Chapter 53: The Mysterious Goddess
Standing in the middle of an awkwardly close stick figure of a human body diagram, Agnes did her best not to look down and suppressed her laugh.
For all, she could feel Jinn’s piercing gaze boring on her face as if it was waiting for her to slip and show a reaction.
Without taking his eyes off her, Jinn slowly mixed the soul root concoction in a warm flask, courtesy of a closed cafeteria.
"Drink this and close your eyes; you know the drill." Jinn passed a cup filled with herbal water to Agnes before moving to sit on an old chair he dug out from some corner.
"I never knew something I assumed to be so simple would make me so nervous one day." She could see her hands trembling as she grasped hold of the cup.
But soon, with a steel resolve, she drank the water and closed her eyes.
And then... her body jolted.
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, Agnes floated like a balloon in the sky. The darkness around her did not scare her; instead, she felt familiar with it... like it was part of her own.
She had barely even looked around when a proud yet ethereal voice echoed in her ears.
"Hmm? What is this? A mortal? How did that happen?"
The voice no longer spoke for what seemed like several minutes.
"Looking at you, I feel like I am back there in that accursed place."
’...’ Agnes wanted to think, but no thought would appear in her mind. She wanted to speak, but her throat did not even tremble to produce a sound.
"I was abandoned by everyone, even the gods I prayed to..."
Agnes could hear the pain and distant agony in her voice before it faded away.
"But you have someone who is willing to share your burden and support you through it. I, the goddess of Vengeance and Pride, will bless you."
As she followed the voice, a hissing sound surrounded her, accompanied by a stabbing pain as if something were being drilled into her body.
"What an interesting world..."
***
"Huff! Huff!" Gasping for breath, Agnes woke up back in the room where she had just performed the ritual. She looked down and realized her robes were drenched in sweat, now sticking to her body, highlighting her well-defined, curvy figure.
Her eyes caught a shiny glow on her stomach, a bright red glow burning with a sinister green flicker.
"I am awakened." She gasped in realization, without even realizing that tears were already streaming down her face.
She looked up only to meet the surprised look on Jinn’s face.
"What happened?" she felt her heart sinking, thinking something awful might have happened.
Jinn, however, shook his head and pointed at her face and whispered, "you are burning."
Agnes froze when Jinn’s quiet words sank in.
Her hand shot up, feeling the scorched edges of her headcloth crumble between her fingers. The next second, the fabric gave way completely, falling in charred tatters to the floor.
Her hair—what should have been the same brown strands she had carried for decades—now blazed like a living inferno. Each lock hissed and snapped, a halo of fire that licked the air around her, casting dancing shadows against the walls.
She could even see her reflection shimmering in Jinn’s wide eyes.
But her transformation was not yet done.
Her red irises glowed brighter, and slowly an eerie green tint bled into them like some venom had been mixed with blood. Her eyebrows and eyelashes were no longer hair but thin, sharp flames curling upward like burning quills.
Then came the cracks.
Agnes gasped as thin glowing fissures started to etch themselves across her cheeks and thread down her neck, glowing red-green, like molten veins crawling to the surface.
Every breath she took sounded ragged and panicked.
Jinn opened his mouth to speak when he noticed her face turning ashen with panic.
Agnes snapped her hand over the lower end of her stomach, moved it to her thighs, and then gripped the fabric of her lower robes tightly. "J-Jinn!" she cried, her voice trembling and thighs firmly clenched. "It—it’s spreading! Help me, undo it—quickly!"
Her body jolted again, her robe smoldering faintly. Her legs pressed together desperately as she bit her lip, too flustered to say anything else.
Jinn blinked. A beat of silence passed before he finally understood. It was only her hair that had turned into flames and the way she was holding her clothes down there and clenching her thighs.
It all told him one thing.
Even down there... her hair had turned into flame.
He almost laughed, but seeing the panicked look on her face and tears in her eyes, he calmed down and turned around first. Agnes was surprised to see his action, but it did help her calm down a little.
Then she heard his soothing voice that reached her like a cold calming balm she needed at the right moment.
"Calm down." He said, "there is no need to panic. This power is yours, and it will not harm you."
"I—I can’t stop it." She whimpered, shaking her head desperately. Her flaming hair hissed louder, strands whipping like snakes in agitation.
"No, you can." Jinn firmly denied her doubts. "Close your eyes and focus on the power to change things as you wish; you can even make it disappear."
After some hesitation, Agnes followed his words, as he said. She could feel the temperature of her flames dropping to the point it no longer harmed her clothes.
Then she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Slowly the flames faded away.
When the brightness in the room dimmed, Jinn turned around. Agnes had calmed down, but her face was now crimson from the embarrassment.
Jinn stepped forward, and she instinctively jumped back like a frightened rabbit.
’What is that?’ As his gaze drifted down, Jinn noticed a piece of cloth lying on the floor, in the same place Agnes once stood.
Agnes followed his gaze, and her eyes widened in recognition. She hurriedly stepped forward and covered the cloth under her long gown.
’Is that?’ Jinn’s lips twitched, recognizing what he had seen. The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned awkward as neither of them knew how to break the silence.
But thankfully there was someone to break the silence for Jinn.
"It’s bad, master."The imp came flying into the room, panicked and alert, "The members of the church are here!