It was supposed to be a normal day. She wasn't doing anything special. She wasn't travelling with Envy just yet, there was no party, there was no unhatched child waiting for her in Orion. Luster was there now, Envy was king, everything seemed okay for now. She had even begun to get used to the migraines and the vomiting. Although her healing magic was getting less and less effective, it was still a temporary solution to her problem.

But that day, ever since she had woken up, she had felt really strange. It was an indescribable thought and state of feeling, but if she had to put it into words, she would say that something felt extremely familiar. What that was she had no idea, but it was a sense she had been carrying through the day. Her head was aching and spinning as usual as she climbed down the steps of the throne to find the spot where she most liked to feed - a small patch of weeds that grew under a broken wall. She passed it off as just another day, another slew of symptoms.

She stopped as she reached the weeds and stuck her nose into the crack in the rock. Something quivered against her nose and she snapped forward, feeling a crunch as she snapped down on a spider, pulling it out of the crevice to finish eating it. But as the arachnid touched her tongue, a terrible taste erupted in her mouth and she gagged, immediately spitting the thing out. That was strange...usually she liked spiders perfectly fine. And upon closer inspection it didn't look much different from other arachnids she had feasted on.

She felt a tightening in her chest and decided that it wasn't worth the effort. She'd find something else to eat. She nibbled on the edge of the weeds but found them unsatisfactory as well, despite finding them sweet only the day before.

Amazon paused, confused. Why was everything tasting so funny? She needed to eat something though, she was hungry. She turned and stumbled away from the weeds and began to wander the area around the throne aimlessly, her vision blurring a bit every so often. The headache was getting worse as she went and she was visibly walking funny, her eyes dropping. She stumbled a few times but didn't seem to notice. She came across another patch of weeds and gave them an experimental taste, but they, too, turned out pretty terrible. Fear crossed through her mind - was it another effect of her gem? Was everything going to taste bad now? Would every feeding be forced and unpleasant? The thought both saddened and terrified her. She liked eating and she liked hunting. She couldn't live happy if her food tasted terrible!

She turned mindlessly, her eyes wide and tottered across the stone, her steps uneven and her breathing noticeably heavy. The scales around her face seemed to be pale as well and the irritated skin around her gem angrily burned red. She did not look good at all.

Envy was gathering the last of the Seven before the big party; there wasn't long to go now. With Reign and Wrath already hunting food and Pride tasked with securing the area, they were satisfied by the progress they were making, they felt certain their kingdom would soon grow exponentially, which made them excited, and eager for time to pass faster.

In the meantime, though, there were still a few of the Sins left unaccounted for; and the first on Envy's list was Amazon. She'd left in a hurry the last time they'd met, and they hadn't seen her since. The thought made them antsy; the caves were a dangerous place for such a small, sick little lizard.

It didn't take them long to pick up the lizard's scent- sickly and faint though it was, and they were soon on her tail. They met her heading in the opposite direction, a momentary thrill of relief raising the spines along their back as she came into sight. They smiled at first- sharp teeth bared. "Amazon!"

But as the weasel pattered forward to meet her, lilac eyes flitting briefly over her prone form, the look faded. Soon they were stood in front of her, and circled the little lizard once- examining her pale scales and the gem on her head, clearly concerned by the look on her face, her staggering walk. Something, obviously, wasn't right. "Amazon?"

Finally they came to a halt and crouched before her, trying to look aloof, but their spines trembling with clear concern.


Speech. Thought.

@Amazon

"Om nom nom nom."

Luster made satisfied sounds as she dug into a particularly tasty beetle - then again, each one was paticularly tasty! She loved beetles! They crunched beneath her teeth and stuck in her teeth and she was able to snack on them later and "Yum yum yum!"

Unfortunately, the beetle didn't last long, and so she was left bored, attempting to pick its legs from between her teeth. But that, too, quickly grew boring, and she decided to leave them for a snack for later.

So off it was! To find another grand adventure! Or another snack. Snacks were tasty. She liked snacks.

But then a scent caught her nose, and she began to follow it, her scaly-fluffy tail wagging. It was Momma! And some other Gembound, but she didn't know who it was, and so she didn't care at the moment. Walking over a small rise, she saw Momma, and a green thing that looked kind of like a snack. But then it spoke and she knew it wasn't a snack.

"Speaking things are friends, not food."

However, she couldn't help but to see that Momma was staggering around, seeming very wrong, and so she stepped forward with a whine. "Mommazon? What's wrong?"

@Envy @Amazon

Amazon heard Envy's voice as if it were far away. Her head slowly swiveled to look at them, her eyes visibly dull and unfocused. She blinked a few times, the world tilting and whirling around her before she forced herself to ground for just a few seconds before recognizing her friend. "O-oh, hi Envy. I'm just...trying to eat." She turned away and licked at the ground, picking up the ants that were crawling under her claws before spitting them out with distaste. "Everything tastes kind of funky."

In that moment, she didn't actually remember that Envy couldn't, in fact, eat at all and continued to try and attempt eating whatever bugs were crawling on the floor, only to cough them up with disgust. The time passed so strangely. When in fact, she continued to do this for quite sometime, everything felt strangely detached and fast to her, like she was watching a sped up movie from the passenger's seat. Her movements were strangely rigid and uncoordinated and her eyes kept blinking slowly as she tottered away from Envy.

She didn't notice anything on the ground despite the fact that she was clearly searching for animals. She passed multiple spiders scuttling away and instead licked at plain rock. She brushed past a weed and instead banged into a stone wall. But it almost looked like she couldn't see them. She just kept blinking and walking.

@Envy

Envy looked up at the sound of approaching paws, raising their head with rounded ears twitching. They scrutinised the strange hybrid for a moment, before looking back towards Amazon. Mommazon? They weren't sure what to think of this. Mainly, their mind was concerned with the rudeness of the sudden intrusion, spines quivering slightly. But now wasn't the time; Envy turned their full attention back towards Amazon and ignored the newcomer, for now.

Their kingly introduction could come later, along with a potential scolding. If Amazon really was the mom, then she could do that herself. As she said that she was trying to eat, but couldn't, Envy relaxed slightly. That wasn't too bad. They'd overcome that hurdle long ago.

Surely Amazon would be the same. "Maybe you're just finding the wrong things. Some things taste different to others, right?" The only things envy had eaten in their lifetime was a small mouthful of mouse, and a lick of glittery banana. Not exactly fancy, but both had tasted different. They had an idea, and stood upright on their hindpaws for a moment. "Watch this!"

With a rush of magic, a banana almost as big as they were appeared. The weasel was beaming, and looked for Amazon- only to realize that she had stumbled away, and was focused on something else. With an expression of barely- disguised mystification they watched as she stumbled and licked, and missed, and... finally crashed.

"C'mon, stop that. It's not helping," they finally growled with a shake of their head, every spike in the rows along their back standing on end, and quivering. They followed her, low to the ground like a snake, and stated trying to nudge her back towards the banana, uncertain of what else there was to do. "Eat this... the yellow thing. Come on."

Perhaps they'd need to take Pride up on his offer, and soon.

The weasel glanced back up the path towards their throne.

Speech. Thought.

@Luster @Amazon

The sound of Luster's voice jolted her out of her strange stupor for a moment and Amazon swiveled to see her daughter. "Oh, Luster! Hi, sweetheart!" Her words were oddly slurred and a little bit of a mumble but to her they sounded perfectly normal. Everything was normal. Everything was fine.

She tottered a little bit more and looked down at the banana that Envy placed in front of her. She reached forward to take a bite when the nausea reached a peak. She flinched and staggered back, holding her breath as a rising feeling went from her stomach to her throat. She stilled for a moment, visibly holding down vomit before she shuddered and began her strange head motion again, her eyes dulling once again.

@Luster @Envy

Luster tilted her head as she looked at Mommazon, who was staggering around and struggling to eat. Her head tilted this way and that, brow furrowing. Even she could see that something was very, very wrong. The green weasel-thing used their magic to form something yellow and oblong, and she leaned over to sniff it, before Mommazon's voice drew her. "Momma!" she chirped happily, tail wagging as the lizard approached her - well, the banana.

Once she was close enough, the hybrid leaned forward to touch their noses together with a happy rumbling low in her chest, tail licking out to swipe the rough scales of her Momma's nose.

Her brow furrowed as Mommazon began to stagger, head bobbling as she went back to acting oddly, asking "Mommazon?" looking at Envy helplessly, before visibly getting an idea when movement caught her eye. Whirling, she pouncing on a tarantula, and trotted back over, offering Mommazon the tarantula. Around its kicking legs, she said to Envy matter-of-factly, "M'mm'z'n l'v's t'r'n't'l's."

@Envy @Amazon

"Speaking." 'Thinking.'

Envy narrowed their eyes and watched Amazon with visible apprehension. They noted her slurred worss, but they felt it even more worrying that she appeared to be ignoring them. She didn't answer them, although she did appear to try and eat the banana. To make it worse, the big baby was lumbering around, thinking it could help. Envy felt their spines prickling upright and they narrowed their eyes, looking at the young Gembound and trying to hide their disgruntlement.

Amazon staggered back, the weasel felt everything growing to a peak. They felt their fur prickling in disgust as the pup brought back a large spider. "Now's not the time," they said to the pup, turning back to the lizard. They could see her struggling, see her eyes growing dull. Perhaps they ought to take her somewhere quiet- to somewhere like their den but not, so that she wouldn't vomit all over their nest and hoard. Perhaps they should take her to Pride. Envy scuttled in a circle around her like a nervous shark, trying to hide their anxiety.

Everything will be fine in the morning, they told themselves. She just needs some rest and maybe some magic.

Envy went to nudge at her, but found themselves reminded of her nausea at the last moment, and recoiled- but despite their disgust, went back a moment later. They flattened their quills into a smooth black surface, sucked in their breath, and shoved their face under her belly, scrabbling under her as they tried to put amazon on their back- probably unhelpfully.

"C'mon. Let's get you to Pride. He'll be able to help..."


Speech. Thought.

@Amazon

TW for graphic depiction of a seizure

Amazon barely noticed Luster licking the tip of her nose. In fact, she barely noticed anyone still there. It was like all awareness was being sucked right out of her. Their voices were getting more and more distant and her vision was getting worse and worse. It was like she was floating away, farther and farther. She couldn't see or hear anything and she couldn't bring herself to want to feel anything.

And to the others, all they would see was Amazon go stiff. Her head continued to bob strangely and her eyes were unfocused. Even Envy's nudging under her stomach did nothing to garner a reaction. And the tarantula Luster set in front of her mother did nothing as well. She didn't even glance at it.

She was completely still for a second before her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.

To be fair, it wasn't really noticeable, considering her size. She more like slumped to the ground, her limbs giving way, but there was no mistaking the convulsions. Her muscles jerked, still stiff and rigid and her breath was uneven and labored. If they felt her chest they would find her heart beating out of control. She stared into the distance, completely unconscious, as her body went out of control.

Strange croaking and garbling noises came from her throat and her claws scraped methodically at the ground. But Amazon was completely unaware of all of this. As her body lashed on the ground, she floated in darkness, unconscious, unaware, completely distant and dead.

@Envy @Luster

The hybrid flattened her ears as she was reprimanded by the green-weasel-thing, dropping the tarantula. She licked her lips, eying Mother, hoping that the other may have been wrong, and that the tarantula may help. She hated being useless, especially when it came to Mommazon, and so she was trying her best. Even if her best was nothing in the end.

Where Envy scurried, Luster remained still, perhaps for the first time in her life. The direness of the moment seemed to have tamed her, brought her down to reality - her frenetic energy replaced by a nervous one that seemed to keep her still.

And then Mommazon collapsed.

"MOMMA!" she cried out, lurching forward with a squeal. When the lizard began to writhe, her claws dug into the ground, and she skidded to a stop, afraid to touch her for fear of making her worse. Tears dripped down the hybrid's face, and low whines spilled from her throat. "Momma...? W-what..?"

Her gaze snapped, then, to Envy, desperately seeking the guidance of an adult - the one she normally would have asked the one causing her to need help. "What's happening!?" she choked out another sob, trembling violently.

@Amazon @Envy