The Jewel Stone

Mary's shoes pounded against the inky black dirt. It was cold. With each exhale, her breath danced lightly before it died. She was kind. Even in this hell-hole, her hands were supple, skin sweet. She did not deserve this.

"Come on!" she yelled.

Mary's feet crossed an impressed line in the raven mud. "Won! Again."

I marveled at her. We started racing every morning again in order to build up our stamina for the winter. I was muscular, legs long and far-reaching yet somehow she always still beat me. I suppose that's why she's been chosen. I willed my feet across the marked line, annoyed and defeated.

"Pay up!" Mary mused. She was sitting upright now, her sultry blonde hair had unchained itself from the string she'd used to tie it up with. Everything she did glowed, even after all this time. The way she lifted her hands behind her ears, battling the recklessness of her long, thick curls. When she smiled, her two front teeth reached towards each other ever so slightly as her freckled nose scrunched and her eyelashes flapped, heavy, as if to be the single source of wind behind a raging storm.

"Hello?" Mary pressed on. "I seem to have lost you again, Ansel. No matter, you won't get out of your payment this time. And combining it with my birthday gift doesn't count." It was October 1st, twenty-two years and three hundred and sixty four days after Mary was discovered on this supposedly lifeless planet.

"Right," I replied, still catching my breath. Mary leaped up and patted me on the shoulder. "Come on, we ought to get back before sundown."

I trailed behind her as we walked, scanning the dark, barren forest for any oddities. All that was left of this trail was dirt and leaves, save from an occasional protruding dull stone. Mary had already collected anything worth admiring. I could tell she was scanning for anything she might have missed. She never did trust herself. I sometimes wondered how much of an issue that'd pose to be when the reality of her purpose was finally revealed to her. My father used to tell me stories of this planet before the Wake, before Mary. Supposedly structures stood hundreds of feet tall with intricate and glorious cities, cobbled paths made of rubies and gold. Merchants and magicians and artists wandering from town to town with music playing at bizarres and holidays called 'Festivals of the Sun.' Not even on my home planet of Gaia were those things I'd known. As a little boy I'd dream of such visions. As I got older, I stopped dreaming as much. When Pa was Snatched on a mission here and I was drafted, I stopped dreaming at all.

Until I met Mary.

She always seemed to be two steps ahead, no matter what I did. It was excruciating that the way she moved and spoke and sang and questioned and cried and laughed held my entire being-ness. And yet, the grave risk of losing myself in being together was not lost on me. I am here only to protect our planet.

"There you are again, off in that peculiar, beautiful head of yours..." Mary looked like she'd just been for a light jog, not impressed with the impurities of a grueling workout but enlivened by the movement, cheeks rosier, lips redder. She looked back at me over her slender shoulder; it was a wicked type of beauty she possessed.

"I..." Mary hesitated before she proceeded softly, revealing words that she might have been holding on to for quite some time. "I know you're hiding something from me."

I ignored her curiosity as I so often did.

I looked down at my feet as we walked, finding my clothes a mess and laden with sweat. Irrelevant were the good looks my friends used to say I'd had. They didn't mean anything for I'd never known a greater, more moving beauty than that of Mary's pure heart. And I swallowed hard, perhaps in an attempt to grasp how someone like her could even begin to love somebody as afraid as I was.

I could still feel her gaze on me. She slowed her pace before she reached out to intertwine her delicate fingers with mine. It was unbearable.

"What if, for my birthday, we found something new for my collection? Maybe something living?" I gave her a brief look. Our dead surroundings were self explanatory. "You know, you don't always be so pessimistic, Ansel." Mary stared up into the darkening sky. So many questions she had. She must've. She sighed, trudging on.

Back at the cave, the sun had completely fallen. Trinkets of all kinds lined the far side of our shelter, a single jewel perched at the center of Mary's findings. The autumn winds had brought an odd dampness I couldn't quite shake. I added some kindle to the dimming fire while Mary laid on the bed of twine, watching me. "Ansel?" she asked.

I looked only at the fire. "Yes?" I said. Mary waited for me to look upon her. Only when I obliged did she proceed.

"For my payment... will you lay with me tonight? I'm afraid. I'm afraid that I'm going to die never having properly lived."

I sat, silent, trying to find the right words. I couldn't.

"I know, I know," Mary proceeded. "We can't." She quickly turned her back to me, pulling the wool blanket over the rest of her body. I sighed deeply. "You should go gather some more wood for the fire. If I have to die unsatisfied, I shall at least die warm."

I stood. "Mary..." I muttered.

She turned her head ever so slightly, her ear primed towards me, aching for my bold declaration of a new order. "Goodnight." My words fell flat as I reached the glowing blue seal of the cave. I paused at the effervescent entrance.

"Goodnight Ansel."

Her words were my final push. I placed my hands on the blue light, unlocking the seal, and slid through.

Outside, the night stalked and the wind howled. It wasn't smart for me to be out this late without the protection of at least my DarkSuit but trying to resist Mary any longer seemed to be a far more dangerous fate. I sighed with gratitude as I patted my pocket; at least I had my LucentCube.

As I traced the forest for more wood to burn, I stumbled upon a tree I'd never seen before. Odd. Even in the homogeny of the night, Mary and I'd been around and inspected every corner, bend, peak and valley of this forest. I froze. At the bottom of the giant oak, laid a small, almost imperceptible sprouting of green. It was a marvel. And I was in danger.

CRUNCH.

I whipped around. I'm a damn fool for leaving the cave without my gear, my sword. A flash of light whipped through the forest in front of me.

"Show yourself." I demanded, my years of training feeling like mere seconds.

No.

Mary stepped out from behind a tree, face enlivened and heart thudding. She followed me. I should have known. The wave of relief I felt was brief, the following wave of horror, consuming. "Mary. What have you done?"

I watched as her visage morphed from one of excitement to one of grief-filled stupefaction as two long black fingers reached from behind me and around my throat. I should have known the beautiful thing was a trap.

The pain of my life leaking was lesser than that of having to watch Mary see what I for so long had tried to protect her from and prepare her for. She knew now. Her eyes innocent no longer. All these years, all the drills I put her through, the curfews, the seals, the "no's" that silently pained us both. I found some semblance of peace knowing that she would be safe because of my silence. And for the jewel she cherished so, what irony that she never got to know that she herself is the Jewel Stone. The key to saving the universe.

"Ansel." Mary cried.

I outstretched my hand revealing a crumpled stipule.

I gurgled my last words. "Mary. The fate of the planets depend on-" And with that I am dragged away.

Mary screamed. She tried to run toward me but before she could get close enough, another Snatcher gripped her from behind and pulled her into the darkness.

I closed my eyes and wondered if I would now get to join my Pa.