MOONCHILD
BY
LYLLY

Prologue:

"Why is it so dark?"

"In the beginning, it is always dark."

In the inky blackness a soft glow of light slowly began to revel two people: the first was a boy of about ten or twelve. He looked confusedly at the other opposite him-a eleven-year-old girl- with which he was sharing this dark, silent space. His dark eye narrowed as they moved from the girl's face to the hand she held out between them.

"What is that?"

The Childlike Empress's face was grave, her eyes staring down at her outstretched hand, and it was a long moment before she made any response to his question. "One grain of sand," she whispered, "it is all that remains of my vast empire."

The boy's face fell, his heart sinking as the reality of her words embedded itself deep in the pit of his stomach. "So, so Fantasia is totally destroyed?" he croaked.

"Yes."

"But, but hasn't everything in Fantasia been in vain?"

Moonchild shook her head, "No, Bastian, it has not been in as much vain as much as you might think it has."

Bastian stared at her in near bewilderment.

"With your help, my world can be reborn," she continued, noting the look on her savior's face, "By your dreams and wishes Fantasia will live once again."

"How?"

There was a long pause, but when the Empress spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper. "Give me your hand..."

Bastian did as he was told.

Very, very carefully she placed in his hand the tiny grain of sand that she'd been holding. He looked down as she withdrew her own hand from his; his eyes fixed on the wee object lying there. Looking closer, he saw that the light that had enabled him to see was actually coming from this speck of sand. Moonchild's voice broke his thoughts.

"What are you going to wish for? Because without your wishes Fantasia will no longer exist."

Bastian swallowed hard, he felt as if the apple he'd eaten earlier had turned to lead in his stomach. "I... I don't know," he confessed, "how, how will I know that the wishes will come true, and besides, how many of them am I allowed to make?"

"You can make as many wishes as you choose," she told him, "For the more wishes you make and the more dreams you dream, the more extraordinary Fantasia will become."

Bastian's jaw dropped. "Really? You mean it?"

"Just trust me," was all she said, "try out one wish and see what becomes of it. But there is one other thing that you must know."

"What?"

"As you age, so will both Fantasia and I"

"But, but, how?"

Moonchild smiled, "Let me explain"

Bastian fell silent.

"For every two years that your world gets older, Fantasia itself will advance four years more."

"Does that go for you too?"

"Yes, that go for me also, but in a different sort of way."

"What way is that?"

Moonchild took a deep breath, "Every two years of your own lifetime, Bastian, I, myself will grow a few years older. So on your fourteenth birthday, Fantasia will be two years old and I will have reached my twelfth year."

"What you are saying is that every two years of my life and four years of my world, both you and Fantasia age?"

"That is correct."

Bastian stared at her openmouthed and dumbstruck.

"Now," she said, smiling, "about that first wish..."

Bastian got the hint. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, thinking. It was a long time before he spoke.