The Daughter of Zios

Prologue - Lux, the Lost Legend
Thousands upon thousands of centuries ago....

"Zios.." called the soft voice of Mira. The mask-wearing spirit walked over to the crystal blue heron. "Yes, Mira?" asked the sky father. "I want to show you something." the heron hummed. She unfolded her wings, revealing three golden eggs that had been sitting on her lap. Zios' eyes widened with joy. "Mira.. do you know what this means?" Zios chirped with joy. "Yes." Mira replied with a nod. "Oh, I can just tell they're gonna be beautiful little creatures when they hatch!" Zios squealed. "Yes, I can tell too." Mira said, soft blush spreading across her face. "Should we name them yet?" Zios asked. "I already have." Mira answered. "What's their names?" Zios asked. "Lux, Tenebris, and Meridiem." Mira simply replied. "I can't wait for them to hatch." Zios said, giving Mira a smooch on the check before floating off. "Me too." Mira added, looking down at her new eggs.

A few months later, the eggs hatched. Everybody came to see the eggs hatch. Mira held her eggs up towards the sun. Cracks covered the eggs surface, beautiful golden light bursting out of each crack. There was an explosion of light as the eggs completely hatched. As soon as the light cleared, three animals sat where the eggs once were. One was a golden chick, another was a teal chick, and the last one was a dark purple phantom. Mira's children turned towards Mira. "Momma?" they peeped. "Welcome to the world, my children." Mira warmly said, cradling the three newborns in her arms. Everybody cheered, chirped, and celebrated the three's arrival.

But one day, things went wrong...

It all started one morning. Mira was cradling her chick, now about teenage age, in her arms. That was when she heard a scream coming from Zios' room. "ZIOS!" Mira shouted in worry, flying towards Zios' room. She slammed the door open to see a terrifying sight. Zios was laying on the floor, devoid of all color. His eyes had turned deep purple, and tears leaked from her optics. However, the more terrifying thing was who was right next to him. Sitting next to Zios was Mira's second child; Tenebris. The dark purple phantom was now drenched in blood, crackling with his father's energy. "Mom.." he said. "My friends told me to kill dad, so I did.." the teenage phantom giggled with a smirk spreading across his black face. "Are you happy?" Mira gasped at the sight of this. She fell to the floor, crying. "TENEBRIS!" she screamed out. "Why would you do this...?" "My fellow phantoms told me too." Tenebris replied, acting like this was a game. "Y-your fellow p-phantoms...?" Mira whimpered. "Yes." Tenebris said. His tentacles crackled with the energy he had sucked out of Zios after he had killed him. In a burst of purple light, a phantom vortex formed in front of him. "W-what's that..?" Mira muttered. "Where my friends live." Tenebris simply said. Suddenly, several phantoms came swooping out of the portal. "I need to get the children..!" Mira muttered, running out of the room. Curled on the couch was Lux. Mira lifted Lux up and began to hold her in her wings. "Lux." she said. "You need to go." "Why?" Lux whimpered. "Tenebris has turned on us. You and your brother need to get out of here..." "B-but.. but.." "No buts." Mira said, rushing into Meridiem's room. The teal heron was fast sleep, laying in his bed. The sky mother wildly shook her son, shouting "MERIDIEM!" The heron's eyes slowly opened. "W-what.. what is it... mother?" he mumbled, groggily. "You need to get out of here. Pronto." she said. "B-but I'm trying to sleep..." Meridiem muttered. "No. This is an emergency." Mira said, hushing her child as she lifted him into her arms. She tapped them both on the noses with her wing, and they turned into seemingly normal raccoons. "Alright." Mira said. "I will teleport you far into the future when this event is ancient. You'll pretend to be normal, so the phantoms won't find you. Okay?" Lux said "Okay, mom.", but Meridiem whined "Mommmmmm.. I'm sleepy..." "No buts, Meridiem." Mira said. "Goodbye, my children." was the last thing Mira said to her daughter and son before she flapped her wings, summoning a wormhole through time in the air. The two once herons, now raccoons floated in the air and into the portal before the shut. "Goodbye.. f-forever...." Mira whimpered, a tear leaking down her feathery face. Her feathers lost their colors, and she dropped to the ground, dull and lifeless.