Villain's Second Heart: Trapped in A Fantasy Novel (BL)-Chapter 120: A Nephilim’s Wings 2

Jan continued her survey of Oberyn’s wings, sharing her ancient Nephilim knowledge with the youth.

On the lower left part of his wings grew a longer petal that stuck straight to the left. Jan drew his attention to it.

"This will afflict you with ’Wrath,’ Oberyn. A power so great it can drive you into a violent frenzy. Should you sacrifice this, you will double your potential... but you must use the power responsibly, or it will consume you."

He didn’t like the sound of that.

Jan motioned to the tailfeathers - two long, feathery petals that grew down from the bottom of his wings. "Do you know of these?"

Vaguely. "I’m supposed to break them both off in the case of an emergency," he responded. "If my life is in imminent danger and I have time to hide somewhere."

Jan smirked. "Exactly right. They will turn you into a spirit light. And when you are safe again, you’d be able to manifest again as you are."

Oberyn’s eyes flickered. Everyone on the moon had been a spirit light when he returned with Ezra. Everyone... they all had to remove parts of themselves just to survive.

That filled him with conviction. Why should he remain a fully intact Nephilim when everyone on the moon couldn’t? This sacrifice wasn’t just for him. It was for the future of Little Moon Town.

She guided his attention to the right side of his wings. Just three pieces left.

"Envy," she said first, directing him to the lower right petal of his wings. "It will fill you with desire for things you can never have. But sacrificing it will allow you to give someone something they lack."

Oberyn’s nostrils flared. "Something they lack? Like... what?"

"You could restore a piece of another Nephilim’s wings. Or perhaps you could use it to breathe life into a dying human. It is a great boon, Oberyn. But the affliction of Envy has doomed many Nephilim before us. Some say it is the hardest curse to overcome."

It was powerful indeed. The ability to save a life. Maybe even grant someone new powers.

"The affliction of Sloth," she murmured. "Losing this will cost you motivation, but will grant you the most comforting of powers. This is the first petal I lost. If ever there should come a time when you are overtaken by grief, or sadness, or the burdens placed upon you, you can sacrifice this, Oberyn. It will help you overcome even the greatest of trials."

"What do you mean?" he asked. What she said sounded pleasant, but he didn’t quite understand.

"Whenever you rest, you will be overcome with bliss. Your dreams will become like reality. You will find yourself needing more sleep, however," she warned. "But in the name of self-care, I found it a worthy sacrifice. The one I regret least, to be sure."

One more piece. She didn’t touch this one with her delicate fingers. A long, sharp petal just underneath his ’horn.’

"This will afflict you with the curse of Lust," she said quietly. "Need I explain?"

He blushed slightly. He was already struggling with lust - especially in the wake of meeting and forming a relationship with Ezra. He couldn’t imagine being more lustful.

"The other curses had some benefits attached. Doesn’t that one?"

Jan laughed. "Some, I suppose. You can consider it another facet of self-care. Ah, but if you ever give it to someone willingly, they will gain power over you."

"Why would I want that?" Oberyn asked uncomfortably.

"Ideally it would be someone you love and trust, Oberyn. Their newfound power would grant them incredible strength. Strength that could protect them, even when you were not around. Ah, but then you would live with burning lust in your heart. Such a thing can take control over anyone, not just a human."

Didn’t he know it. Rav might not be human, but he was certainly guilty of all these things.

Oberyn recognized the terms. They called them the seven sins of humanity. And yet, Jan had only mentioned six.

"Is there no affliction of Pride?" he asked.

Jan patted him on the shoulder and led him to the ritual circle. "A story for another time. We must perform the purification, Oberyn. Remember, it’s this one..."

"I know," he said before she could touch him again. "The part of me sealing Gluttony is this feather here."

He clutched it in his hand. He felt the power surging through it. But he hesitated. Long enough for Jan to chastise him.

"Quickly," she snapped. "We have much to do."

She was right. He could do this.

He applied pressure on his wing. He was surprised at how much force it actually took to rip off the crystallized feather. It didn’t cause any pain. Were he not the one doing it to himself, he would have hardly noticed.

As it clipped off and broke into a shard in his hand, all he could think about was Tiana, at first...

But then his mind shifted to Ezra.

Talking of his wings made him so nostalgic for the moon, but here on the Earth, there was one person that mattered most - Ezra.

’Would you support me doing this, Ezra?’

It felt... anticlimactic. How mundane losing a part of himself could feel. Was it this easy to give up something so important?

He dropped the feather to the ground in front of him, directly in the center of the circle. As it fell, it shattered into maroon sand, and the earth gobbled up the shards. As it disappeared, he couldn’t help but stare.

The pervasive dread seeping from the ground didn’t appear to grow any lighter. Maybe it would take a while. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

And then it came. The feeling of a knot growing in his stomach. He was hungry. Hungrier than he had ever felt in his life.

"You’ve done a wonderful job, Oberyn. Wonderful indeed."

He turned to Jan. He hadn’t even realized it, but his eyes were full of tears.

"The famine is fixed now, right?" he said. "That helped, right?"

Jan looked deep into his eyes - the eyes she shared with him. Deep, yellow, contemplative eyes. More vivid than his, which hummed of soft amber. Hers were stark and bright. Reminiscent of the Heenas he fought the morning before.

"More than you could ever imagine," she said, her voice laced with a lingering smile.