Hardly anything happened in Paradise that Eira didnāt know about.
Who was fucking whom, who was plotting what, and what filthy little secrets people whispered in the dark when they thought the walls couldnāt hear.
She saw it all. Heard it all.
The tiny fairy bound to the most dangerous boy in the city had access to information that would make entire intelligence agencies weep with envy and offer their firstborns for a single scrap.
But
knowing
and
telling
were two very different games.
She had explained the rules to Maya once; the invisible chains carved into her very existence.
She couldnāt act freely. Couldnāt volunteer information Phei hadnāt asked for. Especially not the
world-shattering
kind. Breaking those ancient laws would bring consequences neither she nor her Master could afford to pay.
And Phei, being Phei, simply didnāt ask.
Not because he didnāt want the truth. Eira understood him too well for that.
He was
desperately
trying to
cling
to whatever scraps of normal life he could still grasp before the entire supernatural shitshow exploded in his face.
So he kept his questions light. Safe. He let her hold her tongue because forcing her to speak would mean admitting the reality he wasnāt ready to face yet.
The most important order he had ever given her was brutally simple:
Make sure all my women are safe.
All
of them.
And so... that also included even the one the entire world believed
was dead
.
Eira had known the truth from the moment she arrived in this world and devoured every page of her Masterās bloody, tear-soaked history.
She had watched
Seleneās
body being quietly removed from the morgue that night, replaced by something that wore her face but was not at all human.
She had monitored the
Seed
of
Ending
ever since she knew what had happened and where Selene was ā watched it fuse with Seleneās soul, watched the darkness twist and remake her into something ancient, terrible, and heartbreakingly beautiful.
She had protected her from the shadows when needed, though she knew such protection was mostly ceremonial.
Whatever
entity
had chosen Selene was more than capable of guarding its new disciple.
But orders were orders.
All his women.
So Eira had also witnessed everything since Seleneās awakening. The two silent kills. The shadow daggers flashing in the night. The thick, inky tears sliding down violet eyes as Selene stood hidden behind in the mansion forest, watching the boy she loved care for a mother she still couldnāt bring herself to embrace.
She had approached Selene a day ago. Introduced herself. Shared just enough to build fragile trust without drowning the broken girl in cosmic horror.
That was why, when Eiraās cheerful voice sliced through the stolen moment on the mansion grounds, Selene didnāt flinch in fear.
She simply froze like a
child caught
with her hand in the
cookie jar
.
Which, considering she had been secretly
stealing
warmth from her boyfriendās shadow, was exactly what she was doing: cookie jar.
They now sat atop a high-rise overlooking Downtown Paradise ā somewhere much higher, legs dangling casually over the edge as the morning light slowly melted into rich afternoon gold.
The city stretched endlessly below them, glittering like a toy set built for gods and monsters.
Eira had a bright cherry lollipop stuck in her mouth, clicking it cheerfully against her teeth. She had developed a serious addiction to human sweets since bonding with Phei, and this particular brand was currently her latest obsession.
Selene sat beside her, wrapped in living shadows that clung to her body like a possessive second skin. She still wasnāt comfortable revealing herself fully to the naked world.
The darkness hugged every curve, veiled her face, and hid the violet fire burning in her eyes.
If anyone had stumbled onto that rooftop, they would have seen
nothing
but empty concrete and the distant hum of the city.
Eira turned, lollipop clicking once more.
"So? Have you thought about it?"
Selene shook her head. The shadows around her rippled like disturbed water.
"I
canāt
do it."
Eira sighed, pulling the lollipop out with a soft pop and pointing it at Selene like a disappointed teacher scolding a stubborn student.
"Do you realize what revenge is doing to you?" Her voice was gentle but edged with warning. "With the
Seed
inside you, every kill
darkens
something deeper. Every drop of vengeance
feeds
it. Keep walking this path and youāll lose every last spark of warmth you have left."
She let the words hang for a moment. "And then there wonāt be any Selene anymore. Just an empty vessel of the
Seed.
A pretty puppet dancing for the darkness."
Seleneās shadows writhed violently around her.
"I canāt stop," she whispered, voice cracking. "Do you know what they did to me? Theyā" She turned sharply toward Eira, violet eyes blazing through the veil of darkness.
"How could you
possibly
understand what I want?
Youāre just a fairy.
Youāreā"
"Girl."
Eiraās voice cut through the air like ice.
"You have
no idea
what Iāve been through."
The lollipop vanished. Eiraās crystalline form flickered, and for a single heartbeat, something ancient and terrifying looked out through those playful eyes. Something that had witnessed horrors far older and crueler than anything Selene could yet imagine.
"I was imprisoned in the Eternal Prison for
hundreds
of
thousands
of years."
Eiraās voice remained eerily steady, it was the calm that only came when trauma had been beaten, broken, and finally reduced to background static.
"Tortured
in ways your mind couldnāt survive hearing about. Methods that would shatter mortals before the first cut even landed." She paused, letting the weight settle. "Iāve endured more than three hundred betrayals. Actual death ā not close calls, not ānearly killed,ā but
killed
ā only to be dragged back and murdered again. Over and over. For
centuries."
Selene went deathly still. The shadows around her stopped moving entirely.
"So yes,
Selene,"
Eira continued, her tone softening by the smallest fractionm, "I understand exactly where your anger is coming from. Iāve
lived
it. Breathed it
.
Done
exactly what youāre doing right now
ā
except thousands of times worse.
And every single one of those sweet little revenge decisions exploded in my face."
Selene shook her head violently. The shadows churned like storm clouds ready to unleash hell.
"I canāt forgive them. Thatās notā"
"Forgive?"
Eira let out a short, bitter laugh. It wasnāt kind. It was the sound of someone who found the very idea adorably, pathetically naĆÆve.
"Who the hell told you to forgive them?" She leaned in closer, her translucent wings catching light that had no right to exist on this shadowed rooftop.
"Selene, if burning the entire world was what it took to punish them, I would strike the match myself. Salt the earth. Make sure nothing ever grew again in their names. Iād then watch the ashes dance and Iād smile while doing it."