Meanwhile, Aster and Fleur, the two young hopefuls rushed along the final steps of the trail of cracks. "Come on! It can't be much longer!", exclaimed Aster, pleading they were going to make it on time. The destruction grew with every metre, so substantial that the pair almost fell into the abyss multiple times, but their balence stabelised with thier rising adrenaline. Before too long, the source was in their gasp, a sprawling web, almost like a black hole, surrounding the entire west wall of the mansion.
Upon the ground, a bundle of pure darkness twitched, making incoherent noises as if unaware of the pair's presence. "Demitris!", yelled Fleur, trying to get the attention of the whailing pod, praying it was her estranged friend. With her words, the noises became speech. "Nothing...", mumbled the shell of a creature. Aster could hear the remnants of Demitris's voice calling out to them, "Demitris, it's going to be okay. Fleur and I are here now!", he shouted with optimism in his heart.
However, no matter how they called, they were seemingly ignored by the cries of greif "Nothing left...", he uttered faintly, shaking within his kneeled position. Aster didn't understand the complex emotions of his once closest friend and decided it was best not to question it, "Come on, Fleur! We've got to go! No other choice!", he shouted, in the tone he used trying to keep her calm a few minutes earlier, but at this point, Demitris had heard enough. "Don't go!", he said. His voice was far louder and clearer now, he wanted them there.
Aster and Fleur carefully tiptoed closer to Demitris's contained settlement. As the approached him, it became more evident that the young man's features were obsurred by the marks of his ability. Aster reached out to his fellow soldier, his body was pulsing in a way he'd never felt on himself or anyone else, it was inhuman. When he touched Demitris's shoulder, it felt even worse. Demitris's body was cold to the touch, unresponsive, struggling for every second of life, he didn't want to be in this state, but it felt essential, mandatory.
Eventually, Demitris, coiled away, curling up even tighter into a ball, moving more vigorously than before, something was happening to his body, and it was the most painful thing he'd ever felt in his life. Fleur ran up to embrace him, but she was pushed back with such force that she nearly fell down a crack. The capsule closed up once more, and for a split second, neither Aster, nor Fleur knew if the grieving man was following his superior to the grave, but then out of nowhere, something burst into existence, an enormous wing.
Aster had been frozen in fear, keeping himself still, watching the horrifying growth in complete awe, till he watched in horror as more of the man emerged out of his destructive cocoon, another wing, sharp objects atop his head. Demitris screamed in agony, his whole being attacking him from all sides. "A-am I going to die?", he whimpered. The sound was muffled within the prison of destroyed wall, which made the pleading all the more heartbreaking.
Another crack shot through the ground. With it, Demitris's body grew, tearing through most of his clothes, leaving nothing but the torn remnants of his trousers. He was more recognisable to his friends now, his red hair falling in the same place it always did, his face still pure and young despite the unsettling glow of his eyes but this was far from the Demitris they used to know, this was a horned creature with incredible strength, the man's true form, an incubus.
Demitris flapped his newly grown wings, gradually getting height. By the time he looked down at Aster and Fleur, he was flying tens of feet above them in an unstable glide. Fleur couldn't believe her eyes and was shaking in shock, holding onto Aster for comfort, "D-Demitris, come back w-with us...", she quivered. Aster felt helpless, climbing one of the barely intact statues in the gardens, carrying him up to meet the cockroach of a man who had just moments ago pleaded with them for mercy, at one of the most intense times of his life, yet he turned away.
"Demitris, you know what this means, right? You're so much stronger now, we could get through this and fight Vox together, why can't you let us help you?". Demitris gave an agonised whimper, and the tears rolled down his face like poisonous ink. "Didn't I say there was nothing left?! Rou's gone, I have no reason to live, and now my body curses me with this form!", yelled the tortured creature. Suddenly, the man strikes Aster down with a wave of destruction.
"What the fuck did you just do?!", screamed Fleur, running to Aster's side as quick as you could. The winged man was on him in an instant. "All we wanted to do was help you! Don't you know who you're talking to, boy?", the wings flared in anger. "If Rou was here, I wouldn't be so, SO HIDEOUS! Surely as my friends, you'd understand!", replied Demitris, crying so hard, his speech was incoherent once again. "I-I can't live anymore…".
Hearing Demitris's comment, Aster took a breath and stood up, "You're far more then you let on, Demitris, and we want to to know we care, if you can't see that, then we'll fight you for it!", he declared. Fleur was taken aback, "Are you sure about this? He relentlessly attacked you back there.", she reflected. "Fight me all you want, destroy my body and soul, it's not going to fix my broken heart!", shouted Demitris from the air. He continued, "Only death can soothe me, you've got to understand!", he emphasisedm. Aster stared him firm in the eye, "I'm sorry, my friend, but this battle, this non lethal fight is the only way we can get through to you..."