“Transferred?” Emika asked, a blank look on her face. “But I just got here. Do I already have to pack all my stuff?”

She gestured around to all the snippets of growths lying around in her cell, to her cloak that she’d thrown in a corner because it was completely chock-full crusted with her blood, a few empty bottles of water lying around that Maxime had to replace way too quickly because she always felt thirsty, as well as the book on curses lying next to her.

“You can’t take the book,” Maxime said. “But, yes. You’ll depart in two days. I’ll provide you with fresh clothing. You may take a shower if you so wish.”

“How generous,” murmured Emika. Really, what was the point of him being so prideful on not killing unless necessary if he still treated monsters like absolute trash? What a hypocrite. ‘Sure, let’s make her presentable before I transfer her to another location, so that it seems like I treated her well.’ Was that what he was thinking?

She took a breath to steady herself. This is good news, she told herself. It meant she had two more days, hopefully without being interrupted by ‘tests’. Two more days to practice.

She already presumed that it would likely be two days without sleep. This was her last shot.

“The facility you will be transferred to is well-equipped,” he explained. “I conferred with them in-depth. They agree that this will be the best place for you. It’s not a facility that has many spots. Honestly, I’m happy for you.”

Emika stared into his calm eyes, trying not to let herself get provoked by his relaxed and toned-down demeanour. He did seem… different. He didn’t treat her with the same confidence and nonchalance anymore that he had prior to his tests.

“Does that place have a name?”

“Heaven.”

“… Heaven? That’s it? That’s the name?”

“Yes. It’s a research and treatment facility. It deals with some of the most intricate cases of magical afflictions. Among other things.”

Great. She couldn’t wait to find out with how much hospitality they would treat her. Three time’s the charm, huh?

Apparently, he was reading Emika’s annoyed expression, because he soon added, “It’s really a great place. I have come to think that it may not be possible using my resources to cure you. But they might.”

It was left up to wonder how many more times these people would think dangling a cure in front of her would actually motivate her to do anything at all. It only worked so many times.

“I look forward to it,” Emika said, not even managing to give a fake smile. “So, what about the bath and the clothes? Let’s do it now, I feel icky.”

She definitely didn’t want to be interrupted with this later when doing her practice.

He eyed her for a second — maybe weighing in his mind if she was still presentable enough if she had spent two days in her clothes by the time she’d arrive there — but eventually he nodded and let her out.

This time, they went to a different part of the large building, and Emika could get another few glimpses at things. It was run-down all around. Old, torn wallpapers, cracks in the ceilings, dust everywhere, tickling her nose. Finally, they arrived at a range of showers in a mouldy community bathroom.

“Take your pick,” he said. “I will go fetch some clothes and put them there.” He pointed to the corner of the bathroom, right next to the door. “I will seal the room with magic. When you’re done, knock three times. I will escort you back to your cell then.”

“Thanks.”

He waited for a few moments for her to say anything else, but then nodded and left the bathroom.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

The first thing Emika noticed after turning towards the closest stall was that she was too large to fit in there. Her growths stuck out in all kinds of ways, making it impossible for her to go inside easily… and she couldn’t break off the larger branches. She’d need a saw for that.

Or… did she?

Earlier, the ghost had shown her that she could imagine herself to look different…

Raising her wooden hand, she noticed it was still formed into a fist. The stretched out fingers that had initially been there were still gone. So… in other words, that meant she could reduce her size too, maybe?

Turning to the large mirror on the other side of the walls where the sinks were lined up, she imagined her growths to be small in her reflection. For them to wither, to be gone. Like looking at a bonsai material tree and imagining it in its finished form before starting to cut off unwanted branches.

And indeed, within a few seconds, much of her excess growth vanished into ash, like burned away with a flame torch and dispersed into the air. Goosebumps went over her body, and at the same time, she got dizzy, and slumped down on the cold floor tiles.

She could change her shape. Not just move a finger. She needed a few moments to brace herself against the wave of realisations that hit her mind with that finding. For one… that meant she could wear her favourite clothes again. There was this one sweater in particular that she adored for how comfy it was, but she hadn’t worn it in weeks because she’d feared the curse would destroy it… That alone was a big victory.

She tried to get up, unconsciously placing most of her weight on one leg in the process, and immediately felt something crack beneath her.

The floor tile. She had broken it.

How heavy had she become?!

More importantly, she again got light-headed, the corners of her field of vision turning fuzzy. She had to lean against the stall, placing her hand against it, thus breaking down the wooden framing in the process.

“Fuck,” she hissed.

A strand of blood ran down the side of her hand where it had been clamped between two broken pieces of chipboard. I really need to get a grip on this new body. Her mass seemingly increased by the hour. She felt like a forest was growing inside of her.

Finally, she entered the unbroken stall next to the one she’d ruined, and put on the water. She didn’t even bother to remove her clothes; they were sticking to her like tape because all of her coagulated blood had seeped into the fabric.

It took her a while to realize what was happening.

The water was raining down on her, but most of it didn’t even find its way down the drain. By all means, it felt like she was a sponge soaking it all up. No, to be more precise… She was watering herself.

Oh my god, she thought. How had she never thought that? Of course, if she was a tree, she needed tons of water! Especially if she really had a large mass of plant matter inside her. She practically felt herself liven up as the droplets rained down. Like a shrivelled and dried up patch of moss soaking itself on morning dew, she gained in volume. New growths sprouted out from her in real time, and she did her best to imagine them gone before they could break the stalls further.

When was the last time she’d received that much water? Even on her day visiting Melisande, while it had rained the whole night, she’d mostly spent it under an umbrella. Suddenly, she realised umbrellas were the work of evil.

She just stood there, timeless, motionless, enjoying the feeling of finally, finally seeping in the much-needed sustenance. It reminded her of her most busy days, when she’d pushed off to eat due to her work on trees for so long and finally ended up drinking tomato soup at the very end of the day.

At some point, eventually, she felt saturated. It wasn’t clear to her how much time had passed, but it could well have been an hour. By now, the water was actually escaping her. For a brief moment, she wondered if she’d overwatered herself… Perhaps that was something she’d need to manage from now on.

Emika hadn’t noticed that the water was missing from her, but now that it was here, she felt so much better… Like she could do anything in the world.

And so, she got rid of her clothes and tossed them aside, cleaning the parts of her body that were still made of skin and flesh. Finally, she left the stall to fetch the clothes that Maxime had actually reliably placed at the point he’d indicated earlier.

Looking back at the mirror in her new white sweater and white jogging pants, she felt elated. She could walk around like a normal human again. Except that now, she was even heavier, having taken in all that water, and actually broke each tile she set a single toe on.

But, she wasn’t feeling dizzy anymore when getting up. Didn’t lose her balance.

Closing her eyes, she imagined herself looking like one of her favourite bonsai trees in at home, full cascade style. Opening them up again, she could see the growths pierce through the cloth of her new outfit, and eventually, forming into the sloping down shape she had envisioned.

Emika was strong now. She was sure of it. Strong enough to defeat a Cursebreaker? That remained to be seen. But the water… it made her feel alive.