Loki's Daughter

Chapter 16: The Curse

NOTES: I MADE A HUGE MISTAKE AND POSTED AN OLD VERSION OF THIS CHAPTER ON 11/09/22! THIS IS THE UPDATED CHAPTER! I'M SORRY!

"Stop fussing," Loki said. "You won't even feel it."

"No!" Kuna cried, pressing her back against the wall of their hollow.

"Kuna, I am not letting you walk around with a microchip in your back!"

"No!" she cried again.

"Please? I promise, I'll be very quick. You won't feel a thing."

"No!"

"Kuna, do you want those masters to know where you are? Do you want them to find us?"

Kuna stopped crying and looked at him in terror. "They can do that?"

"That's what this is for," Loki lied. "To find you if you run away." He wasn't entirely sure it had that capability since they had been in this system for nearly a week without seeing a soul. "Do you want them to find you?"

"No!" Kuna cried again.

"Then, let me take it out!" he said.

Kuna buried her face in her hands and turned around. He had gotten her to take off her shirt before she realized what he was trying to do and ran from him.

"It won't take a minute," he said. "Take a deep breath." He gently cleansed the area around her left shoulder blade. He knew a spell for numbing the skin and applied it to the area. Kuna whimpered and her back shuddered.

"Kinda cold?" Loki asked.

She nodded.

"That's good. It means the spell's working and you won't feel anything there."

"Ever?" Kuna cried.

"Ugh," Loki sighed, exasperated. "No, not forever. Just a few hours. Can you feel me poking?"

"No," she said.

"Good."

He felt around on her shoulder blade until he felt the small bump under her skin. He made a small incision in her skin and revealed the chip. He gently pried it free with some tweezers and tossed it in the dirt, smashing it with his heel. Using another spell, he stitched up the small incision with glowing magical thread.

"There," he said, placing a small bandage over it. "Finished."

"That's it?" Kuna asked, sniffling, lowering her hands from her face.

"That's it," Loki replied. "See? You didn't feel a thing, did you?"

She shook her head and turned around to hug him. He rubbed her back, being careful to stay away from the incision.

"The magical sutures will dissolve when your skin is healed and you'll be good as new," he said.

Kuna sniffled again and nodded.

Loki's own injuries had healed after his run in with Kuna's mother. Kuna had tended to him constantly for the last week, despite his protests that he was fine. Now that they were both rested, he was ready to face this wizard.

At Loki's mention of removing the chip before their next mission to find the wizard, Kuna had gone berserk. She tore apart their hollow in a fit of crying and screaming. It was entirely out of character, but Loki had expected it.

He had been studying up on curses more and more while he was forced to be bedridden by Kuna. The books warned of signs that a curse had become sentient, or aware of its host. Kuna was exhibiting them all. Tantrums, changes in mood, forgetfulness, emotional, sometimes violent outbursts that ended with Kuna balled up in pain.