The body is like being punished

The Celestial Palace shimmered like a dream woven from clouds, white marble, and eternal light. Its pillars rose without casting shadows, and the floor stretched like a silver lake, reflecting a sky forever bright yet sunless. The place was silent, beautiful, yet cold... like an eternity that could never be changed.

In one of its chambers, hidden from the watchful eyes of the skyward sentries, Verity sat at the edge of a bed that hovered slightly above the floor. Her white gown draped down, shimmering like stardust. Her shoulders trembled softly, stifling sobs.

She reached for a small object on the glass table beside her, a golden medallion shaped like wings, engraved with a name she had kept for centuries.

"Draxiel..." she whispered, her trembling fingers clutching the medallion tightly, as if hoping to stop time.

Her eyes closed, tears falling one by one. Her lips moved, praying, or maybe cursing, it was unclear.

"You don't remember... but your soul is mine. We were created together. You can't love another without hurting yourself."

As the medallion began to warm in her palm, a dim light crept up the ceiling, then spread outward... slipping between dimensions, reaching the world of mortals.

On Earth

The night air still held a faint warmth. The walls of Athena's room were calm, bathed in the dim glow of a corner lamp. The tangled blanket wrapped around two bodies lying close together.

Athena gently stroked Asher's cheek, her breathing still uneven, but her smile peaceful. Asher looked at her as though she were the only star in his universe.

"Are you okay?" Asher asked softly, his fingers entwined with Athena's small hand resting on his chest.

Athena smiled. "I'm more than okay... This is... the best night of my life."

Asher chuckled softly, hesitant. "I thought you might regret it."

Athena kissed him with conviction.

"I'd be the dumbest woman alive to regret loving you. You... you're the best, Asher."

A faint blush crept onto Asher's face, something rarely seen in his normally composed features. He held Athena tighter and whispered, "Sleep now. I promise... I'm staying right here."

"Mmm..." Athena closed her eyes with a smile still on her lips, too happy from their union to say more.

But only a few minutes after Athena fell asleep in his arms, the silence of the night shifted.

Asher opened his eyes. Sweat beaded on his forehead. His chest felt heavy. Tight. As if an invisible force was pressing from within, his body rebelling for no reason.

Then came the whispers. Faint. Not from Athena.

"You've broken the vow."

"Flesh of mortals is forbidden to touch the celestial form! You shall be punished again! You know this will make your return harder than ever!"

Asher bit his lower lip, trying to suppress the foreign sensation crawling from his chest to the base of his spine. His hands trembled slightly. For a moment, a warm light flickered inside his body then vanished just as quickly.

He blinked, staring at the ceiling... his chest still heavy, as though something inside was trying to break free.

And for a fleeting second, that name whispered itself into his mind.

"Draxiel..."

Asher quickly shook his head. "No, this is just a hallucination!" He pulled Athena close again, eyes shut tight.

But only a few minutes passed before Asher jolted awake once more. His breathing ragged. His body trembling, not from cold, but from a searing heat spreading from within, like embers blooming from his very bones.

Slowly, he rose from the bed. Careful not to wake Athena, who still slept with a serene face. Every step toward the bathroom felt heavier than the last, as if his legs resisted him.

Inside, he switched on the light. White light washed over his now pale face. Sweat poured from his forehead, but what stunned him was the stinging pain across his back, sharp, deep, like something had slashed him.

With trembling hands, he turned toward the small mirror and lifted the thin shirt he wore.

His eyes widened.

Slashes across his back, deep, raw, like lash marks carved into flesh. Some still fresh, bleeding, as if they had just appeared.

Asher nearly collapsed. His body shook violently.

"What... what's happening to me?" he murmured, barely loud enough to hear himself. "I'm wounded for no reason?"

He touched the wound and immediately winced. "Agh!"

Instinctively, he turned on the shower. Cold water poured down, hoping to ease the burning.

But as the water touched his skin, it changed color.

Not red like normal blood

But a glowing bluish-silver, flowing across his body like ink from a wounded star.

"What is this? What's happening?" he whispered in panic, staring at his own body.

"Draxiel..." the voice returned, deeper now, echoing from above and within. "You've forgotten your nature…"

His body tensed. Asher crouched beneath the stream, biting his lip to keep from screaming, his hands gripping his sides through the pain. He didn't want Athena to wake. Not tonight. Not when he didn't understand any of it.

The pain raged on, burning, tearing through his back, into every joint. Behind his tightly shut eyelids, flashes of light burst.

Golden hues.

A white sky.

Wings.

Just for a moment. Then they were gone.

Asher collapsed to the floor. Still trembling. Breathing in short gasps. But gradually, the pain began to ebb... leaving behind a crushing exhaustion.

He wiped his face, staring at his hands, now tinged with faint, glowing blood.

"What's happening to me...? Am I dying?"

But the most terrifying part wasn't the pain, it was the unfamiliar feeling growing inside. The sense that his body was never meant to be human.

"Is this... am I turning back to what I was?"

"Am I not human?"

"Am I a monster?"

Asher questioned in his heart, his eyes scanning his arms, his body, his face.

"No, I'm human! This must be a dream!" He slapped his own face, adding fresh pain. "No, Athena can't find out! She'll be terrified!"

He slid back down to the floor, water still pouring over him. But even after the water stopped, his body remained drenched, trembling in a silence that screamed.

The pain still pulsed, burning, clawing, tormenting him from within.

But then... in the midst of that pain and panic, his breath shifted. His heartbeat slowed. He was drawn into a quiet space within his mind, and… something lit up inside him.

Not a light from this world.

But something purer. Softer. Older. Far too old to belong to a mortal.

His eyes closed unintentionally. His fingers touched his chest, then moved to his wounded back.

And somehow… his body responded.

The wounds didn't disappear, but the pain dulled, transformed into something bearable. The burning skin now felt as though wrapped in cooling air, as if something was healing him... or stalling the damage.

Asher took a deep breath. He managed to stand, though weak.

His legs wobbled, but he knew he couldn't stay there any longer.

"Athena... she can't know," he whispered. Carefully, he grabbed a towel, drying himself as best he could, then pulled on a clean shirt from a small rack. The wounds on his back he hid beneath thin fabric, praying Athena wouldn't notice when morning came.

He walked back to the room, each step a silent battle against the pain. But his face was calm. His eyes, cold.

Not because the pain had gone but because he had already started to change back.

Athena still slept. Asher lay down beside her, eyes fixed on the ceiling, trying to steady his breath.

But his mind couldn't rest.

There was a question he couldn't shake.

"Who am I…?"

He turned to face Athena, watching her peacefully sleep, remembering what had just happened in the bathroom.

"If that had happened in front of you... you'd be terrified, not worried for me... but scared of me," he whispered with sorrow in his eyes. His heart shattered by mystery, but what scared him most was not the pain…

It was the fear of losing Athena's love.