Author's note: A fun little project between projects that I thought of. Inspired by 'The Gorg's curse' written by Era Yachi for WA3. Hilarious story, by the way, if you have not read it. I highly recommend it. Please note, I am not trying to rip off their idea or copy it. But after re-reading it a short while back I got the idea of "what if something like this were to happen to Cecilia?" So I ran with it and liked what I came up with, so I decided to share. And if you just so happen to be Era Yachi and stumble across this, I hope you enjoy my little homage to your story. :) And seriously, guys, go read the original. It's great!
Warning, this will contain some light core smut towards the end. Not overtly explicit, but smut all the same. Because the world needs more Cecilia/Rudy smut. ;)
Nothing at all seemed too out of place in the quiet town of Honeysday. Quaint, peaceful, charming. Old weather-worn wooden houses lined the dirt paths that wound throughout the town. Near the entrance sat the standard fare for many a village in Filgaia: An inn, a diner, medical clinic, as well as the obligatory pub and shops. Townspeople milled about their lives; in the streets, working the shops, or tending to fields. The sounds of children at play rang out from the yard of a nearby schoolhouse.
Nope, everything in this town seemed quite ordinary. Normally when Rudy, Jack, and Cecilia were summoned to a settlement in urgent need of their help with monsters, the town didn't have such a peaceful air about it by the time they arrived. In fact, they were more used to an oppressive atmosphere, and fearful people with troubled looks painted on their faces. All of that was missing here. At present everything was life as usual, and the trio did not know if that was a good thing, or a bad thing. All they knew was that it meant today was going to be different.
Of course, it was different these days for them to even receive a call for help vanquishing monsters anymore. Immediately after the demon's defeat, the damage done to the planet left them with heaps of work, helping people deal with the monsters left behind from the demon's assault. Once those jobs fizzled out after about a year, they relinquished themselves to taking jobs from Professor Emma here and there. They were eager, though, to take a trouble-making monster bounty again, growing weary from Professor Emma and her suicide missions into old, booby-trap ridden ruins.
They sought out the town mayor; the man who hired them to come. The three, along with Hanpan, sat in the elderly balding man's living room. They listened intently as he told them about a monster that had taken up residence in a nearby cave several weeks ago. It was a rare monster that had begun attacking young women, villager and traveler alike, and inflicting them with a bizarre course.
"So," Jack cleared his throat, "vicious monster hiding in a cave. Sounds standard enough. We'll probably be done with it by dinner."
"Sure sounds that way." Hanpan, his wind mouse sprite companion agreed, "Rudy, Cecilia, sound good to the two of you?" he looked over and asked them.
Rudy nodded. "Yes. We'll take the job."
"Yes, let us hurry. I would hate for there to be any more victims." Cecilia said, agreeing with the others.
"On that note," the mayor spoke up, looking over at Cecilia wryly, "I must ask that you let the two men handle this one, miss. As you just said, we don't want anymore victims, and this monster attacks only women."
Cecilia was taken aback by his suggestion, "Excuse me? The three of us are a team, and I am very much capable of handling myself."
"Yeah, you don't have to worry too much about the Princess, here," Jack motioned to her, "She is about as tough as they come. Whatever this monster can dish out, she can handle. Plus, we might just end up in more trouble without her."
"But miss," the mayor began to protest, "I insist that you not go along. You see this curse… it's well… erm…" he fidgeted in his seat, contorting his face awkwardly, as he delicately tried to find the right way to describe it.
"Tell us, is this some kind of deadly curse?" Hanpan asked him.
Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he continued to fumble over his words, "That's well… erm… you see it's hard to explain… It can be deadly, yes, but there is a 'cure'. It's just that the cure-"
"Well, if it is not immediately deadly, and there is a cure, then I see no reason for me to stay behind." Cecilia interrupted.
"It's ultimately up to you." Rudy said to her.
"Then it's settled. All of us are going." Cecilia said definitively.
The mayor sighed begrudgingly, "Very well. Just do be sure to watch your back, miss. And I will pray to the Guardians that your two friends will be watching over you as well. For this monster is very fast and strikes without warning. One bite is all it will take for you to be cursed."