Through Time and Space: A Love Story

Chapter Five: 'Tis the Season to be Heartbroken

WARNING: This chapter is NOT for the faint of heart. It contains very dark and mature themes. If you are sensitive to these kinds of things, I encourage you to skip this chapter entirely.

   A soft knock startled Maeve awake. She hopped out of bed to answer it. It was Lian. What was she doing here in the middle of the night?
   "Hey sleepy head," Lian said.
   "Lian, why the hell are you waking me up at..." Maeve looked over at her clock for the time. "3:26 in the morning?"
   "There's something I want you to see," she replied, taking one of Maeve's hands. She led her to the courtyard where snow was softly falling to the ground. Crosswind Hold hadn't gotten snow in ages. The sight was so beautiful that Maeve almost forgot how to breathe.
   "I can't believe it's actually snowing," she said incredulously.
   "You can thank those two for that," Lian said pointing up. Up on a tall spire, Maeve saw two figures standing atop the pillar. It was Jenos and Imani! They came together to make it snow for the sake of Christmas. But the snow wasn't the only surprise they were given for the holidays: bright lights streaked across the sky at high speeds. Maeve had only heard about this in stories. She thought they were fairy tales or something of the past. Yet here she stood, witnessing her very first meteor shower.
   "There's an ancient legend from the humans that if you made a wish on a shooting star, it would come true someday," Lian said wistfully. "I'm not sure how much truth there is to that myth, but it is a really nice thought. It keeps people hopeful for a brighter future. It did that for me."
   "When was that?" Maeve asked.
   "It was before I became the Scion. I wasn't sure what to expect going into this. Everything the rest of the Council told me only sounded ethical. I never would have imagined that I would be tricked into becoming a tyrant. That sort of thing was never my intention. I just wanted to be respected and inspirational," she lamented. "Even then, I hoped things would get better. I just never imagined that I would need you to tell me what was best for me." She turned to Maeve and smiled. "I'm thankful you were there to save me from that path of destruction. I couldn't ask for a better friend."
   "Thank you, Lian," Maeve said to her.
   "I'm glad I was able to make such a big difference for you."
   "I wish I knew how to do the same," Lian sighed. "The best I can do is tell you not to lose hope. Everything happens for a reason. Those reasons may not make sense now, but when you find true love, all of the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place." Once again, Maeve was surprised that someone else knew about her search for love.
   "How do you know about that?" she gasped.
   "Oh, come on, Maeve," Lian said exasperated. "I saw the change in your demeanor the moment you asked about Ash. I've always known you had a thing for girls, I just didn't imagine you would fall for Ash. You two are like night and day. In some aspects, you're like that in a literal sense." Maeve was unable to speak. All she could do was stare at Lian dumbfounded. She grabbed the locket from around her neck and opened it. In it were two pictures: one of Lian, the other of Kinessa. "You're not the only bisexual girl around here, you know." She closed the locket and placed it back around her neck. "Truthfully, it's not just the girls. There's just a lot of LGBT people around here you don't know about." That thought was comforting to Maeve.
   She finally took notice of her surroundings and realized that all of the Champions were out in the courtyard admiring the snowfall and meteor shower. All except for Ash and Pip, that is. She must be fast asleep in that medical room. Maeve was a little disappointed that her best friend wasn't there to watch everything with her. She really wanted them to enjoy their first Christmas together. Instead, she was stuck watching over her ex girlfriend while Pip was performing surgery. Strangely enough, though, was that Pepper had came out in Pip's absence. Vulpines weren't usually too keen to the cold, preferring to live in temperate climates year-round.
   The Champions stayed outside, enjoying the first snowfall of the year until the sun came up over the horizon. They talked for hours about the beauty of the snowfall and making wishes on shooting stars. When they finally decided to head back in, they all walked to the throne room together. Much to everyone's surprise, the kitchen staff was waiting for them with a Christmas breakfast feast. There were pancakes, waffles, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, muffins, bagels, doughnuts, and various fruits and pastries, including Maeve's famous cookies.
   "Merry Christmas!" the kitchen staff said in unison. Everyone was amazed by amount of food that was prepared for them.
   "What a wonderful way to start this morning off!" Lian said. "Everyone dig in!" The Paladins and the Magistrate staff alike all began piling plates with food to celebrate the holiday together. Maeve herself settled for pancakes, bacon, blueberry muffins, buttercream puff pastries, and her usual glass of milk. The food was fantastic. But it would have been better if she could have Ash sitting by her side.
   As if on cue, Ash walked in with her ex girlfriend to join everyone for breakfast. Maeve's heart fluttered at the sight of her best friend. She nearly ran out of her seat to hug her. Instead, she waited for them to get their plates first. The first sign something wasn't right was when Ash's ex grabbed a plate, but she didn't. Ash looked oddly upset. Maeve had to know what was going on.
   "Hey Ash!" she called out. "Come sit with me!" Ash looked over at Maeve and seemed as if she wanted to cry. Straightening herself up, she made her way to where Maeve sat and joined her at her table.
   "Hi Maeve..." she said sadly.
   "What's wrong, Ash?" Maeve asked. "Is everything alright?" A tear rolled down her face.
   "Listen, I need to tell you something," she finally began. "Helen and I....we got to talking last night. We had a lot of time together since I was stuck watching her anyways, but that's besides the point. The point is, she and I decided we wanted to try a relationship again. I figured I would tell you first before we made anything official."
   Maeve went dead silent. Ash might as well have just shot her in the heart. That's how much this news hurt her. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think straight. How could she do this to her? They had just started something beautiful and now, she was throwing it all away? Maeve couldn't believe what she was hearing.
   "I understand that this upsets you," Ash continued. "I'm really sorry about-" Maeve cut her off by holding one of her knives to Ash's throat.
   "I've heard enough," she growled. "I don't want your fake apology. It's bullshit for you to say you're sorry and you know it." Her appetite gone, Maeve threw the rest of her food in Ash's face and ran out of the room. She kept running until she got to her old dorm af slammed the door shut, locking it behind her. She fell to the floor sobbing. She couldn't believe that the girl who was supposed to be her first true love had just betrayed her like this. Maeve cried for hours, ignoring anyone who came to try to comfort her.
   The whole time she stayed locked in her room, she kept replaying Ash's words in her head. It drove her insane. She couldn't handle it anymore. She grabbed one of her knives from her side and slashed her wrist open. The pain it caused felt good. So she made another cut. Then another. Then another. She watched with satisfaction as the blood drained from her arm. She hoped she would bleed out and die. Death sounded like a better alternative to seeing Ash being affectionate with someone else.
   Before long, Maeve began to feel lightheaded. Her vision became distorted. The sensation made her giggle. It soon turned into hysterical laughter. Then she passed out. She drifted in and out of consciousness and could hear people shouting all around her. There was a loud crash as her door was broken down. Then she was moving fast. She could see the blurred faces of Jenos, Furia, Pip, Pepper, and Seris all around her. They must have been taking her to the emergency room. Why would they do that? Why didn't they let her die? The next thing she knew, she was in a bed with gauze around her arm. Then she saw Furia placing a mask over her face and her vision went black.

   When Maeve finally regained consciousness, the room was dark. There was an IV attached to the arm she had cut open. There were stitches where she had made incisions with her knives. When she looked to her left, Seris was sitting in a chair watching her.
   "You're finally awake," she said. "Just what the hell were you thinking trying to kill yourself like that?" Maeve started silently crying once again.
   "Why does it matter?" she said hoarsely. "You should have let me die. I don't want to be here anymore."
   "Getting your heart broken is no excuse to put an end to your life," Seris snapped. "Sarah and I both felt despair when it occurred to us that we had been trying to kill each other for years, yet we stuck it out in the end. Do you know what it's like having voices in your head telling you to kill your own sister?" Maeve didn't answer her. The guilt made her feel stupid.
   "You may be 28 years old, but your actions are like those of a foolish child," Seris said softly. "What she did to you was wrong, but you shouldn't punish the rest of us for her reckless actions. There are far too many of us who would miss you if you were gone. You may despise her now for her betrayal, but I know you still care for the rest of us. Unless, I'm wrong to assume so." Maeve was silent for a moment.
   "You're not wrong," she finally said.
   "I understand what you did was out of despair, but it isn't the end of the world. There are still plenty of other opportunities," she assured her. Seris reached down and picked up the snow globe Jenos had given to Maeve.
   "How did you--?" Maeve couldn't finish her sentence because the fake snow finally stopped swirling. She could see what was hidden by it all along. There were little plastic figures of herself and Jenos.
   "This is what the snow globe was really for," Jenos said, emerging from the shadows. "I gave it to you to show you that love can be found in the most unexpected places and from the people we never would have imagined."
   "So then, this was all a test?" Maeve asked. Jenos nodded. "Then I don't want anyone else. I want you instead."
   "I was hoping you would say that," he replied. Jenos came over to Maeve and the two kissed. If he was going to be the one to bring her healing, then so be it. She didn't need Ash in her life anymore. Instead, she was going to focus on Jenos. Maeve didn't know what a relationship with a god had in store for her, but it was the best decision she could have made.