Hecatolite's mind was a haze as she made her way to the tree line leaving Amethyst behind after ending the mirror link with Siofra and Soter. 

What is wrong with me? She thought as she clutched her abdomen, the heat that was coming in waves before has now built into a steady throb. This can’t be what I think it is… is it? She didn’t even try to delude herself; she had the memories of the past to know that she had been aroused by the elven woman; many of which surfaced when she thought of the woman. None were helping her newfound arousal subside. Siofra’s curvaceous body burned into the forefront of her mind. Yet there was something else next to the lust, a desire she did not understand, one that felt primal in nature that confused her. She was so gorgeous, and powerful. God I wonder what she tastes like? Flowers? Honey maybe, I bet she is sweet. Her soul emitted a lustful moan as she walked.

Her mind was preoccupied, while she tried to distance herself as much as possible from younger sister. As she pushed into the thick underbrush she attempted to scan the surroundings through her lustful haze, as she walked, the strange white figures still lurking between the trees caught her attention. 

“And just what the hell are those things?” she asked out loud, the figures made no motion to come closer nor run from the soul that was now pushing through the forest. They always stood just on the corner of sight, only sounds of movement gave away that they had some form of mass and were indeed moving. Always seeming to vanish from sight; with a rustle of leaves if she attempted to inspect one.

Hecatolite found them to be curious, yet she was unable to focus on them for longer than a moment before a wave of heat would wash over her. What she could gather from them is that they were not a threat, they simply seemed to be, for the time being. The odd thing was that she felt nothing from them, no danger, no curiosity, it was almost as if they were part of the forest itself, no different than the twisted trees she now walked past. She did try to keep track of the strange creatures but only noticed that each one seemed different than the last. Where a few seemed to be humanoid of varying shapes and sizes, others seemed to stand like huge dogs and cats, along with more than one shape that seemed to take to the sky, vanishing above the treetops if she approached; the only real thing they all seemed to have in common was a complete lack of color, every one of them a strange almost hazy milky white color.

She walked for what felt like hours, hoping that the heat would subside, she knew only one way to get rid of it that did not require assistance, yet it felt wrong to do it in such close proximity to her sister; less so with the strange audience that seemed to loom in the forest. But after a while she noticed that the heat was not only not diminishing but growing. The waves came more frequently, leaving a hotter burn than before as each one brought a new memory to her mind. 

Until finally she felt it, a wave of magical power blanketing the void space followed by an eerie silence that one could only find in absolute solitude. One that she was all too familiar with from her time before the egg. That… must have… been ame… leaving. Her thoughts became disjointed as she leaned against a tree. 

She did not bother thinking of why she felt solitude when she could clearly see what appeared to be a large dog just hiding behind a bush a couple yards away.

“I need… to do something” Her voice was ragged despite not having lungs or a mouth as her legs seemed to buckle beneath her. As she sank to the ground, she looked at one of her clawed hands, the jagged colored lines seemed dim as they pulsed weakly inside the void of her soul. 

For the first time since she acquired a humanoid form, she wished with her entire being that she did not have claws as she thought of how easily they seemed to dig into even metal; she did not desire to find out what they would do to flesh, even less her soul form. Much to her amazement, with no more than that thought, the claws on her left hand seemed to… recede into her fingers, leaving a small perfectly shaped human hand.

The mere thought of an outlet to this torture brought a new burning this time she did not need to guess as to the location, as her hips began to grid against the ground beneath her. She all but squealed as her hand darted down between her legs to finally quell this flame only for her desire to be replaced by a primal scream that filled the void.

The ground around her shook as she screamed, “are you fucking kidding me!” Her voice rang out as she smashed her head into the ground to look between her legs.

She had small mounds on her chest that were clearly budding breasts yet between her legs sat… nothing. Just the same charred jagged soul as the rest of her body, the lines here however seemed brighter than the ones everywhere else on her body. Her entire lower abdomen and groin seemed to glow with the pulsing lines, each time they pulsed a wave of heat came.

“no no no no no….” her pleading voice came as she thrashed on the ground. “Wait, I can fix this!” She yelled as she sprang up. “That thing, soul shape. Or whatever, if it can make a mouth, it can make... well a… what should that be?” She ran her non-clawed hand over her soul form, stopping for a moment on her chest before running it over her hips even giving her legs and behind a squeeze.

In most of the memories she could recall she had a male body, though there were a few where she was clearly female. She stopped with her hand between her legs hoping for some form of hint, a bulge maybe? Better be safe and go with female, if I’m sharing a body with Amethyst, it might confuse her if suddenly I’m flapping in the wind when she comes back.

She cleared a small spot doing her best to ignore the heat that radiated in her lower section as she sat and tried to recall briefly forming a mouth. Ok just that but better, and hopefully longer.

She focused her mind on trying to activate her soul shaping magic allowing it to thrum in time with the waves of heat. At first she attempted to rush it yet this caused her soul to contort unnaturally before snapping painfully back into place, now she sat as if meditating trying her best to ignore the subconscious movements of her hips that attempted to grind against the ground. She did find it odd that even though the ground was clearly dirt it did not feel uncomfortable to sit on or even grind against as she tried to condense her soul into a more “condensed” form, as the lustful elf woman had described it. Her mind continuously snapping back to Siofra’s body bathed in the green glow of power that seemed to radiate off her in her soul sight. Green… maybe mint? No focus! She attempted to banish the thoughts as she pushed aether through her body, trying to imagine a more human form. 

Toes, feet, legs, hips, butt, vagina, stomach, breast, shoulders, arms, hands, fingers, neck, ears, hair, eyes, nose, mouth. All of it, give me everything, I should be able to feel the dirt beneath my feet, I should be able to taste with my own mouth, I shoul…. a soft crunching sound broke her concentration as her vision distorted, a large white wolf stood unmoving before her.

She could feel a slight pop as her vision blurred, a primal howl followed by a muffled yelp. Ecstasy flooded her body as she could feel her mouth open and close around the creature’s neck, her claws digging into its flank as a lust filled moan rang out from her very core. She could feel her sharp teeth sinking into its oddly soft flesh as a warmth oozed into her mouth and down her chin, she did not even notice a dampness running down her legs as the huge wolf seemed to dissolve into mist.

“More!” A hoarse voice rang out as she lunged into the tree line tearing into the next closest white form not caring what it was as she tried to force as much of it into her mouth before it dissipated as possible.

---

The entire family had come together for dinner, Alexa still a bit shaky as Alastair filled them in on the guard preparations. Hans had proposed a full-blown raid on the docks however they had quickly decided against it. Given the need for secrecy they had decided on a small, trusted group to go to Sandstone and investigate; after which the family, Hans, and the Sub-captain of the guard will meet up when the time is right.

Amethyst had still not fully recovered from her talk with her mother. The young girl had noticed slight changes in herself but nothing to the extent her mother had explained. Taaffeite, for her part, had done an outstanding job of explaining not only puberty but sex in general to the young girl. Going for an purely “educational” approach, as she described everything she felt necessary in a near medical manner. However, even after having three children, she had never actually needed to have this particular talk. By the time she felt it necessary with Alexa the young woman had already gained the scholar title. Although Taaffeite did not know where she had acquired the books, Alexa had learned most all she needed from her pursuit of the title; needing only a “fill in the blanks” type of talk. With her second child She felt it best Jasper be given the talk from his father before he enlisted at 13. So, this was her first attempt to educate before truly necessary. She felt she had done a good job with the help of Babylon, and Amethyst’s ability to learn at an increased pace.

Amethyst let out a small cough as stood to excuse herself after eating, she had not done very much today yet she was mentaly exhausted. 

“I am going to go to bed for the night.” Her childish tone caused the rest of them to stop as she let out a small yawn. They all wished her a goodnight as they all asked if Amethyst would like to sleep in another room, no one wanting to leave her alone. She declined their offers as the maids began clearing the table. The head butler came wishing the family a good rest as they finished up their duties for the night, as the family all motioned to leave the dining room. Just as they were about to exit Amethyst let out a loud… moan, as her legs gave out beneath her. The young girl seemed to have lost control of herself as a large puddle formed on the floor. 

Everyone froze as a pressure blasted from the young girl, two of the younger maids fell limp as black lines burst to life on Amethyst's body.

Alastair's blood ran cold as the feeling washed over him, he watched his daughter collapse, her face instantly flushing as her breathing became haggard. Her dark purple eyes filled with an emotion unbecoming of a child, and one much different than the moan she released. Fear. The feeling that washed off his daughter was one he was well equated with, the primal pressure causing his blood to freeze in his veins. Pure bestial bloodlust.

A Babylon terminal flashed into existence before her.

“Skill; “Threat detection” aqui… Skill; “Threat detection” evolved into “dan”…. Skill;… Skill… Skill; Danger sense acquired.” the screen flashed as its display attempted to keep up with the rapidly evolving skill, only stopping when the skill finally hit its maximum level.

“What’s… happening?” Alexa’s voice was shaky, her own knees wobbling beneath her. She had never felt such a strong pressure before, one that cut through one's very being, causing one's every fiber to wish to flee. 

“Babylon, what's going on?” Taaffeite snapped as she rushed over and attempted to calm the panting child. Just what is Hecatolite doing in there!

Babylon’s screen turned a multitude of colors before it simply vanished, no smoke no noise it just… stopped existing.

---

Time seemed to slow as Hecatolite ran through the forest, feeling an unrivaled sense of pleasure every time she closed her mouth around part of a now fleeing white figure.

More! Hunt! Eat! The thoughts blared in her mind as she howled, no longer dodging trees but simply plowing through them, her claws making short work of anything in her path.

She erupted into the clearing containing the house, nearly crashing into the wooden building her body drawn to a succulent scent that seemed to be emitting from the area.

“Where!” Her voice was distorted, causing the void around her to bend as she ran around the house before spotting a patch of dead grass. A small purple snack laying in the center as if presented on a plate. “There!” She ran towards the purple form nearly ignoring the fact it was not the same milky white as the rest.

A strange black slab appeared before her as if to stop her. She simply grabbed it and threw it aside. “box… tastes bad!” Even in her deformed state she knew the obsidian slab would be nothing but an annoyance as she reached a clawed hand out preparing to snatch the figure before her whole body locked up.

No! A scream ripped through her mind as her vision seemed to stabilize for a moment, finally looking at her own arm.

It was no longer the inky black as before instead it was a pure cream white, her spotless thin arm stretched out from her ending in a small hand; each finger tipped with a claw that seemed to extend from the final knuckle, just long enough to keep her from forming a fist without digging them into her own palm yet still short enough to not hinder her hand movements.

“Eat!” her distorted voice cried.

No! She is not food! The voice in her mind called, causing her arm to retract, coming to rest curled against her chest. She could feel her now clearly formed chest against the back of her hands that rested just below her breast.

“Need more!” her body cried, stomping its foot.

She fought to look down at her body, noticing long white hair falling into her vision as she did. Finally wrestling control of herself, her vision was filled not with the jagged black she was used to, but a smooth cream pinkish white form. Two perky breasts with clearly defined nipples, instead of the formless mounds, sat on her chest with her arms curled beneath them. Her sight lingered on her own chest for a moment before the twitching of her claws drew her attention. Her arms now felt proportionate to her body, with clearly defined muscles that seemed to press against the flesh yet they seemed… thin. Her childlike hands were tipped with the cream white claws, yet even they seemed different, smaller with more defined points. She leaned forward to see a thin stomach with a clearly visible white tuft of fur beneath her belly button. She shifted in an attempt to see between her own legs, her powerful thighs flexed, connected to wide hips that swayed slightly when she moved. Again her attention was grabbed by an oddity as her legs moved, halfway between her small knees and where her heel used to be, her legs suddenly bent forwards leaving her standing on what seemed to be very tiny feet. On each foot four finger-like nubs dug into the ground beneath her feet; as if gripping the very ground itself, causing her to pause as she looked for what should have been the fifth toe, finding another small nub halfway up the new bend in her leg. Inspecting the new placement of her toes a white mass shifted behind her as what appeared to be a third leg wiggled into view. She snapped upright and attempted to look behind herself, finding herself easily able to twist her head to look directly behind herself. A long tail that easily was twice as long as she was tall came into view connecting on her lower back above her own butt, at its base it was as thick as one of her muscular thighs yet it shrank to a whip-like end that seemed to dance behind her. 

Just as she was about to comment, a thunderclap caught her attention causing her body to snap back up as an Inutil terminal appeared before it.

“Hecatolite Lapidary, please cease your hostile actions towards Amethyst Lapidary’s soul.”

“What… am… I?” Her voice seemed alien as her arm snapped out at lightning speed grabbing the terminal, instantly cracking it but not breaking it. “Need… to… get away.” 

Her body, though different, felt… right. As she bent her strangely jointed legs she could feel her tail curl behind her. With a tremendous explosion she launched herself away from her sister's soul, her small body flying above the trees dragging the larger Inutil screen behind her with ease. She moved the screen to see it as she crashed into the trees.

“Unknown”

“Useless!” She bellowed, snapping the screen only for another to appear. 

She grabbed a white form from the trees, this one seemed to be a cat of some kind. She dangled it before the screen. “Who is!”

“Hecatolite Lapidary.” It replied flashing yellow.

“Not… me.” she said, biting into the cat, causing it to dissolve. The strange liquid filled her mouth again as her body shuttered, the feeling of consuming the creature brought her near to rapture as her long red tongue lashed out in an attempt to catch the partials.

“The whites!” she cried, annoyed that again she was denied the release she so desperately needed. “Who!”

“The only consciousness in the soul space is Hecatolite Lapidary.” The stupid box flashed causing her to release a primal yell, her tail cracking like a whip as it smashed into the terminal.

I have eaten tons of those things… Why do there seem to be more? Why don’t they fight back? Are there that many of them? She thought as she grabbed another humanoid one and bit into it, again she was denied right on the edge of release.

“Why!!!” she bellowed.

“The “whites” are Hecatolite Lapidary, you seem to be experiencing an extreme aether burn that is causing a decrease in your mental faculties along with an aether depletion crash…” Babylon attempted to explain before she rammed a claw through the screen. 

“Useless box!” Her head snapped side to side looking for anything she could use, her gaze landing on the egg in the sky. She watched in amazement as a white humanoid figure seemed to fall from the egg and disappear into the waterfall. “There! Make fake me. Will eat!”

Before the terminal could reform, she darted through the forest, her movements fluid as she effortlessly traced the fastest path to the egg. Her body moved silently, not even the sounds of crunching leaves followed her as she left nearly no trace wherever she went. It took her mere moments before she stood at the edge of an enormous clearing, no vegetation for as far as the eye could see, in the center was a large black lake that stretched a good distance in every direction; though, still much smaller than the clearing it sat in the middle of. The “whites'' seemed to be crawling out of the water and making their way to the forest, vanishing into the brush.

“Explain!” she called out as she lashed out, sending one of the figures soaring across the water, she watched it fly out of sight, the distant splash the only indication that it landed.

“This is Hecatolite Lapidary’s aether pool. The fragments are reforming in the “egg” and falling into the soul space.”

She clicked her tongue as she grabbed the terminal again. “Dumb box, I show you. fake Me’s. only one Me.” She again launched herself into the air. 

She did not have quite enough power to make it to the egg itself, instead landing on one of fragments that hung lower in the sky and springing herself into the broken side of the egg. She landed nearly silently except for the crunch of a “white” beneath her as she crushed it.

She scanned the inside of the egg as aether ran past her feet, it felt strangely... Good, as the liquid seemed to stick to her body, the heat seemed to calm a little as the cold black liquid washed against her white legs. The inside of the egg was pitch black, much like the void had been its darkness causing her to freeze in the opening.

She could feel her whole body tense as she gripped the terminal. “Light,” she said weakly. Causing the Inutil screen to brighten, revealing an odd sight. In the center of the moon sized egg was a floating orb of inky black liquid that tickled down and pooled in the bottom before running out of the broken side. The walls seemed smooth, but the water’s surface was filled with the milky white forms that seemed to flow with the liquid out the side. She could see a multitude of different races and creatures all floating in the liquid, everything from dragons to tiny fairy like humans.

“What… is this?” Her mind seemed more focused as she stood in the inky water, it seemed to flow into her causing the fire in her abdomen to finally snuff out, though she still felt an all too familiar heat from between her legs that she chose to ignore. With the addition of the Babylon light all her anxiety had vanished though she was still hesitant to venture deeper into the egg.

“This is… unknown. This is a location both in the shared soul space of Amethyst and Hecatolite, yet it is not in the soul space itself,” Hecatolite could feel a pulse of mana from the Inutil terminal. “It appears to be an endless void.”

“You are as useless as ever.” She replied as she let a “white” flow past her. “if this is my egg… and that house on the cliff is Amethyst void… is this what’s left of my void?” She finally took a tentative step into the egg, the water quickly rising to her knees.

As she went to go further however, her very soul screamed for her to stop, a fear unlike any she ever felt before as she looked into the inky black water. She knew, in her very soul, that if she entered the water any deeper, she would not exit it, her body refusing to move any more lest the water come above her knees.

“It is possible this is the remnants of Hecatolite Lapidary’s soul space. Yet it is unknown whether this space is possible for a soul to inhabit for long given the aether concentration. Note, you have regained enough aether to restore cognitive functions, time until suppression of Amethyst soul 3 days.”

“So much for the extra day we gained.” Hecatolite sighed as a strange sight caught her eye. “is… is that a screen?”

Sticking out of the egg wall about halfway up on the right side was an enormous obsidian slab. It looked as if it was the corner piece of a large Babylon terminal, though it was easily 5 times the size of the complete one that hovered next to her. Huge fissures were torn into it and it looked as if it had been… chewed on in places. She approached it, happy it was not deeper in the water as she inspected it.

“It appears this is a terminal for “error” system. It is heavily damaged.” Inutil flashed as Hecatolite attempted to push aether into it, a splitting headache rocked her as she quickly pulled back. The enchantments on this terminal were so far beyond anything she would ever be able to understand. It nearly blinded her when she attempted to peek at them. She did not know if it was because there were too many of them, if they were too densely packed, or if they were just too damaged, she did know however she would be able to do nothing with it.

“What system? It's not this world’s, is it?”

“No, this is an aether based terminal. It is much more powerful than any terminal in this system. It is likely a very old terminal that had crossed you in a previous life.”

“Really? Might be useless then. It's just so big… hey can we use this? Bet I could hang it on the wall and the whole town could see it. Bet mo… I mean Taaffeite could use it for announcements or something fancy.” It felt odd to call Taaffeite mom for the first time if she was not around to hear it for some reason. 

“It would be possible to assimilate it into Babylon. Attempting assimilation” Inutil floated up and pressed against the screen before flashing a multitude of colors before ending on red. “ERROR” … “administrator approval key required, attempting solution… administrator approval key found in Babylon. Would you like to use the Admin key to assimilate the terminal?”

There was a long pause before Hecatolite spoke. “umm… sure?”

“Assimilating universal system terminal fragment “Overseer” into Babylon.”

There was a thunderous explosion as the world went dark. Hecatolite let out a scream as she slammed herself against the wall.

“INUTIL!... INUTIL…. BABYLON! Get out here now!... please?” she cried as her mind raced. 

After a moment a bright light filled the space and a multicolored orb floated before her. A musical voice filled the void. 

“System created, Babylon Overseer has been established, integrating world N6T into Babylon Overseer system. Please designate an administrator.”

Hecatolite did not answer as she hugged the orb and cried for a minute. After a while the message repeated in her mind.

“System created, Babylon Overseer has been established, integrating world N6T into Babylon Overseer system. Please designate an administrator.”

Hecatolite sniffled as she steadied herself. “Administrator? Isn’t that Eryl’s job?”

“Would you like to designate Administrator N6T 5796842, Eryl, as administrator of the new system?”

“Yea,” she attempted to wipe her face, her claws seemed to retract as her fingers brushed the soft flesh under her eyes. “I mean she would be angry if I took her job.”

“Administrator N6T 5796842, Eryl is now promoted to Mother Eryl of the Babylon Overseer system. Contacting Eryl.”

“No no no no don’t do that!” Hecatolite yelled, swatting the strange orb. “She doesn’t want me to contact her remember dumb… orb? That doesn’t feel right.”

“Canceling contact of Mother administrator Eryl. Would you like to continue with her previous programmed functions?”

“Yea sure just do whatever she said.”

“Reinstating all system functions to previous settings.” The orb vanished only to be replaced by… a red orb. “Hello Hecatolite Lapidary, I am Babylon overseer Inutil, your personal terminal. How may I assist you? please note, you are currently emitting aether at an alarming pace, advise reinstating your soul resonance and reforming your soul to match that of your sister soul Amethyst before destabilization occurs?”

Eryl did not notice the terminal in her room going dark for a moment before flicking back to life; given, she was rudely summoned by the head priest to discuss the hero’s training. Valor however did notice that every terminal in the godly realms flashed a deep red before returning to their usual blue. 

Off in the deep recesses of space, in her own realm the Mother system watched as one of the many terminals in her realm went black and fell to the floor. An administrator trainee rushed to her in a panic as an entire world was forcefully ripped from her system.

“What? How did they deactivate? Is that why I look like this?” Hecatolite said motioning to her body, careful not to touch it less she overstimulates it again.

“Affirmative, this is your soul’s natural form. However, this form will slowly warp the mind of the physical body you reside in and eventually overwhelm your sister's soul. During your sudden aether burn your soul was unable to cope with the sudden unfamiliar decrease in power and began to consume the soul fragments you left unassimilated, advising lowering your aether pool slowly in the future to allow proper soul adjustment.”

“Ok… are you the same box as before? Why are you… you know, round now?”

“Yes, I am the same terminal as before. Yet due to the evolution of the bloodline ability Babylon into bloodline ability Baylon Overseer, I am no longer a skill terminal but a universal system terminal therefore am much more capable. Please reinstate your abilities before you damage this soul space any further. Also please exit this area, your consumption of pure aether through contact is lowering the time Amethyst has left “awake” drastically. You are now down to just under 2 days.”

“But I never got… to finish.” She said meekly.

“Is your lust more important than your sister’s soul?”

“Turn back into a box.” She hissed, and Inutil compiled before she rammed a claw into it causing it to flicker. It exploded dramatically before reforming.

“Satisfied?” The box flashed.

“No.” She clawed a 30 into it and then clawed it again as the marks changed to a 31. “You're even dumber than before!” She didn’t wait for a reply before jumping from the egg and bolting towards the house.

“And you are no less dangerous than before.” It replied as Hecatolite stopped just before the forest clearing, she seemed to take a few deep breaths as her soul began to blacken, her tail simply falling off and dissolving as she recast her soul resonance, before she ran into the forest. Another terminal appeared with her soul page. “Yet you are so different. I do hope this system administrator knows what it’s doing. Let's hide some of these… less fortunate traits.” Its singsong voice fading as it slowly vanished. “I am sure Mother Eryl won't mind if she is allowing you to run free.”

Name; Hecatolite Lapidary

Age; “∞” 10

Race; unknown

Titles; Twin soul, Me, X47, Soul Sorcerer, Enchanter.

Traits: shared body, Twin soul, Soul magic affinity, Enemy of boxes, Arduous, Indomitable will, Weak focus, fractured mind, Scholar, Forbidden Knowledge, Polyglot literate Simi-fluent, Albinism, claustrophobic, forgotten legacy, mage slayer.

Skills: Soul magic mastery, Enchantment mastery, Skill override greater, Spell circle creation, Spell chant negation, Aether mastery, Deception greater, danger sense greater, Blessing, Blessing override, Marksmen, IRIS provisional relic.

Lapidary Bloodline skill personal: Babylon Overseer “Inutil” 32

Locked spells; Moonlit devourer

Hidden titles: Soul eater, Devourer, “error”

Hidden traits: Aether body, Marred soul, Abomination, heretic, deviant, cannibal, Blessed by “error”