#<- one time tam wasn't responding when they were getting up so they thought they killed him somehow but turns out he was just sleeping

[is-not-a-bell]

Ghost blobs lead someone to Danny (Part 2)

When Tim entered the Batcave in the morning he didn't know what to expect. Alfred had mentioned that Bruce barely left the cave after coming home later than everyone else. But weirdly he didn't sound upset about it.

He wasn't expecting a loud chirp. Was this a weird new security measure? A prank? A flash of green above him flew away toward the batcomputer. He quickly ran over calling out. "Bruce?"

Tim stared at the bat computer. Bruce was working on... something but what the heck were the green blobs floating around him. Were they humming? "Hey Bruce? Are you aware of the blobs?" "Yes, they came with a victim I found last night." "Last night? They're here?" "Due to their appearance and the nature of their injuries. I assumed it would be safest to treat him here."

Tim looked at the monitor containing a report on the victim. Found in an abandoned warehouse with severe injuries along with 'blob ghosts' and the victim claiming to be a ghost. The victim or Danny didn't have any vital signs but was still conscious.

Danny's claim of being bad at being a ghost was explained when the boy transformed into a living breathing human with vital signs. Sewing the wounds were difficult because not five minutes later the stitches were dissolved. Not even the sutures meant for Superman lasted. That's when the blob ghosts did something to the sutures. They gave off a faint green glow, but they didn't dissolve like the rest of the stitches so they had to resolve to using them for the rest of the injuries.

Last part of the report was far more clinical then the rest. Which was cataloging the injuries. At first it was thought to be from an autoposy, but... There are clear signs of struggle, Danny was obviously strapped down with something that had burned his skin. He was vivisected.

Tim stopped reading it and looked away, some of the blobs turned their attention to him. The humming was louder now, it was rather soothing to hear. One floated closer to Him. He cautiously reached out to it and brushed it gently on its head.

The blob liked it apparently and leaned into his hand. The others seemed to take this as an invitation and swarmed Tim. "Uh Bruce!" "Oh that's normal. They'll calm down... eventually." The man spoke matter of factly and he could just barely see a smile creeping on to the man's face.

Traitor

A few of the blobs were grabbing his sleeve and tugging. They barely had any strength. If this was how much they bite, Tim could see why Bruce allowed the creatures into the cave. And it seemed they were leading him somewhere. Just like in Bruce's report, Tim glanced at the man once before following the ghost blobs.

They arrived in the medbay, where Danny was left in one of the more private rooms meant for long term recovery. Tim heard the same chirp from before. But this time there was a responding one. So it was a sort of alarm then, one to warn of an intruder and the responding one must be to say he wasn't a threat.

The new blobs greeted him like the ones before. But they did get out of his face to let him see Danny. The boy was incredibly pale and still. Tim thought he could be dead if it wasn't for the slow rise and fall of his chest.

His heart rate did not improve much and his body temp was still worryingly low. Tim hoped that it was normal for Danny. Tim was hoping to get some case work done before going to his office, but the blobs seemed content to have Tim there. Tim does have a laptop, so he could call Tam saying he's taking slow day. It would probably be for the best if someone was with Danny when he wakes up.

[viktoriaashleyyx]

This is a pro Tamlin, anti Rhysand self insert revenge fic. All characters belong to SJM, but she wasn't treating them right. Tam x reader, Tam x Rhysands Sister (OC), First person narrative. This will also reference Elucien and Neris in the future but we aren't there yet.

We are headed to the House of Wind to confront RhySAnd and we see more of Sky's past as she taunts RhySAnd with it.

Tw: Discusses RhySAnds SA of Feyre UTM, magical violence.

((Thank you for being patient with me. Moving sucks, but things are starting to settle down now))

Ch 1

Ch 6 >> Ch 8

Chapter 7:

Today is the day we were heading to the House of Wind. I had sent a letter to Rhysand offering to meet him, that Tamlin will join me, it took him a few days to respond. Lucien was back on his feet feeling good as new.

After putting on one of my dresses, I sat at the vanity as Tamlin braided my hair, he was getting better at it. This has become almost a morning ritual for us. Brushing and braiding each other's hair as we discuss what's on our mind. Today we were both silent, we didn't want to do this, but at least we will be together.

When we were both ready we joined Lucien in the dining hall for breakfast.

“I almost want to go with you, just to see the look on Rhysands face as I walk in there unscathed.” Lucien admitted.

“I'd rather see the hate in Feyres eyes when I tell her you're dead by Rhysands hand,” I teased.

Lucien chuckled, Tamlin wasn't amused.

“You could go in disguise.” I joked, “have Tamlin turn you into a Raven and perch on my shoulder if you're so nosey.”

“Don't tempt me with a good time.” Lucien was going with it.

“No,” Tamlin huffed.

“Please, imagine how badass I would look walking in with a raven on my shoulder.” I whined. Still teasing, trying to lighten my nerves.

“I'm okay with that.” Lucien shrugged. Tamlin just groaned.

♡♡♡♡♡

“No, not a red raven, they're gonna recognize him. A normal raven.” I ordered.

“I can't believe we are actually doing this.” Tamlin sighed.

♡♡♡♡♡♡

I portaled us to the door of the House of Wind, held Tamlins hand, and knocked. He was nervous, he had never been to Velaris before, but, thanks to my brother, the secrecy of this city has faltered.

“There's my baby sister! Can I finally get that hug?” Rhysand tried to embrace me and I put my hand on his chest pushing him back.

“I don't like to be touched.” I said dryly. “See how easy it was for me to show up on the OUTSIDE of your house and KNOCK?” I judged. “Show us to where we are having this meeting.”

“So bossy,” Rhysand teased, “you're not even the slightest bit happy to see me?”

He led us to a large sitting room, Tamlin and I sat on one couch, well, I perched on the edge, (how do the other illyrians sit here comfortably?) Rhysand and Feyre on the other, with who I assume to be, Feyre's sister and either Cassian or Azriel, I couldn't remember, the one with long hair, sitting in the corner, obviously eavesdropping. “Why would I be happy to see you? The last time you threw Lucien's dead body at me.”

Rhysands face dropped, he expected me to be more subtle. Feyre's face lined with shock as tears welled up in her eyes. “What? What is she talking about, Rhysand? You told me he left to stay at the Spring court.”

“Well? It was obviously a cry for attention, now you have it. What do you want from me?” I said coldly, cutting her off.

“I just want you home, where you belong.” Rhysand said, annoyed that he will surely have to weave another lie to Feyre later.

“I am where I belong. Is that all? You just want another prisoner to add to your collection?” I noticed Feyres sisters' ears perk up. She had no walls built up to protect her mind, odd for someone living in a house with daemati.

“You wouldn't be a prisoner.” Rhysand snapped.

I laughed, “no one generally chooses to stay in your company, brother.” Feyre still had pain on her face, lost in thought and trying to hold it together just long enough to finish the meeting. Hmm, it seems she might still have a heart after all.

“I would just like to show you around Velaris, catch up and show you what I've accomplished in the past years.” Rhysand admitted, trying, and failing, to stay collected.

“Velaris has always been perfect and protected, as done by our grandfather. If you want to impress me, show me how you have improved the lives of the people in the Hewn city and illyria.” Velaris citizens were safe, well cared for and ruled justly. Illyria has been used as my family's own personal warrior farm, and the Hewn City citizens trapped since long before I was born. “Tell me, do the majority of Illyrian citizens still live in tents?”

“We are doing our best in illyria. It's not as easy as you think.” Rhysand replied with a slight hint of attitude. He wasn't used to someone calling him out on his fallacies.

“Huh, I would believe that 500 years is plenty of time for the most powerful high lord.” I said mockingly. He loved to spit that phrase unto himself, a gross display of arrogance was all it ever was. “Tell me, how many mansions do you have now?”

“Six,” Feyre whispered, deep in thought, she seemed like she also had not heard anyone question him.

“Gross.” I replied bluntly. “Mother isn't going to be happy to hear about this.”

“Mom is alive?” Rhysand gasped, a light flickered in his eyes, Feyres jaw dropped slightly, the other Illyrian stared at me. “Where is she?”

“She lives amongst the warrior women of Brokilon, a forest warded well against anyone who wishes it or its inhabitants harm. I don't mind telling you this because there is absolutely no way for you to get there without my help. It's located in an entirely different realm. I needed divine intervention to return, something you would never be able to hack.” Every eye was on me, as they tried to make sense of it. “Our sister and I visit her regularly, she doesn't ask about you much.”

“Sister?” Rhysand seemed to finally be speechless. That last line stung.

“Yes, Yennefer. Half human, half Illyrian. She is an insanely powerful mage. She looks like us, violet eyes, black hair, but no wings. She had a slightly easier time in that realm considering they kill ‘Pointy ears’ on sight there. Think of what I would look like masquerading as a human, and that's her.”

“A mage?” Feyre questioned.

“Yes, in that realm magic is pulled from many sources, not just the earth, and they use that magic to.. mutate(?) humans into immortals. Thats where I learned the portals.”

“How did you and mother get there? How did you survive?” Rhysand pressed. I am not going to lie, I am enjoying the attention.

“When Tamlins father raised his blade to strike me,” I gripped Tamlins hand, I didn't blame him for breaking when the information of my location was tortured out of him. “I panicked. I held mother tight and reached out for any escape, and when I opened my eyes, we were in a forest I had never seen before. An Ash forest. I learned later that the power I grasped was chaos, not the power of the land.”

“Don't forget it was Tamlin who had you killed. He locked Feyre up and he hurt her.” Rhysand spit.

“He didn't ‘have me killed’ if I am currently sitting here, Rhysand. Mother and I are both alive, that is more than I can say for my predecessor, the last Lady of Spring” I retorted with a too sweet smile. While we hadn't exactly made it official, how could we with an empty court, this is the first time I have claimed that title. I wanted to turn to see Tamlins reaction, but I didn't want to lead on how significant this was to the others in the room. Tamlin showed his approval by softly moving his thumb over the back of my hand.

“And fair, yes, both Tamlin and Feyre made mistakes, that is not my place to comment on. Keep in mind, though, WE are the ones that wanted to stay away. You drug us here. Tamlin apologized, she didn't accept, and since then he has mostly kept to his own court. You and your brutes are the ones that keep going to him. Tell me, did you ever apologize to Feyre for what you did to her under the mountain?” I could see out of the corner of my eye, Feyres sister was shocked. She obviously didn't know what all the other High lords and courts witnessed. Rhysand and Feyres eyes both narrowed at me.

“If there is anything that is not your place to bring up-” Rhysand started.

“You did it so publicly,” I cut him off, “all the other High lords in Prythia became unwilling participants to your weird exhibitionst kink. You even admitted you did it to hurt Tamlin.”

“What did he do?” Feyres sister demanded through clenched teeth.

“Nothing Nesta. Mind your business.” Feyre snapped.

“He drugged her, and made her the nightly entertainment for all the courts under the mountain as she was stripped naked and forced to dance for him. If you knew she was your mate, why would you treat her that way?” Directed to Rhysand, then back to Feyre, “why cant your older sister know? Everyone else in Prythia does.”

“He did it to protect me.”

“Is that what he told you? You deserve better, babygirl.”

Rhysand was losing control. Both Lucien and Tamlin had the metal shields up that protected them from Rhysands daemati powers. So what does any self centered brat do when they are losing control? They change the subject, hoping to garner favor.

“I still remember you, bowed down kissing my boot and begging,” Rhysand taunted Tamlin.

I heard him take a deep breath, Lucien's talons gripped into my shoulder and I tried not to flinch at the pain. I retorted quickly, “what for? Oh that's right, it was to convince you to not sell Feyre out to Amarantha. Or should I say ‘Claire.’ Right? I wonder if your love for your mate is strong enough to entice you to do the same, dear brother.” Feyre began to choke.

Nesta was angry, confused, trying to process everything she just heard. Shock lined the Illyrian males face too, he hadn't heard either.

“Let her go.” Rhysand snarled at me, unmoving. His eyes void of any emotion.

“Ah, ah,” I sang, pointing a finger down to my boot. “You know what I want.”

“I will never bow to you,”

“Quickly, she's fading fast.”

Nesta cried out and bowed herself. The illyrian brute holding her back, Rhysand remained still, not breaking eye contact. I sent a message to her mind, Feyre will not die, I promise.

“Enough, Sky.” Tamlin growled at me.

I released my grip on her lungs and she took a heavy breath, fear, anger and confusion in her eyes.

“Let it be known, Feyre, that your ‘mate’ wouldn't even move a muscle to save you, but Tamlin questioned even me.” I said to her softly. “It seems you have a lot to think about.”

“Let's go,” Tamlin hissed at me. Uh oh, I am in trouble. I opened a portal home and we left.

♡♡♡♡♡

“We don't hurt people, Sky, that's not who we are.” Tamlin was angry. He shifted Lucien back to normal.

“I was in full control the entire time, I was not going to let her die,” my response was cold.

“I thought it was great,” Lucien muttered, eyes wide, but not meeting ours.

“If you are jealous of her–” Tamlin accused.

“JEALOUS? of her?” I cut him off and raised my voice, “I am angry with her. I do not give half a fuck who you had in your bed while I was gone, Tamlin, what I do care about is her destruction of my court. You, and her, were so incredibly toxic together it ended with entire cities burnt to ash, my people lost their homes because you two couldn't talk to each other. That is where my frustration starts and ends. My people, families, children, entire lives uprooted and destroyed. People shouldn't have to suffer because their leader is going through a break up. Childish nonsense caused me to return home to an abandoned court..” my voice softened, ever so slightly, “you are doing the work to rebuild and correct your mistakes while she is gallivanting around the night court like the sun shines out of her ass. She shows no remorse, no empathy for the people she destroyed. I cannot express how little I care that you enjoyed the taste of her.”

His stance softened and he whispered “I'm sorry, Sky.”

“Don't ever question where my loyalties lie, again.” I spit. Lucien reached a hand out to me, and I turned and stormed off to compose myself.

♡♡♡♡♡

I found myself outside my old gallery, a room I have dreamed of returning to for 300 years, I opened the door and creeped in.

It was obvious that others have used this, Tamlin admitted as much, admitted that Feyre would paint in here. I carefully studied the art laid out around the room, the paints and brushes strung out and left to dry. I felt a twinge in my chest, was it jealousy? No, I didn't seriously expect an entire room left empty for so long, did I?

And then I found hers. Much simpler art than the realism I painted in, lots of abstract splotches and lines, and crudely drawn pictures. It was beautiful in its own right, obviously done while she was a human. A human. Turned Fae, after the atrocities of Amarantha. Still a child by Fae years, forced into Prythia, forced into marriage after marriage. I know as well as anyone what a prison a crown truly is, her youth, her freedom, stolen from her by tradition, power, and lust. I had been treating her as the High Lady she chose to be, I wonder if that decision was made with her properly informed consent, or just pushed on her by my brother.

♡♡♡♡

An hour or so later, I headed out to find Tamlin. My head was clear now and we needed to talk.

He was in his study, hunched over his desk, head in his hands. It was dark now, the moonlight was the only thing illuminating the room. “Tam?” I creaked the door open and entered slowly. He didn't respond.

I walked over to him and laid a gentle hand on his back. “My love,” I whispered, “can we talk? I'm sorry I blew up today.” He slid his chair out and pulled me onto his lap, holding me in his arms as I nestled my head in his neck.

“I love you, I am sorry I upset you.” Tamlin whispered. “I just didn't expect that today. I shouldn't have accused you. I don't, honestly, think that low of you, I was just angry.”

“I shouldn't have hurt her like that. I used her to shut my brother up the same way he used Lucien. Tensions were high today. I wanted to just stay away but my brother is so spoiled he can't take no for an answer. I'm sorry, I understand that seeing her in pain is not easy for you.” He just held me tighter, and I kissed his neck.

“I don't like leaving Spring.” Tamlin admitted quietly, “It just makes me feel sick every second I am outside my borders.”

“You're gonna have to pick one,” my voice soft and sweet, “either you swallow your worry, or your unease. I need to be able to leave if we are going to rebuild.” I lifted my hand to caress his cheek, slowly brushing his golden hair behind his ear. He laid a gentle kiss on my forehead.

“So, Lady of Spring, huh?” He smiled sweetly down at me, I sat up and turned slightly to look him in the face. “Are you sure?”

“Of course,” I breathed leaning in closer, our lips almost touching, “unless you object?”

He pulled me in closer and kissed me deeply, “I would never object to that.”

Tag list: @ladythornofrivia @rcarbo1 @rin-u-pos @knoxic @lilah-asteria

[emilykaldwen]

thanks so much for the tag @theladyelizabeth!

tagging: @acrossthesestars, @stannisfactions, @arrthurpendragon, @mercurygray, @alicentive, @nyctophilic0vitnir, @selfproclaimedunicorn, @themaradwrites, @lya-dustin, @dragonsoftheeast

1. How many works do you have on AO3?: I have 9 so far! I ended up deleting some old works that were abandoned and didn't have a lot of interaction that were over a decade old (and they didn't have bookmarks either so I wasn't worried)

3. What fandoms do you write for?: Currently, House of the Dragon is the hyperfixation

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Maiden and the Drowning Boy - HotD Canon Divergent

Soulmates Never Die - The Borgias (my oldest fic)

Fight For Me (If It's Not Too Late) - Teen Wolf

Boy With a Broken Soul (Heart With a Gaping Hole) - HotD Fae AU

You're the Lighting of the Blaze - Hotd Canon Divergent

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Always! (and if I don't it's legit cause I forgot/thought I did and AO3 ate the comment). I love the community aspect of fic writing so if you take the time to leave me a comment, I love to engage. I especially love it when commenters ask questions and look for discussion.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? probably one of the old Prequel Star Wars Fics I wrote way back in the day.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Right now, it's a tie between You're the Lighting of the Blaze and Bright Star

8. Do you get hate on fics? Not on my fics directly but I have gotten some rancid hate in my inbox re: Abby (And then that escalated to telling me to end myself so). This is why I now have anons turned off. Sorry guys.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? I do write smut! I'm not sure what it means by 'what kind'? I've done a few solo smut-shots, and Maiden will have a few explicit scenes when this arc is completed. I'm definitely someone who loves Plot with a side of Porn, and as long as the smut flows well and isn't overly repetitive, I'm here for it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? I have written a crossover! I had a mini-series of Whedon-verse/Supernatural called It Must Be Tuesday back on LiveJournal. Sam and Dean meet River Tam in a bar and the apocalypse happen. Dean and Buffy hooked up. I was acutally very proud of that LOL

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not stolen but I did have some concepts lifted from a Once Upon a Time fic

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Not that I'm aware of!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Yes! Soulmates Never Die was co-written with a friend at the time (we've lost touch since then), and then when I was in the Charmed fandom, I adopted out an abandoned fic of mine and was the beta/co-writer on a big future Fic series with Wyatt, Chris, and Chris' friends. Those were some fantastic stories.

14. What’s your all-time favourite ship? Oh man. I really love me Jacelaena and Helaemond still has a soft place in my heart (but the trajectory of a lot of the fics has just been... a turn off). Harry/Luna will always be warm and fuzzy for me (I used to be the ship captain back in the Fiction Alley days). Buffy/Angel was my first real Fandom OTP.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will? Hmmm... I don't have anything right now that fits that. I did have Isabelle Martin's Life is Totally Over which was a Derek/Lydia future Kid fic that I was actually enjoying but the fandom was such an utter turn off by that point.

16. What are your writing strengths? God fuck if I know. I think I'm really good at tying things together/call backs and really emphasizing those themes. I like to think I'm thoughtful at cause/effect of character action and consequences. 

17. What are your writing weaknesses? I feel like my descriptions are lacking and I get lost in the weeds. I struggle with finding the stakes in a story. Conflict is difficult. 

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic? me crying with dote on doing some appropriately translated high valyrian for Maiden instead of just copy/pasting from one of the online translators. Only very, very, VERY few people will know that they're grammatically correct and honoring the original development of HV, but it was important to ME.

19. First fandom you wrote for? Star Wars back in the late 90s.

20. Favourite fic you’ve ever written? Maiden obviously holds my heart and soul, and it's always going to be everything for me, but I'm actually incredibly proud of Fight For Me (If It's Not Too Late). It was a two parter, and I wrote it in the span of a week? Maybe two weeks? and it was the last thing I wrote for a very long time.

[kachikirby]

GranEssex Chronicles: Chapter 6 - Chain of Command

It was around evening on the GranEssex. Most of the personnel were getting ready to turn in for the night. That was until Kurabe called an emergency meeting. After everyone gathered in the meeting room, the warrior cleared her throat and spoke.

"It's getting late, so I'll try to make this quick. Tomorrow I'm leaving for a meeting with General Z and the others. The meeting will most likely take the whole day, meaning I won't be here until tomorrow morning at the latest. Mercury, you will be in charge. Meta, in the unlikely event something happens to her, you'll be in command of the ship."

There was some instance of murmuring, specifically from the other students that lived on GranEssex. While Meta couldn't make out all of them, he could tell it was mostly made up of people questioning why someone so young would be in charge. Unsurprisingly, this was quickly starting to get on Kurabe's nerves.

"That's enough all of you. In case you didn't hear me, I said in the unlikely event something happens to Mercury. Also, what would it matter if Meta was put in charge? He's young and inexperienced, yes, but we've all been young and inexperienced at some point in our lives."

"Uhhh... it matters because he's a child?" said one of her other students.

"Really? If I remember correctly that child defeated, you during training. Twenty times."

"H-he caught me off guard, ma'am!"

"He caught you off guard twenty times? You know, I don't remember training any of you on how to make excuses."

"It was only ten times! The other ten I just didn't feel well!"

Kurabe sighed in disappointment. "I thought I thought I taught each of you to respect one another. Not only are you disrespecting Meta, but you're also disrespecting Mercury by believing something will happen to cause him to take over. And by lying to my face, you're disrespecting your teacher as well."

He lowered his head in shame. "S-sorry, ma'am."

"Besides, I thought by now you would understand that one's age is irrelevant. What matters is their skill. I remember you all taking on impossible odds when you were young, Meta is no different. And don't even think I'm giving him special treatment. I've had each of you take command of the ship at one point training. Now it's his turn, given something happens to Mercury."

"Yeah, and that like never happens, so we're good, right?" Another student said.

"You would be good even if something did happen to me." Mercury said with slight irritation. "Quit with the macho act, everyone. We're all a part of the same crew, so act like it."

Meta only stayed silent. He was honestly too used to most of the students saying he was given special treatment due to being practically adopted by his mentor. While it wasn't all of them who were like that, there was still a notable amount and a minority that was extremely vocal about it.

Kurabe cleared her throat. "Now, in other news, we have reports of Space Pirates near these parts. If they attack, I trust you all can handle it."

"Of course, sensei!" The response was unanimous from her students.

"Good, you're all dismissed."

Giving a salute, everyone left. In the commotion nobody heard a certain silver captain let out a small sneeze.

---------

As Meta walked to his room, he was encountered by another student who was about ten years his senior. This was Tam, a fox woman from a different galaxy. She was one of the students that Meta actually liked being around, although she would be graduating and leaving the ship in a few months.

"Hello, Meta." She said in a playfully kind voice.

"Greetings, Tam." He responded with a smile.

The fox smiled back. "I would say don't pay attention to those jerks from earlier, but I don't think you need me to say that. So instead, I'll just let you know that I'll have you're back. That is if you want me to have it."

Meta laughed.

"Thank you, Tam, but I doubt that'll be necessary. Mercury's too tough to let something happen to her." He said with a light blush on his face.

"Oh, but what if something does happen to her where she can't command the ship?" She then asked.

"Then I'll gladly accept the help. I'll probably need it." Meta sighed at that thought. "I understand sensei's logic. It would be a good opportunity for me to learn and apply leadership skills. I just don't know if I can handle that yet..."

"Oh, we've all had that feeling before. You know what our mentor always says, the best teacher is first-hand experience."

That helped to reassure him. "Thank you, Tam. I should probably get some sleep. If I do end up becoming a temporary captain, I'll need all the energy I can get."

"I understand. Good night, Meta~." She said in her usual playful voice before leaving.

Meta was thankful he had a least a few fellow students that had his back. Tam was simply the most open about it. Now, it was time to go to sleep. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to take command of the battleship.

---------

The next morning, the entire crew of the ship came to see Kurabe off as she left to go to her meeting. However, there was something most unusual about it: the fact that Mercury was not there.

"That's odd, she's always punctual." Meta thought to himself as he looked at the line of crew members.

Not only that, but the woman would've normally been one of the first people to arrive at the meeting. Having a bad feeling, Meta ran to Mercury's room. Upon reaching her room, he hesitated for a moment before opening the door. Then, he shook his head and opened the door before entering. The inside of the room was dark except for the light in the hallway.

"Mercury? Are you here?" He asked.

No response.

Just as he began to look around the room, he noticed that there seemed to be a lump in Mercury's bed. Slowly, Meta walked towards it.

"I'm really sorry about this." He uttered while raising the covers.

What he saw was honestly the last thing he was expecting. It was a shuddering, deeply flushed, and sickly-looking silver blob.

"Mercury? What's wrong!?"

Mercury struggled to look at him with a slight cough.

"I'm really sorry, Meta. I came down with a bit of a flu. Before you ask how a flu is doing this to me, Limet bodies react far more violently to the flu than most other species. As a tradeoff, we rarely get sick from anything else, but when it happens. Well, you can see for yourself..." She explained, though it sounded like it took a lot of effort to say all of that.

Meta stared for a moment in stunned silence before speaking again. "...I thought Limets couldn't get sick."

"All living things do and anyone says otherwise, they're a liar!" The blob cut herself off with another series of coughs.

Meta closed his eyes, only to open them with a look of determination.

"I don't know if I can handle it, Mercury, but I'll try my best as acting captain. Please get some rest."

While the blob didn't have a mouth, he could tell that she was making a weak attempt at smiling.

"Thank you so much, Meta..."

Giving her a nod, Meta put the covers back over her. He then went to the closet and pulled out a warm blanket, laying it around her to keep her from shivering. Now with that taken care of, he had to let everyone know what's happening. Honestly, he wasn't excited for the response his fellow students would give. He knew Tam and a few others would gladly help him. It was the ones that occasionally harassed him that he was worried about.

---------

Thanks to the help of the Bukisets, Meta was able to call all of the crew members, including the students, to the meeting room.

"Hey, kid, why'd you call this meeting? And where's Mercury at?" asked one of the ruder students.

He simply ignored them and continued. "Mercury caught the flu and needs to rest. Because of that, I'll be your captain for now."

The blunt statement caught everyone off guard. Except for one.

"Aye, aye, captain~" Tam said, happily doing a little salute.

A few other students nodded in affirmation, however a few others, as expected, had some questions.

"What do you mean she's sick? Limet's can't get sick you idiot!"

This was Merrick, a student who was easily the most arrogant person on the ship.

Meta just stared at him blankly. "Mercury said it herself, all living things get sick and if anyone says otherwise, they are a liar."

"Oh yeah? How 'bout we go see if you're right!"

Both Merrick and Sheba, another arrogant student, stomped out of the room quickly... only for them to be almost immediately thrown back in by the Bukisets.

"I figured someone would try to disturb her, so I asked them to stand guard." Meta explained, glaring at the two idiots. "Mercury needs her rest, so unless you are one of the Bukisets, all of you are forbidden from entering her room, kapish?"

All of them nodded, except for the two stooges.

"How do we know you didn't poison her or something, huh?" Merrick yelled.

"Yeah, maybe you killed her so you could take over!" Sheba said, only for Meta to kick him in the stomach.

"First of all, how dare you even suggest something like that! Secondly, say I did. Why would I do any of that?"

"Why else? Ya were so desperate to become captain and take command of the ship!"

Meta just gave him a look that said, "are you stupid?" before he turned and addressed everyone in the room. "Everyone, did I act desperate yesterday like they said I did?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"In fact, you even looked nervous about it." Tam said, giving a quick wink that only Meta caught.

The other students then talked among themselves, saying things like "Yeah, he didn't look excited at all." "Everyone knows how much he respects Mercury; he would never do something like that. "I may not like the kid that much, but he isn't a bad guy."

The youth heard all of this and smiled. "Now that we've taken care of that. I have a few more things to go over. For starters, Tam, I would like you to be my second in command. That is if you'll accept the position."

"I'd be so glad to!"

Meta nodded. "Next, I would like at least five of you be on lookout. If you see any sign of space pirates, alert us immediately. I'll leave the decision of who will be lookout up to all of you."

The rest of the students nodded in understanding.

"Hold on, we haven't acknowledged you as our leader yet!" The two stooges yelled.

Meta was getting tired of this. Normally, he would just ignore them but as a leader he needed everyone to be on the same page and these two simply did not want to be cooperative at all.

"Alright then. What should I do to make you cooperate?"

"Give us control!"

The youth simply glared at them. "Out of the question. Sensei put me in charge and her orders are absolute."

They were silent for a moment.

"Yeah, but you're still a momma's boy!"

"You two are terrible at insults."

This one statement for some reason shocked the two to their core.

"If you two won't cooperate I'll have you two locked away in your rooms."

The two looked shocked but tried to put on a brave façade.

"How about this, if you can beat the two of us with just your fists, then we'll do what you say."

Meta stared coldly at them. "...very well."

---------

Everyone gathered in the training room to see the fight, though almost everyone already knew how it would end.

"Ready? Begin!" Tam said, acting as a referee.

Meta wasted no time and punched both of them in the stomach, knocking them out cold.

"Huh, one second. That's a new record, Meta." The fox said in a blunt fashion.

"Someone take them to their rooms. Once they wake up, put them on janitorial duty. The Bukisets could use the assistance."

Two students nodded and carried the fallen fools out. "Now with that settled... those of you who want to be on recon, good luck. Tam come with me, please."

"Alrighty then!" She replied with a cheerful voice.

---------

Shortly after, the two reached the command room. Meta sat down on the captain's chair and to be honest, it felt strange. It was always either Kurabe or Mercury who sat in this chair. Did he really deserve to have the same position as them even if it was temporary? No, it wouldn't be any good to worry about it. All he had to do was make sure that everything was under control. Not only that, but the meeting shouldn't last that long anyway, right? He just had to hang in here until his mentor returned. Thankfully, everyone on board, for the most part, could be trusted to behave themselves.

"Tam, you've been the temporary captain before, correct? Do you have any advice? I'll gladly take even a small amount of instruction."

"Why yes, I have been the temporary captain once or twice. As for advice, the best thing you can do is to stay calm. If you don't do that, you're more likely to make terrible decisions."

That at least made sense to Meta. Staying calm was definitely a lesson Kurabe liked to teach.

"Anything else, Tam?"

"Don't be afraid to ask for advice. That's generally why we always have two people on the bridge. In the case of Kurabe and Mercury, the other picks up slack where the other is lacking."

That also made sense.

"Thank you, Tam. I just hope those space pirates don't show up."

This surprised the fox. "Really? You're always excited for a battle though."

He shifted anxiously in the chair. "Yeah, but it's different this time. I guess I'm worried that someone will get killed and it'll be my fault, you know? Like I have a lot more things to worry about."

Which was true. Meta preferred fighting on his own. Not that he didn't trust the others, he just an easier time looking out for himself instead of a large group. Combining that with the idea of failing Mercury and his mentor, it made him completely nervous. Speaking of Mercury, she was completely defenseless as she was now. Meta could not afford any reckless actions. Honestly, that just made him even more nervous.

Tam gave him a reassuring smile. "You'll be fine, Meta. The Lady of Shadows Corps is the best faction in the organization for a reason. Just focus on giving out orders and trust in your crew's abilities."

The youth let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Thank you again, Tam. Now then, we should come up with a strategy in case an-"

Meta was cut off by one of the students who was on lookout barging in. "Emergency, acting captain! We caught sight of a space pirate ship coming towards us! It'll be here in under thirty minutes!"

"I should have expected this..." He gave a slight sigh.

"What will you have us do acting captain?"

"Hmm..." The youth took a moment to think. "See if we can open a communication line and negotiate with them. I highly doubt it'll work, but it doesn't hurt to try. However, I'd like everyone to prepare for combat."

"Yes, sir!" The messenger left to do as instructed.

After a few minutes passed, the communication device in the command room turned on, the space pirate's leader on the screen.

"I am Zeo, leader of my crew the Zebesian pirates. Who am I speaking to?"

Meta put on the most confident face he could. "I am Meta, apprentice of Kurabe the Unkillable and acting captain of the GranEssex."

The captain of the pirates had an unreadable expression, though the youth was more than sure that he was being heavily analyzed.

"I take it that your normal leader is away from the moment, Mr. Meta?" The captain asked.

To Meta's surprise, there wasn't a hint of sarcasm or animosity in his tone. Maybe there was a chance that things could be handled peacefully. But how should he respond? There's a high chance that they'll take advantage of the fact that Kurabe isn't here and attack. Smart space pirates tended to fear her due to how strong she was, so by attacking the ship while she's gone, they'd have a better advantage in their eyes.

"What would sensei do in this situation?" He thought to himself.

It didn't take long to think of an answer.

"That's correct. Both she and her second in command are out at the moment. I was left in charge."

Kurabe was a proud woman, never shying away from danger and always being honest, Meta just hoped he could emulate her bravery for as long as necessary.

The captain seemed to already be impressed by his courage. "I see. Since you're honest with me, I'll be honest with you. We originally planned on attacking you, but now I'm not too sure. I can tell just by looking at your eyes that you are not to be underestimated. Mr. Meta, I have a proposal for you."

The youth lowered his eyes in suspicion. "What kind of proposal?"

"A battle. Two on two, you and one of your crewmates versus me and one of mine. Winner decides the losers fate."

As much as this sounded interesting to Meta, a fragment of him wanted to reject it. "And if I refuse?"

"We invade." He replied bluntly.

"So, a fight is inevitable no matter what." He thought to himself.

"Let's say for a minute that I agree. Where will this battle take place?"

"There's a moon nearby. We can fight without worries on it."

Meta closed his eyes in deep thought. It seemed like a fight was unavoidable no matter what. Though something felt off to him. Why would the pirate captain even bother with a fair fight? This definitely felt like a trap, but he couldn't afford to deal with a full-on battle. Not with Mercury being left defenseless. He then opened his eyes.

"Alright, I agree to this but on one condition."

"Oh? What condition?"

"We'll land our ships far away from each other. That way if either of us tried to sabotage the other-"

"It would be more difficult to do so. That sounds fair enough."

Internally, Meta sighed in relief at hearing that.

"We'll meet in thirty minutes. Don't be late."

The call ended after that.

The youth then quickly looked at Tam with focused and sharp eyes. "Tam, you excel at illusions and explosions, correct?"

The fox looked confused for a split second before giving a sly smile. "That's a pretty devious plan you have Meta. I love it."

It was true, Tam specialized in trickery, espionage, and demolition.

"I figured since we're dealing with pirates, we might as well be underhanded ourselves. While I prefer fighting honorably, I doubt we'll have that luxury."

Suddenly, Meta's eyes softened a little. "Tam, do you think I made the right decision? This might limit casualties on our side, but what if I mess up?"

"I think you need to have more faith in yourself."

"You're right and I know you're right." Meta sighed heavily. "Are you fine with being my partner for this two on two? I can ask someone else if you'd rather focus on sabotage."

Tam replied with a giggle. "Do you really doubt my ability to multitask?"

"Not at all." He replied with a slight smirk.

"Then I think that settles it."

The youth closed his eyes again and his mind flashed towards Kurabe and Mercury. With a renewed determination, he was ready to protect everything.

"Attention all crew! Prepare to land! Our destination is that moon north of us!"

"Aye, aye, captain~!"

---------

Soon the GranEssex landed, and Meta and Tam were ready to get started.

"Before we leave, I want six of you stationed here at the front, six at back, and three on each side of the ship. If you see any space pirate, come close, show no mercy. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir!" The crew members responded with a salute.

Meta nodded and looked at Tam. "Are you ready?"

"Yup! Ready when you are!" She said and then created a clone of herself.

"Now remember, Meta, my clones disappear at even the slightest touch so be careful with it." She told him.

"Understood. Please be quick, Tam, and good luck."

Tam simply replied with a peace sign and disappeared from sight. This was Tam's favorite technique to use, invisibility. Without wasting time Meta started walking, with the clone right behind him. To pass the time, the youth decided to recount everything he knew about space pirates, especially Zebesians. According to this knowledge, Zebesians are inhabitants of a planet located in another galaxy. They are usually tall creatures with hands resembling claws. They are also capable of shooting beams of energy from said claws. Possibly by reciting all of this information to himself, he could find an easy way to defeat them. Or at least, he can find a way to stay calm. He came to one conclusion at least: Zebesians had no apparent weaknesses. Nothing he could use to gain an easy victory. He would just have to try and overpower them or at least wait for the real Tam to return.

"It may be best to think of this as an endurance test..." He thought.

Especially considering the captain was a Silver Zebesian, which have the hardest armor of all Zebesians. No, he could handle it. He just had to survive until Tam returned. Not only is the entire crew relying on him for this, but his mentor and Mercury.

"Mercury..."

He remembered her blob form in that bed. She looked so genuinely sick, and it hurt him to see her like that. As much as that blob form of hers was cute... no, no, he shouldn't think about that! If he couldn't say it to Mercury, he shouldn't think about it! Focus on the ship! The ship and its crew! He gave a deep exhale. Then he saw in the distance the Zebesian captain and one his subordinates. They looked almost identical, the main difference being that the captain was silver, and the subordinate was red. If he remembered correctly, red Zebesians were mostly used as common foot soldiers.

"You better hurry up, Tam." Meta whispered to himself; his thoughts now focused only on the upcoming fight.

He stepped forward, preparing himself for battle. He and the captain stared at each other, sizing each other up.

"I've never fought a Star Warrior before. I wonder if you'll live up to the rumors I've heard about your kind."

If it was his mentor, most definitely, but Meta honestly thought that he wouldn't be able to live up to it himself. Besides, he was just buying himself time for Tam to return.

"And your partner is a fox woman, huh? Haven't fought any of them in a long time. This will be interesting." The captain said, looking at Tam's clone.

The youth unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the captain to gain his attention. "Before we begin, there's something I'd like to ask. Why the two on two?"

He had a bad feeling about the answer.

The captain smirked. "That's simple really. The easiest way to destroy a ship is to destroy the captain. I kill you and the GranEssex is mine."

He should've expected something like that. As much as he wanted to say something like "You'd then have to fight my mentor for it.", he knew that it would just be brushed off.

"That makes sense, but why exactly two on two? Why not just fight me one on one? If you wanted to take over the ship so badly, wouldn't that be much easier?"

The captain laughed. "It makes things more interesting wouldn't you say?"

"I mean, it does."

But he also felt there was something suspicious about this.

"Enough of the jabbering already, I'm getting bored here."

Meta was surprised by the source of the voice. It was Tam's clone, which should have been impossible since it couldn't talk before. All it took was one quick wink from the "clone" for him to realize the real Tam was back. He gave a slight smile before turning to the pirates.

"We've been doing nothing but talking the past couple of minutes and I'm sure you are getting bored of it as well. So how about we start?"

The captain only continued to smirk.

"In a hurry to die, are you? Krasp, show no mercy." He said to his subordinate.

"Unfortunately for you, I don't plan on dying today." The youth thought as he readied his stance.

The fight began with Tam dashing at Krasp.

"Don't underestimate me, amateur!" He yelled in annoyance and shot a laser blast at her.

It connected but instead of Tam falling down or flinching as expected, she exploded into a cloud of smoke. The smoke obstructed Krasp's vision, causing him to look around frantically. Then he was grabbed from behind by a familiar figure.

"Don't YOU underestimate me, amateur~!" She said, following up with a suplex.

Tam then started to walk away when Krasp stood up.

"Where do you think you're going!? Our fight has only begun!"

The fox girl only tilted her head.

"Really? I was pretty sure it just finished." She said while pointing down at something.

Krasp's eyes followed her finger to see a grenade lying at his feet. As soon as he tried to run away, the grenade went off. The explosion wasn't enough to kill him, but it was enough to knock him out.

"Score one for us~!" Tam exclaimed before turning her attention towards Meta's fight. She had already decided to let him try to win on his own, but the moment it looked he was going to lose, she would step in.

The youth was, to be blunt, struggling with this opponent. Zeo's body was incredibly durable as none of his sword strikes could hurt him. He didn't even have a single scratch! On the flipside however, he was far faster than Zeo expected. A few of his claw swipes came close to hitting Meta, but none quite hit their mark.

"You're not too bad, Meta, but play time is over."

Zeo pointed both of his claws at the youth and opened them up.

"Zebesian beam!" He yelled, firing a gigantic laser beam at him.

There was no way he could dodge this! At least not with his feet. He focused most of his mana into his eyes and locked onto Zeo's location. Meta teleported behind Zeo in an instant and pointed his sword at the captain's back. Lightning began to cover the blade then suddenly the lightning burst forward towards the defenseless Zebesian. Zeo quickly turned around and blocked the lightning with his claw.

"Nice trick."

The captain extended his claw forward and grabbed Meta's sword, snapping it in half. He then smacked the youth with the back end of his claw, knocking him onto the ground.

"Game over, kid."

Zeo aimed his open claw at Meta, only for him to disappear again. Instead of teleporting behind Zeo like before, he was now above him. He then landed on his head and placed his hands on the sides of Zeo's face, shocking him with more electricity. This time, the captain screamed in pain and tried to rip the youth off his head, only for him to quickly jump off. After that, Meta quickly understood that Zeo's head was his weak spot and focused the rest of his mana into his fist, creating a small tornado around it. Meta lunged forward and delivered a devastating uppercut to Zeo's face, knocking him out momentarily. However, he still kept his guard up in case he would be attacked suddenly.

"Is he going to get up? Are his subordinates going to attack? Just wait and see..." He thought to himself, eyes still sharp and completely focused.

Zeo slowly stood back up, glaring at Meta while doing so.

"The fight is over Zeo. As per the rules of our fight, you must now do what I say."

Zeo just laughed bitterly while struggling to hold up a communication device.

"Deal's off, kid! Alright, boys, take flight and attack that ship!" He yelled.

"I'm confused. Wouldn't it be hard to attack with a ship that doesn't exist?" Tam playfully asked while pressing a button.

Soon there was a large explosion in the distance. It was obvious to everyone there that it was the pirate's spaceship.

"What the hell?! How did you-!?"

"Did you really think we wouldn't see something like this coming?" Meta asked.

Whether the pirates were dumbfounded at that statement or still over their ship being destroyed, he couldn't tell, but it was a pleasant feeling to know that he outsmarted a group as ferocious as this. He then felt Tam touch his shoulder.

"Here, captain, it's a stub grenade. Throw it and let's get out of here!" She spoke cheerfully. He nodded before giving it a hard toss. The grenade exploded, taking the shape of a large "V for Victory!" shape.

"Tam, do you customize all of your bombs like that?"

"Yup! Aren't they cute?"

"In a strange way, yes. Never mind that, come on let's hurry back to the ship."

"Roger that, captain!" She said as they sprinted back to the ship before the flash could run out.

---------

While walking back, Meta felt exhausted. While he only got hit once, he was pretty sure that single hit crushed a bit of his insides. It was only thanks to his pain tolerance training and adrenaline that he was able to keep moving and fighting. He would really need to thank Kurabe when she got back. I'm order to get his mind off his exhaustion, he decided to ask Tam a few questions as she used some of her magecraft to quickly heal his injuries.

"Tam, what made you pursue the path of illusions and explosions? Did you have a particular reason for it, or did they just come to you naturally like with my skills with the sword and lighting?"

"Illusions, I had a natural talent for already. The explosives are a different story."

This caught Meta's attention immediately. "Please, continue."

The fox gave an amused hum upon hearing that.

"Well, it started when I first began training with sensei. You see, back then I wasn't good at fighting up close and I especially wasn't good with weapons. Swords, axes, lances, it didn't matter. I was horrible with using all of them. So, sensei made it her duty to help think of a way to help me fight that wasn't just relying on illusions." Tam paused to make sure Meta was still listening.

He nodded, as if asking for her to continue.

"Then one day we were on a mission, I forgot what it was, but that's not the important part. During the mission, we were in a town that was having some type of festival. We didn't stay long but we were there long enough to see the fireworks, and I was completely enamored by them! Sensei noticed that I was, too, which gave her an idea. She said "Tam, how do you feel about explosions?" ..."

"And that's how you decided to master explosives?" Meta finished.

"Essentially. After that day we experimented with all sorts of explosions. Regular grenades, ice grenades, stun grenades, smoke bombs, landmines you name it! Not only were they fun to use and packed a punch, but they also worked well with my illusions. It was like a match made in heaven~!"

"Yeah, they work amazingly well together! I wonder if my sword skills will get that good when I use magic?"

"Of course, they will! But here's one piece of advice, Meta. Don't rely solely on the skills you're good that, because one day, you'll fight an opponent that will counter you perfectly. That's why I still insisted on learning CQC, even if I'm not as skilled at is as others. Learn to branch out is basically what I'm saying."

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I'll see if I can ask sensei to help me with that."

"Y'know Meta, you're quite skilled in the air." She then added.

"The air... I know sensei told me about some kind of flight ability we can get through copying."

"Oh, I believe I heard about that as well. The Wing Copy Ability, I think it's called. Well, if you master that, it'd be a first, since not even she's mastered it!"

Admittedly, the youth was a bit shocked to hear that.

"Something not even sensei has mastered? I see, then I definitely have to try and master it now!" Meta said, allowing his excitement to take over.

Tam only giggled at this.

---------

After thirty minutes of walking, they finally returned to the GranEssex, where a majority of the students were waiting for them.

"Acting captain and vice captain, I trust everything went well?" One of them asked.

"Yes, they shouldn't be bothering us for a while." Meta replied.

This comment caused a couple of the students that were initially against him to talk amongst themselves.

"I can't believe he actually did it." "Maybe we were wrong about him?" "His strength is definitely genuine."

Meta tried to hide is smile at this. Though, of course, there were two people with different opinions.

"Please! I bet he just made Tam do all the work!" Merrick said while sneering.

The youth slightly glared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you like me to defeat you in a duel once more?"

That shot him down immediately.

"For the record, Meta defeated the captain all by himself." Tam said in an unusually serious tone which caught everyone off guard. It was a tone of voice she only used when she told the truth, putting an end to all further debate about the subject.

"But if you still have your doubts and wish to fight me, be my guest. Otherwise, let's get ready for takeoff." Meta said.

Immediately, the students noticed there was something different about him. His words alone were enough to boost their morale and they wanted to follow him. In contrast, the youth himself seemed to be completely oblivious to this. As they all headed back inside, the youth was stopped by a Bukiset.

"Excuse me, Meta, but Vice Captain Mercury has requested your presence."

"M-Mercury has-!?" He uttered, slightly surprised. Then he nodded. "Ok, take me to her."

---------

Upon reaching the inside of Mercury's room, Meta noticed that she seemed to be feeling better than she did this morning, as she was able to transform back into her human form. Well... mostly, as she was only able to form the head and nothing else.

"Hello, Meta, I think I'm starting to get ahead of this illness." She said with a weak chuckle.

The youth himself gave a slight laugh. "I'm glad to hear that, Mercury. So, what do you want to talk about?"

"We were attacked by the space pirates, weren't we?" She asked cutting to the chase with a concerned look.

"Yes, we were. However, Tam and I already defeated them." He replied honestly.

"I figured, otherwise we wouldn't be talking right now. I'm sorry that you had to deal with so much on your first day as a captain, Meta. I should've been there to help you."

"I-it's alright, Mercury. Tam was very helpful, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be." He quickly replied.

"That much is true and I'm proud of what you did. I just wish I was able to see it for myself." She said with a smile.

Instantly, Meta felt his face become hot.

"Well... if you like, I can ask if I could take command another time..." He uttered, rubbing the back of his head.

Mercury laughed at that. "I don't have an issue with that. Good luck getting Kurabe to agree with that, though. You know how she makes sure to give everyone an equal opportunity for this job."

"Even if I mention that you'd like to see it?"

The woman-blob just smiled. "That has a twenty percent chance of working, Meta. The fact is we'll just have to wait for the next time you become a captain."

"Very well. Hopefully it won't be too soon, though." He replied with a slightly exhausted sigh.

"Now get going, captain. Don't want you getting sick too."

The youth nodded in reply.

"Alright. Get well soon, Mercury." He said before making his way to leave her room.

"One more thing, Meta." She said, immediately stopping him in his tracks. "You did good today."

Somehow his face became even hotter than before.

"Thank you, Mercury..." he then quickly exited the room without another word.

---------

After leaving the room, he quickly shut the door.

"So, how's your girlfriend?" A familiar voice asked.

"She's doing fine." Meta answered without registering what he was actually asked. His face then turned a dark crimson. "Tam!"

The fox girl gave a slight giggle. "Awww... how sweet of you to worry about her like that! Just be sure to not tell sensei about it!"

Meta just shot her a glare, though he quickly regained his composure. "Speaking of sensei, I hope we hear from her soon."

"We probably will soon. She said that she'll be back tomorrow morning at the latest."

He sighed at that. For the time being, it seemed like everything was still in his care. "Hopefully we don't run into more pirates. I doubt the strategy we used would work more than once."

"Yep, but we can handle it, right?"

"Of course. Assuming there's even an it to handle."

Tam gave a smile. "That's right! I'm sure all the space pirates are too terrified of the apprentice of Kurabe the Unkillable to attack right now!"

Meta smiled. "You're probably right. Come on, we should probably get back to the command room."

"Aye, aye, captain!" She chirped as she followed him.

---------

The next day, Meta received a call from Kurabe, detailing how her meeting went and that'd she be returning in an hour. That hour had already passed, and he was eagerly awaiting her return within the main command room.

"Should it take this long for her to get back...?" He mumbled under his breath.

"Normally it doesn't, but I ran into an asteroid belt. There was so many of them if felt like they were multiplying." A voice said from behind him.

He turned around to, of course, see that it was Kurabe.

"Sensei, you're finally back!"

His mentor smiled in response. "I assume there was no other problems while I was gone?"

"Outside of the pirate attacks, everything has gone smoothly."

"So, no issues with the other students?"

"Other than Merrick and Sheba, no."

"Figures." She sighed. "Those two will never graduate at this rate."

The youth then gave her a quizzical look. "Sensei, why don't you just kick them off the ship? They both do more harm than good and aren't really that helpful."

"That's simple, Meta. It's my principle to never turn away or give up on a student. So those two will continue being my students until they graduate or they themselves choose to leave."

The youth gave a slight pout. While he wanted to oppose it, he did know that it was his mentor's own decision and that was final. Besides, it would likely also be met with a phrase along the lines of "you'll understand it when you're older".

His mentor then exhaled deeply.

"Well, anyway, now that I'm back, I'll be taking command back. How about you go get some rest, Meta? You don't look like you slept well." She said, concern apparent in her voice.

Admittedly, the youth had been tired and achy since last night, but he thought that was merely because of the fight with the space pirates.

"I do? Because I feel f-fin-fine-AH-CHOO!"

With a doubtful look on her face, Kurabe put a hand on his forehead.

"Meta, please get some rest. You have a fever."

Meta just looked dumbfounded as he stared at his mentor. He didn't even spend that much time with Mercury! Regardless of how it happened Meta couldn't disagree with the fact that he's probably sick.

"Tell you what, Meta. If you want, I can make you some tea and soup. That should help you feel better." She then said.

"If you don't mind. I'll be heading to my room then." Meta said with a cough.

"Of course." His mentor gave a smile before patting his head. "Get well soon, my little knight."

"I wouldn't get so close to me right now if I were you, sensei. But thank you." He said with a weak smile before quietly returning to his room.

---------

-

-

Omake (Bonus)

Mercury: "Hello Meta, how are you feeling?"

Meta: "Much better. Where's sensei?"

Mercury: "Yeah... about that."

(GranEssex Captain's Cabin)

Kurabe: "ACHOO! Damn my rotten luck..."

-

Tam's Page on Toyhouse

Merrick and Sheba

[linn-94]

Chapter 11: Not so sure

I wasn't sure if he meant it as just a stage kiss, but I kissed him back. It felt amazing, it felt real! After a few seconds we parted from each other looking into each others eyes, breathing heavily.

Then we heard clapping and cheering from out of the house and in the wings. Back to reality we were.

I blushed because I realised that Aaron wasn't the only one anymore that heard me sing and those people clapping saw the kiss. Aaron took my hand, we walked to the front of the stage and bowed. Now I could see all the people who were clapping and cheering.

"That was amazing!" Ashley said.

She walked up to me and shook my hand.

"Hi, I'm Ashley, I play Satine in the show. But from what I just saw an heard you could take my place anytime."

"Aw thank you Ashley, that means so much to me. You are such an inspiration. I'm Sophie by the way." I said trying to be calm. Ricky walked up to Aaron and whispered something in his ear. Then he came to me and said: "That was so good Sophie!".

"Thanks Ricky!" I said.

Tam, Holly, Robyn, Jeigh and Danny also came to me to say how amazing it was and how good my voice sounded. Robyn also mentioned that Aaron and I had great chemistry going on. I blushed the whole conversation I had with them.

It was an hour before the show started and everyone went back to their dressingroom. I walked with Aaron to his. I sat down on his couch again and drank the rest of my coffee. Aaron was getting all his stuff ready for the show. It was quiet for a while. Both of us not knowing what to say until Aaron broke the silence.

"You were amazing out there Sophie. I didn't know you could sing like that!"

"That's really nice of you Aaron, thank you."

"No Soph really, you should do something with it!"

"Well yeah, maybe. I will think about it Aaron."

"I know there is some openings comming up for this show, maybe you can audition?"

"Aaron, I'm not good enough for Broadway.. it's not that I have experience in this business or something. I'm nowhere near as good as all the people on stage."

"You can always try.." Aaron said.

I looked at him, shaking my head. He looked disappointed, but I still thought I was right. I didn't study musical theatre or some other study all the people have on stage. I just had a pretty good voice, that's all.

Time went by and I looked through my phone. Melissa had send me a text back.

Melissa:

Why are you in Aarons dressingroom again?

Melissa:

Omg and you are not responding to my text.. what is going on there?

Melissa:

Soph! TELL ME!

I laughed. I saw that Melissa had send three texts. I decided to respond.

Sophie:

He invited me to the show tonight and asked if I could come early because he had a surprise. I will fill you in later.

Just when I was texting Melissa back I saw that Aaron got dressed. He just took his sweater of and there he was with his now naked upper body. I blushed and try to look away, but he saw in the mirror that I was looking at him.

"You like what you see there Wilson?" He asked.

"I.. I'm sorry Aaron I didn't mean to look." I said still blushing.

"It's okay, if I didn't want you to see it then I shouldn't get dressed right in front of you." He said smirking.

While he kept on getting himself ready for the show, I tried to look the other way. But that didn't work so sometimes I caught myself looking at him again.

Damn he looked fine! I couldn't believe my eyes.

After Aaron got dressed it was time for me to leave into the house of the theatre to see the show. Aaron gave me my ticket and told me to give to the ushers and they would tell me where to sit.

The place I had was amazing. It was on the left side of the theatre. At the end of the row. Then I realised it was the place where Aaron would walk by after the sign raise and before he got on stage with his other Bohemians. I was happy. I had a good view.

Before the show started Aaron had send me a text.

Aaron:

I had fun on stage with you, enjoy the show! X

I didn't reply his text. All I could do was smile. About everything that had happened today. As I said in my Instagram caption, it was a perfect day!

The music changed and the show started. Aaron walked across the stage and postioned himself for raising the sign. He looked out to the audience and when he reached me he smiled. Then he raised the sign.

When he walked of the stage he walked past me and winked. I was incredibely happy seeing him in this amazing show again. And knowing him a little bit better this time.

The first number went by very quick, because before I could realise Aaron, Ricky and Sahr ran past me for their bit in the number.

The rest of the show also went by very quick. Every moment Aaron had the chance he looked at me. It still was an amazing show. And now that I had met a few more castmembers it felt different to me. I was so proud of them!

Before I even knew it Ashley and Aaron were already singing Elephant Love Medley. Ashley looked my way a few times when she saw that Aaron looked my way. I knew she noticed something between me and him. I couldn't keep my eyes of off him.

When Ashley and Aaron kissed at the end of the song I was a little jealous. And it made me think of our kiss earlier. We both didn't say anything about it when we were in his dressingroom after it happend.

Did I imagine it being magical and not just a stage kiss?

[sapphire-strikes]

<Previous -First- Next>

~

"Boris..." You spoke calmly, waiting for his little spiel to end but he jumped at the sound of your voice.

"Oh, eh, yes?" He asked, his poorly hidden uncertainty still quite obvious thanks to the way he aggressively fidgeted with his hands despite the smile he tried to keep up.

"Can you untie me now, please?" You asked, and he seemed to shrink in on himself, his eyes darting to the door and further confirming your suspicion that something was going on outside. Before he had the chance to respond you decided to just ask him outright. "Is something going on out there."

"Hm? Out there? No no, nothing at all! I just think we can spend a little more time together is all!" Yep, something was going on and while you knew you wouldn't get a straight answer out of him, something inside of you was just bitter enough yet to not just play along.

"Why don't we spend time together somewhere else then? I'm free the rest of the day, and it is my birthday, after all, so I'm sure there's something else we could be doing."

"Tha... that is true, but-"

"Boris, untie me, please."

"Mmmmmm...." He hummed in frustration, his fidgeting only picking up its pace as he avoided eye contact.

"Boris, either tell me what's going on or untie me now." You stated it as if it were the ultimatum. "Boris..." You addressed him once more when you noticed the way he avoided looking at you.

"Mmmmm... please don't be mad!" He finally dropped to his knees at your side. "Just wait a little longer, that is all I ask, for me?" He clasped his hands together, looking at you with the most desperate expression. "I will untie you, but please wait in here.. If you go out now, it will ruin the-"

A large but distant thump sounded from outside the room and both of you flinched in surprise, turning your attention towards the door. Silence followed and in the moments you spent staring you didn't miss the way Boris' frown twitched downward with a knowing kind of panic.

"Oh no..." He stood up right away, freezing in place as he seemed to be deciding whether or not to keep talking to you or investigate the noise. "I..." His eyes shifted between yourself and the door and he jumped back and forth on his feet, finally choosing the door as he began shuffling backward towards it with his eyes still on you. "I will be right back!"

"Boris, don't you dare leave me here!"

"It will be just a minute, I promise." He clasped his hands together once more shaking them pleadingly at you as he continued to back away. "I will bring you back some water too! You must be thirsty right? Get you a snack maybe?" He seemed to be trying to cheer you up but your glare remained firm and he reached behind himself, gripped the knob, opened the door, and began to step out. "I am so sorry, Y/n, I will be back I promise!" And then he was gone.

Having nothing to kick, you pounded your foot to the ground in frustration, left alone in the near darkness. Of all the ways you'd planned on not celebrating your birthday, this certainly wasn't one of them.

You began to wonder how they all managed to be so eerily quiet after leaving the room because outside of that thud, you'd heard almost nothing else from outside. At least, not now anyway. If they had been making noise earlier you were probably too distracted to hear it. But sitting alone with nothing better to do had you dreading the quiet just a little when your own despondent sigh was the only thing to fill the silence.

At least Tim Tam seemed entertained.

'Wait...Tim Tam?!'

Your common sense finally caught up with that passing thought and you sat up in surprise. Tim Tam stood a few feet from where you sat, focused on something in the corner of the room.

"Tim Tam?!" You questioned and they turned their head, at least acknowledging your voice before looking back to whatever they were so interested in. "Where did you come from?!" You asked, not that you expected an answer. Looking around the room, you wondered if there was maybe a window or something they had crawled through to get inside, or perhaps they had simply slipped past Boris when he left. Either way, they were here somehow and probably without anyone's knowledge.

You also noticed that the thing that had caught their attention just so happened to be your balloon turtle sitting atop the small table over in the corner. They stood on their tippy-toes, hands gripping the edge of the table as they peered up over it. You watched them for a moment, deciding to speak up again when you saw them reach for it.

"What are you doing?" You asked, and they stopped in place, looking back at you with their arm still outstretched.

"...turtle."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A: "Sorry, that one's mine. Leave it there, please."

B: "You like it?" (Make a deal)

C: *Remain silent*

D: ~Custom response~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[msmaple]

Of Stranger Things, Spielberg and King

On the tip from the Duffer brothers, explaining the homages from Stranger Things, I’ve dived into Stephen King’s books and films of the 80s. (Duffers, by the way, are very relatable - in fact, the whole video boils down to exclamations about “Oh, it was our favorite movie in childhood!”, “Wow, this one is also favorite!”, “And this is our favorite, and that one too!” Wonderful people.) I’ve seen all three seasons of Stranger Things just this summer, so I couldn't help but compare. The fact is that: while critics complained about the shameless manipulation of nostalgic spectators three years ago, I sat in complete admiration of neophyte, who knew absolutely nothing about the American 80s pop culture. What was conceived by the creators themselves as a giant collage of plots and images from their childhood (with partial rethinking), was a completely new experience for me. Well, almost, because the images and plots were recognisable, as many of them originated much earlier than 80s. Aesthetics — primarily music and visual style — are definitely from the 80s, but you can argue with the rest.

* * *

Among the ancient plots is the one that formed the basis of all three seasons — the fairy tale of a missing/enchanted child. In the first two seasons, it's poor Will (who, as a result, still remained a real child), in the third it's Billy. Usually in fairy tales the Bespelled one is a princess or a girl, but in Stranger Things the trope was inverted, as in the ballad Tam Lin (which has been retold in recent years so many times I've lost my count). The most interesting is the situation of Unspeller, because there are not one or two, but a whole group of them in the series. First of all, it’s El, but there are also Joyce, Jonathan, Mike and even Nancy. They all try to removing the “spell” in the second season, for example (a beautiful scene in the barn). In the third season, Billy turns out to be “enchanted”, and he runs into what he himself has done — no one can unspell him to the very end, because he wasn't close enough to anyone. Only when Eleven gets his most important memories, he gets his chance, but it is too late. I wonder if the Duffers will continue to play with this trope? And who will be the next victim of the "spell"? Eleven would be an interesting option.

* * *

Well, of course, the 80s were a great source of inspiration for the Duffer brothers, and I like the way they cause a clash between Steven Spielberg’s sense of miracle and Stephen King's cruelty of the real world and then mixed it all with the modern crisis. Actually, this collision itself is perfectly conveyed in one scene of the first season — when the children run away from their pursuers on bicycles. Visually, this is a homage to Spielberg, but stylistically, of course, to King. Spielberg is pursuing a romantic tone, so the children in E.T. don't just run away from their pursuers, they fly up right into the sky. But in Stranger Things the scene has a much darker shape and represents chthonic power and monstrosity of the main conflict. Spielberg doesn't have a defined evil in most of his films in contrast to King. In his books Evil takes on a very definite form, and although this Evil is chthonic, otherworldly, it always comes into our world, responding to the call of ordinary people and resonating with their thoughts. The Evil in It isn't just Pennywise, it's the city of Derry itself; likewise, the Evil in Stranger Things is not so much the demogorgon as the inhuman scientists pursuing Eleven. And Eleven responds in the only way that these people would understand — she turns over the oncoming van, almost certainly killing everyone who is there. Someone else was surprised by the following terrible scene at school? I was definitely not. Oh, hi, Firestarter, long time no see.

* * *

It's funny that I found a Spielberg point of view not in homages (which mood is often the opposite of the original, by the way), but in the storyline of Eleven from the first season. At the very beginning she is just a child without identity and even without a name. Unknowingly (and because she has no formed social taboos) she violates the laws of the world and incurs its anger. Eleven fights not only with the inside monster, but also with the perception of herself as a monster. Moreover, she calls herself a monster, and only friends help her not to dissolve into the monstrosity. They give her the first anchor — her name is Eleven, she is their friend, and she saved their life. All this reminded me of Spielberg’s film, not from the 80s, but from the 2000s, Catch me if you can: a boy with an unformed identity goes on a trip, violates the taboos of the outside world, incurs its anger and becomes a monster in the eyes of his own and the others, until a friend helps him find a new identity. And yes, of course, the same plotline lies at the basis of several Stephen King's books, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, a number of novels by Diana Wynne Jones, Neon Genesis Evangelion by Hideaki Anno (only in this one the monstrosity of the child wins) and so on — apparently, this plot is the one about the prodigal son, and it goes back deep into the past.

* * *

The most interesting thing is that Stranger Things doesn't really look like a nostalgic Amblinesque film. This term goes back to the name of the Steven Spielberg's studio Amblin, that shot films in the style of E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. But although Stranger Things carefully lays out the Amblinesque background, at the same time the Duffer brothers stir things up. Here, look, they say, there is the image of an ideal family! But that's the Wheelers, and they're a long way from ideal. Here, media-can-save-the-world! But we get the diluted truth and the newspaper misogynists. Here, there's a beautiful new mall for shopping! But the town is dying because of unemployment. I am not saying that these are particularly deep or original thoughts, but they could not exist in the Amblin world. Stranger Things is Amblin knocked off by Stephen King and the beginning of the 21st century. If that's a nostalgia, then I am a rhino.

* * *

Somewhere here should be one of my favorite Stephen King’s Danse Macabre quotes, why horror stories are so simple and so necessary: ​​I've tried to suggest throughout this book that the horror story, beneath its fangs and fright wig, is really as conservative as an Illinois Republican in a three-piece pinstriped suit; that its main purpose is to reaffirm the virtues of the norm by showing us what awful things happen to people who venture into taboo lands. Within the framework of most horror tales we find a moral code so strong it would make a Puritan smile. The horror story most generally not only stands foursquare for the Ten Commandments, it blows them up to tabloid size. We have the comforting knowledge when the lights go down in the theater or when we open the book that the evildoers will almost certainly be punished, and measure will be returned for measure.

In this regard the Duffer brothers are also agents of the norm, that's why Stranger Things has such a pronounced dichotomy of good and evil. It's nice that some nuances come on top, but there's also a quite unambiguous assessment of every moral decision. The horrors of Stephen King and the horrors of Stranger Things have one more thing in common — they are extremely comfortable because they set the rules. It is a very comforting feeling to know what is good and what is bad. You will have your time to rock the boat, King and the Duffers say. Right now let's get it steady and fine. I’m still quite sure that King writes for children, like Rowling, but adults like to wrap themselves in a horror blanket and get their cup of morality too.

* * *

But that’s all not what I love Stranger Things for, of course. The Duffer brothers and their team are great storytellers, and that's a fact. Even if this story is simple and unpretentious, it is oh-so-beautiful because of the way it is told. James Cameron and Steven Spielberg discussed Stranger Things in Story of Science Fiction and told everything that should be told about that:

I think we’re all influenced by the stories that came before us, going back thousands of years, by myths, legends, fairy tales. I think the worst films just refer to other movies. The best films somehow connect you to something that you’ve actually experienced. Yes. Well, Stranger Things has done that very well. Yeah. It touches on a lot of the movies that you and I and others have made, but it does it brilliantly. It’s an amalgam of genres, but all having to do with one thing. And that is, you love these kids. And you don’t want anything bad to happen to them. And Stranger Things, for all of its brilliant imaginings, is about that characters.