Angel's Illusion

Lucy's POV

I opened my eyes when the glint of the sun shone directly on them, I yawned a bit as my eyes adjusted. I stretched my arms above my hand as they felt sore because I had fallen asleep sitting.

I felt a soft weight on my thighs and looked down to see Haruto's head on my lap. His eyes closed and one of his cheeks faced me. My mind went back to yesterday, the hours we spent talking to each other felt like only a few fleeting moments as we kept staring into the burning embers of the fire. I wished that moment had lasted forever.

I put my hand on his hair and gently started stroking it, a smile appeared on my face as I stared at him. His face was unlike anything I had seen before, even for a human. His hair was jet black and his lips were thin but red. His defenceless face exuded a sense of serenity and contentment...but something was missing, it wasn't enough! I wanted to see it again, the pain in his eyes. The despair he felt and I want to see that despair turn into hope, and I wanted to be the one to deliver it. I closed my eyes as I relived that memory, and a hot sigh left me and my lips quivered as I reminisced those emotions I had felt that day.

I had gone to the dark forest to train and never would I have thought I would have found a person let alone a human, alive there, it was more than enough to light my curious nature on fire as I watched him from the hidden shadows of the forest.

As much as I wanted to confront him face to face at that time, I knew I had to be vigilant. Complacency in the dark forest was a death sentence, and I was not going to approach a seemingly impossible phenomenon that was happening right in front of me. First I had to observe and even that didn't mean I would swoop in to rescue someone. There was a natural order in this world that needed to be followed and I wasn't in the mood to disturb that if there wasn't something out of the ordinary happening here.

I followed for hours and hours, his decisions were arbitrary and it was clear that something was not right. There was no way a human would enter the dark first alone, in fact, it was prohibited for them to do so. Secondly, I was surprised he hadn't gone insane yet because of the miasma corrupting him. Humans were far inferior in their mana arts and magic but even newborn babies had the ability to passively absorb mana. Even I, a demon have a hard time controlling such a concentrated and intense mana for a long period of time. Hence the training.

There were wounds all over his body, he was barefooted and his shirt was basically ornamental at this point, being torn to shreds. It was clear that this was not his first day here, and things just got more interesting after that.

I suddenly felt a strong presence nearby, judging from the concentration of the miasma emanating from it, it was probably a corrupted beast. I knew I couldn't interfere yet but my curiosity got the better of me. For a fleeting moment, I showed myself, particularly my eyes. If he was smart enough he would know he was being watched and stay vigilant.

My hunch turned out to be right, the human was clever after all. He had become more vigilant but again I couldn't understand why he couldn't feel what I was feeling. Even humans have the capability to sense an entity with a lot of power. It was like he was trapped in a cage, not knowing when he will be eaten. His movement was strained, especially since the rain that had poured before I arrived had made the terrain muddy.

As I continued following, I sensed that he was slowly letting his guard down and as I expected the moment he relaxed the beast appeared again. I saw him raise a weapon he had made, I knew that it was futile to do so but it seems that the boy still held out hope. It was amusing to see. The encounter had turned into a standoff for a few seconds before the beast struck and it struck fast.

It was only the human's luck that saved him but it didn't leave him unscathed. As I saw him resorting to running away, his situation tugged at my heartstring and I did feel pity. But I was not stupid, this was too peculiar of a situation and if this was part of some greater human plot, I couldn't afford to fall into that trap, not right now. I continued to observe with my lips pursed and fists closed tightly.

I could hear his deafening and gut-wrenching screams as the venom started to act but to my surprise, he didn't hesitate to cut the infected area of, a pretty wise and instinctual decision to make in such a dire situation. Eventually, though it seemed that he had resigned to his fate.

He looked down in contempt, his efforts for all for nought after all.

But I looked closer at his face and realised that he was smiling, a faint almost invisible smile but it was there nonetheless. Was it the relief of resignation or the ironic dream of being freed from his pain, it was hard to distinguish.

The next moment he shouted and I sat there dazed at the words coming out of his mouth. My eyes went wide as I heard what he said.

There was a weird sensation that enveloped me, it was unlike anything I had ever felt before. Of course, I was astonished how those words were even coming out of his mouth, what was in that smile that made him still want to live, what gives him the drive to still be happy...I wanted to know, I NEEDED to know.

But there was also something else, his eyes were in absolute despair and his whole body writhing in pain. I was astonished I felt this way but it felt exhilarating. His small and thin body squirmed as he begged and pleaded for help, my mind went numb with euphoria, and before I realised I was panting.

I abandoned all sense of reason and rationality as my body almost moved on its own after that, my wings which were hidden erupted from my back and I flew into the sky. And as I landed I took out my sword and sliced the beast's head off.

I sheathed back my sword and turned around but by that time he had almost fallen unconscious. I glanced into his eyes and his eyes reflected me. I stared into them for a fleeting moment and once again that feeling arose in me, In his eyes, I was his saviour, his protector...but just moments before his eyes reflected despair but now they reflect hope. I closed my eyes and let the feeling envelop me...the pleasure only doubling as I reminisced about his despair and his hope.

I looked at him one more time, bending down to his ears with my hand on my chin.

"It's ok, you are MINE now...."