Petrification

Stranger than an illusion, more persistent than cockroaches, they shocked the Witch and the Succubus into petrification. The duo thought they had left the trio behind on the other side of the map was partaking breakfast at the inn’s lobby.

“Hey, move it, you’re not the only customers here,” said a man behind the Succubus.

The Witch and the Succubus moved down the stairs reluctantly.

The Scholar gave over and invited them to the table. “Please, come join us,” he said.

“My Lady, let’s just ignore them and go,” the Succubus said.

“No, let’s have a talk with them instead.” The Witch was tired of running away.

The Succubus pulled out a chair farthest from the Paladin for the Witch, then sat next to her.

“How did you even find us here?” the Succubus asked with a sour expression. She crossed her arms and legs.

The Witch sat rigid at the table. She refused the plate of seasoned sausage, eggs, and buns in front of her. Even the water was hard to swallow.

“I ate already.” The Witch pushed the plate to the center of the table.

The Succubus flat-out ignored the food in front of her.

The Paladin shrugged and took the food from their uneaten plates.

The Fleur explained. “When we realized that we couldn’t find you anymore, we thought bizarre. When we checked the teleportation center, they said you used their services.”

“But we took the only spot sold that day. There shouldn’t be any more spots available. You couldn’t have arrived today either because it’s too early for the teleportation center to be opened,” the Succubus said.

“That’s correct.” the Scholar grinned. “We arrived yesterday.”

“Paladin’s privilege,” the Paladin said. “When I asked if they could also teleport us to your location, they didn’t ask any questions and helped us out.”

The Witch wanted the curse at the Paladin internally, but she didn’t even have the mental capacity to do it. She was just so drained.

“Why don’t we all just travel together?” the Scholar said. “I’m on a quest to find new and interesting knowledge. The Fleur is looking for new species of plants. The Paladin insists on protecting you on your journey. The more the merrier, don’t you think?”

The Succubus looked at the Scholar with open disgust. “Why can’t you take no for an answer, huh? Men who don’t know when to give up are unappealing.”

“Spoken like a true… man?” the Scholar joked.

“You can look for new and interesting knowledge on your own journey,” the Witch said to the Scholar. “And you can go with the Scholar for that,” she said to the Fleur.

The Witch turned to the Paladin with a frown. “As for you,” the Witch said, “The place I’m going to is nearby. I won’t need your protection because I have a very capable protector.”

The Witch tilted her head to the Succubus. The Succubus gave the Paladin a fake smile, letting him know he could scram.

“More importantly,” the Witch continued, and this time, her expression turned more somber, “Your Holy Power puts me in more danger.”

The Witch took off the ring that the Succubus had given her and reached her hand towards the Paladin.

“My Lady!” the Succubus shot out her hand and grabbed the Witch’s arm, preventing the harm the demon knew was about to come.

“Nothing works better than showing, don’t you think?” the Witch said.

“It’s dangerous,” the Succubus protested.

“I’ll be fine as long as you do something about it afterward,” the Witch said.

Reluctantly, the Succubus let go. “I’m happy you have so much faith in me, but it’s still terrible.”

With her hand free, the Witch touched the Paladin’s arm. It was only a slight touch, but the effect was evident. From the tips of her fingers, the Witch’s nails started to crumble.

The Witch’s condition had worsened. More of her nail fell off than last time. However, thankfully, the deterioration stopped before it reached her flesh.

All around the table came surprised gasps and widened eyes.

“So you see,” the Witch said, looking at the Paladin’s shocked face, “You can kill me with your presence alone.”

The Succubus swiftly and gently took hold of the Witch’s hand like it was a precious relic. Demonic energy poured into the Witch’s tingling fingers, washing away any remnants of Holy Power. When the Succubus let go, the Witch’s nail had grown back to its original length.

“How could this be?” the Paladin said. “It didn’t used to be like this.” The Paladin was quiet, almost as if he was talking to himself.

The Witch wasn’t interested in answering him and tilted her head away from him. She returned her ring to her finger. “Now you see why we need to keep our distance?”

The Paladin looked torn, clenching his fist. Reluctantly, he answered, “Yes.”

“What’s the ring for?” the Scholar asked, eyeing the ring that the Witch just put on.

“Protection,” the Witch answered tersely.

Without warning, the Scholar grabbed the Witch’s hand and put it against the Paladin again. This time, no harm came to the Witch.

“See, no need to be so gloomy,” the Scholar said. “She’s safe as long as she has that ring on.”

The Paladin’s expression was confused, but he brightened up considerably.

The Witch retracted her hand angrily. “So what? No means no.”

“Women must hate you a lot,” the Succubus said to the Scholar.

“Not really?” the Scholar replied. “Besides, I love myself the most. Why should I care if women hate me?” He gave the demon a pompous look.

“Ugh, I can’t stand guys like you,” the Succubus said, rising from the table.

The Witch also stood up. “We have business to attend. Let’s not meet again.”

In his moment of haste and panic to hold back the Witch, the Paladin almost grabbed her hand. He controlled himself at the last minute and stopped.

“You’ve changed,” the Paladin said. “You didn’t used to be like this.”

“You mean I used to be kinder?” The Witch shook her head and sighed. “That wasn’t kindness. I was on retainer to help the citizens. I was just doing my job.”

The Paladin shook his head. “No, it’s not just that. You always helped us, and we were grateful. But you always had this coldness to you like you don’t care about anything in the world. It was almost as if you weren’t even human sometimes. But now, it almost feels like you’ve regained some humanness in your expressions and feelings.”

The Succubus raised an eyebrow at the Paladin as if what he said was ridiculous. The Witch just shrugged.

The two left the inn, leaving the trio behind yet again. As futile as it was for the Witch and the Succubus to outrun their pursuers, the trio wasn’t going to give up.