Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"We ran our hands over our pasts-lingering at the dents and worn edges of two hearts. And when I thought he would run away, he told me that I'd never have to fight another battle alone."
May 2020
"You didn't have to do this," the woman told her fiancé, glancing around. She held onto him harder as she saw a pair of familiar portraits.
"We all thought it was a good idea," the man said, keeping her close to him. "And it's right outside the border, so everyone can always come to see it. Do you want to see..."
The woman nodded, swallowing thickly as they waked their way to the portraits and mini shrine. They also created a space for demigods who have died after they crossed the barrier, but before twenty. Their names magically get carved into the stone, keeping them there for centuries. The ones who died from the wars, they got a portrait and a small shrine of all their favorite things.
The man claimed it came to him after the funerals when he saw her talking to the stars. He felt it was no fair siblings couldn't go visit them or their friends, both mortal and demigods. To give them someone to talk to. It meant a lot to her.
Her eyes watered as she looked at the photos, lips in a thin line.
"Do you want me to leave you alone?"
The woman glanced at her fiancé and gave a small nod. He pressed a kiss to her forehead before walking off to his own, old friend. When she looked back, she reached for her necklace.
"Hi," the woman whispered. She knew they couldn't hear her, they couldn't be rebirthed for all she knew...it didn't matter. She hoped, somehow, it got to them. "I'm getting married. I know, me? I wished you'd be there. We keep deciding whether to wait...but I'm thinking of doing a winter wedding. The sun's out less. There was also the option of waiting...but I want to be his wife sooner than later. The thought of someone actually...wanting me. It's...crazy, but I've never felt so happy in my life. I wished...I still feel guilty and heavy."
The woman glanced over at the man. It didn't look like he was talking, simply staring at the shrine of his old. She knows the guilt he holds, it was the same one that has consumed her for years.
"I think our grief is why we work so well together," she murmurs, looking back at the shrines. "We both understand the grief. We're going to my dream city. It took a lot of discussions and...well, I've joined him in a few counseling sessions-he goes, which is why he tries to convince me but I don't think I'm ready for it. I just wish you guys were here...I'm for one, sick of planning a wedding. I just want to marry him, and I know he would want a true wedding. So, it's not the worse thing in the world."
