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[doc_holi]

I should have done this a while ago...

[Oh, look. There's Holiday again, this time with her normal clothes (orange shirt, black skirt, knee high boots, and a lab coat because why not) on and walking around the garden.]

Well, first off, I should introduce myself more properly, I guess. My name is Doctor Rebecca Holiday and I thought I should offer my services to the Garden. I am a doctor of theory, but I also practice medicine, so if there's something that the snakes can't or won't help you with, I'll be happy to help you out in any way I can.

Also... while the cat's were accommodating, I think... I should start looking for a more permanent place to stay. Trying to find a way out was, as everyone's told me, useless.

Anyone have any selections of places to live?

Comments

[doc_holi]

They? [She did see them moving a little.] So this is a parasite problem.

[Holiday sits for now beside Kariya, but that's to make her feel more comfortable right now than anything else.]

[tosaveyou]

[She nods.]

Yes, they're called Crest Worms. There are many of them.

[She puts her hands in her lap, looking down at her hands, then up at Holiday again.]

I don't know how many. They can make themselves very small.

[doc_holi]

[She nods.]

In my home, people have a problem similar to this on a normal basis, though it used to be much more common. I do know of several ways we can try to remove them.

What has been tried to so far?

[tosaveyou]

[She shakes her head, emphatic.]

No, I can't get rid of them. I have to keep them. I need them. It's--I don't know if I could live without them now, and I need the power.

I haven't tried anything...

[doc_holi]

[Wait, wha-]

... Power...?

But there may be a way to separate them from yourself without killing you. At least get the majority and treat the rest with medications.

[tosaveyou]

[Kariya clutches her chest.] Yes, they're familiars. They let me use magic.

I don't want them, but I have to keep them. And they bond with their--host.

[She might not be completely rational in insisting on this, but the idea that she might not have the power to finish the Grail War frightens her.]

I thought maybe it could hurt less, somehow. It hurts all the time.

[doc_holi]

[Familiars. Magic. Right. She should have put that together already, but the idea of magic is just so foreign to her.]

The best way to stop them from hurting you is to get rid of them.

[Even if she were on Kariya's side of the argument, any treatment she may use might kill the pests anyway... Though, it is might.]

Are you sure you need that power? There is no other way you could use magic?

[The girl may get angry with her, but Holiday certainly didn't care.]

[tosaveyou]

I need it. It's important. [Kariya doesn't get angry with her, but she can be very stubborn.]

No, I always hated magic. I never wanted to learn it, so my magic circuits were hardly used... [She's rambling a little, but the worms have made it hard for her to think clearly, too.] I wasn't strong enough to fight in the war by myself. I had to stay with the worms.

They'll fight. They're not just parasites. They can come out. They're--awful. Terrible things. They feed on energy and--emotion.

sorry she's reluctant right now XD it'll get better

[doc_holi]

[A war? She's doing this to fight in a war!?]

Surely there are others who can fight! Not to mention that the war isn't here, in the Gardens!

That's quite all right. It's understandable! :D

[tosaveyou]

No, no one else was going to fight. Not for what I'm fighting for.

[She shakes her head again.]

What if I go back, and they're gone? I'll have nothing. I won't be able to survive the war.

[doc_holi]

[She does not like it. She does not like any of this.]

... Alright...

Alright. Alright. I can try to help you with the pain, but I don't have any equipment or any medicines right now. That's going to change very soon and I'll let you know when it does.

For right now, where are the worms exactly? They haven't taken your whole face. [She's wanting specifics for right now, but she's not going to give up on the argument of getting rid of the parasites all together. It'll just have to be pushed back for right now.]

[tosaveyou]

[Kariya nods. The thought of getting some relief from the near-constant pain counters her fear of the worms and what thye're capable of.]

There are more of them on my left side. [She touches the left side her face, with its slack muscles and oddly pronounced, occasionally pulsing veins.] This goes down all the way. I can't see well out of my left eye anymore. I don't know what they did. I know there are a lot of them near my spine.

It's hard to say, they could be anywhere. They can move.

[doc_holi]

Move? Like wiggle around or literally move from one body part to the other?

[As Kariya is explaining, though, Holiday is looking the girl over in the places she mentioned, especially to her eye. The spine is her main concern right now, though.]

[tosaveyou]

Yes, but I mean, they can come out, too. I can make them come out, and I control them. I can fight with them. I killed a monster. It was going to hurt someone, so I killed it.

They're very strong.

[doc_holi]

... I see...

Do they hurt more or less when you control them? And how about when they're out of your body?

[tosaveyou]

It's hard to explain... When they're quiet, inside, they hurt me physically. When they're out, they drain my prana--my magic energy. They're always doing that, but it's worse when they're out, or when I'm fighting. Then they take more and more.

[It's embarrassing to talk about the Matou Family magic like this, to be part of it when she'd always wanted to get away from it, more than anything.]

I hate them.

[doc_holi]

[... She tries to calm down and think on this rationally, but it's just... crazy. Though, she can understand the pain she's putting herself through if it's a cause she believes in that no one else will fight for.]

[Been there.]

Alright...

Do you mind me looking you over a bit? I want to make sure that they won't kill you and what kind of pain reliever I should try to get for you.

[tosaveyou]

[There was no one else who'd been willing to try to save Sakura. It's worse for Sakura, having to go through something like this. She's only a child.]

I don't mind.

[Kariya regards her trustingly. She's a doctor, after all. It should be fine.]

I'm only supposed to live a few more weeks. [She feels strange, detached, as she says it.] Maybe longer, here, because there's no war. I need more prana to fight, but the Crest Worms won't stop, no matter what.

[Not once they've started. People can live for years with the worms, but only if they don't awaken. They haven't been dormant since she's taken them on, not with the War to worry about. She doesn't bother explaining Berserker and the Grail War; that's too complicated.]

[doc_holi]

[No one was willing to save Beverly, either. She had to sign herself away to a company that was killing the same things that her sister had turned into, but it was to save her... That was a long time ago, though.]

I'm going to try everything I can to make sure you'll last a lot longer than just a few more weeks.

[Holiday moves closer to examine the girl's eye first, but without proper equipment she's knows that she won't be able to do much about that.]

Can I look at your spine? We can go somewhere more private, if you prefer.

[tosaveyou]

It's not so bad here, since I'll come back to life. Not that I want that...

[She trails off. She doesn't want to die, even here.] It would be better not to.

[She sits still as Doctor Holiday examines her more closely. Kariya's pupil is responsive, but barely, her left iris unusually pale.]

They were both the same color a year ago. My eyes.

Yes, we could go to one of the rooms. I don't think anyone's here, but there might be someone I don't know about.

[She rises again.] The one I'm staying in isn't far.

[doc_holi]

Alright. [Holiday stands with her.] Do you need help?

[Yes, she's asking this time, but that's only because she realizes the seriousness of this situation. Though, she won't push it unless necessary.]

[tosaveyou]

No, thank you. I'm fine.

[It isn't true. It hurts, but she's used to moving on her own, without help, so she doesn't accept it. She stands, then makes her way through the entrance hall. The room where she's staying is on the first floor, as she hadn't wanted to have to climb stairs.]

Here.

[Kariya has no possessions with her that don't fit in her pockets, so the room might as well not be occupied, although it's clear the bed was slept in.]

Should I lie down?

[doc_holi]

You don't have to, unless that would be more comfortable for you.

[She doesn't want her to lay down only to be able to have trouble getting back up.]

Just take off your shirt, please.

[tosaveyou]

No, that's all right. I'll sit up.

[She unzips her hoodie and pulls it off carefully before working on the turtleneck underneath. It takes her some time to get out of it, her movements painstaking but steady.

It's embarrassing. Parts of her body are eaten away beneath the skin, and one can discern the solid forms of the worms here and there. There is a greater concentration of them at her left side and on her back. Mostly they are still for now, although sometimes they twitch.]

[doc_holi]

[Believe it or not, she has seen worse... Or well... she's seen things on par with this. She does grimace, but it's not from disgust. She hates that someone is being put through something like this and refuses to give it up. This is terrible.]

Just hold still. I won't touch you unless I say so before hand, alright?

[Holiday looks over Kariya's left side for a minute or so, but she moves over to the back quickly enough. Both areas are a big problem. Kariya's spine and vital organs are in serious danger from this.]

Do they always hurt? Is there nothing that you've relieves the pain even fractionally for a few minutes? A warm bath? Stretching? Anything?