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The Moon had grown bored.
As apathetic as he was, he had wished that something would happen to quell the restlessness within his mind, the restlessness within the mind and body of his other half.
After encountering an odd band of individuals who had solved their riddle, not a lot had happened after that. He and the Sun stood guard within the stable and kept watch over its treasure, even though there was not much they were guarding it from. (And with his other half’s insistence that he label the well as “The unlucky well. Whatever is wished, the opposite will happen.”, he supposed the message would ward off those dull enough not to realize it’s simpleness).
Those who had been able to solve their puzzle, they observed from the shadows, had made some peculiar wishes, though nothing that gave them the need to intervene. An increase in gold wished some, a lute for another, and (one that had grabbed the Sun’s attention), a pair of wings sprouted from one’s back, as if they had planned to use them to fly into the sun as Icarus foolishly once had.
After the strangers had left with their heiress, the knights had regained enough energy to retain their physical forms once more, and had each taken shifts at guarding the main entrance, secretly wishing that their heiress would return once more for a visit.
Their heiress. Their creator.
Bella.
Their friend.
It had been a long time since she had come for a visit.
The knights missed her.
Her absence was getting to the Sun, the Moon could tell.
He was as energetic and bubbly as usual, however rather than the warm glowing happiness that most prominently radiated from him, in its place stood an air of anxiousness that made the knight a lot jumpier, and thoughts of worry constantly danced in his head, if the quiet mutterings and handwringing were anything to go by.
To most, the knave was reserved and apathetic, staying true to his title and telling only lies to those who happened to stumble upon them. But when it came to the other, his other half, the Moon fought internally against the lies that threatened to break free from his lips and utter words of hatred to the other.
As the Sun became more anxious, the easier it became to repress those lies, and the easier it became to show sympathy and empathy towards his other half, often uttering reassurances from across the short way that was the stable around them. A lighting of a hand on his shoulder, a pat on the head that everything was alright, that he needn’t worry.
The Sun appreciated that the Moon was only soft towards him, reserved this kind side of himself for the Sun, and soaked up every reassurance like a sponge, holding it within, hoping it would quell the doubts that Bella would ever return for a visit plaguing his mind.
A few days had come and gone, and the night sky was above them once again, hues of deep blues and blacks painted across as stars and constellations speckled the canvas of the night. The Moon was standing guard at the front while the Sun remained inside, watching over and caring for the well, something the Moon had suggested to keep his mind and body busy as his anxiousness had worsened.
The Moon began to feel doubt creep into his mind as well, and something akin to dread pooling in his stomach, churning ever so slowly. He kept these feelings to himself however, not wanting to burden his other half with his worries when he was dealing with enough of his own as is.
…What if the Sun was right?
What if their heir- Bella (he promptly told himself)… never returned?
Had she grown tired of them? The Moon had remembered her speaking joyously of a castle filled with servants and all the friends she could ever imagine.
She had sounded so happy.
Maybe he and the Sun weren’t enough for her.
Not anymore.
Before his thoughts could continue their downward spiral, a pair of none-too-distant footsteps demanded his attention, and he straightened his previously slouched stance, hand ghosting over the sword’s hilt that rested at his side.
“Sunny.” He quietly called.
“Yes Moony? What is it?” Came a meek reply from within the stable.
The Moon winced at the sound, but pushed it aside for now. He cleared his throat.
“We’ve got a pair approaching.”
“Are they hostile? You know I’m always ready to spring into battle, but… I just, don’t feel too up for it right now.”
“They don’t appear to be. Just travelers, let’s hope. One tall, one short. Nothing muscled like the lizardfolk or dragonborn from the last group, but keep your guard up.” Softening his tone, he uttered, “I don’t want anything happening to you.”
Hearing a sudden but familiar shuffling beside him, the Moon turned to look at the Sun. Behind the helmet, he could see the dark circles under the piercing white eyes, a strong contrast to his usual bubbly appearance. He too held a firm posture, but was struggling to maintain it, clear evidence that sleep was fleeting once again that night. The Sun placed a hand on the other’s shoulder.
“I don’t want anything to happen to you either, Moony. A-and nothing will happen to you! Because I’m right here with you, and I’ll make sure that no matter who we’re up against, if they even try and harm you, that they’ll have to go through me first!” He laughed, but it came out more melancholic than he intended.
They both winced behind their helmets.
“I know you will Sunny, you always do… Now, let’s see who we’re up against tonight.” With that, his gazed returned forward, locking onto the now nearer pair. His other half mirrored him just as a tiefling and a halfling came into view.
As they watched the tiefling and the halfling fade into the fog of the night, the Moon slowly ran his hand up and down the Sun’s back in an attempt to soothe the sobbing knight. A tear rolled down his own cheek as the story of the strange halfling -Valentina, he remembered- repeated in his mind.
He had never empathized with anyone other than the Sun before, but something about this halfling’s story struck a chord somewhere deep within him, that caused his apathetic façade to falter, if only for a moment.
Their family had been cursed, with seemingly no way out.
He and the Sun related to this indubitably.
They weren’t born, they were created. They didn’t consider the reality of their existence a curse, at least not completely. They were brought about by magic, with the initial purpose of being companions to the heiress, now guardians of the well.
They had also never strayed from this stable either, never seeing what lay beyond it, only hearing through tales from their creator. They didn’t mind this life… or, so they thought.
Upon listening to Valentina however… they now questioned their entire existence.
The stress of the past few days, coupled with the halfling’s tale had caused the Sun to break down, heaving heavy sobs as he curled into himself, slowly lowering to the floor as he hid his face in his hands. Hearing his other half like this broke the Moon’s heart, the Sun’s grief-stricken wails piercing through to the tender spots in his chest until he too finally gave in and silently wept, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hands.
“The feeling was always there,” he remembered saying. “that something was not quite right with us. Now we know what that feeling is.” He paused to take a breath, and was about to continue until he was abruptly cut off.
“WE’RE TRAPPED IN HERE! WE-WE CAN’T LEAVE THIS REALITY! WE’RE S-STUCK LIKE THIS FOREVER!” The Sun had shouted, before curling back into himself as his sobbing increased in volume, and he was shaking violently. Shocked, the Moon wasted no time in pulling the Sun towards himself. The Moon looped his arms under the other’s and pulled him closer, his cheek now buried into his chest plate. The Sun was laying belly-down now, and didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms tightly around the other in a bone-crushing hug, a desperate plea to not. let. go. In response the Moon hugged him even closer, and brought a hand to gently caress the back of the Sun’s head, rubbing his thumb in slow swirling motions to soothe the other. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you. The motion said. The Moon rocked back and forth slowly. The Sun continued to wail.
As sensitive to the moment as possible, the halfling slowly held out a piece of fabric to the Moon, and quietly informed him that it was from Bella upon seeing his curious gaze. Still rocking his other half, the Moon silently nodded, accepted the fabric gently between two fingers, and motioned for the pair to head to the well to collect what they required. He was curious as to what his heiress was up to and why these two were sent with a piece of her dress, but his mind was much too preoccupied with his other half to properly process it.
The pair quietly bid their thanks and left, closing the door to the stable and leaving the knights alone.
The Moon let out a choked whimper that he’d been holding in his throat as his eyes watered. He allowed himself to cry silently as he continued to comfort the Sun. He squeezed him reassuringly and rest his chin on the other’s head, slowly rocking the both of them as he shushed his other half.
As the memory slowly faded, the Moon looked over to see that the Sun’s sobbing had finally slowed to quiet sniffles and whimpers, and was now rubbing at his eyes. The Moon continued to run his hand up and down the other’s back, and continued to do so until the Sun stopped crying.
They were trapped. In the stable, in these woods, in this universe.
They were destined to live out their days here.
They would always have each other.
That, at least, was enough for them.
A thundering boom suddenly shook the world around them, and the ground rolled. Sheets of dust and dirt that had layered the walls floated in the air, bits of the well cracking and breaking off, crumbling to the ground. The Sun would’ve lost his balance had it not been for the Moon swiftly moving to grab him by the wrist and heave him upright. They shivered.
“M-Moon? W-What was that?” The Sun’s voice tremored, panicked gaze darting to and fro until the Moon’s piercing red eyes captured his attention.
For once, the Moon appeared just as puzzled as he was. His red eyes glowed in the darkness of the night as he looked about their surroundings, silently observing.
“I don’t know Sunny,” He turned to look back at him, “I don’t know…”
Something within him lurched, his heart hammering away in his chest, and with one tight squeeze to the organ, the Moon dropped to the ground, wheezing desperately as he curled onto his side. He clutched at his chest, and wrenched his eyes shut as his face screwed into a grimace. Hearing a loud gasp, a shout for his name, and a sudden thud paired with pained whimpering, the Moon forced his eyes to open just the slightest bit to confirm what he’d feared.
The Sun had gone down in the same fashion, and was curled fetal just as he was.
“M-Moony…” The Sun wheezed, before whining, bringing his knees to his chest as best he could, but only achieving about half-way. The Moon glanced over to movement in his peripheral, which turned out to be the Sun’s hand, gliding so agonizingly slow it hurt to watch, to reach over to the Moon. After a moment, his hand faltered and began falling to the ground, to forever rest in that spot. The Sun began to cry at this.
Not wanting to cause his other half any more pain than he was already in, the Moon forced his hand to grab onto the other’s. He succeeded, lacing their fingers together ever so delicately. With his last bit of quickly fleeting strength, the Moon rubbed his thumb gently across the Sun’s knuckles, begging for the action to be a reassurance to the Sun that he was still here, that he wasn’t going to abandon him.
Tears of relief cascaded down the Moon’s face when the Sun weakly squeezed back.
He’d gotten the message.
“Moony…”
“I-I’m right… here Sunny… you’re o-okay…” he rasped.
“W-What happened?”
What had happened?
Why were they laying down?
Why was the ground shaking, and screaming out in the distance?
…
It suddenly clicked.
Yes, that’s right. The Moon remembered now.
When they were first created, Bella had told them quite seriously -which was an odd tone to hear coming from someone as sweet as her- that if and when she was to die, that they would disappear as well, since they were created from her imagination.
That must be what was happening now.
That realization made the Moon sad.
It made him so, so sad.
…
He had to tell the Sun.
He didn’t want to.
…
He had to.
He owed him that much, and so, so much more.
Weakly squeezing the other’s hand to get his attention, the Moon waited until the Sun squeezed back to speak.
“B-Bella’s…gone.”
The Sun gasped weakly.
Oh how that sound made the Moon’s heart hurt.
“Gone…?”
“…Dead.”
“…oh…”
A pause.
“…us too.”
“…why?”
That one word.
The Moon didn’t know how to respond.
“…Moony?”
“…Sunny?” He weakly looked at his other half.
“…don’t go.” The Sun closed his eyes and leaned his head forward. The Moon knew what he wanted, and happily obliged.
“I won’t.” He closed his eyes one final time and mirrored his other half.
They rested their foreheads together.
Their fingers were laced.
Their breathing slowed.
“…thank you.”
“…welcome.”
Their hearts stopped.
Two bodies lay lifeless, before the breeze swept them away, ashes of imagination into nothingness.
They always had each other.
That was enough for them.
That was enough.