Prologue
Damon watched another of his little brother's suitors leave in a horse-drawn carriage. "A wife, Lucient. All mother asks is that you have a queen. Don't you want to be the King?" Lucient shut the heavy green portieres and strode across the room. "She wasn't right. They're never right for me. It isn't fair that mother is making me marry before my next birthday! Can she really disown me so easily?" he groaned. "Wonders never cease ." Damon sighed. "Lucient?" he gasped as his younger half-brother began to glow with an eerie golden light. * * * Eons before Lucient or Damon's births, there lived a goddess and her family. Serenity and Endymion had 18 children: 7 boys and 11 girls. The oldest of these children, a pretty young girl named Gratiana, would soon cross time and space to fulfill a prophecy and begin a legend. Gratiana was a lovely child. She had high cheekbones, glittering red eyes, a pointed French nose, and full, crimson lips. However, her most noticeable feature was her hair. It crowned her head with gold, but darkened into a metallic shade of red as it curled down past her heels. She got along well with most of her siblings, and was well respected by them. The family had a comfortingly domestic life. Serenity taught her children grammar, mathematics, art, and magic. They lived in a large castle with many secrets and unexplored corners. One of these corners was in the East Hall. It all began on a morning like any other. The children had just finished eating. Serenity suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Gratiana?" she spoke coolly. "We need to talk. Bid farewell to your siblings and father, then meet me in the East Hall," she finished, disappearing around the corner. Gratiana did as she was told. At the locked East Hall doors, she saw her mother waiting. "Fate awaits, little one." "What's going on, Mother?" she asked. "Chaos is soon to fall upon this place. I must protect you. You need to hide here, away from the world, my daughter." "Who is Chaos? Can't you do anything about this? I want to stay with you, Mother!" Gratiana cried. Serenity kissed her on the forehead and unlocked the door. "I can do nothing with the future. I cannot destroy the passing of time, or it would destroy our new world. Speak not of Chaos, for you will know him well enough soon." Gratiana stepped into the East Hall and tearfully watched the doors close. She held her breath to hear the tiny click of the lock, and her mother's soft footfalls fading away. She turned bravely to face the East Hall, the Hall of inventions.
Damon watched another of his little brother's suitors leave in a horse-drawn carriage. "A wife, Lucient. All mother asks is that you have a queen. Don't you want to be the King?" Lucient shut the heavy green portieres and strode across the room. "She wasn't right. They're never right for me. It isn't fair that mother is making me marry before my next birthday! Can she really disown me so easily?" he groaned. "Wonders never cease ." Damon sighed. "Lucient?" he gasped as his younger half-brother began to glow with an eerie golden light. * * * Eons before Lucient or Damon's births, there lived a goddess and her family. Serenity and Endymion had 18 children: 7 boys and 11 girls. The oldest of these children, a pretty young girl named Gratiana, would soon cross time and space to fulfill a prophecy and begin a legend. Gratiana was a lovely child. She had high cheekbones, glittering red eyes, a pointed French nose, and full, crimson lips. However, her most noticeable feature was her hair. It crowned her head with gold, but darkened into a metallic shade of red as it curled down past her heels. She got along well with most of her siblings, and was well respected by them. The family had a comfortingly domestic life. Serenity taught her children grammar, mathematics, art, and magic. They lived in a large castle with many secrets and unexplored corners. One of these corners was in the East Hall. It all began on a morning like any other. The children had just finished eating. Serenity suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Gratiana?" she spoke coolly. "We need to talk. Bid farewell to your siblings and father, then meet me in the East Hall," she finished, disappearing around the corner. Gratiana did as she was told. At the locked East Hall doors, she saw her mother waiting. "Fate awaits, little one." "What's going on, Mother?" she asked. "Chaos is soon to fall upon this place. I must protect you. You need to hide here, away from the world, my daughter." "Who is Chaos? Can't you do anything about this? I want to stay with you, Mother!" Gratiana cried. Serenity kissed her on the forehead and unlocked the door. "I can do nothing with the future. I cannot destroy the passing of time, or it would destroy our new world. Speak not of Chaos, for you will know him well enough soon." Gratiana stepped into the East Hall and tearfully watched the doors close. She held her breath to hear the tiny click of the lock, and her mother's soft footfalls fading away. She turned bravely to face the East Hall, the Hall of inventions.