Uninterrupted peace; I didn't think I'd miss it so much.

  That pce wasn't peaceful, it was not even remotely close to it.

  This, however...

  The sound of mother breathing, the cttering of cutlery and the breeze cloaking us as we consume breakfast...

  This is peace.

  "Eat your peas, sweetie."

  Mother quipped from the opposite end of the table. The mountain range backdrop on her silhouette was gorgeous, and the glistening ke shimmers accented her motherly eyes.

  I poked and prodded the 57 peas on my pte.

  Nom~

  Now 56.

  Inwardly grimacing at the taste, I followed her orders and consumed the vile vegetable.

  I'm pretty sure I wasn't averse to peas in the past, my taste buds have changed.

  "Now that you've grown enough, sweetie, don't you think it's about time to start learning? I'm not talking about nguage, I know you already understand that. I'm talking about the world. About etiquette, history, mathematics... The basics."

  The world; history-!

  Containing my intrigue, I patiently nodded.

  "Good! I'll start teaching you tomorrow; be ready for it." But then, she proceeded to tease me, "Maybe you'll start speaking again~"

  "Our sweet Alora is quite sneaky~"

  -----

  The next day arrived with no new changes; only my day-to-day had switched up to being allowed to go the bedroom's toilet manually, dress in a simple white, frilly shirt and pants, and eat solids;

  Other than that...

  "Go on, sweetie. What does the page in front of you say? Let's start with the glossary."

  She still held me in her peaceful embrace as she pointed at the words written in a book named: [Sunless: A Short History]. The front cover was that of a man dressed in a suit with his back facing us.

  I digress.

  Reading the first word, I let myself properly speak for the first time since abnormally gaining my full set of teeth at the young age of 1.

  "Yestenia is my home." My voice came out quite soft and heavily cking in strength.

  "Good!"

  She pointed to the next word.

  "But I lost it."

  "Mhm!"

  Then the next.

  "When the sunless skies eviscerated us."

  ...I was already suspicious after reading the title, but... Sunless?

  Do they have a sun?

  I thought it was called the Aurora.

  Curious, I pointed at the word 'Sunless'

  "Aurora?"

  I couldn't mention the word 'Sun', I shouldn't know what that is.

  Mother promptly confirmed my suspicions, "Correct, the aurora is simir to the one we used to call the sun: the missing sun."

  ...The sun is missing.

  A shocking fact rocked my mind.

  But.

  What the fuck is the aurora then if the sun is missing? This world had 2 suns then? One called the 'Sun' and another called the 'Aurora'?

  Did they have both? Until the sun went missing?

  Is that the general timeline?

  ...Is what I thought.

  Till she made me read the next line.

  "...The Dark World is all that remains."

  I twisted my head in further confusion; what?

  The Dark World?

  But the aurora is there, there should be a second source of light; how is the world dark? Or is that just a name, but it's merely called 'The Dark World' because one of the two light sources went missing?

  Bewildered, I continued reading.

  And the further I read, the further my shock grew;

  Till, by the end...

  Take me back.

  I want to go to Earth.

  I don't want to live here.

  This sentiment took hold of me. A sentiment I was confident I would want to uphold till the end, I had to leave this god-forsaken nd...

  ...Literally.

  Literally god-forsaken.

  The Gods, no, the Pilrs and Emissaries, have abandoned this nd.

  This world has lost all light.

  Lost the sun.

  A hopeless, dead world.

  Madness.

  I can almost understand the reason for the madness.

  But why?

  Why was this world abandoned?

  What happened?

  This isn't a cliche scenario where the 'Gods' have all run away or died due to some war; it's simply a case of abandonment.

  They are still there.

  Just not here.

  "Curious, no?" She lightly patted my head, easing my nerves.

  "We live in this bliss, yet we are the abandoned ones..."

  A hint of curiosity tainted her voice, "What would a world blessed by the Empyreans be like? A paradise?"

  "Or-"

  Then.

  She spoke.

  She stated.

  ...Huh?

  "As I was saying, it would be interesting to see, no?" Mother continued as I shook my head out of momentary confusion, I daydreamed for a moment there, oops.

  Still flustered, I brainlessly nodded along to her words.

  "Whoops, we got sidetracked, didn't we? Enough chitchat. Continue reading, sweetie."

  And read we did.

  After getting through almost 5% of the book, she pushed it shut for me with a couple of warm head pats coming through.

  ...I don't know how to process this information, being fairly honest...

  There wasn't much else in the other 5%, just an almost fairy-tale-esque depiction of the downfall of Frank's, the author, hometown; the progression from his city being destroyed to the ever-present, growing destruction of the sunless skies.

  From his escape to the north, past the borders of the world's rgest chain of mountains into a nd filled to the brim with people who had yet to give up;

  A nd shining with artificial light.

  The Land of Cinderbloom; territory developed to resist the encroachment of the sunless skies.

  That's as far as I got into the book; it's not much information but useful nonetheless.

  And, the part that has sparked my curiosity the most is;

  The Aurora, we have a Sun here, so why is the world depicted as lightless?

  I'm perplexed.

  I bit my lips.

  I need to know.

  The feeling that this point is crucial to my understanding of this pce lingered in my chest, prodding me to figure it out.

  I want to know629,322what this629,463pce is.

  "Alora? Sweetie?"

  A sharp, cold breath of fresh air sunk into my lungs as I awakened from my reverie; mother's face was terrifyingly yet comfortably close to mine.

  "Feeling better?" Holding a hand to my forehead, she nodded and leaned away, "You seem fine. If you feel sick, you should be telling me, right?"

  "...Right."

  -----

  Night.

  These days, I feel like I have a better grasp on the flow of time; I can track it surprisingly well compared to when I arrived here. This switch in my capabilities is also suspicious, but there's nothing I can do about it.

  Again, I was lying in bed.

  The worries of waking in the middle of the night thanks to hunger had long disappeared.

  Now, only the incessant pounding of my brain kept me awake.

  Like a hammer chiselling my cranium from the inside out, I felt my brain overheating and rattling me from the inside out; it's driving me crazy.

  The worst part?

  The thoughts that are doing this to me. It's one constant set of thoughts I've had since the beginning.

  Is she okay?

  Is she living well?

  Have they done anything to her?

  The inherent worry for my sister is what's keeping me awake.

  Scratching the frustration off my face, I kept my cool through the sharp, slicing pains running across the edges of my neck. Bits of scraped flesh and peeled skin dug beneath my nails, causing me discomfort.

  I should be scratching my face.

  But.

  Squelch-

  I'm scratching my neck.

  Using my sleeve to pce pressure on the bleed, I rolled over and entrenched myself into the pillow.

  Sleep it off.

  That's the best I could do.

  Forcing my eyes shut, I rexed my limbs and allowed the comforting bed to envelope me in the incoming waves of drowsiness;

  ...Or that's what I tried, at least.

  I can't feel tired.

  It didn't take long to realise the inherent issue with the pn; my thoughts are keeping me wide awake.

  Anyone could have figured that out long before attempting it, but I was desperate. I had to get some sleep and keep the thoughts at bay.

  Because I know, even if they've done something; even if I'm angry, full of rage, wanting to vent my frustrations at those hurting her-

  I can't do anything about it.

  Smack!

  A stinging, bright red palm mark stained my face. My hand wasn't unscathed either.

  That feels better.

  Resting on the pillow on the stinging side, I concentrated deeply on the pain, the lingering mark and the heat blistering my palm. All other thoughts stayed at bay for the brief moment—and the brief moment was enough time to y me to sleep.

  ...Asleep.

  Again, Alora struggled to put herself to sleep since the day she returned.

  Time passed.

  The darkness grew deeper whilst the faint rays of nightlight struggled to echo the room with hints of life. The night was steeping deep into the veins of the bedroom, clinging to each corner like voracious, ravenous hyenas.

  Eventually, the light faded.

  Only darkness remained.

  Ubiquitous darkness.

  Amid this darkness, as the dread of night borrowed into Alora's skin...

  "Hoo!"

  She awoke.

  The light in her pale eyes was nowhere to be found; instead, stealing its position was vivid, gut-wrenching:

  Horror.

  Her head twisted in discomfort whilst her eyes darted across the room with practised confusion; the room was silent...

  Yet.

  To her.

  She could hear.

  Truly, genuinely, hear.

  Alora's petite body quivered with unprecedented terror; it clung to her heart like boiling oil while her skin rose with goosebumps, and the hair-raising noises echoed succinctly and repetitively in her ears.

  But, inexplicably; almost randomly;

  It died.

  What she heard could no longer be heard.

  Almost as though the calm had never left, for it well and truly hadn't left.

  The room had been quiet all along.

  Yet it also hadn't been.