RISE OF EROS

In no time, after a short walk, they arrived at the room where Ayla was staying while she recovered from her injuries. Although she had improved considerably, she still couldn't get out of bed.

As a harpy and like most demons, she has a great recovery ability, but her damage was severe, so although compared to how they found her now she was better, she was still weak and injured.

Seraphine knocked on the door and after hearing, "Come in," she opened the door and there she could see the little harpy sitting on the bed with bandages all over her body, as if she were a mummy.

"How are you feeling today?" Seraphine asked upon entering with a motherly tone. They had created a rather strange relationship where Seraphine seemed to consider her a daughter and strange as it sounds, Ayla also saw her as a mother.

Maybe it was due to the trauma she suffered from losing her family and how Seraphine and the other succubi had taken care of her, but that didn't matter. Andrew and Oliver didn't come in right away.

They knew they had to do this with a bit of tact, as the wounds were still fresh and she didn't mean the physical ones, but the emotional ones. Seraphine chatted with her for a few minutes and then said, "Ayla, there are two people here who want to see you."

A somewhat confused Ayla asked, "Who?", then Seraphine began to explain who Andrew and Oliver were. Obviously, she didn't tell her that Andrew is a god candidate and that Oliver is his guardian.

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What she did tell her was that all the succubi were Andrew's subordinates, that they worked for him and that Oliver was his companion. Hearing this, Ayla became nervous. Seraphine noticing this, smiled and taking her hand reassured her saying, "You don't have to worry. They are good people, they just want to meet you and ask you some questions."

Ayla may have been young, but she was smart, so she immediately understood that Seraphine was telling her that she would be asked about what had happened in her clan. She really didn't want to relive those memories, but she also understood the situation.

She was like a refugee here and although Seraphine and her sisters had taken her in, Andrew was the boss and he should know what was going on, so she didn't refuse and Seraphine patted her hand gently and said, "Calm down."

Then she let Andrew and Oliver in. Shortly after the knock, Andrew and Oliver entered the room. They did their best to put on friendly expressions, not wanting to make the little harpy uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, Oliver failed miserably. So many years as a general had conditioned him to have a stern expression and now as a guardian and the man in charge of Andrew's safety, he didn't have a different expression.

The moment Ayla saw him, she immediately trembled a little in fear, something that everyone noticed. Seraphine just held his hand showing him that she was there and that nothing bad would happen to him.

Andrew for his part, turned to look at Oliver, and seeing his expression he could only shake his head with a wry smile saying, "Would it really kill you to smile a little? I don't understand how Marie could fall for you."

The comment made Oliver smile and not letting it bother him he replied, "I was born with this face and Marie knows me, she knows that this is just the exterior." Andrew was surprised by the answer because Oliver never makes joking comments like this.

Little did Andrew know that it wasn't a joking comment, Oliver was totally serious. Not wanting to pursue the subject any further, Andrew left Oliver and approached the little harpy.

"Sorry about Oliver's grim face. He's a sourpuss, don't pay attention to him," Andrew said trying to lighten the atmosphere, which he successfully did, because Ayla looked much better now.

Oliver, not wanting to interrupt the conversation, moved to a corner of the room, avoiding Ayla's gaze, to make her feel more comfortable. As Andrew was about to start talking to Ayla, Fluffy said, "It's actually a curse from Eros."

This surprised Andrew and he looked closely at Ayla. If Seraphine had been able to sense the connection, he should be able to as well, and indeed he could.

It wasn't a strange power or anything like that, just a small sensation. Within seconds he could understand what the curse was, but he still asked Fluffy, "Why do you think they were cursed?"

"That can be hard to figure out. Gods are like children sometimes. They can bestow blessings or curses on a whim, so I don't think it's something you need to worry about," Fluffy replied.

Ayla was starting to get nervous as Andrew approached, but after looking at her, he didn't say anything and that worried her. Seraphine noticing this and knowing that Andrew must be talking to his divine beast said, "Relax, he's assessing your injuries, don't worry."

Obviously, it was a lie, but Ayla trusted Seraphine, so she believed him. Andrew upon hearing Seraphine, realized his mistake and quickly apologized, "Sorry, little one, I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

Ayla immediately began to shake her head saying, "Not at all. I'm already grateful that you saved me and took care of me, there's nothing disrespectful." Andrew smiled at the little girl.

Harpies are different from how they are described on Earth. They don't have wings instead of arms and claws instead of legs. In fact, they look like a normal human, but with feathers on their arms.

To be more exact, harpies have two forms or transformations. Ayla's current appearance is when they are relaxed or weak. The appearance described on Earth is when they are in combat mode and are hunting.

At that moment their legs transform into strong claws that can crush steel and their arms change into large wings that allow them to soar through the skies like a bird. Andrew then began to ask Ayla questions. He started with simple questions, such as her age and name, even though he already knew this information thanks to Seraphine.

He just wanted to break the ice and when he saw that Ayla was calmer, he began to ask questions about what she had experienced. Ayla, just like when Seraphine and the others asked, told him everything she remembered.

Even now that she had had time to think while she was recovering, she had remembered some events from that night that she had not been clear about before and she told them to him as well.

Andrew listened patiently and the more he listened, the more he felt that these hooded men were members of the organization called Purgatory that wanted to revive the fallen god.

He wasn't the only one who thought that. Oliver also had a grim expression on his face as he listened to the story, thinking the same thing as Andrew. Seraphine didn't know this information, so she didn't make any connection.

After Ayla finished her story with a sad expression, Andrew approached her, and patted her head and said, "I'm sorry I made you remember such a traumatic event."@@novelbin@@