Leon grabs my hand when I try to let go of his.

"Leon, knock it off." Part of me expects the feeling of euphoria to cascade from his hand into my body, knowing it was the perfect place for him to corner me. He pulls me closer, slamming my open hand to his chest.

His expression is pained. "I can see myself in your eyes, but I'm not in your heart. We're talking now, but there's no part of me left in you…"

"Leon, for the loves of gods, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You'll probably forget me completely in a few hours."

"I think it's pretty hard to forget your ass." I say, but the reassurance doesn't penetrate Leon's morose expression. He ignores my comment and instead looks up to the golden and pink sky. I narrow my brows at him in complete confusion, wondering where this was coming from.

I barely spent any of my time with leon when I went to the godly manor. In fact, I can't remember the last time I went out of my way to hang out with the god. He was the only one without a sin branding, so I usually divided out my time to the others. Me and Leon were barely acquaintances.

"The sunset I watched with you that day, and the starry sky we looked at after that… were the most beautiful skies I had ever seen."

"We looked at the sky together?" I frown, flipping through my memory. I'm pretty sure I'd remember watching the night sky with someone other than my parents.

"Feelings can manipulate us into seeing things differently…. I understand that better than anyone." Every word he spits from his lips look as if they hurt. Like each one was covered in thorns while it crawled out of his mouth. His breathing is heavy and his fingers begin to press painfully into my wrist. "That field of flowers… It was beautiful enough to make me tremble in awe… But the real reason I found it beautiful was…" His eyes glaze over as he meets my bewildered stare.

I try saying his name. He just makes the smallest flinch hearing it.

"I have no use for a wilted world like this one." He says, his other hand leaving so he can wrap their cold grasp around the one of mine he'd planted against his chest. "I couldn't care less about this sad world."

Questions race in my head. Why was the lion so utterly sad? Did his sick lover truly mean so much to him that he didn't mind breaking down in front of me, of all people in the manor? The fact that the grouchy god was being so vulnerable in front of a human like me was… it was...

A wave of pure sadness washes over me and my eyes start to burn.

"Don't cry-"

"I'm not." I snap and then wilt under his warm titch of a smile. "I'm sorry…" I edit.

"You don't need to cry anymore… I was the one who took your smile away."

"I think I lost that kind of thing a while ago." I try to laugh it off, as if I hadn't just referred to my darker past so casually. However Leo winces as if… As if he knows exactly what I was hinting at.

"I would give up my power as a god if it meant I could make you happy again."

"Woah, woah, give up your power?" I gawk up at Leon. "When did I become so important? We barely know each other! Wh-What about that woman you love so much? You can't give up your power, right, without talking to her first."

"...You are the only woman in the universe who could teach me how to love." His hand slides down to my elbow and he pulls me even closer. "But I couldn't even make you happy. What's the point of being a god?" Then with a pitiful look, he drops my arm all together. My hand doesn't return to my side, at least with my consent. Instead the appendage is shoved off by a wave of power that rolls off of Leon.

The glass doors slam open to my side and feet pound against concrete as the rest of the five gods flood onto the roof.

"Leon, wait!" Hue yells, but doesn't dare to come closer. Bewildered, I look between my gods and the lion.

I've felt this before. I've felt this level of power coming from Leo before but I can't place it. Even with the fear in the gods faces they try to stand tall and sound reasonable as they speak to Leon, but the lion doesn't even blink at their words. Instead, his amber eyes stay centered on me.

"It's no good! He can't hear us anymore!" Teo yells as the wind begins to pick up and almost drown out his volume.

"What's going on!?" I try over the whipping gust. It seemed to be swirling around Leon, thrashing into the gods, but keeping away from me.

"We ran up here when we felt Leon begin to unleash his power!" Ichthys says, catching Dui as the shortest god stumbles.

Scorp moves in front of the two. "That stupid lion! He would never normally let it end like this…! He's always losing his head when it comes to you!"

"Me?!" I yell, once again finding myself giving Leon a confused look. Why was everyone acting so fucking weird today? Over and over mentioning Leon and me, as if I knew him more than him just being one of my six…

"Anyway, we've got to stop Leon! If we don't-!" Dui claws at Ichthys arm.

At that exact moment, the scene around me changes drastically.

The colors of my reality melt into a blue, teal, and purple goo. The noise cuts to complete silence, as if someone was cupping my ears. It's suddenly a new realm - it's the only thing I could compare it too. I take a step forward, and my heel clicks as if I was standing on marble.

I freeze up when a beautiful man, radiating with power, appears in front of me.

He had long, rust colored hair that floated around him. He was draped in gold amulets and shimmering red gems, his fair skin tattooed with golden marks. It was… It was…

Oh fuck. What was his name? I had just been with him…

Or… Maybe not? I don't know why i thought I'd just been with him. I had only been with my five gods just then. This guy was…. I'm guessing by the appearance another god? That didn't explain where the hell I was and where my five had disappeared to.

"I know you're there. Show yourself." His voice is deep and brassy. His amber glowing eyes are to his side, giving me the feeling he wasn't speaking to me.

When he calls out, a beautiful woman emerges from the twisted scenery of gooping colors.

"So, you've come… Lord Leon." At least that gives me a name to put to the half naked face. His eyes flicker down to me and I tense, wondering if I was going to have to fight my way out of the weird dimension.

"...Have you lost all memory of me, Hitomi?"

"How do you know my name?" I ask instead, narrowing my eyes.

The woman to my side giggles. "How awful...Did this human really forget about you?"

"You were the one who cursed her." He grinds out, seething.

I knew the woman. She...She was around the manor recently. I couldn't remember why, but I knew she hated me. I fish in my mind to figure out if there was any foreshadowing to this weird dimension, the random god, and slightly familiar goddess, but nothing catches.

Eris's evil aura suddenly slams into me and I almost stumble at the abrupt hit. Her eyes are malicious as they stare through me, but then she bats thick eyelashes up at Leon.

"Lord Leon… Do you really love this human so much that you don't stop loving her even if she's cursed… even if you're not with her?" The man - god? - sighs, narrowing his eyes down on the goddess. He looks tired, as if they had this conversation multiple times in the past.

"I already told you. You can't manipulate my heart. Even if Hitomi forgets me…" He glances to me, but I glare. "I will never forget her. I will never stop loving her."

This guy was fucking nuts. He keeps going on that I was cursed and how I forgot him, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember someone who supposedly loved me so much-

Oh. Wait… If it was a curse to forget then…

…

No way. There's no way that I'd just forget… right? No way.

"The imitation of love I got from you cannot satisfy my heart…" Eris says. She starts trembling as the dark aura around her flares. Her eyes bug out of her head and her jaw almost looks like it unhinges as she screams, "You're always distant, refusing to open your heart to me! Even if you're with me, you have that human and that human only in your heart!"

I gag at the sickly black goo that manifests at her feet. It begins enveloping her, pulsing with evil. She looks like a demon or a god of death. Her beady slitted eyes latch onto me and she shivers with malicious promise.

"Leon won't love me…. Because you're still here. This is all because you're still alive!"

"Or you're just a crazy bitch." I bite out, sliding a step back to widen my stance, preparing. She screams animalistically at my words and then whips a hand under the skirt of her dress and snaps out a knife. I'd comment on how the demon needed a human made knife in the end to come at me, but she was already moving.

I watch, with my heart in my throat, as she sprints forward. I make the quick decision to turn and run, to get my distance, but skin floods my vision as Leon steps in front of me at the last second.

"Argh…"

"Lord Leon!"

Something cold flutters over my skin and my heart moves into my mouth. I will my suddenly heavy body to slide around to the side, searching for the wound.

Warm, bright red blood gushes from his arm and I feel all the air inside of me rush out in a single sigh. It'd hurt like a bitch, but it wasn't a stab to the heart or belly. It was survivable.

Leon sees me and throws out his unwound arm to try and push me back behind him. He winces at the movement.

"Why the hell did you protect me!?" I all but scream when I find my voice.

"Don't yell." He answers instead. "I'm a god. A wound like this is nothing; it will heal on its own." Okay, idiot. Because your face isn't currently twisting in pain or anything.

I watch as the blood streams down his arms to drip onto the ground and my heart thuds hard. Eris looks just as disturbed, if not more so, at what she'd done.

"Lord Leon…! Do you really love this woman that much…?" Her voice has taken a one-eighty since the beginning of this own venture. It's now wispy and shaky, as if she raises it too loud it'd shatter itself.

"It really does hurt to not be loved by the one you love." He mumbles, finding me behind him. I open my mouth but he shakes his head. "Even if i'm with Hitomi… I am not in her heart. No matter how hard I wish, I can't make her love me. I've never experienced such a maddening feeling before. The one who drove you mad, Eris… was me."

I think… This is the first time I've heard the god call Eris by her name. She stiffens when he says it, eyes wide.

At that same time something buds in my chest. I blink multiple times, putting a hand to my chest, wondering if I'd feel the same warmth on my skin that I had felt inside. Instead, when I look up to Leon's portfolio, the warm feeling flickers again as I gawk in slight horror.

Oh no.

There's no way.

I didn't even know the guy! Why was I feeling-

But I did know him… I know him and I have feelings for him but I just can't remember-

"Lord Leon… You've never called me by my name before. When I was in the heavens, you never called me by my name, not even once."

"You felt the same way I feel right now. And I didn't have any pity for you, even though you were sad, hurt, and in pain." I was surprised at his words. He'd never admit that kind of stuff out loud. Not unless it was just him and me. The Leon I knew wouldn't-

"the Leon I knew"? "just him and me"?

Yeah I guess… I do know him. No, of course i know him. The Leon I- that I fell in love with is a mean fuck, arrogant, and is feared by everyone in the heavens because of how immensely powerful he is.

"The current me would have probably looked you in the eyes and said the words you wanted to hear. However, I didn't know how to do any of that until I met Hitomi. Love isn't something you can give if you try."

Eris whimpers. "You can't give love if you try…?"

"Love is something you give without even trying… That's the love Hitomi taught me. Even if we broke up, even if I tried to be with you… My heart would always be with Hitomi. There's nothing I can do to change that. I can't move my heart."

The words are so genuine. Too genuine. The fuck probably was saying it so easily because he thought I'd never remember.

Well jokes on him, I'm currently nauseous because of how fast my memory returned to me.

Neither god notices as I double in half, as if my memories of my lion had just kneed me in the gut. I splutter as visions of Leon and me flicker behind my eyes, like a book of hand drawn animation. It was as if my life was flashing before my eyes.

Eris starts sobbing. Every tear that rolls down her cheeks, just to fall to the ground where Leon's blood had begun to puddle, a new image is once again returned to me.

He always summons me suddenly, but he's just a bit too happy when I show up with meatballs.

We went to an amusement park on our first date and held hands.

We sat in a field of flowers, in his valley, and he listened intently as I explained to him my childhood.

He saved me from drowning in that stupidly large bath in the manor.

He tried to restart the entire universe because he wanted to live by my side so desperately.

Our first kiss.

The first time I broke his nose.

"Lord Leon, you already belong to that human, don't you? Noble Leon, I never thought you would belong to anyone, but… You love that woman."

"It's taken you until now to take control of the madness. The pain you felt hurt more than any knife wound. I made you fall from grace. I can't think of any apology that would change that." Leon raises his injured arm. "In exchange, let me give you my eyes."

"What…"

The leo constellations. The patterns in Leon's eyes. He showed them to me, in a pile of flowers, and said I was the only one, would be the only one, to ever see them because they were as important as his life. They were is life.

"Your stars are different...But if you have these, you can return to being a god."

"Lord Leon… You can't!"

"I don't feel any attachment to a world without Hitomi's love. I promised Hitomi I would give up my power as a god if it meant bringing back her smile. If I can heal your heart, Eris…. Hitomi will return to normal."

"Leon-" I begin, but his hand was already hovering in front of his eyes.

This fucking idiot.

I slam into him, wary of his injured arm, but more focused on trying to literally knock him out of his stupid spiral. The moment I connect with him my vision goes white and i tumble. It's only a split second, but I'm pretty sure I pass out because when I open my eyes, leon has me cradled in his arms, as if I had fallen.

"Hitomi?" He questions, confused and worried.

"More than the Stars in the Heavens!" I blurt, memories swimming around in my head, all on the surface instead of profiled by date.

"Your...Your memories…" He finally says and I sigh in relief.

"You fuck." I say instead of basking in his sweet surprise, and smack his unwounded arm. "We promised no more sacrificing. You promised you wouldn't leave me just because it'd save me. You think you're the only one who doesn't think they can survive without the other? I don't want you giving up your life just for me." He pulls me close and though he's silent, I feel his body shaking.

Knees crack against the floor and we both look over to see Eris brokenly collapsed on the ground.

"Eris…" Leo breathes.

"Lord Leon… I've been such a fool… Please forgive me…" Eris smiles weakly. For the first time, I see her face full of kindness and mercy. I don't feel any of the malicious aura from before, and the black goo that had been swallowing her crazed form was now white ashes scattered around her legs. Was this how she was when she was a goddess still in the heavens? Probably.

"Hitomi's curse was broken when you were freed from the hate in your heart." Leon says slowly. He gently sets me on my feet, but refuses to stop touching me by keeping a solid arm around my ribs.

"Noble Leon, you stole my heart when I was a goddess. You were so dignified and beautiful, with strength second only to the king's… Everyone wanted to be close to you." Tears bubble up in her grey eyes as her voice is only a barely audible whisper. "Eventually, I couldn't think of anything but you… My jealousy took over. I couldn't understand why you didn't love me… That led to hate. I was envious of the other goddesses and furious at you. Then, I fell from grace." Trembling, her eyes turn onto me. "But… My feelings probably weren't love to begin with."

Called it.

"I was attracted to Lord Leon's immense power.. That's what I realized when I saw you."

"Huh." Is all I manage.

"I know you would love Lord Leon whether he's a god or 's how you were able to teach Lord Leon real love. You broke the curse and go you memories back. I never had a chance."

For a long moment, I mull over my words. For a long moment I just stare at the goddess and soak in the warmth of Leon's arm on my back and hand on my ribs. Chewing on my bottom lip I finally make up my mind.

"...Your feelings were real too." I quickly continue when she stiffens in surprise. "Different. Suuuuper different than what love really is but… I don't think you would have taken things this far if they weren't close."

Eris wipes away her tears gracefully. She sucks in a rattling breath and then erupts with a warm smile that lights up her entire face. She finally pulls herself up to her feet.

"You're a good person." I decide to keep my mouth shut this time. I wasn't a "good person" I was just… She'd been through hell and I wasn't going to just grind the obvious in her face. She knew what she'd done wrong, how she'd sin, and she didn't need me, who "won", to stuff it down her throat.

"...Either way, Eris is cursed. Evil has polluted her soul. At this rate…" Leon's arm tightens around me and I glance up to him, but he doesn't meet my eyes.

"It's okay. The hatred I was cursed with came from within. So… Lord Leon, could you please grant my wish…?"

Eris's voice is strained - it cracks and crumbles as she tells Leo her wish.