PENUMBRA

The proud family of celestial moths, each bearing incredible amounts of strength, protect a sacred treasure given to them by a divine being. This artifact is known as the Staff of Life, capable of allowing the user to create living beings at will. The celestial family used the staff to help spread the first seeds of life across the galaxy, travelling by comet all around the cosmos. Rumors of this object spread, detailing its godlike power, leaving many with a desire to seek out the staff for their own purposes.

With the weight of protecting such a sacred object, each member of the celestial family must be ready at any moment to defend the Staff.

Penumbra's training days were just about to begin when tragedy struck. Her mother, Elsie, was killed in battle as she defended her two older siblings and her father. At the last moment, Elsie sent the staff to a secret location, keeping it out of the wrong hands for just a bit longer. Penumbra's world is suddenly turned around when she finds herself dealing with the family's fallout after her mother's passing. Untrained and unprepared, Penumbra desperately seeks to become as powerful as her older siblings. Her father however, has shut down after Elsie's passing, and he is barely able to speak - let alone train the young Penumbra.

Equinox and Solstice, mortified by what they witnessed, lash out at one another as they struggle to decide who should take the mantle that Elsie left behind. The staff's protection is now seriously compromised, and they all know it. Their father is in no position to fight, leaving the two older siblings to scramble and figure out how to compensate for their parents no longer being capable guardians. Penumbra is left disregarded, since she has yet to figure out her abilities and strengths.

Disheartened, but not defeated, Penumbra looks through her parent's things to see if there could be anything that could help them figure everything out. That is when Penumbra finds Elsie's secret notes, which detail a hidden location that she would teleport the staff to in a dire emergency. Elated, Penumbra takes the notes to her siblings, who upon reading the notes realize they are cryptic riddles that they need to solve in order to find the Staff.

Penumbra readies herself for adventure, but is told by her siblings that she should stay home since she's the youngest and can't fight like they can. She is furious at this revelation, claiming the two hotheads couldn't have figured out there were notes to begin with if she hadn't found them. Penumbra is hurt by their hesitation, and is caught in the overprotective web of her family. She doesn't want to not be there again, fearing that next time it's going to be someone else who dies when she's at home. The protests of the older siblings are halted by the presence of their father, who speaks his first words since after the tragedy.

"Penumbra…" he whispers, looking into the eyes of his youngest. His heartbroken look is burned into her memory forever. She watches as he turns to look at the two older siblings. Irvinox gestures for Penumbra to join her siblings, and as they stand together for the first time in a long time, their father holds them close.

"Stay together, protect each other, and…" his voice hitches on the last words of his sentence.

"I'm sorry," he whispers, and the four of them hug.

Irvinox then turns and falls back into his room, leaving the siblings together. Penumbra makes a stand.

"I know I can't do everything you two can, but I can't just do nothing," she pleas, her demeanor turning firey and confident. Solstice's mind changes before Equinox's does, and she holds her baby sister close.

"I have a million objections, but I can't say no to your squishy face, Penny. This means a lot for all of us," Solstice coos, as the two sisters turn to their older brother. Equinox sighs and relents, preparing their weapons for their venture into space.

Penumbra makes a wish in that moment. She wishes that she will be the sunshine in everyone's life, and that one day she might see her father smile again.