The Demon Palace never truly slept.
Even when the torches dimmed and the great halls emptied, shadows prowled its endless corridors. Murmurs of plots, the scrape of armored boots, the hiss of unseen wings—these sounds wove the tapestry of night.
Ethan discovered this firsthand, because he couldn't sleep.
He lay in a chamber that was far too grand for him, staring up at a ceiling painted with scenes of conquest. The bed was carved obsidian, the sheets dark silk, but all the luxury in the world couldn't silence the pounding of his heart.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Morgana's blade flashing, Kael's venomous stare, Lilith's piercing crimson gaze. He had survived—barely—but how long could dumb luck and accidental humor keep him alive?
I'm not supposed to be here, he thought miserably, pressing his palms over his eyes. I'm supposed to be gaming in my apartment, ordering takeout, worrying about rent—not dodging demon blades and politics.
A soft knock interrupted his spiral.
He froze.
The door creaked open without waiting for permission. Ethan sat up fast, clutching a pillow like a weapon.
"Who's there?"
The figure that slipped inside moved like moonlight, silent and graceful. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it, watching him with silver eyes that glowed in the darkness.
Selene.
If Morgana was fire and Lilith shadow, then Selene was twilight given form. She wore flowing robes of pale violet that shifted like mist around her slender frame. Her hair, silver as her eyes, fell loose about her shoulders. A faint smile played on her lips, as though she knew every secret in the room already.
"Forgive the intrusion," she said softly, her voice like silk sliding across glass. "I wished to see you without my sisters' watchful eyes."
Ethan swallowed hard. "Uh—see me? Why?"
Selene stepped closer, the scent of night-blooming flowers trailing in her wake. "Because you puzzle me. A mortal who slips through fate's teeth not once, but twice. That should be impossible."
He hugged the pillow tighter. "Believe me, I agree. I'm basically a cosmic error at this point."
Her smile widened. "And yet here you are. Do you know what they call mortals who stumble into our realm?"
"Idiots?"
She chuckled, low and musical. "Interlopers. And interlopers are rarely tolerated. Yet you… amuse Lilith. You challenge Morgana. Even Kael cannot dismiss you. Tell me, Ethan—what are you truly?"
Ethan stared. "Me? I'm… a guy who once failed gym class three years in a row. I'm no one."
"Perhaps that is what makes you dangerous," Selene murmured, circling the bed slowly, her gaze never leaving him. "You have no expectations to live up to. No rules to bind you. You move like water—clumsy, but ungraspable."
Her words unnerved him more than threats ever had.
"Okay, listen," he said, voice cracking, "I'm flattered, but if this is the part where you test me like your sisters did, can we, uh, not? I've almost died twice already this week."
She stopped beside the bed, tilting her head. "A test, yes… but not of blades or politics. Mine is subtler."
She reached out and touched his temple with the tip of her finger. Cold rushed through him, not unpleasant but startling, like plunging into moonlit water. His vision blurred, shadows stretching long across the walls.
And suddenly, voices filled his mind. Whispers, overlapping, endless.
He gasped, clutching his head. "What—what is this?"
Selene's silver eyes gleamed. "Dreams. Fears. The unspoken truths of every soul in this palace. I am their keeper. And now, for a moment, so are you."
Ethan staggered under the flood. He heard Morgana's iron resolve, tinged with doubt. He heard Kael's seething ambition, plotting treachery. He heard Lilith's guarded loneliness, buried deep beneath centuries of power.
The sheer weight of it crushed him. He cried out, falling to his knees.
Selene knelt beside him, her touch withdrawing, and the voices ebbed like a tide pulling back. He sucked in ragged breaths, trembling.
"That," she whispered, "is the burden of foresight. To know too much, to see too far. Do you understand now why I watch you? Mortals are not meant to glimpse such depths. And yet, you endured."
Ethan shook his head wildly. "Endured? I almost had a brain meltdown! My head still feels like it's hosting a rock concert!"
Selene's laughter was soft, genuine. "And yet you live. You fascinate me, mortal."
He groaned. "Please stop saying that. Fascination is just demon-speak for 'future corpse.'"
Her smile faded, replaced by something colder, sharper. "You are not wrong. Many here would see you as nothing more than that. Which is why you must be careful. My sisters are not the only ones who take interest in you. There are others who would twist your existence to their ends."
The weight in her words sent a chill down his spine. "You mean Kael."
Selene's eyes narrowed, the silver glow deepening. "And more. His allies whisper in corners, their schemes fester like rot. Lilith's throne is less secure than she pretends."
Ethan blinked. "Wait—you're warning me?"
She stood, her robes whispering around her as she glided toward the door. "Do not mistake me for ally or foe. I am merely… curious. For now, that is enough."
Her hand touched the door, but she glanced back once, her gaze piercing. "Tell me, Ethan. When the choice comes between survival and loyalty, which will you choose?"
He stared at her, throat dry. "…Honestly? Probably whichever one doesn't get me killed."
For the first time, her smile faltered. Then she was gone, leaving him in the suffocating silence of the grand chamber.
Ethan sank back onto the bed, pillow clutched to his chest, his heart hammering.
"Great," he muttered. "One sister tried to kill me, one keeps me alive for… reasons, and now the third just mind-hacked me and dropped cryptic warnings. I'm basically a chew toy with legs."
But as he lay awake, the echoes of the whispers still buzzing faintly in his skull, he couldn't shake the feeling that Selene's question wasn't hypothetical.
That one day soon, he really would have to choose.