He had never thought dying would be like this.
She had always been his to covet, his to desire, his to know. She had been perfect incarnate.
Each smile that had lifted her bloodstained lips, each flush of happiness that had taken her as another body fell...that had been his to experience through her.
She had always been more than the others. More than a cage, more than a tool. When her copy had desecrated her rule, he had destroyed her. She was his, and he would destroy any who dared say otherwise.
Like the Hero.
He remembered holding her so close it was maddening. Bodies locked together as he summoned a creature to destroy the world, her power intoxicating as it ran through his veins...That had been paradise. He was doing this to show her a perfect world, to drown her in what she had once let consume her being.
Because in his cage, he had felt her. Her entire purpose was to be the perfect, ideal mate. As his monster had risen above the castle's ramparts, he had pressed his lips to the soft flesh of her inner wrist, flashing a smile to her.
The hatred he felt for the Hero had only grown to see her gaze at her companions.
Just as Kagami, his dear, beloved friend had been furious when she had been taken by the Hero, he had been.
Each time she had moved to end the Hero's life, he had surged against his cage, whispering promises she couldn't hear, but he prayed would influence her decision.
She had never gone through with it.
So maybe that was why he had tortured her so. Why he had stroked her hair, called her a puppet. She had defied him, turned from his embrace.
He would make her pay.
His beautiful angel had fallen so far.
Infuriatingly, no disgust, no contempt, no hatred twisted her lips as they fought. Despite his weakened state, his power was immense-but he was intent on immobilizing her, not killing her. He would make her see the darkness if it killed him.
She had torn a hole in his chest with a blast of power just as the territory had split again. Certain he would die, she had left.
To return to the Hero.
Floating in what remained of the shattered territory, he knew he was dying.
It wasn't like he had thought it would be.
"Sheila..."
Her name left his lips, and he chuckled, sending flecks of black blood into the space above him.
His love had twisted into something close to hate, close to an empty void that wouldn't fill. He'd always coveted her. He owned her. She owed her existence, her purpose, to him.
Her betrayal was what had thrown him over the edge.
He closed his eyes. He had little power left, and was using it to cling to his human form. His true form he detested. He'd never wanted her to see it.
He'd never wanted her to leave his side, either.
His eyes drifted shut, and a shuddering sigh left him. Even though he had destroyed her physical body, he could feel the Copy pressing against the borders of life and death, reaching for him. The Copy had done everything she could to replace Sheila, and even though he had been the one to tear her heart out of her chest, she still wished to serve him, take Sheila's place in his heart.
Heart?
It was like a bullet to his head. The realization he loved.
He loved Sheila.
And…he'd loved Kagami, although differently.
Sheila had said…'Love was power'. It was what had led her to destroy him. To betray him, to kill him.
The darkness didn't seem so perfect, then.
He felt sick.
Then came a surge of bitter laughter.
It echoed emptily around him, until his blood choked his throat, and no air reached his lungs. It continued, hacking and ugly, until his chest went still.