(From Rosanne)

—The young maiden here is not wrong —Quejada said—, this used to be a temple dedicated to Tiamat, the Ruler of the oceans and rivers, and the mother of all beasts. I would like to say that is only ancient history, and that this building has been nothing more than a tourist attraction since then, but that’s not the case. This building was continuously taken over by the members of a cult that idolizes Tiamat’s first daughter, Lilith. No matter how many times we chased them away, they always ended up returning somehow.

The mayor went through the doors of that pyramid, and signaled us to follow him. From the outside, I could see an ample room, with several pillars holding the weight of its stepped roof. I saw what at first seemed like tables covering almost all the space available, each one with something covered by a piece of cloth. Ingrid refused to step inside at first, but once she realized what was really over those tables, she started to change her mind.

—Those people?!

—Yes, they are the ones who have fallen ill, either from this town or the neighboring ones.

I had taken my mask away, not caring to hide my horns, as I stepped into the building. I couldn’t believe it. This area was way less populated than the capital itself, and yet, there were almost as many people affected by the curse in that room than those in the Academy. What I had thought were tables were actually improvised beds, where the inflicted laid, writhing in pain. Those that were in the worst state were restrained, twisting and squirming. Their skin not only had mostly turned into something resembling obsidian, their bodies themselves were starting to be reshaped into something that didn’t look human. This was what I feared to encounter when I visited the Academy, but this time it was not just my wild imagination. It was real,

—The members of the cult were the first to be affected by it —Quijada continued—, so we used this building at first because they were already here, and it also helped to isolate them from the rest of the population, but new cases keep appearing, even in the most remote villages.

My chest felt cold. I was clenching my fist. All this time, these people had been suffering, and I wasn’t even aware of it. Or where my nightmares their voices desperately calling for me? I was trying to remain calm, taking deep breaths. I could see that the doctor was already helping them, and even Ingrid had thrown away her aversion to the building to give him a hand. I should control myself and also help as much as I could. But I was being filled by emotions that I couldn’t ignore, frustration, anger, and pure wrath.

—WHO? WHO DARED TO HURT THEM? —was everything I could think of.

But at that very moment in which I could only see red, I heard a familiar voice. It sounded so familiar, I thought it was the doctor calling for me at first, but he was pretty busy and far from me at the moment. I looked around, trying to remember whose voice I had heard.

—Ro…ssane? —that person spoke again, and I finally recognized who it was.

—Christopher?!! —I yelled, and ran to his side.

He was among the infected, half of his face had become jet black, but he was among those who were in better condition.

—Christopher, what are you doing here? What happened to you? —I said, kneeling at his side and holding his hand. I felt tears coming from my eyes.

—I… —he tried to speak, but it was pretty obvious it was very hard for him to do it.

—He is the friend in common I mentioned earlier. He and his workers came to check something in the radio tower, but they all got sick in a matter of days. We got to talk before his condition worsened, and he told me about you. He knew that you would come.

—He did?

He must have gotten at least one of the letters I sent him, and knew I was looking for him. How foolish someone had to be to have so much faith in me just because of that? I took a deep breath and cleared my head.

—It is all right now, Christopher. We’ll find the cure for this very soon —I said, trying to smile.

I understood everything now. In the story of the game, Christopher died after adopting the saintess. It is never mentioned how long after that it happened, so I never made the connection. I never even considered that it was connected to the curse. Without my meddling, whoever was behind the curse would have released it months later, meaning that Christopher would have come here before the spread came into full force. Now, thanks to me, he didn’t get the chance to go back to his home. But all of that made me sure that my intuition was right.

—The saintess must be in this town —I muttered to myself.

I got up and turned towards the mayor.

—What I am going to say is not going to make sense, but for the sake of healing everyone here, I need you to trust me, no matter how ridiculous it might sound.

—Ho? Interesting proposal —Quejada said—. Fine, what is your request?

—Bring me all the young girls.

—...Excuse me?

—Bring me ALL the young girls. Around 5 years old, no, make it everyone who is between 3 and 7 years old to be sure. Give priority to the blond ones, but we need to check everyone. From this town, and any other that is within walking distance.

The man was obviously confused, but promptly seemed to give up trying to decipher my words, and smiled.

—Understood. I’ll gather the ones from here by tomorrow, and I’ll send Santicus for the ones in the nearby towns.

—Thank you.

He yelled at his assistant to get his donkey ready for such errand, which he did despite protesting that night would fall soon. I returned to try to make my friend and the other cursed people as comfortable as possible. Maxwell and Ingrid were still too focused on treating them, and didn’t stop until they had checked everyone at least once. Thankfully they weren’t alone, as there were a few of the townsfolk helping. I saw Maxwell give a very detailed instruction to them and to Ingrid about what to do if anyone suffered an attack, before sitting at a nearby bench and falling asleep almost inmediately. It must have already been midnight when I went to sit next to Maxwell. I was also tired, but I didn’t want to go to sleep. My ears were ringing and I had a weird feeling in the back of my head. If I went to sleep in that state, I probably would have another nightmare.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

—Would you like some tea? —Lucius said, offering me a cup—, surprisingly, they even have a small kitchen in the back.

—Thank you.

—Don’t mention it. Actually, I was feeling a bit useless, Maxwell and Ingrid took care of the inflicted, and you set our plan to find the saintess in motion without a hitch.

—Ah… I really didn’t do much. It will depend on you and Ingrid to identify the saintess.

—Well, that would also fall solely on Ingrid. I can’t do any divine magic, or magic whatsoever.

—Oh? Is that the case?

—Yeah, my compatibility with the collective is very poor. I can’t hear the voice of Enki at all. But I was raised by the church, and I still have my own talents, so I can help in my own ways. Still, it is a bit frustrating.

—I can understand that. Until recently, I also couldn’t use magic, and even now, all I can do is this much —I said, creating a thread out of the mana in the air—, and it is very likely that I will lose this once this crisis is solved.

—You are going to lose your magic? How do you know?

—Well, the magic came when I started to grow these horns. Something similar happened years ago, when… someone tried to kidnap my baby.

—Hmmm, yes, I remember reading that report. One of the culprits infiltrated your home as an attendant, and she was locked in the Black Tower. I believe you went to visit her recently, right?

—Yes, Iridia pretended to be part of our family for several months. Was barely able to keep my composure when we went there. I… don’t think I have forgiven her. That sounds pretty petty, doesn’t it?

—Of course not, it is very understandable. Enki’s lessons say we are to forgive those who have hurt us, but I think there needs to be a process. One day you might be able to put it beyond, but there is no need to rush things up.

—Thank you —I said before a yawn escaped from me.

—You need to rest, we’ll have a busy day tomorrow —the priest said, before leaving me to go check what Ingrid was doing.

I fell asleep shortly after that. I think I had a dream of my life before coming to this world. Working at an office from 9 to 5, and then spending all night on my computer. Those days were quite monotonous, but there was a familiar comfort in following the routine. But I started to notice something was missing. No, someone was missing.

—Where is Violett? —I heard myself ask, and that woke me up abruptly.

Of course, at that point, everyone else was already awake, and the doctor had left me his coat to use as a pillow and all of the bench so I could lay on it. It took me a few moments to fully wake up from the haze of my dreams, as well as to push away the desire I had to hug my daughter. I took a deep breath. We had a job to finish.

A few hours later, Quejada brought the kids to the front of the temple. Their parents, who had come along with most of them, prevented them from stepping into it. It was pretty clear that they were either wary of the building itself, or of their current inhabitants. Both were quite understandable, I think. Ingrid, being the only one who could detect signs of holy magic, went to meet up with them. I, who didn’t have much to do, put on my mask and went outside as well, as I was very curious.

It took the priestess about 10 or 15 minutes to analyze each girl, putting her hand above their heads. Her own mask covered her facial expressions, but her body language was quite expressive, as it seemed like she was putting quite a lot of herself in this search. One by one, after she had done a very thorough search, she thanked the kid and their parents, and told them they could go back to their homes. For a few, she wrote their names and directions on a notepad. But when she examined all of them, she came to sit next to me, looking defeated.

—I couldn’t find her —she said without me having to ask—, I think I feel something on a few of them, but I can’t say for sure. If only someone more experienced had come instead of me, we probably would have already found her. Damn it!

—H-hey, calm down. Quejada said those were only the kids from this town, the others might arrive tomorrow. And we can always check them a second time —I said.

—Yeah, cheer up! —a new voice said, and both Ingrid and I looked up.

In front of us was a small girl, one of the candidates that had come to get checked out, and one of the few that hadn’t come with a parent. Her clothes were rather tattered, with some patches overlapping other patches. Only her crocheted scarf and hat seemed to be somewhat new. The hat made her look like she had tiny cat ears. She was cute as a button, and her big smile was so warm. I would have swore that she was the future saintess, if she hadn’t been tested negative already. She wasn’t even one of the “possible candidates” that Ingrid had taken note about. Also, her hair was auburn, not blonde, one of the few characteristics that I knew she should have.

—Thank you —Ingrid said after a moment—, do you need help going back to the town?

—No, I can find my way pretty easily! —she said, spinning on her own feet—, but I’m selling pastries that my mama made. It is very tasty, if you eat it, all of your problems will fly away! And since it is your first time, I’ll even give you a discount!

I covered my mouth and looked away, trying to not laugh out loud. This girl was so adorable, I couldn’t resist. Ingrid decided to buy one, but I went ahead and brought everything she had left. I wanted to share them with everyone who was helping to treat the cursed people, and there were just a few more pastries than mouths.

—Which is your favorite?

—I love this one, it is so tasty! —she said, showing me something that resembled a donut. I will come to learn it was filled with date jam.

—Then you can have that one, for being such a cute salesgirl, and helping your mom a lot!

—Really? Thank you!

I could see her eyes glowing and shining. It was almost blinding. After picking a pastry for me, what looked like a big cookie with several types of nuts, I asked Ingrid to deliver everyone else theirs. She returned with a cup of coffee for me, and another one of warm milk for the little girl, and the three of us sat down and ate our dessert together. Ingrid finished her first, as she seemed to be in a hurry to go back inside. I savored mine a bit more slowly.

—I wish Violett could try it —I murmured.

—Violett? —the girl asked.

—Ah, yes. She is my daughter, who is waiting for me back at our home. She is around your age. I think she would love to meet you.

—Really? I would love to meet her as well!

—Hmm, now that I think about it, I didn’t ask for your name.

The warmth in her face diminished a bit, as she became more nervous.

—Sorry, mama told me to not tell my name to strangers…

—Ah, no, don’t worry about it. Your mom is very smart for teaching you that! —I said, trying to not make this girl more uncomfortable.

But I couldn’t keep thinking about her as “that girl” if I was going to keep talking to her. I was looking forward to eating the pastries her mom made as long as I stayed in that town, and I have to admit, her smile had cured a bit of the melancholy I had been feeling for not being with my own baby.

—I got it! —I said—, I’ll give you an alias.

—An alias?! —the girl said, with sparks practically shooting from her big green eyes.

I had said it, but I hadn’t thought of one yet. I had always hated having to come up with names for characters, or anything else for what matters. You must be aware of what happened when I named Eve. But I couldn’t disappoint her after she looked so interested in getting one. I thought so hard and so fast, looking deep in my mental vault, trying to come up with inspiration, until I got one that sounded somewhat decent.

—Then, how about this one; Lillie.