Curselock

Chapter 191: Leaving

Saying goodbye to Floe and Gelo a second time was much harder for Jude than the first. He didn’t cry, but his eyes were puffy and red and he spoke with a degree of husk. Gelo as well had a hard time saying goodbye, not making eye contact and speaking in short bursts. But when the Berserker hugged the cub, they both melted.

It was during that moment Floe took Glenny and Leland aside, out of earshot of the others.

“Does your offer for Gelo to join your party when I am gone still stand?” the mother bear asked.

Leland and Glenny looked at one another. “Yes?” they both said at the same time, albeit hesitantly.

A wave of relief passed through Floe. “That is good to hear, very good…”

“A-are you okay?” Glenny asked.

She took a long breath. “No. After you three left the first time, that despicable poacher that killed Gelo’s father came back. He came with the promise of killing me, but ultimately fell at my paw.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Leland noticed Isobel step closer, obviously interested in the conversation. He put it out of mind for now, instead asking, “That’s good, right? You got your revenge.”

“Indeed I did. It was long coming, as well.” A pure tear fell from Floe’s eye. “I’m afraid the poacher mortally wounded me.”

Appearing before Leland, his grimoire opened to the Nature Lord’s contract—

Floe’s deep voice stopped him. “That will not help, young one. But thank you.”

“What do you mean?”

“We dungeon monsters do not heal like normal beings. The dungeon core reverts us back to prime health usually… but since I have taken this dungeon core for my own, it refuses to assist me.”

“I thought you controlled the core,” Leland said, his voice gaunt.

“I do. But it still holds sentience. In a way, I have taken the core as a slave. So it is my penance for my death to be at its hand. Ironic, really.”

“There has to be a way,” Glenny whispered, glancing at Jude and Gelo.

“There may be. But I am old and ready.”

A growl echoed through the conversation but it wasn’t from the bear. Isobel leaned in, her eyes glinting with anger. “How can you say that? How can you abandon her?”

Something sparked in the back of Leland’s mind and he placed himself between her and Floe. “Calm down,” he muttered to Isobel. And she did. Leland spun. “But she’s right. How can you just leave Gelo!? If there is a way, I can find it—”

“No,” Floe boomed. Everyone looked over, even Jude and Gelo. She then whispered, “No. No. This will be a mercy for Gelo. She will not be tied down here. She will not feel the need to stay for my—”

Isobel slapped the mighty bear, cracking her head hard to the side.

Floe didn’t grow angry. How could she? She knew exactly what she was leaving behind and exactly how she was lying to herself.

“Mom?” asked Gelo, the cub slowly stalking behind Isobel.

“It’s fine little one. We just have… a different view on life.”

Isobel scoffed. “View on life, huh? Some mother you are.”

Fury appeared behind Floe’s mask of impassivity. Her white fur crackled with wicked frost, chilling the air. “Do you think I want this? Do you think I like torturing myself with these thoughts!? No, mortal, I do not. And I do not wish to place my daughter on the same path as her father and I.”

Around, the conversations died. The parents stared at the bear, Carmon, the only one to slowly drop his stance and ready himself for combat. Gelo, however, looked horrified.

And her mother noticed. “Enough of this. Leave.”

The single word was said like a primal blizzard. She roared through the icy wasteland beside the dungeon exit, shattering the frozen worm spires far, far away. Glittering chunks of icy meat fell, the bright sun creating the illusions of beauty with broken reflections.

Isobel bit her bottom lip. “If you do this, she will never forgive you. You will be a stain in her broken and haunted future.” And while her experience with life was hardly similar to the potential one Floe was creating for Gelo, she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t add, “Trust me. I know.”

The Guardian Spirit Beast and the woman formerly known as the Huntress stared at one another. Neither said another word, but the ambient temperature of the dungeon continued to drop. Isobel took the hint and was the first one out of the dungeon. Everyone watched her leave with various thoughts racing through their minds

“S-sorry about her,” Leland said, his heart not really in it. He felt Isobel was right, so his words came out hollow. He slowly shook his head. “There has to be a way. You know my powers, you know the power of the Lords. There has to be some way.”

The rage fell away in defeat. Floe whispered loud enough for him and Glenny to hear. “I just don’t want to lock Gelo here for decades. Because it will be decades. Centuries, even. I am as close to immortal as they get. This… this wound of mine was supposed to be the key for this hellish cage.”

“Is there some way to unbind you from this dungeon?” Glenny asked, keeping his back between Jude, Gelo and Floe.

“If there is, I do not know of it.”

“How long are we talking here?” Leland asked tiredly.

“A year. Two? I grow weaker by the day.”

“So we’ve got time.”

Floe scowled. “Do not waste your time. Solve this issue with the princess and your ill reputation. Create a welcoming home for Gelo, please. Do not waste your time on me.”

Leland scoffed. “Waste my time? Please. Two years is an eternity to us of mortal flesh.” Then a great smile eclipsed his lips, twisting his whole face with devilish hope. “Training first, then Sybil, then the whole Harbinger thing, then” he locked eyes with Floe, his burning with violet heatless fire, “we are breaking you out of here.”

Something subtle shifted in the backdrop of reality. Hidden past the material and the physical was a sea of string. Each had a start point, each had an end. They crisscrossed and overlapped, some even being completely isolated despite the surrounding chaos. A few were set in stone, others shifted in size and thickness. Many came and went with the thoughts of those they were connected to.

But, what started as a single generic thread instantly ballooned, pushing all the other threads around.

Fate had changed from just a few short sentences.

And Floe noticed. She was hardly a diviner, clairvoyant, or precognitive, in fact, she couldn’t see the threads like some gifted few. No, Floe’s understanding of fate and potential came solely from instinct. She was a beast, a powerful and old beast. She had felt Leland’s will to command reality before, back during his first trip through the dungeon. He had shaken the forces that kept the world together, bending them to his goals like a smith bends red hot metal.

Floe had chalked that up to heightened emotions and some sort of royal magic. But now? Now she was sure. There was no magic to speak of in this moment, no emotions other than utter confidence. And the world still changed.

For the first time since that dreadful poacher entered her dungeon and killed her husband, Floe felt a spark of fury. Something in her had died way back when and only Gelo kept her from fully shattering. Now? Now she wanted to roar with all her might. She wanted to batter down the dungeon walls themselves! She wanted to invade the real world and distance herself from the remembrance of her mate.

She wanted to live. She wanted to be there to watch Gelo grow. No, not grow. Thrive. She wanted to see her little girl thrive.

And Leland just might be what she needed.

So Floe turned silent, the thumping of her heart silencing her previous argument. Two years? Yeah, she could last that long. She would have to, right? She couldn’t die now that the option was true and potentially realized.

Leland watched the great bear ride through a wave of emotions and settle on possibly the most sinister of them all. Hope. He had to deliver now. It was a promise.

He had a lot of those, huh?

“Goodbye Floe,” he said, reaching his hand out and patting the giant bear on the snout. She watched him like a statue.

Leland then said goodbye to Gelo and exited the dungeon. His parents were next. Glenny said bye to both bears as well, then he and his father exited together. Jude lingered for a long minute, frozen. But something in the back of his mind churned. Slowly he pulled out his harmonica and presented it to Gelo.

“Next time I see you, you better be pretty good at it.”

Gelo frowned at the small musical instrument.

Jude read her reaction and said, “No, no, no. It’s yours. I think I’ll pick up the guitar, or something. I’ve got music flowing in my mind and need something a bit… more.” He quickly added, “Next time we will jam together. Goodbye my cuddly friend.” He hugged Gelo.

They stood together for a moment before Jude released her and slowly walked over to Floe. “Goodbye my other much larger cuddly friend.” He hugged her as well, but his arms could only wrap around her partially.

“Goodbye, Jude,” the mother bear said, her voice cascading through the boy.

And just like that, Jude and his parents exited the dungeon, leaving the two bears behind.

Many emotions radiated from Gelo. She wanted to demand answers from her mom. She wanted to cry in her bedding. She wanted to chase after the first friend she had ever made in this world and drag him back into her home. She knew she couldn’t though. So, instead, she asked a question.

“How am I supposed to play this thing?” She batted around the harmonica. “I don’t have thumbs…”