After five minutes had passed, Celestia clapped her hands. "Alright, let's do it now."

She gently guided Klein toward an empty room down the hall. The others followed at a distance, their footsteps soft against the beige carpet.

The room was simple with a bed with clean white sheets, a wooden desk pushed against one wall, and a single window with curtains drawn to provide privacy.

Klein stood in the center of the room, looking small and uncertain. His blue eyes darted between the adults, clearly nervous but trusting.

"You'll need to remove your clothes, sweetheart." Celestia said gently, her voice carrying reassurance. "Just down to your undergarments. The Elixir needs to touch your skin directly."

Klein nodded, his small hands moving to pull off his black shirt.

The fabric came away to reveal a thin frame, too thin for a ten-year-old, showing the toll the curse had taken on his body over the years. His ribs were visible beneath tan skin, and faint bruises marked places where he'd thrashed in pain-filled sleep.

He kicked off his shoes and pulled down his beige shorts, leaving him standing in just his boxers. His arms wrapped around himself instinctively, suddenly feeling vulnerable and exposed.

Brunhilde moved to the desk, carefully placing the Elixir's protective case down with care. The metallic frame gleamed in the room's lamplight.

She opened the case with precise movements, revealing the orb inside. That swirling mass of vibrant blues, purples, and fiery oranges that seemed to pulse with inner life.

Celestia opened a cabinet beneath the desk, pulling out clean white wipes and soft cloths.

She arranged them methodically on the desk's surface, preparing her workspace with the efficiency of someone who'd done this countless times.

"Alright, Klein," Brunhilde said softly, moving toward him with gentle steps. "We need you to sleep during this process. It will be much easier if you're not conscious during the application."

Klein nodded, swallowing nervously. "Will it hurt?"

"Not if we do this correctly," Celestia assured him with a warm smile.

Brunhilde raised her hand, and golden words began forming in the air before her. They appeared like calligraphy written by invisible brushes. The words glowed brighter as she completed the phrase, then lifted from where they'd been written and floated toward Klein.

The golden characters struck his forehead gently, sinking into his skin like water absorbed by dry earth.

Klein's eyes fluttered before his mouth opened in a small yawn. Then his knees buckled, and he lost consciousness peacefully.

Celestia stepped forward quickly, catching Klein before he could fall. She then lifted Klein's small form easily, carrying him to the bed and laying him down with care.

Klein's head settled onto the pillow, his breathing already deep and even with magically induced sleep.

Celestia and Brunhilde exchanged a look, then moved to either side of the bed.

Brunhilde carefully opened the Elixir's container fully.

The liquid inside seemed to glow more brightly now that it was exposed to air.

She dipped one of the white cloths into it, soaking the fabric until it dripped with the precious substance.

"We start with his chest." Celestia instructed quietly, her voice taking on the clinical tone of a doctor at work. "Directly over his heart where the curse anchor is strongest."

Brunhilde nodded and brought the soaked cloth to Klein's bare chest. The moment the Elixir touched his skin, something remarkable happened.

Black markings appeared.

They spread across Klein's skin like ink bleeding through paper; they were intricate patterns that resembled twisted vines or corrupted veins.

The Dark Tide curse, normally invisible except during its most painful episodes, revealed itself in response to the Elixir's presence.

The markings covered Klein's chest, spreading outward across his ribs, down his stomach, creeping toward his shoulders and arms.

They pulsed with sickly darkness, almost seeming to writhe as if alive and angry at being exposed.

Celestia took another cloth, soaking it thoroughly before applying it to Klein's left arm.

Brunhilde worked on his right side, both women moving with synchronized efficiency even though this was their first time working together.

More black markings appeared wherever the Elixir touched. The liquid revealed just how extensively the curse had spread through Klein's small body over the years.

It was everywhere.

Every inch of skin showed traces of corruption, some areas darker and more concentrated than others.

Then Klein trembled.

His peaceful sleeping expression twisted, and his mouth opened slightly, a small sound of distress escaping.

The black markings began glowing, pulsing with malevolent energy as the curse recognized it was being attacked and fought back.

Klein's trembling increased as his hands clenched into fists, and his knuckles went white.

His breathing quickened, becoming ragged and pained even through magical sleep.

"It's already starting to fight back." Brunhilde said with a slight frown.

She immediately raised one hand, golden words forming rapidly in the air, faster than before.

The characters completed and rushed downward, sinking into Klein's body at multiple points.

Klein's expression relaxed slightly as the pain was numbed and pushed back by Brunhilde's runes.

But it wouldn't last.

Even as they watched, the black markings pulsed brighter.

The curse itself was increasing the pain, fighting against the numbing magic, determined to make itself felt.

It was like the Dark Tide had consciousness, had will, and refused to be removed without inflicting maximum suffering.

Klein began trembling again, but this time way harder, his entire small frame shaking on the bed.

Celestia's eyes suddenly shone with brilliant light before her hands began to transform. They turned black, similar to the void of space itself, with veins appearing across the darkness.

But instead of red or blue, they were colors of purples, deep blues, shimmering silvers that moved and shifted like galaxies compressed into blood vessels.

She'd tapped into her Beast Spirit, Asteria.

"Hold him steady," Celestia instructed, her voice taking on an otherworldly quality.

Brunhilde placed gentle hands on Klein's shoulders, keeping him from thrashing.

Celestia brought her transformed hand to Klein's forehead. Pressing one finger against the spot where Brunhilde's sleeping magic had entered.

Then, slowly and with visible effort, she began pulling upward.

Feeling Removal.

A white light rose up from Klein's forehead, following Celestia's finger as it lifted away from his skin.

But the light wasn't pure as soon dark markings spread across it like a disease, pulsing and writhing with the same patterns that covered Klein's body.

"I'm extracting the pain itself." Celestia explained through gritted teeth, concentration evident in every line of her face. "Drawing it out so he doesn't have to feel what's happening."

She continued pulling, and the white light grew longer, becoming a stream that stretched from Klein's forehead to Celestia's raised hand. The dark markings within it pulsed angrily, trying to sink back down, but Celestia held firm.

"Keep applying the Elixir." She instructed Brunhilde without looking away from her work. "I'll handle the pain."

Brunhilde nodded and returned to her task with renewed focus. She soaked another cloth in the Elixir and applied it to Klein's legs. Then she saw more black markings that revealed themselves as tracing down his thighs, wrapping around his calves, and even spreading to his feet and toes.

Every inch of Klein's body had to be covered. Every surface where the curse had taken root needed to be touched by the Elixir.

But they simply continued working to cure Klein.

Celestia continued to pull pain from Klein's body while Brunhilde applied the Elixir.

Cloth after cloth was soaked and used, the liquid spreading across Klein's skin until he glistened from head to toe.

The black markings became more visible with each application, creating a horrifying map of just how deeply the curse had burrowed into Klein's flesh over the years.

Finally, Klein was fully covered.

The Elixir coated every visible inch of his skin, such as his arms, legs, torso, neck, and face.

He looked like he'd been dipped in liquid starlight, his small form shimmering with those vibrant blues, purples, and oranges.

Celestia and Brunhilde stepped back, both breathing softly.

"Now we watch." Celestia said quietly, finally releasing the stream of pain she'd been extracting.

It dissipated into the air like smoke, leaving no trace behind.

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