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The black paradise shivers, and inhales.

Exhales.

A disturbance forms in the center of the glistening lake, and a velvety black iris arises amidst the ripples.

The iris blooms slowly as petals unfold and glisten. Curled up in the center is a young boy; he has black hair and black clothes and his eyes are closed.

He is the god of the paradise, the center of the system. The newly-born, the pure reigning prince, who will bring down the whole place with him if he is to die.

If he is wounded, then the black paradise convults in pain. The trees shriek malignantly and the snakes with their ruby eyes hiss and slither about.

This is the black paradise, and he is the heartbeat.

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