Zeke was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself as he overanalyzed every detail of the idea.

“Seeing the Diagnostician’s brilliance up close, what a treat,” Isaac said.

Zeke halted and stared at Isaac, realizing he completely forgot about his existence at some point. He still needed to be dealt with, so that he could get to his mother and start the last procedure.

“Now, since you’ve decided to be difficult, I’ll have to resort to forceful measures then…”

“What does that mean?”

Isaac fought against his restraints and brought his hands together in front of his chest. “Vistrea,” he cited calmly.

An intense white glow emitted from Isaac, forcing Zeke to cower and shield his eyes. Angelic choirs sang for a moment, then the light dissipated. The arteries made a loud snap.

Zeke looked back at Isaac. He was clad in an open clear white robe with gold patterns all over. A white gold mask covered the lower half of his face, and a large gold cross hung from the side of his beaded belt.

Isaac held his hand out, and a staff appeared in a burst of light. It had a giant eye on top.

He looked like a priest from one of his video games, Zeke thought to himself.

Isaac exuded a white light and vanished.

Zeke blinked and peered through the grid of veins and arteries. He was nowhere to be found.

“Maybe, I can convince Violet to help tweak the insolent parts of your mind,” a hoarse voice from behind said.

Zeke whipped around and backed away from Isaac.

Isaac ducked under an artery and moved up to Zeke. “That insolence is keeping you from realizing your destiny. Helping the universe,” Isaac said. He moved his hand across his glinting mask. “But no, there’s no guarantee she would do that…”

There was no time to think. Thinking leads to inactivity. He couldn’t let it take over. Zeke charged at Isaac.

He only managed two steps.

A golden wheel took shape and encircled Isaac.

Zeke screamed as he pulled away and tripped over an artery. The back of his head bounced off another.

The wheel spun around Isaac sideways, slowly, as multicolored eyes opened all around the large rims.

Zeke gaped at the divine visage. It was terrifyingly beautiful. The urge to deify and venerate Isaac was overwhelming; wanting to grovel and plead to not be smited in return.

Zeke looked away from Isaac and raised his hand in front.

“You have power, Hezekiah, but you and I are nowhere near the same level.”

Zeke gulped, and his heart began its usual routine of frantic rhythms. “I am going to stop you here and now. You’re dangerous.”

“Well, if you truly have the intention of killing, then it’s only fair that I teach you how to do it properly. There’s still more about magic that you need to learn.”

With his body trembling, Zeke forced himself to lower his hand and look back at Isaac. “I’m not going to kill you, Isaac!” The wheel’s overpowering beauty took effect immediately. Zeke stayed strong and perused at it.

“You think you can stop me without killing me?” Isaac said. He took a couple of steps toward Zeke, his wheel moving alongside him.

Zeke grabbed an artery and pulled himself back to his feet.

Holes mushroomed on the veins and arteries. Zeke looked around and watched the holes increase until the veins and arteries dematerialized all together.

Isaac heaved a heavy sigh. “You need to keep concentration, Hezekiah,” he said like a disappointed teacher. “Listen, this won’t work, I need to try something else,” Isaac said as he extended his hand to the side and started wagging his finger stump.

Ugo flashed into the wondrous garden clearing.

Zeke blinked and pinched the corner of his eyes, doubting their capabilities. He checked again and Ugo was still there, clad in his sapient Healer’s Garb and he wasn’t alone. AJ and Naomi were behind him gripping onto the back of his jet black robe. They were all covered in muck and slime. Ugo had his hand around Isaac’s newly reattached pinky finger.

Isaac turned to Ugo and said, “I’m glad you took good care of my finger, my fellow Brother of the Tainted Generation.”

Ugo let go of the finger and stepped away alongside AJ and Naomi. They gaped at the divine wheel in silence.

Without taking a moment to scrutinize his finger, he turned back to Zeke. “Your brother—our brother defeated my Anathemia. Blessed is he!”

“I knew it!” Naomi shouted. “You are an angel.”

“No, little one, I am not.”

“Wait, did you say ‘my Anathemia’?” AJ asked.

“Yes! It’s a summon of my own creation!” Isaac exulted. He looked down at his pinky finger. “Good thing the girls grabbed onto you when it started glowing. Good instincts and now everybody is here!”

Ugo turned to Zeke. “What’s going on here?”

“He didn’t bring us here to help Mom,” Zeke hissed.

“Why?” Naomi asked worryingly.

“He had an agenda of his own from the start,” Zeke started. “This was all just for me to activate my Healer’s Garb and help him open a door with an Amalgamation Spell.”

“Oh, don’t leave out the part where I almost choked you to death, Hezekiah—”

A curved lightning bolt silenced him.

It slashed through the rim of the wheel and cut through Isaac’s shirt, cleaving his chest open. The wheel vanished entirely as Isaac soared and slammed into a tree with the top of his head.

Isaac plonked to the grass on his side.

The others stared at a fuming Ugo in silence. He was scowling at Isaac, his hand equipped with the blue surgical knife pointed down to the side.

Zeke ran to Isaac and kneeled beside him. Blood was leaking out of the laceration on his chest and staining his once stainless white robe. He pressed two fingers on Isaac’s wrist. A slight pumping motion was made.

“He’s alive,” Zeke said.

“Cabron!” Ugo yelled.

Zeke pushed Isaac onto his back and examined the wound.

“He’ll be fine,” Ugo said. “I doubt that’ll be all that it would take to keep him down.”

Zeke got up and looked back at Ugo, realizing that he was right. Besides, the Healer’s Garb has regenerative capabilities he remembered. He committed a great transgression on his personal code and walked away from someone in need of medical attention.

“Can we even find the Puritas Flor here?” AJ asked.

Zeke shook his head as he approached them. “He lied about that, but I have an idea.”

“Really?” Ugo uttered with a smile, anticipating the best from his brother.

“Yeah,” Zeke said. He put on a steely look. This was the one thing that no one could criticize him over, not even himself. When it came to medicine, there was no need for self-doubt, even if it was related to the supernatural. It was medicine all the same. “The only reason why the microorganism is surviving in Mom’s brain is because of her purity,” he said with conviction. “Isaac said it himself that radical devotees were the most usual victims of the virus. All people with high purity levels. So, all we need to do is decrease the purity levels of my mother’s soul to a percentage low enough…”

“For the virus to die out on its own,” AJ finished.

“Okay, it’s a straightforward answer,” Ugo said, “but how can we do it?”

“Maybe, Naomi can help with that,” AJ suggested.

All eyes fell on Naomi.

“How?” Noami asked.

“You’re half-demon, right?” AJ added. “You can use that to lower purity, right?”

“How would I do that…?” Naomi said.

“Bleeding into her mouth or something?” Ugo said. He looked over at Zeke. “You think that would work?”

“I’m not sure…” Zeke answered.

“This reminds me. I was reading an article the other day about gourmet dishes being made from chicken feathers,” AJ said.

“What?” Ugo asked, while giving her a skeptical look.

“Humans can’t digest feathers, but they are mostly made of keratin, which is a protein found in nails and hair, and composed of healthy amino acids,” AJ explained. “By using acid hydrolysis, they’re making feathers edible.”

“Great,” Ugo groaned. “Now eating feathers is going to be a trend.”

“Naomi’s feathers have different colors, maybe the black ones are purely demonic and if Mrs. Morata eats them, then maybe it can make her purity levels plummet.”

Zeke’s mind shot back to the windy afternoon on the docks, where Violet fought valiantly against Nananiel. A key moment replayed in his mind over and over. Violet feeding feathers to the Netherchimera.

“He loves angel feathers. Composed of so much yummy, concentrated purity,” she said.

Zeke blinked rapidly and returned to reality.

“I say we just use blood and see what happens,” Ugo said.

“You’re a genius,” Zeke said.

“Thanks!” Ugo said happily.

“Not you. I meant AJ,” Zeke corrected. “I’m not too hopeful on the blood idea, I dunno, it seems dangerous and then there’s the fact that Naomi has angel blood in her as well, so that means she has angelic cells, too, and the last thing we need is more of those in Mom. According to Violet, angelic feathers are a source of purity, so, AJ’s idea could have credibility, as in the demonic part could have the opposite of purity.” He looked at Naomi. “Your wings. Your feathers. We need them, Naomi.”

“Wait, didn’t you guys cut off her wings?” AJ mentioned.

Zeke and Ugo’s face went blank. Silence filled the air. AJ made a face and looked away.

“Oh yeahhhh…” the brothers drawled as they slowly tilted their heads upward.

“But angels can regrow their wings! Don’t worry, I can do it!” Naomi said eagerly. “Just give me a moment.”

She walked away from them and stood in the center of the clearing. She raised her fists, squeezed them shut, then closed her eyes. Her expression relaxed, and she looked to be at peace.

Zeke smiled. An angel sprouting its wings is always going to be something to get excited over, no matter the occasion.

Nothing happened.

Naomi opened one eye and immediately closed it once she caught a glimpse of the ogling trio.

“Are you sure you can do it, Naomi?” AJ asked.

“Yes! Just give me a moment!” Naomi urged.

Naomi hunched over and stretched her arms to the side. Her fists clenched tighter and her expression creased.

More nothing.

She gave out a muffled scream and started shaking herself all over. “Come on! Please!” she pleaded.

“Okay, this isn’t going to work. We need to come up with another idea,” Zeke said, ready to move on.

“We could check the hospital for feathers,” Ugo said.

“So, we’re going to have to go all the way back to the cathedral, huh.” AJ said.

“No, please let me be the one to help!” Naomi yelled.

“It’s okay. You can’t regrow your wings, Naomi,” Zeke said.

“Yes, I can! Just wait a little longer! We shouldn’t waste time looking for feathers when we get to the hospital!”

“Naomi, it’s probably not even your fault. This may be because of Ugo’s knife.” Zeke argued. He approached her. “We never apologized for what we did to you…”

“There is nothing to apologize for!” Naomi barked. “You saved my life. I’m the one who needs to apologize. I need to keep apologizing for what I’m putting you through!” Her big eyes were already welling up as her brows furrowed. “I wasn’t useful to you in figuring out how to save your mother, nor was I when it came to fighting that monster. I haven’t done anything from the moment I landed in that building! Please, please, please, please let me prove my worth!”

“Naomi, you don’t have to do that,” Ugo reassured.

“Yes, I do!” Naomi looked down. “Stop pitying me as if I were a complete weakling...”

“That’s not what I was trying to…” Ugo trailed off. Words failed him.

“Maybe, I am,” Naomi continued. Then, her head raised in an instant. “I’m turning myself in.”

“No, you’re not.” Zeke said assertively.

“Your mother doesn’t deserve to die because of an abomination like me.”

“Don’t call yourself that!” AJ snapped.

“It’s what I am!” Naomi snapped back. Her lip quivered as she struggled to utter words from her mouth. “My… existence is a crime. My essence is sacrilegious. I am a walking, breathing blasphemy who deserves to be locked in a cage.”

“Do you really think you belong in a cage, Naomi?” Zeke growled.

“Yes,” she croaked.

“Why? Just because you’re half-demon, half-angel?”

“I have to pay for what they did. That is the meaning of my existence. Repenting for their sins. It’s my punishment for being born.”

“That is bullshit!” Zeke shouted in an explosive burst of rage, louder than he ever had before. He took a moment to catch his breath as he studied the sorrow and fear on Naomi’s face. He couldn’t help but to feel guilty. “That is bullshit,” he said again in a calmer, lower tone. Zeke chewed his tongue in his mouth and sank into a sea of thought, realizing that he and Naomi were the same.

She was paying for something that had nothing to do with her, just like him and his dad. Why should she be punished for something that was out of her control? We can’t choose our fathers, we can’t choose our mothers, and we can’t choose our parents. Naomi was dealt with the worst-case scenario any being could ask for when it came to a shitty legacy.

His arm looped around Naomi from behind, and he pulled her in for a hug. “Don’t say stuff like that. It’s not your fault,” he uttered into her ear. He released her and gazed into her watery eyes. “I know how you feel. My father has been a criminal since he was a teenager and once ran the biggest underground crime organization in Winterberry City, even making ways in other states and other countries. He was known as being ruthless, violent, selfish. It was mostly drugs that he dealt with and because of that, thousands of kids were getting dope on the streets. There was a time when there was a full-blown drug epidemic and he was the reason, and then there’s the fact that he served as a role model for many young people that went on to be notorious drug dealers that deal till this day. I don’t know if my dad has ever murdered anyone or not, but I don’t doubt he has.

People judged me for what my dad did and most people just assume that I have some of his evil inside me, or all of it. I get it. Feeling that just existing makes you a criminal, but that’s not true. You telling us what you are proves that you’re not evil. You risked putting the whole universe in danger just to do that. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone, Naomi.” Zeke’s expression crumpled slightly in woe. “I’m sorry for being mean to you earlier.”

Naomi sniffled and rubbed her eye.

“I’m sorry, too,” AJ said. “I understand how it feels to be treated like an outsider. I outgrew everyone around me very early on, and I could never really connect with other girls. I was lucky to find Violet and Zeke.”

Ugo looked over to AJ. “What about me—?”

“But you were alone the whole time,” AJ interrupted by continuing. Ignoring Ugo throwing his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry, Naomi, I didn’t realize that you were going through so much pain yourself. It hurts to be alone and feel different from everyone around you, but feeling different doesn’t always have to hurt. With the right group of people, that pain can go away. A group of other outsiders like us.”

Naomi sniffled again and gave out a strained laugh. “You guys are way too nice. I’ve… never had anyone be so nice to me before,” she said in a shaky voice. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She wiped away as many as she could with her hands as she mumbled, “It’s hard to explain how it feels when you say things like that. I don’t know if I deserve to be happy with what you said.”

“Of course you deserve it, Naomi,” Zeke said. “You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be free.”

“You’re a really good doctor, Zeke,” she mumbled. “You know how to deal with all sorts of pain…”

His heart made a strange sensation. Zeke at that moment, understood what his biggest problem was. He looked at Ugo, then AJ, and then he looked around, trying to locate wherever Isaac was. He stopped and just focused on Naomi.

It wasn’t cowardice or anxiety… His biggest problem was the lack of empathy. He put his hand over his calm heart and made a promise to himself to attempt to understand others before letting jealousy take over.

Zeke looked down at his chest and smiled. Then he raised his head to beam at Naomi.

His expression turned grim.

The towering, unscathed zealot stood behind Naomi and raised two fingers high into the air.

“When did you get up—?” Ugo cried.

Isaac hit Naomi on the top of her head. She gave out a soft cry and pouted.

Ugo hoisted his knife in his hand for another slash. Isaac dashed to him and gripped onto his wrist before he could attack.

Ugo was putting in immense effort to free himself from the grip while Isaac was visibly not putting in any effort of his own to keep him in place. “Now, now, I won’t be letting you get another hit.”

Ugo bared his teeth. “Cabron!” He hissed and then spat in his face.

Isaac turned back to Zeke, smiling as the saliva spilled down his mug. “You’re smart enough to realize what I’ve just done, right?”

Zeke’s eyes widened. “We’ve gotta get Naomi back to the hospital!”

The sky exploded. It was far too late.