* * *
Jane left the Hedge Labyrinth with a new sense of purpose. She believed she rediscovered the princely boy and the girl sorceress from her dream. She didn't come right out and tell them because she wasn't a hundred percent sure they were who she thought they were. Jane also wasn't sure if they would remember her, and if they did remember her, would they only remember being afraid of her? Jane headed for AaBack on her bike, turned on Hill Road, and left the estate behind. She rode for a few minutes, and then she started to hear something in the woods following her very close to the road. Jane thought about what the Muffin Man had told her about trolls, dragons, and orcs and her imagination took it from there. She peddled harder, increasing her speed and whatever hunted her also increased speed. She neared the downward slope of Hill Road and knew if she could just make it to there, she could outrun whatever chased her. She was ten feet away from the start of the slope when a large dark shadow jumped out from the woods, landed in front of her, and blocked her escape. Jane braked hard and dropped the club in the process.
A large wolf stood there, and it took Jane a few seconds to realize this wolf was the werewolf she met earlier who told her to insist on a job from the Muffin Man.
"You scared the living daylights out of me!" she yelled at him. "Why didn't you say something while you were running through the woods?"
"I wanted to make sure we were alone before we spoke, and now that I know we are, I'd like to talk to you," Lykos answered.
"About what?" she asked as she got off, then picked up her club, and pushed her bike over to him.
"Do you believe now? Do you believe this world is real?"
"Yes, I do. I can't believe I'm saying it, but yes, I do."
Lykos told her, "After we spoke yesterday and once I was able to rid myself of the other two, I went and did some research."
"Okay... What did you research and what did you find out?"
"It's both good and bad," he told her. "I believe the gem we were after called the Tear of Poer has embedded itself in your right eye. It will protect you and keep you safe, but it will also put you in danger if Red and Woodsman or any others seeking its power, figure out that you have it. They have already started to suspect." Lykos glanced around the area as if searching for any who might be spying on them and then he continued, "My research into the Tear of Poer has told me that the only way to take the gem out of you is to make you cry, and it has to be tears of extreme sadness to flush it out of your system. Do you understand?"
"I think I experienced its protection earlier. I turned into a baby duck right before Sorceress Ceress had a chance to kill me."
"It may have been the Tear of Poer, but it doesn't sound like the protection I have discovered that it gives, so it may have been something else that protected you then."
"Something else? Like what?"
Lykos answered her, "I should also tell you a few rules that govern the World of Grimm that I slightly went into the last time we spoke. You might have noticed already that many are inflicted by a curse or two. The one who's cursed is unable to speak about the curse and the cure."
"It's kind of like Fight Club."
"Exactly," Lykos replied. "The first and second rules of Curse Club is that you can't talk about Curse Club."
"Why are you telling me all of this?" she asked him. "I thought you wanted the Tear of Poer, but you sound like you want me to keep it."
"I do for now. My werewolf form protects me, and if you are to survive here, you'll also need something."
"I still don't understand. Why do you care so much about what happens to me?" she questioned him.
"There is a horrible curse that covers this realm within the World of Grimm. I can't tell you what it is... Remember the first two rules of Curse Club?"
"I do," Jane replied.
"It's important since I can't tell you about this horrible curse that you be very observant of the world around you. I have searched for a way back to our world and haven't found one. I was hoping the Tear of Poer would be the key, and it still may be, but it is only part of the key. I don't care if you have the Tear of Poer until I need it so keep it safe for me, Jane."
"I can't tell you how great it is to hear my name spoken from another person," Jane told him. "I feel like I'm no longer cursed."
"I would also suggest that you don't tell anyone else about the curse you believe is on you. Knowing someone's curse can give a person power over them."
"I'll remember that," she told him. "And now I'm not sure it was really a curse. I was able to tell you about it."
"Curses are funny things," he told her. "Even the one who is cursed sometimes doesn't know all the rules to the curse that's upon them." Lykos moved out of her way and took a few steps into the woods as he said, "I'll leave you for now. Tell no one you spoke with me. Most persons hate werewolves. Also be aware of what's going on in this realm. You must discover the curse I can't tell you about, so that you can keep yourself safe. Even if you do have the Tear of Poer, I don't know if it can keep you safe from what plagues this realm."
"I understand. My second mission is to figure out this mega-curse."
Lykos nodded, then without another word, he disappeared into the woods, and Jane peddled down to AaBack.