"Huh?" Denver's voice came out uncertain.
Everyone around them stared at Dr. Kiara with varying degrees of shock.
And honestly who wouldn't?
For three straight days she had been trying to decode the mystery behind Denver's curse. Three days of exhausting sessions, countless scans, endless notes… and absolutely no progress.
Yet now she was suddenly claiming she had already figured it out.
Denver blinked at her.
"Wait… are you saying you know what the problem with my curse is?"
Dr. Kiara nodded casually, as if she had simply remembered where she left her keys.
"Well… problem isn't exactly the right word," she said, tapping her chin thoughtfully. "From our perspective it looks like a problem, sure."
She lifted the tablet slightly.
"But the reason we weren't getting any results is because it isn't really a problem."
She smiled.
"It's more like… a condition."
Denver frowned.
'Condition?'
The word echoed inside her mind.
"Great," Denver said slowly. "Then what exactly is this so called condition?"
Kiara tilted her head slightly.
"Well… it's still just a hypothesis," she admitted lightly. "I'm not entirely sure if it will work."
Denver's eye twitched.
"Huh!? I thought—"
Before she could finish complaining, Agent Kael suddenly patted her firmly on the back.
"Enough talking," he said calmly. "Just do what you're told."
His tone was firm and authoritative, the kind that didn't leave room for argument.
Denver gritted her teeth.
'Tsk… I'm not your pet dog.'
Still, with a tired sigh, she swallowed her complaints. At this point she had no choice but to go along with whatever experiment Kiara had in mind.
Turning back toward the doctor, she exhaled.
"Fine… what do you want me to do?"
Kiara suddenly burst out laughing.
"Good! I like your courage, Denver!" she said cheerfully. "Trusting your life to my experiment like that!"
Denver's face immediately turned pale.
'Wait ... is this some kind of a life threatening experiment?'
Her brain began screaming warning signals. Before she could ask anything, however, Kiara had already turned away from her completely.
"Ermm…"
Kiara placed a finger thoughtfully against her lips as her eyes drifted toward someone else nearby.
Dr. Robert.
The moment their gazes met, Robert flinched slightly.
"Uh… w-what?" he asked cautiously.
Kiara's smile widened.
"On the contrary," she said sweetly, "I would actually love your help, Robert."
She clasped her hands together behind her back and leaned slightly forward.
"Hehe~ can you help this colleague of yours?"
And as if to add a finishing touch she winked at him.
Dr. Robert froze he immediately turned his face away, his ears turning faintly red.
"W-well… I guess it wouldn't hurt to g-give a helping hand," he stuttered.
Kiara clapped happily.
"Great! Then I'll be borrowing your little subject for a while." Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Moments later, Denver found herself standing face to face with Noah. The others had stepped back several paces, forming a loose circle around them.
Denver glanced around briefly.
Agent Mira stood beside Dr. Robert, watching curiously. Dr. Kiara and Agent Kael were whispering while examining the tablet.
Which meant…
It was just her and the kid now facing each other, doing absolutely nothing.
'This is damn awkward.'
'What do you mean 'stand next to each other and do nothing'? Denver thought irritably.
Her patience was already thin after three days of useless testing. Trying to ignore the growing annoyance in her chest, she looked down at Noah. The boy was staring up at her with wide, attentive eyes completely focused.
Denver's eyebrow twitched.
'Hey now… Don't look at me like that. It's creepy as hell.'
"Whoa!"
Noah's sudden exclamation made Denver flinch. Her shoulders jerked slightly as she looked down at him.
"What is it?" she asked, a bit confused.
Noah stared at her with wide, curious eyes. He looked like he was trying to figure out a puzzle that didn't quite make sense to him.
"Well…" he began slowly.
"I know you're a guy, Miss Denver, but…"
He paused, clearly trying to choose his words carefully.
Then he asked with complete sincerity,
"Why are your breasts big? They're bigger than my mom's."
Denver's brain froze, for a moment she just stood there, staring at him as if lightning had struck directly above her head.
Then...
"H-Hey! That's rude!" she blurted out, her face instantly turning red. "Didn't your mom teach you some manners?"
She was completely caught off guard by the question.
Her heart was racing now.
'This kid is nuts', she thought frantically. 'Who asks something like that out of nowhere!?'
Noah immediately lowered his head. His shoulders shrank slightly as he began fidgeting nervously with his fingers.
"I-I'm sorry, Miss Denver," he said quietly.
Seeing his reaction made Denver feel a little guilty. Her frustration faded almost as quickly as it had appeared.
She let out a small sigh and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly.
"Alright… alright," she muttered, calming herself down.
"Well, uh… as you can see," she said, gesturing vaguely toward herself, "I'm cursed with this body."
She forced a small laugh.
"But I guess you could say I was blessed with… great proportions."
Even as she said it, she felt how weird the situation was.
'This is so strange,' she thought. 'Why am I explaining this to a kid?'
But then again…
This kid was even stranger than she had expected. Denver cleared her throat and looked down at him again.
"Hey," she said a bit more gently. "Don't go around asking people questions like that."
She pointed a finger lightly at him.
"Being curious is fine. You're still young, so that's normal."
Then she added firmly,
"But asking too many personal questions like that isn't okay. Got it?"
Noah nodded quickly.
"Yes, Miss Denver."
He looked genuinely apologetic now.
The awkward tension between them slowly faded as the wind brushed across the grassy field again, then Dr. Kiara clasped her hand.
"Alright, that's enough. Boy, come here."
Dr. Kiara's voice cut through the quiet field. Noah immediately obeyed and walked toward her while Denver followed instinctively, but before she could take her second step-
"Not you, Denver."
Kiara lifted a hand, stopping her.
"Unfortunately, you'll have to stay right there for a moment."
Denver froze her face twisted into a pained expression.
'Are you kidding me?'
She could feel the others watching her now. Mira, Kael, Robert and even Noah. Standing alone in the middle of the field like some kind of test subject on display.
'This is torture.'
Slowly, she turned her head toward Agent Kael and shot him a piercing glare, silently blaming him for everything.
Kael simply smiled back at her. That only made it worse.
Nearby, Dr. Robert adjusted his hair and looked between them curiously.
"Uh… Kiara," he said. "What exactly are you trying to do?"
Kiara didn't even look up from her tablet.
"You'll find out soon."
Her lips curled into a wide, excited smile as she glanced back toward Denver. Then she began walking toward her. Denver opened her mouth to ask something, but Kiara spoke first.
"What are you feeling right now?"
Denver blinked.
"What do you mean? Mentally… or physically?"
Kiara hummed softly while staring at the tablet.
"Mhh… strange."
She then turned the screen toward Denver.
"Right about now, you should be feeling something. Your core pulse is extremely active."
Denver looked down at the tablet. Several lines on the display were climbing steadily upward, forming sharp peaks across the graph.
"And it's only increasing as time goes by," Kiara added.
Denver frowned, she didn't feel anything, nothing unusual, at least. Still staring at the data, she began concentrating. She tried to recall the sensation she felt during her fight with agent Kael and with Zen.
That strange energy…
That overwhelming presence that had burst out of her body.
Then a faint warmth.
'Yes.'
She could almost feel it now but it was vague and distant, like trying to remember a dream. Denver slowly closed her eyes, pouring all of her focus inward.
Kiara noticed the spike instantly and stepped back several steps. Her eyes widened slightly as she watched the tablet. The lines on the screen were now rising much faster.
'I can feel it…'
Denver concentrated harder.
'It's so close. Where… Where… Where is it?'
Then...
A voice interrupted her, a voice she knew far too well. One that had haunted her even in her dreams.
"Looking for this?"
Denver's eyes snapped open then she spun around instantly. But the moment she did, the world around her was gone.
The green field had vanished, the sky had vanished, everything had vanished. All that remained was darkness an endless, suffocating void.
Beneath her feet was something strange like dark water stretching endlessly across the ground. It glowed faintly, rippling slowly under her steps.
Yet she wasn't sinking and she wasn't falling. But none of that frightened her.
What terrified her… Was the figure standing in front of her.
Denver's breath caught in her throat.
"Y-you!"
Her voice trembled despite her attempt to sound brave.
"Just what do you want, huh?! I-I'm not scared of you!"
Her fists clenched tightly.
"Unlike before… I have powers now!"
But her body betrayed her she just couldn't stop shaking. Every instinct inside her screamed danger.
The figure across from her looked exactly like her. Black raven hair. Skin pale and smooth, almost porcelain like.
But the eyes...
There were no eyes, only two hollow pockets of endless darkness.
Then the figure tilted its head slightly.
"I see you are making great progress."
Then it began walking toward her.
One step.
Two steps.
Denver immediately turned and ran or at least she tried to. Her legs moved as fast as they could, splashing across the glowing dark water beneath her feet.
But something was wrong, it felt like she wasn't moving at all. The distance between them didn't change.
'Are you kidding me?!'
Panic gripped her chest as the figure continued walking calmly and slowly. Until, it stood just one step behind her.
"Running is futile." Its voice was cold and emotionless.
Denver slowly turned around, her heart pounding violently.
"W-what do you want from me?"
The figure looked down at her quietly.
Then it spoke again.
"Don't be afraid."
It took another small step forward.
"I intend no harm this time."
A pause.
Then it added calmly
"In fact… I want to help you."
'For God's sake… This guy killed me twice for no reason, and now he wants to help me?'
Denver glared at the figure.
"Are you kidding me?" she said, her voice shaking. "H-how can I trust you when you keep murdering me?"
The figure didn't answer instead, it slowly raised one arm and opened its palm.
A bright light suddenly appeared.
It shone beautifully in the endless darkness it was soft, warm, almost like a tiny star. But the entity's twisted smile ruined the moment.
'Why are you smiling, you freak…'
Yet the moment Denver looked at the light, her body froze.
It felt… familiar.
A faint warmth pulled at her chest, the same feeling she had been trying to find within herself. Without realizing it, she stepped closer.
The figure watched her calmly.
"Do you feel it?" it said softly.
"Take it"