One moment, I'm standing beside Ren.
The next, the world shatters.
A sudden pull drags behind my navel, like a hook made of light. I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes. The room vanishes. Walls unravel into stars, floor falls into smoke.
Then...
Silence.
I'm standing.
On cold marble.
Beneath an endless night sky.
The sky above me is dark as ink, stars like silver blood splattered across velvet.
I know this place.
And I know I shouldn't be here.
My feet move on their own, leading me through towering halls of light and shadow. My reflection stares back at me from polished obsidian tiles. But it isn't me.
It's her. The girl I used to be.
The god.
Her eyes glow faintly, lined with gold. Her gown is made of constellations. She looks like power, carved into grace. And for the first time… I see her clearly.
I was beautiful. And terrifying.
And deeply, painfully human inside.
The court is in chaos.
Flames roar outside the divine temple. The sky shakes.
He's on the floor; Ren. Bleeding. Dying.
I fall to my knees beside him, cradling his head in my arms. His skin is cold.
"No, no, please," I whisper. "I'll do anything! Please, don't take him from me."
The gods stand in a circle around us, silent. Unmoved. I see them all; Time, Fate, War, Life;
And Death.
He watches with hollow, expressionless eyes. That same mask he wore when I saw him in the mirror. The one I thought was real.
But it wasn't.
That vision was a lie.
This is the truth.
And it hurts worse than any curse.
"He interfered," one of the gods says. "She used forbidden magic to keep him alive."
"She's corrupted," another hisses. "She tipped the scales. Her power threatens the balance."
"She must be unmade."
My scream breaks the silence.
"Take it!" I shout. "Take all of it! My power, my soul, my name. Just let him live."
Gasps ripple through the court.
Even Ren stirs weakly. "Don't…" he whispers, barely conscious. "Don't do this…"
But I already have.
The God of Death steps forward.
"I accept your bargain," he says.
But there's something cruel beneath his voice. Not pity. Not justice.
Possession.
"I will let him live. But you..." he reaches toward me, and I feel the cold of eternity wrap around my heart."You will never escape me."
"You will fall in love with me in every life. You will return to me, again and again, until I am the one to die."
He smiles.
"I never will."
It wasn't about justice.
It was punishment.
Because I loved someone else.
Because I chose Ren.
That was my crime.
And this is the price.
I press a kiss to Ren's forehead. He won't remember any of this. I make sure of it. I pull his memories from his mind like silk, gentle and aching.
He'll never know what I gave up for him.
He'll think I betrayed him.
He'll hate me.
He'll kill me.
It's better that way.
When the gods strike me down, I don't scream.
I meet their eyes and burn the moment into my soul.
Because even if I die a thousand more times, I will not regret loving him.
And then...
I wake.
The old house surrounds me again. The shadows are normal. The air moves.
Ren is still asleep beside me, chest rising slowly.
But I stare at the ceiling, the memory echoing through my blood.
And one thing won't leave me:
The God of Death was there that night.I saw him watching us.Just like I saw him in the mirror.
But that wasn't real.
That was part of the illusion.
The truth is worse, even if bits and pieces are still missing. I don't know the whole truth.
Because he hasn't come back yet.
But I know now,
He's going to.