The triptych of a lost soul

Valentina burst through the door without caring about anything other than her love. The moment Bessie had led her back to the suite, the scent of blood, sweat, and tears were all immediately present and the vampiress' instincts took over.

The need to be near her partner as she suffered was overwhelming for her. Truthfully, not letting her remain while the process took place was the correct decision. It was clear from how she instantly responded that there would be nothing separating her and Dahlia, and she would have destroyed the relic if it was necessary to stop her pain.

Considering the ritual was over though, Bessie was happy to stand back and watch as the Archduchess rushed to the bed and immediately began to fret and pamper the girl. Dahlia wasn't unconscious, but she was still struggling. Her body was wracked with agony and pain rippled through her like aftershocks of an earthquake. Just when she thought things were about to lessen, a sudden new wave of pain would seize her.

Seeing Dahlia's eyes unfocussed, her breathing rapid, and occasionally her entire body tightening under the waves of pain, Valentina felt frantic. Though it was different, this reminded her far too much of what had happened less than a week ago. Those memories were still fresh in her mind and the idea that something similar could be happening was wreaking havoc on her psyche.

Bessie continued to watch from the corner of the room, but couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. This was a state she had never seen the Archduchess in before, and it was honestly a little concerning. To see a woman who was usually so collected lose herself like this had the maid questioning what to do. Comforting her wouldn't be acceptable, but she was genuinely concerned for Valentina's mental health.

Luckily, no actions needed to be taken. As the women whispered sweet nothings into Dahlia's ears and softly caressed the girl, Dahlia slowly was regaining her awareness and the extreme parts of the pain were starting to subside. As that happened, some clarity returned to her and she immediately was met with a set of gorgeous eyes staring into her soul with pure refined worry.

"Don't worry, I'm not dying. It's worse than I expected, but I'm ok, see?"

She lifted her blankets up revealing what was underneath and Valentina swallowed and felt her mouth go dry. Suddenly, she was torn between wanting to take care of Dahlia, and wanting to 'take care of' Dahlia. Luckily, some rationality was still holding the vampiress back and she just settled to cuddle in closer. She couldn't take her eyes away from the beautiful tattoos across Dahlia's body, but that wouldn't stop her from being close and offering whatever comfort she could.

"Is this what you were expecting? I thought a B grade relic wouldn't be able to make something like this if I'm being honest."

Looking at what was now on Dahlia's skin, it was easy to understand where valentina's confusion came from. Covering a large portion of her body was a tattoo that depicted one large scene. Though it was exclusively black 'ink', the entire thing was incredibly detailed and looked somewhat like a woodblock etching in a romanticism style. Its appearance gave the impression that it could be from a religious text or ancient book of fairy tales.

The current image showed a young woman in a still pristine dress, wandering through a magnificent and incredibly large forest. Vines, leaves, trees, and more were all scattered about and made the image look lifelike but hypnotising. As Dahlia readjusted and leaned into her partner, the branches and leaves almost seemed to dance in the wind on her supple skin. All in all, the imagery was almost comforting, as if it represented the most beautiful, majestic, and genuine side of nature.

Tentatively, Valentina reached out her hand and stroked the skin that had just recently been carved by the magical relic, and yet it was perfectly smooth. There was no sign of injury and harm, and if it weren't for the small spasms of pain Dahlia still had from time to time, one might think nothing so invasive and torturous had just happened.

Dahlia smiled gently as the Archduchess ran her fingers across the new markings. She seemed both concerned for her well being as well as fascinated. Dahlia tried to stifle a needy whimper as she felt those soft fingers trace along her skin. She was tired and needed to rest, but her body would always react to that touch.

Valentina however, seemed to be having trouble noticing the teasing her hand was even doing. She was simply too absorbed in the detail. This was far more impressive than any other arcane tattoo she had seen before. Some runic ones are more detailed, but they lacked artistry. Usually, the artistic ones would blur or lack this degree of precision. Considering Dahlia was analytic in nature, the fact she could form this was actually incredible.

She tried to understand how something so precise could be made, and then she recalled the entire foundation of the image. There was an incredibly precise geometric pattern overlaid with it all, and that was likely acting as a frame that structured everything else. Where other similar tattoos that use imagery come directly from the minds of individuals, the human mind could easily wander or confuse itself. By using a figurative scaffold, suddenly the error caused by the mind's limitations was lost.

Now that she was no longer distracted by the overarching image, Valentina began to look closer and she finally noticed those geometric patterns. The dots and nodes appeared at the locations of flower petals, specks of light, knots in wood, and more. They blended in with the image while still remaining distinct. Then the curving and intricate lines could be seen mixed in.

Sometimes running along the curvature of a branch, vine, or trunk, and sometimes weaving through the image like the underlying thread of a tapestry. These patterns were hidden at first glance, but the longer she looked at it, the more these constellation-like shapes stood out. Dahlia had truly done something that had ought to be impossible, and combined a mathematical beauty with a much more human and emotionally driven aesthetic. It genuinely left the vampiress stunned.

While she continued to stare and stroke, Dahlia was practically squirming. She loved the attentions of her love, but this felt embarrassing. She was being analysed so thoroughly that she worried how far the vampiress might take things. As that thought ran through her head, she blushed furiously and quickly stammered out.

"Uhm, b-b-before y-you get any ideas. What y-you see is what you get! Don't go looking around where you shouldn't! They're all focussed on my arms, legs, abdomen, chest, and back because those are where the most concentrated magical organs are. I didn't place them anywhere that might be inefficient."

Seeing how flustered she had gotten, Valentina almost decided to start peeking at places she shouldn't just to tease the girl, but knowing how much she had just gone through, she finally relented.

"Alright, alright. If you don't want me to have a closer look I suppose I can't ask for more… but truly sweetheart, what you've done is incredible. With your technique I imagine the only difference you would get with higher quality relics was better shading and thinner lines, but even what you've done here is remarkable. You should be proud. Also… how does it feel? Do you feel the magic coursing through you?"

Dahlia smirked with a tiny bit of pride at the praise, but then raised her hand towards the ceiling; flexing it and staring.

"I feel like I've been hit by a tonne of bricks and stabbed by a thousand needles. But otherwise…? I'm not sure. There's something there for sure, but when I channelled my mana for cantrips before, I could feel it rushing through me. Now, when I try to circulate it, I don't feel anything at all. It's still in me, I know that for sure, but it's like where before it was a rushing foaming river, now it's streamlined and running through 'pipes' with no resistance."

She was tempted to cast a cantrip just to see how it might have been affected, but decided against it. Doing so in bed was probably a bad idea. But there was something else she wanted to try.

"I'm going to try to reform them. I have three different variations I can use, so I want to make sure I can shift between them and that all three are good. Currently, this is 'The Enticing Emerald Forest'. Next up is 'The Wood of Endless Night'."

Valentina furrowed her brow but didn't say anything. She understood the need to test and make sure that everything was in order, but it didn't sit well with her that Dahlia was already jumping into testing after having just overcome fifteen hours of agony. Her feelings on this multiplied as, the moment Dahlia began to focus, a blood wrenching scream came from the girl.

Looking down, what the Archduchess saw was heartbreaking. The tattoos were changing and shifting into something new, but the girl in her arms was twitching and shaking as if having a seizure. Suddenly forcibly repositioning internal organs, especially those as sensitive as mana pathways, was a sure fire way to experience excruciating pain. Even if there would be no permanent side effects, what Dahlia was going through was too hard to witness for the vampiress.

Valentina was scared and confused all over again as she witnessed the process. Considering the creation of all three overlaid tattoos took fifteen hours, a single one likely took five by itself. Considering Dahlia was currently recreating what the relic had done to her, the amount of pain she currently felt was likely that of five hours condensed within a fraction of the time.

It felt like an eternity, but only about forty seconds had passed until the girl finally went limp and stopped screaming. The tattoos had stopped forming and everything was calm. Valentina was about to ask if she was okay when she noticed that Dahlia had actually fallen unconscious.

The girl was panting and sweating terribly, to the extent she looked like she had a dreadful fever, but after immediately checking her vitals, she could tell that nothing was wrong. The pain was too much and the girl needed to rest and recover but, other than that, everything would be fine.

She requested a soft hand towel from Bessie, who was still standing worried in the corner, and then the Archduchess began to softly wipe tears and sweat off of Dahlia's pale skin. She sighed. It was a brilliant schema and the girl was a true genius, but the amount of pain she was willing to endure was no laughing matter.

It genuinely concerned Valentina that Dahlia was so willing to sacrifice her own health and happiness. Without a doubt, this would need to be addressed in the future before the girl goes too far and turns herself into a martyr. Some self-sacrifice might be acceptable, even admirable, but Dahlia's mentality was far too removed from what the Archduchess was comfortable with. She wanted the girl to value herself more and seeing her torture herself was like a knife to the heart.

As the still unconscious Dahlia finally started to breathe slower and calm down, Valentina took in the new tattoos. It was very similar to the first. The dots and nodes remain unchanged, sitting in the same places as before, but the rest of the geometry had changed to match the new tattoo.

The image depicted here had many shared properties as the first, and many placements mirrored the first tattoo or paid homage in some way, as if it were some distorted reflection. It still depicted a young lady walking through the woods, but where before she was serene, happy, and content, the girl now had a look of fear and concern and her dress was torn to tatters. She looked confused as she peered out to the dark forest around her.

Where before the tattoo was bright and mystical looking, the new version of the forest was dense, dark, and foreboding. While the trees remained large, they had shrunk in scale, now replaced with dense gnarled branches and underbrush. The lush bushes and flowers from before had been replaced by thorns. If before the tattoo had depicted the wonder of nature, this depicted its ruthless unfeeling cruelty.

It took another five minutes before Dahlia woke up. She blurrily blinked her eyes and giggled a bit.

"Hehe, guess that was worse than I expected. Thanks for taking care of me… I needed to test things out, but I don't know what I'd do if you weren't by my side. Heh, cry probably."

She said it with a wry grin, but it was true. The presence of Valentina is what kept her going. She loved that her schema was finally in place. She had dreamed of this day for years. But to have it paired with so much pain was pushing Dahlia to her limits. Without the soft presence of her love, her resolve may have begun to crack. Instead though, she was grounded by the vampiress' presence and only looked forward to conquering this schema and making her partner proud.

She smirked a little at Valentina, feeling a little giddy at the concern in her eyes but there was one last thing she needed to try.

"Ok. I know you don't want this, but it needs to be done. I'm going to test the final one. Don't! Don't you look at me like that! Don't try to stop me either. Just… support me. I didn't realise how bad it would be before, so this time I'm going to not rush it. Instead of forty seconds, I'm going to take a full five minutes. It'll still be painful, but it shouldn't knock me out at least."

Despite this plan, Valentina still felt far from comfortable with accepting that this all needed to happen again. Suddenly, an idea came to mind.

"Alright sweetheart, if it's what you need to do, then do it. But I'm not letting anything happen without doing whatever I can. You start the change and I'll give you a little surprise."

Dahlia raised an eyebrow at that. The glint in the Archduchess' eyes was telling, but she had no clue what her solution might be. Very quickly, she found out. The moment she began to shift her tattoos once again to their final form of 'Lost and Alone', that dreadful throbbing and overwhelming pain took over again. It may have been better than previously, but she was still condensing the pain in a 1:60 ratio.

Already it was getting to be too much, but then suddenly a new pain appeared. It was not nearly as bad, but it was also more focused, sharper, and centralised on her neck… 'Oh.' It was Valentina, biting her and drinking her blood. While at first she was confused, the side effects quickly started kicking in. There was a surge of lust early on that helped distract her, but as time went on and the pain ought to have been too much to bear, the sedative nature of Valentina's fangs left Dahlia in a state of delirium where the pain wasn't so bad anymore.

It was a long five minutes, and by the end both women were laying against each other panting, but for a far different reason from what had caused Dahlia's shortness of breath previously. Both lay there feeling languid, lightheaded, and content. It was like some weird debauched feast where both were so full from eating that neither wanted to move a muscle. Except, only one had eaten while the other *was* the feast.

Nonetheless, they both were quite content at the moment and each practically had hearts in their eyes from that prolonged addicting experience they just had. Frankly, if Dahlia wasn't so worn out and the drinking hadn't sedated the two, they would have certainly pounced on each other at that moment. Five minutes of blood drinking was just far too much for them to handle.

However, they did turn their attention to the last tattoo and… it was different. Where before a large amount of detail was shown, what was now shown had far more black 'ink'. The forest from before had almost entirely been swallowed by the dark, and only the occasional edge of leaf or branch could be seen, outlined by what was likely moon and star light.

The woman could also be seen, but half her body was consumed by the shadow. Only her kneeling frame could be seen, with her maddened, sorrow filled, and crazed face being held in her hands as she sobbed and accepted her fate. Where before the previous images mirrored each other, this was much different. The two prior may have embodied different sides of nature, but this embodied the dark itself and all the crushing dread it could bring.

As the two women gazed upon it, they were left a little jarred. The way light highlighted the outlines of shapes and the emotions evoked in the image were just as beautiful as the previous tattoos, but everything just felt different. It was a cold sad beauty. Simply seeing the image made the two more content for being beside each other and not alone like the woman in the tattoo.

For a long time, neither woman said anything to the other. They relished each other's company and languished in a tired but love filled embrace. The imagery was evocative, but they had each other. That's all they needed.

But things couldn't be perfect. The day full of suffering for Dahlia seemed to not want to end. Deep into the night as the two were just about to sleep, Valentina shot up like she had been electrocuted and her eyes were hardened and alert. The sudden shift left Dahlia scared and confused, but that was quickly rectified as the Archduchess nearly growled an explanation.

"I just received an alert. There's an emergency."