"Urgh, I'm at my limit." Chantie and Joni had already fallen. Breathing, but they weren't getting back up soon. Roe's fire was dim as he protected their bodies. Izzie's glow was just as bad. Yuo was a bloodied mess. He had to get everyone out of this.

He started channeling more energy than he could handle, but he had to. He had to get them out. Crystals of mana were bursting free of his bones, but he could handle the pain. He had to save his friends..

Another hit, another hit, another hit..

"Yuo! Stop! Your body!" Izzie cries, desperate. She doesn’t know what’s happening to him but she can feel the disruption in the weave. She knows its not right.

"I know! We'll deal with it later!"

Izzie's next hit was overwhelming. The enemy simply dropped dead with a sickening pop that may have been his brains. Wow. He'd remind himself to not get on her bad side. Meanwhile, Izzie was purely worried about Yuo.

She ignored her friends for the moment as Roe picked them up for the trek back. Izzie inspected the crystals "These.. These are deeper than your skin. A bit better than literally exploding, but.."

"It's mana sickness. Overuse. It's not really fixable either.."

Her tentacles wrapped around him and cradled him in a bridal carry. "Izziiiiee-"

"Shut up. You're sick. Do the healy thing. I'll see if I can absorb the excess mana in the crystals when we're back."

Izzie trudged behind Roe as they carried out their friends, Yuo blushing intensely as the grace of the Grand Divine healed him and he was forced to accept being carried by Izzie. She almost never summoned a third tentacle, but she did, just to wipe all the dried blood off him and start cleaning him up and mending his clothes. By the time they got back, Izzie had made him look decent other than the crystals everywhere.

"Mieeeee! Yuo did something stupid!"

"Huh What? Oh God, mana sickness. You absolute idiot! You know better!"

Mie's eyes were suddenly caught by Roe putting down Chantie and Joni. Roe spoke up "Had he not though, we likely wouldn't have made it back at all. An honorable sacrifice."

Izzie put down Yuo for the moment "I need to clean up everyone else, but you better stay put." her glare was intense, flickering with the orange of being truly pissed.

"Y-yes ma'am." Yuo said, remembering earlier.

With a snap of Orenoch's fingers, the astral energy inside Yuo was disrupted. Yuo began screaming in agony immediately as crystals burst free of him. Solidified mana. His armor bursts off in pieces as the crystals push through. Izzie's entire being grew dark, her eyes orange as she lunged forward, boiling with anger and fear at what Orenoch had done.

"Yuo! No!"

Izzie hadn't realized he wasn't dying until the tail burst free and began whipping around behind him, throwing her off.

The draconic beast that had been Yuo turned to face her and snarled.

"Yuo! Are you okay?! Does it hurt?!" She was shifting between her fearful eldritch form and her ordinary one. Ready to become the monster at a moment’s notice.

The beast had begun taking an aggressive stance and stopped. Izzie was in his head and could hear his voice rising above the static of instinct. "Izzie.."

Orenoch smiled "What an interesting development."

Both of them looked at Orenoch, and Yuo began snarling again. In his head, she called out again "Yuo, don't. He'll make it worse. We have to get you well again."

Orenoch only smiled "I'll call this a draw, then. Until next time, or not." and walked away.

Yuo's snarls become a choked out voice "Killed.. Mie.. Need.. Revenge.."

Izzie thumps the back of his head "No. Bad. No revenge. We're fine like this. Mie is me and Izzie is me, too. We're.. I guess you'd call us Mizzie? Ize? Anyway. We need to do something about.. all this."

Yuo's snarling stopped and he only nodded as the worst of his draconid features pulled back. He had a face again, at least. Izzie put a hand on his arm and tried to absorb the crystals and filter their excess energy through herself, but she could only do so much.

"Hmm.. I'd need a full night to work on this, and it's only temporary. Whatever he's broken inside you will cause more of these growths until it's fixed. Channeling any kind of astral energy will probably cause the full.. whatever, to happen again."

Yuo nods "Can't control intake. Thinking.. hard. Foggy. Intake burned. Can't take more. Not last forever. Explode."

Izzie nods sagely, understanding everything "Right, you need a filter.. Oh! That's a good idea Mie.."

She suddenly pulls Yuo into a sloppy dip kiss, leaving Yuo sputtering as he drinks her slime.

"Urgh. Why."

"I'm your new filter. That should keep you from going full crystal beast unless you want to."

"Oh. Smart."

"I can't fix your thoughts right away, but it should get easier to think as the excess clears up."

Yuo nodded and followed her like a puppy.

Izzie had fallen asleep while working on the crystal mess that had become Yuo. Yuo, feeling serenely calm despite his instincts, didn't really want to move her.. And didn't really want to move himself.. And just sort of pulled her against himself as he laid them both down, his tail curling around them as her tentacles coiled around it.

Izzie woke up incredibly comfortable and incredibly confused. She could hear gentle snoring, but Squishy didn't snore-

Ah, that's Yuo. She thought while not moving at all. His claws idly moved through her hair at random as he dreamed, and he had a leg pulled over hers that sometimes kicked. She thought, this is oddly similar to what Drakken did to Roe, and Astril does to Faram. He must be a real dragon, somewhere in there.

Roe tried to softly and slowly remove Yuo, but he began to snarl without even being awake or aware of Roe's hand approaching him.

Roe then asked Faram about what to do, and Faram said to leave them be. You don't mess with sleeping dragons. Izzie used telepathy to talk to people while trapped until Yuo finally woke up and started earnestly stroking her hair.

"A-are you awake?"

"Sorry. Were you awake for a while?"

"Yes, but I didn't mind. Snuggling with you is nice. We should do it more."

"I-I’d like that.." the way he said it was hesitant enough to make Izzie look into his eyes with confusion. Yuo continued “I-it.. It feels right. Good. Soothing.”

Izzie glittered with realization “Ah, your instincts must recognize me as part of your hoard!”

Izzie was appalled by the state of his clothing. "Dion! I’ve got work for you!"

"Great. More to add to my workload."

She was already mending his clothing. "Enchant these with mending, would you? I know it's harder that way, but I'm not spending an eternity making fresh clothing just for him to put holes in them."

"What about his pants?"

"I haven't been able to successfully remove them. I'll probably have to actually make him new pants, and cut the old off."

"Well, put ‘em with the rest when you do. Work’s not free either."

“Yeah, yeah. Just make this an emergency request, okay? I can’t have him naked.”

Izzie was serving a hearty stew, only to pause as Yuo instinctively started trying to guzzle it down like a wild animal. Her piercing gaze could be felt through the link, and he lowered the bowl. "S-sorry."

Izzie switched to an innocent smile "It's okay. You'll get better at minding yourself. Try to taste the food this time. I'll bring you a second bowl when I've gotten everyone else their first."

Yuo smiled at the gentle teasing. "Alright."

Yuo blinked hard as he realized he was soaked in someone else's blood.

Everyone was silent as Yuo turned around and looked at Izzie, who seemed more shocked than anything.

"Nine hells, Yuo. That was brutal. I'm glad you'll never turn those claws on me."

Right. He'd never do that. He has no idea what happened within the past minute, but he'd definitely never hurt Izzie.

“Astril, ah, do you know anything about Yuo’s condition? He’s become dragon-like, so I thought you’d be the expert..”

“Hmm.. I know little of the culture of other dragons, child, but.. He reminds me much of some of the gem dragons. Crystal dragons are known to channel both radiant and psionic forces, and he bears much of their image.”

Izzie nods “Ah, that makes sense. With the way dragons are compatible with all other beings, they’d be ideal for use in the kind of experimentation the Architects did..”

“Indeed. I do not know much of the ways of the gem dragons, but I know they are fierce in their hatred for evil and aberrations, and that Crystals tend to have a love for stars.”

“A-ah.. I-is that so..” Izzie says, just before Yuo pounces her and lets out a territorial growl. He’s then battered with tentacles, forcing him to sit “S-sorry. Lost myself again.”

Faram snorts as Izzie contents herself in leading him around. “Y’think she can handle ‘im?”

“She’ll be fine. It's the others I’d worry about..”

"Yuo! Return!" The dragon boy stopped mauling what was now a very tenderized corpse and returned to Izzie's side where she stuck out her hand and he put his head into it to get ruffled.

"I'm glad you listen better these days."