Guardian of My Heart

Chapter 14: On the Wings of Hope

Iruma's POV:

It was a warm Sunday afternoon when my mom had asked me if I'd like to try flying with them. Over the past couple of days Professor Balam had been making visits to see me, mostly to provide me with the treatment needed to accelerate the regrowth of my damaged wings, although the two of us tended to talk a lot about the history of both the Netherworld and Earth. It wasn't easy for me to recall memories of my past home without either drawing a blank or stumbling into painful experiences, but I did my best for the teacher whose entire career had been centered around humans. And seeing his face lit with wonder and intrigue almost always outweighed the negatives. But back to the present, the combination of general healing magic my mother and Grandpa were providing me for an hour each day combined with Professor Balam's medicine which I ate with all my meals, and my wings were beginning to look remarkably healthy! The membrane was still quite thin in certain areas, but there were no longer any rips or tears across the leather, and most of the bone that had previously been exposed was nearly covered over too. Even the scars and burns across my body were starting to fade slightly, though that would take a bit longer. So, I was only a little surprised when my mom offered to take me on a flight together throughout the Netherworld after our Sunday lunch. At first, I was nervous, so far, I had only flown through the Netherworld three times, once with Henri, one time on my own in a state of frenzied fear that nearly grounded me forever, and once with Kalego. Not counting my freakout flight, the other times I had been carried across the sky in the arms of other demons.

What my mom was asking me to do was fly on my own. Well, not exactly, they would be right beneath me holding me up gently the whole time, ready to catch me should I fall. But still, I would be using my own wings. But can I really fly by myself? What if mom doesn't catch me in time? What if I fall again? The worries continued to build further as the two of us made our way to the backyard of the mansion, a vast swath of trees stretching behind us. Mom had mentioned it was called 'The Valac Forest', named after the family of demons who inhabited and took care of it. Part of me was curious at meeting these apparently rather nice but chaotic demons, as I had the feeling that I would be seeing them quite often once school started. But right now, I was more concerned about keeping my focus on my wings and how to navigate through the skies once we took off. Weirdly, the ghoulish version inside my head had remained eerily silent ever since my last dream with him three days prior. I would have figured he'd be laughing maniacally at my fear right now. Mom had talked with Professor Balam about his evil cycle suppressants and also had them incorporated into my schedule, so maybe the medicine was just doing its job. "You have nothing to be afraid of, Iruma. We won't be flying anywhere dangerous for you, just some practice laps around the yard will do for today. And I'll be with you all the way." I looked up at my mom, seeing complete honesty in their eyes and a vivid excitement present in their tail. Still, I couldn't help but ask the burning question in my mind.

"Mom, I haven't heard anything else from that dark voice that you and Professor Balam said was my evil cycle. Is that good or bad?" My mom looked at me with concern and slight bewilderment. "Why would you think that the voice being silent is bad, Iruma?" It was a valid question, and I had to take a moment to really figure it out myself. "Well, it just feels strange, I guess. I'm not complaining too much, I do really like being able to sleep at night again! And it's nice to not have the voice dripping venom in my head all the time. But I feel odd now that it's been so quiet. Empty, like I'm missing something really important. Does that make sense?" My mom seemed to ponder my words for a bit, and I had trouble figuring out what was going through their head, but eventually they started patting me on the head and leading me further out to the yard. "I admit, we don't have all of the answers right now. There are no records of any other hybrids for us to draw knowledge from, so we're just going to have to be careful with your development as we go. I have a few ideas, one of which being the suppressants Shichiro provided us." I figured that the amount of medicine and healing magic I had been receiving might be a large contributor to my inner demon slowly disappearing. Perhaps I was finally getting strong enough to push him out. Though, I still wasn't sure if that's what I really wanted. I didn't like the voice, but I remembered seeing something in his eyes the last time he spoke, and I was curious to find out what it was. He promised I'd see him again, so maybe I'd get my chance.