บท 607: Hope with a sprinkle of despair
'Guys, calm down. What is going on? I can't keep up with all the messages,' Hera typed before using her soundproof bubble to cover the entire bathroom. Daskka was the only one with her right now. Her court was outside, all in their weapon forms to save space since the private room was a bit full. That being said, Hera knew that this place was bigger than she remembered. Now she had enough space to put a five seater couch and still have room to reach the bedroom. Another difference was that the room was wider, allowing everyone to lie down on the ground under the couch and still have room above and below. The bedroom was also bigger, giving her some room to move around the bed, something she couldn't do before. She could make the kitchen bigger, but considering how there would be four people sleeping here, it was better to focus on the living room and bedroom.
Still, Nimbus' wings would take up a lot of space, and Lurize was massive. It was better to have them in their weapon forms while everyone was here. Hera also asked them to stop anyone from coming into the bathroom, just in case. And if her friend needed to talk to her, they could just ask the blades, and either the Sentinel or the Royal Tutor could transmit the Empress' words by temporarily returning to their bipedal forms.
After she sent the message, there were a few more texts that were moving too fast for her to catch up. It's been less than a minute since she opened the group text, and there were already a few hundred new messages.
Lodi realized what was going on and sent a message, 'Everyone chill. Hera can't use quick reading as we do.'
'I wouldn't say that I can't read quickly, but you guys are going way too fast,' Hera added.
'She means as we do. When we need to talk about something urgent, we get the content of the messages directly into our heads,' Ruma replied.
'It's kind of like a cyberpunk instant message device. Very high tech, you guys seem almost there to be able to do something similar,' Laika said.
'Let's not lose track of the subject, people. This is important,' even through text, Peaches was able to pass that tone of a dad telling his kids to stay quiet, 'Johnny, can you explain to her what is going on?'
'Yeah, man. It would be better if we were talking face to face, but I can at least give a rundown. Kirouhebi had to hide the portrait room in the cloud temple because the curse started to grow. I won't go into details since that could get you cursed too, but now it's easier to see it, and there is more than one painting that is showing it,' Johnny explained, 'We don't know what happened. There were a couple of people who also found the temple, but neither of them ended up getting cursed.'
'Crap, really? Is he ok? And are you guys ok? Isn't it a problem to talk about the curse?' Hera asked.
'Fret not, dear adventurer. The magnanimous me cannot be affected by such things. That is also true for my companions,' Capri added an animated picture of a cartoon sheep with a crown. It looked a lot like him, but it was far enough that people could consider it was just a random character.
'Who are you calling your companions? We don't follow you,' Talpa added an eye-rolling emoji.
'Focus, people, focus. This is not a joke. You all remember what happened the last time that curse got out of control,' Peaches reeled the group back again.
'So everyone is ok? Do you know if there is anyone else who is cursed?' Hera pressed. She knew that her party was in trouble, but if they were the only ones, that would at least be something.
'Not as far as we know, but it's not like we can track that. There is a chance that someone is cursed that we don't know about. This just sucks, man,' Johnny sent the message and, after a few moments, added another below it, 'How is Alex? Is she doing ok?'
'Not really… Ever since the Seven Islands, her eyes went black, now she felt she had to use the curse for a few things, and her entire face is filled with black veins. And… To top it all off, with the exception of me, Bonnie, and Helena, everyone is cursed. They still don't have the title, but they are hearing things and getting ideas about how to improve. Blue even heard that her family is doing ok, and she was really worried about them, even if she doesn't talk all that much about it,' Hera explained. It took a while, and Daskka even helped her remember a few details. The Empress wasn't calm at the moment. Her heart was racing like crazy, and she could feel a panic attack incoming, but she was pushing it down. She had to focus right now.
'Man… that fucking blows… Peach, think I can say one thing about the curse?' Johnny asked.
'Might as well. If they are all cursed, I don't think it will take long for it to infect her. She might as well know some information if you think it's important,' Peaches replied.
'Ok. Hera, don't believe in what the curse says. It will tell you things that it feels like you want to know, but it can't tell you about things that happened in places where the curse isn't. Like, it can tell, but it's not like it will be what is actually going on, you know,' Johnny tried to explain, but the Empress wasn't in the right mind to understand what he was saying.
'I don't understand,' Hera finally wrote.
'Let me try to explain this, honey. The curse is like a sleazy toxic player. It tells you just the right thing you want to hear, and it gives you just the right thing that will make you happy, but not what is good for you. It will lie, cheat, and deceive you as much as it can while being the sweetest thing on this side of the MAZE. That's how it gets you. Like a man, you just can't quit. It's awful and toxic, and if you know it's bad for you, the good parts don't let you quit. Well, in this case, you can't quit even if you wanted to,' Ms. Jackie tried to help.
'I don't think that helps all that much. I can try to explain it a bit better,' Ruma said, and then it showed that they were already typing.
'I appreciate the offer, but I understood Jackie's explanation. The curse will try to appear useful and even lie to me to make me use it more often. Right?' Hera confirmed.
'Oh… that is correct,' Ruma replied, but that made the Empress feel a bit bad. Maybe the guide was hoping to participate more in the conversation, but this wasn't the time to worry about that.
'Listen, kid. Do you think we could go to your private room? We decided to ask you something, but it would be better to be face to face,' Peaches asked.
'I don't think you can come today. I have three other people here, but maybe tomorrow,' she looked around the bathroom. Before checking the texts, she considered changing the layout a bit so more people could take showers at the same time. She would have to take out the tub, but it might be worth it, depending on the situation. Anyway, that could be a good excuse to stay behind when everyone decides to head out.
'Ok then, that will give us some time to figure things out. Just sleep and relax, kid. It seems like you had one heck of a day,' Peaches said before heading out.
Hera just stayed in the tub for a few more minutes before heading out. Everyone could tell that there was something wrong, but the Empress just told her friends that she was worried about the curse, which wasn't a complete lie. However, she did tell her court what was going on while giving an order for them not to speak with anyone else about it, as she did with everything that was related to the guides.
When morning came, they ate a bit more of the frog meat, and Hera prepared two vials of Naga essence. So far, no one was able to get a naga skill, not even the Empress herself, but Hera managed to get her [Naga Poison] stronger. However, when she drank one of the vials, she got a pleasant surprise.
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Skill Acquired - Naga Scales (Rank 1)
Your skin has become sturdier as the scales of a Naga. Any attacks that hit you will deal reduced damage.
When your scales fully develop, they will receive special properties based on your experiences.
Since the user was not originally a Naga, this skill will only activate when an impact is detected, and the amount of damage reduced will be smaller.
Reduced damage: - 5%
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Just as she started reading the notification, Hera felt her entire body start to itch. She scratched it for a few moments, but the feeling vanished. Looking at her arms, it was almost impossible to notice any differences, but when paying very close attention, she could see very tiny marks that matched the patterns that scales would create. That worried her a bit since it could mean that, eventually, she would be covered in actual scales, like a snake. That wasn't something she wanted to happen. After all, she always struggled with her own looks. However, as she stared at her arms, the scales vanished. She pinched her own hand and saw how the scales appeared. This time they were even more apparent, but when she let it go, the scales would vanish almost instantly.
"This is kind of cool," Hera smiled.
"What happened, sweetie?" Helena was on the couch, but she turned around to see what Hera was doing.
The Empress explained the skill as they ate, and soon, it came time to leave.
"Hey, you guys can go ahead. I'm going to change the layout of the room. I'll remove the tub and put a couple of showers with an area for us to change before it too. That way, we don't have to wait for hours for everyone to clean up," Hera said.
"Oh, that's a nice idea. But I will miss the tub," Blue nodded.
"Just… don't take long. We have to figure out a way to get out of here," Bonnie looked at Hera before leaving. The researcher didn't have a good night of sleep. She kept tossing and turning the entire night, and when anyone mentioned the curse, she would become very anxious.
"I won't, don't worry," Hera smiled.
As soon as they left, she quickly set up the new bathroom layout, something she had already prepared on her tablet. Just as she finished with that, Hera sent a message to the guides, letting them know she was ready to talk to them.
It didn't take long for someone to knock on the door. Hera opened, expecting everyone that was in the group chat to walk in. However, only Peaches, Johnny, and Capri came.
"Hey guys, come sit. Do you want water?" Hera tried to be polite and show that she wasn't scared, but the expression on the guides' faces was worrying her. It was almost as if they were coming from a funeral.
"No, kid. I'm ok. Look, there is no easy way to go about it. So Johnny, can you explain the basics first? And try to be clear," Peaches looked at the lion with a seashell necklace.
"Yeah, bro. I'll explain. Hera, I'll give you a quick lesson about the curse your friends are dealing with, but that might also make you cursed. I'm sorry, but we don't have another way to do this. The curse can spread to other beings by knowing about it. The more you know, the stronger it gets. Eventually, it can spread to plants and then to objects, even minerals. When the curse first started, the entire Waperath Jungle was consumed by it, and the only way we had to stop it from spreading everywhere was to close off the entire room and abandon it. After about two hundred years, the curse starved out, and with some help, the room came back to what it was before."
"What about the people who were cursed? Did the curse vanish when it starved?" Hera asked.
"No… we grabbed everyone who was cursed and locked them inside the room, letting them succumb to the last stage of the curse and eventually starve. Only when the room was 100% free of curses and could sustain life again that we allowed people to return. There's even a dungeon about the curse back there, but I locked it since that could also make the curse spread."
"Oh… that's… bad," Hera looked down.
"Yeah, kid, and what we are going to ask of you is bad, too," Peaches looked at the ground. He couldn't bring himself to look Hera in the eye.
"Wait, let's say the alternative first. It's not fair to start with the worst option right away," Capri interrupted.
"Capri… You shouldn't even be here. Can you let us do what we need to?" Peaches sighed.
"No! She's Hera. She's the first person to ever call me. I am going to help her as much as I can!" Capri huffed and flapped his wings, staring Peaches down.
"Fine, you tell her then. Talk about the 'best' option," Peaches made some air quotes appear in the air to emphasize the word best.
"Ok, so here is the thing. There is a chance that you guys can get rid of the curse, but it will take a detour. There is a room five rooms away from here, and in there, there is another being like Kirouhebi, but they, along with some help from us, might be able to give you a chance to get rid of the curse. It won't be easy, and you guys will have to rewrite history in a way, but that's an option," Capri explained.
"That's good. But what would be the alternative? Why are you guys being so serious?"
"The other option would be taking your friends to a small room nearby so we can lock it with you all inside and starve the curse again," Peaches replied.
"So… you are asking us to sacrifice ourselves?" Hera tried to confirm what she had heard.
"Yes… It's not something I wanted to do, nor something we can force you to do," Peaches continued.
"Or something that will be a guarantee. I know you talked with some of the dwarves from Boothudurn about the curse, so they might eventually get cursed at some point," Johnny was passing his hand through his mane as a nervous tick.
"I'm going to be honest. I don't know if I'm altruistic enough to accept dying like that, but if we have a chance to remove the curse, we sure as hell can try it," Hera replied. There was no doubt in her mind that not a single one of her friends would be willing to just die to kill the curse like that, especially when it was clear that it could show up again in the future.
"Ok then, let's talk about how you are going to explain this to them. We need to make it convincing, and you still can't mention us, so that might be tricky," Peaches said with a smile, trying to break the tension, but the weight of what he had just asked of Hera still lingered in the air.
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