Darkness used to feel like home.
It wrapped around me like the deep sea—endless, quiet, still. For so long, I thought that was the end. My body shattered. My name forgotten. My legacy turned to stone.
But then, I heard something again.
Voices.
Warmth.
The sound of waves lapping against a wooden boat… and laughter. A man's voice. Then a woman's touch.
I was reborn.
Not as a god. Not as a protector.
As a child.
I can't speak.
I can't move the way I want to.
Even my body feels foreign—small, soft, and fragile.
But I'm aware.
More aware than they know.
They look at me with such gentleness. They don't know who I was—what I did. How many things I destroyed just to protect them all.
It's strange.
They don't fear me. They don't worship me. They just… hold me. Feed me. Bathe me with care.
They don't know the stars I've seen burn. The monsters I've fought.
The kings who feared my name.
They call me "Euryale" softly, like it's a baby's name now—not a title that once made empires tremble.
And yet…
For the first time in thousands of years, I feel something I don't quite understand.
Peace.
I sometimes test my powers—just a little. A touch to a wooden toy, a breeze pulled toward a window. But even that leaves me tired now. My strength is nothing like it was before.
But that's okay.
This time… I don't have to fight.
Not yet.
They don't remember what happened to our world. The nebula. The tearing of the skies. The silence that followed.
But I do.
I remember my last breath. I remember choosing to become ash for them.
And now I'm here, cradled in warmth and surrounded by two gentle souls who have no idea they're raising a being who once wielded power beyond imagination.
They call me their child.
And for now…
That's enough.