[center][fancypost=width: 500px; text-align: justify]//tw for mildly descriptive gore, an existential crisis and zalgo text (if anybody needs a version without zalgo for any reason lemme know)
//wordcount: 1651
It was like waking up after a long dream that you couldn't remember, no matter how hard you tried. He remembered gasping for breath as he bled out on the deck of the ship, then nothing. Just a pitch black emptiness.
At least, it'd been pitch black for a few minutes before his eyes adjusted. What he saw was familiar yet different, like returning to your hometown after being gone for ten years. The strange landscape was covered in burnt, dead trees twisting into the sky and ending in sharp points. There was no undergrowth, replaced by a faint mist that moved quietly with the soft, hot breeze.
A mountain, no, a volcano ripped through the black clouds in the distance; smoke lazily drifted out of the peak, while slow-moving lava moved down from the mouth in established paths. The air around tasted of sulfur and smoke, and he was caught by a coughing fit as he watched the world with awe and terror.
Small creatures clung to the branches of the trees and darted through the mist, their bodies shades of dark blue and purple; telltale long tails and glowing eyes indicated these to be more Demins, all watching him curiously. He jolted back as he felt what could only be described as thousands of clawed hands reach into his mind and rip off parts of it, devouring his emotions until only a dark pit of despair was left. He coughed again, his body shaking as he wheezed and forced the toxic air in and out of his lungs.
He collapsed, his thin frame rattling. The Demins chattered around him, their bright eyes uncaring about his misery. Was this his own personal hell? Was this where he was going to writhe in agony until the end of time? The very thought terrified him. He drew his limbs closer and curled into a tight ball as the mist covered his body, leaving specks of soot on his pelt.
He didn't know how long he laid there until he started sobbing, the truth of the situation finally crushing him. He'd tried to kill Trudy, in a fit of anger; he'd tried to kill his pet, the one who'd stayed by his side since he'd arrived on the island. And he'd been punished appropriately.
Gods, what had he been doing? He'd lost control of himself; he'd been hurting people who he should've been helping. He isolated himself, consumed by his mind; he had ignored the people who he called friends. He'd been angry, desperately wanting a future that would never exist. He'd never go home with Mary by his side.
Who was he kidding? She'd found a better future, a future without him. He'd always known at the back of his mind that Mary hated him. He'd just never wanted to acknowledge it, he just wanted to keep living that lie. And eventually it drove her over the edge, and it was all his fault.
So what was left? Nothing, apparently. He'd never get a second chance, because he'd blown it.
With a snort, Trudy paced through the temple. The Morins that'd been following her had quickly peeled off, apparently bored. She didn't care; she just needed one of them alone to do her work. A Morin's body was flexible, easily molded into whatever she needed. Of course, the Morin itself didn't matter; she'd just kick their soul back into their shared home dimension, where she'd temporarily banished Nico's.
She'd regained the ability to return to her home a few weeks ago; shortly after following Nico to the Skulls. She didn't much care for going home though, she'd found a much nicer home and a kind tom to take care of her. A tom she intended to return to this dimension, preferably quickly; she was getting tired and a nice nap on his back sounded great.
She found a smaller Morin curled up in a small corner of the temple, its nostrils exhaling smoke as it snored peacefully. Trudy didn't bother waking it up, she slammed its head onto the ground and used one paw to press down on its neck. The Morin squealed and tried to fight back, but it was still groggy and confused. Trudy took it as an opportunity to reach into the creature's mind, and expel the former owner of the body before taking over completely.
Her own body fell to the ground and she stood and stretched, her new jet black limbs glowing with repressed energy. In a moment, the creature's body was twisting and twitching, and Trudy let out a scream to test out the vocal cords; no, still too animalistic. This body had to be fit for inhabitation, and that meant everything had to be perfect. The form stretched like taffy as catlike limbs were formed, and a familiar face formed as the old one seemingly melted and then rebuilt. Fur and flesh shot out of the behind, streaking up the old wiry tail and forming a new one. Autumn brown fur sprouted from the inky black skin and stretched over the entire body, and the thing seemed almost like a normal cat except for the glowing, otherworldly eyes.
Inky black fur, reminiscent of the dark nature of the original body, grew into a bengal pattern. Trudy raised one paw and unsheathed the claws, which shone like dark daggers; they were still the size of normal claws, but they were jet black. It was easier to hide blood that way after all. She next tested the voice, which she wanted to be exactly like his.
"I̥͙̮̭ ̭̼̥͚̟̮a̝̭̖͎͉m͈̞̹̗ ̡͍̻̦̠̘N̘̦͖̟̥͉͢ͅì̦̭̗̦͕͎̖c̢̬̺͖̳o̱͖͜." She spoke, but the words came out warped and weird. She changed the vocal cords again before speaking again. "I am҉ N̵i̡c͘o." A bit better, but not there yet. "I am Nico." She let out a purr of satisfaction as his familiar voice slid out. There was no mistake, this was Nico.
Mostly, it was mostly Nico; it was a better version of Nico.
Trudy slipped into her own body and looked at the soulless form before her, proud enough of her accomplishment to let out a long, low purr. She leaned down to lick the top of the cat's head as she tugged casually on the bond she'd established the moment she'd decided to stay with him. He'd never found out about it of course; but he was a big, dumb kitten in most regards. She felt his energy immediately resonate with hers, and she let out a yelp as she was met with a crushing despair.
Maybe she'd left him there for too long. Oh well, he'd get over it; she'd just pump him full of enough positive emotions to overwhelm it until it went away. She gently guided his soul back before pushing it into the body she'd prepared for him. She then sat in front of his head and waited, until finally his eyes opened; they were colored amber, so deep and bright she could've sworn they were actually made of amber.
Nico felt.. Odd; he didn't know what was happening, only that he was now in a weird place with a familiar pair of glowing eyes looking calmly at him like nothing happened.
"T-Trudy? W-where.." Nico asked, his voice shaking. Everything felt raw and wrong, like he'd just been pulled apart like putty and then smashed back together. He knew he'd just been in that weird helllike place, and now he was in a dark enclosed space with Trudy staring at him. Immediately, a wave of calmness flooded over him.
He'd felt this before.
He let out a scream of terror and scrambled back from the Demin, knowing that she was doing this. The emotional outbursts, the moodswings, the inability to control himself, it'd all only started happening after he met her. And now she was doing it again, trying to calm him down.
"S-stop! Trudy, stop!" He screamed as he collapsed to the ground and grabbed his head, like it'd do anything. He felt overwhelmed, exposed, and vandalized. He just wanted it to stop. Choked sobs echoed through the temple as the tom writhed on the ground, trying to fight against an enemy that'd already taken ahold of his mind like a leech.
//Anybody's allowed to either chase Trudy off or let her continue, both will have v different outcomes in Nico's development but both are gr8 so I'm letting his clanmates ICly decide