"Whether you look at Ryla’s life force back when I had yet to start treating her or when I’ll be one step from curing her, the appearance of her life force will be the same since the programming of her Harmonizer hasn’t changed.
"Yet just because the shape of her life force is fixed, it doesn’t mean that the condition of her life force is fixed as well. You must remember that the Harmonizer is no cure.
"It’s just a means to rearrange a Fallen life force into a preset shape, no matter how much resistance the life force offers to the process or how stretched or compressed the various parts must be to match the shape programmed into the Harmonizer.
"It’s the reason the moment Ryla steps outside the geyser, she reverts into a Fallen Balor. Her Fomor life force is like a suitcase filled to the brim with unfolded clothes that you closed by force.
"When you open it, the pressure is gone and the clothes spill out of the suitcase." Quylla looked at her audience, and everyone nodded for her to continue.
"My treatment consists of altering Ryla’s Fallen life force so that it offers less resistance to the Harmonizer and folds into a stable form. The closer I get to a cure, the longer she retains her unfallen Fomor state away from a geyser."
"How much did my life force change?" Ryla had no interest in the how or why. She just wanted an answer to her questions.
"About one generation." Quylla pondered. "After the events in Jiera, you are now four generations closer to a stable Fomor form."
"Is that a lot or a little?" Lith asked, even though Ryla’s and Garrik’s tears of joy at the news answered his question.
"It’s enough." Quylla replied. "My treatment consists of two phases. First, I alter Ryla’s Fallen life force so that it shapeshifts more easily into its unfallen state. After that, I check on her Fomor form and make sure that I solved more problems than I created.
"Life forces are not bricks that you can cut or smooth willy-nilly. Even if the procedure is a success, the way the various parts interact changes, and it’s not unusual for new problems to arise.
"Assuming that the first phase brought a solid improvement, I move on to phase two. I alter Ryla’s life force while under the effects of the Harmonizer until all the problems I created are fixed or they are no more dangerous than a natural imperfection.
"Only at that point do I move back to phase one and alter Ryla’s fallen life force further. I had brought her forward by three generations, hence I modified her fallen form twice and stabilized it once.
"Whatever happened during the battle stabilized my latest modifications. I can resume the treatment as soon as Ryla’s body adapts to the changes. It should take around three days to make them permanent. You did the right thing, Lith.
"The process is not over yet, and if Ryla had stepped out of the geysers, her life force would have unraveled and gone back to how I had left it."
"Still, I don’t understand how this could happen." Lith rubbed his chin. "Ryla has been living here for over a year now, and Morok moved in with us months ago. Why now and why on Jiera?"
"Those are great questions." Quylla nodded. "But they can wait after dinner. You guys are exhausted and need to rest. After we eat, I want to hear all about the beauty of Jiera and the people you met. You guys must tell me everything."
"Everything?" Morok swallowed too hard for it not to be suspicious.
He still remembered the deep kiss from the Traughen woman and the many love confessions he had received on Jiera from the women of Zelex.
"Everything." Quylla’s voice went cold, her eyes narrowing into an executioner’s glare.
***
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