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gore

Puppets learn to pull strings

After a while, the body began to decay, the smashed and visceral remains of the zebra rendering away to nothing but black oil that stirred something deeply feral within Regalia. At the first sign of the inky black, it rushed forward, at first unsure how it was going to consume, but then, as it stretched its body forward, it supposed that it would eat how it always ate.

And so, in perhaps a strange display, Regalia pulled itself completely apart and encompassed the remains completely with its gaseous form, the glowing lights peering into the distance, the strange roots of its mind now visible as it stretched to touch the entirety of the corpse. And, as it sat there, it slowly began to consume. The minerals it fed from the oil and...other things came rushing into its body and it trembled with the relief it brought. It was a mildly unpleasant sensation, like its body was becoming thicker, closer to tangible, but it also felt the power, the whispers and promises of unspoken, unknown knowledge. At the very least, it wasn't the worst it had fed upon, but if it was not for the temporary satiation it was bringing it, it would probably avoid ever consuming this ever again.

Ah, but the relief it brought was nice and it felt its mind melding further into the chaos that the Altar had promised. Good...yes, this was good. This was what it had meant by "consume". Destroy and consume what has been destroyed. Over and over and over and over...until it has proven itself worthy.

It took a while for Regalia to completely consumed all of the oil but, once it had, feeling considerably heavier and more sluggish, it pulled itself back together and drifted away from the remains. Eyes looked into the decomposed corpse and its eye fell upon the black obsidian...perfectly in the shape of a living heart. That was its stone, was it?

It made to lift the heart out, but its mind was still half on the oil and chaos and, as it grabbed for the heart, it ended up throwing itself to the ground. There was a wrench and a strike of pain - physical pain - as its gem, the tiny shard within its body, bounced right off the obsidian. It drifted back, pulled by the gem as it fell, staring up with surprise.

And cut down the user's lead

Corruption: 9

Puppets learn to pull strings

Once the magic had left, Regalia found itself able to move again, back in control, as the gem was encompassed, once again, in the magic of its being, floating within the black smoke, once again a part of it, instead of the holder of its string. A little disturbed by this realization that it could be manipulated like this, Regalia floated back upright, hovering again above the remains.

It tried, again, to tug the heart free...but it had grown tired, from all the violent smashing and now this...strange phenomenon. The heart didn't budge.

And cut down the user's lead

Puppets learn to pull strings

Frustrated and feeling the throes of chaos stirring in it once again, Regalia reached down forcefully with its magic, determined to succeed because nothing would stop it, nor hold it back. Never. NEVER. It gripped the heart tight and wrenched it up, disconnecting it from whatever decayed arteries it was still connected to, whatever bones still tried to cover it and hide it from the grip.

The heart of obsidian now hovering before it, Regalia drifted forward. This...would make a good offering to the altar, if it accepted its gift. If it was the kind of creator that accepted such offerings.

*exit

And cut down the user's lead