The Meaning of Love

Once upon a time, there was a young peasant with extraordinary wits — his name was Marabas. He would outsmart anyone, even the king's advisor and tacticians. Because of this, he rose from poverty and became one of the king's trusted advisors. Even though he understood how logic and ideas are woven. He still cannot grasp the concept of love.

One day, while walking down the verdure garden of the castle, he saw a beautiful maiden. An unknown feeling struck him. He averted his eyes towards the young lass — he feared the unfamiliar sensations. Marabas — even though cowering — was still curious about what he felt. It was new; it was refreshing. Days passed, his curiosity turned into an obsession. His mad attachment was only fueled when he heard that the young lass was a duke's daughter. When the moon rose from to the heavens, he would hide beneath the trees' shadow to watch the fair maiden from her balcony. Other times, he even fell asleep in the woods because he would wait for the woman until dawn — just to catch a glimpse of her silhouette. He still cannot explain the festering sensation that maddened him.

Marabas — even far — knew the softness of her touch and the scent of her hair. "Only if I can hold you," he thought to himself. Days passed, and night fell once more. While stalking the duke's daughter beneath the trees, he saw another person on the balcony — A man. The duke's daughter and the man were awfully close to each other, enjoying each other's company. Something inside Marabas felt wrong. The unknown feelings changed into something more familiar as he basked in the couple's sight. Wrath overtook his mind, and all he could think was a malign plan to kidnap the maiden. He could not wait; it was unbearable to see.

Marabas climbed the balcony with ease. Sneaking on their back, Marabas unsheathed his spotless dagger and stabbed the man's back until he fell. The woman shrieked as she watched everything unfold in her very eyes. A man she loved being murdered by a deranged love-stricken man that she never met. Marabas, from his blinding rage, stabbed the woman mercilessly. When the agonizing cries stopped, Marabas's senses came back to him.

He saw his hand, tainted with viscous crimson liquid. He was kneeling on pool blood, the blood of the woman he loved. Then and then, he realized the unknown feeling he had was love. This realization was halted by a banging noise from the dead woman's room. Marabas swiftly jumped off of the balcony to escape. Weeks passed, Marabas still was serving beside the king's men. Though he could not think straight — guilt clouded his mind. The man was devoured by anguish, and so, he hid in his lofty lodgings. Marabas never once ate or drank, his stomach rumbled, yet it felt repleted.

The man wished for nothing but to forget what he had done and what he had felt. A glistening crystal hovered before him. "I can grant you your wish," the crystal said, "for a price." His desperation clung in his mind, and he agreed. He knew what he must give — his beating heart. And so, he grabbed the dagger that killed his beloved and slashed his own chest. Marabas plunged his hand into his trembling flesh — grasping his gushing heart. The crystal disappeared with the heart, yet consciousness still hasn't fled his body. Finally, The guilt that made him ill was gone. But suddenly, His exposed bones popped out from his flesh, his veins enlarged, and his skin became riddled with watery bumps. Marabas's body became inhuman. He became a friend. His slitted chest boasts no heart, only wriggling flesh. His once crimson blood turned rotten green. And its rusty smell — the foul and putrid odor one would associate when blood is spilled — became sour and rancid. As if a deadly bane, everything it touched burned and sizzled until it turned into semi-dampened, dank coal.

He then felt something familiar, the feeling of obsession. Marabas broke out of his lodgings and killed the nearest breathing creature, a peasant woman. He tore the lass's limb using his elongated veins. His exposed ribs clawed her flesh until the only thing that remained was her heart. The huge fiend stored it on the gaping hole in his chest. To this day, he still wanders, needing more of something that he had once had and lost.