Memories Lost

[GamingLord]

*Once everyone had settled in, along with some hot chocolate and coffee, Jacob began*

Jacob: "Well, there are the obvious pros to finally discovering a way to break GL's curse... Other than him dying, of course."

*The necromancer removed a book from knapsack he wore, leafing carefully through his pages until he came across several highlighted sections*

Jacob: "The method of removing the curse however, is... not easy. Basically, Galantros himself will need to slay the niearcim mage responsible for the curse, during the month it was cast. There are some magical safeguards in place in case the mage dies by the hand of anyone else, so that the curse won't so easily be broken. It must be GL's hand. This is the difficult part."

*GL stayed silent... he would have to kill? Sure, he had destroyed demons before.. but, that was different, wasn't it? They were attacking him and the people he cared about, and they certainly weren't the intelligent, converted kind that Jacob had dealt with.*

Jacob: "The rest is easy, however, and already taken care of. We've located the mage, thanks to some information your father gave to me that were in your mother's journals. Her name is Milaku, and she's taking part in a ceremony that some niearcim "celebrate". Some believe it renews and strengthens their bonds with Jiluzix, and it takes place on the outskirts of their city, Ni'Jitogrimiz. I'll spare you the details, it's not pleasent. She'll need to be killed with a weapon crafted by the flesh and bone of an Abomination demon, since part of an Abomination had been used in the curse. Again, this is something Galantros will need to do. Thankfully, Dieamos is an Abomination himself, and is willing to let you.... "remove a part of his essence", as he puts it. You'll basically be taking a sharp instrument, and slicing off part of his tail or finger. He hasn't decided what part yet, himself..."

*There was a moment of silence as he let the now somber reaper absorb all this information...*

Jacob: "There is one other thing... I've done more research into your curse, and find some bothersome information. When you pass on to the afterlife, your curse will be lifted... but it will be passed on to the head of your offspring. If you bear no children, the curse will find its way to a family member, and somehow failing that, one of the people you care about. It would then be their burden to remove the curse."

*GL just rubbed the side of his head in thought. Just before Jacob gave him that bit of information, he was going to refuse. He was going to live with the curse until the day he died, especially with how dangerous it was. Part of it was due to the still lingering small amount of guilt on how he threw Black aside for what he had thought to be his mother during that on incident. Now, he knew the curse would simply find another. Someone from his family, or his friends... He wasn't so sure about refusing now.*

Jacob: "The decision is yours to make, Galantros. Trust me, I know it's not an easy one..."  

[GamingLord]

Jacob: "No, it wouldn't fade at all through as it passed on. And the realm's location isn't known... but, with some effort and help with spirits, I can find it and open a stable gateway there for a short while. It takes a couple hours, and is difficult, but it can be done..."

*GL just stared at the table in front of him, his hands clutching tightly at the arms of his chair for a moment*

GL: "The curse... if I don't remove it... I mean, how will it affect the new victim? Will they just forget about me?"

Jacob: "It's.. worse than that, I'm afraid. They'd not only forget a great deal about you, but the curse would randomly select somebody they cared about and remove memories about them... Enough to be torture. I'll say this about those mages, their curses are.... aggravatingly detailed."

*Jacob subconciously touched the ruined half of his face after saying that, before taking a sip of his coffee. GL gave a heavy sigh, and a long moment passed before he spoke again*

GL: "I'll do it."  

[GamingLord]

*Dieamos, not knowing how else to react, simply waved at Sephiroth before he jogged inside*

- - - - -

Jacob: "He would... which is why I would be going with GL, so we would have a quick escape. As for being a trap... It's possible. Just going to that realm is a risk in itself. GL, are you sure you want to do this?"

GL: "Yeah... Hell, if I don't... My dad could get the damned thing, or my cousin... or one of you guys. I don't want any of you having to go through what I am, with forgetting somebody you care about."

*It more than likely didn't pass without notice that GL didn't refer to them forgetting him at all*  

[GamingLord]

Jacob: "A minimal amount... Normally, I go by myself, but that's when I'm sneaking around trying to steal information from their archives. For this, things may get a little... troublesome, since we're actually trying to kill a mage."

*Jacob sighed, and scratched the back of his neck. After finishing his coffee, he continued.*

Jacob: "The bad side is, we can't have the military involved really. They wouldn't allow a civillian, especially one that's related to someone on the High Council, to be purposely placed in a dangerous situation. They would insist on finding another way to break the curse, and I can't really blame them. However, Niearcim curses are.... rather complex and detailed. Other than dying, there is no way Galantros can be rid of the curse, and even then it passes on."

"Xylanthos spoke with me, and told me a couple of angels would volunteer. Even for them, this is a massive risk. Their souls could be trapped there... I'm still trying to figure out how in the hell he does it, but... Jiluzix has a method of trapping souls. Stealing them away from the "soul stream" that allows Xylanthos and Tiamos to filter them... As far as I can tell, he can only do it in his realm... Still..."

*Jacob glanced at GL once more, as if he were about to ask again, if he were ABSOLUTELY sure...*

GL:"... Does my father know about this? Who else besides us?"

Jacob: "Yes. Alzamus said he can't stop you from doing what you feel you need to do... although he wants you to be careful. Aside from him, your cousin, and the angels... Nobody else knows."  

[GamingLord]

Jacob: "Jiluzix has a means to even capture angel souls, though with greater effort. If only I could get a closer look at one of those holding sacs, I'd be able to figure out more of how it works... Anyway, preperation-wise... No, there's not really anything you can do."

GL: ".... I.... I don't want to involve you guys more than we have already..."  

[GamingLord]

Jacob: "No, unfortunately. I've spent the past several thousand years of my immortality learning spells involving communicating and working together with the dead, along with a few others.... But nothing such as that. We only have a number of days left... GL, would you like to... well, remove part of Dieamos to craft your weaponry now?"

GL: "Uhm, yeah, I guess so."

*He got up to walk outside, Jacob following. Dieamos glanced down at the two when they stepped out the door, while the necromancer handed the reaper a machete that had been sheathed in his belt.*

Dieamos: "The tip of my tail, if you don't mind. I think that would be best."

GL: "Okay... and, thanks..."

*The massive appendage carefully moved in front of GL. He stared at it, uncertain, the blade shaking a little in his hand*

GL: "Don't you need... I don't know, painkillers or something?"

Dieamos: "I have suffered far worse. This will be much like a small scrape, insignificant to me. Cut whenever you are ready."

*As GL sawed his way through Dieamos' tail tip, he could tell the abomination had been lying... it did seem to hurt him a fair amount. The large demon simply shook his head, and gave the reaper a stare that said "keep going". Eventually, the sliced part fell to the ground, oozing black ichor and flopped around a little. Hesitantly, he picked it up and handed it over to Jacob*