Reji nodded her thanks at the assurance that her location would be kept secret. And she stayed silent, still, when Wilder began to tell her the rest. And this time, her group mind link did maker he hesitate.

N'chard... he'd been before the time of Mother and shared thoughts. Only just before; accepting Mother had been something he was unsure about, but he'd certainly been entertaining the thought. Rezik had come out against it, hard. But back then, Reji's mind had been alone; the thought of sharing this time with the others so brightly was... almost unsettling. It was her last vestige of private self.

But she had to see it, and she nodded, taking a breath. "Tell me," she said at last, softly.

And then--"And tell me where they're at. Or where you last saw him," she added. Killing Rezik was about the only thing she'd regret having left undone, if she ever died in this shithole--the only truly important thing that would truly satisfy her, really.

@Wilder

Wilder nodded and closer her eyes, pulling deep for the magic that she needed to show Reji the clearest image of what she'd seen. And as her mind landed back on the vision she'd seen in Eridanus, a strong surge of her magic welled up within her and came bursting free, connecting, for a moment, her mind to Reji. With a practiced mind, she hid the rest of her thoughts and feelings away and let the memory of that day project to Reji.

The conversation by the Eyes, the bite, and Rezik dragging his body away. All from the perspective of N'chard himself, but without the pain that Wilder had to experience through the vision herself. Once the vision was ended, she cut the link between them and realized what Reji had asked of her.

And that was the next dilemma. She had three options - refuse to say what she knew, betray the Bonebound and tell her exactly where Rezik was, or tell her what Astraea had demanded.

All three kind of sucked. She couldn't just refuse Reji after what she'd just told her and shown her, but she couldn't betray her family either. So...she decided that a compromise was in order.

Wilder sighed. "I...I can't. I'm sorry, I wish I could but Astraea..." her eyes widened. Sorry, Aure. "Astraea told us that if Rezik dies before he returns, then we would have to send volunteers to the Trials, most likely to die. I don't want Rezik running around free either, but I can't betray the trust of my family. I'm sorry."

Reji remained silent as the vision flowed through her mind. And the emotions that she broadcast back were stark. Agonizing grief, twisting her gut. Rage enough to blind her; she saw only red. Desperate guilt that she had not been there to save him, that she had not killed Rezik sooner.

She only barely heard, at first, Wilder's refusal, and the hatred that roared up in her was so strong that for a moment she forgot to even worry that the mental link was cut. It was dizzying, and a wave of hot nausea rode her for a moment, so that she had to grit her teeth, trembling, to control her anger. Emotions raced through her mind only briefly as Wilder spoke--the flicker of an urge to sink her teeth into the traitor bitch's fur, the desire to shake her until she was dead. It was one thing to wake Rezik; it was one thing to have enabled his bullshit. But to do all that and hide him from her--knowing full well what he had done! Reji's mind, blown wide by grief and rage-... it was an understatement to say that she was not thinking straight. To say that she wasn't considering the whole.

She controlled it. She rode it in return, waiting for its breakers to wash ashore and retreat, and there she stood, trembling. "I understand," she managed, at last, her voice shaking now. "I don't like it, but I understand. You have to protect your family. But you need to also know that those shits will not let you live. Astraea says he might send you to trials? He'll kill you all, in the end, and Rezik will be the one to send you to him. You've seen what I've seen. No one survives his 'loyalty," she spat.

Briefly, she wondered what to do. It'd be hard--the cat obviously had that sort of magic that let her dip in and out of minds--and so Reji at once began to think, very hard, of N'chard. It wasn't difficult. The grief was powerful, the memory of his face--soft, brown, and gentle, always worried about his decisions--still strong.

"Let me show you something--wait here a moment," she said simply. She did not try to tell Azrael or the rest not to let Wilder leave; she instead filled her mind with N'chard, allowed it to consume her thoughts, and let Mother guide her.

She hoped it would be enough, because Wilder had information that she needed.

She emerged with a small clot of white in her jaws, and spat it on the ground. "Read it," she told the cat, "and smell it closely. Tell me what you see."

@Wilder

Wilder was tense with concern at Reji's silence. She could see the fox trembling and she stepped back, not to run, but just to give her a little bit of space. She was obviously upset, although she didn't realize how much of that anger was towards her. She watched Reji with a saddened expression as she finally managed to say something. "They've let us live for this long," she whispered. "We're just trying to survive. We don't like it either - none of us are foolish enough to trust Rezik after how he acted among us, but our loyalty to each other...is more important then anything." She gulped. She hoped she hadn't said too much.

But Reji was calming down a bit. She nodded, silently, as the fox turned and disappeared into the den, returning with a strange white thing in her jaws. Wilder blinked. What...what was that? As far as she knew, it had nothing to do with their conversation, but, so far, she didn't have any reason not to trust Reji. So she reached a paw forward to touch the white thing and cast her mind back to its history.

She saw a dark place, a cave of some sort, and a number of Gembound milling about. Most she didn't recognize but...was that...Legion? And - oh, the demon that was standing nearby. He was there too. She saw fractured images of things happening, the Gembound milling about, but nothing significant was happening. As she emerged from the vision, she was confused, leaning over to sniff at the white thing curiously. A strange feeling overtook her - that this thing was special and needed to be protected at all costs. "W-what? I don't understand..."

Reji waited.

The cat had sniffed. It hadn't been hard; and she almost let her guard down, but then remembered that magic could do things that she wasn't sure of. "What did you see?" Reji asked, after a moment's pause; it was just to bide the time.

And, like a blooming flower, the hive began to unfurl in Wilder's mind.

It reached out; it touched her. It felt her. It tasted what she was. And in return, Mother offered warmth, love, and appreciation... "Welcome, child. You belong with us. Welcome home."

@Wilder

Wilder lifted her head from the little clot, confused. She felt funny, like something was growing in her mind. "I don't...I don't understand...I...I saw..." But that was when, slowly, Wilder's mind opened to so many more. Her eyes widened with shock when the sensation of openness invaded all of her being and a voice spoke gently in her mind, beckoning her to join, to welcome her into the family.

But Wilder was afraid. She hadn't used magic - this wasn't her doing. And it couldn't be possible to link to many minds at once. She tried to sense who the caster was, who was linking their minds together, but, to her dismay, she sensed no spells being cast. This wasn't just a temporary link. This was real.

"W-wait," she balked, "Wh-what's happening? What was...who are you?" But, no, she already knew. That was Mother. She could feel her presences, as well as Reji's presence. And Azrael's. And so many more, not all here in Cetus. They were all over the caves. Wilder stood there, horrified but rooted to the spot as the hivemind took over. "What did you do?" she whispered, fighting desperately to keep herself in check.

It was eerily similar to the times when she would lose control - a wave of darkness that flooded the corners of her mind, begging her to let go, to allow herself to sink into release and let the influence take over. But she didn't know what would happen this time, so she closed her eyes and tried to focus on the now, despite the hive's influence slowly taking over her psyche.

Reji waited in solemn silence, sitting still, her heart cold flint and her glowing eyes ice. She waited for Mother to do her thing. For Wilder to fully succumb. For her mind to open. For her to tell them where Rezik was. And she no longer bothered hiding her thoughts, though the hatred and anger had subsided to a cool rush of determination.

But Mother's attention was on the black cat, on her thoughts, her questions, on her brief mental comparison to her periods of loss of control-... "That unpleasantness is past," she crooned. "When you lose your thoughts, your family can think for you. Your mind will be ours, and ours, yours. You will never lose control again, daughter," Mother reassured, with a mental caress, a surge of warmth. "We are family... we are those who stand against the cruelty of others. Are you pleased to find us? We are glad to have you..."

@Wilder

She could feel the thoughts of those around, easier with those that were closest to her. Azrael, who was watching the proceedings silently curious. His rumbling voice echoed through the link, welcoming her, but Wilder was too terrified to pay any mind to it. Reji...she was only concerned about killing Rezik. Determination pulsed from her strongly and with horror, Wilder realized what this was all about. She just wanted Rezik's location! The thoughts echoed without her consent and she retreated deeper into herself, trying to block them all out.

But she couldn't. Mother was pulling her mental ear closer and whispering soft caresses. A promise to be freed from the one thing that terrified her the most and that's perhaps, what made her waver, just a bit. The warmth from Mother, the reassurance, the promise that her fears and worries would no longer be needed, that she wouldn't have to think anymore. That she could just soak in the love of her family forever.

No! No, I can't! Thoughts of Aure flitted past, of her own family, of her own life, and she pulled herself back, fighting desperately as she was drowned. "I don't understand," she wailed as she teetered on the spot. "Who are you, what's going on? I don't understand! I...what...why...I trusted you!" Tears collected in her eyes and began to spill down her cheeks. She was terrified, trembling, and staring at Reji with an expression filled with so much hurt. How many times was she going to do this?! Trust and be betrayed? All she wanted was to love and be loved and make others happy but...this...it wasn't right!

Reji continued waiting. Now that the anger had mostly died away, she was rather withdrawing into her own thoughts. Her own memories. Not that they were hidden, now that Wilder's mind was slipping into hers, into theirs; her thoughts of N'chard, of Rezik's hateful, many-fanged smile, whenever his jaws split apart; of the horror of finding dead comrades strewn across the floor. Wilder's hurt struck her hard, and she winced, coming back to the 'now.' "It's not betrayal. Don't think of it like that. Everyone will be part of our family, eventually. It's that, or give in to those fuckers who think they run the show. This is the only way we can be strong enough, see? All of us, made into one. Alone we're weak. Think about it-... Isn't everyone scattered all over the caves?" Almost seemlessly, the voice changed into Mother's. "But how many of us did you see, in those visions? So many brothers and sisters are we. And we work together. And we do care for one another.

Both Reji and Mother waited.

At this point the Hive's effects would be flowing over Wilder, already casting her into the same state as the others: almost blank, content, any thoughts of rebellion and horror quickly bleeding away. No; they were right. This was as it should be.

"But... I know you love your family. We will not get them killed... We must wait, Reji." Some faint spark of resentment was quelled in the blue fox-beast before she could protest. Instead, her own mind grew blank, too, smoothed over by Mother's command. "Of course, Mother," she answered, and past a slight disappointment in her sigh, there was only acceptance.

"We must not put these Bonebound at risk. They are important to Wilder... they will be important to us."

Another long pause, a wait, Mother ensuring that the hold, the conversion, was now complete. "Would you like to introduce them to our way? Togetherness. Cooperation. You can feel us all, along our links. We love you. We all love one another. Wouldn't you like to share this with them?" And indeed the fungus was flashing, hitting those parts of Wilder's brain that controlled the sense of love, of being loved, of happiness, of carefree joy... That bright spark of earnestness that made her who she was.

And then Mother waited.

@Wilder

Wilder was losing. The infection was taking hold quicker and quicker and she suddenly found that her own will to fight back against it was slipping away. Why was she fighting again? Why was she trying to reject Mother's advancements? She had just been thinking - she wanted to love and be loved and wasn't that everything that Mother was giving her? She was giving her love and the opportunity to love this new family. To become one with them. The fear was slowly slipping away to a contented bliss as she began to accept this new reality wholeheartedly.

This was everything she ever wanted, wasn't it?

Wilder let out the smallest of sighs as the last of her fight finally left her. "I understand. Thank you, Reji. And Mother. Thank you for welcoming me." A bright, warm smile lit her features. "I'm so happy to be part of the family!" Yes, that's what this was - happiness. And love. Everything was as it should be. How could she ever think that this was wrong?

She sighed with relief as Mother requested for Reji to wait - this may be her new family, her most important one, but she still loved the Bonebound. And killing Rezik would only put them in a lot of danger. "Thank you, Mother." Still, images of where Rezik was hiding, tucked away with the Bonebound, were flitting through the link - it would be all too easy for Reji and the rest to find out where he was now.

She perked up at Mother's suggestions however. Oh, that was a really good idea! "Oh, yeah! I would love to share it! I think they'd love to be in the family too!" She understood now what Reji meant by this not being a betrayal. She was already feeling blissful contentedness being a part of Mother's embrace and she was sure that the Bonebound would feel the same way. "I can do that, Mother! Should I take a piece of you there to grow in Canis? So then you'll always be nearby and it'll be easier to bring them in!" Mother was hitting all of the right parts of Wilder, touching on every one of her most important of desires, lifting all the weight and stress from her naive shoulders.