As the boy fell unconscious from his sustained injuries and shock, the surviving members of the party held a very important conversation.

“I’ve stopped his bleeding for now, if we hurry we can still make it in time!” Said the worried Marina to a now quite listless Linus.

“In time for what?” He asked her, “Now you wanna play God and try to reattach his fingers? Come on, girl, that’s impossible!”

“I’m telling you it’s not!” She shot back, “My family back in Montes would get patients with missing limbs all the time, it’s as simple as finding the limb and sewing it back on.”

“I already saved his life, he’ll be plenty happy for being able to draw a few more breaths in this short little life of his.” He said as he laid back with his hands behind his head.

“Gahh! You stupid Old Man! Fine, if you wanna be a horrible lazy idiot, then I’m going back there to retrieve them alone!”

As she turned away from the Old Man and the unconscious boy, she was quickly stopped by a loud scream.

“HEY!” Linus roared with all his might, “You ain’t going anywhere. Sit the fuck down if you know what’s good for you.”

This loud voice sent chills down her spine, but she still refused to turn around and go back. Lune was someone important to her. Not only Lune, but Sullivan and Genevra as well. To her, they’re all like family, and she felt the need to protect what she had left of it. Even Linus was, in a way, part of that family (no matter how much she didn’t wanna accept that as of the current situation).

“You’re still gonna go, huh?” He got up from his sitting position and slowly approached her, making her step away from him in fear, “Whoa! Calm down, kiddo, I just wanted to give you a word of advice.”

She turned to look at him over her shoulder, just barely enough to see his face as he spoke out, “Take the pickaxe at least, I doubt you’ll dig ‘em out without it.”

She looked at him for another moment longer before accepting the gift.

“… Thanks.”

“One more thing.” He said, “If you find any rings on the fingers, make sure to bring ‘em back. Looks like he cared more so for them than his very fingers, the crazy bastard.”

She thought Linus was merely jesting, which made her crack up a bit at his pathetically poorly timed joke. He didn’t react to her mocking, though, he just stared at her back as she ventured back into the depths with nothing more than a pick and torch.

***

“Now,” Marina said as she waved her torch around, “from what I remember, it should just be a straight path to the rubble. It’s what that damned Grandpa said as well.” She recalled his directions.

“But jeez,” She stopped to recollect the events that had transpired, “in just a couple hours, we lost so much. It felt really empty without Lil’ Bro around, he would always crack those lame jokes to make us laugh.”

She then tried to remember what it was that made him choose to become an adventurer, “To meet a woman… was it? Well, he at least fulfilled his goal… Big Sis on the other hand…”

No matter how hard she tried, the reason for Genevra becoming an adventurer had evaded her to no end. But she seemed to mention her Sister a lot. Lana was her name, I think. Since it’s the party members’ job to deliver the news of their fellow adventurer’s death to their family, she had already started rehearsing how to break the news, as well as to keep composed upon witnessing Lana’s expression.

“Big Bro is…” She finally mentioned someone who had actually lived, “Brave? No, I think reckless is the word. I remember back at the lodging, as we all got dressed into our pajamas, that he had a scar riddled torso and arms. It was kind of gross, but Lil’ Bro was really hyped at the sight. Guess boys just find that stuff to be cool? It’d probably be weird to touch them though.”

She talked to herself like this to pass the time, as well as organize her own thoughts to better align herself with the current situation. She was to find Lune’s fingers as quickly as possible and reattach them (hopefully). As an adventurer, she knew that losing any body part would be detrimental to his life, so she wanted to help him as much as she could.

“I’m sure he’ll be really happy when he sees them back on his hand, heheh!” She smiled smugly as she raised her chest up high.

The path (now thoroughly filled with her smugness) had surprised her once again as it diverged yet again. “What?! Oh come on, there wasn’t a divergence before, was there? How did I get lost in a linear path?!”

Even still, Marina was on the clock. She just had to pick one that seemed more familiar and follow it through. She could always come back if she felt it wasn’t it, so there were no repercussions safe from a bit of time loss.

As such, the song of ‘Eeny Meeny Miny Moe’ had sent her rightward. The path was moist, and soft sounds of water droplets falling from the stalactites reverberated as far as the eye could see (or the ear could hear, for that matter). She looked on and on, until finally stumbling upon Genevra’s remains.

“!!!” She jumped back in surprise, “Oh, guess this is the place, better get digging…”

And so, she dug. And dug. And dug. But no matter how much rubble she cleared, there was no trace of Lune’s fingers. She even made sure to be extra careful so as not to hit them in her mining frenzy.

“Heh, this is more difficult than I thought, eh Big Sis?” She turned to the lifeless woman’s outstretched hand. For a split second she contemplated cutting off her fingers and attaching those, but something about mutilating a dead corpse didn’t sit well with her, so she opted not to.

It seems the Gods finally gave Marina their blessing, as the very next swing of her pickaxe had unearthed the two lost fingers. Oh, and it also started another tremor in the cavern, leading to the floor below her giving away.

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“Crap-!” She screamed as she just barely held onto a ledge that seemed stable.

“Whew! Ugh, no time to worry about that, I need to get those fingers!” She psyched herself up as she looked at the pit under her. The fingers were still there, thanks to the rubble keeping them in place, but the issue now was how she’s going to get across that gaping hole in front of her.

“Geez, and here I thought you were gonna be alright alone.” An old but annoyed voice rang out from above the ledge she was holding onto.

“Whose there?” She yelled out with an interrogative tone towards the voice.

“Must you always be this on edge when you’re around me, kid?” The voice rang out again.

“Linus!?” She finally realized, “Didn’t you say you weren’t gonna help me?”

“Eh, I did. But that little asshole made me get up ‘n getcha’!”

The image of Lune had showed up in her mind, which in turn sent her both feelings of relief and worry. He’s awake! coupled with He’s alone!?, but in the end she was just glad she wasn’t alone in this predicament.

“Up you go.” Linus quickly lifted her and propped her up on her feet, “You did good not going to the left, that path opened up when the rubble fell. Who knows where it leads to.”

“No time for compliments, Lune’s fingers are over there, across the gap!” She stopped him from rambling any more.

“I’d say just leave them.” He said with little to no lag, “We’ll just tell him we couldn’t find them or something.”

“Grrr!” She raged at his nonchalant answer before finally trying to get over there herself.

“Hey! What’re you doing, girl? That’s dangerous!” Linus once again reprimanded her upon witnessing her start to shimmy her way across on a nearby ledge.

“Shut it! There’s no other way across now, is there?” She yelled back.

Looking down she saw a pretty big fall, which in turn made her a bit woozy. Still, she swallowed the fear down and pressed on. In another minute, she had made it across, and picked up the fingers.

“Whoa! You weren’t kidding about the rings?” She said upon examining them closer.

“Would I lie to you?” He asked rhetorically, to which she refused to reply and instead kept silent.

“I’m coming back now.” Marina said before shimmying her way back across the pit.

But something strange had happened. The path under her feet was… smaller than before. Not only that, but it seems the pit grew larger. Ah, I get it now, she thought as she looked over at Linus, The path didn’t shrink, nor did the pit grow, I just relaxed.

It had seemed her body was nearing it’s limits, but she made sure to press on just a bit more, enough to make it past the gap. Linus looked at her for another moment before bursting into a guffaw.

“You’re stronger than you look, kid!” He said as he patted her back, “He’s gonna be proud of ya’ too, don’t worry!”

After that, she swore never to clear a gap like that ever again, and they went back to check on Lune.

***

“We’re back ~!” Marina happily chirped, “Did you get lonely, Big Bro?”

“…” I stayed quiet in response.

I don’t want to talk right now. Not with her, and definitely not with that bastard Old Man. Right now I just want to be alone, it took everything in me just to send Linus to go help Marina…

“Don’t be such a downer, boy.” Said the Old Man as he stood in front of me, “This here girl almost died trying to get your fingers back, and you give her the cold shoulder?”

Pfft, what do I need my fingers for if they’re detached from my hand? But wait, does that mean…!?

I raised my head away from my knees and looked over to where Marina was. She was bruised and scratched all over, with visible gashes covering her previously clear skin. I felt chills as soon as I saw the image of this innocent girl holding my severed finger with a smile on her face.

“It was quite the pain, to be honest, but with this we can finally proceed with the surgery!” She said as she gave me the finger.

“… Where’s the other one?” I asked upon realizing she only handed me my left ring finger.

“What?” She yelped in surprise before checking her person, “I-I was sure I had picked both of them up, but…!”

She panicked in place for a couple more seconds before looking at me in silence and tearing up, “I’m… I’m a failure! I couldn’t even do this one simple thing!”

Wow, talk about incompetent. I don’t need just one ring, I need both of them! That’s how engagement rings work! What am I? Engaged to myself?! What kind of narcissistic bastard will people take me for then?!

“……” I grumbled in dissatisfaction.

“That’s enough!” Linus quickly yelled out to the both of us, “Girlie, I saw how hard you worked to get this finger, you did more than enough. And you, asshole, be happy she did this much! She said she can reattach your finger with this, so just be glad you got something instead of nothing, y’hear?!”

Huh? Did he say… she’ll reattach the finger? Impossible! And even if she does it, it’ll be dysfunctional, no?

“Your look of disbelief says it all, Lune.” The Old Man quickly noticed my questioning gaze, “But remember, she’s the daughter of a world renowned family tree of doctors, and if she says she can do something like this, then I’m inclined to entrust her with it.”

“Big Bro, just trust me on this one. I know you’re bummed, but at least let me do this much…” She ducked down to my height.

I’m not trusting jack from any of you! You’ll probably just get the wound infected or something! Just leave me alone, it’s that Old Bastard’s fault for cutting them off in the first place!

“There’s no use in talking it out with him, girlie.” The Old Man said yet again, “It’s either he smartens up quickly or we do it the hard way (i.e. I hold him down, forcefully).”

“Tsk!” I clicked my tongue as I gave her the ring finger and outstretched my hand.

“Good choice.” The Old Man said with a silent, but cold voice.

What followed next could be described as nothing more than hell incarnate. Marina had grabbed her sewing tools and placed my hand on a nearby flat rock. I don’t know exactly how long the procedure took, but it certainly felt longer than I could have ever hoped for, as I felt excruciating pain from start to finish (we had no more anesthesia or painkillers left, since we used them all during the dungeon crawl).

The swelling became so apparent that I couldn’t even recognize my own hand anymore. Even Linus was looking over her shoulder and wincing with every stab of the surgical needle. I was certain this was gonna be the death of me, but Marina’s smalltalk was what kept me sane throughout the entire procedure.

“So, are you wondering how this is possible?” Marina said as she pricked me, “You see, our body is comprised of skin tissue, muscle fibers, and nerve endings. And as long as they’re in good enough shape, then it’s possible to sew them together without sacrificing anything. Modern medicine is incredible like that.”

I genuinely can’t pay attention to anything that she’s saying because of all the pain…

“Well, that’s not entirely true.” She pricked me once more, “For most people, they’ll have permanent issues with moving the reattached body part. They’ll never recover fully. But you’re lucky, since you’re a Green Iro, which is also why this entire procedure is made easy in such a harsh environment! Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if you heal completely in just a couple weeks!”

“Guess you’re one lucky bastard, aren’t ya, boy?” The Old Man cackled annoyingly as he turned to me.

I stayed quiet in response.

“Geez, Gramps! He’s obviously mad at you, butt out of this!” Marina went to shut him up.

Their little exchange made me crack a smile, but I quickly hid it from them before they noticed. I’m supposed to be mad at them, now’s not the time for laughs!

“Just one more, aaaaaand… done!” Marina victoriously announced, “Phew! Well, I still need to bandage it up, don’t move it for now, it still needs time to properly heal! You still have that swelling as well, which I imagine is quite painful.”

After what I just went through with this no-anesthetics surgery, this much is actually extremely comfortable.

“You done now?” The Old Man got up and brushed his thighs off, “Can we finally leave this damned place?”

“Yeah, let’s.” Marina said before asking another question, “But who’s gonna carry the Book? Y’know, now that Big Sis is gone…”

To this, I simply raised my four-fingered hand.

“Whoa, who would’ve thunk that you of all people would volunteer to carry the Book?” Linus jeered.

“…”

After another 10 minutes of walking through the cavern, we had finally made our way out of Shaid’s Lair.