Board Thread:What Would You Do?/@comment-26545936-20170711214120/@comment-25126740-20170713113617

I'd like to say before you guys read this that this isn't the only interpretation of the woman's condition that is possible. She could be a wounded arachne, with half of her legs broken, or something, instead of what I got. With that in mind, here goes.

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"Er- Hey, hey. It'll be alright."

She continues sobbing, mostly to herself. I approach cautiously, as even a wounded monster is still a monster, but I want her to know that I'm there to help. Regardless of whether I actually can or not; as a cleric, I took a vow to do no harm. To heal. This woman is clearly in pain, so I will do all I can to relieve her of it.

Upon further investigation, it seems this poor creature was left here by something else, probably a full Arachne, having partially filled her with demonic energy. Her remaining human parts are the left side of the top half, and the right side of the bottom. She's lying on the floor, in the fetal position; or as close of an approximation as she can reach. I brush her hair out of her face - it really is pretty like this - and get her to look me over again.

"See? I'm a cleric of the Order. Part of our standard training is consecrating lands, and removing demonic power. I think I can help you. I just need you to drink this, please. It's an anaesthetic - it'll numb the pain."

I offer a potion to the half-converted girl, uncork it for her, and set it in her trembling hands. Still crying, she downs the potion as though she hadn't had a drop to drink for ages, and I get to work drawing the holy circle in chalk on the floor, clearing away small bits of string wherever they may lay.

...

My work complete, all that is left is an offering of spiritual energy. This is always the worst part of the job, and the most dangerous, both physically and politically. Thankfully, being inside the circle won't harm me in any way, so I sit down, remove my lower robes, and get to work, pulling my familiar photo of a Nekomata out, which I bought from a traveling merchant. My energy flows relatively quickly this time, and it seems no other monsters are nearby to smell it - good on them, because if they'd approached now, they would have to step into the spell's range. It wouldn't be enough to convert a fully transformed mamono back into a human, but her...?

Once the spell is done with its light show and I've got my robes back on properly, I turn back to the crying woman. Her hair is still a light silver, but it appears her monster traits have lessened, somewhat. She's... more human, at least. Down to one Arachne leg, and her right arm lost most of its fur and looks relatively human. Her eyes didn't change, but that's fine. I walk over to her, kneel down, and shake her by the shoulder to rouse her.

"Are you okay? Can you walk?"

The woman never stopped crying, apparently, aghast at her situation, but she opens her eyes and takes her body in again. She appears to be in brighter spirits, with how she's not clutching her arm anymore, and her expression just looking horrified instead of pained, but she turns to me and smiles a little. Ah, this is bliss. She then shakes her head, either unwilling or unable to talk, and holds her arms up as though she wants to be carried. I cover her with my change of clothes, and give her a piggyback ride, after covering up her leg so that the townsfolk don't judge her too harshly, carrying her out of the cave.

...

Eventually, we return to the town. I asked whether she wanted to go home as she is on the way back, or if she wanted me to cast the spell again at my place. Full disclosure, if left untreated, the demonic power could swell, and she might eventually start to morph into an Arachne again. She gave me the okay for the spell, so we went straight to my house when we reached the town. We got a few catcalls from some nosy townsfolk, and I ran into a male friend of mine who patted me on the shoulder and told me "good job", then continued on his way. I sighed, and with as much dexterity as I could muster with just one hand, pulled my keys out of the pocket on the wrong side of my robes, unlocked the door to my home, and opened it, letting us both in. I then closed and locked the door after we were inside, and carried the woman to my guest bedroom / ritual hall.

The same holy inscription was inlaid into a carpet, atop which sat a bed. That carpet cost me a pretty penny, and I had to personally supervise the stitching to make sure all the runes were drawn correctly. At least the Order is partially funding my exploits here...

Anyways, I let the woman off of my back, finally. She didn't have the strength to hold herself up, so I got to enjoy her ample bosom pressing against my back, but now she's laid down on the bed. I ask if she's hungry at all, and she nods. I ask if she's okay with anything, and she nods. Alright, time to whip up one of my specialties - low effort cooking!

Considering how she can't talk, I'll prepare some of my special "dried oatmeal". A bit of brown sugar, a squirt of maple syrup, a bowl half full of pre-dried oats, and a kettle of boiling water later, and we've got a nice hot bowl of oat gruel. I almost went downstairs to the icebox to grab my prized Holstaur Milk, which I got two days ago from a somewhat shady traveller who guaranteed its freshness, but then I remembered that the man warned me of its slight demonic energy content and pulled out the jug of ice water instead. It's really nice of the angels serving Hephaestus to supply us with modern conveniences like this.

After having cooled the oatmeal, I bring it back to my guest. She's back in the fetal position, and facing away from the door - the anaesthetic must have worn off. I place the bowl on a nightstand outside the holy circle's range, and step closer to check on the poor woman; when I find that her face is peaceful, and she seems content. I rouse her once more, offer the bowl and a spoon, and regale her with tales of the monastery where I work and the nearby monster-friendly town. She finishes her food, and I finish my tale, both of us in high spirits. She beckons me closer, and as I go to take the bowl from her, she suddenly hugs me.

Well. This is something I would never resist. I hug her back tightly, and tell her that in the morning, she will be back to human. This seems to appease her, and we part.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to sleep without me waking you up in the middle of it, now."

She chuckles soundlessly at that. I take the empty bowl from her bed, and bring it to the kitchen. When I come back, she seems to be fast asleep. I wonder to myself whether enough time has passed to replenish my spiritual energy, and come to the conclusion that if the answer to that is no, it'll be yes when I wake up tomorrow. She's sitting inside an inactive holy circle, but a holy circle nonetheless. The demonic power inside her shouldn't flare out of control. I comfort my anxiety with these words, and safely fall asleep.

The next morning, I'm greeted with an altogether strange sight. In my grogginess, I've completely forgotten the previous day, and I wake up to a large breasted woman, kneeling on my bed, gently shaking me awake, in what appears to be my robes.

"...Am I still dreaming?"

She chuckles, audibly this time, and pinches my cheek. Hard.

"Ow ow ow! Okay okay I'm not dreaming!"

At least her voice is as beautiful as the rest of her. She still chooses not to talk, though, and motions for a piggyback before I'm even out of bed.

"...Um, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but, uh..."

She tilts her head to the side, cutely imitating a dog.

"...I sleep in the nude."

Her face turns visibly red almost immediately, and she turns away. Specifically, toward the wall my headboard rests against.

"Oh, good idea! If you stay turned that way, I'll get some pants and proper robes, then we can continue with your... exorcism? Purification? ...Y'know, I'm not really sure what to call it."

I'm out of the bed and into my dresser while talking about what could easily be nothing, and in a short half a minute I've got my robes on. I tap the woman on the shoulder, and offer my back in carrying position. She climbs on, and I carry her back to the guest room, thinking that she must've woken up and crawled all the way here.

"Hey, sorry for being such a deep sleeper. It must've been hard getting over there..."

She rests her hand on my head, as if to say that it's alright. We finish the short walk back to the guest room, and I set her back down on the bed.

"Alright, I'm gonna need you to turn away again. I can't have you watch me conduct my ritual - that'd just be heresy."

And then she surprises me with the first real word out of her mouth.

"Er... os?"

"Oh sh- ...Nice, you can talk! Your voice is lovely, by the way. But, no, I draw on just, general holy power. Not any one specific god, but a little bit from all of them."

She blushed a little at the comment about her voice, and nodded at the explanation. She gives up her questioning, and turns away, so I pull my photo of the Nekomata back out, and crank one out real quick. The spiritual energy activates the consecrated circle, and all remaining traces of demonic energy are removed from the woman.

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And that's lightning outside, so I'm gonna stop it here. This has gone on far longer than I originally intended it to - then again, that's how writing tends to go with me, so. Before the power potentially goes out, I'll bid you adieu.