[Plot] The Sun is Up; the Sky is Blue

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez was actually thankful for Leo's return, as he had managed to keep her for commenting something about her maybe being jealous of Katarina's was bigger than hers.

"Yes, you're probably right Leo. I think what Mr. Ciseleur has done here will be... perfect."

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"I hope so. I really do," Jacques nodded. "This is...not something we get a second chance at."

"Well, no time like the present, I suppose."

The mold Jacques was using was custom-built for this purpose, which is an odd purpose to be custom built for, but hey - royal prerogative and whatnot. It was a ceramic mold with a sort of gate at the front, so it could be placed over Katarina's head and shoulders. It came in two pieces -- one shaped like the back of Katarina's head; one shaped like the top.

"Normally," Jacques explained, "we would melt the gold or brass or what have you, and pour it into the mold. That is not an option with the Princess, for what I hope are obvious reasons. Instead, we will seal her inside the mold, locking it tightly. We shall insert it into the furnace and heat it, slowly and carefully, as we monitor the Princess for any signs of distress. There will be a point of no return after which, well, we can not return, but if we discover any problems early, we may be able to abort with minimal damage done. Once we pass a certain point, however, we will have to stoke the furnace to it's hottest, to completely melt everything. We shall then remove the mold from the furnace, pour in the separately-melted gold, and wait for everything to cool. Hopefully, the new gold will meld with the old gold. Hopefully, the mold will allow everything to form properly. Hopefully, the Princess' power shall keep her in one piece and...comfortable...throughout the process.

And hopefully, four of us will leave this room in a few hours."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Just keep directin' me as well as you have so far and we'll get her back to her beautiful self without a problem. That's what I choose to believe, anyway," he said, putting on a confident front as he put on his very large work gloves.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez swallowed softly. She knew that this was serious, but the extent of methods being used, that she wasn't prepared for. If this didn't work... she shuddered at the thought.

The Jez by Katarina's side squeezed her hand all that much harder.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

Jacques paused. "Ah, the Princess may get quite warm. You may like some sort of protective gear? But this may be the only way she will have any contact from us during the process..."

He motioned to Leo. "Start the furnace, and begin melting the gold. Carefully, mind you; slow and steady."

[Leo Eskandari]

The big, now shirtless for obvious reasons, guy nodded and did as instructed.

"I am never gonna see this much gold again in my life," he said enviously.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The Jez who was standing swapped places with the one who was sitting, for reasons that Jacques probably didn't understand.

"If touch is the only contact and reassurance we can give her, then I can take it." The standing one reassured him, the sitting one seeming to stare off into space.

"Sure you will, Leo. When she's up and about again, you can ask her to go golden any time you like." She pointed out with enthusiasm that was maybe a little too obviously fake.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"Please do not attempt to ascertain the monetary value of the Princess," Jacques deadpanned, as he started the furnace. Now or never.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Can't blame a poor kid for bein' momentarily tempted," he said as he worked.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"You would be surprised," Jacques deadpanned.

He took a deep breath as he positioned himself behind Katarina.

"Kéž bůh povede mé ruce a uvidí princeznu v bezpečí."

And slowly, but surely, he began to slide the mold, with Katerina inside, into the flames.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The standing Jez took a deep breath through her nose while the sitting one remained mostly motionless, moving only as the sliding of Katarina's body required her to.

[Katarina Karkov]

At first, nothing much seemed to be happening. The mold Katarina was in was opaque, with just a port to pour molten gold in, so there wasn't any visual sign about what was going on, or how Katarina was faring, or anything of that nature. It had a thermometer attached to it so they could monitor the process, but that was it in terms of feedback.

Except, of course, this statue was alive, and holding on to Jez's hand. Katarina, unconsciously or not, tightened her grip on Jez's hand, as she began to warm up. Her legs started shaking a little, as well, as the temperature continued to rise.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Should I be holding her down?" Leo asked, concerned by the movement.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"...Perhaps we should be restraining her, at that..."

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo used his powerful arms to firmly hold Katarina's upper body still. He was grateful that she was made of gold so that he didn't have to worry as much about hurting her.

[Narrator]

As the temperature continued to rise, Katarina's obvious distress continued to rise, as well. Her struggles and squirming increased, and her whole body kept increasing in temperature as her golden body conducted the heat.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Sure hope these gloves hold out," he said, starting to feel the heat through them as he kept up his grip. He knew he'd heal eventually, but he'd like to avoid painful burns.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez's copy pushed her fingers between Katarina's own and cupped her other hand over the hot digits, doing her best to try and reassure the girl.

The standing one fidgeted and looked uncomfortable, but didn't say anything.

[Narrator]

There was only so much Jez could reassure Katarina -- it wasn't clear if it was panic, or pain, or some sort of horrific other reaction, but Katarina squeezed both her fists as hard as she could, hot golden fingers digging into Jez's palm. Her whole body was practically convulsing, her un-restrained legs kicking; even for Leo, it was difficult (though far from impossible) to keep the girl down.

"Just a little bit longer! Hold on!" Jacques said, monitoring the temperature carefully.

And then he laid out a series of curses, as one of the seams on the ceramic casing buckled under Katarina's shaking, a small rivulet of gold spilling out onto the floor.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

There wasn't time to do anything else. The Jez sitting at Katarina's side moved suddenly and pressed her arm against the leaking seam. There was smoke, and the smell of burning flesh, and the girl's body quivered, but forced herself to stay there by leaning against the mold.

The one standing further back however was acting as though someone had just shoved a hot branding iron against her stomach, unable to suppress a cry of pain. She fell backward against the workbench and raked her arms over it, knocking tools onto the floor with a loud clatter in search of something. A wooden-handled hammer is what her shaking hand found, and she clumsily forced it into her mouth, burying her teeth into the wood as she tried to muffle her screams.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"Hold it steady!" Jacques called, practically flying over to his workbench for his tools.

"Leo! Get the extra gold, and pour it in as soon as I can reseal the mold!"

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

The Jez almost threw herself on the mold, using her body to hold it together, which made for more smoke and more unsettling smell, and more muffled cries from the sinking to the floor with her back against the workbench.

[Leo Eskandari]

"Jez, hold her down for me!" Leo said as he rushed to action like the hero he wanted to be.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

It's not that Jacques was callous to Jez's pain; it's just that he had very clear responsibilities and duties here. And so he spent more time focusing on some kind of caulking gun (couldn't be; it wouldn't survive those temperatures?) than on Jez's obvious pain and suffering. But, for what it was worth it worked -- Jacques was able to seal the cracks in the halves of the mold, even as Katarina's thrashing calmed down and began to peter out. Whether that was good or not remained to be seen.

"Now, Leo!" Jacques cried.

[Leo Eskandari]

Leo put his brawn to use, pouring the molten gold into the mold. He prayed that what they were doing worked. He didn't want to think about it not working.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

When the thrashing subsided and the mold was resealed, the closest Jez rolled off of Katarina and fell to the floor, her badly-burnt form immediately beginning to crack and break apart into grey dust.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

Jacques nodded as Leo added the extra gold, a bit of it spilling out of the top as the mold was topped off.

"Excellent! And out!" he said, shoving the slab Katarina was lying out of the furnace and away from the heat.

He paused for a moment, feeling Katarina's wrists (hot!), and examining the mold for cracks (none!), before finally turning his attention back to Jez.

"We need a doctor in here!" he said, the panic rising again now that he didn't have the mechanics of the job to fall back on.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"N-no, it's fine."

The voice didn't come from the rapidly disassembling girl, but from the one by the workbench, who was still visibly shaking as she pulled herself to her feet. She was sweaty, her hair was a mess, and the hammer had teeth marks deep in it's handle. "There's no need for that. How... how is she?"

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"You are...unharmed?" Jacques said, turning to face the other Jez. "But the gold..."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

"A sacrificed puppet is still just a puppet. I can make another... in time." In truth she was trying to put on a brave front, but Jez was very, very badly shaken. While she may not have suffered the physical damage that her copy had, she had felt every sensation. And her body ached with the phantom pains of 4th-degree burns, her body still in panic mode despite suffering no physical trauma. This was going to be like the centipede all over again.

"How is she?" She repeated her question, her voice a little more anxious this time.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"I...I do not know, yet. She is not struggling or kicking anymore," he said with a glance. "But we won't know anything for sure until she cools down and sets..."

[Leo Eskandari]

"How long will that take?" Leo asked, worried uncertainty clear on his face. He was already primed to blame himself if she wasn't okay.

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"It shall be a little bit, but we should know soon," Jacques said, still concerned about Jez. "I am impatient, as well, but if we break the mold too early, the results could be disastrous."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez swallowed hard, nodding her head in agreement, even as she tried to get her shaking under control. "Right... right. We'll just have to wait."

[Jacques Ciseleur]

The next half an hour might as well have taken half a year, for what it felt. Jacques kept looking over at the shell-shocked Jezabelle, concerned but feeling it improper to raise any of those concerns at this point. He tried to pass the time with idle conversation with Leo about sculpting and art, but it was clear his heart really wasn't in it. He kept checking the temperature inside the mold, dropping, dropping, dropping, as well as checking Katarina for signs of movement. Nothing -- no squirming, no shaking or twisting, none of the shuddering she had done before hand. That was very concerning to say the least.

Finally, the anxiety got to him, as he checked the temperature one last time. "Alright, I believe we should be safe now. If one of you would like to break open the mold so we can see the Princess..."

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez's shaking slowly subsided, but her movements were still very much post-traumatic in their mannerisms, like how she kept rubbing her arm and other places that had been badly burnt on her copy. It was like she was trying to offer evidence her brain that she wasn't injured, so she shouldn't be feeling any pain. When Jacques asked his question she looked to Leo, then back to him. "We won't... risk denting her?"

[Jacques Ciseleur]

"Well, we shall be careful," Jacques said. "The Princess is tough, for certain, but I think we shall forego the sledgehammers for more controlled methods."

[Leo Eskandari]

"Probably not a job for someone still not used to his strength then," he said.

[Narrator]

"Well, then, I can handle it," Jacques said, with a nod.

He took up a punch and hammer, and stood over the mold for a second, closing his eyes and taking a deep, steadying breath. And then, with a couple quick, precise strikes, he broke the seam between top and bottom halves, shoving the upper part to the side and letting it fall to the floor with a shattering crash.

Bits of the ceramic still stuck to her face, and the gates to create hollows were still sticking out of her ears and nose, but otherwise, Katarina looked...well, like Katarina. The gold had set properly, despite the mold splitting open halfway through -- all the fine details of the face appeared to be there, though it would remain to be seen what it would look like when she shifted back to flesh and blood. If she shifted back to flesh and blood.

She was shinier up top, as well, with a clear line of demarcation in her upper chest, showing where the new casting had taken place. Jez would remember the patch on Katarina's lower leg being slightly different from the surrounding flesh; would that be the same for her entire head now? Or was that just the regular dirt and grime of being laid out in the art room contrasting with the clean fresh gold up top?

Those questions, of course, were secondary to the big one. Katarina was just lying there. Her eyes were open, as that was how they were sculpted, but they just stared blankly up at the ceiling. There was no movement, no sign of life.

[Jezabelle Sherlock]

Jez just didn't trust her hands to be steady enough to do the job, but as the mold crumbled away she approached to look upon the sculptor's handiwork. And... it was perfect. Katarina was just how Jez remembered her, how she appeared to her when she closed her eyes. The shininess reminded her of something, some stupid little thing she couldn't wait to share with the girl. But still, she was very nervous. She timidly touched her fingers to the princess' hand, testing to see how hot it was before she slipped hand into theirs.

"Absolutely beautiful... But, how do we wake sleeping beauty? Mr. Ciseleur, how long was it after you mended her leg that she was able to turn back to flesh and blood?"