In the grand scheme of time, half a cycle was not very long. But to the mind stewing within the chrysalis, with the furious radiation of the Black Spire cooking its mind like meat skewered on a spit, the time stretched endlessly. The nightmares were relentless. Was it a year? Or a week? Or eternity?

It was a slow awakening, but to the beast it was an instant snap of the fingers. Reaching for the nightmares, clinging on desperately as the red receded rapidly, panicking as its torment slip away, threatening to leave it in something resembling peace. And then suddenly...existence. The stone floor. Shards of oil-streaked red in its periphery. Its breath heavy, panting, hoarse. Oil dripping from its open jaws.

It remained frozen at first, catching its breath. Breathing felt too real. It didn't remember breathing, what it was like because it hadn't seemed impotant to think about. But now it inhaled and the cool, musty cavern air filled its longs, sending oxygen and more consciousness to its brain and out into its body. Its nerves began to blink awake as it breathed. Its entire body tingled, phantom wounds gouging into its side, boiling its skin. But a quick glance would show nothing but clean fur and flesh, where it had (almost) perfectly reformed. The dichotomy of the realm of nightmares it had left behind and the world it had returned to was so violently stark in its mind, yet somehow it did not know the difference. It was all blurry around the edges, like it was tunneling, and in the dark haze it was still fighting. Destroying. A feral animal off its leash, ripping flesh, friend and foe alike.

The beast coughed and more oil splattered on the ground, its muscles tensing as images raced across its consciousness. Something like a throaty growl rose in its throat as its head raised and swung, eyes wide and glazed and mildly confused.

WHERE IS THE ENEMY. WHERE ARE THEY SO I CAN DESTROY IT.

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas was there.

He'd been there, off and on. He'd tracked the first chrysalis off and on until it'd spilled open, then returned to Draco just too late to see Ruby-One's incredibly poorly planned... whatever-it'd-done to the Black Spire.

Then he'd waited. Coming, going. Checking in. Right now he happened to be here, so that the moment V-Ruby-One finished its coughing and lifted its head, it'd find the Leviathan staring down at it.

"Well," Vargas said. "There you are."

There was no intonation, no indication of whether he was furious, or sick of it, or sympathetic, or something else entirely. He gave it a moment, waiting. Waiting to see how it would behave. Waiting to see what it would say.

@V-Ruby-One

strong language

It had started shivering. The sensory input here was all wrong. It was so real and so...much. So much of nothing. It was such a stark contrast and such a sudden shift from a life of constant violence and insanity and the overwhelming sensory hell of CHAOS that it found itself confused. Like...like...it couldn't create any comparisons. It couldn't even think. It just felt empty, empty and angry and feeling an itch at the back of its mind that it couldn't scratch no matter how much it grated its mental teeth against it.

It looked up and saw The Leviathan.

First instinct: ATTACK. And it almost did, it almost lashed forward, a flurry of teeth and claws and chaotic flames to rip the valkhound in front of it to shreds, but the confusion of the situation halted it in its tracks and instead sent the sudden raging storm of chaos in its gut to crack into the earth beneath its claws, sending trails of black corruption through an already darkened stone floor beneath the Spire.

It coughed again, grimacing as oil splattered the ground in front of it. Its mind was whirling, ringing, something was blurring its vision in hues of neon green and blood red. It knew this one. Didn't it? It did. It wasn't an enemy, its enemies did not look like that. Did they? It couldn't fucking remember! FUCK! It had not remembered each enemy it struck down. There had been too many. Where they even fucking REAL? YES. came the resounding, bone-rattling boom through its core. IT WAS REAL. IT IS THE ONLY THING THAT WAS REAL. Yes, yes that made sense. That felt right.

Its breath rattled in its chest, as if it had never taken a breath before in its life. Its thoughts rattled around in its mind as it tried hard to remember. The nightmares were such a stain on its life that everything else seemed unimportant, easily forgotten - and they had been forgotten, hidden by the shroud of war and bloodlust. Its lip curled as the visions crossed its face again, a violent tremor crossing its body as that itch became more present. It scratched harder at its own mind.

It was silent for a while, save for the sound of its harsh breathing and the occasional snarl and growl that rose from its throat as it fought past visions of war and chaos and all-consuming hatred. It didn't look like anything was going on behind its eyes, wide and wild and looking like it was going to erupt any second. But then something slid into place, a small something, and it finally met the Leviathan's gaze, even if it glazed over a second later as it fought to stay present.

It remembered, his name, just his name. Did it even remember how to speak?

It grit its teeth as it tried and nothing but a low snarl came from its jaws. It tried again and this time, its voice, raspy, edged with a feral, shaky growl, at last formed words together - "Master....Vargas?" With the name came a sense of being present that it had been struggling to form. It was Here. Not Back There. It looked back and down, staring at the shards of the ruby chrysalis as if they had personally insulted it. "I was..." it choked and coughed again, spitting more black onto the already corrupted ground. "Sleeping?"

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas studied the creature before him. He watched with the authority of a Master, yes, but he watched primarily with the eyes of an Overseer. He studied, impassively and attentively, the wild eyes of V-Ruby-One. He listened to its rattled breathing, and its coughing. He watched the way it looked around it as though lost.

His head tilted, a little bit, as it spoke--and then he nodded slightly. "Yes." Yes, that was his name and title. And yes... it had indeed been 'sleeping.' He said nothing for a moment. He could see, already, that it needed a few moments to adjust, to fully awaken. He also did not know how much, or how badly, the Black Spire's proximity had affected it.

Vargas took a deep breath and extended out that little thread of magic that he'd learned, the one focused through the small enchanted ring he bore as a piercing. It would offer some window into the emotional state of V-Ruby-One's next moments, moments that might be formed by Vargas's own next words. These words he would need to choose carefully, he knew.

It wasn't that he was about to handle the spawn like an infant. He wasn't. It had to answer for its mistakes, but... it would be unfair to demand too much while it was still barely aware of its surroundings. And Vargas, all else aside, was fair. ...Usually.

"You were," Vargas acknowledged. And then, patiently: "What else do you remember?"

@V-Ruby-One

It was like trying to swim in the ocean at the tail-end of a storm, the waves still rocking the beast as it tried to keep its head above surface. The air it breathed was the here and now, the ocean was war, and its lungs were still partially filled with seawater. Its only anchor was the ground beneath its feet - yes, focus on that. The place where its knees and hands touched the oddly warm stone floor of Draco felt more real and stable then anything. Its eyes slid shut for a moment, as it just felt. Not violence or wounds or the taste of blood in its mouth, just rock under its body.

A deep, rattling breath as its eyes opened again and it was with a little more clarity that it looked at Vargas. It was still wound tight, the itch so encompassing that it was ready to snap at any moment. It did not notice any spellcast, did not feel Vargas's intrusion, but The Leviathan would probably feel something akin to emotional static, with vague flashes of things. Something was screaming in the distance, wailing, but it was ignored. Another direction, like a dragon breathing fire, a roar and heat that boiled the skin. It was hard to tell if it was a roar of fury or pain or despair. Another, blood. Just blood. The taste of it, the smell of it, the vision of it against rocks, scattered against the sky. Perhaps V-Ruby-One had simply been sleeping through nightmares, but the bloodstains would never wash from its mind.

Its lip curled as the question processed and it...it really tried to remember. But it was stained so deep and fresh at the forefront of its mind that it could barely think of anything else but "War." It was a snarled hiss, spat like vermin upon the ground. "I remember war."

YES. It was almost a separate being now, rising up and surging its way through V-Ruby-One's veins. WAR. CHAOS AND BLOODSHED, VIOLENCE AND DESTRUCTION. WE MISS IT. It shook its head. It didn't feel like its own internal dialogue anymore. Something had been birthed within its nightmares, something had broken apart, and it was incapable of getting rid of it, incapable of seperating where V-Ruby-One ended and It began.

It grit its teeth and gripped the stone floor. That was real, focus on that.

The beast shook its head, still fighting to remember anything that happened before the war was happening. Did anything else really matter? NO. Right. But there was one thing that still resounded in its head over again over again. Multiple things, really, but a few specific things and it thought that might be important to say. Would Vargas understand? Would he realize how far the hellion had gone? NOBODY WILL UNDERSTAND. But it would say it anyways.

"The rainbow sky," it mumbled, still trying to hold it together. "I remember. War. His war. I saw Him...in the clouds. And in The Spire." Something else had happened there too, had that not been the beginning of its torment? "Master Vargas." It was still here, it was still gripping the floor. The seawater would not rise up and drown it again. "What is End?" It suddenly snarled, something snapping in the back of its head at just the mention, the utterance of it, sending something screaming through its veins, blurring its vision, and thundering through its nerves like the shattering sky.

Its upper arms suddenly slammed against the ground as a violent shiver ripped through its body. "I MUST DESTROY END!"

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

As V-Ruby-One began to speak, Vargas found himself puzzled. It considered its fight war? he wondered--Esther was a capable combatant, but... No. It seemed distant, somehow. The emotions he got were fractured, too; it wasn't a lie, at least. And Vargas didn't think it was referring to its fight. Then, what-?

But it went on, quickly dispelling any confusion. Dreams. Visions, really. Those granted by Chaos, and Vargas found himself glancing briefly at the Black Spire. Its proximity had been an influence, no doubt. And he found his jaw tightening in an approximation of a grimace; Ruby-One's inner call to Chaos had already been strong, almost too much to control.

Some part of Vargas, that part that wasn't a millenia-old, highly experienced predator and hunter, wanted to loudly swear and sigh and really, to punch something. But the Leviathan took a breath, and the sigh that did come out was more a huff. Of all the things to happen.
The question gave him pause, regardless. He had to decide how best to answer it; he quickly went over a couple possible responses before settling on what he hoped was the best, clearest one. "It is a place where some, chosen by Fate, go upon their death. A place that should not be owned, and controlled, and so it is our task to strengthen ourselves and enhance His armies to destroy it. That is what we are doing, here. Or--we were. Creating His soldiers--sending them out at His behest. This nest has been long dormant, and unfortunately, I find myself struggling to keep up with the failures of my individual soldiers rather than attending to more useful work." This last was said with a stern, strong voice, his words with a bite to them.

Vargas straightened, his demeanor shifting from patient to authoritative and almost demanding. He regarded V-Ruby-One more seriously. "What else do you remember? Before you... did whatever you did to wind up in your chrysalis a second time in the last two cycles?"

@V-Ruby-One

Its head snapped up as it felt a hint of accusation in his tone. Its teeth were already bared, so, if anything, it bared them wider, lips curling around neon green gums. Why was he mad? WE DID NOTHING WRONG. Was it not meant to fight in wars, not meant to embrace chaos? It struggled to remember why Vargas was mad at it, what it had done this time to stir his ire but...

All it could remember was war.

It spat the last of the Oil from its mouth and turned away, snarling. Something ugly was grasping at its nerves, and a shiver that had nothing to do with its sensory underload ran through its body. When it looked at Vargas again, there was some of its old fire blazing back in its gaze. "Stop...beating around it! Tell me what I fucking did this time and what punishment I'm getting." Its claws pressed against the rock, as if trying to puncture to stone itself. It's short-term memory was currently pretty fucking shot and scrambled, but it could still distantly remember its own history. Like a dream it had never lived, behind a veil it could not and did not want to reach through.

WE ARE DIFFERENT NOW!! it roared in its mind. And it had to agree. Whatever angsty problems had driven it to its tantrums before were nothing. Pointless. Useless. It did not have purpose. Now it did.

For a second, it was overwhelming. The itch surged and flooded its limbs and it suddenly needed to get out. Out of this cage, out of this skin, out of the walls of this damn cave, back into WAR and CHAOS and VIOLENCE. Its entire body locked as it screeched, "SEND ME BACK!"

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

Vargas took a breath.

His voice came booming, a crash of sudden, authoritative fury. He so rarely showed anger, and even this was... controlled, if harsh, if threatening. He was no longer listening and patient: he was looming, quills stood on end. "SHUT UP."

He let it hang for just a beat, and then spoke further, his words coming rapid and fierce. "When I speak to you and ask you a QUESTION, it is because I am ASKING YOU A QUESTION. If you cannot CONTROL YOURSELF, you will be remade! You will be destroyed, your stone reused! Is this what you want? Do you wish to die, V-Ruby-One?" The demand was a bellow, with no room for argument.

It could attack him, of course. It was hardly in control. But Vargas's threat was clear: that patience he had been showing had reached an end. If it proved to be useless here and now...

...He had no time for holding their hands any longer. He'd tried. And he would, he knew, continue to try and aid this one: but only if it could shut its mouth long enough to listen and obey. His hope was that the sudden--and very genuine--threat to its life would make it actually consider his question: did it wish to die?

And if not, could it shut the hell up for five minutes, and hold at least one part of a rational conversation?

He knew it was coming straight from the horrific nightmare soup of the Black Spire. And maybe that would excuse things--for a normal Gembound. But for Valkhounds serving the Masters in this Nest-? It was lucky he'd tolerated it thus far, given it chances with Onyx, lessons on control. He had to regain control over it--no; he had to force it to control itself, at least long enough to exchange a few pathetic sentences.

@V-Ruby-One

The sudden, authoritative roar did freeze the gembound in its place and its eyes widened from the sudden terror that leaped in its stomach. Two sides of its suddenly exploded and clashed - something shivering, broken, hanging onto survival by a thread, lashed out like a rabid animal, demanding it to STOP, behave, sit down and wait for this to be over so it can HEAL. The other half, the Chaos half still living within the Creator's wars, was already raging and roared its challenge, surging forward with fire and lightning. It halted any exterior movement or reactions from V-Ruby-One for a moment, as the battle raged in its mind.

For a second, the chaos won over and it snapped back, "And I ANSWERED!" But then it withered as the defeated beast welled up in horror and wrestled back control. It did not want to die. Despite how much something burned in it that it couldn't stand, despite how often it yearned for the mercy of no longer having to suffer this life, something had snapped in place during its nightmares. Something was snapping into place now. It did not want to die.

It shook its head and deflated as it came to the realization. The beast was still roaring and howling, but something they could both agree on - it would not die. WE CANNOT DIE UNTIL WE SEE END DESTROYED. And it knew that it was not in that pit of red dreams and shattering skies and war and death, where it would be reborn endlessly, over and over again, if it died here, it would die and never remember. It would be V-Ruby-Two walking around, a good little soldier, who remembered no wars, who had not seen the face of the Creator, with no hate or anger, just something Vargas would reconstruct in its place.It would not be V-Ruby-One HELION.

Its teeth clenched. It breathed heavy as it reigned itself in. It was present now, fully awake. It knew where it was, who it was, who it was speaking to. Its memories were still...muddled but they would return in time as it sorted through what was real and what had been dreams. THEY WERE NOT DREAMS. THEY WERE REAL. THE WAR IS REAL, MORE REAL THEN HERE, MORE REAL THEN-- Shut the fuck up.

It looked to Master Vargas, defeated, almost pitiful (almost), and shook its head. "I do not want to die." It whispered. "I don't...remember. I don't. I will, but not...now."

@Vargas

- THE LEVIATHAN -

"GOOD," was the first thing Vargas boomed, again, in response. But it held no encouragement, no praise. This held almost the same tone as his "shut up" had. He took one sharp step toward V-Ruby-One. "Because I would hate for one of us to be granted visions by the Creator, only to throw it away the moment they awaken!"

Caves, he wished he had someone he could delegate this to. Someone who understood the madness of corruption--someone like Draconua--but less "every bit as completely out of control." A deeply annoyed sigh rushed from lungs through nostrils, and he glared down at the spawn.

But it was clearly in no state to remember. And Vargas tried to generally be fair--he really did, as hard as some of them seemed to want to make it. It needed time. A few minutes' rest, at least. "GO. Eat, rest, and return as soon as you are calmer. Do nothing else. Do not start a fight. Do not wander off too far. Eat. Rest. Return."

He paused, nostrils flaring. "Can I trust you with this command?" he demanded, claws pressing into rock.

@V-Ruby-One