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cartoonfangirl1218 · 3 years

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Winner’s Curse Ch. 21

I’m back and the story’s back! Hope you enjoy. It’s the final countdown. Only 9 more chapters to go. Enjoy!

“I can’t believe you’re actually going through with this!” Calix hissed once his mother walked through the door.

Circe hastily finished closing the door, taking extra care to double check the locks on the marble doorway, though Calix suspected that was more for the sake of gathering her thoughts together than caution. As suspicious and paranoid villains could be, Coven members rarely tried to intrude in each other’s rooms or meddle in their business. Probably an ego thing, thinking the doings of others were beneath them.

Not that this was important to Calix right now.

They were on crunch time. In a week, less than a week considering the sun was already setting today, the Coven would invade Auradon. Wrecking long-awaited vengeance, and chaos on Auradonians. Auradonians, who, if we’re being honest, were too sheltered and pampered to know how to slap much less defend themselves. There would be blood if they didn’t stop it.

And his mom, his mom who never tried to drag people to “the other side” or cared who was the fairest, who was not vying to be the baddest of them all, was still going along with this.

“Calix, I told you, there’s no other option.” Circe faced him, elegantly strutting toward the nearest ottoman where she could talk to him face to face. Just like the old times, when she would give him romance advice or assure him he would not die from alcohol poisoning, but that’s what he got for trying to drink Bacchus under the table.

Only instead of maternal advice, the son was the one trying to steer his mother away from murder.

“Yes, there is an option.” Calix stressed the last words, mangling the velvet cushions under his grip. The only thing keeping him from taking one of the many statues of muscled Greek heroes and throwing it against the walls in frustration.

“You still have the option to do the right thing. Join us. King Ben will grant full pardon for being part of the original Coven. You’ll be considered a hero.”

“Hmph! You’re right. If I reformed, then they’ll completely forget my crimes.” Circe said sarcastically.

“Oh right, I did do that! I stopped turning men, idiots really, into animals. I found love, I raised a son, made a business and they still sent me here! I’m sorry but there’s no right option.” Circe’s face lost her bitter scowl for a moment, returning to the maternal gesture reserved for him. One that conveyed comfort but also firmness, “Not for me. Life’s just not fair.”

“But Mom….” Calix whined, cringing at how childish it was but also feeling the pit in his stomach grow. He felt helpless. He’d always been able to get his Mom to see his point of view. But that had been in small disputes like whether he should be allowed to go to Orpheus’ concert on a school night or not grounding him for fighting with one of his cousins and punching him in the face. Minor things really.

None of them dealing with Circe’s values or worldview or any of her decisions.

This time he was trying to fight her on something she actually cared about. And gods, he was losing. Or maybe his mom was as stubborn as Minos and he simply hadn’t noticed it before.

Either one boded badly for his friends.

“I’m sorry, koukla. Honestly I wished I had you before the Great Uniting. You would have been there during the fires and earthquakes and all that. The “Life’s not fair” wouldn’t be so surprising.” Circe gripped his hand, rubbing her fingers lovingly. But it was only jarring for Calix. It was like some surreal, sick joke that his Mom was acting like their disagreement was over a menial thing and not life or death. Good and Evil.

So Calix snatched his hand from his Mom’s grasp and squared his shoulders. Time to get tough because clearly he couldn’t rely on motherly love to just do what he wanted. He’d have to be rational. Play to her sense of self, and what she would get out of this.

“Athena help me.” He prayed.

“I know life is not fair already, Mom. You think I didn’t realize that when they shipped you here. Life is not fair. But what I don’t get is that you won’t consider leaving the Coven. You’re not like them, you don’t want to kill anyone.”

“No,” Circe sighed in admittence, slumping and conceding to him. A little bit but it was something. “I just want to turn King Adam into that Beast form he hates so much. Wait, no, no. A slug. If he becomes a beast, he has too much power to fight back.”

Calix stood up and began to pace around the room, tapping his chin as if in thought that he’d seen Socretes do during his lectures before zinging a student with some philosophical epiphany, “Really? You’re sticking with them, murderers and tyrannical narcissists for petty revenge.”

“Not petty! I’ve always been a reasonable person!” Circe yelled, selectively forgetitng the many exes she transformed because she got bored with them, “He is punishing me for my past mistakes. This damn Isle is “consequences for my actions.” Bastard! I’m giving him consequences for his actions, he’s going to be a slug!”

Calix nodded as if he understood how his Mom felt. Which he had at one point. But now, he was tired and slightly bruised and again, so so tired. He wanted this to be over. The mission. The spying on the Coven. This stupid repetitive fight.

“Mom, you’re not like them. We both know that. But other people don’t. Auradon will only remember you as one of the many evil Coven members. Not a reformed sorceress injustly sent here, trying to get back to her-”

His mom looked at him, a rush of emotions crossing her face in an instant. Understanding, thoughtfulness, concern, anger, resolve and firmness. “Enough, Calix, I made up my mind. I have nothing left. With the Coven, I get some sweet revenge. What do I get if I reform? A pardon while that hypocritical King Adam waits for a new mob requesting for “villains” to get shipped.”

Firmness and resolve were flush on her face. Firmness and resolve to stick with the Coven.

Calix breathed deeply, feeling an unwanted lump gather in his throat as he listened to his mom make possibly the biggest mistake of their lives.

And worse, that she felt she had to do this because she had nothing left.

Was he not there? He was something… someone who desperately wanted her back home. He wanted her so badly that his chest ached as another weight settled there. Couldn’t she see that? This mission, this seriousness and emotional honesty that he usually avoided most of his life, he was doing this because he wanted her back.

And she thought she had nothing.

He couldn’t hide the emotion in his voice though he did his best. “You have nothing left if you choose to help the good? You’d get to live in Greece again. With me, your son. But I guess I’m not worth… I’m not-you know, since you have “nothing left.”

He turn to walk out the room, barely remembering to walk out the room was to be exposed in the hallway for any of the Coven to jeer and question him. Who already distrusted his surprise presence. So he swerved onto the right where the mosaic of Hermes’ cadacus was like an arrow to the private bathroom. Not better but he wanted to be alone.

He breathed in the faint wisp of steam that pervaded the room. His mom’s paltry attempt to make the closet-sized space echo the bathhouses at home. It had the faint hint of rotten bananas, another reminder of the poverty and dirt of the Isle that everyone wanted to get away from.

He sat on the toilet, hugging his knees to his chest like he had when he was a little and peering through the keyhole at one of his mom’s parties. It was a perfect position for how he felt, like a little boy who could do nothing to change his world. Just stare through the keyhole in relative safety and wait to see what would happen next.

He was hidden and alone.

So alone as he could hear his mom’s footsteps as she walked, he could see a pause outside the door from the shadow that peeked from the floor. But she didn’t knock. She walked away, walked away to the other door into the hallway to do who knows what with the Coven.

Damn his mom with her ideas of being a cool free range parent. For once, he actually wanted one of those Auradon helicopter moms he heard about. Like FG, constantly getting into his business and not letting arguments go.

Could his mom not see the big picture?

While she was storming King Adam’s castle for her damn revenge, the rest of the Coven would be destroying the kingdom. People wouldn’t just get transformed into animals. Hades, that would be a blessing. People would get killed.

And how could she forget him? He was willing to fight for their mission, he knew that he would have to when he agreed to join Jordan, but did his Mom not realize if the Coven took over, they’d mark him for dead. They’d go behind her back and her claims of “protection” to make sure he wouldn’t start any rebellions like he was doing now.

He glanced around the small room, desperate for something to numbly occupy his mind before he thought about something darker. His eyes landed on the cabinet.

Any Greek worth their sandals would carry some ouzo in their homes, and since he hadn’t since a wine rack in his mom’s museum-like room…...

Sweet Nike! There was a whole shelf of shot glasses with ouzo already poured into them. Circe must have needed it to deal with living in this dump and all the villains around her.

If there was anything that would help him with the awful weight on his chest, it would be this.

He lifted one shot glass to his lips and drank, relishing the sweet burning liqued that went down his throat as smoothly as a waterfall.

Then he took another glass, and he was about to reach for the third when a small, quiet voice reminded him that there was still a mission at stake. He had to report back to Uma and the others and give them the bad news that his mom would definitely not be helping them.

Normally, that reminder would have sent him to gulping down four more drinks but this time it stilled his hand.

Like he told his mother, there was a bigger picture at stake than just her revenge. There were bigger things at stake than his own feelings of sadness. He slowly closed the cabinet, leaning his head against the cool mirror. He tried to do the deep breathing and focus.

This was hard. Gods, it was hard, he had known that going in.

And okay, maybe he’d known that but hadn’t believed it until this moment.

He had thought it would be fun, just like another one of those adventures or a fairytale.

Auradon was built on fairytales and he had thought there would take the requisite two or three days, they fight a dragon or two and then they’d go home in victory and as a family.

But it’d been a month, they found out the villain’s grand plan but had no way to solve it and now, he was having personal issues with his mom.

This would be a good time for what Jordan dubbed, a deus ex machine or just in time denouncement.

“Life’s not fair.” That’s what his Mom said. Not just now, but several times. When his dad died, speared by an Arendellan fisherman’s net. Yet another thing Circe despised King Adam for, because those fishermen came from the King’s initiative for kingdoms to share their resources.

The Arendellans hadn’t been properly vetted, or simply hadn’t paid attention to the orientation that not all sirens were trying to siren-song them to their deaths. That some simply lounge around the oceans because it was literally their home.

He had learned that after he experienced his first time being dumped last year. Which honestly had been more of a shock than a devastation but still.

His mom being sent away had been the worst by far. This coming in a close second.

But in all the times, he learned that life was not fair. He also learned to deal with it and try to keep moving with his life. At one point there had been nothing he would have liked more to have stormed the castle and changed all the suspicious mobs into mice. That’s why he made friends with Morgaine Le Fey. She was the only one who understood the anger and pain he felt, and it felt good to share his revenge fantasies.

But that’s all they were. Fantasies. Rationally, he knew that would only prove their fears right.

Calix learned to adjust his attitude a bit after his mom left, trying his best to stay out of trouble now that his mother wouldn’t be able to bail him out of the dungeon. Also he was more aware of how people viewed him in light of his siren-sorcerer heritage. Where once he played up his casanova flirtatiousness, now he tried to moderate himself.

And he had been fine.

Part of his outgoingness was a purposefully middle finger to the Auradonian Magic Ban. He played up all the things the royals hated like awesome kinky sex, and lavish magic acts because what else could he do? He had no reason to go to a fancy school with the preppy royals. But he also couldn’t pursue a normal job since the magic that was part of him was forbidden.

So there was nothing to do but get into the dungeons a lot.

But in trying to curb himself into something more “acceptable,” it was annoying but also nice?

Sure, he had resented it at first, but it was also nice?

Not trying so hard to be so unflappable, to have a pick up line for every man and woman. Stop trying to hide the fact that occasionally he wanted to act like that romantic prince archtype who wrote poems and made sculptures for their beloved because sirens didn’t do that. To hide that he could be serious, that his feelings got hurt when someone, usually a satyr because satyrs are cranky assholes, crossed a line. Maybe it was adapting, maybe he was growing up?

He didn’t know, but he lifted his head from the mirror and the twitch in his hands to reach for another shotglass was gone.

It was time to man up and be serious. It sucked that his mom wasn’t going to help, but he still had a job to do to save Aurado. After all, maybe if they saved the Coven, KIng Ben would allow his mom back as a favor. Jordan was always saying he was a sweet pushover. Yeah, there was still a chance he could get his mom off the Isle. And then-

“Hey, Cal, how are you doing?” A warm breeze ruffled his hair in a show of pink smoke and there was Jordan leaning her chin in the crook of her neck like the most annoying yet heartstopping ghost ever.

Calix choked back a scream, losing his balance at the sight of another person in front of the mirror. This fall resulted in Calix hitting his head several times against the door in his ungraceful slide down the wall.

Probably looking more like a scandelized royal than a put together teenager with his hand clutching his heart, Calix gasped for his pulse to go back to normal.

“Fucking genies! Jordan, I told you, warn me before you pop up. Remember, you had that whole lesson about the importance of knocking before entering? It’s the same thing, I almost had a fucking heart attack!”

Jordan didn’t care, she simply raised an accusatory eyebrow, “Are you drinking?”

How the fuck did she always know that? Calix was sincerely starting to suspect that she planted a magic tracer on him. The number of times she popped when he was having a drink was too coincenidental. Or maybe he just drank all the time?

Whatever, it didn’t matter. He was a new, mature Calix now.

“Just a shot-” Calix held up a hand before Jordan could interrupt him, “Just a shot. But I stopped because we have bigger things to worry about like how my mom isn’t on our side.” Jordan slid down to sit next to him, “You stopped because I came in time, admit it.”

Calix rolled his eyes, “No, it wasn’t that. I stopped but I listened to the Jiminy Cricket that I finally released from the dungeons of my brain.”

Jordan put a hand on his, the serious anxious look that had become her normal expression the past month returned, “Calix, I know this thing with your mom is hard, but now is not the time to fall apart. Things will get better, I don’t know how, but I need you to promise me not to touch alcohol.”

Calix stared at Jordan, realizing that this wasn’t one of their usual banters. She really thought he was going to go on a binge, right at this moment.

Yes, Calix had done that before. The days after his father’s death for instance and his mom’s absence. But he hadn’t been on an high stakes mission then. It was just himself and his grief.

But to binge drink, when someone was depending on him. Never. She knew that. When they had a night on the town with Aziz, he had been the sober one. He refused the drinks his way because someone had to be the designated carpet flyer. And filmer of embarrassing drunken antics.

Though Jordan may have been too drunk to notice herself, his self-imposed maturity.

But did she really think that he’d fall apart at this moment when he managed to keep himself together for the past seven months. For the 4 weeks on this hellish Isle?

“Jordan, I am not on a bender.” Calix enunciated each word carefully, staring her straight in the eye so she could he was serious. A bit of an intimidating feat if Calix was being honest with himself. Not because it was Jordan, but because… well the only one he was serious or honest was with his mom. But there was a first time for everything.

“I am not drinking on this mission. The shot was a lapse but I know I’m on a bigger mission right now, so I stopped.” “But you never-”

“I used to. But I have matured. We all have matured if you haven’t noticed. The usual doesn’t apply here, so I promise you, I’m not going to drink my sorrows away. There is too much at stake.”

Jordan looked a bit freaked out by his proclamation because she was staring at him all wide-eyed, “But-are you sure? I don’t think you’re capable of-”

Calix clenched his jaw and glared. It was one thing for himself to be surprised at his maturity but it was kind of insulting that it was so hard for his best friend to comprehend. That apparently she thought he was “incapable” of change.

“Yes, I am. So are you going to insult me some more or would you like to carry on with important things like how are we going to pull this off without my mom’s extra power?”

Jordan closed her mouth, satisfactorily chastened. And then in another milestone of their first emotional talk, Jordan muttered under her breath, “Sorry.”

Eh, not really meaningful but it was enough.

“It’s fine.” Calix nudged her shoulder with his to show their was no real hard feelings.

Jordan didn’t look at him but leaned her head on his shoulder, “I’ve been messing up so much lately.”

Calix pursed his lips, not trusting himself to not say something that would send her in a mood. He’d seen her being all moody and mopy the last few days though he didn’t know the exact reason. She was probably regretting giving the leadership position to Uma (drunken decisions are rarely ones you enjoy the consequences of) but Calix thought she made a good choice. Uma was a bit stern and intimidating, but she knew she was doing and was more effective than Jordan could ever be.

He also sensed the tension between her and Aziz. Especially since that meant she was hanging around him more. Usually he wouldn’t mind that, but this was hanging out with an ulterior motive and he wasn’t going to get in the middle of whatever Agrabah sandstorm that was between them.

“Hey, you still have me. Besides, now we’re having that alone time talk that the heroes and sidekicks or the love interests have before they save the day. We can check that off our adventure list.” Jordan lifted her head from his shoulder to stare at him incredulously, “Wait whose the sidekick in the scenario?”

“You are, obviously! You’re the genie.” Calix said.

“Wha-but but-why can’t we be love interests?” Jordan protested. “We’re already friends with benefits. It’s too late for us.” Calix answered. “Well, I-”

There was a knock on the door, and a tentative, “Calix?” “I‘ll leave you to it, Uma says to report at 4 sharp.” Jordan whispered, and poofed away.

Calix opened the door, feeling more calm, “Yes, Mom?” Calix was swept into the warm arms of his mom, the smell of sea salt and roses sweeping over him as she hugged him tighter. Firm, steady, like she wasn’t going to let him go.

But she did, holding onto his shoulders, “I’m sorry, Calix. You’re right.”

“I am?” Calix asked, almost hitting himself in the head for questioning it instead of just celebrating.

“Yes, you’re right. I went to another meeting and I listened. I actually listened instead of envisioning what I would do with Beast.. And.. it’s stupid to say this. But they’re evil. Actually evil. It’s not just a “cross the border and destroy everything in sight” plan. They- they’re actually thorough. Mother Gothel and Evil Queen are using sorcery and the dwarf tunnels to get through to the castle. Nerissa and Maleficent are going to go in double dragon form and burn down the castle and corner the royal children in the basement. It’s just-I- I can’t ally myself with them.”

Circe’s eyes brimmed, “Especially when I have a son… I do want to come back to you. My revenge shouldn’t be before you.”

Calix nodded, pulling his mom in for another hug because gods knew they haven’t done this in a long time.

Now they had to report to the captain.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “Any idea where that wench is now?” Harry snarled, slamming down a glass of rum so roughly that CJ could hear the crack of glass as well see as the spider-cracks on its side from her position behind the window curtains.

It was a cliche spot. So obvious that no one would think to look there, and that’s why CJ chose it.

After all, a true pirate and a true villain had to keep track of her competition.

After last night’s, in CJ’s opinion, humiliating talk with the mini Ak Coven or whatever they called themselves, it was clear that Lady Caine was not going to honor her word.

Well… Lady Caine hadn’t said that they wouldn’t use her plan to take over the Jolly Roger, in fact she had asked for CJ’s plan outlines, but…

CJ bristled at the way Caine had shoved her aside and wouldn’t let her speak in front of the group. As if she was an afterthought. A kiddie tagalong.

It was too familiar a feeling. It was like she was one of the Hook siblings again. The youngest one, the baby trying to play an adult’s game.

And after all she’d done, getting to Auradon on her own before Harriet or Harry, going to Neverland to retrieve James Hook’s compass, stealing and plundering across the Seven Seas…. Everyone still didn’t see her as a pirate in her own right.

By Davy Jones’ locker that was all going to change even if that was that was the last thing she did! Screw Lady Caine, supposed mother or not, she didn’t need anyone’s assistance. She didn’t want to be part of Lady Caine’s revenge on Beast plan.

All she wanted was to be on her ship, on her own with her infamy riding the waves.

She was going to plunder the Jolly Roger by herself.

So she snuck out of Hans and Staylan’s castle… Actually, disappointingly enough to CJ’s sense of showmanship, it was more like she walked out of the castle since no one cared where she went anyway.

And now she hid out in Captain Hook’s office behind the curtains in hopes of hearing of any plans or information that would be helpful to CJ’s future theft.

Unfortunately Hook was not the one using the office. Apparently he was blacked out in his bedroom.

Harriet and Harry were the ones in charge of Hook’s office. Harriet being the heir to the Jolly Roger.

CJ grinded her teeth, a stupid childhood habit that she thought she had outgrown. Along with her more obsessive pacing, a Hook trademark with their fear of ticking crocodiles. CJ bit her lip instead trying to curb her instincts but teh word “heir” just irritated her to no end.

Why should Harriet be the heir? Seriously!?!

Her sister was tough. One of the baddest, most intimidating Vks with her scarred eye, tattered eyepatch and half shaved head. Not to mention the numerous kraken-inspired tattoos running down her arms and neck. Yeah, she looked the part of a seafaring pirate.

But she didn’t do anything worth the name of piracy.

She inherited the crew from Captain Hook, an easy feat since they were spineless swabs, brainless and obedient.

They were sidekicks whose idiocy often hindered their looting runs than helped. Much like Smee was the clueless thorn that ruined most of Hook’s plans.

Besides, everyone knew that things stolen on the Isle were useless and valueless. The biggest treasure chest that Harriet ever stole was one of Captain Hook’s old buried treasures. The coins rusted over or chewed by sea mammals.

A rotting bone would have been more bright and shiny than that treasure.

And Harry….

Harry never bothered to fight for himself. He lowered the Hook name by acting as a little enforcer and first mate to that sea witch, Uma.

CJ couldn’t believe she once idolized them.

“Dun know. Don’t care.” Harriet rasped, wiping her lips, and rolling her eyes in that bored babysitter way that CJ and Harry seen their whole lives.

Harriet was a pirate without ambition. Yet another reason why she, Calista Jane Hook, should be the famous Hook of them all.

“The welp is scheming against us, how can you not care?” Harry growled

“Because it is just another game to her. She’ll get bored with the ship and go off again. You knwo her, obsesses with one thing and moves on. It doesn’t matter.”

CJ clenched her fist, her grinding teeth sounding obnoxiously loud in her head. Another game. Moves on. It doesn’t matter. She doesn’t matter.

She was still a kid to them. How can they not see how serious she was? Why couldn’t they once admit that she was a good pirate.

Why couldn’t they do that?

She knew they were capable of it. When they were younger, they didn’t hold to their Dad’s value that you couldnt say a nice thing about anyone but yourself. Or a particularly gorgeous jewel.

But they didn’t dismiss her like Dad. They acknowledged her quick thinking and even quicker fingers. Her strength in swinging on ropes for her piraty entrances.

Why couldn’t they do that now? It’s like they and the rest of the world grew up, but they didn’t think she did. She was still an inconsequential child. She didn’t matter.

And a thought… dark and unwelcome like the girl’s shadow creatures entered her mind.

Freddie’s warm, sultry smile and bright eyes looking at her with unbidden delight. The kind of smile that made CJ forget about the fresh sweet smell of sea kelp calling to her or golden treasures blinding her eyes. The smile that made her want to fall into Freddie’s dark spell and nimble fingers until she forgot what light was.

The same, curving lips telling her that she wasn’t worth it. That Freddie would rather stay in Auradon than sail the seas with her. That she’d rather change herself so she could be a goody goodie among the luxuries of Auradon than be with her. That’d she’d rather be like Mal and those other traitors than be with her.

Cj bit her lip harder, trying to find one thought any thought that would distract her from the memory that was threatening to make her sink to her knees.

Freddie Faciliar, for all that CJ tried to distance herself from the shadow girl, relegating her to sidekick, to simply a best friend and occasional lover… Freddie was one treasurer she had had that she loved most of all.

And even Freddie rejected her.

What was it? With all her skills and ambition that no one would take her seriously? That no one respected or wanted her enough to listen.

Freddie’s green eyes flashed once more in her mind, fading and fading much like Freddie herself from CJ’s life.

No one wanted to stay with her.

CJ grinded her teeth again, a small spark of pride and fury flaring up in her despite the limited amount of movement she could without being caught. Anger was better than weakness or sadness. She had to focus on that.

Her time would come.

The day of the invasion, when everyone was distracted, she would take her rightful place alongside Ching Shih and Captain Hook as a pirate for the history books.

She would take that sword mounted on Captain Hook’s wall and use it for herself. She’d make this brainless, spineless crew walk the plank. She’d cut the ropes and sail through the barrier.

She’d kill anyone who got in her way.

And if that person was her sibling, so be it. Then they’d take her seriously.

After all, a pirate needed to be ruthless and backstabbing to be the best.

Because that was who she was. The best pirate the Isle and Auradon had ever seen.

#calix #circe #disney descendants #winner’s curse #chapter twenty one #cj hook #harriet hook #harry hook #my fanfic #my fanfiction #ocs

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imagine-fight-write · 4 years

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RANDOM - Banana Fish Review, Vol. 1, Part Four

(This was one of my fav gifs looking for gifs of Shorter.)

*There will be pictures/gifs included tomorrow, because this is already late & loading them is taking forever, for some reason.

Haha, no, I actually prettied it up 1/5/21. Yes, I’m glorious.

No I’m actually Dio DIO in this situation, who am I kidding.

(This transition from Caesar to Dio fascinates me, by the way.) (The GIF.)

The JOJO reference is because I’ve finally finished Diamond is Unbreakable! It was fun! I enjoyed it a lot! Ready for the next part!

But back to Banana Fish.

Hope you enjoy this!

So my plans failed again. Who is surprised? (Not me.)

I apologize profusely for the gaping void of Banana Fish-ness left since last I posted.

No really. I now have an alarm set for every Wednesday.

Let’s see how this goes. News Update: Maybe next time.

Also, my internet is still blitzy & rotten, otherwise I would’ve posted this yesterday (the 15th).

Now on to the in-depth, delighted gushing - er, review, of Banana Fish!

*Also, this is part 4, and 4 is a special number for me. Because of this guy:

And I can spell his name correctly!!! (It’s Ulquiorra, from Bleach, my 1st anime fan gushing love.)

Yes, I’m strange. Moving on.

So, brief recap, since I’m not sure anyone has read Part 3, given how terrifyingly long it is. If you missed it, here’s the link:

https://imagine-fight-write.tumblr.com/post/632014616404344832/random-banana-fish-review-vol-1-part-3-my

Please love & like it & repost to the rest of the Web. I worked tremendously hard on it.

Yes it’s long, but oh, it was delightful! There was snark! Delicious food! Wine! Fabulous mustaches! Mysteries! I gushed so much!

(And snarled at the wonton waste of good breakfast food, which I will not forget & always condemn.)

*I mean, I know people who will throw up if they have breakfast in the morning. But it’s important to eat so you have energy to do things & feel good.

And Dino took a perfectly beautiful breakfast & essentially wasted it for no good reason. I was so mad.

We meet Dino Golzine, a.k.a., Ash’s worst nemesis /enemy (note, I can’t spell nemesis) and major reason for why his life sucks.

(Although society doesn’t help either. Though the police try. They really do. Except what’s his face who’s complete scum & thoughtless, but we won’t meet him til Vol. 2. Plus I don’t think he has a name?)

But yes, Dino Golzine. All around awful person, and not safe around children (or anyone, really.) He’s low-key in this scene, mostly using verbal assaults (to great effect) but just you wait. There’s a reason he’s a mob boss.

Ash snarks, to great effect, but he’s no match. Dino has all the cards and all the dice (cards & dice being metaphors for power, & how he involves awful, painful memories of Ash’s past & tries to manipulate & order him around. Brrr.)

But Ash rallies, and ultimately refuses returning to be Dino’s heir / toy.

We meet Shorter! Huzzah!

(End of recap.)

It’s clear right away Shorter & Ash are old friends. They exchange quips about Marvin. We learn Marvin holds a mean grudge, so savvy readers can guess it’ll come to play later (it does.)

Shorter’s last line is strange.

“Just don’t put me in the position of having to kill you.”

Which is kinda out of the blue. I don’t know what to make of it. It doesn’t spoil or fore-shadow anything (unless in a very confused, round-about way) because that never happens later. So I’m confused.

Ash laughs it off and goes zooming off on his motor-bike / motorcycle (not sure which).

Note, from this short scene we already learn Shorter has his own sources of information - he knows Ash went to Dino’s, fast enough to be there before their conversation ended (unless he was just lucky to be there already - why was he there?). He already knows about Ash’s talk with Marvin, with enough detail to warn Ash about Marvin’s temper & that Marvin likes him, which is a bad combination.

Shorter is smart & cares about his friends, warning Ash about Marvin.

Aren’t friends great?

Especially after meeting such a dominating if soft spoken monster like Dino?

The answer is yes.

Next, we get this hilariously great shot of Ash running up the steps to his dingy apartment (pg. 47.)

It’s reminiscent for me of a scene in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 1, when Jonathan & Dino have their epic fight in the Joestar mansion.

There’s a part where Jonathan does this epic flip up to a second floor via sword (it’s epic) & it ends with this a few-seconds-longer-than it-needs-to-be shot of his butt. You can’t miss it. I’m usually oblivious to such things & I noticed it. I laugh every single time.

Anyway, back to Banana Fish.

(The atmosphere of grunginess (it’s not a word, I meant dirty, ugly, rough) & spartan furniture is great. Just look at those walls. I adore it.

(But would never want to live there.) Ash is clearly not rich & after Dino’s rich mansion, this is a stark contrast.

Also, there are no pictures or posters on the walls (which are festooned with dirt and cracks instead.) In fact, there’s almost nothing in terms of personal effects at all.

This baffles me. I mean yes, I assume they’re all dirt poor, living in a gang & working for the mafia on the side isn’t something you do for the luxuries. But surely they’d have something.

Or maybe it has something to do with Japanese decorating aesthetics? Meaning, Japanese appear to be more spartan than Americans in terms of decor (see the book, In Praise of Shadows, for example.)

* I can’t spell aesthetics. Why do I even use that word?

The apartment just looks extremely bare compared to others I’ve seen in movies depicting this era. Is what I’m saying.

Look at those bare walls. (It hurts me.)

Thoughts? Comments on how Japanese, Americans, and Europeans differ in basic decorating styles? Comment below!

Also remember as always, Banana Fish is both set & was written in the 1980’s, well before the “modern” style we have now.

Unless - wait. There is something very important to Ash which he’s clearly hiding in the apartment he goes to, which I assume only Skip & select members know about.

So maybe this isn’t actually Ash’s main base, where he sleeps & hangs out?

Yes, that must be it.

If you’re confused, I’ll explain once we get done with this section.

Moving on.

We meet Skip!!!! (Pg.47)

Black characters (and Latino) are still, alas, extremely rare in manga, anime, & other media, so all the cheers for including Skip so early & as such an important character.

Because Skip is very important. For multiple reasons. More on that later. Also note, 1 of the gang members Ash busts earlier is also black.

Again, the dialogue is great here between Ash & Skip, establishing Ash’s trust in him. Which is no small thing.

Skip is like Shorter, (agh, both their names start with S) sweet, but also has a nose for news.

Arthur’s going to get it, hah!

There’s yet another reference to it being early.

Though there’s no specific time mentioned . . . Nope, not since Ash found the poor, dying banana fish dude.

Does Ash usually sleep in? Is he a night owl? He was wandering around at 1 in the morning last night, after all.

*Yes, technically it was early morning, but it was still dark, so bite me.

But then, he was also suspicious & keeping tabs on his 2 gang members. So, who knows.

But I’m going to guess he’s a night owl.

Ash sits on the bed, and after Skip mentions everything is good, “him, too”.

Ash gives his 1st real, genuine smile. Gentle, relieved, no hard edges. Just pure happiness & relief. It’s sweet.

(Also, I just realized the “him, too” is supposed to be a surprise / shock for the reader & I spoiled it earlier. I do apologize.)

Skip offers to get coffee but Ash declines, deciding to nap, which reminds me:

Actually, drinking coffee before you take a nap can, for some people, actually make you sleep better.

Also, short cat naps (15-30mins) can boost your energy and mood.

Naps are good for you!

I almost wondered if the comics Skip had on the table might’ve been manga, but remembered it was the 1980’s and, far as I know, manga wasn’t big the U.S. yet. Alas!

Which is funny if you think about this being in a manga.

Skip goes to leave. Ash puts his hand in his pocket and gets this intense, almost fierce expression on his face (middle panel, pg. 48).

I was absolutely baffled by this reaction for a long time, but finally figured it out. Ash’s reaction is supposed to be baffling, because what he realizes right here will be revealed in the next few pages.

Skip, concerned, asks what’s up, but Ash brushes him off and sends him off to buy coffee. (After which I sincerely hope he takes a nap, because he needs one, he’s been up all night.) Sleep is good for you!

Skip is able to buy coffee with a single coin. A single coin.

(Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

All my tears, and curses on inflation and overpriced coffee! And Starbucks!

Anyway, we learn Arthur’s going to get it (and Skip is the best spy ever) and the scene cuts to:

Our favorite person (not) Dino Golzine, tending his orchids.

I like this. It’s a rather unique hobby for a villian. I assume to give him a refined, elegant, and exact air.

He’s interrupted by Angie & his fabulous mustache (snickers) and this delightfully comic scientist person (who might be important later? The face sameness makes it difficult to judge, & I’m too lazy to consult my other volumes, which are not close by.)

But his entrance is priceless (pg. 50). I mean seriously, please go find it if you haven’t already. It’s dramatic, with a big WHAM! & he looks so cartoonish.

I love it.

Dino tells him, essentially, “don’t disturb my orchids” and me being an non-gardner person, I wonder: is it actually true loud noises can disturb flowers?

Comment below!

Anyway, Dino quickly establishes yes, he did send Ash’s gang members to kill the poor banana fish guy who started this whole mystery, and yes, it was important.

There’s a great panel (pg. 51) of scientist dude, drawn much less comedic, the whole panel black except for a white aura around him sweating and clearly in distress.

He whispers, “It - it’s gone.”

Dino snaps to attention with a leonine look, exactly like a cat who has just spotted another cat. It’s easily my favorite picture of Dino so far, very striking.

The dialogue is brilliant and snappy, short and direct.

“What is gone? . . . You’re positive? . . . Just a small amount.”

And we get the grand reveal:

Ash, taking out a bullet shaped capsule (was the shape intentional by Yoshida?). A capsule he’d clearly taken from the dying banana fish guy. There’s a great panel on the bottom of pg. 52 of Ash’s questioning expression and a ?

He unscrews the capsule and pulls out a tiny vial.

Thinks of the address the dying banana fish guy gave him.

Ash goes into the next room, where we see the silhouette of someone sitting with a plaid blanket draped across their knees.

He expresses his first real look of vulnerability, and gives a wonderful line:

“Go see . . . Banana fish . . . He said it and died. And you say it and you might as well be dead. Who did this to you? Griff . . . Please tell me, big brother.”

Everything clicks together (almost.)

Griff /Griffin is the soldier shown way back in the very beginning. The one who left for a few minutes and came back insane and shot up his squad.

Who’s now a human vegetable.

Banana fish is clearly responsible. Somehow.

And Dino is mixed in with it (of course). Pieces are coming together, but questions still remain.

Until next time!

#random #banana fish #banana fish review #manga #ash lynx #skip #banana fish shorter #friendship #xena warrior princess #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

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atrustworthyfellow · 5 years

Text

Thoughts during Black Friday, Act 2. Spoilers abound. -

1) jingle jangle

2) why is the camera doing this? Is it supposed to be jiggly or is my YouTube being bad.

3) this song is cute.

4) THIS IS THE MOVIE THAT HANNAH AND ETHAN WERE GOING TO SEE

5) poor tom.

6) I love Tom.

7) and Becky.

8) and Tom and becky.

9) “you say you killed your family? I hope I killed mine.” AAAAAAA

10) “there’s an alternate reality” you have no clue, Tom.

11) if Becky and Tom are the only survivors I’ll be. Pretty sad but ok.

12) I also realize I’ve been calling Becky ‘Kim’ which. Which. Oops. Sorry, Kim Whalen. Sorry, Becky Barnes. At least I fixed it in this post and only talked about her once in the other one.

13) “I’ll never let you go” those notes babe...

14) kiss (: OH FUCK THEYRE GONNA BANG

15) they’re just fucking right in front of this stupid movie. “I knew you weren’t Santa...” “SANTa!!!!”

16) “THIS IS THE BEST MOVIE EVER” I’m dying squirtle.

17) Corey dorris... the range he has.

18) I miss Ethan

19) “we are trying to stop the birth of a god” cool

20) I think I hate Sherman young and his weird wiggly fetish. And now he’s a cult leader. Great.

21) I miss Linda

22) LEX AND FRANK! I like them. (:

23) speaking of Linda. I hate how they’re talking about her like ‘mother’ like. Yikes. More bad touch feelings from Wiley.

24) I love Gerald.

25) I think this music is reminding me of little shop? I like that. It’s fun.

26) “I met god. He had nothing nice to say about you.” Holy fuck that’s powerful. Also RIP Frank.

27) villain song!!!!!!!!!! Love you Lauren. I do adore you, lind.

28) “don’t say the shit part” “until I get what I shit” great writing. 👍

29) that’s not Ethan. It’s scary. It’s bad. I can tell.

30) “dying ain’t so bad... not if you both go together...”

31) the black and white again!!! GO AWAY DOUBLE.

32) destroy the doll Hannah!!!! Kill him!!!!

33) “webby is a stupid bitch” you’re a rotten banana, wiggles.

34) poor Hannah ):

35) YOU BETTER NOT HURT HANNAH, YOU TWO. I like you two but if you touch a hair on her head you will get my wrath.

35) “where are you going?” “California” *sobs*

36) okay I’m angry at you, Becky. But I love this song. Gives me Mrs. Lovett reprising “nothing’s gonna harm you” to get Toby in Sweeney Todd. It’s fucking terrifying. I love it.

37) “oh shit this is my leg” that’s what you get beck.

38) I loved you tom. I loved you. I loved you and Becky. Now I’m sad. It’s all your fault.

39) he’s eating an apple. It makes him seem like an asshole.

40) oh no now it’s political and it’s making me sad ): I hate capitalism.

41) can Xander, John, and Howard be a polyamorous throuple? And also can they kiss me?

42) yayyy! Anti-capitalism villain song!

43) you may be in debt! Wake up in a sweat! But let’s not forget! You were made in America!

44) it’s called drowsy town because we’re all tired and pulling all nighters to watch this.

45) nooo! McNamara. ): I don’t want him to dematerialize.

46) at least the president is ok.

47) is Lex okay right now?

48) rip Moscow

49) can I kiss Jon matteson please...

50) lex! Sherman young stay the fuck away from Lex.

51) yay Lex!!!!!!

52) no!!!!! Lex!!!! ):

53) I like this song tho.

54) I love this song.

55) I’m crying!!!! There are real tears!!!! 😭

56) SHES still ALIVE!!!!!!

57) MCNAMARA!!!!!! YES!

58) he’s holding his gun like that... and helping her....

59) yayyyy!!!!!!!

60) she’s a piep now.... ;)

61) “they’re all into fortnite dude!” Au in which Hannah and tim are fortnite streamers.

62) “where’s Tim?” With Emma and Paul so probably okay.

63) put down that wiggly, sir

64) Good Dad Anthem

65) he’s precious. But you should still destroy him, Tommy.

66) “should we move these boxes first?” “Fuck yeah”

67) put him on speaker linds. Please.

68) “the only man that’ll have her now is Jack Daniels”

69) Linda... stop flirting with the wiggly boy. Fitting enough that’s what thought 69 is.

70) IS THAT CHARLOTTE?

71) that’s her sweater, right???? And her skirt.

72) fun song.

73) FUCK YEAH BECKY!

74) tom and Becky are Lex and Hannah’s parents now (:

75) and thus. The cult burns.

76) Emma and Paul!!!! And emotional connection!!! And Paul being awkward.

77) HIDGENS! Yay!!!

78) WEAR A WATCH

79) Black Friday is almost over.

80) THE SONG

81) crying

82) this musical is good. (:

#black friday #starkid #team starkid #black friday spoilers #black friday starkid #spoilers #tickle me wiggly #ellis watched black friday. this happened #musical #long post #like. incredibly long

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wub-fur-radio · 4 years

Photo

Hey Hey, Spaceman 👽 More Popular Psychedelic & Indie Rock

A message from extra-terrestrial intelligences, detected by the homebrew radio telescope array on the roof of Wub-Fur Internet Radio’s after school treehouse cum intergalactic operational HQ, strongly advise against listening to this mix when ambient Earth temperature exceeds 48.89° Celsius, especially in high-risk fire zones, due to the danger of spontaneous human combustion. But, if you are lucky enough to be located in a reasonably temperate clime, then please do feel free to enjoy this eclectic mix of a baker’s dozen contemporary psychedelic and indie rock tunes, featuring the blistering musical talents of Frantic Chant, Motorpsycho, The Rotten Mangos, Annabelle Chairlegs, The Striped Bananas, Death Valley Girls, The Flaming Lips, and a half dozen more of 2020’s hottest indie/psych rock combos.

Cover Photo: Diamond Eye: Warrior of Light employs his Inner Soul Illumination Beam™ in a still from an unidentified episode of his eponymous 1973 Japanese tokusatsu television program [Photoshopping by Wub-Fur].

Apologies to our fading captain, Mr. Robert Pollard of Dayton, Ohio, and Guided By Voices, whose terrific song “Hey Hey, Spaceman” (from their 1987 debut LP Devils Between My Toes) is, of course, the inspiration for this mix’s title, and to the Toho Co., Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan, producers of “Diamond Eye: Warrior of Light.”

Listen on Mixcloud –or– 8tracks (or scroll down to use one of the embedded players below)

Running Time: 59 minutes, 56 seconds

Tracklist

The Man Who Fixes Anything (3:30) — Frantic Chant | Edinburgh, UK

Dreams of Fancy (9:33) — Motorpsycho | Trondhein, Norway

Volando Con Los Mangos (4:44) — The Rotten Mangos | Austin, TX

Bag on the Floor (2:24) — Annabelle Chairlegs | Austin, TX

California (3:07) — Blues Pills | Örebro, Sweden

New Dawn (3:21) — The Striped Bananas | New York, NY

Hallvvays (5:25) — Muun Bato | Minneapolis, MN

Dark Horse (3:31) — L.A. Witch | Los Angeles, CA

Hold My Hand (2:40) — Death Valley Girls | Los Angeles, CA

Strawberry Glaze (5:15) — Axis: Sova | Chicago, IL

Psychick Gasoline (5:34) — Vacation | Cincinnati, OH

Hot Power (7:13) — Moon Attendant | Brighton, UK

When We Die When We're High (3:40) — The Flaming Lips | Oklahoma City, OK

All tracks released 2020 except “Hallvvays” by Muun Bato, released 2019.

👽 🔫 👽🚀 👽 🔫 👽 🚀 👽 🔫 👽 🚀 👽 🔫 👽 🚀 👽

Embedded Mixcloud Player

Embedded 8tracks Player

#psychedelic rock #indie rock #neo-psychedelia #psych #psychedelic garage #music mixes

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inferno-loop · 7 years

Text

Hiraeth: Chapter 1

JUNGKOOK X READER wolf!AU

Words: 3693

Prologue | Chapter 2

“Here’s your green tea with banana chocolate chip cookies and muesli bars! Enjoy your meal, ma’am!”

You looked up from the book in your hands to see a young girl smiling brightly at you, her grin spreading from one ear to the other. A bit too sweet, a little too false. You realised that the thought was oxymoronically absurd but you knew it wasn’t without reason.

You thanked the girl and gave her a small smile before turning back to the book in your hand and continuing to read.

You had wandered amidst humans for a long time now, 505 years to be exact, and while it had been difficult, you had learnt to adapt. It was strange, the world of humans, no doubt. Ever since you had known the species, which would be since the time you had ruled over them to now, they had been greedy. However, just like the species itself, the way to express that greed had evolved as well.

Back in the days, when humans had not explored the idea of shared power and the world was aware of the existence of creatures that were unlike humans, greed manifested itself in their minds in the form of blind ambition for power, which in those times meant the throne. You knew this because, you had been alive in that time and more so, you had been a princess.

A wolf princess.

You had had your fair share of human kings waging war on your kingdom to claim your stronghold, your people and your kind. None of them succeeded, of course. Humans driven by greed for power tended to overestimate themselves and they truly believed they could defeat your ‘kind’, as they referred to you, in battle. An unbelievably stupid estimate, if someone asked you.

However, you had long since realized that humans were not only driven by greed. They were driven by fear and…by love. Take the chirpy, overly sweet girl who had just served you. She was eager to please you and you knew by your experience in observation, her smile was so forced that it physically hurt her. So why did she do the job? Fear. Maybe she was poor, maybe she was in debt, maybe she was trying hard to make ends meet and survive.

Maybe it was love. Maybe she had a future to build, maybe she had a sick companion. You did not care to go into the details.

If there was, however, something you understood after centuries of cohabiting with humans, it was that if you wanted to survive in the world of humans and blend in, you would have learn the unique skill of acting. That was something humans were absolutely brilliant at.

To be fair, you weren’t so bad yourself.

You had changed professions and countries so many times now that you did not care to remember all of them. You had done your adequate share of acting. In fact, you were currently in midst of exactly that. In this lifetime, in this disguise, you were a professor of Zoology, named Diana Moon.

You finished the last bit of your muesli bar and gathered your belongings, as you checked the time. 10:21 AM. You smiled a little to yourself as you left the café and quietly walked back towards the campus.

You would be lying if you said that you weren’t more eager than usual to deliver today’s lecture, because the topic of today’s lecture was more personal to you than anyone could imagine.

You opened the entrance to the lecture hall and walked to your desk. Taking the board marker, you turned around to write the topic for today’s lecture on the board. You let out a deep sigh as you finished writing across the white board.

Canis Dirus, the Dire Wolves.

Your brethren.

A lone hand was up in a sea of curious students attending a zoology class being taught by a very special professor, miss Diana Moon a.k.a you. To a passer-by it would seem to be a very normal day of teaching.

Nope.

This was the hand of a very ignoramus and moronic bully who went by the name ‘Rocky’. Now, after spending more than 500 hundred years trying to accommodate yourself with the humans, you would have liked to say that you were not the one to judge people, especially on the basis of names.

But seriously, Rocky? Even you could have come up with something better than that and you were ancient.

Anyway, coming back to the point, it was unlike you to get annoyed or even pay attention to this punk, knowing that the only reason he put his hand up in class was either in an attempt to sound sassy and cool in front of his classmates or to waste the class’s time for his entertainment. Now, in normal circumstances, this would have hardly mattered to you, since you were well aware that these kids cared less about gaining knowledge and more about getting a degree. You knew most of these kids were not here to learn something but rather to just comfortably spend some years in college, getting a degree that could help them get a job in the future, and that was okay. You were used to this routine and it did not affect you.

However, it did irk you when you were interrupted by a rude human kid when you were explaining to the class, the history of your kinsfolk.

You looked at Rocky with a blank expression and decided that for once, you would answer his query.

“Yes Mr. …” You slightly frowned as you tried to recall what the kid’s real name was but shrugged as you realized you had never bothered to find out his real name.“…Never mind. What is your query?”

Rocky sniggered, “What, Miss Moon? You can’t recall your own student’s name?”

“The matter of recalling your name would come up if I knew it in the first place. I don’t know your name at all.” You deadpanned, while the entire lecture hall seemed to have become a hall of laughter yoga. “Now, will you please share your query so that I can continue the lecture?”

“Y-Yes.” Rocky said through grit teeth, visibly humiliated by the little scene he had caused, but apparently he was still not discouraged to back out from announcing his downgrading comments about the topic in hopes to regain his lost honor. If anything, he seemed more fueled by anger now. Enough to forget that he was student speaking to his professor.

“It’s a fucking stupid topic that’s not going to help us in anyway in the real world.” He scoffed. “Dire wolves? Canis Dirus? The most powerful predators? Who cares? They’re dead anyway. Why do we need to study some stupid wolves who’re dead?”

Students around him gasped, some even openly gaping at the use of his language while others just shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

You, on the other hand, were casually leaning against your table, arms crossed and face entirely devoid of any expression. Your eyes, however, were flashing a dangerous red color, which did not go unnoticed. Rocky stiffened in his seat as he saw the change in your eyes. He looked around to see if anyone could see what he was seeing but as soon as he turned his head around towards his class, he let out a gasp of horror. It was like everyone was frozen, in midst of whatever they were doing. It was as though time -in that very moment- had stopped.

“Y-Yah, what’s wrong?” He asked the boy who was seated to his right, apparently frozen in midst of eating his lunch sneakily. “W-Why aren’t you moving?”

No response.

He turned towards your direction to see you standing in the exact same position that you had been the entire time; only you were doing it voluntarily. You were not frozen in time.

“P-P-Professor Moon, what’s happening? Do you see this? W-We’re going to die! Call for help!” He looked at you, visibly panicking.

“Be quiet.”

Rocky looked at you in disbelief. Could you not see what was happening? Or…were you the one doing it? Yes! That’s it! You and him were the only people who could move and he was obviously not the one causing this…so that left you.

“It’s you! You’re doing this, you hag! I-I’m gonna tell everyone.” Rocky flailed around.

“I said be quiet, child.”

Immediately, Rocky went rigid in his seat. It was as though his limbs had been held in place with invisible strings so strong, he would have to destroy every bone in his body to break even one of those wretched strings. He could only hear and process what was going on. He looked at you, completely terrified. He tried to say something, but not even a whimper came out. He had lost his voice.

You appraised the kid. He looked terrified out of his wits and his eyes were begging for mercy. That made you sad. You had not wished to do this and if you were to admit it, Rocky or any of the kids in this room were not worth the trouble of you using your divine powers. However, you could not forgive the words that had come out of his impertinent mouth. It had been a long time since you had let go of your family, perhaps many lifetimes, but the memory was as good as new to you.

The red in your eyes burned brighter.

“Listen to me carefully punk. I’m not going to harm you; you’re not worth it. However, I’ll have you know this. The legacy of my forbears is not easily forsaken. The next time you open that rotten mouth of yours, you’ll do well to remember my words because if you do not,” Your voice became dangerously low. “Those will be the last words you utter.”

Rocky closed his eyes in a desperate attempt to show he understood. As soon as he opened his eyes, everything was back to normal. The kids around him were looking at him weird as if he was the one doing bizarre and crazy things like freezing time. He immediately got up and frantically looked around the class, running from one seat to another and shaking his mates to confirm what he was seeing.

“Hey, kid. What do you think you’re doing in my class?”

Rocky froze. He slowly turned in your direction to find you leaning against the desk with a book in your hand, looking at him with an annoyed expression. As if…as if you hadn’t just threatened him, as if you hadn’t just stopped time, as if you hadn’t just called those stupid dire wolves your ancestors.

“You…you just stopped time.” He pointed at you, a maniacal expression on his face.

“Dude, sit down before you get all of us in trouble.” A kid called out behind him. But Rocky was not done. He had almost lost his life because of his zoology professor who flashes red eyes and makes time stop. He was not going to stop until he got an answer.

“Are you guys fucking blind?!” He screamed at his classmates and then pointed at you. “She just stopped time, she just froze everyone, she-she almost killed me!” He cried. “Y-you’re a monster.”

Before anyone could react to that, the bell went off signaling the end of that study slot.

“Right. That’s it for today. I’ll see all of you soon and by that time I expect you to be…”

Rocky tuned out the rest of your words. He felt like he was losing his mind. Nobody was ready to believe him. Hell, even you seemed to not know what he was talking about. Had…had he really just imagined all that?

He picked up his bag, deep in thoughts and gave you one last glance. You weren’t even looking at him. He really must be losing his mind. He looked away and walked out of the class with the rest of the students, missing your amused smile.

“_____!”

There he stood, your old friend. He was leaning against your luxurious car, parked at least a kilometer from the university. You couldn’t take chances with small stuff like this. A university professor could not possibly have that much money, could not possibly afford a Mercedes Maybach built for richest of the rich.

You smiled at Dae-seok. “I am not called by that name anymore, old friend.”

Dae-seok was a child when you found him, no more than 10 years of age. A child trapped in the fires set by an arsonist. He had lost his family and yet, he was only a child. He was scared of dying. He kept crying out, for someone to save him and his family trapped in the building where his father once used to work. No one heard his screams, no one but you. You had listened for a while, even thought of leaving the scene since you were hardly in any position to disclose your identity. Yet, you could not allow yourself to abandon the boy. After all, how different would you be from the people who had abandoned you when you were crying out for your family?

So, for that moment you let go of your disguise. Stealthily, you entered the building still in human form and saw the young child weeping for his burnt family around him. They had passed. You had picked the child up and dropped down straight from the 11th floor to the ground and took him to your house. There you had nursed him back to health and by the end of his healing process, you knew you could not let the child go.

So you sponsored him, you nurtured him. You helped him get his education, you fed him, you let him stay with you until he was old enough to venture out alone and make a life for himself.

Dae-seok looked at you with fond eyes. He may be 65 years of age now, but in front of you, his eyes were still like that of child, for he knew your secrets.

“I’m sorry!” He let out a hearty laugh. “Miss Diana Moon, is it?”

“That is correct.” You moved forward and opened the passenger’s seat for him to get in. “Get in, Mr. Da-Seok. It appears you have something to talk to me about. How about dinner?”

“That will not be necessary, captain.” He fake saluted you but with a laugh he got into the car. You shut the door after him and made your own way to the driver’s seat. You got in and sat down facing forward, looking through your car’s front pane at the empty and abandoned road ahead, surrounded by trees on each side.

“____.”

You did not turn towards him.

“I told you not to call me that, Dae-Seok.” You sighed.

“I can’t help it.” He muttered. “You’re not Diana Moon or whatever. You’re ____.” He asserted. He was trying to prove some point. You finally turned towards Dae-Seok suspiciously. He had a very old look on his face, marked with wrinkles and craters of old age. However, that was not what worried you. It was Dae-Seok’s eyes. Those eyes, which had held childlike excitement, a few moments ago, were now etched with fear and worry.

“Dae-Seok.” He looked up. “What is worrying you, my child?”

It was then Dae-seok started to silently cry. It reminded you of the time you saved him from the fire. He was shocked, keeping silent the first few days after he gained consciousness. He didn’t want to show his fear and his pain. It was only after a week of staying together, when you had just come back from the market, that you found him on the doorstep of your house, crying endlessly. You had put down the vegetables that you bought to cook for the boy and bent down in front of him. He had thrown himself in your arms and continued to cry until you took him inside, tucked him in bed and sang him a lullaby till he slept. It was only later that you found out, he was scared that you had abandoned him and left. After that day, he did not leave your side for a minute. Not until he left your house for good.

“You’re my only family, ____.” A lone tear fell from the old man’s eye.

“Don’t say that. You have your own family.” You told him.

However, the next second, your brain started working over-drive. He was talking like something was about to happen to him. Was he ill? Terminally-ill?

“You’re okay, aren’t you?” You let the worry inside you show on your face this time. “Are you ill?”

Dae-seok laughed a little, wiping his tears. “You’re such a mother.”

“Dae-seok.” You warned.

He looked at you and the worry slowly crept back in his features. His wrinkles became deeper and his smile was faint.

“It’s you.” He finally said. You narrowed your eyes in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

Another tear fell down Dae-Seok face.

“You are the one who’s in danger. Not me.”

9:30 PM, Millenium MARRIOT hotel, Seoul

Jeon Jungkook walked briskly in the vast halls of his luxurious hotel. For once, he did not even glance at the people greeting him. The facts that had been buried for centuries were now beginning to surface. He had heard tales by his elder brothers, his hyungs, for a long time. The tales and legends of the white wolves, blessed by the moon goddess. He had heard of the betrayals that lead to the annihilation of the Nuntis pack.

If someone were to ask him, Jungkook would say it was needed. The white sun wolves of Nuntis pack were too powerful for their own good. They had become the rulers of their time without question because who would question heavenly beings with divine powers? Everything happened at the discretion of the White wolf King and Queen. Yes, they were kind rulers but till when? If a time came, where they were displeased, they could kill at discretion and have no one to answer to but more so, no one to stop them. No one was strong enough to go against the white wolves. The only way to be free of them was to kill them, and to kill them the only tools, which could be used, were deception and betrayal. He had heard the gruesome tales of their deaths. He had heard how the wolf princess was forced to kill the King and Queen to protect her brother and how her brother was deceived into believing his family had died and was beheaded. There were no tales about the end of the wolf princess but she was killed as well. That’s what the Yawa tribe, who had led the revolt against the Nuntis tribe, always affirmed. However, the new enigma that had just presented itself in front of them said something else entirely.

The elevator doors opened and Jungkook walked out and took his first right to the VIP suites section. He stopped in front of suite 0009 and knocked in a hurry. The door opened and he was greeted by Jimin, one of his brothers. Jungkook could smell the tense atmosphere from the door. Jimin turned around and Jungkook followed him inside to be greeted by the sight of his brothers spread out in the entire room. Yoongi and Namjoon sat near the huge windows overlooking the city. Hoseok and Jin sat on chairs placed on either side of the ground table while Jimin and Taehyung made the couch their temporary home. On the bed, however, he saw the leader of the Yawa pack.

Durion.

Durion was a cunning and filthy being. He prided himself as the killer of the Nuntis tribe and was a self proclaimed ‘enforcer of the divine laws of wolves’. A pompous scum, if someone asked Jungkook. However, he was a strong pompous scum. Jungkook didn’t like to admit it but he would probably have a tough time fighting the guy. He might even lose. However, that was not something he needed to worry himself about. Durion was an ally…or at the very least both packs decided to become allies for the sake of peace.

Jungkook never liked Durion- or the Yawa Pack for that matter. Survival instinct said that white wolves needed to die and Jungkook was not about to put himself on a moral high ground and say he would have done things differently but he would probably not have been so cruel. Durion was cruel beyond measure.

“Ah.” Durion rose from his makeshift throne. “My dear friend Jungkook.”

Jungkook didn’t make an effort to hide his distaste as he gave the elder wolf a slight nod. He turned towards his leader and bowed in respect. He needed answers but Durion was not the one he wanted answers from.

“Is it true?”

The leader of the pack finally looked at the youngest member of his pack. Namjoon was a wise leader. He was aware of the distaste everyone held for the Yawa, especially for Durion. He was not a fan of their sly ways either. However, he could not afford to battle for power with this cunning tribe. Ráka was a strong tribe, beyond the shadow of a doubt but unlike Durion- who had warriors to lose, Namjoon had family to lose. He had chosen to become a ghost ally of Durion to observe him closely rather than risking open war and losing his family.

Of course, that didn’t mean that they actually had to be friendly. Namjoon never stopped Jungkook from misbehaving with Durion. He quite enjoyed it.

“Namjoon-hyung?” The youngest one’s voice impatiently called out, eager to get an answer.

“Ah, yes. Sorry.” Namjoon’s face turned grim as he recalled why everyone had been called with such haste. Immediately, the uneasiness in the suite increased exponentially. Watching the leader tense was not something the men in the room were used to.

“Why, Hyung? Is it really true?” Taehyung spoke.

Namjoon sighed as he shook his head. “Yes. It is true.” He took another deep breath.

“It seems like the princess survived the war.”

Yoongi stepped forward, keeping his hand on Namjoon’s shoulder. “Are you sure?”

Namjoon nodded.

“The wolf princess is alive and…she is in this city.”

Much love,

Inferno-loop

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