Chapter 199 Taking Over
Aleshia woke up in the dark. After a while, she tried to recall the previous day's events. She made a deal to heal the camp residents and lift the curses that afflicted them. To achieve her goal, she entered a soul space to recover spells that had belonged to her body's previous host, Kailey. While in the soul space, she found a spellbook containing the necessary spell. Though her memories were somewhat hazy before and after discovering the book, she vividly recalled her feelings when she rediscovered Kailey wandering in that space.
Her thoughts drifted back to her first and second patients. After reflecting on them, she recalled leaving the camp for the first time since her arrival. After trekking the slums, she cleaned a house with five others. When she returned, she tried curing a third patient.
As Aleshia listed the events in her mind, she felt the haze lift slightly, although she still felt heavily drained. Reluctantly, she got up from her resting spot, glancing longingly into the darkness that tempted her to sleep again. As Aleshia walked into the room filled with the cursed, Lucia suddenly popped into her head.
"Did you have a good rest?" Lucia asked, looking Aleshia up and down, her hat bouncing exaggeratedly. She then added, "No, you did not." After saying this, she infused Aleshia with a boost of nature magic, helping her recover. "You should be feeling better now," Lucia said cheerily before hopping onto Aleshia's head.
Aleshia listlessly thanked her. "Thanks," she said, then after taking a few more steps, she casually flopped onto the floor, dead asleep. Just before Aleshia hit the ground, Lucia took control, puppeteering her body.
"Aleshia, you need some rest, so I'll take over until you wake up again. I think I made you very sleepy."
After Lucia whispered that, she began to control the body as she had done when Aleshia was in the soul space for an extended period. The first thing Lucia did was check on the person whose curse they had cured. Upon entering the room, she noticed that no one else was present except for those lying on straw beds. When she checked on the person they had cured, she observed that they seemed stable, although they remained fast asleep.
Lucia exited the room while taking control of Aleshia's body and entered a room she hadn't visited in a long time to begin setting things up.
Somewhere, a bell tolled, signaling sunrise, and a few minutes later, children began streaming into the room that Lucia had prepared.
"Welcome, everyone, to morning school."