"Henry and I just finished concocting medicine for this curse," Gia hurriedly entered the cave, followed by Henry and Juliann. "We haven't tried it yet but, since Gemma didn't consume any meat, this should be effective," she looked nervous yet excited. Henry too.
"Why can't we just wait for twenty-four hours to pass just like what we did when I had been cursed?" Thea curiously asked.
"Your curse is similar yet different," Henry explained. "You had been cursed by a blade. That was just a tiny wound. These fairies had been cursed by consuming a lot of food. The effect on them was stronger. Waiting for twenty-four hours will not be enough. They could turn faster, if they chose to surrender to the pain in their stomach."
"I will turn even without consuming meat?" Gemma was once again terrified. "What about my friends? Have you heard any news about them?"
"Riz hasn't contacted me yet. Let's wait for a few more hours. You should focus on your medication. Once you are healed, you can return to Foliage Ville and personally check on your friends."
"Removing an ancient curse is painful," Henry warned.
"I will endure anything," Gemma wiped the tears in her eyes.
"This could last for hours. Are you ready to endure that long?" Henry asked and handed Gemma a tiny bottle filled with green liquid.
Gemma nodded, closed her eyes, and emptied the bottle of medicine. Its effect was instantaneous. She collapsed on the ground, writhing in pain.
Asuren looked away from the cursed fairy. Watching her felt like staring at himself through a mirror. Whenever he drinks the medicine that Henry prepared for his ancient curse and whenever the Evil Witch tortured him, he was overwhelmed with immeasurable pain.
"Asuren, let's guard the entrance hall," Thea dragged him out of the cave.
^##########^
Juliann noticed that Asuren suddenly looked pale while looking at the cursed fairy that was going through a painful medication. He was about to take his friend out of the cave but Thea already grabbed Asuren and dragged him away.
He was glad that someone else was paying close attention to his friend. He could focus on learning more about medicine and curses. He was also grateful that Henry knew a solution to the ancient curse of his friend. He was searching for centuries but failed to find a cure. He had no idea that only an extraordinary mortal could counter such a complicated curse.
Gemma writhed in agony for almost five hours.
"Am I… healed…?" she remained lying on the ground, exhausted.
"Are you still hungry?" Gia asked.
"A little..."
"You are close to getting healed," Gia smiled and helped the weak fairy sit up. "I advise you to stay here with us until your hunger fully dissipates. You still need to refrain from eating meat. You don't want to go through that painful medication all over again, right?"
Gemma nodded and Gia helped her lay properly on a makeshift bed that Juliann had prepared.
"I'll check on Asuren and update them about Gemma," Henry hurried out of the cave with a bottle of potion in his hand.
^#################^
Asuren staggered when Henry told him and Thea that Gemma was close to getting healed. He suddenly remembered Greyleaf and how he had killed the cursed fairy without hesitation. He recalled all the innocent fairies he had slaughtered mercilessly. It brought to his mind the horrified look in their eyes and how they begged for their lives.
You killed another innocent fairy. That's what you really are, Asuren. A murderer.
"Greyleaf…" he dropped on his knees, feeling dizzy and nauseous.
"Greyleaf is a different case," Thea knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Gia and Henry would have found an alternative cure for him…" he furiously massaged his painful head. "If I didn't kill him… he would have been saved…"
"Asuren…" Thea caught the remorseful fairy as he had fallen unconscious.
"Don't worry," Henry examined Asuren. "He only needs a few hours of rest."
"But he needs to drink his medicine, right?"
"He can rest for at least an hour. If he is still asleep by then, I'll wake him up. I can take him back to the cave but if you want to…"
"Take him back," Thea smiled. Though she wanted to carry Asuren, she could not ignore the ominous aura lurking in the shadows, not far from the cave. "Please, call Juliann. I need company in guarding this entrance."
"I'll tell him," Henry carried Asuren on his back and hurried back inside the cave.
^##########^
Asuren woke up from a terrible nightmare and was confused whether he was awake or still dreaming. In his nightmare, the Evil Witch was choking him to death. When he opened his eyes, a female fairy was tightly gripping his neck and her mouth was ready to bite at his face. He blinked and immediately remembered where he was and who that female fairy was. He quickly pushed her away, but the latter still managed to bite at his arm and swallowed a chunk of his flesh.
Kill her!!!
Rage filled Asuren. He conjured a wind dagger and attacked the cursed fairy. He grabbed her by the neck and stabbed her in the chest, but his blade stopped an inch from her skin because a vine had covered his hands and pulled him away from the cursed fairy.
"No… what did I do?" Gemma cried as she vomited the flesh and blood in her mouth. "Will I… Will I turn into a monster?"
"You will not," Gia was cautiously watching Asuren and her vines were still around his hands. She seemed confident with her reply but Asuren was hesitant.
"She bit me," he said and was even more worried. "Will she undergo that painful medication again?"
"She vomited what she had bitten from you. She will be fine," Gia had finally let go of his hands. "You, on the other hand, needs treatment," she held his bleeding arm and began mending his wound.
"I'll mend his wound," Henry right next to Asuren. "You should take care of Gemma."
"What happened here?" Thea and Juliann had also returned to the cave. "Where did you get that wound?"
Gia told them what happened and by the time she was done, Henry had also finished mending the bite wound of Asuren.
"His wound is not cursed or anything, right?" Thea was looking at the bandaged arm of Asuren with worry.
"He will be fine," Henry scanned Thea, "You look exhausted. What happened at the entrance of the cave?"
"We fought a few flesh eaters," Thea said and then asked, "How did Asuren get bitten? Weren't you guarding Gemma?"
^###################^