Walter's Curse

### Effects

Unknown. Somehow connects a Hollingsworth to a St. Claire so that the injuries suffered by one are also sustained by the other.

### Victims

Bhatair Hollingsworth
Thoth St. Claire
Enel Lanum
Nathan

**Walter's Curse** is a curse Melete Dolan bestowed upon Walter Hollingsworth as a gift of gratitude after his son Bhatair Hollingsworth rescued her from Herarat. Bhatair was offered the curse originally, but he let his father determine what the curse would do.

Walter had been almost completely psychologically destroyed by Antigone and her husband, who forced him to watch his wife Milani murder twelve of their thirteen children under Syllor's Curse. Crişan St. Claire was tasked with making Walter's suffering as prolonged and painful as possible. When Walter was able, he sought to punish Crişan and his descendants with the curse, but it backfired and affected both the Hollingsworths and the St. Claires.

In Chapter 22, it is revealed that Melete traveled to curse Crisan St. Claire, but Thoth was also there and tried to stop her. While she was inflicting the curse upon the older man, Thoth intercepted the two of them and the magic began to affect him in a horrific way. The results of this event have not yet been revealed, but it is safe to assume that this is a main reason that the curse backfired.

The full nature of the curse is not known, but it is speculated that the intent of the curse was for Crişan to feel Walter's own suffering. Unintended consequences are speculated to be the transmission of the curse to the future generations, as well as the Hollingsworths feeling the physical suffering that the St. Claire target of Walter's Curse feels.

Walter's Curse so far has only been noted to affect males. The properties of the curse are assumed to be the change in the overall appearance of the St. Claire target to match that of the Hollingsworth host and that any serious wounds or injuries that a target or host receives appears on the other. It is implied that wounds also heal faster on both parties for unknown reasons.

Walter's Curse can be weakened over distances, as implied by Velvare as his reason for removing Enel from Bellingrath and transporting him to Gallitan as an infant. At the time Nathan was implied to have been severely affected by Walter's curse once Enel was born. It is speculated that the age difference between Enel and Nathan caused Nathan several medical difficulties that were killing him as the curse paralyzed him and made him unable to speak for some time. It is possible that the curse forced his body and appearance to regress in order to match Enel's newborn body.

## Evidence

Walter's curse is speculated to change the appearance of the St. Claire target to match that of the Hollingsworth host because Enel and Nathan look exactly the same, as did Bhatair Hollingsworth and Thoth St. Claire.

It is assumed that the St. Claire target would have his appearance changed rather than the Hollingsworth host because of the following reasons: Bhatair Hollingsworth looks much the same as he did before Walter's curse. Thoth's appearance, therefore, probably changed when Walter's curse was enacted. We know the people of Gallitan turned against Thoth for some unknown involvement or display of the supernatural due to their superstition, and this led to Savannah Leto being disowned by the royal family of Gallitan because she married him. Water's curse was enacted around the time when Bhatair was a teenager and Thoth wasn't that much older, so the change would have been later in life after everyone had already known him to look differently.

Further evidence of this includes when Bhatair comes to Greenway for the first time trying to sign a treaty with Gallitan royalty, and everyone is said to be 'giving him side eyes'. Two things can therefore be assumed: either they don't like strangers, or they think Bhatair is Thoth, and at this point, Thoth already has been rejected by the people of Gallitan.

Additionally, when Aetius Nimrod attempted to assassinate Bhatair, Bhatair was seen in two places at once: fighting Aetius in the arena, and also playing with Enel in Gallitan. Thoth died in the arena, but Bhatair lived on. There is no doubt that Velvare is really Bhatair Hollingsworth, because of his ability to break Syllor's curse and his color changing eyes, which can only belong to a descendant of Augustine.

Thoth and Bhatair, in order to pass as each other flawlessly, looked exactly the same. Due to the continuity of twins in families who are unrelated to one another, we can assume it actually has something to do with Walter's curse. How that translates to Enel and Nathan is still a mystery, because it is assumed that the curse involves a Hollingsworth and a St. Claire. Initially, it was assumed that Enel was the St. Claire target of Walter's curse, and thus the illegitimate son of Thoth and Bhatair's wife Gudrun, with Nathan being the Hollingsworth host. However this has been disproven. Enel must be a Hollingsworth, and therefore the son of Bhatair, because of his Nedarian features: with strong emotion, his eyes change color and his hands and feet glow. It is thus assumed that the St. Claire target is rather Nathan and the host is Enel. Nathan used to have blonde hair, which is further evidence of the final assumption. Therefore, it is probable that Nathan is the son of Gudrun and Thoth.

## References

1. ↑ The Silver Eye 19x14
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 The Silver Eye 14x18
3. ↑ The Silver Eye 18x25
4. ↑ The Silver Eye - Baptism 2