Wax Sanguine {Lies of P Arlecchino FtM TFTG Diary}

[c0lormebrackets]

[PREAMBLE]

This story contains descriptions that may be seen as gruesome and/or disturbing, along with cursing and general coarse language. The gruesome descriptions are primarily based on violence, bleeding, and torn flesh.

This story is very image-heavy, and includes some "informal" written language. It also contains much usage of the "details" tag.

If you do not like one or more of what I have outlined above, it may be best for you to refrain from reading.

[END PREAMBLE]

“Did you have to spoil the fun?”

---

Paige, here. What happened at Francesca’s… To say that it’s rattled everyone has been an understatement. Whole ward cracked open, any survivors being battered to hell, one member being missing… I didn’t want to talk about it, but then Lance Ventura paid me a physical visit. Yes, that Lance Ventura. Involved with the case and wanted to get the information out, and picked me for it. A flash drive of e-mails that he wanted me to toss up here. He called it an “exposure”… and looked sad while talking about it. He still seemed spooked. Apparently he was right on-site when it happened. Damn.

And formatting all of these e-mails is going to be hell on my end. An em-dash between parts will show the change between who’s talking in a given thread. If this gets no traffic, I swear to God… Oldest to newest, here we go.

Wednesday, Sep 23, 2100 at 6:15 PM

(From: Leonard Marquardt | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: New Patient]

Ms. Culver brought in a new patient. Unconscious, but with normal vital signs. Culver was very rude about the patient, referring to her as a “red-eyed freak”. I don’t understand what she meant by that. Do you?

– Leo

–

(7:30 PM)

Peculiar. She isn’t normally that rude.

Sunday, Sep 27, 2100 at 6:23 PM

(From: Leonard Marquardt | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: New Patient Physical Tests]

The patient has remained unconscious for the past few days. In the meantime, we have been running physical tests, including blood work. The physical information we have gathered is as follows:

• Pale, with blue veins visible in many places, particularly around her eyes and down her neck.


• Analyzing samples of her hair, it appears to have a natural dark blue color.


• Analyzing her blood has led to two discoveries: She has a much higher saturation of a multitude of metals than should be healthy for a human, and strange particulates of a blue crystalline material of unknown nature are present throughout her blood.

– Leo

–

(6:59 PM)

And she is still alive?

– Lance

–

(7:21 PM)

Yes. Nobody on-site knows how this could be possible, either. The crystalline material does not match anything within our databases.

– Leo

Monday, Sep 28, 2100 at 6:10 PM

(From: Eunice Mizushima | To: Leonard Marquardt)
[Subject: Acting Weird]

Leo, is something the matter? Is something wrong with the patient? You look nervous around her despite her not being conscious.

– Eunice

–

(6:17 PM)

I’m fine. She’s been unconscious for too long, feels like she won’t wake up.

– Leo

–

(6:29 PM)

She will, do not worry. You just look like you are finding ghosts around every corner. You are fine.

– Eunice

Friday, Oct 2, 2100 at 5:09 PM

(From: Leonard Marquardt | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: Patient (Arantxa) Consciousness]

The patient has has finally woken up. Ms. Culver was correct about about her having red eyes. Bright red. Humans don’t naturally have red eyes outside of albinism, which runs contrary to her natural hair color. Despite the worrying physical traits I had stated before, she displays high energy and desire for physical activity. Speaking to the patient has given us this information:

• Her name is “Arantxa Nanna Rossi”, as spelled out herself.


• She states that she is from a city known as “Krat”. We have not been able to find such a location in our research, and telling her as such has proven to cause her large amounts of distress.


• Running physical tests again, it appears that her health has not changed since our last series.


• Behavior: She appears to have a compulsion to cover up as much of her skin below her head as she can. She does not state why when asked.

– Leo

–

(6:27 PM)

Great to hear! She seems cooperative. Keep on it.

– Lance

Saturday, Oct 3, 2100 at 5:02 PM

(From: Eunice Mizushima | To: Conrad Gage)
[Subject: Patient Aggravation]

Conrad, please stop aggravating the patient. I do not know why she is avoiding you. Do you?

– Eunice

–

(5:32 PM)

I haven’t done anything! You saw her pounce on me like some kind of monkey, I was holding something and I knocked her off to keep me from falling and breaking anything! Do you really think I know why she did that?

– Conrad

–

(5:50 PM)

I do not, that is true. I simply do not want to risk either of you getting hurt. If something like that “glomp” (that is the term many people use, right?) happens again, I will need to move you towards back storage and analysis to keep you from direct contact with her.

– Eunice

Monday, Oct 5, 2100 at 7:23 PM

(From: Raphael Brand | To: Conrad Gage)
[Subject: Creepy]

She’s weird, right?

– Raph

–

(7:27 PM)

Yeah. Did anyone tell you about the whole… “glomping” (where did Eunie learn that word from, anyway?) incident thing?

– Conrad

–

(7:31 PM)

Don’t worry, I saw it straight-up. Do you think there’s something going wrong… up “there”? Not even just the “from somewhere that doesn’t exist” thing, she just… gives me the creeps. The heebie-jeebies. Like I’ve seen her eyes before, in a bad way, if that makes sense?

– Raph

–

(7:35 PM)

Only the heebiest of jeebies, yeah. Does she look a bit “anime” to you? The natural blue hair, the natural red eyes, like someone’s first anime OC from when they were 15.

– Conrad

–

(7:50 PM)

So you’re saying we’re dealing with baby’s first edgy anime OC? Definitely talks nonsense like she came from Anime Land.

– Raph

Tuesday, Oct 6, 2100 at 7:30 PM

(From: Eunice Mizushima | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: Everyone Scared of Patient?]

Everyone keeps acting weird around Arantxa. Do not like being around her for very long. Seem scared. She’s friendly, I do not understand what could be going on for such “spooked” behavior. Do you?

– Eunice

–

(7:34 PM)

I believe that they’re just worried about accidentally hurting the patient, or her hurting herself. Please continue with testing, and keep keeping an eye on everyone.

– Lance

–

(7:36 PM)

I will.

– Eunice

Wednesday, Oct 7, 2100 at 7:10 PM

(From: Raphael Brand | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: Patient Height (and Weird)]

We ran more physicals today. She was… very talkative. More “Krat” talk. She said that she had a “master”, an “alchemist” who was always “very unkind”. Apparently, whoever that “master” was treated her like dirt, which made her angry, but she wasn’t allowed to get angry, and she doesn’t understand why she can’t remember their name.

So here’s where things get weird: She mentioned your name, your whole name, and says that she’s excited to finally see you “again”. So… You’ve met?

– Raph

–

(7:18 PM)

No. Has anyone over there mentioned me in front of her?

– Lance

–

(7:26 PM)

Not from what I’ve heard. Asked everyone else and everything. Weird, right?

Also, forgot to attach a picture I meant to. Whoops.

– Raph

Thursday, Oct 8, 2100 at 6:09 PM

(From: Lance Ventura | To: Conrad Gage)
[Subject: Feeling About Patient]

Something is wrong with the patient. She isn’t what she looks like, she cannot be.

– Lance

–

(6:15 PM)

Slow down. You haven’t even been on-site yet and she’s freaking you out?

– Conrad

–

(6:20 PM)

Yes. Very. She knows my full name and acts like she knows me, I do not know how. Tell Leo that he needs to run more tests. We need more tests.

– Lance

–

(6:23 PM)

You’ve got his e-mail, you’re his boss, you can tell him yourself.

– Conrad

–

(7:25 PM)

Hello?

– Conrad

Friday, Oct 9, 2100 at 5:30 PM

(From: Raphael Brand | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: Patient Analysis (and Weird Eyes)]

More physicals, more blood work. I think her blood’s turning purple… somehow. There’s even more of those blue crystals, red + blue = purple, so probably from that, but that just leaves the question of what’s the deal with the crystals. An even higher concentration of metals, too. She’s getting thinner everywhere. Her still living is an enigma…

She also thought she could get away with this spooky look-see. Snagged a photo. Deciphering her face is like me trying to read a book in Korean, and you know I don’t know Korean, I can’t tell what her deal is.

– Raph

–

(5:37 PM)

Thank you for you and your team’s continued hard work. This has grown very important to me.

– Lance

Saturday, Oct 10, 2100 at 7:49 PM

(From: Conrad Gage | To: Raphael Brand)
[Subject: You Alright?]

What happened? I saw you freak out and run out like it was full of bees. A lot of bees.

– Conrad

–

(8:00 PM)

You guys have only been using first names around her, right?

– Raph

–

(8:07 PM)

Yes? What’s that got to do with anything?

– Conrad

–

(8:19 PM)

She called me “Mr. Brand”. She called Leo “Leonard Marquardt”. Y’know, that fancy-ass name that nobody uses for him? How’d she know any of that? How does she know Lance’s name?

Something’s really “up” with her.

– Raph

–

(8:26 PM)

So… Keep our eyes on her?

More?

– Conrad

–

(8:30 PM)

YES.

– Raph

Sunday, Oct 11, 2100 at 7:31 PM

(From: Conrad Gage | To: Eunice Mizushima)
[Subject: NAMES]

Eunie. Have you used anyone’s last names in front of the patient? At all?

– Conrad

–

(7:39 PM)

No. Have you?

– Eunice

–

(7:46 PM)

What does that even mean? She’s been dangling our last names in front of our faces and you somehow haven’t noticed?

– Conrad

–

(7:57 PM)

That does sound odd. Have you asked Leo?

– Eunice

–

(8:14 PM)

Yes.

Twice.

He has no idea, either.

And I still don’t know why she’d call me “Mr. Gage’s weird doll kid”. She called Raph a “doll kid”, too. I don’t even know what she means by “doll kid”.

– Conrad

–

(8:20 PM)

I will talk to her about this, thank you for telling me. We must still keep testing. It will be alright.

– Eunice

Monday, Oct 12, 2100 at 6:49 PM

(From: Leonard Marquardt | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: Patient Physical Changes]

Physical analysis continues. A very sudden change appears to have happened over the time frame of last night, before we came back in.

• Her blood has taken a more noticeable purple tinge, and the blue crystals floating within it are now visible to the naked eye. These crystals appear to glow in the dark.


• The concentration of metals has only grown more potent.


• Her veins have grown more visible, and round deposits of the blue crystalline mineral have started poking out of her skin. Her features are overall more skeletal.


• Her height has grown significantly (see attached image). Required new clothes to fit.


• Outside of anxiety over not being able to cover up the whole of her arms, her behavior has not changed. The only reports of pain appear to be within her upper back, which she refuses to allow anyone to examine.

– Leo

–

(7:13 PM)

The metals… The food assigned to her is not metal-heavy, yes?

– Lance

–

(7:25 PM)

Correct. Please understand me when I say this: Nothing about this patient has made any sense.

– Leo

–

(7:32 PM)

I think I understand all too well.

– Lance

Tuesday, Oct 13, 2100 at 6:23 PM

(From: Conrad Gage | To: Raphael Brand)
[Subject: Outburst]

So I’m getting shoved into background work… Couldn’t come soon enough. I think she’s finally starting to go completely bonkers.

– Conrad

–

(6:30 PM)

What happened? Nobody’s told me what actually happened in there.

– Raph

–

(7:42 PM)

Another physical “incident”. I was sent in to bring her a new shirt that was long-sleeved, but then she up and grabbed my face and tried to keep my eyes open. She looked freaked out and said that my eyes were “wrong” before she was pried off. She’s stronger than she looks… I think she could have torn my face off like a chimp if she really wanted to.

– Conrad

–

(7:50 PM)

Yikes. Hope you’ll have a better time. Stay safe.

– Raph

Wednesday, Oct 14, 2100 at 7:10 PM

(From: Eunice Mizushima | To: Raphael Brand)
[Subject: Security]

Lance and I have requested more physical security for this case. I never expected such aggressive behavior from the patient.

– Eunice

–

(7:14 PM)

It better actually make some kind of difference. You’ve seen how she’s been stalking me, right? And only me?

– Raph

–

(7:22 PM)

It should. We just need to keep going.

– Eunice

–

(7:24 PM)

I hope so.

– Raph

Thursday, Oct 15, 2100 at 7:08 PM

(From: Eunice Mizushima | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: Further Patient Changes]

Leo wanted me to be the one to forward this to you. The patient has, again, changed considerably in a very short period of time.

• Skin has become thinner and lost most of its original color.


• Bruising is present all across her body except for her face. The bruising is clustered primarily around her limb joints and across her upper back.


• Purple-tinged sclerae.


• Her body temperature has dropped to 9°C (48.2°F), which should be impossible to survive, yet somehow is not impacting her behavior.

I think I am starting to understand why everyone else seems so… scared.

– Eunice

–

(7:12 PM)

Have there been any other… “incidents” since the “eyes” incident? Physical altercations, I mean?

– Lance

–

(7:29 PM)

No.

– Eunice

–

(7:34 PM)

That’s good to hear. A bit to put me at ease.

– Lance

Friday, Oct 16, 2100 at 6:51 PM

(From: Raphael Brand | To: Lance Ventura)
[Subject: Changes]

More physicals. This is a goddamn horror show, just look at this:

• Blue-purple fluid persistently leaking from nose and mouth, which analysis reveals to be her blood.


• More crystals, and our analysis machinery crashes when we try to analyze them.


• Taller. Too tall. Skin and muscle around knee joints tore, which she violently refuses to let us examine. Requests bandages to “hide” them… How she still functions at all, let alone is still able to walk, is beyond me.


• Refuses to eat or drink.

– Raph

–

(7:03 PM)

Do we have anything else we could possibly do? We need to keep going.

I think I have someone to talk to.

– Lance

Sunday, Oct 25, 2100 at 6:23 PM

(From: Leonard Marquardt | To: Eunice Mizushima)
[Subject: Arantxa Changes]

I believe that we are going to need another shipment of bandages. The patient becomes too anxious for tests without her major wounds being “hidden”, and she has been bleeding through her wrappings at an unforeseeable rate. As for those tests:

• Despite not eating or drinking for over a week and becoming more gaunt, she has somehow gained over 20 kg (45lbs) in weight.


• Her height has grown taller, which has resulted in more skin and muscle tearing (see attached image).


• I believe that feeding and hydration has become impossible. Not only does she still refuse to eat or drink, attempting intravenous administration has resulted in broken needles. Needle insertion has resulted in dented and snapped needles, as if I had been trying to pierce stiff, solid material.


• Strange clicking and scraping sounds are audible when close to her upper back.

Are you understanding why I’ve been having such a bad feeling about all of this? I have a feeling that we’re going to need more security.

– Leo

Monday, Oct 26, 2100 at 7:19 PM

(From: Eunice Mizushima | To: Leonard Marquardt)
[Subject: Raph]

Another physical incident happened.

The patient has started to try and hide the lower half of her face. Outside of attempts to look at her wounds, she had not displayed aggressive behaviors beforehand, but she had deliberately sought Raph and snuck up upon him while he was inputting data digitally. She grabbed his arm and dug her nails into it until he began to bleed. When confronted and escorted away, she said that she was only asking him for more bandages. Raph has, thankfully, not experienced any contamination. He told me that the wrappings around her face were “tenting”, but I have not noticed anything like that.

We can not be the only two left on-site, but Raph...

– Eunice

–

(7:25 PM)

I don’t know what to do, either. If things get too dangerous, then none of us will be left on-site, but I don’t think anyone else can handle this.

– Leo

Tuesday, Oct 27, 2100 at 5:43 PM

(From: Lance Ventura | To: Leonard Marquardt)
[Subject: Gala Culver]

I’ve finally managed a meeting with Ms. Culver. I did find her her trying to stab me at first, however… I do not recall her ever procuring a sword. I don’t know why she’d have a sword.

It seemed like she knew I was coming and was going to ask her about Arantxa. Apparently, she had encountered her when she was still conscious, but she passed out soon after. Before she passed out, she told Culver that it “wasn’t time yet” for something, and that Culver needed to “be ready” for when she “finally wakes up”. All of this talk of the “right time” and “waking up”, all of it feels… familiar. I don’t like it.

Apparently, that’s the reason why she got herself a sword, which is fair, considering the patient’s recent... “outbursts”. She doesn’t seem to know anything else, unfortunately.

– Lance

–

(5:50 PM)

“Be ready”? Ready for what, exactly?

– Leo

–

(6:14 PM)

I don’t know. I just don’t think we’ll be able to be ready enough for it.

– Lance

Wednesday, Oct 28, 2100 at 7:14 PM

(From: Lance Ventura | To: Eunice Mizushima)
[Subject: Coming Down]

I had a very bad nightmare last night. I think it was a nightmare. It most likely was a nightmare.

Arantxa was in my house. Inhumanly tall, her skin hanging from her frame like a tattered wet robe, dripping blue, purple, and red. The skin did not hang from muscle or bone, but instead gleaming metal, dark piping, and dangling wires, and her arms were adorned with blades, and it looked almost like she had a pair of wings sprouting from her back, yet with no feathers or membranes. Rattling, scraping, clicking, the screeching of metal and… revving of circular blades, somehow. She had a long blood-read mane of sludge coming from her head, but outside of organic human teeth and strange metal whiskers, her face was entirely distorted, like some kind of filter or censor was applied to it. She was surrounded by a deep red fog that smelled like blood so intense it was nearly overwhelming.

She slowly walked up to me and put a hand on the top of my head with a laugh, like an older sibling teasing a younger one. Her hand was still warm and wet. In a voice that was not hers, but still sounded too familiar, but yet I still did not recognize, she told me that she’s eager to meet me face-to-face again after “such a long time apart”, and that there’s going to be an “exciting reunion” soon. When I tried reaching out to her, she vanished without a trace.

I think something bad’s going to happen, and I need to be there when it does. I’m coming down to the facility tomorrow.

– Lance

–

(7:23 PM)

I do not think now is the time. The patient has gone missing.

– Eunice

–

(7:50 PM)

Lance?

– Eunice

Thursday, Oct 29, 2100 at 8:23 PM

So, this isn’t an e-mail, but it has a small bit of security camera footage from the patient's rampage. It isn’t much… but it’s freaky as hell. Little Arantxa turned into… that? The facility got cracked open like an egg, and Leo is still missing…

GIF file

Either way: Paige, out.

---

“Was there much blood? Other than what’s… all over you?”