NOVEL SIMPLE 66. Corruption and Healing
They entered the brothel to find a luxurious waiting room, filled with velvet furnishings and magical lighting. There was a raised stage with two scantily clad girls sitting on a comfortable couch chatting together. Several couches, tables, and chairs were available for customers as well, where two more women, also in revealing clothing, circulated through the five or six other people sitting and eating.
After greeting Rion, Bonny checked the waiting room for injuries and sickness, to find that the other woman serving customers the as well as one of the men sitting in the waiting room glowed with the black and red of the curse.
Bonny mistook both for beavers at first, but they were smaller than most of the beaver kin she had seen. Her tail was furred, rather than scaly. When he moved, she could see his tail was long and round, unlike a beaver’s flat tail, though it was still scaly. She wasn’t sure what species they were, but both were obviously water mammals.
“Can I have the other server take me to Nahia and Tamanna, please? She may need assistance as well. You seem fine.”
“Oh, uh. Yes.” Rion responded. “Give me a minute.”
“Also, that man.” Bonny pointed at the sick man. “Can you send him to a private room? I’d like to see him as well.”
“I will ask.”
“Thank you.” Bonny watched Rion as the server walked off. “I hope my ass looks that good when I’m her age.”
Eloisss watched Bonny. “Of coursse, you will alwayss look wonderful.”
Bonny turned to see the lamia smiling at her. She returned the smile. “Thank you, cutie. I bet you’ll look even amazinger.”
“Get a room, you two.” Freja broke in.
Bonny looked around, then at her with wide eyes. “We could! Should! Maybe they’ll pay us with service. Should we ask?”
Kanae yipped and jumped into Bonny’s arms.
She laughed as she caught the fox. “You think so too, huh?”
It was a few minutes before the other server made it back to them. She reminded Bonny a little of Tamanna, with a similar body that seemed slightly out of proportion to her arms and legs, like her torso was stretched slightly. She carried the complex sweet scent of jasmine and rose.
“Rion asked me to help you. I am Hananoka.”
“Hi, I’m Bonny.” She smiled, but didn’t try to shake hands this time. “I’m here to take care of Nahia and Tamanna.”
Hananoka smiled. “Follow me, please.” She turned and led them to a wide staircase beside the stage, then to a medium sized room with a large bed.
The two courtesans that Bonny had met at the temple were there, both wearing light shifts. Tamana sat on the edge of the bed, reading, and Nahia was curled up near the foot. Bonny could see the human girl wasn’t wearing anything underneath.
“Hi, girls.” Bonny waved after she set Kanae down. “How are you two beauties feeling?”
“Better.” Tamanna said as she set the book down. “Thank you.”
“Wait till I’m done before you thank me. I think I’ve figured out how to cure your sickness. I can stop the immediate pain, but there may be complications.”
“It can’t be worse than this.” Nahia moaned, not a happy one.
“Let’s hope not. Spirit Triage! Triage!” Bonny checked them all again, her spiritual sight allowing her to see the sickness despite their attire and positions.
Tamanna was about the same, but Nahia had gotten much worse since the day before. The black lines radiating out from open lesions around her vagina and ass. Hananoka also had some black corruption, but there were only a few thin lines.
Bonny motioned to Hananoka, “Can I call you Hana?”
The server nodded. “Most people do.”
“Thank you, Hana. Can you get Kama for me and come back. You’re sick too. It’s in the early stages, so should be a quick cure.”
Hananoka paused, then nodded again. “Yes. One moment.” She left, closing the door quietly behind her.
“Nahia, can you roll over and let me see?” Bonny stepped close, reached out to touch her shoulder, and nullified her pain. “Pain Management!”
Nahia took a deep breath. “Thank you.” She turned and rolled onto her back, pulling her feet up to rest on the edge of the bed.
Bonny examined the rash that covered the girl’s groin. It centered on her vagina, but spread up and down, creeping up her abdomen and down her legs. “When did it get worse? You looked pretty healthy yesterday.”
“This morning. It was fine all night, but suddenly spread and started hurting this morning.”
Bonny turned and stepped away and whispered. “Recovery? Can Pestilence do that? To someone that isn’t a cultist of his?”
The tiny god materialized on Bonny’s shoulder. “Yes? The sacrifice of his follower would have given him power. I cannot see his actions, only speculate.”
“I should still be able to heal her, right?
“Yes.”
“That’s good enough, thank you.”
Hananoka and Kama returned just as Bonny turned back around. She smiled at the two entering the room. “Thank you for coming.”
Bonny explained that there were cultists in the city and that this disease had a demonic origin. She mentioned the man in the waiting room and the cultist who had died that morning.
“… and I hate to add to the bad news, but Wrath is bringing an army in a few days. I talked to the council this morning, but they don’t want to let anyone know until after they verify. A harpy scout flew out just before we came here.”
The four stared at Bonny, speechless.
“So, uh, I’ll get started now. Hana, I’ll need you to take off your thong in a few minutes.” She paused. “And, uh, I can use demonic magic as well. I’ll need to use it to cure the corruption.”
“Won’t that cause it to spread?” Kama was concerned.
“No. Eloisss and I were injured last night in a fight with some cultists. It was painful, but there are no lasting effects.” She turned to Nahia, who was still laying on the bed. “Ready?”
Nahia nodded. “Yes.”
“Demonic Triage!” Bonny looked the girl over again, then laid one palm on her vulva, covering the worse of the corruption. “Demonic Panacea!”
Nahia convulsed, her back arching and fists clenching. She stayed frozen for a few seconds, then settled back into the bed.
“Are you ok?”
Nahia nodded. “It didn’t hurt, exactly, but it felt like it should.”
Bonny checked the corruption again, finding the lines thinner, but not gone. “The cause of the pain is still there, you just don’t feel it. I’ll repair your muscles after we’re done with the disease. We’ve made some progress, but it’s not gone yet. Ready?”
The girl nodded again and braced herself.
“Demonic Panacea! Demonic Mending!”
Another convulsion. When Nahia relaxed after, she was shaking.
Bonny checked again, the corruption was almost gone this time. She triggered the two spells again, “Demonic Panacea! Demonic Mending!”
This time, Nahia started spasming. Her eyes rolled back into her head and bright red blood started oozing from her open wounds and vagina.
“Oh, shit! Triage!” Spirit sight showed the corruption was gone, so Bonny recast the normal triage spell, looking for the cause of the blood.
Nahia’s whole groin area was lacerated and bleeding, as if the corrupted lines were physical thorns that were yanked forcibly from her body. The wounds extended down to her iliac arteries, which were torn and hemorrhaging into her pelvic area. If there was a clean straight line from the artery to her skin, it would be spraying out instead of diffusing out through all the tears.
“Divine Mending!” Bonny concentrated on the arteries, then worked her way up, casting over and over. She activated her cleansing aura to clean up the blood pooling around Nahia, both external and internal. It took several casts to repair Nahia’s flesh, both from the jagged tears and the ulcers from the disease.
She glanced up to see Pestilence standing over Nahia and glaring at Bonny. Lust sat on Bonny’s breast, grinning back at the minor demon. Neither said anything and they both faded away after a moment. A demonic contest of wills? Was Lust protecting her?
Bonny sat down, then collapsed backward into Eloisss’s arms as the lamia leapt to catch her before she could hit the floor.
“She should be healed, but she’ll need some rest and food. And water. Lot of water. I’m just going to sleep, here. For a bit.” Bonny closed her eyes.
When, Bonny woke up, she was leaning back against Eloisss, who had her arms around the bunny and tail coiled around them both. Kanae was curled on top of Bonny’s lap, under Eloisss’ coils, and Freja was lying down next to them. Kama was gone and Tamanna was reading again.
“Is everyone ok?” Bonny patted Eloisss on her arm and tried to sit up, but the lamia didn’t let her go. “How long was I asleep?”
Hananoka got up from where she was sitting on the bed as Tamanna put her book down.
“We’re okay. Nahia seems to be resting peacefully. A man downstairs died suddenly and Kama went to take care of the situation. It’s been about ten minutes.” Tamanna explained. “How are you?”
“Exhausted.” Bonny patted Kanae. “May I take some mana?”
Kanae yipped.
“Sacrificial Restore, Mana!” Bonny felt better as mana flowed in from the fox. “Thank you, Kanae.”
Kanae yipped again and head butted Bonny in the stomach. She scratched the fox behind the ears for a moment and Kanae settled back down.
“The man.” Bonny looked at Hananoka. “Was it …?”
“Yes. It was the muskrat you pointed out. He was waiting in a room, alone, when he died. No one is sure how or why.”
“Probably Pestilence. That would explain why everything went poorly for Nahia at the end.” Bonny sighed. “I’m fine now, Eloisss. Can you let me up?”
“Yess, but not yet. Here.” Eloisss grabbed a cup of water and held it in front of Bonny.
“Thank you.” Bonny took the cup and drank it, then stood, with help from Eloisss.
Nahia had been moved up in the bed and covered with a blanket.
Bonny pulled the blanket aside to check her once more. “Triage! Spirit Triage!” Everything looked good, as hoped.
“Alright. Hana, do you want to go next? I swear it won’t be as bad.”
She looked nervous but agreed.
This time the healing went quickly, without issue. Pestilence had apparently given up, at least on this front.
“You should take the rest of the day off, if you can. Can you ask Kama to come back in when you see her?”
"Yes. Thank you." Hananoka left after thanking her.
Tamanna’s healing went well, as well. More work than Hana, as expected, but no strange complications.
Kama came back in near the end and checked on Nahia. “Thank you, Bonny. I’m not sure what we would have done without you. The priests at the temple don’t care for us and wouldn’t have spent as much time or energy. What do we owe you?”
“Uh, well.” Bonny blushed. “I don’t …”
“Ssex. Sshe wantss ssex.” Eloisss interrupted.
