Chapter Text
Everyone knows the saying. Selemene loves to collect broken things.
Her love has always been conditional, though. Luna knew that now, feeling more broken than ever, bleeding out on a dark battlefield - her goddess nowhere in sight.
Selemene had taken everything from her. She felt like a prized bull, raised and praised to stand tall, only to realize her true purpose laid on the plate of others more powerful than she. Luna had done exactly what she was trained to do: dedicate herself to the goddess and follow her every command. Instead of glory, at the end of the line, she found herself alone but for the screams of the lives she’d ended, berating her every breath, reminding her of all that she’d done. And all for naught.
In what she in her relief assumed were her last moments, she knew she deserved this. She had done horrible things. Truly heinous things. Unforgivable sins, all committed in the name of a woman who had done nothing but abandon her when she needed her the most.
She was gone, and all that was left of Luna laid alone, the weight of her sins too heavy for a last attempt to hold on. She admired the young elf that had defeated her but knew that despite it all, Luna had still won. An awful, cruel smile spread across her bloodied face as she let the thought consume her for a moment. An eye for an eye, she supposed. Blood for blood. A murderer creates a murderer. She laughed, coughing up blood. She knew better than any that revenge and murder were a dark path, one that thanks to Luna’s massacre of her pod, the elf would walk alone.
The world is cruel.
Boots thundered against the earth and blood fell hot on the sacred ground as the battle raged on without Luna.
She wondered how many of her friends were already dead. Well, it had been a long time since she considered anyone that. In war, it is best not to have friends.
None can be above the goddess Selemene in my heart.
She had always reminded herself of that, and truly Luna did try to keep it that way. Selemene had taken her in, changed her life, given her an army to lead. Even now, she had a hard time disavowing the goddess. But she knew that Selemene wasn’t alone in being the woman that Luna loved. Lying to others had always been easy, but lying to herself was significantly harder. She knew her own bullshit when she heard it, and she’d been hearing it a lot lately. But life hadn’t been the same since Mirana’s banishment, and she was tired of pretending that she didn’t care.
Mirana was perhaps the only woman Luna truly loved, in an undying “I know you and understand your flaws, yet I still love you” kind of way. Mirana was certainly the first woman to ever love her back. The thought made her smile as she gazed into the stars above.
Maybe we will die together.
An afterlife with Mirana sounded nice.
It was selfish to wish this, Luna knew it. Mirana was the kind of person who only exists in fairytales and fables, and the world needed her - their people needed her. So honest, so true, so loving, so caring, and so capable. It still felt like a dream that someone like that would care to share a private moment with… someone like her.
Was I ever even a leader? Or just a blind angel of death?
Mirana had always been the kind of person who made you feel important just by being around her. She commanded the very trees to her will, but at her heart were always the needs of others. And she was funny, too. A very warm person to be around, especially in the intimate moments the two shared. There had been days when Luna believed that perhaps the world really was good and that she and Mirana could lead their people together, as wives.
It had been a long time since she had felt the warmth of Mirana. Even before her exile, their relationship had grown fraught. For many moons, Luna had missed her as if part of her own soul were gone, but acknowledging that had always felt like an admission of weakness.
Beside Mirana, she felt strong. On her own, there was always something to prove. Someone to hurt. A rebellion in need of being crushed.
Crushed.
Crushed…
Crushed.
Luna could feel herself fading. What more was there for a failed knight of the Nightsilver woods to live for? She had ignited a bloody war that was sure to lead to the deaths of many of her people, including perhaps the woman she loved. She would never atone for her crimes, no matter the outcome.
Some people are beyond saving - too broken for even the moon to heal.
The world around her began to echo, sounding distant as if she were drowning in the pools back in her home.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
She could feel the cold ground beneath her vibrating as someone rode by, maybe to put an end to her misery. Luna heard a light groan as the rider dismounted, and braced herself.
Will they be merciful and slit my throat?
Instead, a warm hand placed itself securely on her shoulder, and an uncharacteristically somber voice found its way into Luna’s ears.
“Let me help you.”