The Cure For Curie (Complete!)

Firelight Schemes

"Unbelievable." Lilelle said as she sat back from the edge of her seat.

"It is quite a tale." Lydia spoke with apprehension. "How are we supposed to know it is the truth?"

"I suppose you can't know. Unless you can help me recover my wife's memories. If we can return her to normal, she would be able to prove it."

"Prove it how?" Cosnach asked as he shoved more bread into his face. "Is she going to use her ro-bot magic?"

"No. Robots aren't magic. She has been storing data all these years. If we find a way to retrieve it, you'll see."

"If these robots don't have magic, then what in the name of the gods did she do to us on the road?" Cosnach asked.

"I honestly don't have any real answers for that. The Curie I know and love wasn't capable of anything like that. Hell, I shouldn't have magic either."

"I might have an answer for that." Lilelle chimed in. "If your wife is more machine than human, it is possible that she had absorbed the magic from the priests experimenting on her. In their quest to awaken their goddess, they essentially created her."

John sat back in his chair, thinking about what he just heard. The firelight twinkled in the reflection on his dark eyes, as if it was trying to swallow the very embers themselves.

"I suppose that makes sense." He said after a time. "Does that information help us in finding a cure for her? Could we use magic to restore her to her former self?"

"I am unaware of magic that can do such things. I could spend some time at the College of Winterhold, however. There might be some books on the subject."

"We could try something else first." Cosnach chimed in after he refilled his tankard.

"What are you thinking?" Lilelle asked.

"Before my folks died, my mother had a similar illness. She wasn't any dwarven machine or nothing, but she was losing her memories. Some days she couldn't even recognize me, her own son. My father, he would take her somewhere familiar and show her trinkets from her past. She'd come back to us for awhile."

"That's a good idea, love." She said with a smile. She turned back to John. "Does Curie have any such trinkets?"

The Sole Survivor thought a moment. The horrible memories of her awakening haunted him, but something from that time seemed to stick out like a thorn in his side. He tried to grab on to the thread, following it in his mind.

"Yes." He murmured, half in thought. "When I said the words to wake her, she seemed lucid if only for a moment. Then again when she saw Shaun once more. It didn't stick though, it wasn't enough to pull her through."

"Can we find more of her items, in that pit out back?" She asked.

"No." John shook his head. "Nothing from her old life has survived the test of time. Everything that we've pulled from that hole has been from her captivity of the priests."

The group collectively slumped back in their chairs, defeated. Lilelle was out of options. She could go to the college and start her research, but that would take time. Time was not on her side at the moment. Who knew where this machine was and what kind of destruction she was causing while they tried to hatch a plan. She needed something tangible now. Something that would put a stop to this before all of Skyrim is put on the chopping block of judgement.

"Time travel it is then." Cosnach slurred into his cup.

"What?" Lilelle asked.

"Your scroll. You used it to go back in time before, when we fought Alduin. Maybe it'll take us back farther?"

"Or it'll rip a hole in the universe." Lydia scoffed.

"He is right." Lilelle said solemnly. "It is worse to sit around and do nothing. The world is on the brink of ending once more, if we don't try to stop it."

"So, rip a hole through the universe or face a crazy broad? I choose to tangle with the universe." Cosnach laughed.

"What is he talking about?" John asked, the hope swelling in his voice.

"An Elder Scroll. I used one to travel through time a few years ago. It helped us defeat the World-Eater, a dangerous dragon that was bent on ending the world."

"It sounds very powerful, do you think it could work?"

"Who knows." She shrugged. "As far as I know, no one has used it to travel back so far. It could work or it could tear me to pieces."

"Sounds like a normal Tirdas for the Dragonborn." Cosnach jested as he jabbed Lydia with his elbow. She shoved him back over to his seat with a huff.

"That's settled then." She said as she stood. "Get some rest. In the morning we ride to Whiterun to fetch the scroll."

"This way, ma'am." Shaun said from the doorway. "I can show you to a room."

She nodded as she followed the boy up the stairs. The others made their way as they finished their meal and drinks. It would be a long few days ahead of them. Lilelle's shoulders stood tall, she had confidence their plan would work. It had too. She wouldn't let the world end, not while her heart beat true.

They would retrieve the scroll and find what they sought in time. She would fix this woman and reunite her family. She would watch as they rode off into the sunset, hopefully never return to Skyrim again. She would finally have rest. She kicked herself for missing all the adventure. She would give anything to have that quiet boredom back once more. Her husband and her would live out their days in Windhelm until they were old and gray. She would fix this. She would save the day, and all the days to come, or she would die trying.