The fall of the stars

All fairy tales begin with a "once upon a time", since the events narrated happened only once and the protagonists of the story were unique, special, heroes who were ready to fight the worst of enemies to save their love, while the princesses the wickedness in the world with one's own goodness and kindness. The big difference between fairy tales and stories consists in the truthfulness of the characters, in their emotions and in how they react to life's difficulties: in fairy tales, the princesses cry and smile in front of the wickedness of the world, while the princes do all the dirty work for them; in the stories however, the defenseless princesses become heroines of their own reality, they defeat the enemy with their own strength and build their own future, without letting go of a destiny already decided in their place. And that's how they become legends. Stories don't start with "once upon a time" because anyone, hearing a story, can become similar to the protagonist, get inspired and discover in themselves a new strength or a new side of themselves, to get through whatever difficulties they are facing, so no, I won't start with "Once upon a time”, but with some historical facts about the ancient legend of them all in the Empiria continent. It was the year 922 according to the lunar calendar and in the kingdom of Vistaesol the greatest of the festivals of the last centuries was being celebrated. The rulers of the kingdom had finally become parents of two beautiful children, twins, a boy and a girl. It had been decades since a pair of twins had been born in the whole kingdom, least of all within the royal family, which is why the event was celebrated for whole days and considered a great blessing by the gods. King Nicolaj Thundersteel and Queen Victoria were greatly loved by their people. Loving, understanding and wise rulers, they managed in the years of their reign to restore peace with the rulers of the neighboring kingdoms and bring order and prosperity back to the ranks of their own people. Thanks to the peace agreements, trade with foreign kingdoms was once again fruitful and Vistaesol returned to dominate the seas, while the agreements with the raiders, who became mercenaries of the royal family, allowed safe journeys for land traders and fertile crops for farmers . The territories of the kingdom expanded thanks to the agreements with the pirates who ceded their domains on the coasts in favor of the agreements with the two sovereigns who guaranteed wealth and protection in exchange for loyalty to the crown. Many were the inhabitants of the neighboring countries who decided to move to the kingdom of the two sovereigns, thus increasing the population, reduced due to the wars, and the workforce. The birth of the two children was the pinnacle of their lives as rulers: two beautiful little bundles of happiness, both with their father's blue eyes and their mother's sly smile. They grew up quickly and both were given the same military and cultural education; the kingdom of Vistaesol was characterized for centuries by the tradition of the heir to the throne: none of the sons had precedence or a greater right than the other. Receiving the same education, they would run for the throne on an equal footing, demonstrating their warfare and strategic skills before the military council, their historical and cultural knowledge at receptions with the nobles, and their knack for deciding alliances. The final vote would come through a vote of the people, which is why the future heirs, since their birth, competed with each other to acquire the consent of their people, becoming the best version of themselves. By the age of 5, the two children were now capable of archery, reciting entire poems by heart and playing an instrument each. The more they grew, the clearer it was which one of the two sought favor with the common people and who with the nobles: the prince, with his elaborate vocabulary and serious gaze, conquered the noble families, while the princess preferred folk dances, learning to fight from whom really participated in the war and looked dreamily at the ships moored at the dock. Not just any kind of ship, no: Lavinia Thundersteel, unlike her brother Axel, had a strong interest in pirate ships, so small compared to the immense trading ships but so incredibly fast. She had been on such a ship only once and the scolding she received from her mother that same evening was interminable, but it was all worth it. Rufus, captain of the "Dark Wave"and former captain of the pirates, had discovered her admiring their troops as she hid behind the barrels after slipping away from the carer, and had invited her to come aboard. Lavinia knew Captain Rufus well, King Nicolaj's friend and comrade-in-arms for the past twenty years. He was like an uncle to her, but obviously, the closeness to her father was not a strong enough motivation for the queen, who considered the princess' action “reckless” and “crazy”. The queen was right, there was no doubt, but the princess of Vistaesol dreamed for months of her own adventures in the middle of the ocean with a black hat on her head when she would have been old enough to make her own decisions. Obviously, from that episode, others followed over the years, but Lavinia became more and more shrewd in escaping the attentions of her escorts and the pirate captain learned that not everything had to reach Queen Victoria's ears if he wanted to remain with his head attached to the neck. By their sixteenth birthday, the twins were good-looking, strong, and charismatic young teens who were as similar physically as they were different in their mannerisms. Axel Thundersteel soon surpassed his sister in height and became one of the strongest young fighters in the kingdom, defeating all of the king's best guards one by one. The Thundersteel twins were often allowed to train, fight and challenge each other as they had been on two completely different training paths since the age of 14. If Axel trained with the generals and fought like an expert, strong and technical soldier, Lavinia found the best teachers in Rufus' gang, who helped her become faster, smarter and smarter at predicting the opponent's movements. She knew she couldn't physically beat her twin and, in the same way, Axel knew he couldn't beat her in speed and cunning; the twins generated amazement and wonder every time they fought, soon becoming a spectacle that more and more people wanted to see.