I'm story it's been so long since I've updated. I do have a few excuses, but I'd rather not go into detail. Let's just say school, visiting family, and runaway plot-bunnies and leave it at that. Please? Oh, and I had writer's block on my other story. I don't work on the next chapter of this before updating that and vice-versa. That being said, over 4,000 words! Yay! I'm hoping the extra long chapter might help make up for the several month wait...

Disclaimer: I don't own Tiger's Curse or any related characters, places, etc.

I tripped and fell on a root, only for Anik to catch me. I huffed in annoyance, it was the third time he had had to catch me, before I thanked him, and we kept walking. We were on our way to Phet's house, walking in a bit of a line. Kishan was in the front as a tiger, Anamika beside him, then Kelsey and Nilima were chatting. Behind the two of them, Anik, Ameria, and I were walking in a group, while Sunil and Ren brought up the rear in order to watch for dangers. As we hiked through the Indian jungle, I began to realize why, exactly, Kelsey complained so often in the books. Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt this way, because Ameria asked, "How much farther do we need to go, exactly?"

"However far it is," Nilima huffed over her shoulder, "It can't be close enough,"

Kelsey couldn't help but laugh through her exhaustion, "Finally! I'm not the only one who doesn't have super-special tiger endurance! At least now I know it was the tiger endurance and not just that I was out of shape,"

Anamika chuckled from the front, "It's not that bad,"

"Well sure," Kelsey huffed, "you're a goddess,"

"Um..." Sunil called forward, "I don't have tiger powers or the advantage of deity-dom, but I'm not tired,"

"Dad, you're a warrior from ancient India," Ameria countered, "I'm pretty sure that it gives you a bit of an advantage,"

Anik grinned, "What about me?"

I snorted, "You're puffing just as much as the rest of us. Your pride just won't let you admit it."

"Am not!" He exclaimed!

I laughed and shoved his shoulder, "I've been listening to your wheezing practically the entire hike!"

"I have not been wheezing!" he pouted.

"Hate to break it to you Cuz," Ameria chimed in, "but you kind of are,"

"Am not!" he exclaimed once more before he ruined his entire argument by wheezing, "Well," he grinned sheepishly, "maybe just a little,"

I heard a yelp from ahead me and looked up to find Kelsey staring at her hand in disgust. "Not again!"

Ren moved from his position at the back to up by his wife in seconds, "Iadala! What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"No," she clipped out her words while still glaring at her hand, "I leaned on one of those rubber trees again,"

Ren blinked, confused, "Rubber trees?"

She nodded and started picking at her fingers, "I'm pretty sure Phet said they were frankincense trees,"

She glared at her hand again before shouting, "Oh duh!" She raised her other hand and summoned a bit of water out of the humid air around us. The water formed a globe-like shape above her hand. She concentrated, and heated the water-ball until it started steaming. She then let go of the powers she was channeling and allowed the heated water to gush over her fingers. She sighed with happiness, "I'm so glad we have this amulet,"

Ren chuckled, and was about to return to the back of the group when Kishan switched back to human form, "We're here,"

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As we walked up to the old hut, the order of our group shifted around a bit. No longer concerned with dangers, Sunil shifted up to stand by his wife and Ren moved to stand with his brother while Kelsey and Anamika quickened their pace so they were in the front, leaving Anik, Ria, and I to bring up the rear. The door of the hut swung open and what looked to be a doddering old man tottered out, though we all knew better. Phet was one of the most powerful beings in the universe, "Ah! There you are! It has been too long since Phet has seen you!"

Kelsey and Anamika both burst into grins and ran up to embrace the old man with cries of "Phet!" and "Teacher!" respectively.

"Why, Anamika, Kahl-see! How you have grown since Phet last saw you!"

The two detangled themselves from Phet, and he addressed Anamika, giving a little half-bow, "It is good to see you again," She laughed, "Teacher, I am Anamika, not Durga now," He smiled at her, "You have learned all I have to teach you, and learned more still. As goddess, or as the young girl to whom I taught a strange language, it is my turn to bow to you,"

Anamika looked to be on the verge of tears of joy, but managed to choke out a small, "Thank you,"

Phet smiled at her and turned to Kelsey, "Kahl-see, it was a hard road to love you walked, but I think it was more than worth it in the end, yes?"

She smiled at him, and parroted his words, "More than worth it in the end,"

He smiled at the two girls and patted their shoulders, then he walked over to the two brothers, "So," he mused, "The tigers run again," He turned to Ren, "It must be strange, to carry the weight of the tiger again,"

Ren nodded, "It is, but if it means my family will be safe it is worth it,"

Phet nodded thoughtfully, "There is danger in the tiger, it is true, but majesty also. Remember that. Also, do not fear so much for your family, they are capable in their own right,"

At Ren's nod, he turned to Kishan, "Ah, the younger prince, you lie in your brother's shadow no more, yes?"

Kishan chuckled, "You say that every time I see you Phet,"

Phet nodded, "And every time it becomes more true, you would do well to remember that, yes?"

Kishan laughed and nodded, "Of course,"

Phet studied the two, before nodding, apparently satisfied, and walking over to where Sunil and Nilima stood.

He turned to Sunil first, "You have not come so far as your sister, perhaps, but I do believe it makes you all the stronger," He nodded his head to Sunil, different than the half-bow he had given Anamika, but it choked Sunil up all the same. Phet smiled at Sunil once more, "You've lived a long-suffering life, and your trials may not be over yet, but remember that the benefits and hopes always out-way the risks and doubts, my friend,"

Sunil nodded, and blinked his watering eyes, "Of course, Teacher,"

Phet turned to Nilima thoughtfully, "You have less experience with things such as these, but enough that you could be thrown in the deep end and swim to shore. I fear you may be forced to do that,"

Nilima smiled at him, "I will do what it takes to help where I can,"

Phet nodded distantly, "Yes, your kindness makes you strong indeed, but," he smiled mischievously, "Don't be afraid to allow your temper to shine through, especially when it comes to overprotective husbands, yes?"

Nilima laughed and I was startled at the similarities between hers and her daughter's, they both had almost bell-like tones underneath them, "No need to worry about that one Phet, Sunil knows better than to 'protect' me," she turned to her husband and gave a wicked smile, "Don't you?"

Sunil laughed nervously, "Yup,"

Phet chuckled and smiled at Sunil, "I seem to remember a conversation with a young boy about girls and how he would never-"

He cut himself off, laughing, when he saw Sunil's wince. Still chuckling, he made his way to where the three of us stood, and the laughter melted from his face to be replaced with concern, "You three have the least experience, yet fate seems to pivot upon you most of all. Lean on each other, you three, stick together, and act as each other's floats and anchors, for I do not think you could swim on your own,"

We nodded solemnly and he turned to Ria, "You are the youngest, barely fifteen, yet you have a wisdom beyond your years. It is not entirely your own, but the one who originally lent it to you meant no harm, trust your instincts when things not you speak through you. I fear another may have corrupted that wisdom along the way, though it may just be an old man's foolish ramblings. Rest assured that they will do no more than speak,"

Ria nodded, a mixture of relief and worry painted across her features, "Thank you for sharing such with me,"

He nodded, "Whether the knowledge has been corrupted or not, your instincts will share if the words are to be trusted. You are one that is strong-hearted, and you are well acquainted with your own. It helps you see the hearts of others. Do not be afraid to give others a nudge. Not all see hearts so clear as you,"

He raised his eyebrows meaningfully at her and she frowned, before her eyes lit up, "Oh!"

He smiled at her, "Give them a chance first, but be aware,"

Ameria smiled and hugged him in thanks, he smiled at her fondly.

He then turned to me, "You know what happened well, I dare say perhaps better than those who lived it, but your trials will be different. Do not be afraid to find your own path, at the same time, ask for guidance, do not stumble blindly through the dark,"

I nodded at him, committing his words to memory, "I won't forget,"

He smiled kindly at me, "This is serious, but do not be afraid to have fun, and above all, trust your heart to guide you, it will often know those around you better than you do yourself,"

I smiled back tentatively and gave him a hug as well, he patted my back and whispered the words, just loud enough for me to hear, "You are strong as you need to be, don't doubt,"

He pulled back and smiled at me, then turned to Anik, "You are young yet, but these two will look to you, in a different way than, yet at the same time that, you look to them. Protect them, but remember that you are part of them as much as they are a part of you. You inherited the same hero complex as is possessed by your father, you will be quick to sacrifice yourself for others, but remember, the emotional pain will hurt them much more than whatever pain death may bring to you,"

Anik nodded solemnly, "Of course,"

Phet stepped back and looked at the three of us once more, "Protecter, Healer-guide, Leader, you three make quite the trio," yet the way he murmured it made me think that he as thinking out loud rather than addressing us directly. Ren, Kishan, and Anamika glanced at each other, having heard with their tiger/god/goddess hearing what Phet said as clearly as we did and obviously as clueless as the three of us as to why we were singled out for group advice even though we were the least experienced among the nine.

Phet shook his head, "Speaking of protection," he turned to Kishan, "why have you not given your nephew his?"

Kishan blinked, confused, before enlightenment dawned on his face, "So Anik did inherent the tiger gene,"

Phet shook his head, "It was not passed on once originally broken, but surely you can recognize one of your chosen,"

Kishan's eyes widened, and he darted over to where Anik stood, turning into a tiger along the way. The black tiger sniffed at Anik and lowered his head along with a slight growl, and while I had to fight my natural instincts not to run away from such a large creature making such a guttural sound, Anik kneeled before the black cat, almost instinctively, and the tiger snuffled along his brow before stepping back in shock. The tiger morphed back to a man, "You're right," he breathed in wonder, before scowling, "The word 'chosen' is very misleading, it's always annoying trying to sort out who is and who isn't, and even among those that are, whether they're mine or someone else's,"

Having said his piece, Kishan extended a hand and helped his nephew back to his feet. As golden eyes flecked with bronze stared into an identical pair, Kishan smirked, "Quite honestly, I should have known as soon as I realized you got my eyes even though you were my brother's son. On the bright side, I won't need to give up an extra form to give you yours, on the down side, this might be a little painful,"

Kishan reached out and put a hand on Anik's forehead. The hand began to pulse with a golden light and Anik gritted his teeth in pain, a second later, Kishan followed suit. One of Anik's hands flew up and grasped onto his uncle's wrist. Anik's hand began to pulse with light in time with Kishan's, though instead of gold, bronze light shone from his hand. Both of the boys clenched the hand uninvolved in the pulsing glow that was becoming brighter by the second tightly enough that I could see a drop or two of blood welling from the places where their nails dug into their skin. Their eyes were screwed shut, but I didn't remember them closing, after a few agonizing minutes, though it seemed like hours, of the boys taking turns gasping in pain, they moved their hands away simultaneously and Kishan stumbled back a few steps while Anik fell to the ground in pain. Kelsey moved to help her son, but Anamika held a hand out to stop her, "He must do this on his own,"

I was on the verge of running over to help him myself when I realized Ria had had the same idea, she was darting over to help the man she saw as a brother. I reached out to grab her wrist, and she clenched mine as well, both of us stopping the other from running towards the man that writhed in pain. I glanced over to where the others stood. Nilima had buried her face in her husband's shoulder while Sunil murmured soothing words, looking away from the terrible sight though he couldn't block out the screams of pain. Anamika was still keeping Kelsey from running forward. There was a grim look on her face as she stared at Anik, making me wonder how many times in her years as Durga she had seen a similar sight. Kelsey had tears running down her cheeks, the hand on her shoulder clearly the only thing keeping her from running to her son. Kishan had moved over to where his brother had stood and was actively wrestling with him to keep him from dashing to where Anik was. Kishan managed to pin Ren down and Ren choked out the words, "You know as well as I what pain he's going through! And he hasn't had the experience with battles and pain we had when we were first turned! It will hurt all the more for him! Have lost your heart?"

Kishan bowed his head, "I know, but to help him would only worsen the pain,"

At these words, Ren froze and stopped struggling, "How?"

Kishan got off of his brother and helped him up, "The tiger is testing him, to help him would make the tiger to see him as weak. It would raise the stakes of the test. Besides, it won't be quite as strong a pain as it was for us. The tiger doesn't need to overcome another curse as well,"

As he said this, Kishan gripped his brother's shoulder and Ren returned the gesture. The two turned to face Anik, and I did the same. Anik had stopped writhing and screaming, and was merely gasping with the occasional twitch. He shuddered and stilled, before moving as though to stand. As he stood, his body morphed into an orange tiger with golden eyes. He laid down on the ground and gave a tentative chuffing sound. He cocked his head, apparently pleased with himself, and repeated the noise.

I turned to Ameria and gave a weak chuckle, "Guess his dream was a little more than a dream,"

She smiled tentatively back at me, still in shock, "Yeah,"

At this point, Kelsey and Ren threw off the hands holding them back and dashed over to Anik, Ren morphed into a tiger along the way and got there first, shifting to lie beside his son. Kelsey reached them just moments afterwards and fell to her knees on the other side of Anik. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his fur. Anik shifted back to a man and turned slightly until he was able to wrap his arms around her, "Hey, I'm fine, Mom,"

She gave a weak chuckle from where her face was buried in his shoulder, "It's a mother's job to worry, Nikky,"

Anik blushed, "Mom! You haven't called me 'Nikky' in years,"

She pulled back and glared, "Anik Kishan Rajaram! I can call you anything I want after having to watch you writhe in pain and scream on the ground for however long that was! Never scare me like that again!"

He winced and ducked his head, "Sorry, Mom,"

Ren walked over to the two and shifted back from tiger form, wrapping them in a hug as well, "Lighten up on the boy, Kells! Just so long as your safe son," He pulled back and grinned at Anik, "So, how does it feel to be a tiger?"

Anik thought for a moment before a slow smile spread across his face, "Good. Really good in fact. I've never felt more..." He trailed off, and shook his head, "More alive," he finished confidently.

The family of three stood up to find Phet beaming, "Good! Now we're making progress!" He turned around took a few steps towards his house, turned around again, "Well, come in," before turning around one last time and going into the house. With a few glances at each other, we followed him into the hut.

To my shock, the hut was much larger than the exterior would suggest. It was rather barren, but there was a clear bedroom, a clear dining room, a clear herbal preparation room, and a door leading to what I assumed was a bathroom. There were no boundaries, other than the door, between the different rooms, but they were clear all the same.

"How...?"

Based on Kelsey's confused question, she was as perplexed as I as to how this had been accomplished.

Phet smiled, "I do like living sparsely, but I'm old enough to enjoy a few comforts, don't you think?"

He waved his hand towards the dining room area, which had a round table large enough to sit all ten of us, the walked over to where Kelsey had sat.

He held out his hand, "May I see the amulet Miss Kahl-see?"

She smiled, "Of course," and pulled the chain that it was resting on over her neck. She handed it to the old monk who proceeded to move over to the remaining seat between Kelsey and Nilima.

He frowned, staring at the amulet, and traced along the lines where the amulet had once been broken. The lines began to glow, before dimming again. "Perhaps..." he murmured thoughtfully, and pressed at the center of the amulet. The amulet began to glow along the lines again, before it started to shake and flared brightly.

After I blinked the spots out of my vision, I was surprised to find Phet beaming down at the amulet which had once more been split into five pieces, somehow each with their own chain.

I heard a wheezing sound and glanced over to see Kishan picking himself up off the floor, "Could ya warn me next time you decide to snap my amulet into five different pieces? It's not so bad right now because I'm my original self instead of one of my other forms, but it still hurts!"

Phet gave a little grin, "I figured it would be like pulling of a bandage. Best to get it over with fast,"

That being said, he picked up the piece of the amulet closest to him and turned it over in his hands. "Fire," He handed it to Kelsey. He the picked up a piece he determined to be "Earth," which he proceeded to hand to Sunil. The piece that was "Space-Time," was passed to Ameria. Meanwhile, "Water," was given to Nilima, and, to my surprise, the piece determined to be "Air," was handed to me. As I slipped the chain over my head, I was startled by the sudden sense of clarity, of every current in the air becoming it's own distinct entity. My fingers itched to try and command them, but I knew now wasn't the time.

Phet smiled, "Good!" Before becoming more serious, "Now that protection has been sorted out, we can get down to a more serious business. I don't know when it started exactly, and I don't know where or who or how or even why. But I do know what is going on. Someone has started up a plague. I've studied several cases of it, and this is what I have determined. Those aged twenty or younger, chronologically, not physically or mentally, seem to be nearly immune, though it's not a sure fact. It will not affect those untouched by the supernatural world, but it will readily affect anyone with the slightest hint of a connection. It is highly contagious. And without the help of deities, the whole world could be thrown into disarray,"

"Yinbailong, the white dragon" Kelsey breathed, "he controls the entire axis of the earth, if he were to fall ill..." She trailed off, horrified at the potential ramifications.

Anamika looked grim, "And that's just the beginning. Even the loss of Cloacina might spawn global catastrophe,"

Sunil blinked, "Erm, Cloacina?"

Kishan smiled, "A minor Roman Goddess, very nice girl. We don't see her very often. She's rather... Pungent,"

Sunil blinked, "Do I want to know?"

Kishan beamed, "Probably not, but I'm telling you anyway! She's the goddess of the sewers!"

Anamika swatted the back of her husband's head, "I didn't use her name as an example so you could make fun of the poor girl. I chose her name because she's a minor goddess from a single religion," At this, Anamika shook her head, "Poor thing doesn't even have Greek counterpart,"

Phet shook his head, "Such matters aside, from samples I have studied, I may have found a way to fix this mess,"

I sat up straight, all ears, "How?"

Phet sighed, "It won't be easy,"

Kelsey gave a wry half-smile, "These things never are. What should we do?"

Phet pulled out a piece of parchment that seemed to have a list of ingredients on it, "You'll need ten Phoenix tears, an ounce of pegacorn blood, they're sometimes called alicorns, a scale from each of the five dragons, two apples of immortality from Hera's garden, not Juno's, a half-gallon of water from the lake of the Lady of the Lake, a pint of nectar from Shangri-la, and two petals of a moly flower. Please remember for the moly flower that if it's not picked by a deity it will be poisonous instead of healing. You'll need to find a way to combine them into some sort of liquid. I would recommend melting it with a combination of the fire amulet segment and the rope of fire. Then, find whatever object this plague is linked to. Once immersed in the liquid, it should cancel any affects, and that should be tha-"

Phet was cut off when he was struck by an awful coughing fit.

Kelsey and Nilima, who were the closest to the old monk, were out of their chairs and by his side in seconds.

"No! *cough* Get away *cough* from me! *cough* I spent *cough* too much time *cough* around those sick with the disease!"

He broke down into another coughing fit, before he had no breath left to cough with and was merely shuddering and wheezing. All the same, he made shooing motions with his hands, urgently trying to get us to leave.

Sunil snatched up the scroll, and he and Anamika each patted their old teacher's shoulder on their way out. The man managed a weak smile, before he was torn into another fit. This time, however, he was coughing up blood as well.

With a cry of, "Teacher!" They were back beside him, but the man continued to shoo us away, "The faster you're gone, *cough**cough**cough* the faster you can find the cure!*cough*"

I was the last one out the door, I couldn't help but linger in the doorway, "Will you-?"

Phet managed a weak smile, and a nod.

And with one last backwards glance, I was gone.

Please review! It will help me right faster, and better! Even if you didn't like it for some reason, I want to know what you're thinking! Please?