Prelude

My name is Audrelia Lirnea Phontana. Actually, that was my name, my full name. See, sometimes I like to pretend that my real name is Airous. For some reason I like the name Airous better than Audrelia.

My father, Danell Mally Phontana, used to call my Mother, Lirnea Linela Monell, his Lirnny Doll; even though her real name was Lirnea.

My last name, Phontana, is after my Father's last name; as all children's last names are. Children's middle names are after their Mother's first name; just as my middle name is Lirnea.

I used the words my Father used to and her name was because my parents are no more. What I am trying to make clear is that I am an orphan.

My parents were killed during an eclipse. If humans are not sheltered in a black dome during an eclipse, the moon's intense silver rays destroy their cells. Eventually, the cells become so damaged that the body falls apart. The humans with damaged cells will not be able to take care of themselves anymore.

And it is hard enough to take care of your own self in times like these, let alone trying to take care of others.

When the full moon had hung over our heads, my Mother had held me tight and had wept. My Father had given me advice. He had told me to run away, to never be caught, and to hide my silver pendant that hangs on my silver chain.

When the moon's rays had touched my silver pendant, it had become much more than silver; my pendant had shone so intensely that my Mother had to shield her eyes from its light.

My Father had tried to tell me one more thing, but he and my Mother died so fast that I had not been able to catch his raspy words. All I had gotten was, "Audrelia, take care of your necklace, keep it safe. And, my daughter, never speak the word—"

I had been all alone by the time the eclipse was over, but there had been a scarce breath left in my Mother. She had whispered, "Audrelia, your eyes—how they shine! I cannot see… I love you, sweetheart, but please…your eyes—they shine as bright as the moon!"

I had not understood her then, and perhaps I never will.

Carefully, I had crawled into my Mother's limp arms. I had closed my eyes, but my tears had squeezed through.

At that time, while I had been crying and pondering over why my parents had been harmed, but not myself, a guard had emerged from the black dome. As the light from the moon had slowly died down, the guard had stepped into the darkness.

"Come, girl," he had grunted. "You must come. I don't know how you did not die, but somehow you are the only one left alive; besides me. Everyone else in the black dome died. There is no one else!"

I had crept out from the shelter of my Mother's arms and into the moonlight. The guard had spoken the truth; the city was empty.

"I'm taking you to the Home Finding Agency for Orphaned Children; as I can see you have just become one. They will place you in a holding cell until they find you a new home," the guard had explained.

I hadn't liked the sound of that. I had quickly spilled out, "I want my parents! I am not just some other child, I am Audrelia Lirnea Phontana!"

"Audrelia Lirnea Phontana, you say? My fellow soldiers and I have been searching for you for a long time, now. Now, you must come with me!"

I had wondered why the guard had an angry look on his face. But I had not wanted to stay around to find out, so I had run.

"Come now," the guard had sighed. "No use running; we will find you, eventually."

"No!" I had yelled. "I will not go with you! I will get away from you; you will not capture me!"

I had run as fast as I could. Instantly, I had seen the moon not so far away and my necklace had begun to dazzle. My feet had very gradually lifted off the dusty ground. "I'm flying!" I had gasped.

The guard had reached his hand into a pocket and had pulled out his gun. He had thrust the rifle in my direction and had held his finger on the trigger. Then he had shot a bullet.

The bullet had pierced my arm and my arm fell beside me.

"Come down from there, or the other one's next!" the guard had threatened.

I had touched my bleeding arm, then had fingered my silver pendant. My eyes had begun to burn and all I had seen was fierce silver.

"My eyes!" the guard had exclaimed in agony. "What kind of magic is this? Are you a monster?"

I had slapped my hands to my stinging eyes and had held them there. I had heard the guard struggling along the ground, gripping various rocks to find his way along the dirt. He had been trying to find his gun.

I had taken this chance to open my eyes.

The guard had screamed and clutched his eyes. "You monster!" he had bellowed. "I am blind! You have blinded me, you serpent."

Serpent, I had thought. The lowest form of life—a snake; one who feeds off of others' ankles, off of dirt. How low—there is no lower life form than that.

Crying and yelling, the guard had fallen to the ground. He had not gotten back up.

I had fallen to the ground after that. And I had run away, not knowing where I was going or how I was going to get there, just running.

From then on, I had always thought of myself as a monster; and I still do.

Chapter One—Hut Hideout

It is a peculiar thing, to call yourself a fake name. But sometimes it is necessary. I call myself Airous, and now everyone else does too. The only one who knows my name is really Audrelia Lirnea Phontana is I; if anyone besides me knew that was my name, I would be dead.

I am being searched for, and I am a criminal.

Though I do not know for what I am being searched or for what reason I am considered a criminal, I know it must be horrible. For whenever I hear adults whisper things about me, they are horrid things, treacherous things, things that should not even be whispered. But they are.

The fact that people whisper about me chills me to the bone—and it also makes me conscious that others know I am still alive.

I am sitting on a chair inside of a tiny hut; I have been found by a poor miss, Miss Yernilia. Miss Yernilia found me about two weeks ago, and since then we have grown close. She is such a kindhearted soul, and so sweet. If I am looking hungry, Miss Yernilia will fix me something to eat, whether it be cold pea soup or a loaf of moldy bread. She is very generous, though she has so little for herself.

"Miss Yernilia, I am quite full. Please, do not make me anything more," I insist, though my stomach growls viciously.

Both to my distress and delight, Miss Yernilia says, "Nonsense, Airous. If I think that you are hungry, then by golly, you are hungry. And another thing, if I fix you something up, you will gladly gobble it all down—down to the last bit. Clear?"

I nod my head and gratefully accept her slice of bread with some cheese atop it.

"Miss Yernilia," I venture, "how is it that we have become governed this way?"

Despite the fact that Miss Yernilia hates politics, and especially our certain type of politics, she knows that I am a very smart child. And so, we talk about these things.

"Well, the president, Mr. Pollynolop, the dumbest person I have ever heard of…" Miss Yernilia says, becoming red in the face. She searches my face and asks, "You wouldn't give me away, now would you? I am against our president one-hundred percent…but I cannot really do anything about it."

"Of course I will keep quiet. You can trust me," I quickly confirm. I figure that I need all the information I can get, especially if it should be kept secret. After all, I am in danger of being given away.

"Yes, of course…I can trust you, Airous. Now then, Mr. Pollynolop became our president by way of force. Somehow, he managed to take over the entire world, over some time, of course. And then, he threatened our country with weapons and the possibility of being the poorest country ever. And so, because we did not want violence or to be without money, we nominated him to presidency. However, Mr. Pollynolop caused us to become poor, even though he had promised he would keep us safe from that."

"So, what can we do?"

"Mr. Pollynolop keeps us from doing anything. He has his idiotic guards all over; we are not alone for one second. Except in our homes—but we can never be too sure." At this, Miss Yernilia peeks out of her window with the tattered curtain.

"But, you are still against him."

"I believe in Freedom of Speech, something America used to have. But now that Mr. Pollynolop has taken over America, the greatest democracy of all time, Freedom of Speech is practically a thing of the past. So, yes, I am against him. I am in an organization called People vs. Pollynolop. Not many know about this group, it is kept very secretive. If it was ever publicized, we might be sought out and murdered. But, somehow without being publicized, we want to alter the peoples' views about Pollynolop. We want to educate the people about his sly ways. He is not a good man, Airous. Nothing that he does is helping us."

"I hear praises about him everywhere."

"Yes, I know. But these are fake praises—propaganda."

"Can I be a part of People vs. Pollynolop?" I ask carefully. I probably shouldn't get into a group against such a powerful man as Pollynolop; especially if I am already being searched for.

"No, you must be an adult. Now, I know you are truly intelligent, Airous, but you are just too young. Plus, it is much too dangerous for you. Do you want to be followed? Because that just might happen."

"Have you ever been found out or given away?" I wonder.

Miss Yernilia sighs deeply. "Yes, but not quite; my husband was. A guard was chasing after us; he shot at my arm and at my husband's leg. My husband fell, and ordered me to go on, to get away. So I did…I've never seen Frendilik Wonayam Yernilia since that horrid night.

I have found out what that guard wanted, however. He took my husband away to some holding cell, because he was a danger to the government. But really, how is talking about something dangerous? I'll never know…I'll never know."

Miss Yernilia gets up and walks over to her room. I will leave her alone to cry. It is best if I do not venture further—I have already gotten more than I had expected from her.

It is nighttime, and not peaceful. There are flashes of bright light that light up my room, every so often. These flashes scare me—I do not know what they are or what they could mean. All I know is something is the matter.

Miss Yernilia is restless. She got up and out of bed at three in the morning; she's been moving and making a ruckus ever since.

I get curious at around three thirty in the morning, so I silently exit my room. I see Miss Yernilia packing various things into a small suitcase. But where ever is she going at such an early time?

"Miss—"

"Hush, Airous!" she whispers viciously, but with gentleness. "We must not talk now."

So I go to her and follow her pointing hands. Together, we pack two suitcases full.

"What are we—"

"Not we, shh…" Miss Yernilia answers, as quietly as she can.

The flashes are getting brighter, and closer, it seems. Now we can hear massive booms; and at times, it seems as if these noises shake the little hut.

"Come."

I follow Miss Yernilia out the back way of her hut. She does not explain anything, and I don't wish to ask.

I think I already know.

The Security Agency has long been warning us of a frightening eclipse, which would only take a matter of time to come. They had warned us to get ready, to make sure we lived close to a black dome. But, ever since the eclipse that killed my parents, the eclipses have been growing in numbers…and in strength. And, ever after the eclipse that orphaned me, black domes are terrifying—for fear that if you enter one during an eclipse, you will not come back out.

How ironic it is that something built to help and protect is now feared.

Miss Yernilia does not lead us to a black dome, like I expected. Instead, she opens a cellar and beckons me to enter.

I do.

It is pitch dark inside, and quite stuffy. Miss Yernilia brought food, thank heavens—if ever she would forget food, the world must be coming to an end.

"Airous, are you frightened?"

I must not tell her the truth. If I do, perhaps she will think of me as a weakling.

"Oh, why am I asking? Of course you must be! After all, one of these killed your…your…parents," Miss Yernilia sighs before I can answer.

"My parents?"

Miss Yernilia says, "Remember, dear? You told me about them the first night I found you. We had a long talk about that."

"Oh, right…" Why on earth did I tell Miss Yernilia about me? I should keep myself as secretive as possible, and spilling the beans about my parents did not help me at all.

"Miss Yernilia, I must tell you something."

"What is that?"

"I am an orphan, but not because of an eclipse…" I lie. "A guard of Pollynolop's shot them. He shot at me too, but—"

"So that was the reason your arm was hurt. I had been wondering."

"Yes," I sigh deeply. It is hard to tell a lie. Especially if you have to make it good enough that there are no loopholes. Especially if you are making one to save you from death.

"Airous, dear," Miss Yernilia's calm voice comes to my ears. "Come, the eclipse is over."

We open the cellar and walk outside. But it is not what we wish to see.

Mangled humans lie strewn all over the ground, in treetops, and atop of roofs. Amputated limbs are in the muddy dirt and in other dead humans' hair. Lifeless eyes stare out from the maimed bodies.

"What has done it?" Miss Yernilia screams frantically. She faints, and I try to catch her, but she is too heavy. She falls to the ground, beside a little child who has one breath of life left in him.

"Help me—" he coughs out. "I cannot breathe!"

I back away from him; it is too much for me.

But a bloody hand with two fingers torn off grasps my leg and pulls me towards it.

"Don't leave me…" the woman attached to the hand hacks. Somewhere underneath a massive pile of dead or dying maimed humans, she is struggling to survive.

But I cannot help her. I must get away. It is too much, too much…too much.

"No!" I screech. "Let go of me!"

I run as fast as I can. I have to get away from the dead and the dying and the maimed. I must run…run…anywhere, just run.

I reach up to my silver pendant and clasp it. I am so terribly frightened that I am convulsing. I continue to run, though—I must.

"No!"

What has done it? What has caused this destruction? Not just the eclipse. The eclipse does not kill so. The bodies would be perfectly clean—no blood, no mess, no guts…just death.

Who has done this?

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I awake on a dirt road, unaware of where I am. Frantically I look every which way. I finally find something that eases me:

Eucolymbdo Street

Miss Yernilia's hut. Oh, I am alright. It was only a dream, I assure myself.

But when I get back to Miss Yernilia's hut, I find a dead man gripping the doorknob. His back is torn open, and I can see his spine in its iridescent white glow.

A tingle goes up my spine, and I run away again, back to the dirt road.

"It was not a dream! It was no dream!" I scream hysterically.

I start hyperventilating and I firmly tell myself to calm down. "Airous! Calm down! You must stop this. Just find another place, another home, another Miss Yernilia…and do the same thing again.

Then wait for another eclipse to come, hide from it, see this destruction, and then run again. It will be a cycle. A cycle of my life."

I think, But no! Eclipses do not kill this way! They do not maim a person! What has done this?