But another god had overheard their argument, and she landed on the balcony beside the wolf. It was Luna, goddess of the moon and the constellation wolf’s grandmother.

“If you wish to leave the sky, I can help you,” Luna said. “But you must be sure, for if you do, there is no return. Once your father finds out, he will banish you forever from Celestae.”

The blue wolf nodded. “I am sure.”

“Then come with me on the next full moon.”

When Luna again brightened the night sky with her glorious light, the wolf slipped away from his brothers and sisters and followed Luna’s downward climb. They touched down on the soft Kichonan dirt just outside a cave in Takish Gorge.

“You would not like being a mere mortal,” Luna said to him. “After a lifetime with magic, being an ordinary human would be torture. But I can make you a taiga. And you can, in turn, serve me in return for the favor of releasing you from the sky.”

The wolf bowed his blue-furred head to the ground.

Above, the clouds cracked open, pouring forth rain and lightning. The god of night had awoken to find his son gone.

The wolf’s mane shone like the stars one last time. Then Luna cast a spell, and he was a constellation no more. His spirit, however, curled into the form of an infant and, reincarnated, began a life anew.

“I name you Daemon,” she whispered, because the bellowing storm sounded like demons marching from the hells. “It will take you some time to find your way, but when you’re ready, you shall be a light when others attempt to bring darkness.” Luna marked her triplicate whorls on the baby’s back.

A pack of wolves emerged from the cave. The alpha and his mate bowed low to the goddess.

“Care for this child as if he were your own,” Luna said. “And one day, his people will come for him.”

Sora tried to catch Daemon as his legs gave way beneath him, but she wasn’t fast enough, and they both fell to the ground. The earth smacked against their knees, but he seemed to hardly feel it. Their gemina bond was a daze, Daemon completely bewildered by Liga’s story.

“I—I don’t remember any of that,” he said.

“Because Father was angry after you left,” Liga said as he waved away the purple haze hanging over them. “He did, in fact, banish you from ever entering Celestae again, and he buried your memories of it where you could not find them. If you didn’t want to be there, he didn’t think you deserved to remember it either.”

“That’s horrible,” Fairy said.

“Our father is passionate,” Liga said. “For better or for worse.”

“I suppose that means he’s not coming tonight,” Sora said.

Liga sighed. “Or any other night. I’m sorry.”