Hera walked back to the group, having almost depleted her mana by using the Elemental Memory Armor on Daskka so she could transfer it to the mist. Because she was doing it with something that was constantly moving, the spell took massive amounts of mana. The Empress only had one thing in her mind as she moved, she was worried about Alex's reaction, but it wasn't time to hesitate.

"Hey guys," she said as she finally got close to them.

"Hey, did you find something useful?" Helena asked.

"Yeah... I did. But it wasn't so much about this place," Hera turned to Alex, "I asked if there was a way for us to get rid of the curse without hurting you or anyone affected by it."

"You did what?!" Alex yelled, rage filling her eyes instantly, and the black veins became more prominent.

"I found a way to get rid of the curse without hurting any of us," Hera replied without missing a beat.

"How dare you?! Who do you think you are to decide if this is something I need to get rid of?" Alex barked, spitting the words out of her mouth in a way that they were barely comprehensible.

"So you think the curse is a good thing?"

"Yes!" Alex stopped, blinked a few times, and continued in a soft voice, "No, it's not. But you still don't have the right to tell me what to do!" the assassin returned to being angry at the end of her sentence.

Hera nodded, "You are right. I don't have the right to tell you what to do, but I am your friend, and I have the right to help you whether you like it or not. So yeah, I used the thing that gives me information to try to take that shit out of you. Not because I think you are doing badly now or that you can't handle it, but because I want to be able to talk to you about the good old days when we are older. And I mean talk to you, not whatever kind of blob monster you might become if that curse gets worse," the Empress turned to Bonnie, and more specifically, Ruby, who was on the researcher's shoulder, "No offense. You are a different kind of blob."

"But you…" Alex shook her head, "Fuck! What is happening to me?"

"I think it's the curse," Bonnie touched Alex's shoulder, "Do you remember how it messed with your head and made you think that knowing what it could do wasn't the same as knowing about it? That happened when just your eyes were black. Now I think the curse might be affecting you in different ways."

The assassin took a very deep breath, "You are right. Hera, I'm sorry. What did you find?"

Hera smiled, "You don't have to apologize. Now I found out a few things. First, there is a place somewhat close by where we might be able to get rid of the curse. The way the answer was phrased makes me think it's not a sure thing, but it didn't sound like it was because of the conditions in that place. I asked for some clarification, and apparently, it's because this curse is a unique thing, and removing it is not something that had ever happened before, so the answers I got were all conjecture. I might be wrong, but I also think that I got so much information about this because most of the answers I got were not certain, so it was a way to make up for the possible wrong information."

When Hera said that line, Shane gave her a look of genuine surprise. She never considered explaining things that way. It wouldn't be strange if, in the future, they couldn't get so much information about something else.

"Is that how it works?" Blue asked.

"I have no idea. These are all the reasons I'm taking out of my ass to make sense of all of this," Hera sighed, hoping that her acting skills were on point."Anyway, I found out that there is a place about five rooms away that might be able to help us remove the curse. If that doesn't work, there are a couple of other options, but they will be far away from the current room."

"How far?" Adriel asked after glancing at Alex.

"I only got a rough estimate, and I can't get the actual names of the rooms, only the directions. But one would be close to 100 rooms away, and the other about 600. In that case, it could be better to just move through Earth according to the answers I got. Plan C is not the last option, there are others, but I didn't focus on that. Let's go one step at a time," Hera continued.

"Ok, that's good. Right? Like we got lucky that there is a place close by that might help us," Blue smiled.

"Yeah, even if it's just a shot in the dark, it's better than nothing," Helena nodded.

"Ok, so everyone agrees? We are going to try to get rid of the curse now," Hera looked at the group. Everyone nodded in response, "I'm glad. I was ready to argue with anyone who said no," the Empress glanced at Blue and chuckled.

"Hey, I might miss my family, but I'm not crazy enough to go see them while I'm cursed. I was already thinking about that. What if I go back home and end up spreading this? If you didn't say anything, I was going to," Blue crossed her arms.

"Blue, I didn't mean anything bad by it. It's just that I know how much you want to go back home," Hera tried to appease her friend.

"Well, ok. What's the name of the room we have to go to then? Or how do we get there?" Alex asked.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"I don't actually know. Names are considered big pieces of information, so asking about that would cost me a lot. But it's not like we don't have any other options. I managed to get some questions that Shane could ask to get more information about that, but since the actual questions mention the thing we do, I can't say that now," Hera continued.

"Ok, can we talk over there then?" Shane asked.

"If no one else wants to ask something, sure," Hera looked at the group, and no one seemed to have any doubts about her plan, not any that could be answered right now, at least, "Ok then."

Hera and Shane walked back to where Hera called the guide. When the Empress activated the soundproof bubble, Shane asked.

"Do you really have a question to give me?"

"Kind of. Just ask the guide to tell you what I asked them to tell you. They should give you some of the information I got free of charge. Hopefully."

Shane nodded and activated the safety cube as Hera left and walked back to the group. She talked a bit with the rest of the party about how everyone was doing.

"I have some bad news," Adriel scratched the back of his head."

"More?" Mylo raised one eyebrow.

"Yeah… I got the title."

"Shit… at least we know when it happens. When your eyes start to go bad," Blue sighed.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," Adriel nodded.

"Right… and Alex, I want to ask you a favor," Bonnie turned to the assassin.

"What?"

"Since many of us are cursed already, and we don't think it will take long for it to affect me, Lena, and Hera, if you think about asking the curse something, let someone else do it. That way, we can minimize the progression of your curse."

"But that will make someone else's curse progress!" Alex gasped.

"Yes, but we know what the progression looks like. It's better for us to avoid figuring out what the next stage is as much as possible. So let us get worse before you do," Bonnie continued.

"But what if the curse stops that?" Alex asked.

"I highly doubt that will happen. The curse wants to spread. It doesn't matter how. Making someone with a small version of it get more cursed would be just as good as advancing yours. Actually, it might be even better. That way, it has more people who can potentially spread it."

"Right… that does make sense," Alex looked down. She almost seemed disappointed. Realizing that, Blue couldn't help but chuckle.

"Oh, please. Don't tell me that you are upset because of that."

"No! … Maybe a little. I don't know. Maybe this is some weird kind of Stockholm Syndrome, or just me thinking that I was special, and that's why I got cursed and not Hera," Alex huffed.

"You are special, and not just to us," Hera got closer to Alex, looking into her eyes despite the fear that caused the Empress, "I honestly don't know if any of us would be able to fight against that curse for so long. Blue wouldn't be able to stop talking about it, Bonnie and Lena would want to study it, and I would probably freak out and run away so I wouldn't hurt anyone. You are the only one of us that could face this head-on for so long and keep going as you did."

Alex opened her mouth a couple of times but eventually stopped trying to fight the compliment and smiled, "Thanks. I don't know if I believe in all of that, but thanks."

They continued talking, and soon ten minutes went by. That was a lot more time than what Hera spent with the guide before Shane finally returned.

"Hey, is everything ok?" Hera asked.

"Yeah, it was just a lot of information for me to get. First, I got a path to the doorway leading us to the right room. Here let me pass that to you," Shane opened her tablet and shared the map data with everyone. Hera already had that, but this would allow her to talk about it without raising any suspicions, "Another thing. We can't go today. Apparently, some monsters are migrating, and it would be too much for us. They are crossing the only road we have to take to the doorway, or at least, they will start that soon, and even if we run now, we wouldn't get there before they start. Maybe Nimbus could get there in time, but since the path has a lot of sharp turns, I think we would end up getting hurt if we do the drone sled thing. But I managed to find out that there is a dungeon down this path that can drop some sort of rations for us. Like food that we can take on a long trip."

"Oh, that's a good idea. We don't know where we might end up, and bringing the meat we got from here might not be the best option," Helena nodded.

Hera didn't say anything. She didn't care about the praise, only that her idea helped.

"Did you find anything else?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah. Unlike what the name suggests, we are not inside a monster, but I don't know where we are. Also, we don't have to worry about traps, pools of acid, or anything like that here. And the monsters are straightforward. No mimicking us, invisibility or camouflage, mind control or illusions. They are just burly and hit hard. The only thing is that ones who are migrating do have poison."

"Ok, that's good overall. So should we go to the dungeon? To see what kind of rations we would find?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, I think that's our best game plan. The migration will continue until tomorrow afternoon, so we have a day to kill. Not to mention, I would be down for taking it easy after everything that happened yesterday," Adriel stretched and groaned like an old man getting out of a chair, even if he spent the entire time standing up.

"I agree," Helena nodded, "Let's check that dungeon. One way or another, we can get a bonus for completing it for the first time. Who knows, maybe it will be the first time anyone ever completes that dungeon, although that feels a bit like a stretch."

"Yeah, we are right by a place where a lot of people lived, even if getting here was complicated," Bonnie nodded, "But the rewards should be interesting, and the rations are a big plus. We already have a way of getting water, right?"

Hera nodded, "We have my bottled creek. It makes 50 liters per day, which should be more than enough for all of us. Thankfully Nimbus, Lurize, and the others don't need to drink. Otherwise, we would be in trouble."

"Ok then. To the dungeon!" Blue cheered and started walking but stopped after a few meters, "Think you can use the spyglass, Bonnie?"

"Yeah, yeah," Bonnie pulled her spyglass and used it to track the location of the dungeon since Hera and Shane didn't have directions to it as they did with the doorway.

The group started walking while the Empress had both worries and hopes in her mind. The curse was spreading fast, and for it to be something that even the guides were interfering with, it had to be serious. But at the same time, that meant that they had a large group of powerful beings willing to do whatever they could to help them get rid of it. It was hard to tell what the odds would say about their chances of getting rid of it, but one thing Hera knew was that she had friends in high places watching over her.