Puppets learn to pull strings

Throughout Polaris, Regalia wandered, searching. Looking. It did not think to go to Canis, as it had never known Wilder more then a day. It did not think to even check the other caves, as its only lead was here - in this cave of the Spire and magic incarnate. It had already searched the cave where it had hatched and had found nothing. Not Wilder or Bauble or the stones and trinkets she had collected. All that was there was the still-unhatched chrysalis of their third sibling, the presence of which brought a surprising sense of giddy satisfaction.

So it, once again alone, searched for her. The one it had sworn off as any sort of parental figure (after all, it was only the divine that could create other divine and Wilder was anything but divine) and had abandoned on its very first day awake. It did not know where else to go, who else to ask, perhaps a subconscious need to "ask mom" when it needed information, despite the fact that nobody had ever been mother or father to Regalia.

And cut down the user's lead

She was resting in her little crevice, mercifully asleep for once, mind resting from the many hours of thinking and worrying and imagining every scenario possible, from the best case where she was accepted back into the Bonebound, she and Aure made up and became close again, Kestrel hatched from their chrysalis, Bauble and Regalia returned to her, and she made up with Pride for the mistakes both of them had made. Perhaps Blackberry would be revealed to still be alive and a changed goose somewhere out there...

But then she also imagined the worst case scenario, where the Bonebound shut her out and Aure chased her from Canis, where Kestresl's stone crumbled away to dust, Bauble and Regalia returned only to hurt her more, shove the claws in deeper, and Pride found further reasons to hate her, perhaps to send out a chase after her to remove her threat from the caves once and for all. They all wouldn't leave her head, invading her waking moments, trying to shove their way into the happiest times she could afford, welling up whenever they weren't needed, intruding into her sleep, rousing her from peaceful unconsciousness...

She suddenly jerked awake with a gasp, eyes wide. She'd seen Pride, faceless, standing above her. Sharp main in her chest, screams...

There were tears on her cheeks. She raised a paw to touch at them gently, frusteration only allowing more to spill. When had things get like this? When had everything gotten so bad? She'd been able to deal with everything before with a smile on her face and the energy to lift everyone up, but now she couldn't function anymore, she couldn't go a single day without crying. She could barely even leave her den.

She was so caught up in it that she almost missed the sight, the crazy, impossible sight from so far away. The black mist, sparkling colors, and twinkling lights that she only ever remembered leaving her cave in a flurry. She froze where she was laying, staring out as Regalia drifted by, wondering if she was imagining things, but then, when she took a claw and jabbed at herself hard enough to wake up and nothing happened, she realized that this was real. Regalia was right there.

Wilder jerked to her feet, throwing herself out of her den before she even knew what was happening, paws moving on their own, jaw opening without her consent. "REGALIA!" she cried out for her child as she got closer, unconcerned if it even cared to see her again, not even thinking about what Regalia would think seeing her sprinting forward. She just needed to be with it again.

Puppets learn to pull strings

It heard her. First instincts - get infuriated. Second instincts - destroy her. Third instincts - stick with the plan. Thankfully, Regalia still had enough of itself in control to not go with the chaotic, wasteful destruction that He had been trying to implant within her, that the corruption was seeping into its every nerve, but it at least tainted the methods of its knowledge-seeking.

It turned to face Wilder, golden eyes narrowing at the sight of the cat sprinting forward. Ugh, it wanted to leave. No, better yet, it wanted to shred her up, tear her to pieces. Obliterate every last bit of that lowly cat, assert its dominance, revel in the destruction, and know that it would never have to worry about running into her again.

But for now, it would come what it came to do, reaching forward to grasp at her mind with its magic, but she was too far away for it to properly catch. The connection died away as she got closer and Regalia was left hovering in front of her, glaring at its mother, none of its emotions showing anywhere besides the furiously blinking lights that no being would understand.

And cut down the user's lead

Wilder was surprised that Regalia didn't immediately turn around and float away, but also she was suprised by the lack of magic. There wasn't any whisper in her ear or the touch of telepathy to tell her that Regalia was trying to speak to her. Did it fail? Or was Regalia so intent on holding onto its grudge that it would refuse to speak in Wilder's presence?

Still feeling more bold then she should, Wilder reached forward her own magic as she came to a stop in front of the gaseous creature, breathing heavily, gently connecting their minds so that Regalia could speak but so that she wasn't intruding on its thoughts or that he own fears and anxieties wouldn't translate over. "H-hey," she said out loud. "I...I haven't seen you for a while. ...how have you been?"

Very nice, Wilder. What a way to start a conversation.

Puppets learn to pull strings

It felt her before anything else, the brush of magic gentle against its alien mind, offering a handle where its own magic failed, a gentle connection to breach the language gap since Regalia could not do it itself. And it found this minimal connection, which, first of all, was foolish of itself, as Regalia didn't intend on allowing it to exist passively, but as a whole, the message and meaning behind it, was frankly insulting. Demeaning. As if it needed a crutch, as if it needed the help of anyone, most of all this forgettable excuse of a gembound.

It didn't need to try too hard once the connection was made. It was there, after all. It only had to take control. And take control it did, pulling forward and wrenching back to invade into her mind. It wasn't...a master at this particular type of magic just yet, but it would work well enough for what it needed now. As long as it could keep it up.

It felt itself flooding into Wilder's mind and held her down there, pressing against her mind and making her think of things. Of course, it wasn't exactly hard - Wilder was so weak and easily maleable. The powers of the caves. Who are they? And Wilder's mind flicked to faces. A stag with mushroom-laden antlers. A gigantic serpent bursting from the water. Another serpent, this one of green and glowing eyes. A great bird of ice. A gigantic dragon blasting fire. A large purple beast with glowing green eyes and many quills. Masters, came a thought, like a title assigned to these creatures. They were more then simple gembound. They were above all the others, as Regalia was. Perhaps they, as well, served Him...

Regalia continued to press on. The gembound. Where is their order? And again, Wilder's mind went subconsciously to each in a second, flickering by on brainwaves, but Regalia caught them all. A large alligator living in a swamp. Children of Rot. A white stag standing before the Throne. The Seven. A vulture hybrid in the room of bones, the thought of which seemed to bring Wilder pain. Bonebound. A large green feline standing in the forest. Kingdom of Eridanus. Blurred shapes milling about in a sandy tunnel. Sentinels of the Sands. And then Wilder was resisting, fighting back, trying to keep it to herself as if she hadn't already given it all away.

It was only a few seconds long, but Regalia wasn't done. Tell me about them. All of them.

And cut down the user's lead

She waited only for a moment after her silly little question to get a response. But it wasn't quite the kind of response she expected. She thought she might get a stiff answer or maybe anger or a dismissal, but she didn't expect such sudden aggression and for Regalia to push right back, tearing into her mind. She cried out verbally with surprise, stumbling back, but Regalia was already taking what it wanted. She couldn't stop herself from thinking of whatever it asked, if only for a brief moment.

Dammit no no she couldn't! She had to stop, she had to stop this now!! She swallowed heavily and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to focus on one thing. What was one thing she could focus on? Right, right how about the wisp she always liked to light? Yes, that was it. She thought about the pink flame, gently dancing before her eyes. It's rippling, it's playfulness. She focused on it while Regalia asked her again. She couldn't help but let it get the knowledge already, but if it made her think of anything else...

She shook her head, trying to stay calm. No, stop, Regalia. I don't know what you're doing, you're scaring me. Regalia pushed harder, then, demanding and Wilder continued fighting it, focusing on the wisps. It doesn't have to be like this, please. Please, just...calm down, okay? Why do you want to know?

Puppets learn to pull strings

Regalia glared as Wilder resisted. Hm...she may have been weak at first, but all Regalia could get from Wilder's mind was a little pink and blue flame that it knew she liked to wave around. She was focusing so wholly on it that it could get nothing else from her, not by force. It could feel the connection slipping away, so it presented one last choice to her before it snapped closed - "You talk, or I pay them a visit."

As soon as the magic cut away, Regalia was already preparing another spell, focusing on the back of Wilder's neck and grabbing tight, pinching a very specific spot on her spine, threatening to pull or twist, painfully, perhaps fatally. It, instead, just tugged at the skin there, a threat to what it could do if it were more serious.

Eyes narrowed. No, might as well play a little more. It suddenly wrenched her up, holding her above the ground, climbing higher...higher....oh, ever so higher.....and Regalia watched from the ground, eyes narrowed. A threat. A promise. Tell me...or I pay all of those I saw in your mind a little visit.

And cut down the user's lead

Wilder didn't know when she started crying. Perhaps it was when the touch closed on the back of her neck and she realized what Regalia was implying. Perhaps it was when she was suddenly lifted up, up into the air, the ground dropping away beneath her paws. Perhaps it was when she realized that it was Regalia doing this. Her child. With her life and magic running through its gaseous body. It was her that had created this and it was her failing that had allowed it to get to this point.

Regardless, by the time she had reached the peak of Regalia's spell, she was in hysterics, tears running down her cheeks. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have any magic that could make her fly. She didn't know what she could do to stop Regalia or if she even should. She'd just fall to the ground. She couldn't hold it there indefinitely - it didn't even know if there was anything physical to hold or where its gemstone was! There was nothing short of killing it.

And even as the thought passed across her mind, she recoiled with revulsion. No, she couldn't. All she could do...was give in. And then warn whoever she could.

Magic reached down to touch Regalia's mind. She thought, first, of the Children of Rot. In the swamps of Cetus. Secretive, hungry for knowledge. Survivalists that fed the Master Aquarian. The Seven, next. A kingdom in Orion, protecting the weak, training them in magic and mind. The Bonebound. A family protecting their own, respecting the dead and fighting for the living. Kingdom of Eridanus. Gardeners, herbalists, lovers of life and followers of pacifism. The Sentinels. She didn't know much, but they guarded the entrance to Hydra and served the Master Vargas.

"Please," she sobbed, receding back once she'd given up the information. "Please don't hurt them, Regalia. Please..."

Puppets learn to pull strings

Regalia listened to Wilder's thoughts, drinking in the explanations. It would have to seek further information on the Masters - Wilder didn't seem to know much about them beyond some faces and their power over the gembound. It would stay away, then, from the groups affiliated with a Master, just in case.

That left the Seven, the Kingdom, and the Bonebound, the first two of which sparked Regalia's ire. Protecting the weak? The weak should be culled. If they could not live, then they did not deserve to live. Images of the violence and war flickered across Regalia's thoughts and it was angered by the concept of training those that would otherwise fail. Pointless. Useless.

But the Kingdom was worse. Pacifism? Gardening? There was no room for such a place. Not next to the things Regalia had seen. Not next to the screaming and the destruction and His voice sowing chaos within Regalia's very being. It rejected that notion so viscerally the its gas quivered.

Still, Wilder had given it enough information. And it had made a promise. It wasn't so corrupted just yet that it was willing to, quite literally, toss her aside. So, instead, it lowered her back to the ground and set her there. It made no promises. It made no vows. It didn't thank her for anything or say any parting words. It simply turned and drifted away from her.

*exit

And cut down the user's lead

Once she was set back on the ground, Wilder stared at Regalia, waiting for something to happen, for it to say some final remark, but it just...turned. Turned and left. And Wilder was left wondering if it would hold its promise. And as she questioned if it would...she realized that she didn't know the answer.

She let out a sob and got to her feet, shaking. Everything had just come crashing down again. She thought she'd been getting better, piece by piece by tiny little piece but now it was like all the progress she'd made had suddenly shattered. Guilt filled in all the spaces, consuming, eating her up from the inside out when she realized what she'd done.

She didn't know what Regalia could do. Maybe Pride could have destroyed it in a second. Aure could probably flap his wings and it would drift helplessly away. But also...it could, with one thought, destroy all of them. She didn't know. And she couldn't risk it. But still, she told it about the groups knowing that it had grown violent, knowing that it had the potential to kill all of them. And she. Still. Told it.

She was shaking violently, panic rising in her chest. It was getting harder to breath, but she pushed it back for now, mind focusing on staying calm because she had to do something. She couldn't sit here and panic and wait for the fireworks. She laid herself down exactly where she was and closed her eyes, letting magic pull her mind free from her body, focusing it towards Canis, on the other side of the caves. Towards where Aure rested, and, hoping that he was asleep, slid herself forward. She didn't want their first meeting since....all of that to have gone like this but...he was the only one she really trusted right now. He was the first one she could think of.

"Aure?" she called through the realm of dreams, trying to push her way into his, if he was sleeping. "Aure, it's me. I'm sorry but...there's something important I have to tell you."

@Aure