The amount of snapping coming from the unconscious Time Drake was rather concerning, even though the Twelve Anew had chained Kairos up to stop him from moving. Even with Aster manipulating gravity around the Whenvern to make him too heavy to really move, Kairos would still occasionally suddenly break free from Aster’s grasp and flail briefly. The only way to keep Kairos properly still was to flip him into his back (which required way too much coordination) and occasionally have Dalosisaar lay on top of him and pretend to be female. Which made the Thraki deity incredibly embarrassed.
“Are we ready yet?” Dalosisaar snarled at a nearby camera drone which Kohra was operating, so that the Allmaker could watch on from a safe distance. Kohra was also close by to enact the “Squish Kairos” protocol in case things went bad, with the plan being for him to shapeshift into a massive lump of fat and fur, which Aster would then press down on the Whenvern. Kohra hated that idea almost as much as Dalosisaar hated his current position, and was silently praying they wouldn’t need to use it.
“Yeah, we’re ready…” Valksia frowned, all covered up in surgical gear. “Murum’Va, Litvir, Aesop, Akusasiiri, hold those chains tight, Dalosisaar’s about to move off the Whenvern so we can start with the procedure. Nanik, when Dalosisaar is clear, wake up the Whenvern and have him focus on me, Syksis and Maresia.”
Everyone did as they were told. Dalosisaar climbed off, and Nanik stepped forward, pressing her tiny hand against the Whenvern’s cheek. After a few seconds, Kairos snapped to attention and started snarling.
“Holy Whenvern!” Valksia announced. “You are ill. We need to heal you.”
“I HUNGER!” Kairos spat. “I will… wait… I am ill?”
“You are ill!” Syksis explained. “You have residual corrupted traits, which have caused you to have random bouts of insanity and make you aggressive towards others. The Space Whale Epani has instructed us to purify you, while she watches on, as you are currently a danger to yourself and those around you.”
“Are you all here?” Kairos asked, trying to look around but finding himself unable to do so.
“Epani is watching remotely, alongside Elkay, who is keeping her safe. The rest of us are here to purify you. But the process will not be a clean or pleasant one, so we apologize in advance.”
The Whenvern blinked, then stared at the dark blue Ksithan, who was wearing some very long blue rubber gloves. “And what of your medical expertise?”
Syksis and Valksia glanced at each other and tutted.
“I’ll have you know, I was a field medic who ran the medical side of the Ksithan military until I was put in charge of ALL of it, and Valksia here was a GP, urologist and dietitian before she moved into agricultural work! Maresia has a wide array of talents too, and we have Kohra on hand to give us any extra information we need.”
“But also, why are you asking about that?” Maresia asked. “Pretty sure the Panelix, nor Holy Sini ever had medical licenses! Do ANY of you higher deities have any form of higher education?”
A voice crackled through a nearby screen. “According to both the A-Class and the Allbirther’s diaries, our Silent Blade did routinely put himself through the Skyan higher education system, to the point that Arkay did have a BSc Open Degree.”
Kairos found himself unwillingly snarling at the direction of Elkay’s voice, but he stopped as Nanik (very weakly) slapped him across the cheek.
“Bad mister Kairos! No biting!”
“How dare you!” Kairos roared.
Suddenly flailing his head, Kairos legitimately tried to bite Nanik. The Whenvern did manage to bite flesh, but not the flesh he expected. Somehow, Litvir had thrown themselves in front of Nanik and Kairos had bitten deep into Litvir’s arm instead. However Litvir seemed more angry than scared.
“How dare you!” Litvir hissed back. “You bite me, now I bite you!”
Kairos was somewhat shocked by how fast Litvir had moved, and was even more surprised when Litvir ripped their arm free then did exactly as they said they would, sinking their fangs into Kairos’s neck.
“Oh… so you ARE related to that damned Decayling…” Kairos muttered, swiftly calming down and finding he couldn’t feel or move his neck.
Litvir spat out both blood and venom, frowned, then checked on Nanik. “Are you well, Kyr Nanik?”
Nanik jumped up and patted Litvir on the thigh. “Am good! Thank you, friend Litvir!”
“I am just doing my job as the deity of protection…” Litvir grunted, then returned to their position, holding a set of chains alongside Aesop.
“Good work, Litvir…” Syksis sighed. “Can you see now, Time Dragon, WHY you are ill and WHY we have to act now?”
Kairos let out a low growl, completely giving in. “Do what you must.”
Syksis, Valksia and Maresia all sighed, then nodded and got to work. Maresia injected something into Kairos’s neck then into his arms, then fetched some sort of strange, vacuuming tool, while Valksia wrapped rope around Kairos’s mouth and placed a tube near Kairos’s nostrils, making him inhale some sort of sedating gas. However, Syksis pulled over a table with wheels on it, which was covered in sharp tools. She and Valksia muttered something to each other, then both of them grabbed a sharp instrument and made their way over to Kairos’s wing.
Kairos quickly realized the two medics were staring rather intently on the freshly healed wound on his wing, where he had been stabbed by the Unending Ancient One. And almost immediately, Syksis started cutting around the old wound, pulling scales and skin away. The Whenvern expected it to hurt, but clearly the three ladies all knew what they were doing, and, combined with Litvir’s paralytic venom, he could barely feel anything. However, Kairos was definitely concerned with how far down Syksis was cutting, literally down to his silver bones.
“Uh… what are you doing?” Kairos asked.
“Removing what is potentially Corrupted flesh, so we can decontaminate it!” Maresia beamed as she prepared the vacuum machine, detaching a tube from it. She turned the machine on and pressed the tube against the now gaping wound, which started sucking out some of Kairos’s blood. Luckily, Kairos’s wings didn’t have much blood in them, but the sensation was weird.
“And… what is that black stuff?” Kairos eyed the tube that Valksia was now sorting out.
“It’s the blood of the Ice Wolf…” Syksis stuttered. “Should… clean things up…”
Valksia readied the hose, then sprayed black, inky fluids across the massive hole Syksis had made. Weirdly, it felt both slightly stingy but also cool and calming. As Kairos watched the liquid drip off his wing and onto the ground, Kairos realized he felt better. As if a weight had been lifted from his mind.
“Alright, that’s enough…” Syksis muttered. “I think we’re done.”
“You sure?” Valksia asked.
“Yeah. Nanik is whispering at me.”
“Very well…” Valksia turned to Maresia. “Can you grab the bottle of pink stuff please?”
Maresia did as she was told, bringing over a large, pink glass vial. Syksis brought over a syringe and drew some of the pink fluid and immediately jabbed it into the large wound she had made. Almost immediately, Kairos’s muscle and flesh began to heal up.
“Is that… Sini’s blood?”
“Yes.”
“Huh…”
After a few moments, Kairos’s wound healed up completely. Convinced that he had been cured, he felt so much better. The female deities all had a telepathic discussion together, concluded that Kairos had calmed down and was back to normal, then gestured at the chain holders, saying they could let Kairos go.
“We’re all done. You’re better now…” Syksis hesitantly explained. “No more traces of Corruption, the Ice Wolf’s blood cleared you out.”
Kairos awkwardly flipped himself over as the lower deities unchained him and stepped back. He then turned to Syksis, Valksia and Maresia and bowed.
“Thank you, my dears. I apologize for my anger.”
“It’s not us you have to apologize to!” Syksis tutted. “Nanik, Litvir and Elkay are the ones who need to hear it.”
Kairos turned to Nanik and lowered his head. “I am sorry, little one. I apologize to you too, Litvir, but you need to get that venom of yours analyzed.”
“Is all good!” Nanik beamed. “We all get angry sometimes. But we fix it, yes yes?”
The Whenvern sighed. “I’ll apologize to Elkay in person. He and I… need to have a talk. Am I free to leave?”
Everyone glanced at each other. Eventually, Dalosisaar nodded.
“You can go now, Kairos.”
Kairos bowed once more, picked himself up then clicked his tongue. In a blink of the eye, he was gone.
Once the coast was clear, Dalosisaar turned to the other deities.
“Alright, good work, everyone. A few things before you all leave though. Firstly, Litvir, well done protecting Nanik. That was VERY quick of you.”
Litvir shrugged. “Uh, thank you? I am just doing my job though?”
“You did well. But, unfortunately, Litvir, I need to ask a favour of you. Can you keep an eye on both Epani and Elkay, make sure they are protected, for a bit?”
“Of course, Kyr Dalosisaar…”
Satisfied, Dalosisaar focused on everyone else. “Girls, you all did great. Syksis, Nanik, I want you two to speak to Kairos in a few hours, and do some check ins on the regular. Aster, do me a favour and tidy this all up, and put the chains somewhere useful in case we need them again. Kohra, go through the recordings, then help Elkay archive everything. The rest of you, you are free to go back to your duties, but on ONE condition.”
“What is it?” Valksia asked.
“NONE of you are to mention to ANYONE that I had to pretend to be female to help placate the Whenvern. I was NOT comfortable with that and it bothers me and my heterosexuality. If ANY of you talk about this, I’ll hurt you. Got it?”
There were a few snickers, as well as a rather awkward look from Aesop and some confusion from Litvir, but everyone eventually agreed.
“Alright, good. You’re all dismissed!” Dalosisaar growled. “Let’s hope we don’t have to deal with this nonsense again…”