City of Visători

Prologue:

"You're born with one"

Or at least that is what everyone told me. They always told me when a child is born there given a guardian and it is their guardian's job to protect them. Well what happens when your guardian dies protecting you? Does life stop? No…but the heart does. It does not just happen. People do not just die without reason.

Moreover, as so many children do they trust the words of an adult. They told me Dante could never die. They were wrong oh so wrong and I was stupid to trust anyone but Dante. When Dante died, I was five years old most said I was too young to understand, but I wasn't. I understood what death meant, an assassin killed my parents right in front of me. So I know what death means; Death means your body gets cold, your eyes don't see, your breathing stops, the blood in your body stops, the grip you hold on reality also stops, your heart stands still forever.

On that day Dante died, my heart stood still forever motionless. I loved Dante he was my world. He had taught me to walk, talk, smile, cry, laugh, and fight. He took care of me, he loved me and I loved him with all my heart. When I had heard what happened I was playing in the Cage Garden with the animals that lived there. I was waiting for Dante to come back with my new animal that I wanted. I remember crying when he wouldn't get it for me for days I cried about it. Then he finally went to get it for me, I was so happy. I was waiting for him to get back so we could go to the meadow and have our picnic as he promised.

While I was waiting, I overheard one of the guards talking to a maid about an accident that happened near the Overpass. When I went over to ask them what had happened they looked at me as if it would break their hearts to tell me. Then "She" came out and told me, the Regina din Fiicele herself who later became my "Caretaker". She wanted to be my mother for royal gain was all. She wasn't really my mother, but she takes a prince and princess from every land after tragic "accidents" have left them with no parent. Her name translates to Queen of the daughters in the Old Language. The Queen could not have children she was too fragile for that, is what they told me.

The day after Dante died when she tried to take me away, I bit her. She pulled her hand away and glared at me viciously "On the way back to you my Dragă, Dante's wagon was attacked by the Secerători". I turned to look at her "He is most likely dead my Dragă". At the moment my world, my perfect protected world shattered and it crushed me until I could not stand any longer. I fell to my knees crying big balls of tear while the maids tried to console me. Touching words like

"There there it will be alright" and "It will eventually get better".

"She" cut my them short saying "You no longer have a guardian so you are no longer tied to this place and as a result you also have no caretaker so I will bec-".

"NO! This place holds all of my memories with Dante; I would rather die than leave this place" I shouted.

"Either way you are coming, though alive is preferred by most..." she bent down and whispered the rest so only I could hear "…but not by me my Dragă". While she was talking with a maid to have, my things sent to her palace in the North, I remembered the last time Dante and I had spoken.

We were outside the palace gates and we were saying our temporary good-byes. I had a feeling that something was going to happen so I hugged him extra tight.

"Zoey what are you doing do you want to squash me".

"No" I replied with a smile.

"Well while I'm away stay strong for me and preserve this time Zoey," he put his hand on my head "will you do that for me."

"Of course silly…but what does preserve mean". I looked at him and he grabbed me in a fierce hug.

"It just means to cherish what you have and never let it go that is what it means…well to me anyway". He said the last part to himself so I couldn't hear him. Then I asked him if he had a preserved life and he never answered, he just stared at the sky.

"I wonder how many stars will cry tonight," he said.

"Dante stars don't cry, people do" I said confused.

He looked at me and said, "Yes they do Zoey" he put me down and I whimpered. He gave me a stern look and said, "They cry when an angel dies or falls".

"But they have wings can't they fly" I asked.

"Did you know for every first breathe we take a fairy is born to us".

"No! I didn't know that Dante!really?" I looked at him confused, "How many first breathes does a person take?" I asked.

"Well every time you are born, I suppose you take a first breathe but you can only be born once" he muttered.

"Uita-te la printesa!" We heard someone shout and we turned our head just in time to see Penelope galloping straight toward us.

"Kyaaa" I screamed but there wasn't any pain. The only pain I heard was from Dante, because I had screamed in his ear "oops" I smiled. He put me down then proceeded to yell at the stable boy for almost killing the princess. I made out words like "cur" and "prost." Dante must have been mad to use bad words like that. I felt sorry for the stable boy…what was his name again… I think it was Juan, yeah it was Juan. I looked at Penelope and wondered what had gotten into her. She was always so gentle and then I saw it there was a strange bug on her. I looked at it and it seemed to stare back at me. It looked like a spider but with only two eyes…interesting how did it get there. Moreover, what was it? "Ah" I bursted into a fit of giggles as Dante lifted me up to give me a farewell hug. I didn't feel safe letting him leave."

"Bye Zoey see you soon, I love you and remember preserve what you have" and with that he left. "So are you coming by force or willingly?" She asked. I stared up at her and remembered Dante's final words to me "Preserve." Immediately after she asked me, I was taken away to live with her and her other daughters and sons.

"Sateliţi straluceasca puternic asupra copilului său. Fiica mea va fi a mea". She whispered it to the wind and as if the wind were alive, it whispered it to me.

I later found out that it meant, "The moons shine brightly on its child. My daughter you will be mine."
"Preserve" I chanted it repeatedly in my head. With that, I made the promise to preserve for Dante because if he were still alive he would want me to.

That's how my story began…And yet I don't know how it will finish.