Alex's POV
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"Let's get out of here," Azaelia said, sighing with exhaustion as she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Using the sin energy of Wrath outside my main Sin of Lust drains me drastically."
One moment we were in the forest, and suddenly, like a spark of flame ignited by a flick of a lighter, we were back in Azaelia's house.
I looked around, shocked that we were back already, and stared at my aunt in amazement.
"Can you teleport, Aunty Lia?" I asked, following behind her with some effort due to my still feeling a bit weak.
Azaelia stopped in her tracks, causing me to bump into her back. She turned to look at me in my eyes, raising an eyebrow.
"Aunty Lia?"
I smiled a bit while tilting my head, replying teasingly, "Teacher Lia?"
"You can give me any title you want, but we're not on a nickname basis yet. We just met, Mr. cursed by a witch."
My eyebrow twitched at the attack of the curse, but I ignored it.
"Ha ha, very funny. But you didn't answer my question about teleporting."
Azaelia smirked, "What do you think?" She asked, answering my prior question with a question of her own as she walked towards the stairs. I didn't know where she was going, but I decided to follow her in the meantime.
'I'll take that as a yes.' I thought to myself. 'I wonder if I'll be able to learn that.'
"No, you're not at that level yet," Azaelia responded when I didn't say anything out loud.
"Huh?"
"I said you're not at that level yet."
"But I didn't say…wait…you can read my mind?"
'Yeah, we also can communicate telepathically.' She answered, allowing me to hear her voice inside my head.
"Freaky," I said aloud
"I was skeptical at first, but this is only possible for demons who share the same bloodline."
"So we are family, then. Thank G.O.—," I groaned in pain, grabbing at my temples before I even finished spelling. "Oh for fucks sake. You can't even spell it either."
I looked up at Azaelia with her right palm over her face. Seeming like she was disappointed in something.
"I'll explain this once and only once," she began, removing her palm from her face. The sclera of her eyes has turned black for the first time, as visible black veins pulsed at her temples. Looking like a demonic byakugan.
"Never speak, think, or spell that name. Fallen Angels and demons forbid it. You will die immediately at the slightest attempt. It's like a literal harmful insult down here. Got it!
Speaking that name against a high-ranking demon like me is harmful. I'll give a pass because you didn't know. But saying it to another high-ranking demon, even by accident, will look like an attempt on his or her life. You can say anything concerning hell. Satan, Devils, Demonic Rulers, and whatnot."
Azaelia explained, and I nodded my head quickly, emphasizing that I understood as clearly as day. When she was finished with her explanation, her eyes returned to normal, and the veins at her temples disappeared.
She turned around and continued walking, stopping in front of a door. Pushing it open, I could see that it was probably the bathroom. At first glance, one would think it was an indoor pool; however, the steam escaping from the water, plus the flowery rose petals floating on top, said otherwise. The smell was very fragrant and pungent.
"Oh, you're going to bathe. I'll head back downstairs." I said, turning back around, about to head back down the stairs, but was stopped by my aunt's hand on my shoulder.
"You'll be joining me," She said, and I looked at her weird.
"First of all, aunty, I may be a female now, but up here," I said, tapping my head, "Is still the mind of a guy. And two, you're my aunt. I'm not joining you." I said, checking out my aunt from head to toe.
'Plus, that body type is way too voluptuous, sexy, and athletic. Curvy in all the right places too.' I said to myself.
When I saw her start to blush a bit, my own face started to turn red in embarrassment, remembering that she could read my thoughts.
'For Devil's sake, I hope there is a privacy setting you can turn on with thoughts.'
"Wait, aunty, I didn't mean it like that," I said quickly, waving my hands in the air to take back the weird thought I just had about my aunt.
"Get your mind out of your lustrous imagination, you fool. I'm not bathing with you. This is a medicinal bath to clean your wings and change your bandages."
I stared at Aunty Lia in disbelief, "Say that instead of 'You'll be joining me.'" I said, while air-quoting her previous line.
"Whatever," she said while pulling me into the bathroom and closing the door behind us. "Now, strip."
I playfully covered my chest and pretended to blush, "Myyyy, you didn't even buy me dinner yet, aunty."
Azaelia's eyebrow twitched in annoyance and commanded with authority. "Now, Alex! Enough of the games!"
Feeling the seriousness of the situation, I followed her command and stripped, leaving on the bandage wrapped around my back and chest.
Azaelia walked in front of me and grew a claw from her index finger and inched it closer to the bandage. My guess is to cut the bandage and leave me fully naked. However, the way her finger inched its way towards me, I couldn't help but remember the nightmare of my demonic self caressing its claws on me.
"No!" I yelled, flinching back from her claw, and squatted down to avoid looking at her.
"What's wrong?" Azaelia questioned as she stared at me, confused about why I suddenly backed away from her.
"Nightmare" Was the only word I was able to get out before my body began to tremble.
Azaelia understood immediately and sighed. She stepped around until she was at my back and squatted down as well. Her hand touched my sensitive back, and I flinched from pain and fear.
"Relax, it's still just me. I'm going to remove the bandage." She informed me while my eyes remained closed. Azaelia tugged lightly on the bandage to create a bit of space for her finger to cut the bandage easily. One quick swipe was all it took.
Her claw must have been sharp because I didn't even hear the bandage being ripped or cut through.
"There, all done," she whispered. Then said something that sounded like a foreign language.
"Intrepidus," She said as the fear that plagued me disappeared just as fast as it came, relaxing me. "You can get in now."
I opened my eyes and nodded my head.
Standing up, I walked towards the steaming water and placed a foot inside. It was hot but not scorching, so it was tolerable. The bath had three to four steps that descended into the water, so I continued down until half my body was submerged.
I audibly gulped as the open wound at my back itched and tingled as the air and steam kissed the wound. I exhaled and slowly lowered my body to a kneeling position so that the hot water got closer and closer to the wound.
I could already suspect how bad this was going to hurt, and once the wound submerged into the water, I whimpered. It stung badly. The hot water felt like it was cauterizing the injury and it made me inhale air through my teeth.
Azaelia walked towards the bath, removing the bathrobe that hugged her body. I was going to look away, but I watched in amazement as the bathrobe disappeared in flames, and in its place was an all-black bathing suit.
I sighed in relief as she stood before me, not completely naked like I assumed she was going to be.
"Now I'm going to teach you to grow your wings on command." Azaelia began, "Since the wound is still fresh, it will hurt like the first time. Just not as bad."
My face darkened at the mention that this was going to hurt once again. Seeing my darkened expression, Azaelia sighed.
"If the wound closes again over time, then you'll just be repeating an unavoidable process of wings breaking through muscle and skin again. Sprouting your wings daily will create a pathway for them to grow over time."
Azaelia turned around so that her back faced me. Between her shoulder blades was a black magic circle design that seemed to have a mind of its own, like an animated tattoo.
On the left and right sides of the magic circle were four angelic wings in a tribal tattoo design. The first pair of wings was larger than the second pair that appeared below it. They were black as well, but they faded into a red color, exactly like her wings when they were outstretched from her back.
"This is a wing path tattoo. Over time, the more your wings appear, the more they will create a wing path so that they no longer break muscle and skin. Think of it like another dimension that our wings reside in. You understand?" Azaelia explained and turned back around to face me when she got to the end.
I nodded my head to let her know that I understood.
"Your wings," she continued, her voice low and steady, "are not physical in the same way your arms and legs are. They exist in a parallel space. A spiritual membrane, in a way. That's why when they first emerged, they tore through the physical. You weren't attuned to the wing path gate."
"Wings path gate?" I asked.
"The thin boundary between flesh and spirit for your wings. Once you understand how to open that gate willingly, your wings will pass through without blood and agony, eventually."
I swallowed hard.
"And until then, I just keep suffering?"
"Until then, you earn them."
I exhaled air through my mouth to steady my resolve and focus.
"How…do I even begin?" I asked
Azaelia nodded and smirked, pleased by the question.
"Close your eyes." She instructed, and I followed, closing my eyes.
"Now focus on your heartbeat."
I breathed in deeply. The scent of rose petals and minerals filled my lungs.
"Picture the place between your shoulder blades," she said, her voice now calm and melodic. "Visualize heat there. A glow. A space trying to open. Not forcefully, but gently."
I did my best to focus. I pictured a soft light building beneath my skin.
"Good," Azaelia began, "Now focus on that feeling and command it to open."
My breath hitched. Suddenly, the warmth exploded into a burning pressure. The water around me rippled violently. I clenched my teeth as my muscles at my shoulder blades began to split again. Hot fire raced down my spine as the sensation of being torn apart surged once more. This time, it was slower and more controlled.
I gritted my teeth, but I didn't stop.
The wound flared with agony; however, this time it molded and ripped through. My muscles tensed, my vision blurred, and then I felt it.
The rush of wings growing from my back.
They emerged like shadows cast from flame. Not as large or commanding as Azaelia's, but there.
I panted, shoulders shaking, chest heaving.
"You did it," Azaelia said with a smirk.
Two small black wings, damp and trembling, extended from my back.
"They look...different. I'm pretty sure they were a lot bigger the first time around."
Azaelia laughed, "Of course they're different. They're a representation of your sin energy. Puny sin energy equals puny wings."
"Tch," I sucked my teeth and pouted.
Azaelia stepped towards me, resting a hand lightly on my wing. I winced but didn't flinch away.
"This is the first step," she said. "They'll get stronger. They'll get bigger. But only if you let them come forth every day. You must train your sin energy to keep the gate open."
"I understand," I muttered.
"Let's get those wings cleaned now. Lean back in the water like you're trying to float in it." Azaelia instructed, and I followed them with slight difficulty due to the pain. The slightest movement of my arms agitated the area where my wings grew. Aunt Azaelia assisted me by holding me still with her right hand on my lower back.
She raised her left hand above my chest and began to mutter something in what I assume was Latin.
Ad vulneratos sanandos, aquae virtutes medicinales invoco.
The water glowed faintly blue. Increasing the medicinal smell of roses and minerals. I immediately hissed as the water seemed to increase in temperature on my wings and back. It felt like putting crushed mint over burned skin, or, in my case, an open wound.
"Sorry," she murmured. "But this will clean your wings and soothe your wound."
She switched her right hand, which had been providing support, to keep me still in the bathwater with her left hand.
Using her now free right hand, her fingers moved with tenderness, tracing the edge of my wings where the blood had dried into crusty patches. The enchanted water washing away the crimson blood.
I found myself relaxing under her touch despite the occasional sting. Once she was done with that wing, she walked around to the other side and provided the same treatment to the other wing.
"You're lucky," she said after a pause. "Most demons have to do this alone."
"Guess I'm just lucky to have you," I muttered, more sincerely than I meant to.
She blinked once, then snorted softly. "Flattery won't spare you from the pain tomorrow, and the days to come."
"It was worth a shot," I replied with a lopsided grin.
When the last of the blood had been rinsed away, she held her hands just above my wings, murmuring a soft incantation. A subtle shimmer spread across the surface of my wings like a sealant, temporarily protecting the exposed tissue from air and strain.
"There," she said, stepping back. "All clean now."
I shifted in the water so that I was standing with my body still halfway submerged in the water, feeling the wings flutter.
"Now the next part," Azaelia said.
"How to hide them again," I guessed.
"Correct. It's not enough to summon them. You have to learn how to close the gate."
I nodded. "So, how do I do that?"
Same as before," she said. "Close your eyes. Find the source where wings push outward."
I obeyed, eyes closed. The pain still lingered, but the gate where the heat had bloomed was now more defined in my mind. A glowing magic circle between my shoulder blades.
"Now reverse the motion and will the energy inward. Like folding a flame back into a lantern."
I focused. The heat flickered in my mind, uncertain. I imagined pulling it back like swallowing down light.
A strange shiver ran through me.
The sensation of the wings began to fade, not all at once, but in ripples. The tension in my back eased. The weight lifted. The air cooled against my still-wounded back, which hurt a lot less.
When I opened my eyes, the wings were gone.
I turned my head slowly to look. My back stung slightly, but the wings had fully receded.
Azaelia smirked.
"Not bad."
I let out a shaky breath. "That was...less painful than expected."
"Because you guided it. Pain comes from resistance. You'll learn to soften that pathway the more you use it. One day, it'll be as natural as breathing."
I sank further in the bath, letting the heat embrace me. The stinging had dulled to a distant ache. My body was worn out, but I could feel something else now.
A pulse deep inside.
"So..." I began, opening one eye to glance at Azaelia, "I've been hearing you mention this 'sin energy.' What is it, and how do I use it?"