Chapter 10: Forbidden Knowledge

Litchi carried Shina inside of her clinic, and immediately a young girl ran up to the two of them in a panic. She had long, navy-blue hair tied into a bun along with navy-blue eyes. She wears a white Chinese outfit with a black sash tied into a butterfly, complimenting that with short black tights, sandals, and matching gold ring bracelets and an anklet.

"Miss Litchi! Are you ok?! You went out to confront that giant devil and-"

Litchi put on a gentle smile and remarked "Don't worry Linhua, I'm fine. This girl needs medical attention for her back, please go soak some rags in hot water. I'll get her to the bed." Linhua replied with blunt honesty "Sure, but don't forget you still have a couple other clients that need to be tended to."

"Hehe, I haven't forgotten Linhua, but I can't just leave this girl sitting around with her back the way it is."

Linhua smiled and remarked "Alright Miss Litchi, just making sure. I'll get right on that request!" She then turn around and made her way for the nearby sink, where a stack of folded rags were already in place for her to prepare. Shina lifted her head to look at Litchi and tell her with weak appreciation "T-Thank you for doing this…"

"After you fought off Tager like that, how could I not? Try not to strain yourself too much though, ok?" With Litchi's kindness relaxing her mind, Shina gave a terse nod and then let the doctor carry her through her admittedly small clinic. There were three rooms in total: the clinic itself, the waiting room, and what had to have been the office. The clinic had a bed, a few chairs, a medical cabinet, a supply drawer filled with tools like bandages, and urns that carried mixing powders within them. At the end of the room was a wide rectangular window with thin pieces of wood criss-crossing along it, giving it an oriental feel.

The building had a soothing scent thanks to the herb filled lotus lanterns hanging from the ceiling, and Shina ended up closing her eyes and humming slowly and joyously. It was only a matter of seconds before Litchi had brought Shina to the bed, and then laid her down face first upon it. They took it slowly, with Litchi getting a stool at the edge of the bed so Shina's long legs could stretch out all the way.

Shina tried to stretch her arms to reach for the soft, rounded pillow, but doing so just pulled on her back muscles harmfully. She muttered "Ow" a few times before Litchi helped her get the pillow under her chin. Shina's body then melted into a state of utter comfort as she slowly folded her arms under the pillow and let out a drawn out sigh.

Litchi stood over her and gently inquired "Anything I can get for you Miss…Shina, right?" Shina's eyelids slouched together and she replied in a blissful whisper "Nooo, I'm good…" With a smile across her face, the doctor remarked "Then I'll be back in a moment. Need to put on something a little more work appropriate…" She chuckled a bit at her own observation as she walked away.

Shina rested on the bed and her thoughts drifted laxly on through her mind, as though she was about to fall into a state of rest. "Mmm…I coulda handled that better with Sector Seven. Now I lost my chance to get their help…" She made a very wide but docile smile, taking a sniff of the herbal scent in the air before cracking a slight yawn and thinking "Buuut…I guess this is fine. Least I helped Litchi out…"

She relaxed for a good thirty minutes until Litchi came back into the room, remarking in a pleased manner "You look very comfortable there. How's your back doing?" Shina creaked her head to the left just a little and saw that Litchi had put on some less revealing clothes. Her vest was now buttoned up, her arms were covered by long draping white sleeves, she tied her hair into a bun, and save for her thighs the legs were covered by her skirt dress. Shina murmured "It hasn't acted up so far…"

Litchi laid a hand on the side of her face and said "That's good. Sorry I wasn't back sooner. I had to patch up a couple people who were waiting in my office while Tager was outside." Shina said laxly "Oooooh don't worry…Ya have your priorities."

The doctor then pulled her short wooden chair over beside the bed and looked at the end table to the left of her. A large glass bowl filled with boiling hot water and rags was there, letting out a light amount of steam. Shina looked at it and commented "Oooh, so Linhua was here…I didn't even notice."

"Before I begin, I think it's only fair to tell you that I'm going to have to take your shirt off." Litchi took the matter respectfully, but would be quite surprised when Shina quickly told her "Goooo right ahead." Litchi blinked a couple times and stammered "O…Okay then. Just stretch your arms up nice and easy…"

Shina followed her directions as best as she could, and Litchi started pulling the shirt off from the back. She took it nice and slow, only running into a couple of "road bumps" along the way. When she was done, it was nicely folded it up and placed aside on a desk. Litchi then took a finger and glided it along the length of Shina's spine. Her touch was smooth like gelatin until she got to the center, when a sharp pain then shot through Shina's nerves.

"OooooooHHHH!" She moaned in pain and Litchi immediately stopped what she was doing and remarked in a slightly worried tone "Your vertebrae's splintered in the center. I can heal it, but you're going to have be resting here for a couple hours."

"T-That's alright. I'm in no rush…" "Well, that's not true but…I can't be fightin' with a broken back…" Shina closed her eyes and rested on her squishy mounds and pillow as Litchi took one of the rags and squeezed the excess liquid from it before resting it atop Shina's back. To help make things less boring, Litchi began a conversation "You have really smooth skin. You must take care of yourself pretty well."

Shina's tone said consistently lax as she replied "I do what I can…Your skin's pretty nice as well Ms. Litchi." The doctor got a light blush in her cheeks and remarked "Hmhmhmm, we women should strive to look presentable, right?"

"Yeaaaaah, guess so…"

When Litchi was done placing three rags across Shina's back, the girl felt all the pain in her body being flushed away by a tidal wave of pure, wet heat. It was like she had gotten into a sauna, only without the presence of steam. Her body became warm all over, and soon enough she would feel a light sweat secrete from her skin. In a state of bliss, Shina inquired to the lady "So what kinda clients have you had today besides me?"

"Well, there was someone who got a pretty nasty cut across his arm from playing in a area with glass shards. I purged the germs from the wound and wrapped the arm up in bandages for safety. The other guy I had in was a little more peculiar though…" Litchi's tone, arm fold under the chest, and glance aside showed an overall perplexed demeanor.

"He had broken his knuckles, but I heard conflicting stories about what happened. He claimed he fought a giant monster made of metal, but the person who asked me to help him said that someone else told them that he had tried to punch through an iron plate to act macho…Then there were some whispers from the people around at the time that the guy was picking a fight with some kid…"

Shina's eyes widened open and she immediately thought "Oh no, that reaaaally sounds like Alex's work." Litchi kept on talking "-but it's been a pretty slow day otherwise. Well…minus that scuffle with Tager."

Ignoring the very high possibility that Alex was causing trouble in town right now, Shina looked to Litchi and asked "How are you doing anyways? He kinda conked you pretty hard there…" The doctor replied with a bit of melancholy in her voice "…I'm fine. I think he was trying his hardest to hold back."

"He seemed like an old friend of yours. How rude of him to attack like that…"

"…He had his orders. He's always been incredibly loyal to the Professor, I can't blame him for fighting."

"…Do you blame Kokonoe instead?"

Litchi paused upon being asked that and rubbed a hand along the side of her head, responding in a delicate but honest tone "…I-I really appreciate your concern, but you really don't need to get wrapped up in all this, Shina." Shina sighed and apologized quickly "I…kinda can't help that."

The doctor closed her eyelids a bit and then mentioned "I've been meaning to ask actually…Why are you even in Kagutsuchi?" Shina stammered out a quiet "E-Eh…?" as Litchi went on to inquire "I've never seen you around before, nor have I ever heard of this 'aura' power you said you are using. Is that a type of Ars Magus?"

Shina slowly shook her head and said "I-It's got nothing to do with that. Honestly the whole thing is pretty…complicated, and you-" "-really don't need to get wrapped up in all this…" That was what Shina wanted to finish her sentence with, but the words just stuck to the tip of her tongue like glue. "…No, I can't say that to her after all this…"

So she swallowed those words with a tense gulp and then coughed up something much more honest. "…You see Litchi…I'm not from this world." Litchi's eyes widened slightly with confusion, something that would only become more severe as Shina went on. "And I don't just mean 'not from Kagutsuchi' or something like that…I don't belong to any of the Hierarchical cities. I'm from another Earth entirely from this one."

"…Y-You're an…alien?" Litchi couldn't bring herself to believe that. In a world of magic, even something like an alien seemed far out there. Shina quickly had to tell her "N-No! Well…not exactly, I guess? I mean look at me, I'm as human as you can get, but…"

Shina sighed again and found it really difficulty to keep going. "I'm not suited for this sorta thing…" She contemplated yet continued to talk anyways "Well, I can control the body's exterior energy…or 'aura' as you heard it as. And the way people like me are birthed and raised are different from a normal human's."

She turned her head and saw Litchi staring at her in a different way than before. Gone was that warmth, replaced instead by a tinge of paranoia and nervousness that while scornful from Shina's perspective, was something she unfortunately understood. Even so, the girl closed her eyes and said "I've been traveling with someone else across other worlds to find pieces to an artifact that can help me save my people from the wrath of a tyrant. One of those pieces is currently locked up inside the Cauldron in Kagutsuchi's NOL Branch…"

"…So, yeah…That's all." Shina felt like she had gotten a huge weight off her chest when she was done, but that feeling couldn't last for long considering Litchi was still giving her an odd glare. The doctor started to look downward while rubbing her chin with her arm pressed between her chest. At that moment, Shina wished she could read minds, as the anticipation was gripping at her heart and refused to let go.

"…Thank you for your honesty."

Litchi's response was calm and collected, laced with an understanding of the situation that Shina did not quite expect even knowing that the doctor had a brilliant and caring mind. She stared the doctor in the face as she cracked a tiny smile and said "You helped me out. I don't care if you're from another world."

"…Really?"

"Yes. You're still a kind soul. I-It's just that…" Litchi paused and had a bout of nervous giggling, as though she had difficulty believing that she was about to say what was coming next "It's going to be hard to digest that there's life out there besides our own."

Shina's eyes lit up and she partook in Litchi's humored tone by mentioning "Heh, you do kinda get used to it after a while." Litchi smiled bright and said "Never would've expected that I'd be the first person to make first contact with extraterrestrial life. What a way to spend New Year's Eve, huh?"

Shina nodded and rested her chin back down on the pillow, her mind slipping back into a state of ease. As Litchi peeled the hot rags off her back she softly inquired "There's still one thing I don't get though…How DO you know what's inside the Library's Headquarters?"

Whispering a swift but honest answer "I've done my research…" Shina tilted and laid the left side of her head down on the pillow. Her body still felt warm even with the rags off, and her muscles felt like they could melt into goo at any given moment. With her being so moist and bare on the bed, she started to feel like a slug.

Litchi splashed the rags down into the bowl and got off her chair, creaking open the doors of her closet and reaching up for the supplies on the top shelf. Her grunts to reach the back could be heard for a little bit, as could the jingle of a vial about to fall off. "Ah..!" Litchi gasped, but the lack of the sound of glass crashing meant she was just in time to save it. She then turned around and went back to her chair, popping the cork off the vial she had and hovering it over the center of Shina's back.

The powder fell upon her skin like a thin blanket of snow, sending a brief chill shooting up her spine like a rocket. Though that feeling was hammered into her brain, Shina's relaxation was only briefly perturbed, as the powder mixed with the sweat on her back and bubbled into a gelatinous goop that was absorbed by the pores in her skin. Then, Litchi leaned forward and cross her hands over the girl's back, murmuring to herself a magical incantation that caused a row of magic glyphs to imprint themselves on Shina's back.

"There, now your back should be back to normal in no time." Litchi spoke with a little self-pride while wiping some sweat off her forehead. She then got off her chair and remarked "Let me get you a blanket now. Don't need customers coming in and going ga-ga over a half-naked girl." Shina giggled playfully as the thought entered her mind while also having a blush in her cheeks.

Once Litchi covered her up in a blanket, she decided to take a nap so the doctor could focus on business. The next hour passed by in the blink of an eye, with Litchi coming to check up on Shina again. She pulled the blanket up by the top and peeked under while asking "Do you feel any difference?" The girl moved her arms up and down like she was flapping her wings and said "Feels pretty good to me!" with her energetic voice having returned in full force.

"Want to try and move around a bit?" Litchi offered while standing up and reaching for the blinds. Shina's response was a swift but hard nod that swung some of her hair before her eyes, which she pushed away with a puff of air a moment after. Litchi shut the blinds just enough to keep light from being absent, while giving her company the security to get up and be able to put her shirt back on.

Litchi closed her eyes as she handed the shirt off to Shina, who turned around and sprung upright, slowly pulling her arms and head through the sleeves and collar respectively until the shirt fit snugly around herself. She then kicked right off the bed and didn't even feel an itch coming from her back. Grabbing her right shoulder, Shina pivoted her arm around and let out a high-pitched, impressed whistle.

"Can't remember the last time I felt this good! Thanks a bunch doc!" Shina reached out and took Litchi's hands, giving them a swift few shakes as the woman let out a flustered but thankful "Y-You're welcome!" as her face struggled to not look surprised.

As Shina snapped her arms back beside her hips she gave one terse nod and smiled brighter than the sun. "You gotta let me do something to repay ya Litchi!" She proclaimed with abundant appreciation. Litchi, swept up in a whirlwind of confusion, swiftly pointed out "Repay ME? You don't have to do that, I was the one repaying YOU."

Shina curled the left of her lips up and projected some guilt from her eyes towards Litchi "But you're a doctor, it's not good for your business if ya don't profit from your work." Litchi firmly stared back at her and insisted with kindly grace "Nonsense. I won't accept even a penny from you."

Shina slowly drew a pointer finger up and quietly asked "…How about half a penny?" Litchi chuckled and responded in a more jolly tone "No, that's quite alright. But before you go, there's one more thing I wanted to ask."

"Oh? What's up?" Shina peppered her inquiring retort with a dash of perkiness, while Litchi laid a hand on the side of her head and stated "If you're from another world, why did the Professor recognize your kind of power?"

"Huh? Wait, what're you talking-" Shina had to take a step back in her thoughts to remember that yes, Kokonoe did specifically blab out the word 'aura' with some degree of familiarity. At which point the girl then laid her hands behind her head and hastily mumbled "Oh yeah guess she did do that thing didn't she?"

Shina shrugged her shoulders and gave a brief grumble of "idk", leading Litchi into trying to push her mind a little more by asking "That DOESN'T strike you as suspicious?" Shina turned around and gaze at the ceiling, answering with some puzzled sounding honesty "I can wrack my brain as much as you Litchi, but it's not common practice for Aurians to go space-faring. How Kokonoe knows is anyone's guess but hers, and she ain't going to be receptive to spilling the beans now."

"Not like she would even if you hadn't beaten up Tager…" Litchi whispered with a hint of scorn in her voice, following up with a sigh as Shina turned back around to look her in the eyes. The woman shook her head a bit, twirling a few strands of hair around her pointer finger and then giving it a gentle tug. Shina didn't even have to check her aura to realize something was bothering her, but it was probably not right to pester her about it even though she knew just who she was thinking of.

Instead he folded her arms under her chest and waggled her fingers along her biceps. "Kokonoe knows about aura…The only other Aurian who coulda come around at a time she's been alive would be Gravitus, right?" Shina stared ahead with a ghastly white in her eyes, her body embraced by a haunting chill. The front door then started to open and it's bell rang gently. Shina shifted around and stared in that direction, watching as a shadow crept along the wall outside. "N-No…he couldn't have possibly…f-followed me…" Her head slowly pulled back as her expression contorted into a state of fright, and her arms retreated defensively towards her chest.

Some tussling could be heard coming from the waiting room, with Linhua screaming angrily "H-Hey! Don't go in there!" doing little to remove the fear gripping Shina's mind. Then the screen door separating the rooms swung open, the figure beyond leaping straight towards the two with Shina thrusting her right hand out and yelling "GET AWAY FROM ME!" while shooting a blast of aura from her palm.

"BOOBIE LA-" A shrill and overjoyed voice was forced to let out a surprised "Meow?!" as their face was assaulted straight on by Shina's attack and they went tumbling back along the floor, bowling down a couple of chairs and ending up arched against the wall with their legs pointing up.

"Oh my gosh! Tao!" Litchi exclaimed in shock and ran ahead. The suffocating tension was cut free from Shina's mind as she opened her eyes and peeked past the width of her hand to see a young catgirl sprawled out in the waiting room. They had brown skin and long blond hair tied into two massive braids, with a black cat tail sticking out from behind their beige-colored, cat-eared hoodie that had paw-like sleeves.

Shina let out a frightened gasp and quickly stammered "O-Oh my god! I just killed Taokaka!" She scrambled out into the waiting room and stood behind Litchi, who had bent down to check on the poor catgirl. Taokaka had a weird pitch black face with her mouth currently a small white dot and her eyes spinning around while given the shape of lines curled into spirals.

"M-Meow…" She let out a slurred moan while Litchi looked down at her and said "Tao? Are you ok?! Say something!" Shina bent down beside Litchi and looked the cat in the eyes, praying that she would soon wake up. In a second, she'd probably not have wished for that at that particular moment, as Tao's eyes popped back into red dots and her mouth turned into a "v" and with a mischievous meow she took her paws and poked the front of Litchi and Shina's breasts.

As they both felt their chests jiggle, Litchi blushed while Shina's whole face grew incredibly red, and that shade only grew darker as Tao flipped onto her feet and wiggled her paws atop their chests like she was batting at a playtoy. "Nya, Tao's much better now!" With the vigor of a young child, Tao pulled her arms back and alternated hopping on each foot in joy. Litchi sighed and stood up, smiling to the cat as she said "Thank goodness you're ok."

But then she got very stern as she glared down at Tao and told "But you HAVE to stop pouncing in like that." Tao looked up and innocently laid a paw before mouth, which had now become a somewhat drooling white oval "Awww, but Boobie Lady…Tao hadta tell you something reeeeeeeaally important…"

Tao blinked upon realizing that she was looking straight at Shina, who had turned to the side with her face still red and her pupils shrunk to tiny dots. Her lips were pressed together and she wiggled her pointer fingers around each other before her chest. Tao's mouth turned into a small red triangle as she inquired "Huh? …Two Boobie Ladies? Tao's confused, meow!"

Litchi shook her head and mentioned "Tao, this is Shina. She's a patient I just took care of today." Tao's eyes closed into slits and her tail wagged back and forth. "Sheena…? Shiina…? Gah, Tao's head hurts! Tao's just going to call you…Boobie Jr.!" Shina continued to avert her gaze away from Tao, but now she was pressing her fingertips together.

Tao's eyes perked open and with a fanged, crescent grin she asked "Boobie Lady…Tao thinks Boobie Jr.'s broken…" Litchi tapped on Shina's right shoulder while asking "Are you ok? You screamed back there, and-"

Shina jolted around and with her face looking the same save for her shaking it back and forth she insisted "I-It's fine! I-I'm ok!" Her blush started to fade out around that time, and she put her arms under her chest while puckering her lips and glancing to the left at Tao. The catgirl shivered, as though she was being assaulted by a barrage of icy daggers. Shina let out a sigh and thought "N-No…It's alright Shina, there's no way Gravitus coulda chased you all the way out here…"

Shina then forced a smile and tilted her head, reminding Litchi "So umm…didn't Tao said she had something to show ya?" Litchi turned to Tao, who was looking around with a cheeky but ultimately harmless grin on her face until she caught the doctor's attention. "Oh, meow! Tao almost forgot! Boobie Lady, Tao's gonna become a vigilante!"

Litchi gasped in surprise and her next sentence was filled with concern "A vigilante? Are you sure about that Tao?" Tao's mouth became a thin circle as she said with innocent honesty "Not really! But the Kaka Elder said that it could help the Kaka Clan out if I hunted down Rawrgna the…umm…Ummm…" As her eyes squeezed shut into a pair of wide Xs, Litchi widened her eyes in disbelief and said "Ragna the Bloodedge? Is he actually in Kagutsuchi?!"

"Meow…! Yep! …Nyah, but Tao heard that Rawrgna was already captured by someone else!" This news grabbed Shina's attention too, and in time with Litchi they asked the cat "Huh? Who?!" Tao winced with droopy, curved eyes and exclaimed "Tao don't know! Tao only knows that it's some boy who explodes a lot!"

"Oh my god it's Alex." Shina's face went absolutely pale and livid with shock, her mouth drooping so low you could get a clear look at her uvula and the tops of all her teeth. She had to turn away from Litchi just to get a chance to rub her hand along the front of her face, pulling her embarrassed features down as she looked up and muttered "I KNEW this was going to happen…This is why you listen to your gut Shina!"

Tao tilted her head and muttered "Boobie Jr.'s talking to herself…It's weirding Tao out!" The cat then started vibrating her head back and forth vigorously for a good couple seconds before digging into her hoodie and pulling out another poster. This one depicted a black, gooey creature with a round white face complete with three round holes. Litchi stared at it and went completely silent as Tao said to her "So instead of Rawrgna, Tao's going to go hunt down Squiggly!"

Litchi immediately exclaimed "Tao! Have you found out where he's located?!" Tao pinned back against the wall out of surprise while her eyes squinted into slits. "W-Wow…! Boobie Lady's serious! U-Ummm…Tao heard Squiggly was in the upper levels of Kagutsuchi!"

Litchi turned to the silently observing Linhua and exclaimed "Watch the clinic Linhua! I'm going to go find him!" She then made a beeline for the door, brushing against Shina's arm on her way out. Shina blinked and then stammered "W-Wait a minute…! Litchi!" She then ran after her, leaving Tao blinking towards the door with Linhua while remarking perkily "Meow…! Tao's frazzled!"

Shina swung her head left and right but couldn't find any signs of Litchi. Closing her eyes tightly, she instead locked on to her roughened aura signature and turned her body sharply to the right. Breaking into a sprint, Shina had to deal with a near-tripping experience before she was able to cleanly chase after her. "Come on feet, keep this pace up!" She was worried quite deeply for Litchi's safety and ran like the dickens to try and catch up with her.

Litchi was surprisingly agile herself, able to make great leaps and bounds to reach shortcuts across Kagutsuchi that most people wouldn't be able to use. Shina grit her teeth and kept following after with her own jumps. Eventually, as the sun had long since set, Shina managed to catch up with Litchi close to the very top of Kagutsuchi. Along the way, the two had started to run across a trail of black, gooey dots.

"L-Litchi! Hey! Wait up Litchi!"

Now at a point where she was sure her voice would reach, Shina waved her hand out and was heaving to keep her breath steady. Her leg muscles were pounding sorely against the skin walls that contained them, and she felt she wouldn't be surprised if she found blisters on her heels later. Litchi turned around at the top of the staircase, now in her more loose looking outfit, and swung her staff towards Shina.

Shina jerked back and swung her hands beside her face while the tip of the staff pressed against her nose. Litchi widened her eyes and put her weapon down, asking hastily "S-Shina? What are you doing up here?" The girl leaned forward with saggy eyelids and arms limply hanging beside her hips, panting profusely as she asked "H-Have you…ever considered…b-becoming a gymnast…? …O-Or a trackstar?"

She wiped the sweat from her forehead and stood upright, letting out one last puff of relief before she looked Litchi in the eyes and telling her "You just bolted off without a word after Tao whipped that poster out. Soooo…I thought I'd come and help you out with whatever it is you're doing!" Shina cracked a smile, but Litchi just looked at her and swung her left arm out while being brutally honest "I appreciate the offer, but this isn't like with Tager. This time…this HAS to be my fight."

"But you're going after a criminal, right? That's pretty dangerous business…" Shina remarked softly. Litchi closed her eyes and whispered "He's not a criminal…" As the girl looked at her straight on, Litchi rested her staff beside her hip and laid a hand atop her chest.

"…Ok, I'll tell you the truth. But you have to promise me you'll turn around and go back to the clinic."

Shina put her hands behind her back and leaned to the left, kicking a foot up while her eyes were partway shut "Y-You're putting me in a tough spot here Litchi…" The woman begged in response "Promise me!" and Shina jolted back and stammered "O-Okay…Ok! I will, I promise!"

Litchi then slowly turned around and started to walk out past the stairs, staring up at the moonlit sky as Shina followed close behind. "Before I was a doctor in Kagutsuchi…I worked for Sector Seven alongside Tager and the Professor. I was assigned to the Seithr division by the Professor after submitting a hundred page theory on the inner workings of the Boundary, and it was there I met a man by the name of Lotte Carmine…Though, everyone tended to call him Roy."

"He was a genius…The Professor even took him in as an apprentice. But most of the time we worked together, trying to come closer and closer to the truth hidden within the Boundary…The Azure Grimoire. Roy was a nice guy, but he always had confidence issues when it came to the Professor…He strived to better himself, to discover something that she could never figure out…"

Litchi paused with a sigh before continuing in a more melancholic tone "Eventually, that drive to learn caused him to risk exposure to the Boundary. He told me that he just had to learn the truth, that he had to prove himself to his colleagues…especially the Professor. His mind started to break down, his body was getting weaker, and I…I-I kept pushing him to keep trying his best."

She let out a sniffle, while Shina observed her with eyelids sagging slowly down. Litchi shook her head and pushed forward the best she could "Soon enough, Roy was transformed by the exposure to the Boundary. He lost his body and mind completely and became this black, blob-like creature that everyone in Kagutsuchi is calling 'Arakune'…"

Litchi stood there for a good few seconds and looked towards the sky. If one could look at her eyes, they'd see the moon's reflection coming off her teardrops. She planted her staff on the ground and ended her story off as best she could "After that…I quit Sector Seven and moved out to Kagutsuchi. I figured it was my duty to do something about Arakune…about Roy. Even if it means killing him…"

When Litchi was done, she lowered her head and didn't say another word until a pair of arms suddenly wrapped under her shoulders and chest. Then she flinched and mumbled a short "H-Huh…?" while turning her head to see Shina giving her a hug, her eyes shut and the side of her head nestled against the back of her neck.

"Litchi, I-I know I made that promise but…Please. Let me help you."

Litchi's body started to tremble, and she lifted a hand and gently laid them atop Shina's fingernails. With a wet sniffle, she yelled "I-I can't drag other people into this! My mistake already cost Roy his body, his sanity! I don't need it costing people their lives as well!"

Litchi flipped her hand around and made a sharp turn, slapping the side of Shina's right elbow to force her back. With tears flying from her eyes Litchi exclaimed "If there's no way to cure him, then I HAVE to kill him!" Shina stared into the face of this vulnerable woman and for a moment saw only a reflection of herself standing in front of her. But, unlike with Noel, Shina refused to let things with Litchi end in failure.

"Litchi…You haven't exhausted all options, not yet. After all, up until now, you've never someone with the power of aura at their disposal." Shina placed a hand against her chest and beat it twice, giving Litchi a serious glare. The woman's mouth draped open in confusion and she stammered "Y-You can…do something?"

Shina nodded her head and said "There's no way to bring back his body, at least not the way it was before but…Roy's soul still has to be inside of that blob somewhere. I can't imagine Arakune being able to maintain even the slightest degree of stability otherwise. If we can find his soul, I might be able to pull it out and contain it, then all you'd have to do is ask Kokonoe to make him a new body to inhabit. I don't think she's so heartless that she'd deny you there."

"A-Are you sure…?" Litchi had to get twice the confirmation, and that manifested as a firm smile and nod from Shina. The doctor cracked her own weak smile and whispered "T-Thank you…I-I'm sorry for trying to scare you off when all you've been trying to do is help me."

"Heheh…Like I said, I kinda can't help that."

Shina then took a couple steps forward and said to Litchi "Now all we have to do is find him." The woman remarked in confusion "I-I thought he'd be up here…His trail led to the staircase but suddenly stopped."

"…Hmmm…" As Shina was thinking about that, she and Litchi turned their heads towards the NOL HQ's front doors…Well, if any front doors were still there. Litchi widened her eyes while Shina had a close-eyed, exasperated expression.

"…Di-Did…someone actually break into-"

"Litchi, when we're done here…I proooobably should tell you AAAAAAALLL about my friend." Shina gave her a couple pats on the back while trying to turn her back around. But as they looked on ahead there was something slowly starting to crawl up the wall. It started off with a few drops of black goop, then a dark yellow, bony, three-pronged claw dug itself into the floor and began dragging a giant mass of that black goop onto the floor.

Litchi and Shina stepped back as the sludge dribbled onto the floor, secreting from the "gullet" of this grotesque being. Shina's eyes then widened as a certain, vile purple aura began to surrounding the blob. "Oh no…this is…!" Then the creature pulled itself all the way up, it's body convulsing uncontrollably as though some things or some ONES were squirming around inside. Litchi and Shina started to look up, realizing that this blob was at least twelve feet tall as it stood right now.

The blob lifted it's "head" up, revealing a round white face plate with two rounded eyes and a smaller rounded mouth. The only thing that remained of it's humanity was the vague curving of the creature's shoulders. As the creature's eyes glowed red, it stared down at the two and stretched out three bony talons on each side of it's body, violently releasing a barely understandable gargle of words "Az-e…Gi-e m- th- Azu-…!"

Next Time: Weak Executioner