It didn't take long before she came to the the throne room. What was once a lavish white marble carved room had instead become a sickly pantry of rotted black meats and melted sweets lining the room.
The smell was so pungent that even Verum felt queasy as she walked inside. "Time to clean this Queen... That sounded better in my head." The rodent sighed, strolling past the sticky toffee covered chicken bones as The Queen sat on her throne, looking the Rodent over with a sense of familiarity.
"Assassin, have we met before? Your scent... It is repulsive."
"I think so? In a past life... Well, a few past lives really." She snickered, summoning a sword of light and shadow this time. The Queen tilted her head in confusion. The rodent before her was clearly aware of her disguise, and even more so of her true nature.
Like she had been there...
"RAT/RAT!" Two voices distinct voices yelled in unified hatred. The Queen's form began to stretch and bend in unnatural ways as she slowly rose from her throne. "You don't know how long we've been waiting for this moment."
The Queen's once pale white skin melted off, her hair falling off in clumps and replaced with a snow white mane of hair that reached down to the floor. Her limbs growing longer and stretching. What was once a beautiful queen who cared for her people had been replaced with this candy cane antlered thing.
It moved the hair that covered it's face to reveal a large cruel grin on its pink face.
"I face you not as Queen Endia. I face you as Tophina Lolligore, Domain Leader of Devouring Domain! Let The Feast BEGIN AND MY REIGN ETERNAL!" It cackled as it outstretched it's pink and purple rock candy claws, dragging them across the ground. It sent chills down the Rodent's neck, knowing that one wrong move could mean she'd be put in a late early grave.
"On all that is sweet, let me win..." Verum whispered to herself as she clutched the golden heart in her off hand. "By the way, at least make this thing formal." The feral one motioned for Verum to do the same as Tophina began sharpening their claws against the ground in preparation.
"Uh... And I'm Verum Rodentia, The New Goddess of Truth. I squeak, eat and I ain't meek!"
Verum looked rather proud of herself for that one. Tophina slammed her claws to the ground before upending the ground and removing all of the all of the meats and sweets from the room. After all, they were respectful.
Without warning however, Verum quickly appeared behind the candy Wendigo and yelled; "THE TRUTH IS GRAVITY IS REVERESED!"
Suddenly, the room flipped itself upside down. Tophina was thrown down, nearly pierced by the ornate chandelier that was at the centre of the room. Verum dropped with them, aiming her sword before crashing down directly on the Wendigo's arm, severing it.
The monster swiftly recovered however, using its free arm to swing at Verum and send her across the room. As the rodent got off the floor, she watched Tophina stick their arm back on without much effort before they grabbed the chandelier with all their might and sent it flying at Verum as it transformed into hardened candy caned spikes.
"THE TRUTH IS THE CHANDELIER IS AN INCH BIG!" The Rodent yelled out with a finger gun. With a blast of light, the chandelier shrunk to only an inch in size, which Verum easily cut in half with her sword before running at Tophina.
The Wendigo dug its claws into the ceiling before running backwards. Its bubblegum arms stretching out in a grotesque manner until, with an audible snap like a rubber band, Tophina sent themselves flying towards Verum with an open maw.
The Rodent hesitated for a moment, not having enough time to come up with a new truth and knowing a wall wouldn't be effective, her best idea was to duck.
And surprisingly, it worked. Tophina barely missed Verum's head, crashing into the wall behind. She used the opportunity to fire a few blasts of light and shadow at the recovering Wendigo. It didn't do much to phase it however, instead only serving to anger it.
"YOU FIGHT LIKE A COWARD."
"I'm sorry. I don't wanna be a chocolate bar... Though, I'd be a caramel swirl one... Damn, now I want chocolate..." Verum quipped. Tophina let out a chilling roar as they upended the ground beneath them once more, unleashing a meatifying shockwave.
"Oh shit!" Verum squeaked before running to the other side of the room, jumping in the air and stabbing her sword into the wall to avoid the wave. "The truth is you can't use your heart! The Truth is you can't turn things into food!"
With two truths activated in a row, gravity suddenly returned to normal, sending the Wendigo crashing to the floor with the tiny remains of the chandelier landing with it as Verum hung onto her sword.
"Oh? Specific wording... Too bad you forgot one thing." Tophina cackled as an icy mist left her lips with every word. The Feral one suddenly appeared next to Verum with a smirk. "You know she's a Wendigo right? Her heart is kinda irrelevant."
The Rodent stared at her doppelganger with a dumbfounded look before turning back to Tophina, who got onto her hands.
"I'LL KEEP YOU ON ICE!" The feminine voice yelled out more prominently as the Wendigo unleashed a torrent of ice out of their mouth. Verum swiftly let go of her sword as the beam trailed down towards her at a rapid rate.
That's when she got an idea. Why not just freeze the Wendigo?
As the beam of ice was about to reach her, Verum yelled out; "THE TRUTH IS WHENEVER YOU COME IN CONTACT WITH ICE, YOU'LL FREEZE!"
Tophina let out a chilling howl as their body froze solid. It only took 3 seconds before they were trapped in their own ice. But what Verum didn't account for however, was the chandelier pieces that she shrunk.
The sharpened candy cane chunks rapidly expanded directly under the hunched over Wendigo, exploding the frozen Tophina across the room.
Verum looked at her feral self with a proud look. "I meant for that."
"Holy... Me... I can't tell if we're stupid or smart sometimes. And to think, we didn't need the heart in the first place..." The feral one snickered. "No, no. I've finally realised what my Ego is." Verum smirked as she grabbed the Wendigo's frozen head.
"My Ego doesn't actually have a limit. It's what I believe I can do. The Truth is... I am a god. The Truth is... I don't actually need anyone. The Truth is... I don't have a limit." She said with a light chuckle that slowly devolved into a full on cackle.
The Feral one seemed a bit hesitant. Sure, a part of her wanted revenge, but seeing just how power mad she had gotten... It probably wasn't a good sign.
____________________
Hours had passed and Verum stood on the clock tower, waiting for the day to end. Once the clock struck 10:00 and the bell began to ring, The Rodent told another new truth.
"The Truth is... This City and all those inside it never existed."
At her declaration, the city began to fade away into light. It wasn't long before everything here, all that was and ever will be would never come to exist.
Like that, Verum cemented in her mind of who she really was.
A God.
One that could do as she pleased and have no consequence.