"What I'm going to do, instead, is to keep focusing on Accumulation to-"
A golden pillar descended from the sky, engulfing Tista and pushing everyone away from her as her bright cyan core released a powerful mana flow to get rid of the impurities that kept it from reaching the blue.
"What the fuck?" The Ernas sisters said.
"Quylla's death hit Tista really hard." Solus said while activating the tower's Immortal Body array to ensure her friend's survival. "She spent the last four days either training or using Accumulation, taking breaks only to eat."
Contrary to everyone's expectations, Tista didn't scream and her breakthrough didn't last long. Just like a human Awakened, she lost her hair, her nails fell, and her flesh and bones got turned inside out to let the impurities come out.
At the same time, like an Emperor Beast, the pillar nurtured her body that instead of restructuring itself as that of a human, it turned into something else. Everything that Tista shed would immediately be recycled to form scales, claws, and wings.
With every blue pulse that her core released, she grew in both height and mass until no trace of the beautiful young woman she had been until a minute back remained.
Once the golden pillar disappeared, Tista was glad that her armor was designed for Lith, otherwise the transformation would have left her stark naked.
"What the heck is that?" Lith took the words out of everyone's mind.
Tista was now about 2 meters (6'7") meters tall and her body was a deep red slate covered in thin scales that resembled those of a big fish. She had no horns, a small tail came out the small of her back, and she only had two eyes.
The left eye had now a pupil of the same hue of red of her hair streaks while the right had the silver pupil of light magic. Both of them shone with the power of the elements.
Two majestic silver-veined red feathered wings came out of her back, yet there was no trace on her hips of a second set.
"Wof m I? Hod I tn bk?" Tista said in a panic.
"You still have a mouth, Tista, but your voice is muffled by the scales. Opening them is akin to moving your lips. All you have to do is to imagine that you are baring your teeth to someone." Lith said.
"What am I? How do I turn back?" The red scales slid back, revealing two rows of fangs and a panicked throat filled with deep blue flames.
"Definitely not a Tiamat." Lith shapeshifted and stood in front of his sister to show her the many differences between them. "A Demon, I'd say. And since I suck at naming, I dub thee the Red Demon."
"I don't give a fuck about how you call me! How do I get back being a human?" Tista said in outrage as the blue flames seeped out, engulfing her body without harming either her or the Scalewalker.
The phenomenon gave have her an intoxicating feeling as if she was high on pure mana.
"How did I do that? I never saw you doing that before. Why do I feel like stretching my wings and flying away?" Tista forgot everything about her worries while the power of the flames burning inside of her made her feel as if she was taking the best hot bath ever.
"You are a woman and according to Salaark, you took more from Raaz than Lith did. Everything you are feeling and doing is probably due to your Phoenix blood talking." Solus said.
"It feels amazing!" Tista said, making the flames burn higher and higher.
"Keep up like this and you'll cripple your life force!" Lith snapped her out of it. "Now use Invigoration to feel your life force. What do you see?"
As long as Tista was engulfed in Origin Flames, touching her or using a mind link was out of the question.
"I see twin stars. A red one and a silver one that move in synch like dance partners, getting closer and then farther as they spin around each other." She replied.
"Those must be your Dragon and Phoenix sides that will merge as you further refine your core." Lith said. "Can you hear the melody of your human side in the background?"
"Yes, I can."
"Focus on it as hard as you can while ignoring everything else. Don't listen to that of your beast half." Lith explained to her how he had shapeshifted before evolving into a Tiamat to the best of his abilities, but it still took Tista a while to succeed.
By the time she turned back into a human, her life force was compromised by the abuse of the Origin Flames, making Tista fall asleep until the next day.
When she woke up, everyone was worried and happy for her at the same time.
"My little baby!" Elina hugged Tista with enough strength to squeeze the air out of her lungs. "Lith told me that we went this close to lose you. How could you be so irresponsible?"
"Mom, I've never been a Wyrmling before. It wasn't intentional."
"Thank the gods your brother was there to stop you before it was too late. Can you promise me just one thing?" Elina asked while cupping her face and looking Tista in the eyes.
"Anything for you, Mom."
"Can you please give me a grandchild or two before refining the violet core? I love your brother like the day I gave birth to him, but after becoming a Tiamat, we have no idea if his loins work as before." Elina said.
"Mom!" Lith turned purple in embarrassment while the rest of the room had a hard time not laughing their ass off at his expense.
"Anything but that!" Tista replied.
"I'm sorry dear. There's nothing wrong in laying eggs or whatever Tiamats do, but I would prefer things going the old-fashioned way. Waiting for the hatch is more convenient, but nothing compares with feeling the baby kicking the mother's womb." Elina gently caressed Tista's belly as if she expected it to become swollen at any moment.
"Hands off!" Tista jumped up and hid behind Lith for cover.
"Dear, I know how you feel, but you are embarrassing our children. On top of that, the matters of the heart take time." Raaz stood between them, trying to calm his wife.
It took him a while to make her drop the grandchild subject. Only after Elina left the room did Tista relax enough to share what she considered a real problem.
"It took you three years to go from deep to bright blue so I have still time before deciding what to do with my love life. What really bothers me are my eyes. Why do I have only two of them?
"I'm pretty sure they are related to the secret lessons that Faluel gives to you, Solus, and Friya." It didn't take her much noticing that only people with an increasing number of eyes or streaks had received special treatment from the seven-headed Hydra.
"I have no idea." Lith pensively scratched his stubble. "Maybe it's because my Abomination side boosted the Beast's. After all, both Hydras and Tyrants are born respectively with only one or two heads and eyes.
