The Moonlight on my Face

Chapter One

Over 250 years after the prologue...

Sky, a twelve-year-old girl, was in the underground library, reading her favorite book: The First Generation of the Female Peace Legion Plus Family Trees. She was on the section about Illys, with Illys's family tree next to Illys's profile card. She traced the line directly from Illys's name to her name. Illys was Sky's hero. Sky's forebear. She wasn't the one who had set the rules in place: her great-great-great grandchildren had done so, which made Sky like them significantly less. But Illys was responsible for stopping a terrible war! 

"Hey, Sky!" It was a descendant of Ella, Rhine. Sky had secretly named her Shinyface in her head because Rhine applied tons of stuff that made her face shine to her skin every day. "What do you want, Shiny-I mean, Rhine?" Sky asked. "I think Clove likes you," Rhine said. Sky's head shot up and she glowered at Rhine. "Look, he's over there," the blond girl added, pointing across the library at Clove. Sky muttered something cross and turned away from him. "I hate him," Sky snarled at Rhine. "You know that." Rhine laughed. "Well, I'm nearly certain that he loves you," she chortled.

"Shut up before I hit you," Sky hissed. Rhine skipped away, her vibrant pink dress shining in the torchlight. "Hi, Sky," said a new voice. It was a voice that filled Sky with happiness. "Joy!" she said excitedly, getting to her feet and hugging her friend. Joy did not have any important ancestors. She was not the daughter of the leader of the city, unlike Sky. Yet joy was Sky's best friend, and Sky would gladly leap into lava if it meant Joy would be safe.

"Rhine is being so annoying!" Sky said to Joy. The other girl adjusted her purple mask. Purple masks represented that you were from the class of minor nobles. Grey masks said that you were just a common citizen. Black masks represented your relation to the family of the leader of the city. Dark blue masks represented that you were from the class of major nobles. Rhine had a dark blue mask and always acted smug about it. Joy acted as if she didn't care about status, and Sky loved that about her.

"Well, isn't Rhine always annoying?" Joy asked, smile wrinkles appearing around her eyes. "Today she's being super annoying," Sky said. "She keeps saying that Clove likes me!" Joy's eyes widened. "How dare she! Doesn't she know?.." Joy fell silent under the librarian's disapproving glare. "She knows perfectly well," Sky whispered. "She just wants to irritate me." 

Joy glowered at Clove. "Doesn't he know what it's like to be humiliated?" she asked Sky. "No," Sky replied bitterly. He just knows how to humiliate others. I'll never forget the day he pushed me into the lake."

For some reason, the underground city felt cold on that day. Sky pressed her mask close to her face and followed everybody to the underground lake that had recently been discovered. Her father, a direct descendant of Illys, big and broad-shouldered, with superior green eyes and glossy brown hair, was standing on one side of the large lake while the rest of the people stood on the other side. Sky hurried to join her dad. Her mother, the daughter of a major noble, and her brother, the strongest and fastest boy in the whole city, stood beside the city leader, giving the people looks that matched the leader's.

"People!" Irwin (that was the leader's name) said loudly. Sky was staring at Joy, who was stuffed between other children of minor nobles. She was making sure nobody accidentally hurt Joy. "After a long time of mining and digging, we have found a new place to entertain ourselves at. We have a source of freshwater but no lake to simply swim and play around in. Now, we have such a lake! Behold, Lake Crystal, our new place for swimming lessons and playtime!" Everybody clapped. Suddenly, Joy's eyes widened. "SKY!" she shouted, her hands reaching forward. "LOOK OUT!" Sky did not have time to do anything. Two hands shoved her into the freezing water. Sky's lungs felt as if they weren't working. She paddled to the surface, gasping for air, fear of death filling her up to the brim.

The lake was deep. Sky had to work to stay afloat and breathe. People roared with laughter. Why isn't Father stopping them? Sky thought furiously. How DARE they laugh! She realized she probably looked like a wet rat. All the feelings of being cold faded away and were replaced with savage humiliation. Her face and ears burned. She now felt hot. 

She somehow managed to get out of the lake. She saw Clove, the obvious committer of the crime, leaning against a wall of rock and smirking. Joy was running over to Sky, her face concerned. "Sky? Are you okay?" she asked, taking her friend's hands in her own. Her hands were pleasantly warm. "No," Sky said, shooting Clove a venomous look. "I hate Clove now." The rest of the people were still dying from laughter. "Let's leave," Joy proposed. Sky's brother, Jack, was the only one not laughing. His face was furious. He stormed over to Clove and punched him in the face. The laughing stopped. "Never hurt my sister again," Sky's brother snarled. Blood flowed from Clove's nose. He looked up in fear at Jack as the blood stained his grey mask. "I-I'm sorry," he said, edging away and then breaking into a run.

"Thanks, Jack," Sky said. "That lake is so cold today," Jack said. "You could've died. It's not ready for swimming yet, Father told me, because there are some sharp rocks down there that need to be shaved away. Come on. Joy, come too." 

So, Sky was led to the medical wing by her friend and brother. She caught a cold after that, and it was annoying to be unable to do anything but sit in bed. That was the reason she hated Clove with all her heart and soul.

"Sky? Sky? Sky, you there?" Joy was gently shaking her. Chills were slamming into Sky's body at the mere memory of the frigid river water flowing into her face, seeping through her clothes. "Yes," Sky said. 

"Listen," Sky said after a few seconds. "Did you ever think of escaping?" Joy's face was shocked. "What do you mean, escaping?" she hissed. "I mean seeing the world!" Sky said. "Before the age of eighteen! Oh, come on, Joy! Aren't you interested?" Joy frowned at her. "I want to follow the rules," she said apologetically. "Sorry, Sky." Sky sighed and shook her head. "Okay," she said. "I'm still going to make a plan to escape, though. Just don't call me out, alright?" Joy nodded. "Who do you think I am?" she asked.

----

A/N

Hmmm...will our protagonist be able to accomplish her goal? Or will she be caught by the guards? If you read this book's description, you probably know the answer.

But can you guys believe that Joy turned down such an amazing offer? Oh, well. Some people are just in love with the rules.

-Blizzard