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[princess_of_ida]

Three for the gleam of a jewel or a smile.



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[sunmon]

It's bone.

Human bone.

[princess_of_ida]

Oh, that shouldn't be a problem. I'm no bone adept but fusing bone to bone I could do at eight.

Which bones?

[sunmon]

[ alina looks down at aleksander's corpse. ]

I haven't figured that out yet. Does it make a difference?

[princess_of_ida]

I have no idea if it will; this is grisha magic, I'm just a facilitator. Perhaps think about where you want me to open your body up.

I don't recommend any bones from the hands, feet, skull, or pelvis. They're either too fragile or are too cumbersome. Though I would like the skull for my new house, if you're willing to part with it.

[sunmon]

It's too dangerous to leave lying around.

[ it's nothing personal. she tells herself this, at least. she's not feeling sentimental for aleksander or protective of his dignity beyond the practical need for her to defend herself against him, to be able to fight him, to be able to undo what he did. she's just making sure no one else winds up with that power, either.

she crouches beside him, wiping bloodied hands on his pants and then clearing sweat from her brow. ]

What do you think is easiest to


to remove

[princess_of_ida]

You're going to leave it lying around regardless. I fail to see how a skull kept behind the protective wards of my house is dangerous, but it is your kill and therefore your corpse to do with as you wish.

[Even necromancers have standards. Sure, the Third were seen to some extent as vultures and scavengers, but that's only because once a body was discarded it became fair game.]

What tools are you using? It's hard to harvest bone by hand.

[sunmon]

I have a knife.

[princess_of_ida]

Assuming it's the save knife you used with me, you're going to have a hard time regardless of what bones you harvest.

Where are you? You're far enough away that I can't sense your thalergy. This fucking maze is making me wish I had put a few strands of hair in your bracelet.

I can talk you through each step of cutting free your chosen bones while on my way. But make no mistake, Alina, I'm not going to harvest them for you.

[sunmon]

I wasn't asking you to.

[ she would have appreciated it, though. some part of her wants it. her hands shake around the knife as she tries to figure out how to handle it, how to approach her grim task.

she sets it aside for now, holds out her hand and sends up a light. a tiny little globe of sunlight. ]

I made a light. Can you see it?

[princess_of_ida]

[It would've been quick and easy for Ianthe to harvest the needed bone, but that was the problem. It wasn't that she wanted Alina to suffer procuring the bone, but there was always a price to pay for power like this. This was something Alina had to do herself, just like it was Ianthe that had to drive the sword through Babs, pin his soul in place, then consume him all on her own. It was necessary.]

Ah, yes. I'm on my way. Which bones have you decided on? I think spine would be sexy, but that's just me.

[And as Ianthe headed to where that light came from, deer in tow, she talked Alina through the right connective tissues to cut, the organs that would be encountered, and the best technique to use. Far easier than talking someone through how to do a lobatomy.]

[sunmon]

I haven't decided.
Trying to pull out a piece of his spine sounds like it's going to make me sick.

[princess_of_ida]

If you're feeling that way now, I hate to tell you that you're going to feel that way no matter what. It's best to think of the corpse as an object and not a person right now. Because it's not; the soul is gone, and that's the part that makes a person a person. That's the important part.

I know that sounds callous, and a part of me really does wish I could make this easy for you. But I can't. This is going to scar you in places you didn't think could.

I suppose telling me the manner of death - the placement of the killing blow - would help in guidance.

[sunmon]

[ there's a lot of that going around. scarring her in ways that she didn't think could scar, changing her into something unrecognizable. she's yet to transform into a monster physically, but already, she feels monstrous. ]

I stabbed him.
Sort of around the ribs.

[princess_of_ida]

Were you standing before him, behind him, to the side? Was it a quick death or did he bleed out?

[sunmon]

On top of him.
It was fast.

cw: snuff

[princess_of_ida]

[Did Alina kill him while fucking him? If so: b r a v o
That was one way to mitigate the physical disadvantages.]

Alright. Logically speaking, you're going to want something clav to sac - in the torso. Limbs are very easy to sever, so you don't want one of those.

[She looked at her skeletal arm with a sigh.]

Clavicle and scapula are easier to remove then ribs, sternum, and spine.

(cw: corpse dismembering)

[sunmon]

Okay.
Okay, I can do that.

[ this is what she tells herself, at least, as she regards his body. it's easier to picture being able to break off his clavicle in her hands than trying to use a knife to somehow saw through bone.

she starts with the knife, cutting under his clavicle, because she has to be able to get at the bone. his body has already lost some of its heat by now, which makes the whole affair even more uncanny, and she takes no joy in the task. blood leaves her hands slippery, and as she realizes that even cutting him open will still necessitate reaching inside of his body, she resolves herself to making more cuts, to cleaving open flesh and muscle to expose the bone instead.

it feels somehow more morbid this way, now that she's doing it, but the reality is that there's no 'less morbid' here. she is desecrating his corpse to steal his bones, all so that she'll be able to kill him again if she has to. when she has to. and maybe kill what piece of himself he's left behind in ravka, too.

she closes her blood-slick fist around his clavicle once it's exposed and pulls, bracing her knee on his shoulder. she's not especially strong, alina, but the bone isn't especially thick either. her hands slip off at first, but when she yanks like she really means it, the bone cracks. splinters.

it comes away in her hand. ]

[princess_of_ida]

[Unaware of what Alina is physically doing, Ianthe continued to give what information she could.]

Use your fingers to feel along the length of the bones to their ends. There will be a firm but flexible white tissue there. That's the cartilage. Cut through there. Every bone has it where it connects to other bone.

Make sure you harvest more than you think you need, in case I make a mistake. I won't, but have extra anyway.

[sunmon]

[ the second — harvested on account of ianthe's professed need — is easier, thanks to her advice. alina digs the knifepoint into the cartilage as she cuts around the bone, and it breaks off easier in her hand.

she leaves both on his bare chest and sits against a nearby tree, trying to stop herself from shaking. ]

It's done.

[princess_of_ida]

I can sense you now. I'll be there in a few minutes.

[And in due time, Ianthe and her skeletal stag came into view. Her eyes find Alina first, then the corpse, then she scanned the area for anyone in hiding and to try to piece together what likely happened, before she focused on Alina.

The deer stayed by the corpse as Ianthe joined Alina by the tree, choosing to stay standing but leaned back against it next to her.]

[sunmon]

[ she looks over at ianthe when she arrives and only then notices that she's been crying. alina sniffs, starts to wipe her cheeks on her knuckles, only to notice that there's blood there too. every part of her hands has become stained by it. looking down at them, this realization seems to be what tips her into speechlessness. she opens her mouth, searching for the right greeting, but nothing comes.

instead, finally, she just pushes away from the tree and turns herself towards ianthe, burying herself in the other woman's arms, clinging to her. she doesn't deserve that comfort, but she seeks it anyway, feeling simultaneously frail and monstrous. ]

[princess_of_ida]

[Ianthe rested her chin on the top of Alina's head as she held her tight. She was terrible at comfort beyond being a steady presence, so that's what she would be. No platitudes, no lies, no promises.

...she hated how Alina's tears made her chest hurt. She hated that a part of her wished she knew how Alina felt. She hadn't cried over Babs; it had never crossed her mind. He had been made for what she used him for, but she had been fond of him.

Ianthe stayed quiet, breathing slowly, steadily, and let Alina cry herself out.]

[sunmon]

I had to do it.

[ she's still shaking against ianthe, clutching at her ribs. ]

You understand, right?

[princess_of_ida]

More than you know.

[On so many levels. Maybe she'll tell Alina once this bone fusing was all done.]

Tell me what happened?

[sunmon]

We ran into each other, and it was like before. All I could think about was making him hurt, making him pay.

[ she'd known she would need to do this eventually. it was the only place this was all going to end. but she hadn't been ready. she hadn't really wanted it. she certainly hadn't wanted it like this.

she sniffs, shaking her head, drawing back. ] The Duchess is going to bring him back. If I'm not stronger when it happens, I won't stand a chance. It won't matter why I did it.