MASKTOURN

(read the TW. Also bright colors if you are on desktop. Trying formatting out)

Clink. The crystal jar landed gently in the grass in some random area of woods. A bit of a strange choice for Roque, but where exactly was this? It was just trees all around.. Mm. Maybe she just wanted some pretty scenery as she waited for the jar to disintegrate and herself to inevitably dry out and die.. This wouldn't be an awful place to go out. Pleasant temperature, nice view, the occasional wildlife.. Oh! Here came one right now. A lovely, large buck was bounding between the trees at a casual pace. Maybe looking for a female, or maybe a nice patch of brambles to snack on. Just so happened that Roque was positioned next to an especially nice looking bush bursting with delectable red berries. The buck strolled over to the bush, first pausing to check the area for predators before it turned its attention to feasting. Its big ears swiveled around, and eyes scanned every dark corner, but the coast seemed clear. There were no wolves, or mountain lions, or hunters around. No predators. It stuck its face in the berry bush and began plucking off mouthfuls. It grinded them down, leaking that sweet red juice out of the corners of its mouth. There was such plenty, losing a bit didn't matter. The bush had hundreds of juicy red berries, ripe for the taking. Suddenly, it snapped its head up, facing both ears directly ahead as it stood perfectly still. There had been no noise, no sudden movement in the brush, but the buck was startled. After checking its surroundings again, it slowly continued chewing on the sickly green and rotting berries. It gagged, and leaned its head forward. The juice staining its face was no longer red, but black. And more was coming. And coming. Black ooze spilled out of its mouth like a popped water balloon. The grass touched by it all died as well. That rot was spreading from its digestive system at a rapid pace, turning its flesh porous and oozing out even more of that sludge. Its coat sloughed off as the skin beneath it died. There were no predators... That the deer could have possibly prepared for. The deer fell. First to its front knees, then the hind. Then to its side, and its head rolled back until its antlers stabbed in to its back. And then it moved no more. But the puddle kept growing, killing anything biotic around it. Creeeeeeeeeeeeek Something was pushing out from the ribcage of the deceased deer. The appendage easily broke through the rotted corpse, revealing a sludge covered hand. Another followed it. The hands touched the ground, spreading out the death even further. The thing pulled out the rest of its sludge colored, amorphous form from the deer and sloshed on the ground. Now freed, the blob was quickly morphing into something, a definite human shape. It grew taller and taller until the majority of the sludge sloughed off to the ground. It was now a woman dressed in black and green. All of her skin was rotted and dark up to her neck, where pale skin and green veins met the rot. Long, unkept green and black hair covered the right side of her face. Her eye that was visible had a starkly green iris with a distinctive white pupil.. "Arrived." She said flatly, her voice gravelly. Good.. Now retrieve the eyes. She promptly turned to the eyeball jar and picked it up, miraculously not melting it. "Melt a small part to take one of the eyes. Do not damage it." With the order, the top of the crystal jar melted away. With her not actively melting things hand, she reached in and retrieved the nearest eye. "Congratulations, Maddie. I know you have been wanting to get back some of that depth perception. Proceed." "Thank you." Maddie said and leaned her head back, shaking her hair out of the way.

9:56 PM

There was an empty void where her right eye should have been. But not for long. Maddie forced the bright red eye in to her socket, face contorting in the slightest of grimaces. Eyeballs were not meant to be put back in other people's heads, were they? But biology had never stopped her. She kept her head back as she felt the nerve cord wriggling around in her skull, seeking out a connection. It eventually found it, and connected to the ends of her optical nerve that had not seen use in.. Decades. The depth of her vision filled in, and she took a moment to take it all in. "Talk to me. Do you like it? Best one I could find for you." ".. I like it." Maddie said, just as flat as ever. "That's all? You just like it?" "It is amazing. Thank you."

"Better! Now, close up the jar and hold on to it. I debated letting you have a cool third eye, but I think that might be more headaches than it's worth. I will think of other uses. Rest and recover for a few weeks here, then we will move on."

Maddie melted the jar closed again, leaving the other eye safely in the solution. She took her other order to rest quite literally, as she closed her eye- eyes- and fell in to the closest version of sleep she could reach now.

... Back to an expanse of neon green toxic sludge, the same place its parent had bitten a certain scientist many years ago, a half foot long black worm fell. It splashed down in to the viscous ooze, floating on top for a brief second before wiggling down through it. The liquid couldn't be seen through at all, so perhaps this was the last we'd ever see of Melinoe.. The surrounding area was quiet. Not much could live here, especially since the toxicity was getting stronger year after year. Even the trees that managed to stand lacked any leaves until the very top of the canopy, away from the toxic fumes. One of these trees was looking especially rotten, with a growing black scar that leaked out sludge similar to what filled the rest of the bog. It was spreading faster than a rot could grow on a tree- Creeeeeek A familar sludgy arm reached out, followed by the rest of Maddie. Her outfit had changed, now black and red rather than black and green. A tattered teal sash around her waist was her only adornment, which had clearly seen better days. "Arrived." Maddie said flatly as her bare feet reached down to the mud beneath her. "Good, now that you have adjusted to your new eye, I have another gift for you..." "You don't have to keep giving me things." Maddie stated, glancing around the bogs. This place was her real home, wasn't it? The place she had been before that cultish island? It felt hard to be sentimental about it when there was nothing left.. The only buildings that stood were far out on the outskirts, only a single small building could be seen from here. "Elaborate." "Am I not strong enough for you? I have yet to meet an opponent that I can't instantly melt... What more can I do, what more can I be?" Maddie asked, tone still flat.

"Exactly, you've not met your match YET. I have invested far too much in to you to lose you, and your precious cargo. You can never be sure you're strong enough until it's too late."

"I... Suppose." Maddie said. "Good, now go out in to the bog for me, clear out a path." Maddie nodded, and walked out to the sludge. As she approached, it parted for her, pushing off toward either side. The bottom of the bog was littered in splintered, tiny bones. Rabies didn't care about bones, so Maddie continued walking, carving out a path in front of her. Finally, she reached something that wasn't mere bones, no, this was a very familiar annelid.. As the sludge moved away it fell to the mud and hissed, trying to wiggle back to the water. Maddie didn't let it, moving the sludge out of the way whenever it got close.

7:23 PM

".. Another Tenebris Vermis..?" Maddie asked, just a slight hint of interest to her tone. "Is this what you wanted me to find here? I thought you said all of the remaining individuals aren't remarkable, just feral powerless worms.."

"That's true, none of them were remarkable.. But due to many circumstances that you'll soon see, this one is of interest to me. Pick it up and link with it like you did that night we met."

Maddie crouched down and picked the poor creature up, which instantly latched on to her finger. She had no reaction, and let it hang on. Her green eye closed but the red remained locked on the gross thing. Silence returned to the bog for a few peaceful minutes, until finally, Maddie's head snapped back and her mouth opened wide, along with her green eye. "Yes, yes.. Isn't this all you ever wanted? A life with Albanes?" Maddie choked out some nonsense words quickly, then cleared her throat. "Yes.. Why.. Why did you show me this?" Maddie asked.

"Just to give you another example of how those Lifebringers always mess everything up.. To show you that you're lucky you found me."

"That's not why you did it."

"Hm. Fine, would it make you feel better if I told you it's just to fill you with despair and rage and hatred? To remind you of what I promised? What you could have?"

"I haven't forgotten." Maddie stated, moving the worm up to her chest.

"Sure. Well if that's done then, get moving over to that building over there. I think you might find more interesting things there, I'll let you do your thing."

".. Yes, Rabies." Maddie said and stood up, continuing her path across the bogs... Now joined by a new companion suckling on her finger to no avail.