A Grave Gamble

Quinn

I scanned the area, searching for the voice’s origin, but found no one.

Carefully, I moved forward.

A massive moon appeared overhead, slowly rotating towards me. As it neared, it seemed to shrink in size.

And there, lounging in a large crater on the moon’s surface, was Matheius.

His face was twisted into a wicked grin, his eyebrows raised in arrogance. Power had clearly gone to his head.

“I must admit, I’m surprised,” he said. “I can’t decide if I’m more impressed by your bravery or your stupidity. And look at your friend, too scared to even stand in my presence.”

I met his gaze, refusing to rise to his childish jabs.

“You do realize you’ve signed your own death warrant, right? You may be a descendant of Selena, but I can strip you of your pathetic powers with a snap of my fingers.”

“Then why don’t you?” I challenged.

“Well, we are practically ~family~, considering my creator is your ancestor. I think that deserves at least a fair fight. Don’t you?”

“Your arrogance blinds you, Matheius,” I retorted. “You can’t see the true powers you’ve yet to master.”

He scoffed at me, “And what powers would those be?”

“Love.”

“Love?” he laughed. “You, the descendant of the Moon Goddess, a demigod among men, the one who defeated my best disciple, have come all this way to tell me I don’t understand love?”

He rose from his lunar throne, nostrils flaring.

“I’ve seen love. It’s either a lie or a fantasy. Nothing more!”

“The world has been cruel to you,” I said, “but that doesn’t disprove the enduring truth of love in its purest forms. In friendships. In families. In romance.”

He leaned in close, his eyes burning with revenge.

“You naive child!” he yelled. “You have no idea what’s been done to me. The love your precious Moon Goddess used to manipulate me. And then she denied me the love I deserved.”

“Maybe it’s you who’s so immature that you can’t see where love still exists. Destroying matedom didn’t do it. Killing Selena didn’t do it.

“No matter what evil you throw at love, it will endure…long after you and I are gone.”

Matheius laughed manically, “I think not.”

“We’ll see.”

I closed my eyes and sat cross-legged on the floor.

“What’s this?” Matheius chuckled. “Trying to start a peace circle?”

I ignored his mockery.

My mind focused on one person. Someone I’d never met. But someone who, in a way, I felt I knew. Someone who, under different circumstances, I might have been.

Then I closed my eyes and began to chant. The words were foreign to me, but they seemed to come from the ancient, intuitive part of my soul.

One I had used many times before.

Suddenly, a strong wind blew through the interdimensional halls of Astria, whipping my hair around.

Through the wind, I heard Matheius shout, “You think a little wind can stop me?”

The wind roared to a deafening volume before falling silent.

I heard Matheius gasp, and I opened my eyes.

My spell had worked.

Matheius

~It can’t be her...~

~No. No, it can’t be her...~

“What kind of trick is this?” I yelled.

But Quinn didn’t answer.

Neither did the woman standing before me.

Her face was haunting.

It was a face I hadn’t seen in centuries, but one that I thought about every day.

A face that tormented me.

That fueled my anger and drove my revenge.

~Gilly.~

But it couldn’t be.

It must be some illusion. A projection created in a weak attempt to stir my emotions.

“If you think you can win me over with a light show, you’re mistaken, Quinn!” I shouted. “This ghost means nothing to me!”

“Oh, I don't?” the apparition spoke.

I recoiled.

That voice.

It had her beautiful tone. That unique richness that combined the lightness of youth with the wisdom of centuries.

That voice that used to sing such beautiful songs. Songs that would soothe my soul. Calm my anger. Bring me peace.

“G...Gil...” I whispered, “is it? Is it really you?”

She nodded and fluttered her long eyelashes.

The years hadn’t lessened their effect on me.

I was undone.

Tears began to flow from my eyes.

I ran toward her and fell at her feet.

“Oh, Gil… My sweet, sweet Gil! You? After all these years? Are…alive?”

She shook her head.

“Not in the way you think of life, Mat,” she said seriously. “I don’t follow the laws of Goddess or man, but those of the spirit. The hidden energies that align stars and souls in vital harmony.”

“Then why?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Why wait until now to reveal yourself to me? Why, after I’ve spent long, torturous years thinking you were gone?”

I looked up from her feet into her eyes.

Her deep amber eyes.

They looked at me with pity.

“It isn’t I who have failed to appear, Mat. It is you who has failed to see.”

“What are you saying?” I asked, my voice shaking, “You’ve been on my mind every single day. Every moment of my life has been consumed by the memory of you. By the love for you that never left my heart.”

She shook her head, “You’ve let our love slip away. It’s been replaced by anger and bitterness. When I passed away, your love for me faded, and your hatred for the world took its place.

“I was there so many times, just hoping you’d notice me. In every breathtaking sunrise, in every tide that ebbed, and in every gentle breeze that brushed your cheek.”

Gil leaned down to me and looked into my eyes. I could barely see her beautiful face through my tears.

“I was there in all the beautiful moments of life, Mat. But your anger made you blind to my presence.

“You never noticed me. You never noticed love. And now, you’re dedicating your life to ensuring that future generations never experience the joy we found in being mates.”

She shook her head, disappointment clear on her face. “No…you’re not the man I once loved. He would never be this selfish.”

“Gilly!” I pleaded with her, tears streaming down my face. “Please! You have to forgive me! You don’t understand the pain I went through every day. The torment of losing you. You can’t judge me for this! Please!”

I felt Gil’s cool, ghostly touch on my chin. She tilted my head back until my eyes met hers. She was wearing a sweet, melancholy smile.

“I’ll always love you, Mat. But you’re not the man I knew.

“The man standing before me doesn’t owe me an apology. No amends. Only to the world he was ready to destroy to satisfy his thirst for revenge. Until then…my love will always be out of your reach… “

“Gil… I… I…”

Before I could find the right words, she was gone.

“GILLY!” I cried out, my voice filled with sorrow.

My mind was in chaos.

Everything I thought I knew was turned upside down.

All the work I had done.

All the power I had gained meant nothing.

All that mattered was her.

How I had rejected her. How I had dishonored the love we shared. How I had forgotten it. How stupid I had been to ignore her constant presence.

The guilt of it all came crashing down on me.

I couldn’t handle it.

It was too much.

Too overwhelming.

I had to let it out. To release this anger.

I stared Quinn straight in the eyes.

It was time to finish her once and for all.

Quinn

Matheius was staring at me, his eyes filled with a vengeance that could destroy the world.

I thought that Gilly would soften him; that she would make him realize his mistakes. But instead, he had only grown more enraged.

I knew that facing the only love he had ever known would either lead him to regret or madness.

Apparently, madness had won.

His face was a clear message:

~Death.~

He was so filled with rage that I wasn’t sure if there was anything I could do to defend myself.

My plan had failed, and I was about to die.

He raised both hands, ready to strike me with one final, devastating spell.

I saw my life flash before my eyes. But then I realized that my life was lying on the floor next to me.

Jax ~was~ my life, whether we were mates or not.

And the last thing I wanted to do before I died was to kiss him one last time.

As Matheius began to chant a spell, I fell to my knees and pressed my lips to Jax’s. One last time.