PUNARNAVA Consequences

Cursing under his breath, Zephyr walked towards where his mother and sisters were.

"I don't know what came over my genius brain to think that I should go to the forest."

'Was it the curse?' Zephyr pondered, but not for long because he was soon standing in front of Grace, whose eyes narrowed when she noticed slight spots of blue blood on his vest.

Zephyr shifted a bit and gulped under her glare. "Greetings, mother," Zephyr spoke with a smile.

With her arms crossed, the blue-eyed lady pierced Zephyr with her gaze for a moment and then spoke in a neutral tone, "Let's head home, shall we? The sun is about to set," she finished while looking at the horizon.

Bella, Ava, and Zephyr flinched as they felt the temperature drop down by a few degrees around them. The three children nodded and walked behind Grace with defeated expressions.

The two guards, who usually greeted the three children at the village gate when they headed back home during the sunset, raised their eyebrows in amusement on noticing them.

When they reached home, the three of them were made to sit in a row on chairs in the kitchen.

"I suppose you know why I am mad right now?" Grace asked with a cold tone while looking at Zephyr.

"Mom, I—" Ava started.

"Silence!" Grace scolded her. "You have already tried to cover up for your brother by lying twice about him being somewhere else."

Ava flinched and turned her head down again.

Zephyr gulped and nodded at his mother's question.

"Good, so you do. Did you go into the forest even after the warnings given by your father and me that you all are not allowed to go into the forest regardless of whatever reason there is?"

Zephyr nodded.

"Then why did you disobey us? Was it just to defy the fact that your father and I restricted you from going into the forest?" Grace asked, disappointment clouding her voice.

"No," Zephyr spoke while lowering his gaze. "I just wanted to hunt some monsters we can eat."

Grace's gaze softened a bit as she continued to look at the three of them for a few moments, then moved forward and pressed the three of them against her bosom.

"What am I going to do with you children? I am glad the three of you are fine and alive," Grace spoke with a sigh of relief.

"I am sorry, mother," Zephyr spoke, thinking of what had transpired today in the forest. It made him realize how dangerous the forest truly was. He was truly overconfident in his abilities for someone who just started learning how to use a sword.

"We are sorry too, mom," Bella and Ava spoke in apology as well.

"So? How was my little dumpling's first-ever forest adventure?" Grace asked, pulling back from the hug and looking at Zephyr.

Zephyr started slowly, deciding to tell her everything: how he used to scout his surroundings around the clearing bit by bit over the last six months, how he met the imp and killed it, and how that big scorpion stung the fox. The fox in question was a rare tier 5 beast's cub, which sometimes evolved into nine tails, and afterwards, how the scorpion noticed him and advanced towards him just to think that the creature who made the sound was the imp who was on the verge of dying and died just before it got to him.

"That creature is called the Blind Scorpion. Dumpling, you are very lucky that you didn't carry the sword back with you into the bush. Those creatures are very susceptible to the smell of blood, even if it was something that was dripping from your sword."

Zephyr gulped, thinking about how he somehow survived because he dropped the sword in panic.

"That monster is a very dangerous one. It's a very dangerous high tier II beast or you can even call it a low Tier III beast. Can you guess why?" Grace spoke with a serious look.

The three of them shook their heads. Isabella and Ava, who were awed at Zephyr's adventure a few moments back, now were visibly sweating.

Grace looked at the three of them for a while and then continued with a grim voice, "What makes the scorpion so dangerous is the fact that unlike other beasts, it doesn't just poison you if you think that it stings for that only."

Zephyr's eyes widened slightly as he thought back to the moment the three-tailed fox was stung by the Blind Scorpion.

"It does a far worse thing than some mundane things like that. What it does is that it curses you and consumes your life force," Grace continued with her horror-story-recounting voice.

"It curses us? Not poisons?" Zephyr asked.

"Yes," Grace nodded. "The curse in question is that your life force shall be eaten away every moment. Since the curse is literally sucking out the life of the victim, it makes the person weak, and the pain that people say they feel during it is so severe for this very reason."

Zephyr audibly gulped as he thought back to the moment he felt the scorpion's bloodlust directed at him.

"So, is that the reason why the scorpion stung the fox and just went on its way?" Zephyr asked.

His mother nodded. "The Blind Scorpion doesn't even need to eat or drink either, as long as it can keep killing awakened beasts," Grace said.

"Is it because of the Prana energy?" Zephyr asked.

"Exactly," Grace spoke, leaving Zephyr to ponder in his thoughts.

'So does that mean it might be able to counter my curse or add to it?' Zephyr thought.

"Can the curse that the scorpion gives remove the original curse that a person has on awakening of heart?" Zephyr voiced out his question.

"No, that is impossible. All those who have tried this approach to change their curses have died a very painful death," Grace stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

Zephyr nodded back as he already suspected that if it was possible, no human would have ever been cursed. In fact, if he tried to change his own curse using this, he would suffer before dying a miserable death.

Grace waited for a few moments as though waiting for them to ask any more questions.

"Zephyr, you need to understand that our condition is significantly improving after we started weaving baskets. You don't need to hunt or do anything dangerous for food," Grace said, looking at him earnestly. "I would appreciate it if you didn't do anything this dangerous in the future."

Zephyr felt a wave of guilt wash over him. "I understand, mother. I won't do anything like this again."

"Well, now that we are done with the small talk, it's time to discuss the punishment you three will receive for lying and going into the forest without my permission," Grace spoke while clapping her hands together.

"But mom, we didn't go to the forest!" Bella complained, while Ava nodded in her support.

"Oh, and how about all the lying and cover-up you did for your brother's wrongdoing?" Grace spoke, raising her eyebrows.

"But—" Ava started.

"No buts. You both are elder sisters to him. What kind of role model will you two be to him if you lie in front of him and let him pull these dangerous stunts? Thank the heavens I came to watch you three today because I was curious, or else only the lord knows how much more you three would have sneaked out after today," Grace continued without even breathing.

"Where do you think you are going, young man?" Grace looked at Zephyr, who flinched as he was caught trying to sneak out of the room.

"All three of you will receive 30 spankings each, and you shall not train for the next 3 months, and the three of you are grounded," Grace declared.

"B-But we didn't even go into the forest!" Ava spoke indignantly, and Isabella also voiced, "She is right."

"My words are final, and one more complaint, I will make it 4 months of being grounded and 50 spankings each," Grace spoke with a dangerous smile that didn't reach her eyes.

The three of them bowed their heads in defeat and accepted their fate.

"Now line up to receive your first punishment," Grace spoke as she looked at the three of them flinching.

That evening, Zephyr's house was filled with sharp yelps of pain and sniffs of tears of injustice the three children felt at the wrath of their mother.