#Aire Atlantica

[thehollowwriter]

Meet Silas Clearcove, Atlantica's Boogeyman (but not really)!

(Left by @the-trinket-witch and right by me! I tried I'm so had at drawing 😭)

Silas is a butcher that sells parts of various sea creatures to whoever is willing to buy from him and even supplies Mrs Ashengrotto and eventually Azul with their wares for their restaurants. He's in his late sixties and lives in a kelp forest on the very edge of Atlantica's borders, where the light doesn't reach. He's treated with a lot of fear and suspicion, with dark rumours constantly spreading, and many city residents prefer to keep away from him.

Some Basic Info:

☆Homeland: The Coral Sea, though he was originally from the Abyss, a desolate wasteland below the Coral Sea

☆Species: Cookie cutter shark (abyssal)

☆Height/Length: 153cm/5'0

☆Birthday: 12th June

☆Dominant hand: He's ambidextrous

☆Hobbies: Gardening, reading, doing puzzles

☆Likes: Learning new things, music, cooking

☆Dislikes: Small, tight spaces, large crowds and bright lights, close-minded people

☆Favourite food: Clam chowder

☆Least favourite food: Triggerfish

Personality:

Silas is a very quiet man who doesn't talk very much at all. He doesn't feel the need to fill the air and only speaks when he thinks he has to. He's got a legendary resting bitch face and isn't all that expressive (he's delighted he promises, that's just his face/j). He is very closed off to most and prefers to keep to himself or those close to him, in fact he rarely leaves his property at all.

Silas is pretty similar to Finn. He's very hands-on and likes to get things done quickly and efficiently. He's a hard worker. However, he's very calm and calculating and has a lot of patience. He's good at strategy and knows how to adapt to new situations quickly, which is very helpful to his staff, many of whom are disabled (like him) in some manner.

Silas in general is very straight-laced and logical, but follows his own rules. He almost never obeys "social rules" and prefers to do his own thing, and doesn't care if it makes others uncomfortable or upset at him. He speaks his mind, if he speaks at all, and he doesn't sugar-coat anything and gets irritated when others try to do just dance around topics or imply things at him.

Silas, though he gives off a very threatening aura, does care deeply for those he's close to and is determined to care for and protect them the best he can. This especially extends to Finn, who he's trying his hardest to give a happy life. He has a soft spot for children and teens and generally acts more positively towards them than he does adults (in his own Silas way)

Appearance:

Silas has light amethyst eyes, dark purple hair and dark purple skin, except on his palms and parts of his tail and finds, where it is light purple. He has a long, fluffy beard that's also dark purple. He has various swirling black markings along his body and on his face, and long black claws.

His fins are torn and full of holes, and so is his tailfin. His face and body are heavily scarred and damaged. He's very thin, but has stretchmarks on his stomach. His teeth, like Finn's, are like that of an anglerfish, and are small and many.

Silas also has a band of black scales around his neck, and from just below that all the way to his navel are photophores that glow in the dark, which helps him camouflage and can even make him look like a school of fish from below.

Obviously, as a mer, he doesn't wear clothes, but he does wear both his and his husband's courting gifts to each other when he isn't working. Necklaces of orca teeth and shell, each has a volute and skeletal murex shell respectively. Sometimes, he wears his wedding jewellery as well, but it's more for important occasions.

Important Things To Know:

☆Unique Magic: Silas' UM has no name, but it is parasitic in nature. He can drain the magic from anyone he directly touches to make his own magic stronger and even get rid of blot. There is no way for him to transfer this magic or give it back. If he drains some of your magic, you can replenish it after a while, but not if he's drained it all. If you don't have magic or have run out, he can push further and suck out your "life force" too. He almost never uses his UM, apart from for getting rid of blot.

☆Silas does know the magic taught to the main cast and is in fact an extremely powerful mage, but his speciality is Abyssal magic. He has taught Finn a little bit of what he knows, but won't teach anymore until Finn is older, as Abyssal magic is very dangerous, difficult to master, and gathers a lot of blot quickly

☆Silas is autistic

☆Silas is disabled. When he was 14, he was shot by a harpoon gun, and the harpoon lodged so deep in his tail that it caused nerve damage that went untreated for decades. He's constantly in some form of pain because of it, and if he does taxing manoeuvres in the water or swims super fast or for long distances, the pain becomes unbearable. He's had to adapt how he hunts and travels to accommodate for this

☆As previously mentioned, Silas is a butcher. He hunts down (or just grabs) various sea creatures and butchers them to sell. He's spent his whole life hunting, so this is familiar to him.

☆A little part of his job no one knows about is a deal he made with the Leech twins' parents. In exchange for their protection (physically, money-wise if needed, etc) he *ahem* disposes of the remains of their enemies for them. He wasn't in a very good mental or emotional state when he made this deal but oh well, too late to go back now.

☆Silas is greatly feared and disliked by the majority of Atlantica's citizens, regarded as a dangerous cannibal due to being from the Abyss. This is worsened by his frightening appearance and silent but intense disposition. He's treated more like a cryptid than a person, and the rumours about him luring people to his home to kill and eat them, or that he was the one who murdered his husband (this is not true ofc) are often spread and only adds fuel to the fire. This unfortunately affects both his business and Finn, who struggled to find any friends as, due to the fear and disdain felt for Silas, parents would keep children away from both of them or children would avoid Finn overall.

☆Silas has a giant pet coral named Gillian that he feeds remains to

Silas' Family:

Living family? Finn Clearcove, his son, and Timo Byun, who technically isn't his son but he views as one. He later adopts @distant-velleity 's Chrysos. He does have in-laws and family on his husband's side, but he dislikes all of then and avoids them.

As for the rest of his family... his parents, grandparents, siblings, etc have all died in various terrible ways over the course of his life, and his husband, Morrigan, was murdered before Finn was born.

Backstory:

Silas was born in the Abyss, where he spent all of his early life in poverty and having to kill and eat other merfolk to survive. He had no education at all until his 20s, when he was given the chance to get out and start earning money.

He lived in Midway, a town that rests on border between the Abyss and the Coral Sea, for many years with his grandfather, his only surviving family member. There he met Morrigan and fell in with him, and after his grandfather passed away, they got married and moved to Atlantica.

Silas started his butcher business there, and they lived in relative peace for a while until Morrigan's death. Then, Silas was left to raise Finn mostly on his own without much help. He did recover and start going to therapy, but it took a very long time. Now, he just tries to exist in peace keep Finn safe and happy.

A more in depth dive into his backstory is covered in my ongoing fic, Lamentations :)

Some Fun Facts/Extra Info:

☆Azul is scared of him

☆Silas accepts teens to work for him part time

☆Silas likes the idea of going on land and exploring one day

(My full attempt at his design! I traced over the body and tail and gave up on the hands but added all the details myself!)

...........................................

A/N: Redo for the Papa of all time too!!!

Tagging: @distant-velleity @br3adtoasty @rainesol @theleechyskrunkly @jovieinramshackle

@galaxies-and-gore @cyanide-latte @cynthinesia @officialdaydreamer00 @krenenbaker

@offorestsongs @kitwasnothere @elenauaurs @boopshoops @inotonline

@1dont-really-know @kazumify @minteasketches @elysia-nsimp @skrimpyskimpy

@casp1an-sea @offorestsongs @tixdixl @poisoned-pearls @the-trinket-witch

@ramshacklerumble @ghostiidasponk @thegoldencontracts @the-banana-0verlord @cloudcountry

@skriblee-ksk @twstinginthewind @lumdays @theolivetree123 @natsukishinomiyaswife

@authoruio @jewelulu @raguiras @honeynclove @moonyasnow

@skibidibabygirl @paperclvps @quartztwst @devosin

[sagethegaywitch]

Dimensions: Octavinelle

Male reader

TW: yandere behavior, memory erasing, implied Grim death

Genre: yandere

Here's the link for my other Dimensions: Twisted Wonderland Overblots works.

The story will take place in the Atlantica, the one from the original “The Little Mermaid” that the Octavinelle dorm is based on.  As the overblot eats away at the characters, they start to resemble and act more like the Disney characters they are based on.  The reader will be called Y/N and Ariel, and they will be a mermaid (gender neutral term).

f/c = favorite color

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Soft sand rubs uncomfortably against your cheek, pulling a pained groan from your throat.  You open your eyes to see the ocean, the high sun causing the reflection to shine brightly at you.  You push yourself into a sitting position as you brush yourself off even though the sand clings to your slightly damp skin.  

“I don’t remember being shirtless,” you think to yourself before you pause and see a green scaled tail where your legs should be.

It twitches under your scrutinizing gaze, but you're more shocked by the uncomfortable feeling of it, like you had legs rather than a fishtail in the past.  In fact, your memory seems a bit foggy and you can’t remember much from before you woke up.  You gaze around you, trying to find anything familiar, but all around you is just more sand, some rocks, and the beckoning ocean.  You draw your attention back towards the glistening ocean, feeling calmness wash over you and a desire to swim.  You find it difficult to move your tail as you try to drag yourself to the water, the appendage laying limply behind you.  Just as you touch the water, you look up and notice two other creatures watching you from a short distance.  They have an off-white pale faces, the one on the left has a yellow eye with a dark strand of hair on his left side and the one on the right has a yellow eye with a dark strand of hair on his right side.  They are both smiling at you, but the one on the left is showing off his sharp and pointy teeth.

“Ariel-chan!  We finally found you!” the one on the left cheers, lifting webbed hands in the air in celebration.

He starts to swim towards you, shocking you with his speed and sudden appearance in front of you.

“Azul got so worried when he couldn’t find you anywhere,”  the left one tells you as he pulls you into a hug, his scales feeling smooth and cool.  “Were you here the whole time?”

“Um…yes?” you respond, sounding unsure.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s more important that we’ve found you now,” the right one comments, appearing next to the other.

You look at them and think they must be twins.  They look exactly the same except the dark strand of hair and eye color being on the opposite sides.

“Do I know you two?” you ask innocently, slightly pushing away from the one on the left.

The two look at each other with a questioning expression.

“Did you hit your head, silly?” the left asks as the right one leans closer to you to inspect you for injuries.

“Did those vile land dwellers attack you?” the right adds.

“I-I don’t remember,” you tell them truthfully, a bit panicked now that you don’t remember what happened to you.

“It’s okay, Ariel, Azul can fix your head,” the left one reassures as he tries to pull you into a hug again.

“As a reminder, though, I’m Jade and this is Floyd, my twin,” the right one says, finally revealing their names.  “We should probably start heading back to Azul before he gets too worried.”

“Aww, you’re no fun,” Floyd pouts.  “I wanted to go bother the fishy.”

“Another time, dear brother.  For now, we need to help Ariel,” Jade reminds his brother before grabbing your forearm and pulling you deeper into the water.  “Do you remember how to swim?”

Whether or not you knew how to swim in your past life, it’s so different with the bulky tail weighing you down.  You shake your head and Jade gives Floyd a look before they both plunge you under the water.  In a panic, you try to hold your breath as you’re led further into the water.  Eventually, when you can’t hold it in any longer, you exhale the bubbles and inhale the water, only to find you can breathe using some gills on your neck you hadn’t noticed earlier.  You can feel the water passing through them, weirding you out a bit, but soon enough it becomes to feel natural.  Jade and Floyd were doing most of the work, holding onto your arms and swimming for you, but you decided to help them out a bit and kick your tail to see if you can figure out how to swim.  At first, it was rough and you easily tired the deeper they led you, but eventually, you were able to swim a bit on your own.  Jade clapped his hands at your success while Floyd swam circles around you, giving you his signature smile.

Eventually, you all arrive at a very ominous skeletal-looking cave, with purple lighting and fog.  You pause and hesitate at the mouth of the cave, but Jade places a hand on the small of your back and gives you an encouraging push.  You follow an eager Floyd in as he yells for Azul, whoever that is, but you let out a yelp as something grabs your tail.  You look down to find some plant-like creature wrapped around your tail.

“Pesky little things.  This is what happens to those who betray us,” Jade’s voice murmurs into your ear as he hits the plant with the tip of his tail, freeing you.

You stick close to his side as you continue through the tunnel, the creatures shrinking back down in his presence.  Coming into a more open room, you see Floyd pestering an octopus merman who seems very stressed as he tosses stuff into a giant cauldron.

“Did you find Ariel?” the octopus asks, not yet facing the entrance as he tosses a bottle into the pot that causes a bright flash of light.

“He’s right here, Azul,” Jade responds, leaving your side to join his brother by the cauldron’s side.

Azul pauses his motions and slowly turns around to see you awkwardly waiting in the entrance.  You get a good look at his pale purple face, his glasses almost falling off his face, and the black color of his tentacles.  His left eye glows a blue-purple color and black ink seems to follow him as he approaches you (Azul is in his overblot form).

“Oh dear, I was worried sick when I couldn't find you,” he tells you as he squishes your cheeks together and examines your face for injuries.  “Where were you?”

You open your mouth to speak but Floyd beats you to it, “He was at the beach, and he doesn’t even remember us!  Can you believe that Azul!”

Azul’s eyebrows shoot up as he redirects his attention back to you, “You don’t remember us?”

Although his voice sounds hurt, you tell him the truth that you just woke up at the beach without any of your memories.

“That is odd,” Azul mutters to himself before leaving you to look at the shelves filled with potions that line the cave walls. “Unfortunately, I don’t think I have the ingredients at the moment to revive your lost memories.  But a trip to the village on land should help me find a few of them.”

“To land?” you ask before looking down at your fish tail.

“We’ll just use a transformation potion, silly,” Azul teases as he returns to his cauldron and starts using his tentacles to toss a couple more bottles inside.  “Come here, Ariel.”

You slowly swim towards the giant pot, you and Azul on one side and Jade and Floyd on the other.  Azul pulls you closer to him, a few of his tentacles curling around your tail as he continues to work on his potion.  The liquid inside swirls and appears to be a green color, but as Azul throws in a few more ingredients, it turns a golden color.  The octopus chants a few words before scooping up the golden liquid into four glass bottles and stuffing them into a bag that he slings around his body.

“Now we just need to head to land and consume these.  We’ll have 24 hours before the effects wear off,” Azul reminds the group before latching onto your arm.  “That’ll be plenty of time to get what we need and maybe explore a bit.”

You nod along, letting Azul drag you out of the cave, the two twins following close behind.  You barely have to swim as Azul basically wraps you up in his tentacles and propels the both of you the surface.  Once the cold water becomes warmer, the four of you breach the water’s surface and you feel reassured as the sun’s warmth kisses your skin.  You’re taken to the shore, the sand grating uncomfortably on your skin and digging under your scales.  You, Floyd, and Jade struggle a bit to pull yourselves onto land while Azul easily uses his many tentacles to climb on top of a rock.

“Now, to consume these potions and take on a human form,” Azul instructs as he hands out the bottles filled with the liquid gold.

You hesitantly take the bottle and uncork the top to examine the suspicious liquid.  You hold it up to your nose and take a quick sniff, the scent similar to wild flowers and the sea breeze.  You look up to see the others waiting for you and you give them a sheepish smile before tipping the bottle up and quickly drinking the contents.  Similar to its smell, the potion tastes very floral and was sickly sweet as the syrupy liquid drained down your throat.  You smack your lips as you process the flavor and texture, but during that time you didn’t really realize your tail turning into a pair of human legs.

“Aw, Ariel-chan’s legs are so cute!” Floyd exclaims, drawing you back into the moment.

You look down and quickly process the fact that you are naked before you even realize that you have legs.  You let out a scream before trying to hide yourself away from the trio, using an old sheet that laid conveniently next to you.

“Don’t look at me you perverts!’ you yell as you struggle to scoot away from them.

You blush and desperately try not to look at their naked forms, but you can’t spare a few glances that has you turning a darker red shade.  Jade gives you a teasing smile while Azul chuckles and rummages in his bag before tossing you some clothing.

“You can get changed behind those rocks if you want some privacy, just don’t wander too far,” Azul warns as he passes out clothing to the others as well.

You take the clothing and wobble onto your human legs, finding the ability to walk almost natural as you quickly pick up the skill and hide behind the rocks.  You examine the clothing that Azul picked out, noting that the loose pastel blue dress shirt paired nicely with the dark blue vest and light blue pants.

“He has some taste,” you murmur in thought as you put on the clothes, looking quite pleased with the outfit.

You shyly walk out from behind the rock to find the others fully dressed and waiting for you.  Floyd and Jade wear the same white blouse and black pants while Azul wears a dark indigo shirt with light indigo pants and a golden belt.

“You look wonderful, darling,” Azul compliments as he approaches you, a golden shell necklace in his hand.  “Now to finish the look, a nice little pendant for you.”

Azul pushes your hair aside to clasp the necklace around your neck.  The shell is cold against your skin and has a comfortable weight as you peer down to examine it.  The golden pendant has octopus tentacles curling around the shell, reminding you a bit of Azul’s own tentacles.  You look up and smile at Azul, him returning it as well.  As Azul takes a step back, Floyd and Jade appear by your sides, looping their arms with you before following Azul as he starts to walk toward the wooden stairs that lead from the beach toward the village.  The two make pleasant chatter, talking about how Floyd can’t wait to reshow you his favorite shipwrecks and how Jade wants to reteach you the local marine flora and fauna.  When your group finally approaches the village, Azul strays from the local shops at the center of the town and decides to walk toward the farmers market.  You cling a bit closer to the twins as the area becomes crowded and they preen at the attention you give them, using their larger frames to push past the crowd and create a relatively clear path for you.  You follow Azul around the marketplace, waiting as he discusses with some vendors and bargains a bit before purchasing some items he stuffs into his bag.  Eventually, you noticed that he began to stray from herbs and crystals, moving toward jewelry and nice little satchels.  You’re soon dragged away from the twins and brought to Azul’s side as he points out some lovely beads that would look nice on your wrist.

“Thank you, but it’s alright, I wouldn’t want to be wasting your money,” you respond, backing away from the stall before anything else catches your eye.

Azul pouts before drawing you back again, “But we insist, money is not an issue.”

To emphasize his point, Azul opens his bag and pulls out a pouch, quickly showing you the large amount of golden coins nestled inside.

“It helps that we have so many sunken ships near our cave,” Jade’s voice whispers in your ear, startling you a bit.

You turn around to look at him, and by the time you look back, Azul is already purchasing the bracelet.  Floyd snatches it out of his hand as Azul finishes the transaction and he slips it onto your wrist, watching as the f/c gems sparkle in the sun.

“You shouldn’t have, but thank you,” you breathe in awe at the bracelet, letting Floyd look over your shoulder to appreciate the shiny trinket.

Behind you, Jade and Azul share a knowing look and seem to puff up with your compliments.  As the day continues, your group briefly stops for some human food, which you found delicious but the mermen stated they preferred their usual marine cuisine.  When the sun began to set in the sky, Azul started to usher you toward an inn that rests near the ocean.

“Since the potion won’t wear off until tomorrow afternoon, we’ll be staying here tonight.  In the morning we can walk around a bit before going back home,” Azul explains as he guides you inside the cozy home.

The shopkeeper’s eyes light up in recognition when she sees the trio, and she spends a few minutes looking for a specific key.  She makes some small talk with the mermen, trying to get a good look at your unfamiliar face, but Floyd and Jade form a wall in front of you to shield you from her gaze.  When she finally finds it, she hands a small and rusty key to Azul who thanks her before walking towards the stairs that lead to the second floor.  You follow him to a door, which he opens with the key.

“This is where we usually hide out when we take on human forms, but I guess I forgot to account for you,” Azul speaks before gesturing toward the single queen sized bed in the middle of the room.  “Floyd and Jade usually share the bed and I usually sleep on the couch, but since you’re here, it makes this a bit diffi-.”

“I call sleeping with Ariel-chan!” Floyd yells before grabbing onto you and jumping on the bed.

For such an old and rickety looking place, the bed is actually soft and squishy, something you could definitely get used to sleeping on.  As Floyd clings onto you, you watch Azul and Jade have a bit of an argument about the sleeping arrangement.

“There is plenty of room on the bed, I think Ariel would feel more comfortable sleeping with us than on the couch with you,” Jade reasons, a small smirk on his face.

“Maybe we should just sleep on the bed and let Ariel have the couch so he can be more comfortable and have more space.  You know how Floyd moves about in his sleep,” Azul shoots back.

The events of the day must have caught up with you because you can’t stop your eyes from drooping, their argument becoming background noise.  You can vaguely hear Floyd wish you a goodnight before you black out.

~

In the morning, instead of the sun waking you up, you are smacked in the face by someone’s arm, causing you to groan in pain before opening your eyes.  You rub the sleep from them before you can take in the situation, which would be Jade’s chest in your face.  You look up at his sleeping face, his eyes still closed peacefully and you sigh, thankful that you hadn’t woken him up.  You crane your neck to look behind you, seeing Floyd stretched out on the bed, arms and legs in a starfish position, him being the culprit of your early awakening.  You carefully push Floyd’s arm off of you and maneuver out of Jade’s light hold on your waist.  When you leave the bed, you’re surprised to see Azul sitting at the little coffee table in the corner, enjoying a warm cup of tea.

“What time is it?” you groan sleepily as you sit beside him, taking the tea cup he offered you.

“Around 7:30 am,” he tells you.  “Did Floyd wake you up?”

You nod as you take a sip of the hot sweet tea, cherishing the quiet morning before the twins wake up.  Even though you can’t remember who these people are, they’ve only treated you with kindness and brought you into their little family.  They can’t be that bad and you can’t wait to learn about them again and explore the ocean together.  You’re broken out of your thoughts around 8:00 am, when Jade wakes up, noticing that you’re missing from his side.

“Good morning, Ariel.  How did you sleep last night?” Jade asks while fixing his appearance and getting ready for the day.

“Good.  How did you sleep?” you ask in return as you prepare a cup of tea for him.

“Wonderful with you by my side,” Jade responds, sending you a soft smile as you blush and quickly hand him the cup.

Jade chuckles at your behavior before taking a sip of his tea and moving to wake up his brother.  Floyd wakes up reluctantly with a groan and he groggily gets up and slips on his shoe before he lights up when he sees you.

“Ariel-chan, I can’t believe you left me,” he pouts, giving you a morning hug as you happily return it, trying to match his energy.

“If everyone is ready,” Azul speaks while standing up.  “We should go back to the market to get some last minute items before heading home.”

The others nod and begin to leave the room, handing the innkeeper the key and wishing her a good day before leaving.  Since it’s early in the morning, most of the stalls in the market are just starting to open, which Jade tells you is the best time to go buy since most of the items are fresh.  Once again, you mostly just follow Azul around as he buys what he needs, but he does stop to buy you a breakfast item before continuing around the market.  When the sun got dangerously close to the middle of the sky, Azul called it a day and started to head back towards the beach.  They allowed you some privacy as you took off your clothing and waited for the potion to wear off.  As you wait, naked in the sun, you hear the crunch of sand from the other side of your rock.

“Hey, I’m still changing,” you call out, hoping that it isn’t Floyd trying to play a prank on you.

“Human?  Is that you?” a voice calls out as the footsteps get closer.

Thankfully, by the time a gray cat-like creature rounds the corner of the rock, your legs have merged together to form your mermaid tail again.  You sigh in relief, but it is short lived as you curl in on yourself to back away from the cat.

“Who are you?”  you ask before tilting your head in confusion.  “What are you?”

“It’s me, Grim!  I can’t believe you forgot me!” The cat exclaims, clearly annoyed by your memory loss.

“Do I know you?” you question, seeing that the creature seems more irritated than threatening.

“Yes!  We go to Night Raven College together.  I’m your familiar,” the cat’s previous shock wears off, seeming more confused now.

While those words ring a bell in your foggy mind, they don’t resurface any memories, “I’m sorry, but I don’t remember that.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me, Y/N,” the cat groans in frustration as he starts to pace, his paws leaving little indents in the sand.

You pause as you suddenly get overloaded with hidden memories.  Just by saying that name, you can remember your past.  You’re not a mermaid, you're a magicless human that goes to a magic school that has overblot issues.  You were tossed into the Octavinelle dorm when its mirror broke.  You look up to see Grim muttering to himself about a stupid feather brained head master and you quickly grab at his little paws to catch his attention.

“Wait, I do remember now.  You said my name and all my memories came back!” you tell him as he looks up at you.  “We need to get out of here and fix that overblot.”

“Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Grim cheers as he jumps up and down in excitement.  “But you need to find a way to get human legs again.”

You look down in disappointment, realizing that you don’t have the luxury of walking on land anymore, “Right.  I’ll just have to take one of Azul’s potions.  Meet me back here tonight, then we can make our escape.”

Grim opens his mouth to say something, but you’re both interrupted by Azul’s voice.

“Ariel, are you okay over there?” he calls out.

You quickly come up with an excuse, “Yes, I’m almost done, just folding my clothing.”

“Don’t take too long, we don’t want anyone to see us,” Jade responds.

“I have to go, but remember to be back here tonight,” you tell Grim before dragging yourself from behind the rocks and toward the group.

You spare a glance behind your shoulder to see Grim running back toward the village and you sigh in relief knowing he’s safe.  You hand your clothing back to Azul and he places it into his bag before helping you into the water.  The ocean water is chilly and you shake a bit, which catches Jade’s attention.

“Don’t worry, Ariel, once we get swimming you’ll be feeling warmer,” Jade says while hugging you from behind to offer some of his warmth to you.

Before you would have leaned into the touch, now you have to stop yourself from flinching.  You offer him a fake smile and just nod before diving below the surface and swimming back to the cave.  When you get deeper and closer to the cave, Floyd tries to get you to come visit a shipwreck with him, insisting that you two can look for treasures together.

“Sorry Floyd, but I’m really tired.  Maybe we can go tomorrow,” you tell him, faking a yawn to make it more convincing.

Floyd pouts but makes you pinky promise him that you’ll go with him together.  You do it even though you know that you’ll be on land tomorrow with Grim, trying to figure a way out of here.  Azul takes pity on you and allows you to hang off his tentacles as he swims back into their hideout.  Inside the cave, you eye the cauldron where Azul made the potion early.  There still seems to be plenty of the golden liquid left as the twins clean up the area a bit and Azul places his newly bought items on the shelves.  When Azul sees you awkwardly standing in the corner, he wraps his tentacles around you and lifts you up to a little shell-like crevice in the wall that opens up into a small sleeping area filled with soft cushions and blankets.  As his tentacles tuck you in, Azul kisses you on the forehead before telling you to sleep well.  You nod and give him a smile as he leaves and moves to another crevice to sleep in, Floyd and Jade going into their own cubicles as well.  You lay there for a bit, watching the other crevices to make sure the others were asleep.

You must have fallen asleep as well because when you wake up, the darker water seems darker than before.  You quickly scan the room and see the trio all tucked into their sleeping rooms.  You slowly crawl out of your bed, making sure not to disturb the water too much as you swim up to the shelves and grab a few empty bottles before swimming to the cauldron and filling them with the golden liquid.  You also grab Azul’s bag and stuff the bottles inside, ensuring you also have your clothes in there.  You look around one more time to make sure you’re not being watched before swimming out of the cave.  You carefully avoid the plant-like creatures that grabbed at you when you first arrived, but most of them looked like they were sleeping anyways.  As you swim through the open ocean, you can’t help but feel giddy with the prospect of freedom.  When you finally approach the beach you can see Grim hiding behind a rock.

You drag yourself to him and greet him with a smile that instantly drops when you see an anemone thing on Grim’s head.  You quickly realize that Azul must have figured out your plan, so the best course of action would be to turn human now and make a run for it with Grim so you can at least get away from the ocean.  As you reach for the potion in the bag and start to tip the bottle back against your lips, something grabs it out of your hand.  You look up to see a dark tentacle squeeze the potion until the glass breaks, the sharp shards narrowly missing your face.  The tentacle is attached to an eerily calm Azul who looks at you with a creepy smile.  Out of desperation, you try to drag yourself further away from Azul, but your mermaid tail is still too unfamiliar and drags you down.  You let out a scream as tentacles attach themselves to your tail and drag you toward Azul.

“I can’t believe you tried to leave us, after we’ve been nothing but nice to you,” Azul sneers, grabbing your face with his hands to force you to look at him.  “We can’t have little pests putting false ideas into that little head of yours.”

Grim lets out a yelp as he gets grabbed by Jade who has to hold back a crazed-looking Floyd.

Jade gives you a gentle smile, something too soft for the terrifying moment, “Don’t worry, Ariel, we’ll take care of this thing.”

Before you can protest, Jade and Floyd disappear from the area, but you can’t follow them with your eyes when Azul forces your eyes back to him.  You can hear the pop of a cork as Azul shows you a potion he holds in his hand, the purple liquid sloshing around inside.

“You were finally warming up to us when that thing had to revive your memories.  But that won’t be a problem anymore,” Azul smirks before pushing the bottle against your lips and forcing the liquid down your throat.  “See you later.”

~

When you awake, even though your eyes are open, you still see darkness.  You rub the sleep from your eyes, your memory a bit haze as you poke your head out of the crevice in the wall.  You barely recognize Azul’s potion room and realize that you're in your sleeping pod.  You can't really see into the other sleeping pods, but you quickly find out where Azul is when a tentacle slides across your waist.  Your body flinches out of reflex, but Azul’s gentle smile calms you a bit.

“Did you have a good rest, Ariel,” he asks as he places his glasses back on.  “You were so sleepy after we returned from the human market.”

“I slept so good I almost forgot where I was for a second,” you joke as Azul's smile gets bigger.

“Good to hear.  Jade and Floyd should be back soon, they had some business to attend to,” Azul tells you as he helps you get out of the sleeping chamber.

You wait for him to crawl out as well, but you're quickly attacked by Floyd who appears out of nowhere.

“Ariel-chan!  You're awake!” he exclaims loudly right next to your ear.

“It is wonderful to see you awake again, we were worried you tired yourself out when we took that day trip on land,” Jade murmurs as he pats your head.

“It may have been tiring, but I can't wait to go back,” you smile at them, which causes the trio to glance at each other and frown.

Azul is the first to speak, “No, I think it's much safer if you just stay here.”

“We don't really need anything from the land anymore,” Jade adds, trying to dissuade you.

“Plus it's more fun here!  We can go treasure hunting, we can have swimming races, and we can chase the little fishes,” Floyd remarks, trying to distract you from going to land.

While you find it odd, they're only looking out for you and have your best interests in mind.  As they list a few more reasons you begin to nod along, reassuring them that maybe you don't need to go explore the land anymore.

Azul sighs in relief, “That's excellent to hear.  It's best if you just stay here, in our own little world.”

[1218-814]

Jade Leech Analysis and Theories

Again this is for myself, loosely based off of what other ppl think, but he's my kin so I may be biased

requested by @thehollowwriter

His actual Personality (Iced Tea Theory) and his hobby

No one has actually gotten Jade's trust and trusted him back. He's desperately trying though, but he's not getting the right idea of how. His actual personality is frozen, but the only one that comes the closest to helping him is surprising: Kalim Al-Asim.

For Jade, you have to dump a ton of sugar (sweet love) into the tea.

Remember what he said in response to the tea?

"It feels like all my teeth will fall out."

What is Jade's unique magic written as?

"The teeth that bite."

I'm going to call Jade's actual personality iced tea for this reason.

Also, the mushrooms are a metaphor, as well as Jack’s cacti, for personality. Jack and the Octavinelle trio are from a cold place, Jack comes from the snowy region and Octavinelle comes from the icy ocean. Cacti grow poorly in cold places, which equals undeveloped Jade, which needs some sun and warm air to grow. It’s odd how suddenly there’s the story about a cactus and the detailed reason just to go to the greenhouse. And how much they emphasized that Jack is from a snowy country.

Jack said that he wanted to get his cactus some light in the greenhouse, and Octavinelle showed up, together, which is weird to me. 

Maybe this is what happened in the even (as in odd or even) chapters with Octavinelle. Ace and Deuce don’t seem to have memories of Atlantica Museum, and other positive things in that arc. Maybe the one who blotted was Jade? (There are different plot lines if you look closely, wasn’t it odd that you see how Malles was feared in the main story, but not in Halloween events? Even in part 5 how Ace and Deuce were like “long time no see” when you saw them before the end of 4?)

I think even at this point, his clinginess hasn’t resolved; so Azul and Floyd are accepting it, saying to him “Let’s change it little by little”. I mean it’s hard for someone like Jade, who lives for someone else to be just told “live for yourself!”.

I mean Azul asks him what he should do when Jack ruined his mushrooms; which I assume is letting him decide what he wants to do, as a part of helping him live his own life.

Jade talks to someone he doesn’t know from him, and the mushrooms are near a “sunny place” (with cloth). Azul insults him with a serious face and Floyd calls them “mushrooms” not “shitake”. Jade being in the middle is especially the weirdest. This is highly unlike them, and I think they want to “face Jade properly more”. 

Jade fake cried, which I assume is a form of therapy; even if it’s fake, it’s teaching him “that it’s okay to cry, tell us your feelings”.  Yes, even if Jack worked at Mostro Lounge, he has no merit, but Floyd said “Yeah let’s do that.”, which is a really good response because if he said that he would have no merit, the situation would go back to “listening to others, instead of yourself”.

He dragged the whole thing, and Floyd oddly didn’t complain about it, and he touched Jack’s ears. I think he wanted to do that from the beginning, and he didn’t go “Oya oya Floyd” and ignore his own thoughts/opinion. And Floyd said that they were “Jade’s treasure”, as opposed to in Jade’s lab coat when he said to throw it away.

Jade's heart is expressed as teeth, something sharp/hard and protected, and in Jack's lab coat story, I also assume the reason why they put the mushrooms in a sunny place is that it's a metaphor for Jade's real self-being "defrosted." Remember what Jack did? He threw Jade’s mushrooms away. I think this is expressing what people have done to him; the softest part of his heart is trampled and thrown away "for the time being" and "somehow" Jack and Jade are on opposite teams on Beans Day, probably because Jack is Jade's "Night", but Azul is Jade's "Day".

Jade wants to be defrosted by Azul, and that's why his relationship with him is co-dependent.

Jades and diamonds are kind of similar in a way; Diamonds are the toughest stone but are brittle. Jades are not as hard and easy to scratch, but they have a very strong toughness and are hard to break. (Cater and Jade)

Jade and his little… attachment Issues

Jade is so silly,  we all know he’s lowkey psychotic and loves Azul but he himself most likely doesn’t. I personally relate to him heavily and know most likely what he is thinking so let me explain his attachment to Azul. Think of Jade as a little child, or Ariel from the little mermaid, but she’s, like, 190 cm.

Do you know those people that are attached to one person? Jade is basically that with Azul, but a little hard (?) to tell. So you know how I said that Jade grows mushrooms because Azul praised him once for it? That is why he has that attachment; this goes for why he takes care of Floyd, it's something that he was praised for, something that gives him an “identity”.

He visibly sighs during flying classes, which reflects how it’s a very weak point for him while he’s very good at other things, so when he can’t do something less than another person can, it makes him stand out more. No praise no gain.  I know this is probably harder for people who aren’t like Jade to understand but basically, if you get praised by someone that you think understands you about something that you didn’t really know about yourself, you are like “Oh I didn’t know that!”. However, what he doesn’t know is that Azul doesn’t really understand Jade as much as Jade thinks. So when Azul says he’s someone that is “good at getting into people’s comfort”, he doesn’t really mean it as praise, but Jade takes it as one. His thought process is basically “If Azul, someone who I trust has good judgment because he always knows what people desire and what their weak points are, then there is no doubt that I am a bad guy who puts on a gentle and humble mask.”, and he believes that fake identity (also kinda gullible) as is. 

To Azul, he doesn’t trust Jade because he appears to have no desires that are to be gained through his contracts. It's fake but in a self-protection-type way. That illusion that he makes for himself makes him look strong, but deep down he is a very sensitive child. And that is why he became so attached to the little crybaby who spews out ink; he thinks they are the same in how sensitive and scared they are. Both haven’t been like this from the beginning, and that’s why Jade doesn’t fear the scheming personality of Azul. This also could apply to why he is okay with Trey (who is like him, but nice (?) and why he isn’t as close with Vil (who is someone who was born strong and honest about himself). Azul doesn’t notice because of hits low self-esteem

Just on a side note, I think Jade hates people who write stuff like this. This is a call-out post to some of the Jade kins out there. AKA me

~~~

I pulled this one out of the grave too

This is a small chunk of Octa, the google doc I have is 50+ pages

They're like a lot of context needed bc I post my old posts out of order so if there's a request, I am willing to pull those out

[multicolour-ink]

Okay I have a question for the MerMario AU: would Luigi know about Mario's plan to see the sea witch? Would he go with him to try to stop him? (Kinda like how Flounder and Sebastian followed Ariel) or would he support his decision despite his own misgivings about the whole thing? I have so many questions gah! I really don't know where to start! LOL 😂 I want to learn everything about this AU! I guess this ask is as good a question as any and I am curious what Luigi's presence there would mean for Kammy's plan or if it would just play out the same as in The Little Mermaid.

@sapphire-light02 @keylovesstuff

Well the thing is, Luigi doesn't know Mario is going to meet Kammy - but it all happens by accident.

Mario is pretty down after his fight with Pio (especially after the latter said that he had been dragging Luigi into this 'obsession' long enough), and late that night he goes a little ways out to think things through. How can he stop Bowser from harming Peach and her kingdom? How can anyone not care that Bowser is about to wreak destruction to the surface?!

And then Kammy comes out of the shadows. Mario knows who she is - Kammy was a former resident of Atlantica, after Bowser's first downfall and banishment to the Great Depths. However, Kammy was soon kicked out of Atlantica for clearly showing her allegiance to Bowser, as well as her use of dark magic (which is outlawed in the kingdom).

Knowing this, Mario is more than aware that he shouldn't trust her.

"You are desperate to help them?", she asks. "I can help with that."

There's a lot more to it, and she and Mario both know it. Mario isn't a fool, but he is desperate. He wants to help Peach, as well as the surface and the ocean, but doesn't dare want to get his family involved - let alone allow them to know what he plans to do.

So he follows Kammy to her lair.

Meanwhile Luigi, who has been asleep back in their room, suddenly wakes up with a start, and clutches his moon necklace. Part of the bros' mer-magic is that they can sense where the other is through their bond. It's an unshakable link that has existed since they were born. And Luigi knows Mario is in trouble, and quickly swims as fast as he can towards his brother, desperate to save him before anything terrible happens!

Meanwhile, the scene with Mario and Kammy plays similar to The Little Mermaid, except Mario has to give up his mer magic rather than his voice, which is transferred into his sun necklace and kept by Kammy.

As soon as the spell is done, Mario is overcome by an incredible pain. His lungs suddenly start letting in water rather than air. His tail is split into a pair of legs. It's agonising - and Kammy is doing nothing to help him.

Abd then, just as Mario is about to feel like he's going to suffocate, a flash of green pushes Kammy aside, grabs Mario, and holds him close, as they swim as fast as they can to the surface.

The air is fresh and wonderful on Mario's body. He coughs and gasps as he takes in a lungful of air, and then collapses in exhaustion as Luigi carefully guides them to shore...

* * *

And that's that ^^ What follows of course is a similar scene like in the movie, where Mario wakes up on the beach and discovers his legs. The only difference is that he and Luigi have a long overdue talk 😒.

Long story short, Luigi states he's going to help Mario from afar - he's not going anywhere when his big bro needs him!

[disneytva]

Ariel To Make A Splash Debut Thursday, June 27, Streaming Next Day On Disney+

Disney Branded Television announced today the premiere date for the highly anticipated animated musical series “Ariel.” Inspired by “The Little Mermaid (2023)” the series will debut on THURSDAY, JUNE 27, on Disney Junior (9:00 a.m. EDT/PDT) and air on Disney Channel later that day, with an initial batch of eight episodes available on Disney+ the following day, FRIDAY, JUNE 28.

Disney Junior has also released the theme song who will be Disney TVA 's #98 series overall.

To help build excitement for “Ariel,” it was also announced that a new series of shorts titled “Ariel: Mermaid Tales” will be featured across Disney Junior, Youtube and Disney+ beginning Wednesday, June 5. Each two-minute short will highlight a different aspect of Ariel’s life in Atlantica.

Recurring Guest Cast on ARIEL include Yvette Nicole Brown ("Firebuds", "Pupstruction") as Aquatica, Melissa Villaseñor ("Primos", Cartoon Network Studios "OK K.O Let's Be Heroes") as Navi, Ron Funches (Pixar Animation Studios "Inside Out 2") as Delfino, Kevin Michael Richardson ("The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder", "La Familia Avenúñez") as Sebastian, Parvesh Cheena (Netflix Animation "Centaurworld") as Ravi, Danni Washington as Tantie Chantale, Alanna Ubach (Nickelodeon "El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera") as Cristina Cuttles, Dana Heath (Nickelodeon "Danger Force") and Jessica Mikayla (Disney Launchpad "Project CC") play Ariel’s twin sisters Ayanna and Alanna, respectively.

The acclaimed songwriting teams are comprised of Anthony M. Jones (Tone), Sofia Quinn, Olivia Waithe, Chantry Johnson, Michelle Zarlenga and Rosemarie Tan.  Christopher Willis ("The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse" franchise) serves as composer. Sean Skeete, dean of the Professional Performance division at Berklee College of Music, is the Caribbean music consultant.

Walt Disney Records will release a digital soundtrack on Friday, June 28, and an array of dolls, playsets, role-play, costumes, apparel, books and more from Disney Consumer Products and Disney Publishing Worldwide will be available this summer.

[simmie-stories]

Ariel #17 Electrokinesis

Phillip stormed into Ursula's den to confront her.

"Did you really turn Haydes into a kelpie and force him to kill Aurora?!" "What? No! I can't do any such thing?!"

Phillip tried to force her into sea witch form...

But nothing happened and this time, it was Ursula's turn to run.

It was time make use of his mermaid perks! Phillip threw her into the air with his wind power.

Oh no... instead of killing Ursula, she got lightning eyed too.

He tried again.

But she just wouldn't die!

He tried blowing the conch for reinforcements.

But Ursula took the opportunity to flee into the ocean deep.

Phillip shouted after her: "If I ever see you back in Atlantica, I WILL kill you!"

Poor Phillip ... I'm just not very good at helping him vanquish his enemies! I also don't know what is Seasons vs @sp-creates Expanded Mermaid mod since he got the lightning eyes.

Main Back Next

[orginllazyblog]

Credit to:

@maliciousmace

They cover up the Queen of Hearts and Scar. So I'll cover up with Ursula, Jafar, Evil Queen, and Hades. Maybe once book 7 is FINALLY complete, I'll do Maleficent or perhaps maliciousmace themselves.

Sorry if it took long as I waited for maliciousmace permission and how long it took me to finish

🐙Ursula���:

Oh boy. Yuu woke up by one of the tentacles as they were JUST about to go to sleep

"Tell me, little guppy, where am I?"

"*sigh* You are in Twisted Wonderland where people can do magic and stuff, and you are in my room." *process to go back to sleep*

She did not expect that someone was willing to tell the whole truth as she was about to come up with a deal for Yuu

Honestly, for Yuu, they're gonna just stay up late if the next one shows up late at night as they got up to show the sea witch around Ramshackle as they can't go back to sleep

Introduce to QoH, Scar, and Grim to Ursula to get it over it

"Queen Elizabeth, Scar, and Grim. Meet the sea witch, Ursula. Ursula, her majesty, Queen of Hearts, Queen Elizabeth. Scar, royal family member of the lion pride, King of the Beast. And lastly, Grim, my emotional support cat."

"Hey! 😾"

Oh yeah, Grim can now see the great sev- three spirits (for now)

QoH was happy to have another female companion to talk to as Scar just sleeps like 24/7

"Anyway, going back to bed."

Next morning, now that Yuu got full rest, they told Ursula the whole story. Of how she appear after Azul's overblot and that the world look up to her as one of the great sevens as the sea witch

She was satisfied with the answers, how she was portrayed as one of the powerful historic figure. Guess she didn't need to bribe Yuu to a shady deal

Today is the day where the octo trio, Adeuce, and Jack are going to the museum at the coral sea.

Slight family trip, that your classmates don't know that you're company with three out of the seven spirits

The museum reminded Ursula the Atlantica castle, only Yuu to realize they may have forgot to tell Ursula

"Oh yeah, you may see something you're familiar with. Just please... for keep sake?"

"I know how to keep my anger. You don't have to worry, guppy."

Everyone went to explore around the museum leaving Yuu and Azul alone. Well, technically, Ursula QoH and Scar are stuck following Yuu wherever they go

Azul and Yuu had a deep conversation, with Ursula knowing what made him and her have something in common of being unwelcome in merfolk society

Yuu would go to Montsro Lounge to show Ursula of Azul's business work

Ursula does miss her eels whenever she sees Jade and Floyd

She gave Azul a hug, only this time someone other than Grim was able to feel the cold air

"What's wrong, Azul? Do you have goosebumbs?"

"I just felt a cold air for a second."

"Huh? Okay then."

'OH MA GOD! HE CAN ALSO FEEL-'

Now Yuu is panicking on how can Azul feel the ghost's touch over the past week. If he figures out, Yuu would be caught another shady deal or more like a secret to not tell anyone.

About Crowley, Ursula would see why Yuu is mentally exhausted from all the overblot bullshit

Would join with the other two of pranking Crowley

If Yuu's theory is correct: when the next overblot fight is over, the next ghost would probably become not a ghost...

__________________________________________________________________________

🐍Jafar🪔

And would you look at that? Only this time, Yuu was up finishing their homework drinking coffee as they waited for the sourceror of sands to arrive in their room instead of heading to bed

"Why, hello there. I'll get to the point: you are in Twisted Wonderland where people can do magic. As well as there are merfolk, beastman, and fairies and such."

"...Looks like you been to this situation a lot."

"Yeah... you were not the first one here, man. Anyway, I'll introduce you to the other's."

Another introduction for the others well

"Okay, let me test this out."

"Kid, what are you doing?"

Yuu grabbed a tea cup and poured some tea

"I'm not sure if any one of you can eat or drink at this point. It worked well with the Queen of Hearts trying to pet Grim and Ursula by giving a hug to the mer student. So, with absorbing nutrition might work or not."

It did not work, to say the least.

Another morning, only this time, Yuu and Grim were spending the time themselves as winter break is coming to an end. Usually, they would of shown Jafar the Scarabia dorm, but then again, it's better to do it now than later.

Jafar was amazed by how the building almost felt like the old palace he once worked as a noble advisor

Another field trip for the seven-four spirits at the Scarabia Dorm

The first three were fascinated; QoH was amazed of the dorm's architecture, Scar and Ursula love the water fountain.

Everything was going great...that is until:

"Is it me or did I just see the great sand sourceror?"

"You're right! I thought I just saw the King of the Beast."

'Well... I'm fuck.'

Not only that there was one student who was able to feel one of the great seven's, now there are more students and soon the teachers who will see one of the great seven's

It's not like the four can stay at Ramshackle, they have to follow Yuu wherever they go. They can look around, but they have to stick to Yuu's side

School is coming soon, and Yuu needed a plan. There are students who might figure it out soon, so they need a person who is trustworthy

Definitely not Ace or Deuce, Jack? Maybe. It would have been easy if Sam was here with them, but sadly he's not here. 

“Why not tell the other ghost staff?”

“Oh! You scare me there. Sorry I haven't been myself, but are you three going to be okay with this? I don't want to drag you guys to this mess.”

“Don't worry youngsters. We have a plan that might pull the trick.”

“Okay, what is it?”

“Here's how it'll go…”

The plan somehow worked out well! The Ramshackle ghosts brought over the other ghosts to meet one of the great seven's and were able to pull off a disguise of the four seven's. So if anyone thought Yuu is surrounded by one of the great seven's, someone would point out they saw one of them in a different location. 

What sucks now is Yuu can't hang out with their friends for a long time as they might see a glimpse of one of the great seven's

“Hey, Yuu! Wanna hang out-”

“Sorry. I have homework to do. Bye!” 

You know what? It wasn’t so bad as they had Jafar who decided to help out Yuu for keeping their presence quiet by teaching them about ancient incantations and astrology. Which is how Yuu was able to do well in their class.

So far, so good…that is when Yuu was announced to be sent to the Headmage's office. Great..

“Who's this particular Crowley?”

“Well…he's a bit…um.”

“A bitch.”

“Scar!”

“He's not wrong there, guppy.”

Walking to the office, Jafar already hates Crowley as he reminds him of the foolish sultan

“It seems to be true…You are chosen to be the great seven's vessel.”

“...”

“...”

If Yuu didn't have a huge grudge before, the four seven spirits wanted to strangle this guy. Yuu tried to hold on, but what's the use if the four are still ghosts

This kept going on for a couple of hours

When everyone settle down, Crowley explain that he figure it out when he caught one of the disguise ghost and promise (for once) to keep their presence quiet by having Yuu stay in their dorm throughout the day and have late night classes with him

It doesn't seem to bad, but the four speak out:

“Now that doesn't seem fair, headmage.”

“If Yuu deserve more, then the best mentors would have to be us, one of the great seven's.”

“You? Teaching the little guppy? Now that is not a good deal, headmage.”

“The four of us will teach them as we are indeed the great seven's.”

In the end, Yuu didn't have to go to class in the next few days if they wanted to. They have the great sevens as their teachers! Well, soon, all of the seven's if they are willing to

Each of them taught Yuu of their own culture and history from their homeland

Yuu's excuse for not attending their regular class was that they have the flu. Only the teachers and staff know the reason

Well, it can’t get any worse…right?

____________________________

👑Evil/Beautiful Queen Grimhilde🍎

Before: 

Yuu's close friends have been wondering why they haven't seen Yuu after winter break. They were only told they were awfully sick and can't go out

That is when the VDC was around the corner. Ace and Deuce wanted to join the competition, but it wasn't fun when there other but they participated in the 1 million thuamarks

Grim heard the news and asked Yuu if he could participate:

“Pretty please. With a lot of thuamarks, we can buy so much food!”

“Hm…besides food, we do need to upgrade a bit of Ramshackle. Like a laundry washing machineand dryer, more clothes, and much more.”

It took a while, but Grim must keep their presence quiet

A few days later, the VDC group was tasked to stay in Ramshackle Dorm. At this point, Yuu won't trust Crowley's words

But if they are going to stay for a while, why not just tell them to get it over with it

And that's how they meet Rook. 

Rook promise to keep it a secret, though Yuu plan to tell the OB boys as they are the reason why the four seven's appear. But the question they still question is why them? Wouldn't it make sense if they are the ones instead of Yuu? 

Even the four seven's were questioning that as well

Though they have been focusing on who's going to be the next overblot student, that is someone in Pomefiore

This time, Yuu remembers their dream linking to the great seven's and maybe some clues of the next overblot

Someone who's like the Beautiful Queen…

If Yuu would like to guess, it's the housewarden of Pomefiore, Vil Shoenheit

Turns out…they were right. Luckily, they managed not to let Vil give the poison apple drink to Neige and had their friends to face off Vil's overblot

You can say that the VDC group were shock that Yuu is a company with one of the great seven's themselves

“Yuu, why did you-”

“There's no time! I'll explain later, but this would also be another explanation. Let's bring back Vil by knocking some sense into him!”

“Heck yeah!”

One hour later, the painful battle was over, but the damage of the stadium is the problem other than Yuu keeping the secret that they are the great seven's “vessel”.

Even Malleus was surprise as well, though he was supposed to be surprise

“So…Yuu? Care to explain why you were gone?”

“Yeah, but if you guys win, then I'll consider telling you.”

They didn't win, but Yuu is still going to tell them anyway, and the other OB boys too.

After:

As the VDC event was over, Yuu still had other things they needed to worry about, that is, the beautiful queen herself

To Yuu and the four's surprise, the beautiful queen appearance was crystal clear that she was almost close to being fully human physical, but there was still a ghost fade

“Greetings, your majesty.”

“...You may raise your head, peasant. Can you tell me where I am?”

Another long explanation of Twisted Wonderland and how she appeared by a student who just overblot a few hours ago

And another introduction with the other's

“I think it's time we tell the students who are the reason why you all appear in this world. But from what happened today, tomorrow morning, I'll introduce you to the VDC group and the other students.”

“Wait a minute, we're missing someone. Where's the little kitty cat, Grim?”

Searching for Grim, this time, the five souls didn't need to stick to Yuu's side. Though to be safe as Yuu is magicless, Scar went with them to ensure Yuu's safety as it was nighttime

They did find Grim, but he wasn't himself as he ate another overblot stone and scratched Yuu. Even though Scar thought he could shield Yuu but he’s still a ghost.

He knew he had to take Yuu back to the dorm, but he could only drag their body by the uniform. That is how the Adeuce duo found Yuu on that night

“Y-you are?!”

“Listen here, brats. You need to carry this human child to their dorm while I get this headmage of yours. Understood?”

“Y-yes King of the Beasts!”

Once Yuu was awakened, Ace told them they had run into one of the seven's and were told by Scar to take Yuu back to Ramshackle to be safe from Grim. They even meet the others as they put Yuu back to their room

Yuu told them that the main reason if anyone figured this out, the more dangerous for them to be possible to be target at but they needed to tell the other's who witnessed it as well as the others

But with Grim acting feral, Yuu needs to find him to be sure he's alright

With Crowley hearing the news, Yuu's wounds were treated as he was nervously fangirling his favorite seven's

An explanation to everyone that Grim may soon become dangerous for Yuu and the school as long as “they” don't show up

But that doesn't keep Yuu quiet as they went out with the Aduece duo to go find Yuu only to be told he was already found by a humanoid name Ortho

The three went back to their dorms, even telling Yuu good luck on keeping the seven's well, which brought back to Yuu that they have to deal with one of the scariest one they will be dealing with

If only they knew they would soon get kidnapped…

________________________________

💀King of the Underworld, Hades🔥

Before:

“Hi, my name is Yuu. You might be wondering how I got myself into this situation.”

When the Styx robots came to nrc, they thought they were going to get captured, like how the other OB boys, instead they were treated like a VIP

Of course, the five seven's had to company with Yuu, another reason why Styx needs Yuu for some reason

Yuu got that special treatment while the OB boys were stuck together in the basement (?)

Before they got captured, Yuu was about to tell the VDC group how the five of the seven's came to Twisted Wonderland only to be interrupted by the windows getting shattered

As they came to their destination, later known to be the Isle of Lamentation

“Looks dull here.”

“You're majesty…”

“It's true, dear. This place looks so quiet here, and there's barely any entertainment here, little rosie.”

“Hmm…”

“Got anything, Jafar?”

“I feel like I know this place, but I can't seem to recall what exactly.”

So they went through the test for Yuu. The scientists wanted to know if Yuu can possibly use magic now that they are seven’s “vessel” but no signs…yet

Though, Yuu wondered if their friends are okay back at nrc

And would you look at that? Rook and Epel found the location 

Yuu could have met Epel before, but they weren't able to back then, and now they get to meet each other

“Have you found Grim, Yuu?”

“So far, no. Even if I ask how he's doing, they wouldn't tell me.”

“Wow… I thought they'll tell you because you're the great seven's vessel.”

“Eh, I couldn't care less of that title. It doesn't suit me. Also, why are you and Rook here?”

Rook and Epel plan to get Vil back while Yuu wanted to at least talk to Grim

Once the boys were done with their test, Idia still hadn't got a clue as to how the five seven spirits appeared in Ramshackle

The only thing he could possibly think is the similarities; coming to Twisted Wonderland from another world

All is going well till Ortho started hacking the Styx systems, and soon Idia overblot

Another long, painful battle as they surprise the OB boys with the five out of sevens on their side.

“Yeah I was meaning to tell you guys this earlier, but fate said they have other plans.”

“Good to know.”

The 6th time Yuu has done another introduction and soon to be 7th once the King of the Underworld appears after, but then again, they weren't sure if he would appear back at Ramshackle or here at the Isle of Lamentation

As for the team, they stick with the Pomefiore trio as they go down down down

“Dimond.”

“Yes, Sand sorcerer?”

“I seem to remember something I said earlier. This place may be where I meet him.”

“You and the King of the Underworld met before?”

“Heh, you could say that.”

“You might want to skip the conversation”, a phantom appear as the team try to knock them out with the lightning spear

Yuu wouldn't imagine how heavy it was 

But wait a minute! How can they also carry the heavy weapon if it meant to be used by magic users?

Hours and hours, everyone managed to meet up and focus on taking down of the Shroud brothers

By the time, Idia and Ortho were defeated but almost fell completely to the hole that supposedly led to Tartarus. Only this time, Yuu was the one that jumped to save not only the Grim but the Shroud brothers as well

The five freak out of Yuu's silly action

The only thing they remember before they pass out was seeing a tall man figure

“...God?”

After:

Waking up, they somehow are back at Night Raven College only to be in one of the beds at the nurse office

‘Hold up, wait a minute! How am I here? Wasn't I at the Isle of Lamentation along with the others?’

“Oh good! You're awake. Hey there, kiddo, Hades here. God of the Underworld, how are you?”

“...Oh.”

Hades, God of the Underworld, now enter the group chat

While Yuu was knocked out, Idia took care of repairing Ramshackle, but the money for food and clothes would be different

Hades gift Yuu gems which brought them into tears

Grim came and cried to Yuu of how he’s sorry for scratching them

Crewel also came in to ensure Yuu is good to go, but where would they and Grim stay while Ramshackle is getting repair

“Oh yeah that’s right. What's your name again, kid?”

“My name is Yuu, your majesty.”

“No need with “your majesty” that kind of bullshit. Just call me Hades, okay?”

“Yes…Hades.”

“There you go! That's the spirit!”

This might be Yuu first laugh as they haven't had a good laugh since they arrive into this world, and it was Hades himself

It come to realization that the other seven spirits are not with them

“Hades, can I ask you a question?”

“Ask away.”

“Where are the others? Before you appear, the five didn't fully have a physical form and stayed as a ghost, as well as stay around me.”

“Oh yeeaaah. About that.”

Earlier, it was Hades who managed to save Yuu, Idia, and Grim from falling to Tartarus. As for Ortho, Grim swallowed the USB and spit it out with the help of Rook

With Hades awaken, the five were able to have a full physical form

The rest went back to Sage Island as for the six seven's and Yuu stay for more questioning

The five were worried that Yuu slept for almost a day, Hades reminded them that they were okay and that they just needed some rest

Oh yeah, Hades definitely remembers meeting Jafar. Let's just say Jafar doesn't want to remember as Hades began annoying him

“Hey, Jaffy! It's been a while, huh?”

“And I'm slowly wanting to forget about you.”

“Hey uncle.”

“Hey! Ursula! You're here too?”

This time, Ursula explained to Hades everything of what happened and that they were brought here to question Yuu 

Back to the present, Yuu shows around Ignihyde Dorm to show Hades around, and to his surprise, it's way more advanced with the technology he's not familiar with

Speaking of which, the rest were at the main building and NOT arguing to a certain crow man

They were relieved that Yuu now awake from their long slumber

“Oh yeah, that reminds me. Yuu, we need to talk about something that happened while you were resting.”

“Did I miss something?”

“Yuu, we know that you're magicless when we start getting used to being around here. We were concerned for your safety as we couldn't do anything to protect but watch. That is until the Shroud director told us the wonderful news.”

“You'll be able to wield magic pretty soon.”

“...But how is that possible?”

Yeah, how is that possible for Yuu? Was it awakening the seven's? No, they would have wielded magic before but but no signs of it. Then was Hades appearing that gave Yuu to use magic?

“Yeah... They still don't know, but hey, you get to learn how to wield fire just like me.”

“Hades, no! They need to learn the basics first.”

“Aaaww, you're no fun, Jaffy.”

“Can you not!”

“They act like an old married couple.”

“Yeah, I could see that.”

Now…If only this sweet moment could last. That is until she’ll be awakened later

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

So I did write today. And you could get context but that would require effort on my part.

So lets just say the Isle kids decided to recreate Chaos Games in Auradon and roped good few hero kids to join. (Part one’s out there somewhere and yes I plan on finishing this damn thing.)

Audrey has yet to set out, but she has much shorter walk, nevermind the advantage of home territory.

Though she also has two very impatient Li siblings with a phone on the speaker, yelling into it in Chinese and communicating last-minute details with their parents – they agreed to lend them an unit of the Great Chinese Army, for a practical exercise.

Yes, that’s how they’re calling it.

Anything but „Crazy Death-Magic Game,“ which was Audrey’s preferred title. Or „Chaos Games,“ as they’ve apparently been dubbed by the Isle kids a long time ago.

She supposes she should call Arabella, see if the Atlantica princess is still on, too; she takes out her phone.

„What, princess, getting cold feet?“ asks Anthony Tremaine lazily from where he’s sprawled on the sofa, Ginny Gothel more or less laying in his lap. „You really should.“

„Don’t talk nonsense,“ she scoffs at him, „And if you’re only here to kick my morale under, doors are over there.“ She flicks her hand in the correct direction, ready to finally call Arabella.

„Why, sweetheart, me? Undermining your morale? I’d never!“

Ginny laughs, which has absolutely nothing to do with his statement, Audrey is sure. She glares at both of them, to absolutely no effect. One of the more unfortunate side effects of Isle upbringing, or maybe just coexisting with their unspoken girlfriend.

„You absolutely would, Tremaine,“ she answers, „And for no reason whatsoever, I’m sure. And why are you here, anyway?“

Anthony runs his hand across Ginny’s scalp – Ginny has stopped paying attention to the conversation again – and says: „You wound me, Audrey Rose, you wound me. I’m here as your advisor, and you’re so gonna need one if you want to stand a chance at this thing.“

„I do not!“ Well, now Audrey is offended.

Li siblings have hung up the phone and are now speaking to each other, still agitated. Very unconcerning thing, just as the next sentence from Anthony’s mouth.

„Oh believe me, you do. Harriet could probably take you all herself, if she wanted.“

Audrey freezes for a bit; she so didn’t sign up for this, thank you for asking. Finally, she shakes off her shock: „…Yeah,“ she says as she gestures at his expression with her pointer finger, drawing a circle in the air, „You really have to take off the heart eyes when you say stuff like that. Both of you,“ she adds with a quick glance at Ginny.

Ignoring their wide smiles, she turns around and dials Arabella. The phone rings for about a minute before announcing that the called is unreachable. What a bitch. Audrey glares at her phone for the offense and then turns around again.

„And what are you doing there, Gothel?“ she asks for lack of better things to do.

„Hmm?“

„I said, why are you here?“

„Oh,“ dismisses Ginny, „I’m a neutral party. I can do what I wanna.“ Anthony bends down to kiss her temple. Probably just because he can – Audrey looks away quickly.

„And why are you here?“ she questions again.

„I’m a medic. You’re gonna need me, sooner or later,“ Ginny says easily, as if that explained anything; she props herself up to kiss Anthony properly.

And why, yes, Audrey is starting to regret this whole thing greatly.

She shakes her head at the couple and joins Lonnie and Junior instead: They’ve got a war to plan. And maybe Arabella will finally call her back.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

*SLAMS MY HANDS ONTO THE TABLE* hoo boy I have way too many hcs about mer language So disclaimer first, none of this has any basis in canon, it's just what I like to think about mer physiology. Moving on from that, I hc the mer language to not require breath, so their vocal cords are shaped rather differently from humans. Since mer have some sort of gills, based on the tweels and Azul's design (and if they don't and I'm remembering wrong that's honestly kinda stupid), they don't need air to breath. If they don't need air to breath, then how do they talk? My hc is that mer vocal cords are activated some other way (anatomy isn't my strong suit so I haven't decided the exact way). So mer do have their own language, but it's hella difficult for landdwellers to learn - so it's usually not taught on land. As for mer learning common language, that would be for emergencies - not many mer who aren't in service ventures or go to learn on land learn it well, but it's kinda like how Spanish is learned in the US - not learned well, but can be kinda understood. Anyways I have too many thoughts on mer biology and such, but ty for reading

[Referencing this post!]

ADDENDUM: Real life octopuses and moray eels don’t have gills in the shape or form we traditionally think of them on like… fish. I took a recent look at the Magical Archives and it seems that Jade and Azul’s pages talk about the markings on their sides (and some on their backs not seen in the usual frontal view) are fish-like gills. Weirdly enough, gills of this nature aren’t seen at all on more “human” merpeople. I talk a little more about that and the differences between them and the more human-like mermen guards stationed at the Atlantica museum here.

*puts on life science nerd glasses* 🤓 I’ve actually formally studied speech formation and A&P, so I can talk a bit about how normal (aka irl human) compares to some of the headcanons you shared! Of course, we don’t 100% know how merpeople anatomy and physiology is different and similar to humans (or how much fantasy races really borrow from real life), but I thought it would just be interesting to share the knowledge!

Firstly, breath is a requirement for speech because it is the movement of air across the vocal cords that results in the vibrations which become speech. Now, it’s not clear how or why merpeople are able to breathe underwater or why they don’t necessarily need to breathe air to survive; the respiratory system that typically brings air into the body must not be the same as a human’s, as that would likely result in water getting into the lungs and drowning them or crushing them from pressure. It’s entirely possible that merpeople have a hybrid respiratory system between that of a human and marine animals, so merfolk could have adapted such that the movement of water across their vocal cords produces a similar result as air does for humans. This, in addition to potentially having different shaped vocal cords, could mean a potential merlanguage has sounds that are very difficult or even impossible for non-merpeople to replicate.

Of course, that also begs the question 💦 would merpeople be able to even properly speak in their language if they were on land??? Because they wouldn’t be in the same kind of environment (and thus don’t have the same conditions as they do when they usually speak the language); this would impact how certain sounds are produced by the speech systems and then perceived by the ear.

I think merlanguage vs human languages isn’t exactly the same as Spanish vs English?? 🤔 Yes, some students may be in circumstances where their schools require them to learn a language other than the native tongue as part of their curriculum, but that’s because it can have practical applications even if they don’t become totally fluent or pursue higher level language difficulties. For example, especially in America, Spanish-speaking communities are a considerable part of the population and continues to grow, so Spanish is a popular second language. Mandarin Chinese is also on the rise globally, as China is becoming a powerhouse (so knowing how to communicate in Mandarin is smart for global enterprises). Many schools internationally also teach English as a universal second language because English is so prominently used.

In comparison, merpeople are so far geographically removed from humans and are given lore which states the majority of merpeople don’t really go to the surface world. It makes me wonder what the benefit of teaching human languages would be?? It’s not the same situation as the real world because it’s not a system where speakers of different languages would interact with each other super frequently (due to the split between land and sea). I understand maybe learning a second language for emergencies if there’s a good chance you’ll engage with populations speaking that language (like Spanish in the Americas), but it isn’t the case for merpeople because the chances of them interacting with a human doesn’t seem to be very high in places like the Coral Sea. It makes more sense to me that (if there is a native merlanguage or dialects) maybe merpeople would pick up some basic phrases of human languages (like “hello”, “thank you”, etc.) in their free time/by chance. There is no incentive to try learning another language even at a basic or conversational level unless maybe this was a path a merperson planned on pursuing further or professionally.

Again, can’t believe rubbing my two brain cells together to talk about how the fuck anime fish boys breathe and talk and are even theoretically possible—

[nakachuchu]

Into the Woods | Hayakawa Aki

Chapter 12 of the Fairy Tales & Myths series

SYNOPSIS: In a world where people were descendants of folktale characters, there were a number of characters who were unlike the tales in the Book.

READER: female

WORDS: 1.6k

WRITTEN: 03/11/2023

NOTE: This is for @poohbea 's Once Upon a Collab event! I was gonna do a enemies hate sex thing and then it just turned dark. Be warned: Murder is involved!

"Alice," you called out, a bright smile on your face as you floated midair.

Aki ignored you as he usually did.

"Alice," you said again, disappearing for a moment, only to appear in front of him.

He stopped walking forward, a slightly annoyed and displeased expression on his face as you called him by his ancestor's first name.

"What."

"I'm bored," you said. "What are you up to?"

"Going to work. Makima has a mission for me. There are Devils to kill."

"Hmm. Alice so whipped for the Red Queen? How unbecoming of Alice's legacy."

"That was over a century ago. We're not our ancestors," he retorted, moving around you to continue walking.

You rolled your eyes. "Regardless, let me come too."

"You don't work for Public Safety," he retorted as you levitated around him.

Your fingers brushed against his shoulders, trailing to the back of his neck as your tail tapped his hand. He ignored your advances as he crossed the road, watching out for the blind mice and drum frogs.

He hated how much his body craved your touch. He wouldn't have disliked it so much if you weren't so smug, but there was nothing neither he nor you could do about it. Once a Cheshire, always a Cheshire.

You pouted as he ignored you, and with a loud and defeated sigh, you dropped down from the air and landed gently on your feet. You stopped at the end of the crosswalk, watching Aki walk away in the direction of his work.

"Well, I guess it's time I go to work too," you said, turning on your heel to walk in the opposite direction, heading towards The Woods.

The Woods was usually home to woodland creatures and townspeople. Aki worked in Atlantica, where all the technology and safety protocols were. There was nothing special that differentiated the different avenues: The Woods, The Desert Kingdom, Atlantica, Neverland, and more. They all looked the same, but they served different purposes.

To put simply, Aki was in law enforcement and you worked in the entertainment district.

"The Woods?" Aki questioned.

"Yes," said Makima. "Law enforcement have been finding men dead once they leave the Wonderland strip club."

He nodded. "I'll have it done."

As he left her office to head to the Wonderland strip club in The Woods, he couldn't help but worry about you. You were one of the strip club's best strippers and you were in the middle of a what would soon be a bloodbath.

Accordion owls flew by, honking out a lousy tune as they whizzed past Aki.

He watched them, wondering what sort of business venture had brought them to The Woods. The only thing that came to mind was the old saying, The Woods are full of ghosts. Aki pushed the thought away as he approached the strip club where you worked.It was far from run-down. It was newly renovated, enticing residents to sneak a peek at their high end strippers.

The place was packed with people. Tis the season, they said. It was New Year’s Eve and everyone was out to celebrate. Some were drunk, some were on drugs, and some were just looking for a good time.

Aki stopped in his tracks when he saw you working the pole. You were wearing a pair of sheer stockings that showed off your suspenders and a low-cut top that showed off your cleavage.

'This is going to be bad,' he thought to himself. "Really bad," he muttered.

Once you spotted him, you traded spots with a co-worker and made your way to the floor.

"Hey Alice," you said, wrapping your arms around his neck in a hug. "Miss me already?"

He stiffened at your embrace, his body telling you how much he missed you. He could feel your breasts press against his chest as you pressed against him. His hands itched at the sleeves of his shirt, longing to feel your skin beneath them. He snapped out of it and cleared his throat, stepping away from your embrace.

"I'm here for work purposes."

You rolled your eyes. "Obviously. There's no way you'd come for entertainment. Do what you must, then. I'm getting back to work."

He nodded, understanding your tone. He needed to concentrate, but it was hard when all sorts of drugs were floating in the air in neon colors and swirls as the air conditioning circulated it around the entire building.

The Caterpillar's drugs were the top selling drug on the market, branded as the Rainbow Worm. When mixed and on its own, it erupted into rainbow smoke.

Aki shook his head slightly and walked around the strip club warily, keeping an eye out for the Devil responsible for the murders.

Then, his eyes gravitated to you again, in the corner of the room with the dark shadows as a man felt you up.

You could handle yourself. You could turn invisible and leave this stranger behind, but you didn't. You enticed him - seduced him - and he followed after you as you walked past a wave of stringed beads above a doorframe.

Aki followed after you, pushing past the beads. The hallway was pounding with lights and dancing mushrooms. People were making out against the walls and groping each other. It was a madhouse. You turned a corner, and by the time Aki caught up, he reached a dead end.

He hated these sketchy, twisted buildings. They were full of traps and secret rooms. There was only a mirror at the end of the corner. There was a smell of musk and vanilla and something else that made his head spin. He stepped closer to the mirror and traced the mirror with his finger before fully pressing his palm against it.

His hand sunk through the mirror and he pushed against it to walk through. He was in another room, a bigger room with a larger mirror. The room was the size of a barn, but it felt claustrophobic. The walls were covered with dark red velvet and there were two large chandeliers hanging from the high ceiling. There were multiple doors that all looked identical, surrounding him.

One door was cracked open. Aki approached it quietly and reached out to open it. When he poked his head through, the light from the room flashed him.

A spinning disco ball was hanging, sparkling and glittering. Particles of light hit certain spots, then disappeared until the disco ball spun back around.

The light splashed against your face as you locked eyes with Aki. His eyes widened as he soaked in the sight of you kneeling by the man from before, covered in blood with a knife held to your throat.

The man was dead. There was no saving him.

"Y/N, what are you doing?"

"It's not her turn," you said.

The voice was you, but something was off. It wasn't your normal tone. Something about the pitch and the inflection was off.

"You're not Y/N."

"I am myself, yet not quite me. I may be false, or I may be free. I'm unique, yet just like the rest. A mirror image, but not quite the best. I'm authentic, yet not quite true. What am I?"

Aki licked his lips. "Madness."

You smiled widely, the corners of your lips stretching far and wide like your ancestor. You withdrew the knife from your throat and stabbed it in the man's body.

Madness was an affliction associated specifically with people who had the blood of Wonderlands. It was a curse passed it down through their families for centuries.

"I'm sorry," you whispered. "I can't control her."

"Y/N," Aki said softly.

He had never seen you like this before. You were usually so strong and wild, but you seemed so broken and meek now. He had never seen you look so vulnerable. He reached out to caress your cheek and you let him. Your skin was hot and soft and he could feel your tears against his skin. You were so small and fragile now.

Now that he knew who was responsible for all those murders, he couldn't just bring you into Public Safety as a criminal.

While he was loyal to the Red Queen, he would never betray you. The two of you used to sleep together in a crib before his parents died. You were best friends in middle school before drifting apart in high school, only to come back in a whirlwind of hot breaths and love bruises.

You were his other half. Madness be damned. He wasn't going to lose you again. He pulled you close and kissed you gently on the lips.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Everything will be fine."

"How can you be sure?"

But as you looked into his eyes, you knew everything would be fine. The heavy, purple swirls that encompassed his eyes told you everything you needed to know.

"I'll take care of the bodies from now on," he said.

The smell of sweet, cloying honeysuckle filled the air after your shower. Aki took you to his apartment in Atlantica after he took care of the body. The two of you sat on the edge of his bed in a comfortable silence. He leaned in and pressed his lips to yours.

It was soft and comforting. He felt like home. It had been so long since the two of you could be this comfortable with each other again.

He pulled away from your lips and stared into your eyes. "I'll take care of you from now on."

He meant it. He would make sure you were safe. You were his life now. You were his world.

You smiled.

His smile widened and his eyes crinkled with the corners of his mouth.

"Welcome home, Y/N."

"Welcome back, Aki."

[thehollowwriter]

Warnings: Blood, child abuse, unintentional misgendering/deadnaming, bullying, implied sexual harassment (not to Timo tho) Word count: 3554

Summary: A story about Timo and his life and how he came to work for Silas

(Pls reblog and leave a comment ♥️)

Renege

Timo Byun hated empty promises. Words that were just there to fill the air, to provide a sense of comfort and hopefully, get you to leave and drop whatever topic brought up.

Empty words and fake sympathy were a constant in Timo's life. For as long as he could remember, he was given endless assurances and comforts, all of which meant absolutely nothing.

What would you do if you saw a child lost and alone in the streets, wandering aimlessly? Offer your sympathies, whisper your pities? Spare an uncomfortable glance and pretend you don't see him? Give him a glare and wonder what idiot parent lost their noise machine?

Timo was met with all of these in different forms and stages. The sight of a tiny cuttlefish swimming without direction, teary-eyed and hunger stricken, tugged at many a merfolk's heartstrings. But they never did anything, no, that would just be too much effort.

This wasn't a surpise to Timo. He'd been through this song and dance enough times. Most of his early memories were wandering the streets, digging through trashcans or trying to catch fish that swam by, and dealing with strangers ogling him.

"Are you lost?" Asked an elderly lady, her bright purple tail flicking back and forth in concern.

Timo spluttered something incomprehensible and cried harder.

"Oh, poor dear." The lady muttered, then swam away.

A merman talking on his phone drifted past. He locked eyes with Timo and quickly looked away with an uncomfortable expression

A family came swam past, whispering, glancing, sighing.

"Oh, isn't it sad what this city has come to? Children on the street... back in my day, this would never happen."

"Should we help? Give some money or something?"

"I wish we could, dear, but some horrible people send children out to get drug money. It's best we don't risk it."

A couple stared at Timo as he cowered in an alley, one with their phone camera pointed at him.

"Okay, seriously though, should we help her?" Asked one after laughing about how he looked like a scared animal.

"We don't have the time," said the other. "Don't worry, someone else will."

Nobody else did.

"Where's your mama?" A passing stranger asked before taking note of his dirty, hungry appearance and shuffling off before Timo could answer. It didn't really matter. Timo wouldn't know anyway.

It was always the same. Words, words, words, almost nothing done.

Sometimes, people would pity Timo enough to give him food, but it wasn't enough for him to live off of. When he was lucky, he could get his colour changing to work well enough to draw fish to him, but his sequence of flashing colours and lights was quick to fade, and the fish would swim off again.

Sometime bigger, older merfolk would steal his food, threatening Timo with a fate far worse than hunger if he didn't let them. How they kept finding him even when he tried to hide at night, he didn't know.

Neighbourhood kids would try to play with him and give him sweets, only to be dragged away by angry, worried parents giving him dirty looks.

The routine was the same. Wander, scrounge, rest, maybe eat, sleep, repeat.

That changed one day, when Timo woke up and he wasn't in the corner of an alley anymore. He was in a clamshell bed, blankets crafted from seaweed carefully wrapped around him.

"Oh, you're awake." Said a stranger, smiling at him with perfect teeth. "Don't worry, you're safe now. You'll be staying with us at Atlantica's Children's Sanctuary."

Timo was scrubbed clean, and his and dirty, knotted hair was cut short so it could start growing cleaner and healthier.

"It'll grow back," Timo was assured. "Don't worry."

"But I like it short," Timo wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut.

"What's your name?" A kind lady asked, and Timo couldn't give a true answer. What was his name? Someone called him Byun once, when he was rushing down the street with some food in hand.

"Byun." He said, and she shook her head.

"Oh, that just won't do." She said. "How about I call you Saira? Byun can be your last name. How's that?"

Timo didn't really like that name, but he nodded anyway. He didn't want to risk angering these strangers looking after him.

Once he was cleaned up, he was given a bowl of porridge, which seemed more like slop than anything, and some fish to eat.

The porridge tasted like carboad, and the fish had a tang of crude oil, but he kept quiet. He didn't want it taken away.

"One day, someone's going to adopt you." He was told. "That's what this place is for. You'll have a family."

Empty, useless words.

Timo was introduced to his roommates, the other little kids he would be sharing a tiny room with.

They all looked sad and tired, and muttered a short, disinterested greeting before going back to what they were doing before.

When Timo's hair finally grew long enough, they were done up in pigtails with big pink bows.

"You must catch our customer's attention," He was told. "We can't have you looking scrappy."

His claws were filed down once a month until they were nothing but short nails.

"Nobody wants a feral child," He was told. "If they wanted to be scratched up, they'd buy a pet."

The other children avoided him. They didn't like him because of his mouth. The squirming tentacles that shot out whenever he ate made them cry, made them say he gave them nightmares.

"Scary Saira was in my dreams again!"

"They'll get used to it." He was told. "They'll play with you."

They never did.

Timo's bed was crammed into the back corner of the dorm room, a little further away from the rest. He spent most of his time lying on it, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The others were usually either playing in the playroom or outside. Timo didn't join. He stopped trying a while ago.

"We don't let weirdos in," said Aria, the de facto leader of their dorm room. "Go away."

Possible parents came and went, arriving with happy smiles and high expectations Timo could never live up to.

Only once or twice did anyone express any form of interest in hi. When that happened, an employee would rush to do the usual song of dance of, for lack of a better word, advertising him.

"This is Saira Byun," They would say, smiling. "She's a lovely little girl with a big imagination."

'I'm not a girl,' Timo wanted to say because he was a boy and he was sure of it, but what would the point be? What would they say?

'I'm sure you are." They'll say, and then ignore him because nobody at that god forsaken place cared about what he had to say.

Timo hated that orphanage. He hated it with a passion that burned like the sun.

The building itself was old, very old, and used to house nobility. It was ill-suited for children or, well, anybody.

The stone chipped and cracked, and there was algae blooming in places it shouldn't. It was slowly detoriating, but it was never fixed up.

Due to the historical value of the building and the attention sad little orphans got online, volunteers were often influencers wanting to get some extra views.

They would come in, these people, recording Timo and the others and spouting their sympathies. They weren't so nice when they turned the camera off.

Many were mean, others were creepy. Looking at the Timo and the others weird, talking about how cute they were.

"You know you're very mature for your age," one of them said to a girl not much older than Timo. "It's admirable."

Timo wasn't sure why, but that sentence made his skin crawl.

The staff weren't much better. They seemed to hate the place as much as Timo did, though they also hated their tiny tenants.

"Stop crying." Timo once heard the dorm warden say to a young boy. The "slap" sound was loud and piercing. "If you're going to be a brat, you can leave."

And didn't that just sum up this place perfectly? Be quiet and obey, or you'll either be going to bed with bruises or you won't be enjoying a free bed and food for much longer.

Don't complain, even if the same meal every day for three meals a day is porridge that tasted like cardboard and fish that had clearly been exposed to oil spills. Don't complain, even if you're being recorded by random strangers. Don't complain, even if you think some of the staff are too handsy with you to be comfortable.

It was hell there. Sometimes, Timo even felt that maybe he would be better off on the streets before perishing the thought. He can at least eat food here.

Timo stayed on his behaviour, afraid to get hurt, to get tossed out. He listened and obeyed, did what asked of him, and put on a good show for people looking to adopt.

Timo tried so hard to listen to the staff in the hopes he got adopted. It never mattered, though. Pretty him up with big bows, seashell hairclips, and trendy hairstyles, it. Didn't. Matter.

The potential parent or parents, if they were interested in him at all, eventually lost that interest and moved on to another, better child.

It didn't take long for Timo to realise why. Claws, sharp teeth, creepy mouth tentacles... those weren't desirable. Those weren't cute or good or innocent. It was wrong. It was monstrous.

"What are those?" A person screeched at horror when they saw Timo eating a snack.

"Those are her tentacles. Saira needs them to eat. All cuttlefish merfolk have them."

Then the adults huddled together, whispering amongst themselves and underestimating the sharpness of Timo's hearing.

"Those are just sitting there in her mouth? Are they always so... obvious?"

"When she's eating, yes."

"...Can you not get rid of them? Like, cut them out? Some merfolk do that, you know. Remove unwanted parts."

"No, I don't think so."

Timo was, for once, very glad this couple didn't want him.

As Timo got older, the number of familiar faces dwindled, and new faces came in to replace them until, eventually, Timo was the only one of the original group still there.

"Nobody wants teenagers." An older kid once told him, drumming her fingers against her bedframe. "They want cute little boys and girls, all bright-eyed and easy to control. Teenagers are too old, too set in their ways. Once you hit thirteen, you might as well give up. Nobody will want you, and once you turn eighteen, they'll kick you to the streets because you aren't their problem anymore."

The idea of winding up back on the streets terrified Timo. He would be back at square one, but even worse off than before.

At eighteen, he would no longer have the small advantage of being a cute little kid people could take pity on. He was no longer helpless, no longer "abandoned" or "lost."

No, he would be old enough to be a druggie, a crackhead failure that couldn't get his shit right and ended up on the streets. He would be old enough to be a disappointment, a screw up.

"That's what will happen if you don't work hard and get good grades." They'll say.

"Some people don't realise there are consequences to their laziness." They'll say.

"That's why you shouldn't do drugs." They'll say.

And all Timo would be able to do iss ignore them and bedazzle some fish to get a few scraps of food, and then hope it wouldn't get stolen.

Timo began trying even harder to impress the adults who came to visit. He concentrated hard until his skintone was no longer pink and yellow but instead matching the more human-ish skintone of whoever was looking to adopt.

He couldn't hold it for long, though, and eventually, he would shift back to his original colour and hang his head in shame.

On the rare occasion he was considered, the nightmare that resided within his mouth convinced those people that yes, a normal child would be much easier to deal with.

Not to mention, this child partially mimicking their appearance probably made it worse.

"Aren't just an angel?" And adult cooed to him once. "I promise you'll be coming home with me."

Empty promises. Useless words. Timo found himself very much unadopted years after that conversation.

The staff would comfort him, mostly trying to get him to stop looking so sad and smile for the next volunteer with a camera.

"It's alright, Saira."

"You'll be fine, Saira."

"Someone will love you, I promise."

Talk talk talk.

"You'll need money." That older kid from before told him. "Do chores for pocket money, try get a job when you're old enough. Steal, if you have to."

Timo listened to her. He tried his best, tried to get some madol from the orphanage staff. Some humoured him, giving him the minimum possible amount they could, and others rolled their eyes and scoffed.

"What we give you isn't good enough, is that it?" One hissed. "If you're going to be greedy, you'll never get adopted."

When Timo turned fourteen, he began looking around for small jobs. He applied to as many as he could and was turned down by every single one.

"We'll get back to you."

"I just don't think you're suited for customer service."

"You're far too young. Do some chores for your parents or something."

"Sorry, you don't match our company values."

After yet another rejection, Timo curled up in bed and silently cried through the night, all the way until the faintest slivers of sunlight began streaming through the windows.

He peeled himself out of bed and drifted down to the front entrance, hoping that at least fetching the newspaper would earn him a madol or two.

Timo looked through the newspaper, flipping past advertisements and celebrity drama and political news and then-

And then something caught his eye. In a tiny column at the very back of the newspaper was an advertisement for a business currently hiring.

"Hunter?" Timo mumbled out loud as he read through it. "They accept fourteen and older..."

Timo wasn't much of a hunter. He could put sea creatures in a trance with his colours, sure, but his poor control rendered that ability useless.

He was also clumsy, skittish, and shy, lacking in confidence and prone to crying. That's what the dorm warden told him, at least.

Well, he'd give it a shot anyway. Better than accepting his fate.

Timo soon found himself hovering in front of the dense kelp forest at the edge of the city, feeling more afraid of being rejected than possibly being eaten, like he was warned.

"That man is dangerous, Saira." The warden told him when he told her where he was going. "Have you forgotten all you've learned about those those types? Go, if you really want, but don't act surprised when he clamps his teeth around your throat."

Timo tried not to think about how, besides that brief warning, nobody even bothered to stop him from leaving.

In the end, it didn't matter. Silas Clearcove did not, in fact, try to eat him. Instead, he subjected Timo to one of the strangest job interviews the cuttlefish had ever sat through.

Silas, a frankly terrifying looking man, briefly looked through Timo's CV but didn't seem to actually care about it all that much.

He barely spoke, spending most of their time together staring at Timo. It didn't feel like he was judging him exactly... more like... analysing. In some weird way.

Timo was only asked three or four questions in total. If he was old enough to be hired, how fast he could swim, if he had any knowledge about the butchery business, and if he could handle viscera.

There was no question about Timo's values, no prodding about his work ethic, and nothing at all about his desires for the future or the state of his health.

It was surreal, and yet it was also a breath of fresh air. Though there were still some issues Timo was concerned about.

"I dunno how to hunt, sir," He admitted after a long, awkward bout of silence. The intensity of Silas' gaze made him feel like he was confessing a murder. "Like, catching fish and stuff. And my colours are useless. I can't control 'em."

"I'll teach you." Said Silas after a brief pause, his quiet voice not betraying any emotion. "You don't have to know. You can learn. Come tomorrow if you can."

Timo left in an almost daze, snapping out of it briefly when he bumped into who he would later learn was Silas' husband, Morrigan.

"Aw, did he scare you?" He asked, patting Timo's head. "Silas does that. Don't worry, I'm trying to get him not to freak out his interviewees as much. He's really nice, I promise. Well, sort of."

Timo arrived at home, bewildered at the strange interactions. What an odd pair. But the main thing on his mind was Silas' words.

"I'll teach you." A bold statement. A promise. And for once, they weren't empty. It wasn't a lie.

Silas, Timo soon came to learn, was a man of action, not words. His silence was not some scare tactic to use against Timo, but rather just one of the many facets that made up who he was.

Timo almost couldn't believe it when he returned the next day to find Silas patiently waiting for him, ready to go.

He hadn't lied. He hadn't replaced Timo. He actually did what he said he would.

This was a constant when it came to Silas. He did not ever make false promises. If he said he'd do something, he would do it, no matter how difficult the task seemed to be.

Spending time with him made Timo feel like he was in a fever dream. Someone so scary looking, someone who seemed to have been dragged through hell and back, spoke in a soft but firm voice that gripped Timo's attention like vice, and instructed Timo in a way that oozed nothing but patience.

When Timo made a mistake, he would freeze and expect to be yelled at, to be hit, but Silas simply corrected him and let him try again.

Morrigan would join them from time to time, though he was mostly there to observe and giggle a bit when Timo screwed up.

"It's ok," He said, always more talkative than Silas ever was. "I did that too when I was first learning. You got this."

They were both so.... strange. Especially as a couple. From what Timo knew, romance was going on dates and bringing each other plants and chocolate and kissing.

They were very aggressive with each other. Timo was worried and nearly had a heart attack when he saw them wrestling across the sand one day.

"It's fine," said Silas, wiping blood from his mouth.

"We're not actually trying to kill each other," added Morrigan, sending Timo a bloody smile.

Everything Timo had been taught seemed to tell him to quit, to stay away from these odd people and try somewhere else. But he didn't. He stayed. He liked these two. He liked them a lot, even if he thought they were weird.

They were both good teachers. Silas taught him how to hunt and make traps, and Morrigan assisted him with controlling his colours.

It took a long while, but he eventually found himself able to control them. His body finally began to obey him, shifting to whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. The fish were drawn to him like moths to a flame.

Timo would stay much longer than intended, preferring his time there over even a second in that orphanage.

Once, when it was lunchtime, Silas slid a huge plate of several crustaceans, fish and seaweed towards him, and stared at him with those large amethyst eyes.

"Uh..." Timo stared at it, then at Silas, and blinked. "Huh?"

"You're not eating enough." Silas said. "Eat."

Timo, wondering if maybe he'd gone insane, mumbled an "Okay," and started nervously nibbling on it, bit by bit. It was probably one of the best meals he'd ever had.

By the time he'd turned seventeen, Timo was a full-fledged hunter working for Silas, helping stun prey as well as prep it all.

He got far closer to the two of them than intended over those three years, becoming, as the other staff put it, "Silas' little protégé."

He supposed it wasn't all that incorrect, especially since he began helping Morrigan pick up on the hunting after they decided to have children.

The news came a bit out of nowhere, and Timo didn't ever think they would be parents... but he was happy for them.

He was allowed to stay with them when they learned he couldn't afford an apartment even with his pay. All they wanted was that he kept his space clean and helped them out.

When Timo told Silas and Morrigan that he was a boy and his name was, well, Timo, Silas seemed very confused but accepted it, and Morrigan gave him a thumbs up.

And... they listened. They called him Timo and didn't call him she. And aside from that, they treated him the exact same as before, with just as much compassion.

Timo never said it out loud, but to him, it felt like they were a little family. Silas and Morrigan taught him to hunt and look after himself, taught him important life skills, and how to control his colours. They showed careful care for him, too. They acted like... well, they acted like parents. It was nice to imagine they actually were.

Morrigan was wonderful, but it was Sillas that Timo utterly adored. Silas, who made a promise and kept it. Silas, who was careful and understanding and kind to Timo, even if it was in a bit of a weird way. Silas, who saved Timo from absolute hell.

Silas was the best, and Timo would do whatever he could to make sure he was happy. No matter what, he'd stick by Silas Clearcove.

...........................................

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this juicy bit of Timo lore! Please consider this a sort of PSA as well, as I did research on orphanages for this, and the situation is pretty dire. Orphanage tourism is a thing, along with many other issues. Most of my info came from here. Please check it out. I absolutely accept constructive criticism as, although it isn't the main focus here, Timo is the first trans character I've written a story for. I hope it's OK! Sorry if the ending seems lackluster, I wasn't sure how to end it 😭

Tagging: @distant-velleity @br3adtoasty @rainesol @theleechyskrunkly @jovieinramshackle

@galaxies-and-gore @cyanide-latte @cynthinesia @officialdaydreamer00 @krenenbaker

@offorestsongs @kitwasnothere @elenauaurs @boopshoops @inotonline

@1dont-really-know @kazumify @minteasketches @elysia-nsimp @skrimpyskimpy

@casp1an-sea @offorestsongs @tixdixl @poisoned-pearls @the-trinket-witch

@ramshacklerumble @ghostiidasponk @thegoldencontracts @the-banana-0verlord @cloudcountry

@skriblee-ksk @twstinginthewind @lumdays @theolivetree123 @natsukishinomiyaswife

@authoruio @jewelulu @raguiras @honeynclove @moonyasnow

[jadeleechisagoodboy]

Chapter twelve of the Jade x Yuu Book 3 rewrite fic is up!

This chapter was longer than I expected it to be so we’re not all the way to Azul’s overblot quite yet, but it was also a lot of fun to write so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Anyway, here’s a preview of the chapter as always:

On the final day of the contract, the freshmen met in the courtyard about an hour before the Mostro Lounge’s opening time.

“Is everyone ready to go back to the museum?” Yuu asked, adjusting the straps of their tote bag on their shoulder, making the vials of potion inside clink against each other.

“Huh? I thought we agreed that nabbing the photo was a no-go because the Leech brothers would stop us,” Ace said.

Deuce frowned. “This plan seems reckless, even by my standards…”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk,” Grim shook his head condescendingly. Then he folded his arms over his chest and grinned. “Listen up, kiddos, I’ll go over the plan.”

***

“Dude, are you serious?! This is crazy bold!” Ace said, seeming rather stressed out.

Deuce, on the other hand, was energized. “Wow, Yuu… I always knew you were gutsy, but this is a fresh reminder!” He said, grinning and cracking his knuckles.

“Will this really go the way you hope, though?” Jack murmured.

“Well… we’ve exhausted our other leads and we’ve only got one day left. Yuu’s idea is all we’ve got,” Deuce said. “Not even a whole day, actually. There are only a few hours until sunset.”

“I guess anything beats sitting on our thumbs waiting for sundown,” Ace agreed.

Jack sighed. “Alright, fine. Stressin’ over what ifs won’t get us anywhere.” Then he gave an amused huff. “I gotta say, Yuu, nothing stops you once you’ve put your mind to something.”

The prefect laughed awkwardly, remembering how they’d been seriously considering giving up just last night. But… their friends didn’t need to know about that.

“Sometimes our pal here’s a tad TOO daring, but what’s life without a little spice?” Ace shrugged. “Okay, guys! Let’s roll!”

“Myah-hah! Time to get ourselves a photo from the Atlantica Memorial Museum!” Grim exclaimed, punching the air.

[wilygryphon]

Is anyone on here familiar with Krypton lore to the point of understanding its fauna, particularly aquatic life, or be able to refer me to a resource where I can learn about them?

To explain why I am asking: In my fanfiction Heart of Steel (Kingdom Hearts x Supergirl/DC Comics), I will be having the main party (Sora, Donald and Goofy, plus Supergirl/Kara) visit Atlantica for an arc, and i want to have Kara's undersea form reflect a Krypton-specific sea creature. However, the wikis (DC Comics Database and Superman Wiki) do not have much information on various Kryptonian fauna despite listing species (some of them I do not know if they are land, sea, or air creatures), and I have not been able to find an image of even some of the creatures that are clearly aquatic life.

(I could give her a lower half reflecting an Earth-based sea creature, which Donald would be familiar with, but I don't want to be lazy.)

Can someone help me out with suggestions, or perhaps link me to a source where I can better find information on Kryptonian sea life to find out more for myself? (Possibly also with images, or at least descriptions that I can work with.) Thank you.

[disneytva]

Ariel and her friends are having too much fun to go to bed! She convinces Ursula to use magic to stop time, so bedtime never comes.

📚"Ariel: The Endless Sleepover" - August 06, 2024

Disney Books

Little Golden Books

Disney Press

This adorable Little Golden Book is inspired by an episode of the animated series Disney Junior’s Ariel! Ariel and her friends are having too much fun to go to bed! She convinces Ursula to use magic to stop time, so bedtime never comes. Children ages 2 to 5 will love this sweet Little Golden Book based on an episode of the new show Disney Junior’s Ariel, airing on Disney Junior and streaming on Disney+ starting in 2024! Geared towards preschoolers, Disney Junior’s Ariel is an animated musical series for preschoolers inspired by the beloved story of “The Little Mermaid.” It follows 8-year-old mermaid princess Ariel as she and her friends embark on fun-filled, action-packed underwater adventures throughout their Caribbean-inspired fairytale kingdom of Atlantica and beyond. The series features fan-favorite characters, including King Triton, Ursula, Sebastian and Flounder, as well as exciting new additions like Ariel’s two best friends, mer-children Lucia and Fernie, and lots of other adorable sea creature

[dzthenerd490]

Kingdom Hearts: The Brightest of Hearts - Chapter 9: A Hook of Darkness and A Fairy of Light

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were riding on the light tunnel back to Traverse Town. Sora was happy not only with helping Ariel get her happy ending but also running into Triton before leaving and getting more Ansem reports he collected. Sora was especially excited when Triton told him to give Merlin, Yen-sid, and Fairy Godmother his regards. He still had no idea who Yen-sid was, but it was always amazing to meet another old Keyblade Wielder of Light. Though Sora and King Triton didn't always see eye to eye, Sora was at least glad they left on good terms. Sora still felt bad for not staying for the wedding, but he knew Ariel didn't need him anymore. Instead, he decided to focus on the fact that Ariel finally got to live the life she wanted and through King Triton's magic she could visit Atlantica any time she wanted. 

Finally, Sora, Donald, and Goofy made it back to Traverse Town and once again, not getting ambushed by a Heartless ship again. The three of them sighed in relief considering that a win, leaving both Chip and Dale confused. After the Gummi ship landed Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped out to see Merlin, Fairy Godmother, Cloud, Leon, Aerith, Yuffie, and Sid all in the town square waiting for them. Aerith and Yuffie then got out confetti poppers and set them off to make confetti fly everywhere. 

"Congratulations!" Soon they all started cheering and clapping in praise of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, leaving the three of them in confusion. 

"Uh for what?"

"Yeah, we didn't stop the Dark Army yet, we took down another Lord sure, but they still have their home base, and we don't know where it is."

"Of course, but Fairy Godmother did some sneaking around and info gathering, and it turns out there's only one left!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy were shocked by what Yuffie just said, if she and Fairy Godmother were correct, that meant they were only one step away from facing off against the Maleficent and the Dark Army once and for all. Sora was overjoyed to hear this, he quickly jumped up and raised his keyblade high in the air while yelling in triumph. This is what Sora was fighting for, to finally put an end to all the pain and suffering that the Dark Army caused and now he was so close. However, Merlin quickly raised his hand to stop Sora from doing anything else.

"However, first thing first, Sora? I believe you have something important?" Sora quickly understood what Merlin meant and gave him the Ansem reports King Triton gave him. Merlin took the papers and smiled in glee.

"Excellent my boy, truly excellent I believe with these and the ones I currently have we are just a few pages short of completing Ansem's entire report! Soon everything that clever devil learned will be clear as day and we'll be able to use the knowledge to save the multiverse." Merlin then patted Sora on the shoulder and Sora smiled in pride.

"Hm, come by my study, I managed to fully decipher more pages and I have something that will truly help you on your next mission, my boy." Sora's eyes sparkled in excitement, and he looked back to Donald and Goofy, both of them smiling and waving at him to confirm it was ok with them for Sora to follow Merlin. Sora then ran off after Merlin and Fairy Godmother.

***

Sora made it to Merlin's house, Merlin and Fairy Godmother were already there. Both of them were smiling while Merlin was holding a white crystal that's shaped like a heart. 

"Now then please come over and have a seat here Sora, we have a wonderful surprise for you!" Sora was confused by what Merlin said but smiled none-the-less and did as Merlin asked. 

"Now, have you made new friends with the inhabitants of the various world's you encounter?" Sora nodded in excitement.

"Haha! spending my boy! Then this will be the perfect gift for you!" Merlin then tossed the white crystal heart in the middle between himself and Fairy Godmother. To Sora's amazement the white crystal heart stopped midair and instead floated in the space between them. Merlin and Fairy Godmother then started chanting, making magical symbols from all around them. The magical symbols slowly took shape and as they did, they floated toward the crystal heart to float around it. Eventually there were enough symbols to make a strange looking sphere around the white crystal heart. After that, Fairy Godmother and Merlin made one last chant and all the symbols flowed into the crystal heart, filling it with magical power. The white crystal heart then flowed toward Sora and phased right into his chest. 

Sora was only a little scared, he knew Merlin nor the Fairy Godmother would do something to hurt him. However, this was still weird, what exactly did they do to him?

"Oh, fear not, my boy. What we did was actually a blessing. If Ansem's research is correct, the connections within your heart will become your new power!" Sora's eyes almost sparkled in excitement; however, he was still confused.

"... uh, what?" Fairy Godmother then stepped forward before Merlin could say another word.

"What it means dear is that the deeper the bond you make with your friends the more you'll be able to call upon their strengths and powers in your time of need." Sora was amazed by this. Sora already thought that having friends is one of the many things that make people stronger, but this took that to a whole new level. Sora just looked at his own fist as he imagined how much stronger this was going to make him. Sora then clenched his fist and raised it high while smiling at Fairy Godmother and Merlin. 

"Thank you both for this, but uh, how exactly do I activate the power?"

"I'm afraid that's something you'll have to figure out my dear." Sora sighed in defeat but didn't complain, however he did realize something that seemed contradictory.

"Uh wait, if a spell like this exists. One that gives people strength through connections to other people from other worlds. Then why was there ever a rule to keep the natural order by not interacting with the locals of other worlds? That doesn't really make sense if you think about it." Fairy Godmother and Merlin then looked at Sora in shock, then toward one another in concern. Sora was taken aback by this; he was a little worried if he accidentally asked too much and therefore overstepped. The two of them then faced Sora with smiles but were still sweating, making Sora look at them in concern and confusion. 

"Well, my boy, now you know why I and Santa were so frustrated with the rules our old master gave us. Hahaha!"

"Oh, Santa, I haven't heard from that troublemaker in a long time!"

"Sora actually encountered him in one of the holiday worlds, he is the spirit of a holiday called Christmas."

"Really?! My word, that man knows how to make an impact!" The two of them started laughing again, though the joy in their laughter seemed forced. Sora originally wanted to tell them how he met Triton but right now he was more concerned for them and didn't want to change the subject. But then again, he'd rather not pry into something he doesn't understand. Sora remembered all the times he asked his parents questions he shouldn't have which put them in awkward situations. Sora knew it most likely wasn't to the same degree but still, he'd rather not repeat such a mistake.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I guess I should go and get ready to liberate the last world." Merlin and Fairy Godmother both smiled and waved Sora goodbye. Sora smiled weakly as he waved back and left Merlin's house. Once Sora was gone, Merlin sighed in self-disappointment. 

"He may be young, but I think he could tell something was wrong."

"Of course he did Merlin, children are smarter than most give them credit for." 

"Should we really tell him the truth? About... everything?"

"Merlin, it's not like we lied to the child. But I do see what you're trying to say... After the final battle is over. Once Sora and his friends have defeated the Dark Army, we'll tell him about... the Keepers."

"Yes of course, we owe the boy that much at least. I just wish he nor his friends never got dragged into this mess in the first place."

"Oh Merlin, you can only do so much. Besides giving the boy some credit, he's done so much in such a short time. My, we needed just as much time if not more to liberate a single world when we were his age. Besides, it's not like he's alone."

"Hm, that may be the true Fairy Godmother. But those who wield the darkness have many tricks up their sleeves. Besides, if it really is true that our Ansen has betrayed us and is now leading the new Dark Army... then I fear Sora is walking right into his trap."

***

Sora was still a little confused on Fairy Godmother and Merlin clearly hiding something. 

"hm... oh well! If it's important they'll tell me later, or better yet, I'll find out on my own." Sora decided to leave it alone and instead focus on the fact that only one more world had to be liberated before he could finally save Riku and Kairi. Sora then stopped in his tracks and made a long sigh of defeat, saving Riku or Kairi was definitely not going to be easy. Riku was the champion of darkness and Sora was the champion of light. They were supposed to be enemies not friends, so for Sora to save Riku would most likely be impossible. After all it was their destiny, one to defeat the other to see whether the multiverse would be ruled in darkness or light. Sora then grunted in annoyance as he pounded his chest hard with his fist out of determination.

"Screw destiny! I'm saving Riku and that's final! Kairi too! I don't care how long it takes! Nothing is impossible, just difficult!" Sora then raised his fist into the air and smiled with determination. Sure, Sora didn't know the first thing about repairing Kairi's heart but that doesn't mean he wouldn't try. 

"That might not be as easy as you think." Sora then smiled out of overwhelming joy when he heard that voice. He then turned to his left and saw Kairi's astral projection standing there, but he made a look of confusion when he saw how sad she looked.

"Kairi what's wrong?"

"I'm not sure yet but I think you should be careful. The Dark Lords know that you only need to liberate one more world before their concealment magic wears off and you'll be able to find us without even having to defeat them first."

"Kairi... do you know how many there are left?"

"Just three: Maleficent, Hades, and Captain Hook."

"Hades? He was a Lord of Darkness? Then why didn't he fight me head on?"

"I really don't know Sora, he's strong but lots of the members of the Dark Army here say he's a coward as well."

"Well ok, then that means that Captain Hook and Maleficent are the only ones left to worry about. Thanks Kairi, save your strength, I'm gonna rescue you and Riku once I take those jerks down!"

"Be careful Sora, Riku is in distress after your last fight but he's more determined than ever to fight the Light. Also, Captain Hook and Maleficent aren't your biggest worry. They answer to someone as well, I think he's known as the Supreme Master. They call him Ansem, seeker of Darkness." Sora's heart sank when he heard that. The last Keyblade wielder of Darkness said something similar, but Sora hoped he just misheard it. He was wrong, so wrong, the true leader of the Dark Army was indeed Ansem or at least that's what he was called. Merlin's old friend and the one who wrote those reports that gave Sora such a boost in power, was also the leader of the enemy force. 

"Ansem? Are you sure about that?"

"Positive, why? Do you recognize that name?"

"I... yeah I do, but I really hope it's a coincidence is all."

"Well, in that case, me too. Goodbye Sora. Don't make me wait too long, ok?" Kairi then smiled and winked at Sora while he blushed and waved goodbye as she faded away. Sora wasn't sure what to make of this, could the two Ansem's he knows of really be the same person? Sora felt like he needed to confirm this now more than ever, but he had no idea where to start. Sora considered all his options but then came up with a horrible idea that just might work. Sora groaned in frustration, but this was probably the best way to get direct answers especially concerning the Dark Army. Sora really didn't want to do this but slapped his cheeks to help him suck it up and then got ready to do the unthinkable.

"Hey! voice! I want to talk!" Sora looked around for anything around him to change but there was nothing.

"Voice?! I want to talk about the Darkness! Are you willing to talk or what?"

My name is not voice! Sora couldn't help but shutter when he heard it, Sora then groaned again in annoyance. The last thing he wanted was to talk to the voice again but if he wanted to confirm his suspicions with Ansem this was his best shot. Sora then looked around in annoyance since the voice was in his head and therefore had nothing to look at.

"Well then what is your name then?" 

You don't need to know that yet! Suddenly a large shadow formed on the wall of the alleyway. Sora faced it to see it made a figure that stood extremely tall and had a strange head with four horns like a goat's horns. The shadow's eyes then opened to show large red eyes that started at Sora with intense hatred. Sora couldn't help but tremble in fear at the first sight, but quickly forced himself to stand tall and not show fear. 

What's the sudden change of heart child? Are you under some delusion that I will help you defeat the Champion of Darkness?

"Of course not! I want to know who Ansem; Seeker of Darkness is. Also is he the same as the Ansem who made the reports for the Guardians of Light?" The shadow seemed surprised by what Sora said, he seemingly pondered on it for a while before looking back at Sora. 

And why should I tell you? What will you give me in return?

"... Can't you just do it out of the kindness of your heart?" The shadow was silent for some time before laughing like a psycho. 

HAHAHAHAHA! What heart?! Listen boy! Everything has a price! You don't pay, you don't get your due!

"Ugh! Alright fine, what do you want?" Again, the shadow seemed to ponder on this for a little while but then his eyes widened as if he recalled something from his past.

I want your Heart to be a resting place for the sword.

"... What?"

You'll find out eventually, now to your question. I'm afraid the answer is complicated to answer... The king of knowledge lost in the abyss, with only his brain for his heart died the same day his family did. The fault lies in the false master of light, he who corrupted the Shield, banished the Wand, and cursed the Sword into an eternal slumber. Now the Wand and I play chest. We bet, play, and see how the game will end. But this game is strange because there are two kings. One is a heart with no body and the other a body with no heart. one wants to use seven hearts while the other will command thirteen bodies. Seven of Light and Seven of darkness are needed to make the key, no more, no less. One has stolen the name of his old master, the other changed it. Both want redemption, both want to be remembered, both want to be feared, both want what the original did. A foolish boy became a foolish man. A foolish man became two foolish men. You have yet to face one but once you do, you will face the other. You already know the name he stole and soon you see the face he corrupted.

"... So Ansem and Ansem seeker of Darkness are different people?" 

I already told you what you need to know, you can figure out the rest on your own. Sora then pouted in frustration, what the shadow told him wasn't even a riddle, it was no better than word play. 

"You still haven't told me who you are and why you're even here? Why can I hear your voice in my head?"

... hehehe, so many questions, so few answers, the multiverse itself is one big joke that no one even told. The darkness has been corrupted while the light has lost its way. I'm just a memory of a war no one remembers. As they say, history is told by the victors. You want more answers? Ask the victors. And remember, light and darkness are two sides of a coin but favor one over the other, you'll become blind. The shadow then faded away leaving Sora frustrated. 

"What was any of that supposed to mean?" IT JUST MEANS WHAT IT MEANS! UGH, I HATE CHILDREN! Sora had to cover his ears despite the voice shouting in his head. Once it was done Sora just grunted in annoyance.

"Jerk..." Sora then realized he wasted enough time and just walked off to town square to get back with Goofy and Donald. 

"Well, that was annoying but at least the voice is just as sick of me as I am of it. Also, I think he said that the two Ansem's are different... Yeah I'm pretty sure that's what he meant." 

***

By the time Sora made it back to the town square everyone was celebrating their close victory and drinking beer. Donald and Goofy in particular were dancing around and singing while both of them were holding mugs of beer. 

"Oh, hey what's that?" Everyone then stopped when they saw Sora. 

"Uh... it's... it's called beer."

"Oh? Never heard of it, can I have some?"

"Nope!" Donald then casts a magic spell to make all the beer float into the air at high speed only for it all to explode into a firework.

"Hey! What gives, Duck!"

"Sid! Sora's 14!"

"You couldn't have just not given him some! Ugh!" Sid then stomped away in anger.

"Uh sorry."

"Nah, Sorry it's fine. We shouldn't have been drinking in the first place. Now then, ready to liberate the last world!" Donald then raised his fist to Sora; Sora then smirked in determination and gave Donald a fist bump to show how ready he was. Goofy was about to get up but then fell down due to being drunk. Donald sighed and gave Goofy a healing potion and kicked him to get up. From this alone Sora made a mental note to never drink beer even when he gets older. 

***

Now on the Gummi ship, Chip and Dale activated the light tunnel and soon the ship was flying down the tunnel. Sora got the controller and was ready to take down any Heartless ship that got in the way. However, about half an hour later no Heartless ships showed up, nothing the travel down the tunnel was actually extremely peaceful. 

"Gosh, do you think they ran out of Heartless?"

"No Goofy, somethings wrong. I don't know what, but this is definitely not a good sign." 

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time they changed things up. But either way I'm sure whatever it is we can handle it!"

"You sure are optimistic aren't you, Sora?"

"Hey! You say that like it's a bad thing, Donald. There's nothing wrong with hope! Besides they already got heavy armored ships, an ambush, and a giant eel looking Heartless ship! What else could they possibly do?!" Suddenly the entire ship was rammed by a giant pirate ship that forced them right out of the Light tunnel. Once again, the Gummi ship was flying out of control until it ended up transporting into a random world. 

"AAAAH! I DIDN'T JINX IT!"

"AAAAH! YES, YOU DID SORA!" The Gummi ship then roughly crashed onto something hard making Sora, Donald, and Goofy fly out of their ships and hard onto the ground. The impact was so hard that it caused Sora, Donald, Goofy, Chip, and Dale to be knocked out instantly.

***

Sora didn't know how long he was out but when he came to, he could see from the front view of the Gummi ship that they crashed onto the hull of the pirate ship. 

"Ugh, are... are we on another ship? But how?" Sora got up and saw that Donald and Goofy were still knocked out. Sora woke them up and did the same for Chip and Dale and explained that they were on a giant pirate ship that was seemingly abandoned. Donald went over to the front of the ship to look outside while Chip and Dale were setting up the scans. 

"Hm, well this is weird."

"This isn't a Heartless ship, fellas. However, it has a multiversal travel engine!"

"What? But those can only exist within Gummi ships! This isn't a gummi ship, it's a sea ship!"

"I don't know but that's not the worst of it, there's a large signature of dark energy on this ship with only one source. this could only mean one thing."

"Sorry fellas, but we got ambushed by one of the Dark Lord's themselves." Sora was shocked but only for a second, he quickly smirked in determination and raised his hand as his keyblade manifested. 

"Like I said, no matter what it is we can handle it. The fact that there's a Dark Lord on board is just an added bonus." Goofy and Donald were wide eyed at first but then both of them nodded in approval. The three of them then left the Gummi ship and walked onto the hull of the pirate ship but even as they did there was still no one present. 

"This is definitely a trap."

"But what should we do then? How do we avoid it, a-hyuk?!"

"I say we strike them before they strike us, let's go to where the Dark Lord is."

"Ok... and where is that Sora?" Sora then went wide eyed as he realized what Donald asked. Sora grunted in frustration again, today was really turning out to be a bad day. 

You wish to seek out the darkness? Sora groaned again when he heard that voice in his head. Go away, I don't need you anymore.

First rule of the darkness is that your strength determines your position. You want me to listen prove your strong enough to force me... now then you might not like it, but you really do need my help, so let me help just this once, sound good?

Fine! Whatever, please help me find out where the Dark Lord is hiding.

Heh, so easy. Now close your eyes, then focus on the magic within your heart, see through your heart instead of your eyes. Sora sighed and did as the voice asked, of course everything was dark with his eyes closed. However, as he focused on the magic within his heart, he saw a large purple flame in the distance and when he opened his eyes, he could still see it only now it was in the ship, right where the captain's quarters would be. 

"That's where the Lord of Darkness is!" You're welcome! Sora grunted when he heard the sarcastic tone of the voice.

"Ok thank you! you can shut up now!"

"Wah?"

"Sora, we didn't say anything." Sora then started sweating nervously as he realized he was practically talking to himself in front of Donald and Goofy.

"Oh... uh... I just... thought I heard a bird yelling at me is all." Wow, nice save. JUST GET LOST! Sora screamed in his head as the voice seemingly laughed while fading away. Sora then faced Donald and Goofy while trying to smile despite him still sweating nervously. 

"Uh! Let's go get that Dark Lord jerk!" 

"... Sora."

"Is there something you want to tell us?"

"... uh... can I tell you later?" 

"Wah?! No way! You will tell us right-" Goofy then covered Donalds bill to keep him from talking. 

"Of course, Sora, but please remember we DO need to talk about this eventually, ok?"

"*Sigh* Yes dad!" Sora then ran off to the captain's quarters of the house. Donald sighed and followed but then noticed that Goofy was still standing there with watery eyes.

"A-hyuk, that was so sweet! Gosh, I wish Max still called me dad."

"He was being sarcastic, Goofy, don't let it get to your head." Goofy then grunted in disappointment and manifested his shield. The two of them quickly chased after Sora.

***

Sora, Donald, and Goofy then crashed the door open and ran into the Captain's quarters. Their Captain hook was talking into a magically floating scroll covered in dark magic.

"Just use the Air Pirates to catch the brat! He'll ruin everything if this continues!"

"I'm sorry sir I'm trying! But the Heartless respond better to-"

"WAIT! Be quiet..." Captain Hook then turned to his right and saw Sora, Donald, and Goofy standing there.

"Uh, Captain?"

"I'll need to call you back Mr. Smee."

"But wait-" the magic scroll then rolled up and as Captain Hook waved his hand away the scroll floated away into one of the bookshelves of his quarters. 

"So... you're the Champion of Darkness that has Maleficent rattled."

"In any other situation I would have been honored. I always wanted to meet a pirate."

"Have you now? Such delusions of a child, not understanding danger. Even as it stands before them."

"Why does everyone keep acting like being a kid is a bad thing?" 

"As much as I'd love to off your head, I unfortunately have different matters to attend to. Heartless if you'd please." Several Pirate Heartless then manifested around the captain's quarters and several more surrounding Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Farewell Champion, may your heart be the guiding key and all that nonsense." A veil then manifested behind Captain Hook, and he walked behind it while the Pirate Heartless covered his exit. Sora then smirked and so did Donald and Goofy for then this would take no longer than five minutes. Or at least that would be the case but something strange was happening to the Heartless. They were seemingly shaking around as if they were losing control of themselves as their forms were changing. At first, they were getting wobbly as if they were made of water then they actually started to melt into black puddles. Before Sora could say anything the black puddles then raised back up into new forms, all of them took the form of Sora with his keyblade.

Remember everything comes at a price, child. This is the price for my help, now let's see how long you can last.

"Grrr, you rotten jerk!" Again, the dark voice laughed as it slowly faded out of Sora's head. 

"Sora, what are you talking about?"

"Sora what's going on?"

"Ugh! Alright! Alright! Donald remembers when you asked if I knew something weird and or magical about myself." A shadow Sora then charged toward Sora making him raise his keyblade.

"Well, when I said no, I lied! I hate lying but it's true, I lied!" Sora then slashed at the shadow, but it faded away only to reappear behind him and slash him back. 

"Argh! The truth is that ever since this One Heartless scratched me in the back I've been hearing evil voices in my head! They keep telling me to give into the darkness and for some reason every time I listen or try to ignore them, I get slightly stronger! Like that first time I cast a lighting spell!" Donald cast a fireball at a shadow Sora only for it to dodge again, however instead of huffing in annoyance Donald was shocked to hear what Sora said. A strange dark voice both trying to convert him to the darkness and giving him little bits of power. Donald never heard of any of it but none of it sounded good. 

"Sora! When did all this start?!"

"Uh, well... When I first got to Traverse Town..."

"SINCE THE BEGINNING?!" as Donald screamed, he had to dodge several slashes from the shadow Sora's. 

"Sora, why did you tell us?!" Goofy then tried to shield bash a shadow Sora but it disappeared and reappeared behind him to slash him in the back. 

"It was a voice in my head! There's not really much you can do about that! Besides we had only just met at the time, you guys probably would have thought I was crazy!" Sora then dodged another slash and finally managed to kick a shadow Sora back only for it to recover quite quickly. 

"I think you're crazy right now for hiding it!" A shadow Sora then punched Donald in the face, to which he quickly froze it with an ice spell before it could disappear again.

"Ugh! Guys can we please talk about this after we defeat these annoying shadow me's?!"

"We will be talking about this later though!" Donald angrily cast a lighting spell hitting two shadow Soras directly hurting them both, at least until they escaped by disappearing. Sora then jumped across the room and slashed the shadow Sora that Donald imprisoned earlier. Goofy threw his shield and it ricocheted among the shadow Sora. However, they all quickly recovered just as Goofy got his shield back. Donald then cast several lighting spells hoping to finish them all but instead some disappeared to escape while the others were indeed hurt but seemingly regenerated from the damage. 

"This isn't working! Dam- ahem! Dang it, how do we destroy these things?!"

"Hahahahaha! Fine! Fine! Let's end this little game, shall we?!" All the shadow Sora then formed together into a single shadow Sora. This one was no longer a shadow but instead had a hard constructed body of pure darkness and was even covered in a dark aura body. Then four goat horns formed on the head and red eyes formed on the blank face.

"Hahahaha! It's been so long since I had a body! Do entertain me well won't you little Pawn?"

"Wha? Who is that." Sora turned to Donald and then Goofy and saw the fear in their eyes. Sora then sighed, though this made things easier to explain, it was still annoying that this had to happen at all.

"That's... the voice in my head." Donald and Goofy looked at Sora in shock then to the shadow Sora, who bowed politely to confirm that Sora was right. Donald then groaned in anger at the sight of the shadow and actually tried to talk to him.

"Who are you and why are you haunting Sora?"

"Me? All you need to know is that like this child I was a fool blinded by the light thinking he was a hero of justice when in reality I was a prince of thieves. I helped those above me take so much and give so little. And now the war begins again only with new puppets at the end of the strings. So, I ask you all, do you wish to continue and dance for the amusement of those who shine or would you rather cut your strings and let yourselves fall freely into the darkness." Donald and Goofy looked at each other in confusion then to Sora as he had a look of disappointment on his face. 

"Yeah, that's pretty much how he talks, always in riddles. Sad thing is that there are not even good riddles."

"Well excuse me for trying to have some fun. Regardless, that's enough bickering, let's fight, shall we?" The Dark Sora raised his shadow keyblade and walked forward. Donald and Goofy jumped forward to push him back, instead Dark Sora slapped them both away with his free hand. It looked like a simple slap, but it had enough force to push them both past Sora at high speed and ram into the wall knocking them both out instantly. Sora was instantly enraged and swung his Keyblade down on Dark Sora only for it to be blocked. Sora tried striking from different angles, then another and another. Sora realized he was going at such high speed, but he was more focused on finding an opening on Dark Sora and taking it, but instead Dark Sora managed to use both his free hand and Keyblade to block every single strike. Soon Dark Sora was using only his free hand to block every strike at such amazing speed. 

Sora wasn't getting anywhere, he quickly jumped away from Dark Sora and cast a fireball. However instead of launching it Sora got a better idea and started casting the multi-core spell. It was still difficult, but Sora managed to cast both an additional lighting and ice spell and have it aimed right at Dark Sora. 

"Eat this!" Sora launched the spell at Dark Sora expecting it to do some serious damage. Meanwhile Dark Sora started laughing as the spell flew toward him at high speed.

"hehehe, Okay!" Dark Sora then opened his mouth to an abnormal degree and ate the magic spell as if it was nothing more than a snack. Sora just stood there shocked, sometimes his enemies dodged or even deflected the attacks, but none had ever just eaten the magic directly. 

"Ahhh... my turn, WEH!" Dark Sora unleashed a loud screech, powered by magic. Due to the room being small the magical vibrations were bouncing all around the room. Sora felt like he was being hit by several punches from all directions, at the same time his ears were ringing due to how loud it was. When it was finally over Sora just collapsed to the floor with only his arms barely holding him up. Sora started sweating in fear, he only felt this kind of fear back in Deep Jungle, it was the fear of losing to the Darkness. Sora faced lots of strong enemies, so it was hard to compare and contrast but something in his heart told him Dark Sora was the worst of them all. Before Sora could ponder anymore Dark Sora grabbed him by the neck and raised him high in the air.

"How does it feel? Knowing with all the light in the multiverse... you're still just a pawn on the chessboard." Dark Sora threw Sora out of the captain's quarters, Sora landed hard onto the floor of the hull and tried to painfully get up. Dark Sora walked slowly toward Sora while Sora tried to use his remaining strength to wield his Keyblade for defense. 

"Even after all that you cling to your Keyblade? Is it not already obvious that you are not the victor here? The prophecy did state that the Champions of Light and Darkness would battle to determine the fate of the multiverse... but it never said that the Champions wouldn't be killed by anyone else." Sora was so sore and exhausted that just holding his Keyblade was a chore, but there was nothing else he could do.

"Except give up..." Sora looked at the Dark Sora in confusion.

"Oh, come now of course I'm still in your head. I know what you're thinking and I'm telling you give up. Don't you want to save Riku, the only way you can is to give up your keyblade. If you don't have it, then Riku has no reason to be the Champion of Darkness anymore. One cannot exist without the other, destiny does not exist for nobody. These are the rules of the game Sora, the only way to win is to stop playing." Sora looked at his Keyblade again, if he was being honest, it was true this would be the better thing to do; after all, what joy did the Keyblade actually bring him? Sora was forced to go on this quest, he was forced to fight monsters and villains he barely understands, he was forced to leave his home, and he was forced to separate from his friends. Because of this Keyblade Sora was alone... Sora then snickered at the idea of that, what a bunch of lies, he thought. 

"What?!" Sora ignored Dark Sora and kept thinking to himself. Sure, there was bad but there was good too. Sora met new people, saw new worlds, saw and experienced new stories, and helped save not just one but several worlds from the Dark Army. Sora wasn't a hero, but he was a friend to those that needed it and frankly that's all he wanted to be. Sora then remembered all the worlds he visited and everyone in them that he interacted with. That's why even when the going gets rough he wasn't going to collapse and cry like he did in Deep Jungle, he would get back up and fight. Sora didn't even notice it but his keyblade started glowing and surging with magical power.

"No! That's impossible! You never received any training! How are you able to manipulate your aura so well?!" Sora then smiled as he heard Dark Sora panic, Sora then remembered all the friends he made: Yuffie, Leon, Donald, Goofy, Chip, Dale, Alice, Cloud, Sid, Tarzan, Aladdin, Genie, Jack Skellington, Sally, and Ariel. Sora then opened his eyes and to his amazement golden light manifestations of everyone he thought of were right there beside him. Instantly all the golden light manifestations fused into Sora's heart instantly. Sora could feel a massive surge of magic flowing through his body, but it wasn't overwhelming instead it was energizing. Sora smiled proudly as he raised his keyblade with one hand and pointed it right toward Dark Sora. Dark Sora growled in anger as he manifested a dark aura around his dark body to increase his own power.

"It doesn't matter what the material is made of, when it comes to chess a Pawn is still a Pawn!" Dark Sora then roared again causing a massive blast of magic to shoot right at Sora. A normal person would have been badly hurt or even killed by the mix of intense sound waves and magic, but right now Sora was taking it quite well. Dark Sora's roar was only pushing Sora back a little bit but wasn't really doing any damage. Sora then walked toward the roar as it was pushing him back then he started running as it was getting easier. Dark Sora realized it wasn't working anymore and quickly raised his keyblade to block Sora's strike. Dark Sora forced Sora back and started swinging himself only to miss or get his strikes blocked by Sora. The two of them continued to clash like this, only Dark Sora quickly realized that Sora was so much stronger than before. Dark Sora couldn't make any sense of it, sure he was the Champion of Light but that only gets you so far without training and magical boosters. However, by using his magic sense Dark Sora saw that there was indeed a magic booster within his heart. 

"Oh... so that's how it is, how... PREDICTABLE!" Dark Sora then reached into Sora's chest and grabbed his heart directly. Now Sora was in deep pain, his physical heart slowly being torn out of his being. As Sora weakened, he dropped his keyblade and started losing strength. Dark Sora laughed as he was slowly ripping the heart out of Sora.

"I have to say I am impressed, even though my power is only a fraction of how it was, you still shouldn't have been able to beat me, yet you were close. But alas, you're not the king or the queen, you're a pawn, but don't worry once I'm done with you, I will find the Kings and I will put out every spark of their corrupting light!" Sora then grunted in anger and quickly remanifested his keyblade back into his hand.

"What?!" Sora then slashed Dark Sora in two, but he didn't stop there, he used every bit of his strength to keep slicing up Dark Sora until it did any lasting damage. Finally, after what seemed like a hundred strikes, Sora managed to slash Dark Sora in the chest and this time it left a slashing mark of golden light. Dark Sora then let go as he gasped for air, finally Sora let himself fall to his knees as he was free but exhausted and his heart felt like it was breaking. Sora then looked up at Dark Sora who was slowly fading as his wound burned and spread throughout his body.

"Ahhh... well... I'll be damned... you're not a pawn at all... you're more like a rook... you can destroy everything in your path... but in the end you can only go in one direction or the other... and like all other pieces... you do whatever the King tells you to... So be warned little Rook... the game is far from over... and when it ends, the only real victors... are the Kings..." Finally Dark Sora was gone, and the hearts from the Pirate Heartless he absorbed were released. Sora let himself fall to the ground. Sora knew that now wasn't the time, but he just couldn't do anything else, so Sora just went to sleep and hoped that Donald or Goofy would give him a health potion. 

***

"Yeah tink, just give him some fairy dust and he'll be ok!" Sora felt something being sprinkled onto him as if it was some kind of dust. Suddenly Sora felt a lot better and was even able to not only wake up but get up all by himself. Sora didn't feel as strong or energized as the powerup he had earlier, but this was definitely a second best. 

"Look at that, you alright little guy?" Sora turned to his left to see Peter Pan standing there with Tinder Bell on his shoulder. Sora looked at Peter confused, he was dressed in all green and was actually just a little taller than Sora. 

"Uh yeah, I'm great actually, thank you by the way."

"A pleasure, by the way, might want to dodge."

"Huh?" Sora turned around only to see an Air Pirate Heartless extremely close to punching him with its large fists. Sora panicked and jumped purely on instinct but was surprised to see that he not only jumped higher than before but was also floating in the air. Peter then blocked the Air Pirate's strike with his dagger and slashed it a few times before it disbursed, and the cursed heart was released. As Sora slowly floated to the ground, he looked at Sora in amazement.

"Wow, you're a natural when it comes to flying, huh? I'm Peter Pan and this is Tinker Bell." Peter extended a hand; Sora took and shook while Tinker Bell flew close to his face to get a closer look. Sora laughed as he backed away from her to get some space. Sora was amazed he was looking at an actual fairy or maybe it was a pixie. Sora wanted to ask but at the same time he figured that was rude to ask so blatantly. Instead, Sora extended a hand to her, and she smiled as she took only a finger. Sora made sure to only shake his finger gently so as to not shake her. 

Just as introductions ended Sora saw that in the sky there were several Air Pirates in the air trying to chase Wendy, John, Michael, and the Lost boys. Sora quickly manifested his keyblade and without even thinking flew in the air to help. An Air Pirate Heartless nearly got Michael but Sora slashed its arm off and proceeded to cut it in half, defeating it. Sora smirked at first but then saw how many there actually were. Sora could definitely take them, but he couldn't do so while protecting everyone. Sora then realized that Donald and Goofy were still in the captain's quarters, knocked out. Sora was about to fly down but couldn't leave with all the chaos so instead looked to Peter Pan and Tinker Bell who were just about to join the fight. 

"Peter! Go to the captain's quarters and find two people named Donald and Goofy! We need them to help!" Peter grunted in disappointment that he wasn't going to join the fight, but did as Sora asked since even, he understood they needed all the help they could get. While waiting on Peter, Sora flew to after the Air Pirate Heartless, he even made sure to run into one head causing it to fly off and started crashing down toward the ground. This ended up getting the attention of the remaining Air Pirate Heartless, thus they all started flying toward him while leaving everyone else alone. Sora smiled and activated a lighting spell, allowing him to hit three different Air Pirate heartless. However, while distracted another Air Pirate Heartless punched him in the back. Sora slashed its head in retaliation and as it was punched away, he cast a fireball at it, destroying the Heartless. 

Sora smiled and was about to get ready for the next one but before he could another Air Pirate Heartless flew by him and punched his back. Then another flew by and punched him in the stomach, then another across the face. Sora knew what they were doing and worst off he couldn't do anything about it, they were surrounding him and only striking him when and where he wasn't ready. This was a lot like back in Atlantica when he couldn't swing his keyblade properly underwater. This was different though he wasn't underwater; he was in the air and there wasn't any water to help him here. As if on cue, Sora's keyblade started glowing gold again, Sora smiled in a mixture of excitement and relief as he knew what this meant. 

Sora's keyblade then transformed into the Crabclaw Keyblade, Sora looked at it in confusion as he had no idea how this was supposed to be helpful. Before Sora could figure it out, Several Air Pirate Heartless started surrounding him and were preparing to strike him from all sides. Sora raised his keyblade in defense, but he knew this wasn't going to be enough to block against all the incoming attacks. Suddenly a bubble of water formed around Sora and expanded at accelerated speed thus hitting all the incoming Air Pirate Heartless. Now that they were all covered in water Sora once again hit them with a lighting spell, this time it was able to arc between them and thus shock them all. However, the current wasn't as strong so despite them being hurt from the lighting they were still able to fight. Worst off, the fairy dust on Sora was wearing off and he was slowly falling. 

Sora quickly flew to the ground but the Air Pirate Heartless were flying after him. As Sora was safely falling, he raised his keyblade at them and transformed his keyblade into the Pumpkinhead Keyblade to shoot several jack-o-lantern missiles at the closest Air Pirate Heartless. Destroying at least five of them; however, there were still seven active and dived right at Sora. Thankfully Goofy's shield was thrown at the Air Pirates and ricocheted between them causing them all to simply fall due to either being knocked out or seriously hurt. A large fireball then shot at the Heartless, engulfing them all in flames and getting rid of all the Heartless. 

All the children started cheering in joy, knowing that the Heartless were gone and started cheering on Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Sora quickly hugged both Donald and Goofy for saving him but then he lowered his head to apologize. 

"I'm sorry for hiding the voice, guys. You were right, I shouldn't have kept it to myself." Donald was still mad and was about to tell Sora off, but Goofy placed his hand on his shoulder to tell him to not say anything. 

"We're not mad Sora, we were just worried about you." Donald then looked at Goofy in anger but Goofy then smacked him in the head to keep him quiet. Donald was dazed at first, but then grunted in annoyance and turned the other way while crossing his arms. 

"I know it feels like there are some things that are better to handle by yourself but when you're overwhelmed it's always better to get some help. Especially for those you can call your friends." Sora smiled and hugged Goofy to show his appreciation. Donald looked back and figured he was being too harsh on Sora and sighed in defeat. 

"Goofy's right Sora, we'll always have your back but for crying out loud don't go hiding stuff like that! If you have more secrets like that you better tell us now." Sora couldn't help but laugh at Donald trying to still act all tough and authoritative.

"Haha! Ok, ok I'm sorry Donald, but seriously that's it. I really don't have any other secrets."

"Well, isn't this just peachy!" Everyone then looked at the upper floor of the boat to see Captain Hook standing there staring down on all of them. 

"I was hoping to get rid of Peter Pan before I got rid of the Champion of Darkness. No matter, I'll just destroy you both at the same time." Peter Pan then ran forward in front of Sora, Donald, and Goofy to face off against Captain Hook.

"Bring it on Hook! I already beat all your pirate goons; I can beat you too."

"Yes, you certainly did, boy! But you must know there's a fine difference between a pirate and a captain! If it's so hard to tell the difference, then it's about time you grow up!" Captain Hook started growing as his body was covered in a dark aura giving him both size and power. 

"WOW! He's uh... Well, I swear he couldn't do that back in Neverland."

"Yeah, you'll get used to it. Anyways just watch out because him being big is unfortunately not all he can do." Captain Hook then manifested several arrows of darkness and they all shot right toward Peter Pan and Sora. Peter actually panicked while Sora smiled and manifested his Three Wishes Keyblade. The dark arrows shot right back at Captain Hook right in the face making him growly in anger. He then raised his sword now enlarged and sharpened with darkness, to strike down on the both of them. Sora who was still smiling and manifested his Olympia Keyblade, after a perfectly timed strike on the incoming blade it recoiled causing Captain Hook to fall off balance. Sora then manifested his Pumpkinhead Keyblade and shot several jack-o-lantern missiles at Captain Hook to both hurt him more and cause him to fall down entirely. Since his body was so big, he ended up falling off the ship entirely and thus started crashing into the emptiness of the Darkness in-between worlds. 

"Woah! I don't know how you did any of that, but it was amazing! What is that key thing anyways?"

"Just think of it as my weapon." 

"Really?" Peter then flew up and snatched the Keyblade from Sora, Sora wasn't concerned but still looked at Peter in disappointment for stealing his Keyblade like that. Peter swung it around like a sword but still looked at it in confusion.

"This is a weapon? It just looks like a giant key." The Keyblade then dissolved into light and manifested back into Sora's hands.

"You know it's rude to just take something from someone else."

"Oh come on I was just looking at it."

"You could have just asked rather than taking it."

"Pfft! You sure like to complain, what are you a girl?" The Lost boys then started laughing at Sora to which Goofy crossed his arms at them and gave a dad's glare at them causing them all to instantly feel bad. Peter on the other hand was still laughing at his joke while an unamused Sora was walking up to him. Peter then stopped laughing and saw Sora glaring at him very seriously.

"And if I was a girl? Does that mean my complaints are just suddenly not important?" Suddenly Peter felt under the pressure of Sora despite being slightly taller than him. 

"Uh... well come on, it was just a joke."

"So, it's funny to say that because I complain about legitimate reasons, I must be a girl? It's also funny to call me a girl as if it was an insult?" Sora continued to glare at Peter with a serious stare which made Peter sweat in nervousness. Peter then lowered his head and apologized, afterwards Peter then flew over to Wendy and apologized to her as well for all the mean things he said to her previously. Wendy and her brothers even had a laugh about it while teasing Peter. Meanwhile Donald and Goofy walked up to Sora to see if he was ok.

"Dang Sora, I knew you could be intimidating but I never knew you could handle a ruffian like that."

"Oh well, I used to be a ruffian myself, Donald. You see me and Riku used to try to hang out with older kids to make ourselves look cool; we ended up picking up bad habits from them. My mom made sure to give me lots of lectures to get me out of those bad habits, I guess it all ended up rubbing off on me."

"And you became just as terrifying as her as a result?"

"What?" Goofy then slapped Donald on the back of the head to keep him quiet, all while Sora just stood there confused. 

"You vile little vermin! You think you've won?! I'm just getting started!" Suddenly the ship was moving and now it went to its own destination. Soon the ship and everyone on it was flying over the skies of London, then a normal sized Captain Hook walked out of a Void and onto the deck. With him several Pirate Heartless and Air Pirate Heartless came out of the Void as well.

"Now then, shall we get started?" Sora grunted in annoyance; he really should have figured that this battle was far from over but after the fight with Dark Sora he was kinda ready for it to be. Two Air Pirate Heartless zoomed right toward Sora, who just manifested his Olympia Keyblade and slashed them both, causing them to fly off uncontrollable and fall away. Another Pirate Heartless tried to charge at Sora head on, Sora was ready for them, but Peter Pan instead jumped in front and used his dagger to deflect the attack and strike the Heartless. 

"Sorry about earlier, I never caught your name by the way."

"I'm Sora." 

"Sora? Like soaring in the skies?" Peter Pan then flew in the air to show off to Sora, then two Air Pirate Heartless tried to ambush him from both sides. However, Peter just playfully kicked one in the face causing it to stagger while stabbing and slashing the other to destroy it. Peter then plainly threw his dagger at the other Air Pirate to destroy that one as well, releasing the cursed heart within. 

"That name fits you quite well. Though I think it would fit better with a little help. Hey Tink! Be a pal and give him some fuel?" Tinker Bell actually smiled in delight because of the request and quickly flew over Sora and quickly sprinkled her dust all over him so that he could fly again. Sora thanked Tinker Bell but to his surprise, Tinker Bell kissed him on the cheek to show it was her pleasure. Sora just smiled thinking it was common for fairies to do that. Sora then smirked with determination as he flew into the air to take the Air Pirates head on. The other children and Lost boys were just throwing random stuff at them which did nothing. Sora thought this was funny but still better than to just watch so he quickly flew in to help. Sora quickly manifested his Pumpkinhead Keyblade and aimed at all the Air Pirates closest to the Lost Boys. The damage managed to hurt the Air Pirates while getting them away from the Lost Boys, however it also drew all of their attention toward him. 

About twelve Air Pirate Heartless flew toward him in different directions but this time Sora was ready. Sora manifested his Crabclaw Keyblade to make water all around him, he then used an ice spell to freeze all the water making a barrier shield all around him. As predicted all the Air Pirates crashed into the barrier and even three were destroyed because of the impact. However, Sora didn't stop there, with the barrier still controlled by his magic he made sure to drop it directly over Captain Hook. 

Captain Hook with his Pirate Heartless guards was smiling at the sight of everyone struggling to fight off his Heartless. After he was done with them, he would commence the invasion on both London and Wonderland. With two worlds being destroyed at the same time would give him more than enough energy to be on par with Maleficent. With the others being gone and Hades being docile it should be easy pickings and Master Ansem would surely approve. However, his train of thought was interrupted when a dark shadow covered him and his Heartless. He looked at the shadow in confusion and then looked up only to scream as he saw a giant barrier of ice, he was seconds from impacting. Thankfully because of the shape of the ice Captain Hook himself was fine but the Pirate Heartless surrounding him were destroyed instantly. 

Captain Hook grew red in anger and slashed at the ice in high speed until it shattered into pieces. However as soon as he was done, he was faced with Sora who managed to cast both a fire spell and lighting spell at him. Captain Hook was then shot with both spells setting him on fire and electrocuting him. Sora smirked thinking that now the battle was over but suddenly Captain Hook unleashed his dark aura that allowed him to repel the fire and lighting. Captain Hook's clothes was now ruined which made him look horrible especially with his deranged angry face. However, Peter Pan quickly flew in and tried to ambush Captain Hook only for Hook to block Peter's strike with his dagger. 

"Come on Hook, your fights with me remember?"

"Grrr! Wait your turn, brat!" Captain Hook then covered his left arm in his dark aura to make it bigger and stronger, he then punched Peter causing him to fly uncontrollably away. Sora tried to take advantage of the distraction by charging at Captain Hook but again Hook proved to be faster and countered with his own strike. Sora could not believe the amount of force that came from the strike, it rippled through his muscles and made him want to scream in agony. Sora was then pushed to the ground and left there without the strength to get back up. Captain Hook took advantage of the strike and jumped on top of Sora and stabbed him in the heart. Or at least that would have happened if Goofy hadn't bashed him midair with his shield, causing Captain Hook to crash into his own ship. 

Donald then helped Sora up and the two of them then quickly cast their own fire spell and combined them together to make an even stronger spell. As Captain Hook got up, he was again hit with a fire spell only this time it was a large barrage of even hotter fire. When it was finally over Captain Hook was covered in ash and was left in a lot of pain. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Peter and all the other kids started laughing at Captain Hook in his defeated state. Captain Hook then growled in anger and shock all the ash and dust off of himself. He was completely out of dark energy, but he didn't care.

"You think you won just like that you little brat! I may not be a master of magic, but I am a master of the sword! And you're just a tiny little inexperienced bug." Sora, Donald, and Goofy just looked at one another not really feeling intimidated by Captain Hook at all.

"Do you think he's projecting or something?"

"Gosh, he must not have had a good childhood."

"Hey Hook!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy then looked behind Captain Hook, Hook turned around to look as well only to scream when he saw Peter Pan holding a smiling crocodile. 

"If we're so small, then why don't you pick on someone your own size!" Captain Hook then opened a void portal back to Neverland to escape but Peter Pan managed to throw the crocodile through the portal before it closed. Now all the children and lost boys started cheering while Peter Pan bowed to them all. Sora felt he deserved the praise as well and, despite them starting on the wrong foot, started clapping for Peter as well. Peter Pan then flew to the ground to face Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"Thanks for the help, guys."

"No problem, though, sorry we really didn't do that much."

"By the way, where did you even get that crocodile from?"

"Oh, that guy was clinging to the hull. I don't know why but that crocodile would never rest until he could eat Hook, lucky for us though right?" Before Sora could say anything, he noticed that the ship was close to the Big Ben tower and was amazed to see a clock tower so big. Sora then noticed that on it there was a glowing light and quickly realized it was the world's keyhole.

"Guys! That's it, that's the keyhole!"

"Well let's close it quick!"

"Wait! don't leave so soon, stay and celebrate the victory with us."

"Oh, please do stay." Wendy then approached as well as the others hoping to talk more with Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Donald grunted in annoyance while Goofy laughed and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. Sora would normally love to stay but he knew that after this world all he'd have to do is face off against Maleficent and finally he could save Riku and Kairi.

"Sorry guys, but we really have to go, I know we didn't get to meet properly but I swear that after I stop the Dark Army I'm coming back here with my friends."

"Heh, well alright then Sora, go save the world or whatever but don't forget to give Neverland a visit too." Sora nodded to confirm he then used the fairy dust to fly over to the World's keyhole. 

***

Chip and Dale finally managed to fix the Gummi ship and picked Sora, Donald, and Goofy up from the Big Ben Tower. 

"Well that wasn't our best adventure, we crashed onto a sea ship in space, had to fight the evil annoying voice that's been bugging me, and fought alongside a bunch of seemingly fun kids but didn't have time to properly hang out with them."

"The important thing is that you liberated the world and stopped the last Dark Lord Sora. Now that you did, we can finally find out where Maleficent is and stop her."

"Uh actually fellas we got some bad news." Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked to Chip and Dale in confusion while the two of them looked back in sadness.

"We think this planet was a decoy or something. You see Captain Hook may have been a Dark Lord, but his main invasion wasn't focused here it was focused elsewhere. We'll have to go there in order to halt the invasion and finally get a reading on where Maleficent is hiding." Donald and Goofy were shocked and groaned in defeat, they were so ready to have finally liberated all the worlds but then it just one more showed up out of nowhere. Sora on the other hand stepped forward with a serious expression of determination. 

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get that last world!"

"Wah? Sora, don't you want to go to Traverse Town first to rest a bit?"

"We can rest after we liberate this last world, but before then what do you guys say we go for one last round before the final battle." Sora then extended his hand to Donald and Goofy. Donald and Goofy looked at one another but then Goofy smiled and put his hand over Sora's. Donald hesitated a little but then did the same.

"All for one and one for all!"

"Well said Sora!" Chip and Dale then got to activating the Gummi ship for the next world while Sora and Goofy got to their ships. Donald on the other hand felt like something was wrong but still went to his seat. Donald made sure to watch Sora, he couldn't help but feel that Sora was pushing this too far but what could possibly drive him to be so reckless Sora, I know it's hard, but try to hold it in for now. The only way to find your friends is to stop the Dark Army. you can't give up now. if you want to see your friends again you have to push forward. Those words echoed in his head and suddenly Donald was filled with guilt and regret. However, it was too late to bring it up or apologize since they were already entering the Darkness in-between worlds to go to the next world.

.

Part 10

Part 8

[the-trinket-witch]

Practically Perfect Ch. 14

(Ch 15|Ch 13|Ch 1) (WOE! FLY-FISHING SHIP FINALLY BE UPON YE~)

Albert began packing his things for discharge, sleep still in his eyes from the rough attempt to do so the night before. He’d kept an eye on his phone all morning to check for any updates from the group. It was still early, but once the papers were signed he was allowed to leave. The thought ran through his head as he’d left, “I can’t really bring this back to my dorm, if the deal falls through we might be scattered to the wind.” He took the morning to return all of the homework completed, and taking a moment to grab something quick to eat. Partway through eating he’d noticed a familiar face making their way over. His expression softened on reflex, and extended a hand in greeting.

“Ah, Albert, finally recovered,” Azul started, returning a hand to shake. “You do look much better than yesterday-did the food Jade and I made make that much of a difference?”

“I’d be truly inclined to agree,” Albert replied. “Whether it did or not, I do appreciate the gesture. They also brought my last day of homework. I guess, before here, where were you heading to?”

“Well, a man’s work is never done, I’m already having to prep for the Lounge. Before I go I did have a moment to reflect on what you’d said yesterday. I did mean what I’d said about wiping the slate clean. And while I won’t have time right now, I have an open slot for tutoring; you’ve been missing class the past couple of days and I think it would be best to make sure the material is understood. That timeslot is around 8.00pm, is that too late?”

“I-Well, That sounds all right. Thank you.”

“Then I’ll expect you at the lounge at time; Jade will have your Rum Punch ready.”

“Mine? You act as if that’s my usual but I’ve only ordered it once.”

“Isn’t it? I’m a bit shocked you would assume I’m not able to deduce that from one interaction,” Azul flung a hand over his heart, feigning offense. “I do have to go, though, please don’t forget any of the materials.”

Azul’s words chimed through Al’s mind, ‘shocked’, dredging up a memory he hadn’t realized he’d forgotten. A grapple, a hand holding his face, all the questions asked. All the memories floating to the surface and gasping for air. His body froze in recollection, but soon shook with confusion and betrayal. Those two cornered me. Made me tell them…all about me. He couldn’t linger on the feeling as his phone buzzed, pulling him out of his own thoughts.

>Meeting in the central courtyard-pack a wetsuit

The courtyard wasn’t far, so he didn’t need to make anyone wait to assemble. Among the group: Jack, Yuu, Grim, Ace and Deuce. Deuce had asked what the plan was, and Yuu took the moment with Grim to explain.

“That’s..actually rather genius, Of course, those sneaky twins,” Al spat, “-will probably try cornering us if they find out we might be trying again. Let’s get going before they catch wind.”

A few looks were exchanged, not sure where Albert’s sudden bout of venom came from. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The transition from air to sea struck Albert with a great amount of awe. Only ever having seen the surface, such a whole new world almost made him want to stop and take it all in. Ace yanked his sleeve to pull him along. For all but Al, it was Day 2 of scoping out the Atlantica Museum. They hid behind a patch of coral to double-check the plan, and with confirmation, Ace went up to bat. He’d began his smooth-talk with the security to the building, offering the rest to sneak inside. Albert made his move, allowing a short amount of time for them to sneak in, and grab the photo without detection. The small caravan of young men retreated with their prize back to their base behind the coral, signaling to their decoy that the job was done. It was decided the best place to stash it was in Al’s bag. He’d caught a glimpse of it before stashing it, stopping for a moment to take in a particular detail. Yuu motioned to make their way back from where they came. Anxiety kept its presence known in the back of their minds, but the dark shadows above all but confirmed it to be justified.

“Ah~ Found ya~”

“Taking another dip, I see. Good to see you all again.”

Everyone diverted attention to the shadows above, finding both Leech Twins floating above, green, lithe and ever more lined with teeth. The sight of them about made Al’s blood boil. He grit his teeth as they continued talking.

“Walkin’ away from the museum? You grabbed the photo, then?”

“Thank you for delivering it-we’ll take that from here, unless you’d rather try a game of ‘Keep Away’?”

“I think I’d actually like to slap the hell out of the both of you,” Albert snarled, “but I can wait. Guys, grab each other and me-this tram’s leaving the station.”

Everyone grabbed the other by the waist, creating a chain of bodies; Al drew his umbrella from his bag, enveloping it in a whirlwind, sending the group off like a shot.

“Damn, didn’t think they’d go for that. Ehe~ We’re still faster, though,” Floyd grinned.

“Hmm. Such an odd change of demeanor. It seems maybe he’s remembered our ‘chat’, last night~” Jade replied, his smirk widening at the notion.

The twins made chase for the band, having to swim out of the way of energetic blasts cast by Jack at the back of the train. Albert tried some types of turns to try gaining ground between them, weaving through the underwater foliage, and dodging the few attacks either Jade or Floyd would sling their way. Both parties kept similar pace until they could see the entry to Octavinelle’s dorm. Deuce, Ace and Grim called out to note the anemones having disappeared. Ace helped boost their speed to gather distance from their pursuers with his magic restored. Darkness seemed to envelope the ocean surrounding the dorm, but the group could only see the cause once they landed back on dry ground.

“Your lightning! Your athleticism! GIVE IT TO ME!”

Everyone tumbled to the floor without the suspension of the ocean, to see Azul flailing, pointing at random students and sapping their magic.

“Tch, throwing such a harsh spell around like that is a one-way ticket to blot.” Leona growled.

“Yeesh, maybe we ought to scram,” Ruggie replied.

“Azul! What are you doing?!” Jade called.

“Ew, the hell’s goin’ on?” Floyd whined.

Grim pointed blame to Leona, who rebuffed by reminding him of his mission to destroy the contracts. Floyd and Jade’s calls drew Azul’s attention.

“Ah, You two-you came back! Please, give me your magic-they’ve destroyed the contracts and-”

“Azul, stop please. You know what might happen if you don’t follow procedure,” Jade warned, “Your magic is too strong to do something like this!”

Floyd called out in disgust, “Ehhh You’re lookin’ real lame right now.”

“Really...is that so? In the end I was just some pathetic little octopus to you both? Just you wait! I’ll be back to my old self here soon, once I take everyone’s magic. I’ll have it all! HAND IT OVER-ALL OF IT!” Azul roared, before a cloud of writhing black ichor ripped him out into the open waters.

Everyone followed close behind. An inky miasma clouded the surrounding ocean, before two figures erupted from it. A large tendrilled beast sprang forth with its large, lolling ink-filled globe. Before it crawled out another figure, lilac and barnacle-encrusted black in form, with large dark appendages.

“Sign~ Sign a contract~” Azul moaned.

“What the-You were cool before but this? What’s got into you? What’s with all the ink everywhere? You’re really gonna let Sealion get’cha down?” Floyd recoiled.

 “Everyone…always counts me out…Everyone…always wants to put me down! I’m not weak! I’ll show you, ALL of you, not to tease me!”

The phantom drew its command from Azul, who compelled it to swing and thrash its tentacles. A couple were sent flying by the collision, drawing a haughty cackle out of Ashengrotto. His cephalopodic eyes darted with a wild frenzy, searching for a new target. Leona and Jade flung spells at the phantom as well as at Azul, hoping for something to connect. Both figures let out a cavernous roar to volley their attack. Ice and blot congealed in Azul’s hands; with a gurgled bellow he slung it towards the Lion that had ruined his life. Where spells didn’t suffice, physical damage filled in. Al halted time for a moment to allow allies to dodge an otherwise inescapable attack. Ruggie, atop his lupine steed, Jack, used his efforts to interrupt his target’s movements with his unique magic. The cecaelia could only stare back at the audacity as his body moved not of its own accord. His frustration and rage quickly wrenched control back to himself, and in retaliation he sent another phantom tentacle to swipe at the pair.

The fight lasted longer than any had hoped; more and more of the fighters were beginning to lose steam. Albert’s voice was growing hoarse calling Azul’s name, trying to get the attention of his rationale. More and more attacks on either side began to miss; Floyd and Jade seemed to lose almost complete interest in helping further. Either’s attacks were losing gusto. Their associate had gone completely off the deep end. If his contracts were that integral to his confidence, one Eel thought, maybe he wasn’t as interesting as we first thought. 

Albert and both Twins had been grabbed by the large incarnation’s appendage and sent flying. Al shakily got to his hands and knees, finding himself landing between two prone twins. He couldn’t help his face twist with the rage in his chest. They stole that information from me. I couldn’t do anything. They lied to get me into their grasp…And Azul must have ordered them to…

“Get. Up,” He barked, “Hurry up! We don’t have any time,” He pointed towards Azul, who seemed to be losing steam as well, his energy seeming to siphon into the phantom behind him. 

“What’re you yellin’ at us for?” Floyd started. “Ain’t our fault he’s outta his gourd.”

“We’re doing what we can,” Jade finished. “Why do you care so much, anyway?”

Al grabbed the two by their shirts to hoist them to their feet, but used his grip to pull the taller boys to his face. “You know exactly why I care. I remember what you two did to me. I don’t care that you have that information, but you’ve right pissed me off thinking to impose your wills to get it from me, even if it was on his orders. If you two won’t do what I ask, now, and launch me, I won’t forgive either of you.”

“Where’s the Swordfishie think he’s getting the nerve to yell at us? Why should we go with your plan?” Floyd growled. Albert had already turned his back to the two and readied another whirlwind around his umbrella. He turned back, auburn eyes burning with a red-hot desperation.

“If he dies ‘cause of this, I’LL SERVE YOU ON A BED OF RICE, ‘Kabayaki’!” He roared, derogation dripping from his words.

The two glanced at each other in shock. What was this? A swordfish that’s finally being aggressive instead of using speed to flee? Interesting. Both took a side to flank Albert. They latched to his arms and, with a running start, flung him out into open ocean to greet the face of the beast. The whirlwind carried his momentum as he rode it like a torpedo. With his own force he further chucked the umbrella-sending it crashing through both sides of the phantom’s inkwell head. He couldn’t stay suspended for long and soon came sinking down overtop of Azul. His fall brought him down to where he could throw his arms around the cecaelia’s neck. Al drew his exhausted classmate in to a protective embrace, as if his small frame could hide away every tentacle, fin and ounce of possible shame.

“You didn’t deserve it-whatever happened-let’s try that clean slate,” He whispered.

Any tension left in Azul grew slack, him in turn crashing his form on top of Albert. The hole in the phantom poured out its remaining contents, deflating the beast into collapsing and disappearing in the remaining miasma.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Azul? Are you all right? How many fingers am I holding up?” Jade’s voice slowly came into focus as their boss regained consciousness. He nodded in satisfaction at his boss’s answer of 8. “You still seem a bit shakey, but it seems your blot accumulation has gone back down.”

“What? What happened?” Azul asked while attempting to lift his head. The dizziness threw his head back onto the makeshift headrest folded out of someone’s jacket.

“You don’t remember going into Overblot?” Jade asked. Floyd interjected, “Ya looked kinda lame, cryin’, ‘Give me your powers~’. Kinda disillusionin’.”

“I lost...control?” Azul muttered. Utter embarrassment heated his cheeks at the memory he couldn’t recall.

“Hell, I’d go nuts too, if somebody destroyed something I’d been collecting,” Ruggie replied.

“I can’t believe this, and in front of everyone, too,” tears started welling in his eyes.

“My, are we reverting back to our old self? Devolving to tears at the drop of a hat?” Jade smirked. His gloved hand rested oh so gingerly on his associate’s arm as Azul curled in on himself.

Jack walked up with Al’s bag. He quickly fished out the photo, offering it to his prone classmate. “Still got the photo, all before sunset. This is our win.”

Azul grumbled, “I was supposed to be able to scrub that photo and make an expansion to the Lounge in one fell swoop; how could I’ve let this go so wrong?”

“Ehh, ya know what they say, ‘Chasing two rabbits’s gonna land ya with neither’,” Ruggie scolded.

Azul reached for the photo, but it quickly was snatched up by Leona. He looked it over with disinterested confusion. Floyd sighed in nostalgia, pointing out himself and Jade.

“Aaaand that one over there: Dun da dun! Baby Azul~”

Azul braced against Albert back to his feet to make an attempt at grabbing the photo. “No! Don’t look! Give that here!”

The attempt at standing made his stomach flip, sending him teetering back onto Albert who helped him back to the ground. Al disappeared from his side, blipping in quick from a pause in time to snatch the photo. He seemed to disappear and reappear in random places in an attempt at keeping it from prying eyes as his friends made chase to catch a peek. He’d blipped back next to Azul, extending a hand out with the photo, but not paying attention brought the game of ‘keep away’ to a quick end with Floyd hoisting him into the air with another bear hug. Leona ripped the picture out of the underclassman’s hand and continued the exposé. Floyd, in turn, released his catch to continue tending to Azul.

“Sorry, I couldn’t get it to you,” Al smiled an apology. “I get wanting to keep things secret for your own narrative, but speaking of-” He retrieved his umbrella, giving a quick, harmless tap on Azul’s head, which left him more confused than actually hurt. “That’s for being nosy and impatient. You’d have got to know me in due time. That’s how you actually build a friendship with someone. I trust you can do better than that-care to prove it?” He extended a hand, a familiar gesture to the cecaelia.

He stared at Albert, trying to digest his words in the midst of everyone’s chatter. His eyes drifted towards the rest, lingering on the only other two people he had established any kind of connection with. The knots in his stomach crept up to his chest. Of its own accord his hand met Albert’s before he could realize. Of course, he threw on his confident facade to save face as he came to agreement, “It’s a deal.” No sooner did the phrase escape his lips did his darkening vision completely black out.

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The sight of a lavender ceiling told Azul he was back in Octavinelle’s dorms. Further observance found he’d awoke in his own room. He tried recalling what had happened before waking up, cobbling the pieces together. He wiped what turned out to be a bead of ichor from the corner of his mouth before swinging his legs over the bed. He’d stopped at the sound of a knock on the door. He beckoned them to enter, revealing a shock of copper-faded brown hair.

“Ah Good Morning. Might I take it you’d slept well? We’ve just finished preparing a tray for you, so please don’t force yourself to get up right away,” Albert poked his head from behind the door, before entering in full, tray in hand. “To not further exasperate any lingering nausea, and give a bit of a boost in energy, I’ve taken liberty with Jade to build some family recipe breakfast cakes with spreads, A pot ready for tea of your choosing with accompaniments, pickled turnip and miso soup,” he explained as he pointed to each piece.

Once the tray was placed he moved towards the window, drawing the blinds to the aquatic scenery outside. Albert paced back towards Azul, drawing out a tablet and stylus.

“Jade and Floyd share quite a lot of classes of yours, and I’m in preparation on collecting any not covered by that. I’ve also taken liberty to ensure any previous appointments today and tomorrow have been rescheduled accordingly, though we do still have orders coming in for inventory, of which I ask,” He flipped the tablet over towards Azul, offering the stylus, “You take the moment to sign for.” A quick scribble later and Albert returned the tablet towards himself. “I’ll be forwarding the reassigned schedule to your email, as well as a printed copy for ease of access. Arrangements have been made to ensure a smooth night at the Monstro Lounge. I’ve made contact with Ignihyde dorm to assist in a program to streamline a couple more aspects of operations, all of which has been accounted for in the budget. You have the entirety of today and tomorrow open for you to recover.” He punctuated his debrief with a vulpine smile.

Azul began to assemble his preferences while listening to the announcements. The angles mentioned being covered further surprised him. He relaxed slightly, hearing everything being taken care of. A huff of laughter escaped.

“I’m rather impressed; You’ve thought things through pretty thoroughly. I could only imagine it must have been quite the time-consuming task to complete. We wouldn’t want to have you back in the infirmary again if you were to go overboard.”

“Well, if I couldn’t make time to ensure someone doesn’t fall behind on classes as well as ensure their physical wellbeing is being cared for,” Albert noted, “Then what kind of friend would I be?”