CURSED: FROM THE BEGINNING [D.M]

-(86) his fighter and his lover

DRACO has been crashing to the ground on every single one of his attempts to rise to his feet. As soon as he manages to lift himself up just a little bit, his vision blackens and he feels as if he is falling down a black hole.

"Do you have any more open wounds?", Theo asks, worry laced in his tone as he keeps his arm around Draco for support.

"I don't know", he breathes, feeling his lungs shrink within him with every passing second. It's not possible that there are more wounds for he knows Zilliah closed up all that he remembers. But still, he lets Theo rip off his shirt and expose his body to check for more as Zilliah walks up to them, having heard his grunts of pain. As the shirt comes off his body, she freezes in her steps. It's a normal effect he usually has on her and he would've thought it to be just that but the complete look of horror in her eyes sends chills down Draco's spine.

He averts his gaze onto his own body to see that the curse has now covered the whole of his left arm and half of his chest. Fuck. That's the pain he has been experiencing.

"It has spread", falls the gasp from Zilliah's mouth, her eyes a mixture of emotions that swivel in her.

The man, Archie, comes up beside her, unbothered by the blood dripping down his face from the damage Zilliah made. "Was it not so bad before?"

"No", Zilliah's voice is hollow, strained. It's like she's welded to the ground, the air around her narrow.

And Draco feels the very same, the pain in him only increasing.

"It feeds on weakness then", Archie states, moving towards Draco and kneeling before him. "You mind if I touch you?", he asks and Draco gives him the consent to do so.

His fingertips trail over the expanse of the chest, feeling the difference between the areas affected by the curse and the areas that aren't. "This is bad", he says, locking his eyes with Zilliah. "This is really really bad."

"How bad?", she asks.

"Three hours, give or take."

It's like he can see her heart drop with his very own eyes.

"But", Draco tries to croak out, feeling fear grab hold of himself. "When I came here.. it was.. it was okay. Like, it didn't affect me in this realm."

"Facade", Archie's answer stings him. "This realm detects anything that will cause harm to it and tries to destroy it. The curse must've sensed that hence why you felt it to be dormant. But then you bled out and grew weak, which was the perfect opportunity for it to grow. So it did. At an even faster rate because you weren't suspecting it."

"This is all just ridiculous", Theo huffs out, throwing his hands up. "You're talking as if this shit has thoughts!"

"You would be a fool to believe it doesn't."

Layla kneels down before him, her eyes focused on his arm which has turned completely dark. "May I?", she asks, and he nods, letting her take his arm in her hand through the pain. "Just like our magic, curses are linked to the nature too. So yes, he is right. It's all animate, more so than we think."

"You told me you can help with the cure", Zilliah speaks, her eyes fixated on Draco's chest, unblinking. The normal feelings he might have had from that are now replaced by dread. A gut-wrenching, mind-churning dread that has seeped into the gaps between every single one of his bones.

"Yes", Archie says, turning his head back to her. "We can help him if we find it quickly."

"You don't have it?"

"No. But I know how to get to it", his voice is convincing, and his eyes are focused. "I was late to save Yaxley and McLain but I did see what had happened to him as he was being flown away. I did see the curse in him. That's how I knew you'd come back here. I've been keeping my eye out for that because I could recognize you and him almost instantly. I've been looking for that cure ever since and now I know the pathway to it."