Chapter Twelve: The Demon Who Forgot
561 Words
The world had shattered.
And Selene had shattered with it.
As she stood in the ruins of what had once been her love, her hands trembling, her heart a hollow, aching thing in her chest, she told herself this was for the best.
She had done her duty.
She had ended the Demon King.
But when the divine light of the gods had surged through the room, stripping Azrael of his monstrous power, it hadn’t killed him.
It had taken something else.
His memories.
His strength.
His very identity.
Now, he sat on the edge of the ruined bed, bare-chested, his once-magnificent presence now reduced to something… ordinary. No longer a king. No longer a god among demons. Just a man.
A man with blank eyes staring at her as if she were a stranger.
Selene's breath caught in her throat.
"You…" Azrael's voice was rough, uncertain. "Who are you?"
She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.
Instead, she swallowed the lump in her throat and forced a smile. "No one."
It was over.
And she had to leave.
---
The Farewell
She dressed him in simple robes, no longer fitting of the king he once was. The palace that had once roared with his power had been sealed away, his throne turned to dust.
And the demons?
They did not dare challenge the will of the gods.
They watched in silent fear as she led their forgotten king to the outskirts of his own kingdom, leaving him in the arms of the commoners—a man with no past, no power, and no one to remember him.
Not even himself.
Azrael had asked her nothing.
Not about his past.
Not about her.
Perhaps, deep down, he knew something was missing.
Perhaps, deep down, he knew she had been part of it.
But when she had turned away, ready to leave, he had not stopped her.
And that had broken her more than anything else.
---
A Return to Heaven
The heavens welcomed her with open arms.
She was hailed as a hero.
A goddess who had succeeded in bringing down the most powerful demon in history.
She stood before her mother, before the divine court, before the endless golden light of the celestial realm—and felt nothing.
"You have done well, my child," her mother said, resting a hand on her cheek. "The realms are safe once more."
Safe.
Was that what this was?
Was this what victory was supposed to feel like?
Then why did she feel as if she had lost everything?
Selene bowed her head, silent.
She was the goddess’s daughter.
A divine warrior.
But she was also something else.
A woman who had loved a demon.
And now, she had to live with it.
---
A New Life Without Her
Far beneath the heavens, in a quiet village at the edge of a broken kingdom, a man woke to the sound of birds outside his window.
He sat up, his dark hair falling messily around his face, rubbing his temple as a dull ache throbbed at the back of his skull.
There were dreams he couldn't remember.
There was a woman’s voice echoing in his mind.
But he did not know her name.
And no matter how hard he tried to recall…
He could not remember what he had lost.
---
End of Chapter.
- Writer
