The contract was more tangible than any she'd ever seen, utilizing Vy'Vex's unique connection with Abstinence to anchor it. Vy'Vex said that affinities did not truly exist in the Realm of the Mother, but her idea of them gave the concept power so… they kind of existed not as an affinity or domain, but the bare message the original Ascenders were trying to convey. That was different somehow, but Vy'Vex waved her off when she asked for a further explanation.

The contract involved Perumah receiving further guidance and, in return, once she connected with Zyz'Ti's affinity, she had two options: suppress its effects, or die. Vy'Vex's contract left no room for resistance. The moment she reached a critical stage and victory over Zyz'Ti was no longer an option, her soul would permanently abstain from the land of the living. This would force her into the Plane of Death, and not even Grim himself would be able to return her to life. She would enter the Void and be cleansed until the vow was gone, and that was final.

The contract was worth it. She had a path for claiming Zyz'Ti's affinity, which Vy'Vex said he was not allowed to speak the name of. That was for Perumah to discover when she confronted the woman herself, the first step to connecting with Zyz'Ti.

Vy'Vex told her that this layer of the Mother's soul was inaccessible to any who weren't specifically resonating with Zyz'Ti, and now the day would repeat until she watched it, from beginning to end. Then, at the end of it, she would confront the mind behind the affinity- Zyz'Ti herself- and a path would open up. A switch would uncover itself, allowing her to become an Apostle of the Moon at any moment she desired.

When Perumah finally signed the contract, Vy'Vex relaxed significantly. She was either going to succeed in subjugating Zyz'Ti, never activate the affinity at all, or die. He was willing to take a step back now that the multiverse's safety was assured, and let her watch the memory uninterrupted.

Briefly checking on Dei, she saw the blood in his lungs had long since coagulated, but its dissipation was accelerating exponentially. She guessed that clearing out his lungs wasn't just a boosted mundane task, but completely outside of Homeostasis regular abilities, so it got a hold on the issue.

'Letting it adapt now was the right choice.'

He wouldn't begin the process of waking up until tomorrow at the earliest, and even then she'd seen that it took him a long time for his emotions to stop thrashing in his body. His odd spell held his soul and body separate which let it focus thoroughly on both, but bringing them back together seemed to be difficult.

Everything in order, she waved Vy'Vex off, finding Zyz'Ti once more in her house. For whatever reason night time was exactly when Zyz'Ti didn't attack, choosing to sleep peacefully. Perumah thought it would be prime hunting hours, but Zyz'Ti would know more about this particular environment than her. There had to be a reason not to.

At an arbitrary time during the night, when Perumah assumed was midnight, the memory flickered, and she knew the "trial" had started. She would watch Zyz'Ti, and learn what she could.

* * *

"Incredible…" Perumah couldn't help but mumble.

Something she'd learned was that, for whatever reason, Zyz'Ti was unable to strengthen her connection to the affinity. It was static in a way Perumah had never seen from another affinity. Not only that, but its environment limited it.

The people of this city, this time period… were weak. Dei's world had its Elites to go along with the mundane folk, but this world… she hadn't spotted even a single magic user. They had to be somewhere of course, but Perumah suspected normal people couldn't spontaneously form affinities when born, as those on Earth were able to do.

Zyz'Ti was a shark in a puddle. Limited by the rules of magic in her time, unable to reach for heights she so clearly deserved, her power was crippled.

Despite that, the potential was clear. The woman was consumption incarnate, devouring multiple people in her path, adding their power to her own. She turned the mundane nobodies into further building blocks, valuable natural resources to feast upon.

Perumah wasn't sure if she just wasn't close enough to be covered in the blood of Zyz'Ti's victims before, but she devoured far more than two people every day. As a matter of fact, mornings were when she was her hungriest.

By the end of the day the second time, Zyz'Ti had eaten not two, but twenty three people. In a single day. In a densely packed city. Without leaving the slightest hint to who she was, and no way to find her if magic was as limited as Perumah assumed it was in this particular era.

As for the abilities she exhibited… the affinity functioned as if it was crafted by someone who didn't know what an affinity was, and accidentally created a spell instead (which she supposed was likely), then turned it into an affinity anyway. It had defined limits, and acted perfectly within those limits, but its power was narrow and it could not take a single step out of those boundaries.

The goal of the affinity was to create the perfect assassin, with a path for getting stronger built-in. Zyz'Ti could act in stealth, control blood outside her body, and devour people for varied benefits. If she acted within those bounds, only the sky was the limit.

Her definition of stealth changed what the magic did. Could it hide her footsteps? Yes. Could it make witnesses look another direction when she needed them to? Also yes. It could even alter their memories, in the name of stealth, obscuring the fact that Zyz'Ti was ever there. It was absurd.

The defined boundaries were different from any other affinity she'd encountered. Most of the time, different affinities could accomplish the same task, in different ways. This one had none of that. Create a spell to simply heal yourself? Wrath, Faith, Pride, Sloth, they could all do that. This affinity on the other hand? Not a chance, as it did not fall within its narrow skillset. If you consumed someone to heal, it could, but not simple accelerated healing at the cost of mana.

'Neither spell nor affinity, it's somewhere in between. The only thing like it I've witnessed is… Dei's pseudo affinity. Because his affinity is dependent on Cycle of Sealing, it's not a true message, and it is narrow. But acting in its bounds? It is quite powerful. Yes, pseudo affinity, that is an accurate descriptor of this magic. That is also in line with what I know of it being created by the opposing Primordial: it is not an affinity, it is a spell specifically designed to infiltrate the Earth Primordial's chaos.'

The limitations on it weren't what started to dissuade her though. It was the clear effect it had on Zyz'Ti, turning her from a woman into a vessel for something else. Hearing it from Vy'Vex was one thing as it was his job to dissuade people from taking the affinity, but seeing it? That was another.

The more Perumah looked into Zyz'Ti, the more rot she found. It was difficult to look into Zyz'Ti's memories, as Perumah typically compared the perspectives of the different natural emotions within someone to see their past, but Zyz'Ti didn't have anything else. Despite that, she could glean some smaller facts.

In her mind, Zyz'Ti had always been a monster. A man eater. She had no memories of a time when she didn't eat people, nor did she see any issue with this. She likely never had the chance to even resist the magics' insidious influence. Never registered the danger, until she was eventually no more.

The only clue Perumah had into who Zyz'Ti had once been was her mask. The shell left over from her past. It was clear the affinity considered it a top priority to maintain her mask of a life, so Perumah could be sure that Zyz'Ti was once the kind woman she seemed to be, she was just not anymore. Perumah worried that she, too, would decay before ever even realizing it.

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Throughout the day, her emotions had wavered from being positive she'd take the power with caution, to hesitance at her own fate, and back.

She could leave at any moment. Refuse to watch the memory all the way to its end, and live the rest of her life without knowing. Without ever confronting the affinity. Vy'Vex had even told her of a way to remove the call from her mind, locking Zyz'Ti away from her mind forever but… she couldn't bring herself to turn away.

And before she knew it, she stood above the sleeping figure of Zyz'Ti once more, glaring down with mixed emotions.

When she sensed the moment was nigh, she took several steps back, leaning against the open window frame.

The memory stuttered and froze. The muttering of the passing wind outside went silent. The crunch of sand beneath distant shoes ceased. And Zyz'Ti's eyes shot open as she sat up, locking straight onto Perumah.

Immediately, the woman released a light smile, perfectly measured and beautiful.

"Ooh, who's this cutie in my house at this hour?" Zyz'Ti joked, and Perumah raised an eyebrow.

"My name is unimportant. Though I suspect you know the reason I am here?"

Zyz'Ti pouted, making Perumah's heart skip a beat before she controlled her bodily functions once more. 'Damn Lust.'

Slowly coming to her feet, Zyz'Ti started to stretch. "You're definitely a woman in the real world, and not a very sexually active one, if that's how you respond. Boo, your type is all business no fun. Oh please, I haven't been woken up in centuries! Can't a lady enjoy herself a bit first?"

Perumah narrowed her eyes, "I take it this 'fun' would involve you devouring me?"

"Not all of you, and not permanently!" Zyz'Ti insisted, "I'm sure you've seen enough of my magic by now to see I can feel other things than hunger. Besides, I'd ensure it would only happen after you gained the blessing, so you'd enjoy it too!"

It was true. While there was only one emotion, that emotion was varied. Zyz'Ti could feel things akin to love, lust, satisfaction, determination, joy, and a few others, but they all linked back to the same main hunger. Everything stemmed from that as the base, and all her joys were linked to it. She loved those she ate, she was satisfied when she slipped through alleyways unnoticed, she felt joy when helping her victims, they were all just so stilted. A different brand of emotion, one not based on the Earth Primordial's path.

"Flattered," Perumah responded dryly, "But no thanks I'd rather focus on the task at hand. I have my… concerns about your 'Blessing.' How am I to be ensured there will be any of me left? I sense no other emotions within you. If that happens to me… What's the point of taking it? I will not be the one to enjoy the spoils, especially if it turns me into you."

Perumah already had ways to mitigate Zyz'Ti's influence from Vy'Vex, but she wondered if Zyz'Ti herself had other ways that she might add to her list of contingencies.

Zyz'Ti chuckled, materializing a chair to sit in while talking with Perumah. "I see that golden goat is still around spouting half truths. No, it does not simply remove your emotions and replace them with my own. It removes the influence of the Earth Primordial- I'm assuming he told you that bit, he usually tells people that- and replaces it with the former Moon Primordial's. It rebuilds you anew. Those emotions you sense within me? They are the only ones I felt before. The reason they all stem from hunger is because I wanted it to be so. Because I have always been led by my hunger. You were not in this era, you do not understand the life these people had to live. The hunger most of us felt, that was our only motivator. Tell me, did he inform you of the trials to earn spells in our time?"

"No, I know nothing of this."

"Well you see, spells were not so easily defined in my lifetime. It would be more apt to say there were no spells, simply pathways. Mine is one such example of a pathway, and the others were all just as vague or undefined, yet narrow."

'I see… I assumed it was a pseudo affinity because of the Moon Primordial, but perhaps that's simply how magic worked in this age.'

"Then what of these trials?" Perumah asked.

"The trials were the requirements to earn a path. There were very few discovered pathways to magic, and you had to pass a trial to ever unlock the right to utilize the chaos within yourself. There were only ten widely known trials that one could pass to unlock their magic, and they were not easy. Most who were born with chaos never even had the chance to utilize it, before they perished from the famine so prevalent throughout the entire world. But even if there were only ten known trials, there were many hidden ones too, that were either not discovered or suppressed by those who thought the trials were too dangerous. I discovered one on accident."

"For… your affinity?"

The woman smiled lightly, "Indeed, and do you know what the trial was? The one that I accidentally passed, to unlock my path?"

Perumah shook her head hesitantly.

"Why, it was to cannibalize one hundred sapients, and savor every bite!" she said, throwing her head back in laughter.

Perumah was startled, realization dawning on her. 'Zyz'Ti was never corrupted by the affinity. She was ALWAYS sick in the head. Okay, maybe she was corrupted a bit, but that still means she was deranged according to human standards, even before. That gives me even better chances of resisting it.'

"How do I know you aren't lying about any of this though?"

"Simple, Vy'Vex will agree with me! That old bag can't lie. He isn't allowed to tell lies about the affinities, but I've found that his truth doesn't always coincide with reality. Still, the main points are there. Let's pull him in right now! I hereby permit Vy'Vex temporary entry into this meeting."

Opening the front door, the man in question walked in and sighed, clearly having undergone the same song and dance many times.

"Tell me Vivi, did people have to pass trials to unlock their magic in our time?"

"Yes."

"And did I ever consume people, even before my affinity?"

"Yea," he said reluctantly, "Our records indicate there were approximately one hundred missing person cases linked back to Zyz'Ti before her resources were… expanded. But that still-"

"Begone," Zyz'Ti said with a wave, and the man popped out of existence. "See now? It's not so bad! You keep your soul, you keep your emotions and personality if you want, you'll just become more aligned to the Moon Primordial, hence being called Apostles of the Moon."

Perumah wanted to glance out at the night sky and think on everything she'd learned so far, but she didn't want to look away from Zyz'Ti for even a moment. She couldn't drop her guard just yet. She'd get her answers, and ponder later.

"I have one final question, then I think I'll leave."

"Your choice, I won't stop you."

"What are the twelve Celestial Parasites?"

Zyz'Ti looked amused, "You want to know of the others? If you intend to find their temples as well to request their power alongside mine, forget it. They are hidden well in The Mother's Realm. Without an anchor to stop you on the right layer, you'll have to go back to the beginning of The Mother's life, and let time progress through her memories, going layer by layer until you find the right day. Even then, if you aren't in the right spot, it won't matter."

'Good to know. I'd intended to speak with them as well, but it seems to be an exercise in futility.'

"Still, I wish to know more about them."

"Well, I wouldn't mind satiating some curiosity, but I won't be here all day explaining what they did. You'll get their names and nothing else, but you do know that even hearing the names are dangerous, yes? There are many figures out there suppressing knowledge on the Celestial Parasites, and if they ever find out that you know… you're as good as dead."

Still, Perumah nodded. She already knew of one, she was dead either way.

"Very well… the twelve of us are as follows:

"Phantom Plague.

"Primordial Cancer.

"Endless Revenant.

"The First Nightmare.

"Glimpse Beyond.

"Hatred's Call

"Collapsing Horizon.

"Insatiable Authority.

"Life Corrupt.

"The World Below.

"Parasite Within.

"And finally… Me!"

"Which is…?" Perumah asked.

Zyz'Ti smiled brightly. Her form flickered, and she stood directly in front of Perumah, grabbing her by the shoulders. Perumah struggled for a moment, before realizing there was no chance of escaping Zyz'Ti's iron grip. If the woman wished her harm, there was nothing Perumah could do.

Zyz'Ti leaned closer to Perumah's ear, whispering two words; despite the silent world, the gentleness with which she spoke forced Perumah to still her every movement, lest she miss them.

Then the memory flickered, and Zyz'Ti was gone.

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