“So,” Alexander looked at the pair of elves with a tired sigh. “This entire time, I've been thinking my parents are just bigoted assholes. They've been cursed?”

The more informed of the two walked forward and put a hand on the human's shoulder. Rachel had the same look on her face the entire time she explained her findings. Her eyes were stormy, and she hadn't smiled for a single moment. Not even when the man thanked her for everything she had done in the background without anyone knowing for months. He felt guilty about how he had been treating the dark-haired elf and assumed the worst about her. If she hadn't been so helpful, his life would have been worse off by a long shot.

“That's what I believe with everything Catherine told me about them. Your parents are probably the primary targets of the curse, which is why they're so hateful.” She explained with the blonde elf in question chiming in.

“We have to get rid of this curse before the wedding,” Alexander’s fiance had been troubled with her voice heavy with emotion as she tried to come up with a plan. “There's no way of knowing what it'll do to you and our children.”

He looked down at her face, seeing how fearful she had become. It hurt deeply to realize that all that pain and resentment his parents had caused was because of a curse. Whoever did this had ruined their lives and the lives of anyone who loved them. It made him want to scream, confront the monster, and tell them everything he had gone through. All the arguments he had with his father had gotten physical even when he was barely a teenager. When his mother had looked at him like she was an empty shell.

“Babe.” Alexander snapped out of his self-loathing to realize that the blonde had started to hold his hands. She squeezed them as she began to frown and looked back over at Rachel.

Rachel also looked worried about the human. “I'm sorry for dumping all of this on you two after everything. But I knew that the time had passed for me to keep this to myself. We need to act fast and find the curse's creator.” The elf offered the couple a tense but genuine smile of encouragement.

“My parents have been harassing me to come visit. I want all of you girls to come with me so we can investigate. Violet included since all of us are going to be affected by it.” Alex knew that even if the girls couldn't be given the curse, their being around him would affect their lives negatively.

Plus, he wanted to use the trip to his parents as a gesture. One that would show each of the three women as a unique person. For Violet, who was the most emotionally fragile, he wanted to tell the woman he trusted her. That he wanted her to be involved in a serious life event as he saw her as a crucial part of it. In reverse, Cat was secure in their relationship more than ever and he could tell she wanted to draw blood. Her emotional support and love were what he needed to deal with his parents. A whirlpool of vapid hatred. And Rachel had done all the work on her own and deserved to come.

Cat nodded and without realizing what he was doing, he pulled her to his chest and hugged her close. She blushed and addressed a grossed-out Rachel. “Are you okay with coming? I know that you've been putting off work projects for this?”

The blue-haired woman shrugged and tried to avoid their ongoing PDA. “There's no way you guys could discover the source of the curse or even notice it without me. I'm the only one magically trained here.” Rachel scoffed.

While she looked annoyed from the tactful bragging, his flushing fiance had to concede. “She's right. I never really took the time to learn about anything magic-wise and that's why I never saw the curse.” She started to beat herself up, her voice cracking. “I can't believe I never realized it.”

Immediately, the long-haired human put a stop to his girlfriend, degrading herself. It wasn't anyone's fault that his family had been cursed, and she never noticed. Alex lived his entire adult life without realizing something was wrong with his reality. He couldn't have expected his new partner to suddenly have a light bulb go off and break his entire worldview into a million pieces. And he wasn't going to let anyone beat her down and make Catherine believe it was all her fault. That she had failed him, even if it was her mind that was making her believe such lies.

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“Catherine, you didn't do anything wrong by not noticing what even I couldn't notice. What nobody in my family noticed for what had to be decades. You coming to visit my awful family with the others is more than enough.” The man said to him, giving the blonde a gentle hug and peck.

“Ugh. You guys are so sappy.”

The couple looked over at Rachel, who was watching them. The younger elf threw her hands into the air once she saw their heated glares from being interrupted. “Don't mind me. I have to get going anyway to prepare for the trip.”

“What do you need to bring with you?” Alexander asked. He didn't understand how magic and curses worked, besides what the earlier conversation revealed.

She gathered her things and thought before answering. “Just some old spell books that have curse-breaking steps. I don't know if we'll find the curse's creator, but I still want to study the effects it's had on your parents. If it's as severe as you claim, I don't think there's much we can do to help them.”

Alexander's mouth went dry, and he realized he needed to sit down. His hold of his girlfriend was gone as he moved to take a seat at a nearby table. Catherine looked at him with worry and within moments, she was in the other seat, holding his hand. The two had started to learn how to read each other's emotions recently. Alexander didn't have to tell her what was wrong or what he was thinking. All he had to do was sit down and let the feelings stew. Rachel was staring at the two with the silence between the three being deafening. It was obvious she knew that she'd pushed a nerve, but she didn't say anything.

Right then Violet came into the room with a tray, smiling with bright eyes, which were a rarity for her. “I finally finished our meal. You guys have such weird food allergies!” The Gorgon said with a humorous tone that fell flat.

She looked at everyone's faces and slowly set the hot plates down with a grimace. Her hair was vibrating, the mood making her snakes want to come out. “What happened?”

“I was getting ready to leave,” Rachel broke the silence by coming over to the other woman and shaking her hand. “Nice meeting you, by the way. I hope you don't mind if I skip out on the meal. It smells great, though.”

Violet shook the elf's hand eagerly. Alexander had noticed they meshed well when meeting hours before. She smiled with her voice still confused as she spoke. “It's fine! Thank you for coming over. I'm sorry for being absent during most of the conversation. Cooking was hard.”

“It smells delicious, so you must have done a good job!” Catherine chimed in with Violet blushing with wide eyes, not expecting the blonde of all people to compliment her.

This led the two girls to talk with each other about the meal the snake-haired woman had prepped. And gave Alexander time to stew in the thoughts gathering in his head. If his parents were truly cursed, didn't they deserve to turn back to normal? What if his parents had been loving and kind when he was a baby, before being cursed? Or where they cursed well into his childhood and somehow he just didn't remember the people they used to be. He looked away from the chatting girls and rubbed his hand against his eyes. Everything was giving him such a horrible migraine.

“Alex, are you okay?” Violet had a frown as she finished setting down everyone besides Rachel's bowl of food. She directed her attention at the worried elf. “What happened while I was cooking? Please, be honest with me about it all.”

“I'm not sure.” Alexander combed his hair with his hands before sighing once more. “Rachel told me more about my curse after you left to cook. And how my parents most likely where it's an original target but can't be helped.”

Violet sat down across from the couple and tried to follow along with the information. “You haven't told me much about them besides the basics. If their behavior has been caused by a curse, it must be a powerful one.”

She shook her head as her hair began to float, signaling that her snakes were forming and ready to slither. “My curse is embedded in my DNA, but your parents sound more like a reality-based curse. The way to have perceived them and how they see themselves has been warped.”

“I have only head fables really of curses that powerful,” Catherine muttered after swallowing her share of the food placed in front of the trio. “When Rachel told me about his curse, I almost didn't believe her. I don't know how to feel.”

“I feel like crap.” The human man muttered. “Violet, we're going to visit my family to see if we can find answers. If it's alright with you, I'd like you to come along. I don't know how long we'll be gone, but you're equally involved now.”

The gorgon's snakes hissed as she looked at him with parted lips, struggling to find words. Her face scrunched up as she nodded and played with her spoon. “Thanks for inviting me, you two. I know this arrangement is strange for us all, but I want to come with you and help. Plus, I'm the only one here who has experience living life while cursed.”

“This trip can be used as a way for all of us to get used to the way things are now.” Alexander said, hoping for the best as the three all gave each other glances.

They were glances the three had been sharing for a while now. The three-way relationship dynamic with Rachel being the platonic fourth wheel was hard to manage. Alexander could tell while things were peaceful now, each relationship was made with a shaky foundation. After all, he and Cat were due to be married any day now in the eyes of elf society. A society that saw both him and Violet as outsiders. It was only because of Rachel's quick thinking they weren't in any more hot water. Alex silently worried that all the drama might strain the bond they were building. But for now, he kept that to himself.

Violet cleared her throat and gestured at the food. “Please give it a taste. I'm a god-awful cook and you guys will have to get used to it, eventually.”