Bianca wished that they could undergo such an essential step in their long research properly. She wished she hadn't been forced last week to resell the wine she had bought with the occasional tips she received after healing others in the slums. People who have lost everything because the war deemed them spent and unfit to continue war under the Ivory King. Her powers were maybe not strong enough to regrow missing limbs, the most common injury, but she found out how to treat cases of the phantom pain these poor souls suffered from. By overstretching her soul into the Veil of Corruption. A few copper pieces were earned here and there, and after half a year, she was able to buy a cheap wine to be able to celebrate their future victory properly. A wine she was now missing-
We are broke. Fully and completely. I couldn't even save up the magma wine until today ... we needed to have something real to eat besides my daily eggs. Heck, I can't even remember when we last had a full-course meal. All we have is us. I have him, and he has me. Two tiny kobolds against the world.
Bianca's heart cramped together remembering the second reason she didn't attempt to use her abilities to heal those with more money to spare working towards moving out. Unveiling her halo to the wrong people could have been an early end for their plan to become invaluable for her country. A cleric would have to join the war, A cleric knowing about the secrets of cancer treatment, however ... they would have an ace in her sleeve to prevent them from getting separated.
Looking again at Denton, who was currently silently arguing with Khõra about what seemed to be hand movements, she once more realized how much she admired her albinistic brother. He always smiled regardless of how dire their situation might have been and usually kept his lust under control. Feats like these were most unusual for a kobold, who usually didn't lead their desires but got led by them. Bianca wished she was even remotely as good in self-control as her brother, as her mind was often clouded and filled with ugly and moody thoughts. She cracked a weak smile and let her tail join up with Denton's. She waltzed over to her brother's side, laying her olive paw around Denton's feathery neck.
"Thank you for being my brother, Den."
Denton looked up from spectating his fingers, and his eyes met up with hers. He immediately recognized the mood she was currently in and gave Bianca a quick loving lick over her cheek. No words needed to be spoken, both knew what the other one was thinking at that very moment. They both wanted to escape their current life and what would soon be happening in front of their eyes might be the ticket they longed after for so long.
After a moment of enjoying each other's presence snuggling silently, Denton broke the idyllic moment whispering to her, his face close to hers, his warm breath caressing her cold scales.
"I am dying to show you this, Bia. You know how much I enjoy snuggling, but I desire to put a real smile on that face of yours. So please, unhand me, hun. I long to exterminate a rotten grape."
They both shared a quick and hearty chuckle, and Bianca finally let go of her brother, giving him the required stage. An instantaneous and silent exchange of unspoken words between Denton and his symbiote later, and he was ready. He exhaled deeply and placed his paws beside the cell cube:
"Alright, Bianca, the hour of truth. So please listen closely and correct me if you notice something weird. I want to get this done in one go; my patience...our all patience is way past anything I desire us to endure. We deserve this! No - I am sure this will work, just you see, sis."
Bianca's full attention was now directed to Denton's clumsy-looking paws. But what they did couldn't look more elegant, so elegant Bianca even forgot to breathe. With precise movements, Denton placed the back of his thumbs against each other to form with his claws a precise operating tip. Then he set the nail tip against the cell block, hovering just over the surface, not touching it.
"Require coordinates. Be my guide so that I don't miss the grape. Also ... how deep is it located again?"
Bianca crawled over to the albino standing there, fully concentrated, legs now slightly spread apart, allowing her a path into action. She wiggled through the opening and was now kneeling in between Denton and the table, her tail wagging in excitement. Looking from below at his paws, she noticed a slight offset she immediately asked him to correct. A quick 'thanks' later a small piece of paper, she stuck at the side of the cube when she built it, caught her attention and she searched on it for the way towards the grape.
"3.8 cm straight from your current location is it located. The grape is 1.2 cm deep, which means rat tissue will take over again at 5 cm below the surface. Good luck!"
Denton's nails were now touching the surface point, his remaining fingers were now spread out like a spider net stabilizing the operative stance. From her position down below, Bianca immediately noticed the first traces of the destructive magic. Small sparks ran down the Labicer's paws and ignited his fingertips. The nails emitted how a faint purple glow that grew stronger and brighter at the very tip. Denton retreated the operating tip claws slightly, waiting for the arcane energy of destruction to grow. Then his eyes began glowing blue, just as Bianca's when she entered the gate of Winter. Amazed by the play of purple and blue in Denton's irises, the kobold nearly failed to notice the sudden change on Denton's fingertips. The purple energy of degradation was now encased in a glowing, rune-covered shell of blue arcane ligaments.
It was a wonderful sight to witness how the blue orb now expanded slowly, following the direction of the operating tip down into the cell block finding a secure path to and into the healthy matter without damaging it. Through the slightly transparent structure, Bianca was able to follow the pathway of the canal, and how it dug itself through the meat down to the grape. Upon reaching the grape, the ligaments expanded creating an arcane barrier to divide the healthy matter from the grape-corrupted one.
"Got it! Connection established. Now to the easy part. Prepare yourself for your part of the procedure, Bia. It has to be timed well. When I say now, send your healing waves through the arcane tunnel on the outside. The grape will then be gone, degraded into nothingness. I will then narrow the barrier slowly retreating out of the matter bit by bit. Your waves will speed up the healthy cells dividing and multiplying them, closing the small gap without seams. When the tunnel is gone, so will be any sign of corruption in the block. Got it?"
Bianca's eyes lightened up with a blue shine playing around her orange iris; she was born-ready. Galen was focused as well, giving Bianca his ok as well.
<Ready, Bianca. I will assist you.>, he sounded excited yet concentrated.
"Understood. We are ready!"
Hearing that, Denton succumbed fully to his powers, iris and sclera glowing now in pure purple. The purple ball, still protected by the rune-covered bubble was immediately sent with astonishing speed through the liquid gateway to the grape, meeting the corruption in less than a second. The barrier behind the vesicle closed down, and the ball broke releasing the fumes of perishment onto the grape. Denton's connection to his original gate got cut, and his eyes changed to blue, granting all his concentration to the barrier.
"NOW!"
Hearing the command, Bianca gently placed the claw of her right thumb on the part of the barrier residing at Denton's fingertips. Her halo started to glow brightly, and the healing waves jumped onto the barrier laying itself around the whole outside of the tunnel. Feeling the healing magic, Denton grunted satisfactorily and started narrowing the liquid connection. The grape was now nearly completely diminished; only mere traces of it were still intact but even those wilted away in seconds.
Bianca felt her magic connecting to the rat cells, encouraging them to grow, and closing the resulting wound. She felt how at a steady rate fresh holes appeared while Denton safely reeled in the purple energy of destruction outside of the cell block. Holes she closed down immediately. Everything went smoothly, and when Denton finally held his purple magic on his fingertips, blowing it out with a gust of breath like a shot Gunbarrel starring a smile of victory on his face.
The grape is gone, and the cell block is fully healed ... I can't believe it; it actually worked!
"It worked, bro! It worked! Let me hug the man of the hour!"
Denton happily accepted the hug, snuggling with her for minutes to come. Bianca heard him whispering again and again silently the same words, reciting them endlessly. His tears were continuously running down her scaled back and gathered on her feet. But she refused to say anything and only hugged him tighter, knowing that he finally felt able to drop his tough-guy act letting his piled-up emotions flow freely and unhindered:
"Yes...we did it..."
Excellent work! I really enjoyed this one
:3 Thank you so much ^^