Not too far from the castle lived the Child named Luo. The child graced by the night did not know of their origin, nor their Fate, but just like all folk their age, Luo was looking forward Blessing Ceremony, as to their knowledge it was a coincidence they shared a Birthday with the Crown prince. 

Luo was the polar opposite of the Prince. Their Hair was Straight and deep black like the clear night sky and their eyes appeared to be a replica of the Moon itself, almost as if glowing in the dark as well. Their demeanor was calm and humble, hard to excite overall, yet the thought of entering the Palace that day would fill even them with glee.

The one child of the night called Mother, was Lune, a woman dedicated to the Church of the Great Gods of Solaris. Lune always gushed about how Luo was a gift from the stars, set on her Doorstep in the middle of the night, bearing nothing but a Name. She was just as excited for Luo as they were. In Lune's eyes, Luo was already a blessing, so no matter the outcome of the Ceremony, Lune was sure they were beloved by the Gods already. 

Just as Lune did, so did everyone in the church highly anticipate the Ceremony, it was of the Gods after all. With all hands on deck, the Old building got deep cleaned and decorated in each nook and cranny. Even more so than the Celebrations following the Wheel of the Year this day would be a big day, everyone around, who would not be able to attend the Celebration at the Castle, would come together here to share the good spirit and share the news if any new Avatars were to be chosen! 

Luo was just about to go out on an Errand when the news arrived. The Queen had died. Luo had heard it from the Farmers Wife at the Market, it was obvious something was up. The whole market seemed in disarray, insecurity about the upcoming festivities and further planning was mumbled all around, what would happen next, will the Ceremony be delayed, no that couldn't be, it had been too important, too many preparations had been done already. But what now? 

Lou ran back home, Errands were merely half finished, but sharing the newly gathered information outweighed the importance here. Bystanders seemed not to have gotten the memo yet, but news like this spread like wildfire, in less than a day the whole Kingdom would be in mourning.

Lou burst through the door of the Church orphanage, "LUNE!" they almost yelled, "Lune the Queen is dead", completely out of breath. "Lune, I heard it on the Market! She passed!"

"Peanut, my Gods, calm down! Is it true? Are you for certain?"

"It must be Lune! Everyone at the Market was talking about it, People were concerned about what would happen next! Oh, Lune how should we proceed? They cannot cancel The Blessing Ceremony, they simply cannot-" Lune firmly pressed her hands on Lou's shoulders. "That will have to wait peanut! Our Priority will be to mourn, we have just lost our Queen after all. We will wait in mourning until we receive further instructions from the Castle." Lune rubbed her temples, the timing was less than ideal, and it would be another task for the church to take care of. As the Church of Solaris, it would be their duty to prepare the funeral alongside the Royal family, yet Lune would never admit that this would pose a burden. 

"Lune?" Luo asked carefully, "How do I help?" Mother Lune gathered herself. "Alright. Luo I want you to gather the other kids. We will most likely need everyone here. You will calmly explain that the Queen has passed and that we will have a lot of work to do in the coming days. I will meet with Father Dominic and see that we talk to the representative of the Royal family for the next steps. I will see you back here in about two hours, you understand me?" Luo simply nodded and ran off to find the other Kids.

As the hours passed everyone gathered in the Common room, and as Mother Lune and Father Dominic entered the room all eyes were glued to the adults, hungry for more information.

"Everybody listen up! We have much to discuss but first and foremost I will let you know that I want you to stay clear of any rumors that are going around. The masses are agitated and I will not have you spread any gossip concerning the Royal family, especially not until the Blessing Ceremony." a murmur went through the small crowd. "Which brings me to my next point", Father Dominic declared with increased Volume to quiet the children. "The King has emphasized that the Ceremony will proceed as planned." The Children became louder again. 

"KIDS" Mother Lune shouted. "We are not done yet!", the room fell silent almost immediately. "Father, please go on.", "Yes, thank you." he cleared his throat and looked through the room as if counting the children, before nodding contently. "The burial will be held on Castle grounds, which means I will have you split into two groups. The older Kids will come with me and help prepare on Site, and I will have you all on your best behavior, which means, you will only speak when spoken to, and have no direct contact with anyone except me." "And the younger kids," Mother Lune chimed in, "you will stay here with me. As the Ceremony will still be held I need you to help me continue with the preparations. Any questions?", all of a sudden a bunch of hands shot up, asking all kinds of questions, why only the older Kids could go, and that that would be unfair, and if they would get to see the King and on and on.

After a while, all questions were answered, Father Dominic rounded up the older Kids, there were 11 of them, all being between 15 and 18 years old. "Listen here, I have said this earlier but you must understand this" He took a deep breath before he went on. "I am only bringing you to help because these are special circumstances. We are not guests, we are purely there for the preparations. You will not leave my side unless asked to do so. Furthermore, you will not be attending the actual burial, nor anything else connected to the Funeral, do you understand me?" The Teens silently but firmly agreed. Father Dominic certainly wasn't the youngest anymore and the current event most likely added even more grey hairs to the ones the children already caused him.

The burial would be held the day after the next, so the few of them had to get over there almost instantly. At the Castle gates, they were greeted by what seemed to be a butler of some sort. The man in the suit led the group to the planned burial Site. Luo did not hear what the Father and the Butler were talking about, they were way too captivated by the gardens around the Castle, perfectly shaped bushes, flowers in all colors imaginable, and Trees bearing fruits more than Luo could recognize.

Once they had arrived on site, Father Dominic and the Butler Guy started to assign tasks to the people involved, alongside the children there were also castle staff helping with the preparations. There was much to do, in just a little time. Just like that, the Day had passed and the hard-working returned to the church.

They had returned the second day, this time in the morning already as they had to get done by today. Today they were even supplied with lunch, which a maid had brought them on-site. She seemed to be in her forties. She handed out Fresh Bread, yet as she came around to Luo, she had almost dropped it. It almost looked like she was surprised, perhaps even shocked to see their Face, did this Woman know Luo? The maid shook her head and without another word she went on with her task, leaving a quite confused Luo standing there.

And so the second day came to an end as well, and just as the church group was about to leave Luo spotted a golden-haired boy looking out the Window straight at them. Their eyes locked and all of a sudden a feeling overcame them. It was hard to explain, it was somehow familiar, as if they knew each other, but there was also something else Luo could not explain. Of course, they had seen him before, this was the Crown Prince, Sol of Solaria. They had seen him a few times at official events before, but this time it was different.