---Thorn's POV---

When I opened my eyes, I was feeling slightly confused, since I didn't recall ever falling asleep in the woods. My memories only reached to the point where Bidziil and his brother had been talking with that strange woman, Karma. My eyes had felt heavier with the second and I ended up leaning my head against Bidziil's shoulder. I blinked the sleep away and jumped up, instantly on alert. What was happening here?

"Bidziil?" I shouted out, trying to get a good view on my surroundings. The forest seemed darker than before, unnaturally so. My heart was thudding in my chest as my voice echoed through the woods, without gaining a response.

Or rather, not the response I hoped for. What I first thought to be a forest soon exploded into several entities, which screeched and rushed forwards. "What the-" I stumbled back and ducked, trying to get away from them before I fell down.

They were on me in an instant but when I tried to summon my own spirits, nothing happened. It only served to make the existing entities angrier than before and with an earsplitting screech, they launched their attack.

With a jerking motion, I woke up in my bed and panted, gasping for air as I looked around the room. Dream. It was all just a dream. Bidziil was looking at me worriedly, my father standing beside him as the shared a pointed look.

"What, where- I..." I sighed and rubbed over my face, slowly sitting up. The covers dropped from my chest and allowed the cool morning air to cool the sweat on my body. I shivered slightly and groaned, feeling nauseous. "I thought the elixir had done its job." I managed to grunt.

Father sighed deeply as he walked closer and shook his head. Bidziil on the other hand took his place beside me and checked my temperature. He frowned as father slowly started his explanation, almost hesitantly so. "Not quite, since your unnatural awakening, your powers will be...fluctuating."

"Huh, that's the least you could say." Bidziil bit out as he pushed me back underneath the covers and sidled right down beside me. A headache was thumping away, feeling as if someone had cracked my skull open but I still needed to understand what these two were talking about.

The lights flickered a bit before an entity swooshed through the room with an earsplitting shriek, making me groan and grab for my head. As I went to glare at the thing, I suddenly realized that it was one of my own. And I couldn't make it disappear.

"What the hell is going on with me?" I could feel the cold bite of fear and panic as it took delight in gnawing at my confidence and happiness. My eyes shot out towards Bidziil as he pulled me closer against his chest before I placed my hands on his to stop the motion. His eyebrows rose slightly before he glanced at my father.

"I guess you're right."

"Right? Right about what?" I asked, feeling confused and a bit annoyed that they were holding something back. Leaning back and looking up to Bidziil, my frown and confusion only deepened when he shared a look with my dad.

At my father's voice, my head swiveled around and I felt myself relax when he explained, "You weren't meant to have your powers this early. You were born from an Angel and me, and I am a being that is even older than these Precursors. If things went normally, your power would've starting to show in maybe a decade or two."

I nodded once to show I understood as he wetted his lips and sat down on the edge of the bed. My eyes flashed to the entity that was drifting through the room before I looked back down as dad continued, "When they gave you that...elixir," he spat out in disgust, eyes burning with suppressed anger, "They jumpstarted your powers, but without the knowledge and self-control that comes with it."

His face suddenly turned worried as he added, "Because of this, I don't know how your powers will evolve, but it could be a painful road." Bidziil growled at that and sat up, yanking me in his lap while ignoring my annoyed huff and attempt to scramble out of his arms.

"What do you mean with painful?"

"I don't know what powers he got from me and what powers he got from his mother. There might be a possibility that he's more like me and will follow the same process like I have when I was getting into my powers. But if he's like his mother, things will get painful...and very dangerous."

Before any of us could start questioning his statement, there was a knock on the door before it opened, flooding the dimly lit room with light. I squinted and unconsciously leaned back against Bidziil until the door was closed, revealing Karma standing there with a frown marring her delicate features.

"Its not polite to start explaining without me; I told you guys to wait." She muttered while reaching up and undoing the tidy bun, shaking her head slightly.

"You suddenly disappeared without a word." Bidziil spoke up behind me. Karma huffed and rolled her eyes, reaching up to remove her earrings before they disappeared into thin air. "I was busy trying to fix things that shouldn't be messed with. My brothers have more information."

Brothers? I frowned slightly as she walked closer and motioned with her hands. A few lights flicked on at a dim light and I smiled as she nodded once in my direction. At least someone who knew my head was bursting. Bidziil seemed to realize this too, since his fingers started slow circles on my temples, making me sigh out in relief.

Damn, that felt good.

"Okay, explanations." Karma said as she conjured a seat for herself and placed it right by the bed. Her flowery fragrance tickled my nose as she sat down, her expression serious as she crossed her legs.

"First of all, I know Ashkii has named your hellhound after me, so let's just presume I'm not annoyed with that. Hi, my name is Celine, but people know me by my profession, which is giving people their own Karma." Celine smiled reassuringly at me before she leaned back and took a deep breath.

"Now, with that settled, I think it's best if Thorn here is told the whole truth and I guess you guys can stay to find out what my brothers know. We don't know what the outcome is going to be, but there's a war brewing."

Celine's eyes flashed to Jason as she said this before she added, "A war between the angels and you Thorn." Fear and pain were the things that shot through me, the pain from being crushed against Bidziil's chest while I started to feel a bit overheated.

"The boy's already breaking out a fever so I suggest you keep your calm Bidziil, unless you want to make him sick." The building heat instantly disappeared and I sighed out in relief before rubbing through my damp hair with disgust. I really needed a bath after all this.

"Why are they after me? I didn't even know anything of them until my dad suddenly made his appearance in my life and dropped the bomb of my heritage on me." I spoke, feeling my annoyance and distrust growing even more. Surprisingly, Celine chuckled and shook her head slightly, hiding her smile behind her hand.

"Sorry, but you really sound like a bratty teenager right now. I know you're feeling confused; your emotions and reactions will be going in a frenzy for a while because of the change. Does that explain why you were feeling confident yesterday and why your powers were so easy to control?"

Well, it did explain a lot. Thinking back, it was rather odd that after everything I've been through, I was able to trust and interact so easily with Lorain and Bidziil's brother. Or even Bidziil and my dad for the matter. I knew I was starting to trust and even like Bidziil on my own, and I had felt more confident when I had teased him back in his house but I had always wondered where that burst of confidence came from.

Now that I knew, I felt a bit relieved but also worried; I quite liked the fact that I could be around people without having to flinch and put my guard up, having to scowl and analyze every tidbit of our conversation to try and find out if they were a threat or not.

She obviously knew the answer and continued, "To answer our question Thorn, I'll have to ask you something. Do you have any idea how unique you are? As soon as we saw your Fate, my brothers and I knew that your life would influence the future."

Celine leaned forwards in her seat, her hair falling down her cheeks like a waterfall as her eyes flashed brightly. "You are the son of the unholy union of Death and an Angel of life and healing. Angels aren't meant to have any relationships, they aren't even allowed to reproduce according to the religion of their followers! But your mother did!" She said with excitement coloring her tone.

"Stop your stalling and just tell us why the angels are after my man!" Bidziil's self-control snapped and I froze slightly at his claim but surprisingly; I didn't mind it that much. My eyes were focused on Celine while my dad's face was the perfect image of calm before the storm; it was pulled in the ultimate poker face, but his eyes...

Celine let out a little huff and muttered something under her breath about Bidziil and being an impatient brat. "Thorn has the power of life and death, paradise and perdition. While Jason over here can only claim those whose time has come, he can't choose to reap a soul or not.

Same as the Angels; though their believes think there are angels of death, they're wrong. There's no such thing. Angels of death wait until Jason here has done his job by separating the soul from its body and then they take the soul back to Heaven, or let Lucifer's demons drag it down to Hell."

"Don't you see?" Celine said in an exited whisper as she nearly bounced on her seat. "Since the Gods have claimed ownership of the mortals, they alone can decide when and where they die. Those fickle creatures control the human lives and decide when they live and when they die. But you? You are the one True Angel of Death."

We all hung from her lips and felt Bidziil wrap his arms tighter around me a Celine slowly spoke, "You are the only one who can give the mortals a second chance, to change God's judgment. For example, say that a child has been murdered and the murderer runs free. You can give the child a second chance at life and sentence the murderer to his rightful doom. A thing that only God should do." She whispered and suddenly we all understood.

"They're after my son because he's as powerful as their God?" Jason bit out, making Celine shake her head slightly. "No, they're after Thorn because his existence goes against anything their followers believe in. There's nothing that can go against God's judgment call...expect Thorn's. So in theory, he is the stronger one."