***
Nephrite's eyes popped open, and he cast them at the window behind his bed. The sun was rising in the sky, indicating the early hour.
Smiling, he rose from the bed and slipped out of his room, running noisily past his parent's bedroom – they were not there, as the sun had risen -- towards the living parlor. He stopped in the middle of the room.
There it stood.
The wall.
It was ordinary, as walls go –
whitewashed and sparkling, no visible marks or scratches. But to Neprite, it was both a heaven and a
hell.
Scooting towards the wall and kneeling in the far left corner, Nephrite ran his hands across the wall, feeling...ah, here it was. Bending down, Nephrite peered closely. Yes, it was the small chink in the wall he had discovered many nights before. He tapped lightly on the wall.
"I am here, my love."
A smile sprang to the young man's face. "Lita?"
"Yes."
He sighed gently, unable to contain his happiness. "It's been such a long night. I've waited for this moment the whole night..."
The young man heard his love sigh from the other side of the wall. "I know," she said. "But we're here now. Let's focus on that."
Nephrite touched the wall, his face twisting into a scornful expression. "But for you we could touch, kiss," he snarled.
"But at least you let us speak together," Lita said, understanding his speech and also raising her voice to the wall. "We are not ungrateful."
Nephrite sighed again.
"It's been days since we've seen each other in person," Lita lamented.
"Yes, I know," Nephrite said.
"I can hardly stand it!" Lita said. "So long, our parents have kept us apart. And why? Our families are of equal station."
"Exactly," said Nephrite. "Both hope to elevate themselves by marrying us to those of higher caste. Therefore, they forbid us to marry."
"It's not fair."
"Not much in life is fair, Lita."
"I wish we didn't have to part tonight," she said.
"The day just started!"
"I know. But every morning, we come to this chink in the wall—" She pointed to the chink, although she knew Nephrite could not see it. "—knowing that we will have to part at dusk when our parents return from working."
Nephrite put his chin in his hands, and suddenly his expression brightened. "What if...we didn't have to part tonight?"
"That would be wonderful," Lita sighed.
"No – I mean it. What if we devised a way to run away, so we'd never have to be apart again?"
Lita's eyes widened, and she smiled at the very prospect.
"We could run away to the country," she said slowly. "There no one would find us, and we could be together forever."
"Yes, yes!" Nephrite said. "We should do that tonight – tonight."
"Tonight?" Lita sucked in her breath. "But—"
"No buts," he said. "We've known each other almost all our lives, been in love for half. And our parents will not let us marry. What are we supposed to do, waste our lives here in front of this wall?" He thumped his fist on it. "I won't do that, nor will I let you."
Lita smiled on her side of the wall, pressing her hand to it. "Where should we meet tonight?"
Nephrite grinned widely. "That's what I'm talking about! There's a place I know of, a place no one would dare be by at night – the Tomb of Ninus. We can go there! You know of it, right? There's a large mulberry tree and a cool spring..."
"Of course I know where that is!"
"Good. So we'll meet there, tonight. Leave as soon as the dusk falls and your parents are asleep. It takes a little while to get there, and we want to have plenty of time to get as far as possible."
Lita smiled again, filled with happiness. "Do you really think our plan can work, Nephrite?"
"We've got to try and see...I can't stand not being able to see you every day. I love you, Lita!"
"I love you, too, Nephrite!" Lita exclaimed. "And I retract my earlier statement. Now I can't wait for tonight!"
***
Lita pulled the sides of her cloak closer together as she wandered wearily towards the Tomb of Ninus. Her home was four miles from the tomb, and it had been a long, tiring walk. Yet, she was still glad she'd come – Nephrite would appear in just a few moments!
She sighed happily as she spotted the tomb. The tall mulberry tree that marked its spot glistened, the white berries shining iridescently in the moonlight. The cool rushing of the spring made a burbling sound.
All seemed right in the world.
Smiling, Lita hastened her step. Seeing that beautiful spring had suddenly made her thirsty.
Halfway to the spring, Lita gasped and stopped, her forest green eyes widening with fear, clapping her hands on her mouth to keep from screaming loudly. A lioness had appeared from the shadows, advancing towards the spring, ostensibly to get a drink.
The lioness was still a ways off. She could escape if she ran quickly!
Lita turned and ran in the other direction, pumping her long legs towards the darkened woods and out of the lioness's sight. She pumped her arms along with her legs to encourage her flight. Her cloak slipped from her shoulders, but she did not stop to pick it up; her run warmed her and she barely noticed she had dropped it as she ran for her dear life.
***
Nephrite whistled quietly to himself as he approached the Tomb of Ninus. In a few moments he'd be joined with his beautiful lover. His parents had taken an abominable amount of time falling asleep, but he'd finally been able to escape with his belongings and get to the tomb. He just hoped he hadn't let his lover wait too long.
Nephrite's whistling stopped abruptly, however, when he reached the site of the tomb. There lay a dark green cloak, bloodstained and torn, with the tracks of a lioness all around.
Lita's cloak.
Nephrite ran up to the cloak, heedless of the danger that might still lurk in the dark woods. Tenderly, he reached down and lifted the cloak, rubbing the fabric against his cheek.
"My beloved Lita!" he cried plaintively. "How could I have let you come here all alone? How stupid could I be? So many dangers abound – and yet I let you come here alone. I should have had us meet somewhere closer, or left earlier, so I could be here first..."
Tears streamed from the young man's eyes, but he didn't bother to brush them from his cheeks. Instead, he rose from the ground, walking, as in a dream, to the mulberry tree. So involved in misery he was he didn't even see the female standing in his way until he walked into her, falling to the ground. He looked up.
"Mae...nad..." he whispered to himself, eyes widening.
"Your beloved lays dead because of you," the Maenad said, pointing a bloody accusing finger at Nephrite.
His eyes dilated even more, then shone with fresh tears.
"It should have been me..."
"It can be," the Maenad said. She waved her hand and a dark, illusory sheet appeared. "A soul for a soul. Give your soul to the Underworld by the Styx, and by the Styx, she will rise again."
"I will," Nephrite said solemnly.
The Maenad smiled as magically, Nephrite's signature appeared across the bottom
Once there, Nephrite stared up at the somber white berries. He carefully laid his beloved's cloak on the ground, then drew his sword from its scabbard and pierced himself in the side, desperate to drown out his misery.
***
Lita peered out from behind the tree. It was still deathly dark and she was still afraid. But Nephrite would be appearing any minute now, and she was more afraid to fail him, afraid that he'd give up and go home.
Tentatively, she stepped from the three, walked hurriedly through the woods, came to a stop at the edge. She should be able to see the white mulberry tree from here, a shining beacon to the place she and her lover were to meet.
Strangely, she saw no tree of white fruit. In its place stood a tree with blood-red berries.
Something was seriously wrong.
Lita quickened her pace, slowing only to note a scene that must have been formerly gory – a patch of grass stained with blood, and a tattered shred of her cloak. She shivered. The lioness must have found it and ripped it, frustrated at losing a kill.
Nearing the tree with the red berries, Lita saw something move underneath it. She yelped a little, but upon closer inspection, she realized that the moving creature's outline was too small to be a lioness, or any other like-sized beast.
As a matter of fact, the silhouette was the perfect size for...a man.
With a gasp, Lita ran even faster towards the red-berried tree, and shrieked loudly when she identified the moving creature.
"Nephrite!" she screamed, falling to her knees and grabbing his frame. She pressed her lips to his; they were cold. "Oh, no, Nephrite! Nephrite, please wake up! Look at me, speak to me! It's me, Lita!"
At the sound of her name, Nephrite slowly, weakly, opened his eyes.
"Nephrite!" she yelled. "What happened?"
The young man made a faint motion to his side.
Lita looked. There lay the man's sword, and the majority of her cloak, stained with blood and tattered. Her lips parted, then closed.
"Oh, no, Nephrite," she whispered.
He looked at her for a long time, and raised his hand to touch her face. His lips parted slowly. "My...love...my...soul..."
Death descended, and his eyes closed, his hand falling short of its mark.
"NO! NEPHRITE!!"
The bereaved girl buried her face in her lover's chest, sobbing pitifully over the fate of her love.
Then she lifted her face, determined.
"Nephrite gave his life for me," Lita said. "He couldn't live without me. Well, I'm the same! My love is strong! I can't live without him, either!"
Hesitating only a split second, Lita reached toward Nephrite's sword. It was heavy, and she struggled momentarily. "Only death could separate us," she said, her voice wavering as she set the sword in position. "It shall not have that power now!"