Emergency – The Charred Stranger

A group of three women entered the room with a stretcher.

On it, there was… someone it seemed…

It could also have been a big piece of charred meat as far as Nya was concerned. It did smell like braised pork or something like that – an odor that was somewhat enticing the more you were exposed to it. Too bad she wasn't a cannibal though. 

Thanks to the password and the worried expression around her, she understood that the thing was in fact a person. Judging from her size, she was a teenager not much older than that parasite girl. Her skin and her clothes were burned, with part of the latter fused with what was left of the former. All features she had were unrecognizable – she didn't have any hair left, and of course, her face wasn't really there anymore. Only her moans and the movement of her silver eyes indicated that she was alive and – unfortunately – conscious. 

Nya asked them to put her on the table and promptly took one of her "books" – It had no title and all the pages were blank. She took off a few pages and wrote something with a pen that the girl produced.

[General Anesthesia]

[Breathing Assist]

[Vital Functions Monitoring]

She put the pages on the girl's body and pronounced out loud the words on them. A light suddenly radiated from them as the writings changed form.

Evoke [General Anesthesia]

Evoke [Breathing Assist]

Evoke [Vital Functions Monitoring]

The first two pages disappeared in the form of butterflies made of light. The third one, however, reformed as a kind of airborne screen with things marked unto itself. 

Nya then turned to the women, "Those who are sensitive, leave now."

The women looked at each other. They knew that if Nya was saying that, her following acts may be slightly brutal. Quickly, the woman excused themselves and closed the door behind them. Once they left, Nya took another page and wrote something. She gave the paper to the parasite and wrote something else on another one before putting it on the girl on the table.

"The anesthesia might not be perfect. Cover your ears." she calmly instructed.

Latheli closed her ears while the other girl didn't really react. Nya looked at the paper on the table and pronounced the words on it. 

"Flaying Alive."

Suddenly starting to glow, the writing on the piece of paper suddenly changed form again.

Evoke [Flaying Alive]

Butterflies of light landed all over the girl's body and…

AaaaaaaAAaaaaaaaaaaaahhh !!!

A loud scream filled the room as what was left of her skin was mysteriously peeled and scattered on the table. Covering one of her ears, Nya sighed among the girl's screams, "As I thought. Well, at least, she can't move and that's part of the objective. Hey, parasite, give me the other page… will you…"

The girl promptly presented the object to Nya before she could even finish her sentence. 

"(So useful…)" she thought before sighing again and taking it. "Regenerate."

As soon as she read those words, the paper shined and changed once more. Again, the butterflies landed on the flayed girl's body, but this time, their light seemed to slowly reconstruct her skin. Little by little, her features appeared, her hair grew again, and finally, her whole body was back to what it must have been at first. On the table was now a young woman with long black hair with a peculiar strand of hair on top of her head.

"(Now that's strange…)"

Nya never saw the girl in the East District, which was strange since she literally knew everyone there. Where did she come from? Nya wanted to ask that right away, but the girl didn't seem like she was in condition to answer. Besides, there was something truly wrong with her…

"(Ah… she is one of them, huh? Better take measures now…)" Nya turned to the teenage girl helping her. "Parasite, could you…"

Before she could end her sentence, the girl covered the patient's nude body with a cover. She then easily lifted her in a bridal carry and directed herself toward the stairs. 

"No… stop… it… it burns…" the girl painfully complained, seeming to be in delirium.

Nya sighed again.

"You idiot!" she scolded. "Can't you see her skin just got regenerated?! She's sensitive, don't just treat her like a bag!"

The girl froze and looked at Nya, seeming to wait for an order. She didn't know how to transport someone more carefully so she looked at her Master in hope she would give her an answer. The Master on the other hand, became even more exasperated as she understood what was going on the girl's head.

"(She's just going to stand there until I say something, huh?)" Nya sighed and closed her eyes. "Oh well, just bring it to a room. Just try to not hurt her," she said, ousting the girl with a hand movement.

"Yes." the girl simply responded, unemotionally as always, before disappearing upstairs.

Soon, the calm came back. Nya started cleaning the room assisted by Latheli. None said a single word, both knew what the other was thinking about. Once they finished, Latheli dared to break the silence, asking a question both knew the answer to, "It was an angel, wasn't it?"

Nya sank herself on a chair lazily, "Who knows? She might have been thrown into a furnace."

"It is that dangerous, huh? That is why you didn't want the others to get involved." Latheli insisted. 

Nya sighed, "That girl… she is a bibliomancer, I think. All of her body was gravely wounded, but her eyes didn't have a thing. She probably protected them and that's a reflex only a bibliomancer would have."

Latheli calmly nodded. 

A bibliomancer's most important capacities were its ability to read and its ability to write. In short, a bibliomancer should always protect his eyes, throat and hands. Latheli wasn't a bibliomancer, but Nya – who was probably one – explained it to her a long time ago.

"But what is a bibliomancer such as herself doing down here?" Latheli asked. 

"Heh… What else? The only reason a bibliomancer might have to come here…"

Is to hunt…