The Last Fallen Star by Graci Kim (the mitten read aloud .TXT) 📗

“We’re looking for some information,” I start, resting an exhausted-looking Boris against the wall. “About…stars.”

Cosette nods. “Well, you’ve definitely come to the best place for that. What do you want to know?”

“Have you ever heard of the Godrealm’s last fallen star?” I ask.

“Hmm.” She cocks her head. “Can’t say that I have. But you’re not going to find anything about the Godrealm here. It’s strictly saram stuff.”

“You’re sure?” I press. “Nothing about falling stars?”

She taps her fingers on the table. “It does kind of remind me of something my sister performed in the Saturday School talent quest last year.”

“What was it?” Emmett asks.

“One of the old legends. About back when there were two suns and two moons in the sky. I’m pretty sure it mentioned something about the Godrealm’s stars.”

Emmett and I look at each other.

“You don’t happen to remember the story, do you?” I ask. “Any part of it at all?”

She takes out her phone and puts it on the table. “No, but I have something even better. Adeline uploaded it to a private Vimeo so the family could watch it.”

Emmett and I wait eagerly as Cosette searches for the link.

“Bingo!” She props up her phone at an angle so we can all see, and we huddle around the screen as the video loads.

Adeline looks just like Cosette but a few years older and taller, with wavy dark hair flowing down to her waist and that same creamy, flawless complexion. She’s dressed in a beautiful long robe of Gumiho silver that shimmers and sparkles as if made of stardust. In the clip, Adeline walks onto the stage and then waves at someone off-camera. She closes her eyes and takes a big breath before beginning her performance.

“Our legends tell of a time when two suns and two moons adorned the sky. There were no days, no nights, no passage of time. They called this the Age of the Godrealm.”

Adeline’s voice is deep and velvety, and I’m immediately drawn in.

“One day, upon considering the luminous sky, the six goddesses asked the mother a question. ‘Mago Halmi, why are there two suns and two moons?’

“The mother of all creation responded, ‘They are each a pair—a dark sun for a light sun, a dark moon for a light moon. They represent a balanced set of scales, like the eum and yang, built in perfect equilibrium, as you are.’”

Adeline uses her glamour magic to turn the stage into the night sky, and then creates the illusion of the two suns and two moons floating majestically above her. The backdrop makes her look ethereal, and my eyes are glued to the sight. I’ve always known about this legend—it’s where the gifted mark originated, after all—but I’ve never heard the end of the story, and how we got the sky we have today.

The performance continues.

“But the goddesses did not understand, and so Mago Halmi thus explained, ‘There is light within us all, as there is darkness within us all. These two absolutes make us whole. This is the way of the universe.’”

I lean in even closer toward the small phone screen.

“This revelation, however, distressed the six goddesses. They could not accept that divine beings such as themselves could be flawed. They deemed the dark sun and dark moon—symbols of their inner darkness—an unsightly reminder of their weakness. So they hatched a plan. They commanded Mago Halmi’s guardian pet, the Haetae, to leap into the sky and devour the dark sun and dark moon.”

Adeline waves her hand, and suddenly the dark sun and moon floating above her explode, sending a shower of light falling down onto her shoulders.

“When the uni-horned lion beast bit into the dark sun and dark moon, shards ricocheted to all corners of the sky, peppering the wide expanse with twinkling pockets of light. Some smaller fragments fell to the Mortalrealm—our Earth—to be lost to the Godrealm forever.”

Emmett breathes out, and I look over to see his eyes all wide and curious. I know he’d never admit it, but he’s enjoying this gifted legend as much as I am.

“Mago Halmi was saddened by the goddesses’ actions, because their selfish vanity led them to destroy her precious creations. So the Mother punished them by closing the doors between the realms, thereby preventing the goddesses from entering the Mortalrealm at their will. This is why the gifted clans came to be, to do the will of the goddesses on Earth.”

Adeline turns to the audience and raises her arms in a final flourish.

“And so Mago Halmi left the twinkling shards of the dark sun and dark moon in the sky—what we now call the stars—to serve as a reminder of what the world had lost.”

The clip ends, and Cosette leans back in her chair. “She’s good, right?”

“That’s pretty epic.” Emmett gives Cosette an approving look. “Your sister’s really talented.”

As they excitedly discuss whether or not Adeline should get an agent, one line from the monologue keeps playing in my head.

Some smaller fragments fell to the Mortalrealm—our Earth—to be lost to the Godrealm forever.

I slap my palm on the table. “Oh my Mago! That’s what we have to find. The last fallen fragment of a dark sun or moon!”

The color drains from Emmett’s face. “Holy shirtballs, how are we supposed to find that?”

Cosette puts her phone in her pocket and swivels in her chair a few times. “I’m getting the sense that this is a need-to-know mission, and I respect that.” She stops spinning and faces us. “But if I wanted to know more about the star, I’d try the gifted library. According to my mom, it’s a treasure trove of info. I know no one’s been able to activate the sacred texts since the Horangi left, but I dunno—maybe you could figure it out?” She glances meaningfully at me and I quickly look away before Emmett can pick up on the subtext. “That is, if you can get in. It’s still restricted entry.”

I swallow. It’s actually not a bad idea. But the library’s inside the temple, and