“What the hell happened?!” Vomero exclaimed as Dick and I walked through the sliding door of our ship.
Earlier that morning, Emery had arrived at our treehouse and offered us a ride back to New Iberia. Teleportation was a one-way trip at Hidden Spring, so we had to travel the normal way back. Luckily, there was a group headed back to the city after their successful raid.
Emery was among them and had kept us company throughout the three-hour trip via hovercraft. We were blindfolded for the first half hour or so of the drive. The entrance location and defense procedures of Hidden Spring were carefully guarded by the Everwylds.
We spent the trip talking with Emery about the delicate balance of power between the hundreds of factions in New Iberia. After dropping us off near our dock, we parted ways. I hoped we’d see her again. It was nice having a friendly face in the crowd for a change, especially one that might be able to help us find a way out of this quadrant and into the pact worlds.
“Cash said you disappeared with some hot cat lady,” Vomero continued, “a description I find very contradictory, I might add.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea of Emery being described as the “hot cat lady”.
“Where is Cash?” I asked. I wanted to fill everyone in on what had happened but preferred to do it all at once.
“I don’t know,” Vomero said. “He’s been off somewhere ever since you disappeared yesterday. I assumed he was looking for information about the woman who took you.”
Ryuuk took that moment to come barreling into the common room. Like Vomero, he seemed relieved to see us unharmed.
“I wasn’t sure what happened when you disappeared,” Ryuuk informed. “Cash and I hightailed it out of that arena before the Collectors pulled themselves together after the attack. We didn’t want them thinkin’ we had anything to do with stealin’ all their animals.”
He looked curiously at Dick for a moment before continuing.
“Oh, so you went shopping, too,” he said, petulantly. “Where does ever’body keep finding these cool looking clothes?”
Ryuuk was still decked out in the ridiculous local attire he had donned when we arrived. Dick looked down at the clothes he had gotten in Hidden Springs.
“You can have them,” Dick said. “They were just a temporary fix, but I much prefer my own clothes.”
I motioned to the bar and headed that way. AL greeted me warmly, expressing his gratefulness at our safe return. While I poured us drinks and told Ryuuk and Vomero about our trip to Hidden Spring, Dick disappeared to the back. By the time I had finished, he was just emerging in his own clothes and toting a delighted Light on his shoulders. The kid had a death grip on Dick’s chin, as if afraid he might disappear again.
“I’ve been doing some digging while you two were apparently playing Lost in Paradise with Cash’s cat lady,” Vomero said.
“I don’t think Emery, that’s her name by the way, would appreciate being referred to as Cash’s cat lady,” I mentioned.
“I don’t think Cash would neither,” Ryuuk said. “He was none too happy with her for snatching you two out of thin air without a word.” He turned to Vomero questioningly, “But what’s Lost in Paradise?”
“It’s a holovid series,” Vomero said. “Each season, two extremely attractive people are marooned together in various beautiful locations across the galaxy, and the viewers watch to see if they’ll hook up before they can find their way back to civilization.”
“Sounds ridiculous,” Ryuuk said. “Why would anyone want to watch to see if they were gonna’ do that?”
“That’s not really what the point of the series is,” I said, narrowing my eyes at Vomero. “And the comparison isn’t even close to what we were doing.”
Oh really?, my inner voice teased. And you weren’t about to let Dream Dick ravage you in a treehouse last night?
I turned toward Dick, hoping to get some confirmation or support, but I should have known better. He was smirking devilishly at me.
“Well...” he practically drawled. “We didn’t really have enough time to find out, now did we?”
“So what is the point?” Ryuuk asked, confused. We all turned our own confused gazes back at him, clearly not following whatever line of conversation Ryuuk was stuck on. “The point? Of Lost in Paradise?”
“You know what, just watch it for yourself, Ry,” I said in exasperation. “Anyway, Vomero, what were you digging?”
Hopefully, a very deep hole for me to crawl into.
“I wasn’t able to track where you went, and I thought Cash was running down leads. So, I’ve spent my time looking up stuff about Lycans.”
Vomero didn’t really need prompting to go into encyclopedia mode.
“Well, as far as I can find, yours is the only Lycan anyone has seen in eons,” Vomero said, addressing his comment to Dick.
“The species died out?” I asked.
“More like, they were never a species to begin with, but a race of humans on some obscure planet nobody’s ever really heard of or talked about in the past two millennia,” Vomero informed.
“Humans?” Dick said. “You’re sure you’ve got the right legend? I thought Lycans were just a wolf-like people from one of the old worlds that died out a long time ago.”
I agreed. “I’ve been up close and personal with the one taking over Dick’s body twice now and nothing about it appeared human.”
“Which is odd,” Dick added, thoughtfully. “Because Emery said it wasn’t animal either. So, what is it?”
“It’s a curse,” Vomero declared, proudly. He was clearly excited about having uncovered that bit of information.
“I’m cursed?” Dick said, incredulously.
“Yes,” Vomero said, “aaaand no. Half-cursed, really. And that’s the problem.”
I reached out and smacked Vomero in the back of his scaly head. He yelped in surprise and rubbed his neck defensively.
“Would you stop trying to be all mysterious and tell us what the hell that means?” I asked.
“Sorry,” he muttered, though his tone said he was clearly not sorry. “Far be it from me to add a little intrigue to the story as I recount the eons old mystery I’ve uncovered!”
All four of us, including Light, just stared at him silently in frustration.
“I do not have the programming to feel impatience,” said AL, “yet you seem to be generating it in my source code spontaneously.”
“That seems like a technological feat even for you,” Dick told Vomero as he downed the whiskey he’d poured for himself. “Now, are you going to tell me how only being half-cursed is a bad thing?”
Vomero sighed and continued with his explanation.
“Lycans did originate on one of the old worlds,” Vomero confirmed. “A small rural planet named Lanaris. It was a dangerous time in the galaxy’s history to be an independent, indefensible little planet. Inevitably, they were invaded by another species.”
“The Lycans?” Ryuuk guessed.
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
“No,” Vomero said, then continued. “This is where the different stories get confused. You see, like most things in antiquity, there’s no official account of what happened to those people. But all of them refer to the people on the planet as the Lycans. But not always. Some accounts refer to them as simply ‘the inhabitants’ or ‘the Lanarians’ until this invasion. After that, they’re referred to as the Lycans.”
He pulled out his datapad and fiddled with it for a moment.
“So, I found this guy here in New Iberia who is kind of an expert on old legends and such,” Vomero continued.
“You did all this in one day?” Dick asked. Vomero rolled his eyes, not bothering to look up from his datapad.
“You do know how the network functions right?” Vomero asked, sarcastically. “Access to vast amounts of knowledge in the palm of your hands? Or do you think your datapad is only good for watching holovids and messaging?”
“I’d watch it with the smart-assery,” Dick replied. “Word on the street is I’m inhabited by a vicious monster who apparently feeds off my own associations when choosing its victims.”
Vomero’s head snapped up at that, though he completely ignored the threat. “It’s affected by your consciousness? That’s fascinating and right in line with my findings.”
“Focus, Vomero!” I said, snapping my fingers in front of his face. “You were saying about this ‘sort-of-an-expert'? What does that mean, anyway?”
Vomero shrugged. “Well, he’s kind of thought of as a kook around here. He has some...extreme theories...that cause people to discount everything else he says.”
“He’s a conspiracy nut,” Dick replied. “Really reliable source.”
“No,” Vomero said. “He wasn’t the source. He was the person who happened to have a copy of a very old and rare book filled with information about various legends concerning the old worlds.”
“I checked,” Ryuuk said. “Jack Trader’s book didn’t have anything about Lycans in this edition. Said you had to be a Diamond Elite subscriber for that content. I’ve only earned enough points for Gold.”
This was the point in the conversation where I would normally warn Ryuuk again that he was caught up in a microtransaction scam and that he should stop subscribing. But I knew that book, Total Recall: Jack Trader’s Compendium of Indigenous Species, was something he and Gramps had shared. Dick, Vomero and I shared a look at Ryuuk’s mention of it. None of us said anything.
“Well...” Vomero said, carefully. “Luckily, this book did have some interesting information about Lycans. Griffin was nice enough to give me a scan of it.”
“Griffin, huh,” I teased, noting the familiarity of his tone. “Someone’s got a bromance going on...”
“Just colleagues and fellow hoarders of information,” Vomero said. “People can like other people and not want to sleep with them, you know?”
“Sounds lame,” Dick interjected, saving me from having to reply. “I think I’m starting to understand why you’re always wound so tight, Vomero. Maybe you should keep an open mind about this Griffin guy, have a little fun while we’re here.”
“I’m not an incel,” Vomero replied. “And I like females, preferably ones with thick tails.”
“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, man!” Dick cheered, cuffing Vomero on the shoulder. “There was this one Salamandic woman a few years back—”
“Can we please focus!!” I interrupted forcefully.
“What?” Dick asked with mock innocence as I glared daggers at him. “It’s the easiest way for me to absorb DNA for my transformations.”
“That’s gross and TMI,” I said, turning to ignore him and focus on Vomero, once again. “Anyway, Vomero. What does this old book say about Lycans and curses?”
Rather than try to paraphrase it, Vomero let the auto reader recite the entry from the book aloud.
In the first epoch before galactic migration, the Lanarians, a peaceful human species, faced an insurmountable threat from foreign invaders. In desperation, their most powerful druids beseeched their gods for salvation. The wolf god, Volungus, heard their plea and bestowed upon them a powerful curse that would give them the strength and form to defeat their enemies.
He bestowed the bloodlust and savage strength of the wolf god himself upon their people through a sacred ritual provided to the Lanarian druids. Salvation came at a cost, however, as the Lanarians who accepted the curse would be forever trapped in this form.
Left with little choice, every able-bodied adult Lunarian surrendered themselves to the curse. Thus, the Lycans were created to fight back the Lunarian’s enemy invaders. Their efforts were ultimately successful, and the children, who were spared the curse, continued the Lanarian race for centuries.
They were watched over by the Lycans, whose god-imbued strength and power prolonged their lives for centuries. At first, the Lycans co-existed among the remaining Lunarians. Over time, younger generations grew wary of their terrifying form. So, the Lycans sequestered themselves in a remote part of their planet.
It is said that Lycans chose not to reproduce. The offspring of such a union creating wild and untamable monsters who were ultimately put down. Still, legends of the powerful Lycans kept Lunaris’ enemies at bay for centuries even after the last Lycan passed.
“Well...” Ryuuk broke the long silence after the reader finished. “That’s not the kinda tale you read the kids before bed.”
“Not unless you want to give them nightmares,” I said.
“So, you think I have this curse?” Dick asked Vomero. “But I can change back. Skye’s healy thing knocked me out of it this time. It can’t be the same or the Lycans could have found a way to heal themselves.”
Vomero shook his head. “I think you have half this curse. The part about the Lycan children. The Lycans mated and produced offspring that were monstrous and untamable. Sound familiar? But none of the original Lycans were like this. Why?”
We all stared blankly at Vomero for a moment as he looked at us expectantly. Clearly he thought the answer should be a lot more obvious than it was.
“It’s a blood curse!” he finally exclaimed in exasperation. “Well, blood curse is an old term. It’s a genetic curse. The Lanarians underwent a transformation, just like Dick does for all his shapes. Only, theirs wasn’t because of some inherent ability, it was divinely provoked. And the Lycans passed that blood curse down to their offspring.”
“So, the tooth I bought had a blood curse that somehow attached itself to me without my absorbing it?” Dick recounted skeptically. “And I guess it was a tooth of the offspring? That’s why I have the crazy version?”
Again, Vomero was shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter which tooth you got, original or offspring, the genetic component of the transformation is the same. I said you were half cursed, remember?”
“Yes,” he said, irritation rising in his voice. “And I have exactly as much understanding about what that means as the first time you said it.”
“The ritual given to the druids in the legend. What if that was the real component of the curse that made it work? Think about it, this wolf deity or whomever, he could just transform them into wolf demon things like you, but what good would that do them? I bet the ritual was to give them control over their new form, sentience. You got the first part from the tooth, just like the offspring.”
“But I didn’t get the ritual part of the curse,” Dick finished, finally seeming to understand. “Hence, half-cursed.”
I looked over to Vomero. “So...assuming all of this information is correct. And so far, it does all seem to fit, what do we do about it?”
“Well, we could complete the curse. Figure out the ritual so he can control it. It seems like the Lycan is trying to subvert Dick’s will. It’s only a matter of time before it takes over for good.”
“But the original ritual cursed them to stay in that form forever,” Dick said, shaking his head. “I’m not about to live out centuries of life stuck as that ugly motherfucker. Spawning demon children won’t be the only thing holding me back from getting laid.”
Vomero folded his arms and put a hand to his chin as he thought about that. “The original Lycans didn’t have your unique abilities to change back and forth between species. So, it’s possible you’d be able to change back and into other forms like normal.”
“Possible?” I said. “My healing ability suppressed it. I’m not sure how, but maybe we can keep using that?”
“Makes sense,” said Vomero. “Your heal isn’t just some random med pack thing or even a traditional healing ability. It was gifted to you by an extinct cosmic entity. It cleansed Matthew’s void magic. It’s in a realm of its own.”
“Well, maybe I can just cleanse the curse?”
“If that were the case, you’d probably have done it already,” Vomero said. He turned to Dick. “Do you feel like the curse is gone? Maybe all of this is just superfluous.”
It was Dick’s turn to shake his head. “No, I can feel it. It’s hard to explain, but I can feel every part of my DNA. I know it’s still part of me.”
“Well,” Ryuuk put in, “we caint just rely on Skye to be there to do her magic juju on you every time you go all wolfy on us.”
“That’s true...” I said, then something occurred to me. “Wait. Why now? Dick has had that tooth since we were on Kalo-Mahoi. Before all hell broke loose, even. Why did it just now decide to curse him?”
This time, everyone was staring at me with a blank expression. Everyone except one.
“Liiiight...” I said gently to the little Ancient who was avoiding looking at anyone. “Did you keep the bad thing away?”
The little horned toddler giggled excitedly and clutched tighter to Dick’s head.
“Light was incubating in him,” Vomero verbalized what we were all just realizing. “Then he’s been attaching himself to Dick constantly. It must have been slowly absorbing into him and taking hold whenever Light’s not with him.”
“That’s why he went crazy in the bar,” Ryuuk said. “Light stayed here.”
“It makes perfect sense, now,” Dick added. “Light likes to wander off at night and play. He doesn’t really need that much sleep and gets bored when I’m not doing anything. He was never with me when I had those episodes I mentioned.”
“Can he just cure your curse?” I asked.
“Light is smart,” Dick said. “And he’s very intuitive when it comes to the abilities he finds intrinsic to his being, like healing. I feel like he would have already done that if he could.”
“Maybe he needs to eat another of those relic things,” Ryuuk pointed out. “We don’t know of any laying around and not being used to keep an entire planet from falling apart do we?”
We all shook our heads.
“Well...” I said.
“No,” Dick interrupted. “Not happening, not an option, don’t even mention it.”
“I’m just being transparent,” I said. “I don’t think we should try it.”
“What are you talking about?” Vomero said.
“Dick sensed Ancient magic in Hidden Spring,” I said.
“The place where the cat lady lives?” Ryuuk asked.
“Yes, but we don’t think it’s an artifact,” Dick said, “and we’re definitely not destroying their already dying civilization just to cure my half-curse.”
“Nobody is seriously suggesting it,” I said. “But at least we know Light suppresses the curse’s effects. You can just keep him with you at all times until we figure out what to do.”
We all looked at the toddler who had transformed himself into a giant pink mustache and planted itself on Dick’s face. He transformed back into his alien Ancient form perched on Dick’s shoulder, giggling at his own antics.
Dick groaned but patted the little tyke on his head affectionately.
“Turns out, I’m the one being subjected to involuntary celibacy. This curse sucks ass.”