There were two neighboring towns that had been at odds with each other for as long as anyone could remember. No one knew what had started the conflict. But the town to the west remembered how the town to the east had flooded their crops three summers ago. And the town to the east remembered how the town to the west had sent a herd of wild boars their way one autumn afternoon. Though most importantly, both towns remembered how they hated the other to the core.

One day a woman from the town to the west went into the forest to pick some wildflowers for a spring celebration. It was a beautiful day and she was happy for she felt certain that the day was a lucky one.

She got to the line that separated the two towns and knew that it was dangerous to cross. But on the other side, she could see the most beautiful blue flowers that she just had to have.

She looked around but no one was in sight. So she gathered her courage and crossed the line.

Nothing bad happened to her, because she was indeed right. That day was a lucky day.

She picked the flower and turned to go back to her town's side of the forest. But then her eyes landed on something red.

Blood.

She forgot about the danger of staying on the wrong side of the line. She forgot that she had promised to be home before noon. She even forgot about the beautiful flowers that she had risked her life to pick.

She rushed towards the blood and saw that it came out of a man. Without wondering who he might be, she started to treat his wounds.

She did the best she could and managed to stop the bleeding, but with no herds or tools around there was only so much she could do. As she considered her options, wondering if she could carry him home, she saw the mark on his clothing. The mark of the East town.

She gasped and was on her way to leave, having grown up hearing stories of how vicious and cruel the people from the East were. But as she looked at his pale face and his wounds, she couldn't bring herself to leave. He was hurt and would die without her help, so wouldn't leaving him be the same as killing him? 

She knew of an empty cottage not far from the place they were, and the best thing about the cottage, it stood on land that didn't belong to the East or the West.

It was hard work for her to get the man there, but she struggled on and managed. She laid him on the bed and looked over the wounds again. Outside the cottage, there was a bucket filled with rainwater, and using that she cleaned his wounds. Then she used sheets that she found to wrap him up tightly.

She knew it was the bare minimum, but there was nothing more that she could do for him. She put some fruits she had brought with her, in case she got hungry, on the table next to the bed and then she left, thinking to herself that she would be back the next day to check on him.

As she got home and was asked about the blood, she said she had come across a dying deer. Everyone believed her tale and laughed at how very like her it was to save all things. If only they knew that it was not a deer she had saved, but a man from the East, she thought bitterly to herself.

When she returned the next day, the man had developed a fever. She did what she could for him and then left again.

Five more days continued as such but when she returned on the sixth, she found the man sitting up on the bed, awake.

"Who are you?" he asked her.

"You're awake!" she exclaimed.

"Did you save me?" he asked her next.

She treated his wounds and gave him some food while they talked and got to know each other. When she had to leave, she already longed to go back the very next day.

Slowly the man healed under the woman's careful care. They also got to know each other better and with each passing day they fell a bit more in love with one another.

But there was a problem that they both chose to ignore. They were from different towns and their families and friends would never support a union between them.

When the man had properly healed, he went back to the East. But every night the two of them would sneak out of their homes to meet in the cottage.

It went on for quite a while until both sides grew suspicious.

"We have to follow him," the East determined.

"We have to find out what she's up to," the West pronounced.

Thus, one night both the man and the woman were followed as they went to meet one another.

The heads of the two towns were astounded by what they found, but even more astounded by the fact that the other head was there as well.

"We can't let this go on," the Head of the West said.

"I agree," the Head of the East replied and they united for the first time in many, many years to come up with a solution to the problem. It took them the whole night for both wanted to kill the lover from the other's side but have the lover from their own spared. But, after many back and forth, they finally had a plan.

The next night both the woman and the man were apprehended as they went to see each other. They were brought to the cottage and forced inside.

"It is a disgrace for you to love each other," East said.

"This has to come to an end," West nodded his agreement.

"And we have the perfect way for that."

Guards were placed around the cottage to ensure that the man and the woman remained inside. They were given no food but handed a knife. The heads of the towns told them that one of them would make it out alive, the only thing they would have to do was kill the other with the knife. If neither of them did it, both would starve to death. If one of them used the knife to kill themselves, the other would be killed as well.

The heads congratulated themselves on having come up with such a great idea and settled in to watch the outcome. They were certain that before the night was over, one of the lovers would have killed the other. But they were wrong and had deeply underestimated the love the man and the woman shared.

Neither of the two even looked at the knife. Instead, they settled themselves on the bed to hold each other tight.

The night passed and so did the day. Then another night and another day and so on. The two heads kept telling themselves that soon one of them would crack. But the phases of the moon changed and the lovers just stayed on the bed until one night their pulses faded away.

The two heads were furious at the lovers and left them there to rot. Then they went back to their respective towns and continued to fight each other, having learned nothing at all from what had happened.

On the night that the lovers died, Nyx walked through their forest. By chance, she came upon the cottage and looked inside. The sight broke her heart but also made it swell. For there was something so beautiful in how the lovers hugged each other even in death, but that also made it all the more heartbreaking.

She picked some flowers to arrange by the lovers, but as she got closer to them to put the flowers down, her eyes fell on their necks and she saw something that ought to have been impossible.

On the two lovers' necks, they had marks that looked like the marks Selene's children gave one another when they mated. But the two lovers were human, of that Nyx was sure, and no human could produce such a mark.

Confused and needing to know the truth, Nyx went to Hecate and asked if she could get to speak with the two lovers' souls. Hecate was at first apprehensive, but she could see how important it was to Nyx so finally she obliged.

From the lovers, Nyx then found out what had happened and understood. For the marks Selene's children gave their other half were meant to solidify the bond they had. And the two lovers had done just that, when they had chosen to slowly die together rather than killing the other. Their love had grown so strong that it had become magical in itself and produced the marks on their necks.

It made it all even sadder to Nyx, that a love so strong and beautiful was ripped from the world before it had gotten to spread its wings. She hesitated for a bit but then decided that she would give the lovers a second chance to be together.

So she brought them back from the dead, though not quite as she didn't hold that type of power. But to compensate she granted them abilities, made them stronger and more durable as to make sure their love would last and spread for as long as possible.

As she watched them leave the cottage, to live peaceful and happy lives together, she felt pride over her first children of the night.