I spent the following few days in the attic with Joe.
How was I going to drain my blood from his clay? I honestly had no idea, but I wanted to find out more about him. Chaim and Vits were very supportive of my decision and they had decided to spend all that time with me, taking turns. They didn't say it aloud, but I knew they were worried that Joe could hurt me.
Joe never tried to, thankfully. I had a feeling that if he really, really wanted to hurt me, Chaim and Vits wouldn't be of much help, but, of course, I never mentioned it.
One day, I was just about to go to the attic, right after breakfast, when I heard Thea's voice right behind me.
"Hey, Oliver, I've got something to show you. I think it will be helpful. Actually, we all do. The other guys are waiting for you in the library".
I was intrigued and also relieved that somebody had come up with a plan. My days with Joe were calm and he was harmless, but I was nowhere near coming up with a solution.
As I made my way to the library, Thea started talking.
"I really wanted to help you out, so, during the last few days, I spent all my free time in the library".
"What's new?", I smirked.
She chuckled, but then she kept on talking.
"I decided I would read every book until I was able to find one that could teach us how to remove your blood from Joe's body".
"Wait... did you read all those books?"
"Not exactly, I skipped to the important bits. Anyway, you'd be surprised how much reading one can do when there's nothing else to do".
"I know something about it", I mused, thinking about when I had skipped all the lessons and I'd spent all my days in the library.
"The point is, last night I thought: there's no way the solution is in one of those books and Chaim doesn't know about it. So I decided to ask him if he approved of my research, if he thought it could get somewhere, you know. He replied that there were some books in the library which he'd never read, not fully at least".
As she kept talking, she was guiding me through the shelves and, just when she said that, she pointed at a tiny shelf right behind her. Jimmy, James and Saba were waiting for me there, sitting at a table nearby, and they all looked super busy going through a book, which, I imagined, was the one that contained the spell we needed.
The books that Chaim and Vits had never read were a dozen, including the one my friends were reading.
"The reason why Chaim and Vits didn't read most of those books was that they'd gotten them either because they were very rare and powerful or to help a friend out by buying a copy of their book, but they are written in languages they do not understand", Thea added helpfully. "The problem was, I couldn't speak those languages either..."
"But I could", Saba pointed out. "At least, one of them. It's my mother tongue. It's a Semitic language and, though it might look similar to the ones Chaim and Vits speak very fluently, it's quite different. I talked to them, and they were clueless. They didn't even know how this alphabet works".
I took a look at the book. It was indeed written in a foreign language, which didn't resemble neither the current tongue spoken in the Kingdoms nor one of the ancient tongues that Chaim and Vits could speak.
"But how can you speak this language?" I asked. "All the different people in the Kingdoms speak the same language".
"It's true nowadays" she explained, "however, I learnt it from my family. Before the War, people spoke different languages in the Kingdoms. You see, it still wasn't a corporation. Each kingdom was like a different country, with its own culture and language. If you don't know about it, it's probably because you're from a place where the culture and language hasn't changed".
I realized, not for the first time, that I didn't know anything of the Kingdoms and the War. I thought that Chaim should teach us about that, instead of magic. Maybe I'd ask him.
"However," Saba went on, politely, "even though I was still a baby when my parents died, I still learnt a great deal of things. It was my grandfather who took me him. He raised me and he taught me about my roots, the language my people used to speak and how their culture used to be".
"It's very fascinating" I said.
"It's not only fascinating" she said, a little annoyed. "It's also very helpful. I don't mean to brag, but this book contains the solution to your problems. My people were the only ones to know about it, and after the War, the countries that won wanted to wipe this wisdom away. And they pretty much succeeded, if it wasn't for people like my grandfather or for books like this one, that's luckily still available. I'm sorry if I got carried away, it's actually the first time that I ever read a book about my people. I read a lot of books in my life, but not a single one talked about my culture, I guess I just needed to feel like I belonged".
She then proceeded to read from the book.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdxyHwZTcn
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HOW TO UNDO A CURSE
It is often difficult to know if we have been cursed - many curses don't start working on our health and everyday life until it's too late, and then it all goes downhill quickly.
If the curse that was placed upon you has already started becoming dangerous for your well being, follow the steps on page 350. If you think you still have time to act, then follow the procedure below, which is easier and less expensive.
STEP ONE - Find out where the curse is placed. Is it on an object? An animal? Beware, the most dangerous ones are placed in fluids, like blood or body water. They curse the whole person and make them easy to control by the curser. At first, they will be able to control the victim lightly and through other objects contaminated by the cursed fluid of choice. The contamination might happen during a spell, if the fluid is not pure and it engages with the ingredients of the potion. In that way, the evil sorcerer who cursed the victim will be able to interact with them through the result of the spell.
Over time, the evil sorcerer might be able to take control of the victim's body and mind, but only if the curser is especially powerful.
WARNING: Do not mistake a curse that allows possession of your mind with spirit or demon possession. Do not mistake a curse placed upon your soul with any of them either. if you want to know the difference between those, look at the pictures below. However, note that no sorcerer ever recorded has ever proved powerful and dark enough to attempt and succeed at cursing someone else's soul.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBCg9OAb7io
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STEP TWO - Once you find the placement and the origin of the curse, you can use the method listed below in order to remove it.
If your blood was cursed, the removal process won't be easy. We suggest you to pour some of your blood in a vial. It will be useful if you intend to study it and understand the origin of the curse.
First of all, you need to check if any object was contaminated by your curse. Contaminated objects will be the ones you created yourself and in which you spilled your blood, even accidentally. In order to remove the curse from the object, you need to make a potion and bathe the object in it. 275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaqfOhOsYY
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Saba stopped reading. "There is, of course, a longer and painful process meant to purify your blood, but right now we need to make this potion and make Joe bathe in it. He is the greatest threat right now. So, if you don't mind, I'd like to skip to the page where they say how to prepare the potion".
"That's great" I said. My voice teared up a little. "I can't believe you guys would go through all this trouble for me. It means a lot. I'm ready to prepare this potion and I'll do whatever it takes to make this right".
"We're going to help you" Thea offered.
"Thanks, but it doesn't seem right, you know. I'm the one who messed up and I should be the one who clears up the mess".
"Stop trying to get us off your back, you always knew we wanted to help" Saba joked. "Besides, I really want to try out the spells from this book".
I didn't want my friends to be in danger, but they were right. Doing magic on my own didn't work so well for me the first time, I clearly needed a team to back me up. And I wasn't the only one who was sick of the simple spells Chaim taught us. My friends wanted to experiment with harder ones just as much as I did.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDSh44EKn1
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It turned out that I wouldn't be able to go far without their help. Besides the obvious, which was that I needed Saba to translate the book, the potions contained mostly ingredients that I had never heard of and it looked like it was even harder than creating the Golem. No matter how many times I looked at the pictures of the ingredients, there was only one who I thought I had seen before and I couldn't even remember where.
The following day, Chaim approached us as we were writing down the list of the ingredients.
"I was thinking of this potion" he said. "It's obviously harder than anything you've ever worked on before, and it's best if you succeed in preparing it and bathing Joe in the next couple of days, otherwise he'll just get bigger and meaner. I was thinking that we all should go looking for the ingredients. Vits and Jimmy will go to Seaport to look for the mermaid's tail and the obsidian shells. I shall go to Oldroute with James. We'll be looking for the cat's spit and the flaming lizard. Thea and Saba will stay here. We need pure water and virgin soil in the potion and, as Oliver knows well, these ingredients can be found in the garden".
I couldn't help but look at Thea. If I had to go somewhere, there was no one I'd rather be with than my best friend. It took me a second to realize that I wasn't even included in the mission. Chaim was probably looking for a way to punish me for creating the Golem. He knew there was little I hated more than being left out and feeling bored as my friends lived wonderful adventures. Well, it had never happened so far, but, of course, wasn't I the one always preventing it from happening?
I guess I could be thankful that Chaim wasn't an horrible person who could punish me with beatings or torture, but leaving me in the attic with Joe still sounded unfair.
"Okay, I guess I'll go to Joe. See you", I waved my hand, trying to sound less disappointed than I felt.
"Wait Oliver! What do you mean?" asked Chaim. "Joe is locked in the attic, he cannot go anywhere. And besides, Thea and Saba can take him if he tries to escape. I am confident he won't make it past the garden". He shot my two friends a look which could only mean He better not. "Haven't you noticed there's still an ingredient on the list? It's the Lion Stone. Since there is only one in the world and I don't know where it is, I figured you could stay in the library and do some research".
I took a look at the Lion Stone in the picture. It looked like a normal stone, shaped like an emerald but its color was bright purple.
I suddenly remembered where I saw it before. At the Blooms.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOsPTAAK5VM
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"He gets to go alone?" Jimmy pouted. "Now, that's a little unfair".
"You are with Vits, Jimmy. Don't be so ungrateful. You are going to have fun with him. He's the best of us", Chaim mused appreciatively. "Oliver will go alone, however, because the Lion Stone is in Outwoods. It's at the Blooms'".
I was grateful that Chaim trusted me with this information and I didn't want to let him down. I just hoped I could get the Lion Stone and be actually useful for the team.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ZYWfm6e9L
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We were all meant to leave the next day in the early morning and be back by dawn. Since Outwoods was closer than Seaport and Oldroute, I had more time to work out a way to steal the Stone. Yes, steal, because the Blooms would have never handed it over to me willingly. I wondered if Chaim knew it and if he cared how I would get it at all.
My friends were busy trying to figure out, along with Vits and Chaim, what the ingredients of the potions actually were because, of course, none of that stuff was what their fancy names promised it would be.
"Remember," Vits pointed out for the thousandth time, "do not be afraid of the ingredients. They are not magic. They help us channel our power when we use them and we say the right words. But without spells, movement, thoughts and, most of all, our personal power, they are just objects like any other".
"Oliver" Chaim whispered. I noticed he had come closer to me. "I need to tell you something about the Lion Stone".
"Does it look like a Stone at all?" I asked, worried. Not only the other ingredients looked nothing like their names, I had not forgotten the fadua, which had managed to look like a person, a vegetable and an animal at the same time.
"Yes, it does look like a stone", he replied startled. "It's not about that. It's about what Vits has been saying. He's right about all the other ingredients, but the Stone is different. It never started out as a normal stone, but it wasn't this powerful many centuries ago. Throughout time things changed. Since it's always been used for magic and it's the only one of its kind, it has seen more magic than we can ever hope to acknowledge. It's the most important ingredient of this spell and it's not just like any other stone. Handle it with care".
I had so many questions for Chaim and I was afraid he wasn't going to answer most of them. First of all, why would he send me to retrieve the only dangerous ingredient of the potion? Did he really trust me that much? Could he even trust me at all after what had happened with Joe? And why the Blooms, who, as far as I knew, didn't even know magic existed, had the Stone? One of the most powerful objects known to wizards? The only one of its kind? Did Chaim know the Stone was there? Was it because he was so powerful he could track down any object he wanted? Or was it because all wizards knew about it? The thought of the Blooms being the talk of the town in the wizard community was enough to give me an headache. And was it possible that, if Chaim knew, he never thought about getting the Stone himself? For how many years did it belong to the Blooms anyway?
"You look confused. There's things even I not know, but I'm sure everything will make sense later" Chaim reassured me.
"Why didn't any wizard try to steal it from the Blooms?" I asked. Out of all my questions, this felt like the most important one. Perhaps it could teach me something useful on how to get my hands on the Stone.
"Like I said, the Stone is very powerful. To prevent evil people from using its power to take over, it needs to stay with its rightful owner so that it can only be passed down to the next generation or gifted to somebody else. I do not know why the Blooms have it in the first place, but I was hoping you could convince them to give it to you. I know you don't exactly like one another and that's why I would have never asked you to do it if we didn't absolutely need it".
I clenched my teeth. It was going to be harder than I thought. "You know" I joked, "one sure way to get the Blooms to give it to me would be to pay for it. But do not mention how special and powerful it is, especially that it's one of a kind, or I am afraid the price might not be affordable even for a wizard as wealthy as you".
"I thought about it" Chaim replied seriously. "However, I do not think it counts as a gift, you know?"
"Wizards are boring" I complained. "Our life wouldn't be so bad if we weren't always following rules and trying to do the right thing".
"I know you're joking, but we are more powerful than most people. At least, when we learn to use that power. It's actually important that we try to follow rules. Besides, we're not all-powerful. We're still humans. Our talent is a gift and we do not want to use it making other people lives' miserable. Of course, there are many evil sorcerers. Even with your limited knowledge of magic you must know of them".
He didn't mention it, but it was clear that he was thinking that whoever cursed my blood was definitely evil. And I thought so as well.
"Just so I know before I am tempted, what happens to people who try to steal the Stone?" I asked.
"They disappear. Many sorcerers have tried and that's the fate that befell all of them. It's still a mystery, but it's like they never existed". He paused for a moment. "Please, Oliver. Take this matter seriously. The Stone is so powerful because it has a power of its own - it can delete magic. It's the only thing in the world that's able to do that. It can undo curses and spells, even the most powerful ones. It doesn't only cancel magic, though. It can erase everything and everyone if that's what it's used for. It can even erase times and places".
I tried to think about it, to imagine it, but I couldn't. I suddenly was very scared of the Stone and its powers.
"You shouldn't be in danger, but be careful. We don't know what's the last spell it was used for. It can still carry fragments of that. Try not to trigger it accidentally. If you follow these steps, you should be safe. Go to the Blooms' house, talk them into giving you the Stone, take it, thank them and leave. When you leave, come immediately to my house and I'll help you handle it".
"Do you think the Blooms know what it is?" I asked.
"Probably not, but who knows? If they didn't know, maybe they would have just thrown it away. Maybe they think it's a gemstone".275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4tc4QcV9K
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That night I barely slept. The only thing that kept my head from exploding was my trust in Chaim. If he thought I could do it, perhaps I had a little chance. And I had to prove everybody that I was willing to go to great lengths to repair the damage I had done, which was true. Besides, I remembered what Chaim had said about the Stone. It was probably my only shot at getting rid of the curse in my blood, which felt even more essential than getting rid of Joe.
The following morning I left earlier than anybody else. I couldn't wait to see if I could succeed in getting the Stone and, however, I was going crazy worrying about it.275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjG6kpvFWTo
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When I found myself in front of the bakery door, I suddenly wasn't so eager to knock. I wasn't sure the Blooms would appreciate having me back, even for just a short amount of time. In fact, I could bet on the contrary. I took a deep breath, trying to remind myself that in my life as a sorcerer I had encountered worst threats than them. It was harder to convince myself than I would have thought it'd be.
After a few painful moments, I finally knocked. Shylock Bloom opened the door and looked down at me with a sour expression on his face.
"Hello, Oliver. You got taller".
It was true, even if it was only barely noticeable, especially next to him, since he was well over six feet tall.
As soon as I saw him, I lost all hope of succeeding. When I was with my friends and my teachers I could pretend I was the type of person who was able to trick the Blooms into doing something and, especially since I hadn't seen them in a while, I could even convince myself. After all, I had saved a man from a possession, fought a fadua, created a Golem and survived bullying from said Golem.
How hard could it be?
I never knew why the Blooms had taken me in. But I never remembered them being anything other than cold and distant. I could never see them as my parents in the same way I'm sure they never saw me as a son. I was lucky I hadn't suffered all the abuse other orphans had suffered, at the hands of people or fate. My own friends probably had had it way worse than me. The Blooms were better than Chaim's parents, surely. They were better than a lot of people.
But that was the kindest thing I could say about them.
Truth is, they were strangers to me as I was a stranger to them. All of my life we were like strangers that weren't even interested in knowing each other better. Every time I had tried, when I was younger, to build a relationship with them, I couldn't. They always pushed me away.
And that was the reason why I had never asked them for anything in the past fourteen years of my life and the very same reason why I couldn't ask them for anything now.
"Honey, any news of the disappearance?" Doris Bloom's voice interrupted my thoughts. For a second, I was afraid she was talking about the Stone and how it made disappear people and things, but then I realized she was speaking to her husband.
He replied "I still don't know anything about that, but maybe Oliver does".275Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRAtPHPHCxp
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That's how I found myself sitting at the living room table, sipping tea and trying to act like I hadn't seen renowned scientist Marcel Bloom in years.
"Remind me while you're there" said sourly Doris after a while. Actually, I still hadn't said anything about why I was there.
"You do know that I live and study elsewhere now" I said, remembering that they didn't like when I talked in what they referred to as my youthful manner.
I was waiting for their approval in order to proceed with my story. I was looking in my teacup and trying really hard not to bite my nails.
"Look me in the eyes when you're talking to me and call me sir" Shylock Bloom barked, probably under the impression that I was talking to him, while I was talking to Doris.
I raised my eyes. He didn't look angry. He looked like he had an important business meeting elsewhere and I was wasting his time.
I thought about the details of the story, questioning if I should mention magic. I absolutely wanted to mention that my blood was cursed because I was dying to see how they would react to that.
But before I could make up my mind, I saw the Lion Stone. I suddenly remembered that before I met Vits and Chaim, I used to carry it around with me everywhere I went. Of course, it was typical of me to toy with a dangerous and lethal magical artifact without even knowing what it was. Now that I thought about it, the only time I left it at home, as long as I could remember, was the day that I left the Blooms.
Now, however, it was in a glass case, displayed for all the world to see. Did they find out what it was? I doubted that, perhaps they just wanted their friends to think they had a rare and precious gemstone.
Before I knew it, I did the most idiotic thing I could think of. My brain was just wired that way. I longed to see the day I would start behaving and stop letting everyone down, but this wasn't it.
I threw my teacup with all the force I could manage, and it was a lot, after I spent all that useless hours in the gym, right on the glass case.
Unfortunately the glass case happened to be right behind Shylock Bloom's head, but luckily he ducked just in time and he didn't get hurt.
As the glass smashed and the Blooms started panicking, I jumped on the table, ran on the tablecloth and then jumped again with all the strength that I could muster. I basically lept over Shylock Bloom and then crashed into the glass case, which was already partly destroyed.
I couldn't understand what was going on, my head was spinning and my hands were full of blood, but here it was. The Lion Stone in my hand, glowing a bluish purple light.
I smiled as I clenched my fingers around it and, as I slipped it in my pocket, I started feeling strange.
Then I couldn't remember anything.
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