"A meteorite?! Are you crazy, who would make such an absurd cruse?!"
Ayato exclaimed. Ashley shook her head.
"The Curse of Despair has never been used so it can't be confirmed but that's what scriptures say. This isn't even the most ridiculous curse..."
She faded off while scoffing.
Curses were illogical and dangerous. That was what Ayato's opinion of them was. No magic could summon a meteorite. Perhaps something as big as one, but the force of the meteorite against the planet's atmosphere will cause it to be destructive by at least 10 times.
"There's something more dangerous than that..."
"The Queen's curse is said to be the most dangerous but no one knows about it. That curse is the burden for giving us all the power to use one."
Akari casually waved her hand dismissively. She had enough of hearing about curses.
"Now, you're telling me that they want to use this special curse of yours? It can't be forced activated, can it?"
She asked. As much as Ashley wanted to agree, she averted her eyes. Both Akari and Ayato sighed.
"These special curses are something more of a safe countermeasure. Specifically, when the cursed is about to die, the curse activates as a means to protect their life."
Ashley walked over to the kitchen. She opened the fridge and got two cold water bottles. She placed them in front of the two of them. Ayato drank some almost instantly.
"This is a meteorite... Would it kill you?"
"I don't control the curse. The curse merely lives dormant inside me. I am worthy of it but I can't wield it freely. Think of these special curses as sentient spells. They don't want to die, so they use their special ability."
"So, you're saying that the activation of the curse is death for you as well?"
Akari confirmed, opening the bottle of water. Ashley nodded. The woman sipped the water.
"Near death. I can't activate it myself, even by accident unless I'm going to die. They're probably going to capture me and torture me. Their goal is most likely to destroy London."
"Come on, not only London will go but all of the—"
Akari stopped when she heard a bang. Ayato's head clashed with the table. She looked at him surprised. The water that he was drinking spilt onto the table. The Councilwoman stood up and thrust her hand forward.
"Ngh!"
Akari fell onto the table. She struggled to hold herself up.
"Poison..."
"It won't kill you, it'll only knock you out for around 12 hours. Nighty night, Councilwoman."
The young woman said as Akari dropped onto the table. Ashley sighed and walked over to the sofa. She picked up her bag. She attached it to her waist.
"Sorry, but I can't let anyone know what I'm going to do."
The witch walked over to her room. She opened her closet and got three stones and put them into her bag.
"Magic Stones, check. Bag, check. Now, I'll need to meet with Queen Alice. She's the only one who can help."
"Don't refuse help so easily."
"—!"
Ashley pointed her wand at the entrance to her room. She swallowed her saliva.
"Huh? But... didn't you drink that water?"
Ayato stood at the doorway, leaning against the frame. He yawned.
"Yeah. My body can detect poison. Although I'm not immune to it, I can lessen its effects."
He waved his left hand as a taunt, not that Ashley understood what he was referring to. Ayato glanced at the woman on the table.
"I can't say the same for her."
"Get out of my way."
She demanded. Ayato scowled. He stared at the tip of her wand.
"Stop with this idea of self-sacrifice. Let the people around you help."
"No, it's my problem. I'll solve it through my own means. You don't need to help."
"Trust me, if I had trusted people a lot earlier, my life would've been easier. I'll help you."
"No, you won't. Hydro Flute!"
'A curse! I don't think I can erase it!'
The boy retreated behind the door. High-pressure water burst past him. Ayato destroyed the wall and ran toward Ashley.
"Incendiary Slash!"
She whipped her wand across her body. Ayato slid, barely dodging the curse. He leapt up and grabbed Ashley's hand. She dropped her wand.
"Stop it! You're taking the burden all on yourself! I said I'll help you! Stop thinking that you're so self-important that you can survive your situation by yourself! You're not! The world doesn't care about you! If you are near death, others will die, right?!"
Ayato threw his words at her. The young woman listened. She wanted to deny what he was saying. She resisted for a little while before sighing.
"Am I indecisive? I can't believe I'm changing my mind so quickly."
The young woman said as Ayato let go of her. She picked up her wand and put it into her bag.
"I'm sorry."
"No worries I'm actually grateful."
He grinned. She tilted her head in confusion. Ayato giggled while pointing at the dormant Akari.
"You knocked out the old bag for me. Now I don't have to worry about my actions."
"Oh, haha..."
Ashley wasn't sure whether it was something to be thanked for. Ayato scratched his head.
"As much as I would like to go, we should probably go meet the Queen tomorrow, if that's what you're going to do."
"Huh, why?"
"I'm sure you know the Queen personally but Akari knows more of the political side. Since she won't wake up for half a day, we might as well wait for tomorrow."
"Is that so...?"
The young woman secretly cursed herself.
·———·
In Central London, a woman was talking to Eunithus casually at a cafeteria.
"Why do we have to do it out here? A warehouse would be better."
Eunithus said, sceptically looking around.
He was a wanted criminal. He was surprised that he hadn't been arrested for being in public. The woman sitting opposite him had a magazine over her face. Her feet were on the table.
"Who cares? This atmosphere is better."
"So, what do you want me to do?"
"Did you know that the most ridiculous magic is Magic Seals?"
Eunithus curled his eyebrow, hiding his face in the menu.
"What? That has nothing to do with what we're supposed to be talking about."
"They're illogical. Even the weakest Magic Seals can turn into the most powerful, however, because if everyone could use their Magic Seal to their full potential, the power to destroy the world wouldn't be so rare. It's not common but it's not rare either."
"What are you...?!"
"Curses are even more illogical than Magic Seal."
The woman chuckled.
"You want to destroy London with a meteorite because of your grudge with the Queen's royal guards? You're asking me, one of them, to help you?"
"You came to me first."
"That's true. Well, there's one thing that I would like to ask you."
Eunithus lowered his menu.
"What?"
"Delay the plan by a week. We need to give Ashley a sense of false security."
"Sure, but I'm sure I saw a couple of Japanese around her. The woman is definitely trouble. She's a Councilwoman. The boy has to be pretty powerful too to be walking beside her."
"He's not, don't worry about him."
The woman whispered, 'Probably,' under her breath. She didn't know the Japanese people he was talking about. It would be more accurate to say that she didn't care about them.
"Anyways, do you get it? Don't do anything until the 16th."
"Right..."
He wasn't content about the instructions he received but this woman wouldn't say something without meaning, even if it was something as small as idle chatter.
Eunithus grimaced, however. His revenge would have to be temporarily postponed.