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Curse-breaker

“The fuck?!" Oro blurted as soon as he could pull his face out of the dirt, rolling to his feet and whipping in the direction of the now non-existent gate, as though looking for a way to charge back inside. When he saw Nayeli lying on the ground, rubbing her face and curling up to a sitting position, that thought was instantly abandoned. He almost didn't pull up short enough to avoid knocking her down as he dove on her, wrapping his unnaturally long arms around her in a protective, possessive hug. “Thank all the forgotten gods," the Rabbit hissed uncharacteristically.

Nayeli shook her head. “The only one still remembered: the Bright Lion," she corrected softly, returning the hug in spite of his still distorted shape, “I will not swear by any other ever again." Oro couldn't even be bothered to ask what she meant by that, he was so grateful to have her alive and out of that place. They were soon joined by Sarahi, who curled her long body around them and put her arms around Nayeli, unable to speak for sobbing with relief to find her alive as well.

“Oh, my baby," Tuli likewise wept, leaning in beside Oro's shoulder to hug and kiss her daughter, “I thought we lost you for a second there... " Diya and Kylan joined them, also greatly relieved though not quite as emotional, and even Kitt dared to add herself to the group-hug out of sheer solidarity.

After a few minutes all tears seemed spent, and the most affected were finding their voices again. “... Need someone... to move," Oro groaned softly, nudging his back against the arms around it. Tuli and Nayeli and Kylan released him, and the Rabbit slowly laid out on his back, his breath coming quicker and sharper as his limbs began drawing in. “Fuck... this is gonna hurt," he wheezed, tensing up as the bones began to make contact again, popping into place as best they could... and grinding painfully elsewhere. He groaned. He screamed. He hurt too much to writhe, but had to fight that urge with some difficulty.

Wiping her tears on her sleeve, Nayeli crawled over to him. “Honey, take a deep breath," she urged.

“Trying!!" he hissed through clenched teeth, though none of his current fury was directed at her, and she knew it.

Nayeli has invoked the authority which has been given to her. Let her husband's joints reconnect, his bones mend and be whole once more, and the whole of his body returned to its natural state.

Oro screamed again. “AUGH!! THIS FUCKING BASTARD!!!" He writhed now, curling up and clutching at his belly, and Nayeli began to pray over him again, but he clapped a hand over her mouth. “NO MORE! AUGH!! Just let him FINISH!" A moment later, panting desperately for air, Oro finally managed to stretch out again and become... relatively... comfortable. “Fucking... demon," he panted, before peeking at Nayeli with one scarlet eye, “You... can heal... things now? When—augh!" he groaned, trying not to clutch his stomach again as some residual pain ran through him.

Nayeli patted his head gently. “Just now. I have a lot to tell you, just as soon as you've recovered. What hurts now?"

The Rabbit shook his head. “Don't... heal it... again," he huffed, making himself take deep breaths, “Whatever you did... fixed everything inside," the Rabbit sighed, as if that had been good for a moment at least, “So Gorgorond... ate it again -- the parts he's claimed... anyway."

Nayeli nodded her understanding, then gave a stern look... not to him, but to the demon masquerading as his fur. “I can exorcise you now," she declared in a voice as close to anger as she'd been in a long time, “I was given power for expressly this purpose." She stretched her hands out, one to cover Oro's face, and the other to his chest...

“Whoa! Wait a second!" Kitt grabbed her shoulders like she might try to drag the Lioness off of him. “I'm all for getting that thing off br—Oro, but are you sure you know what you're doing?" She gave the Lioness a sympathetic but dubious look. “I don't know what happened in there, but there is clearly power in your words now. That is deep, dangerous stuff. If you don't phrase it just right, you'll send him right along with the demon... his soul, if not his body. These things are notoriously tricky." She tapped her own nose, and then gestured to the rest of her body. “I have a fair idea of what I'm doing when it comes to word-working, and I still turned out this way. It's not as simple as it sounds."

Nayeli started to argue that this was not some genie's trick... but doubt had already crept in around the edges of her confidence. After all, she had just seen what a thoughtless command could do, and Oro had suffered for it. “... Okay," she agreed at last, hating herself just as little even as she said it, “Okay. I'll wait... until I understand better. So help me with the wording, okay?"

Kitt nodded happily, and let her go. “Okay. Now... will you excuse me for a minute?" the little Dog asked, getting to her feet and walking to the edge of the ring of standing stones. Standing there, looking out over the trees lining the slope of the mountain all the way down to the valley, she took a long, deep breath through her powerful nose, arms slowly stretching out even as her chest swelled with the influx of air. “Oh Alunivera'ah'navune... and every other god above and below... I'd nearly forgotten the smell of trees," she sighed happily, almost euphorically, “And running rivers, and real sunlight, and... and... wow, there are smells here I don't even recognize!" Breathing out the first lungful, she drew another, even deeper one in.

“Heh... yeah," Sarahi nodded her sympathy, also sniffing, though hers was for the sake of clearing her nose, “Home always smells good after a trip through that thing."

“You know what's even better than the smell?" Diya asked, getting to her feet and taking a good stretch, “Not having a smell. I call dibs on the shower when we get in, and then I'm going to my oh-so-soft bed. I don't care what time it is."

That got a chuckle from everyone. Even Oro, whose insides had died down to a dull ache by then. “Yeah. Let's go home," he agreed sincerely.

“Hmm... not like that, you don't," Sarahi gave him an amused look, indicating his nakedness, “I mean... you'd probably be fine, but if we happen to meet anyone when we get back to the trail... "

“Eh, fuck 'em," the Rabbit grunted, getting to his feet, “Not like I could fit in anything Kylan brought."

Nayeli couldn't suppress a slight giggle. “Well... my pants would probably work. They'd be just a touch baggy, but... ?"

Oro rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Fine, fine."

The Lioness fished her spare clothes out of her pack, along with the cell phone she'd stowed away for useless in the dungeon. “Huh... I wonder what day it is," she mused quietly as she handed the jeans to Oro, “Sarahi, can you check? I think that soak ruined my phone."

The Sha'khari likewise pulled her phone from one of the packs. “Well... mine says it's Saturday again, if that's what yours is showing. Or... still Saturday, rather. What the... ?" Looking up at the sky to roughly check whether the sun agreed with her phone, Sarahi shook her head. “That place messes with my head so much. According to this, we left here just minutes ago. It's still Saturday morning."

“Ooo, what's that?" Kitt asked... from the top of one of the standing stones, which she'd apparently climbed when no one was paying attention to get a better view of the valley. But now her attention was decidedly drawn to the little devices in the girls' hands. “A portable clock? That's convenient, but two is expensive, isn't it? Anyway, if you guys measure time by the rotation of the stars, like we do, then it's not too surprising. Not all planes rotate at the same rate."

“Heh, not just a clock," Kylan assured her, then added quietly to the others, “She is in for a world of culture-shock."

“And not even her own world's," Sarahi added more somberly.

“Doesn't matter," Kitt beamed brightly at them, landing practically at the Sha'khari's shoulder as she hopped down from her perch, “I'm with brother. He's the only person in any world that I need. Thanks for worrying, but it's not my first time out of the woods, you know! I'm excited!!" she assured them quite happily. The family wasn't entirely convinced that excitement would last, but weren't about to say anything to dampen her spirits.

Nayeli explained cell phones to her as the group began their hike down the mountain, showing her the keystone apps (clock, phone, text-messaging, and map). The little Dog listened with ever-growing excitement. “And... that's not magic? I don't smell any, come to think of it. Wow, that is amazing!!" she barked, tail wagging hard behind her. Nayeli smiled, glad that her opinion of technology was clearly very different from Organa's.

The Fennec was sifting through the refrigerator when they came through the door, and peeked her head around the corner with no small amount of surprise. “Well that was quick!" her usual, disarming smile returned immediately, “Find what you were after? How much did you bring back?"

A pall fell over the house. The sight of her, and the sound of her voice, eradicated all the promise of worldly comforts that had put Oro at ease on the way back. His knuckles popped as he scowled at her. “Fucking nothing," he snarled, “We picked up another tag-along, then got fucking kicked out," he explained in an ominous tone, “Pretty sure we're not welcome back, either. All the materials were destroyed. I can't summon the gate anymore."

She dropped the bowl of leftovers that had been in her hand, jaw slack and stunned, looking almost frightened. “You... what?! That can't be! That can't happen!!"

“Well it fucking did," he roared back, stomping down the hall to clamp a scarlet hand around her muzzle before she could react, and dragging her back toward the door, “Just like this!" He seized the base of her tail in his free hand, and the others hastily cleared a path as it became obvious he was about to toss her bodily out the door (over no small distance, either!). “Just because I'm still on your leash doesn't mean I have to let you sit in my fucking house! Get out!"

Kitt bounced up in front of him before he could haul off, though, tail wagging and smiling smugly. “Ooooh, is this her? The witch?"

“Yes," Oro hissed through his clenched teeth, “What of it?"

Kitt sniffed her briefly, and tilted her head curiously. “Did she catch you drunk? Or asleep? She's kind of weak, magically speaking." The Fennec apparently took exception to that remark, but whatever she tried to say was muffled behind Oro's fist, still holding her muzzle like a vice, and she was completely unable to pry herself from his grip. Kitt reached under her cloak and produced a small pouch from somewhere (she seemed to carry a lot of equipment that her snug-fit clothes and simple cloak couldn't justify concealing), and shook a handful of small, thin rods out of it. They looked somewhat like a dentist's probes, or lockpicks, except with bizarrely hooked, curled, and even spiralled heads.

Holding two or three in each hand, she smiled up at Oro brightly. “Want me to break it?"

He dropped the Fennec. She almost got out of reach before he could recover himself, clamping a hand on the back of her neck and shoving her face-first into the wall, pinning her there thoughtlessly. “Holy fuck... you can do that?" he asked the little Dog, disbelieving.

Kitt nodded with a giggle, tucked three of the picks between her teeth, and began making little gestures near Organa's back with the other two. Organa hissed something unintelligible, and made a gesture between herself and the Dog. Kitt ducked as a dart made of shadows shot by her shoulder and embedded itself in the wall, trailing black smoke. “It'll be easier if she doesn't fight," the Dog remarked off-handedly, as if the difference between the two was more a matter of preference than difficulty.

Oro was never happier to smash anyone between the eyes. Organa went limp, tongue lolling out of the corner of her mouth. Kitt giggled, though the rest of the family winced as they huddled around to watch. Sarahi couldn't resist a brief clap of approval, though.

“Are... are those wands or something?" Diya asked, watching something happening at the tips of the little picks through the eyes of her mask.

Kitt grinned. “Sort of, but not quite. I'm only a second-tier wizard at best, barely a first-tier warrior, and I'm pretty sure I was excommunicated from the Holy Grove after that last incident," she rolled her eyes, then declared proudly, “But I am an absolute top-tier way-finder! There's not a lock that exists that I can't open... and really, what's a 'binding' if not just another kind of lock? And there we go!" she declared triumphantly with a flourish of one of the picks.

They all felt it. Like a subtle, persistent tension in their chests that they had never quite noticed was suddenly released, and they could breath fully again. The spell was broken.

“Ungh... little bitch... ," Organa groaned, beginning to come to again. Oro's hand slid around to the front of her throat, clenching so tight she couldn't breathe, much less speak.

“Little fucking bitch indeed," the Rabbit snarled as he turned her around, practically pressing his teeth to her nose, “And damned fucking lucky that in this century the police give a damn about any dead body they find, even perfect strangers and foreigners. That will make trouble for my family." He reached right between her legs to grab her tail again. “But it won't be enough to save you if I catch you on my fucking mountain ever again," he warned in a low, cold voice. This time he did throw her out the door... and off the porch... and more than halfway across the lawn. “And don't bother going back to that fucking ring!" he shouted from the porch, “I'm going to tear down every fucking stone in the morning! Now fuck off, bitch!"

He slammed the door behind him, his whole body trembling with relief and fury. Honestly, he wanted to watch her, to make absolutely sure she left the neighborhood, if not the entire town... but if he had to look at her living face for even one more minute he was certain his restraint would break, and she'd be dead at his feet before either of them could complain.

“... Honey-bunny, take a breath," Sarahi said softly, cautiously reaching for him, “Deep breaths."

One of Oro's teeth finally cracked. The momentary pain brought him back to his senses a little. He was pretty sure Gorgorond replaced it in the next second, but that hardly mattered. He pointed at Kitt, still standing in the hall and looking quite pleased with herself. “Can you do that again?" he asked, pointing to Tuli next, “For her? She's wearing a cursed ring. The whole reason I've gone into The Fucking Gauntlet twice now was to find something to break it."

“Sure!" Kitt smiled and shrugged without even looking at the Lioness, “What kind of curse is it? Oh! Is that why you have demon kids?" the Dog laughed, as if she'd been silly not to realize it from the start.

Tuli nodded, holding her ring-bearing hand to her chest... and hiding it behind her other hand. “Yes, but... will they be okay? Demon or otherwise, they are my children. Will breaking the curse hurt them?"

“It'll probably kill them," Kitt answered honestly, still smiling despite the dubious look she was giving the Lioness, as if the outcome should have been obvious and Tuli simply couldn't make up her mind what she wanted.

But Tuli knew exactly what she wanted. Putting her hand behind her back, she shook her head. “Then no. With the witch's curse broken, I don't have to have sex with anyone anymore. I can avoid another surprise pregnancy. I'd sooner live with that than put them at risk."

Oro cringed in shame, and slammed his fist against the door at his back. “Fuck," he hissed, “I'm sorry, Tuli. Really. Is there anything you can do without hurting the kids?" he asked Kitt, though at this point even he recognized he was just getting desperate. He hated himself for having done this to Tuli, and being unable to make it right.

Kitt tilted her head. “Sooo... you know how locks are made up of pins in a tumbler? And the key lifts them all to just the right spot so that the tumbler can turn? An artifact like this is sort of like a twelve-pin lock, and you're asking me to lift just the fifth, eigth, and ninth pins, and hang them there."

The Rabbit sighed, defeated, and nodded his understanding. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. I know I'm asking too much, but—"

To all of their surprise, Kitt laughed. “Not at all! I just want to be sure you understand that I am a-MAZ-ing!!" she beamed, practically singing, and held up her picks. “Make sure to praise me later!"

He almost fell down on his knees right there. “Girl," Oro forced his slack face to form words, “I will praise you, and shelter you, and feed you, and fucking fuck you, if you can erase the last of my mistakes."

Nayeli and Sarahi frowned at his choice of words while Kitt bounced on her toes with excitement... but neither of them countermanded him. She would be putting all of them at ease if she could lift or even crack this curse. After everything they had done as a family up to this point, letting him indulge her as part of her reward seemed a relatively mild price to pay.

Kitt skipped over and took Tuli's hand, leading her into the living room. “You're going to want to lie down for this," the Dog explained with a reassuring smile as she urged Tuli onto the couch. “It's a little more involved. You're probably going to feel weird, but don't be afraid if you start to pass out. I promise you'll wake up healthy as rain."

Tuli quirked a brow. “We don't usually associate rain with health in our world," she explained.

“No?" Kitt asked curiously, already making little gestures with two of her picks, “Then what do you use to make your gardens grow?" Tuli laughed at that, and couldn't give a better answer, so simply laid back and let the little Dog do her work, which Kitt went to happily. “Hm-hmhm... oh, so that's how... well, we'll just give this a twist," she muttered idly to herself. Kitt weilded her little tools deftly, sometimes working two in each hand, independently. At one point the Lioness could swear she even used one clenched in her teeth, twisting her head to an uncomfortable angle for whatever purpose it served. And the Dog hummed happily to herself the whole time. “There's that," she whispered at one point, twisting one of the tools that looked like a corkscrew, “Oo! And if I do this... oh, that'll be nice, I bet. Hm-hmhm... "

A dizziness washed over Tuli. Her eyes didn't want to point the same direction. “Nigel?" she asked softly, “Are you three okay?"

“So far," came an uncertain reply, “But she's taking the windows out, Mom. Is that okay?"

“What?" the Lioness moaned, not entirely understanding but in no condition to think about the details at the moment.

“Expanding the sphere of manifestation," the Dog explained helpfully, though that was really no more help to Tuli than Nigel's explanation.

Tuli closed her eyes, and covered them with the hand not wearing the ring. “Ohh... as long as you're safe... "

Kitt giggled at her obvious discomfort. “Go on to sleep," she suggested, “I'll be done in a minute, and they can tell you all about the windows and walls or whatever when you come to." Tuli never quite blacked out, and certainly didn't go to sleep with the way her head was swimming. But true to her word, less than a minute later Kitt turned all three of the picks she had in one hand, like she was winding something up, and also turned her head a little to one side. “Mind your eyes," she warned Oro and Nayeli, finding them crouched almost right beside her, watching anxiously. Sarahi, Kylan, and Diya were standing a safer distance, down by Tuli's feet. Clenching her tools together and giving another quarter-turn, the pearl in the center of the ring popped like a bubble, scattering tiny shards into the carpet. “Ta-da!" she smiled, bouncing on her knees.

“Whew! That's much better," Tuli agreed, sitting up as the dizziness passed, “Nigel, Nicholas, Nicole, come say 'thank you.'"

“Thank you!!" three voices laughed as the tentacle and wolf tendrils appeared in the air around Tuli's body. Much to her surprise, they were not mere phantoms but physically materialized from her arms and neck, seeming to appear out of thin air about a quarter of an inch away from her skin.

“We can come out through the windows now!" Nicholas laughed, circling around Tuli as his sister chased him.

Tuli blinked, delighted but confused. “I... what? I don't understand."

Kitt laughed along with the kids. “Well, their sphere of manifestation was so small! They had to materialize inside you and then find a way out. I just widened it a bit, so they can materialize a little outside your skin. I thought you'd be more comfortable that way." She tapped one of her tools against the remains of the ring on Tuli's finger. “You're still not going to be able to take that off, I'm afraid. It's stubborn, and I didn't think that was what really bothered you, so I didn't fight it much. But the charm of fertility is broken, as well as the umbral bindings... uh, the part that makes your babies demons."

Tuli nodded, taking both of Kitt's hands in hers, “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart."

The Hound wagged her tail, smiling happily, and turned to Oro. “Well, brother... ?"

Oro was sitting down now, on the floor, massaging his forehead like he had the worst headache... or had just been relieved of it, after many years of enduring the pain. “Hey, Diya," the Rabbit said softly, “Your dibs on the first shower just got overriden. Sorry. Will you show her how it works?"

The little Feline nodded, staring sort of absently at the tendrils playing with their newfound freedom around Tuli. “Yeah. That's fair. Come on, Kitt," she turned her attention to the Hound, “You've got a laundry-list of modern luxuries to be introduced to."

“Diya," Sarahi suggested as they started to walk away, “She can have my room when she's done. I never use it anymore, anyway. Kitt... welcome to the family," the Sha'khari smiled, sincerely, and waved to them as the pair headed off.

“Oro, dear... are you okay?" Nayeli asked, gently rubbing his back as he continued to massage his own face.

Taking his hands away at last, she was certain he would have been crying if his eyes were still capable of tears. Her husband looked... relieved. Fully. “... I don't know," he answered honestly, “The witch's curse is lifted. Tuli's curse is broken... or better than broken, maybe. Somehow, we all made it through alive. I am... something like employed, in a high-paying job, and we have enough money in the bank that I'm not even chomping at the bit for the next paycheck. I... think... I might have arrived. I'm finally in that place I promised I'd be, someday," he chuckled, then glanced down at his coat of scarlet fur. “Not entirely unscathed, maybe, but not everyone manages that anyway. Now... I'm just not quite sure what to do with myself anymore!" he laughed, “And I don't need to be! Fuck! I made it!!" He fell onto his back, laughing, and splayed out on the floor for a moment before he could get it under control. “Fuck you, Mom and Dad! I did it!"

There was a collective sigh and rolling of eyes at that little remark... but not even Nayeli could bring herself to scold him. It was the first time any of them had seen his smile so wide and sincere. It was the first time he had looked genuinely happy, if only for the moment. No one wanted to cut that moment short. Nayeli reached out and laid her hand lightly on his chest. “You always did have pretty concrete life-goals," she mused, “Congratulations, dear. You should enjoy it, while you think about what to do next."

He laughed again, then sighed contentedly, “I love you." He patted the hand she had laid on his chest. “Yeah... I'll probably be scared stupid about fucking something up again by tomorrow... but I'll enjoy it today. Thank you. Thank you," he repeated, taking all of them in with his eyes, “I wouldn't be here without a single one of you. I couldn't have done it by myself. I'll never forget that. Fuck, I'm tired," he finished with another sigh, and seemed perfectly content to simply take a nap right there on the floor where he was.

“... Those little cheats," Diya giggled a little later as she and Kitt came back down the stairs, both wrapped in towels and smelling of Diya's favorite shampoo. Everyone else was still in the living room, exactly where the pair had left them -- and completely out cold: Tuli on the couch, Nayeli resting her head on Oro's shoulder, Sarahi and Kylan curled up together on the loveseat. Oro's ears didn't even twitch at her words. “I guess I can't blame 'em. I almost checked out in the shower myself... "

Kitt's head was tilted curiously, though, and she took a deep whiff through her sensitive nose. “Still him," the Dog reassured herself quietly.

Diya quirked a brow at her, following her eyes to where Oro lay sprawled on the floor -- smiling contentedly even in his sleep, peaceful and calm. Diya blinked at the sight. “Wow... even I'm not so sure after that. Come on," she pushed Kitt in the direction of Sarahi's former room, “We'll ask what put him in such a good mood after we've all had a nap."