The Curse

A jolt of shock coursed through Grey like a lightning strike, immobilizing his body and rendering him speechless. "I've been poisoned?"

"Everyone's body is suffering from impurities poisoning them," Lilith, the redheaded angel, giggled. "Right now, you're tragically sick; you'll wither and die in less than a century in your current state."

"But you'll feel like a new man once we're done with you," Luna winked, seductively swiveling her hips as she waded to his side. "And you'll [last] far longer."

Grey took a deep breath to regain control of his hormones, "So this will heal me?"

"Mmhm~!" Lilac hummed, studying his tattoo. "Lily, Luna, and Lilith's body laundering services will increase your longevity. So just stand right there and let this triple L turn you in the right direction!"

The pixie twirled her glowing finger as she spoke, conjuring a red, luminous magic circle that spun around his body. "What are you doing?" Grey inquired, glancing around.

"Oh~nothing!" Lilac chimed. "I'm just recreating your doggie tat with mimic magic and sealing it with a runescape. You~know… sparkle power!"

"Wait up!" Grey panicked. "Can't you just seal it? The same artist does our tattoos. If there's even a slight alteration, she'll—GUuaH!" His vision blurred when the pixie slapped his back, unleashing a powerful surge of energy that momentarily dislodged his soul from his body. When it returned, he was paralyzed.

"Who do you think I am, mister?" Lilac huffed. "I'm Lily! Your shape-shifting trickster pixie in crime! If I couldn't do this much, how did I blind-copy your lady friend's appearance? If it weren't flawless, you wouldn't keep asking for confirmation and acting like you're trapped in her dressing room!"

Grey flushed red in embarrassment, causing the women to burst into bewildered giggles. They finally figured out why he wouldn't look at her, and it didn't disappoint!

"Now, hush and let me work," Lilac demanded. "If you keep complaining, I'll add a spell that brings these doggies to life when women touch them. Then it'll look perfect, but when your tattoo lady goes to do a touch-up, it'll go—awhooooooooooo! Grrrr… chomp-chomp, nom-nom-nom-nom-nom!"

"That's not amusing," Grey growled, listening to her sound effects.

"I beg to disagree," the pixie humphed. "I think it would be, MUAH!" she declared, kissing her hands and touching them to his back, "magnifique."

A chain of magic circles on his tattoo lit up simultaneously when she touched his back. "AGHHhHHhhHhhHh!" Grey screamed, feeling an overwhelming force assaulting his body. Black miasma rose from his back, giving him an ominous aura.

Black ink oozed from his back, murking the water as Lilac and Luna retrieved washcloths from their spatial rings and hastily cleaned his skin, their expressions fraught with worry.

-

═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═

"What's happening to him!?" Tricksie shouted as Grey groaned in pain, oozing black ink through his shirt onto the couch. "I suggest you tell me since Glocks don't have a safety!"

"Careful now," Casper grinned, raising his hands. "If something bad's happening to him, it'd be bad for the mad developer to die, would it not?"

Tricksie clenched her teeth in frustration, wishing she had never let Grey play. "Answer me! What's happening to him?"

He gave her a chilling smile with madness flickering in his eyes, "Something wonderful."

═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═

-

"You're cursing him!?" Minx exclaimed in fear, staring at the pixie in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind, Lily!?"

"That's rich, coming from someone using cleansing water to cleanse him," Lilac mocked, reminding her of a curse's purpose. "Besides, what's the worst-case scenario? He ends up with a permanent crest—AKA a tattoo—that prevents his execution?"

Minx pursued her lips after her scathing rebuke, observing the miasma seeping into his skin to recreate the tattoo with a complex expression.

"Is it over? Grey exhaled with a sunken stomach a few minutes later.

"Not yet," Lilith whispered, gliding her hands down Grey's chest. "But you'll feel amazing after this part's done." Her fingers emitted a soothing blue light, causing the water on his chest to shimmer like crackling electricity, spreading in a chain reaction.

Grey's world twisted and distorted as a searing sensation engulfed him, making him feel like he was submerged in the Seventh Circle of Hell. A vile combination of black and brown sludge oozed from his pores, followed by white and yellow pus that stunned the demigods.

"What's happening, Lily!?" Lilith panicked. "I know mortals can become sick, but this is unnatural!"

-

═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═

Tricksie watched fluids drain from Grey's pores in horror, "Forget this; I'm taking him to a hospital, and you're coming with me!" she declared, reaching for the VR visor.

"If you eject him from Myriad, the boy will die," Casper warned. "Not now, but soon. Look at those fluids—"

═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═─┈─═

-

"That's the result of [real] poison!" Lilac chirped, clapping her tiny hands. "Years worth of good ol' fashion arsnic!"

"Maxwell poisoned my water supply?" Grey laughed deliriously, coughing fluids from his lungs. "Unbelievable. To think that man would kill his cash cow."

He only drank tap water at home and bottled drinks in public—to prevent poisoning—so Maxwell was the only one who could poison him.

"It's not surprising if you think about it," Lilac remarked. "Your bruising suggests that you flex your cash cow card a lot. That is pretty~much a death flag for a leechy scumbag. It screams: [Quick! I need to do something, or I'll get business cucked by my slave!]," she giggled.

"Still, I'm his lifeline," Grey chuckled. "I thought I was too valuable to get rid of."

"You are too valuable, silly!" Lilac giggled. "That's why he's leading you towards stage 3 kidney failure. Post-diagnosis, you'll train a successor, and then he'll kill you without suspicion. I'll give him an A+ for having keen foresight—this guy's on the ball."

Grey felt dizzy and dejected. He felt like a fool for thinking that Maxwell's greed exceeded his life. The teen knew better than anyone that his adoptive father wasn't a fool.

"Awww, why so glum, mister?" Lilac pouted. "It's a time for celebration! Daddy dearest's life depends on the kidneys we're healing and the poison you're expelling. Just imagine the look on his face when he learns his years of hell-worthy work were undone by a trip to a hot spring!" she giggled. "It'll be the BEST!"

Grey offered a weak smile, "It's too bad this won't heal my real body."

"Hmmm..." Lilac hummed. "Cleansing isn't magic—it's natural mental enlightenment. It informs your brain about what's wrong with your body and teaches it how to fix it. So it should affect both bodies."

"If that proves true..." Grey whispered. "You're really saving my life...."

"Yep!" Lilac beamed. "I want to hear you say it: 'Lily's the best, and I want to keep her forever and ever!'"

"Lily's the best, and I want to keep her forever and ever," he chuckled weakly. The teen didn't think he'd meet her again, so he gave her credit in the unlikely case it was true.

"Really!?" she squealed in delight, her fists raised triumphantly. "What a treat! Then let's get this show on the road. Say the curse release trigger with me: 'I'm done being a wussy wolfie, Lily. Make me a god!'"

"Execution, remember?" Grey sighed. "Also, did you have to add the last part?"

"Of course I did, mister!" Lilac clapped with a cheery smile. "The first part will release the tattoo. The second will create a soul pact with me so I can help you become a demigod!"

SPLASH!

Minx lost her balance on her axe handle and tumbled into the water, causing Grey to open his eyes. He glanced around and found everyone's dumbfounded expressions. "What is... a soul pact?"

"Soul pact means I'll be your servant, you'll be my master, and we'll always be together!" Lilac clapped, beaming gleefully. "Then I can advise and aid you in non-combat situations. If you charm me enough, I might even—"

"I refuse." Grey declared, his consciousness fading. "I refuse to be a 'master' of anyone…."

"Yeah, yeah, backstory, relevant trauma, blah, blah, blah," Lilac waved her hand dismissively. "Cut the rift raft and tell it how it is—you want to own my perfect little pixie body, but your daddy trauma poisons it."

"Nailed it," Grey chuckled, hearing her voice grow distant as his body went limp.

"Lily!" Minx growled, "A soul pact!? What's gotten into you!?"

"What's wrong with [me]?" Lilac giggled derisively. "Two gods instantly showed up to protect a mortal who dropped into Lower Myriad, and none of you cradle-thieving hussies checked for irregularities? It's one thing not to notice the poison, but come on!"

With a wave of her hand, a magical film wrapped over the teen, revealing a circular red tattoo around his heart with four words.

═─┈─═─┈─═

Limitless | Corrupted | Charmed | Obsession

═─┈─═─┈─═

"He had three blessings before he met Loki...." Minx muttered in a haze. "And Limitless… that means—"

"That's~right!" Lilac cried excitedly. "Things are about to get spicy, and I want in!" With a deft flick of her wrist, she snapped her fingers, and a sinister word surfaced on his heart in black ink—

[Greed.]