“Oliver!” Jade shouted excitedly and turned away from the sunny window. She was still a head taller than the boy, but both of them had clearly grown quite a bit. Especially Oliver… His white hair was tied back into a ponytail and his pale face was partially obscured by a graying black beard. At least his eyebrows were still black.

 

“You said you’re hungry? What do statues like to eat?”

 

“Uh… I don’t know?”

 

She smiled awkwardly and looked out the window again, “I like… I think the sunlight feels good. Nice and warm. But it’s not enough. It doesn’t give me enough energy.”

 

“Warmth and energy…” Oliver rubbed his short beard and wondered, “Maybe you work on rechargeable solar batteries? Are you sure you’re not a robot instead of a statue?”

 

“I’m a statue.” Jade giggled, “I don’t have batteries. I would notice that.”

 

“I’d put you outside in the sunlight, but I’m afraid that someone might try to steal you when I’m not here. And if you start moving…”

 

“I understand. Oliver… Thank you for protecting me.”

 

“No problem, Sis.” He snickered and looked at her hands in surprise, “Hey! Your wrists!”

 

“Ah, my wrists!” It was only that moment when Jade realized that her hands weren’t stuck together anymore! Not only that, but on her gray left wrist, there was something written in black. Rather than ink, it was as if the stone in that area was simply made of a different material altogether.

 

“Is that?” Oliver was a little surprised when he saw the words ‘Stone Statue II’.

 

“I knew it! Ahah! So she’s not actually a statue at all! She’s just a slut pretending to be a statue to sleep with you!”

 

“Peri, don’t make it weird.”

 

Compared to before, the blonde girl was only about the same height as the short but extremely muscular boy. She was only thirteen though, while he was almost a year older.

 

“I’m not making it weird! I’m just stating a fact!”

 

“Umm, hello… Peri?”

 

“Peridot! My name is Peridot. Only my friends can call me Peri and I don’t even know you.”

 

“Sorry…” Jade lowered her head and looked at her smooth stone hands again, “Ummm, what do you think I can eat, Oliver?”

 

“Rocks.” Peridot suggested, “Try eating some rocks. Or dirt! Hahahah!”

 

“Don’t!” Oliver shook his head, “At least not normal rocks or dirt. I’m really worried whether you can actually eat anything though. Can you really digest food in your condition? I think we should go to Klein and ask him for advice first.”

“Klein?” Jade tilted her head in confusion, “Didn’t you say I needed to hide?”

 

“A living, talking statue needs to hide. You’re just a human that was Cursed into a statue. There’s a huge difference, okay?”

 

“But… I’m still a monster…”

 

“You’re not a monster.” Oliver shook his head and held her hard left shoulder, “Some people treated me like a monster too, but I’m not. Neither are you. We’re just… A little different from them.”

 

Peridot rolled her eyes and complained, “Yeah, don’t you know how annoying it is for a Wordless to hear you Cursed bastards complaining about this shit?”

 

“Maybe you’ll become a ‘Maid’ one day?”

 

“Ollie, don’t you dare try to curse me!”

 

“You’d have to actually be good at cooking and cleaning first though.”

“Screw you!” She punched him in the shoulder and pushed him back half a meter, “Asshole!”

 

“Ow, that actually kinda hurt.” Oliver rubbed his shoulder and snickered, “Okay, don’t get mad. I’m just kidding. I know that sooner or later you’ll figure out something you really like… The key to getting a Curse actually has a lot to do with imagination and willpower. I heard that Orna already graduated and became a teacher. She’s only eleven years old now… I think she’ll actually be able to become a real Teacher before she’s eighteen.”

 

Peridot pouted, “That smart-ass could’ve just stayed here with the rest of us and inherited Grandpa’s Word.”

 

“She’s just following her dreams.”

 

“Umm… So… I’m still really hungry.” Jade probably would have blushed, but her cheeks were literally made of stone. It was amazing enough that she could even move at all.

 

“Okay, let’s go!”

 

Instead of going out the front door, they actually went out the back. The moment she was completely covered in sunlight, the girl in the blue dress closed her eyes and smiled. She even took a deep breath and exhaled.

 

“You can breathe?!” Oliver and Peridot were both surprised.

 

“Haven’t I always been breathing?” Jade giggled and opened her reflective green eyes to look at them, “If I couldn’t breathe, how would I speak?”

 

“Magic?”

“Vibrations?”

 

The two of them spoke at the same time. Then Oliver said, “Alright, let’s go over to Klein’s house before anyone sees us.”

 

“I thought you said it was fine?” Jade followed slowly with heavy steps. She obviously wasn’t completely ‘solid’ stone or she wouldn’t be able to breathe, but her body was still much heavier than an ordinary 180 cm tall and skinny human girl.

 

“I mean, it’s probably fine, but I think it’s still best if we talk to Klein first.”

 

“You two are so slow…” Peridot complained as she jumped over the green fence and sneaked over to the backdoor, knocking a few times quietly. Nobody answered, so she knocked a little harder.

 

“Is Klein out again today? Hasn’t he been staying in the village recently?”

 

“No, he should be inside.” Oliver walked over along with Jade half a minute later, “I can hear him talking… And Emy.”

 

“Really?” The green eyed girl put her ear to the door and frowned, “I hear them… Talking about something? I hear a lot of coughing.”

 

“Is the Doctor already seeing patients? I can wait.” Jade smiled wryly, “It’s just hunger. I’ve been hungry for a long… Long time. As long as I get lots of sunlight, I should be okay.”

 

“You’re a statue, not a plant.” Oliver retorted, then he banged on the door a few times, “Hey Klein! Open up! I need to talk to you about something!”