Greed
"Why not?" She shrugged her shoulders and passed the bucket. Each brilliant light like a gem, and now that he was closer he could truly see what they were. Gems yes, but within the gems were scenes. Dreams and wishes and everything that people desired. Yet the hook passed through them with ease. "Each gem is a wish abandoned. They're buried and hidden like seeds but they slowly grow. Then the fish eats them, but that only makes it hungrier."
Ezekiel"Dreams huh?"
His hand slipped in the bucket and shuffled through its contents, picking up a small bright gem. He looked into it with interest, though it was more the kind a bored investor makes into a potential ornament. The idea was more seductive than the contents themselves. He smiled as if he found out something ironic and tossed it in the air, catching it casually.
"They're surprisingly small. Well, small hopes for small people. No offense."
Dreams, hope. Where do they come from, and where do they go... if I told anyone it'd be a giant fish, most would laugh at me.But he was curious of something, perhaps childishly so. So he tossed the gem once more, and instead of letting it land in his hand he opened his mouth and had it fall right into it before closing it shut.
"Mhh, not bad." He mused while chewing on it before swallowing. It was surprisingly hard though, he couldn't even break it with his fangs! "Needs a bit of GAHRHJKKKGHTHTHRHRHRHEKkKgHhHh-!"
As soon as it entered the core of his body, the vessel and soul began to shift, bulge and twist while darkness coursed through his veins like massive worms, bulging through skin and muscle. Energy ripped through his bones and sinew and shaped as tentacles, flailing around in pain while he foamed with his teeth clenched shut, hands clasping on his face as if to keep his brain from spilling. Just a bit more, he had to-
His chest bulged at least thrice its size and contorted as if it was about to spit its heart out. Instead, a maw opened right across it, with a sharp set of teeth and a bottomless, gaping void which spewed a black ooze as if it were vomiting darkness. But that was not quite it, rather the simple wish had morphed into this thing, which flowed considerably compared to its initial side before shutting his chest close like a regenerating wound.
His face was shocked, his expression baffled and yet almost pure. His body reformed and regained its original shape, with his clothes also reforming thanks to his dark magic, as if both were made from it.
Staring at the dissolving ebony stain, he recovered slowly. Suddenly, his surprise turned into a cocky smile as he understood and witnessed its contents.
"Heh, looks like I'm still too far. This won't be enough, I need more. I need to be more." He stopped gasping and panting as he said that, as if he were an entirely different being. "Kuh, hahahahahahahahah!" He laughed at a joke that oly he could understand, or perhaps one that didn't exist in the first place.
