A/N: For this part, I decided to try a new writing style, what do you guys think? If you all like it, I'll continue writing this way for the other chapters. Enjoy!

Memories. Shards of glass that carried flashes of images. Everything was jumbled and hazy. No sense could be made of them at all. They tumbled through the void as fast as lightning.

A woman kissed a man. Next, she was sobbing and running, fleeing while carrying a bundle of blankets in her arms. A muscular man flexed his fingers, energy flared between them. The man kneeled on one knee, proposing to someone. A girl, dead in the arms of her lover. A beautiful boy with eyes that looked like a cluster of stars. A blind man with a scarred face. A world, turning to stone. Darkness slowly grew while the Light diminished.

A voice whispered, "You are now the Light in the Dark, so what will you do, the new Morning Star?"

A young woman woke up with a start before groggily rubbing her eyes and groaning. Exhaustion laced through every cell in her body as she languidly got up. Her short, black hair was a mess of tangles that blocked her eyes — the color of rich cocoa beans. From the moment she could remember, she had been having nightmares like these visiting her again and again when she was in the land of Nidra. They restlessly attacked her and she could still see them flash by when she closed her eyes during waking hours. A sharp knock on her door interrupted her thoughts.

She sighed and got out of her mattress and slid her feet across the cold stone floor. When she opened the door, she saw a girl with long hair that had the hue of raven feathers, tied into a high ponytail, and big brown cinnamon-colored eyes that resembled a deer's. Both of them were around the same age.

"Poppy." The newly awoken girl stated in acknowledgment. Poppy flashed a smile in return.

"Good, you are up. Come with me, we have something to show you." She grabbed the other girl's arm and dragged her through the forgotten hall connecting to her door, ignoring her protests about how she would get cranky when the sun would rise again. As they passed leisurely through the corridors, the young woman looked through the windows adorning the wall, taking in the life that bustled outside. Human beings hustled past each other, each to get the latest sales the vendors advertised. Heaps of spices were piled on bronze bowls and their scent wafted into the air, infusing in it. From here, she could inhale the raw smell of cardamon. The sky was speckled with stars and the moon looked especially bright, the tufts of clouds fluffier than usual. Tonight was special, there was magic in the air, seeping into her and flowing through her veins.

Finally, they reached their destination, a petite mahogany lattice. The gateway to a secret place only she and a few others knew. Poppy pushed open the door and both girls were shrouded in the dark. Then the room was illuminated, blinding them both.

The young woman blinked to uncloud her vision and saw two people, one a boy and the other a girl, standing in front of her.

"Surprise!" They spoke in unison, holding out a tiny honeycake that rested on their palms. "Happy birthday!" The girl beamed, the corners of her eyes crinkled and her lips curved upwards.

"It's my birthday today? I could've sworn it was a month later"

"Seriously?" The boy laughed. He had unruly dark hair his outfit imitated that of a bee, yellow and black threads inter-lacing. His eyes were shaped like that of a cow and he had a wide mouth.

"Well technically, it starts in an hour but we wanted to be ready." Answered the other girl. Her locks were sleek and shiny, cascading down her back, eyes a beautiful brilliant blue that contrasted her hazel skin. As the more fashionable one, she wore her clothes slightly more fashionable than the others, customizing them so that her own name, 'Arielle', was emblazoned on them.

They all gestured the birthday girl towards a sheet laid on the ground and settled in their respective places, spots they always sat in since they discovered this hidden room. The birthday girl gazed at her surroundings. It wasn't much. An old abandoned nursery but all the furniture had vanished, only leaving a faint imprint in the dust. Dust moats were illuminated by the moonlight coming from a singular, but large, window. The floor was polished marble — hints of black etched on white and in the corner was the blanket they had snuck in. They had discovered this room while hiding from the head of the orphanage. An orphanage she had lived in all her life and hated with all her soul. Out of the four, she had been the first to be imprisoned here. They had come in alphabetical order: Her, Arielle, Burton — the boy, and finally Poppy. All of them had formed a kind of family, they protected and loved one another as no one else did.

"Tell us a story." The boy insisted.

"Burton!" Arielle reprimanded. "It's her birthday!"

"It's alright. Which one?" She answered, nibbling the cake.

"How about you choose?" Poppy suggested, eyes glittering. The girl laughed — it sounded like a wind chime tinkling as the wind blew on its ornaments.

"Alright, come closer."

"Humph." Responded Arielle, but she leaned in. Everyone listened when the young woman told stories. They told of faraway places, of gods and royalty and curses and miracles. She had quite a way with words, stringing them together like beads on a necklace.

"Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there was a-" She was cut off by the three kids groaning in distaste. This line had been burned into their minds, hot knives scratching into wood, from being friends with her.

"Not again," Burton grumbled. "Can you do something new, something we haven't heard of?" The other two nodded their heads solemnly in agreement.

"You guys have no taste. Cinderella was an icon." She muttered but finished her treat and let the remnants of honey dissolve into nothing but a sweet aftertaste in her mouth before starting again.

"They say there is a land far, far away in the sky." Poppy, Arielle, and Burton settled down drowsily, awaiting to enter a new land spun by her words. "Its name is Amaravati, the kingdom in the clouds. Before, it was a land of pure stone. Nothing but solid rock everywhere you gaze upon. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Then, out of that nothingness, Light was born. It illuminated Amaravati and washed it in a new glow and life grew. It became the most enchanting city with rolling waters and magical skies that domed it. That light was Indra, king of the heavens, and he filled the world with shine and splendor. But when there is light, there must also be dark, and it seeped through the crevices of the universe and graced itself upon the world. For centuries they both lived in harmony, balancing the world as it must to exist. Amaravati went through its golden era for centuries. It was guarded by a majestic elephant and a magnificent seven-headed horse. The noble steed Uchchaihshravas, the color of freshly fallen snow dusting the earth and clothing it with a winter coat, protects the land when the sun is riding across the sky. The mystical elephant, Airavata, whose hide is the same shade as the clouds it weaves to embrace the world with soft condensed air, protects Amaravati from dusk till dawn. They are the vehicles of the god Indra. Everything was peaceful and the world was in order. But darkness favored chaos. It started to get greedy and extinguish the light that shone brightly on Earth. Indra was forced into exile and darkness reigned, taking out the glow that breathed this world to life. Now Amaravati is stone once again until light comes back to unfreeze the world and harmonize it again." The young woman finished her tale to find her three companions sleeping peacefully, cuddled against each other to keep the warmth from escaping into the night.

She smiled softly and slowly tread towards the window, admiring the kingdom that stretched out underneath her, slowly all the light winking out and fading into black. The horizon twinkled with small explosions of galaxies and planets littered here and there. The story she had just told was something she had always known, placed in her mind from the beginning, and did not drift away in the breeze of forgetfulness. She glanced at the pocket watch slung around her left wrist, slightly above a bracelet gently circled around her hand — a memento supposedly from her late mother, the only possession that belonged to her, something she had had since her first breath was released into the world. It was jagged and shone golden and glowed silver and had chains of bright white looped here and there.

She held her arm to the window and saw the hands of it slowly turning, moving into place along the black number. She would officially turn sixteen in 3...2...1... She closed her eyes and breathed in the air, letting it fill her lungs with stars as if she could inhale the cosmos itself.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw an elephant floating adjacent to her through the window. 

A/N: So a new OC! What do you guys think of her? Name reveal will be soon! And again, please tell me what you think of the new writing style. 

P.S.: Every song or picture above is the vibe I'm trying to go for in each chapter.