Complete Private High March (Wake Me Up) Wake Me Up Inside

[Lune]

With a final press, the blue-haired woman sent a message requesting assistance to a certain black-haired man. Well, the one she would trust with things like this. Exhaling, she leaned her head onto her knuckle, waiting for a hopefully quick response.

Mail

To: @Yugam

Go to High March as soon as possible when you're free, I need your help with something rather urgent.
Coordinates attached.

Bring a coat, it's cold here.

The coordinates would lead Yugam to a remote settlement located in the heart of High March. It was a place of complete desolation, where the harsh winds howled through the abandoned ruins of once-lively houses and ruined roads. Despite the destruction, people still clung on to their lives here, struggling to survive amidst the poverty and hunger that plagued the village. How they survived for this long without any help from Astorea was a mystery.

Through the blizzard, a tall building looming in the center of the village could easily be seen. It was a ruined church, dedicated to a god or goddess that no one seemed to remember. The deity might as well have not existed, given the state of the village.

Inside the church, a pale, malnourished girl, possibly much younger than the other woman was lying motionless on top of a makeshift bed. Just by looking at her, anyone would notice veins and dark spots that were visible on her cracked skin.

Lune on the other hand was sitting on the edge of the bed, her exposed fingers fiddling around as she waited for the Hunter to come.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

What was it about High March that it attracted so much secret activity? Was it the threatening magical storms? The desolate landscapes? They both lent themselves to those who wished to keep themselves or their actions hidden quite well, but it always seemed as if there was something more to High March than just those. High March itself kept its secrets, hidden, villages, abandoned, forgotten.

Most that Yugam had ventured through were falling apart at the seems, if not fully fallen into disrepair. And many were completely devoid of any life, only hollow husks made of wood, stone, and metal. But this one had a meager population, scraping by on whatever it appeared they could. And yet, somehow, the remains of great works of architecture remained. Cathedrals, places of gathering. This may have been a city once upon a time, but not longer. Now it was just the home of people who knew nothing else, with no means to escape it.

The doors had long since fallen off their hinges, or carried away by the villages for firewood, and so Yugam walked into the massive church, the crunching snow beneath his boots barely audible above the howling winds of the blizzard.

His eyes first found Lune, her upright form stark against her collapsing surroundings. And then, as he drew closer, to the girl, sickly, fatigued. Likely very close to death. "Who is she?" he asked.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

As footsteps approached, Lune turned her head to find Yugam making his entrance through the collapsed doorway.

"Hey." The woman called out lightly. She hadn't seen him, Luthien, or Fiora since the decisive battle against Szofrit. Hell, they didn't even have the time to interact with each other back then.

"How are you? And the others?"

Back to the business, the man quickly asked her about the third person currently lying motionless in the center of the building.

"Just a kid, a lander." The blue-haired woman sighed, ruffling her hand through the hair of the sickly young girl. "Used to wander around the ruined village to beg. Just a loaf of bread and some water was enough to make her smile as bright as the sun."

"I've been preoccupied with the Szofrit business to look after this place..."

Gritting her teeth, she motioned through the destroyed church and the desolate village around it. After the war, both Throne and Astorea were too preoccupied with recovery, and as a result, the smaller people suffered.

"... When I found her, she was already collapsed on the ground. Fatigue, famine, disease, I don't know." Shrugging, she revealed that the girl was already on borrowed time.

"Too late for any kind of recovery measures, her organs were already actively dying. I take my hand off her for more than a minute, she dies." Looking at him right in the eyes, Lune implied whether Yugam had something in mind to sustain this girl's life force. Most likely something similar to what they had done to her current body.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"How are you? And the others?"
"We're doin' alright. The Embertorch is a mess so..." The pleasantries, while not normally despised, and easily dispensed were harder now, in the wake of the chaos. Yugam was still busy sorting out death reports, destroyed objects, accounting for missing and damaged documents. Outside of the small sphere that Yugam confined himself in, everything was not alright. But Luthien was safe. Ronja and Fiora were okay. Lune was okay. So everything was alright.

The way Lune spoke of the girl, she was more familiar with her than Yugam would have expected. Or perhaps less, it was difficult to discern when he expected either full familiarity or none at all. But at the end of the day, what it really meant was that Lune spent a lot of time in this area. 'Looking after the place,' as she'd put it.

"... When I found her, she was already collapsed on the ground. Fatigue, famine, disease, I don't know." Yugam took a step forward and with intense eyes, he examined her. "Too late for any kind of recovery measures, her organs were already actively dying. I take my hand off her for more than a minute, she dies."
"Ok, so?" There was a calloused way by which Yugam spoke. The girl's fate wasn't his business. A tragedy, sure, but it had no bearing on him. "If it's too late, what do you expect me to do?" the man asked, unclear as to what his purpose there was. "I'm not really a doctor or a healer. I can't help this girl anymore than you can."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"We're doin' alright. The Embertorch is a mess so..."

"Good to hear," She exhaled. It's hard to keep track of her friends while keeping a pretty safe distance from them. Another dream invasion situation is the least she would want to afford.

"I'm not really a doctor or a healer. I can't help this girl anymore than you can."

"We can," Lune interrupted, revealing the true intention of the invite. "I'm not talking about recovery, but rather, sustain." She stood up, walking around the makeshift bed, twirling to shift the attention to her. "A source of near-infinite power can indefinitely sustain a person, as you see before you." A reference to herself, of course.

The woman pointed at the unconscious girl, gesturing as if pulling an invisible string. "So we can hook her up to the next infinite source that we know—" She knocked on her left chest "—Me."

The blue-haired woman sat back down to touch and feed the girl more energy while continuing to list the merit of this 'experiment' to the male. "Secondly, if the link is possible, the flow should go both ways." She theorized.

Part of their original deal to the body-modification was to gather as much lifeforce as they can to fund whatever Yugam was doing. "Meaning that we might find a solution to your energy harvesting problem in the long run, provided of course that this works, and with enough leeches."

"This is worth the try."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Yugam had to squeeze his eyes shut tightly and begin to rub a temple to fend of the head ache he could already feel coming on as Lune began to describe her idea. "That is a lot of assumptions," the man groaned. As much as the possibility of adding more sources of life-energy was appealing to the man, that wasn't a guarantee. Worse that that, it was a liability without a clear benefit.

"Okay, first of all," the man opened his eyes and looked at Lune. "Do you know with any degree of certainty that what's powering you is actually infinite." Point number one. "Based on how you described it to me, its a vessel, not a generator. Meaning its finite, and restricted to what is in there right now, and what we add to it." Yugam pointed to the girl. "Now adding another person to it, you're cutting that supply in half. And while you might be able to handle that, if we run out suddenly, which I'll remind you, I have no way of tracking how much we even have at the moment, she dies anyway. She's already on her deathbed, at best we're just delaying the end.

Secondly, how are we even solving the energy harvest problem? Have you figured out how you're going to do that yet, 'cause I sure as hell haven't yet."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Do you know with any degree of certainty that what's powering you is actually infinite."

"Assumptions." Neither of them knows. Probably not even the person posing as a reaper who originally possessed the gem. Lune just assumed it was infinite because no matter how much she tried, she could never measure the power that was contained inside; yet, it flows as if it was endless. "We just work on assumptions. Nothing in this world is ever guaranteed."

She stopped, turning toward Yugam, trying to convince him. "If there's even one percent chance that it works, that is enough for us to try it."

"If we run out suddenly, which I'll remind you, I have no way of tracking how much we even have at the moment, she dies anyway."

Worst case, if it does run out, it means Lune has to get the heart transplanted back into her, and be significantly weaker without the immense lifeforce. "Neither can I. It's a gamble, but one we can't lose." She countered, "As I said, this is worth the try. Even if we fail, we'll get something from it. If we succeed? We'll have basically two of me."

Her head slowly turned to the small girl, looking at her pained expression with a saddened face, "If she dies, she dies. Everyone dies anyway."

"Secondly, how are we even solving the energy harvest problem? Have you figured out how you're going to do that yet, 'cause I sure as hell haven't yet."

"Yes, we try to create a two-way flow, then I'll let you know the second part. Should work in theory. In practice? We'll see." She proposed a method, without actually explaining how it will solve how they will get the energy back. "I was going to do it alone, but I needed someone with experience with this magic."

"Look," She exhaled, looking at the man in his blood-red eyes. "I don't think you'll just leave me hanging after going all the way here, so I'll just assume you'll help. Stand beside me, and tell me if I'm doing something wrong." Running out of time, Lune commanded the hunter to come closer.

"Everything's gonna be alright." The monster whispered to the kid, hands on both of the girl's shoulders, before reddish light came out of it, and as the palm contacted, the small, white-haired girl screamed in pain.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Yugam squeezed his eyes shut and pinched his temples with his thumb and middle finger, an exasperated groan escaping from between his lips as Lune talked her way around of every single one of Yugam's concerns with completely illogical sentiments.

"If she dies, she dies," she said, as if that made everything alright. "Everyone dies anyway."
"I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be my line," Yugam said, though there was no apparent reason for his ownership.

Having not explained at all what it was that she actually expected Yugam to do, the man stepped up next to her as she'd requested, a still dower look on his face. "Everything is wrong," the man said mostly out of spite. "Are you even capable of using animancy?" he asked. "'Cause if you fuck this up, lemme tell ya, it ain't gonna be pretty. Unless you think the leftover bits from meat grinders is pretty."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

"Are you even capable of using animancy?"

"Yes. My powers were slowly transforming, so it seemed like the soul gem in my body did something long-term. I've tried Animancy at least on some unwilling subjects." Long story, but Lune's not going to monologue while the young girl is on her death's door.

Turning to Yugam and tilting her head, the woman asked. "I didn't come here to fail, so will you help me or just continue commenting?" Inviting him to look closer to her work, she started by explaining the gist of what she was trying to achieve to him.

"The two-way lifeforce link that you created between the crystal inside of me and the jar of heart God knows somewhere out there; I am trying to replicate it."

The scream of pain continued, as the reddish glow from Lune's hand spread through the girl's body slowly. So far, no link has been established. She was out cold during the operation back then, so she didn't know how long it took or if was easier doing it to an exposed, isolated organ rather than a rapidly dying human.

"But this time, my lifeforce to sustain hers. It should be theoretically possible, but I can't find the entry point yet..."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

'Unwilling subjects.' Yugam couldn't help but give Lune a strange look. He got the feeling she didn't mean mobs, she could've just said so. Even he, the man desperately trying to revive his dead friend for no other reason than that he wanted, needed, answers hadn't stooped so low yet.

Still, he'd help her anyways. Because right now, they could save a child's life, as unlikely as it seemed. That's what Yugam kept telling himself as Lune scolded him for speaking so much.

"You can't, making a two-way street this way is impossible," Yugam said. "And before eyou go all 'oh, but you did it for me!' shut up and let me explain. I had to tie your heart, you life's center, to the crystal. If you want to tie her to you, I need to open you both up." Yugam snapped his fingers and pointed at a neighboring cot. "Bed. Now."

@Lune

 

[Lune]

No matter how much energy she was enveloping around the girl, it wouldn't just bind to anything. She thought she could just brute-force the connection and the girl's body would accept it, but it's been overflowing for minutes without any reaction.

"You can't, making a two-way street this way is impossible,"

Finally after the third "impossible" from Yugam, the woman sort of listened to him. He was the one with experience, after all.

"Gah, fine."

Stopping the flow of lifeforce, Lune quickly turned toward the other cot and climbed up, ripping the upper part of her shirt while laying up on the makeshift bed. Using her Metamorph and Animancy power, she exposed her internal organs by splitting apart the portion of her upper chest, revealing a glowing purple crystal where the heart should be to make it quicker and easier for the Hunter to access.

"She doesn't have much time left. Let's go."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Yugam ground his teeth at Lune's response. He could leave her here. Let the girl die. Leave the pointless endeavors to Lune. The man stayed though. He wasn't sure who was more stubborn, him or her.

Yugam kept just enough life force flowing back and forth between himself and the girl to keep her alive. A considerably taxing task for someone who was less experienced than he was. Lune, rather unceremoniously, laid down on the cot on the otherside of Yugam, and tore open her shirt. It was a wonder that she was able to conceal the jagged steal point that protruded from her chest. When Lune opened up her innards like it was nothing though, a corner of Yugam's lips curled back in disgust. She'd done it without flinching, without thought. Maybe that was just Lune's metamorph in play, but Yugam knew if he'd torn himself open like that, it would have hurt. Excruciatingly so.

But pain was relative.

"She doesn't have much time left. Let's go."

As usual, Yugam was near silent as he worked. Once upon a time he'd have cursed at every little inconvenience, but a master of his craft, there were no mistakes to be made. Two bodies, cut open, butchered in such peculiar ways. The red threads that wound around Lune's heart remained, ragged, worn down. Yugam paid them little mind this time, instead weaving the links between Lune and the girl.

By the time he'd finished, the sun had long since passed. Nerves were reattached, returning feeling to their bodies, an anesthetic measure he'd learned since the first time he'd performed this procedure on Lune. The amount of blood hadn't changed though. "Done," the man said, standing with bloodied arms raised. "I'm gonna go wash myself. You should too." A small glance at the girl lying on the table. "She won't wake 'til morning, I think." Without another word, the man went out to find some running water.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

Keeping her whole chest, ribs, and internal organs exposed and open the whole time was painful. Very painful that in fact, if the man couldn't do it quickly enough, she might pass out from the blood loss. Fortunately, Yugam took over supporting the kid's life force with his own, so Lune could just focus on sustaining herself.

Unlike the first time this procedure was done solely on her, this time the pain was very minimal. It seems like Yugam learned to manipulate certain nerve endings locally as an anesthetic measure.

Hours that felt like an eternity passed, and when he finished closing up the girl's body it was also a clue for Lune to start regenerating herself. An enormous amount of blood pooled in the middle of the ruined church floor, making the sight even more eerie.

Slowly getting up, Lune buttoned back her bloodied shirt. "Hey, Yugam." As the man walked outside, she called out to him sitting on the cot's edge, before thanking him.

"...Thank you, for not giving up on her."

Lune tilted her head, looking at the girl's sleeping face as she caressed the top of her head. A girl, hungry and alone, greatly reminded the idol of her own past. The world gave up on her, but she persisted. And now, she was not going to give up on this one.

Not when they are still connected.

She walked out, following the man to look for any water.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

There was a wooden bucket near the door of the small chapel that Yugam spotted as he made his way out. He paused to pick it up as Lune called his name and thanked him. "You can buy me dinner or something next time," the man said in reply. Impassive as ever, he'd brushed off the woman's gratitude. The Puppet Master picked up the bucket by it's tattered handle, the blood on his hands staining the rope, before he pushed open the door with his elbow.

Yugam had found a small stream nearby where he'd knelt down and begun to wash the blood away, the crimson flowing down the river in dark clouds of color. He didn't seem to notice Lune as she'd approached, the silence following him from the church, until she'd joined him by the stream. "I hope you know what you're doing," Yugam said in a cold hard tone. "You're walking a tightrope now. People like us were never meant to play god, despite what we might think." This was a fact Yugam knew well. It wouldn't be fair to say Lune was dragging him along with her, not when he'd started down the path a long time before her. She'd just widened the scope.

@Lune

 

[Lune]

Joining Yugam on the side of the stream, the woman dipped her feet into the water, squatting down while washing the blood on the surface of her skin.

"You're walking a tightrope now. People like us were never meant to play god, despite what we might think."

"We crossed that bridge ages ago." The thin line between humanity and the lack of, as they basically destroyed and recreated her for a purpose. Lune shook her head, shrugging towards the hunter. "It's not like both of us don't know nothing good will come out of this game."

"If lives could be saved, I don't really care." Her eyes lingered on the destroyed church from the distance of a while, before finishing up and swapping to fresh clothes using the UI. Finally learned from a certain Russian that having 10+ copies of fur cloak was a great idea.

"I'll be tending to her." Leaving the river to return, Lune nodded at Yugam before walking off. "Again, thank you."

Hours passed before she could finally see the sun rising as the light shone through the beautiful colors of the church's beautiful stained glass. She touched the black-haired girl's now-healthy body, tapping her shoulder while calling out to her. "Time to rise,"

Not Lily. She died hours ago, even yesterday if Lune didn't visit this village. But such is fate, that one life is saved and is reborn anew. Hopefully, the first of many that she will save.

The new name escaped her lips.

"Ryujin."

@Yugam