[i]Loyalty is a human objective. The Gods do not worry themselves with such things. But be warned - the beast that lurks within you is always hungry. Yet you must sate it to the point of bare control. Do not think it is your friend. Do not think it is your enemy. Do not think it is below you. Do not think it is higher than you.[/i] The lullabies slowly faded away as Desmond's focus on the voice cleared his mind of most of the madness. Within his beating heart, where the infant had been placed, a monster roared and battered within his chest. Flesh knit with smoky black limbs, intertwining to heal his body. With a painful withdrawal, the creatures let go of Desmond and let him fall to the ground. The tree-like skeletons fell and set their roots into the ground once more, as did all the surrounding skeleton-trees watching Desmond. It was like the entire dark forest had kneeled to him. No, not him. They weren't kneeling either. Their tableau expressions were ones of a child's maternal link with their mother. Otherwise known as whatever was inside Desmond. [i]If we looked at the face of God and only felt terror, would we ever pray?[/i] Cracking marrow emerged from the man's spine, extending upwards onto his face. His head felt squished, claustrophobic but eerily comfortable within whatever encased his head. Bones lanced through his entire body, growing extra muscles over them soon after and giving the muscle tension of a Titan. Pain burnt within his upper spinal cord, until it burst as two serpentine beings emerged from his back like the heads of hydras. Their jaws were like demonic snakes themselves, terrifying but somehow tempting with power. It was a beast akin to the true form of Eden's serpent.