Shadows Hidden within a Lie

Ragged breaths. As she pushed her tiny legs, her lungs begged for air. The hood over her head made it hard to see while hair stuck to her forehead like wet curtains over her face. The constant harsh tugs on her arm were dragging her along with urgency, furious but in a panic.The slight sting in her eye made it swell; it felt like she has done something wrong, something unforgivable. First, she disobeyed mother, but she was sure not to let anyone know.She was ushered under the lushes of a thorny bush, shoved when the bulky rustles of angry footsteps neared them. She hissed as her arm bled, a few scratches inflicted by some smaller ones."WHERE ARE THEY?" A gruff voice yelled over the crowd, waving his rust-covered axe in the air, not caring whether it hit too close to the other villagers' heads. The only thing it cares about was splitting the head of the damned demon that cursed their village.Small Adeleine tried to peek past the hovering figure in front of her to watch the raging mob from a small uncovered patch, slightly disarranged from their recent entry inside the bush."They shouldn't be far!" One of the men said.The small child held her breath, shrinking as tears welled in the corner of her eyes. But there's no time to cry, as her mother said. No tears would patch her mistakes. So she wiped them hastily with silent ire.After a moment of abate as they let the group pass everything was silent. Except for the heaviness she felt when she stared at the back of her mother's tensed shoulders."Why?"Her eyes met the same soft shade of blue under the cloak, yet it was glaring. Adeleine was terrified.~~"You'll be the demon. Hiya! Take that!" A couple of children yelled, wielding a stick while another child yelped in pain as soon as it hit him."That's no fair! You always get to be the Heloire. It's my turn!"A small hooded figure passed by them without a care, even huffing at their childish antics. She shouldn't be here, yet here she was. Drawn by her childlike curiosity.Seriously, what's dangerous about this village? Isn't her mother just being over exaggerating?"They're starting! Quick!" called a child missing two of his front teeth to his fellow playmates. "It's The Sun and Moon!"They bumped shoulder-to-shoulder, but the child couldn't bother to apologize as he ran quickly to save himself a seat near at front. The irked expression on the hooded figure's face—reserved for the rude gesture—shifted. Sun and Moon? The one her mother always tells before bed?She moved in their direction, following them around the corner to where she saw a huddled bunch of small viewers in front of a cart. The upper was a hollow box with two openings, one at the top and one faced at them.Confused yet piqued, she sat down at the edge of the group to not draw herself attention. A cloak around a bunch of children was already strange enough. But sure enough, the excitement garnered before the show could even start drew suspicions away from her."Long ago, before the world was split in half—there was Aviristia. In this great empire, Astrea ruled over her subjects with light, luck, love, and life." The village children followed after the narrator like it was practiced a dozen of times to which the young cloaked child was taken aback by the loud enthusiastic chorus, feeling a little bit out of place. Surely, she gets obsessed with stories too to the point she memorized them down to every single curl of the tongue, so she's not one to judge."She fights to keep the darkness at bay; reaching her light in every corner to diminish the seeds of evil. So that children can play out in the sun, choirs could sing praises to the sun, people could live under the glory of the sun. Everything was peaceful. Until—"Gears turned and clinks hidden inside the stand could be heard. Another circle came into view. Adeleine watched as it slowly climbed up, covering the backdrop's large yellow circle against dark blue—presumably, the sun and sky—this circle, however, was black."—The dark mistress, whom she banished long ago, came back!"A round of gasps was earned from the storyteller's dramatic effect."And her name, which could make the whole world tremble, was...Luna. The dark enchantress wanted to plague the entire land in eternal night once again."Before the bright, glorious marionette figure of their sun goddess was a reek of evil and brooding shadow. With dark, green, hair that flowed down with the hem of her dress, fading to the sinister smokes around them. "The one who threatened to make the world bathe under an eternal night sky, built armies of shadows to take over the empire, cursing to even swallow the faintest of light—our hope."Twelve days, and twelve nights, as far as people could count for they couldn't tell from the sky where both two mighty celestials stood, battling for reign. Twelve days and twelve nights; from the twelve Morning Stars, became four; eight turned their backs from the light; four descended to madness, bewitched by the lies of the dark; four perished before the war ended; only four remained loyal. As the battle drew its end, the two mighty figures, beaten and worn, stopped and released their last cries. They crossed at the heart of the cursed ring in the sky. The sky roared orange as a big burst swept the entire land. The mighty has fallen. Our sun sacrificed herself to defeat the dark bane once and for all, so she...can keep all of us safe."But she promised, as long as the sun continues to shine, so will she protect us from the lurking dark."Everyone sat there, wide-eyed and in disbelief. The mighty has fallen.As the curtains unfurled, a hand rose in the crowd. "That's not the Sun and Moon story," she said.