Puppets learn to pull strings

Now that Regalia had satiated its hunger and received yet another revelation from its meetings with Him, it began its next self-assigned mission. To begin at the top of the totem pole, the leaders, the pillars of peace, and tear them down. It had seen, in Wilder's eye, the groups spread across the caves. Most of them, at least. The Seven were one that had dug into its head. What was the point of protecting the weak? If they could not survive, then they should not live. This was simply evolution - those that were weak would only pass on that weakness. They were not needed.

But worse was this Kingdom, claiming to be of pacifism. To not rise up, even when the situation needs. It was nothing less then blasphemy through the eyes of Regalia, who had seen many acts of chaos and destruction through His eyes, through the whispers, in its own touched mind. They were the first to taste Regalia's wrath.

It knew how to get there - Wilder's mind had been easy to read, easy to open. The great tree was also pretty hard to miss. It drifted into the clearing, eyes turning up. Ah, there he was. Resting on the roots of the tree. This place was quite beautiful - such a lovely little garden, wasn't it? Was this what he did in his world of peace? Grow flowers?

What a waste.

It turned its attention towards the tree and cast its voice forward, whispering in multiple voices at a point near the cat. "Rift...of the Kingdom of Eridanus? The leader of foolish pacifism in a cave built of violence? Is that you?"

And cut down the user's lead

Rift was indeed upon the roots of the tree, giving himself a much-needed wash. It had taken a long time to get the garden back to the state it had been in before the Kingdom had left, and there was still some work to be done. Some of the plants had overgrown and moved to different spots, some had decided to completely consume others. It was work, but many of the Kingdom were, at least, helping out. It was nice to be back here again, instead of in Monoceros where even growing a few easy plants was a chore.

He paused his bath, however, when a strange voice whispered at his feet. He blinked and stood up, looking around until his eyes rested on the strange cat that standing in the flower field. From here, he couldn't tell that it was made of gas, only that it was black and faintly glowing and there was something...odd about it. Not natural. It didn't look like a normal cat, with the glowing eyes and the way it seemed to hover over the ground...

He was confused and a little taken aback by the insult. "Ah...yes that's me. This is the Kingdom of Eridanus. What do you need and...I'm not sure what you mean by "foolish." It's our way of life." He glanced around, wondering if Mercy was near. He was always better at talking about pacifism then him, but he supposed that he was at his grove right now.

@Sebastian

Sebastian was up in the tree.

Like his brother he, too, needed a wash, though his darker fur didn't quite show it. So, though he kept his ears out, twitching this way and that, his attention was rather occupied, trying to pull a particularly stubborn burr from the base of his tail. (And oh, did he hate burrs.) His paws needed cleaning, next, and probably his muzzle, they were working to put the forest back to rights, he'd done his best while the Kingdom was gone but he was only one cat and one without plant magic at that.

So the voice - well, voices? - scared the shit out of him. He popped his head up, staring in baffled alarm at the cat-not-cat, what even was that? at the base of their tree, asking Rift something that set his fur to rankling. Foolish pacifism? Well, he'd learned that, perhaps, not everything could be settled with words, but there was no point in leaping straight to violence.

The cat-not-cat didn't seem a threat, at least not yet so, though he stood, not caring to be caught helpless with his leg in the air, he waited, keeping a close eye on the pair, ready for his brother's call.

@Regalia

Puppets learn to pull strings

As Rift spoke, Regalia's focus flitted over to the other one nearby and there was a sudden flush of something in its mind. Violence? Anger? Pure entropic chaos? Whatever it was, it was irked simply by his presence. This was for it and the "King" of Eridanus alone. And...ah, was he one of the Kingdom? Perhaps it would be able to impart one lesson upon Rift before he died. Suffering is the only true way to power and the divine. Agony of the body and mind will open us to His chaos. And how would it feel to watch one of his own Kingdom die at his feet?

It stared intensely at Sebastian before a sudden surge of magicka lashed out, to pick him up and slam him hard down at Rift's feet, head first. Break his neck. Make it quick, because it decided in that moment that this one didn't deserve it this one was just a mortal, a foolish insect, a tiny light too easily snuffed out unworthy of Him unworthy of Chaos UNWORTHY UNWORTHY UNWORTHY It didn't even bother speaking to him first. It crossed its mind for an instant but...no. The sudden surge of chaos urged it to destroy. Consum. Suffer. DESTROY. The whispers were getting louder.

And cut down the user's lead

Rift glanced around, eyes falling on Sebastian. Well, that was a relief. He had a bad feeling about this creature, but his brother was strong enough to protect both of them if something went awry. He shifted on his feet, turning back to the creature, who hadn't spoken again and cleared his throat. "Um, I'm not really sure who you are or what you wish but...I would be more then glad to talk to you about...the Kingdom? And what we aim to do? But those that have a history of violence or a tendency for it...we don't allow them here unless they've renounced such a way. Violence has no place here." He smiled gently. "We've all been through enough."

One paw tapped the bark of the tree root beneath him. "This tree is a symbol as well as our home. Trees don't fight or kill to survive. They absorb light and grow tall from simply waiting. This tree, without having a single day of violence, has grown greater then all of us and all of the trees nearby. And its what saved us, when true violence came to our home." He wasn't sure if the cat cared at all, or if he was making a mistake but...well, it wasn't responding. Maybe it had tried and failed, since it seemed to speak through magic.

@Sebastian

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

violence

gore

The cat-not-cat gave him a bad feeling.

Those glowing... eyes? flittered over to his, and his fur began to rise, to stand on end, and though he was a Knight no King, no Warrior nor Voice, and 'what are you?' and though his brother's voice was loud in the air it was little more than the buzzing of a gnat, an odd inflection that rose and fell over the growl that began to build in his throat.

And then the tree was gone beneath his paws. He didn't have time even to cry out, was brought to the ground so swift that the forest - his forest, their forest that he'd worked so hard to protect no matter what - was little more than a green blur and the sound that choked from his throat when he hit the ground was gurgling, spluttered, purely animal, blood spraying out to halo his head and he'd had water in his stomach, had been allowing it to leak out with that spell he'd learned, practicing it mundanely in his bath and he lost control, choking on the water that was forced from his throat.

@Regalia

Puppets learn to pull strings

The sound of cracking as the cat hit the root hard send a rush of satisfaction through Regalia's head while also sending a stab of pain through its heart. It soothed the violent urges and had it reaching forward to touch Rift's mind, to share with him the pain it felt doing that, but also to listen. It wanted to feel the agony as he watched his friend die in front of him, to know that there was suffering here. There was agony to be had, that chaos was being delivered.

The connection it forged between Rift was nothing short of powerful, connecting the two together almost seamlessly. It sent to him its own mind as it reached for his. "It gives me no pleasure to kill so painfully, to end lives that have done nothing but good...but it is by His will that order is destroyed. That the time of violence is returned. So what will you do now, Rift, the leader of pacifism? Will you hold true to your values? Or will you attack, in anger and hate? What will you do now that I've taken the first move?"

And cut down the user's lead

It happened in an instant. One second Sebastian was on the roots, the next he was in the air. And less then a second later, he was thrown down right as his feet, a sickening crack ringing so plainly and horribly in Rift's ears that he froze, every nerve grating as he looked down at the blood coating the tree and his own paws, water spilling from his brother's jaws. It didn't register at first that it was Sebastian there, that it was his blood, his neck snapping, his own brother laying at his feet.

But then, it did.

Whatever Rift had been feeling before was swept away by pure horror, a violent tremble running down his spine. "Sebastian?!" He leaned forward towards his brother, eyes opening wide. "S-seb? No...no, wait. Wait! Sebastian!" His head snapped up towards Regalia, eyes blown wide. "Why did you do that?! What...what is wrong with you?!"

And then, it felt it. It felt its pain, but also more. It felt the need to destroy, to be violent, to cause chaos and it smashed down everything that it was saying to him as utter bullshit. Because it was. It had hurt Sebastian. It had HURT SEBASTIAN and of COURSE Rift wasn't going to just stand there and watch it hurt his brother. He saw red as he stared at the galaxy-like creature. With a screech of rage, he sent his magic coursing through the wood and one of the roots of the tree suddenly wrenched itself free and came slammed down towards Regalia, to crush it underneath.

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

violence

Suffocation

Nerves tried to fire - the signals stopped, pinned by shattered bone.

The panther's jaw hung open, tongue lolling out, each breath rasping ineffectually, failing to twitch, to thrash, though not for lack of trying. A claw twitched here, the tip of his tail there, and his eyes darted wildly, frantic, looked pleadingly at Rift and 'Oh caves I can't breathe!'

His magic reached out, sinking into the ground, but fizzled ineffectually as the big cat choked, gasped, fought with lungs that burned and had he failed a spell? his chest burned and why else would he hurt but why would he be fighting? why would he be using his fire in his forest and he was so confused

@Regalia

Puppets learn to pull strings

There it was. There was the pain that it had been searching for. There was the agony, the fear, the horror that marked the deep suffering that Regalia had been hoping for. Oh it hurt to know that it was the one doing it, that Regalia, the one that had put itself up as a goddess, a mother, a protector, was now the one tearing them down, ripping them apart, killing them in such an agonized fashion. And it accepted this pain wholeheartedly.

The tree root came down on Regalia and a very strange sensation ensued. It cleaved right through their body, sweeping it aside, cutting through the middle of their gas, only to have them rejoin on the other side. It was strange and bizarre and it could feel it, perhaps not physically, but distantly, as their body got lighter and then went back to normal, leaving it a little winded.

But then, like before, chaos swept over whatever agony remained, the urge of violence coming back full force and, in its last moment of connection with Rift, it showed him satisfaction. "As I thought." And now...

Time to destroy.

Eyes focused on the tree behind Rift, it willed utter destruction to manifest as physical, darkness raging and blasting through the tree, and then it did, a single point of chaos opening on the surface of the bark. There was a horrible, loud creaking sound as part of the great tree was suddenly ripped away, sucked into the momentary black hole, going on for a few seconds before it disappeared, leaving a large chunk of the tree missing and sending fragments and shards raining down on Rift and Sebastian.

And cut down the user's lead