The Cursekeeper

Fuschia

Song is, "Battle 1" from the game Final Fantasy IX.

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After being given a sawed off shotgun, a white blessed staff with tree roots for the design on the top, a satchel and a few other things, like sanitizing all their attire, O'Callaghan made her way through the dark corridor with her husband, her father and her friend. She had her staff strapped to her back and her gun was on her hip.

"How did you know it was me on the stage?" O'Callaghan asked.

"I saw our twin flame line," Arthur said while pointing at his left eye. "Compliments of Darrach's acorn eye."

O'Callaghan gaped at him. "You let him give you a new eye?!"

"He gave one to your dad and Lugh, too."

"Wow. What else do they do?"

"They can see things that you normally couldn't with a regular eye and it's a camera so Darrach and the others can watch what's going on."

O'Callaghan cocked her head. "Everyone?"

"Yeah. Most of the gang, some of the staff...not the kids, though. They're way too young to see this."

O'Callaghan stopped in her steps and so did the others. She gave Arthur a perplexed face. "Uh...our kids?"

"Yeah."

"...How long have I been trapped down here?" she asked with dread in her voice.

"Six months."

Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "N-No...that's...that's impossible."

"What do ya mean, lassie?" Sir Jack asked with a worried tone.

O'Callaghan started counting silently with her fingers and Arthur tilted his head as he watched. The two other men studied the scene in silence. "Why is she counting?" Arthur heard people ask over the intercom.

Once O'Callaghan had seemingly stopped counting, she swallowed hard before looking at Arthur, Lugh and Jack with an alarmed expression. "I was tortured with seventy two songs."

Arthur scrunched up his face. "He tortured you with songs?"

"It's a tactic of torment. You play the same song over and over again to break someone down mentally. This...Cursekeeper fellow decided to get creative and add physical torture, puppets and a personal warden, who Arthur killed, by the way, so thanks for killing Jorōgumo." O'Callaghan groaned before rubbing her face. "Each song lasted a really long time."

"Heh, didna really seem tah work on ya, did it?" Lugh asked. "How long did each song play?"

O'Callaghan frowned at Lugh. "One year."

The men gawked at O'Callaghan in shock. Arthur was trying to process what his wife just said and he was having a really hard time with it. He didn't have the words to express his grief and anger over this new information. He turned around and walked down a ways before pausing and grasping his gun belt. His wife was tortured for 72 years.

With music.

"One of her favorite things is music, and for that bastard to torment her with it..." he thought to himself.

"Arthur, I will get over the trauma eventually. I have a tendency to do that, so please...don't go down that rabbit hole right now," O'Callaghan said, walking up to him slowly and placing a hand on his forearm. "We have a job to do, husband. Focus on the job."

Arthur nodded before looking at O'Callaghan. "Yes, ma'am." They rejoined the group and headed forward. "Do you think it's been that long for Rose and Lilly?"