#Bull tribe | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

serpentface · 10 months ago

Text

The god Od depicted in a symbolic representation of the word's creation as a docile bull awaiting sacrifice at the altar.

It carries the foundations of the world in its horns (via a very old cross and wheel motif representing cyclical totality, now mostly used as a visual shorthand for the world). It has three sets of horns in the form of the lunar crown, a mostly obsolete symbol of Wardi royalty. The altar is decked with an orange lily motif, after a hardy native water lily capable of regrowth in waters that dry seasonally. This symbol of rebirth and fertility in a sacrificial scene evokes the sacrifice-rebirth cycle initiated by Od's primordial slaying, which is fundamental to the world's functioning.

This is a rundown on interpretations of the god Od, a deity that has a long history in the lands surrounding the Mouth of the eastern inner seaway, and the impact (or lack thereof) of its primordial sacrificial nature in religious practice.

The god Od appears in religious practices throughout the region, having the utmost significance to the Imperial Wardi faith and lesser or separate significance elsewhere. The five religious practices wherein variants of Od has longstanding historical significance are the Burri Faith, the (Imperial) Wardi faith, the Old or 'Heathen' Wardi faith, the faiths of the Hill Tribes, and the Wogan faith.

—

The name Od and most significant elements of this god have origins in the Burri faith, which was transferred across the sea to the Wardi, Wogan, and Hill Tribes in the time of its second and third empire.

The Burri Od is described as having been the first being. The universe began as a cosmic sea and empty, eternal sky, loosely representative of a primordial and fundamental female and male dualism. Od appeared at their borders as a result of their interfacing, in the form of a giant aurochs or bison whose hooves touched the seafloor and horns touched the sky. He dipped his head down to the silt and lifted it out of the sea in his horns, thus forming the foundations of the world. His semen spilled into the cosmic sea and created the first seven gods, who then killed and divided their father, giving the world its form with his body.

While significant to the creation story, Od is of relatively little importance in everyday practice of the Burri faith and is not commonly worshiped (rather his seven children are, as they were the original and most powerful group of gods and created life).

Though the Burri Od takes on a sacrificial role in creation, animal sacrifice is not central to the Burri faith and is only performed in specific contexts (some festivals and holidays, in times of great strife, and to a few specific gods within a wide pantheon). The Burri faith does not involve a sacrifice-rebirth cycle as foundational to the world's functioning and god's health, and offerings are instead mostly gifts to please and rightly venerate the gods (or avert the malice of less savory deities). Offerings of food, drink, and precious materials are preferred by most gods. When animal sacrifice does occur, bulls ARE generally favored, as a reflection of their primordial counterpart.

—

The modern/Imperial Wardi Od is partly an import of the Burri tradition, which fused with both native monotheistic/animist worldviews and animal cults during the reign of the 2nd Burri Empire and developed into a new faith, which has presently become the state religion of the Wardi Empire.

‘Od’ in the Imperial Wardi context is best translated as capital G ‘God’ (anyone saying 'God' is, in-universe, saying the word 'Od'). Its creation of the world plays out in a very similar fashion, but the first human life (rather than other gods) is created by Its semen mingling with the cosmic sea. It willingly sacrificed Its body at the hands of the first people, who formed the world with its remains. Its shed blood spattered the earth and can be found today as meteoric iron, and animal life emerged from the mingling of the blood and the soil. Its death initiated the eternal cycle of sacrifice/death and rebirth, with each begetting the other and necessary for the world to function.

Od's body is dead and the world is Its corpse, but Its spirit survives in seven 'faces' which govern specific functions of reality and society. The connection of Its spirit to Its body is maintained by right practice, right prayer, and right sacrifice (in the form of food/drink offerings, bloodletting, common sacrifices of animals and occasional sacrifices of people).

The Imperial Wardi Od is generally regarded as genderless and dual-sexed, and referred to with a unique deified pronoun most effectively translated as capital I 'It'. Its sex is of relatively little significance to everyday religious practice, and discussions of Its dualism are more likely to occur in scholarly and philosophical contexts (like debates on the minutia of how Its semen, milk, and menstrual blood are all mentioned in old accounts of creation, and how the implications of this should translate to body politics and taboo).

—

The Old Wardi or ‘Heathen’ Wardi faith is a separate branch of old ethnic Wardi religion with significantly less Burri influence. This is a minority practice that only survives intact in isolation. Its practitioners are often hostile to all foreign influence and the Imperial Wardi faith, and suffer minority status and religious suppression.

Its version of Od is a more intact surviving remnant of ancient Wardi monotheism, as an androgynous creator god who lost physical form in the act of creation, and lives on as innumerable spirit aspects of its whole. This deity is referred to as Od in describing its primordial form, but is mostly referred to as a unique word for spirit, which is 'the Koya'. Practitioners of the old faith often identify the seven-faced Od as a twisted, foreign misinterpretation of the Koya.

This practice is somewhat animistic in nature and involves veneration of individual spirits that form a larger whole. Every aspect of the world has a spirit (plants, animals, minerals, bodies of water, etc) that exist in an ideal balance and as strands of an interconnected death-rebirth cycle. Each spirit is referred to as 'the [noun]-koya'. All discrete forms of life/matter have at least one attached Koya, while living beings also have a soul (which is separate from the Koya and reincarnated upon death).

Each Koya exists as a quintessential essence (ex: the lion-koya, the maize-koya, the iron-koya, the salt-koya) rather than separate individual objects having separate individual Koya, though unique landmarks do have their own (the Brilla River-koya is separate from the Yellowtail River-koya, though both share the freshwater-koya). Each individual may have multiple spirits (geese have the goose-koya, but also the bird-koya, the freshwater-koya, etc), a system that categorizes the world by intrinsic natures and precisely dictates how each physical body has unique metaphysical significance.

Animal sacrifice plays a somewhat similar role in Old Wardi religion to Imperial Wardi religion in the sense that it intends to maintain the stability and oneness of the divine spirit and a death-rebirth cycle. In this case, in freeing part of the spirit, balance can be brought to the Koya totality and restore the death-rebirth cycle. (Ex- in times of drought, the sacrificial release of the migratory goose-koya can encourage the return of the rains). This is far from the only way to re-balance the Koya. The most significant rites come in the form of songs that summon, release, or expel individual Koya as needed.

—

The Od of the Hill Tribes is a mingling of the Burri/Wardi Od and a much older goddess of fertility and agriculture, and is strongly associated with cattle and barley. This version of Od did not create the world and is only one of many gods, though she is said to have been born from the sea and carried up fertile soils with her (which is likely a direct result of Burri/Wardi influence). A few tribes venerate Od as a chief or patron god, though none are fully monotheistic (outside of converts on individual or clan levels).

She has a distant common ancestor with the Finn goddess Morgren (as the various Hill Tribes are descendants of a single proto-Finn population who migrated across the Viper seaway in prehistory), who is also a goddess of agriculture associated with fertility and barley (though in Morgren’s case, she is THE god of the staple crop barley and lacks the cattle association, and has no direct influence from the Burri/Wardi Od whatsoever)

Most of the tribes of Greathill do not practice animal sacrifice but offer grain and fruit to Od, and create a sanctified mix of crushed barley and oil that is anointed on livestock and people to confer Od's blessings of fertility. In some cases, the dominant cow in each herd is considered to belong to Od and will not be milked or slaughtered, and is buried with full rites upon its death.

—

The Od of the Wogan religion is distant to the rest of her counterparts, though has absorbed some Burri and modern Wardi elements over time and is referred to by the same name (a definite foreign import). She shares the fertility aspect ubiquitous to other Od variants, and is occasionally depicted as a cow.

She is a goddess of the earth and sea, who was wed to Iapedi, the god of the sky. The ocean is functionally her womb (which may be trace Burri/Imperial Wardi influence, or merely coincidental) and all life emerged from within.

These are the only two true gods to the Wogan, though there is an additional element wherein the mating of Od and Iapedi also created innumerable spirits found throughout nature that act as an animating life-force. The concept is very similar to the Old Wardi '-Koya' (as the two faiths had close common ancestry), though this one lacks the sort of taxonomical system of its counterpart, and only ascribes spirits to living things. Each spirit in the Wogan religion is distinct (rather than each type of animal, plant, etc potentially having multiple spirits), and the spirits existing in each body are part of a greater whole that exists as a sentient consciousness that can be communed with (ex: each lion has A lion spirit, all part of The lion spirit, the latter of which can be engaged with).

Wogan religion strongly retains ancient animal cult practices common across the ancient Wardi-Wogan sphere, some of which have been translated into the faces of God in the Imperial Wardi context (both religions share commonalities of lions, snakes, albatross, migratory ducks, and cattle being significant sacred animals). The function of animal worship to the Wogan is communication and interface with the greater spirit of each animal (which can range anywhere from gaining personal blessing and protection, to dispelling plague, to 'lay off on eating our crops').

The Wogan faith does not involve animal sacrifice (though ancient variants almost certainly did). This is connected to traditional vegetarianism among the Wogan (as a means to avoid offending animal spirits), which some view as a point of pride and a mark of distinction against their Imperial Wardi majority.

#I don't remember my own tagging system....whatever #blightseed #Should be noted that there are other religions that have adopted Od in various capacities as a result of the Wardi Empire's #expansion/role in the trade network/immigrant communities #But these are very recent adoptions whereas the five of this post have Od influences going back almost a millenia

410 notes · View notes

blueninjablade3 · 3 months ago

Text

For Once I’ll Thank the Croc.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” A shrill, girlish scream echoed throughout the entire ship. The scream so loud as to jolt your once peaceful sleep out of you. You’d recognize that scream from anywhere. You glanced over at Smee, who was already on his feet, racing to the deck. You sighed, knowing exactly what had happened.

You groaned as you slid yourself out of your old rag-tag hammock. Your feet hit the wooden floor as you sketched out your back. You slid on slippers before heading to the Captain’s quarters.

You had been working with Captain James Hook for around 5 months. Peter Pan had brought you here thinking you would be a “Great mother to the lost boys!” What he hadn’t thought of was that, one he kidnapped you, two you didn’t want to mother those little kids, and three you were a grown-up. For some reason, this was seen as a negative thing? You had no way home, no friends, and you didn’t exactly have a welcoming visit from either mermaids or the cannibal tribe. So, seeing no other choice, you chose to join up with Captain James Hook.

Hook had a terrible hate for that little devil. Which honestly? You understood. Hook had his hand cut off, fed to a bloodthirsty croc (who annoyingly followed everywhere), and was taunted daily by Pan. You saw no point. Peter was old enough to understand the pain he caused Hook. So why he didn’t leave Hook alone was beyond you.

Yet, you must admit Hook was undeniably lovely. He would make sure to be a more refined man and gallant man around you. Often opening doors for you, making sure you were full, and as an added bonus Hook taught you how to play a few notes on his piano.

A soft blush spread across your face as you thought of Hook. His handsome face, that charming little grin, his habit of running to walls accidentally-

You quickly snapped out of your trance as you arrived at his door. You heard heavy, shaking breathing as you arrived at the large brown door. You knocked three times out of respect. All you got was a shaky response.

“No…no…no…no it’s too early… you can’t take me!” The captain cried fearfully behind the door.

You couldn’t help but sigh. Poor Cap’n Hook. Honestly. The poor man couldn’t even get a decent night's sleep. You opened up the door to find Hook under a couch.

His long black hair was unkept, sloppy, and messy. He had the worst bedhead you’d ever seen.

His body shook violently as a gentle noise was heard outside.

Tick-Tok. Tick-Tok. Tick-Tok.

You could see his Hazel eyes scanning the room like a panicked deer. Even under his night clothes, you could see his muscles tensed up. He was as tense as a snake ready to lunge. Sweat dripped down his face in beads and he looked like an asylum patient.

You imperturbably sat next to the couch on the floor. The Captain’s eyes landed on you. His guard dropped for a moment. But just a moment, he relaxed. As if your very presence was calming to him. You let out a soft and mild sigh.

“Cap? You wanna come from under the couch? I promise Smee is dealing with the crocodile right now. Tic-Tok can’t get or hurt you right now.” You explained in the softest voice you can manage. This does nothing to calm the captain down as instead, he began thundering.

“NO! STAY AWAY! STAY AWAY!” Hook shrieked at the top of his lungs. You winced at the loud words coming from the man. His hook came dangerously close to your thigh. Only missing by a centimeter.

Your eyes exploded in size. In the 5 months you’ve known the Captain he’s never raised his hands to you. He’d even get mad if someone suggested raising a hand to you. He claimed it to be “Rude” and “Savage” to raise hands to someone who wasn’t looking for a fight.

You scrambled away as Hook climbed out from under the couch looking like an angry bull in a bullfight. The fear was still in those hazel eyes though. This wasn’t actual anger. It was his fear response.

In your attempt to get away, you unknowingly pinned yourself against a wall. Hook was on you in seconds. His hook glitters in the moonlight above you. About to crash into your head and possibly end your life. Is this the end? Are you going to die at the hands of Captain James Barthomelow Hook because of his angry outburst?

You close your eyes and wait… and wait… and wait…

But the cold steel never came down. Your eye cracked open. You gazed upon the glittering hook. Right above your head. It was almost like it was frozen in place. You shifted your sight to the weary captain's face. The ticking was gone. A heavy silence consumed the room. You took a look into Hooks's eyes and he broke down. He collapsed to his knees sobbing.

You didn’t believe it. You’d never see Hook cry and it only be about the crocodile. You gingerly reached out and embraced him. You expected a lot. To be shoved off, be yelled at, or maybe have your life like he was about to moments ago. But never in the seven seas did you think he’d hug you. He wrapped himself around her tightly and cried into your shoulder. He whimpered out apologies while soaking your shirt with his wet tears.

You gently guided him to bed.

“Let’s lay down big guy… are you okay?”

“I killed you… I almost killed you… (Y/N) I’m so sorry!” Hook sobbed into your shoulder. He was in hysterics trying desperately to apologize.

“Captain it’s okay-“

“NO ITS NOT OKAY! I SHOULD HAVE NEVER ATTACKED IN THE FIRST PLACE… what if I was the reason you passed away tonight… I don’t think I could have lived with the guilt me dear…”

You had to ask him. You couldn’t deal with not knowing why he acted like he acted with you. Why he didn’t finish the job.

“Captain. Why do you treat me differently from the others in your crew? Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m saying. You make sure I’m fed, you get upset when people try to hurt me, you’ve taught me a bit of piano and you’re one of the most gallant men I’ve ever met so cut the bullshit.”

You spoke authoritatively and without a tremble in your voice. You wouldn’t back down from getting answers. You felt you deserved them. Hook's eyes widened. He heaved a sigh.

“Aye. I won’t lie. I like you. I have since a few months back. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner I just… couldn’t find it in me to confess poppet.”

Hook was beet red from blushing so hard. He was nervous the whole time and did his best to keep his sentences short length to avoid stumbling and embarrassing himself more.

“I like you too darling. Let’s have a first date sometime James. But for now, rest. Rest, knowing you are safe in my arms.”

Hook didn’t have to say a thing. He just held you tighter. His eyes closed as you ran your finger through his hair gently brushing out the tangles. For once you could thank the croc.

WOOOO! Finally done with this little project. I hope you enjoyed reading it and the ending wasn’t too rushed. Likes and reblogs are always appreciated and as always master is right below. Thanks for reading and I wish you a great new year!

Masterlist

#disney #disney x reader #disney villains #x reader #x y/n #disney villain x reader #captain hook #disney captain hook x reader #1953 hook x reader #disney captain hook #disney peter pan #peter pan #peter pan 1953 #ooc

109 notes · View notes

vintagerpg · 2 months ago

Text

Back when I was writing my book, I honed in on Dark Tower and Caverns of Thracia as key products designed by Jennell Jaquays, for reasons that are obvious to anyone who has perused those adventures (or my book). When I interviewed her, though, she said that she didn’t even consider them among her best work. Stupidly, I didn’t ask what she did consider her best. But over on Grognardia, she copped to considering The Enchanted Wood (1981) as a likely candidate. I tend to agree; if I had read it before writing my book, it would probably have been in there.

It’s rather obscure, I think, because it was designed for SPI’s not very popular DragonQuest RPG, and it came out at the end of the line’s lifetime, and has languished since in the vaults of TSR, then WotC. It would be easy enough to convert to your fantasy RPG of choice. Which speaks to the quality of the Jaquays’ work here: it’s just so damn well organized. Crisp writing, clean layout, extremely usable, maybe the best presentation of an adventure module up to that point. And all that allowed Jaquays to stuff an alarming amount of material into a 48-page package. This is less an adventure then it is a small campaign.

There are several adventure hooks that lead to the woods, which will have their own twists and turns that lead to unearthing deeper mysteries about the region. A rich history unfolded in the region before the chaotic forest rose up, and players have an opportunity to unravel it, and maybe permanently undo some terrible wrongs. In typical Jaquays fashion, there are many memorable personalities lurking here: a healing giant and his tribe of kobolds (featured on the cover by Tim Truman, who also did the lovely interiors), a vengeful undead wizard resting in his black pyramid, a hapless demon bound to an impossible task, a sort of tin woodsman, a minotaur knight riding an enraged bull…the list goes on and on. And while a couple important locations are fixed, the vast majority of encounters, sites for exploration and important events are keyed randomly, so no two explorations of the chaotic wood will be the same.

Jaquays has a killer series of RPG adventures before this, even her minor works are thoughtful and interesting on some level, but Enchanted World is special because it takes lesson learned from all that previous work, and makes something even better. A rare feast.

#roleplaying game #dungeons & dragons #d&d #tabletop rpg #rpg #ttrpg #Jennell Jaquays #SPI #DragonQuest #Enchanted Wood

121 notes · View notes

astrology-by-sita · 7 months ago

Text

THE STORY OF THE SIGNS AND THE STORY OF HUMANITY

In aries ♈️ humans are hunters-gatherers. Each one lives independently and fend for themselves alone in the wild.

In taurus ♉️ humans start to settle and have families. Families have to be provided for so they have farms. Bulls (taurus) plough the land.

In gemini ♊️ the children of those families go to that corner in the neighborhood where they hang out and have fun. They go to school to learn as well.

In cancer ♋️ the children are taught that they belong to a certain family, lineage, tribe, country..."respect the flag and the national anthem" etc etc

In leo ♌️ they decide instead to build their own personalities instead of identifying themselves with family/country/nationality etc. They want their identity to be based on what they create.

In virgo ♍️ they realize that if they want to build their personality they have to be responsible and establish a structured routine, take care of their health, be useful in society etc.

In libra ♎️ after they've learned to be practical/useful in society, they are then ready to establish relationships. It's the change from virgin (virgo) to bride (libra). Virgin here is metaphorical not literal nor about s3xual purity. It's about maturity cause saturn exalts in libra.

In scorpio ��️ after they've signed the formal contracts in libra, they go deep, beyond the formal. They share intimacy and financial resources. They go through sudden changes. Merging with the other intimately transforms them.

In sagittarius ♐️ after the sudden changes they went through in scorpio, they gain wisdom. They become teachers, mentors, gurus, here to share their experience in the journey of life.

In capricorn ♑️ they use this wisdom to build a legacy. The wisdom gained in sagittarius equips them with patience. How can you be patient if you didn't learn to enjoy the ride? So life goals might take time but the reward is worth it in the end.

In aquarius ♒️ it's no longer about their life goal as individuals, it's about the collective goals of society. They start to care about building a better society with a better, more beneficial structure so that no one is marginalized.

In Pisces ♓️ they learn that all these structures are material. They learn to transcend the body and its needs, and find the soul. The soul has no structure or boundaries or ego.

253 notes · View notes

alfredosauce50 · 29 days ago

Text

These are the birthday headcanons for one of oldest fans and Patrons. It has a theme and plot, so it’ll be quite different than usual, having been heavily inspired by Night at the Museum and my Viking AU.

I hope you enjoy this, Tullah 😝

Viking Denmark in the modern world

After being thrown a thousand years into the future, he tries to make sense of the strange new world he’s in, and it’s nothing like Kattegat. More importantly, he goes searching for you, and by some astronomical chance, he finds you. But you’re not the same person he remembers, and you don’t recognize him at all.

Mathias had always told you having you in one life wasn’t enough. That he’d want to find you again in the next, then the one after that until the end of time. But now that the opportunity presents itself, would he even be able to have you?

Content warning: Brief NSFW and violence. R18+ only.

Origins

Mathias can trace his predicament back to his expedition to North America. He carelessly picks up a tribe’s religious relic, not realizing that it will grant his deepest desires. Having you in the next life, wherever — and whenever — that takes him. He goes to sleep, not knowing that upon waking up, he wouldn’t be in the same place, nor the same year. Instead, he opens his eyes and finds himself on a hard bench in Central Park in the company of pigeons. He sits up squinting from the sun, wondering what the hell just happened.

He’s not in America anymore, or at least, not the America he knows. There’s no natives, everyone is wearing strange clothing, and the concrete jungle is a bit nauseating. The buildings are so tall that they’re touching the sky, and there are self-driving carriages carrying people in them! To say he’s overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of a modern city would be an understatement. But his first priority isn’t to figure out where he is, or when he is for that matter. It’s to look for you.

You’re waiting at a bus stop when he lays eyes on you, and time stops. He enters a realm beyond it, like everything just disappeared but you and him. Nothing matters anymore, not the strange world or era he was in, for you were here. He found you in this place, making this place his. He can barely describe the elation coursing through his body as he runs up to you, eyes wide and heart racing. But when Mathias takes your arms and speaks frantically over you, smile growing, you pull away from him as if he were nothing but a stranger.

“Let go!” You push him, much to his confusion.

“What are you talking about? It’s me!” Mathias talks excitedly, not quite registering the fear marring your expression. He comes for you again, laughing as he pulls you into a tight embrace. With your feet off the ground, you start squirming in his arms, frightened out of your wits. “I’m so glad to see you. I thought I’d never see you again! But really, what is this place?”

“I don’t know who you are, and I don’t know what you’re talking about, so could you leave me alone?” You try to pull away from his unrelenting hold on your shoulders. It’s only when passerby take notice of the situation do you have any hope of freeing yourself. They surround him and give him trouble, shoving him back to give you the chance to flee. “You’re crazy!”

You manage to get onboard while leaving him behind, but Mathias chases after your bus like a furious bride left at the altar. And the way he runs is terrifying. He’s charging after you like a bull, following you street after street for an ungodly amount of time before you eventually lose him. One part of you is relieved that you just escaped a maniac who was likely having a mental health episode, but another part of you is wondering that if by some slim chance that everything he said was justified, who on Earth was this guy?

Taking him under your wing

It takes while before you see him again, but even longer before he convinces you to want anything to do with him. You’ll bump into him in the city where he’s sticking out like a sore thumb, still in the clothes he came in, and when that happens, he’ll chase you desperately for a conversation. Luckily, even he can’t quite master the bustling chaos of New York, let alone outrun a moving car. “Wait, just give me a chance to explain, please. I’m not crazy—” He begs as you get into a cab, to where you just yell, “—just stay away from me!”

After a few more chance encounters, you start to feel sorry for him. He clearly needs your help, and what finally changes your heart is seeing him live in a homeless encampment roasting pigeons so he can eat them. Mathias even offers you one, leading you to believe that he doesn’t mean any harm, but is otherwise very mentally disturbed. “I’m gonna get you some help, okay? Don’t make me regret it.” You tell him, leading the man out of the alleyway and to your car. He jogs after you with a relieved grin going, “I promise you won’t.”

He gets fascinated by everything in your house. The furniture, the kitchen appliances, running water, everything. But that also means you need to teach him how to function in the world as it is. How to use cutlery, the phone, public transport. Good thing is that he’s intelligent and adaptable, so he’ll get the hang of everything in a week. His social mannerisms, however, still need a lot of tweaking. The way he talks to strangers can be passive-aggressive, and he stares a lot. People in New York are like nobody he’s ever seen, and he won’t hesitate to point it out to you all the time.

“What are you doing with your fingers?” He frowns, watching his taxi driver rub his fingertips together.

“I was asking for a tip,” They grin.

“What is a tip?” Mathias asks, his accent and foreign background now more jarring than ever.

“You know, when you think I did a good job and you feel like paying me a little extra for it?” The man says sheepishly, hoping to get lucky with who was clearly a rich tourist. “Just common courtesy around here.”

“But you did not do a good job.” He leans back.

You’re tempted to think he’s a runaway from a mental hospital. And one that’s suffering from delusions that he’s a Viking who time-traveled to present day America as he keeps talking about it. To make things worse, he doesn’t have any form of ID, and you’re hesitant to take him to the cops. You decide to keep him at home while you figure this out, hoping that he’d be gone in a few days. “What can I do to convince you I’m not mad?” Mathias sighs, to where you smile, “You’ll think of something. But it’d probably take a miracle.”

He comes onto you. Mathias has always been an incredibly affectionate husband, and by today’s standards, maybe even too forthcoming to the point of it being problematic. So it’s a given that something will happen eventually. While you’re in the kitchen chopping up vegetables, he’ll wrap around you from behind and press his face to yours — much to your protest. “Stop that, Mat. We’re not like that.” But he just grumbles and stays put, expression hardening as he presses even harder. “Of course we are. You’re my wife.”

He tries to kiss you all the time. With his mouth open and tongue is ready for you, he’s quite the menace when he’s in the mood for some love. You obviously respond by pushing him away, sometimes to the point of shoving him so hard that he stumbles back and plummets onto the bed. Mathias will just sigh and look to the side, a little disheartened, but after a moment of waiting for you to let your guard down, he’ll shoot up like nothing and go back to you to try again. After all, he’s faced your refusal of his advances before.

“Mat, I have a boyfriend. He won’t take kindly to you doing things like this.” You shoot him a heated look.

“Boyfriend?” He laughs breathily over you, pressing his forehead to yours gingerly. “What is a boyfriend?”

Interestingly, Mathias is not that bothered by the fact that you have someone. A boyfriend sounds like nothing compared to what he is. To him, it’s more like playful competition that he can’t take seriously. He’s just that sure of your love for him. It’s only if your ‘boyfriend’ tried anything in front of him that he’d lose his mind, which, fortunately hasn’t happened yet. In the end, he’d probably need you to break the spell and to return home, so if he isn’t able to have you, you’re stuck with him forever anyway. Not that he’s complaining.

You can’t grasp the magnitude of his feelings, nor what it truly means to be his. How could you? You’ve never met the man in your life, but he’s known you for all of his. It’s unsettling how sure he is about you, as well as how comfortable he is around you. He won’t always put in an effort to be decent in the house even when you tell him to, even to the point of being naked. Nudity is no big deal to a Viking, so imagine how he’d feel about being told off by you — his spouse. “What’s the matter, kæreste? Never seen a real man before?”

To remedy this imbalance, he tells you about all the memories he’s made with you. And the way he talks about you is as if he really knows you. Mathias is aware of so many things that would otherwise be impossible without you telling him, such as your habits, likes, dislikes, and the way you think. It’s mesmerizing and magical, just as if he was your lover from a past life. It’s crazy how well he gets on with you, and your chemistry with him is so natural, you start to wonder if you could really love him the way he always says you do.

“I won’t put dill in this. It won’t be the same but you don’t like the taste,” He murmurs as he works in the kitchen. He’s making salmon with a cream sauce, and all you can think about is that he somehow picked up on something you’ve never mentioned.

“How did you know I don’t like dill?” You lift your eyes to him quickly, gaze softening out of pure wonder.

“How could I not?” He smiles gently before returning to the stove. It’s only been a week, and he’s already mastered cooking. “I haven’t been lying to you, eskler. I’ve known you ever since we were children.”

At night, he’ll leave the guest room you told him to stay in and come into your bedroom. There’s nothing you can do as he crawls into bed with you, even wrapping himself around you until all you can feel is him. His arms are coiled around your stomach, and he’s pressing so hard against you that you can feel his bulge from behind. One of his hands goes up to your neck, holding it in a possessive, yet glaringly erotic bid for affection. It’s wrong of you to let him do this, but his touch just feels so right, you let yourself give in to him.

You start having lots of close calls with Mathias. He sometimes stand inches away from your face with your lips so close together, you would’ve ended up kissing him if you didn’t turn away last minute. When you do, he chuckles lowly and says this in a tender voice. “I promise we’ve done a lot more than kissing, eskler. We’re adults, after all.” Otherwise, his stare on you is always too hot for you to stomach, almost as if he has something else on his mind. He makes it obvious that he’s obsessed with you, and he’s losing his patience.

He chases you like crazy. It takes him back to the time before you married him, and that gets his blood pumping like never before. He will corner you against the kitchen counter and won’t let you leave without kissing him. Then, against all your morals, you actually do, which ends up with you two in the bedroom, half-naked and about to make love. Something about him feels so warm and familiar, you don’t act like yourself around him. It’s as if he’s put a spell on you, turning your mind inside out until you can’t think straight.

“I shouldn’t be doing this, Mat. This is wrong on so many levels,” You tear up as you climb off him.

“No it’s not. You know it’s not,” He frowns deeply, taking your hand before you can even get off the bed. He’s that high-strung about you, it’s impossible for you to get any space from him at all. Mathias is just constantly on your back, always pulling you back to him, again and again. “You know I’m the one for you.”

“How could I? Some stranger starts following me around like a puppy and I let them into my home?” You gush, red in the face from shame. Now that you said it out loud, it sounded a lot worse than what you originally thought. “And I was just about to sleep with them? God, I must be out of mind. I have to be!”

“But you’re not! Me being here is proof that you’re not crazy because it was you that brought me here. We belong to each other,” He exclaims passionately, his eyes burning with so much certainty you start caving again. But how could you give in when none of this made any sense, and was cruel to Alfred, who had no idea of everything you were doing behind his back? “You’re mine in all the lives you will ever live.”

Alfred eventually catches wind of what you’re doing. You still haven’t figured out how to explain this to him, and you’ve just been so distracted by Mathias, you’ve been putting reality on the back burner. But that all ends when he swings by unannounced with some food to surprise you. However, he’s in for quite the surprise himself. Mathias is in the living room watching TV while you’re typing on your laptop on the dining table, but that’s when he hears jingling behind the door, so he get up and comes over to your side.

“Hey, babe. They had a pop-up sale on some cookies so I thought I’d drop by,” Alfred speaks mindlessly as he enters your apartment with his spare key, and that is when he lays eyes on Mathias. He is visibly startled as he stops in place, but he keeps his composure. “Oh. I didn’t know you had company. Who’s this?”

When worlds collide

Like any other normal person, Alfred blows up on you when you tell him he’s been staying over the last two weeks. After all, what man in their right mind would be okay with their girlfriend living with another man and not tell them about it? You’d have to come up with some pretty good excuses to justify that, and with the way Mathias is holding you, things aren’t looking good for you. His hands are both sides of your waist like they belong there, and he’s giving the dirtiest look to your boyfriend like he’s the unwelcome one here.

“You need to get him out now.” Alfred demands.

“You don’t understand.” You close your eyes.

“What’s there to understand? That you’ve been living with another guy for the past two weeks and haven’t told me?” He seethes, nostrils flaring. The growing volume of the room alarms Mathias, who stands in front of you protectively. “Not that I’d even let you, but don’t you think you’re crossing the line here?”

“He’s homeless, and he’s not right in the head—”

“So is half of New York, but you don’t see me taking anybody in!” He gestures to the Dane like an alien.

“He’s not from this time period, okay?” You exhale.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Alfred squints, not at all prepared for what you were about to tell him. “Like he’s from another generation that’s somehow okay with their girlfriends living with other guys?”

“No, I mean he’s a time traveler. He’s a real, bonafide Viking from more than a thousand years ago,” You let it slip, watching his brows go up. “And I know that sounds crazy, but I didn’t believe it at first either.”

“Yeah, you’re right, that is pretty crazy,” Alfred scoffs, shaking his head in utter disbelief, but above all else, a sharp pang of betrayal. “If this is a prank, just know that I really hate it and I’m very disappointed in you.”

“But it’s not, I promise! Why would I pull something that could jeopardize our relationship?” You frown.

“I guess so,” He mumbles, albeit a little reluctantly. “But just run me through your thought process here. How did you come to the conclusion he broke the laws of physics and somehow leapt through time?”

“Well, I took him to the doctor yesterday and he had a bunch of diseases that are impossible to have now.”

“Oh,” He makes a face, shocked and disturbed by how on the nose your explanation was. Now he was really worried you were actually telling the truth. “What else? I mean, you can’t actually believe that—”

“—he speaks Old Norse fluently, doesn’t know what Wi-Fi is, and doesn’t even know to use a toilet.”

“Wow, okay.”

“And I’m sure the Danish are familiar with toilets.”

“Right.”

“And look at him. Doesn’t he look just like Mathias Densen, the Viking earl that lived more than a thousand years ago?” You ask him, pulling up your phone to show him a few images off a website.

“Shit, you’re right.” He digs a hand through his hair.

Your boyfriend is cordial at the start, especially with how bizarre all of this is. He’s also excited to talk to a real Viking, so he springs a bunch of questions on Mathias out of curiosity. The way the Dane answers them only confirms you were in fact, not lying, so he quickly gets onboard with the mission to send him back to the past. You’re all in the kitchen when Alfred drops the bomb on Mathias ever so casually while sipping on a mug. He’s sure you’ve wondered about the same thing, it’s just that he has it in him to actually ask it.

“So, how many people do you think you’ve killed?”

“I don’t know. Maybe hundreds.”

“And does that ever keep you up at night?”

“No, I sleep like a baby.”

“Thought you would.”

Things start to get heated once Mathias reveals that he’s in love with you and has no intentions of giving you up. Alfred was willing to be hospitable at first, but he doesn’t play about you, not even if he’s going up against a warlord turned King. This is his realm, and he won’t hesitate to use that to his advantage to threaten a man who otherwise is impossible to threaten. Not that he thinks he needs to, because he trusts you to stay loyal to him. Little does he know, Mathias has a profound effect on you that not even you can understand.

“You’re never gonna have her. I won’t let you,” Alfred says in a monotone, his expression unreadable as he stares straight at the man. He’s taken on a cold and calculating attitude, a far cry from the excitable nerd he used to be. But Mathias isn’t afraid of him at all.

“Then you will never be free of me.” The Dane smiles contentedly, eyes closed for a relaxed demeanor.

“I’d hate to be that person, but I could always call ICE on you for being undocumented,” Alfred raises his brows at him while he speaks in all seriousness, “I’d do that just so you’d leave my girlfriend alone.”

Shit finally hits the fan when Mathias walks in on you and Alfred in the bedroom. You’re riding him when the door opens, and your head whips to it out of shock. In the next few seconds, everything goes from zero to a hundred as something snaps in Mathias — he’s thrown into a hot and crazed mania, driven insane by the sight of you making love to someone else. The look behind his eyes is as if he’s completely gone, and he storms over with the intention to murder Alfred on the spot. “Mathias, no!” You plead, but it falls on deaf ears.

He pulls him off you and punches him so hard, blood sprays from his nose. But that’s not all. Mathias picks Alfred up by the neck, holding him inches above the ground to choke him to death. If he has to kill him with his bare hands, so be it. And he gets dangerously close to doing it when you smash a vase over his head, getting him to loosen his grip. You help Alfred escape with the skin of his teeth while screaming viciously at him. “Get out. Get the fuck out!” You cry, shoving him back again and again. “And never come back!”

After getting discharged from his hospital stay, Alfred goes looking for Mathias. It’s not the first thing that should be coming to mind after the guy almost offed him, but he has to resolve this once and for all. Because at this rate, someone would really end up killed. And he had a feeling that someone would be him. After a few days of scouring the city, he finds the Dane in an alley in front of a burn barrel and warming his hands. Without even greeting each other, they find that they’re already on the same page about this.

“You don’t belong here.” Alfred tells him point-blank.

“I know,” Mathias murmurs, keeping his gaze fixed on the flickering flames. “But she doesn’t either.”

“Ha! She’s lived here since she was a baby.”

“And she’s lived in Kattegat since she was a baby.”

“Have you not once considered she’s not the (F/N) you know? Yours is probably still in 1000AD wondering where you went,” Alfred shakes his head, frankly exasperated by the other’s stubbornness.

“Then why would I be here if she were not? There has to be a reason for me being here,” Mathias turns to him for a disgruntled look, but above all else was how determined he sounded. “She must be the reason.”

Going back to the past

Alfred goes to the library to do some research on the relic that Mathias picked up. Turns out, it can grant the user what they want most, only with a slight catch. It gives them the means to attaining their deepest desires, not the whole deal. And to reverse the spell, the user has to fulfill their wish completely before having that kind of freedom. So in other words, he has to get you to fall in love with him if he ever wants to return to Kattegat. “Well, it looks like you’re gonna be stuck here as a hobo forever. Not my problem.” Alfred shrugs.

Mathias isn’t disheartened by those terms, even if you did just kick him out for trying to murder your boyfriend. You’ve hated him once, just like you hate him now, so this is just a repeat of the past. As much as that bothers him, he knows he can do this because he’s done it before. Alfred, on the other hand, isn’t convinced he can pull this off at all. While he’s putting back the books he used, he wonders what’s left for the Viking now that they’ll be stranded in modern day America without even two dimes to rub together.

“So, what are you gonna do now that you’re never going back to Kattegat? You have nowhere to stay.”

“But I am going back.” Mathias lifts his gaze to him.

“How?” He shakes his head, eyes narrowed.

“I have my ways.”

“What ways? She thinks you’re an axe-waving megalomaniac, for fuck’s sake. You tried to kill me!”Alfred whispers that last part furiously while pointing an accusing finger at the man, who showed not even the slightest dash of remorse. “And you almost did!”

“And that mean she cannot love me?”

“Yes!” He blurts it like it’s the most obvious point he ever made, but something was still not clicking.

“You underestimate our passion for one another,” Mathias smiles sagely to himself as he recollects the raunchier memories he made with you. And he isn’t afraid to disclose that information to the other man. “When we were together, we made love every night.”

“Okay, I did not need to know that.”

“She was always with child.”

“Didn’t need to know that either!”

It’s understandably very tense between you two at first. Mathias will show up at your door, and still in the last outfit he was wearing when you kicked him out, only for you to shut it in his face. He does this a few more times before resorting to sleeping outside your door, because it’s not like he has anywhere else to go anyway. He’ll do anything for you to forgive him, even if it’s at the expense of your kindness since he’s starving at this point. After days of lying outside your home, you take him in out of fear for his well-being.

When he’s back at your place, he behaves well. He actively helps around the house, doing chores without you asking, and doesn’t even bother you for your affection. You’re barely tolerating him, and you don’t see that changing anytime soon. However, you get a phone call from Alfred that changes everything. Just when you thought you would be keeping Mathias at arm’s length out of respect for what he did to him, your boyfriend is now telling you to throw all of that overboard and do the unthinkable. Giving your heart to him.

“Is Mathias back at yours?”

“Yes, but only because he was starving. Why?”

“Well, we had a little talk and we figured it was best to let everything run its course,” Alfred says. He goes on to explain what he found out about Mathias, the relic, the spell, then how to send him back home.

He also tells you that if everything goes right, you’ll still be here. So if he has to give you up until then, he will, no matter how much it hurts. There’s also some part of you that’s not really you, which explains a lot.

A lot being why you were so uncharacteristically receptive to Mathias in the first place. But as soon as he gets sent home, you’ll return to your normal self again, which is everything Alfred could ever want.

Mathias eases his way back onto your good side. Aside from being a good roommate and giving you space, he will sneak some lingering touches until he works his way up to talking and hugging again. It works better than you like, but Alfred did say you weren’t yourself. You are your past self, or at least partially, but it’s more than enough for a soft spot to form for him. Before you know it, it’s routine for you to sit on his lap and talk to him at night. While nothing happens, it becomes undeniable what’s developing between you two.

“Is it okay for me to put my hand here?” He whispers, letting his palm hover over the side of your face, and you answer him by simply press your cheek into it. You’re looking at him in a way you never had before, with so much love and tenderness that he feels like he’s back home. But then again, you are his home.

You start having dreams about your past. And it’s all so vivid, it feels real. Little do you know, it is, because what you’re experiencing are visions of the life you once lived. Playing with him as a kid, getting chased by him in adulthood, and finally marrying him in the sweet, cypress-scented air. Sailing to new, unknown lands just to give you a better life and a place to raise a family with him. All of it is so familiar, and the memory of Mathias is so beautiful that you end up waking in tears, aching for what feels like a dream of a dream.

Overtime, you remember more about yourself until you’re no longer the person Alfred knows, but the person Mathias does. It’s like your past self is fighting to wake, then on that one fateful night, everything just falls into place. With only one glance at you, he knows you’ve come back to him. You’re staring at him with your eyes wide and lips trembling, almost as if you hadn’t seen him in years. He smiles warmly as he opens his arms for you to run into, and you practically plow into them with tears running down your face.

“Take me home, Mat. I wanna go home.” You whisper into his chest, squeezing him as tight as you can.

“We will, kæreste. You’re gonna take us home now.” He wraps around you assuringly, kissing your head.

The next morning, you and Mathias wake up in the bedroom of your longhouse. He remembers everything that happened, but strangely enough, you have no recollection of being in New York or having a boyfriend there. When he tries asking you about it, you shoot him a weird look and go,“Who’s Alfred?” On the other side of the timeline, Alfred looks for you at your apartment after you text him to come over for dinner. When he does, he notices that Mathias is gone, and upon asking about it, you shake your head. “Who’s Mathias?”

64 notes · View notes

quitealotofsodapop · 1 month ago

Note

Based on our DMs, Wukong and Macaque met is actually really, really cute. And also kinda scary becaise of depictions of child abductions and exploitation. What we discussed was that at, unlike in the book, Wukong had not officially been crowned the Monkey King at the time he hadn't left for Subodhi's but rather had held the title of soemthing similar to a prince, the confirmed next ruler of the tribe but not yet because he was, quite frankly, far too young. During those intervening years, the Stalwarts, most of whom were much older than him and reaching their own late teen/young adult stages when he had gone on his first pilgrimage for immortality, handled the majority of the regency stuff. They'd wanted their little brother to enjoy being a kid as long as possible and learn and grow at his new school.

Unfortunately, that isn't what ended up happening, as when Wukong had his falling out with Subodhi and returned home, he found the place in a very dire state. A terrifying beast of a demon had taken all the cubs hostage, using them to exploit the tribe and force them to work for him as their servants. It's something of a modus operandi for this version of the Demon King of Havoc, as we've discussed him not simply stopping at the demons of FFM, but having made an empire of sorts of exploiting celestials, demons, spirits, and dragons alike by holding their young hostage. Amongst those hostages were a young, headstrong bull prince, a pair of celestial princes, a trio of celestial animals, and most importantly... a unique little monkey demon who was adopted and raised amongst the celestials as the younger siblings of the moon goddess, and an unhatched dragon egg. All of their parents were held at bay from the fear of what Havoc would do to the kids.

Wukong, naturally, challenged the Demons King of Havoc, but where the book depicted him as easily as in the book and had on fact been forced to flee the first time around, albeit with a handful of his monkeys escaping with him. One of them gave him the idea of reaching out to the other kingdoms for help, which is how he came to be at Ao Guang's doorstep way back when. He and the other dragon signs had been reluctant to help, frightened Ao Jun's unhatched child would be harmed, but Wukong had managed to convince them to at least let himself be armed. And then Ruyi Jingu Bang began to call for Wukong, and the famous weapon found it's a true owner. They also gave him the armor he is known for wearing as well, but insists they Wukong never mention it was they who armed him.

With that, Wukong was ready for his second match against Havoc. This time, it went much better, but it was a very close thing. He had been gravely injured, and had he not had that first layer of immortality, he would certainly have died! But the fighting was enough, and while Havoc was with the then young monkey prince's challenge, a certain other monkey had taken advantage of the distraction to make their own escape and help free all the other children. Nezha and Erlang had never known that Wukong had been the one to defeat Havoc, having not seen the end of the battle while they eld the children to safety, so the credit for the rescie had fallen to another.

The monkeys, the bull prince, and the trio of celestial animals, however, had a much clearer view of the fight and were able to view the final outcome. How Wukong had soundly defeated the demon that had held them captive for so long, only to collapse moments later. When Wukong later awoke, having had his adventure in the Diyu in-between, it was to the sight of a gorgeous black furred monkey who he tecognized as having been and old cubhood playmate who used to have snow white fur tending his wounds and calling him and idiot for trying to get out of bed when he wasn't well. Shortly after, Wukong is officially crowned the Monkey King.

Yesss, been meaning for an excuse to share this idea we had!

This is all considered canon in the Tkmati AU and a lot of the other aus.

The Stalwarts and the Elder knew that Wukong was still just a little guy, too young to be a King/Matriarch of his own troop. So when he showed interest in the world beyond Alolai, they were happy to let him go. He was still a fresh soul and needed to roam, like a bird seeking migration.

They just had not expected someone to view their dear island as the perfect base for their terrible dominion.

The Demon of Havoc was such a dangerous foe, rising quickly in the ranks because he did the one thing that threatened every layer of society be it demon, celestial or dragon; hold their children captive and at his mercy.

DBK, then just Bull or Niu, had been a headstrong teenage prince of the Underworld at the time. And whilst he'd huff about his capture for centuries to come, he will always sing the praises of the tiny yellow-orange monkey that came to his (and many others) aid!

Among the celestials, it had initially been Erlang, then still barely a demi-god, that had been captured. After the Jade Emperor did the divine equivalent of a shrug, the Havoc Demon upped the stakes by snaring the Third Lotus Prince that came to his cousin's aid. Azure, Yellowtusk, and Peng had each been sent forward by their masters as scouts to determine who or what had taken Nezha captive, only to be themselves captured by the Havoc demon and his lackeys.

The dragon egg had been shockingly the most difficult to acquire. The future royal dragon had been protected by the coils of his parents and elder siblings. But all it took was for a well-timed sleep bug, and another stolen prince (the Flood Dragon, often believed to be an illegitimate child of the Southern Sea King) to get the egg in his clutches.

And of course thats not mentioning all the "lesser" demon clans the Havoc King kept at bay. Wukong's home had simply been a good base of operations in the grand scheme of things.

So imagine the look on The Demon King of Havoc's face when a tiny barely-teenage monkey demon in a school robe bust down his door, demanding that he release all of his people. The fiend had cackled in the cub's face! But was concerned when the child, although forced to flee, seemed to be holding a vast wealth of power...

The Dragon Kings seeing this little monkey offering to take down the fiend, and all wondering if he could be the key to saving their pups. By weaponizing Wukong, they could hide their involvement where they could not if they sent any of their own kind to face the Havoc King. The ancient water-pole calling out to the monkey as it's master had been what ultimately convinced them to armour the young demon for battle.

I like the idea of Wukong nearly dying after his fight with Havoc intersecting with his trip to Diyu, and him confronting the Ten Kings. Wukong taking his and many others names from the Books of the Dead now becomes an act fuelled by worry not for himself, but for his people - unsure who managed to escape during his fight with Havoc.

When his eyes opened and he saw that gorgeous dark fur and butterfly-shaped face mask, Wukong wondered if this was what awaited him in the afterlife? Until he tried moving, hurt himself, and the beautiful monkey called him a moron.

It would be only in the months afterwards that Bull/Niu would explain the process of courtnapping, reverse-courtnapping, that Wukong realised that he and Macaque ("Yuehua/Moonflower" when they were cubs) had accidentally declared romantic interest in one another. Macaque didn't care to mention that the Havoc King had stolen him as a bride, and was impatiently trying to speed up the courting period before Wukong arrived. All the shadow monkey knew was that this old playmate of his had saved him and many others from an uncertain fate, for reasons he simply could not fathom - he would not accept "Cus' its the right thing" as an answer.

The Brotherhood having been the ones to see the fight directly, were the most impressed, hence why they decided to form a brotherhood-contract with the monkey. Whilst the celestial animals had seen it as more of a tactical strategy (make the monkey an ally), Bull had seen it as akin to adopting a little brother (considering the one at home, could you blame him?). And Macaque? Well it took him a moment to realise that Wukong wasn't asking to marry all of them! The shadow monkey quickly coughed and agreed to the platonic contract.

Romance between the two monkeys bloomed after that adventure.

In a number of AUs, the Havoc King is eventually revived, and up to his old tricks.

Namely in the Hidden Egg Au; he learns that Sun Wukong has a child of his own now...

71 notes · View notes

wildernessuntothemselves · 1 month ago

Text

Now See Them Burn in Fire | Part 2

Genre: dark fic, future smut, angst

Word Count: 9.6k

Chapter Excerpt:

But you can’t answer them, throat closed shut and eyes glued to the detached orbs on the floor–there in front of you lay the sacred bull’s missing eyes. Its eyes that used to be so bright in life with warmth and light now replaced with icy blue crystals crudely jammed in the middle of the irises to form the evil eye, and its menacing gaze was set directly on you.

You can’t deny it anymore. You are the intended target. If the gods were watching you through the creatures eyes in life then this monster is watching you in death.

He was here again, in your home, in your room, just like he had been in your temple. There is no refuge of your own that is safe from his dark presence.

“Oh dear gods, save us.” You hear your father whisper fearfully, following your line of sight and realising what had alarmed you so.

“It’s for me. I have been cursed.” You say, your voice devoid of any emotion, body going cold with a numbness that can only come about from the realisation that one is utterly doomed. “What am I to tell Kai?”

Warnings: fem!reader, DARK FIC, FUTURE NONCON/CON, gore, mentions of cruelty to animals, character death, iron age au, supernatural au, yandere beomgyu

___________________________________

A small part of you feels guilty about it. You know it hurt him to hear you accuse him of the same hearsay everyone else flings at him. You were supposed to be different, he must've thought, and you’re ashamed to prove you aren’t, but you can’t risk your future and place in the tribe to stand by him when at best he is being misjudged and by choosing him you doom yourself to a future of living as outcasts together, your offspring having no hope of any viable future, and at worst, everyone is right about him and he drags you to the depth of blackness with him.

Beomgyu keeps his distance from you much to your surprise. Given how bold he was in that forest, you half expected him to continue to pursue you despite your rejection but you suppose you finally got your message across.

But you can’t think about it for too long. You and Kai are now official and you have to focus on your future and the future of your family, especially because you still don't know what the fallen star was meant to foreshadow. Your parents weren't able to find much on it, only stumbling across vague warnings of falls from grace, being cast from heaven, ruin and damnation. The doom and gloom of curses–the most powerful of them all–but no more details than that and no way to intercept or stop it.

Was it doom for you? For your family? For the entire tribe? They couldn’t tell you, but you knew that associating with the dark boy was not likely to make things any better.

You had suggested seeking help from the elders, perhaps someone else knew more about it, but your family quickly snuffed that idea out. How could you ask such a stupid thing? You think the others would take kindly to doom tellers? You think they would welcome an inescapable prophecy of blood and death?

No, you were to keep your mouth shut and work in secret to get to the bottom of this. It doesn’t even have to mean anything. It could all just be a coincidence.

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing from your parents. It was borderline blasphemy. A coincidence? There was no such thing in the art of reading the stars. The stars do not simply plummet themselves to death because they were bored one day. This is a sign and you all know it but they choose to turn a blind eye to what they can’t fix, like a mouse freezing in place when it encounters the jaws of the snake.

Still, it is easy for them to forget and brush it off when things have been going so well for you. With the announcement of your betrothal to the future leader, your already esteemed place in the tribe climbs right to the top.

You parents are quite pleased with it. They always thought they deserved more than they were getting. They even thought they deserved more than the leader’s family. After all, you were the spirituals and divinators that guided the entire tribe and the ones who they entrusted their eternal souls with. Why shouldn’t your place be at the top?

It was jarring to see how close and dear your parents have gotten to the leader and his family and how flattering and generous they were being–regaling him with poems about his bravery and wisdom when behind closed doors they would rake him over the coals with their scathing remarks about his intelligence and short temper, likening him to the beasts that live in the forest.

But it isn’t like the leader wasn’t aware of their duplicity or that he didn’t enjoy their excessive flattery. He purposefully encouraged them to continue feeding his massive ego, caring nothing if their intentions were true or not.

Truth be told, this situation was making you see them all in an unfavourable light. You used to look up to them as tough but reliable and wise, only doing what was best for the tribe, but now you see how they're all working for their own favor.

But you can't act too righteously, for you also found it shamefully easy to not care about the hypocrisy or the lies or even the threat of damnation hanging over your heads, not when Kai was your prize–and what a sweet prize he was. Unlike them, he was pure of heart. Beneath his angelic features was an even more generous and kind soul. You actually believe the words he speaks. You know he does not lie and so when he acts loving and sweet towards you, you know to trust it.

You get so caught up with him and your family gets so caught up with his that you start neglecting your calling and your duty to the tribe. Even the search for the star is momentarily forgotten. After all, where was this fabled curse? Here you are having the best time of your life, your fortune more blessed than ever. Maybe the fallen star really didn't mean anything at all.

Oh how arrogant you were. How blasphemous. The stars are not there for your entertainment. They're not little light shows just there to brighten your night, and you should’ve heeded their warning. Maybe if you did, you could have saved everyone.

It starts small, like most horrible inescapable fates do, with the farmers finding odd symbols burnt onto their fields. The shapes strange at first but then vaguely familiar as old runes you’ve all collectively lost the knowledge of. Some similar to the stone pillar in the heart of the sacred temple and others unseen by any of your kind before.

They were written off as youngster mischief at first–the youth just finding new and creative ways to occupy their time and mess with their elders. Even as the farmers started growing more and more anxious as more and more of these strange symbols cropped up, ruining a sizable portion of their crops–done seemingly by an unseen force as no one has been able to catch or even catch a glimpse of the culprit in action despite the numerous watches being set up–they were brushed off and assured it would stop when the culprits grew bored of not getting the reactions they wanted.

But the culprits were not dissuaded. They just took it a step further, and soon the symbols were found not just on crops but burned or carved onto the flesh of the animals. That’s when the people really started panicking. They didn’t understand what this meant but they knew something was seriously awry.

Even the other animals knew, as they seemingly avoided the ones marked by the unseen force as if being near them could infect them too. The farmers refused to consume the goods of these afflicted creatures and no one tried to convince them to–and maybe for good reason as soon these poor souls were slaughtered one by one by that unseen force in the night.

They were found massacred as if by a wild animal, bits of fur and fat and brains scattered around fields. Entire body parts missing. Heads chopped off and found in children’s cots.

This was no mere joke. This was the work of a demented individual or individuals, and no one even knew what they wanted. But this new development finally got the elders to pay attention and take this seriously.

They started by calling for meetings. First between themselves in order to figure out the source and meaning of these runes and how to stop this malicious energy, still foolishly holding onto the hope that this was under control and that they can stop it. But when they came up as empty as your family did, they turned to you and other young apprentices in their desperation, seeking any suggestion that could help them decipher the code. But of course that yielded even less results and led to panic spreading across the tribe when the looser tongues of the less experienced spoke too much.

As more and more crops and livestock gave way under this unseen dark force, there was a widespread fear–almost expectation–of what to do when it reached the people themselves. Again the elders reassured the people–lying through their teeth that there is nothing to be concerned about, still insisting this was the work of a group of troubled youth, all while they used their precious powers and resources to bless and protect themselves and the people and sites most important to them, resting easy for a while in the belief that at least they were safe hiding behind their powers while the rest of their people were left in the open with whatever was out there, watching and waiting to see if it will start developing a taste for humans next.

The good gods will protect them just like they always have, they thought. After all, they were their most esteemed servants and this dark force–whatever its origin may be–could not possibly stand up to the combined powers of such godly men and women, right? It will soon stop and retreat back to the dark groves from whence it came.

It was disgusting to witness it all, seeing the people you admired and respected so much only thinking of themselves. This thing–whatever it was--has lifted the veil of naivety and innocence off your eyes and exposed you to the brutal reality of the world around you–a world you once thought was built on altruism and honour but have now come to realize was all a lie. Your heroes weren't wise, virtuous leaders, but scared, selfish and arrogant hypocrites who hoarded their powers for themselves while simultaneously covering their eyes with their own hands and refusing to see the danger right in front of them.

They completely refuse to acknowledge that the animals weren’t butchered with wanton and random cruelty–there was something spine-chillingly deliberate about the slaughter. The savage cuts may have seemed like the work of a mad spirit hungry for blood at first glance but if they were to look even just a little more closely they would see that they were deliberate, intentional–the missing body parts of the corpses were not mere bits of meat torn away to be devoured. They were key pieces to a gruesome bigger picture–the tongue of a cow, the heart of a deer, the testicles of a bull, the feet of a chicken–these are all ingredients used in dark magic.

You had said as much to your family, and you knew they knew it too but they still arrogantly–or fearfully–dismissed it. After all, who would possess the knowledge to perform such dark arts apart from the priests and priestesses themselves, and not just any of them–this knowledge is only accessible to the most powerful and most respected of the lot such as your parents. There is no way one of them has gone rogue with the others being none the wiser.

But you know that’s not fully true because you have accessed such knowledge secretly after spying on your parents, and if you could do it then someone else could have done it too. Some of the children of the other powerful priests and priestesses could have done the same. Or someone could have let it slip to an outsider…

But even the elders and even your parents can’t shut their eyes and cover their ears any longer when the hand that works in the shadows reaches forward to touch the most cherished and protected, right in their midst.

You were the one to find it–the sacred bull that resided in the heart of the temple–or what has become of it.

It was a gruesome sight. Its body butchered, the entrails pulled out and hung over its altar, the scent of blood and organs heavy in the air and tasting of metal, the corpse posed in a grotesque mockery of the god it represents.

It was such a gentle animal, friendly with wise eyes that often made you feel as if you were being watched by the gods themselves. But it never made you feel judged. Instead you felt safe and protected by the large, strong animal that was only easy to shepherd due to its gentle nature, but was also capable of great force if provoked–as you’ve witnessed first hand when it was handled incorrectly by someone it didn’t deem worthy. You knew it wouldn’t have been easy to take down the majestic beast and it certainly wasn't easy to string it up and flay it in this grisly way. Its eyes that comforted you so much were nowhere to be found, plucked right out of its skull and leaving behind black hollow sockets that stare you down with the ghastly gaze of death itself.

An overwhelming sense of nausea built up in your stomach at the thought of being so alone without the watchful eyes of the gentle creature–even more so than you were at the abominable mockery that has been made of its remains, and you couldn’t even make it more than a few steps away before you fell to your knees on the floor and vomited your guts out.

It kept coming and coming even when your stomach was long empty, your body purging itself as if your insides were trying to escape it and run away from the danger it sensed.

It didn’t take long for someone to be alerted to this catastrophe, and a small crowd soon gathered around the slain animal, sobs and gasps of horror filling the once serene sanctuary.

The elders eventually made their appearance and after getting over their initial shock and revulsion at the sight, quickly dispersed the crowd, ordering them not to mention this to any of the tribes people and instructing some of the other apprentices to take you outside for some fresh air, thinking that only the sight of the slaughtered beast was the cause of your intractable sickness.

But you couldn’t even get to your feet. They had to drag you out as you shook and dry heaved, a cold sweat drenching your body and making it slippery in their grasp, causing them to lose grip and plummet you to your feet more than once, each time your weak body slamming against the ground as you had no strength to break your fall, the impact making you even more nauseous and weak.

The only small reprieve you got is when the outside fresh air met your drenched skin and cooled down your overheated body, allowing you a moment of relief. But that fleeting reprieve was quickly gone as your body went from cool to cold and you started shaking. You curled up into a ball, trying to conserve your body heat and unable to utter any word of reassurance to the poor apprentices who watched you, horrified at your stricken condition. You’re sure their minds were conjuring up all sorts of terrifying tales about what had just happened, but none of it would come close to your bizarrely confident belief in who exactly was behind this.

Because it's not what you've seen that terrifies you, it's what you haven’t. You saw no evidence of this being the work of a group of demented individuals like your elders have been insisting. This was not the work of any human at all. This was something cold and evil, and you think you know exactly who it is–the shiver currently racking your body more a product of breathtaking dread than the cold.

Mercifully, your mind eventually tires your body out, but before all strength leaves you, you become vaguely aware of being picked up by someone–a warm, strong body pressed against your own, grounding you and preventing you from giving in to the terror completely.

________________________

“She's waking up!” Someone shouts, entirely too loudly for you tired and sensitive ears, and you flinch away, trying to nuzzle further into the softness surrounding you in order to block it out.

“She is.” Another voice adds, and you immediately recognize the deadpan voice of your mother. “See, she is okay. You can head home now and we'll take it from here.”

“Darling, can you hear me?” The first voice gets closer, ignoring your mother, and you feel a feverish touch against your face, almost scalding against your own overheated body which makes you pull away.

“What is wrong with her?” The voice asks, and even through your delirious nightmare state, you could hear the obvious concern marring it.

“Nothing. She will be fine if you just let her rest, Kai.” Your father says sharply and you force your eyes to flutter open when you finally realise who the person touching you is. Your vision swims and you find it hard to focus but you can recognize Kai's worried gaze even through the haziness.

“Kai?” You ask, wincing as the sound cracks your parched throat.

“I am here, my love.” He tells you and gets even closer to you but you use what little strength you have to pull away, grimacing at the look of hurt that crosses his handsome face. “How are you?”

“I am okay.” You repeat your father's sentiment, your tired brain still recognizing the need to get him away from all of this–for his sake and yours. You don't want him to see whatever is happening to you and you don't want it to hurt him. “You don't need to be here.”

His blurry frown still hurts your heart, as does the hesitant way he pulls his hand away. “I was just worried. I know about what happened at the temple. I can’t imagine how you must feel having witnessed that dreadful sight. Oh, what they did to that poor animal was heinous. And for you to see it like that… I know how much you cared for the beast–”

Bile rises up in the back of your throat at the reminder, and you cut Kai off. “I’m okay. I was just shocked, is all. You needn’t worry yourself about me.”

“What are you on about? As your future husband and leader of this tribe, I must protect you and my people from the scum who did this. Rest assured, my love, I won’t let those barbarians get away with it.”

Your eyes widen and your heart rate picks up in fear at his words. No, no, this is exactly what you didn’t want to happen. You don’t want him to get involved in this. He is no match for the darkness looming over all of you. It will swallow him whole and spit out bones. You must keep him away from this.

“No!” You blurt out loudly, making him jump back in shock. Out of the corner of your eyes you can see your parents shooting you warning looks, silently telling you to get a grip and not reveal too much.

You clear your throat and try to reign in your terror. “You don’t have to worry about me, my love. The elders have it all under control. We must keep our trust in them. That is how we’ll remain safe.”

“Of course!” He agrees immediately, sheepishly. “I do not mean to doubt the elders. I simply wish to do my part for you and my people.”

Your heart twists guiltily at his innocence and the untainted good in him. He is the one who must be protected. He must remain pure, which is why you have to keep him away from this.

“You always do, my sweet. But we should leave this to the elders. They know what to do.” You reach out to cup his cheek, your soul aching at the way he melts into the touch for a second before he leans forward to press a gentle kiss to your forehead.

You close your eyes, quietly savouring the act of kindness and tenderness before pushing him away. “You should go now, love. I need to rest.”

“You can rest. I'll stay by your side.” He gives you a gentle smile that hurts you even more. You want nothing more than for him to stay by your side and ward the evil spirits away but you know you must make him leave so you can speak to your parents in private about this new disturbing development.

“There is really no need. I will rest easier knowing you are also rested.”

“But I–”

“My lord, you really must allow us the chance to tend to our daughter. You being here will only excite her more and delay her recovery.” Your father says irritably, flustering Kai. Really, must your father be so short with him?

“Oh, I didn't realise that. Forgive me–”

“You are forgiven. Now if you'll excuse us.” Your mother interjects, shooing him off the floor and towards the door. Your heart lurches in your chest at the dejected look on his face. It flings itself against your ribcage and demands for you to follow him, but you can’t.

“Very well. I will see you soon?” He asks hopefully and you nod, mustering up the smallest smile for him. “Very soon.”

He smiles widely at that, but you hardly see it before your mother pushes him out the door and closes it behind him, all warmth suddenly leaving the room with him, and as soon as you are alone with your parents, they are on you, interrogating you about what happened as if you had a clue.

“Did you see who did it?” Your father asks.

You shake your head.

“Were there any clues?” Your mother follows up.

You shake your head.

“What does this mean?” Your father quickly adds and you sigh deeply, feeling the dread gnawing at your bones. “I don't know. But I know it is related to the fallen star. The end is coming.”

You expect your parents to scold you, to tell you to stop your prophesying of doom and gloom–that it really wasn’t as bad as you were making it out to be and that they will find a way to fix this. But instead, they wring their hands and exchange nervous glances, and that’s when the panic really starts to set it.

________________

The elder’s now feel affirmed more than ever in their terrifying conclusion that this was not the work of one demented soul but an organised effort by a group of individuals working together in tandem to bring chaos to the tribe. To what end, they still didn’t know, but they were certain that no one human can achieve this feat of superhuman strength by themselves and that this must mean that there is a secret cult working to undermine the very foundation of this tribe, to take it down from its strongest link and watch everything else will fall apart following suit.

But you have a more terrifying proposal that you do not dare utter. This was the work of a single individual, a dark rotten soul that has crossed the invisible line between flawed but salvageable human to complete corruption into a demon.

But you won't say it. You can’t even bring yourself to fully accept it. There is no way he could have achieved this level of power. There is no way he has forsaken his soul so completely…

But when you had looked into the hollow sockets that had once contained the bull’s gentle eyes, you couldn’t help but conceitedly think that this was intentionally targeted at you. You were one of the privileged few tasked with caring for this most sacred and divine animal, and through its familiar eyes, the gods watched over you and protected you for years. But now that it has been blinded, will they be able to ward off the creeping evil that they can't see?

The elders interrogate you about that cursed day over and over again, along with everyone else that had access to the sacred temple in order to try to piece together who could’ve done this. They reasoned that whoever did this must be someone from within your midst, otherwise how would they have managed to slip in unnoticed and bypass all the protections meant to keep outsiders away?

But who were they and what exactly did they want, is what they’ve been desperately trying to find out, but their interrogations led them nowhere. Sure, suspicions and accusations were flung around–everyone blaming everyone else in their scared and panicked state, any perceived suspicious look or action was reported to the elders and investigated heavily but no concrete evidence against anyone has been found yet and all this inquiring has managed to do is breed fear and mistrust amongst your ranks. Everyone had one eye on their back and one eye on the other apprentices and priests, watching out for any sign of betrayal, fearful of meeting the same fate as the poor beast. You were now more divided than ever, and if the assailant’s purpose in doing this was to take you down from within, then they’ve already succeeded.

The rising tensions are made even worse when things start to go missing from the temple–powerful totems, valuable ingredients, ceremonial weapons wielded by the gods in their battles… piece by piece they start vanishing, further proving to the elders that the assailants had help from someone within the temple.

They start keeping inventory of everything that goes missing in an attempt to divinate the next movement of the culprit, trying to predict what spell or potion they have got planned and what they might seek next, and piece by piece a horrific picture starts to form. They can’t tell exactly what the assailant’s plan was, but they quickly realise that it involved some ancient and dark magic that has largely been lost to time.

Whoever or whatever is doing this has found a way to unlock knowledge no longer available to the rest of you, and you had no way of protecting yourselves against it.

________________________________

Kai tries to take your mind off things. Every day after your morning of prayer and interrogation has finished, he walks you along flowery fields and bubbling river banks and speaks to you of the bright futures and happy endings he has planned for you. He tells you how he can’t wait for you to be married and what he imagines your family life will look like–filled with joy and love and the tinkling laughter of a house full of children. You’ll have many, he says, both boys and girls. They’ll be strong and smart and beautiful, just like you–he says. And when you ask if they’ll be priests and priestesses like you or political leaders like their dad, he says they’ll be whoever they want to be just as long as they’re happy and healthy and you all have each other. His sincerity and earnestness almost brings tears to your eyes. You can tell how much he wants it and you want it so badly as well.

But neither the sweet smell of the roses nor the soft sounds of the water can soothe your nerves. Your fear to touch the roses lest thorns tear your skin. You fear to dip your feet into the water lest it wash you away. And most of all you fear to let yourself step into the enticing dream he has laid out for you lest you fall into a trap and get swallowed whole. You feel severed from the world around you, unable to tell if it would turn against you at a moment’s notice, and even Kai senses it.

“Hey, it will all be alright. The gods will protect us.” He smiles at you, trying to reassure you but your frown only grows deeper.

Will they? They couldn't even protect their own vessel so how will they protect you? But you don’t dare share your worrying thoughts. Kai may be kind but even he must have his limits. He may not tolerate such blasphemy.

You feel his hand on your cheek as he turns you to face him. He brushes the lines of your frown with his thumb gently, his own smooth skin furrowing in response to your distress.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Who might be behind this and what their purpose is.” You tell him truthfully but leave out your one suspect. He may be the tribe outcast but that doesn’t mean that your conspiracies about him wouldn’t sound unhinged to Kai. After all, what reason would he have to be doing all of this? What does he gain from it apart from getting back at you and sowing chaos amongst the tribe’s people? No, you have to have better evidence than this, otherwise you’d be exposing yourself and your connection to him for nothing.

“Maybe the gods are testing us.” He offers, unsure but hopeful. “Maybe they wish to ensure our faith in them is strong and this is our chance to prove this unwavering faith to them, to show them that Gija and his mistakes won’t be repeated again.”

You hesitate. Did Gija face something similar to this? Is this the untold story of why he turned against the gods? Because they had seemingly forsaken him when danger loomed its vicious head?

No. You must refrain from these sacrilegious thoughts. This is precisely the type of doubt and fear these attacks are meant to provoke, and as a woman of religion, you should have more faith than this.

“Maybe.” You answer, wincing at how unconvinced you sound and hoping he can’t hear it.

But Kai, ever the caring and tolerant being that he is, doesn’t strike you down for it. Instead, he meets your doubt and fear with compassion and sympathy. “I wish I could take your worries away… or at least lighten their burden on your precious shoulders. If I could bear some of your worries so you can finally get some rest, I would in a heartbeat.”

You give him a small but genuine smile. He is too sweet, too pure. This world doesn’t deserve him. You know you certainly don’t. “I could never wish such pain on you, my sweet. You're the only thing that keeps me going.”

He sighs, a hint of frustration coming out in his breath that surprises you, and he tangles his hand in your hair and leans his forehead against yours. “I want to help.” He insists, exasperated.

“You are helping.” You maintain, trying to silence his self-doubt, but you both know that’s not the full truth.

“Not enough.” He murmurs sadly, pressing a chaste kiss against your lips–so soft and unsure, beseeching, seeking approval from you, everything that his kiss wasn't.

You are suddenly angry. You don’t want to be thinking of that stolen kiss. You don’t want to judge your future kisses by it, no matter how favourable they appear in comparison. It shouldn’t have happened and you certainly shouldn’t still be thinking about it.

But you can’t stop. Not when he has been on your mind since this calamity has been set in motion. You’ve barely seen him since that night in the forest. He has not made any attempt to speak to you or get your attention in any way again but you still can’t shake the feeling that he’s behind all of this.

Is it superstitious and judgemental? Yes. Should you as a priestess rise above these base accusations that so many of your fellow people so easily fall into without thinking? Yes. But you can’t help it. Not when his mere existence has poisoned your mind–shutting your eyes and plugging your ears to the point that you are barely hearing the sweet sounds the boy in front of you is making. And when Kai tries to press his tongue against yours, you flinch back, breaking the kiss as if you were doing something wrong. As if you’ll get punished if you keep going.

“What is it?” Kai asks, concerned and a little bit hurt at your apparent rejection.

You put on a fake smile for him. “Nothing. I just thought I saw something.”

He frowns. You can tell he wants so badly to believe you and so he tries to lean in for another kiss, hoping this time you won’t reject him, but you instinctively do, taking a step back from him, and now he really looks wounded.

“Are you okay?” He still asks, your well-being still his first thought and it fucking stabs at your heart.

“I am.” You say and his frown grows deeper and takes on a bitter edge, now probably thinking that if you’re alright then you are rejecting him for him and nothing else, and you can’t let that stand. “I mean, I am trying to be but I just feel a bit overwhelmed with everything that has been happening.”

“You shouldn’t worry about that, my sweet. I'll protect you.” He proclaims and a small airy laugh leaves your lips before you can stop it, unintentionally offending your lover further.

“What is it? You don't think I can protect you?” He moves away, finally having enough of your disrespect, and you panic, quickly grabbing his hands and squeezing them tightly. “I do not mean to offend you, my love.”

He scoffs, taking his hands out of your grip, rejecting you for the first time, and just the thought of it squeezes the air out of your lungs. “But you do not deny it. You don't think I can protect you.”

“I am not sure anything can protect us.” You confess cautiously. You wish you could lie and make this better, but you can’t lie to him. At least not anymore than you already are. He has to be warned. “This… thing. It is much too dark and powerful for any of us.”

“Surely it isn't stronger than our courageous religious men and women. They have the gods’ favor. What can prevail against that?” He asks, and you pause. You have to navigate this carefully. You can’t let him see the cataclysmic doubt that threatens the very core of your beliefs. What would you even be if you didn’t have your belief anymore? What is a priestess without her gods?

“Nothing, my sweet boy.” You paint your face with the most sincere smile you can muster and reach out to cup his face in your hands lovingly. What that looks like, you don’t know, but he still leans into your touch, breaking your heart further as he answers your fake smile with a genuine one of his own and stares at you with the night stars’ twinkling in his pretty eyes.

All the stars of the night sky but one.

________________

The panic has now spread to the elders. They can no longer turn a blind eye to what is happening around them, especially because despite all their efforts, they are no closer to finding the culprit whose hands have now reached into their midst and left them scrambling for an answer that would explain this threat's surprising prowess.

Was this the work of a rogue priest? A mythical demon? Were the gods themselves unhappy and smiting you down?

That last one is becoming worryingly and increasingly popular among the tribe's people with every passing day. With no real answers to turn to in times of trouble, this is the one most people eventually fall back on. If the gods are the source of prosperity in good times then naturally the opposite would happen if you fall out of their favour.

But you refuse to believe this. It doesn't make sense to you. If the gods are behind this then why would they target their own vessel? Why would they make it look like an attack on the gods themselves?

But once again, you couldn't say that. It's blasphemous to even imply anyone or anything can harm the gods. And so who do you blame when the gods aren't happy with what their subjects are doing? The leaders of those subjects, of course. If they did their job correctly and faithfully the gods would've protected them from whatever was out there lurking at the edge of darkness.

This is the line of thinking that scares you the most. If people fall into this trap then it could quickly turn ugly for Kai and his family, even you. You're not at the top of the command chain but you're a priestess of the gods and if the people perceive that you're failing in your duty to appease those gods then you are in trouble.

Kai tries to calm you down, reassuring you that the people are just stressed and panicking but that once the culprit is caught, this will only strengthen their loyalty to his family and the religious leaders who have protected them. Which all sounds great in theory, but how in the hell were they going to achieve that when they still haven't the faintest clue as to the culprit's identity? No one knows who is behind this and at this point, everyone has started turning on everyone else around them. Neighbours were suspicious of their fellow neighbours, dear friends no longer trusted each other. Even families were starting to break at the seams with fear and doubt. The whole tribe was on the verge of moral collapse and the elders and leaders could do nothing to stop it.

You, of course, retain your perhaps paranoid inkling about the dark boy. It all makes sense to your panic stricken mind. He knows the layout of the temple from your stupid stories. He knows where the sacred items that have gone missing were kept. He even knows some basic spells and he could learn much more from those stolen artifacts.

But surely that's not enough? You've trained for years and even you could not carry out an attack of this magnitude. There is no chance he could be capable of this. And what would he even be doing this for? What does he gain from it? Just to spite you? Surely not. You’re being delusional, succumbing to the same panic the common people were. You have no proof and going around accusing him will just land you in trouble. It would just reveal your ill-advised past friendship with him and cast you in an even more suspicious light.

You have to keep your diseased thoughts to yourself, but it becomes increasingly hard each passing day, especially when you receive yet another “gift”.

When you first saw it perched there innocently on your table, you thought it was from Kai. He has a habit of leaving you gifts, big and small, here and there to try to brighten your day and make you think of him instead of being trapped in your gloomy thoughts. They ranged from little sweets he liked or a pretty flower he found to extravagant rings or hair ornaments he had made specifically for you.

This one is an ornate, delicately carved wooden box which is one of the most beautiful containers you have ever seen–and for a moment you wonder if that is the gift in itself–already thinking about how you'll surely be using it to store all the precious jewelry he has already gifted you.

But you were curious to see if it did contain anything, and you find yourself eagerly grabbing the lid and pulling it open to see if there is anything inside.

But as soon as you do, you quickly drop it with a scream, your knees giving way under you and plummeting you to the ground next to it, the contents of it rolling on the floor in a bloody trail towards you as if it was chasing after you.

You scramble like a trapped hare away from it, barely realising that your parents have joined you in the room after hearing your cry and the crash.

“What is it, child?”

You can’t deny it anymore. You are the intended target. If the gods were watching you through the creatures eyes in life then this monster is watching you in death.

He was here again, in your home, in your room, just like he had been in your temple. There is no refuge of your own that is safe from his dark presence.

“Oh dear gods, save us.” You hear your father whisper fearfully, following your line of sight and realising what had alarmed you so.

Your beloved will surely abandon you once he finds out and you cannot fault him. Even love has its limits and who would stand by someone who has the evil eye upon them?

“Have you gone mad?” Your mother hisses, grabbing you by the shoulders and pulling you to your feet, shaking you. “No one is to hear of this.”

“But mother–” If you don't tell him, he will be dragged into this curse too and you can’t do that to him. It is one thing to be cursed but it is another matter entirely to be so vile as to knowingly extend the same fate onto your beloved.

“Nothing! If you speak a word of this to anyone, we'll all be cast out. Do you want to kill us?” She asks and you blanch. “No, of course not. I would never wish to hurt you but I do not wish to hurt him either.”

“He will not get hurt. We can fix this.” She tells you and you stare at her in disbelief mixed with a small inkling of hope. “How?”

“Every curse has its antidote. Just as someone put this curse on you, likely a jealous girl who wanted the future leader for herself, we can lift it off.”

“You believe this is the work of a mere jealous girl?” Your father asks, clearly doubtful, and she wrings her hands nervously, not believing it herself. This was too advanced, too dark. “Perhaps. Doesn’t matter. Whoever did it surely cannot stand up to our combined power. I am confident we can dispel this.”

“There is no use.” You shake your head, despairing. “The evil eye is set upon me. I am doomed.”

Your mother slaps you. “Hush you stupid child. Do not speak such things. You are not doomed. This is merely the work of someone who is trying to ruin your reputation. They're bluffing. They may not have even done this correctly. See, they've already made their first grave mistake. Now that we have an item connected to them we can reach across the ether directly to pull them to us and reveal their true face. Then we shall strike them down and end this once and for all.”

Your tears start to dry and you look at her hopefully. You hadn't considered that. Of course! With this–this vile object in your grasp you can finally trace all of this back to the abominable culprit. “Really, mother? We can stop him?”

“Him?” Your father asks sharply and you cringe back, cursing yourself for the slip-up. “Him. Her. It. Whatever is behind this.”

You hold your breath as he scrutinises you. You imagine a look of suspicion in his eyes and you look away in guilt. Oh gods please don't let him see. You would not bear the blame and disappointment. You felt awful enough already.

Finally, after a measure of silence, your father proclaims, “Yes. whoever is behind this has some power. I can feel it. But we have had the blood of the mages in our family line for centuries.” You almost breathe a sigh of relief. If your father says it, then it must be so. But then he continues, “He is no match to us.”

You gulp, nodding.

___________________

Your parents are fluttering about, arranging the final pieces of the ritual. The smells soothe you, the routine familiar. You know this. You're good at this. Even if he is behind all of this, he still doesn't know as much about it as you do. The art of magic has been in your family for centuries while he is a mere novice. He doesn't stand a chance against your family's power. You’ve gotten yourself into such a state over nothing.

You step up to the circle with a smile. This will all be over soon.

Your family places the wreath of weaved Mugwort and Enchanter’s herb around your neck. They bless you with burning sage and mark your skin with precious dyes in divine symbols meant to invoke the protection of the gods. Once you’re anointed and dressed appropriately, you all reach out to clasp hands and start the chanting, calling upon the gods to watch over you during this perilous venture. You feel a cold breeze overtake the punishing heat in the air and cool you down for the first time in weeks, the bone-deep fever that had been hanging heavily over you starting to seep off your skin. You feel your face naturally relax into a smile as the healing, soothing power of the gods you adore touches your soul once more .

This is it. The curse will lift off you. You should have never doubted the gods. They would never let a true believer like you succumb to such vile forces of evil.

But your relief is short-lived, barely there before it is whisked away again as your parents continue to chant, now demanding the evil come forth to reveal itself, and you start to see a black cloud materialise in the air and sink down over you, first clouding your vision then stifling your breathing and eventually coming to wrap itself around your body, paralysing you with its sweltering heat.

You look to your parents in panic, barely able to see them through the steamy haze. You try to open your mouth to say something but it gets swallowed up by the damp darkness surrounding you.

Please. Cast it away again. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m scared. Please. You desperately wish to tell them, a sense of dread flooding your paralysed body so fully you fear it would drown you.

But they don’t stop, going on with their spell, this time attempting to pull the evil away from you to force it to take shape in the centre of the sacred circle so that they can finally start to attack it without hurting you. But it will not let go of you. It fights back, lashing out and digging its claws into your skin with savage force, making you cry out in pain and almost let go of your mother’s hand, but she holds onto it tightly, not letting the spell break.

You gaze towards her, a fearful look in your eyes as you experience the real pain of your skin being torn into. This thing is even more powerful than you all thought and you can see it in their eyes too. It frightens them but they steel their resolve and chant louder, demanding the evil to let you go and reveal itself to them.

You wish it wouldn’t. What you’ve seen of this force so far has been nothing but alarming. Just the awareness of its malevolent presence is enough to make you want to run away and hide. You don’t want to face it. You know that’s stupid and irrational of you. Even if you can’t see it, you will still know it is there, coiled so tightly around you and blocking out all the goodness and light in the world. It is too late to back down now, not when you have already called it forth.

You hear the strain in your parents’ voices as they grapple with the force, bellowing at it and demanding it let you go, but that just makes it dig its claws deeper and deeper into your body until it almost reaches bone. The pain is becoming unbearable and your head starts to swim with the sensation of losing too much blood. You look down at your body, half-expecting to see it gushing out of the deep gashes you can feel in your skin, but your eyes don't meet any red.

Instead what you do see makes you almost pass out in horror–black leathery hands engulfing your figure in its hateful grip, its dirty claws digging into your skin as it struggles to hold onto you against your parents’ forceful invocations for it to depart. You can feel the anger and malevolence emanating from it and burrowing into your body. It doesn’t want to let you go. It wants to keep you in its hold until it has consumed you whole.

But your parents won’t let it. Their power reaches forth to wrap around the vile creature and pull it off you, brutally yanking at it until its claws tear off your skin and it is finally forced to let go.

You shake like a leaf as you see it standing there towering over all three of you in the middle of the enchanted circle. You cannot make out much of its features–the dark cloud like a veil seeming to shimmer and sway over it, obscuring most of its face and body, but you can see the ghastly pointed horns atop its head and those same deathly blue eyes fixed right on you.

“Who sent you?” Your father asks, but the figure does not answer. It doesn’t even acknowledge your father at all, its cold gaze squarely on you as it reaches forward towards you, desiring to reclaim its grip on you.

You shrink back and try to yank your hands out of your parents grip, wishing desperately to run away from this thing before it manages to latch onto you again.

But your parents hold onto you tightly, your father shouting at the creature, deciding it is too dangerous to try to gain any answers from it and focusing instead on attempting to banish it. “Begone, foul spirit. Cease back to the underworld from whence you came.”

A shock of power springs up and shoves the creature back and away from you. Its cold, dead eyes light up with fury and it finally moves its ghoulish gaze away from you and fixes it onto your father who slowly starts to be surrounded by the same dark cloud that looms heavily around the creature.

“What are you doing?” Your father asks as the cloud sways and slithers like a pit of snakes over his body. “Oh, heavens, please.”

The fear in his voice is almost the most gruesome sound you’ve ever heard, second only to the howl of pain he subsequently lets out as the ghostly tendrils tighten themselves around his body and squeeze, crushing him.

“No, please!” You cry out, once again trying to pull your hands away. You like to think that if you succeed you’d try to liberate your father from the force’s deathly grip, but you know your terror is so great that you’re just as likely to run away instead.

You don’t get to find out however as your mother keeps her grip on you almost as tight as the creature does on your father, her voice ringing loudly around your home, indirectly telling you to focus on the incantation and not break the spell as the black tendrils coil tighter and tighter around your father’s body.

You do your best, you really do, joining your shaky voice with her forceful one to keep the spell going but you know your mind is unfocused–your soul not present fully as you watch the life being choked out of your father in horror.

You see it in his eyes first–the fear breaking through his usually steely and stoic gaze. Then it’s his voice, hesitant and strained as the evil spirit coils tighter around him until the words are barely choked out. Then it’s the horrible crunching noise, like bones getting crushed by a boulder, followed by a strained wail that barely sounds like your father, barely sounds human at all.

“Father!” You can’t do it. You can’t keep the spell going, not when blood starts pouring out of the corner of his mouth and his eyes protrude forward as if they’re being squeezed out of his skull.

The last sound you hear from your father is a haunting low groan that comes from deep within his chest before it gets abruptly cut off as a spurt of blood comes forth from his mouth to drench you and your mother, his hands finally letting go of you as he falls limply to the floor.

“No!” Your mother screams, also letting go of your bruised hand and rushing forward to catch her husband, only to recoil in horror as his body crumbles gruesomely in her arms.

You back away, not looking at them but instead staring at the shadowy figure still standing over them. Your mother is too busy wailing over your father’s corpse to pay it any mind but you cannot take your gaze away from it. The danger is still here and it’s coming right at you.

You try to run away but it is too fast for you. Its shrouded hand shoots forward to grab onto your arm, its oppressive strength keeping you in place.

Oh gods, what have you done? Your ritual meant to bring the dark force forward in order to defeat it has only succeeded in giving it shape and allowing it to dig itself even deeper into your lives.

And it knows it too. It’s obvious in the sinister way it smiles at you before it slowly dissipates back into the night air, unseen but ever-present.

________________________________________

Your father’s burial is a quiet affair. Your mother claims publicly that his death was the result of a terrible attack by a wild animal but you’re not sure if people believe it or not. There are bound to be rumors and gossip swirling around about your father's mysterious and sudden demise in the morning, your family’s name will undoubtedly be in everyone’s filthy mouths as they sling forth accusations and suspicions at you and your mother the same way they did to Beomgyu. You don't miss the irony in that.

They’ll wonder if your mother has killed your father to hide a lurid affair or if you’ve done it because he discovered some terrible secret you’ve been keeping. But those few who have seen his body and helped return it to the earth will know it was neither one of you, because like the sacred bull, what has become of him couldn’t have been done by a mortal hand. They’ll lie down in their homes at night, clutching their families close to their bodies and wrestling with the harrowing knowledge that the darkness is now coming for them and their children.

Your mother stays by your father’s grave all night, weeping and wailing–her cries rattling the hearts of all those who can hear her as if she’s a spirit heralding all the death to come.

Kai tries to stay by your side but you refuse to let him. You’ve seen what you’re up against. None of you stand a chance and you won’t be so selfish as to let it hurt him too. He needs to stay away from you.

But as you lay down for the night, wrapped up in all your furs despite the suffocating heat that refuses to leave you, you selfishly regret keeping him away. You wish he was here with you. He would not have been able to protect you but at least you wouldn’t be alone.

No. That’s not true. You’re not completely alone. It’s here. You can feel its dark presence and yet it toys with you, not making a single move. For hours you lay there staring at a singular spot at the roof of your home, unwilling to let your gaze wander around and confirm your dreadful suspicions. For hours, your body stays as rigid as a dead mouse with eyes just as frozen, waiting for that same suffocating grip to coil around your body and crush the life out of it the way it did to your father.

But it never comes. And slowly the energy drains out of your tense body and your tired eyes can stay open no more, falling down and letting you slip into a dangerous slumber.

That’s when it finally makes its move–when all your defenses are down and you cannot muster enough strength to lift a single finger in your defense, not that you had any delusions of being able to fight it off.

Your mind is sluggish–caught in a state between consciousness and sleep. It can barely process what is happening, just vaguely aware of its presence above you that stifles your breathing, and when your heavy eyes slowly open, your vision dark and bleary, they are met with that unmistakable bright blue gaze. The evil eye. The creature is upon you.

It reaches its hand forward to cover your face, your eyelids growing even more heavy at the touch.

“Please.” Your voice sounds distant and strangled to your own ears but the dark figure doesn’t answer back. It is as silent as death as it coaxes your mind back into darkness.

______________________________

A/N: please leave a message letting me how you're finding the fic so far. feedback is what keeps me going and I am so excited about this fic and wanna know if you're excited about it as well

you could let me know what you think will happen next, what you think the ending will be, who you think she'll end up with or who you want her to end up with, if you think gyu is actually involved or not and what he might be doing. the possibilities are endless lol

#txt smut #dark fic #supernatural au #yandere au #i shouldn't be posting this yet but can't hold back lol #please let me know what you think

93 notes · View notes