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Doctor of the Ridge. He's good at what he does, but sometimes gets a bit too curious when it comes to biological experiments. Created Exsanguinate with the help of his apprentice, Carida.

On the front page 2/12/2021!

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Apprentice

???

Rival

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"Doctor, what do you do with all the blood and stuff you take?" Marie asked curiously. Having cut herself while working again, Marie went to Caduceus to help patch up the wound. Caduceus and Cardia were always so nice, even if Cardia did creep out Marie. Whenever this kind of thing happened, Caduceus always collected the runoff blood in a jar, then took it back to his office, never to be seen again. Surely it wasn't for donations or exchanges, he wasn't storing it properly. Maybe he drank it...? Probably not.

Caduceus shot Cardia a glance under his goggles at the question. Cardia didn't respond. "Well, to study of course! You can never have enough samples in science, after all." Caduceus chuckled. "What else would I be doing with it?"

"I dunno, eating it?" Marie murmured sarcastically under her breath. Caduceus snickered again. "I think I should at least ask first before I use your blood for seasoning, don't you?" He was obviously joking, but that sentence sent a slight chill down Marie's spine. She rolled her wings back anxiously as Caduceus put the last bandage in place. The Fae looked down at the jar that the doctor had put under her wound, which had a slight coating of her own blood at the bottom. She felt sick all of a sudden, and pulled back her claw.

"Nevermind, do what you want, Caddy." Marie said, adjusting her bandanna. Caduceus gave a warm smile, and patted Marie on the shoulder. Marie smiled nervously, looking past the doctor to Cardia, who's sly grin still rested under her messy cloak. Cardia nodded slightly in return.

"See you guys at dinner, I guess."

"You too, Marie. Take care."

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Caduceus switched on the light to his lab. The place flickered to life, if you could call it that. The walls lined with messy books and jars. In the middle, an almost pool like structure filled to the brim with a pulsing red liquid and other unknown substances. Wires hung and out of the pool, connecting to different machines all around the room.

The doctor threw in the jar of Marie's blood haphazardly, then turned to a panel on the wall. He quickly flipped the switch, and the wires around the room surged a dull blue.

Behind the sound of cracking electricity, there was a roaring sound that filled the room. It was coming from the pool of liquid where the jar had landed. The entire thing flashed and started to pulse harder, its roars turning into more screams of pain and sorrow. It was dreadful.

"Doctor." Cardia said quietly, but firmly. Her voice was rough and full of worry.

"Well, we're feeling chatty today, aren't we?" Caduceus said bitingly. Cardia snapped her mouth shut and remained silent. Caduceus turned back to the pool and turned the switch off. A groan of pain echoed in the room.

Caduceus stared at the pool with pride. The pool stared back.

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