Chương 116: Tevenny's Fate

Joe stood over Tevenny's frail form, as she lay on the hospital bed he'd secured for this day. Valeri and Corel sat close by, ready to assist if needed. He prayed he wouldn't have to call on them; if he did, it would mean the operation had gone wrong in some way. He placed the anaesthetic pill Corel had prepared into Tevenny's hand. She would have to remain conscious throughout the procedure, so the pill would only numb the pain and wrap her mind in a haze of euphoria.

"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded and swallowed the pill. Her eyes glazed, but not enough to hide the fear she tried to mask. Joe drew in a steadying breath and gave Anthony a small nod.

"It will only take me thirty-three seconds to implant the seed," Anthony said as he cracked open the canister. A gust of air stirred as the cloud inside dispersed, revealing the fully matured seed. Anthony plucked it free with delicate care, and the operation began. Exactly thirty-three seconds later, Joe raised his hand and activated Nature's Paradise. He felt the skill seize hold of the seed now grafted to Tevenny's side, and beneath it, the strong, steady beat of her heart.

Just as Anthony had described, the connection was absolute. Joe exhaled and began. His goal was simple: use the years he had spent cultivating plants and fauna to mould new limbs for Tevenny's body, and empower the seed to grow it. Limbs, to replace what she had lost. A torso reforged back to completion. A chance at wholeness. Anthony had warned him her eyes could not be restored, but Tevenny had dismissed that with grace. She said her new sight had its own advantages. So Joe focused only on what he could heal.

He pushed his senses deep into her body, tracing every detail of her ruined form. The damage was staggering. One lung barely functioned. Half her stomach was missing. A kidney gone. Vital systems torn apart. Joe wondered how she had even managed to survive this long. Valeri had given him a crash course in Aur Garde Fern biology beforehand. Their physiology was almost identical to humans, save for one additional organ. Thankfully, that small organ remained intact, sparing him one more risk.

Carefully, methodically, Joe mapped out a perfect image of her organs, using strands that emerged from the seed. Blood vessels and the inner framework of the damaged portion of her body. He used the right side of her as his main reference point. It took him nearly an hour of gruelling focus before he was satisfied. Only then did he shift to the easier work: Shaping a new leg, a new arm, and even a small section of her chin.

He knew he couldn't recreate her exact features, but that wasn't what mattered to her or Valeri. They wanted Tevenny to live. To breathe, to walk, to reclaim her life. Joe wanted her to have more than survival. He wanted her to thrive. So he poured everything into that final picture in his mind, until it snapped into place and the wooden exoskeleton of her broken limbs was complete. At once, the connection cut off, exactly as Anthony had said it would. Joe sagged, chest heaving, and gratefully downed a mana pill.

One precious minute of rest. Valeri rushed to her sister's side, dabbing her brow with a cloth.

"Her heart beat is steady. It's working!" she whispered, hope shining in her eyes. Joe didn't answer. He saved every shred of strength for the final step, the hardest of all. He would have to guide the seed as it grew, coaxing it to fill in the form of Tevenny's new body. It would demand absolute focus, and he was ready. As his minute of rest ended, Valeri retreated to her chair. Joe lifted his hands and reactivated Nature's Paradise. The seed stirred awake. The moment the connection flared, Joe nearly blacked out.

His knees buckled, and he staggered, barely clinging to the link before it slipped away. Gasps erupted around him, but he shut them out. He had to stay focused. He had to figure out what just happened. He saw it. Something writhed in the centre of Tevenny's chest. For several long seconds, Joe couldn't make sense of what he was seeing. As the seed began to grow, he should have been guiding its flow, but all his attention was fixed on the intrusive mass inside her. It pulsed with unnatural life. Not a tumour.

Not a scar. Something alive. Joe brushed it with his mind and recoiled as a violent killing intent slammed into him, sharp and suffocating. His thoughts screamed. What the hell is that? Tevenny's heartbeat spiked erratically. Anthony's voice rang out, urging him to control the growth, but Joe knew that would be a mistake. Unless he destroyed this thing, she wouldn't survive.

So instead of guiding the seed forming her new body, he hurled his mind into the darkness, diving straight into the malignant core in her chest. It was like plunging headfirst into a sea of knives. His mind was shredded, his being flayed apart. It felt like he was no longer in that small room; it was as if he was back inside the bloodline gate, strapped to a table while Catalina Terravignion's human form carved into him, drowning him in body-melting poisons, burning him to nothing only to drag him back again.

His body no longer mattered. He was just a fragment of existence, adrift, on the brink of annihilation. Something inside him pulsed, a warning, stop, or be lost forever. Rage spiked instead. He fought back against the force trying to crush his soul. Eyes appeared before him, cold and judging. A hand reached out, closing around him, squeezing until he thought he would burst. But suddenly… the pain fell away. He drifted, weightless, sliding toward the void. Toward nothing. A voice reached him through the dark.

'Fight,''Fight!' It was both his bonds. Rose and Corel pulsed through him, a frantic cry of warning, both sensing him on the edge of death, his soul seconds from severing their fate. Fight, they urged. Joe grimaced faintly, nodding to himself. His soul ignited like wildfire, burning away doubt, burning away pain. He fought. He clawed his way out of the void, shattering the weight pressing down on him until at last he tore free, dragging himself back into his body, gasping for air. And in that moment, he understood.

He started to piece together what was happening. He had seen clearly what was festering inside Tevenny. His eyes snapped open, locking on Anthony. The man stood watching him with an almost manic glee in his eyes. No words needed to be said. He had done this. Purposefully set a trap for Joe to fall into, to perish inside, dragging Tevenny along for the ride. Joe's lips curled into a snarl as he lashed out, a blast of mana ripping through the room.

Anthony crumpled, dead in an instant, yet a faint smile had crossed his face just before the end. Joe didn't know why Anthony had done what he did, why he had hidden such a thing inside the seed. He only knew it had to be destroyed. His mind dove back into Tevenny's chest, attacking the corruption. He ripped at it with sparks of mana, tearing it apart piece by piece, only to see it regrow just as fast as he could destroy it. Panic flooded him as he shredded it again and again, until finally he saw something.

At the centre of the writhing mass pulsed a faint ball of light. The core. Joe had seen this thing once before, at the apothecary shop. Sealed inside a glass case. This was a corrupted core Anthony had embedded in the seed, buried so deep Joe had completely missed it with his Nature's Paradise. He reached for it with his mind, agony detonated through him, but he endured. Compared to the torments he had already survived, this was nothing. He dove deeper. And after a few more moments, clarity formed.

He remembered Anthony's words when they first met. This was a Paralax Virus core. A construct designed with one purpose: to bind living beings together and destroy them both. This only confirmed Joe's suspicions that this was a trap designed to kill both him and Tevenny. He shoved the thought aside. It didn't matter. All that mattered was killing the damn thing. Joe switched over to his enriched mana and poured it into the core.

It was like unleashing magma through a forest, the virus shrieked as his will and enriched mana burned it apart. Tevenny's body convulsed violently, her screams tearing through the room. Joe's soul shook with remorse. She was dying and in pain, and it was his fault. Uriel was silent within his mind. She had exhausted herself when she showed him her vision and had yet to recover. No light would come from her today. His skill was silent. So he turned to the only thing he had left. Nature.

He forced his skill Nature's Paradise further than he ever had, channelling more mana, more essence, more of himself than his body should be able to withstand. It felt like he might burst apart, but he kept going, pushing the torrent of nature into Tevenny. As he pushed, he found a faint flicker at the back of her mind, so fragile, so close to vanishing. Frantic, he poured everything into that spark of her mind. More and more, until it seared and pulsed, until at last it glowed green with life.

Her heartbeat steadied. Her breathing evened. Against all odds, Joe had dragged Tevenny back from the brink. Only then could he turn his focus back to the wreck of Tevenny's body. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. The sight nearly broke him. Where she had once lain was now a tangled mass of vines and wood, scattered with fragments of yellow skin. Her body was gone, consumed by the seed's uncontrolled growth.

He slammed his will down on it, halting the spread before it devoured her entirely. What the hell do I do now? He wondered. All he saw were vines. They had wrapped around every organ, every bone, every shard of flesh. She was practically gone. Focus, fool! he snarled at himself. Tevenny was still alive. Still inside there, somewhere, and she needed him. He slapped himself and forced breath into his lungs. There was no choice left, only one path forward. He would have to remake her from the ground up.

Almost every organ. Every limb. Even parts of her brain. He was no doctor, no scientist. He was simply a man with a profession based on nature and a simple hope. He took one more deep breath, and he began. He poured everything into the task. The framework of her body he had created inside his mind and inside the seed was still intact. He simply had to force it into being. He weaved her anew, piece by piece. As he removed chunks of wood, he found her organs, intact and alive.

He instinctively switched over to his enriched mana as he wrapped those organs in a protective bubble and moved them back into place. Corel must have sensed something through their bond because she was now at his side, wiping sweat from his face, slipping mana pills past his lips whenever he faltered. This allowed him to slip back to using his normal mana, relieving some of the burden on his body. Hours bled into days as he worked, standing motionless while his mind and mana spun ceaselessly.

Slowly, Tevenny's form returned, not the frail, yellow-skinned body she had once been, but something reborn. A vessel of wood and vine, pulsing with vibrant, almost ethereal life. She started to look like a living statue of herself, brown and green yet unmistakably born of her form. Her legs took shape. Her shoulders and arms. Her torso and finally the shape of her head, minus the hair. All except her face. Her features were still a formless mask of smooth wood, without eyes.

Joe staggered as he halted the seed's growth completely, his legs giving out from exhaustion, but Corel and Valeri were there, one at each side, steadying him, pushing him onward with silent faith. He drew on their strength, their belief, and forced himself to continue. When he reached for her formless face, he paused. An idea struck.

"Valeri," he rasped.

"Stand in front of me. I need you as a guide. Tell me if I get anything wrong." Valeri stepped forward, lifting her chin, though anguish etched her features as she gazed upon her sister's form. She looked utterly worn out, awake through every hour of this ordeal, but she held herself firm. He could practically see the love for her sister pour from her. He smiled faintly at her.

"Don't look so sad. She's alive. Her heart still beats strong. Let us finish this together." He placed a hand on Tevenny's shoulder. The wood felt cool, but also strangely soft, as if it were changing. He felt Valeri's palm rest upon his hand, her eyes fixed upon her sister's blank face. Valeri smiled down, and Joe began. He used Valeri as a living template, shaping Tevenny's face to the best of his ability. He was glad they were twins, almost identical, which made the task far easier.

He was also grateful that his forming of her features relied on his mind's image rather than any physical artistic talent; if it had depended on his drawing skills, this would have been a disaster. Bit by bit, Tevenny's features took form. With each curve and line that moulded into place, Valeri's eyes shone brighter. Nearly an hour passed before she finally pursed her lips and offered her first correction.

"Soften her cheeks a little. And give her nose a sharper tip." Joe adjusted accordingly. Soon she was adding smaller refinements, minute details only a sibling would know, and another hour slipped by. When he finished, Tevenny's face was as complete as he could make it. Her mind stirred. Her heartbeat grew stronger than at any point since he began, her chest rising in smooth, steady breaths. Joe then noticed something remarkable: the wood under his hand shifted, the texture softening until it nearly felt like skin.

He caught Valeri's hand and pressed it against her sister. Her eyes filled as she felt life beneath her touch. He also noticed a significant improvement in Tevenny's mind. Their sisterly connection pulled her back from her slumber more and more. Joe moved to Tevenny's arms. Valeri wept in silence while he coaxed wood and vine into muscle, shaping biceps and triceps with care. Years of biology lessons now bore fruit as he worked tirelessly.

Another hour passed, then another as he moulded forearms, then legs, thighs and calves, sculpting each part with patience and precision. When he checked the arms again, his elation soared. They felt like actual flesh and muscle, eerily similar to Esha's synth arm in texture. He pressed on, crafting shoulders, ribs, and stomach. Valeri poked at his side, gesturing at Tevenny's hips, which looked… far too masculine.

He coughed and reshaped them, using Valeri as his guide, adding a curve here and softening a line there. Valeri only let him move on when Tevenny had been given more shape than her. Remembering his patient was a woman, he added the faint swell of a chest before refining the torso's flow. Valeri clapped softly, eyes wet, but smiling. Joe held the flow of Nature's Paradise steady for another hour, allowing the muscles to settle, to soften, to become more than wood.

Finally, with the last of his strength, he released his grip on the transformation. He collapsed into Corel's arms as Tevenny jolted awake. In a blur, she bolted upright and staggered to a mirror, staring at the body that now stood whole once more. Joe, barely able to keep his eyes open, could only watch her in awe. Alive. Whole. Stronger than ever. Tevenny flicked her wrist, and sparks of mana flared from her fingertips.

"I can use my skills! I can do everything!" Tevenny cried, her voice strong and vibrant, though slightly deeper than before. She turned toward them with a radiant smile. Joe blinked back a tear, but the empty sockets on her face twisted his chest. The one thing he couldn't help with. Tevenny noticed his look and blushed, reaching for clothing, dressing quickly before wrapping a cloth around her head to cover her lack of eyes.

Joe lay with his head in Corel's lap, exhaustion dragging him toward sleep as her fingers stroked his hair. Then, unexpectedly, a second hand brushed his cheek, soft, tentative. He opened his eyes to find Tevenny smiling down at him.

"Thank you. You have no idea what this means to me," she whispered, tracing the line of his brow. He managed a tired smile as his eyes slipped closed.

"You are welcome," he murmured. Her voice faded as she turned to Corel with a quiet question Joe couldn't catch. Just before sleep took him, he thought he felt the faint brush of lips on his forehead. He slept for a full day. When he awoke, Corel and Tevenny were draped over him. He lightly tapped shoulders, and the pair sprang to action, fussing over him like doting elders. They forced him to drink jug after jug of water and stuffed him with meat until he thought he might burst.

He let them, simply enjoying the pampering. Even when they insisted on washing him in the pond, he relented, too sore to argue after draining both mana bars to their limits. They were respectful, though Tevenny blushed the entire time furiously, struggling not to stare. Joe laughed at her embarrassment, which only made her blush deepen. It was a stark contrast to her usual forwardness. By the second day, he recovered enough to talk unaided.

He sat at the edge of the training grounds, watching Tevenny spar with Esha. Their first match had ended swiftly, Tevenny's psychic skills overwhelming Esha with ease, so now she was barred from using them. Esha had shouted about how unfair it was to attack an unprotected mind and vowed to buy safeguards against psychic attacks on her next trip to the village. Joe shook his head in amusement. The Aur Garde Fern truly had an overwhelming advantage against anyone unprepared for their mental abilities.

It was a relief that so few of their kind took part in integration competitions. He watched Tevenny flip and glide across the training ground, awe stirring in him. Her wooden vine-woven form had shifted into a yellow-tinged hue, so close to flesh that from a distance it was impossible to tell the difference. Only up close could one see the truth of what she had become. But what impressed Joe most wasn't Tevenny's new form; it was her movement.

She leapt and spun around the training grounds like a rabbit possessed, darting and flipping with impossible agility. It reminded him of watching Yoda fight a Sith, graceful, erratic, and utterly unstoppable.

"Has she always fought like that?" he asked Valeri, who sat beside him. She had taken it upon herself to act as his attendant until he fully recovered to her liking, much as she had when her sister was bound to a wheelchair.

"No. This is new, part of her new body," Valeri answered, her eyes alight with awe. They watched together as Tevenny vaulted over Esha, twisting in mid-air before pinning the warrior flat on the ground. Joe applauded enthusiastically until Esha hurled a rock at him. He laughed as Valeri caught it neatly and scolded Esha for assaulting an 'injured man.' Joe stuck his tongue out, earning only a huff from Esha.

He activated a scarecrow, which slowly walked toward her, and her expression immediately turned to joy as she pounced on it, driving her blades deep into the straw. He chuckled, knowing he had avoided a payback later. Another quiet day of recovery passed, and by the next morning, Joe was back to full strength, rested, focused, and ready to take on the world again.

"We would like to move here to Landradad," Tevenny announced. Joe had half-expected this and turned toward Corel.

"That depends on the lady of the house. She decides who our neighbours are."

"We would be honoured to have you," Corel said warmly. Of course, she would say that.

"You're also welcome to share our bed, Joe's room is large enough…"

"No!" Joe cut in immediately, silencing that idea, though he heard Tevenny's grumble of disappointment. Still, everything had worked out. Anthony's betrayal remained a mystery. Had he acted out of hatred? To claim the bounty? Or was there something darker driving him? Joe doubted he'd ever know. But Tevenny had survived, and so had he. That was enough for now. His focus shifted to a new project, one that would shape the course of his future forever. But before he could begin, trouble found him.

As Joe sat deep in thought, Corel and Esha slipped into the room without him noticing. A sudden prick of steel touched the back of his neck. He froze.

"Erm… ladies? Did something happen?"

"Someone came to me today with a question," Corel said evenly.

"She claimed she won a bet with you, and asked for permission to go on a date." Shit. Needless to say. Joe regretted every decision that had led him here as Corel and Esha delivered a 'lesson' he would never forget. Meanwhile, outside, Alice skipped along with a triumphant smile, already planning her date with a High Human.