4529/The Apostasy Canticle

The Apostasy Canticle
Date of Scene:	09 September 2016
Location:	The Citadel - Medical
Synopsis:	Drowned Ophelia visits the medical ward to get Flesh Doll stitched back together. Bad Touch!
Cast of Characters:	975, 22, Kotone Yamakawa

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Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
It begins with a flicker of lights; Electricity humming in the wires as a cold mist drifts into the infinite wards from the massive Dark Hold; Double doors swing open, and there stands DROWNED OPHELIA. The Death Metal Queen does -not- look so good; Ripped and torn and battered, the ectoplasmic ichor that permeates her being dripping and splattering to the ground as she walks with slow, pendulous sways; Inevitably, the strange, semi-sentient liquid evaporates once more, something between liquid and smoke, to remain with the damaged Avatar. The creature's chin down, bright eyes seen occasionally through the dark banes of her loose hair. But it's what is in her arms that's the focus;

Kotone? No, something that LOOKS like Kotone. Stitched together flesh like something out of Mary Shelly novel. But the resemblance is -uncanny-, even if this one's meat rather than cybernetic materials of the real deal. The ichor that drips from her is pitch as well; But it does not evaporate. The Queen of Tears straightens, her clawed hands curling as she speaks to the nearest nurse, black lips pulled into a tight line.

".. Fetch you flesh knitters, child; My toy is damaged."

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    As always medical is busy, though there's always some young nurses and aides who are there and ready to assist walk ins. Upon Ophelia's rather dramatic entrance two beds are produced, one for Ophelia herself and one for her flesh puppet. As always there is some brief communication to figure out which ward the patients will go to. Soon it's sorted out however, and the aides quickly wheel the two beds to their designated wards, all while they make sure to take vitals of the two bodies on their way and insert IV lines.

    As a result there's a room ready, various IV stands and trays prepped and ready as the beds are wheeled in. Quickly the nurses work on the basic things, like starting some clear IV drips at a quick pace as per instructed. While they work however, another figure enters the room.

    A figure that Ophelia should recognise from an earlier incident. A woman who walks in as if she owns this place, an air of danger around her as she heads towards the disinfection station by the door to wipe alcohol over her hands. "Get lot 36 c and lot 41, two 5 ml of each." "Yes, miss Gorgon!" One of the aides is quick to leave the room and head off to fetch the necessary medication, all while the snake witch finally peers down at Ophelia, then at the shell resembling Kotone on the bed. "Well, well... what caused these injuries~?" she asks, her sweet tone almost sounding too sincere to be real. The soft smile crossing her face might also appear to be out of place as she picks up the papers that the aides filled out, looking over the numbers there... now what kind of injuries are there, and what's the situation?

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Flesh Doll is having bad time she got not just tentaled but assaulted with thorn infested one it was painful even for a thing like her. She pauses at the mention of being a toy. "Hey now...the toys are those who ignore what they are do you see me denying what I am?"

She's a bit huffy and in a good dela of pain. She pauses to see Miss Gorgon one of the most infamous Confederates still active in the sector and tilts her head.

"...Some pink lady didn't like our music and she turned into a tentacle horror with thorns....I took the brunt of it."

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
The Queen of Tears allows herself onto the medical bed, closing eyes and relaxing backwards; Of course, as soon as the needle peirces her cold blue flesh, a faint, bitter smile crosses black lips. Rather than saline going -in- - something else is coming out. Threads of ink, thin as the edge of a dream, curling up along the plastic lines and towards the back-stop - full IV stoppage as the liquid is corrupted.

Sorrow and grief twist everything they touch, after all. The wounds are terrible tears; Whole layers of skin torn away, the wounds refusing to mend or slow. But there's also no vital signs beyond the slow, heavy beat of a stone heart - no breath trembles past Ophelia's black lips, her cadaver at a nice room temperature. Wounds like hers would be fatal, crippling on a normal human - they'd bleed out within the hour.
It's really, really hard to tell how much the Drowned Ophelia is truly injured in her current state, however. A living metaphor. It -looks- bad, however. Her eyes flicker back open at Medusa's voice, that brittle smile crossing her lips again.

"First leg of the Season of Pain 2; It was a fucking great day to die." Broken giggles, as she looks over at Flesh Doll. "No - you're exactly as I've made you." Her gaze flicks between Medusa and 'Kotone' as she speaks. "I've stolen the heart and knit the flesh with my own hair, and bathed her in the Sea - but even I can't tell you what comes next. Be a fucking shame if Flesh Doll stopped before she could ... reclaim her life from the fucking imposter." There's something in the way Ophelia says that, something almost -hungry-. Before she looks back to Medusa.

".. All I need is the Sea of Black Tears; To feel the power of the Dead Gods once more. Failing that - hold my head under?"

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    The reaction of the IV line makes the aides and nurses blink, though they eventually have to give up. And one of them whispers this to Medusa, leaning close with a worried look on her face. The witch herself looks rather calm, still smiling even as she looks down at the clotted IV line. "Just remove it, I will deal with this." In her own way. It's clear that conventional medicine won't work on Ophelia.

    As for the flesh doll... something that Ophelia made, is it? How quaint. "Stolen the heart? Not literally, I assume...?" Medusa asks, even as the aide works on removing the IV line that she had given Ophelia just minutes ago. And then the head nurse begins examining the two, beginning with Ophelia as she puts on medical gloves. She better be ready for some prodding as Medusa seems rather curious about her abdomen, pressing down on various places to ask whether this or that hurts. The fleshpuppet will have to put up with the same treatment, as Medusa is rather curious about just what is what, eager to check if all the internal organs are there or not.

    Finally however the blonde woman seems content with her initial checkup, and she sighs. "Now this is quite a mess. But not impossible," Medusa assures Ophelia sweetly, pulling off her bloodied gloves before she goes to disinfect her hands again. "It's easy enough to stitch up this... toy," she says while she glances over to the flesh doll. "Though I'm afraid the methods to fixing your body will be... less conventional." The tone of her voice drops slightly at the last two words, and she glances to the other aides in the room. "Get me a bottle of lot 2, lot 87 and lot 88b." They are quick to nod and head off, all while the other nurse returns with the other medicines that Medusa requested earlier. These medications are given to the flesh puppet, and she might notice an effect after a few seconds. Sure, the pain is disappearing, but there's also tiredness overcoming her. "Clean up her wounds," Medusa instructs them, pointing towards a washing bowl and some sterile compresses. "I will stitch them up later, but they need to be clean before that. Make sure the bloodpressure doesn't drop down below 90 systolic."

    The other aide is quick to return with the three bottles that Medusa requested, and Medusa puts on clean gloves as she sits down next to Ophelia's bed, the other aides all working on cleaning up flesh puppet.

    "It must be a bother... having a body like yours," Medusa begins, pulling up the sleeves of her medical coat and pulling a table with several trays on it towards her.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
"Oh no. Quite literally stole her heart. And her liver, and her spleen, and her bits and pieces from the medical waste facility~"
Comes the broken giggle of the pale blue creature, as she lifts her own arm to gaze along it; The torn and shredded flesh where ice had ripped her to her core, combined with explosions and thundering blows. "Have you ever had a lover, Medusa?" White eyes flick up to the Doctor, black lips carrying that same empty, bitter smile. "The flesh remembers; It tingles when you hear his voice. It tightens when you feel his touch. Prickles in excitement. Heart beats and tummy turns, warm breath on rosey lips. It shivers at the touch of cold, it sweats at the carass of heat. It pales in fear or blushes in fever. The taste of food can take you back to your youth, the sting of blood, the burn of lungs straining for air. Everyone forgets just how much the body knows - how much is lost when you throw it away like trash... Isn't that right, Kotone?" Pale eyes flicker back to the sewn together monster in the form of lithe Kotone's evil clone, before Ophelia submits to the proding of her abdomen;
Of course, the questions of pain bring that same broken giggle to her lips as the pale blue woman presses a clawed finger against her own breast, carving a small 'x' - black ichor trickling down from the new wound - to match the slow trickle of black tears down her cheeks. A strange juxtaposition to the 'mock cheerfulness' of her singsong voice. "It hurts here, Doc; It always hurts here. Every single beat." She seems amicable about the proding itself - almost amused. It won't last, of course, for Drowned Ophelia is a creature of misery and will inevitably swing from masochistic amusement to sadistic hate. But it does give Medusa -some- information; Her abdomen isn't -hollow-. One can feel the press of bone, the firmament of ligaments. But even a casual glance into the rips of her arm and the gaping wounds in her side show she is composed entirely of that pitch ectoplasm; A memory of a body, perhaps? Less zombie, more ghost? But the beat of her heart is slow if strong; If Medusa uses a stethoscope in her examinations, she'll hear the scrape of stone with each loathed thump. The Brutal Lands had a nasty habit of mixing up metaphor and literal, the Drowning Doom even more so. Being a medical professional in that place for anything outside of human must be the biggest fucking pain in the world.

Eyes drop down to the instruments, the brittle smile breaking into a thin line. Eyes flick back up to Medusa. "Mm? Oh, I've learned to adapt to death - Everyone will, eventually. I wonder if you'll look as good as me when your time comes...?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Flesh Doll seems to be subdued for the most part she simplu is going to wait for Medusa to do he thing. Medusa would see something very strangeinternally flesh doll is missing part of her main nervous system is just gone. In both cases there's some strange black sluge likely from the sea of tears taking their place.

"It's better than being garbage."

She holds still and lets Medusa do her thingwhile she listens to Drowne Ophelia and she pauses for a moment.

"...You know we both where born of the sea. I wonder what was thrown in to make you?"

She looks to Medusa.

"She's right everything dies, but that doesn't mean you want to stop moving though man that Staren. You ever heard him?!"

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    So she's been taking organs. Interesting.

    The question Ophelia poses to her makes the nurse smile warmly, as if recalling fond memories. "I'm a mother, what do you think...?" she chuckles. "And are you honestly telling /me/ these things? Things I have known since before you were born, dear~?" Her tone is chiding. And the comment about the death that will come for all, as well as the witch as well...?

    The nurse tilts her head slightly, and as she blinks, her pupils are slitted for just a moment, even as she gives Ophelia a motherly smile. "My time has come for me several times. Yet some of us have better things to do than to stay dead."

    So philosophical these two patients of hers... A sigh leaves the nurse, even as the aides work on cleaning up the flesh doll's wounds. "Death affects us all differently, and I returned to life more than once," Medusa informs the strange creature. "And yes, of course I know who Staren is. I seldom deal with him however..." she drawls. Most of the flesh doll's wounds are taken care of by now, though the aides make sure to clean all of them. Medusa then opens one of the bottles, then picks up a piece of rubber that she holds out for Ophelia. "Now take this in your mouth."

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
"What went into the Sea of Black Tears to make me..?"

Begins the Queen of Tears, turning her gaze aside to Flesh Doll. And then a flash of white teeth behind black lips; Less a smile from joy than predatory nature. ".. Why, me. I threw myself in. It seemed like such a good idea at the time; After all, everyone already thought I was a Tear Drinker. Hate to disappoint the treacherous fuckers~."

That same brittle, cold laugh before she nods. "Oh, yes. I remember him - In fact, it was because of him that I thought of your imposter. The tin doll who stole your mind and spine, Kotone. I thought to myself, 'how can I really fuck this man over for his interference'? .. And it hit me. I'll bring back the -real- Kotone. After all, Staren apparently likes the imposter better ... maybe you should go visit him, after you recover?"

And then she lays back, taking the rubber between claws and glancing back up to Medusa. That masochistic amusement. "I do like it rough. But you don't have to own a lover to get a child; They're walking around everywhere. Just ready to be plucked up." Teeth part, and the rubber is placed between them before she bites down. And then her clawed hands drop to either side of the med-bed, curling - metal squealing as they puncture to hold herself down. Nothing cuts so deep as sorrow, after all~

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa doesn't complain too much as she's pulled back together by Medusa hey it beats having thorns in her by a hell of alot.

"Death? Rebirth? It happens but your still going to die and you don't cheat it is make a deal really..."

She looks at the Queen for a moment.

"Damn that's the most mental things I heard since you glued me back together my Queen. Fuck him over? Hit him here he hurts he fears death to the point he'd sell his soul...."

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    Is that a heavy sigh that leaves Medusa after the rubber piece has been given to Ophelia. "Bite down on it please, and stay quiet. I hate unnecessary prattle when I work. It takes so much time, and I'm a very busy woman."

    .Finally Ophelia complies however, and the witch begins pouring some green liquid from one of the bottles into her cuts and injuries. Where normal medicine might do, there's always magic and witchcraft. And that is often far more painful and brutal, but so be it.

    It's a burning sensation that spreads, and it's not the pleasant kind. It grows more and more intense, and Medusa seems to pour all of the bottle into the various wounds that she can see. And in addition to that she also uses a scalpel to quickly slice open parts of Ophelia's clothes. The clothes are ruined either way, so why bother taking them off? There are luckily bedsheets and such though, so if Ophelia is self conscious about her body then she doesn't need to worry about that.

    After that is done the snake witch extends her hands, all while there's movement underneath the sleeves of her white medical coat. "I do think I told you once, didn't I?" she reminds Ophelia, all while she spreads her fingers... and /stabs/ them into the largest wounds Ophelia has. "You talk too much and yet you say so little."

    Perhaps she's heard about how Medusa has treated some patients now and then, with her magic and familiars. But now she will get to feel it as a sensation enters the wounds that Medusa are touching. It's as if a hundred tiny needles just stabbed her flesh, and Medusa makes sure to keep eye contact with the singer, no matter her reaction. "If you wish to discuss philosophy with me, then do it when I'm having a drink, not when I'm working. Is that understood?"

    The nurses and aides working with the flesh doll doesn't say anything, though they make sure to look away from Medusa.

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
That broken, mad giggle slips from between Ophelia's teeth again at Flesh Doll's suggestion; But at the 'Doctor's insistence, she bites down harder, the jaw muscles in her narrow face tensing. Her nostrils do not flare; Her lungs stopped taking air long ago, after all. At the very least, modesty isn't a concern - her clothes, her claws, her very essence is the strange ectoplasm. The clothing responds almost like webs, peeling away beneath the scalpel and clinging stickily as the Snake Witch adds more cuts to the shifting material. It even -drips- when removed from her person, the Sorrowful Liquid slowly evaporating into the air as a dark mist.

Which is when the oils strike open wounds. The Queen of Tears shrieks beneath, black lips peeling back from white teeth, smoke liberally rising as the BRUTAL FUCKING MAGIC tries to rebuild her non-conforming essence. Because being non-conforming is super goth, guys, for reals.

The young woman - for she does appear young, despite the dead blue skin and the heavy darkness on her soul - pants, eyes half lidded as Medusa talks. There's little comprehension - save for the final push. A thousand needle stab, like a thousand tiny snake bites perhaps? Her back arches as she shrieks, her weight supported on her neck and heels in shuddering pain-
And yet, her clawed hands never release their hold on the bedside, keeping herself pinned to this pain, even as her arms twist and yank. Suffer~

Medusa Gorgon (22) has posed:
    It's a rough job, but Medusa keeps on working, her expression intense as she obviously focuses on the task at hand. So while it might be painful the pain never seems to linger for long in one place. As she works Medusa moves her fingers from wound to wound, and shortly after her fingers have left an area the pain there slowly dies down, though there's still some burning left for a short while.

    Once she's gone over most of the injuries this way the Confederate nurse reaches out for the second bottle of medicine, and this too she begins dripping into the various wounds here and there, though not all of them. Only the major ones. The colour of the medication is pure black, and the consistency of it is rather thick, as if it were tar. Slowly it drips, and strangely enough, it has a strange itching feel to it as it soaks into Ophelia's flesh.

    It takes a good while to work on the injuries, but after what feels like an eternity Medusa withdraws her hands, letting out a breath when she goes to wash her hands. "You should stay here for the night, Ophelia. It will take some hours before your flesh is knit again. It will also hurt less if you don't move much," she cautions. Sure, the pain is still there, but it's considerably far less than it was when Medusa was actively working on whatever she was doing with her hands.

    Once said hands are clean however, she doesn't hesitate in walking over to the flesh doll, looking over the nurses and aides as they have finished cleaning up the injuries. "Well, I guess it's your time then. It will be far less bothersome fixing you, dear," she says, sitting down next to that bed as she gets the nearby tray with stiching equipment, various syringes and bandages. Stitching is simple, even if she needs to inject some medication here and there.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Felsh Doll has been mended up pretty well and had made her note about Staren. She's just really heard of him by reputation but that was enough the guy sounded like he needed to be humbled hard. She listens to the conversttion of both of her elders. Then Medusa comes to work on her she looks up and watches without much more say she cringes a few times but she's going to take it, it's better than being even more broken than she normally is.

"So I'm less of a pain in the ass to patch up? Good!"

Drowned Ophelia (975) has posed:
Stars are born and wither; Blackholes decay to nothingness; The noise of the living slowly quiets, and in its absence DEATH METAL rolls on supreme, pure in its Sorrow - the source of hate, of grief and loathing and evil. This is what it feels like, an eternity trickling by second by glacial second as the burning and agony tear their way through the Queen of Black Metal. Her eyes have long ago rolled back, jaw muscles standing up on either side of her head as she saws and gnaws on the bit of rubber in pure, primal reaction.

When the light is born again, when the universe begins to reassert itself in her addled mind, her body slowly sinks towards the bed again. Tears course down from her eyes, staining the sheets beneth her - melting into the air. Petals of shadow that rise up from her prone, heaving form like ash, the lights above humming and flickering. One can almost hear it, even here without her Six Stringed Guitar; The hammer of METAL. Because this? This is real fucking brutal.

Focus comes back slowly, and she's weeping openly as her claws unbuckle from the bed beneath - the sound of metal singing. Great wracking sobs, clawed hands reaching up to cover her face; And somewhere, what was pained grief slowly bubbles into giggles. Madness, her clawed hands curling as she pulls them down her own face, leaving faint cuts that weep the ichor of her form.
"Oh, Medusa~" She practically purrs, clawed fingers brushing along her sealed wounds - at least, those that Medusa wasn't currently busy stitching shut. "I've never been touched like that before. It almost hurt worse than-" The broken laughter peals from her again as she lays there, the calm after the raging storm. A slow, deep sigh from deep within as she lets her limbs dangle, chewing on a black lip with white teeth.
"Mm. No, can't.. I have to get back to.. it. The Sea of Black Tears. I have to see .. " She's still a bit loopy; Coming down from that wretched agony was like a drug, leaving a euphoric high of relief. Eyes tracking the ceiling, reaching up at last to nudge and push the black petals that float about her with idle, null thoughts. Letting Medusa work on Flesh Doll in silence until she's done.
Well, that shut her up, although perhaps not quite as Snake Doc intended.