ORIGIN

Polaris.

Garnet-Delta felt its innards scooped out, stone left hollow by Emuh's touch, but Polaris... Polaris always had the sensation of filling that void, and in the hours following its ascension, it soaked in the thrum of magic that filled the room. A cat basking in the sun, if you would.

It perched on one of the many outcroppings of gemstones, a safe distance from the Spire and the Dam, and sought out something to sate its growing appetite.

Tapping into its weakest, most primal form of magic, the blood that scurried from spot to spot among the grand, blue-lit purples and browns of the chamber became crystal clear to Delta. It could sense the lessers as they went about their mindless lives, and its jaws parted to taste the air.

Yes, it was growing quite hungry now.

The scent of a red mouse was the first Delta picked out among the tastes in the air, and within moments the Overseer pinpointed the heart-signature of the little creature. So fragile, and delicate.

Garnet-Delta could hunt it down like a common animal, of course. But where was the fun in that? Its magic had been tested, and now it felt wanting, craving further proof of its ascension. With the Spire's energy thrumming constantly, a buzzing in its ears, of course it could afford a bit of fun.

The feline crouched, and ran its tongue over its fangs.

... and again, the ghosting sensation came, but no venom. Only a faint tingle that faded. Had Emuh somehow taken this magic from Delta? Was such a thing possible?

Garnet-Delta refused. In its minds eye, it watched the heart of the mouse beat, scurrying away toward a crack in the wall. It would come back out in due time... From what Delta could tell, it was collecting moss from the nearby stone to fill its nest.

Patience was something that the Overseer believed in. A deep breath, and the feline settled low to the ground, tail tip twitching as it focused a bit harder on its magic. It had done this a million times, until it was practically second nature. It would come to the Overseer. Garnet-Delta wouldn't return to Master Vargas until it did.

Determination, slowly but surely, seemed to be the key. It took a considerable effort to draw the magical venom to its teeth, but finally, the sensation lingered in its jaws as more than an afterimage.

There.

Now, it would be fun to go scampering and chasing after the mouse, but what was more thrilling was domination, wasn't it? Garnet-Delta had no problem controlling lessers mere hours ago, and it felt no hesitation as it reached out with its magic toward the mouse's little heart.

Then, it happened.

Something went wrong in the synapses, as magic took hold of its own body and locked it-- locked it out. Immediate panic, unable to surface, raged, and the feline began to quietly rasp for breath, unable to move, to thrash, to do anything.

Garnet-Delta had never been bloodheld itself. But it had been locked out of its body before. It remembered this.

Get out, get out, get out, GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT-- thoughts raced, crashing, cymbals smashing, alarms blaring.

Rational, small and weak, was a futile plea against emotion: Maybe the poison is simply kicking in, only several hours too late. No, this was magic. Its magic.

There was only one way out, and like a terrified, insignificant lesser, Garnet-Delta lunged for it.

Error: Target not found.
Error: Serial number 'Body Swap' not found.

A problem has been detected and system has been shut down to prevent damage to your system.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: dxbodyswp.sys

SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

If this is--
The alien-feline shuttered, falling to the ground, as its body jerked without its permission. With no control over its own body, its lungs gasped for breath and its paws twitched and paddled uselessly. Internally, Garnet-Delta had very little consciousness, magic having seized every inch of it. What little it did experience was filled with abject terror, thrust back into a single moment of helplessness as it could only watch as its own body was torn apart by Orthoclase-Alpha's uncontrolled fury and fear.

Garnet-Delta couldn't even speak to try and stop this, though. There was no body for its soul to latch on to, to do anything to stop the spasming.

Eventually, the magic released its hold from Delta, and shuttering, the violent episode passed silently as though it had never happened. Garnet-Delta, dazed and confused and frightened, lay splayed out on its side, staring out at nothing and only slowly realizing its surroundings.

Quietly, the feline drew its limbs in toward its body, taking small, tiny breaths. Its ribs shook with the effort, and it felt too sick to be hungry now. It raised its head and found itself immediately dizzy, so it laid its head back down, shivering against the stone.

Its head ached from where its body had been thrown to the stone, and its side felt scrapped. It didn't have the energy or willingness to try and recover its wounds with its magic. It simply wanted to hide while it recovered.

Magic fizzled uselessly in its gem. It had not the strength to keep trying. After a few moments, it worked up the strength to crawl toward a crack in the stone wall, listening carefully for sounds of life. It needed to rest. Hopefully nothing would bother it...

Garnet-Delta didn't hear anything inside of the dark crack; this one was larger than the mouse's little den, and hopefully would be a good place to rest and recuperate. Still, it didn't want to be caught off-guard...

The feline's eyes dilated, and for this, its magic took pity on it. The shadowed hole in the wall became clear as day to the cat, showing it to be shallow, and most importantly, devoid of any other creature. Garnet-Delta crept into the hole, curled up tight, and let its tail settle over its nose.

For now, it was best if it didn't think too hard about what had just happened. Oh, it wanted to: its mind desperate for answers, hungry for revenge should Emuh be behind its bad luck, feverishly wanting to prove it wasn't somehow damaged. But none of that was worth anything while its composure was shaken so badly.

It needed to rest, and when it awoke, it could think about finding that mouse and having a meal. Just then, the thought made Delta feel a touch sick.

Overseer Garnet-Delta took a little cat nap.

It took a lot of effort to do that much. It wasn't easy to shut its mind off after such a violent episode, and it was thoroughly haunted by the reminder of just how bad it was to be trapped outside of its own body.

But, patience, and categorically locking away every little thought and feeling until it felt nothing but a cold numbness, would do the trick. The feline eventually fell into a light sleep.

The sleep would not be restful. It was a shallow, dreamlike state for one, and for two, it kept jolting awake at every single nightmare that came crashing through its skull. Visions of its skin sloughing off into oil, of its stomach being slashed open and its intestines splayed out before it, its bones snapping and growing back into its chest, puncturing its heart. Each one came with a surge of pain, but none compared to the last:

Master Vargas stood above it, and with a blur of motion, talons slashed across its face, tearing out its eyes in a single blow.

After that, Garnet-Delta gave up on sleeping, staring out its hiding place in a numb silence. It felt none of the panic it had felt earlier, but that... might just be the shock that had thoroughly set in now. Some sleep was better than nothing, but it didn't want to whimper away in a hole when that clearly wasn't working.

Warily, the feline reached for its ability to sense the heartbeat of living creatures once more.

Master Vargas always said not to rely on its magic, didn't he? Its magic didn't usually fail it though, and certainly not as dramatically-- no, it wouldn't think about that now.

It needed sustenance.

Reluctantly, its gem sparked to life once more. The faint, distant echo of heartbeats told it that there was still prey in the nearby area. That mouse...? It seemed to be in its own nest. That would be the easiest prey, even still... Garnet-Delta stretched, rising to its feet and stepping out of the crack in the wall.

Garnet-Delta needed a plan of action. Worn thin, the feline prowled toward the crack in the wall, quiet as... uh... well, as a mouse.

Could it even try to use its magic? And if it backfired again, what would happen? The feline stood whiskers away from the den, nose twitching, and couldn't make up its mind.

Chaos found a way, though. The moss at its feet spread, sprouting tiny, blooming flowers with a strong, floral scent. Delta's nose crinkled and it stepped back, but to its surprise, the mouse inside the den stirred. It started to come up to the entrance to investigate...

But if it saw Delta, then it would bolt, wouldn't it?