I'll reply to comments in the morning~ <3
Also, watch as I bs stuff about the immune system and how stuff works
just suspend reality a bit~ Enjoy~
Chapter Six"...Does she really have to be here for this?"
Risa felt awkwardly exposed; granted, Reina had seen her naked already, and currently the knight was beneath a sheet, but it didn't leave much to the imagination and she had been unconscious during the previous incident. It was bad enough to have the scientist looming over her, analyzing her like a frog being prepped for dissection; she was getting tired of Aika lurking in the shadows as well.
"I suppose not," Reina replied, busy checking the knight's temperature with some strange device she stuck inside Risa's ear. Half of the objects laying about the lab were things that the knight had never seen before, much less heard of.
"I'm not leaving." Aika stated firmly, earning a glare from Reina--the first time the girl had acknowledged something other than the task at hand since they'd arrived back at the castle.
"I'm not a fragile doll. I can take care of myself. If it makes you feel better you can wait outside, but I don't need you distracting her the entire time."
The werewolf obediently did as she was told but, as Risa noted, seemed a bit worried for having to leave. She was sure Aika probably would do exactly as Reina suggested and wait outside the entrance, ready to jump in in case anything went wrong. Risa didn't blame her; the rational part of her mind didn't trust herself either. But the other part, the part that was becoming increasingly clouded by whatever the venom was doing to her body, was quite happy to finally be alone with Reina.
...At least until the woman suddenly jabbed her shoulder with a knife.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Risa shrieked, jerking back in pain even as the wound quickly closed itself back up again. The scientist seemed unphased, tapping off drops of the knight's blood into a nearby vial.
"I need to analyze this..." Reina murmured, focused on the vial as she set it in a rack next to some other odd chemicals.
"You could have warned me first..."
But the small cut was already gone, and Risa didn't even feel its sting anymore. The scientist wasn't harsh, but she certainly had no issue with manhandling her subject; a fact that was beginning to irritate the knight. As Reina continued with her tests, however, an idea began forming in Risa's mind.
The younger woman was at the moment, ignoring her, staring into some strange contraption she'd referred to as a microscope. She was mumbling to herself again as well, and Risa couldn't help but be curious. The knight gathered the sheet about herself, making sure to tie it well before hopping off the stone table. She crept quietly up behind Reina, almost close enough to touch her.
"What is it? What do you see?"
"Well, it's fascinating, but, I'm not sure what to make of it," Reina replied, not moving from the machine, "How much do you know about the immune system, Niigaki-san?"
"Not much, my lady. My schooling was spent on geography and navigation," The knight reached absently for the light orb floating around her head, watching as her fingers passed through it, "All I know is that it's responsible for keeping the body healthy."
"Mm, basically that's true. To be more specific--at least, so I can get to my point--everyone has cells, white blood cells, and these fight against anything in your body that isn't supposed to be there; infection, viruses, the like. When you get a fever, it's generally a reaction to things like that, and while it's unpleasant, a fever can actually aid in the movement of these cells as well as kill off some of the invaders.
Your temperature is well above fever level at the moment, which worries me, but I did expect something like this to happen. We've only been able to witness the change from human to lycan twice, but in both instances, the body temperatures of the subjects skyrocketed."
Reina began adjusting a few of the knobs on the machine.
"It's almost as though it's the body's last ditch attempt to destroy the venom, and it's an incredibly violent reaction; hence why so many people don't survive the bites. At these temperatures, blood coagulates, organs shut down--you die. And so I was reasonably alarmed when I realized yours was so high. However..."
The scientist slid a glass plate out from beneath the microscope, and Risa watched as she exchanged this for a fresh one, atop which was placed several drops of her blood. Reina snapped the new plate into place, carefully scrutinizing it beneath the lens.
"Interestingly, it seems as though the amulet has suspended your transformation in a very unique place. What renders humans helpless to the change is the fact that we simply don't have enough time to fight off the venom before it completely takes over; the first transformation happens within hours. But your body has changed only just enough to withstand the temperatures, but not enough that your immune system still resembles that of a human."
"Meaning...?" The information was starting to go over Risa's head, much as she was trying to pay attention.
"Meaning that it's still trying to resist the takeover. If given enough time, or perhaps some help, you might be able to fight it off yourself."
"But that sounds more like a virus. I don't understand why you keep referring to it as a poison."
"An astute observation," Reina finally turned to face Risa, the pleased grin on her face dropping as she realized how close they were. Her cheeks glowed a faint pink, and she seemed to be purposely avoiding the knight's eyes, "W-well, it
is a venom. It's meant to paralyze, disable... Werewolves are predators and normally hunt large things, and the venom aids in that. But with humans, it acts differently..."
Risa fell the inner pull towards the scientist again, unconsciously moving closer to Reina so that the girl was pinned between her body and the nearby shelf. She was acutely aware of the younger woman's breath catching, the sudden spike in her pulse, and the warmth of the blood flowing beneath tempting flesh.
She smells so wonderful...The knight's hands slowly moved to rest on Reina's hips, and she managed to catch the scientist's gaze for a brief moment before she surged forward to claim the girl's lips. Risa didn't know if it was some strange new instinct that urged her on or if she wanted to do it or both, but she certainly wasn't complaining. And the scientist wasn't resisting much, seeming almost to melt against her as she returned the kiss.
But it wasn't quite enough, Risa thought as the haze inside her head began to grow, and she began tugging at the younger woman's blouse in an attempt to rid her of it. She was successful in her endeavor, but as one of her hands moved upwards to trace against exposed skin, she hesitated, snapping out of her trance as she broke their kiss.
"What...?" The knight traced the thick outline of scars along Reina's collarbone, and as her vision focused she realized they were bite marks.
Wolf bite marks..."You...?" Risa met Reina's gaze in confusion, but what she got in response was mostly terror, and before she could question the girl, a mass of snarling fur ripped her away and slammed her into the ground.
She struggled against Aika, but the ambush attack meant the werewolf had the upper hand, and Risa made the mistake of looking up into those golden orbs, already feeling sluggish. As she felt consciousness slip away, she could hear the wolf scolding the other girl.
"I told you. She's not in control of herself... And neither will you be around her."
"Alright, I understand," Reina replied, breathless as she searched for her top, "When Sayu comes back, we'll put the collar on her..."
"Good. Because she's likely to kill you otherwise."
----------
Sayumi landed gracefully outside the palace gates just as the sun began to set beyond the mountains, carefully dismounting from her broom. Though she preferred traveling by cloud, it exhausted too much of her energy for the distance it took to get from the castle to the royal city. She sauntered confidently towards the gate, tossing her broom at the nearest guard as she entered.
"Watch that for me, will you darling?"
She was one of the few in the king's employ with the privilege of walking about the palace unescorted, especially without prior invitation, and Sayumi had on several occasions taken advantage of said privilege to explore its many rooms and secrets. But tonight she was due to report to the king directly; something she had secretly done every week for the past five years.
Part of her felt guilty for not telling Reina, and yet, her duty was to the kingdom, and in the end the king was the one who paid her.
Sayumi made her way to the throne room, entering without interference from the guards. She strolled quietly down the long chamber towards the throne, where the king was currently holding counsel with one of his personal advisors.
When he saw her, however, he waved the man away, and Sayumi waited for the rat to be well out of earshot before she knelt in front of the throne, removing her pointed black hat.
"Your highness."
"I trust you have promising news for me?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." She rose, placing her hat back on her head, "We've acquired a new subject for our experiments, my lord."
She watched as his fingers gripped the gilded armrests tightly, prepared to deal with the man's unpredictable temper.
"How is that any more promising than what you've been telling me for the past five years, Michishige? I'm growing impatient..."
"The subject is- was a Red Knight," Sayumi continued, unfazed, "We found her just before the venom took hold, subduing the change with our recreation of the amulet."
The king's grip on his seat relaxed slightly.
"You... Were able to make another?"
"It's not a complete recreation, as there was no time to finish the incantations before using it on the knight," Sayumi replied, picking a stray strand of hair from her cloak, "But it seems to be doing the job."
"And what does my daughter say about all of this?"
The witch glanced calmly at the king.
"Reina seems to believe she can cure this one. The amulet will give us more time than we've ever had before, perhaps."
Grunting at her, the king stroked his beard a moment before rising from his seat, beckoning silently for the witch to follow. This she did without question, until the king led her into a dark room, lit only by a strange red glow in it's center. The glow was radiating from an amulet much like the one Risa wore, fastened around the neck of a woman who was sleeping peacefully on a bed there.
"Ai doesn't have time." His voice rumbled quietly, "She doesn't even have the choice to become a monster. Every day the venom makes her weaker and weaker."
Sayumi nodded slightly, eyes memorizing the face of the heir to the throne, the woman her partner admired more than anyone.
"I understand, my lord. I will remind Reina of the urgency needed for this task."
She turned to leave the king alone in peace with his eldest child, when his voice stopped her at the door.
"And Michishige?"
"Yes, my lord?"
"Don't forget the other task that has been assigned to you as well."
Sayumi's eyes narrowed, but she kept her back to him and nodded again anyway.
"Of course, my lord. The first test is set to begin as soon as I return home."
"Excellent, you may leave now."
She was more than happy to.
Topic: Crimson [Chapter Six, 7/9] (Read 9741 times)