Chapter 26 S2

Niris felt his breathing quicken. He stared at Niyari, but his vision was blurring. In his head, the demon spirit's words were becoming jumbled until they made no sense at all. At the same time, he was afraid of understanding what she had said, and panic was beginning to seize him. It couldn't be true. Niyari couldn't be an angel. She couldn't have existed in the same world as him years before. It was impossible. It didn't make sense. She was evil, she was destroying the world, she couldn't have been...just another angel!

As he gradually lost control of his thoughts, giving way to panic, Niyari's loud voice brought him back to reality abruptly. 

-Niris! Listen to me! 

At the same time, she grabbed his wrists and held them firmly, forcing him to pull them away from his ears, which he pressed anxiously. 

-You've had dreams, haven't you? Dreams about a thirite angel you didn't know, and a dragon, she continued, forcing him to look at her. These dreams are snippets of my memory. The seal connected us and now our thoughts are more linked than they were before. My memory has started to escape in pieces and your thoughts are accessible to me sometimes. That's why you had those dreams. 

Niris was slowly regaining control of her body. His hands stopped shaking and his breathing gradually calmed down. Niyari continued to speak. 

-The mortal seal is a very dangerous seal because it binds the two souls of the spirit and the bearer tightly together. Many things pass through this link, and as I'm a demonic spirit, only my memories are accessible to you. 

Niris took the time to make sure he had regained his composure before answering. 

-So...this woman I saw in my dreams...was it you? 

Niyari nodded slowly. 

-Lycanthus of Ensra? 

Again she nodded. 

-You...you were burned to death by...your own dragon? By order of the king's wife at the time... right?

-Yes, that's right," she confirmed. And after that, a Mirthian angel took my soul before I died completely and turned me into a demonic spirit. 

Niris was trying to put the pieces together and make sense of them. It was difficult, but little by little he was getting there. And little by little, he understood. Even if it was still implausible to him that Nyari could have been a living being in her own right before being transformed into a demonic spirit. But then again, he knew so little about demonic spirits and about her in particular, what Niyari was saying was possibly true. 

-So, you were an angel then....

Niyari nodded again, taking his time not to rush the prince. Seeing that he had come to his senses, she released his wrists and gave him back his freedom of movement. 

-In that case, why did you try to kill me so many times? You know I'm an angel too...he asked suspiciously. 

Niyari sighed. 

-I've been transformed into a demon spirit against my will, and I've been in this state for over a thousand years. I can't go on living like this, it's unbearable. I wanted to free myself at all costs, and for me all angels had become oppressors, so I had no qualms about hurting you, she confessed. 

-And now? You've run out? Niris asked, still unsure. 

She looked at him for a long moment before answering. 

-You know Jabiru and his brother, don't you? I've seen you talking to them. 

-Yes, they're good friends. But why? 

Niyari swallowed before answering, as if speaking was costing her. 

-They're my descendants," she finally said.

Niris widened his eyes. 

-I could feel it right away. And then... they kept the same peculiarity as me, the two-tone hair. Mine was exactly the same. It's a mark that's been passed down from generation to generation in my family, and my daughter had the same particularity too. 

-You...you...you mean that... Jibaru and Jabiru are...your descendants? he stammered. 

Unable to hide his surprise, he passed his hand over his wide-open mouth. 

-You know how angel genes are either ultra-dominant or ultra-recessive? 

He nodded briskly. 

-Well, my genes are ultra-dominant. So they've been passed on almost unchanged to my descendants. When I saw them, I knew right away that they were my descendants," she said softly. 

A slight smile had appeared on her face. Suddenly, she seemed more angelic, more sensitive. Almost alive. It was then that the obvious struck Niris. Niyari was angelic, she always had been. He'd simply refused to see it, because he didn't want to see beyond the hatred she displayed and the fear she instilled in him by trying to hurt him. 

Realizing how much he'd misjudged her, and how much he'd taken the wrong line with her, a smile broke over his face. 

-You remembered your daughter when you saw them again, didn't you? he said gently. 

Niyari looked away, obviously embarrassed, but she didn't contradict him. 

-Yes, I... It all came back to me at once and I was shocked. I realized that my daughter had survived, and that she herself had had children who had had others after her... it made me realize that my life had not been in vain.

She raised her eyes to meet the Prince's gaze. 

-And then, since the new seal was affixed, I also share some of your emotions and thoughts, even if only partially, and they don't impose themselves on me, I can choose to see them or not. But out of curiosity, I became interested in you, and I realized that you and I were fighting the same battle. I'd forgotten, after all these years of wandering around in the form of a demon spirit, that I'd been a dragoness when I was alive. And I'd forgotten that I'd become a dragonrider because I wanted to stop the bloodshed and the wars, because I didn't want to see any more children suffer. 

She paused, her face dark. 

-After my "death" and transformation into a demon spirit, I was filled with rage. I wanted to destroy everything around me, the pain had ravaged my spirit. I wanted revenge. And being a demon spirit made it worse. 

-What do you mean?" interrupted Niris. 

Niyari sighed. 

-To create a demonic spirit, you have to take a soul that has died in immense pain. This pain is transformed into hatred, and serves as the spirit's soul. That's why they're called demonic, because they're animated by the hatred they felt at the moment of their death. 

-Wow, I didn't know that... I didn't know that...but does that mean that all demonic spirits were living beings before they were spirits? nodded Niris, impressed. 

-Yes...all of them, without exception," replied Niyari with a serious expression on her face. And some were even killed in circumstances designed to cause hatred, so that they could then be transformed into demonic spirits. 

-It's horrible!" said Niris in disgust. 

Niyari sighed again. 

-That's why the Mirthian angels were eliminated by the Thirite angels. Their queen, the one who killed me, is the one who developed this occult practice, and I even suspect she was behind my transformation into a demonic spirit. 

But it was your sister-in-law? exclaimed the prince. 

Niyari shook her head. 

-She had too much ambition, and the wrong kind of ambition, to respect something as simple as blood ties. 

She looked deeply saddened. 

-At the time, I was the most powerful person in the kingdom," she continued. What a powerful demon spirit I would have been! By succeeding in transforming me, she was betting on having an extremely powerful spirit at her service, one that would be subject to her will. But if she had succeeded in turning me into a demon spirit, things had gotten out of hand. 

She paused and frowned. The memories seemed painful, and Niris didn't want to upset her. 

-I was far too powerful. I immediately freed myself from the grip of my very first carrier, and escaped, ravaging everything in my path. My rage was so great, and because it was amplified by the transformation mechanism, I was completely blinded. I regained consciousness months later, and was on another planet that I had completely destroyed. I later learned that I had destroyed several cities and villages, causing several hundred thousand deaths and millions of refugees. From then on, everything degenerated. 

His eyes had gone from pain to profound sadness. 

-I...gave in to hatred, she admitted. I gave her complete control over my actions and thoughts, acting only through her. I had become an unstoppable machine of destruction. For years, I did nothing but destroy. I fed on destruction. The more I destroyed, the more powerful I became. And the more my consciousness disappeared. Then one day, an elf found a way to stop me. 

-An elf?" remarked Niris, who found it unusual for an elf to intervene in something so dangerous. 

-Yes, I remember him very well, he was the sixteenth Master of Light," she recalled. Mirthian angels created many demonic spirits before being eradicated by the tirithes, but none half as powerful as me. Most of them were sealed in objects until they disappeared, while rarer ones were sealed in people, but the bearers died each time. After years of research, he found a seal that would keep me sealed in a living being without my being able to escape. My first wearer capable of containing me for a lifetime was Queen Sage-marine, ruler of the ancient people of Mû. 

Niris was focused on the spirit's story. It was the first time he'd heard of all this. It was the first time he'd understood why the history of his people had unfolded as it had, and how Niyari was intimately linked to it. Everything made profound sense, and above all, he felt that his suffering and loneliness in the face of Niyari made sense. In a way, she was justifying herself. And that took a very heavy burden off his shoulders. 

-From then on, a fierce battle for control of the Niyari carrier began," continued the spirit. As I was sealed, my carrier could use my power at the very high risk of dying and losing me, but it was a challenge many took up. Many were envious of the potential of this new possibility. My carriers have all lived lives of struggle and suffering. 

She gave Niris a strange look that he couldn't make out. Intrigued, he remained silent and waited for her to finish. 

-That was until my last bearer died freeing me from my seal, and I managed to escape from this infernal spiral that forced me to sleep at the bottom of an alien mind for centuries. When I escaped, the first thing I did was to take refuge in an inaccessible place and sleep there. I searched for this place for a long time, avoiding my pursuers, but I finally found it. There, I slept for several centuries, but one day the last master of blades came to give me physical form to make sure I never had a carrier again. A war broke out because of this, however. 

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Niris frowned. 

-Wait... you mean... the war of the Great Schism? 

Niyari nodded silently. 

-The War of the Great Schism broke out because of you? 

She sighed again, a little exasperated. 

-Not because of me, Niris, but because of those who wanted to use me! You can imagine that all the power-hungry people in this world had only one dream: to find me and appropriate my power! Well, other planets and other powerful people didn't want me awake. They hoped I'd sleep and disappear one day in my sleep, over the years. These planets are the founding members of the intergalactic organization. 

-the founding members...

Niris's eyes widened. This time, all the elements were coming together. He couldn't believe that Niyari was the real cause behind all this. 

-But then how did you get sealed inside me if you were sleeping in a totally inaccessible place? he questioned. 

-Ah.... that's where the worst part comes in, she replied with a serious look on her face. The war ended with the invocation of the master spirits by the volunteers, and this invocation put an end to the conflict. Only master spirits could match my power, and their invocation guaranteed the total failure of any operation. The troops were frightened, and the belligerent leaders had no choice but to move their weapons. There was no greater deterrent than the master spirits themselves. 

-But then, why...pressed the prince, who wanted to know the end of the story. 

-One day, someone woke me up by shattering the crystal that enclosed me. I don't know who, but a deeply malevolent being managed to find me, reach me and pierce my sleep. By whatever means, he caused me unbearable pain. I recalled an extremely painful memory, and I had this idea in mind: if I kill all the angels still alive, I'll finally be able to rest in peace.

Niris listened attentively. 

-So I went to Egea and started ravaging everything I could find, but it didn't last long," she continued with a knowing smile. Your father quickly put an end to my rampage and managed to imprison me in his wrist. He then returned to the palace, and there, by a completely mad ide, he decided to seal me inside you with a simple seal. 

Niris thought hard. He knew the rest. He knew that Niyari had been sealed inside him thanks to her maternal heritage and because she had suddenly reappeared after disappearing for a long time. But he'd never imagined that anyone could have caused the disaster that led to his life of endless battles with the demon inside him. 

Seeing the prince's intense reflection, Niyari let him digest the information before resuming more gently. 

-See the scar on your father's right arm? 

Niris nodded, doubtful. 

-I'm the one who caused him to seal me inside himself until I could return to Sophianopolis and seal myself inside you. It's the price for the crazy gamble he made, as well as sacrificing his own son. 

Niris remained pensive for a moment. Mentally, he saw the long scar running down his father's forearm, which he always tried to hide behind long sleeves. He'd always asked him why he had that scar, and each time he'd replied that it was the price of power. His heart sank at the thought that it was actually from Niyari's subjugation back in the day. 

-My father didn't sacrifice me, he saved his people," the prince corrected. 

-Niyari chuckled, almost laughing in his face. Turn it one way or the other, you've ended up as a sacrifice on the altar of the common good!

-That's the price of power," he replied calmly, echoing his father's words. 

Now he understood perfectly the meaning of his father's words. Strangely, he felt perfectly calm in the face of the demonic spirit he had so feared for years. 

-You're your father's son," she remarked ironically. Do you really care that you were sacrificed to protect your people? 

Niris smiled mockingly. 

-In any case, with you freewheeling on our planet, I would have suffered from you in one way or another. Seeing my family suffer without being able to do anything causes me as much pain as having to carry you inside me every day of my life until my last breath. So if I have to choose, I prefer the solution that saves the most lives. 

-But you were only a child," she said. 

The angel replied with the same aplomb. 

-I may have been too young to understand what was going on, but one thing I soon realized was that if I could control you, I could save an unimaginable number of lives. And that's something I'm willing to bear every day of my life, because power has no meaning if it doesn't serve the common good. 

Niyari nodded slowly. 

-You are indeed your father's son... she finally repeated in an evasive tone. 

-I can't stay any longer, we'll continue our conversation later," cut in the angel who could feel his natural energy reserve dwindling. 

If he continued, he'd be reprimanded by the nurses, and he certainly didn't want to see the Aesethian doctor again, as he found her too direct. 

-I'd just like to know why you saved me," he said. 

Niyari watched him for a moment. Then she answered, weighing her every word. 

-I don't know exactly what happened with this seal, but all that rage that used to come alive in me every time I interacted with the world disappeared. I think there was an effect with the seal, which changed my nature as a demonic spirit. Besides, I'm too connected to your emotions to let you die without doing anything. I feel the pain you feel, and it's unbearable. That's why I stepped in to help you. 

Niris watched her for a moment. She had looked away at the end of his tirade. But he didn't rush her. He knew all this would take time. For a first contact, it was already a success and he was satisfied. He also had a lot to integrate. 

-Thank you for your reply," he said. I'll get back to...

-Wait! Just one more thing! I'd like you never to use my power from now on," she interrupted. 

Niris frowned. 

-All you'll do is cause more conflict, and you'll be hunted down even more," she explained. 

-I wish I could do without it, but I'm not powerful enough for that," he replied a little dryly. 

-It's up to you to develop your own power Niris, you mustn't rely on mine, it's too dangerous. 

-I'm the bearer of the most powerful demonic spirit in the world, I've got a whole bunch of people who want me dead so they can become your bearer, I don't see how I can defend myself with my strength alone, he retorted. And I think my death and your liberation will cause far greater harm than the use of your power in combat. 

Niyari wanted to reply, but Niris wouldn't let him. 

-We'll talk about this again at a later date, but right now I need to rest. 

He cut the connection and slowly returned to his body. The return to reality made him dizzy. He waited a few seconds until he regained full control of his movements. Once he was sure he could walk upright without running into walls, he left his room and walked along the corridor. 

Absorbed in his thoughts, he let his footsteps guide him to Seiran's room. Seiran was still on his hospital bed and had his eyes closed when he entered. Gently, he closed the door behind him and approached the bed. Then, after checking that he had no major injuries, he pulled himself up onto the edge of the bed and lay down against the demon's warm body. He lay there for a few seconds before Seiran's warm voice made him open his eyes. 

-Aren't you supposed to be in your hospital bed? he said in a hoarse voice. 

Niris raised his head and gave the demon a tender smile. 

-Your man's super-strong and has only superficial wounds despite the furious fight he put up," he joked, moving his head up close to the convalescent's shoulder. 

The demon chuckled at the angel's overconfidence. 

-So strong that he saved me from the clutches of the evil elves who wanted to take me away," he added, turning on his side. 

Slowly, he brought his arms up behind the angel's back to embrace him. Niris, who wanted nothing less, took refuge against his chest and buried her head in his shoulder. 

-Don't worry, they got what they deserved," he replied with a sigh of relief. 

Seiran smiled and placed a tender kiss on his love's hair. Then he rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. 

-Thank you for saving me, my warrior," he said gratefully. 

Niris straightened up to face the demon. 

-As long as I'm alive, no one will hurt you or take you away from me," he replied calmly and resolutely. 

They stared at each other for long seconds. They had missed these little moments of tenderness so much that they felt they could stay like this for all eternity. Then, slowly, Seiran leaned forward and placed his lips on those of the angel, who closed her eyes. It was the tenderest, deepest kiss they'd ever shared. A kiss that weighed the weight of life and the loneliness of death. A kiss that spoke of how lucky they were to be alive together. When they parted, Niris returned to curl up against the demon's chest. Seiran tightened his arms around him and caressed his shoulder. 

As soon as we can, we'll fetch your sister," said Niris, his eyes wide against the hospital gown that clothed the handsome brown-skinned demon. 

-Mmh," Seiran said softly, closing his eyes. 

-And we're going to find your mother soon, I promise you," resumed Niris, whose gaze had become firmly fixed. 

-The demon smiled sweetly again. 

-No one will ever separate us again. I'll always be by your side, and I won't let anyone stop us from being together. 

This time the demon said nothing. He simply kissed her hair again, longer. 

-I, too, Niris, will never let anyone separate me from you. You're the most precious person to me, and I won't let anyone hurt you again. I promise. 

Suddenly emotional, Niris clutched the suit he was wearing with his hand at the demon's side. He pressed himself a little closer to the demon's body, whose warmth reassured and calmed him. Again, they remained like this for a moment without speaking, then Seiran said in an infinitely gentle voice:

-I love you, Niris. 

These words sent a shiver down the angel's spine. He had rarely been as happy as he was now. 

-I love you too, Seiran. Very much. 

And so they fell asleep in each other's arms, enjoying a peace that had long been denied them.