The Cursed and the Cure

The sun’s rays penetrated the stained glass ceiling, causing a kaleidoscope of colors to reflect on the concrete halls. The rays couldn’t, however, reach deeper into the great hall, where Lief lay motionless in the midst of a still body of water.

Lief kept his eyes shut, savoring the moment.

Darkness. Silence. And the only thing to feel was the warmth of the red water soaking his skin. In this moment, it was just Lief and the waters. In this moment, Lief was one with the hearts.

The sound of dripping water broke the silence.

Lief opened his eyes to a flash of blinding light. He winced.

Then different voices—the low voice of a man, the raspy voice of another, the high-pitched tone of a child, the sweet voice of a woman, the breathy voice of an elder, and many more Lief could no longer identify—spoke in unison, “Remember…The curse will only be lifted once you drink the one true love potion, brewed by the hands of the blood of the witch. That one true love potion that can only be created perfectly only once.”

***

“Human!” a shrill voice suddenly screamed, breaking Lief’s trance.

The voices were gone, and Lief was back in pitch darkness. Lief heard the door creak open and slam closed with a bang. Rushing into the hall was Cheddar, carrying a lit wooden torch in his mouth. Cheddar then dropped the torch onto the stone fireplace near the door. The firewood quickly caught ablaze, illuminating the dark halls almost instantly.

“Human!” Cheddar’s white whiskers flared up as he spoke with bated breath.

“Cheddar,” Lief said, annoyed, “I’ve only been here for 15 minutes.”

“I had to check if you’re still alive,” Cheddar responded. “You could have drowned.”

Lief shot Cheddar a sharp look before shifting his body to stand. The shallow waters only reached up to his waist. “Drowning where exactly?” Lief sighed. They’ve had this same conversation many times. He sometimes wondered if they were repeating the same dialogue and scenario already out of habit.

“It’s still a possibility,” Cheddar said, his paw fishing for something from his bushy fur. “By the way, did something happen? You…” He pulled out a small strip of cheese from his fur. “You looked quite shaken when you returned. Did shom—” He started munching on the cheese. “shom—thing go wrong with the story?”

“Not really the story but—”

Cheddar stuffed the remaining cheese in his mouth. “But?”

“My heart beat.”

Cheddar looked at him incredulously while he licked his paws.

“It was only for a couple of seconds,” Lief continued, “but my heart beat.”

“Human, did exhausting hearts exhaust your brain, too?”

“I’m serious.”

“You know that’s impossible.”

“But it happened. I was…” Lief paused, trying to recall the earlier encounter with Aine. “I was given something to drink.”

Cheddar stopped licking his paws. “You can’t be thinking it’s that, are you?”

“Can’t it be a possibility?

“How is it even possible?”

“Why not?”

Cheddar shook his head, but Lief ignored him.

“What drink did she give me?” Lief said. “I’ll have to find out.”

Cheddar sighed, and from his fur, he took out another small slice of cheese.

“I will find out,” Lief said, and Cheddar just stared at him while munching on his cheese.