The Gargoyle's Sin

Only Shot

That evening Sybil and Alexis sat at the table enjoying dinner while discussing their visit with Shelta. They both agreed that this might their only shot at not only freeing Grimald but give him the upper hand he never had. Alexis was bouncing in her seat the entire night, excitedly awaiting Grimald's knock on the back door signaling his arrival. 

"Just remember dear," Sybil said. "This is a sensitive topic for Grimald. He believes there is nothing that can be done for him and his curse. Convincing him to give Shelta a chance will take a lot of patience, even then he decide that isn't the path he wants to take."

"H-he has to d-do this Sybal. Th-there doesn't seem to b-be any other w-way!"

"I know, but sometimes he can be-"

A soft knock on her back door interrupted their conversation. Before Sybil could even stand up from her chair, Alexis was across the room flinging her back door wide. To Grimald's surprise she flung herself at him causing him to stumble back a little and almost lose his balance. A small chuckle errupted from him as he wrapped her up in his arms and returned her very enthusiastic embrace.

"What's got you all excited little one?"

"Sybil and I m-might h-have some good n-news for you!" She exclaimed.

Grimald gave Sybil a confused look. 

"Is that so? I can't wait to here it."

Sybil could only give him nervous smile knowing this was going to be a hard conversation to have. 

"I plan on calling the carpenter tomorrow to check his progress on the cross," she stated. 

If she was being honest, she was just trying to delay the argument that would be ensuing.

"Good. The sooner we have that in our grasp the sooner we can start planning our next move."

Grimald turned to sit on the steps after speaking while cradling Alexis to his chest. He seated her comfortably on his lap and began petting her hair, patiently waiting for her to look up at him and share her exciting news.

"What did you today love?"

His pet name caused her to look up at him, a large smile brightening her face while she tried to gather her words.

"W-we went into town and s-saw Shelta today. We n-needed advice o-on what to do a-about your soul b-being split."

Alexis excitement started to dim when she noticed Grimald's frown and his eyes beginning to narrow.

"Love, where are you going with this?"

"U-umm w-well I j-just wanted to help a-and Shelta s-said she....c-could....h-help?" 

Her statement ended in a question because Grimald's expression was less than pleased. She didn't understand why he wasn't even remotely happy or even hopeful. Granted she had yet to actually tell him what Shelta said, but she could already see him putting the pieces together."

"I know you do, but there is nothing that Shelta nor anyone else can do about my curse or my soul. This is something that is eternal, it will never go away."

Grimald's firm voice began to upset Alexis but she refused to give up. He was going to listen to everything she said and save his pessimistic views for the end. With that in mind she crawled off his lap so she could stand in front of him and crossed her arms to appear more serious. If this wasn't such a serious conversation, Grimald would have been grinning at how adorable she looked. 

"L-listen here. I am n-not ready to g-give up so n-neither are you. Now d-do you want to k-know what Shelta said or n-not?"

Fighting back a grin Grimald replied, "Go ahead love, I'm all ears."

"G-good. Shelta told u-us that it is p-possible to put y-your soul b-back together, but it won't b-be easy. The f-first thing we n-need to do is b-bring all the i-items that contain your s-soul to her. From th-there we p-purify your missing p-piece before putting it b-back together."

"And how do we purify the cursed piece?" 

Grimald refused to get his hopes up, to him this sounded crazy, there was just no way something like this could actually work. It sounded to easy. 

"That's where things get complicated," Sybil said. 

Alexis and Grimald turned and gave Sybil their full attention, making it obvious that they forgot she was even there. 

"According to Shelta the onnly way to purify the cursed piece is for you to face your past and forgive yourself for the things you couldn't control. She stated that this part has to be done or your soul will never accept the missing piece, its to dark from the curse and evil it was used for to put back with the rest of you."

"What about the rings?" Grimald asked. "Those have my soul do I need to purify that as well?"

Sybil shook her head before continuing, "No. That piece was given willingly and out of love. Therefore it is still just as pure as the rest of your soul. The cross is the problem."

Taking a moment to allow all of this to sink in gave Alexis the chance to sit back on Grimald's lap. Looking down at the small girl caused him to pause and consider this absurdity instead of quickly dismissing it. 

"What about the curse? We still have that to worry about."

"Well I wasn't finished," Sybil quietly said. "Once your soul is put back together, according to Shelta it reverses your curse. Purifying the curse piece will also purge it of the curse they placed upon you."

Grimald shook his head. 

"This seems to simple Sybil. This can't possibly work," he denied.

"Aren't you willing to at least try? I know you don't want to get your hopes up again, but I trust Shelta. She would never lie to us."

"I don't know if I can face those memories again. I buried them for a reason, they need to stay locked away in the darkest part of my mind never to see the light of day again."

"I understand that Grimald, no one understands that more than me. Don't you think that it might worth trying? Give you one shot to finally be free? Free of the guilt, the pain and better yet the curse?" She asked.

Grimald just sat quietly staring off into the dark, his petting of Alexis hair resuming to help calm his nerves. 

"If nothing else," Sybil continued, "It would give you a chance to spend time with Alexis during daylight hours instead of just under the cover of darkness."

Grimald gave the 'are you serious' look, unable to believe she actually went there.

"What? I'm just saying," she mumbled.

"Please G-Grimald. W-Will you at l-least try?" Alexis whispered.

Looking back down at her Grimald felt his resolve over this issue crumble. At this point they didn't have any better ideas. 

"Alright. I will try Shelta's way and see how things go."