Chapter One: Perlysia Luna

"Perlysia!" The voice was familiar, soft, fragile. Her mother's voice was a calming presence that had guided Perlysia to her tenth year. Perlysia had been trained all her young life to be the successor to the voice that echoed in the darkness. A decade had been spent to make Perlysia the perfect daughter, the perfect princess, and ten agonizing years of nightmares. Like so many nights throughout Perlysia's life, the serene voice of her mother, Althea Luna, would not wake her from her seizures.

Princess Perlysia Luna, named for her majestic home, which was named after her genius ancestor Luminara Luna, was lost this evening. Vivid imagery shot across Perlysia's mind as her mother attempted to steady the child's body, and each image caused her body to spasm. Scenes of a forest of corruption she had only read about in her books. Followed by an overwhelming, blinding light that felt like it seared her pale skin. Then, she was locked within a large cavern filled with oddities and oppressive heat, suffocating Perlysia. Finally, she stood on the mountain vista overlooking a canopy of silver trees that eerily resembled her unique hair color.

Lucid dreaming was one of the curses Perlysia had endured in her short life, and as she sat alone on the unknown mountaintop, she knew what was next. Perlysia, barely ten years old and a mere sixty pounds, turned to face the cause of her nightmares: a dark cloud of violet and silver that clashed violently, growing in size as Perlysia gazed uncontrollably into its vortex.

Perlysia could faintly make out the figure of two entities clashing within the cyclone. The ruinous tempest that haunted her existence with each nightmare had grown in frequency every year. Bright flashes of silver were snuffed out by crackling violet lightning as the growing storm forced Perlysia closer to the cliff's edge with every burst of energy. Only a few inches of snow-covered rock stopped Perlysia from plummeting to the silver canopy of trees below her. Perlysia instinctively lifted her left arm toward the magical energy, calling it to her.

Instantly, a bolt of violet lightning burst from the cloud, striking the young princess in the chest. Sweat beat down Perlysia's brow as her entire body convulsed from the energy surging through her nerves. Filling her lungs with the thin mountain air, no sound escaped her mouth as Perlysia tried desperately to call for anyone to help her. Every nerve in her body was on fire as thick tears dripped from her cheek. Perlysia was frozen for a century before the cloud engulfed her.

Within the eye of the storm, Perlysia regained control of her body. Perlysia's knees buckled under the weight of the image before her. Gripping a handful of dirt and snow, she rubbed it into her eyes with significant discomfort. She didn't wish to see it, never again.

"Please…" Perlysia pleaded for help to anyone who could hear her cries. It was futile like each time before. No voice returned her pleas. She was alone with…it. A faint creaking and snapping sound broke the silence. Forcing her eyes open to peer through the muck, Perlysia saw the skeletal creature crawling toward her.

"Perlysia!" Again, her mother's voice rang through her mind as the skeleton slithered mere feet from Perlysia. The rough grinding of a rib cage scraping across the rocky mountain cliff was unsettling. Even more disturbing was watching a vertebral rib bone lodge itself into the ground, snapping off, only to regrow a dark crimson color. With a crack of its neck, the skeletal entity lifted its head from the frozen ground to stare at Perlysia. Once more, Perlysia's mouth opened, and her face turned red at the attempt to scream for help for no sound to escape her lips. A vice had gripped Perlysia's heart as the skeleton's gaze pierced her down to the core.

The creature was a pristine ivory skeleton without a single blemish or crack in its structure. Any damage sustained crawling across the ground had vanished. It had no muscles or tendons, yet it moved effortlessly to kneel to match Perlysia's eyesight. Terrified and frozen in place, Perlysia wished more than anything to be in her bedroom, in her library, with her mother anywhere but staring at the skull inches from her face. Perlysia's companion had no lungs, but she felt a hot breath across her face.

"Beloved!?" Fleeing from the ghoulish soft voice, Perlysia took one step away from the monster and plummeted off the cliff edge. As she fell, the canopy of trees below changed to a dark crimson red. Perlysia flailed her arms, desperate to grasp anything to stop her from falling into the trees. The sky flared in bright golden light once more. Searing pain pulsed through Perlysia's mind, forcing her eyes closed to block out the light.

"Perlysia, oh, thank the Twilight." Althea, the Lunar Queen, clutched her daughter tightly. Finally, the seizures ceased, and Perlysia slowly opened her eyes. It took minutes for Perlysia's eyes to adjust to the shimmering glow of the magical lights illuminating her bedroom. As the only light source, three small lanterns sparked with an iridescent blue glow hung from the room's ice ceiling. As the lights swayed slightly, it gave the illusion of water dancing upon the crystalline walls of Perlysia's bedroom.

"Mother, you are crushing me." Perlysia struggled for the words as her mother tightly clung to her. Two years ago, when the seizures started, Perlysia would have been carted away to be examined by Frostweaver physicians. Now, her nightmares were a monthly occurrence, and doctors were stumped on the cause as Perlysia was, for all accounts, a bodily healthy person. The Frostweavers had been convinced it was a corruption of her mind that must be kept a secret. When Althea's grip loosened, Perlysia squirmed from her mother's grasp, fleeing to the chilled ice floor of her bedroom.

Perlysia's bedroom was significant for a child. It had a massive fluffy four-poster bed, from which Althea was now staring disapprovingly. Perlysia inherited much from her mother in temperament, yet physically, they couldn't be more different. Althea's skin was a light brown, her hair a dark mahogany color, and her eyes bright emeralds. This was so different from Perlysia's silver locks, crystal blue eyes, and ivory skin that many believed she was adopted and not Althea's true daughter. This opinion sparked much controversy during her coronation as Princess. It might have been easy to convince the populous of her birthright if Perlysia had been blessed with the appearance of her father, yet she had not. If not for the priest who birthed her swearing upon death they had witnessed the birth, Perlysia might have been tossed into the Violet Sea.

Only in her bedroom haven was Perlysia allowed freedom from the opinions and demands of her mother's Lunar Court. Here, it was quiet; Perlysia was safe from civilians, teachers, and politicians. It seemed that even at the age of ten, she had the responsibilities of a Queen. Every soul she passed pretended to honor her as Lunar Princess or wished for her to bless their silly endeavors. Perlysia loathed these responsibilities, and she could see some onlookers' contempt and hear the crowds' whispers. Perlysia could let down her guard in her bedroom, which meant she was lost in her books. Princess Perlysia Luna would gladly revoke her status if not for her mother and let someone else be Queen next.

The rectangular room was far less ornate than the rest of the Castle of the Twin Moons. A small crystal table in the center of the space was used daily for Perlysia to study and prepare tea. More precious to Perlysia was the nearly one dozen bookshelves lining every inch of the southern wall, filled with countless knowledge and adventure. Each bookshelf was made of the same icy blue crystal common in Luna architecture. Perlysia rushed to grab a book from the nearest shelf without speaking to her mother before turning her back to Althea to avoid the Queen's gaze.

"Precious, are you sure you're okay?" Perlysia waved off her mother's advances for answers. After years of dealing with the nightmares and seizures, Perlysia had stopped informing her mother of their content. Her mother didn't know about the golden light or the skeleton that haunted her dream. Bernard, Perlysia's current tutor from the Twilight Orthodoxy, assured Perlysia that the imagery of her nightmares was no more than her mind, visualizing the stories Perlysia was always reading. Perlysia did not believe him as she was not a fan of horrific retelling of dead people, nor had she ever read any story containing the mountain vista.

Althea didn't wait for an answer from Perlysia as she attempted to reassure herself that her daughter was okay. First came the pinching of her cheeks, which turned Perlysia's ivory skin pink. Then Althea's forearm was across Perlysia's brow in search of any fever. A futile endeavor as Perlysia's room was made of the original ice crystals that formed the castle. Bernard had scalded Perlysia when he learned she had ripped away all the room finery and stone panels meant to insulate her room. Perlysia didn't need insulation. She was never cold, and she preferred the natural look of the old magic that formed the first buildings of Luna. Perlysia's room was like walking into an icy library cavern, and she loved it.

"Mother!" Perlysia huffed, annoyed by the minutes of prodding, now swiping her mother's advances away with her unoccupied right hand. She was busy reading "Luminara's L.U.N.A.T.I.C.S," an exciting title about the founding of the Kingdom of Luna. "I assure you I am sufficiently healthy." Perlysia lied. Her entire nervous system was on fire, and she could still hear the skeleton's eerie, raspy voice rattling in her mind and smell its musty, lung less breath.

"Promise? Precious, promise me you feel okay?" Althea pulled her daughter's eye away from the book she was using to avoid the question. Althea pressed both palms against Perlysia's face, sinking in her cheeks and forcing Perlysia's lips into a pucker.

"I…prom…ise…" Perlysia lied again as her mother squeezed her cheeks tighter together. Althea's grip upon Perlysia's cheeks loosened. With a deep sigh, Althea's shoulders and frame seemed to drop a full two inches. Perlysia awaited her next command, unable to turn away from her mother's emerald eyes that matched Althea's regal dress.

"Okay, dear," Althea sighed, releasing Perlysia from squishy face syndrome. "You surely wouldn't lie to your mother." Perlysia's heart sunk at the accusation. Her mother knew she was lying and that she was a bad child. Perlysia was taught from an early age to be honest with her parents and tutor, but she couldn't be honest about her dreams. Since the arrival of the skeleton in her nightmares, Perlysia seemed unable to speak of them, not that it bothered her not to. It was like speaking of it would make the skeleton figure a reality, or at least Perlysia feared it would.

A sudden knock on the door broke the awkward tension of Althea's search for more answers. This was a welcome distraction, allowing Perlysia to dash across the room away from her mother's disapproving gaze. Perlysia pulled the large, obnoxious wooden door with all her might; it creaked across the crystal floor with colossal effort. Long days spent in her bedroom alone reading did not make for a body filled with strength. Perlysia lacked muscle, even for a young child; she was fragile.

Perlysia's savior was an old gentleman she knew very well. Wearing his traditional violet devotee robes, the elderly Bernard was the source of the tap on her door. Bernard was a tutor to Althea and Isabella Luna, Perlysia's grandmother, before educating the young Princess. Most people in the violet robes of the Twilight Orthodoxy filled Perlysia with an unknown sense of dread. However, Bernard had been a gentle teacher to Perlysia, often allowing her to discover knowledge for herself.

Bernard was spry for a man Perlysia assumed was older than dirt, at least one hundred years old. There were people half his age whose posture had turned them into question mark-shaped slumps, but Bernard always stood straight and proper. Her tutor's twilight robes were always immaculately pressed, from the long sleeves covering his arms to the long skirt that brushed the floor as he walked. Like many in his order, Bernard had short, nearly buzzed hair of a cloudy white and no stubble on his stalwart square face.

"Bernie!" Perlysia bounced on her heels as she closed her book, outlining another adventure of her idol, Luminara. Bernard's arrival meant it was time for studying, and Perlysia loved study time. She loved gaining knowledge.

"Princess," Bernard's voice cracked as he bowed his head to Perlysia. Something wasn't right. Gaia's radiance, the silver moon of Luna, had only begun to wane in the sky over Luna. It was not time for her education. "Althea, you have been summoned." Bernard turned away from the Princess to the Lunar Queen.

"Summoned?" Althea finally broke her gaze from Perlysia. Time froze as Perlysia stood between the two, watching the two most influential people in her life stare at one another.

"The Lunar Court, Althea, there have been developments. They demand answers for Orion's actions." Perlysia's eyes widen, and her ears perk up at her father's name.

"I see." In a heartbeat, Althea curls her long brown hair into a pristine bun and walks to the door, motioning for Perlysia to follow. Bowing his head and stepping aside, Bernard allows Althea to leave the bedroom, only to swiftly lift his cane to the door frame, preventing Perlysia from following her mother.

"Perlysia should remain here." Perlysia froze at her mentor's words. Why should she remain? This was abnormal. Perlysia always attended court as part of her training to be Queen. Why prevent her now? Questions swirled in Perlysia's mind, a flood that demanded answers. "I shall call upon the Ashcroft girl to entertain her."

"Oh yay, Kass!" All questions seeped from Perlysia's mind as fast as they surged into it. Perlysia hadn't seen Kass in what felt like an eternity, and the wrinkles of Althea's tightened brow couldn't dim her excitement about seeing her friend. Besides, her father was across the Violet Sea in Mors Luna Metus. Nothing King Orion did could be that terrible…Right?