ORIGIN

Tired. The hunger had fled a day ago, by the flicker of the lights, but then, he could have fallen asleep. A week ago, that would have terrified Czernobog, to lose time so suddenly and blatantly; now, it was all he could do to keep himself upright, not slumped on his side, forming a protective barrier around Tiny's unborn children. Tiny's coffin - egg - whatever it was, it seemed to grow by the second, and one of its edges was beginning to dig into his heart, another reaching to edge between two floating ribs. Any time he shifted, it itched along muscle, and Czernobog twitched, uncomfortable in his own skin. He kept his eyes fixed on the growing chrysali within his self-made circle of safety, gently nosing at them every few hours, pressing a wide, round ear to their shells and making sure he could still hear their beating hearts.

Some small part of him was terrified that when they hatched, so too would the lump in his chest, shredding his chest to pulp. A larger part was scared that it would stay there, unmoving and dead, until someone could remove it - but he knew that was a pipe dream even now. The chrysalis has rooted into place, gemstone tendrils wrapping around internal organs and wiggling to tap at his liver. It was so much, almost too much to ask of him; he had children too, didn't he? A family? But that was what family did, Czernobog thought - protected each other, to the end. Maybe this was his ultimate purpose: to act as a vector for Tiny's return, to watch over his family until then.

The thought was just a little comforting.

But Eve... Eve he couldn't even think of. Because his family had left, and he wasn't even strong enough to protest, to run after her, drag her back if he had to. He was down his Hat and his Tiny, and all the giant monster could do was lay there, starving, and hope for a second chance.

She was just tired. She was just really really tired.
The more she went around on her path, the more gems she found to heal, the more suffering she saw. Children, friends, honest, innocent gems, all hurt by someone else with the intent to kill. She thought she was strong enough to bear it, that she would take their tears and their hurts and turn it around to heal them and make them smile again, but...the smiles and the love and the life she helped wasn't enough to combat the hurt that had rooted in her own heart. She was tired of seeing so many gems on the brink of death take her offered help and just....walk away, happy and healthy without a second glance.

She wasn't selfish, it wasn't like she wanted them to dedicate their lives to repaying her or anything ridiculous like that but....she remembered when she had saved Basil for her sister Dovefeather twice, and when they woke, they paid no attention to her at all. The only person who appreciated her, who saw how hard she worked was Tenn and Bog. And Bog...well, every time she saw Bog, he was hurt, and that was its own pain in itself.

She just wanted to see Bog not hurt for once.

And when she parted the leaves on her herb-collecting path, what did she see?

Bog, lying there, curled up, shallow breathing and this thing in his chest.

She stood there for a second, stock still, shocked at the pure irony of this sight, then she walked over to him slowly, like she just couldn't believe she was seeing him like this.

Hurt.

Again.

"Bog," She whispered, touching his fur. She looked all over him, searching, and she saw that....thing...in his chest, rooting into him, making the plant matter she had coiled around to heal him fall away like old, dead leaves.