He'd returned, eventually. Reverend's desire to help outweighed his fears, and soon enough, it had come back, to the hollowed out hole in the dunes.

Now, calmer, he realized Sakhan was no sandwyrm, and it felt bad for turning tail so quickly. It would have to talk to the larger basilisk and apologize. Now, though, he was preoccupied with the tunnel he was boring.

Reverend would make itself useful, too. It would shuffle towards the Merchant and his repository gem. "May I?" he asks, reaching out with a claw to tap the stone. A weak pulse of magic would flare up, greedily consumed.

It seemed simple enough, feeding the magic into the stone. While the Merchant had said that the magic alone would not be enough, this would likely help a lot. Especially since he would likely struggle to find the items required elsewhere.

A deep breath, before he touches the stone again, magic flaring to life. This cast was stronger, but it didn't know how much that matter in the grand scheme of things.

Maybe he should think on what he wants as his 'payment,' since the Merchant was offering. It wasn't exactly one to refuse a gift. Though what he wants, is a question he hasn't answered.

Maybe it would come to him, as it works to fill the stone. He presses another claw to it again, this time focusing on a stronger magic. It's devoured just as greedily as the two before.

A gemstone that filled up with magic, huh? The golden script on the Piano's side that served as its eyes gleamed. It was not against searching for magical items--could keep some of them for myself too, if they're useful-- but it was... interested by this. Plus, it was rather curious on the effect that its spells would have when not used on itself. It had never encountered anything like this before.

Say... would the catalyst itself grow teeth when imbued with The Piano's biteforming magic? It idly tried to find out, only to give a keysmashed chord of pain when the teeth sprouted where they were not supposed to. Fangs sprouted from the wood of its body, forcing the material apart and causing cracks to splinter through its beautiful polished boards. Unbelievable! This had never happened before.

The Piano glanced at the star-spangled creature beside it, who was also casting spells. It hoped it would not be judged for the failure. It disliked public failures very much.

Trying to look nonchalant as much as a piano could, it thought through the rest of its limited magical repertoire. Producing venom didn't sound appealing when there were myriad teeth sprouted all over their body that the venom could accidentally end up, so it went with something simpler. A spell to sense heartbeats didn't have quite as much interesting experimental value as growing teeth, but it was safe, at least.

Magic flowed into the stone successfully this time, and The Piano breathed a sigh of relief. It could feel the botched magic of the bite-forming spell weakening, and the pressure on its newfound cracks easing. Newfound confidence flowed through its elegant nine-foot-long form. Perhaps it should try something more challenging.

It had learned a new, powerful magic after consuming a chocolate candy, once. Staring at the catalyst, it thought it might be oddly appropriate to bestow the magic of one inanimate object upon another. Humming softly to itself, it let more magic flow from it into the stone. Powerful, but barely controlled--but as long as it was successful, what did it matter?

Its confidence and curiosity renewed after numerous successes, The Piano decided to try the teeth again. The flow of magic continued, but the catalyst, as far as it could see, did not grow teeth. Oh, well. It had more or less learned the pattern by now. It didn't really matter what magic was cast into it, as long as it was magic. And the more powerful, the better. The different spells were just a vehicle, really.

He'd pulled back some, to allow the Piano a turn filling up the stone. The cacophony of noises the thing made were... disconcerting, but he'd made do.

"I don't know how much more the stone needs, but I can try again," he says, pressing his talons against it. A flash of light, once again quickly drained away by the stone.

How much more would it take? He had no way of knowing. Even so, he soldiered on. Another tap against the catalyst, and another portion of magick leeched away.

At least he wasn't getting too exhausted too quickly...

Though, maybe Reverend should exercise some caution. Even with Hydra being safer, it wouldn't be easy to get out through the dunes completely exhausted.

Maybe I'll take a break soon. Talk to Sakhan.

Another spell, more power for the gem.