[WP] A villain has discovered the hero's secret identity and has created a fake persona to approach them in civilian life. At first, they were just trying to discover the hero's weaknesses, but as time passed they grew to actually like them. Now, the truth is revealed and the hero has questions.
————————————————————
The one thing the demon, Selena, couldn't stand in this human form was the cold weather. She truly despised the constant reminder of how fragile the human body was at times. Alas, she had no other choice when her date stormed out of the restaurant when she let her true identity slip, sending the entire place into a frenzy of terror. Even with the thick fur coat he'd given her as a gift, the harsh winds were still too much.
"Damn that wine," Selena thought as she wrapped her arms around herself when a sudden cold wind came along. She cussed under her breath; she wanted nothing more than to go home where it was nice and warm.
"No," she muttered sternly, "Not without Damien." Selena marched through the rough winds until she spotted a man wearing a navy blue dress shirt with black jeans and navy runners to match. He stared at the sun-reflecting pond with a frown and sad eyes, unaffected by the cold, unlike her.
"Damien." Her voice shook when she greeted him.
Damien glanced at her for a second. "Selena," The well-dressed man greeted flatly. She saw his eyes flash for a moment.
"Damien, it's too cold. Let's go back inside to talk—"
"No, I think I'll stay right here," he said in a dead even voice, "Right here where I can be alone, where I can just… think." His voice trailed off when he placed his head in his hands, and his breaths got heavier. "The past year has been nothing but a lie."
Selena tightened her arms around herself. While what he said was true, she hadn't planned to spend as much time as she did. The mission was simple: infiltrate the hunter's main headquarters as one of them, gather as much intel on them as possible, then attack them at their weak spots based on the intel received. It was supposed to be an in-and-out mission. Add the cunning demon's expert skill in deception, and it was just a matter of time until the whole association came crumbling down. With all that in mind, the only question was, what went wrong?
Well, Damien went wrong.
"That's not true!" Selena attempted to sit next to him, but he shuffled away in response. Instead, she sat on the opposite side of the bench. "Well, not entirely true. But, please, let me explain."
Damien peeked between his fingers to stare at her for a few moments before slightly shifting his body to her. "Well. I'm listening. And I want the truth."
She bit the bottom of her lip, thinking of the best way to explain it all to him. "It's true what I said: I am a demon, Damien. More specifically, part of the Black Fox clan. Deception is part of our nature." The need for Damien's acceptance quickly got the better of her, causing her to go for a more desperate approach. "But, please, understand that I would never hurt you—"
"Don't give me that bullshit, Selena!" He groaned as he shot up the bench in a fury. "If that's your actual name. Do you think I'm an idiot or what? As if someone like you would waltz into my life without a reason. If you cared for me as much as you say you do, you'd tell me right now!"
She retracted a bit from the outburst, but quickly composed herself. "I was tasked to destroy the headquarters from within."
"What?" Damien gasped, then demanded, "Who sent you?"
"…Taldaus."
"Why am I not surprised? I knew that reptile bastard had it out for me." He began to walk away. "Tell him I said he can go fuck himself."
Without thinking, Selena quickly grabbed the man's wrist before he could get too far. "Wait, what about us?"
"What about us? This whole thing was a setup from the start." Damien yanked his wrist away.
"Listen to me, Damien. I understand your anger—"
"You don't understand a thing!" He boomed, then took a deep breath and spoke in a calmer tone. "My life's been hell for a long ass while now: Dead family and dead friends, the multiple big targets on my back by numerous of people—both humans and demons alike—, and now the one person who I've finally thought I could spend my life with is playing me like a damn fiddle." His eyes went wide with fear, and his voice shook as he said his following words. "When they find out, they'll get info out of me however they can before killing me."
Selena's breaths got slightly heavier. She didn't realize how much pain she had caused him, nor could she have predicted his future. Nevertheless, He was right. There was no doubt that he would be caught, if not sooner, then later. The torture he would endure would be tremendously painful, and since he was in a relationship with her, they would gladly drag it out until they got bored. Cruel, but humans who associated with demons were deemed just as bad as them.
Another gust of cold wind passed the two, but Damien remained unfazed. "There has to be something we can do." She said with her arms wrapped around her once more.
"I am going to live the rest of my short life at home." He began his long march home, but Selena caught him muttering, "You can do whatever the hell your shit spawn does."
Selena stood up from the bench in a fury. "Now, what the hell do you mean by that?" She said, taken aback by the insult.
Damien didn't even bother to turn around. "Exactly what I said."
Selena started to move before thinking and was soon on Damien's heels. "You can be as upset all you want with me, Damien. But, I will not allow you to speak about my blood that way."
"And why should I give a damn about your blood? I'm more than sure that they're just like you." The last few words held a bit of venom.
"And what am I, Mackay?" She spat out his last name with equal hostility. If looks could kill, his blood would be splattered all over the pavement.
Damien stopped and turned to face the black-haired woman. Their eyes met with glares as sharp as knives and cold as the current wind. Anyone else in Damien's spot would choose their next words very carefully. However, Damien's logic went out the window. He just wanted to hurt her as she did him.
"You are the exact definition of a monster that deserves to be underneath the pits of hell. And if your clan is anything like you, then they deserve to burn right alongside you."
In a split second, Selena's right arm had turned into a mesh of black and grey with her hand turned into a claw with finely sharpened nails millimeters from Damien's neck. Her glare was still fixated on the brunette, and her breaths were heavy with rage.
Damien looked down at the demon's claws. "Well, that didn't take much," he quipped monotonously.
"Shut up," She shouted in demand, "I don't want to hear anything about my family again like that, understand?" Damien ignored her. His eyes were still fixated on her claws, and his lips formed a frown. "Are you listening to me?"
"Do it," he said meekly.
Selena retracted her claw from his neck, hoping she didn't hear him right. "What?"
"I said do it!" He shrieked and grabbed her hand before she could put it down, pressing the razor-sharp claws to his neck. Selena quickly yanked her hand away from him and transformed it back into an average human arm. "The hell are you doing?"
"I won't." She said stubbornly. "I won't do it."
"And why not? You've already completed your mission, and I'm a dead man either way. So kill me and get it over with."
"I won't because I love you, Damien," she blurted out. She turned her head away out of embarrassment. It was the first time she had spoken about him like this out loud. "I can't bring myself to do that. Also, I haven't completed anything."
There was a moment of silence before Damien spoke. "Any why not?" he asked again, calmer than before.
Selena quickly looked back at him and took a bold step forward. "Because of you, Damien." Another step forward. "I only took the job because he said he knew how to revive my family. At first, I wanted nothing to do with you hunters, let alone humanity. But then I met you. You showed me that there was good in humanity. You showed me that I was capable of being more than a demon." She looked at her arm and winced at the threat she made to end his life.
"And your mission?" Damien asked cautiously.
The demon's eyes narrowed. "To hell with him. He believes I was stalling and had plans to eliminate me if I faltered slightly. No doubt he'll figure out about tonight—he has eyes everywhere." She looked at him with sad eyes. "I was planning to tell you about my true identity. It wasn't supposed to go like this."
Damien's body relaxed as he put his hands in his pockets. "I see, so we'll both be dead soon."
"About sums it up, I'm afraid."
They both stood in silence yet again. Selena couldn't get a read on Damien; he was too lost in thought for her to predict his next move. For a demon who has been through her share of wicked moments, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't scared of him right now. Soon, Damien gave a tiresome sigh and walked past her back to the bench, giving her a signal to sit down with him, which she did eagerly.
"Look," he started, "I'd be lying if I didn't say that those feelings I've had for you are suddenly gone. They're there. It's just that… it's gonna be some time to dig those feelings back up. Time that neither of us has."
Selena placed her hands over her heart. She wanted to ball her eyes out, but she knew she had no right. She caused all this, after all. Then her eyes widened when she had an idea.
"What if we make time?" She proposed.
Damien gave her a skeptical look and deadpanned, "And how do you suppose we'd go about that."
"The ninth plane. a hidden realm that only the people pure of heart can enter. If we leave now, we could be miles ahead of our assailants." Damien began to chuckle a bit. "What's so funny."
"I'm just starting to think that wine got to your head, Selena. This sounds like something from a fairytale."
"I'm serious!" She insisted.
"I know, I know. But do you even know how to get there?"
Her mouth opened but nothing came out. The more she thought, the more unsure Damien looked. "I know part of the way there."
Damien groaned. "You're betting our lives on a 'partly?'"
Selena's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "You got a better idea?"
Damien looked up in thought for a bit before he shrugged. "We die," he nonchalantly responded. He stared at her as she gave him that peeved look. "Fine," he lazily threw his arms up in defeat. "You win. We should get going before they find out."
Selena pulled him back down before he could fully stand. "We can leave in a bit. Right now, I just want to be here with you."
"Getting hella bipolar vibes from you," he whispered.
"Oh, shut it," she giggled.
The two stayed together, taking in the moment while they still could. Little talk was made, but Selena found it to be okay right now. If she could, she would stay like this until the sands of time end. Neither of them knew about their futures to come and they would most likely be killed. However, if there was a slim possibility that there was a future with the one she loved, then it was a risk she was willing to take.