I looked closer at the symbol on the back of my wrist, trying to work out some sort of meaning behind it, but nothing came to mind.
Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place. At the physical. Instead, I should be looking inside myself. That's where the curse would reside.
I sat down on the crimson grass, and knew Faye and Adom would be looking at me confused, but I did not care.
I sat in a meditative position, the one I used back on Vorth when I hoped to calm my mind. The one that had been taught to me by my Father…
No, I cannot think about Father right now…
I calmed my mind, clearing it of all thoughts. And instead searched for myself.
As I did, there was a thought lingering there, as though it was waiting for me to address it. I did not know what the thought was, only that it was important. All I needed to do was focus on it.
As I did, my head was filled with sharp pains, which felt terrible when added to the pain I felt in my injured right eye. It only grew sharper and sharper overtime.
I instantly came out of meditation and clasped my head, trying to stop myself from screaming. But the pain was too much.
"Arghhhh!" I screamed. It felt like I had been stabbed through the skull twice, but I could feel no wound.
"Rade! Rade!" I heard cries from around me, probably from Faye, but my eyes were squeezed shut against the pain so I could not see anything.
Then, the pain in my head subsided, but moved towards my back. I could not reach the area to clutch it in pain, but I so desperately needed to.
I rolled onto my back, flailing around like a fish out of water. It was the worst pain I had felt in my life. And it was unbearable
Then, the pain felt like it was too much. And I slowly drifted out of consciousness.
---
Demonborn. Why are you so ashamed of that name?
I found myself floating through an eternal darkness. I could see nothing around me, only my hands as I held them up to my face.
The brand of the wings was still present.
Are demons so shunned on Vorth? That does not make sense; they are stronger than the humans.
The voice seemed to come from everywhere, as if the darkness was speaking to me itself.
I tried to talk, but I was unable to. Or perhaps I just could not perceive or hear my mouth moving.
Well, I will not shun you. In fact, I will honour you as the first hybrid. I will appreciate you like you should have been appreciated on Vorth. All you must do, is come and find me.
In The Last Layer of Hell.
---
I awoke from what felt like a sleep, laying on my back on the red grass, looking up at the sky. It was no longer dark red, now just light red.
As I pushed myself up to a seated position, I instantly realized something was different with me, on the inside and on the outside.
"You're finally awake," a calm female voice came from beside me.
"Faye?" I said to the familiar woman sitting on the grass next to me, though her hair was no longer black. It was red, and so were her eyes.
"Where is Adom?"
"Don't worry about that for now. Have you seen yourself?" I did not know what she was talking about, but for some reason I knew that something was strange, as though there was a new part of me that I did not have before.
I reached my hands to my back and felt something—a bony feeling, covered in a strange, feather-like material. And when I turned my head, I saw what it was.
Black wings protruded from my back, elegantly, like an eagle in human form.
They were not incredibly large, but simply seeing wings on my form was an otherworldly feeling, and it felt even stranger attempting to move them.
"It can't be," I said to myself, but aloud. Faye remained silent, letting me take it all in.
Demonborn? I thought to myself, and the words triggered something that felt like a distant memory.
Was I visited by someone as I was passed out?
"Your horns seem to have grown as well," Faye said as she continued to sit on the grass. I felt my hand go to my head and realised she was right. The horns had grown drastically, both longer than my middle finger.
"I think it was something to do with your curse," she said, touching her hand to her long, red hair. "And this is something to do with mine."
It seemed she had not noticed her red eyes yet; no one had told her. Which reminded me of something.
"Where is Adom?" I asked, not spotting the man anywhere, and Faye's face snarled into a look of anger.
"He jumped off the edge after his curse began to take effect."
Jumped off the edge? So it's safe to dive further now?
"He's not who we thought he was, Rade. I realised after his body began to change."
I was confused, and it showed in my face.
"What are you talking about?" I asked her.
"His head. A crown began to form on it, floating like a halo, and not only that, but his back began to sprout wings. Unlike yours though, they were white, and much, much smaller, not yet fully grown. But from there it was certain who he was; it even became obvious as I looked at his familiar face."
I waited for her to finish talking, but I already had a feeling I knew what she was going to say. The prediction filled with me with anger.
No, I could not have walked besides such a man.
"That man's name is not Adom, it is Yoseph. And he is the second son of King Vinel. That man was the prince."