'What does it mean, that he is growing impatient?' you gasp, feeling another sting on your back as you clean your hands from your own blood. You make sure not to touch the bleeding wound with the hands you soaked inside the cold stream, avoiding any infections.

Every tree in the nearby area is soaked by the rain, so there is no way for you to start a fire and purify water. Not without magic, at least. You glance above your shoulder, looking up at the Raphael standing in a shadow leaving only his burning eyes visible.

You consider for a moment if he will tell you anything at all before slowly standing up and averting your gaze away from the cambion.

'It seems that he might have misjudged your stubbornness,' he says vaguely. 'And because of that, he is... influencing the process.' You raise your eyebrow in an unspoken question. 'The clock is ticking, little mouse,' he announces in a quiet, threatening voice and takes a slow step forward. 'Tick.' Another step towards you. 'Tack.' His figure now appears in the moonlight, the cambion form towering over you. He raises his clawed finger, tilting it to the sides as he speaks. 'Tick.' You look at his hand and furrow your brows. 'Tack.'

'Process?' you ask simply.

He brings his hand to his chin, glaring down at you.
'You ought to know by now, that I never surround knowledge for free.'

'Is this not beneficial to you if I know about the nature of the curse?' you counter.

'Not particularly. It's neither beneficial, nor damaging.'

'Then why not share, if it's not going to do anything bad to your plan?'

'And spoil all the fun?' he asks, raising his eyebrows in a mock disbelief.

'It's not fun, Raphael. We are both cursed. I don't understand how you are so casual about it. We are both in the same boat.'

'How disgusting of you to even suggest that.'

'What?' you ask, then shoot him a confused look. 'You are bound to the Material Plane, aren't you? Surely that must be annoying?'

'It's mildly inconvenient, correct, but don't forget that I am a patient man,' he grins. 'And at the grand finale of this endeavor awaits nothing else, but your misery and my triumph. It's worth all of my wait. You haven't realized it just yet, as you seem to keep biting the hand that feeds you, but soon you will face the music,' he tilts his head to the side, his eyes burning right through you. 'And the dreadful melody of it is going to reach your very soul.'

You sigh.

'Cool,' you turn away from him. 'I told you I will not sign a pact. It will put my friends in danger.' You walk outside from underneath the bridge.

He laughs, exposing his pearly white, sharp teeth.

'Do you really think I'd indulge myself in such a savage form of revenge?'

That stops you in your tracks. You give him a quick glance above your shoulder.

'Would you not?'

'What is the point of such revenge, if I will have you completely?' he said, finishing the sentence breathlessly.

You move your head to the side, focusing on his words instead of his little games.

'To break me? Punish me for what I did?'

He chuckles and walks towards you.

'You will come to me broken, desperate, begging for my help with your bare knees in the dirt. I will not need to do any additional work, little mouse.'

'Let me make this more clear,' you say. 'You no longer wish me to sign the pact as fast as possible? What has changed since the last time you were trying to make me sign it?'

'I wasn't trying to do so!' he raises his eyebrows again. 'I was merely enlightening you about your unfortunate situation and showcasing my boundless mercy,' he looks at you with puppy-like expression.

'Hold on, you literally said that your father misjudged my stubbornness. This doesn't add up, Raphael. What are we talking about? What stubbornness? Did Mephistopheles think I will end myself just because I got cursed?'

'You sound as if there are no side-effects, dear.'

'What? Insomnia? Nightmares? That won't push me off the edge,' you respond and walk towards the shore, fetching a stick from the cold water.

'And your only power? The now lost monk teachings and techniques?'

'Ki?' you ask and he nods, but you can't see him anymore, your back turned to the cambion. 'After defiling your body, I am not sure if I'm worthy of wielding it either way.' He rolls his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose. You stand up with a stick in your hand and kick a few rocks away from the soft, wet ground. 'It's not the end of the world.'

'Let's say that in theory, you were to lost Ki forever, then what?'

You exhale slowly for a moment before answering.

'I always thought that tailoring is incredible. If I wasn't drafted to monastery, I would become a tailor. Maybe I will still have a shot at it... You keep saying you're a patient man, surely you wouldn't mind waiting until I die naturally, would you?'

Out of nowhere, he grabs your forearm and jerks you closer to him. His eyebrows are angled, casting a long shadow across his face, despite the moonlight shining on his skin.

'I would choose my next words very carefully, if I were you.'

You slowly remove your forearm from his claw, saying nothing. Instead, you turn towards the ground and start drawing a roadmap, transferring your thoughts to the muddy ground in front of you, avoiding a meaningless argument with the man.

You start with the word 'curse', drawing one arrow to the left side of the key word. Then, you hum something under your breath and erase the arrow, instead drawing a line above the word 'curse', connecting it with scribbled 'Ki'.

'Can you tell me if you can use your magic, please?' you ask him in a soft tone, trying not to push any of his buttons. He taps his fingers on his arm, wrapped around his belly. Then raises one of his hand, conjuring a flame in his palm. 'Thank you. I appreciate it.'

You start to pace around the written words, consumed with your own thoughts. You try to remember everything you have read about Mephistopheles and cambions as well as come up with some logical explanation as to why your Ki is blocked, but not Raphael's magic.

'It was blocked at first, was it not? He couldn't snap his fingers to get dressed and he couldn't heal himself. But then again,' you glance at his wings wordlessly, furrowing your brows. 'His wings were healed the second day. And he never said what happened. It wasn't Halsin helping out to heal them. I did close the wounds, but it wouldn't be enough to put the broken bones back in their place. Can cambions heal their wings just like that?' you tap your bottom lip in thought and walk around the scribbled letters and Raphael. 'No, that's not possible. Let's assume that he had his magic from the start, but was too weak to use it. That was most likely it. Halsin had issues putting Raphael's face back together, so maybe the wounds inflicted by Mephistopheles were just more... severe. Maybe it has something to do with hellfire?'

Suddenly, you feel a tingle in your brain.

'Don't probe my mind, Raphael,' you say out loud, a bit annoyeds. After a few attempts of protecting yourself from his invigilation, you fail. It is hard to shield one's mind without magic. You sigh and return to your thought process.

'It also doesn't matter what kind of a curse that is, because I lack the power to lift it. And if there is anyone who can identify it's nature, chances are, they can also lift it.' You stop in your tracks and snap your fingers. 'Exactly! Can Raphael lift it? But why would his father bestow a curse that the victim can lift? It doesn't make much sense. He does say that all we need to do is sign a patron pact. Hmmm.'

You crouch and groan with annoyance, rubbing your tired eyes.

'Gods... my brain could melt at any moment,' you think and stand up carefully. 'Let's approach it differently.'

You walk to your improvised road map and draw three arrows, each pointing in a different direction. You fill each of the spots with words: 'Soul', 'Mind' and 'Body'.

'The three ingredients of Ki. I was able to wield it in Cania, the second I free Raphael, I am no longer able to. What was taken away from me?' you let out a tired exhale, but force yourself to stay on your track of thoughts, barely caring about Raphael's presence in your own mind. 'I am here. I have a physical body. Is it being controlled? I don't think so?'

Raphael watches you wish pure curiosity and amusement, his eyes following you as you pace around the words and occasionally also walk around him, carried by your thoughts.

'Let's just assume, that it is not being controlled. Raphael's blood got mixed with my own and the outcome is that we are soul bound. How does soul land in here?'

You close your eyes and walk around more vigorously, occasionally murmuring under your nose.

'Devils have souls, Withers confirmed it for me. But in their case, the very soul is the image of the body. It's as if the soul and the body were already one, in unison.'

You suddenly realize a crucial fact and look at Raphael with parted lips. When you speak out loud, your voice is excited from your very obvious discovery.

'But you are a cambion!'

Raphael fakes shock and leans backward with his whole body, eyes wide. He returns to his previous pose a second later saying: 'Brava', but you are already dragging the stick across the ground, writing a new thought.

'If he is a cambion, he is half a man. So maybe, maybe...' You grasp your forehead again.

'Be on your guard so that this juicy brain of yours won't leak out from your ears, dear.'

You ignore him, even though you really want to snap back.

'Maybe Raphael currently has half of his power? Or maybe not half of his power, but half of his magic... potential? Does that make sense? By not being in the House of Hope, he has no access to restoration pool. And the pool doesn't just heal the wounds, it helps with casting spells as well. The man travels across the planes so often that it has to be exhausting. We are not talking about the lack of magic, we are talking about the magic being a lot more draining than usual, because he is not a full devil, so he needs to replenish himself just like wizards in the Material Plane,' you cup your chin and stare at the ground.

Raphael relaxes his face to a surprisingly soft expression that you can't even see.

'Smart little mouse,' he thinks to himself.

'Where is the logic, though? Why would Mephistopheles allow Raphael to still have so much power? Why not, though. It's not like he is scared for safety of the citizens,' you stop once again, feeling another piece fall into place. 'And rendering him defenseless makes it harder to...' you look at the cambion again and allow your thoughts to leave your mouth. 'kill me. It seems that the dear Lord of Cania misjudged both of us, didn't he?'

The devil disappears in the cloud of cinders, embracing his human form once again. The unusual glint still in his eyes.

'It would appear so, my dear.'

'Ohh,' you notice the softness of his features and frown, taken a bit aback. You turn your gaze away a second later. 'Wow... Your father is such a piece of shit. I'm sorry.'

'Indeed he is.'

'But why am I being affected?' you ask yourself and return to the word 'soul' written on the muddy soil. 'Your blood was mixed with mine, shouldn't that affect my body somehow? Could the insomnia and nightmares be an outcome of cursed body? But that sounds more like something mind-related.' You sigh again and crouch. After a few deep breaths, you decide to wipe the roadmap from the ground and try to get some more rest, feeling absolutely exhausted. You know you won't be able to solve the puzzle in your current state and without any kind of inspiration for the problem-solving.

'It appears to me, that you will find an answer in due time,' Raphael informs. At first you think that he is taunting you, but after a short analysis of his voice, you know that it's not the case.

You put your left elbow on your crouching legs and turn towards him. It's incredible how divine he looks in the moonlight, the cold light dancing on his fair features, looming over his wrinkled cheekbones. You raise an eyebrow, quickly glancing into his eyes.

'Are you amused?'

'I am,' he admits. 'I don't usually indulge myself with detecting thoughts, but I must say, I am quite pleasantly surprised. I've always known that there was a reason for your little wandering troupe to label you as the leader and I am delighted to see some of my theories confirmed.'

'Are you complimenting me?' you ask, completely confused.

'You sound like it's the first time I ever did, little mouse.'

You stand up and face him, still taken aback.

'I always...'

'Thought of it as a method of manipulation?' he finishes for you and lazily begins to close the space between the two of you.

You don't respond but nod, carefully observing him with your head tilted just a few degrees.

'I never considered you to be a type to fall for flattery, thus it was never my intention to exploit that side of yours.'

He looks at you from behind his gorgeous, dark eyelashes, his thin lips curved in a slight smile.

'What do you exploit, then?' you can't help but ask.

He tilts his head in an angle opposite of yours, gazing upon you with a spark in his eye that is downright sinful. He straightens himself and wraps his arms around his belly, tracing his thumb on his chin.

'Hmmm,' his voice is low and makes you want to move to the side, but you force yourself to stand your ground. He takes a lazy step to your side, slowly circling around you like a cat considering what to do with the mouse that it caught. You hate how well-tailored his doublet is, highlighting his broad shoulders and the torso sliding down to a nice, narrow waist, further expanding to muscular thighs and long legs. 'Other...' when you hear him behind your right ear, the tips of your fingers tremble and you feel an electric sensation firing from your neck across the back, all the way to your toes. 'Things,' he extends the word, rolling it out of his tongue with ease, the sound of his voice reverbing in your skull.

You wrap your arms around your belly and look away from him as he appears back in your view.

'I am not blind, little mouse,' he says, making you shoot him a glance from the corner of your eyes. 'I live long enough to interpret... some signs.'

'Alright, that's enough,' you stop him with a gesture of your palm and watch his satisfied smirk spill across his lips.

'Am I mistaken?'

You take a breath in, ignoring the light feeling inside your chest, putting your body in an alert mode.

'You know damn well that you are literally and figuratively... hot as hell. And I hate how you use that to your advantage.'

'Oh do you, now? Hate is such a strong word, my dear.'

'Do I like looking at you? I enjoy gazing upon everything that is gorgeous, may it be a marble statue or a timeless painting. You happen to be comparable to those. Do I like your voice? Just as much as I love listening to a fine piece of music. What I don't like, is how you use those two to worm your way into my brain.'

He smiles, clearly satisfied.

'I wasn't expecting you to be so open.'

'We always had a common trait when dealing with each other. No lying.'

'Still, aren't you worried that once my theories have been so eagerly, willingly,' his carefully crafted words make you take a step back 'confirmed, I might use that knowledge against you in any moment of the eternity you and me are going to spend together?'

'Let's not pretend like it wasn't the case up until now. How many times did you say something to me that could potentially raise many eyebrows? And it's not like lying will get me anywhere. Not with you, at least.'

'Not to mention you wouldn't be capable of lying to me,' he lazily walks to the side towards the shore of the stream.

'That as well. Besides, I trust in your... interrogation skills,' you say blankly, feeling a slight lump at the back of your throat.

'You are hoping to get along peacefully with me? After everything we went through? Pity, I was counting on a more reliable source of entertainment.' You look at his back, watching the healthy, shining strands of his hair licked by the moonlight. 'Is there anything duller than a loyal dog?' he asks turning his body just enough to look at you. The outline of his form is kissed by the cold light and the reflections of the moon, dancing on the surface of the small river. He raises his right hand and makes a short movement. Suddenly, the lump at the back of your throat gets tighter and you are pulled by an invisible string or rather - a leash - towards Raphael. You take two steps in his direction, cringing at the sensation. The magic disappears, but his hand remains raised, demanding your attention. 'I much prefer a cat. Meow.' He claws the air, his eyes burning right through you, catching the air inside your lungs.

Neither of you say anything for a prolonged time, the only sound is his controlled, calm breath, the shimmering of the stream behind his back and the pounding of your heart. You are certain even he can hear it.

'I think it's best if you get some sleep. There is a long,' he raises his chin and slowly shakes his head to the sides, extending his neck. 'long, long day ahead of you,' he tilts his head to the previous position, raising his right eyebrow a little. 'I will see you soon.'

With a sudden burst of light and a cloud of falling cinders, he is gone.