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Long ago when Day and Night were balanced
There was a Mortal who foolishly fell in love with the Moon
As a boy, when Night pulled his curtain over the sky
The Mortal would escape the confines of his home
And run to the tallest hill to watch the Moon travel solitaryily across the Sky
The Moon took notice of the Mortal
And in turn curiously sent a Fragment of itself to observe the child
Years passed and the Mortal dedicated more and more his life to the sky
He studied it, learning all that his kind knew about the Gods and their ways
The Mortal lived a happy life, unaware of the piece of the Night’s child hidden in his shadow
It came suddenly, an illness that swept over the land like a cloud rolling over the sky
The Mortal, for all his imaginings of reaching out to meet the Gods above
Found himself below at Death’s door
Unable to do nothing as the child he watched grow into a man suffer
The Moon, with the swiftness of a bold raven, robbed the Sun of one of his Rays
And used it saved the Mortal’s life
To the masses, it was a miracle
But to the Gods, it was a theft
A Mortal’s life had been stolen away from Death
And the Ray used to save him stripped from the Sun
Without a soul to tell the name of the guilty and no one to punish
The Gods decided to take the Mortal from the Earthly Plane in exchange
Both Sun and Death arrived on the dawn of the brightest day
Hailed by heavy Rain and flashing Lightning
The Sun laid eyes on the Mortal and was enraptured by his beauty
Caught unaware, the Mortal fought with all the strength he could muster
But in the end his it was his people that offered him to the Gods, afraid of their wrath
By dusk, the Mortal was carried away into the sky
Once in the sky, Death prepared her scythe
But the Sun interrupted her, bargaining for the rights to the Mortal’s life
He offered one one of his prized Rays and the Mortal’s mortality
Death agreed, satisfied with the trade
The Mortal, now broken, deprived of seeing the Night’s sky and fear of Death
Became a hollow husk of what he used to be
Hollow, but beautiful nonetheless, like a child’s doll
The Sun took no note of the change
And ordered those of the daytime sky to prepare the wedding
News of the future union spread quickly
Carried to every corner of the world on the back of the rambunctious Wind
And stories of the Broken Mortal’s beauty passed on by word of mouth
This was not the first bride that the Sun would take
It was not a secret that the Sun prefered mortal brides
But sadly, mortal souls could not survive in the Realms of the Gods
So, each soul would fade as time went on
Eventually joining those before them as one of the Sun’s Rays
“This Mortal is different,” the God’s whispered
“It’s lost its morality,” they argued
Without mortality, the soul would never fade
The Gods rejoiced for the King of Daylight had finally taken on a worthy bride
All but one God prepared gifts and their finest garb
One lonely God who steeled their heart and dawned the color of the night
On the Day of Fate
The Broken Mortal stood before the Gods in the Sun’s Palace
A weak presence among a pride of lions
On the outside, he kept his head up, eyes sharp, smile never wavering
On the inside, he wanted to scream, to fight, to run
But in his heart he knew, nothing could stop what was ahead
The vows were brief
For the Sun knew nothing but the Broken Mortal’s beauty
And the Broken Mortal had no words to say
The Goddess of Life blessed them with a stem of mistletoe
And the union was complete
The Sun and his Bride danced in the light of Midday
The Bride’s smile so bright it could rival a Ray fooled every God but one
The Moon watched in silence as a single tear fell from the Sun’s Bride’s eye
As Dusk arrived the Sun’s Bride escaped the crowded room
He found a garden hidden from view
Where he thought himself to be alone
And he allowed himself to let fall the tears he had held so well
Not one touched the ground
For, from the Sun’s Bride’s shadow emerged a dark figure
It caught his tears and kept them close
The Sun’s Bride raised his head to look at the figure
And before it could hide
He recognized the gleaming light of the Moon in its eyes
The shadow moved to escape
Fearful of what would happen if the Sun found them together
But the Sun’s Bride begged for it to stay with him
Heart torn from seeing the other in such a state
The Fragment of the Moon’s shadow remained
The Fragment comforted the Bride all it could
But in the end, could do nothing to ease the pain
So, in quiet they stayed there
Two broken things clinging to each other in the garden of the Sun’s Palace
When Dawn passed by the garden
The Fragment returned to its place in the Bride’s shadow
And the Sun’s Bride found himself without comfort again
Weeks passed and the Sun’s Bride spent his days acting
Acting as if he was delighted, honored, content with his life
For anything else would’ve been unthinkable to the Gods
The Sun took care of his every needs, what more was there for a Mortal to want?
But from the time that Dusk danced across the sky
Until Dawn painted the it rose gold
The Sun’s Bride found himself in the company of the shadowy Fragment
And in its presence, he let down the walls he’d built
The Fragment listened to the truths, the worries, the fears of the other
But it could do nothing to ease them
It wanted nothing more than to free the other from his gilded cage
Yet it did not have the strength to oppose the power of the Sun
In their time together a bond formed between them
One stronger than the oath that tied the Bride to the Sun
A bond arising from a fledgling love, as passionate as it was dangerous
Neither thought they could change the hand Fate had dealt them
Until the Day of Tears came to pass
The Sun’s Bride could no longer pretend
He lashed out against the Sun who returned the slight in kind
The Fragment appeared the moment the flames were unleashed
The fire took hold of the Fragment as it protected its one love
The light of the blaze cast gruesome shadows on the cloudless sky
Frightening the Mortals who watched from below
When the last ember died the Fragment was gone
And again, the Sun’s Bride was left terribly alone
For the first time the Sun’s Bride allowed himself to cry mournful tears before the Gods
Many were confused, the Joyful Bride’s demeanor had turned to anguish in an instant
“Why?” they asked, but no one could answer
The Bride’s tears fell from the sky and all those on the Mortal Plane felt his sorrow in their bones
Memories the Fragment carried now returned, the Moon caught as many as they could carry
And that night a collection of crystalline tears painted the sky
The Mortals admired the new sparkling lights decorating the formerly dark expanse
“Stars” they called them, and the word spread like wildfire over their Plane
The Gods looked on in amazement as the Sun’s Bride’s skin took on an unearthly glow
His eyes began gleaming with newfound power
His presence radiating unknown strength
Using this strength the Stars rose from where he had fallen in mourning
Unfamiliar, but not unwelcome, energy flowed through him
And with it he did what he had wanted since taking his first step into the Sun’s Palace
He ran
Not even the Sun could stop the raw power of a new God fueled by a raging storm of emotions
And so, the Stars crossed the border from the Daylight Sky into the Realm of the Night
Where the Moon awaited him
And illuminated by the thousands of glittering lights
They shared a tender embrace
For the first time able to show their love to Gods and Mortals alike
They kissed
For the first time unafraid of the consequences
And the Moon whispered gentle words in the Stars ear
For the first time knowing they would never be apart again
“Welcome home”