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“Sylus… I curse your soul to never fade away.”
“You’ll always be tied to me. Forever.”
“This is my curse. Only I can grant you a true death.”
Lili woke with a start. Her ragged, uneven breaths and pounding heart felt like she had run for miles. The room was dark, with the faint glow of the city outside being the only light. For a moment, she felt disoriented. She finds herself between the dream and reality: the field of blooming Daturas, the weight of her curse, the ache of a memory that wasn’t hers—until it was.
She turned to Sylus, his silver hair tousled and sharp face softened by slumber. The sight of him being there next to her—so real and solid—made her chest tighten. He stirred awake, his crimson eyes eventually flickering open in alert after realizing the state she was in despite the haze of sleep clouding him. “Sweetie.” His voice was rough, but his hands were already moving, pulling her close. “What’s wrong?”
She couldn’t answer at first. The weight of the dream—no, the memory—was too heavy and raw. So she buried her face in his chest and let her tears soak into the fabric of his shirt. Sylus didn’t push her to speak. He simply held her, his arms a steady anchor as she cried her heart out.
When her sobs finally subsided, she pulled back just enough to look at him. Her eyes were red and swollen, her voice barely above a whisper. “I remember everything, Sylus. All of it.”
He stilled, his breath catching. “Everything?”
She nodded, her hands clutching his shirt as if he might disappear if she let go. “The Abyss. Your death. My curse. I… I killed you, didn’t I?”
Sylus’s jaw tightened. His crimson eyes darkened with an emotion she couldn’t quite name. Was it anger? Regret? Disappointment? “Lili…”
“I’m so sorry,” she choked out, her voice breaking. “All this time I left you alone with a burden that you had to carry all by yourself.”
Sylus cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs brushing away her tears. “You have nothing to apologize for,” he said in a low and steady voice. “You’ve given me a life I never thought I could have.”
She shook her head, her tears still flowing. “But I cursed you! I tied your soul to mine, forced you to live through lifetimes of pain and loneliness. How could I do that to you? I was selfish.”
His hands tightened gently on her face, gaze unwavering. “You weren’t selfish,” he stated firmly. “You were in a desperate situation. You loved me enough to defy fate, and I love you enough to endure whatever comes with it.”
Lili cried harder, her hands clutching his wrists as if he might vanish if she let go. “But you’ve suffered so much because of me. All those years, all those lifetimes… I didn’t even remember you. I didn’t even know!”
Sylus leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. “It doesn’t matter,” he whispered. “You’re here now and you remember. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Her chest tightened, her heart breaking and healing and breaking and healing again in an endless loop. “Sylus, I… I don’t know how to make this right. How do I make up for everything you’ve been through?”
He pulled back slightly, his gaze soft as he looked at her. “You don’t have to make up for anything,” he tells her. “Just love me and stay with me. That’s all I need.”
“I love you,” she immediately whispered. “I’ve always loved you. Even when I didn’t remember, I think I always knew.”
Sylus’s lips curved into a small, tender smile. “I know,” he said. “I felt it. Every time I found you—in every lifetime—I felt it. Your soul called to mine even when you didn’t know why.”
Her hands moved to his face, fingers tracing the sharp lines of his jaw, the curve of his lips. “I’m so sorry,” she said again, her voice breaking. “For everything.”
Sylus caught her hand and pressed a gentle kiss to her palm. “Don’t be. I’d do it all over again if it meant I could have this life we have now—if it meant I could have you.”
Lili searched his eyes, her heart sinking at the depth of love and devotion she saw and felt. “I don’t want to lose you again,” she whispered. “Not in this life, not in any other.”
Sylus leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers again. “You won’t,” he promised, his voice fierce. “No matter how many lifetimes we live, no matter how many times we have to start over, I’ll always find you. And I’ll always choose you.”
Lili closed her eyes, her heart swelling with a love as ancient as their history. “I’ll choose you too,” she whispered. “Always.”
They had found each other again, and this time they wouldn’t let go. The curse that had bound them for so long was no longer a chain, but a thread that weaved their souls together for as long as Lili wanted.
For the first time in centuries, Sylus felt free. And for the first time in her life, Lili felt whole.