The moon, the land which the Aeon of Desire resided. Wishes from humanity were to the Aeon of Desire. She who gave up everything for humankind, she who took upon the sins of humanity.
"Doesn't the moon look beautiful tonight?" I asked Aylin while we were stargazing together.
"It's always beautiful no matter when you see it. Sometimes the moon is barely visible and that's when you come to realize that you don't love something simply out of beauty, you love it for existing." She reached out her arm towards the moon.
"You love it because you know it exists! You love it because you know one day it will show you its most beautiful form!"
I couldn't help but chuckle at her statement but I couldn't agree more. To love is to know something exists.
"But."
Aylin's tone softened.
"When I see the moon like this, the Aeon inside of me reacts in one way. I don't know how to explain this feeling." She put her hand onto her stomach.
"It's like a tingle but then I feel as if people are tugging on me from all directions. I don't know exactly what the Aeon of Desire wants to convey through this feeling but it is as if she is trying to project her fairytale on me."
After everything that I had seen, I couldn't help but think. If wishes of all individuals were granted the world would be more like an empty paradise. Everyone would have everything they want and no one would work for anything. You could say that wishes are somewhat a curse, it breaks your character if fulfilled, it dictates your fate, it changes you as an individual. But even so people pray and wish hoping things would go their ways. I looked over at Aylin and wondered why wishes even existed in the first place. But I knew that I shouldn't hole myself up with philosophical questions when I'm trying to enjoy the moon. She met my gaze and I asked her if she could grant her own wish with the Aeon of Desire.
Her soft lips curved slightly as her gentle eyes gazed into mine. Her body was bathing in the moonlight just as when I had just met her.
"When I was a little girl I would constantly pray for things to get better. But as I grew older I realized that if I just got what I wanted without any work put into it, I would feel empty. It feels like you don't deserve what you got. But I suppose one of my wishes has already been fulfilled without using the Aeon of Desire." Her fingers found my hand and wrapped themselves around it before raising our hands together towards the moon.
Aylin's eyes felt different in the moonlight, her body felt almost alluring and her voice sounded more ethereal than usual. It was as if I was right next to the Aeon of Desire herself.
"But if anything, I wish for the world to forever be in peace," Aylin said heartedly.
"I know it is very unlikely and the Aeon of Desire herself isn't able to grant such a wish but this comes from my most human desire, I don't like war Vivshi. Sometimes I can hear the wishes from dying soldiers, those who just simply want to return to their families. It pains me to know that for centuries Celestia have heard the pleas of humans and not been able to do anything about it. Even now it hurts to think about all of the blood that was spilled in Wien and what's to come. I'm just scared Vivshi."
My hand clutched hers and I told her those things are not something one individual should bear all alone. That it is best not to think about it. To know that we live in a world filled with suffering that will never end, it is just best to live accepting it exists. I couldn't exactly quell her thoughts about an uncertain future but all I could do was stay by her side as time passed.
In Wien
Erika lay in the heaps of wooden debris that had collapsed onto her staring up into the moon. Soldiers whom she recognized helped to remove the wooden planks off of her but she continued to lay completely still on the stone ground staring at the moon.
"Miss Erika, are you okay?"
She pointed a finger towards the moon and asked the soldiers if the moon wasn't beautiful tonight.
"It is indeed Miss Erika, how about I help you home now? It is getting late."
Erika shook her head and stood up and brushed off dirt and wood from her clothes. That blue-haired girl who came crashing into the platform, her brother now missing. She couldn't help but feel a little dizzy trying to stand up.
A few soldiers came to help her stabilize but she refused their help and began her walk home. If there was any time that prayer was needed it was now, she prayed to the Aeon of Desire for the safety of her brother. She was too allured to the moon that she didn't even realize the blood on the cobblestone pavement. Once she entered the café she saw her mom standing completely still in the dark staring into a wall.
Erika thought that her mom was having one of her episodes again and approached her to help her get back to bed. But only when she was about to turn the corner to guide her mom where she had to be, she realized that her mom was standing without any need for support. Her eyes widened in shock as her mom's mouth opened and let out a word.
It was very faint but she heard every letter correctly.
"Eh….RRRRR….Ec."
Her mom began shaking her head and her hand trembled as her hand slowly raised up and down.
Erika turned around the corner and finally saw the trail of blood on the floor and her eyes followed the red line. She gasped in absolute disbelief seeing her brother and the blue-haired girl. She immediately checked up on her brother and realized that her brother was breathing and had a normal heartbeat, he was simply unconscious. Tears came streaming down her cheeks as she cradled her brother's body. The hand which used to caress her hair was now filled with calluses. His clean-shaven face now a full beard. His carefree and soft expression now replaced with a serious and painful one. She could barely recognize her Erich but it was him. And she couldn't help but thank the Aeon of Desire over and over again. It was a miracle, a miracle, a total miracle granted to her by Celestia. She looked over at the blue-haired girl and checked on her condition. All four of her limbs were broken with multiple lacerations across her entire body, the bandages on her body then slipped off as Erika examined her which left her in even more disbelief. These burn marks, her skin had been completely burned off. She put her finger against the girl's neck to see if she was even alive. She waited 5 seconds and couldn't feel anything. But as she was about to say the girl was gone she felt a tiny pulse on the tip of her finger. She was somehow alive despite all of her injuries. How much had she bled? There was a massive pool of blood under her. Her breathing was ragged and shallow. Erika took out the medical bag that she kept at home and began stitching up all of her external injuries. The girl then began coughing up clumps of blood. There was severe internal bleeding as well, Erika was no professional doctor. She looked outside but then as fast as that thought came it left her head. There was no way in hell she would trust anyone anymore.
She took out a blood testing kit and dipped some of the girl's blood on it and saw that she was A positive. Maybe it was truly a blessing from Celestia. Erika had AB positive blood and she began immediately draining her own blood into an IV bag that was typically used to feed her mom.
Once 4 dl of blood filled the bag she gently lifted the girl onto a wheelchair and wheeled her off into her bedroom. She made sure that her mom went to sleep before anything happened and once everything was ready. She took out knives she used for cooking and alcohol. The needle went into a vein and blood started to go into the girl's body. She then disrobed the girl and put her onto her bed which she disinfected to the best of her ability. She poured alcohol all over the girl's chest and stomach and the knives. She held the sharp edges above the fire of her candle. Erika tried to remember everything from nursing classes she partook in to learn about how to take care of her sick mother. She tried to remember what the doctors did, and she prayed again to the Aeon of Desire that she wouldn't mess up.
Under the moon's watchful gaze she slowly made an incision. The blood bag was running out after a few hours of operating and Erika refilled it with her own blood. She had now given away 8 dl of her blood. And her skin was getting ever so more pale and her mind dizzy. There was so much blood inside the girl's body, all of her organs had been shredded to almost the point of repair. Erika looked at Selina's heart beating slowly and couldn't believe that a life was hanging on by a thread and only she could do something about it. But this was way out of her capabilities. She didn't know how to operate on organs, she was simply a nurse. But this girl had saved her brother's life, she owed her everything. Erika steeled herself and she tried to figure out how to fix Selina's damaged organs. As she operated a slight green aura illuminated from her body without her even realizing. It was as if every touch and decision she made fixed a part of her savior. Before she knew it dawn had arrived and she had refilled the IV bag one more time. She closed up Selina and looked out of the window to see the moon still in the sky watching over her.
She laughed wholeheartedly thanking the Aeon of Desire before collapsing onto her workbench and falling asleep.