Chapter 18: The Curse
[Blood]
"The body is cursed by the swords black poison, the body is unable to be healed or saved...anyone who does try to heal or save the body also is cursed by the sword, a double-sided curse"
"So, I'm cursed?" Ivery asked
"Most likely..although I'm not sure exactly what it is" Loki looked at Ivery...making sure he didn't see any abnormalities
...
Ivery felt intense pain in her back...almost a stabbing feeling....blood poured out of her mouth and she collapsed on the floor.
"Ivery!" Loki shouted
The curse...
Whoever tries to heal or save the body in any way, shall suffer the same fate as them...
...
26 stab wounds appeared in Ivery's back, blood flowed continuously out of her body.
"Ivery! Activate your demon blood, it'll keep you alive long enough for help!" Loki started panicking
Ivery felt her consciousness slowly slipping away..she focused everything she had on her activation..
Her hair slowly rooted red, from her scalp to the ends of her hair. Her eyes bloodshot red, her nails sharpened and small sharp vangs tore through her gums.
"L-Loki...I-I c-can't...h-hold i-it...m-much..l-l-longer" Ivery tried her best to keep her demon blood activated, it increased her durability to stay alive and decreased her blood flow
"I have no choice.." Loki closed his eyes
A cloud of cold white mist surrounded the area, a tall man with godly handsome features, with long white hair that almost touched his ankles, his golden pink eyes looked down at her, and he was dressed in a long tight white robe.
He picked Ivery up off of the ground and carried her up the stairs.
Blood continued to flow out of her back and dripped onto his white satin robe.
Loki stood in front of the two giant golden encrusted doors, he transported himself and Ivery into the room.
"What the hell!?" Julian looked at Loki and his eyes then locked on Ivery in his arms, covered in blood
"What happened!? And who are you!?" Cassandra got up from her bed in a haste and ran over to Loki
"She's cursed and don't mind who I am right now please..." Loki hastily said
"Damn!" Julian got up from the bed and rushed over to take Ivery out of Loki's arms
Julian laid her down on a couch and the blood flowed out of her back slowly, and ran down the couch and dripped on the floor.
"Cursed with what!? By who!?" Julian shouted and demanded an answer
"Prince Luther" Loki said
"What!? That can't be!" Cassandra was in disbelief
"I-It's n-not h-his f-fault" Ivery stammered as she coughed up blood
"Inanna! Stop talking! Please!" Tears ran down Cassandra's face as she dropped to her knee's and held Ivery's hand
"We found Judith Isbell dead at the bottom of the staircase, she was killed by Luther Vandell with an Eternal sword called Black Vein, which curses the victim's body, anyone who tries to heal or save the body will suffer the same death as the victim" Loki explained
"Why did he kill her?" Julian asked
"Princess Xia insulted Prince Luther's mother, and decided that Princess Xia's mother should pay the price instead of Princess Xia for insulting royalty" Loki said
"I see" Julian didn't care that Judith was dead, all he cared about right now was his dying daughter
"Cassandra, summon Prince Luther right now!" Julian ordered
Cassandra cried her eyes out...squeezing Ivery's small cold hand, and seemed to have tuned Julian out.
"Cassandra!" Julian yelled
"I'm sorry, yes!" Cassandra snapped out of it and stood up
She gathered her magic and a golden light flashed and a golden mist covered the room.
Luther stood in front of Cassandra, confused.
Luther then noticed her reddened eyes and the tears running down her face..
"Can you fix this!?" Julian shouted at Luther
"What do you mean?" Luther walked up to Julian
Luther stopped and everything in his mind went blank, his heart dropped and exploded..
He saw Ivery laying on a couch, a small puddle of blood on the floor, blood endlessly flowing from her back, staining the couch with blood. Blood running out of her mouth...
"Her demon blood activation won't last much longer" Julian's heart started racing, his blood was boiling at the thought of losing his daughter
"Oh god.." Luther's voice cracked, he covered his mouth and a single tear fell from his eye
"Do you have a way to help her!?" Julian raised his voice louder
"The curse..is permanent, it's not meant to be broken..it's solely meant to kill" Luther walked over to Ivery's side, he got on his knee's and stroked her head
"Ivery, I'm sorry, I didn't want this to happen...ever...I'm so sorry" Luther's voice cracked...tears ran down his face as he cried beside her
"I-I k-know.." Ivery raised her hand and touched his face
All of the time she's spent with Luther...wasn't too bad, the more she thought about it. Her heart felt warm knowing there was someone who cared about her before she died..
Her only regret was not being able to fully care for him the same way he cared for her...she just needed more time...she wanted more time...
If only she had more time...then maybe...
The red in her hair faded and slowly turned back into the light blonde color it originally was, her eyes cleared up and the white of her eyes was visible, her sharp fangs sunk back into her gums, her nails rounded themselves, and her demon blood calmed down before completely releasing.
Ivery's vision blurred..she found it difficult if not impossible to breathe, she couldn't move her arms or legs.
To think she would've failed...
Inanna was probably just destined to die...
Ivery smiled and took her last breath. Her hand on his face fell limp.
A crystal clear tear, dropped from her eye and fell on Luther's hand.
"Damn it!" Julian punched a hole in the wall, his hair slowly turned red and his eyes were bloodshot red
"No...No!" Cassandra fell on the floor and cried and screamed
"I failed.." Loki sat down on the couch and held his face in his hand
...
A bright light suddenly flashed in the room..
A beautiful woman, surrounded with a bright purple light, hovered above the floor. The whole room was tinted with this purple light.
"Who...? Are you?" Cassandra looked up at the floating figure in front of her
"I am Hecate, the God of magic, I gifted your daughter her infinite attribute" Hecate introduced herself
"You're the God who favors Inanna?" Julian looked at Hecate in amazement
"Yes" Hecate nodded
"Can you save her?!" Cassandra desperately asked
"That is why I'm here" Hecate floated over to Ivery's body
"Poor girl..." Hecate looked at Ivery with gentle eyes
"You'll always be fine as long as I'm watching over you" Hecate touched Ivery's cheek
A bright purple light covered Ivery's body...
"A small curse like this is easy to dispel" Hecate clapped her hands together and a bright flash surrounded the room
The light died down and all the blood was gone, not a speck of blood was seen anywhere, not even on Ivery and Loki's clothes.
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Ivery opened her eyes and slowly sat up.
"Goddess Hecate?" Ivery saw Hecate floating above her
"You are healed.." Hecate smiled
Without warning Ivery was attacked with a group hug, Cassandra was first to hug Ivery, Julian was second to hug them both, Luther was third to give Ivery a good squeeze, and Loki was fourth to hug everyone.
Luther kissed Ivery on her head.
"Thank god" Julian kissed Ivery on her head as well
"You are my only daughter...I could never live on if I had lost my last one" Cassandra kissed Ivery on her cheek
Ivery felt jumbled emotions...she didn't know how to deal with them..
"Thank you Goddess.." Julian looked up at Hecate
"There is no need for thanks, I chose her for a reason..she shall not die as long as she's under my watch" Hecate smiled as she faded away
"You really have a goddess looking after you, that's a true blessing" Cassandra rubbed Ivery's cheek
"Luther, let's go deal with that woman's body.." Julian said
"Alright" Luther agreed
Julian and Luther walked out of the room.
....
Luther and Julian walked down the stairs.
"I was wondering, why do you not have many lights in your castle?" Luther asked
"We do, our lights are triggered by magic" Julian snapped his fingers and all of the lights turned on
The room was enormous, you'd never know how huge it was in the dark.
And with the lights turned on, you could clearly see Judith's body.
"What a sad woman, she ultimately met her fate, died because of her own child's mouth" Julian scoffed at Judith and Xia
"And Luther, I allow you to punish Xia however you see fit, I honestly don't care anymore about what happens to that girl, she's arrogant, and spoiled. She has the worst qualities of a princess, someday I'll strip her of her title as princess, and I might as well send her to live with a commoner family if she doesn't end up dying eventually, it's where she belongs anyways, it's her blood" Julian chuckled to himself
"So you knew her mother was a commoner?" Luther asked
"Of course, and just between you and I, Xia isn't really my daughter" Julian said
"What?" Luther felt like he didn't hear him correctly
"Her mother was already pregnant with Xia, maybe about a month or two, after we slept together once, she told me she was pregnant a few weeks later and said that the child was mine, so just to entertain myself, I acted as if I believed her and let her enter the castle, so in the end, Xia was born and raised as a princess" Julian laughed
"You're a cruel man" Luther laughed along with Julian
"You're a cruel man yourself, you'll be worst than me as you get older, if this is the result of your anger" Julian pointed at Judith's corpse
"Perhaps" Luther smirked
"But don't take any other wives, you'll hurt Inanna....commit yourself to her fully, I was forced to have a harem and concubines by my parents, I didn't want any of those women, I only ever wanted Cassandra...and I know it hurt her when I wedded and had children with those other women, but I reassured her that they mean and meant nothing to me" Julian sighed
"I'm never going to have anyone other than Inanna as my wife and the only woman that will ever bare my children will only be her" Luther declared to Julian
"...." Julian looked at Luther
"Good, I'm glad" Julian patted Luther's back
"I know what happened to Inanna wasn't intentional, I know you care about her, so I won't cancel your engagement over this incident, but to make up for this happening, make sure nothing like this ever happens again, even if Inanna has a God watching over her and to save her from death, she shouldn't be anywhere near death or experience the pain of forced death as she did tonight.." Julian earnestly looked at Luther and put his hand on Luther's shoulder
"I will and thank you" Luther bowed his head down
"No need for that son, now let me go put her in a wooden casket and I'll have her burial tomorrow morning, I suppose she deserves at least that much" Julian grabbed Judith's arm and dragged her
"And get someone to clean that blood up" Julian ordered as he continued to effortlessly drag Judith's corpse
"Okay" Luther pointed at the pool of blood and the blood trails
The blood dissolved and not a drop was seen.
Luther walked up the stairs and thought about what he just learned..
Xia wasn't even a Castiell, so now with permission from her "father", he was allowed to even kill Xia if he wanted to.
Xia's mother was dirtier than he thought, she tried to trick the Emperor into thinking she was having his child after sleeping with him, and managed to get into the castle by deceiving the Emperor, but in truth, the Emperor knew about her scheme and played along with it and saw Judith and Xia as toys, but he soon got bored of those toys and tossed them aside.
What was his relation to the two of them anyway if Xia wasn't really his child?
Judith used her own child as a pawn to get what she wanted.
And what she wanted was to be Empress and have power.
She thought by using Xia, she could reach that goal, Xia was about to be Crown Princess and be married off to Crown Prince Luther and become Empress of his country.
Everything was going amazing for Xia and her mother.
That was until Ivery came along.
Ivery is a pure difference from Xia, Ivery is a true blood Castiell, she inherited the demon blood curse from her father and demon red eyes, which is proof she is blood related to Julian Castiell.
Her mother is the Empress, and lastly, Ivery was the prophesied infinite attribute holder of Golden Infinity, favored by a God. Gifted with a God's power and forever holding a God's blessing.
Ivery is a Princess of the Lilith Kingdom, Xia is not.
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"What a hilarious and unexpected outcome this is.." Luther laughed
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