It was the first time I’d seen my purification have no effect at all. Sure, at times it was a little lackluster, but it still did something. To be honest, I was a little freaked out.
“Barrier. Reinforce.”
There. At least now the curse shouldn’t be able to touch us. I wonder if the black pattern is a different type of curse? What types of curses are there anyway? Hexes, jinxes, vengeful spirits, possession— Wait, is it possessed?
I examined the giant ant again, but nothing pointed to any obvious evidence of possession.
In the movies, they’re always going on about possessed people looking “dead on the inside” and crap. Though...since I’ve never seen this ant before, I don’t really have a frame of reference for whether it looks dead or not anyway. But I don’t know anything else about possession apart from what I’ve seen in movies!
I jumped as Koa suddenly darted in front of me, protecting me from an attack I hadn’t realized was coming. The wolf’s body glowed as she pounced, sending the giant ant flying backward. The impact of it hitting the ground sent a tremor through the cave.
Jeez, that must’ve hurt.
Koa growled as the ant struggled to its feet, Hio and Soa joining her to form a wall in front of me—but the ant had found reinforcements too. A scuttling sound echoed around us as more ants appeared from somewhere.
The big one’s children, maybe?
They were much smaller than the giant ant, and all of them had the same ominous black pattern. There was something about the pattern, though. It didn’t just make me uncomfortable; for some reason, it disgusted me. I hated it.
I gotta do what I can—so, what can I do? What do you do when something’s possessed? Exorcism, right? Okay, lemme picture an exorcism... Um, what does that look like again?
I racked my brain, trying to remember something—anything—I’d heard about exorcisms, but it was no use. Nothing was coming to mind. The horrible sound of gnashing fangs echoed around me, sending a chill down my spine.
Scary. Scary. Scary.
I willed myself to think.
Possession, possession... Ah! It’s like having two consciences in the same body, right?! One conscience forces its way into a body it doesn’t belong to... What is a conscience, anyway? A soul? Yeah, sounds about right. So something’s taken over, and the ant’s actual soul is being suppressed. Okay, sounds good! So I’ll visualize a soul...what the hell does a soul look like?! It’s more of an abstract thing, I think. It’s probably not important. I’ll just picture the ant itself. It’s imprisoned in a dark vacuum—no, make it simpler. It can’t move; it’s chained up. And now imagine those chains burning—no, chains don’t burn well. Cutting! Yep, the chains are severed, and the ant can finally move again... Let’s give it a go.
“Unbinding.”
A ring of light appeared around each of the ants, trapping them in place. Next, each ring began to gradually float upward and form a cylindrical wall around each of the insects, as though they were individual specimens in some strange glowing test tubes. My vision shimmered as each ant was showered with golden light, which slowly washed away all remnants of the black patterns—and then, with a sudden cracking sound, the light vanished, leaving behind a swarm of clean, uncursed ants.
Oh, it worked on the small ants too. I’m glad. To be honest, I can’t believe it actually worked at all. Hang on, if it worked, does that mean they really were possessed? So curses here can possess things too... Scaryyyy.
The giant ant was looking in our direction. Thankfully, it was no longer gnashing its fangs or getting ready to swipe at us, just simply looking. Specifically, I was pretty sure it was looking at me. It took a single step closer, which Koa responded to with a sharp growl. The giant ant hesitated, with an expression I took to represent confusion. I’d become pretty good at reading animal expressions recently, although actual communication was still impossible.
Under Koa’s watchful eye, I carefully approached the giant ant. It didn’t move, so I slowly reached out and ran my hand over its head. To my surprise, it was cold and smooth, like touching a ceramic bowl. I’d always thought that ants would be kind of spiky and rough to the touch. Before I realized it, I was petting a giant ant with as much affection as I would a friendly dog.
The ant looked more bewildered than before, but I pretended not to notice.