When the Moon Touched the Sun #15

The Sun lunged at the creature and ripped it apart with his bare hands. Anger filled him as the blood saturated him, through his red haze a low moan brought his attention snapping back to the cause of his hatred. He sank to his knees next to his Moon and drew her in to his arms. He cradled her head and looked with hopeful eyes at the wound in her chest.

“Moon. Please, my dear Moon, stay with me.” He begged willing her to heal miraculously.

The beautifully pale closed lids sprung open as the Moon cried out against the pain. “Oh it burns!” she screamed, wrenching at the Sun’s heart and drawing a grimace of grief from his face. “Help me Sun. It’s melting me, I can feel it turning me in to one like it.” She clawed in vain at the hole in her chest, pulling open the flesh slightly further before the Sun grabbed at her struggling hands.

He looked at her chest, crimson blood staining her silver garment. A black puss blobbed from the wound, spilling forth its putrid liquid. The Sun looked in horror at his beloved, she was dying and there was nothing that he could do except to stop her from tearing herself apart further.

He looked at the universe with vengeful eyes. “You.” He hissed, sun rays spilling from him and licking at the floor around the universe’s feet.

The universe took a step back and shook its head. “No, you are mistaken, I never meant for this to happen.”

“And yet it did.” His voice dipping lower still as he tried to keep a hold on his angry red haze.

When the Moon Touched the Sun #14

As the warrior fell limp on the floor the world began to lighten again, returning to its previous pale blue hue. In a short burst of light the warrior disappeared and all that remained was the sword that the Moon had made.

“What did you do!” she screamed at the universe.

The Sun grabbed at her arms and whispered in to her ear, “Moon, please, be calm, it’s not worth your death too.”

“You,” the universe brandished its sword accusingly at the pair. “You tricked me. We were to have single combat, but instead you bring in another to take your stead? You have forfeited the duel, and you shall come back to me.” It spat at the Moon.

“No.” cried the Moon. “It was never my fault, I never meant for it to happen. I don’t understand what happened.”

“That doesn’t matter, you stepped back. You forfeited.” Screeched the universe.

“No.” interjected the Sun. “You will not keep us apart this time. Never again.” No longer being the protecting figure the Sun stepped forward, shading the Moon from the universe’s wrath. “It is time you went back to where you came from.”

The universe narrowed its twinkling eyes. “Be careful, you may be one of light and heat, but you are a part of me. The more you try and run, the more I will make you suffer.”

“Then we won’t run.” Said the Sun and the universe drew back in surprise and suspicion. “Let’s make a deal.”

The Moon drew in a sharp gasp, not expecting her lover to bargain with the thing that had been trying to kill them. A silence descended as the universe considered.

Suddenly it was shattered by a horrifying scream that clawed at the Sun’s insides. He spun around and watched helpless as his beautiful Moon sank to her knees, a clawed hand retracting from her bloody chest.

When the Moon Touched the Sun #13

“What is this trickery?” the universe spat at the Moon

The Moon couldn’t reply, too stunned by what was in front of her. She shook her head in disbelief and backed further in to the Sun’s embrace.

“Enough!” the universe shouted. “Moon, you must face me! No more distractions. Fight you coward!”

In a flash the warrior plunged forward, slicing at the universe’s side, deflected at the last moment by the universe to prevent fatal damage. As the swords slammed against each other the warrior whirled around and jabbed again, but this time was deflected before any contact was made.

As the strange warrior and the universe spun their deadly dance the sky began to grow dimmer. It reached a shade of dark grey. Not quite day and not quite night, not quite dawn and not quite dusk. It was a time of its own.

While the Moon was intently watching the fight the Sun grabbed her suddenly. “Moon.” He whispered. “Now’s our chance to run away. While the universe is distracted by the warrior we can run away and hide.”

The Moon looked doubtful at his words. “Oh Sun, I don’t know. I don’t want to hide forever, I can’t hide forever. And what about our child Earth, we can’t leave it, not now.”

“But Moon,” the Sun clutched at her sides desperately. “We can be together. Please.” He implored her, sinking to one knee as an act of subservience. “Please let us be together.”

There was an awful sound of scraping metal and the two lover’s attention was drawn away from their flight. Weary on the end of a black sword the warrior sagged, the tip protruding from its armoured back. A sneer covered the universe’s face. It pulled back the sword, disposing of the armoured knight on the floor and walked towards the Moon and the Sun.

When the Moon Touched the Sun #12

Suddenly the two blades connected and a flurry of attacks were made. With each stroke that the universe used to attack the Moon only just managed to block it and very quickly she began to grow tired. Sweat pricked her brow and she tried to defend faster, occasionally throwing a weak attempted attack.

The universe laughed at the Moon. "Is that all you have? I thought you were stronger than this." it chided.

The Moon gave a quick glance towards the Sun, a look of fear flitting across her face before she became engrossed in the fight once more. The Sun looked at her, watched her fight, feared the outcome and willed her on. He thought of the battle he'd had with himself to keep going everyday, to never give up upon the chance at happiness that he could have with his dear Moon.

Towards the Moon he sent a flood of strength, strength that he'd gained from being able to know that one day, one day he could hold the Moon and smile.

The Moon shuddered as she felt power surge through her and up through her sword. The coiled sun ray shone as it was given its owners power. It grew life, intertwining more intricately with the moonbeam sword, glowing brighter.

The Moon stopped her fighting, as did the universe, both surprised at the sudden light. The universe took a step back, its eyes dimmed as the light that radiated out of the sword grew and it hated its stars that would never shine nearly as bright as that sword.

The weapon started to grow warm and vibrate and the Moon let go of it in fear, she didn't understand what was happening and she backed away from her creation in to the arms of the Sun.

The light grew brighter and all three found themselves shielding their eyes from the blinding light and so what they did not see was the warrior that was created from the beams and rays of the sun and the moon.

When the light died and dimmed, they opened their eyes and looked at the figure in wonder. Its armour was covered in silver and gold patterns. In its covered hand it held the sword, as naturally as if it were one with the being.

As they all stared at the new creature it stood still and fast, not moving an inch, but as soon as the universe tightened its grip on its sword the warrior came to life. It put two hands on the blade, standing side on to its enemy, the weapon raised.

When the Moon Touched the Sun #11

The Moon stood straighter, refusing to be provoked by the universe. Behind her the Sun stood and moved back, away from range of the fight, he knew that the deal would be off as soon as he intervened, as much as he wanted to help and keep his love alive.

The universe held out its hand, calling forth a sword of oblivion, it was as black as obsidian and sucked in the light around it, rendering the sky a little darker, like when the Sun just sinks below the horizon.

In reaction the Moon drew her sword. She clapped her hands together, then making two fists next to each other she drew her sword from the air. It had been elegantly made by the Moon's own nimble hands. She had carved one of her moonbeams, perfecting its slender form before intertwining it with a sun ray that she had caught so that it shined brighter. It was a sword that drew power from her relationship and no sword or power could match it.

The universe, upon seeing her weapon, forced a smile. It didn't bow again to the Moon, instead it readied itself for attack, sinking low to the floor, balanced, poised, waiting. The Moon too stood ready, she instead adopted defence, better to see what the universe was capable of wielding before going in for the kill.

Seconds passed, silence enveloped them, the two attackers stared at each other daring the other to make the first move.

When the Moon Touched the Sun #10

The Sun tensed his body, refusing to let himself look weak even though he had the overwhelming urge to hold his Moon and cry in to her, sob for her to stay. He reached out to her and put a hand round her neck, pulling her in closer to him so their foreheads rested on each other.

"You are so strong." the Sun whispered to her, closing his eyes and breathing in her sweet armourer, feeling her hand on his face and the electric sparks that danced through his body.

The universe watched on at this spectacle with a slight curiosity and amusement. It didn't understand why the Sun would let himself near grovel at the feet of a woman, but it enjoyed looking at the man beg.

"May we begin Moon?" asked the universe, a little impatient now.

The Moon removed herself from the Sun's grip, kissing him lightly on the forehead, and stood up turning to face the universe defiantly.

"If you truly wish to fight me, then so be it. But if I win you will relinquish your hold on both me and the Sun and promise to leave the Earth alone." an air of command now surrounded the Moon, her once timid appearance replaced by cool calculation and distinct fury.

The universe gave a single nod of agreement. "If I win, you will go back to the way you were, both of you." it looked at the Moon and the Sun as it said it.

"We agree to the terms." said the Moon with out looking at the Sun.

The universe's mouth curled in to a smile. It knew it was going to win and was filled with a burning fire of excitement. Its eyes glittered with glee and it bowed mockingly to the Moon, ready to start their duel.

When the Moon Touched the Sun #9

"So are you going to fight us or not?" the Sun said after many moments, the Moon had no nerve to speak with the universe eyeing her so greedily.

The universe turned is glittering gaze on the Sun, a faint look of superiority crossing its face as it did so. "You no." it said to the Sun. "But her," it paused and looked at the Moon again.

The Sun looked at the universe and saw a hungry look in its eyes, stars flashed excitedly. "No." said the Sun.

The universe looked down at the Sun, the look of disgust evident. "You," it spat out, walking towards the Sun with deliberate steps. "You are no where near good enough to warrant me even considering to duel you." the universe stopped two steps shy of the Sun. "Move aside." it spat again.

The Sun stood still with determination. "No. We will fight you together, or me alone, but not just her." he pushed the Moon behind him and backed up a little, pushing her backwards.

"Please Sun, don't do this, I'll do it on my own, I can defeat it." she clutched at his shoulder, trying to get his attention.

"No, Moon, I will not stand aside so you can fight this monster." the Sun glanced over his shoulder at her, his stomach twisting as he looked at his love, she was so beautiful to him, he didn't want to see her hurt. He made as if to say something else but stopped himself short and turned back to the universe.

"But Sun, what if you get hurt, or killed? Out child Earth won't be able to survive without you." as if in answer to the Moon's words the Earth moaned in pain.

"And what about me?" the Sun shouted, whipping around to grab the Moon by the arms, pinning them to her side, not caring that he had his back to the enemy. "I can't survive without you. I won't even be able to go back to the way it was before. You understand? Do you!" he shook her hard before falling to her feet, breathing deeply and clutching a fistfuls of earth.

The Moon closed her eyes and took a sharp breath, she dropped her head, hugged herself with one arm and with her other hand she covered her mouth, preventing any sobs from escaping her lips. She fell to her knees and pushed at the Sun's shoulder, encouraging him to look up at her.

"I understand." she said gently. "But while my absence will only hurt you, your absence will kill our whole solar system." she laid a hand gently on his cheek, tears glistening in the corner of her eyes. "You are far more important than I, please, let me do this, for you."

When the Moon Touched the Sun #8

Before them stood the universe, with eyes of galaxies, a black hole for a mouth and skin a pattern of stars, planets and moons, all following the bidding of their lord and master.

The Moon stared at the universe and shivered with displeasure, it was the ugly and unnatural being which stood in front of her that made her feel nervous. Now that she could see its sparkling eyes she was immediately on edge, she didn’t like the way that they focused mainly on her. She was left to wonder what it might do to her, or her precious Sun.

The Sun hadn’t noticed where its gaze rested, instead he asked, “So, you’re the universe?”

It nodded, flicking its gaze to the Sun before focusing on the Moon again. “You challenged me, did you not?”

“That we did.” Replied the Sun.

The universe made the Moon feel very tense. She could have sworn he had addressed the question to her, and just her. Why was she so important to this thing? Silence descended like a wall around them, thick and heavy.

When the Moon Touched the Sun #7

Suddenly the Sun and the Moon stopped fighting, the monsters that had once formed a massive wall of black had fallen away and they viewed the scene of devastation before them. The world let out the first whimper of battle, only now did it feel the pain of everything that had happened. The Sun turned to the Moon and embraced her, kissing the top of her head and stroking her hair.

“It’s over.” He whispered to her.

“You may have won the battle, but the war has yet to end.” A steely voice said.

Turning from each other the Sun and the Moon looked upon a cloaked figure in front of them. A hood obscured the face and folds of cloth masked any flesh, the hem sat heavily upon the floor, the excess material splayed out around him.

“The war is over.” Said the Moon. “The universe has lost.”

“No. The universe can drag you back, it will find you and then everything will be worse.”

“Nothing could be worse than what we have gone through, and the universe knows that it will never find us and it’s scared. Leave us alone, you have no business in this matter.” Said the Sun shifting his body so that he was standing slightly in from of the Moon, ready to protect her.

“I do though. The universe asked me to help and so I am obliged to. For the sake of yourselves, back down now.” His voiced raised with warning.

“Why doesn’t the universe come here itself?”

“Would you like it to?” the hooded man asked curiously.

“Yes, if it was cowardly enough to call off the battle and let us win, the least it can do is come and try to defeat us face to face.” Said the Moon refusing to let the Sun protect her, at a time like this, and stepped aside to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” the Sun asked the Moon quietly.

“Yes, we can defeat it, as one we are powerful.” She whispered back.

He nodded to her then addressed the hooded man. “We challenge the universe.”

The man nodded in acceptance of their wish. He drew up his arms and with fingers still veiled pushed back his hood.