❦ .・。.・゜❧・. from forth the fatal loins of these two foes, a pair of star-crossed lovers... ━━━
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██ 00. | ❛ DEATH ❜
█ ❦ ... / THERE HAD ALWAYS BEEN a fine line between order and destruction. Between that which was beautiful, and unmoving, and that which would ultimately succumb to decay.
It was a thin veil, after all — order. From a distance, it appeared alluring. Taintless and pristine, with everybody spread out in their neat little line. Those born with value to the left, and those who had to earn it, to the right. But if you were to look more closely at our setting, you would find little stability in its order at all.
You see, it's a fragile thing, is perfection.
Most of the time, it only acts as a brittle mask to cover all that is missing. Disguising any blemishes, so that nobody can get distracted by the hideousness of its flaws. Order is beautiful, but division? Division implied that they were impaired, and that just wouldn't do.
At this point, you may be wondering how our setting even survived in the midst of such disconnection. Well, in a place where peace is more precious than diamonds, tolerance was the only thing that kept such a fragile system afloat.
But alas, it does no use to start a story from it's orderly beginning, and remain ignorant to the destruction that will make its catastrophic end.
And so, we start this tale not with a beginning, but with a warning...
This is not a story of joy or of happy endings — it is not even a story of success. This is a tale of empty promises and of broken dreams, of a cycle of disappointment so endless that it's victims commit to it again, and again, and again, without learning. A tale of love and of pain, with a promise that love can destroy even the strongest of systems if only one knows how to use it right.
Where naivety was dangerous, and a single misstep was capable of far more damage than the blade of a knife. But love? Well, love had the potential to burn the entire system to the ground.
And thus, I want to present you with a single image. A picture of fallen buildings and of crumbled stone, with entire populations reduced to ash. An image of ancient grudge and of new mutiny, in which civil blood makes civil hands unclean. Where the rising of three fingers has the power to turn a nation into an army.
And amongst it — a tragedy of the stars, and a fateful romance marked for death...
But please, you must forgive me, for I fear I may be getting ahead of myself. You see, our tale is one of much smaller magnitude than a civilisation turned to war. Our tale begins instead with the beauty of a princess, golden and fair. With bloodstained carpets, and a curtain of billowing red hair.
In need of her knight in shining armour? It could be so.
In need of rescue? Well — that much was certain. But then, our princess always was capable of doing that part herself...
No, this is not the story of a saviour. It couldn't possibly be, because the hero of our story was no mighty prince. There was no glistening sword. There was no crown or glory. Hell, there wasn't even a glimpse of influence to the poor boy's name.
Our story instead, stands with a boy who lost everything, despite not realising he had anything to lose at all.
His power, you may ask? Well, there never was anything quite as powerful as the need to save one's family from the brink of starvation.
And so, we are left only with the image of fallen petals and a locket, holding a dazzling blue crystal that burned golden beneath the morning light.
Lapis Lazuli.
If only they had known that the biggest threat to their system would be the power of a single, semi-precious stone. A frightful reminder of the harsh truth.
Everything that is beautiful must tarnish in the end.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE...hello my lovelies! welcome to the new and improved prologue! for those of you that have read the book before, this will be very familiar (as it hasn't actually changed that much from the original), so I won't ramble on for too long. but to be honest, the style of this prologue wasn't any easier to write the second time than it was the first. obviously, this prologue is based on the prologue from romeo and juliet, so it is very dark and prophetic, but do not be deterred! we have plenty of wholesome and fun stuff to come.
the foreshadowing is very fun though and I do love our narrator. they aren't going to show up very often (just a couple of instances across the book) and the rest of the book will be in regular first person. BUT, in the play the "chorus" pops up every so often to directly address the audience and lead them through the story, so I wanted to get that across a little!
anyway, that is all i'm going to say for now. i hope you're all having a lovely day!
all my love, dani x
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