Chapter 249 – Arm and a Leg

Lilyth - Days 1 and 2 of the Serrezht Crisis

Life among the Sanguine really taught Caei how to hide her pain well. If I didn't know she was hurting, I would have never been able to tell. On the surface, she seemed her normal self, but I knew her well enough to notice how forced her laughs and smiles seemed. Then there were the furtive glances she was casting at the rest of the strike team, guilt clear in her eyes.

I understood it well enough, as with the passage of time more and more of the reality of my situation began to sink in. I have lost parts of my body. Again. They weren't coming back. In fact, until I got replacements, I was at the mercy of both my friends and my enemies, as I couldn't even go to a bathroom unassisted. I wasn't looking forward to how humiliating that particular ask would be. In fact…

‘Help is coming,’ Ere suddenly said in my mind and moments later the tent flaps opened and a white-haired figure dressed in a brown duster, a fedora and black sunglasses entered.

I have no idea what was more surprising: the fact that Ere went with a Boggart look, that she thought that it would make her stand out less or that there was no sign of rabbit iconography on her get-up.

‘You are missing a newspaper with eye holes cut out,’ Savri rolled her eyes.

‘Shit…’ Ere spat. ‘I’ll get one next time. Anyway, can I borrow Lilyth and Caei for a bit? Their prosthetics are ready.’

‘Wasn't this supposed to take a couple of days?’ I was both elated and surprised.

‘Once I cut most of the pointless shit Nyx wanted to include and shipped all the materials, the actual manufacturing process took maybe two hours,’ Ere shook her head. ‘The Realm of Earth has some of the best magitek limb craftspeople available, arguably even better than the ones in the Abyss. A sane version of what our resident airhead wanted is child’s play for them, especially since they had all the measurements.’

‘That is quite a time disparity. What exactly got cut?’

‘Shipping and procurement for one. The original plan was to handle it traditionally. I just had materials from my own stocks sent to them. The artisans were happy about it too. Nyx’s idea was to use fucking living metal, and I honestly don't know why. That thing is a bitch to work with, I am told. Once that got handled and I told the artisan to cut most of the gimmicks from the project…’

Ere shrugged.

I was surprised at the sheer speed of the procedure. Back on Earth, it would have been hours-long surgery with a ten per cent survival rate and an informed consent form longer than fucking Ulysses due to all the potential risks and complications and months of rehabilitation needed afterwards.

Here? I was back drinking with my friends forty-five minutes after we left with Ere, my magitek limbs, while needing some adjusting to, worked almost as well as my real ones, and the only complication was the fucking sockets itching like a motherfucker.

Apparently, it was caused by my regenerative abilities taking offense to the pieces of metal implanted into the stumps of my limbs. This sometimes happened, and I was given a cream to soothe the itching until the anti-rejection spells in the sockets took full effect.

The prosthetics themselves looked pretty snazzy; they were made from jet black metal with amethyst filigree. Caei’s new fingers, meanwhile, were ivory-and-gold.

‘Damn,’ Aki whistled, seeing them. ‘I now realise that my grandfather isn't just an asshole. He is a cheap asshole.’

‘Yup,’ we all had to agree.

When our quad was getting ready to go to sleep, Caei came up to us and simply took off her robe, exposing the full extent of the burn scars to us.

So much damage, I felt a pang of guilt. If only I were faster.

‘All I see is my beautiful wife,’ Aki smiled.

‘Yes,’ I agreed. ‘You are as beautiful as the first day I saw you.’

‘You know how I feel about you, you silly goober,’ Ren smiled. ‘A few beauty marks won't change that. ‘

Aki was the next one to showcase her damage - a bunch of jagged black marks in places where the spikes pierced her body. Some of them had black zigzags of corruption radiating from them.

‘More spots for tattoos,’ I laughed. ‘Maybe you can work those into the design.’

‘Some of my favourite constellations, maybe?’ Aki mused. ‘Though hopefully they will disappear. Or at least fade somewhat.’

‘We’ll see,’ I removed my clothes as well to display the small chemical burn marks near where my arm and leg ended.

Suddenly, Ren’s clothes hit the ground next to ours.

I looked at her, confused.

‘I mean, the three of you are already naked,’ she explained, licking her lips. ‘Would be a shame to let it go to waste.’

‘I like the way you think,’ Aki laughed.

The next day, after we paid our respects to Kart and the dead townspeople, I used the temporary portal the Children of the Elements set up to go to the realm of Air and spend some time with Ere and Phoebe.

I also wanted to take the rest of the love birds along, but they told me they didn't want to intrude on the first time I got to see my little girl in over two months. Sure, I talked about Phoebe with Ere every night since I left to join the girls, but it wasn't the same as being able to hold her in my own hands.

Alas, the day proved to be all too short, and I couldn't promise Ere I would make it again. There was just so much to do.

‘Don’t sweat it,’ my bunny sighed. ‘I’ll understand.’

Having just put Phoebe to sleep, the two of us were cuddling on our couch.

‘Won’t make me feel any less bad,’ I felt tears rushing to my eyes.

‘Such is life,’ she nuzzled against me. ‘I wish the circumstances were better, but I am happy you made it even this once. I would say I could try to pop down there with Phoebe, but…’

‘She wouldn't be safe. Or rather she wouldn't be safe anywhere within fifty kilometres radius of me. If people were unaware of her parenthood and I wasn't nearby, she would be perfectly safe. Hell, at this point I think the best way to make Dwynveia safe for our daughter is for me to leave it forever.’

Then the sad fact behind those words hit me.

‘I’m the problem here, aren't I?’

‘You do have a tendency to somehow gleefully poke every single Buzzing Death nest you can find, yes.’

What the fuck is a Buzzing Death?

‘But it is more complicated than this. The dragons you prod tend to be the ones that need prodding. I mean none of the people on your target list ended up there due to your actions. Hell, I composed it more as a “those people are gunning for you” checklist. I mean, you taking down the Church of Light would be impressive, but I don't actually expect you to be able to pull it off.’

‘That’s a relief,’ I chuckled. ‘I would say that's fewer people to kill, but knowing my luck I will end up embroiled in a Holy War regardless.’

‘I already feel bad for the Lighties, but yes. A lot of blood will be spilt before this is “sufficiently” over, I fear. Some of it yours and your friends. And I fear… I fear you won't survive this.’

‘My assumption is that this is my last dance,’ I agreed. ‘I don't want to die, but I fear that sooner or later I will meet my match. I mean… yesterday I nearly died to a glorified weed.’

‘You have no idea how much panic your discovery caused among us. The Godtree needs to be destroyed.’

‘The Godtree?’ I wasn't sure I wanted to hear the answer to that question, and Ere’s explanation of the celestial side-effects confirmed those suspicions.

’And where there is one, there could be more,’ I realised after she was done. ‘I am not sure how possible it is for us to take down a bunch of Malevolent Tree Gods. We really lucked out yesterday, it seems.

‘Yes. The incident made me realise that I don't want to lose you. I need you alive. Which is why… I… I…’

Ere’s voice began to break, so I began turning towards her to offer comfort, but she suddenly exclaimed “Fuck it” and pounced on me, her lips finding mine. My first thought was that she wanted to make out, but before I could reciprocate, power began flowing into my body. My senses began to expand, and waves upon waves of ecstatic bliss hit me.

Then… our lips parted, and the sensation was over, but I could still… see more. The reality seemed more vibrant. More complete. I saw details I would have noticed otherwise, like the metal of my left arm existing both in solid and liquid forms at the same time.

Woah. Cool!

‘Wh-what happened?’ I asked.

‘I just gave you eternity,’ Ere said mysteriously.

‘You fucking what?’

Ere’s explanation made my head spin.

‘What,’ I could only say.

It was insane. It was a massive violation of my consent.

And yet… It was exhilarating. It was so freeing.

‘It will be a long road, but if you want… you can be one of us.’

I knew I should have been mad, but I couldn't. Not at my bunny. And ultimately, I still was merely given a power boost. What I did with it was up to me. And I already had ideas.

‘How do I choose my theme?’ I asked with a devilish glint in my eyes