"Is this all you need?" Erus asked, scanning the belongings Uruja had given Cana. "You don't have enough clothes," he added, looking at Uruja with a frown.
"It means you'll have to buy her necessities yourself," Uruja told him.
"Then list them down. We'll buy them once we set foot in the city," Erus told Cana.
Cana nodded cheerfully, even though she had no idea what necessities she would be buying. Were there malls here? Department stores? She turned to Uruja for help, and the older woman was more than obliged to assist. Her son had never asked her for such things before.
When Cana and Erus were finally set to depart the island, Uruja was teary-eyed. She would be living alone again, but she knew she had no right to keep them. They had their own journeys to take, and they needed to grow somewhere else.
"Erus, didn't you forget something?" Cana asked.
Erus looked at her, trying to remember if he had missed anything. Everything seemed set. "What is it?"
"How about your fennel seeds?"
"Haha," he answered sarcastically. "Funny."
Cana wouldn't stop teasing him over the fennel seeds he'd forgotten to put in the horned patty rabbit—the mistake that cost him their cooking competition. He had totally blanked on them, unable to even distinguish what the missing ingredient was until she pointed it out.
Was this her way of making sure he'd never forget those seeds again?
Uruja called her familiar.
"Mom, what about your other familiars?" Erus asked, his face full of complaints.
"This is the only one that can travel long distances," Uruja answered. She signaled to the bird—the same one Erus had ridden to reach the island.
"Whoa!" Cana exclaimed. She was amazed at how a tiny bird turned bigger than a human.
Erus had the opposite reaction. He looked like he wanted to grill it.
"What's with that face? Didn't you see how it transformed? It's amazing!" Cana told him.
"Amazing, my ass! That bird is slower than a turtle," Erus grumbled. "You'll be old before we set foot in the city."
Cana's excitement died. "Wait—you mean we're riding on it?" She stared at Erus, eyes wide.
Erus didn't answer, but his irritation was obvious.
"But don't you think its wings are too short? It looks better at diving than flying," Cana said, massaging her temples.
"See? Even she saw it at once," Erus told Uruja. "How badly I want to use teleportation right now," he groaned.
Cana looked at Uruja, who also looked stressed about the situation.
"Using too much energy will backfire on your body. You want to be in a vegetative state?" Uruja snapped. "This is the only option we have. It's the safest."
Cana analyzed the situation while the mother and son bickered. She looked at the bird's features and saw why Erus was grumbling. Then, she remembered who they were.
"Hey," she called out. "Aren't you witches? Can't you fly on your own?"
The two stopped and looked at Cana. They didn't seem to understand.
"Witches don't fly," Uruja stated.
Cana looked at them both. She couldn't believe that even with magic, they couldn't fly. Every witch movie she'd seen said they could.
"How about using a broomstick? Have you tried riding a broomstick?"
"Seriously? Is that possible?" Erus asked.
"We have brooms, but what about the stick?" Uruja asked.
Cana sighed. Explaining it would be a long process. They needed a quick solution for Erus' problem now. She hadn't flown with the bird yet, but she didn't doubt his frustration. It was better to be safe than sorry.
While she was looking for a solution, her back itched again. Erus reacted at the same time. Both were confused by the sudden itch. It was different from before; they both felt something trying to push out from under their skin. Cana just looked bothered by the itch, but Erus was in visible pain, doubling over onto the grass. Panic filled Uruja's eyes when she saw her son's reaction to the black wing marks. Cana watched the black ink crawl up Erus's shoulders, reaching for his neck. She moved in and reached for his back.
"You little ingrate!" she cursed at the mark. Her palm burst into blue flame. "Try me, and I'll make sure you stop existing!"
Uruja was stunned by how Cana handled him. She watched Cana press her burning palm directly onto Erus's back. Cana looked so angry that Uruja initially thought she was cursing Erus himself. Then, she noticed the ink trying to dominate Erus's body. As soon as Cana's burning palm touched him, the mark retreated as fast as it could.
"Try harming him again and even history won't recognize you," Cana said through gritted teeth.
Uruja stood frozen at Cana's sudden change. She looked like a different person. Uruja also noticed Erus's body was actually absorbing the blue flame.
Was she transferring energy to him? It was the exact opposite of how a master-slave contract was supposed to work.
When the pain faded, Erus reached for Cana's knee as she knelt beside him. He had been worried she was crying again, but when he raised his head, he froze. She wasn't crying. Her eyes were glowing a sharp, solid gold. Only he saw it.
Erus felt a surge through his veins. His body felt so light and fueled with power that he felt like he could punch an island to pieces.
What had Cana done to him?
"Don't move yet," Cana told him.
Erus followed her lead without thinking. He was enjoying the warmth she was giving off. He had no idea what kind of treatment she was actually giving him.
Uruja watched them, feeling at ease when she saw her son getting better.
"How do you feel now?" Cana asked.
How do you feel now? A voice echoed in Erus's head. The question was familiar. He had heard it somewhere before.
"Erus?" Cana called out, catching his attention.
"I... I feel recharged. What did you do?"
"I let your mark eat some of my energy so it wouldn't feed on yours," Cana said.
Erus stood up and helped Cana up too. Her eyes were back to their normal chocolate color.
"How do you know about the black wings' curse?"
"I have the white wings. Remember?" Cana answered simply.
Erus doubted it was actually the white wings' power that had helped him. If that mark was so powerful, why did it choose Cana instead of him? Did she possess an energy core more vast than his own?
"Can you control your mark now?"
Erus frowned. He didn't get what she meant by controlling a witch mark.
Cana pressed a spot on his back, and he felt a burst of energy kick out. She moved in front of him to watch the pair of pure black wings that tore out from his back. They weren't ordinary wings; the edges looked sharp enough to slice through bone.
Erus felt how light they were despite their lethal weight. Black dust shook loose every time he flapped them. They were wide and long, turning him into a winged predator. The look suited his well-built physique.
Uruja's eyes went wide. She recognized those wings—the Reaper. They belonged to an ancestor but were sealed because they were too destructive. The power was a death sentence; the wings existed only to drain the bearer's energy until they were dead.
Uruja hadn't realized the heirlooms were actually the sealed legendary weapons of ancient witches. If Erus had the legendary Reaper's wings, then Cana...
Cana was busy inspecting the wings like a specimen for an experiment.
"You look like a fallen angel," Cana giggled. She was back to her normal state. "It made you sexier too. Wow!"
Cana tried touching the edges of the wings, which made Erus blush.
"What are you doing? Stop it," he grumbled.
Cana looked at him, confused. She touched the wings again just to see his reaction. Erus looked away, his expression skeptical. Cana smirked. It meant Erus and the wings were one; he could definitely feel her touch through them.
"Aren't you afraid I might hurt you?" Erus asked, embarrassed.
"I can pluck your parts one by one if I wanted to," Cana whispered to his wings.
Erus felt his wings shiver as if they had a life of their own.
"What was that, Cana?"
"I introduced myself as the bearer of its other half," Cana said.
Erus looked at his wings. He could move them as easily as his hands or feet. He inspected the structure and couldn't help but be impressed.
"Cana, how did you do it? How did you know these were wings?"
Cana scratched her head, trying to remember what made her think they were wings in the first place. The mark had tried to force its way out, desperate to be the solution to Erus' problem with flying. But instead of helping, the uncontrollable power had only ended up hurting him.
"I didn't know those were wings. I was just trying to help it. Or help you?" Cana was confused by her own actions, even though she remembered exactly what she had done.
While they were busy with Erus's new wings, he noticed his mother frozen on the other side. She looked terrified while staring at them.
"Mom, are you okay?" Erus called out. He was about to step closer because Uruja didn't answer.
"Don't. She has no immunity against your wings," Cana interrupted.
Erus wanted to ask why, but then he saw the reason. The grass where he stood—everywhere the black dust dropped—had turned into dead plants. Was this why his mother was so terrified? He felt the fear himself. The wings were broad and impressive, but their very presence was an omen of death.
Erus looked at Cana. He knew she was his slave, but he was putting his faith in her. He wanted power, but not like this. He hoped she could help him.
"You'll be a walking and flying disaster," Cana teased.
To Erus, it wasn't funny. Even without the wings, he was already treated like a walking curse, even though he hadn't done anything worse than a bad mortal.
"Sorry," Cana said, sensing the heaviness in Erus. "I didn't mean it like that."
Erus sighed. "Does this mean whenever these wings are out, every living thing around me is in danger?"
"I don't know for sure, but I can feel that these marks aren't just simple heirlooms," Cana answered.
"Mom?"
Before Uruja could speak, she was already crying. She had misunderstood the heirlooms and lacked the knowledge to protect him. Their ancestors believed the marks were symbols to be passed down—a sign of power for the next leader. Uruja never expected the heirloom was actually a curse her son would have to carry.
"I'm sorry. I had no idea the heirlooms were sealed forbidden powers from a thousand years ago," Uruja said, her voice full of resentment. "What have I done?"
"Tell us directly," Cana told Uruja. "It already happened. Crying won't solve anything."
Erus wasn't ready for the way Cana spoke to his mother. She sounded ferocious for a moment.
"The heirlooms were believed to be the cursed twin gods. The Reaper and the Judgment." Uruja looked at Erus with pity. "Those black wings are the Reaper god. It... it feeds on the user's energy." Uruja was visibly pained by the turn of events in her son's life.
"Gods?" Cana was confused; there were too many gods in this world. To her, the heirloom was just a tool created to hold magic. The black wings looked powerful, but it was a stretch to call them a god. It even needed energy from her just to materialize. No god would need help from a mere mortal.
Cana gave the wings a hard look. Erus felt them shiver again.
"Do you still wish to feed on Erusiel's energy?" Cana asked the wings in a threatening tone.
The wings snapped shut without Erus's control, as if they had a mind of their own. Erus was both confused and surprised by her behavior—it felt familiar. He couldn't tell if Cana was genuinely concerned for him or if she was simply afraid her own mark was the same kind of parasite.
Uruja grew quiet, watching the scene in confusion. She couldn't understand why Cana was casually talking to the wings. Was it because she held the Judgment mark? But Cana seemed to overrule her own mark entirely; it hadn't even appeared after the Reaper wings came out.