9th of Luper (August 9th)

Late June she had somehow ended up back in Rhydin from a world she still had no name for. A place full of death and war, where chaos was a normal way of life, and green was a color that had long since forgotten. While she thought Rhydin a place of disorder, in a way, this place had been nothing like Rhydin. This place had been cruel and cold, stripping the Keeper of an essence that once made her who she was. She returned different in many ways; emotionally, mentally, and physically.

The last memory she had of that horrid place was a group of armored men howling at her on the battlefield at the mountain summit. A place one would not normally find the Keeper but it was that she was a creature of such rarity and power that they had her on the field taking the wounds of their soldiers with little to no worry of how it came back to the small woman. They had no care for the pain she took for them or the aftermath of exhaustion that more often than not had her spilled to the ground among the chains that kept her bound. It was from those bonds that she had found escape by an off chance that they hadn't been secured during one of the healing. She fled for her life, of course, only to be caught. A towering figure, clad in blackish-blue armor, swung his sword at her to kill her, but she had managed to move out of the way. Instead he had cleaved off her arm in one rather clean sweep. The explosion around them only came second to the searing pain that screamed throughout her body. She was no stranger to pain, but that was a new one even for her. Her screams mingled with those around her, swallowed by the explosions of some kind. She saw red and it wasn't just her blood. She had been thrown into the lake that was some ways off and in that watery embrace, she had figured death would finally find her.

She woke in Rhydin, found by some stranger in the gore that had been spewed forth by the gate that had for a short period connected that unknown place to Rhydin. It had been truly a chance of fate that he was even able to find her unconscious form among the body pieces. If he had not she would of surely of bled to death. Left in the care of a clinic, she woke some days later with the man nearby checking in on her. A few days later the clinic released her and she was left in a world that was once her home and yet she had nothing left to return to. She of course visited the inn first and she felt completely out of place. Did being gone for so long take everything from her, including the people she once knew"

One surely stood against the test of time. Mesteno had been there for her in numerous ways that surprised her at every turn. He gave so much and demanded nothing in return from her. While he claimed her not in his debt, there was a part of her that swore that if the man ever needed anything of her, anything at all, that she would be there for him. If he would allow her to be, that is.

If it were not for him she surely wouldn't be where she was, standing in nervous wait, thinking of the past few months and those she had met; both new and old. She watched in silence as the shop owner prepared some sort of room for the process. There were a number of wards colorizing the room's walls and floor. She was almost sure there were some on the ceiling, but how did he get them up there she had no idea. The room was mostly clean otherwise with a sort of bed like tub in the center. There was a place that rose up where the head would rest, however this tub had walls that rose up almost two feet and were clear. She would of asked but her thoughts had stolen her away, leaving her simply standing there until the shop owner's assistant pulled her back to the present with a clearing of his throat.

The boy was barely into manhood with a mop of shabby brown hair and dark eyes that reminded her fondly of someone. His smile was nervous as he addressed her. "I will need to take your things, ma'am. We have something that you will be wearing for the process."

She blinked those crystalline eyes at the young man and for a moment she was hesitant. She could just hear a certain person now and she shook her head, "Of course. I'm sorry." She smiled warmly at the young man and began with removing her cloak which was soon offered to him, "Where will I be changing?"

The young man seemed to be having a bit of trouble with collecting the heavy fabric and while attempting to collect the load of fabric he turned to her to address her question only to find himself tripping over the end of the cloak. He crashed into her and down they both went into a heap on the floor.

"Omph!" she complained as her back hit the floor and there was a weight on top of her.

"Sorry!" the young man quickly said down to her. "How do you wear this thing?"

"Lots of practice." she giggled though it was a bit nervously done, "P-please don't take this the wrong way, but you do know I am a girl, right?"

"Huh' Well, yeah. Wh-" It was about then the young man realized where his hand placement was and he quickly jolted upright to his feet. Stammering, he offered his hand to help her up, "I am so sorry, miss!"

She sighed quietly and turned her hand to meet the young man's so she could get up without too much of a hassle. "I'm not a fool. I know they aren't the biggest you've ever seen, and surely not in Rhydin, but it is still pretty unflattering when a guy doesn't even notice." She was of course teasing the poor man and it was all she could do to stop herself from blushing. It seemed to work because he was unable to form sentences after that. Another apology later he somehow managed to direct her to a place to change. He dealt with the cloak while she went off to do just that. There wasn't much to change into really. It looked like some shorts and what she had heard people refer to as a sports bra. These were not something she was used to wearing by any means. By the time she had returned the young man had managed to fold her cloak and place it on the small table just outside of the room so that is where she decided to leave her dress and shawl.

"Are you ready?"

The heavy, baritone voice of the shop owner startled her and she turned to face the man. He was up in his age as humans went, but the man had eyes that she swore were that of a younger man. "Uma." She quickly answered nervously.

A hearty laugh followed her words and the man offered a hand. "Don't worry, young lady, we will take mighty good care of you. Might have to tell my assistant to do something else to save him from bumping into walls at the sight of you."

She didn't understand what he meant and she shook her head. "I'm just n-nervous, Lord Porter."

"None of that lord business, girlie. Marc will do just fine! And aye, I know. Isn't going to be the most pleasant process either, but we will do our best to keep you as comfortable as possible." He navigated her into the room as he started to explain the process again just in case she didn't remember the first three times. "The spell acts in five different stages with the first being the least painful. It will start as a discomfort. We will start with the bone, followed by the muscles, sinew, nerves, and finally the skin." As he explained he helped her up the trio of steps and into the inner space of the bed. "The liquid we will be submersing you in will help with the pain. You said you have an affinity for it, correct?"

She nodded to his question as her fingers released his hand. "So, I just lay down here?"

"Correct." he answered quickly as he moved away. "This is a special liquid, I might add." He continued as he began his more immediate preparations.

"Oh?" She settled down slowly but remained sitting.

"You will see when the time comes."

Why was it so many men she spoke to were so vague!"! "I have a friend who will be picking me up and he might not be happy if something should happen to me."

"My dear, there is no reason for you to threaten me." he chuckled and turned to face her. Reaching out, he placed a hand on her shoulder and the other on her forehead. "Now come on," he eased her back to lay down, "After the stage of nerve growth will be administering a drug to help ease the pain. It will also put you to sleep so you may rest more at ease."

She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that. "O-Okay." The place her head rested on was not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it kept her positioned the way she needed to be, she figured.

"Each process is an hour long." he warned, in case she changed her mind at the last minute.

She nodded and inhaled slowly, her crystalline eyes taking in the ceiling. Sure enough, there were runes and wards up there too! Just like she thought!

"Ready?"

She nodded again and she saw a glimpse of the young assistant from earlier. She heard him say something and suddenly there was something cold lapping at her toes. The familiar feeling if water slowly began to fill the tub. It was a comfortable feeling and she closed her eyes as if she were merely soaking in the lake during a warm bring day. That is until the water started to rise past her ears and a bit too close to going over her face. Her eyes opened and she started to sit up only to find that the shop owner was pressing his hand against the very center of her chest to keep her down. She blinked up at him. "S-Sir?" She spluttered as the water slowly consumed over her face. Her hand flopped about and soon grasped at the man's arm as the water continued to rise.

"Relax."

She heard the man's water-muffled words, but how could she relax" Her lungs were starting to burn from the lack of oxygen!

"Let it fill your lungs."

She really had no choice in the matter. Her mouth opened to release the air that had been in her lungs and she found that when she inhaled that it was as simple as breathing in air. It was a lot more heavy, of course, but breath she could. Slowly she relaxed under the man's hand and when she did his hand eased against her chest. A little tap on the glass had her turning her head and she saw the assistant's smiling face, dissorted from the moving liquid, with a thumbs up. So this is what the man meant by being 'special'. She felt his hand move away and he arranged her body to where her body would lay when relaxed.

"Better?"

She gave him a nod as she settled into that curious water. Relaxed, yes, now that she wasn't panicking for her life. She felt as he drew a strap across her chest, waist, and upper thighs.

"To stop you from trying to move during the pain." he offered down to her as he worked.

She was completely helpless and it was a little frightening to know that her life was totally in this man's hands.

"And now we begin." he spoke and his hands moved into the water just above her bicep.

Her eyes tilted just enough to watch as he started to weave the aether that latched onto the bone. The sensation caused her to jerk, a discomfort and somewhat painful. She watched as he struggled with something, but eventually began to draw down the area next to her, a structure of bone piecing together. It was as if he were reconstructing it with will alone, but she saw something in his hands as he worked. Something that reacted and drew the aether to bend to his call. Inch by inch bone continued to form and by the time he had finished her fingertips her whole body was humming with pain. While it felt like it took less than the time he spoke, the process took a little over an hour.

Next came the muscles and sinew which started out much like the bone, but the amount of pain seemed to skyrocket. After the joining she could feel the tugging of each muscle as he seemed to layer them over the bone with the precision of a craftsman molding clay. He had barely made it to her newly formed elbow that the pain in her shoulder started to make her uncomfortable. Enough so that she wanted to shift. He must of felt this because he warned her, "Try not to move too much."

While she was accustom to pain she wasn't used to having to sit still through it. So instead of focusing on what he was doing, she turned her thoughts to other things. Things to talk to people about, places she needed to go, herbs she needed to pick. When it came to herbs she could probably sit there for hours mentally sorting them and going through them. If only she knew how to write. She probably could start keeping a record of them and the ones she newly learned of. However, when he started to work on the nerves the pain became unbearable and she jerked as a result. Her whole body screamed in pain and the only time she had ever felt something like that was when her body was rejecting magic. She tried to say something to the man, but he gestured over to his assistant. She saw the young man's hands dive into the water to grab her left arm and there was a pinch. He had injected her with something and she didn't realize it until he raised his hands and the needle had been spotted. She saw him at the side of the tub again, giving her another thumbs up. It was a matter of seconds and her eyes were too heavy to keep open. The agony was not enough to keep her eyes from drooping. The image of the young assistant, who was still keeping an eye on her faded, to darkness.

The progress continued even as she slept and after hours passed there was flesh over the muscle and bone structure. The skin was a bit paler than the rest of the Keeper and the muscles would need some time to strengthen but the man was pleased with the ending results. The tub was drained and she was covered with a sheet while she rested.

"We need to prepare something for her when she wakes but for now give her another injection and we will let her sleep." Marc said to his assistant.

"Why?" The young man seemed confused. From his end it seemed as if everything had gone flawlessly.

"There were some complications and I need to make sure that it will not fall apart before she even moves it." Marc explained as he sat down. Her body fought against the foreign magic the entire time and while it took a lot from him, he was sure it took just as much to the resting woman. The assistant gave a nod before stepping out to prepare a package that would be going home with the woman the next day and the shop owner made the sleeping Kai as comfortable as possible to sleep until morning.

The Keeper slept through the night, in a dreamless slumber, and came morning she was released to the sadist's care.