Liver

The first thing Alice did when she started the complex process of growing back her arm, was to carefully copy the structure of her intact left ulnar bone.

Using her Biomagical Instincts skill, she carefully directed a thin layer of proteins where the bone ended and meticulously placed them to form a weak but flexible scaffolding connected to the residual bone.

Once she felt satisfied with their placement, the biomancer quickly directed the rest of her skeletal system to release a part of the calcium it had naturally accumulated over time, mainly thanks to the water of the caves being chock-full of the important mineral.

The tiny molecules of calcium and other elements were gradually moved towards the awaiting scaffolding, soon starting to cover each protein in a much thicker and sturdier layer of ivory bone tissue.

As she progressed, Alice carefully decomposed or displaced some of her other cells to make space for the slowly growing ulna, stopping only when she felt the new bone starting to put pressure on her skin.

So far, the process had only regrown an extremely small fraction of the rigid organ, barely longer than the nail of a pinkie finger, but Alice felt a confused mix of relief, elation and grief as she watched the sliver of white bone slowly taking shape.

Smiling, the biomancer delved deep within the tiny fraction of new bone and had the marrow commence its regrowth in that new and untamed territory.

Once she had confirmed the yellowy substance had started following her orders, the young woman made sure to also extend the many blood vessels that snaked through the bone, ordering them to keep it fed as it grew back to its shape.

The only thing Alice actually left untouched was her nervous system, electing to form those connections once she had finished both bones of the forearm.

No point rushing with pain. She thought as she started working on the radius, removing the thick cap of fibrous tissue and bone cells to start extending it further with the help of her magic.

A couple more hours passed and, at long last, both bones finally reached their limit within the skin, now unpleasantly pushing against it as if trying to burst through on their own.

Alice knew that the next step would be to cut open the stump to allow the bone to continue its progress, she had spent many long hours floating in the void-room while thinking of a safe way to do it without dying of blood loss as she worked and, in the end, she was pretty sure she had found a relatively safe solution for her problems.

First thing first, the young woman located all the major blood vessels in the forearm and proceeded to temporarily close off each of them with a thin membrane she created with the same kind of cells that formed the walls of large veins and arteries, effectively blocking the blood flow to the final part of the stump.

Alice ignored the uncomfortable feeling coming from the now-suffocating tissue and proceeded to completely numb her nerves before she came back to her senses.

Feeling a bit lightheaded, the young woman reached for the prosthesis that she had left propped up near the futon, still filled with concentrated glimmers but empty of the shadowy core, which she had now stuck in its usual spot between her thighs.

The Lumen glimmers quickly came out of their vessel and raced onto the stump, completely coating it in a shining and translucent layer of mucilage that quickly erased any trace of filth or external pathogens that could have been present on the skin.

Once she felt the entire arm had been completely disinfected, Alice asked Maath to form yet another scalpel out of the cave’s metal and proceeded to also sterilize the new, sharp tool with the hungry Lumen.

The sharp bistoury held tightly in her slightly trembling hand, Alice now looked at the gnarled skin of her right arm, staring at the two, small protrusions of her radius and ulna pushing to get out.

She held her breath as she placed the thin blade on her numbed skin, and released it as she sliced it open, gasping even as only a small trickle of blood seeped out of the slightly uneven cut. She could already see the pinkish end of the two long bones, poking through the bloodless flesh.

“Fuck. Thank god I’m not scared of blood.” She exhaled as her trembling hand finally dropped the scalpel on the futon, staining it with her life fluid.

She moved into her stump once again, her skills would tell her when she needed to open up the seal placed on the veins but she had to use her time wisely.

The bone soon started growing anew.

A number of hours had passed since Alice had started regrowing her arm and Maath, so used to being unable to move and do nothing but eat for days on end, had watched enraptured the entire process.

At first, the tiny biped had remained completely still, sitting on the small cushion her Son had apparently created upon her request when they were in the upper caves.

Another thing making us similar, she amusedly thought, a small chuckle escaping her mouth, breezing past her fangs and breaking the silence of the glade.

Alice’s ability to remain completely still for hours on end was something that, at first, had deeply surprised Maath, so used to the skittering restlessness of her Daughters, always so busy with their work for the Nest that sometimes they forgot to eat and sleep, toiling on their tasks until they dropped on the spot, unable to even walk.

The human’s stillness, however, wasn’t done out of laziness—a word she had been taught by Alice herself— but because that was the only way she could really access the entirety of her core, allowing her full use of her powers. Thus, Maath had immediately decided that her behavior didn’t count as idleness.

Unlike mine. She had thought morosely as she observed the human female; Maath was the only one in the entire Colony that could be described as lazy or idle; a fact that pained her more than the constant agony of the Illness breeding inside of her viscera.

What a worthless Queen.

Then, just as she was thinking of retreating into her burrow, Alice had suddenly stirred awake and risen on her feet in such a rush that she had almost lost her balance.

The matriarch had gotten ready for another one of her reckless and dangerous plans, like trying to get disemboweled by the mole-rat or attacking a creature she had never seen before to harvest its core.

Her behavior, however, remained somewhat normal, at least until she had asked her to create another one of those strange tools she used in her experiments.

The Queen had thought she had decided to open up the slug, still weakly squirming in her restraints as she tried to free herself and escape, but Alice had instead proceeded to cut open her right limb and expose the white tips of her bones to the air before stilling once more.

Maath had immediately attempted to ask her what she was trying to do but her questions had fallen on deaf ears, that reckless hatchling had already sank deep into her mind once again.

I wonder if all the members of her species are like that. she asked herself as she watched a slow dribble of blood droplets starting to coat the silk upon which the girl rested, her face growing paler and paler as the waking cycle slowly passed and the two thin spikes of bone grew almost out of thin air from the open wound, each shard always coated by a thin layer of the luminescent substance she so easily controlled.

As time passed, Maath became more and more worried about the amount of blood Alice was losing and the giant spider had started debating whether to interrupt her attempt or let it continue as a sign of trust. Her doubts, however, were themselves interrupted when the girl moved once more, her silver and light brown eyes opening wide as she stared at the two intact bones on her right limb.

She wobbled a bit on the spot as she lifted the arm up to her eyes, gently moving it around as she inspected her work.

Unable to wait even a heartbeat more, Maath extended her frontal limb and gently controlled the vibrations in her wire to produce her personal silkspeech.

“Alice, I trust your attempt has been preyful?” she eagerly asked, still eyeing the two thin and white protrusions.

The human girl immediately turned, as if surprised to see her, but after a moment of silence she raised her right arm even higher, allowing her to take a better look.

After a brief inspection, Maath clicked appreciatively. Even if slow, it was still progress.

“I see. A good work.” She politely stated to the girl who immediately smiled at her.

The Queen saw the human girl’s luminous eyes glinting in mirth and unshed tears before she decided to rush into an in-depth explanation of things she couldn’t even begin to understand.

“Yes! It worked! It was really hard to start and control the structure but I even managed to improve on it by copying the mole-rat…” she stopped, a sudden look of uncertainty passing through her eyes and making her radiant smile waver.

She brought two fingers to her lips and gently touched one of her teeth before staring for a long time at the now bloodied digits.

“Oh no… those weren’t bruises.” She muttered, her voice wavering and her body wobbling on the spot.

Maath finally noticed the many purplish spot appearing on the pale skin of the human, she stared at the still-open flesh of her arm, which, she realized, should have already sealed by itself with the girl’s powers.

Uneasiness filled her mind as her supposed savior started crawling towards her small lair.

“What is happening?” she asked, “Alice?”

In her daze, Alice barely heard the Queen’s questions as she crawled towards her goal.

Her mind was still reeling from the sudden realization. How could she miss the symptoms? For all this time?

She should have realized it as soon as the first signs had showed up, but she had always thought them a coincidence or the result of her dangerous life in the darkness!

But now, everything fit perfectly into a very scary puzzle.

Her tiredness and anger; the constant aches of her muscles and bones; the long time it now took her to heal just a few bruises when just weeks before she would be able to seal off large, gaping wounds; but even more obvious than all the other symptoms combined, how could she ignore the many round bruises that kept appearing on her skin?

She had been ill for a long time and now she had just managed to make it much worse by using the already small reserves she had available.

Alice had scurvy.

With that knowledge in mind, she had immediately wracked her brain for a cure, for something, anything, she could do to stymie the progress of the illness. The only idea, however, had been not only useless, but absolutely infuriating.

Where the hell can I find citrus fruits in a damn cave? Fuck!

As the young woman felt her vital fluid starting to seep through the countless broken capillaries into her flesh, fear started taking its place in her veins, chilling them with the prospect of a slow and pitiful death on the floor of some dark cave none knew about.

Help me! Please! She implored The Whispering Mother, the other beings that were supposedly watching her, enjoying her pain in that new world.

Feeling her well still half-full, she activated those skill she thought could keep her death at bay while she tried to find a definite solution.

Hemostasis washed over her body, trying to seal the gashes in her veins; Terminus frantically ordered the cells to stop decaying; Lesser Regeneration was empowered by her magic, trying to keep the blood inside of her body. Nothing worked.

Alice finally realized that no matter how powerful her magic was, if she didn’t have the basic components to activate it, she would simply fail. The clots broke up as soon as they formed, the vessels ignored her orders and the regeneration failed to even start.

As panic flooded her brain, all reason left her and she simply let her power flood every ability she possessed.

Her sight and hearing sharpened, the few pathogens and toxins in her body were destroyed and consumed. Nothing changed.

At least, until the panicking girl felt a deep instinct coming from her brain that forced her to move. Feeling the capillaries break under the weight of her own body, Alice crawled away from the blood-stained futon and towards the remains of her last meal.

The juvenile mole-rat’s carcass was still laying a few meters away from her tent, its chest torn open after she had harvested some of its meat.

When she finally reached it, she felt the instinct become stronger, telling her what to do.

Alice ignored the warm meat still stuck to the bones of the monster and the foul odor of its guts, already starting to rot, to instead reach deep into its chest, using the green and gold flare coming from her skin to spot her target.

Once she felt its somewhat slimy and squishy texture on her fingers, the girl ripped the organ away from the corpse and immediately brought it to her mouth.

The coppery taste of the beast’s liver flooded her tastebuds, filling her mouth with the taste and texture of gelatinous blood. She eagerly swallowed it all, licking her fingers before ordering her stomach to immediately convert it into nutrients.

As the instinct started to fade, her ringing ears finally caught the worried words of the Queen behind her. Alice was still feeling woozy but she turned and started crawling towards her, feeling the blood trickling out of her veins and onto the ground as she skirted the edge of the massive pool of the Lumen, now a massive flare in the darkness of the cave.

“I need more liver” she murmured as she felt herself falling, the feeling of liquid briefly filling her mind before everything turned dark.

Oblivion finally took her.

*****

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