@packless liked this for a starter!
For hundreds of years, he had been toiling in hell. After meeting Loni again in one of his many human lives and hearing that he had forgotten all their time together across several lifetimes, it was an easy decision to make a deal with Satan himself to get his memories back. He simply could no longer live with being the only one kept in the dark, so he made a deal, one in which he would be turned into a demon, and if he somehow crawled to the top of hell's food chain without being consumed, he'd be given the chance to return to her with all his new power and old memories.
Fighting for his life in hell had been an experience unlike any other in his previous lives. Every day felt like 100 years, and as a demon starting from the very bottom dregs, there were times he was sure he wouldn't make it, that his soul would be consumed, and he'd be removed from the cycle of reincarnation. Yet, somehow, all of his time as a hitman and other unsavory characters throughout his lives allowed him to slowly ascend the ranks, little by little, until he reached the top echelons of demon society. Once there, Satan honored their deal and gave him the freedom to do whatever he wished, now one of hell's top generals.
And so, he made his way into the human realm some 500 years later, hoping he could find Loni again. It was a relief to discover she still occupied the same forest, and as he walked through the woods, he was filled with nostalgia. Across many of his human lifetimes, he had been here and forgotten them all, but that would never happen again. As a powerful demon who wasn't trying to conceal his presence at all, he was sure she would be able to sense him in her forest and wandered through, waiting for her to appear to confront the "threat" his aura posed her. Soon enough, he sensed her presence behind him, and turned around to face her. Fuck, it had been so long. She was truly a sight for sore eyes.
"Hey. Long time no see. I look a little bit different now, but it's me."