Prolog - The Light That Shines
I realize I'm sitting at my desk,paper, pen, and the faint glow of my computer screen.
Everything feels so real.I'm also aware that my life has always been peaceful.
My family is ordinary.Father and Mother are farmers who work from dawn to dusk.There are five of us, me, my two younger sisters, and our parents.We live quietly, without troubles, without secrets, without grand dreams.
I wake up, go to school, play, study, and graduate like everyone else.My life is simple, perhaps too simple.Maybe that's why I began to write.
On my computer, I created a different world,a world born from words, hope, and imagination.I called it Terra Sol Luna.
A world I built with all my heart.
The first world I ever truly loved.There, I wrote everything I could never do in reality,bravery, sacrifice, and the dream of becoming a hero.
And from that dream, he was born.
Ethan.
A true hero.A noble's son blessed with power, courage, and admiration.Everything that I was not.But I loved him,not because he was perfect,but because he was the version of me that could never exist in this world.
Besides Ethan, there was Sonia, the daughter of House Fortena,a noble family known as the royal hounds of the Sol Kingdom.Their loyalty to the crown was unshakable,and Sonia, with her golden hair and clear eyes,was betrothed to Prince Ludwig of Sol.
The Kingdom of Sol, the kingdom of the sun.It stood tall beneath the radiance of Sol,the god they worshipped as the creator of all.Their sun sigil fluttered atop the highest spire,a promise of divine protection.
I didn't write it all at once.Sometimes I would just stare at the screen and think,How beautiful this world is.
A world where the sun and moon danced in an endless cycle,forever watching each other, yet never meeting.A realm where magic, dragons, and demi-humans coexisted.Where monsters roamed, towers pierced the sky,and the World Tree, Yggdrasil, bound all things in balance.
Everything seemed perfect.A world I knew, loved, and created.Yet, like every world ever written,Terra Sol Luna carried a fate that was slowly decaying.
One night, I fell ill.A fever after the rain, yet I kept writing.Each word made my head throb, but I couldn't stop.Somehow, I felt that Ethan was waiting for me.
That night, I dreamed.
In my dream, Ethan sat amidst ruins.His eyes were hollow.His sacred blade, Solstice, was smeared with blood and mud,not of his enemies, but of his companions.
"Again and again… it ends like this…"His voice cracked, barely a whisper lost to the wind.
"Ethan…"His name slipped from my lips.His hands trembled, as if they carried something heavier than pain.
"Why me…? Why was I chosen?"Tears fell, darkening the dry earth below.
His noble image was gone.What remained was a man who had lost everything, even himself.
He knelt beside Princess Sol's lifeless body,whispering through his grief,"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"The words repeated like a curse, like a broken prayer.
Then he stopped.He looked directly at me.
"Listen," he said.
My body froze, as if bound by invisible chains.
"You who write my fate,"his voice pierced through me, pleading, yet sharp.
"…grant me this one small request."
He tightened his grip on the sword.The holy light faded, turning pitch black.
"It's not too late to write a different ending."He looked up, toward the moon.
"If you truly love this world,"he smiled, a sorrowful, weary smile.
"…then make sure to kill me at the end."
"Ethan, no!"
One thrust.Blood flowed, and the light vanished.I screamed, but no sound came out.The world collapsed in silence.
And then, darkness.
I couldn't feel my body.Only the faint glow from my hands,and a broken chain hanging from my wrist.
When I looked around, I realized the impossible.I was standing on the moon.
From here, I could see the earth revolving around the sun,its light reflecting upon the surface beneath my feet.
"Why am I here…"My voice echoed, unanswered.
Suddenly, light ignited behind the moon,red, not from the sun.And within that crimson glow, an eye opened,a colossal, ancient eye staring straight at me.
My heart trembled.The chains pulled taut, dragging me toward the void.
I wanted to scream, but even the air refused to move.Before everything went black,I saw the moon's two faces,one white, one red,slowly spinning until only the white side faced me again.
Its glow froze time itself.Everything stopped.
But I wasn't afraid.When the chain finally pulled me into the darkness,I felt no pain, only a cool, gentle sensation,like sinking into clear water.
Fish of light swam around me,and slowly, I remembered what it felt like to breathe.
I looked up at the moon, shining ever closer.
Reach the moon,a voice whispered in my mind.
I swam upward, pushing through the still water.Air filled my lungs, and for the first time, I realized,I was alive.
"Where…"
Even if I didn't understand…
"Where am I?"
…where am I.