asks.

        Sundella’s eyes widens in embarrassment. She can’t tell him that! 

    “I’m sorry!" Cres nervously shouts. "I just wondered since we both had dreams today and mine was almost similar. The idea of…you know.” his eyes drop for only a moment. “Connection.” 

He raises his eyes to hers yet again, both with hesitant breaths. Their eyes are full of wonder, curiosity of what this word…connection…brings. 

“I was just curious, I didn’t mean to pry.” Cres responds nervously.

    “No that’s okay, it's just embarrassing to say it out loud I guess. Especially since I went all this way after it,” she responds.

    She thinks for a moment, of how she is going to relay this dream. The fact that a princess dreams of a connection she’s never had makes her sound lonely and depressing. And she can’t admit that to a boy she’s only just met. He’ll look at her all sad like. Then she thinks that she would like to see that look on his face. It might be cute.

    Cres notices Sundella and smiles. She catches his gaze and blushes. She really doesn’t want to be the first one to explain her dream. What if he laughs at her or even worse, what if he leaves?

    As she ponders, she sees that its the vulnearblity of sharing her dream that makes her hesitant. Sharing feels…intimate. Especially when it’s about a boy and his love for her. It terrifies her, but it also excites her. After a brief moment of silence she looks to the sky again. The sun is starting to go down as the pinks and oranges flood the sky, only slightly though. Her heart breaks to know that the sun will leave. She feels more courageous when the sun is out, but she thinks she will just have to do it anyway.

    “It was a dream of connection, yes. But something almost more,” she starts.

    “More how?” Cres is fast with his response, hanging on to every word she says, as he leans closer to her.

    “It was about something foreign to me.” she continues.

    “Foreign how?” Cres shoots.

    “My, you’re curious.” Sundella laughs

    Cres leans back and plays with his hair. “I’ve heard that quite a lot,” he grins. He looks away for a moment, and then back, eyes struck with a sense of pride.

    “Ah.” Sundella smiles. She takes a moment before she starts again. As Cres lays there, hand behind his head looking at Sundella, she can’t help but see Cres for who he is. A sweet boy, one of curiosity and wit, but also of strength and perseverance. She likes those things about him. She also likes when he smiles. His smile is small, almost like the moon. How it’s unnoticeable in the daytime, but at night it shines oh so bright. It’s a smile others would take for granted, but one she has come to enjoy.

    “My dream was about love..." she trails off.

This word leaves a tension in the air. Sundella can see she has Cres' full attention. So, she continues, "A love I’ve never had, or ever dreamed of. That is until now,” she giggles. “I was with a boy. It was weird, I really only heard the words, but it was what came after. He confessed to me and I questioned what that meant. We agreed we wanted to find out what this love was and that’s when color burst into my dream. Colors of blue and green, reminding me of nighttime. And I remember feeling at home. At peace.”

    She looks back to Cres eyes wider than she’s ever seen. The face of curiosity has been replaced by a face of shock, but a shock that also shares eagerness. She looks down, embarrassed, thinking that he might think she’s some crazy girl who runs away with boys and dreams of love all the time. But then she feels a touch on her chin. She looks up, Cres' finger lies there, holding her head to look at him. Her heart beats faster, her lips open apart letting a concealed breath out.

        “Sundella,” he starts.”

    But before he can finish he gets carried away. He moves her head close to his. Lips now inches apart. Sundella looks at his lips, plump and pink with a look of desire. Longing. She looks to his eyes to see he’s doing the same. The corners of her lips move up, and he meets her gaze. Sundella closes her eyes, knowing what will probably happen. Thinking this whole thing is crazy. She’s really going to kiss a boy she’s only just met. Though when she closes them, she expects her lips to meet him immediately, but she still feels his breath over her mouth. 

    “I had a similar dream.” Cres breathes.

        Sundella opens her eyes to see Cres staring into hers. Heat rushes to her face as he continues to hold her chin, though now his hand moves slowly from her jawline to hold the side of her face.

    “One of love," he says, his thumb rubbing her cheek, “But my colors were of sunshine. Yellow and orange. Now that I think of it, it reminds me of…you.”

        Sundella is hit with his words. She watches as his eyes close and his lips move to hers. As she goes to close her eyes again, she hears the sound of horse’s footsteps getting louder and louder. Cres whips away from her to see what’s going on. She escapes the world of just the two of them to see a group of soldiers on horses surrounding them. Though one man sits on a horse, in her kingdom’s attire. 

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

What do we, as the readers of this story, actually want? Are we searching for the heartbreak of these stars crossed lovers to depart ways? For them to realize that their love cannot be? To turn the other direction knowing full well that they will never be satisfied, but knowing it’s for the best?  Or do we want the pain of seeing a love burst before our eyes? Because even if they get a touch of young love, it results in a catastrophic end where no one wins. What are we hoping for? What do we expect?

Are we left with only these bittersweet endings? Or perhaps simply just bitter. There’s a saying that says it’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all. And the two of these endings play right into this saying. Perhaps the ending you desire the most, is the way you see love. Do you see it conquering all? Is it something that should be strategic, or something to cling to no matter the consequences? Is it better to love even if your love will only cause pain, or to simply never love?

Is it love’s fault? Did love make us feel like this, or do we assign these feelings to it? Love does nothing but comfort, give, and ignite. All that is surrounded by it is a simple circumstance. Is love worth it? Is it worth the circumstances? That's up to us to decide. More importantly, that’s up for Sundella and Cres to decide. How will it go? Are these the only options or is there hope for an ending that is simply just sweet? Can we be so lucky?

Questions again. More than we can answer. No matter. One can hope and dream of an ending that is simply sweet like sugar cane, telling of a love that fights the circumstances. That conquers the pressure and the eclipse. A love that we all desire. A love that saves. A love that builds. A love that is pure.

The ending is arriving. How we are all on the edge of our seat, wondering what will come of the sun and the moon. 

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Sundella and Cres sit up on the ground facing King Samson atop his horse, looking down on them as the sky slowly turns a deep red, unlike any sunset to have ever been seen. His face shows anger, but his heart shows fear. He looks to Sundella, then Cres, and then back to Sundella. Her eyes are wide with fear. It disgusts him.

“What do you think you two are doing?” King Samson yells.

A tear falls from Sundella’s eye, Cres notices and brings her closer to him to console her, only making King Samson angrier.

King Samson takes out his blade as a drop of blood falls from it. Sundella and Cres’ eyes widen as he holds the sword up over them.

“Wait…whose blood is that?” Cres asks, pointing at the sword. His breath is shaky. Both he and Sundella look at King Samson in terror as he holds the sword up to a rag, cleaning the blood away.

“None other than Chief Hale’s. I’ve always hated cowards who won’t follow orders.” King Samson spits.

Sundella gasps as tears begin to flood her eyes while Cres looks at the ground: face deadpan. Their breath is synced, both gasping for this all to be some lie. Getting faster and faster, buzz filling their heads behind their nose. Cres looks up at King Samson. For a moment, it’s as if he wants to say something, but his mouth opens, and nothing comes out. It just…quivers.

King Samson jumps off his horse with the help of a guard. He walks up to the two lovebirds, and then in an instant, he throws Cres to the side and grabs Sundella's arm and pulls her towards him. She screams and lets out a sob.

“Hey!” Cres screams, shakily standing up.

“Silence!” King Samson yells.

He pulls Sundella closer to him, holding the sword inches away from her throat.

Sundella stands still, tears falling from her face. As Cres watches, tears begin to form in his eyes. Chief Hale’s grimace comes back to his mind. It’s as if he knew the 

King’s determination. His blood lust.

“I should have killed you a long time ago, Sundella. I knew what would happen, and I let that bastard of a king convince me everything would be alright.” King Samson grumbles.

“Don’t talk about my father like that!” Cres shouts.

“Guards, take hold of him.” King Samson responds.

Two guards reluctantly  jump off their horses. They grab his arms as he struggles. Eventually he gives in and stands, as he watches the blade get closer to Sundella’s throat the more he resists. Sundella looks to Cres, eyes red and full of tears. She gives him a look, one that says, it's okay. Then she looks up to King Samson. She isn’t going to run away anymore.

“Why do you want me dead?” She pleads. "I don’t understand. From the moment I was born you have hated me.” Sundella lets out a sob after each sentence, and each sob is like a stab to Cres’ chest. “Mother always looks so sorrowful towards me. I was always locked up in that castle. But why? I just want to know why!”

King Samson pays no mind to the words Sundella says, though Sundella refuses his silence.

“Father! I’m speaking to you! You hated me! Always. You kept me at a distance as if I had some plague. The least you can do before you do whatever you’re going to do to me…” she sobs. “...is tell me what I did wrong!”

She stands there, with a blade to her throat looking now at the ground. Her breathing is heavy, slow. Cres can do nothing but watch, and wait for King Samson’s answer, hoping that he doesn’t do what he thinks he will do.

King Samson moves his sword and throws Sundella on the ground. She lays there on her side, arm over arm, leg over leg, like a doll. King Samson uses his foot to kick her on her back. She sits up barely, with her elbows on the dirt. He holds the sword up to her cheek and slices the side of it, leaving a slight gash.

To this, Cres screams at King Samson, but he doesn’t listen. King Samson crouches down to his daughter to where he cut her cheek. His breath is sour and heavy on her face.

“You really want to know?” He spits.

Sundella nods slightly, terror still in her eyes, fear still residing in each breath she takes.

King Samson stands and looks off to the distance. “When you were born, King Atlas and I received a legend that two royal children would be born of opposite kingdoms. One that of sun spirit, and one of the moon," he spits. "It fortold the two would meet," he says, his next words like knives, "Fall in love, and cause the end of the world.”

Sundella and Cres’ eyes both widen. Their gaze meet each other with mouths gaping open. They turn back to King Samson, who is now facing them. He looks down to Sundella.

“You were never a daughter to me.” King Samson spits. "You are the sun spirit, never meant to be on this earth in the firsts place. So why, I ask, are you so dead set on destroying it," he growls.

Sundella looks at her father, but she can tell she is no longer speaking to her.

“I know. I’m nothing but a meteor to you.” Sundella mutters.

“Precisely. Ready to blow up without a moment's notice.” King Samson smiles. "We can't have that, now can we?" He asks, with a smirk on his face, bringing the sword again to her her throat.

"I don't understand. The sun spirit? How can-" Sundella starts.

"Don't ask questions only the cosmos can answer. King Atlas and I never fully understood either, but I could see it. Every time I looked at you. I can see it in that boy too," he yells manically pointing his sword at Cres. "And so the question isn’t why I hate you, but why you were even born in the first place?"

"Then why was I born if you're so scared of me," Sundella asks, her eyes piercing.

King Samson steps back for a moment, it's as if her eyes speak of a light he doens't want to see. One of an impending doom. Fear overtakes him. Because she is something he can't understand, but alas, he can't show that. So anger has it's claim.

"Scared? Of you? You forget yourself. You are nothing but impending death in the body of a girl. I knew it, but King Atlas was swayed by your innocent look. same with the boy! He spat stupidity such as morality and fatherhood. He was the one who wrote the contract. He was the one who fought for you to live. I signed it because of one loophole, safety of the children is the highest priority, unless in the case of an extreme emergency. I would say that the two of you meeting would be an extreme emergency, No?” 

King Samson’s words cut deep into Sundella and Cres. King Samson stands, hands behind his back with a stripe of pride against his puffed out chest. His smile is sinister, evil even. Sundella is too shocked for words to even let anymore tears leave her eyes. Cres, too, is shocked. Though, his anger is far greater than any shock he endures.

“If my father fought that hard for Sundella, then what makes you think he won’t now!?” Cres yells.

“Ah. So childish. How do you think I got these guards?” King Samson brags.

“No. You’re wrong!  I know my father! He-he would never! He would never give you any authority in our kingdom.” Cres spits as the guards hold on him grow tighter.

It’s then he remembers the conversation with Chief Hale. Their last in fact. This causes a lump in Cres’ throat. He too talked about following King Atlas’ orders. His hands being tied. But his father would never give such orders. So he must have...but he couldn't have.

“It’s not that he gave it to me per say, but that he gave up entirely. He was sick of fighting. His way didn’t work, so he gave up.” King Samson grunted. He steps up to Cres and looks him in the face, inches away from each other. “Your father is nothing but a coward.”

“No he’s not!” Cres yells and he kicks his feet up to kick King Samson in the stomach, causing King Samson fall back slightly hugging his torso. He motions for the guards to hold Cres down to his knees. King Samson regains his strength and grabs his sword. The sound of the metal scratching the cover echos in Cres’ mind.

And with murder in his eyes, he walks towards Cres and pushes the sword through Cres’ stomach. Sundella lets out a gasp, as tears erupt out of her. Cres shouts in pain as the blade is ripped out. The guards free him, causing him to collapse on the ground. Sundella runs to Cres’ side, crying into his arms. She pulls his body to lay his back on her lap and begins to put pressure on his wound. As she does, she notices the ribbon holding her hair up falls down onto his chest. Cres grabs it and clutches it. He then looks up to her, tears in his eyes.

King Samson stands there watching the scene unfold. He doesn’t care about Cres or Sundella. He doesn’t even care about saving the world. He may say he has some desire for the salvation of the earth, but in all honesty, King Samson is an evil man. He wants power and control. The eclipse scares him and makes him feel small. So when his daughter and a boy get in the way of the control he thinks he has, he has to intervene. 

King Samson holds the sword towards Sundella’s neck. She looks at Cres crying. His breaths are tiny and staggered. She holds his face gently and then glances to her father, lifting her chin up. Her father smiles. He’s about to get what he’s so longed for. 

It’s then, in a moment, when a sword pierces through King Samson’s abdomen. King Samson turns his head ever so slightly to see King Atlas wielding the sword. He twists it, causing King Samson to scream in agony. King Atlas rips the sword out and King Samson falls to the ground.

“Go. Sundella. Go. Take my son with you.” King Atlas rushes.

Sundella surveys what's happening around her, her father, King Atlas, and then Cres.

“Go!” King Atlas yells.

“Come on Cres, we’ve got to go.” Sundella mutters as she shakes him back and forth. Cres, barely awake, moves to stand up, but can’t. Sundella is unable to carry him or even help him stand.

King Atlas nods to the guards that were holding him. They pick him up and lay him on a horse, and then help Sundella stand and mount the horse. 

“Before you go, Sundella.” King Atlas says.

“Yes.” she breathes.

“Tell my son that I love him.”

“I will.” She says, turning the horse, almost leaving.

“And Sundella," He continues.

“Yes,” she stops.

“I’m sorry.” King Atlas sighs.

Sundella nods and gives him a small smile. “I forgive you.” she smiles.

King Atlas gives a soft nod and lays his head gently on top of Cres with a soft, but sadden smile. Sundella whips the handles and the horse takes off with the two of them going farther into the kingdom together. King Atlas watches them leave and turns towards King Samson. King Samson writhes around on the ground in pain as King Atlas crouches down beside him.

“That was for my chief guard, your daughter, and my son.” King Atlas spits.

“You understand,” King Samson coughs. “You doing this is going to end the world.”

“It’s up to fate now. I’m done fighting against it.” King Atlas whispers. “But I know one thing. If fate was going to be in anyone's hands, it was going to be in theirs. Not yours."

King Atlas stands and mounts his horse. His guards follow. King Atlas rides away towards the kingdom to be with his queen, leaving King Samson alone, covered in a puddle of blood. He lays there, watching them leave, as anger pumps through his heart one last time. His breath settles, and his eyes dilate. The evil man, King Samson, is defeated.

 ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

    A legend, given to two sets of royal parents, is what changed everything. Even though this legend spoke of what was to come, they had no idea what the future would hold.

The legend stated:

Two born: night of one

A boy of moon

A girl of sun

Destruction will come

Their eclipse begins

Killing everyone 

Remembrance of birth

The year of sixteen

Is the end of earth

Beware the signs

Of pull so dire

Leaving known confines

Curiosity has its reign

Love brings our end

To stop is in vain

Galaxious stand tall

Solana prepare

An Eclipse will end us all

    The end is coming. Closer and closer. Our two shooting stars have suffered so many trials up until this point. Fighting for a love that is destined to doom them all. It seems fitting to mourn, doesn’t it? To cry for the two of them. Even if the end isn’t here yet, it seems fitting to accept the defeat now. Right?

They are at, not only the end of their story, but the end of their strength. Their energy has depleted, injuries have been made, and now, what else are they to do? They’ve heard the legend, they know what is to come. Will they ignore it? Will they fight against it? Will they run away from it, and each other? 

So many possibilities, so little time.

Ah, but doesn't that make a great story?

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆

    Cres opens his eyes groggily to see Sundella holding him in her arms. Her ginger hair, now let down, brushes his cheek as a tear falls onto his forehead. It’s as if he’s engulfed in her beauty, to which he never wants to leave. He’s noticed something about Sundella, that she’s courageous and strong. Always facing danger without a hint of hesitation. Something he admires. And she’s… kind. He feels at home laying in her arms. Like he’s in a dream. He would stay in that dream forever, but it's a sharp pain in his stomach that wakes him fully.

    “Shh. Shh, it's okay. I’m here.” Sundella cries.

    Her voice is calm and sweet. But shaky. Though, it's soothing. Not enough to stop the aches coming and going in his stomach. Each breath causes a sharp pain that’s unbearable to endure. No matter how he changes his breathing, or how he sits, the pain is still there. But at least, he thinks, he’s in her arms.

        “Sundella?” Cres croaks.

    “You don’t have to say anything. Save your energy. Please.” Sundella pleads.

"I just wanted to say," Cres breaths,"I knew you were a princess earlier." 

Sundella stares at him and lets out a faint laugh. Cres smirks and gives her a nod. "I know," He nods. "I can't keep a secret."

"If I'm being honest," she starts, I new you were a prince as well."

Cres coughs, leaving Sundella to lean down worried, he shakes his head, "Though, I liked the idea of simply being a boy not from the village and nothing more. Because I felt like I could be anyone as long as I was with you."

"I as well," Sundella beams.

    Sundella glances down at his eyes. They appear so…tired. It terrifies her. Cres is aware of her fear and so he lifts his hand to her cheek, noticing the gash on her. His face turns to a face of concern, but he looks back in her eyes and he's swept away. He smiles, though his hand is too weak to stay lifted, so he rests it instead on top of her hand that lies on his chest. It’s then when heat rushes to his face. Aware of that, he looks up to her, then around. It's just the two of them in a field, but he sees a horse running from them in the distance. Above them, the sky, once red, is now a darker maroon. Cres can see the shining off the moon from the east as the sun shines eerily, straight in the middle of the sky. 

        “Sundella, where did everyone go?” he mutters. “What happened?”

    “Well uh.” Sundella stutters. “After you were, um, stabbed, my father...he walked up to me. Then… then your father came and he, uh, stabbed him. Then he helped us leave,” Sundella is no longer looking in Cres’ eyes. The events were too much to think about, much less speak of, but she managed, for Cres.

    When she’s done speaking Cres’ eyes widen. “My father? Came? But he-” Cres breathes.

    “He saved us. Doesn’t matter what my father said, your father came through in the end. And the last thing he wanted you to know was that he loved you. That’s what he told me before we rode off,” Sundella cries.

    “He did?” Cres smiles.

    “Yes. He loves you very much,” Sundella replies.

“That’s good to hear.” he smiles. “You know, I think…” Cres hesitates. “I think I love you.”

Sundella’s eyes widen and a smile forms on her face. Her dream plays over in her mind and she chooses her next words very wisely.

“Love? What does love even mean?” she laughs, still teary eyed.

    Cres’ eyes widen. His dream flashes through his mind, bringing remembrance of the words, the feelings, the light.

    “I don’t know, but I would like to find out.” he smiles.

    “I-,” Sundella cries. “I would like to find out as well.”

    Cres sits up, holding his side. He turns his body to face hers as Sundella takes hold of his back for support. Cres lifts his remaining hand to her cheek and rubs just below her cut with his thumb. He looks into her eyes, so blue. So magical. He leans in, ever so slightly. Though Sundella raises her hand to his chest stopping him.

    “But...” she whispers. “The legend. We know...we know what will happen now.” 

    “The way I see it, there was no way of fighting fate, so why now? If fate said we would come together, why rob it of a love story. Why rob ourselves of this moment.” Cres states.

        Sundella smiles a small smile and looks at Cres. It’s silent for a moment, just two star crossed lovers staring into each other’s eyes, as if star gazing. Sundella looks at her hand on Cres’ chest and moves it. She stays looking at his chest, and then looks down to his wound. Cres lifts her head with his finger yet again. Butterflies erupt in Sundella’s stomach.

    “Can, can I tell you something?” Sundella blurts.

    Cres nods his head ever so slightly.

    “I think the dream I had was of you. And ever since I met you, I-” she hesitates, “felt this pull.”

    Cres grins ear to ear. “I was just about to say the same thing.”

    Cres lifts Sundella’s chin closer to his. Their lips are closer than ever. And then, they’re touching. Cres moves his hand to Sundella’s jawline and Sundella clings to Cres’ chest.

    As they kiss, heat fills their cheeks and a magnetic pull keeps their lips from ever leaving each other. Their kiss is passionate, showing signs of a new love that never wants to depart. Cres brings Sundella closer with his other hand, holding her tight while Sundella moves her hand to his hair. Their lips separate from each other, and both turn into nervous grins. Sundella raises her fingertips to her lips to hide it, making Cres notice it even more.

    They look at each other. Again. For the last time.It's darker now, almost night. A tear falls from Sundella’s eye and Cres uses his thumb to wipe it. To this, her smile grows wider. He grabs her face with his hand, looking deep into her sky blue eyes. She leans her head into his hand, and in return looks into his oceanlike eyes.

    “You are the sun to my moon. If this moment is all we have, then that’s all I need. Just one eclipse with you is worth a thousand lifetimes without you,” Cres breathes.

    Sundella smiles a sweet smile, moving her hand up to hold Cres’ hand.

 “Thank you for our eclipse Cres.” Sundella beams.

     “Thank you for our eclipse, Sundella.” Cres grins.

    Sundella begins to cry as Cres pulls her into another kiss. The sun and moon collide. Lights explode. Orange, blue, green and yellow. All together forming a circle of color around the two. White flashes. Sparks explode. An end to the world we know happens all with one, final, heart wrenching kiss. After all, shooting stars only last for a moment.

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☼The End☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆