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“Can you stay with me for a few minutes? I'm… About to do something that may render me unconscious. Would be cool if somebody brought me back after that.”
“Eh, we are all overdue for some good sleep.” How can turtles smirk? I'm not sure, but Che is skilled at it.
“I mean… Agreed, but I’d prefer to wake up after.” Sarcasm is weak. I'm scared of the process and much more – to find out if it works.
“Ok, ok, I'll stay with you, of course. I can also… Do it for you, if you would like.”
“Nah, I'm good. I have steadier hands. It's gonna hurt like hell anyway, but at least I don't want to cut my arm open by accident. If you make sure I don't injure myself while poisoned, it would be nice, though.”
I honestly don't know why the injection gave Tetsuri a seizure. In a fight, this poison seemed to just cause pain and make creatures dizzy for a short time. It may just be that Tetsuri expected himself to react the same way as he did to whatever potion he bought from that witch. Or maybe poisons work stronger if you inject them than when they get in a bloodied cut (which makes quite a lot of sense).
I take out my instruments. I’ve seen how Tetsuri mixed the thick plant juice with saline solution and filtered it, and it's easy enough to reproduce. The mash taken directly out of the berry would stick to the blade better, but I don't want that in my bloodstream.
“Ready?”
“I mean, not really, but it's not getting better.”
I lay down on my futon. Don't want to fall.
A needle goes through a young plant shoot-like membrane of my skin and into an almost normal human vein. It barely feels like anything on its own. I really do have steady hands, even when nervous. Not the scary part just yet.
“What makes it worse is that I don't even know if it's gonna do anything. I mean, poison suppresses corruption in those who already have it, but I have no idea if it helps to prevent infection in the first place. I may be just torturing myself for nothing.”
I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and start slowly depressing the plunger.
It instantly feels like I’m stabbed in the arm. I clench my teeth, knowing it's only gonna get worse – and it does. Poison spreads with every drop in my system and every heartbeat, and it feels like I’m being slowly cut with a dull knife that is also on fire. Arm, then shoulder, then chest. I get short of breath, and I don't even know if it's the poison or just the pain itself. Then I progressively start feeling sick, just not quite enough to puke and get at least a short moment of relief.
I see sparks behind my eyes. The only reason I’m not drenched in tears and cold sweat is that my semi-plant body can’t do that. But what I can do is scream. I wish I could scream the most foul profanities and the most heretical curses I know, but I’m no poet, especially when I feel like that, so I just give out the most shameful, five-year-old-girl scream from the top of my lungs. I probably broke my voice, but it's a future me problem.
Being drenched in corrupted acid was objectively worse. But I was in fight mode and almost in shock at the time, and now I can feel everything extremely clearly. Not talking about the fact that I am still in pain from the acid, too.
And then, it just stops. I don't even understand at first if my body cleared off the poison or if I gave up, fainted, and Che actually had to stabilize my condition. But after what feels like a few hours, I realise that I still have an empty syringe stuck in my arm and a terrified friend staring at me. I honestly don't have the energy to deal with either of those problems, but I can't just leave the needle in my arm and go to sleep; I’m really gonna regret it. So I pull it out as carefully as I can. It hurts a little – more stings than hurts, even – but I barely notice. A few drops of blood fall on my bedsheets. I should probably put on some bandages, but I can't be bothered. Good thing I have green skin, so a bruise won't be all that noticeable tomorrow.
“Let's see if it worked… I guess.” I say it while already mostly asleep. At least, I achieved one thing: I’m too exhausted to be scared.