ORIGIN

How long had it even been since she'd gone back to Monoceros? Magdalena had been spending a lot of time around Polaris, mostly because of Nemesis. She couldn't bear to leave the rhino's side for long, so it was easier to visit the core of the cave rather than go all the way back home. She hadn't seen Diamondfang since, and she wondered if the mongoose wondered where they were - had she gone looking for them? Or maybe Nemesis had told her. Really, Magdalena hadn't really shed it a second thought until now, and it had only arisen since she found Louie again.

There was a small breeze making its way through the massive central cave. She could feel it on her fur, pulling the small, fragile curls that sprouted from her skin, tugging her this way and that. It made her hunger for the twister that had since returned to the windy room, missing the veritable buffet of scents it brought with it, and the feel of the different winds as they rolled across her back, both stale and fresh, hot and cold, just like the first time Nemesis had described them to her. Her ears pinned back against her head, and she shook the thought away. It would do her no good to pine over the things she couldn't have. When she thought of the young Gembounds she had befriended and ultimately lost - Graham, Ruine, Delphine - her heart ached. It only hurt her to remember them. So she concluded that she should forget them instead.

Her paws dragged her back towards the Spire. The magic in this place was stronger, erratic even; sometimes she could feel swells of the sickness surging inside of her against her will. She had grown sick from nearly drowning, the cold festering in her watery eyes and dribbling nose, and a hoarse cough that had settled in her lungs. She was always cold, but that was easily remedied by curling up next to her Fire. The powerful magic of the Spire just made her cold stronger and more difficult to overcome. She had to find a way to heal herself and she remembered the one spell she had used on Baratheon, the one that sapped his energy, but there was no way she could use that on Nemesis. Louie, however...

Perhaps that was why she had come. Her eyes had fallen half-lidded, staring blearily into the abyss of nothingness ahead of her. The ground was uneven and cracked, likely a result of the battle with the dragon now weeks ago. Where she could feel the pull of magic strongest, the dog stopped and raised her head. Maybe it would kill her to use this spell, but... maybe it would do her some good.

Her eyes closed and she reached out. She searched, the examined the tangible world around her, hunting for that ever familiar pull... and there, she felt it. Her brows knitted together as she honed in on it, but all at once the strength of the spell was too much for her. Everything inside of her swelled, and she could feel her stomach turn over. Before she could isolate the direction he was in, Magdalena broke out in a hard cough, ducking her head and quaking as she tried to keep herself up. Her chest screamed in pain by the time she had caught her breath. But she knew he was here, somewhere.

That routine had fallen to pieces, all the stones now lay scattered out between his now dead pumpkin plants. Louie was certainly no cultivator and he had discovered that not only was growing plants boring, but it served no purpose. Some of his original self was slowly being permitted to show itself. That iron like grip on his soul had been let up by the peridot gem embedded within his smooth white neck. Still, he avoided the water like the plague and he gently rubbed his paw over the top of the white gemstone he had found. Time had been taken to consider what he could do with it. All he wanted to do was crush it, but he had felt something stir within it. But it was half of what could possibly be a whole. It needed him, and he found himself wanting to give it what it deserved.

So he did, he wasn't entirely sure how to reproduce but his gemstone basically lead the way, pouring in his heart and whatever magic it could afford to spare. The fox was filling out again, he was no longer a sack of bones as he had been eating a bit more proper rather than just clinging to life. It made sense for the stone to try and create something else, just as with all animals it wanted to pass on its prokaryotic magic and genetic material...

Success! The stone began to give off a warm greenish glow from the hue of the peridot. It was only minute and lasted only seconds but he could feel it embedding within the ground. Oh crap. This probably wasn't the best place to do it and he mentally cursed himself at his stupidity. Hearing the woman's racking coughs, he twisted his head to stare at the blind girl as she almost stumbled into view. Those eyes saw nothing, but he knew she was aware he was here.

"Magadalena..." Damn it had been a long time since he had said that.

Her shoulders shook, her legs quaked, struggling to hold her upright. Her chest was in the throes of an ache like she'd never known before, and her coughing was hoarse as a grating croak, trying to wrench up mucus from her lungs in an attempt to breathe easier. By the time the coughing had receded, it left Magdalena in shambles. Her skin quivered with a shudder, and her head hung against her chest as she tried to regain her composure, but it seemed too far gone at this point. The only thing that could have drawn her from her hampered posture would have been the voice of the one she was seeking, and for a moment in the silence she struggled to swallow down the urge to continue coughing.

Then the silence broke, and her name rolled off into the air. Her nose slowly rose again, pinning her ears flat against her skull. Head swiveled slightly in the direction of the voice, then past him, then back again. But his voice had already vanished, and she couldn't figure out where exactly he was. Her mind still hung on her previous coughing fit, finding herself slightly distracted. At least, enough that she couldn't focus on the previous pull of magic she'd felt. "Louie." She croaked. The dog reclined, bending her hind legs slightly as she cowered on the ground, as though the sickness was some villain looming over her - ashamed of her weakness, ashamed of her vulnerability. She needed him.

Slowly, her legs extended and the dog forced herself to stand straight. Blind straw eyes stared just to the right of the fox, only her head cocked. Swallowing down the pain in her swollen throat, she finally had the opportunity to feel. Only... this time, she needn't search for the fox's signature bacteria. It was there, and then some. Magic. A powerful beckoning sensation. Her brows knitted slightly in confusion. "What are you doing?" Magdalena asked slowly; her voice lacked the accusation implied by her choice of words. Nay, it was merely curious, seeking an answer for the swelling of magic she felt exuded from the fox. Besides, she lacked the strength to sap his right now - she had to stall for time.

Attention turning back to the stone, he brushed a paw over the top of it. It wasn't round, the jagged cluster was certainly bigger than his paw but it was precious and still delicate in his eyes. Affection wasn't an emotion he felt, god it wasn't, pride was as far from affection as it got and that as all he felt towards the inanimate object. Pride in that he had finally achieved something after so long. Maybe this would rectify his mistakes but he doubted it. Still more stone than man, he could only purse his lips as he watched her struggle. Weakness.

By no means was it her fault, wielders of the bacterial world in which they were so entrenched often became the host of their volatile activities. Louie had experienced this, he had suffered many times at the hand of his failed magical attempts with fungus which he hadn't quite understood. But he had never dared go so far as to attempt something with bacteria when he was guaranteed a success. She also looked tired, broken, and again he felt no sympathy but pity at how she had allowed herself to get into such a state. Without even asking permission, he began to flood the woman with whatever help he could give, but it wasn't much. He too was weak, but he was too proud to admit it.

Definitely, he was coming back, but his stone took the reins once again as his thoughts began to tick over to memories long forgotten. Something that would surely end in his death. "There's a new gembound. Can you feel it?" Still it was faint as the magic tapestry of auras began to be woven to form the new being. Ushering her over with a paw, hesitantly and nervous, he began examining her for her own stone. It was by no means perverted, but his interest in this particular area of her body was selfish. Louie wondered how long this weird buzzing feeling from his throat bound gem would last, it was thrumming with the desire to spawn more. Keep passing on his genetics and carving out portions of his being and stone.

Magdalena was the perfect match with his own, their offspring would be the prokaryotic master that he could never achieve despite his many months of trying. It was just futile at this point.

Whatever he had done, she could feel it. She could feel the swell of power that begin to seethe in through her skin, through her veins, into her bloodstream, her heart, her stomach, everywhere. From her nose to her tail. Her muscles ran with a surge of power. She could feel something festering within her - her own bacteria, toiling over itself, struggling to work even harder. She wasn't sure if it was making her feel better or just more sick. It jump started her heart, spawning anxiety in the pit of her gut. Magdalena almost wanted to tell him to stop, but he knew better than she did. He always knew better. No matter what the truth was - that he was as experienced as she, that maybe he had no clue what he was doing just like she did, she always viewed him as knowing more. Ever wise, ever knowledgeable. Her teacher. Her teacher would never do her wrong.

She hadn't seen the wave of his paw. But when he spoke, her attention shifted and her nose slowly turned to face the source of magic that she could feel, pulling at her nerves. Was that what the pull was? The sensation - new life, beckoning her closer, why? To sap her energy, take it for its own? That couldn't be. They didn't do that, did they? What was Louie doing with it? "Yes. I feel it." She whispered, pointing her nose towards the danburite cluster. Magdalena took a step closer, obeying the beckoning of the stone despite her skepticism of its intentions. How had it come to be?

But before she could ask, Louie had suddenly closed the distance between them. He was before her now. Her head tilted slightly, her gaze lifting to stare into the blank space above his head. "How?" Magdalena's scratchy voice touched the air again, swallowing through the ache in her throat. There was nervousness in her chest as well, but she didn't know why. She craved to know - where the new Gembound had come from, how long it had been growing, what Louie had to do with it - she needed to know everything. Perhaps her teacher would stay true to his role and educate her.

There was a distinctive unspoken tension in the air and the half-blind fox examined his glassy eyed counterpart only a few seconds longer before returning to the stone at his paws. Still, his gem throbbed, it felt itchy and almost begging to be torn free... He rubbed at it and scratched to relieve the pain, before he managed to chip off a piece with the slight sparks and drizzling magic from it being an indicator of the almost 'magical' sever. Louie didn't freak out, as he stared at the tiny fragment of his being that had clung to him intact for months now. No, his magic wasn't weakened, but he felt light headed at the sensation of missing such a pinnacle part of himself. Satisfied that it had been removed, the itch and pain was relieved and he wasn't entirely sure what to do next. Yes, he understood that it would form a new gembound, but he wasn't sure if Magdalena would be so willing to contribute her portion to it.

Embarrassment would usually have been the correct response to what had just happened, but he felt nothing as his gem was almost crowing at successfully removing itself to become something new. That primal part of him needed it to move on to start more, but he was humiliated at being reduced to such a state. One dark eye merely brushed over her now. All that appeal he had felt mere moments ago was gone along with his lust. Her question almost lost in his little 'display' he straightened. The danburite he had already fertilized was still casting off its warmth overshadowing his tiny portion. "I don't know. Something in my twigged. I wanted to do it for more reasons than one." Aware that she would not have been able to see what had just happened, he coughed awkwardly. Perhaps she felt it?

"What happened just then? Was beyond my control." Rather unceremoniously kicking it towards her, he hoped for it to bump gently against one petite paw. No, he wouldn't ask for her to do it as he was ashamed it had happened. But, his thoughts just before couldn't easily be forgotten. "We could create a prokaryotic monster greater than either of us if we do this." That was his hopes and his thoughts. No longer was he staring at her as an object of his desire. All his icky sexual feelings were gone. He just wanted to use her magic.

Just as quickly, she felt him pull away from her - there was no physical contact between them, but a connection none the less and she felt it stressed, then suddenly snap as he sat back and started to scratch at his throat. Magdalena blinked, her head turning slightly. The dog's eyes, however, didn't move - they didn't flicker as though to follow the movements of the one before her. Only her head shifted as her ears tried to capture sound, and her nose sought the source of new smells, trying to make sense of the situation that she couldn't see. After a moment of scratching, she heard something clatter to the ground - Magdalena leaned away, pulling her ears back with concern. But Louie didn't say anything - in fact, he didn't seem alarmed by this event at all, and she had to wonder if maybe there was something caught in his fur, but - it sounded too thick, like a gemstone.

She felt it, too. Magic.

His voice rose up again and Magdalena turned her nose to him, straw eyes coming to rest on his forehead. He must have had intentions for the stone, and if that was the case, then... had he intentions for hers? Then he spoke some more and confirmed that it was a part of his stone that had fallen, just a shard. She'd never known where it was or what his stone even was, but that was hardly important to her. What was important was his intentions. There, at the bottom of it all, he came out and bluntly admitted what he'd been planning. A prokaryotic monster. Stronger than the two of them. Magdalena had always wanted to be strong, but she knew where she fell short. She couldn't be strong if she couldn't see. She was barely strong enough to swim, she'd nearly drowned, she had to depend on another to save her - and even after that, she'd gotten sick. She wasn't strong.

But maybe she could make something that was... and that would be just as good as being strong herself. Besides, what was the harm in trying? She had faith in Louie. She trusted that where she failed, he would succeed. What creature they made would be stronger than the two of them... and that would reflect on Magdalena better than any of her failures ever had. "Very well." She whispered. With a slow breath, Magdalena lowered her head and focused on the shard - she could still feel its swell of magic pulling her in, and almost instantly she isolated in on the floor, pinning her gaze to the strands of magic that tugged at her.

It crawled up through her, shuddering through the bacteria that festered in her gut, her chest, beneath her skin. Her jaws slowly parted, and though it was invisible and intangible, she could still feel it - some essence of herself rolling out into the stone and inhabiting it with magic. Some essence that drained her. Her muscles seemed to ache with it, and the swell of magic had caused her stomach discomfort, leaving her chest breathless. Magdalena clicked her teeth together, leaning forward until she found the stone with her nose - she trailed it along the surface of the shard, drinking in the scent of Louie, and the feel of her, and knowing that now it held life. Their life. Their monster.

"Bring them to Monoceros." She said through the crackling of her throat and slowly withdrew again. The magical surge had done well to sap her of her strength. Magdalena turned to him, reaching out for his magic.

Wordlessly, he watched as she contemplated the offer he had given her. It shouldn't be a hard decision, either she would pour her will into the stone or just leave it be. One eye drilling holes in her for a completely different reason, underfoot his paws scraped over the earth as he approached her and the child that would surely come from such a reunion. That magic was unmistakable even to the untrained eye, its swell wasn't like their magical abilities and the difference was evidently felt. Head mere inches from her own as the taller woman arched her graceful neck and bent lower to specifically channel this will. Breathing slowly, afraid to inhale the output of her magic for fear of ruining the process, the energy being drained was both seen and felt as her sickly frail form appeared further drain.

The seal was made as his little piece of peridot greedily engorged itself to germinate properly. Much like its 'father' in that sense. Both stones were now glowing away happily, feeding off each other as they would surely come to be born upon the same day despite difference in genetics. Louie tilted his head back and forwards twice between the two to ensure that they were OK, before he focused his attention on Magdalena. His parasitic princess and he honest to god felt feelings of affection and almost... a protective paternal instinct he wasn't akin to. Immediately, he attempted to remedy some of the exhaustion from her spell, but he found himself almost entirely drained himself and had to pray there was some relief for her...

Some magic sputtered out, he could feel the organisms working but it wasn't much. Enough to keep her strength up yes and he hoped that she would appreciate and welcome the intrusion of Will. Quietly sighing, he listened to her request of going back to Monoceros and slightly stiffened. A lot had changed since he had left. Khloros, Baratheon, Booker... They weren't in the equation anymore. If he could try again. Yes. If he could. "Alright, we will go there then," Magdalena had as much right to... well at least one child, as he did. The danbruite was something he was specifically excited about due to the possibilities that it contained within its jagged white surfaces. Leaving his peridot progeny for her to carry, he swept back to the larger lump and picked it up within his teeth.

Only one working eye between them, he wondered if they would actually make it back. He had been at the Spire too long to know entirely what had changed beyond the realm of Polaris. Essentially, it could have completely evolved as was the mystery of Origin cave. "Ready?"

There was silence settled between them for just a moment. She could feel her magic leaving her, and for a moment she feared that her legs would buckle - it was hard to breathe, and her head felt dizzy and light, a common ailment but for once, it was one she knew the reason for. Magdalena steeled herself. She could feel something else, too. Another push of magic. A force, a front, swelling from the fox. She rode off of it, pulling them closer. Summoning them towards her. She could feel all the energy from a single pinprick of focus in the fox slipping towards her and she drank it all in, reveling in the sensation of renewal. At least, it was enough to drive her forward. Enough to drive her home.

She could hear the movement of one of the stones and feel it travel with the source of Louie's magic. Magdalena moved forward, pushing her nose against the remaining sliver of stone and gently clutching it between her teeth. Her head rose and pointed somewhere in Louie's direction. "First we must retrieve Nemesis." Magdalena added, twitching her ears. The trino was near ready to return to Monoceros; Magdalena would have to explain what transpired between them, and Nemesis would probably lag behind due to her still recovering wounds. If that was the case, then Louie was welcome to take the lead. "Follow me." With that, Magdalena's paws churned and took her along her usual, familiar worn path, back to where Nemesis had been resting. Then, they would go home.