It had been a few days since the whole temple fiasco, and things were finally starting to settle down. Im certain that things are going to pick up soon enough, but for now its pretty chill. No more Abyssal disturbances, no ruin graders smashing up the place—just the usual calm. But there was one thing that wasn't sitting well with me.
That strange power I had accidentally used on Paimon… it had unlocked something new inside of me, something I didn't fully understand yet. Enmu's Blood Demon Art.
I should probably go meet up with Albedo again, he might help me discover more things about my powers now that it's finally progressing. Hope he doesn't make me drink anything weird again. Though I wonder how he's doing, hope he's well and safe in Dragonspine.
Back to my new powers, it wasn't like my flames or regeneration, it was something else, something that targeted the mind. And while the whole situation had been weird, it left me with a new ability that I had no idea how to control.
So, with Aether and Paimon by my side, I figured it was time to figure this power out once and for all.
"Just so you both know, Paimon is only doing this for the food! Paimon is still sceptical about the 'put Paimon to sleep' plan" Paimon whined, floating a good distance away from me with her arms crossed. She looked more nervous than mad, which, honestly, made me feel a little guilty. But I had to learn how to use this new power, and she was the one who accidentally triggered it the first time.
"Relax, I won't do anything reckless," I said, giving her a reassuring grin. "And if I do, you've got Aether here to make sure things dont get out of hand."
Aether chuckled, leaning on his sword. "I'm ready when you are. But maybe let's try something smaller this time?"
Paimon just gave a long sigh "You both better buy Paimon lots and lots of treats for this"
---
We were standing outside Mondstadt again, far enough from the city to not cause any accidental chaos. The trees swayed in a gentle breeze, and the fresh air felt good after all the madness we'd been through. It was the perfect place for testing out powers without causing too much of a scene.
"Alright," I said, taking a deep breath. "Let's start simple."
I had learned one thing about Enmu's Blood Demon Art: it seemed to activate when I made eye contact with the target. When I'd accidentally put Paimon to sleep before, it was because we locked eyes at just the right moment, though I still didn't fully grasp how it worked.
But if it was tied to eye contact, maybe I could control it better that way. I mean it was how Enmu used it in the fight against Tanjiro and the boar head dude. Though he did activate his Blood Art in other more complicated ways, but ill figure out the trickier methods later.
"Okay, Paimon," I said, focusing on her floating form. "I'm going to try something. Just keep your eyes on me. It's the eye contact that triggers the sleep thing, so this time I'll be more careful."
Paimon squinted at me suspiciously. "I don't like the sound of that, but… okay! Just as long as you make Paimon dream of more delicious food!"
I stifled a laugh. "I'll do my best."
I took a deep breath, letting the power within me rise to the surface. It felt like an invisible string connecting me to Paimon's gaze, and I tugged on it gently. My eyes started to hyper focus and I can feel the Blood Demon Art activating.
The moment our eyes locked, I focused on pushing the power outward—just enough to see if it would trigger. I could feel the energy swirling beneath the surface, creeping toward Paimon like a soft whisper.
'sleep'
Her eyes fluttered once.
"Wait—Tayden, are you—"
And then she was out, floating peacefully in mid-air as she fell into a deep sleep. I blinked in surprise; that had worked a little faster than I expected.
Aether sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, at least we know the eye contact theory works."
"Yeah," I muttered, scratching my chin. "That was… easier than I thought."
Paimon was now drifting in place, letting out soft snores. I couldn't help but chuckle. "She really goes out like a light, doesn't she?"
Aether leaned closer, watching her sleep. "We should probably wake her up before she starts drooling ."
Just as I was about to try and reverse the process, I felt a bizarre tingling sensation creep along my palm. Confused, I looked down, only to freeze in absolute horror.
A mouth—an honest-to-Archons mouth—had appeared on the palm of my hand. And it was moving. And speaking.
"Sleep…" the mouth whispered in a low, unnervingly soothing voice, like it was trying to lull someone into a nap. With a disturbing smile and the tongue moving around very suspiciously.
"What the—?!" I yelped, jerking my hand back like it was on fire. My brain was trying and failing to comprehend what I was seeing. "AETHER! PAIMON! WHY DOES MY HAND HAVE A MOUTH?!"
Aether's eyes bulged as he instinctively jumped back like I'd just waved a bomb in his face. "Uh, Tayden… did your hand just… grow a mouth?"
"YA THINK?! AND IT TALKS!" I spluttered, flailing my arm like it was possessed. "WHY IS IT TALKING?!"
Paimon, still floating blissfully in dreamland, was completely oblivious to the chaos happening around her. Meanwhile, Aether cautiously leaned in to inspect my hand, his face somewhere between morbid curiosity and utter disgust. "It's… kinda creepy… but also kinda cool?"
"Cool? Dude, it's a freaking mouth on my hand! I CAN FEEL IT BREATHING THROUGH MY PALM AND IT FEELS SO WRONG!" I waved my arm even more wildly, hoping the mouth would get the hint and shut up. "Go away! Vanish! WHY ARE YOU EVEN HERE?!"
As if in response to my hysterics, the mouth finally closed with a smack and slowly faded away, leaving my hand mercifully mouth-free. I stared at my now-normal palm for a long moment, breathing heavily. "Okay… that was officially the freakiest thing I've ever seen."
Aether nodded, giving me a look like he wasn't sure if he should laugh or call for help. "Yeah… definitely on the higher end of the list of weirdest things."
Aether just shook his head, his arms resting on his hips "Paimon is going to be so grossed out when she wakes up," Aether said, trying and failing to hide his amusement. "She already doesn't like being put to sleep—now imagine telling her about the talking mouth."
I groaned. "Yeah, let's just... not mention that part to her."
Paimon stirred at that moment, her eyes slowly fluttering open. "Mmm… what happened?" she mumbled, floating down and rubbing her eyes. She looked dazed, as if she'd just woken up from the longest nap of her life. "Why does Paimon feel so sleepy?"
"Uh… you dozed off for a minute," I said quickly, glancing at Aether. "Everything's fine. No talking hands or anything like that." Aether just looked at me like I was the biggest idiot. "Nope nothing weird at all"
Paimon blinked, clearly confused by my weird response, but she shrugged it off. "Okay... acting kinda weird. Anyways just don't make it a habit! Paimon doesn't want to be your sleep subject! Sleep test subject? or Sleepject anymore!"
"No worries, Paimon," Aether said, still chuckling. "Tayden's still figuring it out."
"Yeah," I added, relieved that she didn't press the issue. "But hey, at least we know the eye contact thing works now. And I'll be more careful next time."
"Good," Paimon huffed, floating back over to Aether's shoulder. "But next time, let's not try it on Paimon again, okay? Maybe try it on a Hilichurl or something."
I laughed, feeling a bit more at ease now. The weirdness of the talking hand was still bothering me, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. "Alright, no more sleep tests on Paimon. I promise."
As we packed up and headed back toward Mondstadt, Aether and Paimon started to talk about todays comissions while I was just lost in thought.
I couldn't help but think about the new ability I had unlocked. Enmu's Blood Demon Art was far more complex than I had expected. There was more to it than just putting people to sleep. The hand-mouth thing had been creepy, but there was power in that too—power I needed to understand and control.
Still, as bizarre as it was, I felt a strange sense of excitement. This was just the beginning. And if I could master this, maybe I could unlock even more abilities hidden deep within me. The potential was there… I just had to learn how to tap into it.
Looks like Im really going to have to pay Albedo a little visit