The words echoed in Agnes’s mind before she finally realized what they really meant.
From the day she saw Jinn as a newborn in the cradle, making weird faces while looking at her chest and asking for food in his own way, she had always been Sister Agnes, the nun of the church of the one-eyed goddess.
Had she known Jinn was a devil, she was not sure if she would have done anything differently that night, but she knew for a fact that the people from the order would have taken him away. Fınd the newest release on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✶𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲✶𝗻𝗲𝘁
Even now, no one would bat an eye before killing Jinn. It won’t matter if he was a child or not.
"I did not want to put you in a place where you had to choose between your religion, your beliefs, and me." Jinn said as his body slowly shifted back into his human form.
He took the hand from his cheek in his grasp and said, "But what happened that day? I could not stay still after that."
"Oh Jinn..." Sister Agnes’s eyes trembled; tears were about to slip from her eyes. "No matter what happens, I will always choose you."
Jinn’s grip on her hand tightened. "Which is why I want to help you awaken your root chakra."
"What?" The matron gasped in shock; her body trembled in shock. All of her life, all she ever wanted was the power to stand up for herself, to find answers that only strength can give her but..., "is that even possible?"
She looked at herself with regret and hopelessness and said, "I am already so old; why would a god even choose to bless me? They could choose someone from the youths of this country."
"There is no such rule that you cannot awaken once you are older, and besides, I am not talking about the seven gods you know of."
Jinn closed his eyes, activated the energy from his root chakra, and then reopened his eyes. The silver energy slipped from his body and formed a sigil behind him.
The sigil of the one-eyed goddess appeared behind him before it morphed and changed. The eye bled into the air, and the pupil inside turned into a swirling mass.
A cloak appeared behind the eye, wrapping it up in mysteries, while the eyelashes turned into daggers pointing in all directions.
"I have a way for you to get better options than anyone else in the world."
As Agnes looked at the unique Symbol she had never seen before, positioned behind Jinn and accompanied by his confident smile, her tired and defeated heart trembled after several decades.
She could not help but humor the possibility of her awakening.
It did not take long to make up her mind, but the words that came out of her mouth were something he never imagined to hear from her.
"I want to sign a contract." Sister Agnes stared at him with a look so serious that it left no doubt about her resolve.
"I do not want to be a burden to you. I already know the future ahead of you will be anything but normal." Sister Agnes nudged at Jinn’s hand to prevent her from speaking.
"If something happens in the future, I want you to be sure that I will always stay by your side, and I don’t know any other way to make that happen besides..."
Taking a deep breath, she raised Jinn’s hands with her own; she interlocked her fingers with his and whispered, "With my sane mind and my pure soul as witness, I offer—"
Her voice steadied into a low, steady chant.
The words came slowly at first, then faster, with no hesitation.
Sister Agnes pressed her forehead to Jinn’s, eyes wide and unblinking. Candlelight trembled across her face.
"I offer my life, my soul, my loyalty," she whispered, each promise a small hammer blow. "All that I am and all I will ever be, I give to you—body, spirit, and name.
Take my weakness; give me strength. Take my fear, give me purpose. Bind me to you, and I will stay by your side until breath leaves me."
Her hands tightened on his as if she wanted to fuse their bones together.
The chant folded into the room like a living thing, familiar and terrible at once.
As if swayed by her words, the Pentagon under their feet glowed.
Jinn felt the weight of it settle in the hollow of his chest. He had seen devotion before, witnessed people cling to gods and ghosts alike, but this was different—this was out of pure love.
It was like being under the care of a mother who wanted nothing more than the safety of her child.
Jinn was no orphan in his past life, but even those parents could not love and care for him even a fraction of what Agnes was showering on him.
For a moment he wanted to push her away, to refuse the price she placed on herself. He wanted to tell her that he would not let her trade her soul for his safety, but...
But when he looked into her eyes, he saw something that stopped him—no madness now, only a fierce, trembling resolve.
"You will become the enemy of the Order." Jinn still tried to persuade her instead of directly refusing her.
"I already am one." Agnes chuckled, unmoved by his attempt.
"You will have to break all ties with your goddess and the church."
"Then so be it. All these years they have given me nothing, and my prayers have remained unanswered. No, it’s time I look for those who scarred me, myself."
Jinn saw the flames of vengeance in her eyes and responded, "Very well." I will accept, but..."
The matron narrowed her eyes, but Jinn continued without wavering, "But the conditions do not match a fair exchange."
Her frown only deepened as she thought, ’What else can I offer besides that? I have already offered everything...’
But soon Jinn cleared her misconception. "Along with your awakening, I will help you get answers, answers about the death of your family, and help you get your revenge."
"So, do you accept the terms, and are you willing to offer your soul to the devil?"
Agnes shivered, not from fear but from delight. She hugged Jinn and whispered, "how did you know?"
"There is nothing the devil does not know."
Agnes chuckled before nodding her head on his shoulder. "I accept."
And with her will, an ancient parchment emerged from the ground. Rising into the air, it started hovering over their heads before bursting into golden shards that entered their bodies.