NOVEL NEXT Vol 3, Ch 7. Curses
Besides the spider-wolves, there were thousands of normal spiders. Some were hunters, like tarantulas and wolf spiders, and some orb weavers or widows, both black and brown, with webs that spanned openings and lurked in corners. The area around the gate, including several buildings on both sides were infested with them.
Bonny found a relatively clear area on the wall above the gate and sat in meditation, trying not to think about creepy legs and twitching pedipalps and all the staring eyes … “Fuck! Miu, I need you!”
The cat girl scampered up the wall and sat beside Bonny. “What, nya?”
“Hold me.” Bonny leaned over on Miu and shivered at the memory of the first spider she had speared, at how it’s legs had scrabbled at the shaft, trying to pull itself down toward her. She added in a whisper, “protect me.”
“They’re dead, nya. I love you.” Miu wrapped her arms around Bonny and turned, shifting her legs, so that they faced each other. She pulled Bonny into a tight hug, guiding the bunny’s head to her shoulder. After a moment, she added, “Eloisss won’t like this.”
“I don’t care right now.” Bonny shivered again and blasted her cleansing aura, scouring both of them and the ground around them of blood and gore. The monstrous spider things had bled - like mammals.
Miu started purring and rocking slightly as she continued to hold on tight.
Bonny sent a thought thought to Violet, not liking the idea of that many spiders remaining. Not all of them were dangerous, but she was sure any brought by the swarm would be.‘Please let Zeal know that once the buildings are clear of people, she can fog them.’
[what is fog] A question.
Bonny realized her thought didn’t quite translate.
‘Uh, have her breathe poison into the buildings to kill the rest of the spiders. Ask her to be careful not to let the poison harm anyone. She can burn the bodies if the guards pile them up.’
[will tell her]
‘Thank you.’
Shortly after, the guards began pulling the remains of the arachnid monsters outside the gate and piling them in and around the building that Zeal had destroyed during the one day war. It still hadn't been touched beyond searching for people. Most of the companions joined the effort.
Adelina stayed with Bonny and Miu, flitting around their heads and using blasts of wind to blow away any spiders that crawled into the clean area around Bonny. A concentrated beam of her light magic could incinerate one if it stayed still, but she didn’t have the control to track them as they scurried around.
Bonny closed her eyes and thought back over the fight and the demand she made to Wrath.
What were the gods and demons in this world? Just spirits? Conglomerations of them? Were there similar gods back on Earth that no one noticed or was it part of the magic here? What were they truly capable of? How much more power did they have than people did?
For that matter, why were the guards so weak compared to her and her friends?
Eloisss had gotten bitten a few times during the fight, but she was naturally resistant to venom and wasn't affected too badly. She had done the majority of the killing, leaving literal piles of spider and wolf parts, while Adelina, Miu, Violet, and Zeal helped keep the monsters off of her. Many of the guards and all of the civilians had succumbed to a single bite, many dying before Bonny could save them.
When Bonny double checked each of the victims again, she found a few who were tainted. Not tainted with more venom, but with some sort of curse. They were all sent to the temple, both the cured, still injured, and cursed victims. If nothing else, they would need some sort of counseling after being cocooned by monsters.
There were no scales, so Bonny’s assumption was that they weren’t being controlled, like the goblins and some of the assassins had been. Instead, the monsters were cursed and twisted into their monstrous forms.
“Wrath?” She spoke aloud. Courage and Wrath materialized behind Miu’s back, where Bonny could see them while still cuddling with the cat girl. Courage still held on to Wrath’s leash. Bonny stared hard at the demoness as she continued, “The monsters had a demonic aura around them. Hate and anger, but not quite the same as Matt’s or the aura I got from you. Tell me about it.”
“They are not mine.”
“Yes, they are. Were! Something.”
Wrath shook her head. “I didn’t do anything. It’s not my fault.”
“Yes! It is!" Bonny shouted back, then started shivering violently as the fear and adrenaline and excitement faded. She sat up and looked around, trying to see over the wall, where the guards were dragging the dead spider wolves. She continued in a calmer voice, “If nothing else, you brought them here. I saw giant spiders in the army. One was part human. Was that one here? Did anyone see it?”
Miu pulled Bonny back into a tight hug. “Shhh. I didn’t see her during the fight. I don’t think she was here.”
“ShheeeEEEE!?” Bonny’s voice rose until it broke.
Miu rubbed Bonny’s back. “Some call them arachne or driders. There’s a Cluster in the forest, though we didn’t interact often.”
“What?” Bonny tried to pull back, but Miu held on.
“They’re pretty nice. I doubt they had anything to do with the att…”
“Bonny!” Courage spoke over Miu, cutting her off. “The curse on Kanae was Lust’s influence, but different. She didn’t have control of it either.”
Bonny stilled. “So, this is another new curse? Recovery, Compassion, can either of you help?”
The two goddesses materialized beside Courage. Neither glanced at the restrained form of Wrath.
Recovery spoke first, “I cannot cure it, but it is weaker than the one Kanae suffered from.”
Bonny glanced to Compassion. “Is your gift permanent? Will it cure it?”
“Yes.” Compassion nodded as she answered, sounding certain.
“Why?” Bonny didn’t doubt her, but curiosity gnawed at her. “Why does your Ambrosia work, but Recovery can’t cure it? Why didn’t you tell us when we were worried about Kanae?”
“Hmmmm. I wasn’t sure until it worked. I think …” The goddess paused for a moment, staring into the distance. “I think, that the curses are build of need. The demons focus on negative emotions and disrupt the balance between the spirit and body. Recovery specifically, and Healer in general, primarily works to repair and bolster the physical body. They also can help repair the spirit, but that doesn’t necessarily keep the patient balanced.”
Recovery added, “I can help with the symptoms of curses, and occasionally with the origin, but curses aren’t my specialty.”
Compassion continued, “Nor are they mine. However, I am more aware of those in need. The poor suffer spiritual issues more often than physical ones.”
“Will the Ambrosia that I’ve been feeding them help? And the food from Hope?”
“Yes. The divine food will help more than natural food will.”
“Great! Thank you. I’ll go on to the temple and do what I can. I have an idea I want to propose to Mila.” Bonny pulled back to look at Miu. “Do you want to come or stay here to help cleanup?”
“I want to stay with you, nya.”
“Okay. Do you trust me? I’ll have to carry you.”
Miu nodded and leaned in for a kiss.
“Great. Violet, please let everyone know that Miu and I are going to the temple. They can follow when they are done here. Also, please ask Freja to help if she arrives.” Bonny spoke aloud, but focused her thoughts at the slime girl.
[yes, bonny]
“Thank you. Adelina, you can come too.”
“Yay!” The fairy flew in a spiraling circle around Bonny, then landed on her head.
Bonny stood and helped Miu to her feet, then picked her up, holding her in a princess carry. Bonny was still in her succubus form, having stayed that way after arriving, in part to be able to stomp on small spiders with her hooves instead of bare feet.
She tried to take flight, but the addition of Miu was too much. Instead, she jumped and glided from one building to the next, working her way in toward the plaza without dropping to the street and dealing with the crowds. The first few blocks near the gates were deserted, but then she found a guard holding back civilians. She called down that the fight was over, but it would be a while before the area was cleaned up, then ran on.
Once she arrived at the plaza, she got a running start and glided as far as she could, before landing. The people scattered, clearing space for her to land.
Bonny assumed most people knew who she was by now, but those that didn’t were probably unsettled by her demonic appearance - or nakedness. She suddenly realized that she had dropped disrobed in the leather worker's shop and had fought naked. Courage and Lust must be happy with her.
Hopefully Freja will take care of the robe. Or not, she decided she didn't care. If someone was going to complain after she helped safe the city, she would gladly put them in their place.
As she folded her wings in, she pulled Miu in for a kiss, then lowered the cat girl’s feet and helped her stand.
The three headed into the temple and set to work. Rafael stepped back to allow them entrance. He seemed wary of her after, the assault the week prior, and carefully looked her in the eyes, not saying anything about her state of dress.
Miu and Adelina helped triage and direct people into groups while Bonny joined the other three priests in healing those they could. They were taking turns, healing a few people each and rotating so none of them ran out of mana too quickly.
Bonny worked to the side, taking every other person, then every third as she started running low on mana herself. She realized she should have brought Kanae or Violet, but was unwilling to pull them away from the cleanup. Instead, she took a break and headed to the Temple of the Seven.
Mila was nowhere to be found, so Bonny ended up cornering Gallus. He struggled to keep his eyes up, but wasn't as successful as Rafael and kept glancing down at her bare succubus body.
Bonny amused herself by crossing her arms under her breasts, squeezing them together and pushing them up, while pretending not to notice his glances. “So, why don’t you offer room and board to the homeless and hungry? Aren’t those base tenants of Compassion and Hope?”
Gallus just stammered his response. He was flushed and obviously distracted, but seemed wary of offending her. “I-I’m a priest of Justice. Not Compassion.”
“Does that really matter? All seven gods reside here don’t they? I’m going to start sending people to you. I’ll feed and care for them today, but you need to send send Mila and Gloria to the Healer’s Temple when they return.”
"I can ... will do that. I'll send one of the acolytes to search for them now."
"Thank you." Bonny uncrossed her arms and slowly stroked her fingers through her fur from her hips to breasts. Her demonic tail slowly swayed from side to side behind her as she leaned forward and added in a low, sultry voice. "You can look. I don't mind."
He stammered some more and flushed a darker shade of brown, then turned away, muttering a prayer.
Bonny giggled and turned to head back.
The crowds in the plaza had grown, though they parted before her. There were a few cat calls, but they were quickly silenced by others in the crowd. There were cheers as well, but also curses and hate from those afraid of her, or what she represented.
She spent the rest of the afternoon and evening alternating between healing those sick or poisoned and feeding those that were hungry or cursed. She used both the Cup and Cornucopia freely.
When Gloria finally arrived, Bonny smiled and motioned her over. “You’re a priestess of Hope, right?”
Gloria nodded, overwhelmed by the crowd around Bonny, both the injured and the audience. Miu and Altha, one of the new priestesses of Recovery, stood guard, directing people to approach one by one.
“Hope, will you bless her?”
The goddess materialized between them, arms crossed and eyes on Gloria. The noise of the crowd around them faded.
The priestess paled and backed away, bowing low. “I greet you, Holy Goddess.”
They both waited for long heartbeats, Gloria bent over, her black hair hanging loose and blocking Bonny’s view of her face. The crowd seemed confused, unsure if Gloria was talking to Bonny.
Bonny sighed. “Hope, Gloria, what if we created a school? We could offer to train people, both for fighting and skilled jobs within the city. That could give hope to the people.”
Gloria looked up, eyes darting from the goddess to Bonny. She nodded, frantically. “Y-yes!”
“Great!” Bonny motioned for the priestess to stand. “Can I entrust management to you? We’ll need to find a building or two with a training yard. I would like you talk to the Merchant Council. Let them know that more skilled workers means higher profits. You probably shouldn’t mention my name though, at least not at first. I’m not sure what they think of me right now.”
