“Have you heard the story of the moons?” 

Dare groaned, lying back on the mat and pulling the blanket over his head. “I don’t want some story!”

Sim yanked the blanket off, turning to face the healer. “I haven’t.”

Dare sat up. “How have you _not?”_

Sim glared at him until he broke eye contact. The healer laughed softly. “Do you mind if I tell it, then?”

Sim nodded eagerly, and Dare sighed. “Fine.”

The healer smiled and closed her eyes. When she opened them, they’d turned a vibrant blue, so different from the milky white they’d been only a moment before.

“In the earliest days, this world had only one moon. The cruel Kiyeeng, lord of the heavens.”

“You mixed it up,” Dare interrupted. “Galia came first.” 

The healer turned her gaze on him, and he withered. “Darren.”

“I said not to call me that,” he muttered. “And anyway, I’m right. Galia came first, and was rescued by Kiyeeng, who was kind and–” He cut off as Sim’s hand came down hard on his head.

“Let her tell the story!” Sim hissed.

Dare crossed his arms. “She’s telling it _wrong_.”

“I would advise you,” the healer said quietly, “to listen. If you would rather not, I can send you back outside to fend for yourselves.”

Dare was quiet after that.

_Kiyeeng, the golden moon, ruled the night sky. He reveled in the prayers of mortals. The smoke of their burnt offerings was his wine, their cities his feast. Each night, he passed over the world and smiled. He lived like a god, and even if he was one it was a mistake. He would grow angry and jealous at even the slightest hint of disrespect. When he first saw a temple to the sun, he raged for months. He took control of the seas and sent towering waves against the cities he perceived as rebellious. Sailors perished as hundreds of ships were lost to his fury. In desperation, the mortals built him grand monuments. They vowed to serve him, to never turn away again. They had festivals in the nights so that Kiyeeng could watch them._

_Finally he was satisfied, and the seas calmed. But he did not see that during the day, the people were begging the fiery sun, Tenyin, for help. And he heard them. So Tenyin set a cunning trap for Kiyeeng. His dear sister Galia ruled the stars. She was quiet and pure. Her light was subtle and healing, and always second to that of Kiyeeng. In fact, the stars could only be seen when Kiyeeng disappeared fully. But Galia didn’t mind. She drew her power from the night. She was the patroness of second sons and forgotten daughters. She was kind and noble; the only thing she truly hated was Kiyeeng._

“This isn’t right!” Dare blurted. “Tenyin is the villain who tries to keep Galia and Kiyeeng apart!” Again, the healer turned her gaze to him. He blushed, but his anger didn’t leave. There was a way of things. People shouldn’t twist stories like this, changing what was right and wrong.

“What happened next?” Sim asked impatiently. 

_Tenyin asked his dear sister for her help in defeating Kiyeeng, and she agreed. For Galia loved the mortals in a way that the sun and moon could not, and it broke her heart to watch Kiyeeng torment them. Tenyin proposed that Galia woo Kiyeeng. Once the moon was in love, she would convince him to lend her some of his power. And then she would use it for good, and he would be left powerless to harm the mortals she loved._

_What Tenyin and Galia did not count on was how well his plan would work. Kiyeeng, for all his power and glory, was desperately lonely. And Galia was dangerously beautiful. _

_“What powerful light you have,” Galia said. “I’m not frightened of the darkness with you here.”_

_Kiyeeng smiled and put his arm around her waist. “Would you like to see the land the way I see it?”_

_Galia agreed, and so it was that they spent the first night together. Despite it all, she was awed. The mortals’ fires seemed to mirror her own stars, and each city was more beautiful than the last. But Galia wasn’t the only one who was dazzled. With each passing moment, Kiyeeng grew more and more in love. _

_“You are more beautiful than all the treasures of the earth,” he told her. “I would dim my own light so that yours can be better seen.”_

_Galia laughed, fluttering her lashes and telling him that she wished she were a moon, so that she could be with him always. He responded that there was a way, but it would weaken him greatly. _

_Cunningly, Galia wove her fingers through his. “You’re so powerful,” she breathed. “Even weakened, you’re much stronger than any other god.”_

_Kiyeeng lost himself in her eyes. She was perfect. “We will rule the night together,” he declared. _

_So it was that there came to be two moons. Galia joined him in the sky, smaller and paler but just as bright. They passed each night together, and Kiyeeng grew more and more entranced. He stopped noticing the mortals and began searching for new delights to show Galia. She, in turn, began to care for him. But she never forgot what he’d done, and she never forgave him._

_One evening, she asked him about the oceans. If she could try controlling the waves, just for a moment. Hesitantly, Kiyeeng passed control to her. Her delighted giggles were enough for him to name her queen of the waters. The sea was hers. _

_Now that his power over the earth was gone, she went to Tenyin, eager to return to the stars. But Kiyeeng caught her. _

_“Where are you going?” He demanded._

_“To visit my brother,” Galia said sweetly. “Is that so wrong?”_

_“Yes.” Kiyeeng’s temper had slumbered for months, but the idea of losing Galia, even for one night, brought it back tenfold. “He is my enemy, and you must choose to serve him or me.”_

_“Then I choose him. He is good and honorable, and provides the people with heat and safety. You are nothing but a beast, or maybe a child.” Galia turned to go. Her duty was finished, and she was not needlessly cruel. She would leave him, and the mortals would design their own fates._

_Kiyeeng’s cold laughter stopped her. “You lied to me,” he sneered._

_Galia turned back. “Yes,” she said simply._

_“I still love you.” _

_The words took Galia by surprise, and she blinked. She’d seen mortals do it when they were confused, you see. “That He changes nothing.”_

_“Not yet,” Kiyeeng said. “But it will. You see, only a moon can control the tides. If you return to the stars, my power will return to me.” He stepped closer until his golden eyes were only inches from her silver ones. “And when it does, I will destroy every creature that lives on this planet. They will all die, and it will be your fault.” Galia froze, and Kiyeeng grinned darkly. “So. Will you be coming home with me?”_

_Silently, Galia followed him back, turning only once to look towards the dawn. To this day, she passes through the sky with Kiyeeng. But she refuses to walk next to him, which is why she lags so far behind. Every morning, Kiyeeng says two words to her._

_“Choose me.”_

_And every morning…_

_“No.”_

_He beats her through the day so that every evening she no longer shines pure and silver but deep scarlet. Her blood lights the darkness, and she takes comfort in the knowledge that her pain protects us. And that is how we came to have two moons, the villainous Kiyeeng and the heroine Galia._

Dare spoke first. “So Kiyeeng was the monster all along, huh? It’s one of those, ‘don’t let greed control you’ stories?”

Sim shook his head. “No.” He met the healer’s eyes. “It’s forgiveness, isn’t it? If Galia had let Kiyeeng change, had forgiven him and accepted that he could be more than a monster, she would have had a happy ending.”

The healer smiled, and her eyes faded to white. “But what if he didn’t change, and the mortals’ suffered because of it?”

“But he had changed, hadn’t he?”

“I’ll tell you a secret,” the healer said, chuckling as Dare and Sim leaned in. “If a story is true, there are no right choices.”