Checkup: Tangled

"Revolutions. A few important ones, but not all of them were for the better." Diana, the more historically inclined between the two, recalled what she had learned. "Is it my turn?"

"It is."

Diana obliged and raised the back of her robe up. Diana too felt the Arboreal Maiden's hands to be cold. There was silence for some time, the Arboreal Maiden focusing intently on the analysis of Diana's body.

"It was inevitable I suppose, one of the muscles in your back is twisted. Please lay face down on the ground. Donovan, I will need you to hold her legs down."

"Hold her legs down?"

"Hold my legs down?"

"Yes, I would prefer not to be kicked in the face if you spasm. I can handle your upper body arching upwards, but the twisting of the hips and flailing of the legs might complicate things."

"Will it hurt?"

"Not at all. On the contrary, it is going to tickle."

Once again deciding to place her trust in the Arboreal Maiden's abilities, she laid face down on the ground, the Great Csillacra's heart. It felt weird on her face, but it was breathable enough. If she had to pin it down with words, it was like putting her face in a foam pillow with a grassy wet covering, except there was no water.

The Arboreal Maiden knelt down to her right and placed her hands on a spot just below her ribcage on the same size. At the same time, she felt pressure at the place where ankle transitioned into calf. Donovan didn't have the largest hands, but they were more than big enough to wrap all the way around her legs at that point. It made her feel vulnerable in more ways than one, and she buried her face into the strange surface.

"The malformity isn't that significant, really only a few strands of muscle fiber, but it could cause pain in the future. With that said, let's begin."

Donovan, actually in a position to see the Maiden at work, noticed a glow originating from her hands with his new sense. Beneath this dull blur was what appeared to be a set of solid lines. Gently, she inserted these into Diana's back. They didn't pierce the skin, that is to say they didn't draw blood, but they certainly sunk into her body. In a rapid and unpredictable fashion, the Maiden flicked her wrists.

Donovan wasn't stupid, he could see that each move of the wrist, fidget of the finger, and twist of the arm shifted those little needles in a purposeful way. He just couldn't figure out the correlation between the movement and the response.

"Hugieaaah!!!"

Diana let out what would qualify as a cry for help. Just as the Arboreal Maiden had predicted, she was thrashing about. Donovan could tell from the arcing of Diana's back that being kicked in the head was definitely a possibility in the Maiden's position. In fact, it seemed like the only reason that work could continue was the fact that Diana couldn't get her lower back off of the ground.

Speaking of her lower back, Donovan could very clearly see some slightly wriggling underneath the skin where the Maiden was working. It looked fairly wormlike, but he could tell this was likely the muscle being untangled. From how it appeared, Don would have guessed that this would have been experience that qualified as painful to the point of tears.

Indeed, Diana was crying, but it wasn't out of pain. Currently, she was experiencing a deep tissue massage on the level of literal muscular rearrangement. It was a physical sensation the body wasn't truly equipped to handle, but for some reason it failed to evoke a painful response. Had it been any less intense, she might have been forced into laughter, but at the current levels she was experiencing an overload.

"Almost done." The Maiden's movements were slowing down. From what Don could see, she was making a stroking motion. It was as if she was combing her hair. Actually, upon closer inspection, Don determined that she was combing. The little needles were ordered parallel to each other and followed her movements down Diana's back.

With every stroke Diana tensed and shook, but the subdermal writhing was fading. Eventually it subsided entirely. Once she was content with her work, the Maiden made a similar set of motions to when she started. Pulling the robes back down, she offered her help in bringing Diana to her feet.

"That patch might be sensitive for some time, but you won't suffer from it in the future. Would you like a summary similar to what I gave Donovan?"

"...please." Her voice was weak. There could be little doubt that Diana was exhausted from the events of the day. From the long walk, to her body being rebuilt, to the intense physical distress she had just gone through, she had run out of energy to give an enthusiastic reply.

"Same as Donovan, tissue was reformed to make it viable for interaction with split. However, it would appear you had few, if any, issues with your genetics. The only one that could have possibly had a noticeable effect would be the natural growth of bone spurs later in life. Painful, but not exactly impactful."

"Thank you for that."

"Don't thank me. Other than that, most of the focus was on you reproductive organs. A few massive adjustments were made to how your body responds. For one, hormonal imbalance during your... Ovulation? Period? Whatever the scientific equivalent may be, has been fixed. You shouldn't suffer from pains, mood swings, or other such side effects, though I regret to inform you that you will still bleed.

This was done in consideration of the fact that your body will now naturally produce eggs at a rate that will keep your ovaries at a sufficient stock. Stress, injury, malnutrition, and other such conditions may interfere with this process, but as long as it does not persist for a period of five years or longer there should not be an issue."