Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 In the city closest to the Auroral Triumph Temple, a woman was walking through the busy streets. On the Festival of the Nightless Eve, no one took a second look at the woman in the mask and a scarf that covered all of her hair. Of course, some looked surprised at her pale skin, but no one really questioned it. That woman was Diana, the Aspect of the Moon, and if anyone saw her identity in that village she would most likely be captured and killed. However, Diana saw the risks and still continued forward in her unusual mission.

     There were few things she missed about living among the Solari, and festivals were among them. Not that Diana had been the most festive person in her youth, but seeing how the locals' atmosphere changed was something she had always admired. People smiled more and left the rigidity of their duties to have fun. The craftsmen enjoyed all their different crafts to decorate the streets and bring the festival to life, merchants from all over Targon came with their exotic wares and tales of adventures from lands beyond the mountains. Diana missed seeing that side, but she also harbored a grudge against her own people for not being able to do the same as easily. The woman continued her way through the streets until she reached the village square, where a large pole lit the place with an intense flame on a golden plate. A signature work of Iasur, though Diana was not the most gifted in metallurgy, but she had listened to Leona ramble on the subject long enough to recognize a few signatures among the sunforgers.

     Not long after she reached the square, drums and vocals began to sound from the surroundings. Those who sang sang in harmony with the drums, woodwinds and strings instruments and the dancers ran through the crowd with their fluid and energetic dances, urging people to dance. Diana watched with fascination as most of the people at the festival began to move along with the music in awkward, joyous dances. However, wherever she looked, she couldn't find the woman she was looking for. She walked towards the exit to look elsewhere, hopefully she could find whoever she was looking for in her quarters if she knew where she slept. Diana did her best to walk past the dancing crowd without bumping into them, but she still had the misfortune of bumping into a woman. Her gaze started from the bottom up, her first observation was the women's garments being much more ornate than other people's garments, her second observation was her cleavage—Not that she lingered her gaze there, but still, Diana was a grown woman who was fully attracted to other women. Although it looked a little familiar—and the third observation was that the woman had the most beautiful amber eyes Diana had ever seen in her entire life, eyes that burned with a faint unearthly glow if you looked at them too long. And with that last —and second, if she was honest—remark. Diana realized that she had missed her target, Leona.

     Leona was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. Her hair caught the light and made it look like all the flashlights were trying to reach for her, she was wearing a maroon sleeveless dress and a yellow ocher cape  attached to the dress with the Solari symbol that covered only one of her shoulders, exposing her right side full of freckles and some scars. For all her outward beauty, when Diana looked into her eyes, she saw the mask Leona wore. Despite looking cheerful, and a little restrained in anything cordial, there was weariness—or maybe it was anger—in the depths of her amber eyes, which made Diana remember why she was doing this mission.

  Diary of Diana, 20 days towards Nadir

Leona and I met again, this time it took us longer to actually pick up the swords. It's the first time we've met since the eclipse incident. At first I didn't notice anything different about Leona, she carried with her the same impenetrable posture and soulful eyes. However, this time she seemed more lethargic, irritable and tired. Perhaps she sensed the imminence of real civil war in Targon. Lunari versus Solari. I thought we would fight, but instead all she told me was to flee with the Lunari somewhere else, or pretend Lunari never existed, hide our ways just to avoid a war where both sides would bleed. Anger filled my chest and I screamed for what felt like hours, and Leona screamed back. We didn't fight at any time, but it got to a point where the mental fatigue I felt was the same as when we fought. I walked away before she could say anything else. —You always do that, don't you Diana? Runs away from Leona like she's the plague—

How does she not realize that this is our home as well as the home of her people? How can I show her that choosing the path of uprooting us from our home or abandoning our culture would be the same as killing us?

      “I'm sorry, I didn't see where I was walking. Are you okay?" Diana listened to Leona's sweet and cordial voice, she didn't dare touch her, afraid that the measly touch would give her away. But the second Leona looked into her eyes, the one part her mask didn't cover, Diana saw the surprised recognition in Leona's expression. The chosen of the Moon waited for the moment when Leona would attack or denounce her to everyone at the festival, but the moment never came. Leona was frozen in place, looking at Diana as if she'd seen a ghost. “Diana” She whispered.

     Diana had to think fast. She knew there would be no way to talk to Leona in that crowded place, she had to lure her to an empty place. “I apologize, Radiant Dawn. I'll leave now, enjoy the festival” Diana spoke, her tone carefully crafted to be as cordial as possible, even as her chest rumbled with emotion. She started to walk away from Leona when she felt a hand grab her arm.

     “I insist that it was my fault. May I give you a dance as an apology? I'm sure you can enjoy the festival a bit more before you go” Leona's tone was no longer cordial, it sounded much more like a plea. She kept her voice low, preventing anyone else from overhearing her. Slowly, Leona pulled Diana closer, gripping her waist when she didn't pull away. “I know you must have come for other reasons, but maybe we can talk while we dance.” The request was so full of hope that something inside Diana softened.

    So Diana nodded, not trusting her own voice to say anything. Leona smiled for what felt like the first time in years and held her open hand up. Taking the cue, Diana tentatively pressed her wrist against Leona's. The two women were completely still for a second before pulling away in unison, bowing to each other with arms outstretched and legs crossed— Of course they danced the warrior's dance. A dance that was born in the barracks of military villages, in which both young soldiers and veterans danced with each other. The dance was full of spontaneous movements and served as a friendly competition between comrades in arms. Warrior dancing became one of the most distinctive features of Solari culture—It started awkwardly. At first, neither woman knew how to move around the other anymore without the intent to harm. Their muscle memories were conditioned with too many years of fighting,but eventually the same muscle memories joined with nostalgia. The old combat movements were transformed into dance, developing a new rhythm not meant to hurt but to express themselves. If Leona approached with a twist and a leap, mimicking a much more artistic sword attack, Diana would back away without even leaving the ground, sliding across the ground as if it were ice before advancing towards Leona, bending over and doing a quick sweep with her leg. just inches from Leona's feet. The two women sparred without ever really pulling over each other to the rhythm of the music. People were excited to see Radiant Dawn dance with the mysterious person and created a circle that surrounded them, joining the chorus of music with screams and beats. The chosen of the stars barely noticed the audience, too focused on each other. Toward the end of the song, Diana moved closer to Leona and grabbed her forearm, spinning the redhead around and pulling her against her body. —If it was a normal dance, she would end up grabbing Leona's waist firmly and supporting her so she wouldn't fall. However, the warriors' dance ended when one dancer fell to the ground at the hands of their opponent— Never betraying her reputation for being quick in her step, Diana spun the redhead around and knocked her feet off balance with her own, maintaining a firm footing to that when Leona fell, she wouldn't fall with her because she was holding her hand. Leona looked at Diana standing in front of her, even under the mask, Diana's eyes evidenced the smile she had.

     Screams and applause from the audience snapped Diana out of her stupor. She pulled Leona up and held her close, her expression turning serious again. “We need to talk, Leo” And to Leona's credit, she nodded without hesitation and grabbed her hand, pulling her away from the crowd without explanation—Diana remembered a time, years ago, when Leona had the need to talk. to explain each of her actions in a reflection of her hidden anxiety. However, gaining more authority among the Solari must have made her more selective about such times — together, they walked away from all people, stopping only when they were out of the village and into the safety of the forest. It was only at this moment that Diana took off her mask and scarf that covered her white hair.

    Leona looked at her with the admiration of a lover and the distrust of an enemy. “What do you want to talk about, Diana? It must be important enough for you to dare enter a Solari village with a mere disguise.”

    “You would be there so I had to take some risks” Diana shrugged. She made a very careful plan for this mission “I want to show you a different place that you don’t know off. But I'll need you to trust me.” She continued, watching with sadness as Leona reacted.

     “How can I trust you, Diana? Even more so if I don't even know where you're taking me.” The redhead snorted in disbelief and shook her head, her arms crossed tightly against her body like a shield. None of the women had weapons, but that wouldn't stop them from having a physical fight.

     “I trusted you by standing in front of you at the festival, didn't I? And I continued to trust you when we danced. Now it's your turn” Diana answered confidently. She stared at Leona and waited for her answer. A few seconds passed and Leona didn't respond, Diana was already considering a failed mission when she finally spoke.

    "Okay" The redhead spoke with a tired sigh as she moved her hands over her head, touching her hair and smoothing it back, as the dancing had taken it out of place.

    "Come on, it's going to be a long walk" Diana said. She held back the smile as long as she could, but there was still the beginning of it on her lips that Leona could see.

    The two women walked for what seemed like hours until they finally reached the entrance to a cave between two mountains. Leona eyed the dark entrance suspiciously. "Are we going to go in there?" She asked, taking care that her discomfort was not visible to Diana. The white-haired woman continued walking until she reached the edge of the cave, turning to look at Leona. If Diana noticed the fear in Leona, she didn't comment.

   “Stay close to me, we won't be using torches. I can see in the dark, you could if you started to glow, but I assure you it's not a good idea to walk through here with any light source. And it’s not a good idea to waste power on the longest night of the year, legends say that even the Sun Aspect turns weaker.” Diana spoke as she extended her hand to Leona, who reluctantly took it. She gave Leona's calloused hand a gentle squeeze before smiling reassuringly, “You're doing well, Leo. Keep behaving like this and later you might get something good out of it.”

   Leona, to her credit, did not blush at Diana's suggestive phrase. However, the chosen one of the Moon watched with amusement as the environment seemed to grow a little warmer and Leona a little brighter. "I guess it's all really worth it" She grumbled as she controlled her own powers so they could enter the cave.

   In the cold darkness, Diana walked confidently as she guided Leona, never letting go of her hand. For her, that place brought a certain level of comfort, as it was shelter from the excruciating sunlight, but she knew that for Leona it could be a very bad feeling. Diana could see perfectly in the dark, and only because of that did she know which way to go in that great labyrinth. From the ceiling, soft growls could be heard and the place reeked of death. Leona squeezed Diana's hand tighter, as if warning her and preparing an attack.

   "Do not do anything. They won't attack unless they sense the luminosity. Torches, lamps or your powers in this place would kill us in a matter of seconds” Diana warned grimly, pulling Leona even closer to her, her feet now almost tripping over each other.“They are nests of Devils of Light. If the adults feed on any source of light, taking their bearer with them, their young latch onto them upon noticing the light and digest them slowly. Be glad you can't see the ceiling.”

   Leona nodded, though she looked more tense than before. —Light Seekers Devils. Horrific animals that were born from a hybrid of Targon's giant bats and Shurima's flame bats, which came to the territory after the Void's invasion of their habitats. The creature that was born from the crossing of the two species is a plague for the Solari, often associated with the Lunari— Diana looked up at the ceiling, most of it was littered with the bodies of different prey, but the vast majority were human, especially Solaris. The woman thanked the goddesses that Leona couldn't see. —The amount of Devil Light-Seekers were slowly declining, Diana didn’t knew why, but she had the feeling that it was because of the horrifying creatures that came from the ground—

    After much walking, they were finally out of the tunnels that served as a nest for the Devils of Light. They stopped at a small dome that had a hole in the ceiling where the moonlight came through and made a circle on the floor. Leona was silent as Diana crouched on the ground and picked up a piece of white stone. Diana drew several symbols, which Leona recognized to be Lunaris, around the circumference made by the moonlight. When she was finished, she whispered a single word that Leona could not hear. A few seconds later, there was no more floor where the drawing was, but a large tunnel that passed a strong current of air.

    “Get in, it's safe I promise” Diana spoke from near the edge, waiting for Leona to go first.

   "Are you sure?" Leona asked suspiciously, approaching the edge slowly. She looked back at Diana questioning again whether she really should trust her. However, the eager excited look Diana tried and failed to hide was all the encouragement the redhead needed. Making a quick solari prayer, Leona took a deep breath and jumped into the hole, letting the strong current of air carry her at high speed through the tunnel, which was no longer dark but lit with several green luminescent crystals.

    The draft ended, but Leona continued to fall. Her heart sped up and for a moment Leona thought she would die from the force of the impact. However, as if something magical held her back, she stopped her fall and landed with both feet together on the ground without any  pain from the impact. She looked back down the tunnel she'd come from, Diana arriving right behind her, landing with much more skill and practice than Leona. The white haired woman smoothed her hair before walking over to Leona smiling with amusement.

    “Did you like the tour? We call it the gravity slide” Diana spoke excitedly, and Leona couldn't help but nod and laugh even though she was slightly stunned.

    “It's amazing, but I could have told you about it sooner so I'd know what I was dealing with,” Leona replied as she struggled to straighten her braided hair which was now a mess.

    “I wanted to surprise you,” Diana said, moving closer to Leona and helping with her hair. Leona's heart sped up at Diana's surprisingly gentle touch on her hair, slender, pale fingers retying Leona's hair in its braid. Diana didn't move away when she finished, examining her work carefully. And then she noticed something she hadn't seen before, it was the first time in a long time Leona hadn't worn her crown, so her hair was much wilder than it usually was when pinned to it. — In the past, Diana would spend hours helping Leona contain the “Puff” her bangs made, only for it to get messy again in the end. Leona's parents and teachers didn't like it, they thought it was a sign of the girl's sloppiness, however, Diana always loved that about Leona. When the sun warrior wore the crown, her hair was always tied up tightly, leaving no room for this little mess— "You're not wearing the crown" Diana said after spending minutes looking at Leona.

    “I didn't want to go to the festival wearing Radiant Dawn's robes, but since I couldn't show up in simple clothes, I changed to this dress from my family” Leona replied just a little nervously, Diana's peaceful approach made her heart race in a way very different from when they fought or danced.

   “I see, it makes sense to wear Sunforgers robes from your family's landing. You look beautiful” Diana said, smiling without containing the affection in her voice. Leona looked at her in surprise, but there was something happier in her eyes, the apathy was gone and for a second Diana saw the Leona she had always loved. Only then did Diana notice the way the two women were standing close to each other, she could feel Leona's warm breath next to hers and their clothes brushed against each other, hands loose in the air almost touching. She noticed Leona's eyes shift from her eyes to her lips, and for a brief moment, she thought about closing the gap of space left to kiss her. “You still have work to do, a convincing mission to accomplish. If I kiss her now, but she still doesn't agree with me, I'll have to be forced to fight her again” Diana thought in anguish, choosing to deny her heart's desire in favor of her mission here. Slowly, Diana pulled away from Leona, looking away so she wouldn't have to see Leona's sadness and longing. — A part of Diana hoped that Leona would take her by her arm and kiss her, because that would be enough for her to give in herself. However, she knew that Leona would never do that, as the redhead always respected her and never pushed her further than she wanted—

   With the mood broken, Leona swallowed hard and forced down that side that craved Diana, putting all her mental efforts into looking around and seeing where she was. It didn't take long for curiosity to take over. They were in a large cave, bigger than any cave Leona could imagine, which had a large hole in its ceiling that let in the light of the moon. However, that wasn't the only source of illumination in the cave, the luminescent crystals still surrounded the entire cave, giving it a greenish appearance. And it didn't stop there, Leona heard the echo of music and human voices and when she went to investigate the source, she found a village.

    That village was against every idea of a village Leona could think of. —Actually, that place could very well be considered a city— Although the houses were still made of stone, wood and mountain animal skins, it was all built to not only stand on the ground, but also on the walls of the cave. There were more tunnels, some like the one Diana and Leona came in, others that seemed to lead to other parts of the large cavern. In the center of the city, there was what was definitely a Lunari temple in its highest glory, the silver metal and purple stones lit by the moon and reflected on the large square in the center from which all the music and people's voices came.

    "I bet you've never seen a rebuilt Lunari temple, have you?" Diana asked Leona to bring her out of shock. The silver haired woman looked much more at ease there and she was smiling proudly. Not the pride that comes with winning a fight or an argument, but the pride that comes with having an identity to call your own.

     "It's beautiful. This whole place is beautiful, but what is it all about?” Leona asked after thinking a lot about what words to say, she was completely out of words.

     “I will show you. Leona, welcome to Candel, the first Rakkor city.”

Chapter Text

 Nothing made her more satisfied than the look of pure shock and wonder Leona had. So far Diana's plan was going wonderfully. Leona was exactly as she wanted, open to a new perspective. Taking her time, Diana took Leona's hand and started to lead her into town, chuckling inwardly to see how the redhead followed her without even questioning—-Perhaps she had locked Leona's mind, but she couldn't wait to get started the history lesson she knew she would give when the flow of questions started— Not even five minutes later, Leona started talking.

     “What do you mean the first Rakkor city? And how is this entire city possible, how does it not collapse?" Leona asked as she hurried to walk beside Diana. They walked down the street towards the houses and with a closer look Leona noticed how all the structures made The stonework in the house looked very old, though the woods and leathers were definitely recent and well cared for.

     “It was very difficult to find the texts that talked about this place and then actually find it. From what I've found, this city was the first major city for the inhabitants to come to Targon, perhaps even before the Great Rune War. When they arrived in Targon, the place was much more hostile than it is today, as the mountain was not used to the presence of humans, only the few vastayashai'rei and their half-breeds that lived around it. She tried her best to drive them out with the most diverse natural challenges, legend has it that the residents of Targon Prime themselves were irritated by the new neighbors.” Diana paused, pausing so that Leona could look at what had long ago been a wall with the hewn stone.

   It was impossible to understand what was written there, as it was a very different language than the one Leona learned—In the solari temples, students learned all the modern languages of Targon, it was the only way to achieve such a level of education, because outside the temples most of the people  were limited only to Shurima dialects and some basic knowledge of Demacian dialect in the coast villages. Therefore, many temple graduate students who were not qualified to be priests or who did not wish to delve deeper into the study of the faith ended up as translators and teachers who were scattered throughout the region. That was one of the changes Leona had managed to make in her years as the goddess's representative, for instead of the students becoming temple soldiers, they could choose whether to continue educating or work as warriors— "I've never seen any writing like that before. this one,” Leona said, looking at Diana and waiting for her to continue. Diana enjoyed seeing Leona's curious spirit again, the one that motivated her to ask questions in debate class, the one she always talked to in the quietest hours of the night—Leona was different from her, she was more conforming to the teachings, but Diana knew full well that Leona's time in the library wasn't just about fulfilling expectations—

    “It's the way of writing they spoke, their dialect still influences ours with some words, but there aren't many translations. Anyway, moving on, the mountain didn't like the new inhabitants, but they still persisted. And literally and metaphorically, they dug their way into the heart of the mountain.” Leona looked over with a glint in her eyes that she couldn't quite place, but it seemed dangerously close to the look she got when she was about to make a stupid joke. So Diana sped up the explanation. “The first Rakkor raised the city of stone and created the first tunnels, using moon magic to create pathways and sun magic to ward off creatures that came from the depths. They created a city here, but for some reason it was abandoned and now the Rakkor live closer to the surface.”

    “Diana…this is amazing. But how do you know all this? And why is this place now dominated by Lunaris if it was originally made by Rakkors, the tribe of the last sun?” There it was. Leona's second question made Diana's entire mood sour, her expression darkening in disappointment, for again Leona was thinking only like a Solari.

     “I found one vastaya named Nami, her people live in the ocean close to the coast, she knew a lot more than us and explained a lot. Leona, didn't you pay attention to what I said? This city was made with the two magics of the Sun and the Moon, there is no way it could have been just one people of one religion. This place is living proof of what I've always said: we were once a single people before Solari greed consumed their priests.” Diana spoke with far more impatience than she wanted. And Leona noted the white-haired woman's sudden change in mood, the disappointment etched across the woman's face made Leona's chest tighten. There was no way to pretend they were just they again. But still, it pained Leona that whatever she said seemed to affect Diana so much—

     “Still, it doesn't make sense that the Lunari are here now. Is this your new hideout?” Leona asked again, the haste in her words being easily melded with irritation, her own temper acting like muscle memory when it came to arguing with Diana. If it continued like this, it could easily develop into a fight between the two women.

     “Not a hideout the way you think, like a military base to kill all Solari. It's a hiding place so we can live in peace, away from the constant hunting. That's what I want to show you, Leona, give me the chance to show you who we really are. And how this war will lead to nothing but destruction on both sides.” Diana pleaded, choosing not to continue the fight in hopes that Leona would accept her. “Today is Nightless Eve, we celebrate too, although in a different way” She finished sounding much closer to an invitation.

     —When Leona was just a child, she lay in her bed and dreamed of a world filled with adventure and mystery the way any child her age dreamed of being adventurous. Of course, that wasn't her reality, because either she would be a Sunforger like her parents, or she would eventually become a warrior.Ra'Horak that would serve his people. She never imagined that she would end up becoming the chosen one of the sun and start long studies about faith. In a way, that was both a blessing and a curse, as she got to know more of the world in books, even if it was limited to the history of the Solari. There were few times that she questioned all those teachings, and many of these questions came after meeting Diana, who always instigated her to know other truths—- Diana's look at Leona made her remember all the moments when the two talked about theories that were not accepted by the Templars, those times Diana would come to her with a new information that she found full of joy and desire to share with Leona. For so long, Leona had pushed down her curiosity in favor of her duty and desire to protect her people, there was so much work to do.

      “I believe there is still a lot of explaining to do. So I will continue to follow you. And maybe look for something to eat at this festival” Leona replied, leaving herself open minded to what could come of that encounter.

     "Excellent. We just have to change those clothes of yours, it's very visible that you're Solari. Come on, I have an idea” Diana said, beckoning Leona to follow her to a house a little away from the rest. Diana opened the door and let Leona enter first before closing it again. “I hang out here sometimes when I'm in town. I'll be right back, feel free” She said as she entered a room, leaving Leona alone.

     The house was simple, there was a small kitchen that was obviously little used and a crowded living room of books and papers stacked on a table. Leona was relieved to see that there was at least one couch. Awkwardly, the redhead sat on it and gave in to the curiosity of looking at the books. Most seemed to be about the Lunari, some records and diaries of people who had died. However, there were some who spoke about the Solari. Leona recognized one of them by the title “Hymn of the Dawn”.

Their dearest wish is to share a sky

Made large enough for both to dance

With hands and hearts entwined.

Instead They must steal glances,

Wait for the other to approach,

Or watch the other depart.

Yet here and there, a kiss,

Love freely given, a gentle embrace,

Moments of ecstasy and joy.

Rise with me, She whispers,

I will calm you with caresses

And let the world wait for the Sun.

Rise with me, She cries,

I will warm you with my passion

And let the world be Moonless tonight.

And from their union, we emerge,

Made of twilight and dawn,

Encircled by their love.

    Leona never read that part, it had clearly been lost in the Solari texts. However, so absorbed in reading and in her thoughts about why the elders would have let that part get lost, she didn't notice the arrival of Diana who was carrying a change of clothes.

    “This is my favorite poem. I still haven't found a book that has it completely” Diana spoke from behind Leona, she couldn't contain a laugh to see Leona hurriedly get up as if reading that was something forbidden. —In a way it was. It took Diana a long time to shake off the guilt of reading all those books that weren't Solari-centric. She wondered if Leona was going through the same thing or if she was just embarrassed to be caught looking through her stuff—

    “Sorry for messing with your things. I don't think I've ever seen the full Hymn of the Dawn, even the Solari version still lacks a lot of things” Leona said, trying to sound as less arrogant or nosy as possible, but seeing Diana's calm expression calmed her down.

    "Everything is fine. I found something for you to wear.Here." Diana handed Leona the change of clothes. It was simple, a purple tunic and brown pants and a hood interlaced with a blue shoulder pad that would make Leona more difficult to recognize —It was typical Lunari clothing, if anyone saw her wearing those clothes she would be immediately arrested for apology for the forbidden religion—

   "Thanks, Diana." Leona replied smiling slightly, picking up the clothes and walking to the bedroom to dress. Leona looking beautiful in Lunaris robes 

   "Okay? If you want I can find something else for you" Diana asked, trying to be as neutral as possible, but she couldn’t stop looking at Leona. And the red-headed noticed this, because she opened a mischievous smile.

    “It's great, a little tight in the arms, but I think that comes from you having noodle arms,” Leona teased Diana, knowing full well that the woman had toned arms, just not the way the redhead did. Diana joined in the fun, laughing along with Leona and walking over to her. Without thinking, Diana placed her hands on Leona's shoulders and squeezed in an attempt to loosen her robes.

    “That's what it takes to have the constitution of a wall. Now come on, I remember you complained about being hungry”

     Despite having told them to leave, neither woman moved a muscle to get out of that position. For the third time that day, Leona and Diana were close to each other with no intention of hurting each other. Unlike on other occasions, Leona followed her instincts and touched Diana back, Leona's warm hand contrasting Diana's cool. She gave it a weak squeeze, as if testing it, and when Diana didn't move away, Leona bent her body. For a moment, Diana thought Leona was going to kiss her, and she was ready to kiss her back, yet Leona's lips moved up to her forehead. Unlike the calloused hands, Leona's lips were soft and smooth. Slowly, Leona lowered her face until it was aligned with Diana's again. The redhead looked at her former lover with love and longing. Maybe it was the tension that had hung between the two women since they'd met.found earlier, or maybe it was the desire to get closer. Whatever it was resulted in Diana finally giving in to what she wanted so much, kissing Leona. The chosen of the moon closed the little distance they still had and cupped Leona's face carefully, kissing her tentatively and longingly.

       There was no doubt that Leona would reciprocate—Diana never really doubted the love Leona felt for her, she just thought that sometimes it wasn't enough— Leona wrapped Diana in a hug to keep Diana close, she kissed Diana as if that were her last. kiss and at the same time the first. When they separated, the two women had reddened and slightly swollen lips. Neither of them spoke for a while, but eventually Leona worked up the courage to speak.

     "I missed you. I missed us like that, but what next?” Leona's voice was soft, happy to be together, but filled with anxiety about tomorrow. She once believed that she and Diana would last forever, but the universe proved otherwise by tearing them apart with powers beyond their comprehension.

    “I miss all of that too. And about the future, it just depends on what you will choose at the end of all this” Diana touched Leona's face, caressing her face with affection, her heart sped up with Leona's beauty after an intense kiss. “The first time we had our ascension stalemate, I had nothing but ancient texts and hope in finding my people to show you. Now I've found them and found us a home, I can show you everything I so desperately want you to understand. But in the end, the choice to believe and see what's in front of you is yours.” With those words, Diana turned away from Leona again and left the house, giving time for the shaken redhead to follow.

     Leona and Diana walked together towards the square. Up close, Leona could hear the music better and what people were talking about, it was almost an overexposure of things to see. Music that was familiar, but still had notable differences—There were fewer drums and more brass instruments, and the harmonies were stronger for their voices to echo in the cave—People were talking banal matters on all sides, no one was unsure of their safety in town, Leona even saw a teenage couple dancing together. Everyone there was Lunaris, but it was very different from what Leona would have imagined the foundation of the opposing religion to be, the people were very different from what she thought they would be. The moonlight reflected in the temple, bringing different colors than the green of the crystals. The entire square was lit up in shades of purple and blue, giving the place a magical feel.

     However, it was the smell of cooking that really drew Leona in—it wasn't her fault. She had just arrived at the festival with dinner plans first, but she found Diana first and everything turned into a chain reaction of events. Leona hadn't eaten anything since breakfast, she was starving and would eat anything at this festival, even if it was baked Light-Seeker— As soon as Leona found a nearby food stall, she went on her way without waiting for Diana to follow her. Thankfully, the white haired woman kept a close eye on which the redhead then quickly followed.

      The food at the stall was different from what Leona expected, as it was typical Targon bread, but instead of being Tamu meat, it was pale flesh and seemed to be some kind of fish. "What is it?" Leona asked, receiving an odd look from the vendor before the middle-aged man answered.

      “Fried Targon Bread stuffed with Lula da Foz, ten units is twelve. Twenty units is twenty” The seller replied. Leona was already feeling the disappointment grow that she had no money with her. However, Diana was already stepping forward at her side and giving the amount to the man, already taking the option with more food knowing that Leona would eat a whole one alone. While they waited for him to fry the bread dough with the squid, Diana started to explain what it was.

      “We are close to the ocean, not long ago some adventurers found a cave that served as a supply for an underground lake, the entrance to an underwater cave that no one really gets to explore.. There they found these squids and well… they are delicious” when the food came Leona quickly took one of the loaves and put it in her mouth —The injustices of being the aspect of the sun, for the food was certainly on fire because of the heat, but Leona wasn't the least bit bothered—Diana laughed at the expression of absolute happiness that Leona displayed . Even the seller who was finding Leona's behavior odd smiled with pride as he watched the woman happily eat his creation. “Oh, and Mr.Tamui is the creator of this recipe.”

       "This is amazing! It's much better than the one with Tamu meat!” Leona exclaimed as she popped more in her mouth. Diana laughed and thanked the vendor, pulling Leona away from the queue before they realized she ate the steaming food without a hitch—Which was just Diana's paranoia, as those watching the two women laughed and thought they were a couple on a date. Those who recognized Diana even seemed happy to see the woman with a girlfriend, after all, gossip ran rampant in Candel—  They walked to a bench to eat, sharing the dumplings as they watched the diverse people enjoy the festival. “This place is great. It's the same festival, but as if seen in a mirror.” Leona was silent after that, admiring the ancient city. However, something was on his mind. “You found this place and turned the ruins of a forgotten city into a safe new home for your people. That's admirable, Diana'' Leona spoke with complete sincerity, not for the first time looking at Diana with pride.

      “It was my duty to find a place where they could live in peace, no longer at the mercy of the Solari or endangering villages that had no involvement with us. You know that, or at least you should know about villages being attacked by suspects.” Diana saw the weariness and frustration in Leona again, though it wasn't the apathy. She waited for Leona to explain herself without realizing that internally she was ready to act as the judge and the executioner —She didn't believe that Leona would actually do things like that, but confirmation was still needed—

      "I know. You do your job better than I do, Diana, as I've been trying to stop these attacks for months. Nothing works, my voice is strong, but not strong enough to win advice. If they branded me a heretic in any way, I'm sure they'd make a false call about you corrupting me before they killed me."

     “You don't understand what's at stake, Leona. The council of elders doesn't bind you to anything.” Diana realized too late what came out of her mouth, regretting it the instant she saw Leona's anger rise.

     “You are wrong, Diana. And for someone who always seems to find new answers to something hidden, you're always wrong on that part." There was anger in Leona's words, but also exhaustion.

     “So all this today was for absolutely nothing, because you will continue to say that your hands are tied and you will let the war happen. I need you as an ally, Leona. But if we're not, then I'll also have to make sure you stay out of my way, no matter how much it hurts to do so.”

     There was the impasse they had always been at. Diana wouldn't understand how Leona couldn't break free of the council's influence and Leona would always have that intense anger built up in her chest at the whole situation that clouded her judgment. The sun's chosen sighed and placed her hands on her face, taking a deep breath before looking at Diana with determination—That was one thing Diana admired about Leona, no matter how full the woman's mind was, she never lost that determined gaze. —

     “I need to think, Diana. I understand now what you want to protect, but I don't think I can help you now. And maybe I'd better get back before I'm missed for too long” Leona said, she knew she was going to let Diana down and it hurt, but there really was no way she could decide anything at the moment. Her mind was confused, excited by all she saw and discovered, but exhausted from the duty she had to do. She needed a plan, but there wasn't time now to think of one.

     Diana didn't say anything else after that, keeping her cool as she guided Leona out of town. They passed through the same tunnel as before, silence dominating the environment and weighing on both women's minds. The Light Seekers ' screeches sounded much louder than before, as if they were only waiting for one slide to attack. Leona had never been so relieved to get out of that cave. She took a deep breath of the forest air and turned to Diana who was no longer with her.

    "I ask that you never tell anyone the location of the city" Diana spoke, her voice sounding serious and menacing.

    “I won't, you have my promise” Leona was afraid that Diana wouldn't believe her, but she did because her expression relaxed. The white-haired woman was already walking back into the cave when Leona reached out and touched her shoulder, making her turn to look at her. The redhead took a deep breath to take courage and say what she needed to. “Meet me in two days, that's when I'll have my answer. Or maybe visit again this time at my place. Today was amazingOf. I miss you so much, I don't want us to become enemies again.”

      Diana didn't say anything at first, Leona felt the hope wither, but it grew again as Diana approached Leona and kissed her again. A simple and timid kiss, full of “what ifs” but it served to make love and longing swell in both their chests.

    "Two days. I don't want to be your enemy again either, Leo. And I had a lot of fun today” Diana smiled, because even though their situation was complicated and greater forces tried to push them away, she loved Leona and Leona loved her back.

     Leona waited for Diana to completely disappear from sight in the cave to also leave back to the temple, having to orchestrate in her mind an intensely complicated plan to enter the temple without anyone seeing her  obviously Lunaris clothes.

Chapter Text

     Leona's attempt to pass through the temple without anyone seeing the way she was dressed went very, very wrong. And to her credit, it was much more a matter of bad luck than skill.

     Leona was on the last street to her house when a soldier spotted her. As soon as he saw her away he noticed her clothes first, he didn't recognize Leona. The soldier ran towards her, one hand already going to his sword and the other to the hollow horn cone. Leona watched in horror as he blew the cone, alerting the other guards.

     “Stop soldier. This is a misunderstanding. I am Leona from Radiant Dawn” Leona was quick to speak, pulling off her hood to show her face. The soldier hesitated, lowering his sword and eyeing Leona in confusion. However, there was no time for him to question it, as three more soldiers came and, among them, General Asmos. He looked Leona up and down, looking with purest distaste at the robes the woman wore. —The rule was clear, anyone carrying objects, wearing garments or performing Lunaris practices would be considered a heretic and judged as one—

      “Radiant Dawn, do you mind explaining why you wear the Lunaris worm clothes?” General Asmos spoke, his voice filled with barely concealed disgust and hatred, making it clear that unless Leona had a valid excuse, she was already a suspect in his eyes. “You disappeared, Radiant Dawn. People who saw you dancing with that mystery woman said you left with her and never came back. You were not present for the prayers.”

      The Sun's chosen thought of anything that could get her out of that situation, but there was no way to take the blame off her shoulders without painting a giant target on Diana and eventually Candel. If she tried to explain herself, she would be putting all those people who were just having fun at risk. The store clerk, the teenagers who were probably going on their first date, Diana who finally had a home and a place where she truly belonged. Leona couldn't let all of that be at risk. —-Years ago, she would try to avoid breaking the rules as much as possible to avoid being punished. At first, when she and Diana broke the rules together, she kept silent and let the teachers take over whenever Diana was the main culprit. That behavior stopped happening when she saw Diana's injuries, which wasn't long after. So Leona began to blame herself when something in their plan failed. She couldn't save Diana from punishment, but at least it would protect her from the worst by taking all the blame. Leona would spend nights planning every step they would take before escaping for a single night to see the stars—

       Leona would always protect her people and Diana. At that moment, she was setting the citizens of Candel as nothing more than the Rakkors under her protection against those who wanted to harm them. “I have no explanations to give, General Asmos. I only ask that you can trust my words: I am not a heretic." —Except that she was. Leona had just become a heretic by choosing to deny the truth of the Sun in order to protect the Moon's light. She didn’t regret it—-

       "Our chosen one was corrupted by the moon's disgrace. Arrest her, Leona will be judged for her crimes by the council of elders” General Asmos spoke, not even considering Leona's words.

     “Where do we lock her?” a soldier asked as others grabbed Leona's hands. She didn't resist, the redhead refused to use her powers against those she also protected.

     “In the Dark Room”

     The dark room was exactly as the name said, except worse. It was built as the most horrible form of punishment and cruelly designed to weaken people who used light as a source of power, the room was located underground and had no windows, the only passage of air was through a duct which made the place difficult to spend a lot of time inside. The cell door opened only twice a day —One for food and water and one for going to the bathroom, but since she was an aspect, they decided to not risk her prison break— Thanks to the insalubrity of the room and the method of psychological torture, many ended up telling their secrets or begging for death, those who left the room were never the same and not everyone left, dying trapped inside the room.

      In all Leona's years of training and the dreams her aspect had given her, nothing had prepared her for the darkness of the room. Unlike the caves, the room was hot and humid from the lack of air circulation. Even being an aspect entirely of light, she couldn't see a foot in front of her and the only connection to sunlight she felt was the one that came from within herself —Although common sense, she needed her source of light to keep her energy, something that she didn’t had now—

      “Get us out of here, Leona. We were not born to live out of sunlight. Get us out of here!” The familiar voice screamed in her ears. Her aspect was irritated by the situation they were in and it made that clear in the way they expended energy boiling Leona's skin in an attempt to incite her to flee.

     “If we leave it could affect Diana and the others. There's no way they can keep me here forever, after the trial we'll be released again" Leona argued with the second conscience, not bothering to keep their conversation in thoughts — They were alone there, whether or not they were each other's only company—

     “You have a lot of faith in a blind and arrogant people” The Aspect spoke, Leona continued to feel they were trying to steal control from her for a long time. She was sweating and the lack of air just made her feel more exhausted, but she kept using her remaining forces to keep the aspect under control and calm down her own breath.

       In the dark, Leona's mind tried to play tricks on her. Her imagination made her listen for the squeaks of the Light Seekers just above her head and  see silhouettes in the shadows. Nothing gave off light, but she could swear she could see the silhouettes moving, surrounding her and touching her skin. — She knew it wasn't the Aspect. They didn't have the best relationship, but it still wasn't like War and its host— Besides, the touches she felt were empty of any warmth, it just felt sticky on her skin. Hours or days could have passed, she really had no idea how long she was in that room. The squeals increased to a point where Leona questioned if they weren't really there. Time passed, but not really. Leona must have fallen asleep in a few moments from the exhaustion of keeping the aspect under control and the lack of air, and yet she tried to stay awake as much as possible out of fear that if she woke up she would no longer have control of her body or that something would try to overtake her—Every time she thought about it her aspect would chuckle in her head, and she could have sworn she could feel something breathing on her shoulder—

       Sometimes, when the squeaks sounded closer to the growls and cries of a beast, Leona would hear a voice. It wasn't her aspect, it was much more cold and seductive, as if trying to convince her to do something very different. The call came from somewhere in the room as if it wanted her to join that darkness. The redhead let out a choked sob — That was like the projection of her worst nightmares as a child when she heard about Icathia, the place destroyed by the Void where not even demons came close. Leona wept and clung to her parents in fear of the darkness and eternal emptiness. She felt that she was exactly where she had always prayed her goddess would not put her—

      “Stop playing tricks with my mind!” She screamed at her aspect, fear and tension turning to anger.

     “You would be luckier if I were the one doing all this, my chosen one” The answer came just as tense as Leona. And then she knew: the worst was yet to come.

      The third time she fell asleep, it wasn't her mind that woke her, but the supernatural strength of the aspect. Everything inside her screamed to be on the alert, as if something was on the prowl. There was no sound, even the illusion of squeaks stopped. However, the silence was very short-lived, as soon the sound of distressing moans came from somewhere in the room. Suddenly, something touched Leona's leg, she couldn't recognize what was holding her, it seemed to have more than five fingers and claws that squeezed her calf until blood flowed. Leona screamed in sheer terror, kicking whatever was in front of her, but whatever held her wouldn't let go and seemed to get closer.

      So Leona and the Aspect of the Sun worked together to eliminate the threat. The aspect let Leona use more of her immortal strength, expending more of the reserve energy they had stored since the last sunset, to fend off the creature. And it worked, the heat Leona released from her chest created a temporary flame born from Leona's oxygen and what little was left in the room. In the brief light, Leona felt sheer horror, for she was surrounded by stuff , they did not have a concrete form, were extremely pale and deadly in all aspects. The flame drove away all the creatures, killing them quickly. However, one of them stayed. It was insect-like and unlike the rest, it had intense purple eyes. He looked almost disappointed, but Leona again heard the same voice as before.

    “You deny the void, but eventually it will reach you” The voice came from the strange insect, even if he didn't speak. At the end, when Leona was expecting one more attack, the insect disappeared into the shadows.

     Leona was terrified, the air she had to breathe decreased with her feat and her body burned with exhaustion. She fainted into the deep silence that ensued. And when she woke up, not knowing how long she had been unconscious, she felt even more exhausted and out of breath. She touched her calf, feeling the dried blood crust across her skin. "What was that?" Asked the only other consciousness that existed within that room.

     “In the real darkness and emptiness, everyone goes mad or is consumed. It has been like this since the beginning of time, as far back as Kindred and the Weaver. Emptiness and true darkness inhabit the places where neither the Sun nor the Moon touches. Don't let the darkness corrupt us both, Leona, die if you have to. If the deepest emptiness contaminates us, your realm may well be completely destroyed. What attacked us now was them, the pests and their queen servant. The moon's aspect and its host do a good job of keeping them weakened. However, here must be a kind of safe place for them, full of madness and no light.” The aspect spoke again. Leona shuddered with the realization, but still agreed, she would rather die than give in to that being.

      Leona needed to get out of there, every part of her body was screaming to do so and she was about to give in to her aspect when the door opened. Three guards entered the room with their torches. The sudden light hurt Leona's eyes that were used to the darkness, her discomfort made it easy for the guards to grab her and pull her out of there. If she didn't feel so tired, she would have cried and thanked them.

      “You will have your judgment now, Radiant Dawn” One of the soldiers spoke nonchalantly, although his grip was not strong enough to hurt. He and the other two soldiers led her into the great judgment hall. Leona couldn't take more than three steps before she had to lean on one of the soldiers who held her, groaning in pain from her injured leg. The one who remained free looked at her wound, startled to see the torn and bloody tissue. Without being ordered, the soldiers helped her distribute the weight to continue the deserted path to the Hall. When they reached the room, there were no witnesses other than a few soldiers and the elders.

      “Leona of the Sunforger, Radiant Dawn. Five days ago, you were caught wearing Lunari clothing and breaking one of our most vital laws. You are entitled to a defense thanks to your rank as Chosen of theSun" pies, the chief elder, spoke. Her voice was flat and bored, as if he wanted to speed it all along to get away.

      Her aspect whispered to kill everyone there, doing exactly as Diana had done. Leona fought that urge, the sunlight after so many days without it seemed to come back in full force, her body burning and she was sweating with the excess power that came back all at once. The soldiers who held her backed away, frightened by the heat of her skin, no one would be able to stop her if she ran away, but nothing good would come from running away. Then, Leona took a deep breath and straightened her posture as much as she could before speaking.

        “Elder Liphae, for us to judge my faith just because I'm wearing a Lunari outfit is ridiculous. However, since we're here, I'll plead guilty” That shocked everyone present in the room, even Leona felt a little surprised by the way she spoke to the elders, but she continued. “I plead guilty to sympathizing with Lunaris, but not breaking my faith with the Sun. On the contrary, she's even stronger, because I know that the Sun and the Moon don't want those they love so much to destroy each other. Hunting Lunaris is hunting those who protect us from the terror of true darkness.”

       “And on what basis do you say that, Radiant Dawn? You have been tainted by the dark powers of the dark of night. There is no evidence for what you allege” One of the elders spoke, receiving several murmurs of agreement from the other elders.

        The redhead laughed—or maybe it was her aspect, the line that separated them was thinning—and looked at the elders, she was shivering now with the strength of the sun back on her skin, control was getting harder and harder. Then she remembered the perfect fitting, rolling up her ripped pants to show her calf. It was the first time she had seen the wound, there were five deep punctures made by the creature's claw, from halfway down her shin it was swollen and scarred poorly by its own power. Everyone in the room stared at the wound in shock. Liphae glared at the soldiers angrily.

       "You had express orders not to harm her, did this injury exist before?" She asked the lieutenant, Arun, Leona remembered that he was one of the soldiers who helped her the most in her work, and he was the one who helped her walk.

      “It wasn’t us, chief Liphae. We did everything possible not to hurt her and she never resisted. When we arrested her she was walking fine” Arun said.

       “They were creatures of the void, they took advantage of places where neither the Sun nor the Moon touched to hunt. In the room one of them managed to hurt me” Leona replied, she tried as much as possible not to show her fear. “Horrible creatures Targon has always fought to keep at bay, especially the Moon, since she works in the night. The plague that has awakened in Shurima is finally catching up with us. What I was doing the night they caught me was investigating. We've been denying the truth for too long, thanks to the fear of losing our Sun. However, it will not be the night, the Moon or the Lunaris that will destroy the light, but these creatures. Our enemy is another, warring with Lunaris will only bring ruin to us as Icathia brought their own ruin.”

         When Leona finished her speech a wave of different voices started to shout at the same time. Her aspect chuckled inside his mind at his failure, Leona felt her chest tighten with anger.

           “There is no evidence of these creatures reaching Targon, mind you, Leona. It tries to bring chaos to our society through fear. And the Sun themself knows,they punish you for your insolence, piercing your own leg in punishment and burning you as you are now” Elder Liphae spoke haughtily, looking at the Sun's chosen with nothing but contempt. —None of them believed her, all preferred a lie to stay in power and keep things like they were— “Take her back to the Dark Room, there Radiant Dawn will stay until her death. A place where she won't spread lies and chaos to our way of life” Liphae finished, receiving murmurs of agreement from all the other elders.

      “You don't understand! Are blinded in a lie of security while the real enemy creeps among the shadows of our own city” Leona screamed, really screamed. The anger she'd held in for so many years for thinking she was doing the Solari's best broke loose all at once. —-She tried so hard to improve the system she was trapped in, transforming the barracks into something more humane, abolishing fighting to the death, and helping her brothers in arms who were wounded on a permanent basis—- “I gave my heart, my body and soul for these people. I gave it all until there was nothing left of me” She continued, the instability of her power since leaving the room was getting worse, the line of what differentiated her and the aspect of the Sun was almost gone. “We won't go back to the Dark Room” At this point, Leona sounded much less human, and her voice was no longer her own either. The heat emitting from her body was unbearable from being too close, she was completely free of soldiers and could kill everyone there with the close of her fist. But, that was what her aspect wanted.

      “If I kill them I won't be able to have the necessary influence to lead my people” Leona argued internally as she struggled to contain the aspect. Fortunately, no soldier was stupid enough to attack her. A solution that tickled the darkest part of her mind and her aspect came to mind.

     “I will bring emptiness to them” This time, Leona spoke in a loud and clear tone, never before had the redhead been heard to speak so coldly to someone who wasn't a true enemy—Diana didn't enter into that equation. However, the elders had managed to— Inside her mind, the aspect laughed.

     “And to think that the Moon thought I chose you just for your good traits. Be careful, human, what you're going to do could overwhelm your body and kill you, but I'm sure you'll do it” The aspect spoke, giving Leona the only green light she needed: it was possible and she could get out of it alive.

      “What are you waiting for? Contain her!” Elder Liphae shouted at the soldiers, however, when three of them drew their swords to charge forward, the entire room started to go dark. The light was gravitating towards Leona, as if all the beams of light were returning to their source. Elders and soldiers alike watched in horror as the dome went completely dark—-Just like the Dark room. She would make them feel what she felt—and the only source of light was Leona. She forced the newly acquired power into her body through her arms and stored it in the center of her body while the aspect prevented her body from being turned to dust by the light. Soon, the entire room was in complete darkness.

       In the pitch black, Leona stood still as the elders shouted for her to bring back the light or for someone else to light the place. It didn't take more than five minutes for the sound of squeals and growls to be heard in the room. Leona lit her hand in time to see the amorphous creatures burst out of the ground and attack everyone in their path. She felt a grip on her shoulder, it was Arun.

       “Leona! You have to stop this otherwise everyone will die!” Arun screamed, he had his sword smeared with dark goo, but his shoulder was bleeding. Leona was silent, the angriest part of her telling her to let them all die. “Leona!” —There was a time, when Leona had just found out about the unfair punishments Diana suffered, after seeing what they really were, that the redhead wanted to hurt everyone who had hurt Diana—-

          Leona's Diary, 50 days towards Zenith

     I punched the acolyte Aneus until he turned completely purple earlier today. He and his friends had ambushed Diana when she had just come out of punishment and was still recovering, they beat her to the point that she barely made it to the infirmary. What I did wasn't justice, it was revenge. I challenged all four of them to a battle and slammed and slammed and slammed. It was Diana who stopped me, she had pulled me off Aneus and hugged me. “You're not like that, Leo. Don't give in to the violence of revenge, it's done, they've learned” Diana whispered.

      My hands are reddened and a little bloody from Aneus's nose. This is my fifth day of isolation as punishment, clearly it's not so bad if Diana was the one who had them beaten (she could manage, Aneus and his friends are just a bunch of useless people). I have never felt so ashamed in my life, I promise I will never do that again, even if I need to remember Diana's words to calm me down.

      Leona had forgotten those words after so many years of not using them—She thanked the goddesses that it remained in her subconscious, even though it was no longer Diana's voice—She could almost hear Diana speaking to her again, not looking at her with judgment. and yes with concern. As if snapping out of a daydream, Leona brought back all the light she'd pulled, releasing the power trapped within her as she raised her arms to the sky. The passage of light power was too much, Arun pulled away with a scream as his hand was burned, but Leona's body continued to let go of everything it was holding.

       The room filled with blinding light, killing every creature that had come out of the shadows. Arun looked in horror at Leona falling to her knees, screaming as the solar powers shattered the top of the dome and cast light skywards like a great beacon. When everything stopped, Leona was barely conscious with her body burning and a little burned, especially her arms and chest. On her forearms were two new sunmarks that glowed exactly like Diana's.

        Thanks to their weapons, only three soldiers had been killed, their bodies thrown in a corner with lacerations all over their bodies. Most near the door were appreciative of their lives and exited the dome before the creatures began to attack—not that Leona knew of, but one of them was a soldier who had survived Diana's initial massacre. She knew very well what a host meant and the angry aspect of it. The warrior saw the moment when someone dressed in silver and purple entered the room— The elders however were not so lucky, unarmed and in the center of the room, only Liphae was alive, she had a deep cut on her shoulder but was stagnant with your clothes. She had a haunted look on her face, just like people who faced the Vold did in stories.

         Leona forced herself to look at Liphae, her vision blurring with the movement. Arun was no longer at her side, helping his wounded comrades and shouting orders to bring in healers. "Now you understand? They are already here, and it will be the Moon and the Sun together that will stop this plague” Leona spoke breathlessly. And to her surprise, Liphae nodded in agreement, although she was still scared.

         “You're right” It was the last thing Leona heard before losing consciousness. With luck, she wouldn't be being executed when she woke up.

Chapter Text

 Leona didn't wake up for a whole day, and she didn’t rise with the sun like she did before, it was close to noon when she woke up and her mouth was dry. Dizzy and with her eyes aching from the light, Leona sat up in bed with difficulty. Her arms were burning and her entire body looked like it had just gone through an intense training session with a brutal fight following it. The smell of medicinal burn cream wafted from her bandaged arms. In the center of her chest was another bandage, although this one looked much more delicate. Next to her bed, there were two chairs and a nightstand with a glass of water which she took and drank it all at once. The two chairs were occupied by Aidonel and Kespine, who were fast asleep — She didn't expect to wake up with someone beside her, in a way she expected to wake up handcuffed in a cell and not on a soft bed. Seeing her siblings there warmed something inside her chest— A short time later, Kespine began to stir in her sleep, waking up and looking at Leona in surprise.

      “Leo?” Kespine's voice was still slurred with sleep, but the happiness was palpable. “Aidonel wakes up! Leona is awake!” Leona watched her little sister shake their brother with a big smile on her face.

      “Uh? What, Leo?” Aidonel looked from his twin sister to the older one, the same excited smile appearing on his face as he looked at the oldest. The twins  jumped from their chairs to Leona's bed, almost falling into each other in the process. “Leona! We saw soldiers running towards the dome and then a giant light that came from the center of the building! Lieutenant Arun didn't let anyone but soldiers from his troop and doctors enter the room” Aidonel started to speak in a hurry, but it didn't take long for Kespine, who was slightly calmer than her brother—That wasn't entirely right, the two of them were energetic. The only difference was that  Kespine had better diction—

       “We asked about you and he said you were unconscious, no one could get close to you because your body was too hot, even though your injuries were serious enough to kill. And then, a lunari appeared, she ignored everyone as she walked up to you and held you like it was nothing. She did something that stabilized you enough for the healers to be able to heal you, but the woman left later” Kespine finished what Aidonel had started, by the look of both of them, it was clear that the two had a hunch on who was the person who helped her—Of course, there was only one aspect of Targon that could so easily withstand the heat of the Sun, and that was Diana—“Are you feeling better?”

        “Yes, but I need to speak with Lieutenant Arun, urgently” Leona said. However, the moment she said that, the door was opened by none other than Arun.

      “Leona? Glad you're awake” A male voice spoke as he entered the room. It was Arun, his shoulder and hand was bandaged and he was slightly pale, but overall he looked fine. However, the professional look gave Leona something to expect from that conversation: consequences. “I hope you're well enough to talk about, your body was too hot for us to touch, but an ally helped us carry you and heal you. We have a lot to discuss, Radiant Dawn”

       “Yes, we need to. Aidonel, Kespine, can you please leave? We'll talk more later” The woman asked her brothers, who agreed without question. The twins took turns kissing Leona's forehead one at a time, both whispering that they loved her before leaving—it was strange, years ago she was the one who did that. However, seeing the two grown up filled her with pride and she was glad to still have a good relationship with them despite everything—

      Arun waited for the twins to leave and close the door before speaking. He didn't look at Leona with anger or resentment —Although she saw it, hidden underneath his brown eyes— but he looked weary and tired. “What happened at the dome yesterday ended in the death of almost all of our elders and some soldiers, the others who survived may die because of the fatal injuries”

      “How many have a chance to recover?” Leona asked, but she feared for Arun's answer.

      “Not many” He said, Arun’s voice was colder than before. That information added to Leona's guilt far more than knowing the elders were dead. Her chest tightened and she could feel a lump forming in her throat. 

    “I am sorry for what I have done, Lieutenant Arun, and I will bear whatever punishment you throw at me, however, I still have a duty to do. So I ask for my punishment to be work for protecting from the threat of the void as a soldier, not a commander. I do not deserve my position” There was no time to feel pity about herself, she had work to do and a crime to be punished. 

      "It’s not about what you deserve or not, your leadership skills are too good to be wasted in times like these. Having you being devoid would only cause chaos in our people. And that's exactly why I told everyone that it was a Void attack, you could have taken the light. However, them leaving so quickly just shows that our territory is compromised. Elder Liphae agreed with me, but we were waiting for you to wake up to really explain” Arun said, surprising Leona in every possible way. —It was another move to hide the truth from the people, even Leona got pretty good at hiding. At least this time was for a good reason, even if Leona’s heart was heavier than before—

      “Everything I needed to say was already said there, they didn't want to believe me and we all paid the price” Leona replied, whether she was speaking for her body or her mind, she didn't know. “Is this ally who I think she is?”

       "Yes. The Aspect of the Moon was here, she said she would be back shortly and we are waiting for her return” The soldier spoke, that brought a mixture of relief and confusion—Only now did she remember the meeting they had arranged. What had Diana been thinking when she didn't show up? What will she think when she learns that Leona has once again given in to violence? —

        There was logic in Arun's words, but Leona's chest was still tight at the thought of all the lives of her own people that had been lost because of something she had done, even if it wasn't her hands, she had allowed them in by withdrawing. The light and neglecting the problem, letting it grow through the cracks. 

        “Arun, why all this even after I let people die in the dome?” Leona asked, not understanding why he was so lenient about that. “Why not give me any kind of punishment?”

       “Because you were right about everything you said. The elders made the same mistake as before by trapping an aspect and trying to kill it, they arrested you in the worst place possible before you had a chance to defend yourself. It was barbaric. I understand all the logic behind it, as without the majority out of play there would be no way to really mobilize the Solari to stop hunting the Lunari and start hunting for the Void, however, was that really the only option at the moment? Wasn't there another one that didn't end that way? You've done a lot for soldiers' lives, yet you let that happen.” For the first time since the conversation began, Arun was showing his true emotions: betrayal, hurt. —Leona had used all her influence to speak for the lower ranked soldiers who were treated like dogs of war to the stronger ones. She had become the symbol of a new era of warriors for the Solari. They looked up to her and she treated them as equals rather than subordinates—

       “Arun, what I did in that room will haunt me forever. But I couldn't go back to that room, neither could I nor the Aspect. So I attacked back and made everyone in the room see the truth. I understand if you don't trust me anymore, but I want you to know that I'm really sorry.” She struggled to hold back the tears, her eyes were watering but still she bowed to crying and look pathetic in front of the other warrior. Arun approached Leona, his face was young, he had a lighter shade of red than Leona's, but his skin was darker and with fewer visible freckles. His gaze was hard and fixed on Leona, daring her to look away. She didn't dodge.

       “Would you do it again?” He asked. —Would she do it again? Let chaos and despair enter the room, killing people and injuring others for life, giving everyone a taste of her revenge for being trapped in that place? Would she do it again to prove the point she tried to explain to the council, but they refused to listen and even tried to put her back in the Dark Room to rot? She didn't want to be feared, but her aspect did. And she was one with them—

       "Yes. I would do it again, but I wish I never had to do such a thing again. It is and always will be my last choice. And if it happens again, there will be things that remind me to stop.” The woman spoke without breaking her gaze from Arun. Deep down, she hoped he would understand. And thankfully, that seemed to be just what Arun needed, as his posture relaxed and he nodded.

       “That's all I needed, to know that you're not someone cruel to a point where I couldn't follow. I will trust your word, Radiant Dawn, and continue to follow you in our fight against the Void.” Arun's words were firm and convinced, which brought relief to Leona. “I'll let you rest a little longer, when the Aspect of the Moon returns we can start a meeting about our next steps. And for your desire to be punished, I’m sure that since you are still you, even with some changes, your own mind will be battering yourself for a long time already. See you later, Leona.” It became abundantly clear to Leona that, however faithful he was to her, his view of the Sun's chosen had changed perhaps forever. And the trust they had built beyond professionals could have been severely damaged.

      With a final respectful nod, the red-haired warrior left the room. Now alone, Leona felt suffocated by the bandages on her body —Too tight, she couldn't feel the heat of the sun and the strong smell of medicinal herbs quickly mixed with the smell of blood— In distress, Leona ripped the bandages off her arms without worrying about the pain. When she finished, she noticed two identical marks on her forearms near the wrist. It was a Solari symbol with an almost golden yellow color. It glowed softly like Diana's mark and emitted magic. But before she had time to look more carefully, Leona was snapped out of her stupor by a purple and white figure entering her room through the window.

     “Diana” 

—---------------

      Diana was hopeful of Leona's answer, her feeling was that she would agree and that together they would find a solution for Targon. However, on the second day, when she was waiting for Leona at their place—the place where she and Leona kissed for the first time. The hill outside the temple was the unspoken place for all their meeting points, a place of their own— When Leona didn't show up, she expected the worst: an ambush. Diana was on guard all night, waiting for Leona or any Solari soldiers. But nobody came  

       She felt disappointed, but still found it odd that Leona hadn't even shown up. For days she camped near the Solari in search of any information or sightings of Leona. —Her aspect whispered about something being wrong, shadows were lurking and the Sun was not present— By the fifth day, Diana had her answer as to where Leona was. She watched from the sidelines as the building filled with energy from the void and soon after became a beacon of the power of the sun.

    There was no time to blend in with the crowd and enter the dome, she could feel the Sun's uncontrollable magic as well as the footprints of the creatures. Diana moved as fast as she could, sneaking through alleys and jumping over walls until she reached the dome, knocking out anyone who tried to stop her there. Near the entrance, there was a female warrior who had managed to escape the chaos inside, the two women exchanged glances and mutual recognition flashed. —Diana would never forget the faces of those she killed and wounded on her judgment day, she would not let herself forget the day when everything changed and her life took a new turn— She thought there would be some resistance to her entry, however, the robust warrior just nodded and looked away.

     Entering the room was like traveling back in time. There was blood everywhere, the chairs where the elders sat were destroyed and there were bloody limbs and robes everywhere. Diana smelled burning in the room, but it wasn't coming from the bodies of the elders or the soldiers. The burning smell came from the person lying in the center of the room: Leona.

      “Bring paramedics, we have casualties including Radiant Dawn!” A soldier shouted orders. He started to approach Leona when Diana grabbed him by the shoulder.

     “Leona is radiating power. Any human that comes close will be burned” She spoke without qualms. The soldier looked at her with confusion and then terror and distrust as he recognized her. “I'm not here for a fight! I'm for her” She hastened to explain, pointing to Leona's limp body. She looked weak.

    “How do I know you won't kill her in her weakest moment, Aspect of the Moon?” The soldier spoke angrily. Even though he was hurt, he used his unburned hand to grip his sword more tightly. Diana would have yelled something about him seeing reason or even attacking him, but something in Leona changed.

    The redhead suddenly started to convulse, her entire body was starting to glow again and the room became warmer. The soldier and Diana watched in horror as Leona's skin began to glisten and peel. “Take a little longer and the host of the Sun will die. I don't know what happened, but it seems they were exiled from their power and now it's come all at once. A human body cannot handle such an amount of power.” Her aspect spoke within her mind.

   "I don't have time for this, Leona doesn't have that time" Diana said in exasperation, pushing the soldier away from her and running towards Leona. Leona was very hot to the touch and her face, though unconscious, reflected all her pain. Her mind was racing with thoughts and doubts of how to help Leona—Diana, for the most part, was a pragmatic woman and performed well under pressure. However, when it involved Leona, especially when it involved Leona in danger, everything seemed to get messed up and she acted completely out of emotion around her beloved—

     For the second time that day, her aspect helped her—Of course,they needed Leona alive to serve as host and both end the threat of the void. What the Moon did not say and would never admit was that they didn't want their counterpart to leave— “What the Sun does, the Moon will undo. Just like if there was sun every day nothing would live on earth” The aspect spoke, leaving Diana to figure out the meaning.

      Diana took a deep breath to calm her mind and channel the lunar magic. Then she grabbed Leona's hand as her free palm went to her chest. Leona had released most of her solar magic, but there was still a part that would kill her if she continued—something caused her to have such an intense overload. Diana wouldn't have the answer now, but she would soon find out and goddesses protect whoever had done this to Leona— Slowly, Diana channeled the Lunar magic within her and spoke exactly what her aspect had spoken earlier. “What the Sun does, the Moon will undo”

     The effect was immediate. The two women glowed with a shared light that was scattered throughout the room. The entire room turned white before returning to normal, the heat coming from Leona was gone and her body had stopped glowing. Her skin still had fine cracks from the burns and looked like it was about to peel off. Leona's breathing was shallow, but her pulse was stable. Diana took a deep breath in relief and looked at the soldier, nodding and allowing the paramedics to take Leona. She was about to leave to follow when the soldier stopped her again, this time being much gentler.

     “Thanks for saving her, but why did you do that? Did you guys come to some alliance or something?” He asked, confused, realizing then that he hadn't introduced himself. “I am Lieutenant Arun of the Radiant Dawn Troop and second in command”

     “I saved her because she and I don't exist without each other. And I feel that what happened here was my fault” Diana spoke with regret, still looking at the exit of the dome —Leona was still wearing the clothes she had borrowed, she had probably been arrested— That bad feeling of fearing the worst was coming back. She knew those trials, Leona could have been accused of being a heretic and been a trial. But it still didn't explain the explosive magic or the corpses not being burned “My name is Diana. Lieutenant Arun, can you tell me what happened here?”

     “Leona was accused of being a heretic for leaving the festival with a mysterious woman, not returning to prayers and still showing up wearing Lunari clothing. Today was the trial and everything went wrong” Arun replied, everything about him indicated that the man was exhausted and regretful. “I assume it was you she found and you made a new alliance. She spoke of stopping the Lunari hunt to deal with the Void, but the elders would not listen and sentenced her to death. Then, Leona withdrew the light from the dome and chaos ensued with the creatures that killed nearly everyone.” At the end of his speech, Diana noted the soldier's bitterness and distrust. “She left them for dead and only stopped when I called her”

     Diana felt a shiver go up her spine. She expected the aspect to want to kill everyone, but using its own powers, not the creatures. —She knew Leona, she knew what the redhead was capable of when properly pressed. However, she feared what that might mean— "And how did it end?"

     “She drove them out again and made the beacon of light. The rest you already know. We need to talk, Diana, about the future” Arun tried to start the negotiation, but when he saw Diana's exasperated look on the whole conversation and how she barely looked at him, he saw that this would be a lost occasion. “Fine, stay in the city or the temple, I'll warn you so that no one attacks you. When Radiant Dawn and Elder Liphae wake up we will discuss next steps.”

     “We will. Now, Arun, the festival I took Leona to was five days ago. How was the trial just today and how was there so much power?” Diana saw Arun's bitterness replaced by regret, her chest tightening with fear of what they had done to Leona.

      "Perhaps you'd better talk to her, but know that General Asmos and the Elders broke a law by using the most extreme confinement without a judgment first" Diana still didn't know what that meant, but from Arun's haunted look, she already could. imagine something really bad.

     A whole day passed and Leona still hadn't woken up. Diana kept close to her home, still preferring to remain hidden from the other Solari—Even though the news of the Aspect of the Moon had saved Radiant Dawn and joined forces with her against the void, people still looked at her with distrust whenever she saw her. saw— Despite the woman trying to keep quiet, there were still two people who saw her.

    “Diana, is that you?” A female voice spoke a little way away from Diana, who was leaning against a wall behind Leona's house, keeping a watchful eye on the woman. When Diana looked straight at the source of the voice, she immediately recognized who it was and the boy who accompanied her, both leaving Leona's house. —Kespine and Aidonel have grown quite a bit, Aidonel could have been almost the same height as Leona and Kespine was almost a younger version of Leona. When younger, Diana accompanied Leona sometimes to help take care of her younger siblings and they adored her for the stories she told— The chosen one of the moon smiled at the younger ones, uncrossing her arms and nodding.

    “Kespine, Aidonel, you've grown a lot” She said with a restrained smile, not confident where that encounter would take them. Her anxiety and pessimism proved incorrect as the pair of twins squealed excitedly before jumping on top of her, each hugging her side.

    "Diana! We knew it was you! When Lieutenant Arun talked about the Aspect of the Moon curing Leo, but when they talked about a Lunari woman entering the dome, we already knew it was you. It's always you” Aidonel spoke smiling, as always he spoke faster and with more energy than the two sisters put together —Which was a lot, because if there was one thing the three brothers shared well it was their ability to talk for hours—

    “Is she awake yet or is she still sleeping?” Diana asked, unable to contain her anxiety. Lucky for him, the two young men smiled and nodded in agreement. Diana's heart couldn't get any lighter—In fact it could, once she talks to Leona and sees that she's okay—

    "Yes. Lieutenant Arun went to talk to her but he should already be leaving” Kespine spoke, looking at Diana with a knowing look and a soft smile “Go talk to her, it will do you two good to talk better”

     "I will, thank you Kespine and Aidonel" Diana spoke with a sincere smile that soon turned into a squeal of surprise when she felt the two hug her tightly again. For a moment she froze with the explicit affection, but then she hugged them both and released them. “Take care and stay out of trouble” She finished, smiling at the twins and walking away towards Leona's bedroom window.

     Before entering, Diana heard the two say "We'll do our best to cause trouble" in a comical tone. She laughed and rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the banter and walk into the room.

     “Diana” Leona's husky, shocked voice echoed in the room. The white haired woman looked at her counterpart and her chest tightened. Leona had the bandages on to cover her burns, and they were clean and smelling reassuringly of medicinal herbs—Much better than the stinging smell of blood or burning flesh—but Leona was almost as pale as Diana and her eyes were dark and dark. with heavy bags under her eyes. Diana watched Leona start to try to get out of bed and immediately ran to her, gently touching her shoulders and keeping her seated on the bed.

     “Hi, my love” She gave her best smile, even though her chest burned with anguish at seeing the woman in such a bad state. —Leona was still alive, that was the most important thing— “You've done a lot since we met, are you okay?” Diana continued as she gently fixed Leona's hair.

     “Diana…I…it all went wrong. This was all my fault, I failed to remain anonymous and they arrested me” Leona spoke with pain, her voice was stuttering and she wouldn't meet Diana's eyes. “I killed them all. I feel like a monster, but I would still do it all over again. Everything is much lighter, and at the same time heavier”

     “Leo, I need you to make sense. Breathe, my love.” Diana kissed the redhead's forehead, only then noticing the bandages strewn across the bed and Leona's bruised bare arms. However, what surprised her most was the glowing mark on her skin—She knew very well that it only appeared when the host and aspect reached a stable bond. Something good most of the time, but the price for that consensus sometimes  was something far from human morality. Suddenly, it all made sense— “You and the Aspect reached a stable bond.” She spoke carefully, not pressuring Leona but already knowing what that meant.

     “Yes. They  gave me the ticket, but there was too much energy coming all at once. In a way it all worked out.” Leona forced herself to try to rationalize her words further. Gradually her tone grew colder and more professional—Sometimes Diana preferred it when she let herself feel her emotions, but Diana knew what soldier training can do to a person's life, the scars that never fade—

    “Lieutenant Arun talked about an imprisonment, do you want to talk about it?” Diana investigated carefully, not wanting to trigger Leona's panic attack or shut her out of conversation.

     For a long time Leona was silent, hands clenching into tight fists and her to look becoming dark —Diana never saw Leona's gaze get so dark. Not even in your worst fights. She's seen anger before, but not this seething rage filled with the desire for revenge. She'd seen fear many times before, but never one that was so intense and desperate that Leona would do anything to escape. She'd already seen Leona's darkness, how she wasn't 100% good like any other human, but she'd never seen her become so close to the surface— Just as Diana was about to apologize and change the subject, Leona spoke.

     “A secret room, a type of imprisonment made for the torture and weakening of any being of light. It is the ultimate punishment. A room in the basement without a single source of light and only a hatch made for the passage of air” Leona tightened her fists even more, Diana knew that it could be hurting but the redhead didn't show any signs of pain. “You can hardly breathe down there and it was too humid, the smell didn’t make it easy to breathe”

    "Leona…" Diana began, but the redhead ignored her.

      “The aspect wanted to leave but I continued to control it. I kept hearing squeaks and clawing sounds but there was absolutely nothing around me. I couldn't see anything and I didn't have enough power or air to summon light.” Leona stopped, her breath coming fast and her eyes more glassy than before. Diana silently moved closer, sitting down next to the redhead and touching her hand. Diana's gentle touch soothed her enough for Leona to speak with more steadiness again. “The Void came to me, Di, their queen was calling me. They wanted to rip me with their claws until there was nothing left, not only my body but my mind too.”

      It wasn't just Diana who was angry, the Moon's own aspect seethed within her mind at what humans had done to her counterpart. “None of us were meant to stay away from the light!” Her aspect screamed. The elders were lucky that they were all already dead.

     “I couldn't go back there, Diana. None of us could, maybe that made our differences lessen. But, did I really get out of there? I still smell the rotten blood and I still hear the sounds of claws dragging on the walls” Leona shuddered at his words. Diana couldn't hold back any longer and hugged the woman tightly, nestling her head into her chest. The moment she did that it was as if Leona's last walls came down. The woman continued to hold Leona as the redhead cried and held her as if she were her only salvation. —She couldn't be more wrong, Leona was strong and always managed to make her own strength. However, Diana would rather die than let her face everything alone—

     “Come here” Diana helped Leona to her feet, guiding her to the window and sitting on the frame. The sun heats the skin of the two women, Diana still holding Leona carefully. “You are no longer there, my love. Feel the sun warm your skin and the breeze. Look around you, what do you see, smell and hear?”

     It took Leona a moment to respond, her mind trying to calm down without slipping into apathy again. “My eyes still hurt a little but not as much. There are…” Diana waited patiently as she watched Leona peer outside, hugging her waist and making sure she stayed within the redhead's field of vision—a way of ensuring Leona knew the source of the ringing— “There are people walking. Some students are arguing about the test they took, a couple with a baby, and the smell of roasting meat and it looks like it's going to rain later. It's muggy"

     “And you are here with them, with us, with me. I will never let you go back to that place, Leo. I swear it in the name of the goddesses and all that is most sacred in our world.” Diana sat down beside Leona so that she could look at her. The seriousness of Diana's words and the absolute love in them warmed Leona better than the flame that resided in her chest.

     “Even though I once again gave in to anger? How can you trust me after all this horrible act I've done? I killed them in the most cruel way.” Leona was no longer panicking, but her voice was filled with anguish. “I saw it in Arun's eyes, he follows me as his superior but he doesn't see me like he used to, there's now a fear I never wanted to exist. Everything I worked for for years was destroyed.”

     Diana was silent for nearly a full minute as she thought of what to say. Finally, she sighed and carefully took Leona's hands, running her thumbs gently over the twin marks on her forearms. “Leona…I'm not going to lie and say that everything will end well. The consequences are there, just like when I killed all the elders. However, there is nothing to do but move on and do better, fix the mistake you made. But they deserved it and would never see the truth if it wasn't brutally thrown at them. It will be different, but not everything was destroyed. In fact, it may well be an optimistic new era for Targon.”

    “But…” Ever stubborn, Leona tried to deny it again. But this time Diana cut her off before she could finish her sentence, already knowing exactly what she meant.

    “I still trust you and my love remains steadfast. You saw my darkest faces and continued to love me, why couldn't I do the same?" That silenced Leona at once. Diana couldn't help but laugh at the shocked face the redhead was making. “Years go by and you keep losing to me in speeches”

     Her joke proved to be just the right move to make Leona laugh, it was the first time she had laughed since Candel left. Both women felt their hearts lighter now. There were still traces of darkness in Leona's eyes, but it was much less than when Diana had entered the room. The white-haired woman smiled softly and held Leona's face tenderly, kissing her with all the love she wanted to show Leona. And Leona took it all in, touching Diana and moving closer. Her body still ached but it was paltry compared to the happiness she felt now.

    “Together in this mess then?” Leona asked almost in a whisper.

    "Together in this mess and in the next ones that come" Diana replied smiling, kissing Leona once more and welcoming her embrace. "Now let's cover those arms of yours again, they are still too raw to be without the bandages" She scolded fondly, getting up from the windowsill and being followed by a Leona laughing sheepishly.