Alitia: Crown of Ash

I: The Dawning Day

Mistakes were made.

Octavia Irikai ran as fast as she knew how to through the streets of Igni's capital city, Aogan. Her feet slammed into the cobblestone ground, her shoes growing dirty quickly. No princess would be allowed to leave the palace under normal circumstances, which was exactly why she had run away. She was tired of being controlled, and it was time for her to break free.

Igni's common people darted out of the way as she ran from her assailant. Her dark hair whipped against her tanned neck, and she could feel herself growing exhausted. Octavia was a sage none could hope to parallel, but in that moment, she wished she was a bit more physically inclined. That would make getting away much easier.

The commoners dared not to aid her. They were all leaths, forced into poverty by the oligarchy of mages that had ruled over the planet since ancient times. A leath touching a mage, much less a royal mage, was a sin tantamount to death, and they all had something to live for, just as Octavia did. She didn't blame them for avoiding her. After all, if she had been in their shoes, she would have done the same.

A figure wearing all black seemed to sneak through the shadows, not bothered at all by the crowds. They slithered around more like a snake, and it wasn't until Octavia shot a risky glance over her shoulder that the enemy was a snake. Somewhere along the way, they had transformed from looking like a human to being a slimy creature that evaded all in its path.

Octavia let a swear fly from her lips, and she was stopped when something wrapped around her legs. She looked down, realizing it was the snake, and let out a cry of surprise. Fangs dug into her tanned skin, and she screamed. Suddenly, her life was flashing before her eyes, and everything in her body hurt. It didn't take long for her to trip over her feet and collapse, leaving her as a pile of limbs on the ground.

The snake slithered away not long after, and a shadow appeared around Octavia's limp form. The shadow swallowed her, and Octavia let out a whimper, praying one of the nearby people could see her. However, a hazy shield had filled her vision, and she knew there was a masking charm on the nearby area. Nobody would be able to see her until the charm was lifted, and it likely wouldn't be for quite some time.

When Octavia next opened her eyes, she was paralyzed on the ground looking up at the mysterious figure that had attacked her in the first place. Her body was quickly losing feeling, and she tried to cough, feeling blood in her throat from her rough fall. However, her body refused to cooperate, and her blood dribbled onto her shirt as she stared at her assailant with glazed-over eyes.

"Mistakes were made," they whispered, leaning over to Octavia. "If you had been smart, you would have listened to your grandfather when he said not to associate with these corrupted peasants. Leaths should not be around mages. That is the order of the world. It has been this way since our planet was founded, and it won't change just because you want it to."

"Leaths are people too," Octavia managed to mumble numbly. "They shouldn't be treated as less than dirt for merely existing." She cast a brief glance downwards to her leg, seeing some purple liquid leaking from her injury. This attacker had to be a poison mage of some sort. The numbness came from their power. That was the primary explanation she could think of.

"Leaths do not deserve to live in this dimension. Manifestation or not, they are more like the humans our ancestors vowed to escape generations ago than mages. Humans hurt us. They oppressed us. They killed us for simply existing. Allowing leaths, who are so similar to those who beat us down, to live as normal is ridiculous. You cannot find change by letting the same behavior continue in a constant cycle," the person told her, scoffing at her words.

"They have mage blood. They shouldn't be hurt in this way," Octavia insisted, anger and fear in her eyes. "They are just like us. What would Moonlight think of all of this? How much would Starlight hate their children for harming one another for merely drawing breath? This is an act of monstrosity."