The cave seemed to go down forever. It was step after step after step…

He felt like he did nothing but take steps down this cave for the past hour or so. And with each step, he felt something. He didn't know why, but it felt like something was in him resonating with whatever was down below.

“You feel it, don't you?” Blasius asked. He didn't say this because he noticed Ash's discomfort, but because he was starting to feel it himself. “You consumed her blood, so it makes sense you can feel your God's presence.”

(“Blood? Is that what the powder is!? Wait don't they worship that thing, why do they consume its blood?”)

“What's it called again?” Venus mumbled. “Ah right, symbiosis. Just like many years ago, she granted us knowledge, now she grants us power. And unlike our ancestors and brothers among us, we shall not covet this gift to ourselves but use it to support her. With the eternal father no longer eternal, humanity must give their support to the other being responsible for our creation. The being that gave us the final piece necessary. The being that made humanity truly human.” She said with a tone filled with reverence. This was a completely different woman than the one in the forest.

“Praise be to you our true lord, Lucifer, may we one day restore to your original glory. May you one day smite those that pushed you from heaven and may you one day claim the throne rightfully yours. May you free humanity from these usurpers that once believed themselves to be your peers.” They took another step and all three soon had every hair they possessed become black. The darkness of the cave helped to hide but it couldn't hide the next change. Five more steps and they gained a black wing. Then another with the next step.

Ash had to stop himself, the transfiguration of his body leaving him drained.

“Get used to this feeling. If you become stronger, you will go through this when using the powder.” Blasius coldly stated. The pair continued walking downwards, as Ash struggled with his breath. But even as he struggled, his mind screamed at him to continue downstairs to lay eyes on this being.

And he pushed forward. More wings pushed and tore the flesh of his back to exit his body but he pushed forward. Soon he held his head and it felt as though his head would explode. He felt the skin on his head sear with pain as something pierced through and dared to slowly expand his wounds as they exited his head. He now had two horns on his forehead, with his now dark and viscous blood covering it. It trickled down his face but the worst of it was now over. He finally had a clear enough head to continue. With only several more steps, he reached the bottom.

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And he could thoroughly feel whatever being was down here in full. He was drowned in their presence. And he felt immense sorrow. Was this what the being further down felt?

He was now on the floor but he dragged himself further. He had to see them. He needed to see them. He heard footsteps approach and looked up to see Blasius. The same as him, with six wings and two horns. Yet he looked calm, almost casual.

“You've done well. As a reward, I shall help you finish.”

He picked him up and walked the remaining distance.

He heard splashing and looked down. Blasius was walking through a lake of black liquid.

“Stay in my arms, if you touch her blood directly, you will die.”

(“Blood? Is all of this blood? What beast could have produced all this?”) His fading mind wondered. He prepared himself for a grotesque monstrosity but that wasn't what he saw.

Before her was a man in a tiara, hands clasped and knees bent. It was a gold and white tiara initially, nearly the size of his head, but through many visits had picked up dark unerasable stains. He seemed to be whispering something under his breath, constantly praying. He wore a garment fit for such a man, but unlike his tiara, it was entirely black, likely wicking up all the blood it could manage.

Venus began stripping inches behind the man in the tiara and exposed her now pale and bluish skin to the figure he prayed to. She cupped the liquid on the floor with her hands and constantly poured it over her body, ‘possessed’ a fitting word to describe her.

“Look at our god,” Blasius stated.

It was a woman placed on a stone throne twice the size of her. She was sprawled out, unconscious on it with a serene expression. How could such a being have such a wonderful face? She wore clothing unknown to him with a gash taken out of her chest. She had no wings yet he could clearly see them. All eight of them waiting to spread once more.

From her chest bled blood darker than any black he had seen before. And from her eyes, she cried the same blood. The thing that stood out to him the most was her intermittent breaths.

She was alive.

“Venus, pause your devotion and give our Lord her due.” The man praying demanded.

She reached her hand into the lake and pulled out a sack. She pulled out the same blue crystals Father Daniel would collect and slowly placed them into her lord's mouth.

Each crystal she swallowed caused a reverberation throughout their bodies causing further changes.

Replaced by her sorrow was a nauseating hate, directed at the ones who left her like this.