Well, that sucked. Two normal people in her house — that was something that could have caused her trouble if they had done something to get killed off by her curse. But now, it seemed like Emika was actually the one in danger.

She remembered Melisande’s words quite clearly. “Nah. The guy’s way too strong.”

And somehow, despite how milquetoast he looked, Emika believed it.

“What are you unhappy about?”

His gentle expression faded, and turned more serious. Pulling out a picture from his front pocked, he made a step forward. It was a photograph of that person who had lost their hand on the railway station.

“He came into the hospital at night. After listening to his account, authorities checked the station surveillance camera. All sightings of magical phenomena come right to me. Imagine my surprise when I saw you on it.” He put the picture back in his pocket. “I don’t want to think that you had anything to do with this. At the same time, Wells of Abstractions are incredibly rare. And afflictions like yours are not common, either. I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Emika started to get annoyed. “I’m sorry, but — I don’t understand,” she said. “If you’ve been aware of me for a while, how come you never — like… Never contacted me? Never told me what to do? The reason I was out yesterday was that I tried to find a way to cure myself. What exactly was I supposed to do?”

“I have not been ‘aware of you for a while,’” he responded. “I’m a busy person. Up until a few days ago, I was out on a mission to subdue a Rage Phoenix. After being called upon by another Cursebreaker team up north. Happens all the time, there is not enough of us. In addition, you have an ally. That ally invoked a few favours, asking me not to interfere. Guaranteed me instead that you would lie low and not cause anybody further harm.”

“What ally?”

Maxime just looked at Emika, making a regretful can’t-tell-you-this expression.

Wait… why did this cause a déjà vu? Could it be that this supposed ‘ally’ was the same person who had hired Lester? After all, Lester had been similarly reluctant to reveal anything about that.

Right now, though, Emika just needed to do one thing. Looking through her living room, she found her new phone lying on the table, next to Maxime. Somehow, she’d need to tell Melisande that he was here. If only to gain advice on how to handle this.

“So… you are here to… scold me…? I shouldn’t have left my home. That’s what you are here to tell me?”

Maxime shook his head, pulling up a corner of his mouth. “I am here to tell you I’ve made a mistake. I should not have allowed leniency. People died already. And yesterday, a person got hurt. Would this person still be doing just fine if I had simply captured you the moment I heard about you? I have to consider the possibility.”

“Captured me,” Emika repeated dryly.

“Yes. I am here to take you with me. I cannot take any more chances than I already have. Don’t worry. You will be put in a safe environment where you cannot harm anyone. And then, I’ll find a cure for you.”

Nonsense, thought Emika. At this point, she trusted nobody to ever find a solution to her curse. She knew that she was on her own on that front. He was just giving empty promises to make her tag along, that much was clear. She knew that in order to solve it, she’d need to become stronger herself.

And, the other part of what he said was just as bad. A safe environment…? Emika already knew what that looked like. It would be the same as Melisande. Hidden away from the public in a space Emika wouldn’t be able to leave.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Perceiving her silence, he added, “I would advise you against doing anything rash. I am concerned with two things — the safety of people within my area, and, of course, providing magical beings as high-quality a life as possible. However, the first takes precedence. If you try to fight, it won’t end well.”

“You’ll kill me? How do I know you’re not bluffing? I have to be honest, I am somewhat reluctant to just tag along with a complete stranger. In addition, if you know about my curse, aren’t you the least bit worried?”

He scrubbed through his three-day beard, pulling his eyebrows together. “I take it you don’t know much about Cursebreakers?”

Swallowing her indignation, Emika replied, “Well, what is there to know? Please enlighten me.”

“The title is meant literally. We break curses — and magic, for that matter — simply by existing. In other words, I am immune to all kinds of magic. And to your curse too. There is really nothing you can do against me. So, keep that in mind. Will you come with me peacefully?”

Great. Just great. Out of all the things that existed in the world, the guy standing in her living room just had to have an ability completely countering her curse. With a dry tongue, Emika said, “Well. Is it okay if I get on my phone for a moment? I would have to say goodbye to some people, so they don’t come looking for me.”

He eyed her for a moment with a measuring gaze, but in the end, nodded. “Sure. If it keeps you calm. Feel free to say goodbye.”

“I wouldn’t be able to take the phone with me, right?”

“Not for now. If things go well, I can probably provide you with a phone eventually.”

Emika took a deep breath and slowly approached, pointing to the phone next to him. He didn’t make any attempt to move away. Apparently, he was just that confident he’d be immune.

After sitting back down on her chair, Emika frantically started tapping the display, opening up the forum and composing a message.

Durand is here. At my home. Wants to take me with him.

The immediate response was a simple fuck.

Great. Very encouraging. Though, it summed it all up quite well.

Then, Melisande wrote, gonna be honest here hon, u gotta go w/ him. he’ll shred u to pieces otherwise.

Emika’s heart started beating heavily. Out of fear, yes. Though, she did notice the part where Melisande had called her hon, and that didn’t help her heart slow down, either.

Again, another message appeared: god this sucks. fckn hell. dont do anything that might make him think ur hard to handle or he’ll kill u.

And, pls promise me that emika. go with him. he has no reason to kill u yet. we’ll figure something out

Okay, I promise, Emika replied, with feeling a large knot in her stomach. She put the phone down and looked back to Maxime.

“All set?” he asked. “There isn’t really anything you need to bring with you.”

Well… that sounded ominous. Was she all set? She really doubted it. Suck it up, behave, and hope she wouldn’t get killed? So, that was what she was supposed to do now?

The only issue was — once she was in his palm, her fate was completely up to Maxime. Right now, she didn’t know anything about him. There was a slight chance he was bluffing and that a simple touch would kill him. But, what if not? What if he really was immune? He’d simply destroy her. That said, right now was probably still her best shot. Because if she went to his place, he’d be able to inspect her, conduct research, and find out more. He’d be able to come up with a way to kill her if he didn’t already know one.

So, there it was. She had the choice between trying to defy him now, which would, in the best case, result in his death; or going with him, in which case… whatever would happen was impossible to say.

There was the very, very slight chance that he actually wanted to help, and that he would really be able to cure the curse. That meant going with him was the only option to take right now that could possibly result in a positive outcome overall.

But… she had just promised Melisande to go with him. What a terrifying promise.

Trust Melisande, a small thought echoed within her mind.

“I realise this is a very difficult moment for you, but you really only have one option. Please come with me. I have other things to take care of — other lives to save. And we have a long day ahead of us too.”

Sweat drops started running down her face. Her eyes still felt bloated from crying. She was still infinitely tired. And yet, it was time to decide.