Sender: Cyrene
Recipient: Demiurge
*This page of the story comes from the 8,668,666th Eternal Recurrence, a scientific experiment that went all the way. Imagine what would happen if an accident during Hyacine's test of Little Ica's appetite triggered its dormant gluttony gene buried deep within… *
“It all began… with a scientific experiment.”
Back then, to measure the appetite of Little Ica, offspring of the winged beast, a girl named Hyacine fed it a total of forty-five wild apples. Little Ica only contributed a long, satisfied burp to the observation report, completely unaware that the girl's purse had already gone slim.
Just as Hyacine was about to end the experiment, a breeze swept by and Little Ica vanished!
The anxious girl plastered missing pet posters all over the Grove. “It's a chubby, always-hungry winged beast!” Unfortunately, none of the Grove scholars knew of its whereabouts.
About half a month later, Hyacine woke up early to find Little Ica at the entrance of the Twilight Courtyard, though it seemed… a bit rounder than before. Along with it was a phantom thief's note that read: “Thought a winged beast descendant would be worth something. Turns out it's a money pit. Such a glutton! SUCH A GLUTTON!!! In just a few days, it nearly emptied my wallet. Here, take it back. We Dolosians don't do money-losing deals.”
Having Little Ica back filled Hyacine with joy, but she noticed that her winged beast companion seemed somehow different from before…
“Today it's already devoured two baskets of alfalfa, over a dozen wild apples, and half a bag of rice, but it's still smacking its lips at me like a hungry baby bird. This has never happened before…”
The troubled Hyacine brought Little Ica to the Caprist research lab, asking the Sage for a diagnosis. The Sage fiddled with some instruments, then buried himself in research reports, frantically searching through them. Finally, crossing his arms, he regretfully explained to Hyacine.
“Little Ica has developed a rare acquired genetic mutation. Its stomach keeps mutating due to excessive food stimulation, creating a feedback loop to the brain that amplifies its hunger. At the current rate of mutation… in a year or so, forget about your supplies, even the all the food stored in the Grove combined won't be enough to satisfy its appetite.”
“Doot… doot-doot-doot?”
While Little Ica remained carefree, Cinny's brow was clouded with worry. Looking at the rejected funding request form from the Nousporists, the young girl tossed and turned before finally deciding to leave the Grove with Little Ica, determined to find a way to heal it… or at least keep it well-fed.
“Don't worry, Little Ica, as long as I have a bit to eat, I'll…”
“Doot-doot-doot, doot-doot!”
What little Ica really meant was: Blah blah, whatever, I'm just gonna steal that bread right out of your mouth.
One day, the starving Hyacine saw Little Ica gobbling up rocks that had rolled down from the mountaintop. “No… Little Ica… you can't… eat those!”
Strangely enough, Little Ica didn't get indigestion from it, and Hyacine suspected its diet had changed. “Could it be… it awakened the ability to digest redsoil? Which dromas ancestor blessed us? I'm truly grateful for that.”
For Hyacine, this was absolutely fantastic news. It meant she no longer had to worry about feeding Little Ica, and wouldn't need to wander around the world anymore.
By now, the lone rider and her horse had journeyed to the edge of Amphoreus, where countless city-states had fallen to the black tide.
“I… I can't just turn a blind eye to patients now that I'm here!”
But what could a mere physician do? Hyacine rushed into the city-state engulfed by the black tide to save the surviving children, only to find herself surrounded by monsters from the black tide.
“I'm sorry, Little Ica, that I couldn't give you a proper meal…”
No sooner had the words been spoken than Little Ica, triggered by the keyword “a proper meal,” immediately rushed forward and swallowed the monsters whole. By now, its stature was as majestic as a dromas, and the black tide monsters seemed no more than a tart wild apple in its eyes.
Before long, Little Ica, burping contentedly, burst through the encirclement with Hyacine and the shocked children in tow. Hyacine stared up at Little Ica in disbelief for a long while, “I… you… this… so… are you full now?”
Years later, news arrived from Okhema that the “Twilight Knight,” savior of countless city-states in times of crisis, would visit the holy city. Aglaea, leader of the Chrysos Heirs, personally went out to welcome her. As Aglaea focused her gaze, she spotted a familiar face atop the giant winged beast.
“H—Hyacinthia?”
Looking at Aglaea, Hyacine's eyes welled up with tears. “Miss Aglaea, this… all of this… it all began with a scientific experiment…”
…