Curse

Edward guided us to a healing center. Once there he talked with the nun about Nina and Tien. The nun at asked us to lay down Nina and Tien on beds and tried to ascertain what was wrong with them. Once she determined that she couldn't understand what was wrong with the two of them, she called over one of the priestesses. The priestess seemed like she was in her 40s which was not too old for a person to have become a priestess.

But my hopes were dashed when the priestess shook her head and said "I cannot determine what is affecting them. I think only the high priestess might be able to understand."

She thought for a few seconds before finally sighing and said "High priestess is busy right now but if we don't heal these two, I don't know if they will survive. Karina, can you ask the High Priestess if she is willing to heal these two?"

Karina bowed and took off to find the High Priestess. She returned after 5 minutes followed by the High Priestess. This was my first time seeing a High Priestess. The last time I was healed by one but I never got to see her. The first thing I noticed was how young she was. She didn't look more than 25 years old. She seemed only slightly older than Cleo! She had long blond hair and had an angelic face. She was short, probably around 5'1". She looked calm but her eyes were grim as she looked at Nina and Tien.

The High Priestess grabbed Tien's wrist and closed her eyes. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and checked Nina as well. Finally she opened her eyes and said "They have been cursed."

The priestess and the nun had surprised expressions on their faces. Even Edward frowned after hearing that. I on the other hand didn't know what a curse was. I looked around and it seemed only Leana had some idea.

"Uh… your holiness…. What is a curse?" asked Turek timidly.

The high priestess lost her grimness and had a kind expression as she answered Turek "You do not need to address me as your holiness. That title is for the pope himself. You can call me High Priestess or Eliena if you want. As for what a curse is, I also cannot tell you in detail. From what I have learned, curses were used by demons a long time ago. They all but vanished and the only time they have shown up on this side of the great wall is when someone contacted an ancient object. These objects were cursed by the demons thousands of years ago but they still have some power even after this long a time. It seems to me that one such object might be affecting them."

She then looked at the prisoner that Cleo was carrying and asked "And who is this?"

"She is one of the bandits that had captured these two. When we rescued them, we also caught her, hoping to get more information on the bandits."

"I see. She might know what cursed object is affecting these two. It was good that you brought her then."

"We haven't interrogated her yet. We will be doing that soon and we will try to find out about the curse at that time" answered Cleo.

"Alright. As for these, I can try to cure them as I don't really need to know about the curse. But if the curse is too powerful, we might actually need the information."