Dubhra was still sitting on the cold stone floor, pressed against Midas' door, their eyes swollen and tired from the crying, their face and neck were a canvas of their suffering, hugging their legs like they wanted to melt. The hours stretched endlessly, marked by the slow crawl of an ill light across the hallways.

They had waited and waited and while the day was letting the night take up space, the Empress still remained silent, the unmoving ghost of a presence on the other side of the barricade.

The weight of exhaustion settled over Dubhra's eyelids. They wanted to believe she had listened to them, that maybe, just maybe, their words were sinking in.

But as the night crept closer and the door remained shut, hope began to wane.

They mumbled. "I can't keep sitting here and make a river of my own tears."

With a deep breath, they pushed themselves up, shook off the numbness and pain on their back, the frills that extended their dorsal spine outside of their silhouette stretched out for a moment from under their dress.

Their resolve hardened, they didn’t know if out of despair or the tired.

If Midas wouldn't have listened, if words weren't enough, then they had to find another way. A way to fight against the fate that loomed over them both.

And so, they turned away.

***

As they opened the library door, the scent of old parchment and dust filled their nose. Ever since the castle had been empty, only the creature would come to this place. They liked to spend some of their time here, reading old poems and stories of unrequited knights that died in the atrocious certainty that they would never be loved back. At that point it kind of made sense.

Sometimes they would go there to write poems, when they were particularly inspired, it helped them sort out thoughts and feelings, placing their feelings on paper only to burn them with a breath of fire.

They grabbed some candles and lit them up.

Wandering between the towering shelves, their clawed prosthetic fingers skimmed across books worn with age. Somewhere in there lied the answer, a spell, a ritual, something that could have changed their predictions.

Dubhra pulled some heavy tomes from the shelf and let them fall on the nearest table. Their heart pounded as they began to scan the books one by one, the candle lights cast long shadows over the pages since the night had finally settled in.

They spent hours hunched over, flipping through pages filled with cryptic symbols and faded incantations. The candles had almost all completely melted, barely casting any light across their tired eyes as they scanned each line, searching for anything that could have helped.

But most of the books talked about abstract theories and forgotten rituals and they were running out of time.

Frustration gnawed at them, they slammed their metallic fist on the table. Another book got shoved aside. They rubbed their temples as slumber kept on calling for them, not from a distance anymore, but whispering right into their ear.

As it did, their brain got lost in the memories.

They saw themselves sitting by a small table, a chess board in front of them and their white pawns barely managing to cross the line in the middle.

"You're cheating! It's impossible for me to be losing so blatantly already!"

A very satisfied Midas was sitting right in front of them, trying to hide her smile. "You accuse me of cheating because you're terrible at chess."

That wasn't true, Midas always moved Dubhra's pieces while she made her own moves, but they were really bad at focusing on things, especially if it was a small chess board.

Especially if there was Midas sitting in front of them, or besides them, or remotely close.

"If I'm this bad it's your fault, means you didn't teach me well." They bounced back with a wide smile, showing all their teeth.

"I did teach you well, you're just lacking in attention, you really can't stay focused! Look at you, always shifting and fidgeting on that chair, it might as well get melancholia because of you."

"Then maybe you should train me harder."

Midas let out a heartfelt laugh. "Are you playing a different kind of chess match with me right now?"

Dubhra made their move on the board, deciding to put their bishop on the line, they refused to look at her as their heart slightly quickened the pace. "Only if you let me."

***

Their throat tightened.

How many more pages would they have to turn?

Their tired eyes traced over the same lines, over and over again, as if the answer might have suddenly appeared if they looked hard enough.

Nothing.

Any page, any symbol, none of it brought them closer to break the curse.

"There has to be a way, this can't be all there is!" Because the alternative was watching Midas slip through their fingers, knowing that loving her meant to destroy them both.

The thought of losing her, no, of being the reason they'll lose her, they couldn’t bear it, couldn’t accept it.

"Make your smart brain think, Dubhra, you're missing something."

The night ran on as they scanned over yet another book, after a huge pile had formed on the floor by their side. Their eyes burned from exhaustion but refused to close, the table was littered with melted wax and the smell of it had long settled in their nose and brain.

Every so often, they glanced towards the tall windows, where the darkness was slowly beginning to fade.

The flickering candles were casting little lights on the newest tome open before them, making it seem almost alive.

Then, finally, their fingers paused on a passage. The words spoke of summoning something, of restoring what was lost.

Dubhra's exhaustion suddenly vanished and their heart started pounding. They traced the words carefully, trying to make sense of what they were reading. It looked like it had been there to solve the issue that was keeping them hostage, the hum of magic lingered in the air.

They read each word carefully, tracing the symbols and committing the ritual to memory.

Then, they realized that the book was bathed in a whole different light, the first light of dawn.

A sharp pain settled in their limbs as they stretched, pushing the book aside for a moment, morning was there and they sure had something to do.

They grabbed the book, hugging it against their chest as they got up from the chair, taking a step forward. Maybe too fast for someone that had been sitting the whole night, which made them trip, they had to hold onto the table not to risk falling to the floor.

Their body was screaming and their eyes were bloodshot from all the crying and lack of sleep that they are surely not very used to, but their heart could only feel the warmth to have found the way to save themselves and Midas.

There was no more time to waste, now they had to put their plan to good use.