Caspian's POV
She doesn't remember me.
I wake up to find Sera's eyes open, staring at the sky with complete confusion. No recognition. No memory of the battle, of becoming a goddess, of choosing to save my life.
Nothing.
Where am I? she whispers, and my heart breaks for the eighteenth time.
Lyric catches my eye from across the clearing. Her expression says everything: It happened again. The cycle reset.
Azrael and his army are gone they retreated when Sera gave up her divinity, disgusted by her choice. But they'll be back. They always come back.
You're safe, I tell Sera, helping her sit up. You're with friends.
I don't know you, she says, pulling away. Fear flashes across her face. Why can't I remember anything?
I've had this conversation seventeen times before. Now eighteen.
It never gets easier.
Your name is Sera, I begin gently. You've been sick. Your memories will come back slowly. I promise.
Lyric kneels beside us. We need to move. Now. Before the gods regroup.
She's right. Sera used massive divine power every god in three realms felt it. They'll be coming to investigate.
Over the next three days, we travel deeper into the wilderness. Sera is confused, frightened, asking questions I can barely answer without breaking down. I tell her the basics: she's special, she's hunted, and we're keeping her safe.
I don't tell her she just sacrificed godhood to save my worthless life.
On the fourth day, we reach an abandoned monastery built into a mountainside. Lyric says the wards here are old but strong. We'll be safe for a while.
We need to train her again, Lyric says quietly while Sera sleeps. She has to relearn everything.
I know, I say, exhausted. My chest still aches where Azrael's blade pierced it. Sera's healing saved my life but left scars physical and otherwise.
She gave up everything for you, Lyric continues. Full divinity. All her memories. Her power. Everything. And she doesn't even remember doing it.
I didn't ask her to, I snap.
No. You just almost died protecting her. Which triggered her protective instincts. Which made her make an impossible choice. Lyric shakes her head. The Thorne men and their stupid self-sacrifice. You're all the same.
She's right. I hate that she's right.
When Sera wakes, I start training her. Again.
Day seven. Day eight. Day nine. We work from sunrise to sunset. I teach her to feel her power, to control it, to shape it into something useful instead of destructive.
She's a fast learner. She always is. But watching her discover abilities she's mastered a hundred times before it's torture.
Creation and destruction are two sides of the same coin, I explain as she practices on her tenth day here. You can heal or harm with a touch. You need to master both.
Sera focuses on a dying plant. Light flows from her hands. The plant blooms.
I did it! She looks at me with pure joy, and I have to turn away before she sees me crying.
She's done this before. She just doesn't remember.
That afternoon, we work on defensive barriers. Sera is getting stronger, more confident. But I can see emotions building in her frustration, fear, anger at not remembering.
Create a barrier, I instruct. Imagine a wall of light between you and danger.
Sera closes her eyes. Light gathers around her.
Then everything goes wrong.
Her emotions spike I feel it in the air. Fear for me (she's noticed how sick I look). Anger at the gods (instinct, even without memories). Grief for a life she can't recall.
The power explodes.
Light erupts from her in a massive blast. The ground cracks. Rocks shatter. The monastery walls shake.
I throw myself in front of Lyric, raising a shield. The blast hits me full force. Pain explodes through my barely-healed chest. I go down hard, tasting blood.
No! Sera screams. The power cuts off instantly. Caspian!
She's beside me in seconds, hands shaking. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean
I'm okay, I manage, sitting up. Blood trickles from my forehead where I hit stone. You pulled back in time. You controlled it.
I almost killed you! Tears stream down her face.
But you didn't. I catch her hands. Sera, listen. You stopped yourself. That's progress. That's control.
I could have killed you, she whispers, horrified.
You already saved me once, I think. You gave up godhood to heal me. You just don't remember.
But you didn't, I repeat firmly. You're getting stronger. Better. I'm proud of you.
Lyric helps me stand. Enough for today. Rest. Both of you.
But that night, I can't sleep. The wound on my chest aches. My life force is draining faster now the magic hiding Sera is consuming me, and after dying once already, my body is struggling to recover.
Two months left. Maybe less.
I'm working in the small study when Sera finds me.
I need the chains off, she says.
I turn, surprised. What?
I've been thinking about it all evening. She steps closer, determined. I almost hurt you today because I panicked about being restricted. The chains make me feel trapped. That's when I lose control.
Sera
I can control my power, she insists. You've seen it. I heal plants. I create light. I stopped the explosion before it killed you. I'm ready.
One good moment doesn't mean
Stop deciding for me! Her frustration boils over. You said I asked for the chains once. Fine. Now I'm asking for them to come off.
We stare at each other. Tension crackles between us.
She doesn't remember, but somewhere deep down, her soul knows this dance. We've had this argument before.
If I remove them and you lose control, people could die, I say quietly.
If you keep me chained and Azrael comes back, we all die anyway, Sera counters. You know I'm right.
I do know. I hate it, but I know.
Tomorrow morning, I finally agree. I'll remove them. But the second you show signs of losing control, they go back on. Deal?
Deal, Sera says.
She leaves. I sit in the darkness, thinking about cycles and choices and sacrifices that never end.
Lyric appears in the doorway. You're going to remove the chains.
She's right. She needs to learn to control her power without them.
And if she remembers? Lyric asks softly. If removing the chains triggers her memories of what happened? Of becoming a goddess and choosing to give it up for you?
Then we deal with it, I say, though the thought terrifies me.
She might hate you, Lyric warns. For letting her make that choice. For not stopping her.
I know.
She might remember everything and realize loving you costs her too much.
I know that too.
Lyric is quiet for a moment. You really do love her, don't you? Even knowing she'll forget you again and again.
Every single time, I admit. It's the Thorne curse. We fall in love with her, knowing it's hopeless. Knowing we'll die for her. Knowing she'll never remember us. We do it anyway.
That's not a curse, Lyric says gently. That's devotion.
She leaves me alone with my thoughts.
I don't sleep that night. Instead, I prepare the spell to remove Sera's chains. It's delicate work the binding magic has been in place for years. Removing it wrong could kill her.
Dawn comes. I find Sera waiting in the courtyard, nervous and excited.
Ready? I ask.
She nods.
I kneel in front of her and begin the spell. The chains glow as I whisper the release words. They heat up, burning hot, then
crack.
The iron falls away from her wrists and ankles.
Sera gasps. Power floods into her immediately, stronger than before. Her eyes flash silver.
How do you feel? I ask carefully.
Free, she breathes. And powerful. And
She stops. Her eyes go distant.
Sera?
I remember something, she whispers. A battle. Light everywhere. Someone dying. Her eyes focus on me. You. You were dying. And I
Her face goes white.
I gave it up, she says in horror. I was a goddess. Fully divine. And I gave it all up to save you.
The memories are coming back. Not all of them, but enough.
Sera, listen
You let me do it! she accuses. You let me sacrifice everything!
You were dying! I say desperately. You made your choice!
And now I'm back to nothing! Tears stream down her face. I had power. I had answers. I had myself. And I threw it away for
She stops. Looks at me. Really looks at me.
Why? she whispers. Why would I do that?
Before I can answer, the monastery bells begin ringing.
Lyric runs into the courtyard. We have company! Divine signatures incoming! Multiple!
My blood runs cold.
Sera's power explosion when I removed the chain sit was a beacon.
They found us.
And this time, they're not sending soldiers.
Through the morning mist, a figure materializes. Not Azrael.
Someone worse.
A woman in flowing robes made of starlight, wearing a crown of silver moons. Her eyes are cold as ice.
Selene. Goddess of the Moon. Sera's sister.
Hello, little sister, Selene says. Did you really think giving up your divinity would save you? How naive. The Divine Court has voted. Whether you're goddess or mortal, whether you remember or forget, whether you hide or fight you die today.
She raises her hand. Twenty more gods appear behind her.
This time, Selene says coldly, there will be no escape.