Chapter 11

three short excerpts from an Altairian book about ancient myths and legends

Yongsun had discovered fairly early on in life that the first lie you told yourself was the most difficult one, the ones that came after that were surprisingly easy.

Continue.

Go on.

Tell yourself that the World is not what it seems: deceive yourself by believing your own twisted, deranged words that fall haphazardly from your mouth.

Save yourself from the truth (fool yourself) because the truth is always unbearable.

the Beginning

In the Beginning there was Aquila, who existed long before the Universe did. Aquila was the brightest Light in the Universe and from Aquila’s Light, Aquila birthed ten children — ten stars. Out of Aquila’s ten, the one who shone the brightest was Altair. Together, Altair and Aquila began to shape the Universe; bending it, curving it, forming it. Their Light created Life, the Living and the World.

Aquila and Altair provided Light, shunning darkness and chasing away the Shadows, and from their Light more and more things came into Being. It is said that a blazing Light burns at the heart of all Being things, connecting us, making us of the same matter as the very first stars […]

While Aquila and Altair shaped the Universe, creating planets and new stars, Aquila gifted Altair an azure blue heart as a sign of gratitude and appreciation. One of Aquila’s other ten, the Seventh brightest star, Alshain, wished to help as well. But when Alshain approached Aquila, Aquila turned Alshain away, saying Alshain’s Light was not bright enough to create any thing, and Aquila would only accept help from Altair.

Alshain grew mad with rage and threatened to destroy Life. Alshain had been corrupted by darkness — Alshain had become shadowless. Alshain’s madness threatened Life and the Living, therefore, Aquila tried to stop Alshain but the darkness that had been planted in Alshain’s heart made Alshain a powerful force even Aquila could not defeat. Alshain would become the new ruler of the sky after having devoured Aquila’s Light, and with Aquila gone, Alshain began to ruthlessly knock the other stars out of the sky. The first star to fall was Altair […]

Yongsun was sitting on the couch in the apartment reading the book that Moonbyul had given her two days ago. Yongsun traced a picture of Aquila with her fingertip; their face was slender and youthful. She guessed Aquila’s skin must have been pale, like snow. Aquila’s hair was long, tumbling over their shoulder and resting on their chest. Aquila looked peaceful with their eyes shut, as if they were asleep.

The door opened, Yongsun looked up from the book and saw Heeyeon walking into the apartment. Heeyeon heaved a great yawn, her arms stretched high above her head, the paper tubes that were under her arms fell to the ground. Heeyeon muttered a harmless curse and bent down to pick them up. There were bags under her eyes, Heeyeon had been very busy these past days, going from one sector to another, delivering blueprints, signing contracts, making business deals. It was not exactly the easiest or most pleasurable job, and Heeyeon always came home late. But not today, apparently, seeing as it was only seven o’clock in the evening and not eleven or twelve o’clock, which was when Heeyeon usually returned.

When their gazes locked, Heeyeon smiled, her eyes crinkled and the corners of her lips curved upwards. Heeyeon placed the paper tubes on the table and walked up to Yongsun. She took off her blazer and hung it on the side of the couch. Then she slumped down next to Yongsun in rather a careless manner.

«How has your day been so far, Miss Yongsun?» Heeyeon asked cheerfully and tilted her head, hearing her neck crack.

«Wonderful.» Yongsun said and smiled, thinking back to when Moonbyul had taken her to Sector 5, the Magical Quarter.

They had not argued or squabbled since they returned. Yongsun had to admit that it was a nice change, it made Yongsun’s days much easier and it lifted some weight off her chest. Yongsun smiled to herself as she thought about Moonbyul (silly little things, really) and looked at the stairs that led to Moonbyul’s room. Yongsun wondered what the magician was doing, she had been up there for an awfully long time.

Now that Yongsun and Moonbyul had finally come to a sort of understanding (or a tolerance of each other), they had spent more time together. However, that did not mean they indulged in small talk, like Yongsun did with Heeyeon, they would simply sit on the couch together and read. And that was enough for Yongsun.

Their therapy sessions had gone a lot more smoothly as well. Moonbyul was still hesitant and rather awkward while talking, and always seemed to be rubbing the back of her neck, but Yongsun guessed that was a thing the magician did when she was nervous. At least they were not bickering anymore, or getting on each other’s nerves.

«I think Moonbyul and I are getting along much better.»

«Well, that is certainly nice to hear.» Heeyeon said and smiled. «I heard you visited a fortune teller and a destiny seeker the other day. What did they say?»

Yongsun closed the book, bit her tongue, and looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. She had been bemused and confused by the fortune teller and destiny seeker’s words. Yongsun’s head was filled to the brim with questions. But Yongsun had never been good at figuring out riddles.

«They talked a lot about fire and burning.» Yongsun said, finally. «Do you think that means I’ll destroy something?»

«I don’t know, Miss Yongsun.» Heeyeon said and shook her head. «Most of what destiny seekers and fortune tellers say is for money, you know. Don’t let them get to you. Anyway,» said Heeyeon and stood, «I should let you read in peace. Oh — and you should really talk to Moonbyul about the book, once you’ve finished it, of course.»

Altair and Vega

Altair survived the fall from the sky and was the first star to walk the World — Altair was the First Magician. Altair found every thing fascinating; from the smallest rocks to the tallest trees. The World felt much more alive and welcoming than the sky and the stars. Altair was especially taken by Life and the Living, and the ocean was Altair’s favourite thing to look at, and soon Altair learned how to control water: how to make it fall from the sky, how to make waves crash against cliffs and rocks, and how to make great whirlpools.

Altair learned that they had been given a special gift (some called it the Gift of Light, others simply call it Magic). Altair understood how to change their surroundings; how to bend things, how to curve things, how to shape things. Altair took on many different forms, anything from giant beasts to tiny insects. Eventually, Altair crossed paths with Vega, another fallen star — the Second Magician […]

Altair and Vega were peers, equal in everything, they eventually fell in love. Vega would take the form of a bird — the Vermillion Bird — while Altair would take the form of a dragon — the Azure Dragon — and together they roamed the World. However, Vega had a much more curious personality than Altair and would go to great lengths to discover what else was out there. Altair, on the other hand, liked the ocean and the seaside and remained by the coast most of the time.

As time passed, more and more stars fell from the sky, Altair and Vega eventually drifted apart, forgetting how much they loved each other […]

In the sky, another star by the name of Antares (Aquila’s tenth child and the one who shone the least brightest) had their mind corrupted by a Shadow known as Demise. Antares began to eat the other stars in the sky in order to become more powerful. Alshain, the current ruler of the sky, cast Antares out of the sky and down to the World where Antares went on to terrorise Life and the Living.

Wherever Antares went, darkness followed, and when darkness left, nothing remained except for ash, dust and dirt […]

Altair and Vega were brought back together in order to stop Antares from wiping out Life and the Living. While in the form of the