Nocturne

☼ Chapter Ten ~ Aurora ☼

Aurora stepped forwards. "Lord Elios!" she exclaimed. Surprise made itself evident in the arch of her eyebrows and the slant in her higher-pitched voicē. "What are you doing here?" She paused to consider, realization dawning in on her like morning sunlight through windows, though now no sun could be seen in the ebony sky. "Oh! I'm so sorry, am I not supposed to be here?" The High Priest laughed. "No, my dear. If you're here, it's because it's meant to be."

"...Oh." Said Aurora. "Wait, happy birthday? Is it midnight already?"

The high priest looked down at his wrist and the golden watch upon it, one of the last remnants of the world before the Revival. "Yes indeed. As of about.. oh, ten seconds ago, you are sixteen." He paused and bowed deeply. "My lady."

Aurora frowned. "What? I'm not- There is no need to bow, my Lord Elios. I am really far from your superior. I'm just an Acolyte, you know. Barely even that!"

Elios shook his head.

"That's where you're wrong, my dear. Of course, you need training, but you are far from an ordinary Acolyte, or even an ordinary citizen. Everything, from your bright, Sol-blessed eyes to your very presence in this sacred place affirms it. You are... Well, why don't you open the book and see?"

Aurora followed his instructions, opening the book to a random page. The pages fell open easily in her grasp, sending a shiver through her limbs. She lifted the book and bared its insides to the old priest. "There's nothing to see! It's empty. Satisfied now?"

Anger was building inside of her, subtle at first, but increasingly powerful. Lord Elios was a kind and wise and great man, in power second to none save perhaps the King. How could he stand before like this, smiling that smile and saying those words? How dare he offer her what she'd been longing for her whole life, how dare he say she was special? She was just a kid, an ordinary teenager who hung out with her friends on weekends and talked during class and acted dumb around her crush and aspired to something more. It was downright cruel of him to say she was everything she'd ever dreamed of. Not when she wasn't, not when she could never be.

Even with her bright, Sol-blessed eyes, she was nothing.

She was sure he'd realize his mistake now and walk away, leaving her to nurse her shattered dreams and wish Diurne was beside her. Diurne had taught her humility, and the quiet strength she needed in that moment. Diurne would know just what to say to comfort her without Aurora losing face when the high priest walked away.

But he didn't walk away. He only smiled, seeming almost as if he was forcing himself not to laugh. "No. It's not empty. But that's beside the point. You can open the book. I cannot. No one can. It responds to you, and you alone, because you are the Blessed One, created by Sol Himself.

"You are the reincarnation of Aditya, of Sharik, of Cymbeline and of Ciro. For a hundred years we have waited for you to come and reclaim your birthright, as you have now done. You are the one who will restore our history and purify our faith!" He paused. "Along with Diurne, of course."

"Diurne?"

"Yes, Diurne. You aren't alone, of course. You're powerful, so you need a balance, someone your equal. You are the child of Sol, the embodiment of the greatest Light in a human form. Diurne is the child of Luna, representation of the truest Darkness. You need each other."

His face turned grim. "That is what ruined Aditya."

Aurora's head was reeling. She decided to focus on the question that rose clearest in her mind, if not the loudest. "Who's Aditya?"

Elios sighed, brown eyes fluttering closed for the barest moment. "May I sit?"

"Of course."

"This was just before my time, and the last time I spoke of this story was when I was declared High Priest almost seventy years ago now, so please, bear with me."

Aurora nodded impatiently.

"Aditya... Aditya was the incarnation before you, and the last inhabitant of this house. It always belongs to the Chosen, of course, but normally the High Faithful stay here in the interim to care for it. This time..." He winced and leaned forwards on his walking stick.

"Aditya was forced by the queen of the time, who's name shall not be spoken, to fight in the war. In particular, she was given the task of killing Neoma, her wife and counterpart- Diurne's last reincarnation, in fact."

Aurora inhaled sharply. "You mean- she-"

"With a heavy heart, Aditya complied with her queen's orders. She struck a fatal blow to Neoma, who could not bring herself to fight back, or even lift her sword to defend herself. Aditya allowed the last Lunars to bring Neoma's dying body away with them, and returned to Apollo, where she locked herself away in this very house, refusing to see or speak with anyone, even the unrepentant queen. Or perhaps especially her.

"Neoma struggled under the care of the last surviving Lunars for three days. When she died, the person who would become High Faithful saw fit to give Aditya the news. The house allowed him entry, and when they did, she found Aditya, lying dead."

"And when he saw the body, the world shook. It had been storming from the time Neoma was reported to have died, but in that moment the sky cleared with a flash of lightning- only to fall back into that gray hell of the Gods' rage."

"And from that moment, all memory of time before began to fade. Books rotted, or burned, or crumbled from water damage. People's memories faltered, and they lost the ability to speak of the past to anyone. When the rains ceased forty-two days later, all traces of our past was lost to our betrayal of our foundations.

"The only people who remembered were my mentor and the royal family, and both have passed on the tales faithfully. One with repentance and sincere remorse, the other with arrogance and buried guilt. We were given these stories to protect them, and pass them to you, that you would know to reach your full potential. They were given them to punish them for their ancestral sin.

"Only you and Diurne, together, can save us. Only you can purify our hearts and restore our minds. Only you can forgive us."