From Human to Skeleton: Revived with Infinite System Crystals

"Yes, actually, I promised to come back and assist you, but some things happened between then, so I do apologize for the delay," Sanguina stated.

"Ah, it's no worries, really. I'm just glad you showed up when you did, but I did have one question in particular," Nanako replied.

Sanguina took a seat, grabbed a book and flipping through some of the pages regarding medical practices. "Yeah, and what is that?"

"When I was passing out, you mentioned that the curse on my shoulder was something you knew. What was it you called it? The Swirl something?"

"Yeah, let me see your neck again," Sanguina requested.

Nana nodded, pulling her blue medical jacket to the side, revealing a red mark on her neck in the pattern of a swirl.

Sanguina nodded and put her hand over it for a second as bits of electricity shook off of it before zapping her fingers a bit. "Yeah, it's no mistake. That's a pretty high-grade Swirlion Curse seal. Do you know how you came about this curse on your shoulder?"

"Uh, no, not really. I was still very young when my parents were killed, and I was taken on by the new King on my planet. It kept me in this small form, but after I met Erebos the first time, it started going away, and I began to grow... but now I feel like I don't know what's going on anymore."

"And further, when I was in the cave, I faced some creature that seemed to send me back in time, deep into my own memories. Had I not met Ty and gone through my own personal growth, I'm sure I would have died there."

"But what's more is that I saw Erebos talking with the king before he took over and dethroned the region."

Lady Sanguina nodded. "It's likely Erebos had his hand in some regards to this. We vampires specialize in a few things such as teleportation, healing, and curses, along with control."

"It's a unique curse you have on you, though, and I'm not sure why he chose to have that one put on you if he did have a hand in it."

Nana, a bit confused, asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's just that the curse on you is one that saps a percent of your power as you use it and halts your physical growth while expanding your other abilities."

"Ugh," Nana stated, leaning up and staring toward the ceiling. "How does that make any sense, and why would he plague my life like that?"

"Well, it is hard to say," Sanguina replied, "but he endured a lot of trauma himself, and he has gone down a very dark path. I'm not sure why he's been doing half the stuff he is, but I can give you some good news at least."

Nanako, a bit annoyed, asked, "And what's that?"

"Well, don't get too excited right now, but I might be able to lift the curse off of you if—"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Nana shot up at the sound and stated, "Do—do you really mean it?!"

"Ye-yes," Sanguina stammered. "While it won't be easy to lift the curse fully, you have to meet some goal determining what the cost that the curse was given to you with. But there are ways to circumvent this."

"Do you know anything about the curse or when it started to fade?" Sanguina asked.

Nana put a finger under her chin as she stated, "Well, it never really did after I had it placed, but after meeting Erebos, I believed he mentioned that pushing myself to the brink would break it."

"I see," she responded. "I believe there is likely a huge emotional pull on it, that when you fight for someone else, a different level of power is drawn out, weakening the curse.

And when you faced the Parlac creature and it sent you back in time mentally, the trauma you had reapplied the curse in full, albeit probably a bit delayed though due to the curse acting on a time delay due to the different worlds."

"What's a Parlac creature?" Nana asked, curiosity piqued.

Sanguina stated, "Oh, it's something that shinigamis can use as a sort of spirit animal or partner."

Nana just responded with a raised eyebrow, "Uh huh, not sure what a shinigami is. It sounds kinda fancy."

"Yeah, another time I can give you a whole rundown. Honestly, they're super uptight and annoying to ever deal with. They can usually regenerate better than most vampires also."

"But beyond that, let me see your neck again. Uncle Erebos taught me a few things about curses and how to unseal them."

Nana nodded and stated, "Sure," revealing her shoulder again.

### Enhanced Dialogue Segment

Sanguina placed her full hand on Nana's neck, her red nails glowing faintly. She closed her eyes and chanted, "青あおい, 必ず殺さなければならない, κόκκινο, 必ず愛を見つけなければならない, πράσινο, 必ず新しい高みを目指さなければならない. πορφυρό για κόκκινο και πράσινο."

Moments later, Nana's neck began to glow purple, the mark spinning before Sanguina continued, "彼女はこれらの要件を満たしましたので,解除することができます. παρακαλώ κάντε το και απελευθερώστε την στη μέγιστη δύναμή της."

The curse on Nana's neck began to swirl and spin before slowly fading away, stopping at three-quarters complete. Nana felt herself grow back to her original state before entering the cave, and even more so, as her chest grew, muscles along her arms expanded slightly. She ran her hands along her chest, feeling a more chiseled set of abs.

Confused, Nana asked, "What did you do?" She felt her neck as Sanguina lifted her hand.

"Oh, I was able to access the writing of the curse itself and have it look at your own progress and accept what you have done as meeting the requirements. It does look like, however, it's still not complete. There is, sadly, another step to be taken to get it fully lifted."

Nana felt herself fully rejuvenated and hugged Sanguina. "No, this is more than enough, actually. Thank you so much."

"I feel like this is the closest I've ever been, and perhaps with a chest like this, I can convince and show Ty my true feelings," Nana mused, her cheeks tinged with a slight blush.

Sanguina chuckled softly. "You've really fallen for a skeleton? Or so I heard he is."

Nanako rubbed the top of her head sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to blurt that out..."

"No, it's fine," Sanguina said with a knowing smile. "I imagine you are quite loyal to him and you probably think he will get his body back one day, don't you?"

"Well, I'm not sure about much of that," Nana admitted. "But whenever I'm around him, I just feel secure and happy. Beyond that, how can I help you find him and where Erebos sent him?"

"Ah yes, you were the one who gave him that small blue fairy, right?"

Nanako nodded. "Yes, it was a fairy who woke up at the edge of a lake when I first confessed my feelings to Ty... I imagine he didn't return them due to my short size, but I will try again for sure!"

"I see, that sounds like a noble effort to make," Sanguina said, her eyes glinting with interest. "Do you think you could take me to this place where you found the fairy? There could be more dormant, and all I need is some extract of their energy to source it and find others with the same in the Titanis universe."

Nana's eyes lit up with determination. "Yes, I can take you there. It's not far from here, just a bit of a trek. I want to help in any way I can."

"Let me just get some clothes on," Nana said as she went to sit up, feeling a pain in her wrist. "Oh, this darn thing is way too small now..."

Sanguina looked at her wrist, confused, noticing that Nana's red hand was much smaller than her other hand. "Uh, what happened to your hand?"

"Oh, well. You see, Ty actually cut it off before I knew who he was. Very long story, but, uh, yeah, the Demon King gifted me this to enhance my explosion ability."

"I see," Sanguina replied, examining the hand more closely. "And since you have grown physically with the reduction of the curse, the hand hasn't increased in size with it? That's a bit less than ideal."

"I can probably fetch you a prosthetic at some point, but right now, we really need to find another fairy."

Nana nodded, adjusting her clothes to fit her newly enhanced physique. "You're right. Let's focus on the task at hand."