Bonus chapter: Memories

The girl sighed as she sat against a tree. The first thing she needed to do was come up with a plan. The girl knew that The Other One would do anything he could to ruin her life even further. Turning her home against her and killing everyone she loved wouldn't be enough to satisfy him. Especially not now that she burnt down the empire he usurped. All that was left were ashes. The girl felt no regret for what she had done. The feeling of watching the fires consume her old home that had betrayed her gave her peace. She missed the memories tied to the old home, but she only cared about four people. All of which were dead.

A cool breeze flowed around her, weaving through the trees and rustling the leaves. The sun shined through the leaves, dappling her in light. She felt the warmth spreading through her. She closed her eyes and found herself unconscious.

Her dreams were filled with memories of the boy. His warm smile that thawed her cold heart. His bright and hopeful eyes. The light he wielded, which brought balance to the darkness in her life. She used to be afraid of the dark until his light had awoken. That included her own. She hated using her shadows. She knew they were hers, yet she still feared them. But when the boy's light came, she wasn't afraid anymore. Not even the place that was in her nightmares phased her anymore. For a whole year, she had overcome the darkness entirely. And then the boy died. His light disappeared. She felt the fear again for the first month. Then after that she killed the fear. She killed the sadness as well. Yet there was no happiness or hope either. She had been numb. She felt no pain, yet no pleasure. And in a way, it hurt her. She couldn't feel pain, yet, she still ached.

Then there was the shadow that followed her around. When it had appeared, she had been able to feel again. Not entirely, but there was still more than before, when there was nothing. She hated it back then. But after some time, she had grown to like being able to feel again. She felt the pain and sadness, but she also felt the peacefulness. Watching the fire burning everything to the ground gave her peace when she was at her old home. And now, the surroundings gave her peace. It took her a moment to realize she had woken back up, but she didn't care. The ache of the numbness was manageable because of how peaceful she felt.

In fact, she almost couldn't feel the ache.

Three months earlier

The boy sat on a cliff that overlooked the great Empire of the Sun. He loved his home. It was too bad he had to hide the light he had awakened. It had been almost a year since it had happened. And what a great year it had been. Though he had to hide his light from the people of his home, he could use it around the girl. He knew it comforted her. The boy didn't keep secrets from the girl. He told her everything. Even this secret that could get him killed.

He had known the girl for what felt like forever. He couldn't remember a time he hadn't known her. And all that time, she'd been scared of the dark. It made him happy that he could use his light to help her.

He flopped on his back with his legs hanging off and closed his eyes. He bore a soft, warm smile.

He heard Yuki's quiet footsteps approach him, followed by the soft sound of the grass ruffling as she lay beside him. They laid together in silence. No words needed to be said. The presence of each other alone was enough.

After about an hour, they sat up. The moon was full that night.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon," the boy said dreamily.

"It really is." The girl looked at the moon with longing.

The boy rested his hand on hers and squeezed it gently and they laid back down.

The boy loved the girl. This was the one secret he could never tell her. Because if she didn't feel the same, their friendship would slowly grow apart until it fell apart completely. He couldn't risk that happening. Not now. Not ever. He would rather keep this to himself than let that happen.

He looked and saw that the girl had fallen asleep.

"I love you…" he said softly before he had drifted off to sleep.

One month later

The writing on the wall in front of the boy was unreadable. When he tried to read it, a stabbing pain shot through his head and blurred his vision. The words seemed to move and jumble in his memory. He could tell that whatever it was, wasn't meant to be read. He tried again and again, but in the end, all he could make out were the words "false sky."