ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT

                    —BEFORE the Cauldron fell into the wicked and vile hands that would seek to abuse and destroy it, the Divine Mother wielded its almighty power. She stirred its contents, breathing her life, breathing her love, into the still and frigid waters.

The sweet aroma of a new world's birth rose up on pale blue fumes, painting her first canvas above. She pressed an ardent kiss to her fingertips and delicately pulled a beast from beneath the surface of the tranquil water. On emblazoned wings, he ascended further and further into her expansive sky before finding a home just beyond her reach. Its fiery warmth repaid a gentle kiss to her nose.

Within her cupped hands she collected a delicate pool, and through her fingers, it slipped, trickling down down down in an unstoppable steady stream into the abyss. Realizing her mistake, she mourned the loss of the Cauldron's precious water. Glistening tears trailed down her cheeks until they, too, were lost among the black.

But there, in the darkness, a shimmering light!

Staring back at her from the endless shadows was a faint reflection of the beast above. Her pool of water was now a small mirror, a silver disk illuminating the gloom. And her tears, oh her tears, they twinkled in enchanting patterns beneath her, and she cried some more for their beauty. She cried and cried until the darkness was filled with her luminous euphoria.

And when she could no longer cry, she began to laugh. And as she laughed, she picked up the Cauldron and began to pour. In the space between her blazing beast and radiant ecstasy, the water took its shape.

The sound of her melodious laughter created rolling fields of flowers, forests of towering oak, lakes of shining water. It created a land of prospering flora, every petal and leaf a smile. She almost stopped there, satisfied with this world in bloom.

But this world could not survive on the cusp of rebirth forever. This world needed to live its full life. Birth to death. Beginning to end.

And so she created the heat with the help of her beast above. Passionate warmth embraced her, flushing her cheeks a healthy pink as she created the temperate shores. She did not stop until the sand sizzled against the far off inferno.

Then she created the breeze. And her skin tingled in pleasant relief. The green leaves on the oaks, before her very eyes, turned a magnificent golden brown, a color so vibrant and warm that she wished for more, more, more.

And the Cauldron delivered.

The water, so cold it was, started to change. And it hurt. This frozen water had a painful kiss of its own, and she almost wept once more for this drastic mistake, for who could ever love a land that could not love you back? But then she truly looked. And her breath left her in a sweet puff of mesmerized vapor.

All around, white. Pure, peaceful, perfect white.

Death would hurt, she concluded with a gentle smile, but it would be beautiful.

And with this smile, she created her children.

The faeries. The ones who lived.

And her humans. The ones who loved.

*

                    —THE Cauldron, after such a miraculous feat of beauty, began to tremble. It wanted discord, it wanted strife. Perfection was nothing without the existence of imperfection.

The Mother cried out as dark veins crawled up her arms, webs of ink spanning across her skin.

I gave them death! She wailed. Isn't that enough?

Death will be a blessing on this world, the Cauldron answered.

And the Mother, so tired was she, could no longer resist the pull of the almighty Cauldron. And what emerged was darkness incarnate.

This new Dark Mother, her eyes held none of the life, none of the love, the Divine Mother had graciously bestowed upon the world. In her gaze there was only corruption, only hatred.

And that corruption and hatred descended on the world full force. The Dark Mother grinned, and with this grin, terror invaded.

Atrocious creatures were unleashed upon the world. Beings who sought only to wreak havoc, to spread evil, were freed. They roamed the lands of the living and the dead, ruining the perfection the Mother had created.

She was in there, just behind the the conscious eyes of this Dark Mother. She looked on in distant horror as all she had created began to crumble.

So she fought, she fought against the binds that chained her and pulled herself to the surface.

She commanded the Cauldron, the Cauldron would not command her.

Slowly, the Dark Mother loosed her grasp. At last, after an eternity of fighting to regain her sense of life and love, the Mother returned.

And it was all she could do not to collapse. Her perfect world, tainted beyond words.

Desperately, she looked within the Cauldron to see what she could do to fix this terrible barbarity, but the water was running dry. She sniffled and poured the remaining contents into the palm of her hand, careful to not spill her last remaining hope.

She breathed her one last wish into this pond. A wish for protection, for a defense against this dark force. She wished for peace and justice, she wished for Divine Guardians.

Finally relinquishing her hold on her last hope, she delicately lowered her hand down to the world below. Seven large glowing drops of water trailed off her fingers and landed amongst the life and the love.

These seven drops would come to be known as the Divine Guardians. They would be hardened warriors, destined to protect the living. They would be harbingers of peace and justice, they would be the Mother's beloved guardians.

And over the years, this blessing took on a new meaning. The guardians evolved to protect and serve the High Lords of Prythian; seven Divines for the seven courts.

They would live and die for their High Lord, their court. Until the end of time, just as the Mother intended.

THE DIVINE CIRCLE

KAZIMYRAH
GUARDIAN OF THE NIGHT COURT

TSAVANI
GUARDIAN OF THE DAWN COURT

SERANA
GUARDIAN OF THE DAY COURT

LINDEN
GUARDIAN OF THE SPRING COURT

ANAHERA
GUARDIAN OF THE SUMMER COURT

NAZIR
GUARDIAN OF THE AUTUMN COURT

ALISTAIR
GUARDIAN OF THE WINTER COURT

NOTES ;

THIS TIME—WITH FEELING.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE NEW,
WELCOME :)
FOR THOSE OF YOU RETURNING,
WELCOME BACK :)

FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE
CONFUSED ABOUT HOW THIS
BOOK WENT FROM 12 CHAPTERS
TO ONE, I CAN EXPLAIN!

I JUST WANTED TO REWRITE IT.
SIMPLE AS THAT. THIS VERSION,
I BELIEVE, WILL BE TRUER TO
CANON AND WILL ALSO HAVE
BETTER DEVELOPED LORE.
THERE WILL BE SOME MAJOR
CHANGES AND EVEN BABY
CHANGES. MAYBE SOME SCENES
WON'T BE CHANGED AT ALL!

ANYWAY, NOW THAT I'VE GOT
THAT EXCUSE OUT OF THE WAY...
ON TO THE ACTUAL NOTES.

*

1. THIS PROLOGUE SETS UP THE FORMAT
FOR THE REST OF THIS BOOK.
HERE, WE SEE THINGS FROM THE
MOTHER'S PERSPECTIVE AS SHE
CREATES THE WORLD AND THE GUARDIANS,
AND AS SHE BATTLES HER DARKER
COUNTERPART. WE CAN SEE HER CREATE
THE SOLAR COURTS AND THE SEASONAL
COURTS WITH HER TEARS AND LAUGHTER.

EVERY CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK WILL
BEGIN WITH A SHORT SECTION THAT
IS WHOLLY IN HER PERSPECTIVE. SHE
IS...OMNISCIENT BUT SHE IS ALSO VERY
OBJECTIVE. HER OPINIONS WILL COME
THROUGH WITH THE TONE BUT SHE WILL
MOSTLY JUST BE THIS BYSTANDER—
WATCHING HER CHILDREN LIVE THEIR
LIVES.

AFTER SHE'S SET THE SCENE, KAZIMYRAH
WILL BECOME THE MAIN FOCUS POINT
FOR THE REST OF THE CHAPTER.

2. I HAVE CREATED A VERY ROUGH
TIMELINE OF EVERY SINGLE EVENT
THAT IS MENTIONED/SHOWN IN
SJM'S ACOTAR SERIES. THIS MASTERLIST
INCLUDES EVERYTHING. AND WHEN I
SAY EVERYTHING, I MEAN IT. IT HAS
ALL OF THE BAT BOYS' BIRTHS, THEIR
FIRST TIME GETTING DRUNK,
THEIR RITE, THE WAR, THE SUPPOSED
ORGY OR WHATEVER THAT SJM
TOUCHED ON AND NEVER BROUGHT
UP AGAIN (WHICH I MAY OR MAY
NOT HAVE PLANS TO WRITE OUT
WITH KAZI INVOLVED). IT HAS
LUCIEN'S BIRTH AND HIS RELATION-
SHIP WITH JESMINDA. IT HAS AMREN'S
INITIATION INTO THE INNER CIRCLE—
IT HAS THE BEGINNING OF THE INNER
CIRCLE ITSELF!
LITERALLY EVERYTHING MENTIONED.
AND THEN I WENT THROUGH AND
ADDED MY CHARACTERS AND THEIR
BACKSTORIES. THIS ALL EQUATES TO
LIKE OVER 10,000 WORDS OF JUST...
EVENTS.

SO IF ANY OF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
ABOUT WHEN SOMETHING HAPPENS IN
THE TIMELINE OR ABOUT AGES OR
IF YOU JUST WANT A FUNNY
INTERESTING FACT THAT I'VE ADDED IN
ABOUT MY CHARACTERS, PLEASE ASK!
I AM SURE THAT I WON'T BE ABLE TO GET
TO EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK SO I'D
LOVE TO JUST GIVE YOU EXTRA FREEBIES.

3. THIS FANFICTION BEGINS BEFORE
THE EVENTS OF UNDER THE MOUNTAIN.
WE WON'T SEE FEYRE OR HEAR OF HER
FOR ABOUT 6-7 CHAPTERS. DON'T WORRY,
THOUGH, THERE WILL STILL BE INTERACTIONS
WITH CHARACTERS THAT YOU WILL BE
FAMILIAR WITH.

4. FLASHBACKS WILL COME AT RANDOM
TIMES. FOR EXAMPLE, THERE IS A SHORT
ONE IN THE FIRST CHAPTER, BUT THERE
ISN'T ONE IN THE NEXT COUPLE AS
THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH MATERIAL TO
COVER IN THOSE PRESENT MOMENTS.

5. IF YOU HAVE ANY INTEREST, I'VE CREATED
A WEHEARTIT BOARD SOLELY FOCUSING
ON THIS BOOK. MY ACCOUNT NAME IS
persephne WITH NO 'O' AND THE BOARD IS
JUST CALLED ILL MET BY MOONLIGHT.
ON THAT ACCOUNT, YOU WILL ALSO FIND
BOARDS FOR UPCOMING STORIES AND
ALREADY PUBLISHED ONES (INCLUDING
THE FUTURE LUCIEN FIC THAT I'M WRITING)

8. I HAVE ALSO CREATED A PLAYLIST ON
SPOTIFY FOR YOUR ENJOYMENT.
LINK: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0DmjmSPqYrN7ho43f2V4c5?si=BH804r2pRyCn9KzYMovVpA&dl_branch=1

7. DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE
ACOTAR WORKS. ALL RIGHTS TO PLOT
AND CANON CHARACTERS BELONG TO
SARAH J MAAS. I ONLY OWN ORIGINAL
CHARACTERS AND ORIGINAL PLOTLINES.

WARNINGS : MATURE THEMES AHEAD
HEAVY VIOLENCE, GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF GORE, SEXUAL CONTENT, EXPLICIT LANGUAGE, MENTIONS OF DEPRESSION/SYMPTOMS, AND OTHER TOPICS UNSUITABLE FOR YOUNGER READERS