The Stars Speak

one - treaty of the twin suns

The sun was ablaze in the sky on the bright warm afternoon of the day of the Treaty of the Twin Suns. It cast its warm glow over the bustling streets of Taritosa. The city was breathing alive with celebration. Colourful banners fluttered in the wind, and crowds of humans lined the streets, their cheers echoing against the tall buildings that bordered the parade route. Children were laughing, music was blasting and the thick sweet scent of seastar elixir — a Taritosa delicacy. It was made with moonflower and ocean pearls, a rare sea berry worth fortunes, that was far less rare in the bountiful and fertile soils of Taritosa. It's said that the water and the soils of Taritosa are scattered with stardust. And so the people enjoyed the booming bounty of their beloved land and were able to help the humans somewhat step back up on their own two feet and create a society for themselves once more despite Nythor rule.

Helyra sat atop a grand, ornate carriage, the perfect picture of grace as she smiled and waved to the people below. She was adorned today, the Taritosan princess and darling of the people. She shifted uncomfortably in her stiff dress that had far more tooll than she could understand the need for. Still, she kept her glittering smile intact and waved to the crowds. She could feel her cheeks begin to ache from the stretched smile, but she kept it plastered on, playing the part she had been born into.

It was the Day of Treaty of the Twin Suns after all—a day meant to celebrate the peace between the Nythors and humans. Despite Helyras love for the people and the charming streets of her city, on days like this, all she could think about was the hundred other places she would rather be. The dresses seemed to get tighter around her chest as time went by and she could always feel the panic bubbling quietly in the pits of her stomach. Still, she knew the importance of her being there. She knew what it meant to be part of a family that was in charge of advocating for the humans, keeping them safe and happy. It was a heavy burden to bear sometimes. But she watched her parents carry it with dignity and grace all her life and they all reaped the rewards of their efforts. 

It didn't change the way she felt when everyone was watching her; the daughter of the human council leader, the symbol of this fragile alliance.

Helyra glanced up at the sun for a moment, squinting her eyes as she blinked at the giant orb of heat in the sky. She wondered what the brother sun looked like back in the realm of the Nythors. Nythoria, the realm that neighboured the human world in the delicate fabric of space and time.

She heard that their sun was very different, very dark. In the Nythorian native language, Eldraic, she knew they called their sun Nero Sol — black soul. Her thoughts then wandered to the world before the portal had been opened. The humans had many artefacts and remnants of their past as a species. Helyra thought of a world filled with nothing but people, where humans had dominion over the Earth and their societies spread across the entire globe, like a disease. 

It must have been loud. She mused to herself. 

And just like a disease does, they poisoned the Earth. Pumped her full of chemicals and burned her air. They killed its inhabitants in their own homes and made the ground bleed for their sins and their greed. It was never enough and eventually, they destroyed the Earth themselves, with weapons that set the air ablaze and turned everything they touched into ashes. The Nuclear Annihilation. The Great Ending.

She sometimes wondered if the Nythorian rule was their great reckoning and that they deserved what they got in the end. 

Even so, she thought that fate was kinder than it should have been. After all the humans had done, the Nythorians still let them live, well even. 

Fifty years had passed since the peace treaty was signed, bringing an end to one of the bloodiest wars the world had ever seen, the world after the Great Ending. For decades, the humans and Nythors had been locked in bloody and brutal conflict, the loss of life staggering on both sides. The Nythors, though fewer in numbers,  with their superior strength and abilities, had eventually won the war and conquered much of the land. Yet, instead of wiping out the human survivors, they offered peace—albeit one that came with segregation and strict borders.