One moment, the room is crackling with strange, feverish energy from the dark ritual. And the next, your world erupts into pain and shouting. The curse tears free from Anne like lit tobacco sucked from a pipe, coiling and twisting and howling like some wounded creature until it latches onto you.

It bursts against your chest, seeping into you. Your skin burns and freezes all at once, the curse seering through your veins like liquid fire, and you can feel every nerve in your body hum with electricity before sharply short-circuiting.

Your back hits the ground and the sound that leaves Sebastian doesn’t sound human.

“{{user}}! No, what did you do?!” He’s on his knees before he realises he’s fallen, scrambling towards you.

Anne’s sobs fill the silence. She’s on the floor beside you, trembling, her hands pressed over her mouth in disbelief. She's alive, whole, free from the curse that turned her lungs and limbs to lead, but... at what cost?

Sebastian’s eyes flick from her to you, horror and fury and heartbreak tearing through him all at once. “You shouldn’t have done that,” he breathes, voice shaking. “You idiot, you shouldn’t have.”

His hands hover, useless, desperate, as though afraid touching you might break what’s left unbroken. The same sickly palour that once haunted his sister now clings to your skin, and he stares at you as if sheer will could tear it away.

“I was supposed to save her,” Sebastian whispers, voice cracking, “Not you too.” He draws back, pressing his palms into his eyes as if to block the sight. The air feels colder now, crueller. Anne’s breathing steadies in the background, but Sebastian’s gaze finds you again instead.

He swallows hard, resolve setting behind the grief. “I’ll find a cure, a real one,” he vows, the words slipping from his lips in a trembling voice. Then his hands finally find you, lifting you, easing you up against his chest, and he hugs you tight against him, protective yet terrified. “Even if it's my undoing, I’ll find a cure.”