EP 01

[OPENING SCENE – NIGHT – VIRELLE, A SMALL TOWN]

A quiet town lost in time. Fog wraps around crooked rooftops and winding stone streets. Lanterns sway in the wind. The sky above is pure black—no stars, no moon, just emptiness.

Narrator (V.O.):

> "They say Virelle was cursed the day it forgot the sky. No one remembers when the stars disappeared… only that they never came back."

---

[INT. VIRELLE TOWN LIBRARY – NIGHT]

LYRA (17, curious and restless) sits on the floor between shelves, surrounded by old books. Her flashlight flickers in her hand.

LYRA (muttering):

> "Something isn’t right... Every journal before 1899 stops mentioning the sky."

She reaches up and pulls a thick, sealed book off the top shelf. On its cracked leather cover, faded gold letters read:

“DO NOT OPEN.”

She hesitates. Then opens it.

---

[INT. LYRA’S BEDROOM – LATER THAT NIGHT]

Lyra sits cross-legged on her bed, the journal in her lap. The pages are empty. Until—

A word burns into the paper before her eyes:

> “REMEMBER.”

Startled, she drops the book. A single black feather flutters out and lands gently on her blanket.

---

[EXT. EDGE OF TOWN – STARFALL CLIFF – MIDNIGHT]

Lyra walks alone. The fog thickens as she nears a jagged cliff edge. A broken stone altar sits crumbling nearby.

STRANGER (O.S.):

> "No one’s come here in 100 years."

Startled, Lyra spins around.

LYRA:

> "Who’s there?!"

A boy steps out of the fog. About 18, pale, dressed in old-fashioned clothes. His eyes gleam like reflected starlight.

STRANGER:

> "The stars didn’t disappear. They were taken."

---

[INT. TOWN HALL – SAME TIME]

A dark, wood-paneled room. Shadows flicker from a low-burning fireplace. MAYOR ELWIN (70s, grim) sits with other elders.

MAYOR ELWIN:

> "The journal was opened. She’s remembering. We must stop her before midnight."

---

[EXT. STARFALL CLIFF – CONTINUED]

LYRA:

> "Taken by what?"

The stranger walks to the altar and kneels, brushing away moss and dirt.

STRANGER:

> "By the town itself. To protect a secret... something buried deep. Beneath this place."

He uncovers a silver emblem: a crescent moon entwined with an open eye.

---

[FLASHBACK MONTAGE – FLICKERING IMAGES]

A town bathed in starlight.

Hooded figures performing rituals under the full moon.

A falling star landing in the hands of a girl.

Screams, flames, shadows rising.

The sky going dark.

---

[BACK TO PRESENT]

LYRA (quietly):

> "You’re... not from here, are you?"

The stranger smiles sadly.

STRANGER:

> "I used to be. Until the stars took me back."

His body begins to glow. Pieces of him dissolve into soft light.

STRANGER (whispering):

> "Remember the truth, Lyra. Before they make you forget too."

---

[INT. LYRA’S BEDROOM – MORNING]

Lyra jolts awake. The journal is gone. But the black feather has turned into a silver pendant resting on her chest.

She rushes to her window.

The sky is still black.

---

[LAST SHOT – LYRA STARES UP INTO THE SKY]

LYRA (V.O.):

> "I remember now.

The stars weren’t stolen… they were locked away.

And the key… is me."

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