All Choices Have Consequences.
Continue With Skill Creation?
YES, GODDAMN IT!
Discord built within his core, a reverberation that sent jagged bolts of pain in all directions, tearing at the fissures in his flesh. A new symbol written in light and fire and blood was scored into the walls of his core, a monstrous, inhuman pattern that snarled.
New Skill!
Ravenous Tithe (Epic), Level 1!
Consume completely an object or creature which you have claimed and can physically touch. Uses Mana to power conversion. Chance of gaining Skills and/or Memories from target if applicable.
Ravenous Tithe!
Without waiting, Felix engaged his new Skill and felt more pieces of the Maw rip apart and disappear in his core. The Fire Within raged, growing larger than ever before as it fought to burn up the concentrated essence that piled on. Lightning struck, charring and shattering segments, electric teeth masticating the disgusting meal.
A horrible, bottomless wail echoed from the Maw.
Energy flooded his limbs and Felix felt the fissures in his skin dimple and twist, closing even as his blood boiled in his veins. Steam, literal steam poured from his mouth as the Maw's pressure relaxed, and his teeth sharpened and grew longer and longer, pushing through his jaw and gums. Felix's body twitched and spasmed, each contraction throwing him across the ceiling like a bug, his muscles stretching and ripping as the corrupted power tore through him.
THAT IS MINE! YOU ARE MINE!
STOP!
Sharp claws burst from Felix's hands, tearing furrows in the stone above him before rotting and falling off. Toothy spikes twisted and burst from his back and shoulders, points of agony that left him slick with his own blood. A second surge of released power made them explode in size, piecing the ceiling and dropping a rain of stone and plaster to the ground below.
NO!
Felix screamed.
Everything went dark.
"Bumble?"
Felix started and sat up. His face felt wet, and he wiped drool from his chin and cheek. He was in a...kitchen? The walls were painted canary yellow and a variety of dried herbs and garlic was strung from the unpainted oak cabinets. A half full sink sat nearby, chipped on the edge where someone had banged into it, and a pink frosted cake was sitting on the counter. Someone had cut a piece out of it. Crumbs were everywhere.
"Bumble, when did you get here?" The voice was warm and welcoming, and very familiar. Felix turned around and realized he was on a barstool in his mother's kitchen. His mother stood a few feet away, in the doorway with a bag of groceries.
"Mom!" Felix hopped off the stood and rushed over, so fast his mother blinked and swayed backward. He wrapped her in a hug that must have been entirely too tight.
"Ok! I'm happy to see you too!" Felix let go as his mother gasped for breath and laughed. "What's gotten into you?"
Felix quickly took the bag of groceries from his mother's hands and set it on the counter. There was something cold in it, though he didn't bother checking. "I'm just...it feels like a long time."
His mother gave him a strange look before pursing her lips and giving him a once over.
"You're not drunk, are you?"
"What? No! Of course not," he said.
"Good. Those friends of yours have been a bad influence, I think." She started bustling around the room, taking items out of her bag and putting them away.
Felix's thoughts flashed back to his friends he would hang out with back home, the ones who threw the parties on the beach and got wasted every night after their shifts. He shook his head, almost unable to believe the kind of dumb stuff he had gotten up to with them. His eyes landed on a poorly wrapped package on the counter, a gift covered in newspaper and not even the comics or anything, it was the Business section. There were a couple other presents on a small table near the archway to the living room, and something clicked in his mind.
Gabby's birthday. This was Gabby's birthday party.
He was in a memory.
"Oh no, Bumble! Did you eat some of Gabriella's cake? Tch." Felix looked down at the crumb filled plate before him before grinning sheepishly. His mother rolled her eyes and pulled more groceries out.
A bittersweet feeling swept through him as he let go of something he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He wasn't home. He was just hallucinating, probably while the Maw choked the last bit of life out of him.
Thoughts of the Maw made the memory flash an unpleasant reddish hue, and Felix quickly banished the idea. He didn't know how long he had.
"Mom?"
"Mm?"
"You know I love you, right?"
"Of course I do," she looked at him strangely from over the top of the ice cream she was doling out. He could hear the screams and cheers of teens in the backyard. They were probably playing in the pool, though he wasn't sure. He didn't end up staying at the party in real life.
"What's going on, honey?" His mom leveled her warm brown eyes at him, her brows tilted up in concern. Felix had to clear his throat a few times before he could manage to speak.
"Nothing special. Just...just a rough few weeks." His throat ached, for some reason. "I got a dog, though. A rescue."
"Really? Do you have the space for a dog?" His mother smiled when she saw his face, knowing the answer. She patted his cheek. "You and your bleeding heart, Bumble. Someone's gonna take advantage of you, one day."
"Yeah," Felix swallowed, the room tinting vaguely red.
"Oh but don't change, honey. I know it's tough out there, with jobs and everything, but you're a good boy," she smiled at him again before picking up a platter of ice cream and cake. "You gonna come wish your sister a happy birthday?"
"Yeah I--" The room turned a deeper red, and this time it didn't relent. Felix looked around, wild-eyed.
"What's wrong?"
"I--I gotta go, Mom," he walked up and gave his mother another tight hug. "I'll miss you."
"Oh honey," she sighed in his ear before holding him out at arm's length. "You can always come back."
Felix smiled, and his throat ached even more. He swallowed a few times, the room starting to pulse with crimson. "Bye, Mom. I love you."
He fled from the house, unable to look at her again, or at the party out back. As he ran outside, he thought he heard her say something behind him, but he couldn't make it out.
The door slammed.
Felix woke up still screaming.