Screams In The Forest

-----Yui's POV

Instead of going out to a forest and... Performing this, brutal surgery on Kaede's mom, Mai suddenly teleported out. Kaede said that she's worried about her mom feeling all that pain, so she sent Mai to the queen in hopes that there's anything we can use for it.

So in the meantime, we've been just trying to relax at Kaede's place while we wait to hear from Mai. Fleur and Faye are now outside practicing to fly together while the rest of us are inside. Sicily and Lillian still look to be uncomfortable with Rina's presence however.

Yui: "So. Can I ask why you two have a problem with Rina?"

Lillian: "Hah~ It's not about her in particular."

Sicily: "Yeah. It's more about "what" she is."

I get that Sicily and Lillian look quite a lot different compared to Rina. The most notable difference being their skin color. But I still don't understand the hate.

Yui: "But aren't the three of you elves at the end of the day?"

Rina: "Don't worry. I have the same feeling towards them."

Wait, so Rina also hates Lillian and Sicily? Or actually, it would be more accurate to say that Rina doesn't like their kind. This sort of reminds me of the hatred between monsters and humans in a way.

Lillian: "I'm not entirely sure. Like personally I've never met a dark elf before, but when I saw Rina, my body tensed up."

Sicily: "Mhmm."

Kaede: "So it's a genetic thing?"

Lillian: "It's also passed down from our families, but yes."

Rina: "Mm. Dark elves will always see high elves as oppressors."

Sicily: "Yeah, and we'll always see you guys as tree huggers."

Kaede: "Wait! So you two are high elves?"

Lillian: "Yes. I thought you knew?"

I'm not entirely sure on what everyone is talking about, but it does seem like there's conflicted between the different races of elves.

Mell: "Uhm... What's so bad about hugging trees?"

And of course, Mell jumps into the conversation with an innocent question. I can guess why Rina is being called that as her power derives from the trees, but doesn't Lillian and Sicily also do the same?

Sicily: "Basically what I mean is that Rina and her kind saps energy from the trees constantly. Whether they intend to or not, they drain the mana from the trees. They're pests."

Lillian: "My sister said it a bit rough there, but she's correct. And since high elves use the trees' mana to empower our magic, having dark elves around would take that away."

Rina: "...It's not like we can control that."

Lillian: "I know. But it just means that our kind can't get along."

Now I understand. So high elves use trees in order to use stronger magic... Actually, I do remember Sicily and Lillian using the trees in order to help us dealing with that spider nest a while back. I guess they're talking about that? So then, if Rina were to be there at that time, Sicily and Lillian wouldn't be able to do that? Or something along those lines? And due to the high elves hatred towards the dark elves, the dark elves ended up fearing the high elves. But if the dark elves can't control their ability like Rina just said, then I don't think this problem can be solved.

Mai: "I'm back!"

And right on cue, Mai returns with a bag in her hand.

Kaede: "That was fast."

Mai: "Well, the queen knows about Lilith's situation, so she quickly got together some alchemists. They gave me a bunch of these, tree roots."

It was then that she pulled out a tree root from the bag that looked to be the size of a small dagger. I know Mai was looking for some sort of pain killer, but a tree root?

Rina: "Tawa root..."

It was Rina who spoke up upon seeing the tree root, and it looks as though she's familiar with it.

Kaede: "You know it?"

Rina: "Yes. My mother used to use it to help fight again certain illnesses and wounds. It has no healing properties, but I can confirm that it'll help with the pain."

Mai: "Perfect!"

Lilith: "S-so, I'm supposed to eat this?"

Mai: "That's what the alchemists said."

Rina: "Hehe. You can, but my mom used to burn it at a low temperature. And breathing in the smell would help relieve the pain."

Kaede: "What would be more effective?"

Rina: "...I guess eating it raw. But the taste of it is quite strong. I'd only do that if the pain was severe. But with what we're planning on doing... Maybe that'll be better."

Kaede: "Alright. Then, mom. Make sure to eat it."

Lilith: "O-okay."

.....

...

With everyone ready, we headed out of the city with the help of Mai as we soon found some trees just outside the city walls. Kaede sensed that we're in the clear, so we all gathered in the center of a group of trees. With Rina here I figured the trees would react somehow, but they still look to be okay, but apparently they are being drained from mana as we speak. Fleur and Faye didn't want any part in watching what was about to unfold, but Mell insisted on coming despite Kaede's warning.

Kaede: "Here-"

Kaede brought out a large blanket before placing it down onto the ground. I guess this is our operating table?

Lilith: "I know I said I was accepting in whatever choice you make, Selene. But now that we're here..."

It was surprising to see Lilith remain so calm about this whole ordeal, but I guess now everything's finally catching up to her now that we're actually here.

Kaede: "I promise we'll save you. There's no side affects to eating the Tawa roots, right?"

Rina: "Uhm... Not really. But eating too much would make you sick for a few days."

Kaede: "Okay. Then mom. Eat some now, and then try to eat more if you need."

Lilith: "A-alright."

God, this is getting intense. I can understand why Lilith is freaking out now. But I need to stay calm. It's my job to get this stupid crest off her back.

Lillian: "Let's give it our best shot."

Yui: "Mm!"

Lillian smiles, trying to cheer me up, but I still worry about fucking something up.

...

But eventually, Lilith ends up taking off her shirt before laying down on her stomach on top of the blanket. Kaede and Mell sat down in front of her, with Kaede holding onto her mothers hand. It was then that Lilith bit down on the Tawa root as she immediately began to wince. But the moment she sunk her teeth into it, the aroma of the root spread over to all of us, creating a surprisingly sweet smell. Seems like the taste and the smell are completely different. I can see why Rina would suggest we burn the roots instead.

Rina: "Okay. I'll now share the mana with you, Lilith."

Lilith: "...M-mm."

Rina placed her hand on Lilith's shoulder. It looks like just an average touch as nothing special happened, but it was then that the crest began to glow incredibly bright, almost blinding me from how sudden it was. I guess with the help of Rina, we now have access to all the mana in the trees. It's similar to when Kaede tried to heal Lilith, but this seems to be different. Notably, Rina isn't feeling any kind of electric shock or any other sort of pain.

Rina: "Okay... Whenever you're ready."

Lillian looks over to me as we both draw our blades. We both sat on either side of Lilith as we both decided to start from the bottom and work our way up to the top, thinking that she might bleed more if we start from the top.

Lillian: "Ready?"

Yui: "No. But I have to, right?"

Kaede: "Eat another one just in case."

Lilith ends up putting another root in her mouth, however choosing to hold it in place with her teeth. I guess Lilith seems to be ready.

Yui: "You ready?"

Lilith: "Mmm!"

Yui: "Then-"

My heart immediately begins to pump faster and faster the closer Lillian and I brought our blades to her back. What the fuck are we even doing?! Are we seriously skinning Lilith?! I try to steady myself, but my heart refusing to calm down as I press the black against her skin.

Lillian: "On three... One."

This is bad! This is bad! This is really fucking bad!

Lillian: "Two..."

Can someone change places with me?! Please?! I know I said I'd do this but I!-

Lillian: "Three."

Despite my crying thoughts, my hand begins to move on it's own as Lillian and I both sink our blades into Lilith's back. And Almost immediately, blood poured out onto our blades before crawling it's way over to our hands, followed by ear piercing screams from Lilith. The screams were so deafening that it made calming my heart just a little easier as Lillian and I quickly continued, cutting under her skin, trying our best to only remove the skin and not cutting any thing else. But that's hard to do considering how much blood is obscuring our path.

At some point, the screams died down to a bit as the sounds of cries took it's place. But honestly, as long as we can hear Lilith, it lets us know that she's still alive. But my god... The amount of blood pouring out over Lillian and I is insane. I'm finding it difficult to even keep a hold of my handle due to how slippery all this is. But I tighten my grasp regardless as I continue to glide my blade between her skin and her spine, as if I'm fileting a fish.

Lillian: "Come on. We're almost there."

Are we?! I'm so focused on not cutting too deeply that I'm not even paying attention to how much we need to go. But hearing Lillian reassure me like that gives me the extra push I need as I try and go a bit faster, cutting away more and more flesh as the blanket quickly turns red as I now feels the blood pooling up on my legs. Isn't this too much blood? Isn't she going to die from blood loss? And actually, she's making a lot less noise now that I'm thinking about it. In a panic, I begin to go faster, cutting away more and more flesh like my life depended on it. The only sounds that could be heard are the gentle cries coming from Lilith and the cutting of her flesh.

Lillian: "!"

And in sync with me, Lillian speeds up as we quickly reach the top of her back. And right when I made the final cut, the glow from the magic crest faded almost instantly as I threw the crest to the side.

Yui/Lillian: "Now!"

And in the next instant, a massive shockwave spread out from Kaede, as light magic quickly engulfs all of us at once. I feel as though through all of that, I was in a trace, and I'm just now waking up from it as I find myself staring at what Lillian and I had just done only for her back to begin sealing up in a blink of an eye, stopping any more blood from flowing out. But even then, Kaede refused to stop healing her mom as we're continuously surrounded in light magic.

Kaede: "Mom!"

Lilith: "..."

The rest of us could only sit there as Kaede let out everything she could, including tears that ended up dripping onto Lilith's hand. I take a moment to look around as all of us were covered in blood as it overflowed off the blanket and began absorbing into the ground. Rina also refused to let go of Lilith's shoulder as her faced is filled with dread as I realize she too is also covered in blood. Just what the hell did we just do...