Ode to Stardust

“Two stars fell out of the sky,

Crashed into earth, I know not why.”

She picked herself up and dusted herself off, more surprised than anything else as she gazed back up into the sky.

“How did I get here?”

He extended his hand to her, beckoned her to follow him. “It is written in our Fates, how two brightest stars in the skies would one day fall and have their lights extinguished forever.” He glowed a little less, the luster of stardust fading from his complexion as she accepted his hand.

“Has it now?” She sniffed disdainfully, only ever so slightly annoyed that her fate was to be thus. “Two of the brightest stars, was it? And pray do tell, does Fate tell why we are destined for such a melancholic end?”

He leaned over, the brightness in his eyes fading away, and whispered, “For even stars, pride cometh before a fall.”

She shuddered prettily, and he was struck by how delicate she was. “I suppose we should leave. We are not of this world, and someone is bound to notice.”

“Leave where? In case you have yet to notice, we are in the middle of nowhere. On a strange place where I have only watched from afar!” He shrugged. “It is our Fate, and we are destined to die here. I once believed I was untouchable. I was the brightest star in Nether regions-”

“Do you mean to tell me you are the Shining of Nether?” She looked at him with more interest now. This world was not for him, she could note the dimming of his eyes, once rumoured to be the brilliant darkness of night, the glow fading away from his handsome face. Even the shining golden hair, the hallmark of every star, seemed almost commonplace, like the blond tresses of mortals.

“I was, but no longer.”

“Well, sir, you put much trust in Fate.”

“Even the youngest star knows how Fate is intertwined with us stars, and she is not something that you can run away from!”

“I was once a Countess of Fate, and I learnt much from her. Unfortunately, it has taken me this descent down to make me realize all that she wanted me to learn from her, and perhaps, it is our meeting that has proven her point.”

“Are you the Countess of Fate? And do tell me, then, O Countess, what is this lesson that Fate so eagerly wished to express to you?” he countered sarcastically, somewhat annoyed that he was not the star of his own Fate, but rather, seemed to be the supporting character for another’s.

She squared her shoulders and he had to shield his eyes from her glow, for it was truly the most radiant thing he had ever seen.

“We make our own Fates, my friend. We may shine all day and all night, but we have been much too complacent with ourselves, and many a time, I have been told that it is within us that we have the power to do so. I disbelieved, and chose to put my life in her hands, and in her frustration, she left me with the Fate I chose.”

“So there is hope then?”

“I believe so. It is a hard earned lesson, but it is one that we cannot fail. Perhaps we are put here for a Fate we are yet to learn.” She spoke cheerily as they set down the path.

And many years thereafter, people spoke of two immortals that glowed as brightly as the stars at night, who wandered the land doing all in the manner of good deeds. This went on for many years, until one day, they disappeared, leaving nothing save a trail of stardust and a belief that birthed a New World Order. But that, is a story for another time.