A big shadow waited calmly in the dark. Two red eyes did not even blink when two violet ones glinted near. He remained silent, for a few seconds. But he soon spoke, with a whisper.

“I was beginning to think you would not come.” He looked over his tails, with a sharp glare. “Tell me, what have you chosen?”

The answer did not come right away. When his voice reached his sensible ears, it did with resignation and sorrow.

“I think I don’t need to tell you for you to know.”

He couldn’t kill him.

The lynx closed his eyes and sighed sadly.

“…Very well.” There was only another option. “Take the time you need.”

Uriel did not move while Lykaios did. He stood and left slowly, deeper into the woods around her cabin. He left him alone… with her.

Uriel closed his eyes; he tried to not look at the small cabin, he tried to not glance at its small window. Ayako was there, inside. She was looking with sorrowful eyes through the glass, with longing. Her blue eyes were lidded, with dark circles around them, on her soft skin. He could see her, and it made him wish he had never seized her mind. He wished that he had let Alexis find him, even while believing it would mean death.

Now, he feared for her. Lykaios had a right to worry; he had been careless. He had little control over his own spells; he did not erase all that she knew. Her emotions could not be destroyed, and even if he had managed to make them banish… he would have never achieved full control over the world around her. Her life could not be changed. He had not taken into account her surroundings when he let himself hate.

Inside, Ayako stopped looking at the darkness outside, at the moon on the sky. Another night had gone by. And once again, there had been no signs of Uriel. Her blue eyes stared at her hands. Her fingers clutched more tightly the object they held.

Why?

Her thumb brushed with pure wonder the feathers. There was a small cord, which went through their ends, to tie them. And between every single one of those pretty quills, there were small beautiful shells, which hanged and shined with the moonlight. It was a necklace. It did not look perfect, it looked hand made, but it glinted like true gold.

She had never killed an angel with golden feathers. Only Alexis. Alexis… the angel who had gained Uriel’s trust; the one who had lied in order to avoid a direct fight. He lied, to backstab and betray him. He was the one who had almost killed Uriel, a demon who was always kind, gentle… Someone she cared for. Uriel was almost murdered, because of the hate those winged creatures held.

She should despise that angel. She did.

Then why…?

She did not stop looking at the beautiful necklace, not even if she heard a faint rustle behind her. She did not need to look to know that Uriel was looking down at her. His shadow was looming onto her and the window, imposing as always.

Ayako raised her gaze to the window again, and her icy eyes met with the reflection of violet ones.

“…Why?”

There were too many questions in that single word.

The demon stared at the necklace in her hands, with a sorrowful and calm expression. She could not hear his inner laments. He really did not have a clear mind that night. He should have known that he could not erase all that they had shared. He was a blind fool.

“Ayako…”

Ayako turned around slowly, Uriel shivered when she faced him. Her voice held worry, pure fear, something she rarely felt.

“Tell me you had this with you…” She moved up the necklace in her hand, for him to see clearly. “Tell me this is not mine. I can’t remember why I would have this in my room. I know this is not a simple trinket, these are his feathers. I would never craft this, not with the vestiges of a kill.”

She did not understand; she could only see a blank void or Uriel’s eyes, every time she tried to remember or think. She did not understand why Godric would know about an angel, and not tell her.

Uriel stepped closer. She did not cower, she did not fear him. She felt no fright, not even if something deep inside her made her shiver. Part of her was screaming, scared by the thought that she was missing something. Part of her was whispering, implying that Uriel could have been the one to lie; not the angel.

She did not want to listen to those voices. She… She did right. No angel would ever spare a devil. She had never spared one either.

Her eyes did not leave his while he took her hands. He tried to show care and honesty, as much as he could.

“This… It was Alexis’. He made it.”

A small craft, made to show his care. Affection she now she believed to be fake, a simple play from the angel to reach his devil. Ayako narrowed her eyes and nodded to the necklace, which she could only assume had been gifted to Uriel long ago.

“He is dead.” She did right. Uriel would never… “Why I don’t see the fear leave your eyes, Uriel? Why do I feel…?”

Her beautiful eyes held relief and dread at the same time. Her voice…

“I… Helped you…? Yet, I don’t feel like I did.”

It was a question, a fearful one. A question Uriel could not answer. He could not thank her for her trust. It would make her happy if he said yes, but he would let her believe a lie. It would break her heart if he said no, and he would expose the truth. So he did neither. Ayako did not move when Uriel leaned down, closer to her. He laid his hands on her face gently, and leaned it up carefully to make her look at his eyes. Then, he whispered near her lips.

“Lo siento tanto, cielo…”

He erased what little space had been between them. He kissed her softly, while he held her close in his arms. Her hands reached for him as well, full of trust. But then his flames tangled once more.

This time, it hurt more than it did that night. It pained him, it killed him inside. He cried while he erased every memory, any trace of them ever being this close. He allowed the sight of those golden feathers to remain, but he stole the memory of those beautiful amber eyes from her mind. He left behind a faceless angel, who had never led her to meet a selfish demon. Every warm violet glow she had seen banished from her memory, and his voice faded until she could not remember it.

Her icy eyes were crying, for everything he was stealing away from her, all that she had found and cherished. Uriel did not let go; not even if her hands were grasping his arms painfully, not even if her breaths ended in tired laments. Ayako was trying to hold on onto everything. She tried to not let go… Both could feel how her memories were clawing and writhing, fighting to not fade in her mind. However, she knew deep inside that she would lose against the spell. She was only a human, under the grasp of a devil.

His enchantment faded when her conscience did. His flames died when there were no more memories left to steal. The room became as dark as his heart, with no other light than the moon outside.

He kept holding her, he kept rocking her in his arms, lamenting silently. She did not feel his embrace, asleep, by his doing. His shoulders were trembling. He was caressing her cheek, with a look full of remorse and despair. He shook his head, and then sobbed with a broken smile.

“You don’t know… h-how sorry I am.” He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes painfully. He laid his forehead against hers, to give her a last embrace, which he did not want to ever end. “You will never know h-how much, Ayako.”

He took her into his arms and held her figure against his chest. His heart was hurting, both from the distance and anguish. He walked towards her room carefully. He carried her slowly, reluctant to let her go.

But he had to let go. He had to leave, before her eyes could open and see.

He sat at her side once he laid her down gently on her bed. His eyes trailed hers for a while, to admire how peaceful she looked in her sleep. She looked calm and beautiful, even after what he had done to her. He took a deep breath… and stole away from her the last thing he could; his claws took the necklace from her hands slowly, as much as it hurt.

It took him all night to be able to look away from her. Once the sun began to rise… he was not there.

He could not stay.