NT veRse - Curses 3 - Origin (Patreon)

“What's going on!? We had to drag you off of Dinae.” Hannah scolded Paul. Though she was angry that he had assaulted their friend, what she was truly upset about was...
“I thought you and I-”

“You tell me.” He retorted sharply. Paul seemed uncharacteristically on edge. He was bent over sweating and his hands were shaking as he clasped them together in front of his mouth. He was jittery.

“Aren't you the one that did this to me?”

“Well-”

“Take responsibility.” He stood up, grabbed her and spun her onto the bed with a surprising amount of strength. It was only surprising because she had never really considered how strong Paul looked. He climbed over her and hooked his arm under one leg. He slid a hand under her skirt to confirm she was not wearing underwear.

“Paul!”

“What's the problem?” He sighed.
“You want me to do these things with just you, right? That's what you actually mean.”

“They're in the other room still.”

“So what?” He drew out his cock and entered her. Her eyes rolled back as he thrust inside, then pulled back. As he built a rhythm Paul leaned down and kissed her.
“I feel like I'm going crazy. All I want is this. Over and over. Whether its with you or...” He stopped and shook his head.
“It doesn't matter. Point is, you made me like this.”

Hannah gave in to the moment and stopped trying to reason with Paul as he made love to her. She enjoyed it quite a bit as well so there was no issue in her mind. The only problem was in situations such as the first night where he would go over and over and over with her. She would have no time to rest or study what the problem is. All she could do is ponder the situation in the few minutes between sessions of mad fucking. It was enough that, as he finished inside of her, she could try and reason with him by offering an explanation and to a lesser degree, an excuse.

“It wasn't me!”

He stared at her in disbelief. “It was obviously you.”

“Well...” She gulped.
“Indirectly it was me but specifically it was something else.”

He held back from beginning to ravish her again. Instead he idly kneaded her breasts and rolled his thumbs over her nipples as she spoke. It made it hard for her, but not impossible.
“Th-there are already a maximum number of curses on your person!”

He stopped. “I'm sorry?”

“I cast a single curse on you to do something... Relatively mundane. What happened was instead something far more drastic. They don't just increase or decrease in power randomly. There are set values and rules. That means that when I cast my curse on you, the first curse that was cast on you fell off because there was no more room.”

He cringed. “Why am I going to get like this from another curse falling off, unless it really is your curses doing... Aren't you just downplaying it, Hannah? Be honest with me.” Paul begged while still laying over her.

“I am! I have a theory.” She waited to see if he would let her finish. When he did nothing to stop her she continued.
“I believe that the curse that fell off was one that suppressed any and all sexual urges.” He looked stunned as she said that.
“If someone is cursed like that it probably wouldn't just eliminate urges. I imagine it would bottle them up to a degree. That means that when my curse knocked that curse off. Once it fell off all the urges and feelings you were denied came out. They're still coming out. That means that this part will really just pass if we ride it out.”

Paul screamed and tossed a pillow at the wall. “Dammit!”

“P-paul I'm sorry! It was innocent, I swear... I- I admit my curse was bad but it was really just something that I thought would let you see me as a woman.”

He rolled off of her. “No. I understand you. Because what else could you do?” He mumbled.
“I was a blank for the longest time. I couldn't see you as a woman and I never wanted for anything like that and I didn't even know or care. I was demeaned and made fun of for it but I never understood what everyone meant. Why I was being laughed at. The things that they were feeling surely couldn't be too different from mine, right?” He turned his head and stared at her with a sad look.
“But they were... Hannah, I didn't know it could feel like this. It's rough on me but it also feels good... It feels really good and I don't just mean the sex. Being around you feels warm and I know what it means to like someone now. I understand it.” He inhaled shakily.
“I'm mad because some bastard denied me that for so long... You said there were other things I'm missing as well? I don't even know all the ways in which I wasn't allowed to live like a Human.” He rolled fully to face Hannah on the bed. She blushed, his attractive face filling her view. His emerald eyes stared into hers.

“I don't wanna be a blank anymore. Make me a person, Hanna. You can remove these curses, right?”

She shook her head. “No... What I was able to do is knock one off through a loophole. I don't have the power to remove curses. Most people do not. That's the point.”

“So knock them off again.”

“That involves casting more curses on you. They aren't all as innocuous as the one I used, Paul. The reason this isn't a great or common solution is that having the maximum number on you to begin with is already extremely rare. If we have to replace most of your curses it's not going to be all easy ones. There's going to be give and take.”

“Who's got the power to remove curses...”

“H-High Priests serving beneath the Pope may have the ability.”

“Ah...” Paul smiled weakly. Without even mentioning the Pope, High Priests who exist at most as one per Kingdom within Trysk may as well be as difficult to meet as the King. He clenched his fist.
“How is it that only a High Priest or the Pope can undo something that even you can place on me?”

“Curses are partially a magic, but also are a tactful alteration of the Core itself. The reason they can't be reversed completely through magic is because the part that the Curse 'broke' will not be fixed even if the magic of the curse is removed. As an example, it would be like scorching a limb with a fireball. If you think of the Fireball as a 'curse' that is cast and the scorched limb as the effect, Magic could remove the fire if it was still there but the limb would need to be healed.”

“Isn't knocking a curse off with another curse too easy, then?”

She shook her head. “To begin with, a Core can't be altered beyond it's break point. It's a principle that doesn't change. It's a quirk of the strange properties that give us life that allows this to happen... It's the same with enchanting, by the way. The opposite to cursing. If a Core is enchanted beyond it's limit the risk of the core crumbling is real, but commonly one enchant or more can just fall off. It's a big worry within the practice.”

“What about enchanting? If you enchant me instead of curse me will a curse fall off?”

Hannah felt like she was giving a lecture to a year one student. She smiled softly. “Actually... Curses apply on a different level to Enchants, but close enough that the two interract. Funnily enough, a Curse creates room for more Enchanting within a Core and... The reverse is also true.”

He blinked. “So if you tried to use enchanting you wouldn't even be able to knock the Curses off using the method of applying more?”

“The capacity for more curses would increase. It's not infinite, obviously. It's why Cursed objects can typically be much stronger than normal. It's a cost.”

Paul swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up. He hid his face in his hands. “Why would someone do this to me, Hannah?”

She remembered his eyes that glimmered like jewels. “I... Have some thoughts about that but we should try helping you first. I've got a list of innocuous curses that can maybe knock off some of the others affecting you.”

“How will we know when we're done?”

She smiled at him sweetly. “We have the perfect marker. Since I applied a curse at the start that will cause you to show interest in me, the moment y-you no longer have feelings for me we will know that we are done.” There was a measured amount of sadness in her tone, but her voice lifted as he lunged over and hugged her tightly.

“That's going to be hard.”

“W-why?”

“Because I like you, Hannah. That's not gonna change.”

“I see.” She chose to quietly disbelieve him.

'He doesn”t see it now, but he”s blinded by urges and my own curse is also shaping those towards me... When my curse goes and the after effects dissipate Paul will...' She took a deep breath and hugged him back.
“I'm glad.” She let him hold her for a full minute before she asked.
“Can we start?”

“Right! I'll... I'll try to control myself while you work.” Paul held his hands together tightly and stared at her intensely.

Hannah blushed. 'He looks at me like I”m a piece of meat.' A warped smile crossed her lips.

'That”s Kind of great.' She shook it off.
“W-we're going to start small. The idea is, since there's very few 'good' curses, that we are going to try to cheat.”

“Cheating?”

“It's like when Leam claims that Dinae wont notice him because he's just 'too nice.'”

“Ah!” Paul smiled.
“So we're lying.”

“Manipulating... We select curses that wont be too bad on you, and use those to knock off the curses that were placed.”

“Perfect. Go ahead, I trust you Hannah.”

“The- The side effects may be strange since I have no idea what is placed on you.”

“Just do it. We'll deal with it after.”

Hannah gathered one of the Curses she had looked into. She put together the ingredients and had Paul stand still so she could apply it by marking the skin on his lower back. It was not a permanent mark. The Mark was not the curse. As soon as she did it Paul recoiled.

“Ah!” He yelped.
“My body.... It's on fire.”

“I'm sorry, Paul!” She panicked.
“I thought this was less drastic, but... I suppose it wouldn't just change you in a flash.”

Paul began to sweat profusely. His muscles, each and every one of them, felt like they were cramping at once. Not just his muscles but his bones felt like they were shifting. Paul tried to maintain composure but soon after it began he passed out. When he awoke he stared down at his body. For all the pain he felt the changes were not too noticeable. His muscles were weaker. His body was more lithe but he was still very noticeably male.

Hannah was at his side when he awoke, rubbing his sore muscles. “The curse I used makes your body less broad and reduces the quality of your muscles. I chose it because it does not actually keep you from building back up your physique. This is a popular curse because for some it would not be considered bad.”

“I see...” He clenched his fist. His hand was smaller but he did not feel extremely weak.

“The problem... Is the side effects.”

“I'm sorry?” Paul watched as she held a mirror up to his face. He did not see it at first, but then he turned his cheek and noticed green scales along his jawline running up from the side of his neck. His ears were pointed and had brilliant scales running over the top right to the point. It struck him as being similar to an Elf.
“Is this the curse?”

“N-no, it's the side effect.” Hannah uttered nervously.

“Why do you look so worried?”

“P-paul! You're a Dragonkin!” He turned his face back and forth in front of the mirror, admiring the pattern and the color. His eyes seemed brighter as well, and his pupils seemed more like slits than the circles they were before.

“What's that mean?”

Hannah groaned. “It means you're related to a Dragon, Paul!”

“Ah.” He remained calm, not sure what to think about whatever was just said.

“I look good, thought, don't I?” Hannah blushed deeply. He looked very, very good. Not only was he built more like a noble with his new build, his appearance seemed to shine and stand out, unlike before. His blonde hair was softer and coupled with the scales and the ears he had a fae look about him. It was enchanting. Paul grinned, looking over his new form.
“This can't even be called a curse, huh?”

“That was the idea...”

“Okay.” He said eagerly.
“What's next? If we keep going like this it wont be hard at all. Keep casting curses on me, Han.”

“You're sounding like an addict.” She joked.

“How can I not be addicted when I improve each time you do it?”

“We'll see. This method isn't easy precisely because there aren't as many easy curses. This is going to get harder the further we go.”

“What's next?” He grinned.

“That's just it... It's not an easy answer. Would you rather be weaker than you are now or lose skills that you have now?” Hannah gulped.
“I-I think I know where this is going Paul and I don't think you'll miss any of the skills you've gained here. Not with what might be waiting for you at the end of this. But that means you wont be able to work or shepherd or fix things like you used to.”

He nodded. “Go ahead. I trust your judgment.”

“We can do that with so many Curses. It may complete the task. If that's the way we want to do it then I need some time to prepare. For now, Paul, you'll have to hide your appearance.”

“Why?”

“We don't know who did this to you. Therefore we don't know who's watching.”

He grew serious as she said that. “True. Alright. I'll stay here. But...” He paused.

“What?”

“If I'm going to stay cooped up in here I need you, Hannah...”

“That goes without saying!” She uttered in a flustered tone. Her face had become bright red.

'I-I need to try and get it exactly right. So that the curse I placed wont fall off.' She felt guilty having that thought.

-

“Ready, Leam?” Hannah asked. She was antsy, because she did not have much time away from her studying to do such a thing for her friend. But, the Curse was already prepared and if she had the materials there was no need to hold back.

“Ready.” Leam adopted a determined look as he took the glass.
“This will- will make me more brave in regards to Dinae?”

“It''ll make your drive stronger. The rest is up to you. If you're still a coward after this there's nothing else I can do for you.”

Leam cringed. “Got it.” He knocked back the solution.
“It's not gonna be as drastic as it was with Paul, huh?”

“It's not going to be weak, either. Just be prepared, okay? I have to get back to Paul.”

Leam walked outside where Dinae was waiting. “How are they? I was so shocked when that guy cornered me!” She was joking, but Leam could tell that she was a little aroused. In annoyed him. Even Paul, the blank, was passively picking up his girl. He blinked.

'When did I start thinking like that?' He looked at the Beastfolk and felt a sudden urge.
“Dinae...”

“Yeah, Leam?”

“Sorry I didn't do something like that with you sooner.”

“Oh?” She looked at him with wide eyes, her tail and ears stood up, like she did not quite register his words. Leam closed the distance and kissed her. It was a long kiss, but he did not include much tongue. It was more just a statement, rather than an expression of carnality. Dinae twitched, her tail wagging gently. As he separated she looked stunned.
“O-ooh!”

Leam blushed. “Fuck... I can't believe I- I did that. I wasn't thinking I-”

Dinae grinned widely and grabbed him by the collar. “Lets go!” She shouted.

“Huh?”

“We gotta go back to my place, now!” Dinae announced.

“What!?” She dragged him off on his heels up the road.