// Chapter 41 \\

Chronos, the Court of Time. One of the eight ancient Courts from times long forgotten by the common. The other Courts had been desolated and voided into the unknown, forgotten by the present Courts. The only one that attained certain memory was Chronos, a dead Court hanging on it's hinges, but there was hope for the lifeless Court.

There were many stories told about Chronos and it's people. It was an empire built in the caves and skies just as it was built on common ground. Wherever a structure could be built, the people of the Court found a way, advancing architectural capabilities beyond mountain sides and simple castles on land. They'd risen entire villages into the air or plummeted the others deep underground and, yet, they still found a way to have a moat to take one from the skies to the ground and back. There were boats that could fly and serpent contraptions called trains. They had a horse made of gears called cycles and horses couldn't outrun them. There were millions of advances the Court had made and millions of stories told about it, but none were told as much as the Clock Tower.

It was a place of worship, that Clock Tower. The people of Chronos had made extensive documents of the history of the Court that hadn't been lost after its destruction, but this was an origin they didn't even know. It was said that the Clock Tower had been in the Court since its creation from nothing, but others believed it's mechanical workings were too similar to what they created and people of their Court before written history had made the structure. However, there was one feature about the Clock Tower that no one could explain, but they felt it.

The completeness of the all-knowing visions the Clock Tower bestowed on them was nothing the people of the Court could explain. They'd called the occurrence chronikalus in their ancient tongues, meaning 'the vision of creation.' Their minds would see things of the past, occurrences of the present, and forbidden looks into the future. The presence of the Clock Tower bestowed them this vision and the many visions that aided in their technological advances. That was how their people obtained their name, Chroniki. The name meant 'clock-work visions.' They took and relied so much on the Clock Tower's ability that they selfishly named themselves the ability the ancient structure had given them.

The Chroniki were praised with what they accomplished in their advances of society and magic and how they combined the two to work hand-in-hand. This praise brought much pride to the people of Chronos, and it made their hunger for the further prosperity to grow. They desired to advance more, to use the Clock Tower and it's knowledge to become creation, Kalus.

The Chroniki did indeed advance farther, becoming creation in the eyes of all the other Courts. Most of the subjects of Chronos were satisfied by this. Even their High Monarch became content with how far they'd risen. However, there were still some that desired to improve farther than what had already been achieved. These Chroniki still believed they hadn't risen to Kalus. That, no matter what they did, they would not reach the divinement of Kalus. There was only one source they believed could give them that divinity: the Clock Tower.

It was forbidden to trifle with the workings of the ancient structure. It had bared the fruit to all the prosperity Chronos had been given, and considered holy to all the Chroniki. But if this structure had given them what other Courts called Kalus, then surely what was within the Clock Tower had to be pure creation, pure manipulation of the fabrics and strings that formed their worlds. It was uncertain if the Clock Tower would truly have this, and some of the Chroniki that seeked Kalus did fear trifling with it. However, the leader of the band of rebels believed it would give them Kalus. Kalus and more. The leader hungered for Kalus foolishly, but that same hunger had the trait of convincing that made those other Chroniki follow in the forbidden task.

And so, in secret, the group of Chroniki began to perform experiments on the Clock Tower. They'd study hypotheses, pull apart parts of the tower, and observe its workings. What they discovered was remarkable. The leader of the escapade had been right. The Clock Tower did give them Kalus and more.

Universal fabric and strings of creation were at their fingertips, as they bestowed themselves the power to make anything from nothing. Clothing, machines, and weapons— the most ambitious built their own mansions. And the gifts of creation spread throughout the worlds.

It was then that the High Monarch of Chronos found out what these few Chroniki had done, along with the rest of the Courts. They'd all been gifted with the powers of creation the Chroniki had uncovered. However, the High Monarch was enraged with the betrayal of their people and the violation of the holy structure that had brought them to be a powerful empire. Despite the great gifts these Chroniki attained, the High Monarch intended to punish them. However, that same greedy leader that had led the group of Chroniki to uncover these powers did indeed have a powerful gift of convincing. They used it on the High Monarch, and persuasion won over the morals the Monarch had set their ground in. The group of Chroniki went on without punishment and even more praised for the advancing gifts they'd given to all the Courts.

Now, the Chroniki were satisfied. Inventions and advancements came with ease when all could tug at the fabrics and strings of the universes. The other Courts began to advance to great lengths like the Chroniki, but they never caught up entirely. However, the Courts did begin to work together on inventions both physical and magical. They'd even dared to break the boundaries of magic, successfully conjuring powers from nothing.

Eight powers had been created to represent each Court. Each power had a title. The Protector, who could block magic for themselves or others, no matter the power. The Ticker, who could manipulate the time of anything, aging it to grow old or youthful and drastically increase that process. The Reader, who could enter any mind and figure out an individual's thoughts and darkest secrets. The Warder, who could manipulate the actions of an individual by forbidding certain actions or thoughts to be spoken or done. The Imaginer, who could conjure and manipulate anything or any concept in the magical world— a world made for the power which all entered when they fell asleep. The Balancer, powers of pure energy, an energy that has a moral to it and can only be summoned in the intentions of justice and prosperity. The Brawler who attains an endless amount of strength in both physical and magical stature. The Jumper, who could create small pocket Courts to slip into and out of and teleport at will. When these powers were combined, it formed the most powerful creation and magic ever known: the Crescent.

It formed a large ring in the sky so powerful that its magic could be felt across all the Courts and not all the magic could be strained into the ring when it was wielded. Red fires that burned nothing but the pure magic in the air would burn across the radius of the ring, but it was a small fuel price to pay. A small price to pay when the Crescent would give the wielders the ability to make new worlds. A new Court, right from the fingertips of the wielders. And what was most surprising about this discovery was that it had worked. They had truly become Kalus.

However, one was still not satisfied. The leader who was now worshipped for the gifts of magical creation they'd discovered still hungered more. They still didn't believe they had the powers of Kalus and greed devoured them. They still believed there was more about the Clock Tower than what it had revealed. So, one night, that leader had gone to the Clock Tower.

There hadn't been any more analysis of the structure since the discovery of the fabrics and strings of creation. The High Monarch had already voiced the dislike of any more trifling with the holy and ancient build, but this foolish soul ignored their ruler's wishes. Every night, they went to the Tower and analyzed and hypothesized what it had to offer just as they'd done years ago. Months passed by with this process with nothing, but the leader still believed there was something. Kalus couldn't be what everyone had at their fingertips. Only an individual could have creation— become Kalus. Eventually, they found it.

That same night of the discovery, an immense power burst through the worlds. This power was felt in every Court. That power, being immensely powerful, fluctuated and it made the fluctuations of the Crescent seem miniscule. Millions of magic fires burned but these fires didn't just burn with the magic in the air. These fires took the magic from within living beings as well. The worlds were ablaze and the worlds' people with it. There was no reason for what was happening and no one knew. Their pleas of hows and whys died with them as their Courts burned. Terror had unleashed on all the Courts that were ablaze. All Courts except for Chronos because, there, the problem originated and the High Monarch knew.

The High Monarch had immediately gone to the Clock Tower where they found the leader they should have punished all those years ago. They had become something beyond a person. The leader had everything then: creation, destruction, life, and death. They became immortal. They became Kalus. But divine they were not. Their greed had made them a monster.

The High Monarch pleaded for them to put the power back. It was too much and it should not have been in the hands of who wielded it. But that greedy, foolish, and selfish leader refused. They'd discovered and became Kalus and they weren't about to just let it go. They planned to rule, as something more than a High Monarch— as one who could rule all worlds. It was a selfish, selfish, vision. However, the leader always had a sway with words. They tried to convince the High Monarch to join them with their gift of convincing. However, it was hard to twist the truth when it was right there and the High Monarch knew what the leader was. Moral won over persuasion: the High Monarch refused.

The leader was enraged, finding that not only did their own High Monarch turn against them, but all of the Chroniki did as well. The other Courts had burned and all the leader had left to rule over didn't truly worship them. They refused this. They would rule over everything and everything would love them because they were the creator. So they made the most forbidden pact of creating life— life that would have to worship them. They would make an entirely new Court and, by then, Chronos would see them worthy of being worshipped.

But creating life the way the leader intended to was forbidden, not without a price and price was never something a creator had to spend. But the leader spent it in their selfish ambition. The leader knew after their mistake that Kalus was never attainable, but it was too late.

First, it was the Clock Tower. It itself shattered from what was happening and the people didn't even have time to mourn it before their gifts from it were being taken. The magic and life of Chronos was draining with what the leader was doing. The leader was indeed selfish because they wanted Chronos as well and the leader suddenly drained what the Court had for the immense price of creation. It took the magic of the Court and the magic within the people, leaving magicless shells to sob at how life was still within them. The leader tried to stop, but the contract of the price was already drawn. They couldn't stop it.

But the leader was selfish and so they fed the price of what they'd done with their own immense pit of power. It had quenched the terms of Kalus and creation, but it left a deep scar. Chronos, the Court of Time and advancements beyond imagination, was already dead. It's people were left shells of what they'd been and it hurt far more than anything to be without power. No other Courts were left besides the magical and lively ones created from the expense of the greatest empire in existence.

Chronos was forgotten, faded into the shadows, as the new world prospered in oblivion to what had once been before. The forbidden husks of Chronos continued to live in dread, finding out that their loss of magic had left them with an insatiable hunger. That hunger drove them to the new Courts, taking and cruelly feeding on the magical people there in the same greed that had destroyed them. The new magical people feared this unknown enemy that appeared, for they looked so human. But there was a craze of hunger that was said to be found in their eyes, truly marking themselves as monsters. The new magical people never knew of the Chroniki and had appropriately renamed the husks of the people to Takers.

The Takers didn't care if they were being forgotten, though. No, whatever the people of these monsters had cared about had diminished, only replaced by the hunger of magic. They lived that way for awhile, until a figure arose and brought hope and promise of restored magic and more: a restored Court.

Chronos was home, despite the desolation it endured, the bare bones and integrity of the Court had remained. These monsters still longed for it along with magic, even after the generations that had gone by. Barely any true Chroniki from the time of Chronos remained. It was an instinct to want a home and the magic that came with it.

This figure promised it. Many called them the oracle with the prophecy they gave. The one thing that hadn't been desolated from the fall of Chronos and the other seven Courts was the Crescent. The eight powers had done something unexpected, transferring themselves to another individual after the one bestowed with powers had passed. The abilities were recyclable, the Crescent was still capable of what it had done generations ago. The oracle knew all of this and told the Takers that the magic was strong enough in this broken world to undo the damage that had been done. And so the husks of humans had a purpose.

They spent generations working to what the oracle had prophesied. It was called hope but it was more like instincts with how these creatures followed it. The plan became a code: the Code of the Chroniki. As the new world became stronger, vaster, and more complex, so had the code.

The Takers took power in knowing the people of the broken world believed them to be insane, magic-hungry monsters. It was no lie, even the most sane still had some form of hunger, however they compared them enough to animals to doubt that their instincts could really be farther beyond that of a sheep. But sheep were prey. Takers were prey. Chroniki were predators.

Eventually, after more generations that passed, the oracle gave a prophecy of more hope to anew to the human husks. It was prophesied that a chosen one could accomplish the restoration of Chronos and it's magic. This chosen one would be the perfect catalyst for the Crescent and all eight of its powers. The soul would be able to wield magic, but take the magic of the Crescent right from its wielders and be able to wield all eight of those powers as well.

It wasn't too many generations after that when twins had been born from a person of magic and a husk. The terms of the couple with the birth of the twins had been founded on love, power, and the Code of the Chroniki. The twins brought truth to the prophecy that the oracle had told the Chroniki, an assurance in the step to rebuilding Chronos. However, only one could be chosen for the task.

The twins grew and magic with them. It was quickly proven from a young age that both could take and wield powers, however they had the same problem that haunted all Takers at never attaining the magic they drained. It was worrisome. But the twins didn't wish to disappoint as they'd been born with the same instincts of hunger and longing for Chronos. The two battled for pleasing the elders, using their powers and viciously taking, trying to best the other. Eventually, one of the twins had come out on top.

The girl had done something that the other twin didn't think to try. She'd snuck out into the broken world and befriended the magical people of a Court. It had been hard, hungering magic and a home, but she had forced down the feeling and she found it quite easy to blend in with the magical people of what was told to her as the broken world. She knew she was better, though, farther advanced than this artificial life. Her powers were like none of what the magical people had seen before. They praised her for what she was and that praise had extended to the Chroniki.

She had been encouraged to climb and seek power in this Court she'd bound herself to. She'd made friends and she kept rising. Suddenly, the girl found herself to rule over the Court that didn't even know who she was. It had left her twin seething and in the shadows. She clearly bested them, but her rise to power had made her more uncertain.

Suddenly, this broken world started to look less broken to the girl. What had originally been an excitement to please her desolate home became an excitement to spend more time under the skies of the lively and magical Courts. She began to find the broken beautiful and she suddenly saw herself as one of them. It dreaded her to return to the ruins of a home they were promised, a home that she would now have to deliver.

A weight had been put onto her shoulders with her task of wielding the Crescent and not even her brotherly lovers she'd trusted all this time seemed to understand that. She couldn't even tell the magical people of the world about this truth, her lips bounded by the Code of the Chroniki. The girl went on in this same manner, unsure of what to make of how she felt. Unsure of what to make of what was right.

But, one day, it all came undone, upon a Captain of her Court who understood the girl. She'd told the Captain everything, the weight inside her only growing more heavy with what she said. But, to the girl's surprise, the Captain comforted her and that heavy feeling that built up inside her had left. She'd told a magical person and somehow she didn't feel the burden of betraying her people. But her people knew and the Captain was killed. Captain after Captain until the girl learned her lesson. Fear would replace that comfort and trust would never come easy with the girl. But while the trust she learned was smothered, something that the first guard taught her did not: love.

True, heart warming, and lightening love. The girl had thought she knew what love was before. She thought it to be lust and a temporary fill for the hunger of magic she seeked, but it was not that at all. She suddenly wanted to show that love to all, but she'd been threatened that whomever she got too close to would be killed. The Chroniki did not wish to risk their secrets, and the new fear within the girl left her lips sealed once more. But just because her lips were sealed didn't mean that the change within her would stop.

The girl was changing. The pride of being the chosen one to be sacrificed for restoring Chronos and destroying the broken world settled less well with her each passing day. It had become the weight of guilt and soon the girl realized why: She did not want to destroy the broken world. Of all things, the girl born and raised to be the centerpiece to a dead empire could not bear the thought of destroying the world she should've loathed. This only became more apparent to the Chroniki as time went on.

The twin had sneered at her and called her weak. Her mother had cruelly offered to coldly murder the entire world itself. Her father had been nowhere to be seen. The brotherly lovers still fought over her, one bringing her to the edge of self-loss while the other returned it— but their conflict weighed too much on the girl with everything else. She became what they soon called unstable and unpredictable, but it was too late to turn back now. The girl was the chosen one. She already was more powerful than the twin and obtained her first crescent ability and they needed to start collecting the others. The Takers were desperate. They almost had their home.

So they took the remaining sands of a dead Court and made it into a glass. Limpid glass, a perfect, crisp lens to observe anything in fine detail. A perfect lens to cast a spell on the mind's beliefs. Only now, did the girl realize what those lenses had now been for. The lenses had been used on her— to forget her burden and carry out the task of it anyway. Subconsciously, she had.

And that girl is me.

I am Star of Night Court. I was the High Monarch who smuggled myself to the top of a Court I'd planned to deceive. I was the one who grew to love and love the broken world. I was the prophesied chosen one. I'm supposed to wield all eight powers of the Crescent and restore Chronos wielding that power. I'm supposed to destroy the broken world.

I am the daughter of Rione Hala and the Taker, Lovalend. My birth name is Maddis Hala.

REMEMBER:​​​​​​

1. Smack dat butiful star

2. Leave a comment talkin abt dis tea

3. Share dis tea induced book with yo fwends

WHY? Because I appreciate it 🥺

\\ See u in the next chapter! \\