Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The sunlight had filtered through the leaves of the dense canopy and weakly to the forest floor of the jungle. While the sunlight was strong in the canopy and the tops of the trees, the dense foliage of the forest and the clouds made the jungle floor feel humid and muggy. It was a bit dark in comparison as well but the air here was fragrant and heavy with its many smells. Those scents mainly being that of rain soaked earth, flowering plants and other vegetation, and the scent of animal scat and what could only be described as the scent of a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica.

Not that either of the hikers were aware of these scents…a part from the scents of the flowering plants of course, but that was only when they pressed their faces close to the bud of the flowers and inhaled the fragrance. The hikers in question were non-natives of the country. The female was standing at the height of 5’8, had blonde hair, and grey eyes her frame (and tanned skin) had suggested that she had spent a fair amount of time outdoors. And that she hadn’t skipped leg day at the gym. The male was taller than her at 6’3, and had wild curly black hair, lovely dark skin, brown eyes, and several tribal tattoos that were on his back and shoulders.

“Terius! Look a cave! Let’s go in and explore!” The girl, Chess Bishop squealed.

‘Here we go again.’ Terius Acaso thought.

“Chess maybe this isn’t the best idea right now.” Terius said.

“And why not?” Chess huffed.

“Well for one I didn’t see any mention of caves around the hiking trails of this jungle, two there could be huge ass cave spiders and you know I hate those! And third this is totally white people shit.”

“You know you’re half white and half Samoan. Your ancestors sailed in small wooden boats like something out of Moana!”

“I know nothing of sailing! Or surfing!” Terius countered.

He was about to form more arguments and have the words spew out of his mouth that would utterly, and irrevocably convince her that they should not enter the damned cave and would have them continue on the hiking trail. But Terius was pulled out of his imaginary arguments when he heard his girlfriend say “Hurry up I’ll protect you from the spiders too!”

Terius smacked his forehead with his palm and followed, hating himself more and more as he walked into what seemed like the first five minutes of a Supernatural episode.

“Of course you don’t listen!” He growled.

“Come on, where is your sense of adventure Terius?” Chess’ voice bounced along the cavern walls.

“Back at the hipster cabin AirBnB.” He grumbled and sped ahead then grabbed a hold of Chess’ hand.

They were both grateful that they were wearing pants and long sleeves as the cave was rather cold and damp. After walking for what felt like a few miles Chess’ flashlight had caught something shiny, she had let go of his hand as she kneeled down to examine the object and pick it up. It was a statue of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl or the Feathered Serpent. As soon as Chess had snatched it up a loud and cold voice commanded her to drop it.

But Chess, being the stubborn dingus she was, refused, instead she asked “Why?”

The cavern room had lit up as they both took in what was an impossible sight. Terius and Chess had figured either they were tripping on some drugs (not likely as they didn’t do any), or were sharing the same delusion (possible). The room was filled with both treasure and the remains of other more unfortunate hikers. From a chair that seemed more extra than comfortable a man clad in magnificent bright robes and jewels sat in front of them.

“Because it is mine to do with as I please.” He replied coolly. His eyes were so dark a brown they were black. And Terius wanted to grip Chess’ shoulder as a way to tell her to shut the fuck up. Chess didn’t have common sense or the voice in her head that told her to back it on up, and quit.

“Oh sure as if you don’t have enough treasure around you dude.”

“I don’t like thieves.” The man snarled.

“Who says I’d steal it?” Chess snapped.

“I say so and as such you shall be punished as I see fit.”

“Oh I quiver with fear.” Chess laughed.

‘This is not the best time to quote 'The Lion King’.’ Terius thought.

Chess’ laugh had then turned into a yelp as she fell to her knees and clutched at her hair. She felt a pain and as if her whole body was in the throes of a fever.

“What the hell have you done?!” Terius shouted.

“Punished her.” The Shaman replied smugly as if he were a little boy caught misbehaving and knew he wouldn’t get into trouble.

“How?” That was the only word Terius could get out.

“She will become a snake of this country and even retain their many abilities even as a human. Her curse will be only at night.”

“How can we lift this curse?”

“You are to bring me some water from a fountain, research the folktales of this land. I have been trapped here in this cave for too long and I want out.”

Terius would have rather told him to shove it, but he was desperate for more information. Chess was curled up upon the stone floor sobbing and screaming in pain.

“And how are we to find this if it is in another world?” He asked.

The Shaman wore an evil smile.

“Ah I knew you had a touch of the supernatural about you. You must find the Flooded Forest. That is the entry way find the fountain when you surface, oh and there will be guide dogs to help you but many monsters of sorts.”

Typical. Terius wanted to get away from the supernatural and just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in...as if he was in the Mafia, or a gang.

“Fine I accept.”

“Oh goody. You have three weeks to accomplish this. Then you are to find me here again.” Then with a snap of the Shaman’s fingers he and his riches had vanished.

Chess was still in the thralls of pain, her nose had been reduced to little and iridescent scales covered her skin. Terius wiped her damp forehead and cheeks, then picked her up and carried her.

“Hang on Chess, just please hang on.” He ran back to the rental car as he put her in the passenger’s side. He pulled up his email and started it to an old friend he had met years ago in Goa.

“I know someone who can help. Even if I use all my data just for this it’ll be worth it.” Chess had just transformed when he had hit “Send”.

Notes: Okay explaining time! Chess and Terius are mine and Dr_Floofers characters we made up for a Mass Effect role play, but then we made Terius human in others. I'm not sure who thought of making him a Pacific Islander first...maybe it was my love tattoos? ANYWAY. Costa Rica is hella pretty and actually pretty cheap to travel to, provided you have the passport and the flights, the thing that set me back the most? Travel vaccines. Seriously like $400 bucks down the drain. R.I.P. my savings, but I didn't get Yellow Fever, typhoid, or malaria.
And yes I did stay in a hipster AirBnB cabin in the mountains it was a farm. And the views were awesome! It was called Finica Orangica which I'll talk about in the next chapter.
Quetzalcoatl is an old Aztec god who's the god of rain, weather, and arts and crafts. And he's my favorite Old God for a reason, I mean he's a big fuck you dragon how is that not metal AF?

Chapter Text

Kelsey.

The email had appeared in my inbox the same as any of them did, deleting the stupid spam and ads (why the hell would anyone want a Russian mail order bride anyway? It seemed like a lazy and way too desperate attempt to meet girls…) but then I had seen another one that caught my attention. I had forwarded Kishan’s emails to my own inbox. This was one of his old friends Kishan had mentioned him in passing, but not much. He said that he had met him in Goa, they talked and shared email addresses not that he had told me, I had guessed as much.

Terius Acaso…email address was TAOfficer. I read it quickly.

Kishan,

It’s been awhile hasn’t it? Two years since Goa when I drunkenly told you about the crap I dealt with, as a supernatural officer of the law. Vampire domestic disputes, Selkies being naked way too much, but those sirens still haven’t got me yet. Mostly because I put my noise canceling headphones in and blast Britney Spears. Anyway, I have a huge favor to ask of you. You said that you also were good with the freaky shit too. My girlfriend wandered into a cave and well…she got cursed. If you can get yourself to Costa Rica I can provide the car and lodging where I’m at is super cheap. I have about three weeks to finish this but I’d like to get this finished before then. Please, please help. The lodging linked below, and I hope to hear from you soon.

See you then,
Terius.

Well heck. I knew I had to help him somehow. I didn’t know how to contact Kishan and Ana anyway. So clearly he needed our help. In curse breaking. I quickly sent a text to Ren and forwarded the email to him, he seemed on edge about it all but agreed. But first we had set up the flight for early tomorrow and I had gotten a lot of my vaccines. Then I emailed the AirBnB and set up the payment and read over the rules. No parties…yeah right like we were the party types.

“Finca Organica…San Luis Grecia.” It was a farm and cabins this wasn’t our usual style but it was cheaper than a hotel and I liked new experiences anyway. After explaining the situation to Nilima and asking her to take over for a few weeks she agreed and helped me pack drilling me on my Spanish which was poor. We arrived in San Jose and I texted Terius that we landed, we would be there and to meet us soon. After a long customs line we finally met our new…friends? What the hell was I to call them?
It took reading all of the emails that Kishan and Terius had sent each other to convince Ren. If Kishan had trusted him then so did I. And I knew he was telling the truth. Even Ren had agreed and Terius hadn’t asked to come alone or anything shady like that.

Meeting them was kind of awkward. Terius was tall, dark-skinned, and his short sleeved shirt showed his tattoos. Chess had long blonde hair and she had an inch on me…at least she hadn’t dwarfed me like Anamika had. Terius was all smiles and laughing. Chess looked kind of tense. Like she was worried and wanted to get the hell out of the airport. Ren as usual broke the ice, being the garbist that he was; shook hands and smiled at them both.

“You’re Terius I presume? The man who needed our help?”

“Yes and we already have a rental car so if you’re willing to car pool and save time, we can skip over getting you two one and er…” He paused and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“And there’s…things we need to discuss.” Terius finished.

Ren and I nodded.

“Of course, and I’m Kelsey and we can leave as soon as you wish.”

Chess sighed as if she was relived. I knew that she was cursed but I wasn’t sure what it was or when the curse was active. We’d find that out later at the cabins. I wasn’t even sure if it was the same thing as Ren and Kishan’s curse. We quickly hurried out of the airport.
In the car I realized two things: 1. The traffic was bad. Not in the way that I was used to with the constant fear of crashing and way too fast driving, but it was more of a slow pace as if there was no hurry and we had all the time in the world. The signs said 40-45 kilometers per hour. And it was idle the GPS had said two hours to reach our destination but it took two just to get out of San Jose. Teruis was more relaxed once he got out of the city limits.

“Oh my god I never thought I’d be so fucking happy to see a double rainbow in hell.” Terius laughed.

This went way over our heads until Chess explained.

“It’s two semi-trucks driving at 20 kilometers per hour so at least we are kind of going somewhere.”

Two: The roads were hellish. Although I was sort of used to the roads being not so great in India…this was a whole new ball game. Pot holes galore, and then there were the one lane bridges where you had to wait your turn to cross. There wasn’t even a side of a road, instead there was a deep ditch on the side of the road, I had guessed that it was used to try to deter landslides or falling rocks.
Finally we had made it to the cabin and the farm. The clouds had hung close to the mountains and the fact that everything had just been left to grow here instead of developing it for homes and buildings had spoken volumes of the way of life here. It was easier, it was more at one with nature…

I just hoped there would be a shower if we were doing a lot of hiking.

“So this is Finca Organica?” I asked. It was pretty they not only had several crops of bananas, but cabbages and other sorts of vegetables. It seems as if they even did composting.

“Yes, this is it. Nice isn’t? I mean the only thing that’s minor is waiting for the shower to heat up.” Chess said.

“What exactly are you talking about? Ren asked raising an eyebrow.

“Well you see the showers here are different. You know how the showers in North America have grounded electrical circuits installed in them?” Chess asked.

“Um no?” I said.

Chess shrugged. “It seems only plumbers know about that stuff. Anyway, without these things you are not to touch the showerhead.”

“Why is that?” Ren asked.

“Well this is called a suicide shower. They are common in third world countries and Latin America and Asia. I’m not sure how to explain it without going into too much detail.” Chess stammered.

I smiled thinking of Mr. Kadam and how he knew a lot of things that others didn’t, maybe this woman had some of his spirit inside of her too.

“No, please go on it would help us to understand and I’d rather not make this trip awkward by not bathing.” Ren joked.

“Okay. The showers here don’t have hot water heaters, so everything is heated inside the showerhead with the coils and you must not touch it while bathing otherwise you’ll get shocked at best and die at worst.” Terius explained.

Great death by showering, just how I always wanted to die. Not as glamorous as death via giant mythical squid or giant shark.

“Okay so showers could kill us should I worry about gangs, drug runners, kidnappers too? And animals?” I said with a great dollop of sarcasm.

“Well not the gangs, and drug running is mostly in Colombia and Nicaragua don’t you guys watch Narcos?” Chess asked.

“Um no.”

“You should it’s a good series, as for animals; there are a lot of snakes and spiders I’ve had to kill a few because Terius was a baby about them.”

“Sweetheart, you’re not helping me out with my masculinity!” Terius snapped.

“I’m sure Ren has fears he’d rather not say too, right Ren?”

I knew that we’d have to deal with a lot of arguing…I didn’t like that Ren had to be caught in the middle. And the way Chess acted around him was the oddest thing I had seen. I was used to women staring at him, and throwing themselves around Ren. But Chess, she acted like he was just an average man she was polite, yet kept herself closed off at least when it came to Ren. I knew she was comfortable around me. We had shared a few inside jokes already.

“Anyway shall we begin?” Terius asked.

“Begin what exactly?” asked Ren.

“Well the sun is setting so that means my curse is starting.”

“Oh right your curse the whole reason we came here.” I rolled my eyes in Ren’s direction.

As the sun lowered over the mountains I watched as Chess transformed into the shiniest Costa Rican Rainbow Boa I had ever seen. Needless to say I kinda freaked out too.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3: Chess’ Curse.

I wasn’t exactly shocked when Kelsey freaked out over my transformation. She didn’t seem like the type of girl who liked snakes. But I was sure that she might have liked me at least. I had thought she liked me, we had shared a few jokes so far. And there was the fact that I could still somehow speak while I was…like this. Not by opening my mouth like how some stupid media portrayed talking animals. So while my ‘lips’ and mouth didn’t move I could still speak and my words were heard, Take that Kaa!

“Well I do sort of deserve this I did mouth off to a shaman after touching his things; granted his things were a hoard of treasure.” I rolled my eyes. Stupid, greedy, dragon like wizard.

“I’m sure he was Smaug in another universe sweetheart.” Terius said.

Yeah, and I wanted to either put an arrow in his stupid breast or behead him.

I mentally sighed, this wasn’t the most annoying thing in my life (that was reserved for another thing) so far, but this was an inconvenience and a fucking major one. I wanted this curse to end, I wanted to snuggle with Terius at night (and do more with him preferably not always in the mornings like we have been) and not have to be rushed out of places before sundown. I wanted to go out dancing in clubs and…I…just wanted to not be a snake. And to have my vacation back. We were supposed to be having fun not getting mixed up into this shit. Poor Terius and I wanted a break from the supernatural for crying out loud!

“So because you sassed off to a powerful guy he had cursed you?” Kelsey asked.

“I can relate to that. Although I couldn’t speak like you could.” Ren stated.

“Wait what? What the shit biscuit? Can you rewind and explain? Kishan just told me you fought demons.” Terius said.

Ren gave us the short version of their story, how he and his younger brother Kishan had been cursed after fighting over a girl from a kingdom they were at war with in the late 1600’s or was it 1700’s? Either way Ren was arranged to marry this princess or noblewoman and her father had cursed them.

“What did you do get her with child? Peep on her while she was bathing?” Terius joked. Ren turned bright red and Kelsey giggled.

“NO!” He shouted as his face flushed.

“He’s not the peeping tom cat type…usually.” Kelsey rolled her eyes at some memory.

“Excuse you Sundari, I was trying to make sure you were safe from that possible concussion!” Ren huffed.

“Oh yeah?! And what about when I first met Phet? You didn’t have to watch me bathe in tiger form you know!”

“Does it really matter now? After everything?” Ren asked and batted his big blue eyes at his wife.

“You better not try this shit with me Teri.” I hissed, quite literally too.

After that bit of banter that was fit to be in a modern day Shakespeare retelling Ren went on with his story. His betrothed at the time had died in an accident, (Pfft more like her mage father had her killed because she finally had enough of his shit) and then he and his brother were cursed by an evil power hungry mage. Later on they were blessed by the Hindu goddess and demon slayer Durga. And after finding Kelsey they were finally able to get their human selves back.

“Wow quite an epic tale.” I said. Terius had started to laugh for whatever reason maybe he had the ‘Stupids’ as my uncle had put them. It was when you burst into random laughter over something you had just remembered, or just because.

“What’s up with him?” Ren asked.

“Search me.” I said.

“Tale, or tail, either way you made a great pun Chess.”

I was glad and relieved to hear him laugh. He hadn’t laughed in days, and I didn’t realize how much I had missed hearing that. Maybe having these two around was a good thing. I then noticed that Kelsey had her notebook and journal out. I guessed that she like Terius, had been taking down notes of the different forms of folklore and myths. I slithered over to her and asked if she had done her research.

“Actually I have, but can you tell me more about your curse and what we need to do in order to break it?” Kelsey asked.

Terius tossed a composition notebook that he had bought at the local Maxi Palí, he had filled it with notes which I had read countless times and bitched about his hand writing.
‘I’m left handed. Fuck off.’ He stated.

Ren and Kelsey had read through them rather quickly.

“So…a flooded forest huh?” Ren asked.

“Yep.” Terius responded.

“And this guy didn’t give you any clues at all?!”

“He did mention something about the quote ‘where the clouds touch the earth and it starting with a M.” Terius responded.

Everyone blinked in disbelief save for myself because in my current form I didn’t have any eyelids.

“And you kept this info completely missing from us because…?!” Ren asked.

“I just read back over my notes, duh.”

“Monte Verde.” Kelsey said quietly.

“What?” I asked.

“Monte Verde it’s the cloud forest that makes sense. That’s where we are to go.” Ren drawled.

Well, at least now we had a destination in mind for tomorrow that was better than no leads at all.

“So would you like to do more research tomorrow during the drive or just wing it?” I asked Kelsey.

“Well more research can’t hurt. Although I usually find myself overly prepared or under.” She said with a yawn.

Great…just fucking great! Because that was totally what I wanted to hear from people who had spent two or three years breaking a 300 something year old curse and wrecking bad guys shit up. Ah well. It wasn’t like they were professionals or some shit. If I wanted those I would’ve called in the Winchester Brothers and their awkward pet angel. But now I had Kelsey and Ren Rajaram, and they had done this before I had faith in them. I wondered if they had put professional curse breakers on their resumes. All jokes aside, I felt better knowing that it wasn’t just Terius and I anymore. Having more people to drag in had given me hope like we could really be successful. For the first time in a while I not only woke up to cuddling Terius in my human form, but also with hope.

And maybe I had also woken him up with a blowie.

Chapter Text

Kelsey

The cold chill down my back had woken me up, shocking considering that I had woken up tangled in Ren’s arms. I was still aching from the love making last night, the warmth was only there for the covered parts of myself. I was not sure where I was for a few minutes, then I recognized the open floor plan of the cabin and the sun reaching over the mountains. I was reminded of the phrase “rosy fingered dawn” from the Odyssey. Oh yes…Costa Rica. I then remembered that there wasn’t any heating or AC here, hence the chills. Shit. I stumbled to the shower and waited for it to turn hot, I wasn’t picky about it being ‘boiling lava hot’ like most women, but damn I was NOT going to shower in the cold. On the window sill I had noticed that they had their own shampoo and body wash, which smelled amazing. If it wasn’t for the ban for liquids on the airplanes, I’d have ask to buy it.

Drying off and grumbling about waiting naked in the cold, I saw that Ren had a productive morning of making coffee and cutting up fruit for breakfast. Apparently he had borrowed the many creamers and milk from Terius and Chess. The coffee was warm and rather good, warming my throat and stomach in the way I enjoyed.

“This isn’t the good stuff, they export that outside of the country, and maybe they sell it to hipster grocery stores or the snobby ones.”

“Mm. Well, if this is the ‘bad’ or ‘bleh’ coffee then how does the exported stuff taste?” I asked.

“Oh, magical I bet.” Said Ren with a smile as he put chocolate with chiles flavored creamer into his cup. Even his coffee had to be spicy…

“I’m glad we’re starting our mornings like this, the misty mountains around us, sipping our coffee and having a healthy breakfast.” I yawned as he handed me a bowl of sliced mangoes and papaya with a sort of sweet bread and honey on top.

“It’s a shame there’s no peanut butter.” He grinned. I rolled my eyes he had been human for so long now and still he couldn’t get enough of peanut butter.

“Yeah but here you notice so many little things, like how utterly semi-wild and peaceful it is.” Ren just nodded as he sipped his coffee.

“Also our hostess dropped by, she was incredibly nice, and glad I could speak Spanish. Apparently you can pick our own vegetables here and pay for them at the big house.”

“Really?”

“Yep I hope that Terius and Chess are ready, we have about a three hour drive ahead of us.”

“Ren it’s only 6 am. Aside from the drive, why do we need to be up so early?” I balked.

“Well see our hostess had told me that everyone gets up early an hour or two before the sunrises and that nearly everyone and everything save for walking the neighborhoods and social visits stops when the sun goes down.” Ren explained.

“Huh I didn’t know that.” Said as I finished my breakfast and wished there was more coffee.

“Shall we go see if they are up yet?” Ren asked offering his arm like a gentleman in a period drama. I took it feeling only a little old fashioned walking this way, this was how girls walked with their best friends, and instead I grabbed his hand. Ren understood why.

It turned out that they were up, and it was incredibly awkward to hear, and catch them in the act of…rather rigorous bedroom activities. They quickly showered, ate, and packed as we all loaded up into the car.

Chess was only a little bit cranky as she sipped from a thermos.

“Should’ve fucking poured an energy drink into my fucking coffee.” She grumbled.

“But wouldn’t you die?” I asked.

“I once put at least 10 black coffee shots into a latte.” She said.

“How many are you supposed to take?” I asked.

“Two.”

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

The ride to MonteVerde was long and somewhat slow. The roads were mostly dirt the farther we went, and we also found ourselves and many others, at a standstill waiting for a rock slide to be cleared. Just let me tell you this, sitting in a car for an hour while we waited to clear it wasn’t exactly fun. But we all learned that everything in this country was about rolling with it.
Pura Vida indeed.

Finally reaching the cloud forest felt like such a victory after that. We followed a few well-made paths trying to find this flooded forest. It felt like hours hiking at least we had come prepared with how cold it was. Chess wasn’t feeling so well after a bit, and Terius wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. Just as we were about to turn around and head back to the car, a mocking, deep voice asked.

“You humans really can’t see what’s so plainly in front of you can you? The cursed girl could her pain is an indicator of how close you were to the entrance.”

That was when I had realized we were face to face with the shaman that had cursed Chess. Or rather a shadow of him. He wasn’t quite see through but he wasn’t completely solid. He was young possibly our age and that was what had thrown me off. I had figured we were facing someone older. Like Lord Voldemort older. But his eyes...they were ancient, old, had the Thousand Yard Stare like he had seen some intense shit.

“Oh hey there Ancient One, nice to see you again. Don’t you have to rip out a person’s heart or something or is that in the next half hour? And you squeezed tormenting us in? How flattering.” Chess spouted off.

He rolled his eyes and turned to Terius.

“Is she always like this?” He asked.

“Only in pain, on a certain times of the month and or year, and days ending in Y.” Terius joked.

“Well then I have certain gifts and advice to give you.” The Shaman started.

“What are they?” Ren asked.

The Shaman just smiled and snapped his fingers.

“For one I have lifted the glamour I left upon this place. You now see it for what it is.”

And did we the forest that was below us was indeed flooded the waters were an oddly crystal clear blue.

“As for the rest I have weapons and you tiger,” He smiled coldly at Ren.

“Are given your powers back for this task, and you girl, have the ability to not only change size; but I’m also granting you venom, you’ll need it.”

“Oh great I always wanted a vicious murdering symbiote.” Chess replied.

‘This is so not the time for Marvel movie references.’ I thought. I glanced down at the weapons, a bullwhip like something from an Indiana Jones movie, and two oddly shaped clubs with what looked like obsidian “blades” sticking out. (I found out later that it was called a maquahuitl.) And bows and quivers of arrows. These were familiar to me and it seemed to Chess as well the bullwhip was comfortable on her hip and in her hand. What had she been doing before this curse? And before she was dating Terius?

“One last thing,” The Shaman said while tossing four coins to us. “These will allow you to get to the entrance and allow you to breathe do not lose them. Follow the Xolo dogs.”

“What’s a Xolo dog?” I asked.

“Think of the trash dog Dante in Cocoa.” Chess said.

There was no end to her pop culture references was there?

“So why are you helping us out like this?” Terius asked being wary as he strapped the ancient sword to his back, Ren did the same.

“It benefits me to, I guess I’m what you nerds call ‘Chaotic Neutral’ I’ll help out others I don’t exactly like as long as I get something out of it. Can’t get out of this cave with you lot dead now can I? Good luck.” He snapped his fingers once more and vanished.

Well. Nothing more to do than to move forward. Gripping the golden coins we hit the water with an icy shock at first then the temperature adjusted to be as warm as bath water. We reached the bottom and stood before a grand gate that was rather eroded with age. Pressing both mine and Chess’ palms to the handprints opened them and we entered the city looking like drowned cats. Although in Ren’s case his was more literal.

We were standing in a city well preserved by time. It was as if the conquistadors had never conquered this one.
I looked to my friends as Terius kissed Chess’ forehead, and Ren squeezed my hand.

“Shall we begin?” Terius asked.

Notes: I actually had a literal trash dog he was a chihuahua named Sparky. RIP you weird possibly gay pupper. Also Stok's coffee shots are what Chess is talking about great for college students who need that shit. I know I did. Monte Verde was really beautiful and we managed to get really soaked and muddy. 10/10 would go back but with boots.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5: The Quest Begins

Chess.

“Shall we begin?” Terius asked us and I was glad he was the one to break the silenced awe that had fallen over us.

“Yes let’s. Remember to be careful. Have your weapons ready.” Ren said.

I felt soaked, I hadn’t been this wet since I had dragged Terius to SeaWorld and forced him to be splashed by that orca. And while I was glad that we were being helped by the Shaman I couldn’t quite put my finger on as to why he would other than it benefitting himself. And given that Ren’s curse had been lifted, it was odd seeing him as such a huge larger than normal Bengal tiger. I hadn’t expected the Shaman to do this for us. I had no idea that the curse Ren had lifted from himself could be granted again, although he could be either tiger or man as he wished. Lucky bastard that he was. At least I was given more abilities, becoming a giant snake like something out of Naruto was pretty cool. And the venom…I wondered if I could spit it in my enemy’s faces both in and out of snake form. And the size change… Maybe I could be the size of Titinaboa, which before this curse was something straight out of my nightmares, but now? Oh man would that be useful.

The city itself was rather large with incredible stone pyramids and carvings to various gods and goddesses. I hoped that we could blend in, I so did not want a Road to El Dorado or The Man Who would be King experience. I had read the short story by Rudyard Kipling, and seen the movie…no good came from pretending to be what you weren’t. But it seemed that this city for its size was deserted. It was creepy and unsetting to say the least. I wasn’t sure what exactly we’d run into but I was glad for the whip on my person, I knew how to use this, and I was grateful for it, those months on the farm really did help. Ren and I were leading the way as Kelsey and Terius followed behind. Our weapons were clenched in our fists as we walked on. The tension and the silence was weighing on us. And I was glad that Terius had broken it by whistling the “Game of Thrones” theme song. Ren had started to pick up the tune as well, and I hated to admit it; he had a decent voice. I was glad that I still had my coffee as I took another swig getting a bit more nervous that it was running low, I’d have to drink our canteen of water later. Well that was a problem for future Chess.

I’d freak out over the lack of caffeine later. Right now I just had to focus on the task that was before us: gaining back my rightful form. Fairy tales and ballets like Swan Lake and shifter novels made being an animals and the transformations seem so special and magical. Like it was an utter fucking gift to be an animal, maybe for them because it was fiction and Oddette wanted to gain back her human form. Maybe Swan Lake wasn’t the best comparison. The forest seemed a bit too quiet, it was eerie and I didn’t want to admit this, but I was scared. Where were the sounds of birds for one? It felt unnerving. But Kelsey and Ren didn’t seem to mind, or finding this creepy. What had they dealt with that shit like this was seen as fucking normal?

“So we told you how Kelsey and I had met but what about you two? And what’s your story?” Ren asked trying to shake off the tension of my nervousness. And like always Terius jumped at the chance to tell the whole thing and not some fucking edited for the normies story, and began as soon as we had sat down for lunch.

“Well I used to do night time security for an aquarium that had a few dolphins and sea lions. One day the sea lions had just randomly had another one and I had thought nothing of it like oh hey cool they had a new female for the guys to breed with maybe. Only the others didn’t really hang out with the new girl and…you guys can tell where this is going right?”

“Chess Bishop was the new sea lion wasn’t she?” Ren asked drily.

“Yep! So one night I’m doing my rounds and I thought I saw a flash of something pale and well leggy.” He chuckled as his hand reached down to rub my thigh. I grabbed his hand and decided to hold it for a bit.

“Hey save that for later Teri.” I teased him as I bit into a chunk of papaya.

“Anyway, so I found her shivering in the cold water naked with only her pelt wrapped around her like a cloak and I helped her out of the tank and into some clothing. And the rest is well history, by the way have you guys seen the animated movie ‘Song of the Sea’? It’s also about selkies.”

Sometimes I had forgotten just how much Terius could jump from one topic to the next with only the mostly loosely connected subjects.

“I think maybe we should save the movie recommendations for a bit later you guys. Also the story sounds something straight out of a legend honestly.” Kelsey said as she smiled and pulled Ren into a hug. Lunch was soon over and so was my beloved coffee for that I knew I was going to be an absolute cranky bitch tomorrow. But that was an issue for my future self.

Yeah, I might have regretted drinking all of my coffee. Terius was shaking me awake and I pushed his hands away and snapped at him.

“Five more minutes please Teri.”

“Yeah, I’d love to give you all the time you need but we’re on a time limit.” I groaned and shoved my sleeping bag out of the way, and Terius kissed me good morning cheery and already hyper as a kid who had been given a free coffee and a puppy. And I hated how he was already packing our meager camp supplies. How did people even function before coffee was invented?

My friends…allies…whatever didn’t really give me much time for bathing so it was a quick scrubbing and washing my hair and jumping in the river which thankfully didn’t have any snakes or crocodiles. I wasn’t really worried about other animals anyway. What was worry-making to me was that I had no idea of the creatures or the challenges that laid ahead of us so we had to be prepared either way. I shivered as I dried off and back into my clothes. When I was younger I had a phase where all that I had read was either historical fiction or myths, I loved them so much, my grandfather had a large collection of James Patterson novels and one book that I had read on the collective myths of the world. I read the Greek and Roman ones of course and the Indian Hindu myths, yet there were a great deal of them from South America. I really hoped that I wouldn’t have to deal with the Lords of Death like in one Mayan myth or have to play that deadly ball game like in The Road to El Dorado.
And there were other myths that Terius and I did research on when dealing with this curse: La Sihuanaba the horse faced woman who beckons male travelers for rides and she kills them if their intentions are disgusting. La Llorona the weeping woman who drowns children that are out past their curfew. El Cadejo or the two black and white dogs that appear at night or the wee hours of the morning…they could either do good or bring evil upon us and no one could agree on which color meant what. And all these tales were meant to keep kids safe to not get hurt, but what would they do to us if they were even part of our journey? Would we have to choose a dog to follow? Battle La Sihuanaba? Or was it something far more dangerous? The zombie bodies of the conquistadors?

It was only until later I regretted even thinking these ideas. Because our first task was beginning.

A pretty woman with heavily sun kissed skin and a long black skirt, and a white shirt that hung loosely on her showing off her shoulders waved us down as the sun started to set. I had a bad feeling about this maybe she was a demon. Or maybe she was a guide. I looked over at Kelsey trying to convey my unease into a look, she nodded at once.

“And who might you be?” She asked.

“A traveler Senora.” The woman purred out, it was here that I had seen how long her oval shaped face was. My stomach dropped with dread. The woman simply smiled.

“Where to?” Ren asked as Terius was quiet odd, he was usually the friendlier one of us.

“Just beyond the forest, the fields are where I make my home.”

“We can take you there if you’d like.” Kelsey said finding her voice once more.

“Oh thank you so much!”

I instantly disliked this woman there was something that was just…off about her, she smelled like hay and a horse. Maybe she had worked with them? If that was the case then where was the horse? And while she was friendly with the guys she was coolly polite towards Kelsey and I. I didn’t like this, not one bit.

It was only a little while later when we discovered we couldn’t speak or talk or even think to the boys.

‘Kells? Kells! Can you hear me??’ I thought reaching out to her mind.

‘Yes. Yes but the boys…I can’t get their attention!’ She thought to me.

That was when we both looked at each other with eyes wide in horror. This was La Sihuanaba.

Notes: Hey guys sorry about the long haitus but I think I'll be writing new chapters every weekend as your girl now has a full time job that isn't in food service or at a hotel! The monsters mentioned above are actual myths of Costa Rica and I think I'll even add a nice throw back to both the first book and the final one. Two others might make an apperance and I can't wait to write it!

Chapter Text

Chapter 6: La Sihuananba

Kelsey

I had started to panic when I opened my mouth to speak but nothing had escaped my lips! Why was this chick doing this? Was she nothing more than a test or a trial to prove ourselves? This was seriously not fair! Or was it a test for Ren and Terius? If that was the case, then were we just to sit back and watch as this demon tempted them? I knew that Ren wasn’t going to be tempted by this horse faced woman. But what if…what if she wasn’t just using normal flirtations? What if she was seducing them like something straight out of the Odyssey like Circe had done? Did that mean our hope was with Terius? Dear gods. We might get out of this yet…or we might be doomed who knows. My stupid insecurities were flaring up once again, and I couldn’t stop thinking about the time that Ren had flaunted those women in front of me at the beach in Goa. Wait why was I even bringing up those old wounds when we were married? Aside from the fact that the insidious horse face monster, Ren had given me no reason to think he had side chicks.

UGH! I had to get out of my own head!

‘You’re welcome to climb on into mine you know. I’ll just have to be careful with…whoops that was not for you to see.’ Chess had spoken to me via her mind and if she’d stop staring at Terius’ ass and imagining him naked I’d be happier that she had gotten me out of my poisonous thoughts.

‘Yeah but it worked. You can thank me later…it’s later Kelsey.’

‘Thank you Chess.’ I mentally sighed.

We still marched on. Chess I could tell from her posture that she was freaking out but was being calm over this damned thing…how?! How the hell was she so cool and confident?! And how the hell could I become more like that?

‘I’m just that amazing plus I trust that Terius would be too busy humming Britney Spears to pay attention or something like that.’ She giggled.

Yeah, those two weirdos were made for each other. And I couldn’t even say it was nauseating, because that I was sure that Ren and I were pretty much the same. This whole ordeal was nervous making, and it wasn’t helping my anxiety as the horse faced lady was laughing, tossing and playing about with her black hair, and then she playfully touched Terius’ and Ren’s arms.

Oh HELL NO. Anger flashed through me like a forest fire quick to start and rapidly growing. But it wasn’t me who chomped at the bit, it was Chess.

‘Okay I’ve had enough of this fucking parallel to Inuyasha right now! Get your fucking hands off of our men you damned murderous my little pony cunt!’ She yelled.

We both heard the laughter that sounded straight out of a B-movie.

‘Ah, you don’t understand me do you? I am La Sihuanaba at your service.’

Yeesh, she even spoke like she was from a B-movie.

‘So?’ I challenged.

‘So I am here to test your bonds to your men my dears. But they are doing rather well.’ She giggled.

Wow she was as Chess said, a cunt. But the good news was that we were fast approaching her home at least. And I mentally urged our weird Costa Rican Dungeon and Dragons party to move faster. Human, cursed people, and monsters otherwise.

‘This is so not fair.’ Chess whined.

‘Life seldom is, it seems.’ I sighed mentally.

With one last heated glance at our boys she thanked them and parted ways. But what was odd was that she shook hands with the men and hugged and kissed both our cheeks. Then I remembered that it was a thing here. Both in Hispanic countries and in these worlds too it seemed.

“They did very well, and didn’t even respond at all to my advances like other men within my myth, you must keep them close my dears; for men such as yours are hard to come by.” She smiled at us once more, and wished us all luck upon our journey. As I looked back to the field once more I stopped and spotted the most beautiful black mare with a nod of her head she trotted off as I waved back to her. I understood that she was just a test, and also a reassurance. Without the group working together and the devotion of Terius and Ren, this wouldn’t exactly to be able to finish.

“Kells?” Are you coming?” Ren asked as he held out his hand for me to take. I clasped it, and laced our fingers together, happy that once again I was sure that his love, devotion, and affection was mine and mine alone.

“Yeah. Let’s get going. By the way I love you.”

“I love you more.” Ren said with an easy smile.

“Nope.”

“Yep.”

“Nope I love you more.”

“Bleh, okay lovers you both lurve each other now let’s get going!” Terius called out. Chess giggled at this.

“I love you most ardently Terius.”

“Ah good I was hoping your feelings hadn’t changed.” He replied, teasing her.

“Butchering of Jane Austen aside, anyone have any ideas on our next task?” I asked trying not to cringe at the misquoting of Austen.

“We have no idea! But that’s what makes this super fun right?” Chess said as she and Terius started to laugh.

“It’s like a night or day out on the force, you never know what you’ll have to deal with.” Terius said.

One task and test down, and I wasn’t sure how many more there would be. Hopefully it would be easy.
Yeah right, when was anything in life ever easy?

Chapter Text

Chess

Well that was a weird way to start our adventure. Maybe weird was the wrong adjective, I wasn’t exactly sure of what was “weird” anymore. I was a freaking cursed Selkie in the middle of Costa Rica battling monsters with a boyfriend who was a supernatural cop like something from a Sherrilyn Kenyan novel or Supernatural. I guessed I needed a new definition of the word. Because our “normal” wasn’t everyone else’s version of normal. I wondered what was Kelsey and Ren’s version of normal, and his brother’s where ever the hell that he and his literal goddess wife were. Were they experiencing more and weirder shit?

Maybe this wasn’t the best thing to think about at the moment, we all had to focus on the curse and beating it. And gods I wanted to hurt that bitchy little shaman. When I got my hands on him I would beat the living tar out of him. I wanted my curse lifted, and then I wanted my revenge.

“Chess?” Terius asked as he tapped me on the shoulder.

“Yes?” I asked turning towards him, I was hoping that he’d hug or give me a kiss, I really needed some form of physical affection to just keep me going and to comfort me. I realized that it wasn’t the best time, and it seemed that he read my mind and gave me a quick one on the lips.

“Thank you.”

“Any time.”

This time it was Ren bringing up the lead with his better sense of smell he was holding Kelsey’s hand then it was Terius while I was in the far back just so nothing could ambush us from behind unawares. Ren sniffed the air in a very catlike motion while I paused to smell it too. There was the usual scents: the flora and its sweet fragrance, the damp earth and the rain, but there was a new scent that I had only been in contact with once before on this trip: sulfur. It seemed that we were near a volcano.

Kelsey groaned.

“Not again.”

Ren smiled at her. “Well at least this time I don’t have to compete with Kishan. And I hope there isn’t a demon to slay.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t speak too soon there Ren.” Terius said.

I really hoped we wouldn’t have to do that either. I preferred my demons to be in video games, books, or well just fiction in general. I then heard barking on the wind well at least in sounded like one dog but with the echoes I wasn’t too sure.

“Hey Ren? Do you hear that too?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Can you smell them out? If it is a them and not just one?”

“Hm it’s just a one, the scent isn’t like anything I’ve smelled before.” He said as he sniffed the air.

“What do you mean by that?” Kelsey asked.

“I smell sulfur mixed with the usual scent of a dog.” Ren said.

Okay…

“Well let’s keep going now shall we?” Terius said cheerfully.

I wasn’t sure what to expect now, and now my heart was racing and I could my shirt sticking to my back as I started to sweat buckets. Was it getting hotter the further we were walking? Or was I just imagining things? I looked over to Kelesy and wondered how she was staying so well cool. Was she somehow related to a Targeyen? That was seriously enviable. I must have been lost in my thoughts because a pair of glowing orange eyes appeared. Ren sniffed the air like a cat.

“This is the dog we are to follow.”

“Are you sure?” Terius asked.

“I’m positive.” He replied.

“Only fools are positive.” Kelsey chimed in, I smiled getting the Fern Gully reference instantly.

The thing about Xolo dogs, they are pretty much hairless so when I reached down to pet it he or she felt really freaking weird without the soft fur and only skin. The dog rolled over and looked at us all expectantly. So we stopped to give it belly rubs before it quickly and lit up like a fire, its bones and eyes turning a bright orange that swayed like flames. Well that explained the burning smell. The dog sneezed and stood up pointing like it was a bird dog on a hunt.

“I guess he means that we go in that direction.” Kelsey stated.

“Follow the Orange Hellhound doesn’t make a catchy song as Follow the Yellow Brick Road it seems.” Ren said.

“Well if anyone could make a song from that it would be you.”

Huh so Ren was musical? That might help us somehow.
We walked further as the dog took the lead, his orange flames making him look like the canine version of Ghost Rider. Which if I was being honest was pretty awesome. But as we were hiking through this weird cavern of hell or the underworld or land of the dead whatever the hell it was called I grew bored. I know, how can you be bored when you’re hiking into the entrance of the fucking underworld? So I started to hum a few songs that I knew would always cheer me up. I imagined hearing the beat how it would sound, the guitar strings. It was kind of hilarious when the others joined in to singing Carlos Santana’s “Smooth”. And when that ended Terius put on another Santana song. Kelsey had chosen an older song of Enrique Iglesias’ in Spanish considering we were in Latin America it seemed very appropriate. She actually sang in decently for it not being her native language. Somehow we were able to have fun on this quest, it felt sort of like in the book version of The Lord Of the Rings.
Ren was actually going to show off his skills when the dog had sat down and looked over to the riverside. There was a boat where we could get in and cross over or…were we supposed to follow it?

“Hey doggo are we supposed to follow the river?” Terius asked.
The dog nodded, which was a very human gesture. Weird.

“Huh oookay? So it’s follow the river now.” Kelsey stated.

The dog barked in agreement. And with that we were on our way to either another challenge or maybe this would take us to our fountain.

And then everything changed with the fire nation's river zombies attack.

Chapter Text

Kelsey

Something had seemed really off about this damned boat for starters we weren’t even moving of our own accord. Instead, something else was moving us. I didn’t want to think of what could be below us in that river. Instead I started to hum along with the song I had chosen earlier ‘Ritmo Total” to comfort myself.

Sadly it didn’t work. Because of course it didn’t.

The river seemed to be gently urging us along like the horse that I had ridden when Ren, Kishan, and I were in the past with Anamika defeating demon Lokesh. I hoped that this wouldn’t be as difficult, but knowing these curses I knew that it just might be. I wished that I was back home where the most difficult thing was trying to adjust back to normal life and dating Ren. The river was extremely clear despite how deep it was: it made me think of the cold springs in central Florida that I had seen online. It was something of a comfort. Sort of, although there wasn’t any murkiness within the water I had noticed some odd moving shapes that weren’t moving like fish, or snakes, or animals in general…they were moving like…like humans. Was this like Dante’s Inferno in the fifth circle of hell? Only instead of a continuous never ending Fight Club for the constantly angry, it was endless…what the hell were they even doing down there? And more importantly what and who were they? What was their purpose even? Just to be punished like in Dante’s self-insert fanfiction? Were they guardians of a treasure? And most importantly would they leave us alone if we didn’t bother them?

That last hope slipped through my hands like the water of the river did. Because as soon as one humanoid figure had looked up at the boat and me they rose for the surface and I felt the grasp of a cold bony hand as it rose out of the water with a horrific death gurgle like something out of the Grudge. I screamed and struggled against the literal death grip that it had upon my arm.

“Get away! Let go of me now! Let go! Let GO!” I screamed at the body. It looked like a Conquistador from the helmet.

“No. Nunca.” It said as the others rose out and started chanting ‘Nunca’ which meant never. Ren, Terius, and Chess raised their weapons to prepare for battle, it was actually Chess who had saved me with her whip striking the arm first as I pulled off the hand; then striking the head off. Ren had bashed a few in the head rendering them useless. He swung the maquahuitl as if it were a baseball bat or a sword. He was utter poetry in motion, a truly devastating warrior angel. His hair was in his face as he swung the muscles of his arms moving fluidly under his bronze colored skin. Chess screamed as she cracked the whip again and I heard another splash of a zombie that had fallen. Right. This was not the time for the Female Gaze.
“¡Puedes follar de inmediato!” Ren shouted as he continued to deposed of the various zombies.

Terius and he were fighting back to back wildly swinging their clubs as they continued to advance upon us. Ren was fighting back hard and swearing in Spanish Terius was giggling at his insults and Chess and I could only make out a few words. Mostly the swears. I nocked a few arrows to my bow and screamed out “Headshot!” when I fired and hit the mark.

“You know I’m not really used to fighting zombies, who do I have to blame for this one?” Ren said as he finished off two.

“You mean for our situation now or the zombie genre? Because it’s a long mythology going back to the Epic of Gilgamesh where Ishtar says she’s gonna make a zombie outbreak.” Terius said.
“Muchas gracias oh walking mythology dictionary.” Ren drawled as he sliced a few more.

“Hey anyone want to watch Zombieland 2 and Shaun of the Dead when this is over?” Chess asked.

“NO!” We all said at once.

“You guys are lame.” She pouted.

This was definitely a much more violent repeat of the Cave of Sleep and Death. I was nocking another arrow and shooting anything that looked like a zombie, Chess was using her whip to take off their heads, Ren and Terius had their maylee weapons.

“THAT IS FUCKING IT! I’VE ABOUT HAD IT WITH THESE ZOMBIES!” Chess it seemed, had finally snapped as she dove into the water.

“Chess no! What the actual fuck are you…?!” Terius asked as we saw her. The waves thrashed at our boat as the zombies fell back into the water, their clawing grasping hands away from us.
She was transformed into a huge Rainbow boa. Her scales iridescent and shiny, and her body was long as she crushed the horde under her massive weight. She crushed so many bodies that we all heard the bones breaking. Finally, she was finished. She pulled her blonde hair back as she rose to the surface and out of the water looking like a victorious, avenging goddess, confident in her own body and power, and raining down death to those who would harm us.

“Well, that’s something you don’t see often. Thank you Chess.” Ren said as he shook her hand. Chess had pulled us all into a hug instead.

“Don’t shake my hand, we’re pretty much past that seeing as I saved all of your asses. You’re welcome by the way.” She said rather smugly. We all had sat back down, exhausted from our fight but wanting to get the hell out of there if there were more.

“You know I was wondering when you were going to remember that you had your curse upgraded.” I teased her.

“Shut up and let’s focus on getting the hell out of here. Okay Kells?” She giggled and slung her wet hair towards me.

“Yeah okay there Captain Barbie.”

Finally we reached a small looking village, it was far enough away from those stupid zombie conquistadors that I finally felt safe enough to relax there. But as soon as the light had faded from the day I felt my hair stand up. There was something that just had felt so wrong about this place. But, maybe I was just being paranoid, it wasn’t the first time that I had over reacted to something. We had found a place to sleep easily and although the village was deserted it was oddly comfortable. Until we had fallen asleep. I was the first one to wake everyone else up when I heard it. The heavy, heartbroken sobbing of a woman. Ren had gone back to sleep cuddling beside me. Terius was snuggling into Chess, she however was awake and watching me. And that was when I felt it, that irrational need to go down to the river once more, the lady’s sobs were still there and I rose to my feet saying utterly nothing as I slowly walked out ignoring Chess’ questions. I walked like a sleepwalker I had no control over myself and for the third time on this quest I was scared. My fear was there yes, but my body refused to react to stop walking to turn away from this back to the safety of the house and Ren’s arms.

And then I saw her. La Llarona her hair was long and black that hung down to her waist. Her skin was paler than I had thought but knowing her legend she was once a wealthy woman, and those who were wealthy were paler than others. she beckoned me forward and I listened, my toes feeling the mud and the cool river water as I waded in while my mind screamed at me. And that was when she had me.

“Poor little orphan girl. Come I can help you with your misery. You have lost your parents, I have lost my children.”

’Yeah you’ll help with my misery alright by putting me out of it.’ I was amazed at myself for still being sarcastic while I was about to die. By a freaking ghost no less. She was shockingly strong as I fought her but it was no use. I was being held under her hands pressed upon my chest as I screamed. I was going to die because I was so god damned stupid and-

She released her hold on me. And I felt someone’s arms around me picking me up, I was on the rocky river bank once more.

“Kells? Can you breathe?!” Chess. She saved me. Her hands pressed upon my chest as if to perform CPR.

I coughed and spewed out the water.

“Mmhmm.”

“Where’s La Larona?” I asked between coughs. Chess just smiled.

“I killed her again. She’ll have her second death thanks to my venom. Yeah I know, how freaking OP can you get? But please, don’t you dare do that again Kells. You think I’d be able to live with myself if I was the reason you got killed? Ren would murder me!” She said as she pulled me into a tight hug.

“I promise. No more going off by myself.” I swore as we headed back to sleep again and wait for what the last monster might be before getting that water from that stupid fountain.

Notes: Nunca means never and Puesdes follar de inmendiato means you can fuck off in Spanish. I also wanted to focus on fighting and friendship building. Plus I really wanted Kelsey to be saved by a woman instead of Ren all the time.

Chapter Text

Chess

I wondered which of us had the bigger hero complex, Ren for rushing in to save Kelsey like he had in their stories, Terius because he was a supernatural copper and needed to have those hero moments, or me who had saved Kells at least twice. Come to think of it, my hero complex was only just beginning: I was not usually the heroic type. And that was when I had realized something: I had to start being heroic, if not one of us would’ve died or maybe they could die. I wasn’t exactly the person on the front lines, or good at fighting, I knew how to throw punches, I knew how to defend myself, but that was the extent of my knowledge. So this journey or quest was a literal crash course.

It made me feel…humbled. But my newfound powers were helping us in this quest. And I wanted to be as useful as I could be. Terius was cheerful as ever, and I loved him for being my personal sunshine.
Kelsey had told the boys what had happened in the morning.

“So you killed her? How the hell is that even possible?” Ren asked. I just shrugged.

“Hell, I don’t know, it seems like she was just a guardian to lure us off our path? But we can talk about this later.”

“We should all be more careful from now on. At least one person keeps watch, and we stay together.” Terius said, being bossy and making intense eye contact at me, which was actually kind of sexy.
Packing up and gathering breakfast didn’t take too long and we were soon on the road again. Ren was being bossy and leading the way again. But I supposed he did have the easier way to scent things plus he didn’t have to stick out his tongue to scent anything weird. My skin was still shiny and iridescent, my pupils were rounded and not slits. But god I was exhausted and lazy lately, I missed my coffee badly. Maybe I was having withdrawals like an addict would…

Oh right, caffeine is a drug.

“So I never thanked you for saving my wife.” Ren said.

“Mmhmm.” I muttered really missing caffeine lately.

“Thank you Bishop.” Ren said flashing a friendly smile, and just like that, I wanted to be his friend. Allowed into his inner circle, if he’d let me.

“So does this mean we’re even now? And besties?”

“We were friends from the moment I met you. And you don’t owe us anything; but you could bend the knee and swear fealty if you’d like.” He said with a snicker.

“Fuck you.” I said laughing.

Terius smiled glad that our group was so easy to be around.

“So what was your curse like Khajiit?” I asked with a playful punch to his arm.

“Painful. But it was something I just…got used to it feels like everything is burning and breaking and growing. It sucked not being able to talk and communicate with others, I hated my brother for the longest time; knowing that it wasn’t his fault but Lokesh’s but I blamed Kishan which was…easier. Very wrong but easier.”

I nodded along with his story, it was easier to play the blame game rather than admit the truth. I was sure that his baby brother had blamed himself too.

“Also how did you know I play as one in Skyrim?”

“Lucky guess.”

“Alright besties, let’s get our asses in gear and go!” Terius shouted.

“There’s just one issue my dude.” Kelsey said.

“And what the heck is that?”

“Do we even know where to go?”

“Umm…” Ren said as he raked a hand through his hair.
___________
We ended up following my lead for once, something I was all too happy about as I opened my mouth to pick up anything….anything at all.

And then I smelled it, cold clear water and damp earth. And then I did the stupidest thing ever…

I ran on ahead of everyone, my arms pumping at my sides, my stride lengthened, and my breathing came out fast and short. Nothing mattered now, not the shouts of my friends not the mud threatening to suck me out of my shoes…

All I needed was to find that fucking fountain. To lift my curse, to get this shit done…

I was so fucking close!

Only to be blocked by a huge slim dragon with feathers a shining, glittering and gleaming lovely green and yellow. His head was covered in a mane of red, yellow, and blue feathers shaking his head and his lion like face was pulled back into a snarl. And all I could think of was…was..

“It’s the feathers of a killer.”

Fuck.
Terius was the first to catch up to me, as he nearly slammed into the feathery dragon.

"Wait wait I got one! How he shines, glitters, and gleams." Terius said as he quoted a favorite song of mine.