"Not every princess is born in a castle. Some awaken in the shadows, carrying the stars in their bones, waiting for the world to see."
— The Oracle of Caelwyn
It hadn't rained in weeks, and yet the sky cried the day she was born.
Liora Sage came into the world as the fourth of five siblings — a number cursed by old prophecies in the kingdom of Caelwyn. The priests used to whisper: "The fourth child walks the line between worlds. Neither first nor last, always forgotten. Always in between."
And that was exactly what she became — the invisible one.
Her siblings ran, played, broke things, and shouted loud enough to shake the cottage walls. But Liora? She tiptoed. She vanished. She learned young how to become air.
At first, she thought everyone lived like this — where silence was safety and birthdays only came once. That one birthday, long ago, she could still remember. The cake was crooked. The candle kept flickering out. But it was hers.
"Make a wish, sweetheart," her mother had whispered.
And she had.
But she never celebrated again. Not after the shouting got louder, not after the walls of the house began to tremble from arguments that bled into dawn.
The Burden No One Saw
"You're lucky," they'd say.
"You have a home. You have food."
But no one saw what came with it.
Her younger brother would force her to play games she didn't enjoy. Sometimes, he'd threaten her.
"If you don't, I'll tell them you broke the lantern again."
"You're so boring! Why are you always alone?"
Liora didn't have the words to explain that her silence wasn't a choice — it was survival. That her stomach twisted every time her father raised his voice. That her body hurt more days than it didn't, with invisible pain that had no name.
"You're faking again, aren't you?"
"She's just being dramatic."
Those words stung deeper than knives.
Because the pain was real. Just not the kind you could photograph.
A Letter Beneath the Dust
One evening, while cleaning the old storeroom behind the fireplace, Liora's fingers grazed something sharp.
It was an envelope — ancient, sealed with a crimson wax sigil shaped like a five-pointed star.
Heart pounding, she opened it.
The parchment shimmered faintly as if it recognized her touch. The words weren't written in her language, yet she could read them.
To the forgotten one, the Fourth Star:
You are not broken — only buried.
Seek the Key of Virelia.
Your fate was sealed before your first breath.
Let the world forget you… for you were never meant to belong to it.
Her breath caught. A cold wind swept through the room even though the windows were shut.
"What is Virelia…?" she whispered aloud.
The candle behind her flickered once… then went out.
The Night of Stars
That same night, the sky shimmered with unfamiliar constellations. Stars she'd never seen before drew patterns above her window — one of them blinking faintly, as if trying to speak.
Sleep came slowly.
And when it did… so did the dream.
She stood on a floating platform of obsidian, surrounded by endless night. A voice — ancient, feminine, gentle yet echoing with untold power — spoke into her heart.
"You were never meant to live a quiet life, child of scars. The stars have watched you. And they have chosen."
"Chosen for what?" Liora asked, barely able to speak.
"To become what no one believed you could. To find what was taken. To light the path no one dares walk."
And then she fell — not in fear, but into light.
The Awakening
Liora awoke in a world that was not her own.
No cottage walls. No shouting. No burden pressing on her chest. She sat up on velvet grass beneath twin moons, surrounded by fireflies that whispered her name.
A small creature blinked at her — a wolf made of shadow and stars.
"Finally awake?" it said in a voice laced with sarcasm.
"About time. We almost gave up on you."
"Wh-who are you?" she gasped.
"Name's Riven. Your guardian. Sadly. Trust me, I didn't volunteer."
"Where am I?"
"Virelia. Realm of stars, prophecy, betrayal, and unnecessarily attractive princes."
He rolled his eyes. "Welcome to the chaos."
The Chosen Five
It didn't take long before Liora learned she wasn't alone.
There were others like her — five in total. Each born under a cursed alignment of stars. Each marked by a forgotten prophecy.
Auren Velhart, the golden prince who never smiled with his eyes.
Mirae Ellyn, a flame-wielder with too many secrets.
Kael Ardyn, the scholar with a voice like honey and eyes like broken mirrors.
And now… Liora Sage, the Fifth Star.
But nothing was what it seemed.
One of them was a traitor.
And someone had rewritten the prophecy.
Finding Her Voice
"I was never loud. I was never strong.
But maybe the strongest things are silent.
Maybe the stars don't shout.
They just burn. And shine."
"You buried me in silence, but I bloomed in shadow."
— Liora Sage, Fifth Star of Virelia
The First Choice
As the group stood before the Temple of Echoes, tasked with retrieving the Key of Virelia, Liora faced her first test — to step forward, or to remain invisible.
"You don't have to do this," Kael whispered, eyes soft.
"You don't even know what you're fighting for yet."
She clenched her fists.
"I know exactly what I'm fighting for.
I'm fighting to exist."
And then she stepped into the light.
"She came from nowhere. She was supposed to be nothing. But the stars remembered her name — even when the world forgot."