"The Bond or Curse

Vilas bond for life with their partner chosen by their inner Vila. The tenor of the bond is quite similar to the one uniting an animal totem to its partner. It is also called a curse since there is no known way to go against the inner Vila choice other than death.

The inner Vila reveals itself in adolescence and begins to search for its mate in early adulthood. Once its soul mate is found, the fulfillment of the bond becomes the number one priority of the Vila. The longer the process, the harder it will be for its host to control their inner Vila.

It will be able to proceed for example to increase the production of pheromones to attract its partner, but it will not be able in any case to force him to bind. The Vila is dependent on the will of its soul mate. They can't hurt their partner physically.

If the Vila fails to complete the link, the individual will slowly perish. If the partner, bound or not, dies, the Vila will let itself die. If the Vila dies, its soul mate will also wither, provided it has already completed its transformation.

Once bonded, the tenor of the bond can change from couple to couple, depending on the intensity of the partners' mutual affection. The non-Vila soul mate gradually becomes a Vila, abandoning the characteristics of its original race. However, it is important to note that while the soul mate becomes stronger, their power still does not equal a Vila-born individual.

However, humans don't transform. The inner Vila is similar to a magical parasite. Since humans don't have magical energy, transformation doesn't happen. The human only gains in physical abilities but will never be a Vila."

OK, enough information for now.

Mia abruptly closed the book, annoyed by what she had just read. If she didn't give in, he would make it difficult for her. If she resisted any longer, he would eventually die. But if she gave in, it was her free will that she was putting to the grinder.

What's worse: throwing my freedom out the window or having someone's death on my conscience?

A small voice whispered to her that the second possibility was logically the worst, but she was stubborn and was not ready to resign herself. Even if it was her own conscience trying to lecture her.

After all, he hates the fact that I'm human, that's pretty clear now, and I potentially even know why now. Maybe he's looking to die.

She didn't admit it to herself, but her supposed flawless will had just taken a hit with this new information. Her little voice told her – even if it silenced her – that it was a losing battle and that she had better devote her energy to something else.

"What are you reading ?" asked a male voice that startled her.

When Mia looked up, she wasn't surprised to find out who had asked her the question after reading the book on Vilas. Ethan. Even so, she watched him for a few seconds before answering him. She had never taken the time to truly look at him.

He had centimeters of blond hair that fell casually to either side of his eyes and ears and dark lapis lazuli blue eyes contrasting with his porcelain skin. His fine features and freshly shaven square jaw gave him a particularly stern and jaded look. He was taller than her, and Mia could tell his muscles were bulging under his clothes.

He's hot, but it's not a pretty face that will make me change my mind. Especially not after seeing his shitty attitude.

However, this time, no hostility showed through his features. He even seemed to want to play it friendly. Unfortunately, Mia wasn't in the mood to be buddy-buddy with him. Besides, she knew now that he couldn't hurt her. She replied sarcastically:

"Hey, the fact that I'm human doesn't bother you all of a sudden?"

He winced, visibly annoyed by her repartee.

"I wouldn't have saved your life if it bothered me that much," he replied sternly.

Mia shook her head, clicking her tongue three times against her palate. She too could be particularly arrogant. She got up and put the book on the chair to position herself in front of the Vila. The young woman was smaller, but she knew she had control over the situation.

"You saved my life to save yours because you had no choice. Thank you in principle, but that's it. I did some research after the situation was explained to me, you see. You may not have a choice, but I do. Let it be clear, I don't care that your parasite chose me and I don't care that he pushed you to protect me. It does not change anything. You made it pretty clear to me that you hate me because I'm human. You doomed yourself by acting like an asshole."

If smoke could have come out of his nostrils and ears like an enraged dragon in the cartoons she watched as a child, the room would have turned into a smoking room.

"It's true, it really pisses me off that you're human, it complicates everything. But it no longer matters."

"Maybe it doesn't matter to you anymore, but not for me," she replied cheekily.

"You have no idea how fucked up the situation is."

"And I don't care. That's your problem."

"It became yours when I saved your life. Everyone understood that my Vila chose you. Your list of enemies has grown considerably, and these new enemies won't be satisfied with a few hateful looks."

"Why? Why should it affect me when I don't want this... bonding thing?"

"Because I too have a long list of people who would like to see my family's heads on pikes. Now they have leverage over me. If you don't want to die, you should care."

Great. I did nothing and I find myself teared up in the middle of a war between monsters.

Mia's sarcastic mood was replaced with spite. She sighed and picked up the book on Vilas to sit back on the armchair, then stroked her forehead and temple to put her thoughts in order. The interaction with the dark-haired woman in front of the billboard made sense now.

"So what you are saying is they will try to hurt me," she replied, unable to hide her annoyance. "And you, you're going to escort me everywhere to protect me."

"Exactly"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope."

Well, so much for free will.

Mia sighed again, for a long time. She didn't know if she wanted to go take refuge in her bed and sleep to forget all this situation, or if she wanted to burst out laughing so much this new development seemed ridiculous to her. In any case, she didn't really want to die. She didn't like having things imposed on her, but she couldn't deny that she was up against the wall in this one. She was stubborn, but she wasn't suicidal. Besides... she still had at least one choice left in all this.

"It doesn't change the fact that I don't love you and won't bond with you," she concluded.

"As you wish," he sighed.

He's very docile all of a sudden. What a good boy.