The moment Lyric stormed away, thousands of voices had suddenly entered his head. Numerous threads of fate showed him the fate of the demons present, which had been oppressed until now. What had just happened? Why had they come upon him so suddenly? Why had they been just a dull sound in the back of my mind?

Nix held his head and tried to breathe, but indescribable pain shot through his head. Must... get... out. But his body didn't move. He had collapsed in front of the chair and lay there. Numerous hands touched him and made it much worse.

Warm arms closed around him and the voices became quieter. He felt himself being lifted up. His heartbeat slowly calmed down and he was able to breathe again. Placidity returned step by step in his head and a sigh escaped him. Eventually he snuggled up to the stranger, grateful that he had freed him from this torment. Then, Nix was carried away, not knowing where he was going, as he wasn't able to open his eyes. The warmth that embraced him made him drift away. He didn't want to fight it, he welcomed it with open arms.

Lyric carried the sleeping oracle out of the room to the reception area. After he paid for the jewel bracelet, he put it in his pocket and left the auction house with Nix in his arms.

When he had returned to the reception room earlier, Nix was laying on the floor with a pain-distorted face, twitching every time someone touched him. He had lifted him up and carried him away from the mob.

What happened? What caused his collapse? Lyric had known that Nix was hiding something from him, but now it was time to speak plainly. He couldn't protect him if he didn't know what could knock him out.

When the oracle woke up, he would answer these questions, otherwise the journey would end here. Lyric sighed. They took the same room as the day before. He put his companion on the bed and took off his cape and clothes except for his underwear.

The shadows on his skin swirled restlessly up and down. He carefully touched Nix' bare chest and the shadows warped. What does that mean? The oracle was a mystery to him. Silently, Lyric covered him up and waited.

When Nix opened his eyes, he looked into a grim face. He moaned and rubbed his head. What had happened? How did he get here? The last thing he remembered was that Lyric had stormed out of the room. After that, everything was gone. He pinched his eyes and thought hard. A few warm arms that had driven away the voices suddenly came to his mind.

"How did I get here?" he asked the rune demon.

"When I came back, you were lying catatonic on the ground. You were unresponsive. I carried you here," he replied in a bad mood.

So this pair of arms belonged to Lyric. He has silenced the voices.

Lyric saw the smile on the oracle's face and couldn't understand what there was to laugh about. "Oracle, attention please," he said, snapping in front of Nix' face. He finally looked at him. "Your action was more than dangerous. Direct physical contact is risky and you forced me to return to the room of those intoxicated demons and carry you close to me all the way back here."

Nix tilted his head. Understandable. He had seen that the demons close Lyric were intoxicated. It was fascinating. He saw Lyric's face darken.

"Oracle, what happened to you? No excuses, no silence. You're telling me the truth now without leaving anything out, or I'm out of here."

Nix didn't like that at all. He issued an ultimatum? Discouraged, he bit his lip. If he told Lyric everything, he would reveal one of the Nix' greatest secrets and make himself vulnerable. If he didn't, he would leave, he had no doubt about that. He now knew that Lyric was somehow suppressing the voices in his head, without him he wouldn't be able to carry out his plan.

Lyric literally saw the battle Nix was fighting with himself. What was he hiding that was so serious that he preferred to remain silent about it and risk his own life?

After a while, Nix gave a resigned sigh. He looked deep into Lyric's ruby red eyes. "I will answer you, but only on one condition. You mustn't tell anyone what I entrust to you and never use it against me. Plus, you have to swear to be by my side until the end of this journey."

Lyric pondered, weighing his options. His exit clause was still in place, so he didn't take too many risks. He nodded in agreement. Nix took a deep breath.

"I hear voices."

"Voices?"

"Yes. Every being has so-called threads of fate that pull it in one direction. I can hear them talking. They tell me what will happen to this person, where they are going, who they meet. The closer I am to a person, the more clearly I hear them. When someone touches me, it's almost a scream."

Lyric stiffened. There had been more than fifty parties in the auction. "How close does a person have to be for you to hear these voices?" he asked the oracle.

"When it's within a radius of about twenty meters, they start whispering," Nix replied with a lowered gaze.

The rune demon sharply sucked in the air. The room hadn't even been a hundred square meters, so he had heard all their voices. Then this scene came to mind as he lay twitching on the ground while numerous hands touched him. No wonder he got catatonic. Slowly, Lyric exhaled.

"Isn't it unbearable when I'm sitting right next to you?"

Nix looked at him in surprise. Lyric didn't want to know what his threads of fate whispered, but was worried about his well-being? A warm feeling spread in his chest. He smiled and said, "No, because you're the only one I don't hear. When you are with me, all voices fall silent and it becomes quiet."

Lyric sharply sucked in the air. What? How is this possible? "Is that why you want me by your side?"

Nix nodded. "Without you, I cannot continue this journey. I need you. You are my... buffer. My haven of peace."

Lyric was silent, he had to process that once.

"Nix, I'm sorry. But I can't stay around you for long. My curse will affect you the closer I get to you."

Nix raised his hand and put it on Lyric's cheek. At once, Lyric briefly recoiled. "Are you blind or are you doing this on purpose?" He couldn't understand.

"You saw the reaction of the demons who were in a room with you for three hours. The signs were clear. I've been close to you for two days now and haven't shown any signs of a state of intoxication. I think I'm immune," Nix answered.

That wasn't possible. Until now, everyone had shown signs, even his best friend Belial. He was one of the most powerful demons and even he hadn't been immune from his curse. But Nix was right. He couldn't see the telltale glitter in his eyes or any other sign.

"Not yet. Who knows when the effect will set in," replied the rune demon, who didn't allow himself to believe in a miracle that wouldn't exist for him.

He still doesn't trust me. Then Nix had to put everything on one card. He would now reveal his last secret to him. "Tíz is the abbreviation for Latíz. That was my name before I became Nix."

It took Lyric's breath away when he heard this beautiful name. His heart began to throb. Latíz. Beautiful. He couldn't hold back and put his fingers on Nix' chin. "Kəpək."

Nix looked up and the sad expression in his eyes disappeared. He boxed Lyric against his shoulder and asked, "What is it? What does kəpək mean?"

He had to answer him for better or worse, that was the agreement. Lyric sat back and thought for a moment. "It's a word from an ancient language of my tribe. It describes a person with a living personality who possesses countless states of mind and quickly switches back and forth between them. It means something like a little butterfly."

Nix' mouth fell open and he looked at the demon stunned. "Repeat that."

Lyric looked confused. "Kəpək means, freely translated, little butterfly."

"My little butterfly, time to make your wings flutter."

Impossible. That is too much of a coincidence. Little butterfly. Nix' pulse accelerated and his thoughts began to circle wildly. He tried to remember the details of his vision. He took Lyric's right arm and pushed his shirt up to his sleeve. Then he took his hand and held it in front of his face. Were these the hands that had caressed him in the vision?

A small voice in his head answered. Yes. It was just a faint whisper, but it started a firestorm in his chest and he growled.

Nix quickly withdrew his hand and swerved backwards. What happened? Nix' whole attitude had changed. His eyes lit up intensely and looked at him. He saw him trying to calm down. Is that the curse? Had he now unfolded his effect on Nix?

"Ilyric. You appeared to me in a vision."

"A vision?" he asked cautiously. Why did he use my birth name again? Nix pulled Lyric's hand and lay down on the transverse eye on his chest. The rune demon wanted to break off the contact, but the oracle held him.

"You are the one who will end my physical abstinence. You will take away the forced virginity of this body," he grumbled, closing his hands tighter around Lyric's wrist.

Lyric didn't know what to think. Virginity? Nix was untouched? I should receive it? What's going on? He was confused. Did the curse speak out of this demon or was it something else? Nix didn't behave like the others who were under the influence of the curse. He just sat quietly and looked at him.

Nix had a vision in which I take him? Is that true? Is that a trick?

Nix felt the confusion in his counterpart. He forced himself to let go of his hand – trying to calm himself down.

"It's you, no doubt. We are destined to embrace each other."

Lyric looked at him with a serious expression. "I can't. When we have so much contact, I can't maintain the protective spell around my skin. That's too dangerous."

This hit Nix harder than expected, but he didn't give up. "You don't need it. I'm immune." At least that's what he hoped for, but he had no choice, he had to put everything on one card. He saw Lyric's inner turmoil.

"Lyric, would you take me if you didn't suffer from the curse?" the oracle asked.

Lyric hesitated, but then nodded. There was no reason not to want to bury oneself in this beauty.

"Then take me. I will not touch you, I will not do anything that you do not allow me to do. I surrender to your lead and leave you in full control. So you can stop at any time when it gets dangerous. If necessary, you can tie my hands," Nix said, now almost desperate. He desired Lyric, wanted his touches.

Lyric didn't know what had got into him when he answered. It was the most unreasonable, the stupidest thing he had ever done, and yet he felt that it was the right thing to do. He opened his mouth.

"All right."

_______________________________

Slowly Nix opens up.

What do you think of his revelation about the voices?

Does Lyric commit this stupidity or does something come in between?

Your Mouse Goddess