CHAPTER 27: CURIOSITY AND THE CAT

Perseus didn't want to just chat. Chatting was tedious to him, a sad and outrageously dull form of communication. Chatting never got anyone anywhere except to sheer boredom. If he was going to share information - and in return, gain some - he preferred a more enjoyable route of extracting that knowledge.

So, he suggested a game.

Perseus loved games. His excitement when proposing this idea matched that of a child's yearning for their adults to join in the fun. "Oh, but this is no ordinary game. This is a game of magic."

Gwenda crossed her arms. "Seems like I already have a disadvantage."

"That's what you think." Perseus replied, leaving a long silence behind him. Gwenda stared back, balancing his intimidation with her own. Sure, she had been exposed to magic by her friends and family and learned a few things, but she wasn't a magician herself. She couldn't manipulate the wind like Wynne or Kenta; couldn't create fire by snapping her fingers like Calcifer and Howl; couldn't see into the future like Martha or Lily.

And certainly she didn't have an ounce of magic inside of her bones.

Perseus broke the staring battle with a crackle of his firewood. "It's a question game. We start off with one asking a question, and the other must answer truthfully. Then, we repeat back and forth."

Gwenda stepped carefully back to the couch, running the rules through her brain. Truthfully - Perseus didn't seem like truth was something he shared often, or at all, but there was obviously a gain on both sides should this game ensue. She might even learn more about his connection to Calcifer.

And Perseus might learn the same.

"What would happen if someone doesn't answer truthfully?" Gwenda inquired, stressing the word 'someone' with a direct glare toward the green flare.

Perseus only cackled. Nothing ever seemed to worry or frighten him. It was like he lived on cloud nine with the world in the pit of his flames. Everything went according to his plot, his design - it made her wonder if Calcifer ever felt that sense of superiority.

"That's where the magic comes in," Perseus explained, "When you tell a lie, let's say… your cup of tea will burn your tongue. And when I tell a lie, heavy droplets of water will fall from the chimney."

Perseus chanted a spell that initiated the game and proved the lie detector. Gwenda asked him to describe himself, so he verbally claimed that he was a two-year-old child with blue horns, and immediately the droplets tumbled down like a heavy rainstorm. It stunned Gwenda to see how much fell, and nearly a quarter of his fire sizzled and vaporized. Gradually, he rebuilt his flames to the proud state he was before.

Perseus then asked Gwenda about her childhood.

"All right," Gwenda said, thinking of an obvious lie, "I grew up in Wales my entire life." She picked up the half cup of tea and cautiously took a sip, preparing for the burn. She nearly spat the tea at Perseus for how scorching it was.

"What the hell?" Gwenda said, dropping the teacup back on the table. It toppled over and spilled the contents. It was like she drank a splash of hot lava. The puddles of rainwater, the burning drink - this was basically a game of punishments.

Quickly, the cup of tea reverted itself and the tea splashed back into the cup, landing poised on the table. She wasn't getting out of this game easily. Perseus' flame sparked a ferocious green. "Let's see how far our curiosity gets us tonight."

"Haven't you heard?" Gwenda asked with a sharp tone. "Curiosity killed the cat."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm not a cat, then." Perseus replied. Since he signaled the start of the game, he was granted the first question. "What drew you to Calcifer romantically?"

Gwenda creased her eyebrows. "Wow, no small talk I see."

"I think we're both more interested in other things than how the weather looks."

She had expected he wouldn't play around with simple questions, but this one stopped Gwenda in her tracks. It was a silly question, but one she really needed to ponder. What had drawn her to Calcifer all those years ago? It all happened before she even realized she'd started falling for the demon, and before Calcifer admitted his own love to her, she hadn't truly wrapped the thought around her brain.

At first, she tried denying it. The feelings she held for Prince Justin were far too controlling and obsessive for her to let anyone steal her heart. And then there was the fact that he was a fire demon; he wasn't even human.

Until he was.

Gwenda held the teacup close to her lips as she said, "I fell in love with him because he showed me what love really looked like." Slowly, she took a sip. Though she scrunched at the taste of lukewarm tea, it did not burn or scald her the way it had before.

Perseus snorted. "How touching."

"It's obviously the truth."

"I can see that. But very cliche, I might add."

"If you knew about my past love life, you wouldn't think so." Gwenda leaned back into the velvet cushion. "My question. How do you even know Calcifer?"

Perseus took roughly the same amount of time as she did to contemplate an answer, and it troubled her to think he was going to end the game right then and there. It was a worrisome thought, though she figured his goal was to learn more than just a simple reason why she was attracted to Calcifer. He wasn't so naive as to end the game after one question.

Eventually, Perseus finally uttered his response. "We were in the same star cluster."

"That's it?" Gwenda said after no puddles of water fell. She was expecting a monologue of an answer. "No, we were best friends or worst enemies or whatever?"

"Nope. That's it."

Gwenda rolled her eyes. "You really are a hard cookie to crack."

He only smiled that devilish smile once more. It was a constant visage of utmost arrogance. "How's old Cal doing?"

"That's your question?" Gwenda asked. Perseus nodded. Gwenda lifted the cup to her lips once more. "He's fine."

She burned her tongue and yelped from the pain. This time, though, she didn't drop the cup. She was more surprised that the game picked up on such a little farce.

Perseus, however, basked in her vain deception. "Ah, our first lie. Come now, time to be honest."

Gwenda scoffed and eyed the demon with contempt. Such a foolish question, but she could read into his twisted ways. He didn't care that Calcifer was doing well; he wanted him to be in a bad position. And he wanted to know why.

Perseus didn't need the intricate details, yet she was bound to the truth. This game forced the speaker to only share a truth, but did it desire the full truth? Maybe that's why Perseus gave a subtle answer earlier. He knew he only needed to satisfy the game's demands - not Gwenda's.

There was no way Gwenda would openly reveal Calcifer's plight - mostly because she didn't know the whole truth herself. Even if she had, Perseus was the last soul to which she would entrust confidential information.

Gwenda wondered how Lily lived with him all these years.

Gwenda licked her lips and spoke in reserve. "He's not fine. He's a wreck. That's why I came here."

"To do what?"

Too much, she thought. Gwenda had to adjust if she were to gain the upper hand. "My question."

Perseus sparked his flames higher and brighter. He almost seemed impressed. Strangely, Perseus loved how promptly she picked up on this unwritten rule. "The human learns quickly."

"Why do you hate Calcifer so much?" She realized the wording of her questions was equally as important as the answers. It seemed wasteful to ask if they were friends or enemies at this point - what really mattered was the source of his disdain.

"We were friends at one time." Perseus began, his voice trailing as if reliving tales of old. "For a long time, actually. We had a sort of… falling out. A disagreement, if you will."

"About what?"

"Nice try." Perseus said, wasting no time in his own questioning. "You say your dear Calcifer is a wreck, and that's why you're in Wales. So, why come here of all places?"

Gwenda gritted her teeth. She was waiting for that one. "I was actually looking for a fire demon."

Perseus shined his purple teeth wide, his eyes narrowing like razor blades. "Wow, I guess I should be blushing that you were seeking me out. Tired of the old sap already?"

"Don't flatter yourself. Any other demon would have been better than you." Gwenda immediately transitioned into her question. "What did you and Calcifer disagree on that made you hate him?"

"Now we're getting into the juicy details." Perseus replied. "Fine, since you're doing surprisingly well, I'll grant you a fully honest answer. Especially with how you phrased it, I really have no other choice."

Gwenda tried to hide her smile, but it was in full view. She was beginning to like this game. Once she understood the quirks, the formula for asking was rather straightforward. She just needed to keep up her momentum.

Perseus continued. "It was on our Night of Falling Stars. We were born together, so we would die together. I already had it in my mind to make a contract with a certain someone who stood in the Porthaven Marshes that night, but it seemed like Calcifer had a similar idea."

Gwenda dropped her smile. "You wanted to build a contract with Howl."

"Ah yes, Howl Pendragon. I've heard his name quite often over the years. Yes, I aimed directly for the boy wizard, and Calcifer beat me to it. If my current partner hadn't been there that very night, I would've died for sure."

"But how could Lily have been there all those years ago?" Gwenda asked. She would've been a child years younger than Howl at the time. None of this made sense at all.

"Uh uh," Perseus said, "If you want to ask another question, you must answer one of mine. Since you love talking about Calcifer so much, as do I, mind telling me when he became human?"

"I never said he did."

"You didn't have to." Perseus said with a wink. "Trust me, you wouldn't be so in love if he wasn't like you in some physical way." Gwenda opened her mouth to retort, but Perseus spoke first. "The question has been asked. You must answer."

Gwenda grunted with disgust. "Seven years ago."

Perseus nodded. "Your turn."

She had to deliberate her next question, especially after his previous reveal. She could ask how Lily was there the same night as Howl in the marshes, but Perseus might revert back to the passive, light answers. It was astonishing that he shared as many details as he did about his hatred toward Calcifer in the first place. Or, maybe he was eager to complain about possibly the worst event to happen to him.

Looking back on it, Gwenda could somewhat understand Perseus' feelings; she had built up enough vengeance in her own life to empathize. Even still, she was never more grateful that Howl chose Calcifer than now. How terribly different life would have been if Howl had entrusted his heart to a conniving scoundrel such as Perseus.

Focus, she thought. A question that would unearth details about Lily without assuming too vague an answer. There was only one thing Gwenda could think of that satisfied her present desires and the secrets that Lily withheld. "What's behind the door in the basement?"

"Oh, now we're getting into something interesting." Perseus said with a booming spark. His green flames crackled even outside of the fireplace, dropping like rain on the carpet and vanishing into ash. "You went down the long hallway."

"The question has been asked." Gwenda said, using his own words against him. "You must answer."

"I really like you," Perseus replied, "Too bad Calcifer snatched you up when he did."

"Your answer?" Gwenda shivered at his words, then curled her arms over her legs. She wondered how he would try worming his way out of this one, if that was even possible. This was a cut and dry question - he had to provide a solid answer.

Perseus finally spoke. "Behind the basement door lies a set of seven other doors."

That was not the answer she had expected. "Where do those doors go?"

"Not your turn for questions," Perseus replied in a sing-song voice, trailing longer than necessary. "So, for seven years he's been a pesky little human. How did he become a human?"

Gwenda paused. "Why do you want to know?"

"Did I not say it wasn't your turn?" No longer the sing-song, playfully erratic tone, he was far more blunt and forceful. Who knew if this was a game anymore to the nosy fire demon.

"Well, the truth is I can't answer that," Gwenda said, "I didn't see how he became human." As she drank from the cup, however, her shrilling shriek supposed otherwise.

Perseus snickered at her lie. "The tea says you're wrong."

"But I wasn't there!" Gwenda widened her eyes at the heinous cup of tea. She didn't know how Calcifer became a human. She couldn't have.

Right?

Gwenda wasn't there when he transformed; she only watched him run wildly into the darkness with his flames slowly dying in the rainstorm. One moment he was on death's doorstep, the next he was shivering in the cold like he'd experienced it a million times over.

She never knew exactly how it happened - unless her subconscious truly knew and kept it within herself all these years. Her mind focused back to that day, and something peculiar Calcifer had said struck her immediately.

Your hair did something to me, something I'd never felt before.

"My hair." She whispered like a casual gust of wind. Part of Gwenda wished it was low enough to satisfy the game and stay out of Perseus' earshot, but she knew nothing was that coincidental.

"You made a contract with him using your hair," Perseus said, filling in the blanks himself, "And something inside of you was so powerful it gave him the ability to become a human. Interesting. I've actually never heard of that happening before."

Gwenda hardly heard anything he spoke and she fixated on this personal revelation. Calcifer said he had just been talking to the Witch of the Wastes, that he didn't feel her magic or anything. Was he right? Had it really been her hair all along? Gwenda couldn't imagine a mere human having enough power to transform a millennium-old demon into a mortal.

Sophie had made a similar contract with Calcifer before Gwenda met them, although he swore he had never been as powerful with Sophie's hair or Howl's heart. What about her own elongated locks of gold was enough to transform his physical being entirely?

"Next question." Gwenda said, immediately changing courses. "What's behind the other seven doors in the basement?"

That was her true objective; that was her goal. She needed to know what exactly Lily was hiding from them. If that basement was the key to something greater, possibly something that could get them out of the mess she created, then it was worth answering whatever question Perseus could throw at her.

There was a reason for such a complex hallway to have illusions and a sense of infinity to shelter a locked door. There was a reason the door was locked in the first place. Gwenda was growing impatient by the minute, waiting for Perseus' answer.

But Perseus did not. The fire demon eyeballed her, like he was going to withhold that answer as long as possible. She assumed he didn't have to answer right away, so long as he gave a truthful answer at some point. So long as the game continued and no one broke it.

Perseus started the game - he could end it at whichever time he saw fit.

"How do you open the first door?" Gwenda said, wondering if she was able to change her question. "Why would there be seven other doors behind it? What is so special that Lily has to lock something away in her own house? What is she hiding?"

"My, my," Perseus said, clicking his fire tongue against the molten wood, "we were playing so fairly before. Which question do you want me to answer now? The game is unsure how to proceed."

"All of them."

"Well, you know what they say: When one door closes, do whatever you can to force it open."

"I really don't think people say that."

"But life would be so much more fun if they did."

Gwenda stood up in a rage of irritation and sloshed the rest of her tea over Perseus. His fire sizzled at the liquid, though it was not nearly enough to drown him. Gwenda hadn't noticed her voice rising higher and higher as she spoke. "Answer the question, dammit. What is behind those doors?"

Perseus' purple teeth hoisted up and his smile was that of a sadistic, murderous clown. "Oh, wouldn't you like to know."

"What are you doing?" A voice behind them spoke softly, almost in a dazing haze. Gwenda turned around to see a sleepy Kenta rubbing his eyes. When he could see them clearly, Kenta bulged them like a frog. It didn't take long for him to feel the power of a spellbound game.

With a harsh whisper of words, he disassembled the spell. Then, his voice gained volume. "Gwenda, you stupid fool."

Perseus blew a grey trail of smoke in the air. "Thank you so much for playing."

"You idiot," Gwenda rasped at Kenta, "he was about to tell me about the doors in the basement."

"The what?" Kenta asked in disbelief. He shook his head and ignored her. "You are absolutely crazy. You know talking with him only leads to more deceit and lies."

"And yet she got a lot more out of me than you probably could." Perseus said. "I admire her, actually. I see now why Cal is so head over heels in love with her."

"Don't you dare say his name so casually," Gwenda scoffed back at him, "Just because I played doesn't mean I wanted to share such things with you."

"And yet you did - information for information." Perseus reminded her.

"He's had over a millennium of strategy and trickery to master." Kenta said, continuing his lecture to her. "You're not even in his league."

Gwenda knew she wasn't within his realm of knowledge; she wasn't even close. And yet, she still held her own and learned so much. There truly was something hidden behind that door, something important, and she figured there were seven more ways of finding their ticket home.

"That's because I'm too hot for her." Perseus retorted, blazing his fire a brighter green. He directed his attention back to Gwenda, her exhaustion from the night finally kicking in as he spoke. "For having such sportsmanship in a game you've never played, I'll grant you this piece of information free of charge. What lies behind those doors will solve more answers than just wanting to get home to your precious fire demon."

As Gwenda stumbled upstairs to the guest room, stricken by the sunrise beaming through the window, she fell into a deep slumber for the remainder of the day - back to her dreams of Calcifer, along with the imagination of whatever secrets remained behind seven mysterious doors.