Star Eyes

Prologue

"King Delis! King Delis! The Nolmads are back again! I'm not jesting; they're taking the farmers as hostages!", Ponith burst into King Delis's bedchamber, not bothering to knock on the door. The king's eyes flew open in surprise. He was in the middle of taking a well-deserved nap, and Ponith's yelling had startled him awake. It's stressful to be the King, especially when your kingdom is on the brink of war.

"King Delis! King Del-" "Enough, Ponith! What are you screaming about now?" Ponith straightened his posture and proceeded to continue. "Your Majesty. Do you remember the Nolmads?" The King thought long and hard. "Yes, I remember them." The Nolmads had brought nothing but chaos to Faltupate, and as hard as he tried, he could not forget that the Nolmods had taken the life of his beloved Queen Q'ara.

"Well... the farmers in The Fields Of Harmony spotted something as they described as a 'sleek, black shadow' slinking across the fields. One of the female workers approached the creature and..." Ponith paused. "And? And what, Ponith!?", King Delis asked anxiously. Whatever he was describing did not sound anything like the Nolmads. It sounded like someone had been experimenting with Nixed Trickery again and had conjured a Biliodor, also known as a Living Shadow.

If there were Biliodors loose... King Delis shook his head, trying to push the thought out of his mind. "Continue, Ponith." "Well... the farmers said that the shadow... Oh, how do I put this? The shadow had consumed her. Made her a shadow as well, as one farmer put it." He looked at the King, uncertain about his reaction. Curiously, he laughed.

"Your Majesty? Are you alright?" The King only laughed harder. "Oh, Ponith! You have gotten cleverer ! That is one mighty practical joke! You had me worried there for a moment!" Ponith stood there, feeling rather confused. "Um, King Delis? I suggest you look out the window..." The King did as he was told and all of the color drained from his face.

"Ponith..." The fields were covered in black shadows. Farmers were running around in terror, trying to escape from the demonic creatures before them. He watched in horror as he saw a young boy with bright purple hair, probably no older than fourteen, struggle as a shadow enveloped him. "Ponith... what are these beasts?", King Delis struggled to get the words out. "I don't know, Your Majesty. They aren't Biliodors, I know that much.  Do you thing they have come from another kingdom?", Ponith asked with surprising calmness.

The King didn't answer. "King Delis?" Ponith walked over to the window and gasped. The shadows were draining color from the land, transforming everything to different shades of grey. The people, the houses, the crops were all various shades of grey. King Delis looked at his hands. They were turning a very dark grey. He swiveled around to find what little color that was in his bedchamber turn black or grey. "PONITH!", the King shrieked and spun around to find his chancellor staring outside in shock. He had been changed to a very light grey color.

"What is happening to the color!?", Ponith asked fearfully. "I don't kno-". He was interrupted by the door flying open and the room being suddenly filled with shadows. "What do you want!?", King Delis cried. The shadows dropped to the ground, making it look like there was a puddle of tar in the middle of the room. The ooze slowly rose out of the ground to make a giant shadow.

"Give me your kingdom. Your people. Your throne. In return, I will give you back your crops. Your happiness. Your color. Your people have nothing now. They don’t have Faith. Hope. Confidence. All they have is Depression. Bitterness. Pain. Give me what I want, and in return I shall spare your life.", the voice was coming from within his head. It was raspy and unforgiving. "Out! I command you to get out of my mind!", King Delis bellowed.

The shadow hissed. "You think you can defeat ME!? You are a fool to think you can challenge me! Unlike your little bedtime stories, I'm going to win. Not your imaginary hero.", the shadow spoke with confidence, but the King wasn't listening anymore. A prophecy had sprung up in his mind.

Certain destruction is drawing near,

And the hero is far from here.

Hope will never be in sight,

'Till the girl appears at night.

A broken heart, a broken grin

Is the reason you will win.

Color that was once lost

Will be brought with a deadly cost.

'That's it!', King Delis thought. 'This is the prophecy that will save Faltupate!' King Delis smiled at the thought. The shadow shifted and screeched. "NO! How did such sickening verses enter your mind!?" The shadow was afraid. It's master had warned it of the prophecy. If the King knew of it, then he would be able to stop them from seizing control of Faltupate. He must not let that happen!

"This is your last chance, King Delis. Give me the throne NOW!" The King stood his ground. "Never!" The shadow made an unearthly sound. "Your Majesty...", Ponith whispered, frightened for what was going to happen. King Delis closed his eyes. He could see her. The heroine that would save Faltupate. Ah, yes, this is her. He concentrated on her face. Just as he started  to get a clear image, the shadow screeched again, causing him to lose the image of the heroine's face. "Ponith.", he said, taking comfort in the fact that Faltupate would be in good hands if the shadow killed him. He looked over, his eyes shining with terror.

Eyes are a funny thing in Faltupate. The irises aren't circular, like you might think they would be, They are star-shaped. And they are usually a wide array of colors. They're very beautiful. Ponith's eyes were a light pink color that suit him very well with his once light blonde hair. "Your Majesty, I-" Just then the shadows shot out tendrils of blackness that wrapped around their necks. The King looked over at his chancellor, imagining that his face would be blue if the shadows hadn't stolen the color.  “I’m going to have fun watching your subjects slaving away for me.”, the shadow whispered happily. And with that, he killed King Delis and Ponith.

It dropped the bodies and separated into several good-sized shadows. "Hurry! We need to kill that heroine! Do what you want to her, but she cannot come to Faltupate!", the lead shadow panicked. That shadow separated into several smaller shadows. "Go! Make sure there is no color left! And do what you want to the townsfolk! I am going to help find that heroine and finish her off!" The shadows quickly scattered and went to fulfill their duties.