Long before you and I were even a twinkle in our parents' eyes, there lived a girl with long golden curls. She had beautiful golden skin and her face was kissed by a hundred tiny little freckles. Wherever she went, she brought light and happiness. She was full of life and had a contagious smile that made everyone around her forget their worries. And the girl was happy. She was satisfied with her life and never longed for anything more. She loved the land more than anything and she spent her days lazily lying in meadows, letting the soft grass tickle her body. She loved to run barefoot through the forest feeling the earth connect with her body every time her foot landed. She helped to make flowers grow and she cared for the animals of the land. They would lie near here, feeling warm and content in her presence. She was called Alina by the ones whom she was surrounded.
As Fate would have it one day, she crossed paths with a boy, Achlys. He was a rather strange boy. He had stark white hair and pale skin, and he didn't share the same luster as her. People didn't notice him as they did her, he didn't bring light and happiness. He sulked around, always looking down at the ground, never smiling. When he walked through the town, he seemed to take all of the happiness with him, sending people indoors and halting children's laughter. He had a profound sadness to him. He had big bright grey eyes, and when people looked into them, they would feel a cold, empty sensation all the way to their core. He spent most of his days hidden away in his home, sleeping and sulking. He began to come out only in the evenings and at night, when the rest of the people were heading into their homes to be with their families.
When the two bumped into each other, they both froze. Though they were so very different from each other, there was almost something the same in them. For awhile they just stared at each other. Then, for the first time in his life Achlys smiled. Alina smiled back, and the rest is history.
They began to spend every waking moment together. Alina showed Achlys around her forest and meadows, and taught him about taking care of the plants and the animals. Although he didn't care about them himself, he loved to watch her do the things she was so passionate about. He showed her around the town at night. How beautiful a sight it was to sit on the roofs and count the stars over the lake. They fell in love, madly and deeply.
Over the next few years they became inseparable. They talked about marriage and starting a family and growing old together. Overtime, the towns people had began to notice how things were changing. It was no longer Alina dragging Achlys around showing him the beautiful things of the town, the amazing people. Achlys was the one leading Alina around, happily chattering on. Alina's hair began to fade from her thick shiny golden curls to thin and white, broken and scraggly. Her skin lost its glow, she grew pale and sickly. Her pace slowed down and she no longer happily skipped through town, only drug her feet through the streets. She grew frail and thin, bags forming under her eyes. Her skin hung from her frame. She seemed to age beyond her years.
The townspeople sought out Achlys and told him what they had realized. They told the boy that he was stealing the life and happiness from Alina. They loved her and did not want to see her perish. Blinded by love, the foolish boy refused to believe what they were saying to him. He assured the people Alina was safe and happy.
One day, Alina was nowhere to be found. Achlys ran to the meadow to look for in the grass. He checked the flower field and the forest but he couldn't find her. He went back to her house to find her in bed sleeping . The day was bright and birds were chirping, it was so unusual of her to be in bed later than him. He kneeled by her bedside and took in the sight before him. She no longer looked like herself. She resembled an old woman on her deathbed. He lightly grasped her frail shriveled hand and began to weep. How could he be so careless? How did he not realize his love slipping away before his eyes? As he sat there, he noticed movement in the corner of the room. He turned his head to see a dark shadow looming over him. It was Death, come to take sweet Alina away. Her years cut so short.
Achlys couldn't bear to lose her. He had never known love like hers. He had never been so happy. On his knees, he begged Death to let her stay. They were supposed to spend forever together. They didn't get to have a family or grow old together.
Death made a deal with Achlys. He would give Alina her light back, fill her back up with happiness. He would also let Achlys be with her forever, he promised them an eternal life. He would give these things to him, but first, Achlys must live out a sad and lonely life for what he did to Alina.
Achlys reluctantly agreed. He knew it meant loosing Alina for now, but he so wanted to be with her again, and see her beautiful light as it had been. So, Death took Alina and placed her in the sky, where she was once again full of light. She lit the whole earth so brightly for all to see. She still helped to grow the flowers, and all of the animals and the townspeople could feel her reaching down and caressing them with a soft warmth. But, at the end of every day, she retreated into the shadows to mourn the loss of her life. Although she continued to be admired by every one for her glow and beauty, she missed lying in the cool grass, and feeling the earth between her toes.
As for Achlys, her tried many times to cut his life short to be with Alina sooner, but every time, Death came to him and told him it was not his time. He spent the rest of his days on the rooftops in town staring up at Alina and longing to feel her embrace. Though he tried with all his might, he never seem to be directly under her warmth, always in her shadows.
Achlys had lived his life never speaking to another soul again. Every night he cried for Alina. When he could no longer walk, he lie in bed, anxiously awaiting Deaths return. When Death sought him out, Achlys greeted him as an old friend. Seeing that Achlys had had the loneliest and saddest of lives, he fulfilled his promise made so many years ago. But, Death, being as cunning as it was, had tricked Achlys. He placed Achlys in the nighttime sky, so that Achlys could only come out when Alina left the sky to rest.
Achlys tried many times to linger in the sky in the early morning as Alina came out, but she refused to speak to him. He had made a selfish choice all that time ago. She didn't want to be stuck in between, she would have rather gone on with Death. Achlys was crushed. He had lived out a lonely life and was now forced to be so far, yet so close, to the only one he had ever loved.
Forever.
