章 5: Treatment

A magus workshop, the magical laboratory of a magus where he or she performs their research and experiments. Like the workshops of all magus families, the Kaname family workshop's location is not only a secret known to only the members of the Kaname family, but is also surrounded by a bounded field to prevent the magical energy inside of the from leaking out so its presence can be concealed. In addition to the basic forms of protection that can be found surrounding the workshop of any competent magus, theirs is also protected by an additional layer of golems, moving suits of samurai armor, and gases that have similar effect to curses such as Gandr. A gas that Karin currently finds herself analysing thoroughly.

She had never expected Ramiel to allow her, Susan and Tsunade to use his family workshop. Especially since according to her new memories she knows that a magus' workshop is the one of the most sacred things to them. She also did not expect the workshop to look like a lab for all types of scientific or magecraft related experiments considering the fact that the Kaname family specialises in blacksmithing and mystic code creation, but according to him the previous head of the family had planned to branch out and prepared the workshop for such.

Focusing back on her current task, Karin can't help but be fascinated despite her new memories telling her that she's seen more impressive works of magecraft. Having a memory that lacks emotional attachments does not help.

"A curse like this would be deadly to any shinobi that aren't at least above averagely skilled in iryō ninjutsu, and even those who are above average would struggle with this." she says to herself.

"I didn't bring you here for this." says Ramiel as he finishes a cigarette to her right.

"I know." replies Karin as she stops analysing the gas. "Although, now that I think about it I still don't know why you brought us here even though a magus' workshop is supposed to be sacred to them." she says as she passess Susan and Tsunade a sample of the gas for them to analyse themselves.

"Not only do I not make use of the workshop, but I figured that it would be more useful for the three of you. Especially since I have a project in mind that I think that the three of you would be interested in." explains Ramiel as he makes his way to a drawer and takes a syringe that he plunges into his arm to extract a sample of his blood.

"Here, I want you to analyse this and tell me what you think." he says as he hands Karin the syringe, causing him to forcefully stop herself from throttling him for his lack of procedural use. "What?" he asks.

"That was a gross neglect of proper blood drawing procedure." says Tsunade as she takes the syringe from him with a slight glare. "Next time you do that I'll pound you through a wall." she says before turning around to analyse it with Karin not too far behind.

"Does it really matter?" asks Ramiel incredulously.

"Yes, it does." says Susan with a sigh. "Ramiel, there's a reason why doctors, scientists, and medical personnel have procedures for everything. Even if you don't understand why or see its purpose, at least humor us."

"Whatever you say doc." says Ramiel.

"So, what do you think?" he asks as he approaches her and Tsunade with a newly lit cigarette in his mouth.

Sighing, Tsunade passes the blood sample to her before looking at Ramiel. "What exactly are you?" she asks while Karin places her palms over the blood sample and uses a diagnostic jutsu.

The result sends her reeling for a moment as she tries to process the information that she receives from his blood. Contrary to what she expected, his blood is not 100% dragonic nor is it part dragon and part human. Rather he is a mix of dragon and something completely foreign to her.

Not only is he a completely unknown hybrid to her, but his magical energy and life force is absolutely dazzling and, despite the tint of a ravenous evil within, it is full of warmth. In addition to that it possesses a certain quality that reminds her of a calm storm, like a serene rainy night that washes away the humidity of a particularly hot summer day. It feels really good and Karin has to do her absolute best not to blush or show the fact that it's sexually stimulating. With her chakra sense, that now extends to magical energy, she had always felt it, but it was always muted by the drugs in his cigarettes. She did not expect to feel this way as soon as she experienced it unfiltered.

Passing Susan the blood sample where she awaits by a set of instruments, Karin turns her attention back to Ramiel's conversation with Tsunade.

"I'm a dragon hybrid." he says with a shrug.

"Yes, we know that much. What we want to know is what that other half of you is, because it's definitely not human." says Tsunade.

"Your genes require an absurd amount of magical energy for you to even function like a normal human being, not to mention the absurd physical attributes that come from being…well whatever the second half of you is. Honestly, without your dragon heart you would be anemic or desiccated at best." adds Susan.

Having analyzed the sample herself, Karin gives her own conclusion. "This is why you needed the dragon heart implanted in you. Whatever it is you were before becoming a dragon needed an absurd amount of magical energy. Without it you wouldn't even be able to function like a normal human, much less do half of the things you do."

"So again, what are you?" asks Tsunade.

"I'm a vampire." answers Ramiel as he opens his mouth and his already sharp canines lengthen to become fangs.

Silence fills the room as the three women look at the fangs of their host. "Well damn." says Tsunade after a few seconds, and Karin couldn't have put it in a better way. It certainly explains the ravenous feeling that it gives.

"Originally I was a normal human save for the terminal illness that I was afflicted with since birth. My birth itself was a miracle and so was every birthday after that." says Ramiel.

"What was the illness?" asks Susan.

"It's called demon's blood and it essentially causes your blood to suck you dry of any nutrients needed to live. Most don't survive childbirth and those who do don't survive longer than their fifth birthday." he explains as if it isn't a big deal. She has half a mind to whack him behind the head for his nonchalance.

"Ok, so which idiot had the bright idea of turning you into a vampire, a species that needs blood to survive?" asks Tsunade.

"That would be my wonderful father and to be fair I can't really blame him." says Ramiel, earning a raised eyebrow from the Hokage. "Vampires in my world aren't dead or undead. They're as alive as you and me. The first vampires were created from a ritual that was meant to turn the participants immortal and it partially succeeded. The only way to kill them is through exceptionally powerful magic that only about one percent of the population could use, or with a weapon that possesses anti-evil or divine attributes." explains Ramiel.

"I see. So he believed that by turning you into a vampire your new biology would get rid of the illness, not only making you healthy but also making you more powerful." says Susan.

"And it would have worked if the illness didn't adapt from draining nutrients to draining magical energy, and where I come from you can't live without magical energy. Especially if you're a particularly powerful species like a vampire who only needs magical energy." says their host.

"Ok, but what do you want us to do with your blood?" she asks. She hopes that he isn't looking for a cure because she has absolutely no idea where she would start.

"Well, between being a vampire and a dragon, I'm physically powerful enough to contend with some of the most physically powerful servants. So I was thinking, what if you use my blood to boost the others. Especially our more human companions like Natasha, Emma, and you." he says to Susan.

"Wow…" says Karin with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "…that's actually a pretty good idea. The only problem is how your genes react to the different biologies in the group. Between the x-gene that Emma possesses, the obviously differing human biologies from each universe, making it react positively for us all is going to be difficult and almost impossible to do within a week." she says, and she honestly means it.

If they can create some serum or other treatment that makes use of his DNA's strengths, the weaker members of their group would be able to contend with the average servant in terms of physical prowess. If she factors in their aura, skills, original powers and magecraft, then they would be able to contend with the servants that are slightly above average in terms of physical prowess. The problem, like she says however, is making it so that it doesn't have any adverse effects on the different biologies of their group.

"I figured that between you three geniuses it would be feasible." he tells her with a smile, shaking her from her thoughts and causing her to blush once the words properly register in her mind.

"Hm, flattery will get you nowhere. Now shoo, we have work to do." says Karin as she pushes him out of the workshop. "And don't interrupt us unless the world is ending."

"Or if it's time to eat and you cooked." adds Tsunade, earning a nod of agreement from her and Susan.

"Wow, kicked out of my workshop. You women really are something else." he says as she closes the door on his face.

"Alright, let's do this." she says with a deep breath as she and her fellow scientists begin their work.

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Her companions need therapy, that is currently the most prevalent thought that goes through Dinah's mind as she sits in the office that she chose to make her own. Her entire group needs therapy and they don't even seem to know it.

Raven has obviously been held against her will and tortured, causing her to suffer from some form of PTSD. Which is pretty obvious if one looks at how much Ramiel's red eyes unnerve her. Emma Frost, the most normal one besides Dinah herself and Susan, might be suffering from survivor's guilt, and even if she isn't she clearly needs to talk to someone about whatever traumatic experience she went through before coming to this new world.

Konan lacks a purpose of her own beyond seeing her friend's dream become reality. Hancock is a former slave, and even if no one says it out loud most of the group heard her exchange with Ramiel when he accidentally revealed her back. Natasha was trained to be an assassin since her childhood.

Karin has obviously been abused in her past, those bite marks are obviously not from consensual activities. Whether that abuse reached as far as sexual abuse is still up in the air but Dinah is personally and professionally leaning towards no. Tsunade is afraid of becoming too attached in case they die, Susan seems to be fine but Dinah isn't willing to make a definite conclusion yet. The less said about Esdeath the better, which brings Dinah to their host and the man who is attempting to woo them, Ramiel.

The man has obviously seen some stuff. It's one thing not to react to some of the stories that the others tell because he's seen it through some medium back in his universe, but it's completely different when he doesn't react to the very graphic details that were obviously not mentioned or shown in those mediums. In addition to that the way he talks about anyone not his siblings is very telling of how most people treated him in his previous life.

With a sigh Dinah gets up from her comfortable position on the love seat and walks to the bookshelf in order to find something to distract her.

This is not how she expected her life to go. At the age of 23 she expected to be done with college, working as a professional therapist while being Black Canary in secret. Maybe have a boyfriend or fiance if she found the right guy to get her mother off her back about grandchildren. Instead she's in a different world with a team assigned to help a suitor of hers save humanity.

Although, looking at the silver lining, her suitor is quite handsome, kind, thoughtful, and doesn't believe in any of the macho nonsense that a lot of the guys around her age subscribe to. If the situation were different she would probably be on her second date with the guy. Unfortunately however they have to prepare because their enemies are beings who are as dangerous, if not more, than the likes of Superman and Wonder Woman.

Before she can further think about that, a knock at the door draws her attention.

"Come in." she says.

As the door opens Dinah is pleasantly surprised to find that it's Ramiel.

"How can I help you?" she asks him.

"Is the offer still open?" he wonders, making her smile.

"The offer for therapy is alway open." she tells him as she gestures to the couch opposite of the loveseat. "Sit."

Following along, he makes himself comfortable on the couch before turning to her. "Alright, how do we do this?"

"Relax. We're just going to talk." she tells him with a reassuring smile.

"Then why does this feel scarier than facing a massive dragon who can easily rip me apart?" he asks, partially serious.

"I'm quite sure that you're simply misremembering because that experience is over and done with." she says with a laugh that seems to relax him. "Now we'll start with something simple, what are your earliest memories like?"