Need More Apples {OPEN}

[Doctor Nationis]

The once beautiful ballroom lay in ruins from the Rebel uprising. The astounding architecture damaged, a crime that would make the artisans cry out as if their own child had been scarred in such a way, beyond even the most careful hands repair. Attempts would be made but it would never be the same as the original picture the mind eye of the masters that had made it so many years ago. Any artist would weep over this loss, glass shattered, stone smashed and tapestries torn. To top off this offensive sight it could not be fixed until the room was cleared of all the rubble and debris that littered the room.

The boogies with the higher sense of the finer things offered some of their slaves to help with the process, but even so there was little to prove was done. Some bodies had been found in the mounds of rocks and chandelier, some boogie and others human. Those that were identified were given to the appropriate members of the living to do with as they thought appropriate. The unfortunate that were found in bits and pieces or unidentifiable were piled to the side, to be dealt with later.

Some boogies had joined in the effort, some being stronger than any human and hefting up the larger portions, others being bossy and criticizing the pitiful children and young adults that had to work through most of the miserable job. The day went on, toiling away until the humans were about to collapse from exhaustion. The boogies had all grouped together to speak with one another over the body of a boogie they found, trying to remember his name. The being was rather large, but stood in the background and had no real importance in their society, but what was his name?! It was driving the small group crazy!

A pair of young boys grabbed a stone between them, trying to heave the object out of the way, only to do so again and again, like they had been all day. Grunting, they rolled it off the pile, both becoming wide eyed as they say a pale hand hanging limply in the air, the wrist and arm disappearing underneath more of the rubble. Both fell to their knees and began digging again. Was it another rebel? The two were to keep the Rebels informed on the exact number of dead rebels they found and prayed this was not another soul taken too early.

The hand came to life in a flash, grabbing the wrist of one of the boys, the muscles flexing in the hand as he cried out in pain. The boogies looked over, thinking that the stupid humans had dropped a rock on his foot or something along those lines, but had more interest when they saw the other boy beginning to strike at something they could not see from their view point. Intrigued, they began walking over, some muttering insults as they moved.

The boy's screams increased, the sound of cracking bones echoing in the air under the cries of pain. The second boy gave up his attempts to beat the disembodied hand and went behind his friend, trying to pull him away from the wretched hand. The grip only increased, the hand long past saving as it turned purple from the grip. Another, louder snap cut through the air, the shouts stopping for a moment. The boogies stopped, wide eyed as the boy fell back, holding up the stump of an arm. This encouraged the boogies to move faster.

"It's gone!" The second boy cried, tears streaming down his face as he held onto his dear friend, shock and fear in his eyes as he could only gape at his wound. When the boogies arrived there was only a puddle of blood that was seeping into the rocks. Confused, they looked at one another, looking for someone to take the lead. During their lack of guidance, a pair of pale, dirty arms raised out behind the boy cradling his friend. Long, baggy sleeves barely covered the arms, ragged and torn from the initial fall. One hand was soaked in blood, flesh of different color stuck due to suction from what blood remained.

The hands slowly reached up to the child, fear only catching up to him when he felt the side of his head being gripped tightly and --

Thukkkk

The boogies turned, startled as they only turned to see that the other boy had his head smashed, brain matter slowly seeping down below. This sight unnerved the group of four, each looking at least unsettled in the mysterious murder and missing hand. "W-w-we should just come back tomorrow," one reasoned, agreements passing all around. At that moment another white hand popped up, a sharp rock in hand. It had passed through the one-handed boy, fear renewed in his dying eyes. With a swift movement, the hand disappeared through the stomach, the knife stuck in his throat. A gurgling noise escaped the boy, flailing his arms and legs as he tried to grab the make-shift knife with a hand and stub, the stub making the stone slippery, avoiding his crazed grip.

At this moment, the four boogies turned tail and fled, claiming that the ghost of an angry soul had returned to extract his revenge on the living. Their screams disappeared down the hallways, each going different paths. The echos wafted around the large, ruined ballroom, but died, a low wind from a broken window whistling them away. The hand burst forth from the rock, moving gracefully through it as if matter itself did not apply to it. The hand was placed down on a nearby stone, the laws of physics suddenly applying. It strained itself for a moment before a second arm joined, the black sleeves hardly doing their job at covering the body.

With obvious effort, Iugo Nationis pulled himself out of the rocks, scratched, bloodied and bruised. His glasses were smashed and one lens was missing and the other was cracked. The glasses hung low on his nose, allowing him to properly see the room around him more clearly, despite the loss of his eye wear. His lips were coated in fresh blood and brains, having eaten what came underground. His frame was slimmer than usual, deprived of food for so long. He squinted his eyes and lightly shook his head, trying to clear this throbbing headache he had. Exhausted, he pulled his legs out of the rocks, the robe half covering his half-naked lower half and torn all over his chest, matted with his own, cool blue blood. Grunting, he had just free his legs and set them down when a shot of pain rushed through his nerves.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

The doctor's hands froze up, looking more like claws as he looked down at his leg. His femur was stick out of the side of his right thigh, a dried gash with his sickly azure blood slowly oozing out. His hands gripped his own skull, eyes screwed shut as waves after waves of pain washed over him, leg stiff as a board to prevent any more pain. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck..." He said under his breath, fighting back the blackness that ebbed his vision. "FUCK!" He roared one final time, before his body slowly rose into the air, his ability at work as he let his leg hang while he levitated in the air, carefully floating around the bigger rocks that could jostle him even more.

The mad boogie only made it to a clear spot on the floor before collapsing, a series of loud swears following after. His fists clutched again, angry eyes looking at the betraying bone protruding his flesh. A hand so wanted to fly to the wound, as most beings do in instinct, but knew better and could only examine the hole in his leg.

Wonderland would need to provide more apples to get rid of this Doctor.

[Jasmine Krisp]

As was common during this time of day, Hades, the majestic blue phoenix, was out on his own in the palace while his mistress hid away from the setting sun. In no more than a few minutes, the sun would fall below it's dark horizon and she would be able to come up herself...but as was her aversion to all things bright, she could not right now. Hades sat on a branch of a tree that once looked into a wall of flawless glass, stretching from floor to ceiling, that looked into an even more flawless ballroom of light and art and architect that was glorious to behold.

Now it was just a pile of glass and a shit load of rocks and lots and lots of bodies. What a waste of perfectly good human life.

At least the bird had the pleasure of stealing from their scraps pile.

Then there was a sudden scream. Hades' beady eyes locked onto the pair of humans who, as he saw from his angle, had found themselves in a trap worse than death. Without a blink the phoenix watched as the arm was ripped from it's socket, the skull cracked and dripping, the stone lodging in the throat...again, a glorious waste of flesh, but at least the one responsible had the sensibility to finish what he'd started. Hades wanted the chords to laugh at the Boogies as they fled. Were they not monsters?

Not monsters at all in comparison to this madman.

Hades recognized Iugo right as he'd pulled himself from the rubble. Blue blood staining his body, almost the color of the bird's own feathers, the man was a wreck. And his train of thought seemed to be as strained as his leg...Hades wondered what blue blood tasted of for just a moment. Then with a shrill, unmistakable cry, the phoenix spread his wings and swooped into the room, landing off to the side but in the doctor's point of view. He bobbed his long neck and finely feathered head, eying the doctor from all angles, before her turned to the window and let out another below.

A signal.

Jasmine would be here within the hour. After all, the sun had just dipped behind the Crimson Woods.

Hades wondered if Iugo would make it that long.

[Doctor Nationis]

A thin, strong fist hit the floor, as if giving pain to the stone floor would relieve his own. His right fist went to town on the floor, a dent slowly forming. The crater grew, his knuckles beginning to bleed, a minor inconvenience compared to his pain. With a low, animal like growl, he gently, slowly, and cautiously laid a hand near the wound, gritting his teeth as the mere thought of the pain. His hand retracted, his mind working through the haze of the torturous gash.

Blood, blood, blood...

The thought of how much he had lost seeped into his mind, a plan of action morphing and formulating. The bloodied hand reached for his tattered robe, the costume ruined beyond repair as is, and torn off a long, thin strip, leaving him with little more than sleeves. Ripping that in half, he put a wad in his mouth and looked down at his leg, already dreading the fact he would need to lift it to make a successful tourniquet. Breathing heavy even before he started, the boogie did not take any notice of the phoenix for the time being as he cried out and bit the cloth, lifting his leg with one hand and threading the cloth quickly.

Wanting the pain to stop ASAP, he dropped his leg, regretting it as soon as it made contract with the dirty floor, crying out again. Both fists lifted up and slammed on either side of him three times, eyes shut tight as he bided his time to wait out the agonizing pain. Breathing in through his nose, he opened his brown eyes, seeing the blue bird for the first time, just as it called out. "Hades..." He thought to himself, saying it softly enough that the cloth still in his mouth prevented any comprehensible form of the word. His eyes watched the bird for a moment before he turned back to his work, biting down again as he secured the tourniquet tightly to his leg.

Iugo refused to let any tears escape his face as he did so, only concentrating on staying awake and patching himself up as best as he could.

[Jasmine Krisp]

~~~(Meanwhile...)~~~

For most creatures of nocturnal being, waking up just as the sun set was simply in their nature. They rose with the moon and explored til the star were replaced with bright white clouds and black replaced with blue and their dear lunar glow traded to that unbearably bright light they hated so. For Jasmine Krisp, who was in no way a creature but very nocturnal, that was also how her life was led. She'd woken barley an hour ago and was walking slowly down the many underground passages that linked the laboratory to the dungeon to the pits of hell...her normal route home, as it were. But today, the air was thick with quiet.

The laboratory was empty, as it had been since the rebellion.

Jazz peeked inside the empty room, feeling the horrible slice at her chest when she saw it's barrenness. Iugo...where could you be?

With a sad sigh the littlest monster turned and continued down the hall to the upper-staircase. The ball had been a month ago, at least. And Iugo's body had not been found in the rubble yet. Either he had fallen out window or the rebels had captured him or...worse...I can't even think about it...she mumbled something to herself as she reached the steps, hopping up them three at a time, springy as she was despite her little limbs.

A cry struck her ears. A cry unmistakably her own familiars.

In the direction of the ballroom.

He's been found!!

Jasmine reached the now night-shrouded hallway in less than a second, once again demonstrating her agility far beyond her physical appearance. If this was for real, Iugo was found at last! That was the reason she even allowed Hades to watch the ball-clean-up in the first place. But this call...it was the one she'd least expected to hear after a month. One shrill burst. One simple caw. One...which meant...he's alive!! Thank goodness the halls were pretty empty on the way to the destroyed room, except for a group of Boogies running like hell was after them. Jazz barley paused before continuing along the hall, reaching the ornamental doors to the main ballroom, and seeming the two bloodied fresh corpses to the side. She shuddered.

...yup. He's awake.

And there she saw, from the corner of her bright golden eyes, Iugo, with probably the worst injury she'd seen on him yet. Jasmine's heart pounded as she moved quickly to his side, a mix of happiness for finding him, worry for the injury...and some unexplainable anger boiling beneath her calm expression.

"About time you came back, Good Doctor. Need a hand with that?"

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Ghosts and ghouls and creatures of the night were the stuff of folklore. That being said, this was a world in which folklore often took on the realm of the real. Perhaps that explained why so many Boogies seemed superstitious. Without regarding the effects, Shaehern found himself more interested in the causes. Every rumor had its origins, and getting to hear firsthand information in regards to a 'haunting' in the ball room seemed terribly amusing.

Had it been a bunch of children that ran by panicking, then he might have assumed that it was just a Boogie playing a practical joke. Instead, it was Boogies that were panicking and Shaehern could not help but wonder if it was a child playing a practical joke on them. Such was a law of reversals, however unlikely it might seem.

No... more than likely they had found the 'good' doctor. Shaehern had wondered about the man that night, but had reassured himself that the Dr. Iugo Nationis could easily have escaped the stony prison, but he had been absent since the night of the ball. Dead? Shaehern strictly doubted that the worst monsters could ever really be killed.

Business was abuzz as of late, but that was hardly an excuse to stay still when there was investigations to be held! Little wisps were buzzing about doing the necessary spying before relaying their simple messages back to him. Shaehern simply sent Aleya off on her usual task... finding Zarek Camulu and seeing what he was up to.

Shae had changed up his usual fashion trends today. He strode about in tight leather pants with a gorgeous violet top. In between the two articles of clothing he was certain to maintain a minimal level of midriff. A comfortably warm black jacket was tossed on top of the shirt and he kept a pleasant royal blue scarf wrapped around his neck. Then there was his jewelry... there was always jewelry. Today he had grasped hold of three of his gold rings and set them on his fingers. It almost seemed a minimalist approach to accessorizing, but there was work to be done today.

He hardly realized that he was already at the ballroom as he pondered what he might or might not find. Jasmine Krisp was here. Somehow, he should have anticipated it.

"Indeed." Shaehern was positive that there was some old-fashioned human saying in regards to this particular situation. It was something out of one of their religious books, and Shae hardly saw fit to open any of those monstrosities. Humans were complicated enough without getting into their religion.

"Maybe two extra sets of hands? I've often been told that my fingers are quite nimble." Cheerful Shae as always.

[Doctor Nationis]

Iugo snapped his head in the direction of the first voice, a hand flying for a rock smaller than his fist as he took in this new being. It was Jasmine. Iugo was pleased to see that it was her of all people to find him in his helpless state. Iugo had opened his mouth to say something smarmy to her quip, but only closed his mouth again, finding it increasingly harder to concentrate on the world around him. The wave of nausea passed before Iugo could properly reply. Dropping the stone, Iugo used his now free hand to properly prop himself up in a leaned back sitting position, leg shown for the world to see. "...I hate parties," Iugo said flatly, not sure even after he said that if he was being truly sarcastic or not.

The second voice did not get a rock raised at it as the doctor looked to see that man... that strange man from the party. What was his name? Shaehern? Yes, that was it. Last he remembered, he was in a dress and covered in many feathers. This look, although still not his style, was much better on him than that... peacock. In no mood to have any more banter or question their motives, he waved them on. "Any help would be appreciated," the boogie said lowly, laying back as he said this. "Mind the leg. It's sore..." He muttered, closing his eyes. A hand placed itself onto his forehead, rubbing it gently, knocking the glasses off his face as he did so. They were worthless anyways.

"...how long have I been under there?" He asked quietly, as soon as someone other than himself was close enough to hear. It only felt like... well, a long, painful nap. Was it the next morning? No, it was dark... A day? Maybe two? Iugo did not know and did not have the will to figure that out at the moment. It was good to be out though. A single thought floated through his mind as he lay there, eyes closed: I'm gonna need a new cane. This brought neither a frown nor a smile.

DAMN HIS LEG HURT!

Grimacing as a spike of pain wracked his body as he tried to shift ever so slightly to get a stone from underneath him out of the way. Is this how those he attacked felt? This sort of pain? The anguish that almost drove him to drive a stone through his skull until he could no longer feel the pain of this mortal coil? Good. This made his lips twitch into a smile for a fraction of a second, before being reminded that a bone was sticking out of his thigh.

[Jasmine Krisp]

The sound of another approaching voice, thank God a familiar one, gave Jasmine the smallest of smiles as she looked up to see the other Boogie she considered dear to her. Shaehern always seemed to be wearing something a little too off-kilter to be normal, but it wasn't a dress...the part of her that was becoming increasingly childish couldn't help but giggle at the leather. It seemed less fitting to him than the feathers she associated with his lithe, somewhat feminine figure. But right now wasn't the time to ponder what fashions would look good on the flamboyant one.

"No shit it's sore. You have a bone sticking out of it," little pale hands hovered over the injury, the bone, sticking right through the skin, "I didn't think a rock could do this. Guess that's why I'm not a medic." Jazz jested weakly, though the sarcasm she normally had was dead as he bodies around them. Wounds or not, she was unbelievably happy her friend was alive and breathing. And biting better than he had been before, which was good.

Well...maybe not for the humans. But still.

Hades had hopped down from his spot on the rocks where he'd been until now. He moved across to the pile of spare bits and pieces and began munching ideally on a severed...arm? Leg? It was torn at both ends and had a elbow...or was it a knee? Who cares. It tasted a little dusty but it was still a human meal. A delicacy if there ever was one. The Boogie woman was completely ignoring her familiar as she began examining the bone, how deep it was in the skin, if it was fragmented...it was going to be a bitch to heal and snap into place.

...poor Iugo.

His question knocked her off-guard. "Iugo...how long have you been unconscious?" Stupid question, how did anyone know how long they slept with no light or clocks. "...it's been almost a month. Three weeks, I should think..." there was a sort of fog in her bright golden gaze, "...I thought you were dead..."

The fog got a little worse as her hands reached to rip some of the torn fabric from Iugo's ruined jacket and tried to wipe away some of the blood preventing her from seeing the injury clearer. But the fog just got worse and wo--Oh fuck no, don't tell me I'm... "Sh-Shaehern, can you look at th-this...? I need to...to...get something..." Jasmine shot up from where she sat and turned on her heel in the direction of Hades. It may have looked like she was going to get some of the enchanted bird's healing tears...but in reality, it was her own soggy eyes she was hiding.

Shit fuck. I don't cry. I never cry. Dammit dammit dammit!!

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

The doctor had a compound fracture. Those were nasty and this one was in a place where Iugo would not be able to right it himself. The ways that the body and the muscles needed to flex to get in the right position to get the bone back in before setting it simply would make the feat nearly impossible. If left entirely to his own devices it might have seemed more tolerable to amputate the leg entirely. Thankfully for the doctor, he did have extra hands. Though he really did only need one extra set.

Shaehern seemed to just be the superfluous comic relief in this situation. Jasmine could hopefully tolerate the bone and blood enough to simply slide it back and set the bone right. That, and she had a phoenix as a familiar... miracle working wonder of medical magic. Shaehern was content to just sit back and stare at said phoenix who had taken an interest in feeding on the bodies.

Apparently when the dead wake they leave a wonderful little path of destruction on their way up. Shaehern wasn't sickened, but he wasn't really amused either. Perhaps it was just the fact that the bodies were unceremoniously torn apart and then tossed aside.

He allowed himself to be distracted long enough from the matters at hand to realize that Jazz was moving away from Iugo and asking him to take a look at his leg. Shaehern could see it plenty well enough from where he was standing, but he moved closer anyways. Kneeling down and staring at the bone and then the doctor he just shook his head. "Probably best to just get this over with quickly, huh?" Shaehern wondered if Iugo had ever been gentle with any of his test subjects as he prepped himself to push the bone back in. Considering how long Iugo must have been under those rocks, Shaehern imagined that the injury must somehow have been fresh. Otherwise the doctor would have simply bled out in that time.

Either that, or he really was an immortal monster.

Shae stared at the bone as he tried to remember details about fixing a compound fracture. They always told you to go to a doctor for that... well, the doctor was here. Shae realized that you couldn't very well just push the bone back in the way it was forced out. The procedure was far too delicate for that. If he remembered right, then this was a situation where surgery was necessary to fix the problem. You cut open the leg, set the bone right, and then stitched it back up.

"Going to need a sterile knife or scalpel... maybe some alcohol. Anesthetic would probably be useful too, but I'm not really the doctor here." Shaehern was no surgeon... but he had cut open a couple bodies in his day. Trick was that this time he was trying to keep the body he was cutting open alive after the procedure was done. That would be an interesting challenge. He stared at Iugo expectantly, as though the doctor would happen to have everything that he needed somehow in his pockets.

[Doctor Nationis]

Jazz sure was a chipper spirit this evening. His eyes flashed open at the mention of his extended slumber. "Three weeks?!" He roared quietly, sitting up, ignoring the shiver of pain from the light jostling from the rapid motion. As if on cue, a low growl emitted from his stomach, demanding more food. A hand and brain juice would not hold him over for long. But with his leg going to repaired hopefully in the near future he decided against trying to reach for the nearest piece of flesh. The way she spoke when speaking of his passing brought him back from the lustful thoughts of meat. "Pfft," He scoffed, unable to hold back a smirk. "I won't let these damn rocks take my life. I've got plenty of work to do before I can let my soul rest."

Oblivious to Jasmine's eyes, though he did enjoy looking upon the beautiful golden orbs once again, he looked at Shaehern as he got a closer look. The doctor said nothing, only looking at Shae to avoid having the be reminded how bad the situation was. "Quicker the better," He agreed, daring to look at his wound once again. Even he would not relish the task of properly setting the leg. Partially then people may assume he was just a free clinic ready and willing to help any poor soul with a splinter. His eyes took in the sight, before moving back up to the man's face. "Finding a clean blade in Wonderland would mean a trip to the Laboratory. And I, good sir, do not want to wait." Iugo reached behind him, a hand brushing against his lower back, hopeful thoughts guiding them to the sheath that was hidden on his person the night of the party. He sighed in relief, moving the entire sheath.

Moving it in front of himself, he drew it slowly, eyes stuck on the thin blade. The knife was very clean, unlike his common weapon of choice. It was a dress up event after all. His eyes drifted toward the family seal for a moment, focused intently on it. "Oh, you'd love this..." He said to himself, before looking back up to Shaehern, the comment obviously not for him. Jamming the blade into the sheath again, he held it out to his fellow boogie. "I don't want to wait, Azhrarn," Iugo said flatly, eyes losing their any mirth they may have held.

A hand went to his lap and held the cloth wad for a moment, eyes now looking at it, covered in dust, blood of two shades, and saliva. "You got the blade. I got the anesthetic." Tilting his head, he gestured at his leg. "And there is a lot of bacteria in there anyways. I say screw the alcohol unless you carry a flask on you." With that said, Iugo put on a face of determination and placed the cloth in his mouth, forcing the sheathed knife into his hand as he laid back down.

Fuck you, Leg... Iugo thought eyes working hard to look only at the ceiling. The stitches? Well, there was a phoenix nearby. Perhaps that paired with the rest of his sleeves they could stop the bleeding. The thought of 'they' almost seemed ludicrous. If Iugo somehow managed to stay conscious during the procedure, which he was unsure if he would, then he would be in no condition to help tie up his own open wound. The tourniquet was hard enough...

[Jasmine Krisp]

Trying her best to wipe the offending water from her face, Jasmine had ended up in front of the limb pile with her bird. The talk of surgery and cutting and knifes wasn't what bothered her too much...just the fact that it was Iugo, the first and probably only man she'd ever had feeling for. It hurt in a whole new way she hadn't felt in her eight-thousand years. She'd felt love, loss--lots of loss--but this was a different pang.

Hades swallowed whatever limb he was eating at this point and turned to face his owner. She still had some dripplets on her cheek. He leaned in and touched her face with his beak to move them off her light skin.

"Heh..." ...thank you, old friend.

With a deep breath, Jazz turned back to her injured companion and fruit basket buddy. She had on hand on the spot where Hade's wing and body met, the bird looking content to her touch. "I'm out of booze at the moment, dear one. I've got the stitches though," she patted the bright blue feathers, "Guess the surgery's a 'go'? Should I knock you out with another rock?" Or can hit you with Hades?

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Shaehern grasped hold of the blade that Iugo was passing him. Clean was a bit much to ask for, but Shaehern had to get the best he could if he wanted to provide the best service. As for alcohol... Shaehern never carried anything strong enough to burn or clean wounds. His terrible secret was that he was a lightweight and such powerful spirits would beat him senselessly. The 'good' doctor Iugo Nationis would just have to deal with what he had given Shae.

There was a certain glint in Shaehern's eye for a brief moment when he pulled the knife from its sheath. That was the look of a man who had never used a knife for anything but torture and killing. Surgery was a different kind of cutting. Shaehern's only hope was that this prop knife was in possession of the necessary edge of surgical steel. If not... well, the doctor had certainly cut up people with a dull knife before, right?

"Well, no time like the present." Shaehern hardly wanted to wait for Iugo to be knocked cold. At this point he figured that the doctor wanted to see results. The first incision was... interesting. Shaehern had never really come up for a word to describe how it feels when you have a blade carving through raw, bleeding meat. In some ways it looked and felt sort of like a gelatin, but in other ways that was far too simplistic a way to view it. The consistency wasn't quite right. Shaehern pondered on what the proper terminology to describe the sensation would be while he carved through Dr. Nationis' leg and avoided the more fragile blood vessels.

Once the cuts were made long and deep enough while accounting for what little Shaehern knew of muscles and blood vessels--he realized that the tourniquet would certainly help if he made any terrible mistakes--he wasted not time in gently grasping the broken bone. Bones were such amazing things, and the leg bones, in particular, were very strong. Shaehern was uncertain of how strong they were, but he knew that it usually took quite a bit more force than he could muster to make the strongest ones snap. That was the femur, if he recalled correctly.

Regardless, Shaehern had one peculiar trait that made him an odd selection for this task... he disliked blood. Carving up bodies was never so much fun as applying blunt trauma or holding the still-flailing children under the water until they stopped struggling. Blood was messy. It was also warm and wet and it always seemed to leave a bad tang in his mouth. He had to work through these aversions while he pushed the pieces of bone together. The bone fell into position and Shaehern tried to fit the pieces back together for proper healing. After a slight twist and a quick repositioning he smirked.

"I think that's as good as I can get it," he murmured. He did not let the disgust show on his face.

[Doctor Nationis]

Iugo half formed a reply for Jasmine, but stopped, focusing his mind entirely on the pain to come. The doctor sat silently, eyes closed. If anything, he looked like he was sleeping peacefully... with a dirty torn piece of cloth in his mouth. Iugo took in a final deep breath before he felt the cool edge of the blade press against his skin. Before the cutting even started his leg tensed up, feeling the muscles fall out of his control as the blade went.

His teeth clenched down hard, the eyes screwing together in pain and misery. The cloth that he thought he would bit down on during the whole procedure soon flew out of his mouth, projected by his scream. Iugo was no push over when it came to pain. He'd had a great white dire wolf's maw take out a large chunk of skin from his arm before. The if memory served him, that was not a pleasant experience, and avoided the wound being mortal by phasing out of harms way. This time he had to force himself not to phase away from the 'attack'.

His shout filled the ballroom, rebounding off the walls, whole and broken. The hallways would hear the echos of his cry, the long, empty halls giving them an eerie inflection. At that moment, the boogies were returning, five more in tow. Some were curious, some were wanting a fight. All them became frightened when the unearthly, suffering in a realm none of them have ever heard from before. They all ran again, their claims of a spirit within the court of the Boogies.

The blue blood stained his pale leg, giving it a sickly gray hue. A thin layer of sweat covered Iugo's body, giving him just enough for the dirt to turn into grime. His breaths were heavy, eyes still screwed shut. The cutting was done... Finally.

And then Shaehern twisted the bone back into place. At that the boogie arched his back, howling in pain once more, fingers digging into the stone craters he had made before, fingers bloody from the sudden course surface. This pain was not ebbing away. Iugo clenched his teeth and odd noises came out as he tried to speak and/or vocalize how his screaming nerve endings felt. The muscles in his eyes began to relax as he felt his consciousness slipping. Try as he might, Iugo knew this would be a losing battle. Another deep sleep would over take him soon, but not yet.

[Jasmine Krisp]

If one ever thought you get used to blood if you've been around it long enough, they were damn fucking wrong.

Even though Jasmine had lived in this world of blood and violence all her incredibly long life, and though she was not disturbed by the corpses around her or the new limb in her familiars maw, the sight of Shaehern cutting into Iugo brought a shade of green to her pale face. A dear friend of hers slicing another friend...it was a disgusting sight on more than one level in her mind. But despite the amount of terror in her eyes, Thank God they're too distracted, Jazz didn't turn from the make-shift surgery in front of her.

Though that little glint she saw in Shaeherns eyes did make her nervous.

And God, she didn't know the doctor could scream like that...

Finally, Shae seemed to be done with the cutting, though Iugo did cry out again when his bone was moved. Immediately the plum woman beckoned for Hades to follow her toward the two men, amazingly the bird complied, to provide the only thing medical she could. Probably the only thing that would ease the pain and 'stitch' up that slice on her friend's leg. She let herself drop to her knees right at Iugo's side, Hades right behind her swallowing whatever he'd had in his beak. Jazz picked up the discarded cloth and wiped at Iugo's forhead.

"I think I should have knocked you out after all, dear one. That was horrifying." The littlest monster spoke softly before lifting her hand and waving for Hades to got the the wound. The phoenix wandered to Shaehern's side, over the newly done-up wound. From his eyes the clearest waters fell, tears filled with a magic nobody in the universe could really explain, fell onto the skin around the incision. The wound sizzled slightly, since only the skin would be healed and not the bone, and it closed as neat as a stitch-job would have done it. Maybe cleaner.
Hades chirped his approval.

Lets never do this again.

[Shaehern Azhrarn]

Shaehern's hands were now stained a darker blue than his usual skin tone. He never really wondered why some would bleed red and others would bleed blue. The man would rather not consider blood at all if he could get away with it. But there was plenty of it now on his hands and he felt an overwhelming desire to wash it off. He'd rather not touch anything since that would just make things messy. It took only a moment to recall one of the other disgusting things blood did when exposed to air. Large clumps of it would congeal instead of drying, but it was all terribly sticky feeling.

Shaehern stood up and watched as the phoenix cried. It much looked like crocodile tears rather than anything conjured up from real sorrow. Shaehern actually doubted that Jasmine's bird was capable of real tears. Then again, he doubted that he'd ever see the bird given enough reason to be sad. It did seem like he was more than willing to help heal Iugo. Barring the fact that Jasmine could use her talent, that might mean that the bird approved of the doctor. Either that, or it was vying for a quick nibble before it left on its way.

"Well, that's done. And no matter whether or not he was awake, that's still going to hurt like hell later." The cut seemed far too deep for those phoenix tears to do a proper job on. Shaehern had once had a deep cut as a child. They stitched you up on the inside as well as on the outside to enable better healing. He wondered if that meant that Iugo wouldn't be able to walk properly on that leg ever again... that it just wouldn't heal right. He already had required a cane at the ball. An interesting man that Shaehern actually knew very little about.

"I believe I'm going to go wash now. Have fun you two." He winked and walked out of the room. He had to control the urge to skip. After all, he didn't want to seem too pleased with the fact that he got to cut up the Doctor. Adding skipping to the irony equation might just be enough to kill him.

[Doctor Nationis]

Iugo couldn't help but give a pained chuckle to the unconscious comment Jasmine had made. He also did not reply as he spent the next few seconds biting back more cries of pain. All the muscles in his his body were tensed up, as if the more they constricted the less pain would seep into his nervous system. The gaping hole in his leg was not responsive, which was a queer feeling. As if a dead weight existed in it's place. This dead weight also caused searing pain. The a sudden sense of relief overcame what felt like his entire being. The boogie opened his eyes slowly, seeing that Hades had joined them. The crystal clear tears fell on his skin and sizzled? As a scientist, he was dumbfounded. As a victim, he smiled.

The pain was gone! Or at least it felt like so compared to when another man had been inside him. Iugo closed his eyes again, letting this lesser level of pain settle. The brown eyes opened quicker when Shaehern spoke. Yes, yes. It was going to be a bitch to deal with later... The thought of proper healing didn't even come to mind. Hell, he thought the bird's magical tears melded the boned, closed the wound, killed the bacteria, and dissolved the small bits of debris in his leg for all her knew. With a grunt, Iugo sat up, making sure not to move his throbbing leg.

Iugo was up in time to see the other man leave, his now blue hands supporting this posture. Being himself, he wasn't about to offer a thank you, but was going to say something closer to polite. ...then Iugo thought that was too much effort. Besides, the leather wearing boogie was already too far away for Iugo to speak to him without having to raise his voice above a normal speaking tone. With Shaehern gone, Iugo turned to look at Jasmine, trying to focus on on her outline without his trademark glasses.

"...it was not my idea to have a party. None of this would have happened if people were sociable," He said finally, unable to think of anything clever. Mentally, he blamed being trapped under rocks for three weeks, but this was not the first time. It was a concern he had no motivation to investigate at the time. Many factors could play in but one could never be sure.