Astoria De Vil nicked a few croixes from an old man's pocket before turning in the other direction. He's old, it doesn't matter if he's going to die soon, she tried to justify her actions. The Slums were broken with thievery and Astoria was a part of it, she was only seven years of age. Mother was expecting her to come back soon, she couldn't be late.

Astoria found her path home, seeing a haze of smoke trail out of their chimney. She went inside, seeing the hole in their ceiling. "Thank the heavens that it's not the rainy season," Mother, Nadine De Vil, chuckled, shaking her head. "We need to find money for the repair."

"I nicked a few croixes." Astoria handed over the money. "It's not much, but it'll get us some hearty soup, won't it?" Mother looked slightly disappointed, but didn't fuss. Their kitchen seemed to slowly rotting with hinges barely keeping a hold of the cabinet doors. In the room next to the kitchen was the living room where a fire was burning.

"What's for dinner?"

Mother brought over the pot of cold lime soup. "My father's famous lime soup."

"Why didn't we warm it up?" Astoria asked, looking at the murky contents with disdain. "We have the fireplace running in the other room." Mother handed her a metal spoon, pouring the soup into the two bowls.

"My father always said it tastes better cold, you get more of the lime taste," her mother said simply. Astoria sighed, drinking up the soup slowly, it tasted like...lime. The lime taste was really strong, making her face pucker. "You look like a silly goose, honey."

"Very funny," she grumbled. "Mother, who is my father?"

Mother dropped her spoon in her lime soup, making it splatter everywhere. She scrambled to grab a rag, cleaning the soup-splattered soup. "Why do you ask?" When Astoria shrugged, Mother sighed. "It's not of your concern."

"But why isn't he here?" The words spill out of Astoria's mouth curiously. "Who is he?"

Mother looked annoyed now. "A very horrible man."

"But—"

"Shut up, Astoria." Mother was now angry, simmering with rage. "You don't know what I had to do for you, you can't be ungrateful. You didn't even get enough croixes for today or tomorrow, you can't decide who's and what's good for you."

Mother's anger stunned Astoria, reminding her to never bring up her father. "Sorry, Mother."

They ate dinner in silence until Mother, out of focus, went up to her bedroom for the rest of the evening. Astoria was tired but instead went to the roof of their house. Through the backyard and up the rickety ladder, she was surrounded by the stars.

Astoria laid on her back, sighing. It was a long, tiring day that she just wanted to end. The stars above her twinkled, keeping her distracted. I wonder if I can just disappear along with them once the sun rises, she pondered.

Suddenly, she heard screams coming from downstairs. Mother's screams. Astoria scrambled from her spot, quickly climbing down the ladder before rushing back into the house. "Mother—" She gasped when she saw blood on the floor.

No, she thought. It can't be.

She realized the front door was open from the other side of the house and a man stood there briefly. It was too dark to see his face, Astoria squinted. "Who a-are you? Get out!" she yelled, terrified. The man quickly ran off as Astoria was left afraid.

She walked further into the darkened house, her lips quivering. "Mama?" she asked, almost scared. Foolishness, I'm not scared of the dark, her mind retorted. There was a low groan and Astoria felt something wet below her feet.

Blood.

She bent down, seeing her mother's sunken face. There was a large stab wound on her chest, blood gushing out. Her skin was pale and her eyes had no shine of life, Astoria realized she was looking at her mother's dying body. "Mama," she whispered, grappling for her hand. "Stay with me, stay with me!"

Mother's eyes flitted to the hole in their house's roof as she tried to form words. "Stars...stars..."

"Yes, M-Mother, stars..." Astoria sobbed, trembling.

Nadine De Vil was no more.

Astoria woke up with a startle, gasping. Stars, stars...She grabbed her hair before realizing the braid was no longer there, Celeste had cut her hair. Stupid, stupid Celeste Laurier, Astoria shook her head repeatedly.

"Astoria?" Elias asked, turning over to her. They had been resting by a few trees, the Opal River running along them. Stars, stars...Astoria tried to grab tugs of her hair to the extent that she thought she'd pull her whole scalp. "Astoria, stop!"

He grabbed her hands from her hair, clasping them. Rageful tears spilled from her dull gray eyes as Astoria furiously wiped them away. "What's the point of this?" she demanded angrily. She was so mad at herself for reasons she couldn't understand—why couldn't she clearly remember Mother's death? She couldn't even piece together what her killer looked like.

"Tori, c'mon," Elias said, letting go of her hands. "Please."

"I can't do anything right! What if this fails? What if I'm digging the Slums into a bigger grave?" Astoria sobbed, burying her head in her hands. God, I'm so weak and pathetic. How could she be the Lady of Dread if she dreaded herself? "I'm going to fail everyone else like how I did with my m-mother and Madam Sunna."

Elias sighed, taking a seat next to her on the grass. "Is that what this is about? Nadine and Sunna? Astoria, you're amazing, you're planning to do what the whole Council of Viscount couldn't. And if you fail, I'll help you try again."

"But what if I drag you down with me?" she lamented.

"Tori, do you hear yourself? Don't you remember how we met?"

༻༺✧༻༺

Maia 1st

Astoria De Vil was alone, Madam Sunna had died three years prior. She was just barely surviving, stealing things from others on the streets of Valdor during the day, but practising the ways of the Darklings like how Sunna taught her during the night.

She was near the Border, hiding behind a tree trunk. She had secured her target—a young boy who clearly was among high Viscount ranks. He wore a navy suit with his light brown curls, he fitted in with the Viscount folks. He was sitting at a restaurant, eating from a plate of flatbread while reading a book.

Good, he's distracted now, Astoria thought as she crossed the Border. She made sure to wear one of her finest dresses since she planned on stealing in the Viscount Kingdom today. No, the Vicious Kingdom, she reminded herself.

She casually walked past the boy, swiping a piece of bread and some croixes, tucking it into her clean pockets. Astoria turned around the corner, hurrying off as she ventured back to the Slums, she had gotten what she wanted.

Finally, once she made it past the Border and back to Valdor, someone tapped on her shoulders. She spun around, shocked to see that it was the boy she had stolen from. Oh shit. "Can I help you??" Astoria asked, her voice slightly higher than it should be.

She had never gotten caught, this was quite embarrassing.

"You stole something from me," he said, shrugging.

"Are you accusing me because I'm a Valdor folk?" If you can't beat them, call their bluff. Astoria stood her ground, arms crossed across her chest. The boy gestured to her pockets and she gladly emptied them. "See? Nothing."

"Check your inside pockets." Oh no, this boy was smarter than she thought. Astoria sighed loudly, taking out the bread. It was squished from being in her pocket. "And the croixes?"

She groaned. "I don't have your croixes—"

"Please show me the croixes, miss." Miss. Ha, like being polite would help.

Astoria thrusted the croixes back into his hands, huffing. "Are you happy now?" Please don't arrest me, she shut her eyes fearfully. To her surprise, the boy handed back the croixes, and Astoria stared at him, wide-eyed.

"I don't need it, I didn't ask for you to give them back. I have plenty left, don't worry." The boy treated Astoria with kindness she hadn't seen in years, not since the day she met Madam Sunna. "I won't send you to jail, but I want to know why you steal. Why does anyone in the Slums steal?"

Astoria nearly laughed at this sad situation. "Why? Because Valdor is in debt, the kingdom has left Valdor to fend for itself. King Julius Abernathy is no help, he abandoned us, claiming we're some kind of screwed up and cursed land. You got your answers now?" She couldn't understand where this anger stemmed from, Astoria stuffed the piece of flatbread in protest, spinning on her heel.

She stormed away, the squished bread in her mouth, leaving the curly-haired boy behind.

Astoria couldn't get the boy off her mind, he troubled her. He doesn't know anything about me, she huffed as she walked through Valdor's dark alleys. She discovered he was Elias Lennox, the son of King Julius' advisor, Advisor Lennox. He's just another Viscount folk who doesn't care—except, Elias did seem to care.

"Awe, aren't cha' a sweet doll?" a deep male voice asked behind her. Astoria jumped, spinning around to see herself surrounded by a gang of bandits. The man before her had a long scar running across his left eye. "Cha' a little thief, eh? Got some nice croixes cha' nicked? Give it t0 me, don't cha', doll?"

"Don't call me a doll!" Astoria snapped, but she left overwhelmed. "These croixes are mine!" I can't take them all on, her dark magic wasn't as strong without Madam Sunna's guidance. She stumbled back, bumping into a wall. Oh no, I'm cornered.

Maybe she could have shadow-travelled, but her mind didn't work under intense pressure, she hadn't gotten that far with her training with Sunna. "Back off!" she shrieked as the bandits neared. She tried conjuring a knife, but it wore her out.

Suddenly, a fist slammed into the scar-eyed bandit, making him fall back. To Astoria's shock, it was Elias Lennox. He punched the scar-eyed man again and the others scattered, not wanting to deal with a Viscount folk. Too risky, she gasped as Elias landed another blow.

Too much risk.

The scar-eyed man got up, growling and threatening Elias, but realized it was a losing game without his buddies to back them up. He scrambled off into the shadows of the alley until Elias looked at Astoria, his eyes full of genuine concern. "Are you—"

"You just beat that man up," Astoria said rapidly, trying to wrap her mind around this. A Viscount folk protecting a Valdor folk? It was unheard of. She saw that blood dripped from his bruised knuckles. "You're injured..."

He shrugged. "I know how to fight and sometimes, you have to fight dirty. I'm Elias Lennox by the way, figured you should know that."

"Astoria De Vil." Why did I give him my name? But it felt right. "Why would you save my life?"

"Because we're all human at the end of the day."

༻༺✧༻༺

Astoria looked down at her shaky hands, her heart rate slowing down. I'm going to be okay, she bit her lip until she tasted blood. Elias looked at her, offering a small smile. "We're all human at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if I'm dragged down with you. Humans fail and win, it's just life, Starshine."

"I'm sorry for being snippy at you today and all those months ago," she said softly.

He sighed. "I don't need you to apologize." Their eyes bore into each other's.

"I never said thank you for being the world's greatest friend."

"You don't have to because that's what friends do."