Suffering

As soon as Curtis said those words, it dawned on Annie just how important getting her powers back was, this was not a light matter at all.

She could not risk her powers to save Curtis, only to lose him again in the end, this was not just about her getting her powers back to defeat Azazel, she was sure that if she did not get them back, Curtis would not be able to survive anymore, because he was dependent on Magic, and she no longer had any of that.

Annie knew that Curtis was indirectly saying that he would die if she did not get her powers back, and she did not want that at all, no she could not bare to lose him not at all, she loved him too much, she would not be able to forgive herself if she only saved him to lose him in the end anyway.

"Fine, then we will get back my powers" said Annie as she sounded very serious, she hoped that Caligo was the answer to all their problems, because she needed her powers back, very quickly, she needed them, or else, everyone she loved would be gone.

Curtis just looked at Annie, he knew just how much she felt bad, how much she wanted her powers back, he never wanted her to feel like this, he did not want to worry her or the rest of them anymore than they were already worried, which was why he had decided to tell them nothing.

"Annie…" said Curtis.

"If you need my powers to survive, then we will get my powers back, no matter what Curtis, I promise you" said Annie as she was very determined, she would get them back, no matter what, she just wanted him to be okay, if he was stuck in this form that caused him pain, it was all because of her.

Now Annie knew why she felt bad, she knew that something was wrong with Curtis, but because they had no magical bond to join them anymore, she just did not know what exactly was wrong, no wonder she always felt so uneasy why Curtis was near her, it was because he was suffering internally, he was suffering and she did not even notice at all, she just felt so bad, she felt so horrible.

Here he was, always looking out of her, he wanted her to be alright, he wanted to protect her, and yes she could not do the same for him, she was a horrible person.

"Annie don't…" said Curtis as he knew that she was putting a burden upon herself to make sure to save him, this was what he wanted to avoid, she already had so much to think about, and yet he came here, and added more problems on her list.

"Stop Curtis, this is final, we are going to get my powers back, no matter what cost, in fact, we need to continue on" said Annie as she looked at Curtis, she was dead serious, nothing was going to stop her right now.

"Fine Annie, alright" said Curtis as he knew that Annie had already set her mind, she was now more determined than ever, if she was not taking this seriously before, then she would now.

"Sorry to be the one to point this out but…" said Ollie as everyone turned to look at him.

"Curtis, how long do you have to survive in this form?" asked Ollie.

"Because as much as I know about human anatomy" said Ollie.

"This form, this structure of yours, it will not be able to hold on for long" said Ollie very seriously.

"You are in a human body after all, if you keep on loosing great amounts of blood, you won't last for long… your body will end up shutting itself down, till all you can do is breathe" said Ollie as he did not want to be the bearer of bad news, but they had to think realistically here, they had no magic to cast a sustainability spell on Curtis' body to hold on until they reached the mountain, they had no doctors up here, they were alone here, all alone.

Maddie hated to admit it, but Ollie was right, very right, how exactly would Curtis be able to survive, and for how long?

"I will be fine" said Curtis.

"No Curtis, you can't just say that, we have to be honest here… what is happening to you isn't something to be taken lightly" said Matt as Annie looked at him.

"Matt is right Curtis, he is, you need to be honest with us, and I know that you have already calculated how much time you have left, so just… *Sigh*, just tell us the truth, we can handle it" said Maddie as she knew that Curtis was not one to figure out things as he went, he already anticipated everything.

Curtis looked at Maddie, she was right, and then he looked at Annie, he did not want her to worry even more, if he told her the actual time he had left.

"Don't worry Curtis, I can handle it, just tell us the truth" said Annie as she looked at Curtis, she knew that he was trying to protect her, but she could handle it, she could handle the truth.

"I have two months left" said Curtis as he looked at Annie watching her reaction, and he saw the dreadful look on her face.

Annie felt her heart sink… two months?? That was too little time, that was no time at all, what could they do in two months? They could not reach the top of Caligo in two months, no, not at their current pace.

"More specifically, I have 40 days left" said Curtis as he heard a deep sigh, he knew that it belonged to Maddie.

Maddie sighed, of course she was sighing, and she knew that everyone felt the same as she felt, this was serious, so serious, how could Curtis let things get this bad before he decided to tell them, the thing was that he did not even decide to tell them out of his own will, if not that they followed him and they found him in that state, he would have said nothing at all to them, and that was just horrible.

Annie looked down at the ground, he was saying that they had 40 days, 40 days was not enough, not at all, Annie felt so helpless just so helpless.

Curtis looked at Annie, he thought that she was going to cry, he did not want her to cry, it would just make him regret letting them find out this way.

"Curtis… how long did you know that you had this limited time?" asked Annie as she sighed and she looked at Curtis, she was not going to cry, not at all, now was not the time to cry, it was the time to find a way forward, and try to overcome this.

"When you woke up from your coma, I had my first nosebleed… it was not serious, just a tiny nosebleed, but as time went on, I started to bleed more and more until..." said Curtis.

"Until it evolved into you bleeding like a tap" said Maddie as she could not help it, that was the truth, she got scared when she saw all that blood.

"Yes, until that" said Curtis as he could not refute Maddie's statement.

"Alright, so we have 40 days till…" said Annie.

"Till my body shuts down completely" said Curtis.

"Okay, so how fast do you think we can get to the top of the mountain?" asked Annie.

"If we stop setting up camp every time we stop, and we set out early in the morning" said Curtis.

"Okay then, so no more stopping to set up camp, because that is wasting our time" said Annie.

"Curtis how are you feeling now? Do you feel better?" asked Annie as she looked at Curtis, they had to start going now, they had spent too much time here, they only had limited time.

"I am better Annie" said Curtis as he stood up but he almost fell down as Annie helped him, he felt light headed, probably because he had been sitting for too long, and he had lost a lot of blood.

"Be careful Curtis, don't try to move if you can't" said Annie as she helped Curtis sit back down, this was what he did not want, for them to treat him weakly and sickly, but he had no choice now did he?

"I am fine Annie" said Curtis.

"You say that but you almost fell" said Annie as she was not going to tolerate Curtis acting strong when he obviously was not.

"Alright guys, we should pack up and get ready to leave" said Annie as she looked at Maddie, Matt and Ollie.

"Alright Annie" said Ollie, Maddie and Matt as they nodded their heads, they were going to help in any way that they could.