Disclaimer: Touhou belongs to Zun.
A/N: I-it's not like I want you to keep reading, or anything... I just happened to have extra words lying around, so I made a chapter! On with the show!
Early morning, Patchouli's private library:
"Now, hop." Cirno did as told, and hopped up and down on the magic circle.
Patchouli had run out of practical methods of discerning the way of restoring us all, so she had begun on more obscure ideas. This one was appealing to the jumping god. Rumia couldn't help but sigh at how stupid that sounded.
"What are the odds of this working...?" Patchouli looked to the Youkai of Darkness, as expressionless as ever.
"3,479,399 to 1" ...Was that a serious answer, or a joke? Rumia was unsure, but could already tell the chances were slim, just by how silly this idea was. If you are to appeal to a jumping god, you need to be busty and hop. A jumping god that liked flat chests was simply unheard of!
Patchouli noticed an approaching energy signal, it would seem that Mima had returned.
"Ahh, Mim- Ohh? Very good to see you awake, Usagi. We shall begin testing immediately. Strip." My eyes widened, and I looked to Mima, who simply nodded, showing that there was reason to do this. I timidly complied, lifting the black dress over my head, and feeling a bit awkward.
"Good, now, lie down on this altar." Ehh? ...I hope I'm not some form sacrifice!
I once more did as instructed by the purple haired girl, climbing atop the cool stone surface, causing goose bumps to appear on my skin.
"Now, this will only hurt a moment." Mima held up her knife, looking rather scary.
"Wait, what are you doing to Usa! ?" Cirno didn't like the look of what was going on, not one bit.
"Quiet. We need a sample." Patchouli held up a glowing finger, magic instantly binding Cirno in the coils of an ethereal snake.
Before I knew it, I was unable to move as well, due an effect of the altar. While it was a sacrificial altar, it had many uses.
"H-how much will it hurt, this... sample...?" Mima sighed. She had hoped I wouldn't resist the altar, so it would have knocked me out, so as to spare me the pain.
"...Alot..." In one swift motion, Mima had removed my pinkie, causing me the grit my teeth and whine. They needed a bit of bone, tissue, and blood samples, so as to look into just what I may be.
I twitched about, doing my best to not scream in agony. While I had lost part of my body before, the pain had knocked me out before the pain had hit in full. This time, however, I only lost a finger.
"Ghh..." I squirmed, bearing the pain as best I could, before finally my finger began to regenerate. First a limp black bone digit, slowly fading to the color of bone, followed by muscle and skin.
"You monsters!" Cirno couldn't stand to see me in such pain, even if the finger would, and already did, grow back.
"Is that so~?" Rumia, while not in agreement with the methods, knew that it was a necessary evil. She knew little of magic, but the pinkie was a very conveniant size for all sorts of the more... deprived spells, as well as a few normal ones.
"I-I'm fine... It's fine, Cirno." My statement was far from believeable. It didn't help that, while I was fine, I was still in horrible pain, and my voice showed this clear as day.
I had impressed Rumia a bit by going to such lengths to calm my once fairy friend, even if it wasn't a very convincing act.
Patchouli began to examine the finger, which Mima had handed her, before she began her work of breaking each bone therein in two. While she was sickly, she was still a Youkai. If not for her poor health, she would probably be about 4x stronger than a human. As she was, she was only at half of that.
After she has finished breaking the bones up, first in half, then the halfs in half, she materialized a mortar and pestle, both made of metal, and glowing with magic runes. She simply dropped the mangled finger in, and went to work, grinding away the bone, the skin, and the muscle, creating a sickening sound with every movement. When her work was done, both tools faded into nothing, leaving a blood filled paste behind, which simply hung in the air.
Cirno couldn't help but gag at what was once my finger, and I had simply closed my eyes, knowing what was likly to happen as soon as the finger hit the bowl. Seeing her breaking my bones like that, had already made me a bit timid of seeing what she might do.
"Hmm..." Patchouli had seen interesting things in her time, but this was unique. The paste was slowly turning human, after having had been seperated from me. She could tell by the smell of human, which was faint to her not so keen nose.
Patchouli went off to grab a special tool she had made years ago. ...This would be the first time she had a sample to work with, as she didn't normally grind flesh and bone down to the form of a paste. First, however, she would need to liquify it. A simple task, but annoying all the same.
Patchouli grabbed a few scrolls from her room, and set to work, boiling, mashing, and crushing, before casting her scrolls on the foul mixture. Before long, runes began to appear in the air, and she summoned up a book, flipping through the thousands of pages in and instant, before stopping at one. Interesting.
I found myself finally able to move, sitting up from the altar, rubbing my still sore pinky.
The ethereal snake dispersed, allowing the annoyed Cirno to run to my side, giving me a hug. She felt horrible, unable to stop my pain, or atleast comfort me. She hated seeing her friends hurt, especially me, for reasons she didn't understand.
I felt a light wetness from her face pressed into my bare shoulder. Cirno had been crying silent tears the whole time, feeling helpless, weak. She hated feeling weak, more than anything else. Even torture felt better than being unable to end the suffering her friends felt.
"There, there... I'm fine, see?" I hand up my hand behind myself for her to see over my shoulder. Already fully healed, no sign of any damage had been done.
"...But it hurt, didn't it?" I hate to lie to her, but if it will cheer her up? I'd say anything, so long as it isn't too crazy.
"What, that? T'was but a scratch!" Cirno giggled at the way I described my loss of a digit as nothing more than a scratch. While it hurt more than a scratch by a long run, it also left less damage that any scratch I had had prior. This high speed regeneration was quite nice, though I still missed being a fairy.
As a fairy, I felt so... care free, as though I hadn't a care in the world so long as I was by Cirno's side. To enjoy such a life along side Cirno once more, I'd endure most anything asked of me, I'd fight anything required of me, and ...eat what I must, if it turns out human flesh is required to sustain myself. ...That's a good question to ask, actually... I'll do so when I have some time, if it turns out not being as simple as can be to return to my prior state.