Golden "Midas had it coming." Jac sighed as she shook her head. All across the room, there was a sheen of pure gold on every single platform imaginable, from the dining room table to the bedding, the drapes and even the walls themselves. Every food on the massive banquet was made up of the solid mineral; same goes for the meals that had been brought in through carriers, as well as the caterers themselves. And at the centre of it all, just before a similarly changed throne, was King Midas himself, who had also been turned into a golden statue. He was in a ridiculous ballot-like pose with his index finger on the tip of his nose. That was what likely done him in. "How much do you think this guy will be worth in modern BSK dollars?" Said Richard as he held back a snicker. "We're here on a mission, remember?" Jac replied. "We have to get to the bottom of what caused this so that we can let the progression of this story flow like normal." "What if this is how it was supposed to happen originally?" The shrunken Wile asked. "According to the other fairy world recorders, Midas is supposed to have another story right after this one. Dang it... This is a serious pain..." The detective was stumped. It would be near impossible for them to arrange to go back to before this timeline, yet she can't in her good conscience return to the present and leave things the way they are. Enough of this screwing around with the past could drastically disrupt the modern day fairy world, a domino effect that is difficult to correct once it's set in stone. But without any leads or a means to fix things, like it or not, this was looking more and more like a dead end, which frustrated the seasoned inspector. Just then, she heard a clanging noise... and what almost sounded like gnawing. Jac looked up, discovering to her horror that Richard had grown to his full height, cramped but thankfully just a snug enough fit to the roomy space to not have the ceiling collapse on him. He had taken a whole roasted chicken and chomped on it, but try as he might, he couldn't bite down. "What the hell are you doing?!" Jac hollered. "It's solid.. I was testing if it was gold plated. If that were the case, I would have been able to rescue Midas by chewing off the outside..." "You don't want to get beheaded by the king, do you? I read that he was pretty ruthless in the second story." "Relax, that plan's dead on arrival anyway." Just then, Richard was able to catch a whiff of something new in the air. He followed his nose to the back of the corridors, behind the hardened curtains he caught a glimpse of a strange, almost inhuman creature that was attempting to move out of sight. The giant spun around and with a quick swipe, he managed to catch this enigma in his bare hand. He couldn't tell what it was at first as he drew it closer to the light, only that it was fuzzy. Richard open his palms to reveal a lowly little satyr, who had become scared stiff about this whole being snatched by a giant without warning deal. "Well well well! Who do we have here? " "What in Zeus's name is a giant doing in the palace?!" The Satyr wailed, "Please! Have mercy on me!!" "Well then tell me what is a magic user like you doing snooping around? Where barely anyone else is allowed to come in, hm?" "I'm a friend of the King! Honest!" The Satyr explained while paying close attention to the giant's fangs every time the latter opened his mouth, "I came baring news from Dionysus with a cure for the Golden Touch, but I had arrived too late..." "Richard..." Jac didn't have to say another word- just the sight of her as she folded her arms and thumped her feet was enough to convince the mighty giant to put the horned man down, even though Richard wasn't too happy about it. "How do you know this guy can be trusted?" The giant frowned. "According to the fairy archives, a little known fact is that King Midas rescued a Faun and became friends with him in the start of the story! This led up to Dionysus granting him the Midas Touch as a reward." "Uh... it's a, Satyr..." The Satyr corrected. "So you're the person who's supposed to fix everything, right?" Asked Richard with a raised brow. "Yes! I would had arrived earlier, but the king was busy entertaining another guest. I heard it was a fairy, with green skin..." "The Time Warper. Of course!" Jac said while she slapped her hand in front of her face. "That guy's been giving us the slip for who knows how long..." Giving a moment of pause to press between the bridge of her nose, Jac then asked the half-human. "Is there a way you can reverse this?" "I believe the same way to remove the Golden Touch will also work to reverse the curse, but.. how can we move his majesty now that he's solid gold?" "You underestimate my natural strength," Richard then proceeded to pick up the petrified king with just two fingers, "I'll do the heavy lifting, you give me the instructions." So with no more time to waste, the Satyr lead Jac and Richard to the nearby river, with the giant carrying all of the humans who had been afflicted by the curse. While it was not the prettiest solution, it was determined that the only way to completely reverse this mess is to completely submerge the statues in the water, which Richard hastily accomplished by unceremoniously dunking all of the occupants in his arms into the drink at once. Jac looked at him with a stern while the giant returned with a smirk. "They were heavy, alright? My arms are sore." It took only a few minutes, but soon enough the entire river as far as the eyes could scan shined with a magical energy that turned the water a shimmering gold. The two guests marveled at the sight; Jac meanwhile couldn't help but snap selfies of herself and part of Richard's face with her phone, taking in the scenic view as a keepsake for their efforts. "What in Zeus' name is that contraption?" The satyr spoke. "Don't worry about it." Jac answered as she zipped the phone back up in her coat. And nothing more was said. When the spectacle had passed, the magic of the curse had been absorbed into the sand at the bottom of the river, which had turned into a brilliant shade of yellow. And with that, the afflicted had all emerged from the river at once with a large gasp for air. The Satyr fell into the arms of his beloved king. When Midas asked "Of whom were the folks who helped me remove the wretched spell so that I may thank them?" The Satyr quickly turned around, but much to his surprise, the girl and the giant had vanished without a trace. The curse has been obliterated and the entire kingdom had declared a celebration for this event. Jac and Richard couldn't stay for the festivities however- the less of a presence they had in the stories of the past, the better. It was better for them to sneak away than to resort in using forget-me spells, and the two detectives had plenty of work ahead of them as they would need to report their findings to headquarters. With the Tunnel of Chaos dispersed, Jac and the giant slipped into the portal. The day's task was over but who knows when the next one will arrive so long as the mischievous Time Warper was still on the loose.trophy