I brought up my forearms, preparing for the collision that would send me backwards. The collision did come, but the preparation of being sent backwards had no purpose - metal hit, only causing a jolt throughout my body. I winced, the greaves scraping my skin, but not enough to make me bleed. I watched the left greaved arm fly below my defense, able to catch the fist before it hit my abdomen. A white-hot glare was coursing through black eyes. I blocked a kick to my side, throwing his weight back. His golden earrings blinded me, the early sunlight making them split-second flashlights.

Another kick. My own knee managed to block his, but just barely. "Speed was never your principle," a low, gravelly voice hummed from his throat. A blow glanced my side, but it was enough to send me back. I drew out a small blanket of energy beneath me, catching and propelling myself forward and back on my feet. The moment was short-lived.

Oxygen was knocked out of me as soon as I hit the floor. I winced, pain ringing up my spine and my solar plexus, where the blow hit me. I sluggishly made a move to get up, a will to cough contending against my need to breathe. I slowly got back up. My whole body felt like lead. Anxiety was coursing through my body. But stronger than anxiety was the want to prove myself. Nothing told me I had to...other than myself. The need to show I was something other than a-

"-a dreamer is what you are." A fang peeked out from over his bottom lip. It was longer than a wolverine's canine's, sharper than a scimitar. His white pupils conveyed little compassion. But still I was drawn to him in the same way the moons orbited around our planet. Never touching, never growing too close. Finally, the urge to cough was too much.

He patiently studied me as crimson peppered my hand and flames of pain licked my throat. I didn't respond to him. His crimson hair clearly showed his face. They fell in long strands that were neatly now being tucked over his shoulder. His hair was normally tied-back and half-shaven - the style was rare to come by. And that was because only one person could convey such authority.

He extended his hand to me. The metal covered his hand, enough to hurt my palm, but not enough to make me wince as I grasped it. "Dreamers do not continuously block. Our existence is purely because of offense. If you cannot possess your powers and present them to aggression, then there will be consequences."

His eyes held mine. I held back the urge to swallow. I felt him pull me up, his height level with mine. I remained silent. He pulled a daring smile. "Now...my son, where might your sisters be? I'm sure they will be missing their darling Kyo."

…

I milled through the main shopping district, keeping my hood hung well over my head. A bang fell in my eyes, but not enough to cause malfunction. Having almost the same hairstyle as my father would instantly label me as...one of our family. And that was something I was willing to risk life and limb to avoid. I tentatively reached up to my right ear to feel for my earrings - covered. No threat to my identity.

Something about this scenario reminded me of an old story that Mother used to tell us. Well over the stone wall the princess went, she would say, up and over. With her cloak pressed to her breast, away past her city where she may be called Queen. Ne'er did she want that, oh no - she would say with such a disapproving shake of the head, as if she were the unhappy princess escaping - she would give all the red gold in her palace of her father's if it meant she ne'er had to rule. So she snuck away in the night, a gleam of excitement as she wondered what it would be like not having to have a promised birthright over her head.

I sighed. Such an old story. One she would tell my younger sisters to deter them from ever being ashamed of our royalty. I, however, never listened to such fairytales.

To my left, a man with a nose you could tell was previously broken stood, starting up shop in the dawning hours of glossover. Glossover, as I'm sure you'd like to know, is what is commonly known as morning. And this morning, I was looking to avoid as many eyes as possible. I chewed my bottom lip, just breathing a sigh of relief when that solemn but young voice reached my ear. "Kyo, where's Anya?"

I turned to her, my hood still held low and my eyes not directly meeting hers. "Mia, please, keep your voice low-"

"Kyo," she said louder, perking the ear of the vendor favoring the broken nose, "where is our youngest sister, Anya?" I sighed. I finally brought my eyes down to her. Her red and black-streaked hair covered one eye. She was only fourteen, yet her life had already seen a level of pain. A thump of anger pumped my heart.

"I don't know where Anya is, and at this moment I cannot help you-"

"Can't help me?" she exclaimed, "what do you mean you cannot help me find our own sister?" Even if she was only fourteen, she had a level of authority that not many people could dictate upon me.

I swallowed. "Mia, I'm just trying to find someone-" Yet again, I was cut off.

"Who? If it isn't Anya, then they can wait. It is your responsibility to protect those you hold dear…" Her face changed to a twisted, teasing grin. "Unless you have found someone dear to you-"

"Mia!" I glanced around, seeing only a bald woman walking with an older man give us any recognition. As soon as they saw Mia's robe, they turned away. I chewed on my bottom lip. If I were seen with Mia any longer, people would instantly tell who I was, hood or not. Only minutes remained of glossover. I bent down to her height, looking her directly in her pale white eyes. "I will find Anya, okay?" I could feel nervousness coursing through my body just by the shock of her anger in her eyes. "Just please do not make my identity known."

She seemed to regard my request. "If you find out about her location in five minutes, I may consider your proposition."

I blanched. "Miaka," I said slowly, using her full name that very few knew, "you know I can't do that."

"Mom said you're really good at finding things." Her smirk was taunting me. I knew what she was actually saying. I stood up straight and pulled her by the red and black sleeve that covered her hand. She followed as I brought her to the side, past anyone's prying eyes behind a small shack with different crates filled with different assortments.

"I don't like using those powers." I spoke in a hushed tone. Mia listened intently. "I don't like royalty either. Those powers symbolize our royalty; what separates us from the rest. What makes Mother disliked." Her eyes hardened at those words.

"Just because she's blind doesn't mean she saw-"

"-saw the Cthraltin, yes, I know. Blindness doesn't make it rock solid that anyone has seen such evil powers. But from that speculation, I don't want to be known for something like my powers like Mom is." I glanced behind her to the dusty street of the Commons. In the city of castes but equality, there will always be dust. Dust storms, dust clouds, anything. Our planet is one of the lesser few that are involved with that. Dust.

"So…" She brought my attention back to her. "You're saying that, because of your powers, you're worried about other people thinking that you've seen the Cthraltin?"

I nodded.

"And because of that, you're avoiding the use of your powers?"

"Correct."

She pouted. "I want to be the one who can cast drea-"

I shushed her. "Mia, this is not the time. Go back to the palace. Father sent for you," I lied, a ball of guilt already weaving its creation in the pit of my stomach." Her long hair dangled over her right eye as she tilted her head.

"Alright. But find Anya." I nodded with a small smile.

"Will do, little sister."

She left the disclosed area as I turned the corner and went farther down the disclosed path. I glanced up to see a Yggdrasilia tree bearing fruit much sooner than it should have. I sighed but couldn't help but smile. Mia's powers were already causing residue to the surrounding environment, speeding up time. Mother had long since told me what all our powers were, though keeping it hidden from the younger ones. Time and manipulation, she had said quietly, when teamed up with those who possess such a rare power as dreamcasting...this dusty world of ours could very soon be ruled by a wonderful king or queen. I shook my head.

I looked about the sides of the path. Many more vendors had brought up their tents to sell their wares. Each wore masks against the dust blowing about. I drew my cloak up to my mouth.

Each vendor sold something different. One sold sacred runes. Another sold clothes. And yet another sold fascinating jewellry that they claimed to have said originated from an odd-sounding planet called "Earth". Odd little jewels on golden strings; did they have royalty on that planet too? On our planet, gold - what we called ginstrium - was something to symbolize royalty. And if you weren't royalty, then punishment was dished out on you for soiling its value. To us, it was a sacred metal, something told in our stories to young children when they were told their vague outlines in life. It was odd to think that another planet would have something different - but I knew we weren't the only culture in the multiple universes.

"KYO!"

I jumped back, my hood falling back and showing my red hair. In front of me was the young 12-year-old I'd come to live with for a majority of my brief life. Her long red hair cascaded as she hung upside down from the Yggdrasilia tree. A bright smile was on her face.

"What is it, Anya?" I asked, my heart rate still accelerated. "And why are you hanging from this sacred tree?"

She puckered her lips in a noticeable pout. "I dunno. Whaddaya doin'?"

"Seeing a friend...Mia is worried for you."

"Aw, the shy big brother is going to see a friend?" Her pout grew into a grin as she leaped off and managed - somehow - to land on her feet despite her being upside down. "A pretty friend?"

"No, Anya. You know being engaged with someone means for life. I don't want that unless I have a dream of it."

She brought her small hands to her hips. "Mama always told me about you and your dreams. Why did she always say that you could see stuff?"

"Because I kind of can," I said nervously. No one was peering down this downtrodden path, but that didn't mean someone with adept hearing wasn't using their talents for good use. "But that takes a lot of energy."

She stared at me with her big eyes. "I have a mission to go on," she said, the topic changing abruptly. I didn't mind - I disliked talking about my powers.

"Alright, good luck to you, Anya." I gave a small smile.

"You too, Kyo!" She beamed. "Hopefully you'll actually be able to talk to this 'friend'."

I frowned, blushing as she bolted past.

I whipped around. "Anya! Wait!" I sighed.

"What?" She was up in the tree again...yet there was no evidence as to how.

"Father wished to see you. Hurry." She nodded with a impish grin and disappeared into the leaves of the tree held sacred by by the cralta - fortune-tellers.

I pulled the hood up over my head, covering my earrings and my half-shaven hairstyle - both evidence to my identity. No more than a step further did I hear a loud creak behind me. The sound was odd, out of place in this small garden of Yggdrasilia. Only those petals and the blue-colored grass surrounded me. But that creak sounded metallic, like an old heavy steel covering being slowly slid to the side against metal. I turned, but before I fully made a half circle, I knew who it was. "Ralia Ystra," I said quietly, without a stutter. Fear alone steeled my voice.

"Yes, Kyo," came the ancient cralta's voice. It sounded like sandpaper being cut into shreds. "But omit the title, young dreamweaver."

Fear no longer held my voice steady. I spoke as if I would to anyone outside my family: "M-My respect for you orders that I-I keep your e-esteemed title in-"

"Steady your voice." Her roughly-textured voice spoke in my mind. She worked with the essence of persuasion. I did not battle it. "And please - just Ystra for my old mind to keep up with you. Ralia is a little...proper-sounding for your predecessor, does it not?" she said aloud.

I swallowed.

"Take your hood down, young dreamweaver." I did as she asked. "Take pride in those 'rings and hair, for only few may have it - royalty." Her blind, milky eyes stared into my own as if she did see me. She wore rags gleaming with beads and jewellry only a Ralia - the highest of cralta rank - could possess. Her skin hung as if filled with rocks, her wrinkles drawn in by a loose sheet.

The garden had long since changed from a garden to a dimly-lit room filled with rocks etched with symbols, glass canisters filled with ominous liquid. Herbs and spices decorated and perfumed the room with something sweet,

Lavender, came a foreign thought in my head. I'd never heard nor seen such a thing, but if something told me that was what filled the small room with a sweet smell, then I would not disagree. Her hooked and warted nose portrayed that of a senile woman. Her missing teeth yellowed with age and lack of care labeled her a hermit. All the signs of a cralta.

"Now, Kyo, we have but a limited amount of time before I transmit your soul back to your unconscious body - oh, do not bode me with such a look of shock and despair! No one will see you, for you are in the sacred branches of the Yggdrasilia tree. Now...why has your soul called out to me?"

Her gnarled and calloused hands knit together as her blind eyes studied me. I took a breath. The persuasion charm took hold of my speech. "Ystra, I was hoping that you might...give me a future reading. What my life bodes for me. You are aware that I do not want to live my life as king."

She gave me a look of thought. "A future-telling, eh? Hrm. Fine. Normally I would not accept such a trivial request, yet, since you are of esteemed regalness, I have no control over such things."

Truthfully, I would have been just fine if she rejected it. But I didn't say anything. She paused, looking up to the ceiling as if signs were painted on it. Only a Ralia could forsee a destiny so easily - any lower, one would need the help of scrying tools. Minutes went by, and I stayed as still as I could, my eyes to the damaged wooden floor in a sign of respect. Then, nodding and murmuring to herself, she drew her sightless eyes to mine. Her face remained neutral. I knew my destiny already - it had been in my mind ever since it was told to me. Hearing my destiny was not the only thing I was here for.

She drew a deep, rattled breath. "Kyo… eldest son to Surt and Cleo and eldest to siblings Miaka and Anya. Your destiny follows well with your predecessors. When you are of age and your father can no longer maintain his status, you will be the one to rule your kingdom. You, however, will be the first of kings to have a magical necessity about you. You will follow the same fate as your father - birth at least one son, one that will rule your race. Then, once you pass the age of rule, your son will follow. Afterwards, you will die in a noble battle, a raid from an emperor's army, but your vigilant race will defend and your race will remain independent for years to come. Unless...you would like to alter your destiny?"

A familiar twinkle of her eye signalled her usual suggestion. She drew another breath: "To alter this destiny, all you must do is sacrifice something of my choice...and your destiny will be chosen as Fate rolls your destiny again with their dice. But...you will get only an ominous reading. This same deal cannot be replicated again by another cralta, for you will belong to me."

A pit lodged itself into my stomach because I already knew what my decision was. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. "What are the conditions? What most I sacrifice to you, Ystra?"

"Something precious, of course. If it weren't precious, then you wouldn't have a reason to come back, whether it be for revenge or at my behest."

"What if you order me to return to this planet?" I prompted.

Her sagging skin drew back with her lips in a large smile. When I unravel your destiny, your destiny stays your destiny. If you wish to return, only that wish to your re-arrival is what requires you to return. I, nor the Powers that be, can make you return, unless the Fate has decided that you must return. Now...yes or no?"

The dim light barely allowed for her face to be illuminated. I was a gullible person - that was true. But anyone, even Anya, could tell when huge consequences were at stake. "Am I not allowed to know what it is that you are taking?"

"Of course not," she spat as if I had insulted her rags, "if you were to know, you just may request it not to be done. You may be a royal, but that does not mean you get all the discounts." She cackled.

I didn't need to be persuaded by sacrifice to back out - I knew I was accepting the deal no matter what. If I made everyone happier by not botching up the kingdom, I would cut off any limb and live without it. I took a breath, breathing in the rich lavender. "I agree."

"Now, now, you must do it officially. I will need a signature, a drop of blood for DNA, and a sworn oath."

I held out my hand, eager to write, prick, and raise it. I was handed a soft feather with speckled black dots. An old parchment unfolded itself in front of me. Paragraphs in my native tongue was scrawled on top of an X with a line beside it. It was universal that that meant signature. I wrote my name hastily, my hand shaking. My destiny was being erased, being rewritten. That was enough to make me have some level of nerves. I hadn't handled anything this life-changing since I was very young, deciding I wanted to delve into my magic. I didn't like that choice now...now at this moment when I pricked my finger with the sharp tip of the feather and allowing it to drip on the wax seal that bound the old parchment.

"Swear under your name and your race, your parents and your status that you are under my sworn loyalty until I pass or I release you."

"I, Kyo the Xirithean, eldest son of royal blood born under Surt and Cleo as heir to the throne, swear to be under sworn loyalty until Ralia Ystra passes away or relieves me," I say, the charm spell on my calm speech wavering with a quake in my voice. As soon as I shut my mouth, the scenery changed to cerulean.

I didn't need to take long to figure out this was my vague reading. In front of my eyes, blurred bright blue and red contrasted each other. It changed to a blue sign glowing in front of me. I couldn't make out the sign, for it got scratched out by a blurred shape. Once again it shifted to tan and peach, held together but then torn apart. It returned to bright blue.

All throughout the vision, I had the feeling of falling. One last vision of a clear ball of green and blue is all I saw before I hit something hard. The falling factor wasn't apart of the vision after all - it was me getting released from the Yggdrasilia tree and making contact with the ground. The air was punched out of me, causing me to cough. I will collect the sacrifice soon, Ystra's voice came mentally. I have not decided what I want. I will let you know one thing about your new destiny. It is not battle-ridden as your previous one would have had. Nothing particularly life-threatening lies ahead for you. The Fate rolled a peaceful one for you. But this new destiny will be taxing in its own way. That is all I will speak of. Now...rush to your castle. A particularly nasty dust storm is commencing.

...

I coughed up a lungful of dust. The doors shut behind me with a loud bang. Vanilla-colored specks dusted my black and red robe. I sighed. More than an hour passed with the dust storm's passing and my trek here. I hadn't realized that Ystra had sent me to a completely different Yggdrasilia tree instead of the one I had spoken to Anya under. I dusted myself off as best I could, stepping further into the castle.

It was nothing too grand. Long before, my mother had told my father that they didn't need the huge castle before. She didn't understand the point. We are the same species, she would argue. My father, being the devoted spouse he was, complied with her desires and downsized the castle. I never saw how it was previously. I was born in this smaller castle. I've grown up in this version. With the front drapes always covered in light dust from the door opening and shutting for dust storms, with the warm orange light of the one sun we had in our galaxy. Nothing would change...or at least, as I thought before. Now my entire destiny was changed with cerulean blue and red, tan and peach.

A door slammed open from deeper in the castle. I straightened myself, brushing my robe again. That was all I could afford before I saw my mother and father, both dashing towards me.

I took a step back, my mother almost crashing into me while she attempted to stop, tripping over her own robe. She coughed, her lungs ruined from her many ailments of pneumonia from the dust. "You scared us, Kyo!" She exclaimed between hacks. My father approached her, placing a hand on her shoulder in concern. He always worried about her health. He was always concerned about all of his family. This concern showed as his white pupils connected with mine.

"You were gone for a long while, my son," he said, enough to make me regret my visit to the old Ralia.

"I-I apologize," I stammered. A gentle smile creased with worry lifted his lips.

"It's alright. Just...contact us before you leave. You have been gone since glossglow. I do not mean to put any pressure on your shoulders, as you are only 16, but as the eldest, you will take my place once I pass. If you're dead from dust inhalation or wandering, then you can't fulfill your destiny!" He chuckled. He clapped Mother on the back as she coughed up another wave of dust. She straightened up.

"Your father has a point. I may be blind, but I know when you are gone."

"You haven't always been blind," my father said.

She didn't reply to him. "Are you alright? Sick? You were out for several hours. The dust storm has been going on for a while."

"I'm fine," I said quietly. They both glanced at each other. They still seemed concerned. My father idly touched his hair, seeming to realize that it wasn't tied back like it usually was.

"I am going to go check on Miaka and Anya," he said as he brushed his hair over his shoulder. Mother nodded, waiting to hear the click of the door before her blind, light gray eyes held mine as if she could see.

"Your energy has changed. What were you doing for so long?"

She gestured to a room to the right of us. She disappeared into another as I entered, seeing furniture arranged in plush colors that matched or related. An intricately-designed rug covered the floor like a blanket. A table that was hollow in the middle sat in front of a large settee with pillows that matched the rug's design. Windows that had warm-colored curtains sagged on the floor. The Common Room, as my family would call it. My mother appeared again, seeming to know where she was going before she hit the small table, stopping directly in front of it. In her hands was a tray with glasses filled and light snacks. I knew what this meant. She meant business...and when she meant business, she was set on interrogating the Cthrala - hell - out of you.

She sat down on the settee, patting next to her in a gesture for me to sit down. I did so, seeing her nod in a way of greeting. She gave one of her rare smiles. She took out her incantation card, a blank template colored light cream and worn with old symbols previously imprinted on its surface. Her index finger expertly drew across the rough surface to show a symbol I didn't recognize. Her eyes glowed momentarily, her pupils darkening to the same color as her eyes, then back to normal. She looked at me. "So - my previous question. Where were you, and what did you do?" I opened my mouth to answer, but she quickly added, "I can see you. So if I see you lying, I will know."

I knew that whenever she used that incantation, she would be severely drained afterwards. If that wasn't enough to cut the lies and hurry so she didn't burn through her life force, I didn't know what was. I spoke more than I ever to her, explaining everything that I had just done - speaking to Anya and Mia, being caught by surprise by Ystra and her striking a deal with my intentions, the deal. She watched me carefully, seldom blinking. She idly drank from her glass, barely sipping. When I was finished, the air around her felt stale - she looked angry or stressed. Most likely because this was the longest she had allowed her spell of Sight to go on for. Afterwards, she dismissed her spell, groaning slightly after her eyes stopped changing. She faced me.

"Changing your fate was very dangerous. Kyo, do you know what you have done?"

I shook my head. All I wanted was for my life to change. I didn't care about the details.

She sighed. "You have signed servitude to one of the strongest beings in this galaxy, maybe even the universe we reside in. That in itself is dangerous, but...you have agreed to scramble your life in sacrifice. She could decide so much that that sacrifice is your sanity. You could forever be bound to her by immortality - even that is a sacrifice. You did not think about your decision very wisely, Kyo. But you are only a child. 16 years of age, no more. But...I can't help but feel that you would have decided more wisely against this."

I swallowed. "I agree it wasn't…the best decision. But I couldn't tolerate the fact that I was born to be loved because of my status or that I was born to rule. You know how I am...I can seldom speak in front of other people outside of this castle. I'm not meant to rule." The words burned on my tongue as if I were writing my own death warrant; in a way, I already had. My previous life had long since died out after the change of my destiny.

"This is true, but that is something you had to tolerate with your destiny. Rewriting your fate...it was not worth it."

"I believe it was," I said quietly. A long pause passed between us.

She took a deep breath. "No, Kyo. I say this because I did the exact same thing you did."

My eyes widened. "You changed your destiny?"

She nodded. "And paid the sacrifice." She shifted to lean more on the plush settee. I could tell she was drained after using her ability to see. "When I was only three years older than you, I hated the life of being in such a low status. I lived with a large family. Fifteen, not including me, lived in the same home. Only my father worked. My mother had long since retired because of the War several years before. I hated the fact that my family had to suffer purely because of that. I left home to leave to Frstrelth - a city that does not exist anymore. Then it was known as the City of Seers. There, I went to go seen one of the acclaimed cralta and have my destiny scrambled. No one had ever dared it before, not even those cralta. But finally one agreed - Ralia Ystra.

"She agreed to warp my life. She changed me from a girl planned to be working as a merchant to, not of my knowledge then, the wife of a king. I had agreed too hastily. I signed and watched colors before my eyes. Red and black. Later, once I met your father, I realized that red and black represented him. Red hair and black eyes., My sacrifice came long after you were born. You remember when I could see, correct? Ystra took her payment to change that to what I am now...blind. She took what was precious to me. I had mistakenly told her how desperate I was to see my own children grow up happily, not in poverty. She had taken that sight to see you grow when you were young, Miaka only one year of age and Anya nowhere to be heard of. I desperately wanted to see you grow up...so I devoted my life to magic from then on, trying to find a way to cleanse my blindness...just to see you.

"For two years, I worked to find a way to see. And, finally, I bore fruit. I crafted a spell that would allow me to see. But only by using my energy and, if that ran out, my life energy. I worked against the sacrifice, despite the peoples' many claims of my seeing of the Cthraltin. I managed to be able to see you, even if for a few moments." She took another breath, allowing cold silence to flow between us. "My moral to this is," she continued, "that your sacrifice may contradict your wish. I pray you will have the strength to work against this, Kyo."

I nodded. I couldn't tell what Ystra might want to take from me - I hadn't told her what I wanted to such an extent that she could use something against me. Then, a voice echoed in my head in the familiar, ancient rasped tone:

Young dreamweaver, I have decided what I deemed worthy of a sacrifice. I will take what will prove to be very important in your destiny. You already lack it, but now, you will more than likely not find any success with extremely little or no….confidence.