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Ten minutes later, the situation on the fleet had been wrapped up. Vincent was ready to ask Elkandaros and ask him to move the fleet to Guild territory and let the kids and the spaceships in other people’s hands. He returned to the System’s location in quite a good disposition.
“Elkandaros, it’s your turn. I’ll take you to the bug, and… Err… Where’s Irene?” he asked, as his wife was nowhere to be seen.
“She went to the back of the cave to check something,” Bella said. “Or that’s what she told us. Maybe she just… you know… needs some privacy…”
“Irene would let herself be burnt at the stake rather than pee without a door and a lock between her and the rest of the world,” Vincent said. “She must have found something. Irene?” he yelled, but she didn’t reply.
The System: She must be close. My protection field goes no farther than a couple hundred yards.
“You don’t know her location?”
The System: There were automatic updates on the individual OSs. The new versions have options to disable tracking. Hers are on private. Maybe she fell asleep.
“I’ll go get her,” Vincent decided. “Where did she go again?”
“That direction,” Bella pointed.
“Be right back.”
The cave was more tortuous in the direction the girl had given him, transforming into a downward corridor with sand as a floor. Irene’s footprints were aimed straight north. In two hundred yards, the forcefield cut the path, yet Irene’s traces continued.
“What the heck?” Vincent asked himself. “System, does Irene have any skill to pass through pocket universe walls?”
The System: Not that I know of.
“Did you switch it off at any time?”
The System: Negative… Do you think I might be bugged and not remember? My new version needs some practice, you know.
Vincent passed through the force field and continued, but soon, the light disappeared. “Irene, are you OK?” he yelled, but there was no answer. Searching through a dark cave was not what he had in mind, and since he feared she could have fallen into some pit, he used his empathic sense.
And here she was, a mile away, inside a circle of rune-engraved stones, in a smaller but similar room than the one holding the mainframe.
“What have you found?” he asked, appearing near her.
There was not the slightest warning from his Arcane Awareness, but the air current made him jump backward. The mithril crowbar passed an inch from his head, buzzing and enveloped in a red light.
”I’ll kill you!” she yelled.
“The fuck?” Vincent yelped.
Irene had changed. Growling, she was showing her pointy teeth at him. It was like she had an evil twin who had replaced her, one filled with murderous intent. Cute, but dangerous.
“Err… honey, I have no idea what I’ve done, but I apologize.”
She charged at him, swinging the incandescent crowbar. And she was good at it. Growling and hissing, pouting and spouting, but perilous despite her cuteness.
Who’s she now, Darth Kitty?
“Stop running!” Irene yelled.
“Honey? I love you?” Vincent tried.
“Love me? LOVE ME?” I had to wait for a month until you kissed me!” Irene redoubled the efforts to make the crowbar and Vincent’s head meet.
“Baby—”
“And now, you’re cheating on me?”
“I’m what?” Vincent paused for a moment. “Ouch!” he yelled, Striding back as Irene managed to land a hit on his elbow. “Baby, I never cheated on you!”
“You did! I saw how you look at that Brigid strumpet! You took her with you on the ship to be alone with her! And this morning, both Raya and the hotel owner came out of our room! I saw it on the hidden camera I left on my nightstand!”
“But I did nothing—”
“I’m sorry! I think I have the flu,” Irene suddenly stopped in her tracks, her left hand grabbing her right wrist, like struggling against herself. “Can you take me to the Realm somewhere? I need a bit of— No! I have to smite him! He’s a boar!” she screamed angrily, adding magical bolts to her renewed attacks. “I’m done with you. I want a divorce. By murder.”
Vincent Strode back in the control room. “Something’s wrong with Irene,” he blurted. “It’s like she lost her mind. She’s attacking me!”
“Maybe you did something wrong,” Brigid said.
“She said I’m cheating on her with you!”
“Oh no!” Brigid gasped, covering her mouth with both her hands. “I can’t afford gossip! Daddy won’t ever allow me to stay on Earth!”
“You’re an adult,” Bella pointed. “You can do whatever you want.”
“Not until I’m twenty-one, I can’t,” Brigid retorted. “And that’s a long way ahead, and I’m supposed to start filming my Bollywood movie in a month!”
“Hey! Irene’s in trouble!” Vincent yelled. “That’s the priority now.”
“What if there’s some other Archetype hidden in a pod, and they're hijacking her body?” Elkandaros said.
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“Check the pods,” Vincent said. They all started running around like headless chickens, inspecting each pod multiple times and even checking for hidden ones.
“They’re all dead,” Brigid said.
“Err… there be a problem,” quoth Bella. “This one stinketh of curses,” she pointed at the first pod that Brigid had opened. “I know it for a truth, for I was cursed myself.”
“Isn’t that the one belonging to the Cursed King guy?” Vincent asked. “What if he survived? Beurch!” he retched after inspecting the corpse. “No, he definitely didn’t survive… Could Irene have touched it and caught some sort of a disease?”
“Wait!” Elkandaros raised his arm. “What if we get this wrong? The guy my original met was also supposed not to die but was killed… What if The Cursed King is not a person in the first place? What if it’s a sort of an alien parasite? If the carrier dies, it moves on.”
“Jumping ship,” Bella said. “I deem Irene the sole possible target. I’m immune to curses now; Elkandaros is an automaton—”
“Brigid, are you—”
“Of course,” the princess shrugged off Vincent’s question. “We royals are immunized from childhood. The rituals take two applications within a few months.”
“Like a vaccine…” Vincent nodded. “I’m immune too. But Irene should also have—”
The System: Irene has high resistance and can summon Mind Castle, a defense against Mind Control. A powerful curse could bypass her defenses overall.
“What can we do?” Vicennt kneaded his fingers, his soul feeling with despair.
“Take Irene to Earth, and the curse shall be destroyed,” Bella said. “Strike her down to slumber if the parasite controls her mind. I could also burn the curse out of her if I get me into close quarters."
The System: Find more information. This looks like a villain to me. And what do villains like?
“To talk?”
The System: Bingo. Make it talk until you figure out how to take it down.
“Let’s prepare,” Vincent said. “We split in half. Some will have to stay here to guard the System, and the rest will join me in helping Irene.”
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Irene was much calmer when Vincent and Elkandaros arrived at the same place two minutes later. She sat in the stone circle, legs crossed.
“Hey, baby!” she smiled. “I feel much better now… What if we go out for a coffee in Krivoburg?”
“We know you’re The Cursed King!” Vincent accused, pointing his index at the young woman. “Let her go!”
“I can’t,” Irene changed her voice, sounding different than usual. “I’m stuck to my carrier until it dies. Or I die… but that’s out of the question.”
“Why are you doing this?” Vincent asked.
“To survive. Have you heard of me?”
“A failed summon who curses people for a living?”
“It was not failed. It was an error. You need to understand how the summoning spell works. It identifies people who are in danger. Running from danger would be more accurate, preferably through a forest—”
“Shit! Our bus detoured through a forest because an accident blocked the main road!” Vincent exclaimed. “So that’s how we got Isekaied…”
“We were also running through the forest, only not to escape, but chasing bandits.”
Meanwhile, Vincent tried to stretch his senses and Jump to Earth, taking Irene with him, but it didn’t work. There was a strong resistance coming from her.
“Then what happened?” Elkandaros asked.
“We integrated very well on the Realm, fighting alongside other Archetypes and Summoned, pushing back against the dungeons… Ask me: why?”
“Why?” Vincent complied.
“Fighting was what I was intended for. You call me The Cursed King, but that was my host. I’m the King’s Curse. My master created me as a powerful enchantment, but I got side effects. Eventually, I and my carrier got old and tired and had to do what we had to: throw some health-siphoning spells on a few kids… No one was supposed to notice. Yet someone did. Comes a lunatic and burns my master at the stake.”
“The Raven,” Elkandaros said.
“Yes… luckily, a young girl, a Summoned Archetype, still had a tiny curse in her… That one helped me survive until I could bind with the next host…”
“Brindabella…” the suit said, its voice strangled.
“A pesky kid, always in our feet during the fights, talking much and doing little. You’re trying again to snatch me to Earth,” the voice addressed Vincent. “It won’t work. For you to take Irene away, I must agree. It won’t happen. I’m not really putting her life in danger so her life doesn’t have precedence over mine, and I register as a sentient.”
“Again, why are you doing this?” Vincent asked. “Why the new System, everything?”
“Because it’s… it was better than the old one. And I put a little curse inside every one of its users. I will feed on them for a long, long time. See, I was totally honest with you. Now, we’re in a conundrum here… We’re stuck together. Currently, Irene’s sleeping. Her personality is intact. I suggest we make peace. There are ways to coexist.”
“You’re not quite honest, are you?” Elkandaros said. “Here is what I think. Your plan was to get rid of Irene and find another host, because sooner rather than later they would have to travel to Earth, where you’d die. You planned to wait until you got on the Realm, kill her somehow, and move on. I believe she felt your plan and resisted. That’s why she ran, to stop being transported, and she attracted Vincent’s attention by attacking him, showing him something was off.”
“Makes sense,” Vincent said.
“It was just the accommodation period. Hosts need a few hours to fully adapt.” Irene said.
“What’s this place?” Vincent asked, looking around at the stones.
“An enchantment ring, concentrating Mana faster,” Irene said. “It was meant to ensure we didn’t run out of Mana while simultaneously running so many pocket universes. There are six all around the main chamber. It’s not working anymore. So, what about my proposition? Peace?”
“I think peace is indeed the only solution,” Vincent said. “Like in Rest in Peace.” He stepped forward, knelt near Irene, and caught her hands and feet in his grip, the first with his own hands, the latter with his artificial ones, invoking Hands of Dominion on both. Irene started to struggle, but he didn’t let her go, putting Vorrak to come out and hold her left hand so he could take out the ring he had given her.
“Let me go! What are you doing!” Irene yelled in the stranger’s voice.
“Do you want the bad news or the worst news first? Bad news: you don’t live on curses, dude. You live on magic! No magic, no curse. Time for the worst news. Kid, come out.”
Behind Irene, the Archetype’s armor had split in two, letting a thin figure appear. Two white hands stretched forward, touching Irene’s back. Luminous runes shot around them, buzzing like a saw.
“It was you,” Bella said. “You cursed me. You fed on me, a child. You made me spend hundreds of years in a nightmare. I will repay you with a blessing. King’s Curse, you are no more.”
The light of her spell spread inside the stone circle and Irene’s body, making it shine from the inside. Irene let out a sharp scream, then fell forward in Vincent’s arms, heaving.
Neutral Mana area established. Living Curse detected. Living Curse neutralized. Your team has slain Malrath, The King’s Curse. Reward: TBD.
“Thank goodness for villain monologues,” Bella said. “I needed every second. That was the most complex spell I ever wove… Eat my slipper, asshole!”
“Hey, you’re talking more normal now!” Irene said. “Oh, honey! I missed you so much…” she blurted, grabbing Vincent’s neck. “Thank you for realizing I was not myself. And thank you for saving me, Bella.”
“You were not serious when you said all that bad stuff, right?” Vincent asked.
“Of course not! I had let out my worst fears because that jerk could stop me from talking normally but not from acting crazy… That crowbar came really handy,” she said, sketching a move to touch it.
“I’ll keep it for now,” Vincent said, sending the object to storage. “What?” he asked, confronting her acusatory eyes. “You can never be careful enough. Maybe you’re still dizzy or something.”
“But how can Bella wear the suit?” Irene asked, looking behind. “Isn’t it bonded to the Archetype?”
“It is, but I’m in the crystal piece, not the robot,” Elkandaros said, closing the suit.”And frankly, the suit is much better on its own. I can have guests and make conversation. You were saying about transporting that fleet to Krivoburg?”
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They arrived back in Prague in the evening, an hour before the dinner set by Karl in one of the best restaurants. Lila had just returned from the music clip recording. She was beaming with energy, having showered and arranged her hair in a braid, which suited her.
“The Bollywood producer who cast Brigid in that Joan of Arc movie asked me to be one of the main dancers,” she said. “It pays a lot. And guess what: my family is coming to dinner too; they took a plane… So, how was your day? You look tired.”
“Nothing special,” Irene shrugged.
“Yeah… just an ordinary day,” Vincent yawned. “Can’t wait to see your music clip.”
“Sven recorded some moments on my phone!” Lila clapped her hands. “Let me show you.”