\\ NIGHT\\ Fantasy AU \ ATEEZ Fanfic

// Chapter 1 \\

I can't fall asleep.

I haven't been able to sleep for years. It started when I was very young. I remembered I panicked when Nanny reassured me I was just being selected for Court selection.

Court selection is when we're finally granted our full magical powers as well as a realm we associate with. My eyes had changed into an unknown gold and my dark hair began to bloom with silver streaks. It wasn't long after that I was selected to the Night Court.

Court selection was one thing but it became something else when silver stark wings blossomed from my back one morning. They'd left my back by the time someone of high authority came to inspect but it was evident enough with the silver trimmed slits on my shoulder blades. That's when I was named a Monarch. One thing led to another and before I knew it, I was the head Monarch of the Night Court. My Court.

My name I was born to has been forgotten by me. Instead, I call myself Star. This was typical among Head Monarchs to choose a name to go by other than their birth name. Subjects that called them by their birth name could have severe punishment if they didn't have permission. It was considered offensive against the Monarchy in Courts. Except, I was only known as Star— no other name.

It's been 12 years since I last slept— Eight of those since I've been in the Night Court, seven since I've been placed as a Monarch, and three since I've been placed as the Head Monarch. I'm 17 now.

And, just like that, I found myself sidetracked in my own mind. I huffed out a sigh as I gazed up into the open sky above me. The eternal stars that were placed in the sky. They dazzled a pale blue-ish-white at this time. Sometimes they'd have tints. Sometimes pale pink, orange, mint green, or gold. I'd always be fascinated with the sky's ability to be a flawless enchantment on my land.

I sat there laying in my levitating gold rim bed. I'd spend hours like this. The silk sheets wrapped around, hugging my bare skin as I'd gaze up at the stars longing for my eyes to droop into what I so dearly missed: sleep.

Many would simply close their eyes to sleep and cross into the realm of dreams. But I couldn't even do that mere task. My eyes were forever glued open. They never dried out or blurred. My vision was as clear as the night sky I could never close my eyes from.

This was ironic, actually. The Night Court was known for their strong connection to the dream realm. I, however, have never, and never had, such a connection. That had to be my one true flaw of being a Head Monarch, but that weighed too much on the mind to be thinking about right now. I was trying to sleep and from what I know and remember, it required not stressing.

"Star, the ball will start soon."

I refrained from letting out a groan as I poked my head over the edge of my bed to see the maid at the gate of my quarters. One look, however, told me she was not such. There stood an elder. Her dark eyes gazed up to me. Her grey hair curled around her structured face that held few wrinkles for her age. She wore her normal black robes to signify who she was. There at the gate stood Nanny. The only person in this Court who had higher authority to me— well, rather, I let her have that higher authority. I'd come of age but I still had her 'guidance,' to say the least.