Power began to surge around Stygian Wrath coming to Stygian's call. Bolstering the bugs resolve. Setting its sights on the Marg Stygian began to pull the lingering soul into itself. Memories, thoughts, ambitions, and desires filled the bug. As Stygian struggled to maintain itself, vague memories began playing for the deväk. The day the marg hatched, and the first time the shapeshifter killed something. It was a rabbit, the marg disguised itself as its victim and ate the whole nest, except for one. The marg injected its own young into the unlucky survivor.

The memory was useful, but Stygian felt itself slipping away again. So the bug striped them away with a great effort, but they didn't just vanish as they were striped away. No, they lingered, and it felt like they tired to reconnect with the rest of the soul. Without thinking Stygian consumed the memories with Gluttony. Suddenly the bug felt bloated, but fine.

Some regret seeped into the bug, maybe it should have saved them? But no why would it? What use did Stygian have a those memories anyways? They weren't the bugs, so they didn't matter. As Stygian felt the blank bits of soul slide into place, other things slipped in as well. Whatever the marg had been proficient in while it lived was Stygian's for the taking. Well not all of it, just the parts that resonated with the marg's soul. The knowledge of certain skills joined Stygian, shapeshifting went up and something new joined the bugs repertoire.

'That was easy enough.' Stygian thought sarcastically.

Stygian tried to figure out what its new skills or abilities might have been, but through the haze of Wrath the psyling couldn't tell what it was. The only thing the bug could discern was the terrified wailing of the marg as its soul was reduced and its consciousness destroyed. One down.

Next the aväk.

Stygian had a very small piece of its soul, but that didn't matter to the bug. It just wanted to be its own entity and if that meant destroying a few other, then so be it. Stygian began pulling the aväk soul, but it didn't come as easily as the first.

Stygian saw memories of the aväk's life. Stygian watched the aväk consume the bloated corpse of their progenitor. Watched as they metamorphosed and turned the corpse into a hive. Watched the worker struggle for survival, and bring the aväk food. It had been lucky enough to consume the progenitors brain making it a queen. Even as a hive there were heavy casualties, leaving only a few hundred. Then they metamorphosis into a swarm, and began tearing through the underground, eating everything in their path. They lost many and barely survived, but they finally metamorphose into a pack. Things became a bit easier as a pack, and the aväk that Stygian was watching became pack leader. There were about fifty survivors, the aväk of the pack ran on two legs and use their four remaining limbs to attack. Over the next few years they began to become more intelligent and behave like a tribe.

It was at this point that their pack began to navigate The Ways and act as a trading caravan. Even though they were only about a half meter tall they were still extremely good trader. Finally after nearly ten years they went through their fourth metamorphosis. Their pack returned to aväk hive city, Corvel, and rejoin the noble house of their progenitor. The survivors were treated as the pack leaders honor guard. The aväk capital, was harsh and demanding. The aväk had spent thirty years in the capital learning their customs, and on its first outing in years it died. It was a hard fought life and the aväk didn't want to give that up. It had managed to survive through every trial and tribulation. Every step of the journey was lined with death, and the only way forward was to eat their fallen kin. How could the aväk give any of that up? It was the very last thing they wanted.

However, what the aväk wanted was of no concern to Stygian. Then more soul the bug consumed the weaker the aväk got, and the easier it was to stripe away it's memories. This time though Stygian didn't just throw them away. There was knowledge and years of experience held within these memories. So Stygian held on to them, the bug didn't merge them with its soul. Deciding to hold on to them until it had absorbed all of the aväk's soul. If the consciousness remained with the memories then Stygian would destroy them, but if not Stygian would keep them.

As Stygian pulled the soul in, the bug felt more things slide into place, but this time it was stats. Wisdom and intelligence, for sure and a few unknown others. That was odd if Stygian's aväk progenitor had intelligence and wisdom then why did the deväk have to work so hard to earn them? It is unfortunately because the bug was just the mentally limited at birth.

As Stygian finished pulling the it soul in it watched the cluster of memories and sighed with relief. They were untainted and the aväk's consciousness was destroyed. However just as Stygian began to relax, the stolen souls began to squirm and writhe trying to escape. Stygian pushed down with its entire will and they stopped moving, but this level of effort was taxing.

To take a step back for a moment. I think it is important that you, my dear friends, understand what a soul looks like. A soul outside of Fracture and its sister planets was spherical. The inner part of soul was the consciousness and then soul stuff surrounding it, to protect it. However a soul of a inhabitants of Fracture, that wasn't a deviation had their original consciousness as the core of their soul. Then they had a barrier, and next was their life on Fracture. It was influenced by the core making them the same person they were on Earth, but without their earth memories. Finally they had the same soul stuff protecting them.

Stygian wasn't aware of any of that. However thanks to introspection and the aväk's memories knew a bit about itself. Stygian knew that its own soul was small, smaller than a normal soul, jagged, and uneven. What was supposed to be a smooth sphere was more like a topographical map of a mountain range. Quite different from everything on Fracture except other deviations. This situation was terrible for several reasons. Firstly it left the deviation with a smaller center and therefore less magical potential. Secondly Stygian learned from the aväk's memories, that the forcibly bonded soul fragments grinded against one another, wearing each other away to nothing. Leaving the deviation a soulless monster known as husk.

Our deväk has always been on the edge of becoming a monster. Of course eating too many monsters and incorporating the genes could turn Stygian monstrous. Falling to its sins could do the same. If the deväk didn't hold tightly to its sense of self then once again faced the prospect of becoming a monster. No wonder the other deväks were treated so poorly they usually were nothing more than monsters.

Stygian however was determined to be different. Deciding to get its new soul under control before destroying Leon, the bug readied itself. With the memories of its progenitor and the bug own considerable mentality it began to bend and twisted its soul into a proper shape. Stygian let each soul recombine with the fragments Stygian already had. Both would were ragged and missing pieces were Stygian had torn memories and personality out of them. Stygian unknowingly aided by its psychic thread smoothed out each soul, and like clay packed the on top of its original jagged soul. Then with an extreme force of will the psyling compressed its knew soul allowing nothing to move.

Our bug held this new form until it was quite exhausted. Releasing its stranglehold the bug watched, and waited as its soul did... nothing. For the moment it seemed stable, and Stygian breathed a sigh of relief. The only remaining task was destroy Leon, but could the bug actually do it? Leon's consciousness was far stronger than either the marg or the aväk. Possible because Leon was still alive, or well undead.

Even if Leon wasn't stronger the deväk was also fairly exhausted. Stygian snarled at Leon and the ghost boy whimpered. It seemed that while Stygian had been destroying souls, Leon was recombining into one being. Meaning it would probably be even harder to take his soul. Stygian didn't feel confident in taking on Leon, but even now the fragment of Leon's soul was slipping away...

'Wait, it stabilized?' pondered a confused Stygian

'Y-yes, I cut off my connection to that part of myself. So please, please don't do whatever you did to others to me." A note panic was quite clear in Leon's mental voice.

Psyling mentally scoffed, who was he to tell Stygian Half-light what to do. Though it was probably a good idea to leave him alone, Vae had wanted him in the party after all. And upsetting Vae would be a very bad idea. However she wouldn't get mad if Stygian just took a little something, right?

The original connection between them may have been severed, but that wouldn't stop the determined deväk. Stygian still had the connection forged by tame, it was flimsy, but the bug raced down it. Leon was petrified, but Stygian wasn't looking to destroy the boy just take something it had seen in one of Leon's memories. Stygian shackled Wrath, it need to see clearly, and focused. It was looking for the tiniest glimmer or speck. It might not even... But no, it was there and Stygian was tearing it out of Leon. The boy screamed and before he could put up any resistance it was over.

'This is my price for leaving you intact, cut off your connection to this piece of your soul, and you live. Refuse and I destroy you. Deal?'

'But that was-'

'Deal?' Stygian ask with more force. Conveying that Leon had no real choice.

'...Deal.'

Our psyling sighed as the feeling of Leon's pilfered thread took root in Stygian's center. Stygian was about to tie up the devourer thread with its others when something else latched on. Multiple something's, it felt like Wrath and Gluttony as well as, though the bug could hardly believe it, a new job.

'All in a day's work.' Thought our increasingly cocky deväk.

It did have a right to be though. After all Stygian had gained levels in shapeshifting, and a new skill from the marg. The aväk had given the deväk stats. Then Stygian had stolen a thread from Leon, and somehow earned a new job. And the bug still had its reward for Tekanis to look forward to. The bug sighed contentedly as it felt its soul drift back towards it body. It was very interested in what prompts would be waiting for it.

As Stygian got closer to its body something felt off. Like it's vessel was already filled, but that couldn't be. However there was something forming inside the bug. It wasn't so much taking the deväk over, but it was just coming to life inside the deväk.

'Oh that's right. My spears.'

Stygian watched the two jagged fragments take hold within the spear. Stygian watched and was unfortunately reminded of what it had just gone through. Was it wrong to just let the souls be? To see what they would become? After all Stygian was exhausted and it's not like the spears would know if the bug helped or not. Right?

But what if the entity that controlled the Lost Woods, retook her shape within the spears? Stygian groaned. They had just as much right as the bug did to being itself. They deserved the chance to become something other than the Lost Woods.

So once more into the breach.

Stygian latched on to the souls of A Knight's Fork and intermingled bits of their soul with its own. It would be easier to do this if the spears shared a closer, and far stronger link with Stygian. Looking out at Stygian saw the entity that was once the Lost Woods. Her soul was massive, but it seemed bloated as though artificially inflated to inspire fear. Stygian just laughed a humorless laugh.

The bug began tearing memories out of the Lost Woods, seeing horrific scenes of torture and brutality. After the first few tearing Stygian was already feeling like it couldn't go on, but the bug was not one to give up. Consuming bits of soul and bolstering its strength with whirlpool when exhausted Stygian pushed onwards. This form of work was far more taxing than anything else Stygian had ever done.

Yet Stygian did not stop.

Never wavering the bug pushed onwards, stopping only a few times to horde a few of the Lost Woods memories. Stygian discovered where her treasure trove was. Hardly caring about magical equipment, Stygian was still curious about what she had amassed. Stygian had burned away half of the massive soul tearing out and destroying memories. The found it odd that the Woods hadn't launched any sort of resistance.

Truth be told the Woods couldn't, she was using ever ounce of her severely reduced will to linger. She was following in the steps of Leon and was trying to become a ghost. Meaning she had to endure for a month and a day, before she could do anything. Now don't be confused, my dear friends, the marg and the aväk were not ghost even though they still lingered. The only reason they lingered was because Stygian had pieces of their souls. Making them tethered to the bug destined to either consume the bug turning it into a husk or be consumed by Stygian. It was the only future they had. If that had been true ghost our deväk would have failed miserably. Well perhaps that wasn't entirely true, but it would have taken everything the deväk had just to subdue the marg.

But our deväk was a lucky one. If Stygian had decided to destroy Leon it would have been too tired to do anything else and wouldn't have taken action against the Woods until she had come back. By then the Woods would've be powerful enough to kill Stygian.

Stygian was untroubled by any such thoughts, as it crafted new souls for A Knight's Fork. Then just for the pure hell of it Stygian added the last bits of the Lost Woods soul to its own. Using the very last of its strength to compress and meld the pieces to its soul.

'Maybe I should have taken that pansy's soul too... It is probably for the best that I didn't, Vae was really excited to have him in the party.' These were the last things to pass through Stygian's mind, before the bug slipped into unconsciousness.