Entry Number One-Hundred and Nine, Year Eleven.
The fact of the matter is, it probably won't be long until I'm wholly corrupt. Much like Dark Magic itself, my current form as a metaphorical incarnation of Sombra's flaws is a threat that grows with every precaution I fail to take. But, much like Dark Magic, I believe there may be solutions. And if not solutions, then ways to mitigate the effects.
There's a quote that stands out to me, as I contemplate ways to prevent the slow decay of my own morality from harming those around me. I'm certain the game didn't invent the quote, but I remember it from one of the X-Com games nonetheless.
“Those who play with the devil's toys will be brought by degrees to wield his sword.”
It's poignant to my circumstances, and it represents the danger of what I will need to do to steer my fate. The magic that binds me to Sombra demands that as time goes by without one of us slaying the other, we will become more alike. Thus, I have no choice but to preempt this. To prune away what isn't useful, and grow what is. Villainy in name only, or, if that is impossible, then villainy of the most restrained variety.
I've revisited Sombra's Corrupt Crystal Creation, and one idea I jokingly posed at one point about it. When it is used, SC3 creates a shadowy crystal, one capable of controlling the minds of others. It's the backbone of Sombra's ability to rule the Crystal Empire, when he was still in command of it.
One unique quirk of the spell is that, when used on a particular crystal, it can grow that particular crystal. By using the spell on ice, corrupt ice crystals can be generated. Those ice crystals, then, can be melted down into a foul liquid, infused with the power of domination and the desperate hunger for control.
On its own, this liquid isn't quite as horrific as one might imagine. Even ignoring how quickly living things can cycle water out of themselves, purge toxins, and attempt to fight off dissolute magics, at the end of the day, this "Black Water" is still just that, water.
Minor tests done on wannabeetles and other small animals indicate that, in liquid form, the Black Water is unsuitable for many of the same tasks that Corrupt Crystal excels at. As it isn't a crystal anymore, it isn't suitable for many types of crystal magic that normally allow one to adjust its effects on the fly.
This is why a second component is required to truly make use of it. A component that can return it to a usable form.
That component is greed.
By utilizing the Black Water as a gas, I'm able to get a large amount of it into the body, and then, by using greed-infused Dragon Lightning, I'm able to grow microscopic crystals inside the liquid, saturating the body with uncountable, immeasurable amounts of tiny magical crystals, each one too small to do harm, but sufficient in the quantities made to prevent them from being easily removed. Without a method I've developed to potentially cure the effects, they are likely impossible to remove.
Once the body is saturated with Greed-Grown Corrupt Crystal, I'm able to control the subject in incredible ways. Their mind, their body, their perception of the world around them. With so much corrupt crystal saturating their soft tissues, I'm able to access and control these things directly.
This will be the first, and most important method I use to satisfy the conditions of my curse. If I have to become like Sombra, then I'll do so on my terms. He used mind control. I'll use it too, but in a manner of my choosing.
It'll be fantastic to use on criminals. Never on the innocent. Using this Black Water Mist, I can take a criminal who petitions my court, and make it impossible for them to harm my ponies ever again. The potential for rehabilitation is through the roof as well. When it comes to Illusion Magic and Mind Manipulation Magic, I don't need to rely on Dream Crystals for calculations or processing nearly as much, as the subject themselves does most of the processing for me.
People, the world around them, physics and logic. Most perception-altering spells allow the user themselves to handle deciding what is believable to them, almost like a dream. Depending on how much direct influence I institute, the effects could be as subtle as removing things like monitoring golems from their perception, all the way to making them see and experience a complete fabrication.
Paired with my unique talent for picking apart weakness and manipulating others, I could stand to do a lot of good with this.
It's important that I remain unbiased when doing so. I suspect I won't be able to help myself from indulging in the technique, using it as a way to entertain myself, but, so long as I restrain myself to criminals and enemies of the realm, and only manipulate their senses, rather than their thoughts, I may be able to satisfy some of the subtle urges that are being forced upon me without actually committing any unacceptable evils.
That said, I would be an idiot if I invented a truly inescapable curse. The cure to this illusory hellscape is both simple and immensely challenging. Replace every single tainted cell in an organism affected by this substance. At present, the method I have for this is to use a combination of Black Flames and Full-Body immersion in enchanted molten salts designed to heal and rejuvenate the body.
It's inefficient, and would take far too long for my liking, but at present, I have yet to figure out another method of replacing a person's entire body. I've continued looking into the matter, however, and have noted some promising spells that utilize Dragon Magic to alter a creature's metabolism and ability to heal.
As you can see, Princess, this may have been the origin of Weiss's idea to use lacursurgy to heal me. To think that this is how he inflicted his curses. It's pretty haunting to imagine, and almost as bad as the ailment is the cure. I'm glad I didn't have to go with what he described here, I don't think I'd survive having to bathe in molten salt, no matter how much healing magic was pumped into it.
It's actually quite pleasant, as long as you're not sensitive to the heat. The real problem is when it cools. Nopony likes having to clean crusted salt off their coat, believe you me. In any case, I'm a bit... Stunned, perhaps is the best word. To think that this was part of his rationale for the decisions he made. He knew he risked corruption with his indulgence, and yet seemed intent on meeting that fate on the path to avoid it.
I only wish I had known that this is what he was thinking, so I could have knocked some sense into him sooner. Though, if Luna had known, I imagine she would have done it herself.