"What just happened?" The man from earlier asked me as I just stood there, feeling as blank as they are looking at me.
"I don't know, a hand-formed from crystals sprouting out of his skin," I said, inspecting the crystalized hand as he moved it around like a fleshy one. "If you could do that before, why didn't you?"
I have heard of people that have been able to make use of the magic around them to create limbs for themselves that they might have lost before.
That magic allowed them to make the limbs out of anything, wood, metal, plants, anything really. It is a type of alchemy that I know nothing else about so I am not going to talk about it anymore.
"But … I didn't do this." The man said, looking as confused as everyone else in the room.
"Maybe you did it without knowing it?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
"No, I-"
"Orion!" Nova's voice broke throughout the room, "Come quick!"
"Go on, we will see what just happened." The man beside me said, patting me on the shoulder. "Go on."
"Thank you," I said, giving the man a small bow before running to the two as quickly as I could. "What's wrong? What happened? Is he ok?"
"We are not talking about Comet right now." He said, grabbing me by the shoulder and shaking me. "What on earth did you do?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at his eyes for any hint of a prank, but there is nothing like that. "I don't get it."
"Everyone in this room was sick with something. A wave of light came from you and then everyone got healed immediately." He said, shaking me again. "Even the slight pain I have in my stomach is completely gone. What did you do?"
"I don't know. I just tried to heal that man." I pointed to the man in the distance, talking with the other Priests. "I don't know anything else."
"I found out what is the matter with your friend." High Priest Elio said, looking up at us with a smile on his face.
"What is it?"
"Is it something really bad?"
"No. No. Nothing like that at all." He said, waving his hands in front of us, chuckling. "You, you are the Dancer, are you not?"
"Yes?"
"I had a feeling, you radiated a certain light that seemed to come from the goddess herself." He said, holding his hand out to me and I place my own hands on his. "I felt your dance. In fact, I think everyone in this kingdom felt it."
"Was I that heavy?" I asked, subconsciously touching my stomach. "I made sure to have a light breakfast."
"No. I meant that the blessing of the goddess coming from you, we could all feel it. That is one of the reasons why there are so many people outside suddenly.
"Your friend has a curse on him, yes?"
"Yes."
"Then, could you tell me if he happened to drink your blood? Even just a drop of it."
I paused for a second, remembering how my blood spilt onto Comet's fingers and he stuck his fingers into his mouth subconsciously.
"Yes. He did. How did you know?"
The High Priest Elio just smiled kindly at me, "You see, for the next five days after the dance, the Dancer continues to hold extraordinary healing magic.
"Some say that he might even be able to bring the dead back to life, but that might just be a rumour. I always believe that the dead should not be bothered as they are finally at rest.
"Now, if your friend happened to drink your blood and you say that he has a curse, what do you think will happen?"
Nova and I exchanged looks for a second before turning back to the man in front of us.
"If Orion can heal as well as you say …" Nova began, taking my hands from the High Priest Elio, before looking at me with sparkling eyes. "Does that mean that Orion healed him?"
"Stop." I took my hands from his, holding them up. "Don't go speculating things on your own. That curse is not something someone like me will even be able to heal. First of all.
"Second, why was he coughing up blood then? If he is healed, why is he bleeding from his mouth?" I asked, proud of myself somewhat for being able to counter their ridiculous speculations.
"Well, that could be because his body is expelling the curse from his mouth." High Priest Elio said as he picked Comet from the floor and woke him up first.
Opening his eyes, Comet looked at us, confused at first before he started throwing up blood. We tried to go to him but the Priest stopped us.
Watching our friend cough while blood came pouring out of his mouth, I could not turn away. Because I felt like if I did, something even worse would happen and the split second it would take for me to realise what was wrong could kill him.
Gripping onto the edge of the bed, Comet threw up once more. This time, it was not blood, it was something large, black and almost like a jellyfish.
"What is-"
"-that?!" Nova stared at the creature weakly wandering around the floors, trying to latch onto anyone that it can.
"Comet!" Nova ran to the boy's side, as he collapsed, exhausted beyond belief. Comet took one look at Nova, smiled at him before sinking into his arms, unconscious.
"What is that, High Priest Elio?" I asked, breathing a sigh of relief after getting the confirmation from Nova that Comet is alright.
"This is the curse." The man said, as the curse stuck to him, trying to suck the life from him.
"Your Holine-"
"Calm down, this is nothing to be too worried about." He said, grabbing the creature and pulling it off him. "This was once a powerful curse. But, because of your blood, it does not have the strength to even be able to properly consume the blood of someone like me."
He turned to me, holding the slimy creature out to me and, for some reason, the only thing that came out of my lips was, "No thanks. I'm good."
Chuckling the High Priest did not pull the creature away from me. "You are the only one that can purify this creature. That is the final step to making sure your friend does not get cursed again."
"Oh. Ok." I said, holding my hands out in front of the creature, remembering the words we learnt all those years ago in our first purification rites.
"Defaeco."
This time I kept my eyes wide open and noticed the flash of light coming from a warmth on my neck. It's the mark the goddess gave me the first time I saw her.
An unearthly scream came from the creature before it disappeared completely and the light dispersed from me in a million little stars.
The most astonishing part about all of this is that I do not feel the least bit tired. Instead, I only felt more awake and brighter.
"So, I take it you danced with the goddess." High Priest Elio said, giving me a smile.
"I did."
"That is why your blessings are so powerful." He nodded, looking around the room as the people talked to each other, showing the injuries they had only before, completely gone now.
I don't know if it is really me or not, but it does feel nice to see how happy they look at behind able to stand and even move about.
"Orion." Nova walked to me with Comet in his arms, a bright smile coming on his face. "You certainly were sparkling. Just like I told you, you would."
"It's just because of the goddess," I said, already feeling embarrassment creep up. "Is Comet doing alright?"
"He looks better than I have ever seen him," Nova said, smiling fondly at the boy in his arms. "Are we going back now?"
"I suppose-"
"If I may interject." The High Priest Elio suddenly said, walking to us. "If the Dancer is not too tired, I would like to ask for some help. There are still hundreds of people lined up outside.
"We took the most that we could but there is not much that we can do." He looked at me with a hopeful look in his eyes. "If we could ask for your help … I know I might be asking too much but we are running out of options."
I looked at everyone in the room, their hopeful eyes on me as I thought of declining but … there is nothing that I am going to lose is there?
Besides, if this happens only when the goddess dances with the dancer and lasts only a couple of days … a faint memory of a crying child flashed through my mind as a sad smile came on my face.
Well, I asked for prosperity in this kingdom, I suppose I can do what I can to help it just a little bit.
Looking at the Priests who all had a hopeful look on their faces, I nodded, "Sure. I'll help."