Nyxara
"Hey, before Aspen explains his and Azrail's races; I have a question." I take a drink of the alcoholic watermelon slush Aspen gave me and it is the most delicious drink I have ever had. My grin spreads, and the loose feeling the alcohol unlocks is everything I need right now.
Lux reaches for my cup trying to take it from me but I cuddle the cup away from him. "What is your question, little wolf?"
"Do any of you have romantic partners? Do you have families already?" I honestly have mixed feelings about this possibility. Part of me is excited to meet whoever my brothers are with and being an aunt to their kids. The other part wants to be selfish and keep my brothers' attention for at least a year or two. Get that solid sibling bonding time I missed out on.
"None of us have families. The elders decided to follow demon tradition that there would be no romantic bonding until all 4 of us were of age and set on our chosen life paths. Once you graduate, it's going to be open season on us. You were allowed your engagement because having at least one intended mate was meant to keep the sharks at bay, but now that you will be free to be pursued again…" Keir appeared half joking, half serious about our future suitors.
"I'm sure Nimra and Mrs. June will be updating their matchmaking plans now that you will be single. Anyway, those are later nightmare situations to navigate, and I've gotten off tangent a bit. So unless these two have gotten partners recently, I'm the only one currently in a romantic relationship. I've been dating Venus for a while. We mainly only see each other when she is in the region. She is the brainy to my brawn." Keir's face went soft with quiet happiness.
"Everyone approves of her, and she should be done with her current research assignment so you can meet her soon. She is a beta demon. Oh, and she does stay with me when she is in the region, so if you see a dark-skinned woman with glasses, lost in thought wandering the halls that is most likely Venus. I intend to make her my first Velari mate once the restriction is lifted." I wasn't expecting Keir to be the one with a mate in waiting. Getting to meet the person who can make him go marshmallow will certainly be worth it.
"I'll be on the lookout, and I can't wait to meet her." My response caused him to grin, then speed-walk to the other side of the room, calling someone. Confused, I turned to Lux, who was looking at me as if I had done something miraculous. "You really have changed a lot, Little Wolf. You and Venus did not get along previously, so for you to want to meet her means the world to Keir. He had been worried."
Ah so this will be a good opportunity to mend the bond between Keir and I a bit more. "I'll apologize when I meet her and hopefully I can build a good relationship with my future sister-in-law. So Aspen, tell me about your abilities and about Azrail." I ate soup while Aspen told me about how his clairsentience is the ability to perceive or sense information beyond the ordinary physical senses, particularly through emotions, energy, and impressions. His core psychic ability is called Essence Threading.
This allows him to touch essence threads to read emotional imprints and manipulate residual emotions. He does have minor natural talent in typical psychic abilities like telepathy and telekinesis as well. He explained that as a psychic, what he could do naturally, to even begin to replicate others, would need artifacts, sigils, or glyphs.
"That's a basic overview of me. Now, you said you want to speak more about Azrail. He's a bit of a mystery. All demons have been a mystery to the other 5 races as far back as our records show. We don't know if demons have types or specializations like the other races. What we do know about our Azrail is that he is incredibly powerful and deadly.
Our Regent has forbidden him from using his demonic bloodline abilities outside of war unless authorized in person by them. No one can pinpoint exactly what his abilities do, except that no one lives after he uses them. So, he's a bit of a boogeyman for many. Having him as a biological parent makes us considered demon-born, even though we ourselves are not demons." Aspen paused and gave me a look to make sure I didn't need another break. I gave an okay sign, and he continued talking.
"As demon-born, our abilities are a bit more unique compared to others of our individual races. Additionally, the process of ascending tiers isn't always as straightforward for us as it is for others. This is the price we pay for power. We may be higher variants of our kind, but we must figure out how to harness that power independently. Otherwise, we may be just as capable but never surpass the rest. Which, in my opinion, is unacceptable." Aspen's focus drifted for a moment before he snapped back.
"Being reminded of this aspect of our heritage, I'll ensure that all your training and lessons incorporate the possible need to use unconventional teaching methods to help you reach your full potential. Perhaps you possess more of Azrail within you than we previously anticipated, which explains why you've been stuck at Ember 3."
I nod in agreement that this could be a contributing factor to the issue, but I also suspect manipulation from a certain pink-haired ex-best friend who may have an inferiority complex similar to her Earth counterpart. Then again, I can't imagine a universe where I had the resources to thrive… and didn't.
Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me if I want to stand among the best. Guess I'll start with aiming for the top 10 of my year group, then work my way up.