She carefully selected a few pills and drank them all together, running through the palace. Then Cresencia sat in a lotus position, and Miku guarded the law of space for her. She needed a thorough meditation that would enable her body to heal faster and to stop using those modern pills.
"Your highness, your body is of mortal flesh. Please be careful," Miku reminded her telepathically.
"Thank you, I know what to do, Miku, make sure no one enters my room tonight" Cresencia was afraid that someone might find her missing, and it would cause more trouble on her side.
"Yes, your highness," Miku responded as he opened the mirror of eternity and guarded her by looking at the door with a class B, fifth level array.
Sweat poured on her back endlessly when she entered the void of meditation. Tears fell from her eyes as her body reached the peak of Nirvana. For a mortal, achieving Nirvana means death. But her soul wasn't mortal at all, and mortality only bounded her physical appearance and not her strength.
In science, Nirvana can only be attainable through gene editing. It means that a human's genetic material needs to be manipulated by medicine to perfection till it reaches the state of immunity. But it could have monstrous side effects like abnormal mutilation. And those who undergo these processes in success are considered part of the highest form of biological weapons hidden for war.
The tiniest tissues within Cresencia's body slowly reconnected and reformed in many ways. Her heart's pace doubled for a while, and the bruises caused by accident were fading. Muscles were extending, and bones were reshaping. Her hair grew an inch longer, and the paleness of her skin intensified with flawlessness.
The old marks from the intense military training vanished while her birthmark remained. Nails on hands and toes shed off like a snake's dead scales, and a new batch grew out, healthier than those dried pieces on the floor. Cresencia's towering height grew a few inches of bone length, and her body became fuller, curvier.
And her eye color changed into a darker shade of grey.
"I'm back--"
She saw her reflection on the calm lake, a few meters below her. The void of meditation enables a practitioner to enter the realm of levitation and absorb the energy needed to sustain the ideal changes. Miku did not forget to throw her a piece of ancient robe since her clothes couldn't withstand her growth, and it shredded into nothingness.
Cresencia landed on the ground smoothly. She felt revitalized and more connected to the objects in her environment. Miku dissolved the barrier and jumped into Cresencia's arms. He was amazed by the changes in Cresencia's space, something he was not expecting.
"Your majesty, you look closer to your old self--"
"Why do you say so?"
"Because there's still something different about how you look--"
"What's wrong with my looks? Don't I look identical to my previous appearance?"
"I don't know, your highness, but I know something has changed."
Little did they know that it was her smile.
The guardian of death was a mysterious entity, a youthful woman who never grows old and a dutiful escort who guides the souls to their righteous ways. Cresencia has never failed to spend her days learning, and only by learning could she understand the memories she'd collected from the dead.
The sun was ready to set, so she picked a few precious medicinal herbs that only grow in the Netherworld. She laid them in a woven basket and carried them on her shoulders. There were also a few types of dewdrops and beast cores. When the sky turned tender blue, the pollen from the blooming flowers fell slowly and danced with the playful wind.
White and reddish petals covered the moist ground as if it just rained before they came in. The leaves brushed Cresencia's clothes affectionately, and Miku hopped behind. She breathed a fresher air and sighed contentedly.
"Your highness, you're still occupying a mortal's body. Will it carry the strength of the power you'll displace upon making alchemy?"
"I'll try it, Miku. Maybe learning through books is not enough. I need to practice it myself, be familiar, and be comfortable with the process."
"I will be here, your highness."
"I don't know how long we'll stay in the mortal's realm, but I'm hoping that we could create something beautiful before we leave."
"I am sure we could, your highness. A philosopher in the mortal's realm once said that nothing is impossible if you believe."
They talked and carried the ingredients over. Cresencia spent her days practicing within the space, and soon enough, she succeeded. She covertly mixed the pills she made into her grandmother's tea each morning.
The next day she went for a run. Miku was still lying on her bed, and the servants were not yet awake. Fog covered the empty grounds, and the birds chirped so livelily. She jogged around the neighborhood where rich villas stood in rows.
With a water bottle at hand, she stopped to catch her breath, just in time to see an old lady shivering in the corner. She walked forward and greeted the old lady.
"Grandma, let me help you up, are you lost?"
The grandmother coughed lightly, but she did not answer. Cresencia then reached for her phone and dialed the emergency hotline. She remembered not drinking on her water bottle, so she offered warm water to the older woman.
"Here, drink some water to quench your thirst and warm you up, grandma. Let's wait a while. I've already called the rescue team."
The grandmother she's calling still did not reply.
"Grandma, do you live here? Can you remember the road that leads you back to your house?"
The older woman stared at her and shook her head.
The rescue team arrived before they froze. She helped the grandma and accompanied her for a checkup to the hospital. The weather was not so good, so she called home to inform her family about what had happened. Then they hurriedly sent her a change of clothes and a pair of warm meals. From simple things, she can feel her family's unconditional love and support.