The Fall From Grace of the Dawn Dynasty

By Mohamed Kashwani

In place of the three kingdoms that now live in peace was once the Dawn Dynasty, an  empire that stretched across the lands for as far as the eyes could see. Many have heard this tale  yet they refuse to believe it. Some ask the question: how could an empire so majestic fall so  quickly? Others ask how people were so quick to forget it if it was so mighty and had such an  impact on the world. 

The Dawn Dynasty existed for a century and a half, was founded by a father, and ruled  by his children after him, until the last one left with it. If you ask the royals of the three  kingdoms if it was real they would never deny it, because the tree that bears the fruit of life that  unites them stands as proof of the empire. 

I am one of very few who have witnessed it, and of even fewer who remember it. It had been  many years that I thought its memory would die with me, but a certain visitor convinced me  otherwise. So, I finally decided to document the lives of the rulers of the Dawn Dynasty, such  that they may not be lost to time as the empire they ruled was.

Solârius the Stern 

Those who travel now to the outskirts of the Jovian kingdom would tell about a town  named Kuiper. This lowly town had passed the test of time, living to see kingdoms fall and rise.  

Long before the Jovian kingdom was the kingdom of Kyklos, and Kuiper was a part of  it. It was here that Solârius was born to unknown parents and was admitted into their orphanage.  He was raised by a caretaker named Nebula, who suckled him in infancy, and was as a mother to  him in childhood. 

She herself gave him the cognomen of Dawn, believing that his life would bring a new  beginning to the 3 kingdoms. He was named Solârius however by whoever brought him to the  orphanage when he was younger, named after Solâr, the capital of Kyklos. 

Even in his younger years he never complained about his poverty. He appreciated what  he had and gave gratitude when it was due. But all throughout one dream remained in the back  of his mind. His one sole desire to one day visit the city of Solâr. 

Solâr was not any city; it was the capital of Kyklos and the heart of the 3 kingdoms.  Solârius would ponder upon the anecdotes from its visitors, traders and merchants that would  entertain the kids of their travels. He always believed that visiting Solâr would make him finally  feel whole. 

In his early adulthood he began his venture, giving everything he had to a group of  merchants to take him with them to Solâr. It was there where is view of life shifted. He spent his  first few nights of the streets of Solâr, growing more astonished each day by how many people  were in the same predicament as himself. 

He spent two years in Solâr, working as a farmer, and eventually marrying a woman  named Halo. Solârius began contemplating of what he wanted of life, and of what life could  want of him. He believed that life in Solâr should have been more than it was, for he had a vision  of what it could be.  

He began his movement of reform, initially by helping the needy and donating to the  orphanage that raised him. He then began investing in local trades, raising his reputation in the  eyes of the people and increasing his wealth. He strengthened his relationship with nearby tribes  and villages, hailing himself as the ambassador of Kuiper and the face of the Dawn name. 

When he neared the age of fifty, the woman who raised him was on her deathbed. It is  known that he visited her and that they talked for hours, but no one has yet figured out what  they spoke of. What is known is that he left the tent with a stern look on his face, and that after  he left her tent that day the Dawn empire was quickly established with ease. 

Through the several passing months the tribes and villages paid their allegiance to him, in  support of the rebellion he will lead against the Kyklos kingdom. During that time, he had his   kids from Halo: Jupiter and Saturn who were in their teen years, and Venus and Mars who were  merely infants. 

Solârius led a revolution against his own kingdom under the flag of Dawn. The followers  he had amassed became an army ready for battle. His 3 generals were his most loyal friends and  advisors, general Zuzzve, general Guinevere, and his own son general Jupiter. Many had judged  him for putting his son on the frontlines of battle, but what everyone would later learn is to  never question Solârius when he had the stern look on his face. 

Solârius was leading the armies of Dawn to a new beginning. After a year of long travel,  rigorous wars, and rejected treaties, the war would finally end the day Dawn’s armies stormed the 

castle of Solâr, giving the king a choice to yield or to be killed. Solârius then renamed the Kyklos  Kingdom to the Dawn Dynasty, crowning himself the emperor.  

The first thing he did was claim a room as his own, where he ordered an opening in the  wall to be made. He attached a door to it, giving the appearance of a drawer. He brought forth  Jupiter to spectate as he opened the door, where a crown of gold and rubies spawned into  existence. He explained to him that this draawer was named the Orion Armature, and that it  would present each emperor with their crown when it was their time to rule. 

He then sent a messenger to collect his family from Kuiper. It was some days before they  arrived that he gave his condolences to Jupiter. He ordered that the city of Solâr be in mourning.  It only became apparent to the citizens who they were mourning when the messenger finally  arrived with the 3 kids of Dawn and Halo’s lifeless body.  

It was only a few weeks later that he began the war to take the kingdoms of Centauri and  Barnard, and in only a few short months the Dawn Dynasty took them over, stretching the  empire throughout the 3 knigdoms. 

He met with the leaders many times, seeking to find a peaceful resolution in uniting the  kingdoms under the name of Dawn, and in weeks a miraculous compromise was made: The  queen of Centauri would give him her kingdom if he would marry her. 

She was Proxima of the house of Centauri. She had desired the throne her entire life. Her  father was the king of Centauri, and had died with establishment of Dawn. Ever since she met  Solârius she no longer desired the throne; she only wanted a life with him. Solârius agreed to her  offer, as long as the throne remains in the name of Dawn. 

Neptune was born some years later the first child of both Dawn and Centauri; solidifying  their unity as an empire and warranting the second greatest celebration of Dawn’s history. After  his birth began the siege on the Barnard kingdom. The siege ended with the 300-day war lead by

general Guinevere. The Barnard kingdom was added to the empire, hailing the entire land the  Dawn Dynasty. 

Through the following years Proxima would have 3 more children: first Mercury, then  the twins Uranus and Terra. It was after birthing the twins that she grew weak and became  bedridden. She passed away some years later when the twins were still infants. 

Solârius was 75 when he finally planted the Grace. He gathered all his children in the  castle’s courtyard, where he brought an open pomegranate with a single seed within it. He had  prepared a patch of soil, where he laid the fruit. It was at that moment that they saw the stern  look on his face, more prominent than ever before. “My dear offspring, this is the seed that shall  grow to be our Grace. It is with great sadness that I inform you that over time, we will fall. But  with our falling the Grace shall rise, bigger and taller than any tree, sprouting the fruit of life, that  shall give its consumer eternal youth!” He spoke with such passion that his children had never  seen before. He then stared into the distance for a moment, before heading back to his room as  though nothing had happened. 

It was some years later that the servants began recounting the sound of a child’s crying  coming from where the seed was planted. Solârius ordered them to dig, revealing long roots that  went deep through the earth, but found no source of where the sounds came from. The sounds  got weaker over time as a stem began emerging from the soil. 

In his last years Jupiter took care of the matters of the kingdom, but Solârius remained  the emperor. Solârius’ mind appeared to be deteriorating. He would spew into fits of screaming,  heeding warnings to his children of what would come to them. Some began calling him the Mad  Emperor, a name they would regret giving after all his warning would come true. 

Then soon came the birth of Moon, the son of Terra. This was at a time when Solârius  had many fostered grandchildren from Jupiter and Saturn. Solârius held in his arms his first 

grandson by blood, shedding a tear of pride, not for the continuation of the Dawn bloodline, but  rather for the only grandson of his who would remain loyal to the empire.  

A few days after turning 100, Solârius felt the pangs of death and called for his sons and  daughters. He spoke a will to each, instructions rather than advice. He gave each an enclosed  note housing a verse of poetry, that they shall read it when they felt the time was right.  

He saw Jupiter last, handing him his paper, telling him that the instructions within are the  only chance of maintaining Dawn’s sanctity.  

He then called all of them back in his room, giving them one final piece of his will. “The  Tranquil’s body will be the key to unlock the sacred tree”. They could not understand what he  meant, and those words echoed through the borders of the dynasty for the rest of its life. He  then looked outside where the sun was rising, his empire stretching as far as he could see, and let  out his final breath.

Jupiter the Judicious 

Jupiter was the second in command of every ruler before him. He was also the longest  serving of the Dawn siblings, ruling the empire for thirty years, in which the citizens saw  prosperity. Many of Dawn’s citizens believed that the Dynasty would only stand strong as Jupiter  was standing. Mainly for his bravery and valor, but also because of his sense of judgment. 

He was born the first son of Solârius and Halo; the oldest of the Dawn siblings. His birth  ten years before Dawn came to be, during which Solârius still contemplated on his plan to take  over the Kyklos kingdom. 

Jupiter quickly surpassed most kids his age both physically and mentally. He helped his  father strategize and plan when he was as young as eight years of age. He even aided him and  was a key member in his main expedition against Kyklos, acting as one of only three generals.  

He was mainly known by allies and enemies alike for his abnormally big stature. In the  first expedition with his has he resembled the average man in height and capability. At the time  many could not believe that he was a child. Even then he was the strongest in battle, and he was  undefeated until the day he died. 

When news came of his mother’s death and he heard of what had transpired, he made a  vow that none other of his family would be harmed as long as he was alive. He could not bear the thought that she would still be living if he was there to aid her in her journey.  

Prior to her death she was making him a cape of fur to wear on his expeditions. She  never finished it as she was taken too soon, but he wore it as it was on every battle and  expedition for the rest of his life. 

He remained a general of Dawn and the second in command for his father. He grew so  much over the years that he was then twice the height of the average man and five times his 

weight. The battles gave him a sense of glory and purpose; he felt himself belonging within the  ranks. He fought many battles against the kingdoms then the empires. He built a reputation as  the unscathed giant, as he was never even scratched in the midst of battle.  

Jupiter would have moments of distraction where he would think about how great he  was as a soldier and as a leader. He would sometimes return from battles smiling joyously wherein Solârius would berate him. He would not berate happiness and joy, but rather what he  saw within his son from his expression, a growing sense of arrogance. Jupiter listened to his  father and began berating himself whenever he had such thoughts. 

In his forties he quit the army for some time. His sister Saturn had established an orphan  fostering program and had urged him to the same. He agreed when she told him that it was in  honor of their mother. Both of their programs continued until the year of their father’s death. 

He would foster a few kids into his at a time, raising them for six months to be noble,  valiant, and brave. When the six months would pass he would send them back to their  communities. All those who took part in his program were given the title Jovian. 

His program began with pure intent, only to foster the orphans. But eventually he began  to get competitive and sought to surpass Saturn in the orphans they would foster. The year of  their father’s death he had fostered over ninety orphans, but she had beat him by a large margin.  

Because of this, when she decided to adopt a kid to be her son, Jupiter adopted three  boys and a girl. They were Callisto, Ganemede, Io, and Europa, all given the title Jovian. They  were raised to be valiant and strong, and had a strong sense of leadership.  

He grew close to general Zuzzve in the many years that they shared the ranks. They  shared many battles together and Jupiter refferd to him as his uncle. He was significantly older  than Jupiter and died shortly after Dawn took over the Barnard kingdom. In his death he left  Jupiter a broadsword that read “The Protector”, which became his signature. 

Solârius left many instructions for his children. He left each of the a letter containg a  verse. He asked them all to open it when they felt the time was right, but asked Jupiter to open it  right after his death. Right after burying his father and before taking the mantle of emperor, he  opened the letter. 

“So let Dawn stand strong now and eternally, and thrive through roots that shape so  gracefully; Malicious, tranquil, judious, then sorrow with consent, noble, untethered, virulent,  then macule and content; Serve through the way they be then the empire will stand, people will  know the name all across the land” 

After reading it he ordered Mars to retrieve his crown as he was now emperor. He was  always completely loyal to his father and the empire. Some thoughts would enter his head that he  deserved the crown more than any of his siblings, but he would not tolerate those thoughts. 

After the incident with Terra the people wanted her off the throne. Jupiter was her  second in command and would speak to them to calm their worries. Deeply he wanted to take  the throne, but he feared that he may go against his father’s will. 

Some months later Terra herself asked him to take over. When he expressed his  concerns, she pointed a finger at the Orion Armature. He looked behind it and found his  personal crown. It was a tough and humble crown made of corroded tin. But as he flipped it  over, he found embedded an enormous yellow sapphire. In concern of appearing arrogant he  always wore it backwards, leaving the stone for the back of his head. 

He was seventy years old when his rule began. It was then that he announced his official  retirement from the armies. He did not feel too weak to fight, but he believed that his people  needed him more in the empire than fighting in the ranks. He did not fight again until the day  that he died, and his reputation remained as the unscathed giant.

The empires of Andromeda and Canis feared the Dawn Dynasty as long as he ruled. The  feared him more than they feared Solârius himself. For most of his rulership, they stopped all  their wars on Dawn, deciding that the time was not right to fight. 

Jupiter spent most of his personal free time solving the matters of the unheard and the  needy. He ensured that none in his empire would remain hurt or in pain. He ensured peace and  low crimes when he announced that he would deal with any cause of injustice himself. 

The thought occurred to him many times, and he had heard it from many of his people,  that he was the greatest emperor Dawn had ever seen. He dismissed any public mention of this,  but internally he would wonder if this was true. At the thought of its truth, we would be joyous  and lost in thought, but then he would remember his father’s sacrifices and the wisdom he ruled  

the empire with. He would remember how his father was always sure of his decisions, and how  he was not. He would then berate himself for entertaining such ideas of betrayal, and remind  himself of his loyalty to Solârius. 

In his nineties he began to grow much weaker. He persisted and continued to fight for  his people but would need long periods of rest. He finally became bedridden at ninety-eight years  old, and Neptune took over for that period of time.  

In his bedridden state he was visited by the emperors of Andromed and Canis. They  claimed concern for him and simply wanted to wish him well. He was lying on his bed, legs  stretched, and eyes closed. He had become too weak to speak. His fur cape, once a sign of war,  now sat atop him to keep him warm. His broadsword sat in the corner gathering dust. 

The emperors sat close to him and spoke in whispers so no one else may hear them.  They expressed joy to see him in such a weak state. They let him know that they planned an  attack of a thousand warriors the following day that will obliterate the defenses and leave Dawn  vulnerable, which they will use to take over. The then thanked him for his time and left.

He woke up the following day with unbewilder rage. He felt it surging through his blood,  giving him an unbound strength. His eyes red, his face angry, and his veins protruded  throughout his body. He would not allow the emperors to insult his honor in believing that he  would allow them to ransack his father’s empire. 

He wore his crown and his fur cape. He ripped his shirt and tied it around his waist. He  then grabbed his broadsword and quickly left the castle, mounting the first horse he found. He  rode it swiftly to the border, with people giving him glances and looks on the way.  

He reached the border in a few hours, a journey that would normally take three days. As  he crossed the border defenses, he asked them to back down and remain within Dawn. They  were confused at the order but followed it regardless. He then continued until he reached the  army of the empires.  

He stood there gloriously as they approached him. He thought about his life and every  moment that had led to this confrontation. He thought about the reason he got his name “The  Judicious”. His father had given him that name victory on Kyklos. He gave him the name  because even at that age, Jupiter understood that he needed to hold back when fighting to allow  his enemies a dignified death. Even when he fought the nobles and the warriors, he never  unleashed his full power and only gave as much as was needed.  

He sought to live up to that name in his rulership, which is why he retired from the army  and acted as a judge between the people. But now he understood was what mattered most was  his judgement on the battlefield and how much he should give. He felt a tightness in his chest, all  his limbs begging him to rest, yet his mind was set. For the cowardly people that sought to  ransack the empire his father had entrusted him with through ambush, he shall release his full  power and not hold back.

The army against him was not of mere men but of monsters. Men that were each  described as armies for various reasons. They were comprised of the horsemen, the soldiers and  the archers.  

The battle began swiftly as the horsemen charged at him. He stood firmly with his sword  held sideways. He stood so firm that the horses and the men atop them were sliced upon reach.  They quickly flooded the battlefield and surrounded him from every side. That was the one  battle that he showed no mercy. He would grab the horses with one hand then step on the  riders’ heads when they fell to the ground. He would then launch the living horses on the hordes  of people that were approaching him while he fought them off with his sword in the other hand. 

The archers were relentless, but not a single arrow hit him. He would hold up the horses  to block every single arrow coming his way before throwing it at the soldiers. When he  eventually ran out of horses, he began carrying soldiers to block the arrows instead. Eventually only the archers remained. He blocked some of the arrows with his sword while grabbing as  many as he could with his other hand as they came his way. He would then throw the arrows  back with the same might that they were shot.  

At the end he stood there alone in an ocean of bodies and blood. At those sights thoughts again arose of how great a soldier he is. He then felt a figure behind him and swiftly  turned ready to charge. He froze in place when he saw his father standing with him in the  battlefield.  

He stood there ashamed of what he had done, but Solârius gave him a reassuring smile. He then fell to his knees from sheer exhaustion, each breath he took heavier than the one  before. His crown fell to ground shattering into pieces. Solârius came closer and told him that he  could rest, then his figure disappeared. Jupiter then fell on his back and into eternal rest.

He was, to many, the greatest emperor Dawn had ever seen. He lived his whole life in  loyalty and in defense of the empire, and he died covered in the blood of its enemies. After he  was brought back and his body was washed, it was found that not a single scar or bruise, or even  a scratch, was on his body. This cemented his legacy as the unscathed giant, the protector of the  Dawn Dynasty. 

Saturn the Sorrowful 

Saturn was born the second child of Solârius and Halo and instantly grew attached to her  mother. She lived her life in aim of upholding her legacy within the people. Her rulership was  one of the shortest and saw the beginning of the downfall of the Dawn Dynasty. 

As a child she was very outspoken. She would berate her father when he would return  home after days or weeks of strategizing and rallying people up. She would claim that he was  unfair to her mother and that he should appreciate her more. This behavior quickly stopped  when her mother advised her to always respect her father and that he tried his best. Saturn never  spoke out against him after that, but a silent resentment of him grew within her. 

The event that shaped her life around sorrow occurred when she was seven years of age;  some weeks after Solârius left on his expedition. A small group of soldiers arrived to retrieve the  family from Kuiper and move them to Solâr. Around the same time, the Barnard kingdom  received news that the new king of Kyklos was having a caravan of weapons delivered to his  capital. In fear for his kingdom, he sent an army against the caravan. 

As the family approached Solâr they were suddenly ambushed by the army of Barnard.  Halo would not allow for her family to be harmed and quickly covered her face and grabbed a  sword to fight. Everything transpired swiftly. The soldiers of Dawn were killed, and Halo fell to  the ground in her last moments. 

Saturn rushed to her mother’s side, weeping. Halo held her face and advised her over her  siblings. When she saw Saturn in her weeping state, she asked her to be chaste and not present  herself in that way to the public eye. After that day she hid her weeping and would smile to the  world to hide her pain. 

In her teens she established projects to help the orphans of her community. She sought  to honor her mother and the legacy she left. She spent many of her days volunteering and  supporting the orphans, and set apart one day for baking goods, which she hailed “The Day of  Halo”.  

She hailed herself in good deeds, firmly believing herself to be the most righteous of the  house of Dawn. Eventually, Jupiter attempted to surpass her in good deeds. She always  respected him and claimed to look up to him, but she believed him to be simple minded, which  she used to her advantage. The good deeds were a game to him, and she treated them as such so  that he may continue unknowingly raising the mantle of their mother. 

When Solârius married Proxima her resentment of him grew to pure hatred. She could  not believe that her father would betray her mother in marrying another woman. She despised  Proxima and her children, avoiding them at every cost. She hailed the firm belief that the  children of Halo were the only true heirs of Dawn. 

The act she did with the purest intention was adopting her son Titan. This was after  many years of her orphan fostering project, in which she fostered around one hundred and fifty  orphans. She adopted her son in an effort to begin a new phase in her life, and to raise him with  the values she was raised with. 

She resented her father for many years, but when his death came close all she felt was  regret. She was ashamed of everything she thought of him, though she never displayed it  publicly. It was then that she requested one of the castle’s dungeons be granted to her for her  personal business, wherein she is not disturbed. She would close herself off in the dungeon and  weep over her life and the people she had lost. She would visit the dungeon at least once per  week. 

In the days of Mars’ rulership, she grew closer to him and concerned herself with the  affairs of the people. It was the servants that first suggested her inclusion since she was the only  one whom Mars respected enough to lower his voice in her presence. She sat on chair beside his  throne, ensuring that things will not get out of hand. 

She was the one who convinced him to marry Phobos Centauri after she rejected him,  stating that he deserved to marry whoever he willed as an emperor. She did not believe her own  notion but simply wanted to hurt her stepmother by having one of her relatives shackled by a  loveless marriage in front of her eyes. 

It was only a few weeks later when she realized the grievance of her action. The hat that  festered within her was not satisfied, but rather disillusioned with the truth. She believed that she  had made a mistake and decided that the best way to get her emotions in order was to spend  more time in the dungeons, weeping. 

She spent even more time in there after the death of Mars. She blamed herself for his  death because of the nature in which it occurred. Her weeping no longer sufficed to conceal her  emotions, and she began slapping and scratching herself. She feared that any visible marks would  raise concern in the empire, and she began wearing a robe that covered her body and her face.  

She continued in this way for many years, spending most of her days in the dungeons.  What stopped her was the one day about seventeen years into Jupiter’s rule, where she was 

found close to death. At that Jupiter ordered her to stop, stating that it was not what their  mother would have wanted. At mention of their mother, she obliged and vowed never to visit  the dungeon again. 

The dungeons of Dawn were very short, made of thick brick with a small opening in the  top on the right wall. The gate that opened them was of iron bars, built thicker in the era of  Mars. But there were few that strayed from this base which were the royal dungeons, of which  Saturn picked for herself. Rather than iron bars they were closed off with a single door. Upon  entrance they had three steps leading to the base ground. By the time Saturn made her vow, her  tears had accumulated so much that they reached and covered the second step. Those who walk  in would see a single step and a pool of water. After her vox she still kept the dungeon and  refused for it to be cleaned. 

She spent many years striving to cope. The first action she thought to do was to give  weekly speeches to the people as Terra had done before, but many problems arose with this.  After Terra’s incident the citizens feared any speeches done by the Dawns, so rarely did anyone  show up. She gave the speeches to cement her legacy as a member of the house of Dawn. But  the few that did show up were confused as to who was giving the speeches. Many had forgotten  or had never known her, and seeing a woman covered head to toe they feared that it was Terra,  so they swiftly left as well.  

She spent some time attempting to get closer to her siblings, but none were interested.  She tried everything she knew, but they all treated her as a person that they had once known. In  this time, she almost broke her vow, standing by the door of the dungeon in utmost rage and  despair, shaking angrily. She was desperate, and the fear of leaving no legacy of herself was eating  her alive. 

It was only a few days later that the day of Halo came around. She walked around the  parades and the markets, in awe of what she had accomplished. She held onto her legacy of the 

day of Halo. For the first time in decades, she forgot her sorrow and smiled, and of true joy. She  completely forgot about her sorrow, living in the moment of her joy. Unfortunately, her heart  had forgotten how to process such emotions and was overburdened, and she fell unconscious to  the ground. When she awoke the parades were over and her sorrow was back, but she felt a  calmness covering her as never before.  

She lived as a silent member of the family for years until it became her turn to rule.  When Jupiter was brought back from the battle she looked at him in dismay, yet she felt nothing.  No burden covered her, it was his time to go and such is what happened. It was then that she  opened her father’s letter to her. “The clothes that held judicious pride, with a side so beastly;  Torn, bloodied, compromised, now given as a fee”. So, she took his fur cape before he was  washed, and as it was, bloodied and stained, is how it was placed on the soil of the tree of life. 

She then checked behind the Orion Armature for her crown. She found a crown with  four curves, in each curve a blue sapphire. It had spikes in the end and was uncomfortable and  painful to wear. The material of the crown was penetrating her skin and playing with her  thoughts. 

She ruled for only three years but left an everlasting impact. She introduced the idea that  all Dawns were welcome to ask for anything they wanted, even those who worked against the  empire, most prominently the Jovians and the Cassinis. 

The Jovians were the first to come forth, asking for rulership of Dawn. She offered to  give them a plot of land to rule in the North-West, in Kuiper and its nearby villages. They  requested a plot of forty villages, to which she obliged. A short time later the Cassinis came  asking for the same, led by Titan. She was disappointed by her son, and advised him to quit, but  he was adamant. She contemplated for some days and decided that it was only fair, and so  obliged, all the same.

They were never satisfied in the years that she ruled. They kept asking for more land, and  when she refused, they would take it by force. Most of the armies of Dawn had to be situated  around the villages of Jovian and Cassini. This made the defenses against the empires much  weaker, yet they never attacked in fear of what could happen. 

It was in her last year of rule that Mercury was captured by the Andromed empire. He  was found exploring and was captured when he was identified. Neptune was her second in  command and kept her in the dark about this fact. When she found out she heavily berated him,  reminding him of her place in the house of Dawn and that she was his empress. At that she sent  Moon, son of Terra, to retrieve her brother. 

Moon returned in state of near death. He was stabbed in the eyes and was blinded  permanently. Many of his bones were broken and he could barely move. He was bleeding heavily  from the limbs and mouth. Saturn blamed herself for the state he was in and could no longer  control herself. She ran swiftly to her dungeon, ordering Neptune that she is not to be disturbed. 

As the door closed behind her, her eyes were flooding with tears. An endless stream ran  through her cheeks and down into the deep pool that had accumulated in the dungeon. She was  engulfed by her thoughts and mind that she could no longer think clearly. She spent three days  of nothing but tears.  

She finally stopped for a brief moment, her tears reaching her ankles, and stared into the  pool. As she stared, she saw the silhouette of her father. She found herself the little girl who hid  her pain in her father’s presence, but this time she acted on what she wanted to do all those years  ago. She jumped into her father’s arms, embracing him. She saw herself, for the first time, in true  content, as she drowned in her own tears. 

Her weeping remained echoing in the castle. Many came to check on her, asking for her,  but all they heard was her weeping. The sound remained constant in the walls of the castle, and 

many believed that she still lived as her body was swallowed by the pool. It was nearly two  months later that the door of the dungeon was opened, and a deafening silence covered the  castle, finally setting her free from her sorrow. 

Venus the Virulent 

Since she was born, many have called her the flower of Dawn. Venus was born some  years before Dawn came to be, and so her childhood was spent in Kuiper as the other children  of Halo. This upbringing taught her toughness and bearing, preparing her to lead the Dawn  Dynasty as the empress she always wanted to be. 

She was very young on the journey from Kuiper to Solâr. After the attack, Jupiter held  their mother in his arms while Saturn listened to her will and instructions. Venus could not  comprehend the situation and walked away. She sat in the shade of an olive tree to rest. She  raised her head and saw the leaves and branches of the tree, how they intertwined, and  something about it connected to her soul. 

It was some days later that she finally understood what had transpired: Her mother had  left her. She began resenting her mother that day and for many years to come. She blamed her  mother for leaving her and made a vow that day. She vowed to never mention her mother’s  name or anything about her as long as she lived.  

She was known across the lands for her unmatched beauty. When she finally came of age  royals from across the dynasty and the neighboring empires came to ask for her hand in  marriage. She refused all of them, for a man had already taken her heart. 

He was general Guinevere, one of the three generals of Dawn, and the leader of Dawn’s  defense against the empires. They had met many times in which they would exchange glances,  never saying a word, yet knowing that they had entered each other’s hearts.  

She had begged her father to let her marry him, but Solârius would say that the general  was too important to be let go. She begged him for years to come and refused every other  proposal that came her way. She refused so many men that rumors spread of her intention to die  a virgin. The proposals stopped coming her way shortly after that. 

Solârius finally agreed to let her marry general Guinevere after Dawn had secured the  Barnard Kingdom. He told her that the general would go on one final expedition before he  could retire. Venus was grateful to her father. She had reached her late thirties, and she only  wanted to be married to her love for the rest of her life. 

Unfortunately, her dream would not come to be. As the general was readying his armies,  the neighboring empires launched an ambush, in which general Guinevere was killed. Venus  wanted to stand near his grave in the funeral as people watched, but Solârius forbade her since  she never married him, and instructed her to stand with the common women of Dawn instead.  

Venus was prepared to make another vow that day against her father, but his unexpected  act changed her mind. He brought forth an olive and buried in the general’s grave, stating that it  will grow into a great olive tree when no memory remains of the general, so let the fact that no  olive tree stands there be a sign of hope that he is still remembered.  

Venus believed her father’s words completely and so sought to ensure that no olive tree  will ever grow there. She went in the dead of night and dug up his grave to remove the fruit.  From that day forth she made the men of Dawn cut down every olive tree and burn it, such that  the fruit would no longer be found in the empire. 

It was during those decades that she grew closer to Titan, son of Saturn. She had pushed  all her family away, but he always pushed to be closer to her. He had pushed away his mother  and preferred his aunt as a role model. He learned from her loyalty, resilience, and bravery. He  also learned to hold a grudge even on those who loved him.  

When he was to leave to establish the Cassini kingdom with his brothers and sisters, she  berated him and called him a traitor. It was then that he made a decision to resent her and vowed  that he would get his revenge one day 

She was called one day to witness the chopping of the last olive tree of the empire. She  stood aside and watched as they cut down the same tree that had once covered her with its  shade. She felt a sense of dread and despair in that moment, but nevertheless, she gave a speech  about why it had to be done. Following this event, the people of Dawn began viewing olives as  an omen of terrible fortune. 

She spent many of her following days in contemplation. She had spent many years  ensuring the extinction of olive trees in Dawn, and now that she succeeded, she felt without  purpose. It was then when she remembered her childhood dream to be an empress. She knew  that her father’s will had made her one of the last to rule, and she feared that she may pass  before ever touching the throne.  

Jupiter was the emperor at the time, and she brought forth her complaints to him. She  was in her early seventies, and she worried that she would watch as four of her siblings would  rule before her, she would never see the day where the crown is hers. She asked if he would let  her rule after Saturn, and before the sons of Proxima. But Jupiter refused to act against his  father’s wishes. At that she resented him and refused to attend his funeral some years later. 

She finally forgave her mother some years later when Proxima was on her deathbed.  Proxima referred to all those around her as her children and advised to never forget the sacrifices 

a mother makes for her children. Venus remembered the few years that she had had with her  mother and how much her mother had loved her and decided to forgive her.  

After Saturn’s passing and the people’s misinterpretation of her words, Venus would cry  tears of despair that the memory of her mother would die with her, for a vow she made so many  years before. When her emotions became too strong, she would bash her head against the wall  until she passed out. 

Nearly two decades later during the rule of Neptune she felt that her time was close.  Rumors had spread in the empire that every member of the house of Dawn was destined or  cursed to live to exactly one hundred years of age. Such was the case for all the members that  had died naturally. Many would have been happy to learn that they would live such a long life,  but it meant that Venus would never be the empress she longed to be.  

She held on as long as she could, but some months later, she saw the silhouette of her  father in her bedroom window. She then decided to take a risk and taste the fruit of life in its  unripe state. If she shall be punished, then such shall be the case, but she will not pass before she  rules the empire. 

Through the following years she began to grow much taller and thinner. By the day she  died she was twice the height of the common man. She no longer desired food, only consuming  water and liquids. Her limbs became rigid and her skin rough, and her hair was but a few strands  on her head. But throughout this she remained as strong as she ever was. 

Some blame the end of Uranus’ reign on Venus. She had made it clear, even to the  people of Dawn, how much she wanted to rule. After he signed the document to acknowledge  the three kingdoms as separate entities from the Dawn Dynasty, she told the people that the rein  was soon to begin, as she stormed the witch’s hut carrying Jupiter’s sword. Some believed her, 

but others did not, when she stated that he was dead when she found him lying on the floor  covered in blood and precisely cut-glass shards. 

“Such shards of glass, bloodied, cut so precisely; A body so limp, an untethered soul,  finally set free”, was what her note from her father read. At the sight of his body she understood  to carefully take the glass shards and place them on the soil of the tree. 

Venus was finally empress. She had waited so long that the people she now ruled did not  know her for her beauty and grace, but only for her resilience and virulence. Her only goal as the  new empress of Dawn was to bring the empire back to its former glory, by taking back the lands  that the three kingdoms had taken. 

She wasted no time. At one hundred and twenty-one years of age she was finally  empress, and she was ready to show this to the world. She rallied up the people of Dawn and  gave the longest speech of Dawn’s history, urging the people to support her cause. The people  were moved by her words and instantly readied to fight the kingdoms until their last breaths. 

She sent an expedition to each of the kingdoms to get back the lands that were taken.  She was deep in her values and self-worth as a daughter of Dawn that she insisted each  expedition be led by a member of the house. To her luck, only three members of the house had  remained after the long wait, as every other member was either dead, killed, or a traitor. 

The first expedition was led by Mercury. He stood correctly, but his mind was not right.  Venus had seen him some years before yearning and crying to escape the grasp of death and she  pitied him, handing him of the unripe fruit of life. He accepted her offer, and the punishment  drove him mad. He was sent against the Jovian kingdom. At the sight of their mighty army, he  cowered and fled from the battle. His army was killed, and Venus never saw him return. 

The second expedition was led by Moon, the son of Terra. He was old and fragile and  was blinded many years prior. He could barely walk and needed much support to lead the army. 

Venus had offered him the fruit of life the same time she offered Mercury, but he refused, stating  that he had vowed not to betray the trust of Solârius. He was sent to fight the kingdom of New  Centauri. A few weeks into the expedition, they were nearing the border and set their weapons  down to rest. It was then that they were ambushed, and many of their men were killed. Moon  returned defeated with those who remained. 

Then was Venus herself, who led an expedition against the Callisto kingdom. The fruit of  life was carrying a heavy load on her, as everyday it felt more difficult and painful to move. But  she continued through the pain and led the army. She knew of the Callistos that they were  craftsmen, but she was not ready for the attack they launched. Near their border they had placed  a moat of water which they swiftly boiled, creating a wall of steam, such that the Dawn army  could not see through. They then began launching projectiles of large metal balls through a  mechanism they called a canon. 

The men quickly began screaming and fleeing and she screamed at them to return and  fight. She stood there as everyone who had stayed by her side was killed by the projectiles. It was  then that the steam began to clear, and she got a glimpse of her nephew. She saw the feeble old  man sitting on his throne, and as she stared into his eyes, she saw no loyalty. He gave her a soft  smile as he pulled the lever by his side, launching a projectile at her. She refused to let this be the  way she dies, and through brute forced and sheer will, she pushed until the projectile was static.  She accepted that this expedition was over but would not allow the kingdoms to remain as  victorious over Dawn. 

Every year throughout her rule Venus led expeditions against the kingdoms, and every  year her armies would lose many fighters and return home defeated. For the seventeen years that  she ruled she never backed down, continuing to send her soldiers with firm belief that they  would win. 

In the seventeen years that she ruled, the armies of Dawn never won a single battle. In  her last year she sought to send an expedition as she had done the years before, but she came to  realize that no men remained to fight her battles, and that the borders of Dawn now only  encompassed women and children. 

She now felt without purpose and sought solace in her past. She believed that she had  failed as an empress and so decided to pursue the other dream she once had. She remembered  the general and the short time that they had together. In an effort to preserve those memories,  she called a truce with the Jovian kingdom so that she may visit her husband one last time. 

As she reached his grave she fell to her knees. She could barely remember him, but the  ground on his grave was still barren, proving to her that his memory was still alive. She poured  her heart out to him as she wept softly. She told him that she had failed and asked him to forgive  her. She told him that she had begun to forget him and requested that he show himself to her so  she could see his face again. 

It was then that a figure appeared before her. She raised her head to look at him but was  surprised when she saw her father’s face. It was then she let out a loud scream of frustration.  The scream was heard across the borders of what was once the Dawn Dynasty. It broke every  window in Dawn and the three kingdoms.  

The people gathered to find her on her husband’s grave, an olive tree. Her shriveled  body the trunk, her arms the branches, her fingers the twigs. Her face visible and ever screaming  in agony, with fruits in place of her eyes. There she stood, a despised tree on a forgotten grave. It  was only a few hours later that men of Jovian chopped her down and burned her, because olive  trees were a sign of terrible fortune.

Neptune the Noble 

Neptune the Noble is the most controversial of the Dawn siblings, as many viewed him  as enlightened, while many others viewed him as a traitor, including his younger self. He ruled  the dynasty for twenty-two years and was one of the most influential leaders that Dawn ever saw.  He was very active in leadership before becoming emperor, acting as a general then as a right  hand, and was very confident in his leadership. 

His was a very difficult birth. Proxima was in great pain and feared for life. Solârius, who  was certain that she would live a long life, still feared for her, and was caught in a moment of  uncertainty. He sat in the castle’s courtyard on a barren patch of land, the same patch of land  where he would plant the tree of life many years later. He then returned to tend to his wife and fed her of the pomegranate which he conserved.  

She swiftly healed and felt a calmness in her. When Neptune was born his skin had a  certain glow to it, it lasted only a few seconds that those who saw it questioned what they had  seen. He then began warming up, and both him and his mother were tended to by medics.  

His birth saw the greatest celebration that Dawn had ever seen. Many were celebrating  the life of Proxima and the birth of a new emperor, but the main reason to celebrate was that he  was the first son of both Dawn and Centauri, and so there was no room for doubt that the  houses had united. 

In his early years Neptune was curiously peculiar. He gained the ability to speak at barely  six months of age but never spoke coherently. He would be found wide-eyed in his sleep, and  upon communicating with him he would wail uncontrollably. As he got older the problem  persisted, and in his wails he would blurt out intangible phrases. 

At least once a year, he would scream that the empire would fall by his hands. He would  weep and swear, pleading with destiny while claiming that nothing could be changed. The matter 

was similar every time that he would wake in the morning with no memory of what had  transpired the night before. His mother began to grow concerned, but Solârious assured her that  he would get better when he is older.  

He had been really close to his mother in childhood, mainly due to her concern over him  because of his nightly fits. They would talk about life and their place in the world. She would tell  him what she believed it meant to be a Dawn, that all relatives of Dawn are of the same standing. 

It was on the day of the death of Solârious that his matter changed. He would sleep  calmly, and he began seeing tangible visions in his dreams, many of which he did not understand.  A repeated dream came to him in which he saw, on the ground, shoes filled with ash. He did not  understand what it meant, but something about it made him feel weary and uneasy.  

In the years that his siblings ruled, Neptune attempted to gain a ruling standing in the  empire. He asked to be the right hand but was rejected. He decided to join the army as a general  and was the second greatest general that Dawn had ever seen.  

The battles in the age of Mars were vicious, but he continued as much as he could. He  was finally forced to retire when he was returned to the empire bleeding to near death, and Mars  himself expressed worries and asked him to retire. 

Proxima began losing her royal standing in the age of Jupiter. Her marriage to Solârious,  which was once an account to celebration, had become the key factor to her marginalization.  The Centauris had been forgotten, and she was now just the wife of the late Solârious who was  younger than his oldest son.  

In searching for a purpose, he was reminded of the fostering projects that were  established by his siblings before him. He established a class, teaching sixteen kids over a few  years the values of Dawn. He gave each the title Proteuse, and stated that each was as much a  Dawn as the family, considering them as his children.

After they graduated, they all decided to return to their homes. They refused Neptune’s  request for them to stay, to which he assured them that they were welcome in the castle of Dawn  whenever they felt the need to return. At that Jupiter asked him to hold any more classes for  having too many Dawns would cause a rebellion. 

Neptune reminisced over the classes that he held and felt a need to hold more. He found  an opportunity when Uranus was rumored to be toying with the dark arts. To stop the rumors,  Neptune told the people that Uranus was spending his time in teaching the orphans. Neptune  then held a class of twenty-eight students, whom he told to claim that Uranus was teaching them. Some years later when the classes concluded, they were all given the title Epsilon, and considered  the children of Uranus, though they had never met him. 

After the death of Jupiter, he stood by the side of Saturn until his mother’s death.  Proxima had been in the shadows of Dawn for many years before her death that most of the  citizens did not know who she was. Neptune requested to hold a period of mourning for his  mother, but Saturn refused, claiming that the mother of Dawn had passed long ago. Neptune  then stepped down from her side, and held a period of mourning behind her back. 

After the incident with Moon, son of Terra, and Saturn locking herself in the dungeon,  Neptune called in all the adopted sons and daughters of Dawn and headed to the empires. He  reminded them of the humiliation they had suffered at the hands of Jupiter only a few years prior  and reminded them that his children were still alive and well, and so were the other children of  Dawn.  

The emperors showed a pretense of fear and quickly gave him back his brother to return  home. The truth was that they sensed the disloyalty of the grandchildren of Dawn. They decided  to leave Dawn as it is and stop all wars, believing that the empire will end itself by itself.

Upon arriving, he could still hear Saturn weeping in the dungeon, in which she had  instructed to not be interrupted. He had begun to grow concerned but did not know what to do.  Some nights later he saw his father in his dreams, who instructed him to look behind the Orion  Armature. When he awoke, he ran to his father’s room and checked. He found a crown of  bronze with rounded ends, below each end was a rhombus-shaped stone of lapis lazuli.  

Before wearing it he went and opened the door of Saturn’s dungeon. At that the weeping  mellowed, and a deafening sigh of relief was heard throughout the castle. When he looked inside, he saw no one, not even a body, but simple a deep pool of water. 

He then read his father’s letter. “So set what held malicious blood and hold the sorrowful  tears; Feed the soil that holds your life, quenched and not thirsty”. He read the lines over and  over but could not understand what his father meant. He decided to begin his rulership, and that  he would follow the instructions when he understood them.  

In the first year of his rule the Proteuses and the Epsilons began a rebellion in the name  of Proxima. They stated that the children of the other woman had been given their dues, in the  Jovians and the Cassinis, and they asked to be given a similar due. Neptune instantly honored  their request, for they had asked with the name of his mother and even gave them a generous  portion over what they had requested. 

They established the Proximite State in the south-east of Dawn. His generosity was the  catalyst for the greed of the children of Dawn. The Jovians, the Cassinis, then the Proximites  would ask for more land one after the other. When granted their request they would leave cold,  in firm belief that what they are getting from his generosity is what they rightfully deserved all  along. When refused they would instantly and non-hesitantly threaten war.  

He had found himself in a predicament which he did not know how to solve. One night  in his dreams he saw Jupiter as he was the day he died. He looked him the eyes and did not speak 

a word, then swiftly struck him across the face. He woke with a throbbing pain if the left side of  his face, and his left eye swollen shut. The left side of his face remained red for the rest of his  life. 

He called a meeting with all the children of Dawn. He reminded them of the sanctity of  Dawn, which they had betrayed with their greed. He told them that he had given in to their  requests for far too long, and that no more land will be given to any of them. He claimed that if  war is what they want then it is what they shall get, for the armies of Dawn stand strong and will  not back down. 

The Proximites returned to their state in peace, retracting their statements of war. They  were moved by his speech, and after all, he was the man that raised him. The Jovians and the  Cassinis on the other hand decided to follow through, each attacking Dawn from a different  direction, beginning the Dawn Civil War.  

Neptune was able to contain them within their borders, but it took all of Dawn’s force to  do so. He believed that he could contain them until they would mellow, then he would make an  attempt at peace. But everything changed the day of the Proximite massacre. It was the day that  Deimos Dawn, now Deimos Centauri, had returned to the Dawn dynasty. He claimed that the  Proximites were imposters who tainted the name of Centauri by using it to gain power.  

In a single night, every single Proteus and Epsilon was killed. Deimos took over as leader  of the state, reclaiming it as the kingdom of New Centauri. He requested from Neptune to  return Centauri to its former glory. He requested as much land as it had before, and complete  independence from the Dawn Dynasty, or to face yet another war.  

Neptune knew that the empire would fall with another war and so suggested a  compromise. He would give them a much smaller portion of land than they had requested but  would also grant them unofficial independence. He stated that Dawn would not interfere in the 

matters of New Centauri, but that it would still remain as a part of the empire. Deimos agreed  for the sake of avoiding war. 

It was around that time that he remembered his father’s letter. He saw that the tree of life  had shrunk substantially and had begun wilting. It produced wrinkled fruits of wretched smells.  He went to bed with great concern of its fate, wherein he saw the son of Terra in his dreams. He  was watering the tree using a bowl, and it was regaining its life.  

The next morning, he approached his nephew asking him to interpret the letter. Moon  was also confused initially, but after hearing about the dream he understood what had to be  done. He asked for the bloodied bowl that had been given to the soil after Mars’ death. When it  was retrieved the tree started falling apart, as though gasping for air. He asked for the bowl to  quickly be filled with Saturn’s tears and be fed to the soil.  

The tree regained its life, but it was apparent that it would keep asking for more.  Together they made an estimate of when it begins to die after being watered, and it was  determined that the tree of life must be watered once a week. Moon, son of Terra, was made the  gardener of Dawn, set to water the tree of life every Sunday, which was determined the day of  watering. 

Of all the dreams that Neptune had, one was most reoccurring and had stuck with him  all his life, yet he could not interpret it. In the dream he would be standing in an empty and quiet  room, wherein before would appear boots filled with ash. He could not understand how they  came to be, but something about them felt enticing, that he would stare at them until he wakes  up. Upon waking up he would feel an eery calmness covering him. 

The vision finally came true on the last day of his rule; the last day of him being one hundred years old. He sat alone in his room with belief that he would pass the threshold of life  by the end of the night. He stared out the window at the empire slowly as the sun was setting.

When night settled he turned his head to find his father facing him. His father gave him a  solemn smile as he touched his shoulder. Neptune only understood the vision as it was  happening, for before even himself his body began flaying away into ash and filling his shoes.

Mercury the Macule 

Mercury was the final official ruler of the Dawn Dynasty. By the time it became his turn  to rule the empire was in shambles, having lost most of its territories and its men. Even if he had  tried, there would not have been anything he could have done to bring Dawn back to its former  glory. 

He was born into the glory days of the Dawn Dynasty, the rulership of Solârius and the  rise of Dawn’s glory on the people’s tongues. From a very young age he was pampered by the  servants of the castle to the extent of his desires. His every want was within his arm’s reach. 

In that age he took what was given to him for granted, claiming that as the royal he deserved it all. He was in similar standings as the other Dawns, but the glory and riches had  consumed him, and he wanted nothing more than to be emperor.  

In the following years Solârius advised him many times to change his ways, to appreciate  what he had and to be humble. Mercury heard his father but never listened, claiming that an  emperor need not be humble for anyone. 

When Solârius died and his will was read, a cloud of realization came over Mercury, that  he would never see the day that he rules the empire. At that he began loudly complaining and  throwing a tantrum in the funeral. Jupiter would not allow this and swiftly grabbed him by the  shirt and threw in the dungeons. 

It was there where he came to the decision to flee. In his mind, nothing was left for him  in Dawn, and he had no reason to stay. He carefully began to plan, and the moment he was  released some days later he put his plan into action. 

He took a grand sum from the treasury to cover his costs as he joined a caravan to take  him to Kuiper. There, he finally began a journey of humility and purpose in wonder of what he 

wanted to be defined by. He realized that his seeking of leadership was engrained from what  some of his siblings desired but would never have brought him purpose. What he personally  sought in leadership was the fame and travels that came with it. 

He decided to achieve the fame and travels he sought through different means. He began  travelling the world and keeping a travel journal to document what he saw. His dream was to  someday be known for travelling the world, such that his journal will be found in the grand libraries of every empire and kingdom. 

He travelled across the Dawn Dynasty in two decades and spent two more in the  neighboring empires. He wore a hood and grew out his beard such that he may not be  recognized. He kept his mission a secret from everyone including his family. During this time, he  gathered his journal to more that five hundred pages.  

The main issue with what he sought was that Solârius had asserted many time that  Dawns do not share their stories. He claimed the stories of Dawn are for the house alone and  should not be discussed with outsiders. Mercury decided to go against his father’s words and the  compile the journals as he wanted. 

It was some months later that during a visit to the market he heard a man insulting and  cursing the Dawn Dynasty. At that his pride and identity fueled the wrath within him that lead  him to strike the man on the head, screaming at him on how he dared insult his family. He was  promptly arrested for this transgression. 

He was quickly identified as Mercury of Dawn and was moved across the empire until he  reached the dungeons of Andromeda’s castle. He was there for over year, barely alive and ever in  contemplation. He realized that if he dies in the dungeons, the only legacy he would be leaving  would be that of a coward. He did not believe that he was, but he did believe that that is how the  people would see it.

He was personally bailed out by Saturn some days later where she urged him to never  leave Dawn again. He had already made up his mind, that he would stay in Dawn for a few years  to build his reputation as a prince. He hid his journal in the castle and never told anyone about it,  keeping it to finish it in the future.  

Not much happened for the many years that he lived in the castle. The only thing worth  noting during those thirty or so years was an incident during Neptune’s reign. He approached  Mercury solemnly and warned him against the harms of drinking.  

Another thing is that he decided to read his father’s letter during that time. “So when you  hear across the lands such an unholy scream; Give her best, and lay at rest, the head of the olive tree”. He did not understand what was required of him, but something about the words gave  him a sense of calm over his situation. 

When he turned one hundred, he felt the pangs of death approaching. He begged and  bargained with himself, fighting for life as death approached. He remembered how his sister was  the only one to surpass that age and asked her for her secret. He begged and cried when she  refused and continued this for some days. She finally pitied him when she saw him weeping over  his journal, sogging the pages as he cried about what he would be remembered for. 

She gave him of the unripe fruit of life, which messed with his mind and made it  cluttered. He could never think clearly but that his mind would move across thoughts and  memories and never stop.  

He thought that he may go mad if he did not find a solution, and the solution he found  was in wine. In his drunken state the clutter would move, and he would feel at peace. He began  with a glass, but he quickly drank increasingly, that he began drinking a few bottles a day. 

Some years later in the reign of Venus, he was sent on an expedition against the Jovian  kingdom. He begged her to stay in the castle, but she insisted that only the children of Dawn  would lead its armies. 

When his sight set on the Jovian armies he instantly fled, but his state of mind made him  flee to the Jovian kingdom rather than back to Dawn. He was instantly recognized and put into  their dungeons. They requested that Venus come personally bail him out, but she refused due to  her feelings of betrayal. For that he was stuck in the dungeons for the remainder of her reign. 

He asked many times that they bring him wine, but they refused every time. He was  stuck in a dungeon with nothing but his cluttered mind. To pass the time and to save himself  from going mad he taught himself to meditate. He would sit quietly and force himself into a state  of deep contemplation. He practiced this frequently, and through the years he was in there he  became. A master over his own mind. 

He was finally released out of principle after his sister’s death. He thought it only  appropriate to visit before heading back to Dawn. When he reached her, he found that nothing  had remained of her but her head. They had burned her body to avoid an omen, but her head  had stayed intact and refused to burn. 

He swiftly but solemnly took her head from the people. He Held her face, scarred and  ever screaming, in his hands. He finally understood her pain and the grand sacrifice that came  with consuming the unripe fruit. He kissed her forehead out of respect for his older sister and finally understood the verse that his father had left for him. He placed her carefully on the soil of  the tree of life. As he mourned her on the castle grounds a realization came upon him that he  must now be the rightful heir of Dawn.  

He rushed to his father’s room and looked behind the Orion Armature, where he found  his personal crown. It had a simplistic design, with nothing but a ring going around it. It was very 

thin and appeared to be made from lead, with no stones attached anywhere. Mercury was not  upset with the minimalistic design; he rather thought that it represented his life and adventures  appropriately. 

At that point he though a lot about his life and his accomplishments. If he dies, none will know about his journal. He highly desired to show it to the world but ultimately decided that  none shall read it until it was complete.  

He did not focus much on his duties as emperor. Partly due to the fact he never expected  to live long enough to rule the empire. But it was also due to the fact that Dawn had lost most of  its land and citizens in the reigns of the previous emperors. Dawn now had as much land as the  each of the other kingdoms, but it lacked highly in power and defenses. But the main reason he  neglected his duties was that he still wanted the legacy he leaves to be through the journal that he  spent much of his life writing. 

He decided to continue his journal through documenting the three new kingdoms. He  asked of the kings that he be given permission to roam their lands freely and anonymously for a  few years. Given the battles they endured from the empress before him and the fact that she had  lost them all, they knew that Dawn was not nearly as powerful as it once was and granted his  request. 

He spent the following few years across the kingdoms, in which the kingdoms spent  taking over what remained of the empire. The kingdoms planned together on what to do. They  set borders between each other that stretched close to the castle of Dawn. Then each kingdom  urged that all citizens of Dawn within its borders may stand and fight the occupation or come  forth to bet legitimate citizens of the kingdom.

Dawn had lost all its men in the battles of Venus and was left with only women and  children roaming its streets. At the ultimatum of the kingdoms most decided to join them as  citizens, and those who refused were killed.  

Mercury finally returned some years later, proudly carrying his journal of over eight  hundred pages. He curious as to why the journey towards Dawn was taking much longer than  before. When he finally reached the castle, he was astounded to find that the borders of Dawn  barely stretched over the castle grounds. When he entered the castle, he found it empty and  looted. The fact was that when the servants of the castle heard of what was transpiring, they  quickly gathered what they could carry and left to be citizens of the kingdoms. No one had  remained in the castle except for Moon son of Terra. 

The kings agreed to meet him one final time outside the castle. They explained that  Dawn is now as is apparent, and he is free to do as he wills within the confine of its borders.  They informed him that this would the last time they meet, and that if he leaves the borders or  calls for them, they will take action as they see fit. They advised to stay in the castle until time  takes him. 

He walked into the castle and into his room. A cloud of realization came over him that  he will not be remembered for his journal because he could not tell the outside world abut it.  Even if he wanted to share it with his own citizens he could not because none of them remained.  The fact happened to be that the only person he could his journal with, the one only remaining  to share his name and his blood, happened to be blind. 

He sat in his room with no desire to do anything. The clutter in his mind felt more a  curse than a blessing since it distracted him from his reality. The only hope he had for the future  was that when he dies, the kings would come to bury his body and find his journal to share it  with the world. He carried that hope for the rest of his life, taking the journal everywhere he  would go in the castle. He believed that his death was nearing, and he could not wait for it. 

Everything changed for him one night when he awoke at midnight to see his father’s  figure sitting on chair in his room and reading the journal. His father sat there in disappointment  and reminded his firmly that Dawns do not tell their stories. Mercury ignored that comment and  asked him what he thought of the journal. Solârius replied by saying that there was nothing to  read.  

Mercury approached him and angrily took the journal back to find that Solârius meant  his comment literally. As he flipped through the pages, he saw them empty of ink and text. He  kept flipping through the pages as sobbed for losing his life’s work. Solârius told him not to  weep for empty words that were never meant to be read. As Mercury got up to attack him his  figure disappeared.  

Mercury was not satisfied with the interaction. He decided that he will do to his father  what was done to him and destroy his life’s work. He decided to kill the tree of life. It was a  stormy night, the rain and thunder shouting in dismay to what could transpire. He approached  her with an axe, ready to strike her as many times as was needed. It was then that a strong wind  blew past, pushing one of the branches to strike on the head. 

He fell to the ground and suddenly felt an odd thickness to the rain. He touched his head  and felt no crown atop it. The crown’s material revealed itself to be quicksilver rather than lead,  covering his face and limbs, inserting itself into his skin. 

He screamed in pain as he began losing his senses. At that he realized that he only had  hours to live. He went into his room and meditated to silence the pain in his body. He focused  more than he ever did before and reminisced over his life as a member of Dawn. As he moved  through the memories he remembered the day of his father’s death and the verse he had recited  to them. He had a moment of epiphany as he finally gained a different understanding of what his  father had meant.

He quickly grabbed his journal with every bit of power he still had. He opened it to a  page and wrote a line as his soul was leaving his body. He finally fell back, and the pen fell out of  his hands. With the long life he lived this was the only legacy he was leaving behind. His journal  of a thousand pasat there containing a few words that held so much meaning. For the rest of  time, he will be remembered for writing the line: “She was his eyes; he was her body”

Uranus the Untethered 

Not a single war was fought during the reign of Uranus. Some considered him a peaceful  emperor, while others considered him a traitor. Uranus was born laughing joyously onto the  world. His mother understood this as a sign that he would live to be a happy child, and later a  happy man. What proved to be the fact was that he would live life in an odd manner, contrary to  most people.  

In childhood his odd behavior was shown through his daily deeds. Regarding his food  for example, he would eat hard foods as an infant, and as his teeth grew in, he would eat softer  foods, such that he continued the rest of his life eating nothing but soup. Another matter was in  his sleep, as he would sleep his days and wake his nights.  

Of the most curious matters was his language. Until the age of six, he did not speak a  word. Proxima was worried that he might be mute, and so she brought forth a cleric to pray for  her son’s tongue. Uranus finally spoke some weeks later in a foreign language. Solârius  recognized that he spoke in Greek. He could understand their Latin tongue, but he could not  speak it. He eventually learned to speak it, but he had an accent such that all could tell it was not  his mother tongue. 

As he was a twin, many expected him so spend much of his time with his sister. But  because of his sleep he never found the time to do so, as she slept when he awoke. He spent a  great portion of his time walking around the dark forest. It was secluded because the people  feared what the forest may harbor. He would walk for hours; in awe of the creatures and life he  encountered.  

One night when he was sixteen, he walked very deep into the forest and was lost. He  could not find his way back, and so he kept walking deeper into the forest. As the sun rose, he  finally saw a hut in the distance with smoke coming out of it. He knocked on the door, which 

swiftly opened by itself. He walked in found a much bigger house on the inside. He was  exhausted from walking and slept on the floor. 

He awoke to see a woman standing in front of him who asked him what he sought. She  was confused to find out that he did not know who she was. Her reason for confusion was that  people do not usually tread that part of the dark forest unless they specifically sought to meet  her. She introduced herself as Chicxulub, the witch of Solâr. She was a woman who looked fat  and frail at the same time. Her hair was gray and looked like it was falling apart on her scalp. She  had dark green eyes. She wore a nightgown and held a ladle in her hand.  

There were many rumors of her existence, but none of the castle dared looking for her.  Black magic was punishable by death, and she had mastered it. Any of the other Dawn siblings  would have reported her location and sent an expedition to take her life. But Uranus decided to  sit with her and have a civil conversation. 

He asked why she called herself the witch of Solâr and not Dawn. She explained to him  that she resented the Dawn Dynasty and that it had no right to exist. She argued that the past  three kingdoms lived in peace, and Dawn had no right to take them over. He listened closely to  her words and did not interrupt. He felt that even though her words were treacherous, a part of  him felt that she was right. 

He took her as a friend in his tough times and would visit her once a week. They would  share conversations. She would curse the Dawn empire, and he would sit there and listen.  Sometimes he would agree, other times he would not, but he would listen, nonetheless.  

It was some years later that Solârius sat him down and confessed that he knew what  Uranus was doing and forbade him from ever seeing her. He listened to his father but resented  him for it. For as long as his father was alive, he did not visit the witch again. When his father  died and he received the letter of instructions he kept it and vowed to never open it. 

It was a few weeks later that he visited her again. He was convinced by her arguments  and asked her to mentor him in the arts of black magic. He would visit her for weeks at a time,  learning charms and curses that he never intended to use, but though best to know.  

There was a gap of some years where he did not visit her. It was during the rule of  Jupiter, where she confessed to him that the reason all the members of Dawn had died at one  hundred years of age was because of a curse she had placed on the house. He had begun losing  all the loyalty he ever had for the Dawn Dynasty, but when she mentioned that he felt his blood  fighting against his veins as he heard a ringing sound. He swiftly left with his hands on his head.  He had trusted her and believed that the Dawn Dynasty was treacherous but in learning that she  had also betrayed him he felt himself at a crossroads in not knowing who to trust.  

With no one left to turn to he turned to his origin and visited his twin in her room. She  would have a few moments of lucidity, but otherwise her mind was gone. As he shared his pain,  she turned her head and looked him in the eyes. She had their mother’s eyes, which would look  into the person’s soul and find its pain to pull it out. He could not tell if she understood him, but  that look made him understand what he had to do, and he thanked her for her time.  

Soon after that he began visiting the witch again. He could not stand to face her and  made his visits much shorter. He would borrow many of her books and take them to the castle  with him to learn the arts. Some believe that he began slowly poisoning her at that time as she  died a few years later. As she was over five hundred years of age, her sudden death made no  sense to most.  

Uranus took over her place as the warlock of Dawn while concealing his identity, which  he was able to do swiftly until Neptune’s death. It was then his obligation to rule, which he  planned to refuse. In his sleep that day he saw Jupiter, who held by the neck and told him that he  had passed the threshold of treachery, and he would not allow him to break his father’s will. He  woke up to see himself on the edge of a cliff. 

When Neptune died all that was left of him was his shoes now filled with ash. Uranus never opened his father’s letter to know what to do with them. He assumed that his father would  want him to feed the ashes to soil of the tree of life, so in retaliation he spread the ashes of one  shoe on the soil and kept the other on a shelf in his room.  

He reluctantly agreed to be the emperor of the empire he now resented. He ruled the  empire with his hands in his pockets. He believed that to do the people right he must return the  three kingdoms to their former glory. The territories kept expanding their lands and he allowed  them. When the people asked him to act, he would sign treaties. He would tell the people that he  seeks to avoid unnecessary violence as much as he could. 

Near the end of his reign, the territories had amassed such land that Dawn was  surrounded from every side. At this the kings came to him with a proposition: A treaty to keep  the peace if Dawn would acknowledge the three territories as valid and independent kingdoms.  He wanted to sign it instantly but knew what his siblings would do if he did. He was given two  weeks to think about their proposition and give them a response, in which he began to plan his  death. 

He visited his twin the day before her death. As he looked at her face, he knew that they  were destined to die on the same day. He quickly took her with him to the hut where he searched  through the books for any charm that could cheat death. He skimmed through many books and  scrolls, but then he heard her call his name. She smiled as he looked at her, as he stared into her  eyes, he realized that it was too late for her. As her soul left her body her finger pointed a single  finger. 

He saw in the place she pointed a scroll showing a ritual of how to separate the spirit and  soul from the body, leaving the person in a constant space between life and death. What the  scroll did not mention was that the untethered state it would leave the person in would cause  them to slowly forget everything they had ever known.

A part of the ritual involved precisely cut glass, which he was to place all over his body  and allow himself to bleed. He passed out from the pain and awoke to see his lifeless body in  front of him. He realized it was success and began the next steps of his plan. 

He buried Terra deep within the forest such that none would find her. He believed that  his siblings would search for her body and spent the rest of his time warding off anyone who  dared enter the forbidden forest. He quickly met with the kings and signed the treaty. He then  hid out in the Jovian kingdom, in his father’s hometown, until Venus became the official  empress. He did this to avoid her wrath and what she might do to him. He then went back to the  hut to take back his place as the warlock of Dawn.  

It was then that he came across his father’s letter and decided to read it. “The noble man  reduced to ash, a desolate decree; so give the soil but half the ash, then spread so evenly”.  

He then lowered the letter with a soft smile and saw his father standing in front of him.  He asked if his father was proud or disappointed, but his father replied saying that he did  everything the way it was supposed to be done. At that his father disappeared, and Uranus let  out a loud and joyous laugh. 

In the following years Uranus began to forget himself, his family, and the Dawn Dynasty.  I heard many rumors on his current fate and decided to visit the forbidden forest myself to  check the information that I received. 

When I saw him, I asked who he was, he knew himself as The Untethered and by no  other name. He knew not his origin nor his life, all he knew was that the body of a woman he  once knew was buried in the forest, and that none were allowed in for the off chance that they  want to dig her out.

This file gives 7 out of the 10 chapters of “The Fall From Grace of the Dawn Dynasty”

^{The Fall from Grace of the Dawn Dynasty}