Chapter 1

 

Near future:

     Clacking footsteps resounded from the mist-covered pavement. Alerted to a figure hooded in a white cloak who was approaching, Rowoon stayed still in his hidden spot from above. Not seeming to notice Rowoon’s presence, the intruder nonchalantly carried onward toward the Moon Kingdom’s vault door. Retrieving his camera, which made a quiet whirring, Rowoon began recording the event as part of his mission.

 

     Unfortunately, in the always dark Earth Kingdom, none of the Sun Kingdom’s communication devices worked. Even if there was a way to get in touch with someone, an Earth Kingdom inhabitant could be listening in. Therefore, King Taeyang of the Sun Kingdom had ordered that Rowoon could only take his camera, as it did not have a transmitter in its hardware.

 

     It was difficult to believe that someone would want to steal a heart stone for themselves. Rowoon himself had never even thought about doing something so conceited. As long as the Sun King and Moon Queen did not unite the three kingdoms, the people would run out of energy without all of the heart stones being in each kingdom’s vault. Each stone was precious- even one being removed could destroy a kingdom.

 

     Rowoon only hoped that Captain Zuho, his partner in this mission, would be able to find the Moon Queen soon. If she would go with them to the Sun Kingdom, they could solve all of the current energy problems for all of the kingdoms. Reminding himself to hurry, Rowoon moved off the ledge he was on and ran to follow the hooded thief.

 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────• 

 

     ‘Keep training, Chani! You’ll be a great guard one day.’ The memory of Zuho’s words rang in his mind while he ran. “That was five years ago…” Chani mumbled between breaths. “Why am I still training, then?”

 

     Only anger filled his thoughts at how the Sun Kingdom had been getting worse as Taeyang refused to go find the Moon Queen. Chani was having a hard time these days because of it. Just recently, Taeyang finally changed his mind and sent Rowoon with Zuho to bring the Moon Queen back.

 

     When he checked his RPM counter this morning, it was getting lower even quicker than the year before. He had asked Taeyang about refilling energy the way they used to which was by way of an energy room. Chani was told that he would just have to keep coming back every day, like everyone else, so Taeyang’s scepter could recharge his counter. Chani wasn’t stupid; he knew that the heart stone on the scepter had slowly dwindled down to the state it was in now. There just wasn’t enough energy without the Moon Queen. Chani was tired of it all.

 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────• 

 

     In the Sun Kingdom, it was always bright and warm. Inseong could care less right now though; he just wanted to escape from the confinement he had gotten himself into. The wall of large fans in the room was really annoying to hear day after day. At least he could still see what was going on in the Sun Throne room through the fans. He thought about how Dawon wouldn’t even be able to see through the small holes in the wall of the room he was in.

 

     How they had gotten caught trying to steal a stone before kept playing on Inseong’s mind. His plan was supposed to be perfect, but Zuho had still caught them. If only Dawon had checked that the vault’s alarm sensors on the floor were deactivated properly, they would have been fine. Inseong huffed while scratching his head to come up with a new plan that would be fool-proof.

 

     Something finally sparked in his mind; a plot that would ruin the Sun Kingdom for good. He knew that Taeyang had been friends with the Earth King before, but they had a falling out when the Earth King didn’t stop his enraged people from attacking the Sun Kingdom. So, Inseong’s plan would require more people, although it was risky that way. If Inseong could get Jaeyoon to help him contact the Earth King, Jaeyoon could help them escape and get into the vault.

 

     It was most likely almost nightfall, so the chances of talking to Jaeyoon about it now were slim. Inseong decided to wait until the next day to ask Jaeyoon when he delivered his breakfast.

 

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────• 

 

     It was cold. That’s all the white-haired girl could think about as she held her shivering shoulders steady. Not knowing where she came from, the girl wandered through the dark Earth Kingdom toward the light of the Sun Kingdom. With no understanding as to why she was drawn to the light, she moved forward in a lull.

 

     Approaching what appeared to be a torch-lit village, the girl squinted her eyes and recognized that there were people standing about. Reaching her ears, there was a faint garble of speech which was more discernible the closer she became to it.

 

     “Without more energy, we don’t even have enough strength to search farther into the Earth Kingdom for supplies,” one person voiced from where many sat around a campfire. Hoping to get warmer, the girl moved towards the flames and took a seat beside an elderly woman.

 

     Another person continued the conversation, “Why don’t we just break into the Moon Kingdom’s vault instead?” “No, the Moon Captain, Youngbin is there. He won’t let anyone pass. Someone already tried getting into there, and we haven’t heard from them since they left,” said a forlorn man whose facial features were distorted by the flicker of the flames.

 

     Leaning over to get the girl’s attention, the elderly woman beside her questioned, “What’s your name, dear? You look like you’re about to go into shock from this wretched cold.” Surprised that the lady was interested in talking to her, the girl took a second before answering. “My name is Fantasy.” With a tilt of the head, the woman just nodded her head, “Odd name. Where are you from? I haven’t seen you around here before.”

 

     Out of nowhere, a few scurrying children tripped and tumbled over each other in the night. One of the children bumped into Fantasy’s shoulder which made her fall forward from her seat. In an attempt to catch herself from being burnt by the fire, she threw her hands out to reach for the ground. However, as she did so, darkness erupted in swirls from her hands. The large campfire was suddenly extinguished as were all of the lights in the village.

 

     “Monster!” the old woman screamed out. When the people heard the words, they ran around in confusion while yelling to get rid of the monster. Unsure of what was happening but feeling that it was dangerous to be here now, Fantasy ran from the village. She tried not to hurt anyone while trying to move in the direction of the Sun Kingdom again. Elbows and bodies kept colliding with her though which she was sure would bruise later.

 

     After finally getting away from the noisy people, Fantasy felt the familiar icy chill hit her face once more. Enduring the torment of this place would be the only way for her to find the light.

 

     Hearing the commotion from outside his house, the Earth King, Hwiyoung, stepped out to see what was going on. It was completely dark and he couldn’t see anything except for the lights from the Sun and Moon Kingdom’s vaults. All he heard was the people saying that there was an evil monster with dark powers.

 

     Taking a torch from off one of his walls, Hwiyoung went to check on his people and find out what had happened.