Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Although this world is based on heavenly bodies, there are also creative liberties added that are not scientifically correct.

This work is also by an amateur writer. You may find grammatical errors, plot holes, etc., but I will try my best to share and tell a story that you will enjoy as much as I did writing it.
Have fun reading!

THE CHILD GAZING INTO THE DARK ABYSS
PROLOGUE

The child looked ahead, her red-colored eyes gazing into the dark abyss.

Any person would feel a sense of dread looking at the unknown—a feeling of trepidation, anxiety, and a certain loneliness.

But the child didn’t feel anything.

She wasn't anxious about what was beyond it, nor was she trembling with fear.

She wasn’t afraid of falling into it, nor was she afraid of what might appear from it.

She felt nothing and thought nothing of it.

“My beloved daughter, what are you doing there?”

The little girl turned her head to look behind her and saw a tall man approaching her.

His figure held an imposing and oppressive aura, yet with that too, she felt nothing.

“I was just looking at the dark space,” she answered as a matter of fact while pointing at it.

The man, her father, tilted his head slightly.

“Hmm, and what did you think of it?” he asked as if he were testing her.

The little girl shrugged. “Nothing. It's just dark space.”

The corner of the man’s lips slowly lifted, pleased with what she answered.

“Good, good. But let's not linger here any longer. You still need to go to your training to master your power,” he patted her head and walked away, expecting her to follow behind him.

And she did.

The little girl looked at his back as she walked, but the sight of bright lights from afar caught her attention.

Opposite the dark space she was just looking at was a sky littered with stars.

The contrast was jarring.

Her father clicked his tongue. “Those Luminars. It hurts my eyes to look at them.”

The little girl stared at the sky as they walked.

The Luminars—stars, planets, asteroids, comets, and anyone that can emit or reflect light that can be seen even from afar.

Her father once taught her about the people that lived outside of their empire.

He also told her how they were completely beneath them, the Dark Matter, citizens of the Dark Empire.

He told her that they were a thorn in their glory, that they must be eliminated to expand the territory of the Dark Empire.

And she believed him, or rather, she didn’t care enough because she only followed what her father tells her to do.

She feels nothing towards these Luminars or, in a twisted sense, even herself and the Dark Matters within the Empire.

She exists to obey her father.

But at that small moment in time as they were walking…

A thought formed within her head—a question.

“Why—?”

Before it could even take form, something deep inside her crushed that momentary curiosity. Something that stopped her from probing further into that.

It was as if she wasn't allowed to entertain the thought.

She shook her head, the feeling already pushed down within the depths of her mind the moment she decided not to think about it.

It didn't matter.

The only thing she was supposed to do anyway was to follow her father's commands.