7. A: Is a Dance With Tentacles R-rated Or Not?

Like a brewing ocean of wrath and disgust, the blood and flesh covering the endless stairs kept shaking, pulsing, and spasming only to then suddenly rise and in one swift motion sweep everything, be it the deviant doll rebelling, the nearby waves of abominations failing, or even the broken pieces and scattered remains everywhere. They all were swept and instantly swallowed by this world, this maze, as it instinctively tried to fix itself and control its flow, still...

‘Is that... enough?’ Questioning such and calmly thinking, a certain fragment curiously and silently stood there staring and staring more at the brewing ocean, as it steadily turned into a boiling soup when...

bOoM. SplAsh.

Suddenly from the midst of said soup and following a foul-smelling explosion, a blue bullet-like ball of fur momentarily appeared only to then disappear in a flash of light, instantly fleeing the scene, as tens and hundreds of veined tentacles and eyed tongues, this maze’s very specialty, pounced on its track trying to pull it back into the pulsing ocean and then into the wiggling floor. Still, it seems the doll...

‘It escaped?... How fun.’ Thinking that and smiling, the Azure-eyed fragment silently glimpsing the scene felt entertained, but then tilting her head, she... ‘Ah, right.’ She suddenly understood, and following that she spread her reach, collecting the nearby pieces and broken fragment instead of popcorn, before once again smiling and getting herself lost in the full experience and comfort of an Observer casually watching the fun and learning the tricks.

Still, hidden traps and ingenious techniques aside, the poor doll with limited awareness and unclear drive kept moving on... Correction, it kept bouncing on and on, first avoiding the ten of whips from above, then maneuvering through the twenty-plus ferocious maws from lower left, bouncing on seventeen fleshy arms from right, and then... The blue fury pinball kept moving on and on in fascinating and brilliant aerial warfare, times successfully avoiding attacks while others failing, times crushing the surviving abominations and others getting slammed into the floors. Still, at least...

‘Wow...’ At least someone or something was clapping her hand feeling both joy at the unique show and also surprise at the two sides’ amazing control of Aura and Curse, as the doll and tentacles simultaneously twisted the flow of time and space around, attacking and defending tens and hundreds of time instantly in a few rounds of weird eldritch ‘dance’.

Still, just like how all fun shows end and all educational videos conclude, this weird R-rated dance too reached its final step as the blue fur ball finally escaped the tentacles’ reach, crashing amidst a new wave of abominations and then rolling and cutting through them all with its sharp white antlers... It’s truly...

‘Impressive.’ Thinking that and marveling, a certain fragment stared jaw-dropped at how shameless and sneaky, but low-profile the doll fought while bouncing everywhere, killing all the abominations with friendly fire and even feeding on them from inside the fur ball, regenerating and recharging itself while at it, only to then accelerate its speed and move to the next wave of abominations. Truly, the epitome of ... ‘Talent.’

Nodding to herself and thinking of that, the fragment once more took a ‘handful’ of pieces, before then munching on them and resuming her enterta-... Study, yes, it’s a study on the mysteries and applications of the flow’s divine aspects. Convincing herself like that and nodding, The Azure or Licia, depending on current perspective and what definition is chosen, threw all secondary thoughts aside and with renewed interest... She once again stared more at the doll below, and at its fur suddenly shrinking back into a fluffy tail once more, only for the freshly remade avatar to plunge its four limbs into the floor tearing it apart and forcing a break, and then...

“GhHAauUU…!!!”

It madly and ferociously roared. Getting enough of this suppression, getting enough of this denial, ‘It’, a nameless but distorted child of this very maze... IT HAD ENOUGH.

Embracing that conclusion and renewing its drive with anger and blurred passion, the doll with its featureless face squirming from unknown emotions suddenly looked front at the endless tentacles still following and attacking it, and then it took a step, piercing the flow and cutting all distance to the origin of the tentacles and directly above the pulsing mass of flesh only to then...

DIIIING.

... Only to then slam its hoofed hands together, and with both an ethereal bell-like sound and a blinding pulse of bluish light spreading... That doll, it just cleansed the whole ocean of disgust... Or well...

'... It all most did.’