spirit shard surgery

"You seem nervous." She leads him away by the hand- curiosity flourishing upon her visage as she speaks. "If you're curious as to how I learned to heal people...Then you should know that I stayed in a tower filled with eight children at some point in time. We didn't have much food, but we had a lot of enemies so...When one of my own people would get hurt, I would be the one that would help them. That would fix their damages.." Alongside others like Alura. Nevertheless, what became of her remains now...A slow, gentle smile appearing upon her features as she pseaks.

"You don't really need to rely on anyone else for something like this. After all, I already told you that my magic is more than capable of doing what you need. The question here-...Is whether or not your body can handle the consequences." In the end, she'd invite him into her home - the inside revealing to be small and quaint. A simplistic hut...Which is much different than her bloated ego.

"Go on then. Start undressing." She adds while turning away, sifting through her chest to find the herbs that'd make this 'surgery' much less painful...

"It should be rather brief since it's an implantation. I'll just have to make a little bit of room in your body and then...It'll be done." But for now, the ingredients that she set aside seemed to be all that he'd need.

Soothing Reed. Alessa. Luminite.
Sinka for blood flow. Spirit shards to form into a crystal.

"Try not to think about this much. It'll only make it hurt more-...That is, when you wake up, of course."
(Ashalle)
"A little." Even while he's led away, he can't help but admit that. It's not exactly everyday he experiences such surgeries... after all, it's one thing to simply get treated, and another to have anything installed in you. "But, ah... yes, I did hear of your struggles during your youth. I imagine that you had a lot of people to fend off, so.." And she confirms that much. Even he, despite growing up in Levengard, had to attend medics quite often. His own youth was dangerous in many different ways... often resulting in severe trauma.

Which explains the abundance of scars upon his body.

"While I'm nervous, I'd still rather you do that..." A tiny pause. "Even though I know how dangerous you can get... I don't think I will be murdered at my weakest point during surgery."

An idle laugh spills from his lips. It's made as a jest, of course... and perhaps a reference to the times when she had her hands around his neck. Nonetheless, he begins to undress, leaving robes away- only to cast down his armor and undo the rest of his garments as well, revealing an ample area of his upper body to work with.

A familiar sight of many scars.

"Mm... I trust that it won't take long, yes." Just how exactly she's going to go about it? Not that he'd get to know. Surgeries aren't performed on awake people for a reason, after all.

Before he lays down, he searches for something to put under himself. He imagines that lots of blood was the last thing that she needed on her bed... and only after he gets something- anything- to actually prevent the sheets to be soiled with his blood, he finally prepares himself for it.

"I'll try not to."
(Keitaro)

"What makes you think that I won't kill you?" The voice is monotonous, much like the vacant stare that she gives him. It resembles the look of a cold-blooded killer...Someone who didn't seem to mind taking life so long as there was a purpose behind doing so. Or perhaps, if there was something to prove. And in this case, it could easily become such a thing...But the danger that he's in? In comparison to most is negligible. These hands are skilled - and as dangerous as she is, she can also be quite benevolent to those that treat her right. That praise this name. That gives her power with their language. She breathes in and then out...

"Something of the sort. But thank you. I'll try to not break all of your bones or have your foot suddenly placed where your hand should be." In the end, the vacancy is disrupted. Amusement trails upon her features as she turns away from him...Carefully grinding each of them into a thin, simple paste while he would spot a single spider crawling atop of the desk. It glistens within the room...While her other hand extends.

"It should only hurt for a second." She says while turning back towards his features....Breaking the spider close to his chest before letting it 'dip' its fangs into his being. "...You'll get numb soon and afterwards, you should start feeling sleepy...But while that happens, we'll see how you feel before I begin." The pulp within the cup is concentrated...Teaming with mana.

"...Just don't try to resist the venom."
(Ashalle)
"That's because you aren't ready to lose me."

Where she sought to bring out the face of a cold-blooded killer, he knew that there was no way that she could simply kill him like that... and in the end, even if she were to do that anyway, she would only regret it soon. After all, the things they shared and the things he knows about her already revealed too much of her mind... perhaps, a lot more than she ever wanted him to.

"And... yes. That'd be nice. I once had this 'medic' try to treat me... and he actually tried to sew a rabbit foot to my thigh." A frown. How could anyone even come up with such disgusting idea..?

"...I should've figured you would involve insects." A sigh. It's not that he was scared of them, really... but there was something unsettling about being bitten by a spider, even if he knew that he wouldn't exactly sustain any permanent damage for this. In the end, he could only hope that this would be worth his while.

"Mmh…" An idle mutter, a purse of his lips when he feels the fangs sink in his skin, and his body shudders. The evident exhale comes out from him, and a bead of sweat rolls off from the side of his head.

He's clearly nervous.

"Did it really have to be spider... couldn't you just... I don't know... apply something?"

Numbness settles in. His breath becomes slower, more even... as much as he tries to struggle, it becomes harder to do so. Those eyes of his close half-way down as the time passes, an addled, drugged mind struggling to put words together.

"This... weird.."
(Keitaro)

"Not yet." Not ever. There was something about the statement that would've made her smile a little bit brighter. Perhaps, because this time, she was determined to see her project grow 'till the very end. Perhaps, because she was tired of outliving those that swore to her cause and simply wanted to see someone blossom within the palm of her hands. It's different. Something tells her that it'll be different this time in comparison to pushing her brother. Or Laemor. Or anyone of that matter. He won't have to make promises that he cannot keep...Because the only thing that's required of him is a devotion like no other. And a mind smart enough that tells him what's right and wrong.

"...Did-..." Her features show a slight amount of disgust. And also a bit of anger. Immediately, she placed herself within his shoes...Imagining herself killing the one being that would 'dare' threaten to stitch a rabbit's foot onto her own thigh. No...They'd just die in the worst way possible. Nevertheless though..

"They're all created differently. Each of them have a selected purpose...My spiders are often used to numb. paralyze, or force unconsciousness. The wasps and bees are used for the hive. And the butterflies-...Well..." She goes silent, a gentle smile appearing upon her features as she steps forward..

"-It's just easier for it to bite you rather than me taking out all of the effort. Now...Enough talking." She says while gathering the spider within her palm...Soon placing it back within it's 'case' before bringing a single hand towards his chest.

"Being drugged should never feel good. I imagine that your eyes and limbs are heavy...That you can barely even feel this." Gentle, mocha hands tracing amongst the scars over his chest...As if she could relive each of his battles while perusing.

"...Go on. Sleep." There is a keen interest in his frame. It is shown within the scanning of her fuchsia gaze...A mischievous glint that could be seen amidst his fading unconsciousness. Hm, hmm, hmmm..
(Ashalle)
All he could really respond with is a smile to the statement of the fact that she wasn't going to lose him yet... but somehow, he knew that she meant to say she wasn't ready to lose him at all.

He believed that he could handle this. After all, others around her seemed far too devoted to her for their own good... so much, that they seemingly lost their entire minds for their Queen. And while he could tell why, he always maintained his own head on his shoulders, because he imagines that the moment he loses that personality, when he loses the spark and becomes a hollow husk that simply wishes to follow her...

He'll be just like the rest.

And being something 'ordinary' was not in Keitaro's book. It wasn't something that he would ever allow himself... even if she demanded to have him in chains, to be bound to her. He knew that if that were to ever happen, she would quickly regret her decision - because that wouldn't be Keitaro anymore.

"I... see..."

Sweat begins to gather all over his form. His half-closed eyes peer around, almost feverish feelings settling in.. the venoms that come from insects usually induced the wildest of hallucinations, just like any other sedative would work - an inevitable part of being drugged in such ways.

"So heavy, I.." In that drug-induced fever, he was more or less repeating her words, barely understanding of what he says. "Can't... move.."

"It's hot.. air.. I want air.."

With his face painted in crimson, and apparent heat that reaches his body while it tries to fight back the venom on its own, the eyes of dragon end up seeing nothing but a blur.. and those half-closed eyes eventually come to a full closure, remaining unmoving.

His breath was ragged and slow, and his body in abnormal temperature as result- sweat kept leaving him, a natural response to fighting off venom. But as it stands... he's unconscious, lost to the fever induced by the bite.

Still. Moveless.
(Keitaro)

She wasn't ready to lose anyone. And when it comes to the individuality of his person, she couldn't imagine herself losing something that was fresh within interest. That continued to keep her thinking - that made her enjoy the chase that she had been longing for. In essence, his presence - his defiance was something that she looked forward to crumbling...A decadent treat, as if he were an expensive chocolate wrapped. Something that shouldn't be eaten so freely and yet, when bitten into...Is savored. Smooth. Coy. A whisper that begets more secrets.

<small"Good.." But the rising of his temperature was something that she would have to watch - where her hand would carefully rise from his chest towards his head....Cool, gentle towelletes - wetted and placed upon his features before she would begin her work.

The first step is easier than most. After all - combining the shards into one-entity was just like forging her own crystals. Within her palm, she clutches them together...Forming a single, ivory jewel within the center of her hand before setting it aside..

"Just hang in there.." She takes careful not of his well-being...Dousing her hands within herbal solution to avoid infection, also drenching her own 'tools' as well before standing over his being.

"..Next.." Its there where she would begin. The crystalline scalpel dips into his flesh, pushing into the cartilage before opening the cavity slightly. Around the area...piecesof the cartilage are carved away to make room for where the crystal would be embedded.

"And then.." She would begin to apply the herbal paste towards the broken area...Where it would allow mana circuits to easily attune to the crystal through luminite, and pushing for natural healing through 'alessa'. The rest were nothing more than a means to numb as a mixture of holy earth and natural spiral forth from the cartilage. The gentle magic acts as degradable cartilage...Creating a single 'notch' where the crystal would be placed..

"..And last but not least.." Easy. Simple. Within the area, it is placed...One would already be able to see the silver mana stream into his circuits. "Done.." Simple. Fast. It wasn't heart surgery, after all...But still.

To digress, the woman simply sews him back together...The only thing shown, of course, would be the 'diamond' sitting at the center of his chest...While underneath was nothing more than a mixture of 'nature' and bones. Which...While easy to make, could prove difficult to manage, but nevertheless..

For now, she waits until he awakens...Words already spilling forward, leaving him little time to recover 'mentally'. "Don't think of doing anything crazy- I'm not letting you fight until your body heals and embraces the crystal naturally. For now...Jut try to access it's mana in small amounts. But mostly...The runes on your body should do well enough to 'filter' your mana through it, giving you the ability to...At the very least, manipulate a portion of yourself to being ethereal.."
(Ashalle)
In many ways, he couldn't allow himself to just surrender to this frailty. If he were to be afraid, if he were to suddenly submit to something... then he would become hollow to his very core. Perhaps they share much, and perhaps they enjoy each other's company more than others would allow them to - but in reality, Keitaro never betrayed the ideals he stood by, nor he ever gave up on his dreams.

And it's this defiance that kept him what he is... this defiance that kept her going.

She was guilty of it too. Of all people, she taught him to be this way... but is it wrong to be like that? Is it wrong to fight for what you believe in, no matter what? There were so many other options available. He could just run away... or hide, or remain complacent right next to her, idle and moveless, but that's not the life he can take.

Even if he wanted to, he knows that he would become terribly frustrated with such living very quickly.

Where he remains moveless, operated by her, only after the entirety of the operation is done he begins to awaken in a while- minutes pass, and whether it's his own resilience or toughness as magi, he manages to shrug off the venom. Eventually, of course...

"Mm.."

It's a slow awakening, mixed with the apparent presence of drug in his bloodstream, still. Everything was a blur... and the first thing he does is look upon himself, only to see the signs of the surgery done - and a diamond-like shape right in the middle of his chest. It looked... curious, but the new instalment also brought about pain as his flesh adjusted. The usual after surgeries.

"Hurts.." And his head lowers back down in the laying position. Now, he was perhaps a little too weak to do much. "Yeah, I... I feel like I need rest.. just a bit.."

Inhale, exhale. It's slow, enduring.. trying to shrug off the remnants of hallucinations within his mind. Even now, everything felt so distant, numb, weak..

"Thanks, Ashalle."

The tiniest of mutters. For now, he'd opt out to remain where he is, resting.
(Keitaro)