Prologue
Exile. Outcast. Murderer. Seared within Diana's mind, these are the words that haunt her past, branding her facade with the symbols of difference. She is the heretic that challenges the unjust, the ones who suppress the false, the ones who oppress her mind.
But this story is not of Diana's, but one who has chosen to share the cost of the moon.
Chapter 1
I awake to the darkness. I know of the sins crawling on my back. Of all the food I've stolen. Of all the money I've taken. Living here, Zaun isn't much for show. I've been doing me, living this life for longer than I can recall.
But I can remember the sound of my mother's voice repeating to me in a lullaby, "Living here Tother, we have nothing. There's no food. Yet there's always life. One day, me, you, and Papa, we're all going to be up there with everything we've ever wanted. But let's take our share and steal from none." Yet the screaming pain that racks my stomach every night silences her song, her plea of righteousness. Anyways. It doesn't matter anymore. They're all gone.
It's raining. Buildings storm before me with lights that flicker across the street of waste; puddles. When I look into them, I see a tired sixteen-year old boy but I only wonder where my dreams went. To fight bads guys, to cleanse Zaun of crime. But I guess in the end, I became a part of this crime, this meaningless way of life. Nonetheless, I carry my feet forward until I see them. A family speaking to a friendly merchant selling a hot Zaun delicacy. I smell the grayness in the air, all the death and despair in Zaun, but in that all, I smell the meaning of my existence; food.
It's easy to walk forward, to take something that isn't yours, but all my regrets are satisfied by the entirety of a meal. The family and the merchant don't even notice what I appropriate so easily yet every time they lose it, I gain the guilt of my actions. Brother and sister that scream out in laughter for they have so much time to just be kids. How long has it been since I've had love in my life? It's just an endless cycle of sleep, steal, eat, and think…
Before I take a bite of Zaun delicacy, I see a sliver of light that rips through the imposing clouds. And I smile.