Knocking on the back door Grimald waited for someone to open it for him. He didn't have to wait long, before Sybil could move to get up Alexis was at the door flinging it open with a smile on her bruised face.
"You c-came back," she whispered.
"Of course I did little one. I promised I would be back before sunrise didn't I?"
Her smile seemed to get bigger before she quickly winced. He softly touched her small face caressing hoping to give her some relief through his touch despite knowing it would do nothing for her. The hum of satisfaction that came from her throat was enough to cause a small smile come to his face.
"Come on you two, let's have a seat before poor Alexis passes out from exhaustion."
Sybil's voice seemed to startle Grimald out of his entranced state while Alexis was ducking her head blushing. Guiding the small woman forward before sitting down and pulling her into his lap so if she did fall asleep she would be comfortable.
"Do you know how long before the cross will be finished?" He asked.
"He said it could be few days. I made it very clear I wanted the replica to be so close to the original that I struggled to tell them apart. He told us that even though the overall design is simple he would take his time and be meticulous with it. We just have to be patient and hope nothing more happens for now."
"To-tomorrow, during my au-aunt's nap I was thinking ab-about trying to tr-translate 'Accalia'. Maybe I c-could find a way to b-break this curse," Alexis whispered.
Grimald could tell she was trying to allow her voice and throat time to heal, but he personally didn't want her straining herself to speak.
"Let's worry about that later little one. For now let's focus on what we are going to do once we have the cross in our possession."
"We can't just destroy it Grimald, you know that. If we can't find a way to break your curse then our options are slim if not nonexistant," Sybil stated.
Grimald sat quietly before saying, "If there are no other options, I want you to just do it Sybil."
"WHAT?! How could you ask that of me Grimald?! I have gone through all of this with you, suffered with you and now you have the audacity to ask me to do this?! It's absolute nonsense Grimald and I will not sit and discuss this with you!"
"Sybil we may not have a choice, it's better than the Order getting any one of these pieces in their hands!"
"You know what this will do to you Grimald! It will make you suffer, it will be nothing but agony for you. It won't be quick, it will be a slow, agonizing pain that will have you begging for the end but it won't come! No, absolutely not!"
"Wh-what do you mean?" Alexis soft voice broke through the whisper yelling that was going on.
Both Grimald and Sybil looked at Alexis before Sybil took a deep breath and put her hands on her forehead. Grimald ran his hand up and down Alexis arm and took a deep breath wondering if he should tell her why this is such a complicated situation.
"Well, I don't know how to properly explain this but...." Grimald was struggling to find a good way to explain this, to make it understandable.
"His soul is split into three pieces!" Sybil huffed.
"W-what? Y-you mean like Voldemort?" Alexis asked.
"Who?"
The confused face Grimald was wearing must have been funny because Alexis started to let out a scratchy sounding laugh.
"I forgot, you h-have been stone for f-five hundred years. It's Harry Potter the b-boy who lived and had to k-kill Voldemort and his H-Horcruxes."
Grimald was still confused as he asked, "Hor what?"
"Horcruxes, i-items he chose to put p-pieces of his soul into so he could n-never die." Alexis explained.
"It's a very popular book and movie series Grimald," Sybil chimed in.
Still utterly confused Grimald said, "Well yes it is something like that little one, except it doesn't keep me alive. Once I die that's it, but I am harder to kill. Was this Voldemort a gargoyle or something?"
With a smile Alexis said, "No just a w-wizard who thought he was better than e-everyone else. Once my throat h-heals I'll read the books to y-you."
"I look forward to it little one," Grimald said with a soft smile.
Quickly he turned serious again before continuing. "My soul has been divided between the two rings and the cross. I put my soul into the rings myself. It was a way to keep me close to Alvina and a way that I could protect her. The priest ripped a piece of my soul and put it into that cross that way they could carry it with them without drawing attention, but always have me in their grasp."
"So bu-burning them could cause you s-serious pain and make you s-suffer," Alexis whispered back.
"Something like that."