A Life Not Meant to Be

The city lights flickered in the distance, a world that had moved on without him. Four years had passed since Ravan turned his back on war, on power, on destiny itself. He had sealed his past away, hidden it beneath the mundane life of a medical student. No more battles, no more gods, no more war. Just textbooks, lectures, and hospital shifts.

But fate never truly let go.

Every day, demons found him. Not the kind he once fought, but shadows lurking in human form—whispering, mocking, testing him. He knew what they wanted. A reaction. A glimpse of the monster he once was. But he gave them nothing.

They shoved him in hallways. Tripped him as he walked. Stole his books. Even bruised him when no one was looking. And still, he remained silent. He never fought back. Never raised a hand. Never let his sealed power resurface.

This was his choice. His punishment. His only path to keeping his family safe.

His only happiness came in small moments. Watching his parents laugh at the dinner table, completely unaware of the son they had lost—believing he was their only child. Knowing his father no longer lived in fear, even if he would never walk again.

And then there was Akil.

The boy who had once burned with untamed energy, now smiling as he flexed his mechanical arm—the one Ravan had built for him. "Man, this thing is amazing," Akil would say, punching the air. "Feels like my real arm, but cooler."

That was the only thing that made Ravan smile. His one proof that he had done something right.

But at night, when he was alone, when the hospital halls grew silent, the weight of everything returned.

He saw their faces. The ones he couldn't save. The ones he left behind. The ones who fell.

Lucifer's last words haunted him.

"Goodbye, Ravan."

He squeezed his eyes shut, gripping his coat as he walked past the streetlights. The demons were watching again. He could feel them. They were waiting.

One day, they would push him too far.

And when that day came, he didn't know if he'd still have the strength to stay silent.