The Moon of Artemis

End of My Demise

I eagerly awaited Sera for our pre-planned rendezvous. As it was my last night of freedom, I was glad to spend it with the love of my life. She had known that I had just had dinner with the Duke, and of course, I informed her of what had happened as well as what I intended to do. Looking into her eyes, I could tell that she already knew what I wanted to do. She had a sadness that washed over her as she finally started to accept what I was saying. The complexity of dissonance that took over her was almost unbearable for me to witness. But we both knew it had to be done.

To ascertain freedom of myself, I had to do the one thing that would cease to ensue my existence. That, we both knew. She knew I would rather die than live a life in which I was unhappy, without a choice to live freely, or both in this case.

She took my hand and guided me to a clearing in the woods. It seemed so isolated but content. There was a large rock that sat right in the middle of it, seemingly as if it were calling to me, calling for me to beseech myself upon it. We sat on it and as we looked up into the night sky, the tall trees perfectly framed the starry night to fit our gaze. It was impeccable. We stayed like this for quite some time, in each other's grasp, not wanting time to pass by another second.

I looked at her and I said, "You are perfection in an imperfect world." She hugged me tighter. I wish I could've stayed in that moment for all of eternity. It was time. I knew it was time. She didn't want to let go, and neither did I.

But after looking through my eyes for a few moments, she said, "You deserve to have a choice."

I couldn't look at her. Tears were filling my eyes. She grabbed me closer and hugged me tightly.

Her voice quivering, she whispered, "Will you write me a poem tomorrow?"

With ultimate tragedy, I responded. "Of course, my love." As I uttered these words, tears streamed down my face.

I looked up at her, gathering the courage to face the pitiful downfall of my inevitable demise, "Whatever our souls are made of, ours are one in the same, for you are my soulmate, my love." I said.

"When can I live without you again? How can I think of your name where it means only your name and not what you left behind with it?"

"You can certainly live without me, Seraphina. Because I will never truly be gone. Even though death's touch is upon me, the goal was never to live forever. The goal was to create something that would. And I know that our love will."

"I fear for the days when you are not around. Who will recite to me poems and compose music in my honor. Who will gaze into my soul and see all that I cannot even see."

"Fear not, my love. Because when death takes my hand, I will hold you with the other and I will promise to find you in every lifetime. This love is temporary, as all good things are. But no force of heaven and earth is powerful enough to eternally separate our souls."

I grasped the dagger and pointed it at my chest as Sera placed her hand on top of mine. As promised, I took my free hand and slowly intertwined the fingers of her other hand into mine. Her warm touch comforted the fallen wings of my soon to be lifeless soul. I focused on her eyes, with tears welling up once more in mine. I nodded at her. It was time.

"May we meet again." I said hopefully, but with a heavy heart.

I was ready for death to once and for all take me into its boundless shadows. I slowly urged the pressure into my cold, undead heart. In that moment, I was nothing but the memories left in all of those who knew me.

Forbidden. Our love was. But she was my moon. My gleaming light in the misery of darkness. This was the final moment in which I had the opportunity to know her incredible soul, at least in this lifetime. To know someone as well as they knew me. To love someone more than I loved myself. In this moment in time, we were sinking into oblivion together. Our souls. Just mine and hers in this everlasting moment. But only one of us would make it out of the dark abyss, returning to reality without the person that made them complete. I plunged the dagger deeper and deeper into my chest as I disintegrated into the depths of my impermanent lifetime.

"Always and forever, my darling. Goodbye, Seraphina Augustin." I said as my last departing words echoed into her soul, obscure to the rest of existence.

"Always and forever." She said, as my consciousness started to slip into the abyss.