All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
That was what the Solari elders taught, that was what you were taught ever since you could understand words. In truth, those were probably the first words you uttered as a baby. That phrase is repeated to you every single day until the words are carved in your mind. Over and over. When it is done and you can say it in your sleep, they continue to etch the phrase in your mind. For reinforcement purposes, to make sure you never forget it. And you won't. You have lived by that phrase, worshipping the sun your entire life.
It is a wonder how you got here then.
You stand before the elders, the entire council of elders. Your back is straight, your head held high. You cannot let bad posture stand in the way because the information you are about to present will change everything. You tell them about your case. You tell them your discovery, that the moon holds a power that is equal to the sun. You tell them that worshipping the moon along with the sun will strengthen them all. It will benefit everyone.
They shake their head, not hearing a single word you have uttered. Some sigh, having heard this again for the millionth time. You have told them of this before and just like now, they do not believe you.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
That is what they say to you.
And you nod trying to explain yourself in between their harsh criticism, trying to explain your reasoning.
They ignore you now, knowing that you will only continue to talk about this moon nonsense if they do not stop you. By now, they are disgusted at you. They look at you like you are a vile monster. To even mention of the moon's equality to the sun, let alone its superiority, well you might as well have just committed treason.
But you are young, brash and wisdom has not graced your mind. That is the reason you are speaking such thoughtless words. That is what the elders say, but they still warn you to never speak of the moon again. They can no longer stand hearing you talk about it. And if you are to speak of the moon again, they will have no choice but to punish you. Dire consequences, they say.
But they do have a choice. They can embrace the moon.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
Again they repeat the mantra they live by.
Then there is silence. No one says anything and you know why. They are waiting, waiting for you. So you take a breath and through clenched teeth, you say it as well. You say the mantra.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
You must, you must say it and it kills you to do so because you know the phrases you have uttered are the lies, not the moon. The moon is the truth.
Finally, the elders smile, seeing that they have broken through into your thick skull. They smile thinking you will stop your foolish ways. They smile because they think they have gotten to you. They smile like fools.
Then the fools dismiss you.
You want to stay. You want to take back the words you have just said and convince them of the moon's power. You want to let them see the light of truth, but they are blind to it. So very blind.
A guard moves in, at the gesture of one of the elders, to escort you out. You bow down to show them respect, but all you can feel is the betrayal of yourself because you have lost respect for them a long time ago. It is only now that you realize it.
Somehow your feet move even though you feel the weight of the moon in your chest.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
That should have been the end of that. You should have gone back to your studying, back to worshipping the sun and only the sun. Back to a false life.
Should.
You should have done all those things, but you do not. You feel stronger at night, you feel stronger in the moon's presence. That is no lie, but you know there is nothing you can do to convince the elders. If you tell them, it will do nothing. Ignorant morons.
Your mind and heart have not changed, but you must convince that they have. So, for now, you live a lie. You continue to be like everyone else and you excel. Your teachers believe you have some type of connection to the divine. They dare not compare you to the Radiant Dawn, but you are certainly above average.
You are powerful because of the moon, and they could be too.
You do not mind the compliments and the favouritism in your teacher's eyes. You know that it is proof of the moon's power in you. And it does not bother you that they do not compare you to the Radiant Dawn. You know you will never be as good as her, but you do not mind because you know you will never be able to fully devote yourself to the sun. But if you were just given a chance. If you could devote yourself to the moon, then you would be more powerful than them all.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
Sometimes when you are just gazing the moon in the night sky, you feel the guilt. You are living a lie. You want to tell the elders, but you cannot and so you chant the mantra.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
Again.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
And again and again and again.
You feel better, but not really. So you say it one more time for good measure.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
Then you are out walking one day. You cannot stand anymore talk of the sun. You cannot stand the colours orange and yellow and brown anymore. If one more person tells you about the sun, you will lose it. So you go out for a walk. You go out to get away from it all, to clear your mind. The sun is hidden today. The grey clouds shield you from it.
What a nice day for a walk.
And if you look closely enough, you would be able to see the moon in the sky. But you do not see it because you are in too much of a rush to get away from the mountaintop. Still, the moon shines down on you, watching you, guiding you.
You keep walking. The grass beneath your feet slowly morphs into dirt as you get farther and farther away. Then the dirt becomes pebbles and soon those small pebbles become jagged stones.
But you do not notice because you are in too much of a rush to get away. You do not notice that you have been walking for so long, that you are now in fact very far away. Still, you can see the peak, glowing in orange and yellow and brown. So you keep walking away from it until you can see it no more.
You want to sit because you are tired. You legs have carried you as long as they could. There is a boulder that draws you to it, but you are too tired to notice that despite their exhaustion. Your feet take you to it, instead of dropping you on the ground like you wish they would.
You stretch your legs. The fatigue of your body lulls you to sleep and you take a nap. When you wake up, the clouds are gone. The sky is clear of clouds, but the sun is absent. It is nighttime, the sun has set far below the horizon line. In its place is the moon. Sunlight is replaced by moonlight and it is with the moonlight you are finally able to see it.
The boulder you fell asleep beside has a strange marking, one shaped like the crescent moon.
But the moon marking is tilted, not in its usual upright position, but laying on its side. You arms strain trying to push the rock upright so the marking is upright as well.
It is no use, the rock does not budge. You tilt your head then lift it upright again. You notice that the moon looks like it is pointing to a direction. It could absolutely be your wild imagination or perhaps the lack of food and water, but you follow the direction. You keep walking straight, your legs still weak. You are about to give up when you see another boulder with the same marking, this time pointing to the same direction. You follow that direction and that is how you spend the night, and the next day and the next night. That is how you spend your next few weeks.
You do not stop aside for getting a sip of water. You do not need sleep or food because each time you see a stone with the crescent moon marking, you feel empowered. You feel like you would conquer the world. You know that you are getting closer to the end, whatever it is.
But somewhere deep in your mind, you think this is stupid. There will be nothing but crushed hopes when you reach the end, or maybe there is no end. Maybe you are just walking in circles and circles around yourself.
All life comes from the sun. The sun is superior. The light of the moon is a lie.
That is what the voice in your head says, but you do not listen to it and it eventually fades. That is the last time you hear that voice again.
You keep walking.
Then you reach the marking again, but this time it is larger than the previous ones. This is it. This is the end.
You look at and around the marked stone. Your fingers are frail and tired, and they threaten to snap like twigs. But your mind is occupied. Your hands search the ground for... well you do not know what you are searching for. But when you find it you will know. The ground beneath you becomes tainted with red.
Your blood.
You wonder how you even have any blood left in your feeble body after the battles against dehydration and starvation. Maybe you will die before you find it, and that strikes fear into your heart. You must know the truth. So you do not feel the pain in your hand as your fingers become torn pieces of flesh.
And then you find it.
It is a hole that serves the purpose of an entrance of sorts. You peer in and what you see inside is glorious. The crescent moon decorates the blue banners that hang proudly on the wall. Everything is a swirl of blue, white and grey. The moonlight enters through the cracks in the ceiling illuminating your way. On one of the walls you pass, there is a portrait. A portrait of people bowing to the moon.
You feel at home here.
There are many artifacts and weapons inside, each one astounds you. But your eyes are trained on one thing and one thing only. In the middle of everything, you see a blade that glows with the power and strength of the moon. It is a relic, a powerful relic.
You dare not touch it because you know it is not yours to touch. You have betrayed the moon and bowed down to the sun, but you will make things right.
Still, you need it as proof. So feeling the guilt choke you alive, you take it and anything else you can carry. They will believe you now. They have to.
You rush back to the elders of Solari.
You have proof now. They cannot deny the moon's power.
When you finally reach the peak of the mountain you are out of breath, but still, you run. You enter the room where the council of elders are. You forget to knock. But that is okay, you have news, magnificent and glorious news.
The elders look at you, some with disappointment, others with the same disgust they showed you the previous time you were in this room. You do not notice it. You have to tell them, and you do. You tell them of your long journey. You tell them of your discoveries. You tell them of the moon.
SILENCE.
They are furious at you. The head elder is glowing a red, not because of his dedication to the sun but the fury in his soul. In fact, they are all furious.
But they should not be furious, this is wonderful news. They should be jumping for joy.
Why are they not jumping for joy?
Instead, they refuse to let you talk. They refuse to let you explain.
They refuse to listen.
They silence you. They have you dragged away despite your pleads.
You are dragged and dragged.
Everyone you pass looks at you in curiosity, but none in pity. None of them believes you either.
They have stripped you of your rank. You are nothing now. You were warned this would happen. This was all your fault.
You continue to fight the guards, trying to get them to loosen their iron grips on your wrists. They will not let you go. Still, you fight. You flail your hands and drag your heels into the floor until there are holes in your shoes. You reach the dungeon and they throw you into a wooden, dusty cell. They lock the door and you grasp the bars, telling them to free you. They only walk away as you scream at their backs.
You spend the next few days like that, treated like a traitor. Then one day a boy comes and you think that he will somehow set you free.
He does not. He is only a messenger because of course none of the elders wants to talk to you. None of the elders wants to look at a filthy traitor like yourself.
Execution. That is the punishment the elders have decided on.
Tonight is your last night and in the morning you will be executed. You walk around in your cell, even though it is smaller than a closet. You see there is a window in the cell, to let the light from the sun in. But it is night. The sun has vanished, the sun has left you.
But there is no darkness.
You see the moon in the sky, always there for you when you need it the most. Bringing you light.
And for the first time, you pray to the moon. You pray and pray. You are glad that even though you will die, at least you will die knowing the truth rather than living in foolish ignorance.
You manage a smile and enjoy the moon's presence.
Then something strange happens. You think it is only an illusion or your eyes tricking you at first, but it is not. You are glowing. Not an orange glow like the Radiant Dawn, but a whitish silver one.
Glowing like the moon.
You rub your glowing hands in disbelief, but they do not fade. If anything they grow brighter and you yourself feel stronger. You embrace it. You have never felt more alive in your life. You can feel the power surging through your entire body.
But you are still in a cell. You are still human. You cannot walk through stone or wood.
But you cannot just die. You cannot let the elders have their way.
You will show them the truth. So for now, you wait.
Two guards come down to the dungeon before dawn on the day of your execution. They mumble something between themselves and from the few words you manage to hear, you realize they are talking about your appearance. Even you wonder how you look with the moon's power behind you.
But you do not dwell on it. They do no leave mirrors in the dungeons and there is something far more interesting. The look in the guards' eyes.
Fear.
Still, they must have the execution at dawn, as per tradition. They open the door to the cell.
Their mistake.
With the power of the moon, you take down the guards. They are no match for you. Not when the sun hides below the horizon, not when you have become what you were always meant to be.
Of course, you are not invincible. Were it an army of guards, even you would not be able to defeat them. But only two guards were sent, the Elders believed you to be a silly little girl with an imagination too wild for her own good.
Their mistake.
You escape, and the first thing you do is find the relics of the Lunari they confiscated. You hold the crescent blade again, but this time you feel no guilt. You only feel power.
Even if you are equipped for battle, you cannot fight the full wrath of the Solari. There is a reason why they still stand strong above Mount Targon.
But lucky for you, the sun has not risen and many are still asleep.
You can already feel their blood on your hands, but it is a small price to pay for the truth.
All life comes NOT from the sun. The sun is NOT superior. The light of the moon is NOT a lie.