Chapter 172 - One More Curse
Most traces of the Emerald City are gone, banished by the collapse of its Barrier or destroyed outright in combat. But at your teleport's destination, the scars of a battle still linger. A forest of emerald spikes awaits you at the landing. Petrified creatures of too many shapes and sizes to describe crowd the gaps between the razor-edged growths. You can see where some of the frozen creatures have split open, some with further crystallized creatures trapped halfway through their emergence. It strikes you as rather fitting, considering how many of the creatures resemble insects. A massive thing looms over the scene, the calcified remnants of what must have been something truly monstrous. It's a bit like a rose in your eyes, butterfly-like wings folded over each other like petals and then turned to sheets of thin emerald glass. The starlight now filtering down from the open twilight sky is cast through the crystal petals, flooding the scene ahead with brilliant green light so unlike the harsh glare of the Wizard's magic.
Three human forms huddle at the base of the petrified flower next to an unmoving body. The green glow filling the area paints their monochrome outfits in shades ranging from a pleasant mint to a gloomy emerald a little too close to the Adult's for comfort. In the middle, Isabeau's clothes resist any sort of shading and remain the color of tarnished gold. Her skin, too, remains pallid white in defiance of logic. The girl who contacted you first, Minou, lies next to her mother with her clammy hand clasped in her own. The waves of fear and sorrow roll off of her and echo through the lifeless landscape. Her emotions still burn fresh and uncooled, an old wound reopened and now bleeding years of buried grief and panic. Corbeau, the sister you spoke to the least, keeps her crow-shaped mask affixed to her face. It and the wide distance between you and her do nothing to hide the rigid way she stands or how her attention is darting from place to place without rest. Lapin stands between them, a hand on each of her sisters' shoulders as she looks down at her mother's body.
"She isn't dead, if that's what this is about." you announce. Three pairs of eyes snap to you. Minou stands abruptly and steps toward you, Lapin's hand falling away in the process.
It's not hard to figure out what's actually wrong with Isabeau. Focusing, peering into the chaotic amalgamation of parts that is her being, somehow shows a scene even worse than when you first observed her. On the surface, it could be seen as an improvement. The clinging shape of Grief in her mind is almost completely gone. The issue is what's left behind. Or, to be more precise, just how little is left behind. Withered, disconnected thoughts and feelings are all that remains. Between them are pockets of not-quite-nothing that you would assume represent the parts of Isabeau's mind that match an Incubator's. Even counting that not-empty space, there's very little of her left. Treating her would less be repairing her mind and more reconstructing it at this point.
"Then our deal's still on." Minou says. Her voice is hoarse and raw but still tight and controlled. Even without her usual airs, she couldn't be mistaken for an ordinary person. It's not natural this time, though, and maybe never was. The refined affect to her tone is held desperately, a shield against weakness.
You don't care about weakness right now, though. You have no intention of backing out of your agreement. "It is. I'll repair Isabeau as you requested, since you've fulfilled your end of our deal."
"Is it actually over?" Lapin asks. She makes no effort to disguise her uncertainty. "We saw the light show over there, but we don't really have a clue what happened."
Corbeau shoots her older sister a look which Lapin ignores, waiting for your answer. "The Adult Who Tells Lies is gone. Dealt with in a permanent fashion. In the battle, the Barrier enclosing the Emerald City was destroyed. My team is currently gathering the surviving civilians."
"Your team" is also two teenagers and their alien tag-along, but it sounds more impressive phrased that way and you prefer bargaining from a position of strength. Even when technically the bargaining is already over. Corbeau clearly shares this attitude, because she steps up ahead of her sisters and glares at you. The blank white eyes of her mask betray nothing, but the way she stands between you and Lapin tells you more than an expression possibly could.
"So what happens now?"
"I intend uphold my end of our bargain." you repeat. "After that, it's up to you."
"Is it?" Corbeau challenges.
"Corbeau, are you sure-" Lapin starts, but Corbeau ignores her.
"Your deal was with Isabeau. Why would you do what we've asked now?" She raises her voice, clear anger shining through as brightly as the light filtering in from above. "Could you even do what you promised in the first place? Or did you just want to use us?"
"Corbeau!" Lapin snaps. There's no anger in her scolding, only concern. The raven-masked girl's eyes widen, and she steps back away from you. The two watch you the same way a wounded animal watches a nearby predator, hoping not to be noticed. Minou's own face is still desperate and hungry, devoid of her sisters' caution.
You resist the urge to sigh. "What would I get out of betraying you now? Even if Isabeau is incapacitated, the three of you could still cause trouble for me if we ended up as enemies. It's simpler for all of us to proceed as intended."
Corbeau says nothing but steps aside. Lapin smiles reassuringly at her younger sister and moves back with her.
"So you'll do it?" Minou half-asks half-demands. You don't see the need to waste time with any more words but three.
"Yes, I will."
You walk across the emerald-dusted ground and kneel beside Isabeau's fallen form. It takes only a thought, a simple twitch of will, and your branches take form. None of Isabeau's children react to the glowing silhouettes suddenly protruding from your body and curling around into your field of vision. They are, as ever, only a part of your mind.
If you weren't already kneeling, the exertion would have forced you to your knees. Pain rushes back through you, shooting up your limbs and digging into your flesh. Your muscles burn and strain to the point of nearly tearing. It's like a nail has been driven into your skull and hammered, forcing every wound you were ignoring to the surface in the process. Your vision is blurred, Isabeau's body a smudge of tarnished gold spread across the shining green ground.
You must have finally used up the last of the energy left over from summoning Twilight. That, or summoning Lobotomy disrupted the careful balance that allowed that energy to fill back in the wounds in your being. The effect is the same either way.
You won't be able to complete Isabeau's procedure in this state. If Minou, Corbeau, and Lapin attack right now, you won't be able to defend yourself. Hell, it'll be a feat just to stand up at this point.
Choking down the bile in your throat as subtly as you can, you improvise. The operation is the same as what you offered Mami weeks ago. Shoring up the stability of the mind, weaving in supports and filling space with luminous matter. Isabeau's operation is infinitely more complex, though. Mami's mind was troubled, yes, but she was stable. She was happy, even. Isabeau is an utter mess that has only gotten worse with time and her recent wounding. You cannot scrape away the traces of Grief that still cling to her mind because those traces are all that hold her together. There are patches of emptiness that must remain empty so as not to disturb their balance with the rest of her mind. And all the while, she is gradually wilting. Your hands tremor as you work.
The end result is messy but functional. Your branching wings fold back into your body, leaving the cast-like mental structures build around Isabeau's mind to stand in their own. The image disappears as Lobotomy deactivates. It's not anything more than a band-aid a fix, but Isabeau will at least be stable until you can attend to her properly.
You stand slowly to hide how tremendous an effort it is to keep your legs from shaking. When this is done you'll have to see Angela regarding the state of your body. Today has been taxing. You swallow the bile in your mouth, cold and slimy and thick as it slides back down your throat. The feeling is nearly enough to make you vomit all over again. If Isabeau's children notice, they don't react.
"What I've done now is a patch job. I'll need to prepare more thoroughly for the full operation, but your mother will be stable until then unless something happens." you announce. Minou breathes out suddenly and crumples over Isabeau. Lapin moves to comfort her, leaving Corbeau standing alone. "I'll return to perform the full procedure later. Either Kyubey will contact you or I'll do it myself. If an issue arises, find me and I'll handle it. Remain in the area in the meantime."
Your tone leaves no room for disagreement or response. Nobody moves but you as you leave the scene, each laborious step bringing you closer to the day's end.
There is always more to do.
