#Cinder’s eyes can turn around wherever and still see

[camping-with-monsters]

Some Duck Duck Goose character doodles I’ve done lately :))

[spahhzy]

A Light From The Shore- A New Storm Approaches.

-

She had nothing anymore, Roman dead, Lil-red forever out of her reach, that dumb bitch Cinder betrayed her and worst of all...she tossed her best friend, the love of her life...she tossed Jaune aside for something stupid and now she lost him as well.

Why?

Why was everything being ripped away from her!?

It's not fair, her voice, her father-figure, and now her knight!

Why! Why!? Wh-

"Well, this is very curious." Neo flipped around behind her, looking around at wherever the voice was as she kept hush on the ready.

"Quite a misfortune you've endured," the voice said all around as Neo tried to track where the sound came from but was unable to pinpoint it.

"Oh dear, oh dear, look at you all sad and alone," the voice said with sadness.

"Yet, it's all self-inflicted, wouldn't you think?" The voice taunted.

'What would you know!?' thought Neo, who swiped wildly into the air at brush and branches.

"He seems to think so in the least it's what helped him for twenty years." him? What the hell is this person talking about!?

"Yes...yes, the Knight is so frustratingly hopeful. Some would say he has an indomitable will!" This time, the voice sounded irrated as Neo walked cautiously.

"And even i was starting to believe he was telling .the truth!" As soon as the voice said that a rustling could be heard behind and she spun around quickly with Hush ready to strike only to meet air.

Neo let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

She turned back around and was met with the sight small bluish cat.

Neo flinched back as the cat was swinging from a branch from its tail, She held hush in front and swiped at the blue creature, but the cat just dodged Hush.

"Stab first, ask questions later, huh?" the Cat teased dodging another strike from Neo.

"Yeah, I can see why he likes you...his stories about you were always sooooo happy" This cat was fucking with her and it's pissing her off more than she already was.

"You know it was only till now that I was able to make the connection between you two and what...an opportunity it presents" This thing is just rambling when it should be fucking dying!

A snap from the branch caused the cat to mis-step, causing the blue creature to crash nearby as Neo had a dark smile as she moved closer and raised Hush in the air before swiping it down quickly

'Die!'

"I finally see why Jaune loves you so much," said the blue cat with a smirk as Hush blade was mere inches from his face as Neo looked at him with wide eyes.

'Jaune is here?'

"That's right, your precious knight is here. dont worry, you'll see him real soon," He confirmed as Neo felt a pang of hope begin to fill in her.

Jaune was here?

He was here!?

She could find him and-

"He's been here for twenty years, you know all alone"

Neo flinched.

'T-twenty years?'

Twenty years...all by himself.

The thought of that and everything she did to him hurt her heart a lot.

"Twenty years of loneliness, pain and regret, enough to make a man feel...empty." The cat looked down trodden as Neo lowered her weapon slightly but ot was enough for the cat as he raised his head quickly as a bolt of lightning struck the ground where Neo was standing sending her flying back to a tree, her aura shattered before suddenly she felt something hold her shoulders with an iron grip.

She opened her eyes in shock to see that the cat no longer was blue and small but big and white.

" Yet your dear knight refused to break refused to give up... I can still hear his words echo in my ears, and it infuriates me to this day." The cat roared at her.

"I don't know how to give up," He said, mocking Jaune.

"Jaune says he is 'incapable' of giving up," the monster cat said as Neo could only look on in terror.

"Maybe it's cause your humans because I-i don't understand...how can he know? He can't be sure! Just another thing that makes me so curious of him" The creature told him he lifted a paw to Neo's face, stroking her hair and face, as Neo tried to struggle but to no avail.

"I've spent many a years trying to get him to break, but now? Now I have an excellent idea as to how I can get him to break..." he led his paw to her mouth.

"I'm going to force him to give up and YOU are going to help me willing or not," a sinister smile was on the cats face as Neo's eyes widened in terror and before long all she saw was white and blue.

~

Neo woke up with jolt as she looked around the small shack she was in, breathing heavily Neo felt all over herself,feeling nothing out of place Neo let a sigh escape her.

She was fine, she wasn't possessed by some stupid cat, at least not anymore, the same couldn't be said for...

'No, don't think such thoughts'

Neo's eyes saw a small glimmer of light, and she turned her head to the source to see to see Crocea Mors leaning against the window sill, Neo walked over to the sword and inspected it, noticing its sheen as the moon glistened off the polished metal.

...wait moon?

Neo looked out the window and saw clear skies and the fractured moon.

The sandstorm had passed.

Which means they could move freely, they could chase down J-

The sound of a bullet being chambered and the feeling of cold steel being pressed against her back stopped Neo thoughts any further, as she slowly turned her head to see angry silver eyes looking right at her.

Ruby Rose had awakened, and Neo knew now a new storm had just arrived.

[bridgyrose]

Maybe some domestic cinder/Pyrrha?

Cinder let out a content sigh as she watched Pyrrha in the kitchen, a small smile creeping across her face as she watched her wife enjoy cooking. Part of her was still not sure how things ended up like this for her, going from working with Salem to becoming a huntress and married to the woman who gave her a chance. Though, her smile dropped as her eyes once again made their way to the scars that ran across Pyrrha’s arms. The same scars that she had given her back when Beacon fell. 

“Breakfast will be ready soon,” Pyrrha said with a smile as she turned around, making sure to be careful to not lose her balance. “And then we can make our way to Beacon to help clear out the grimm.” 

“Are you sure you want to do that?” Cinder asked as she walked over to her wife, gently taking her arm with her own mechanical hand. “I know you’ve been training again, but the grimm still arent clearing out like they’re supposed to.” 

“I’m sure I want to. Besides, I know how hard it is for you to keep going back.” 

Cinder glanced down at her arm, colored red, black, and gold as a reminder of what she did, of how many people were lost by her desperate actions to get power and freedom. That night had stayed clear in her mind over the years, a nightmare that would never leave her as she watched herself cause Beacon to fall over and over and over again, haunting her in a wave of neverending guilt. 

Pyrrha gently took her hand with a smile. “You know you’ve made up for it, right?” 

“I-I do.” Cinder took a breath to calm herself, closing her eyes and only seeing Beacon burning in front of her. “But I see how everyone looks at me. How they always expect me to return to how I was, how they expect me to kill again or finish what I started. They… they dont trust me.” 

“It doesnt matter what they think. What matters is that you’ve been trying to correct your wrongs and you’ve been making progress with that. Even Ruby’s starting to trust you.” 

Cinder slowly opened her eyes and looked into Pyrrha’s green eyes, feeling a bit of comfort. “She still doesnt trust me much after I… took her eye.” 

“Yeah, but she’s been working with you more.” 

“I… I know…” Cinder pulled away from Pyrrha, giving a small smile to her. “But you’re sure you dont want to train a bit more before coming with me? Ruby will be with me and its not like we’ll be going far since the grimm are still too active there. Mostly for Ruby to practice.” 

“Its been long enough that I’m ready to try to fight again.” 

Cinder nodded and kissed Pyrrha’s cheek. “In that case, you can join us in a week. I want to make sure that if you’re going to join, I want to make sure you’re back in a condition that you can keep up.” 

Pyrrha smiled and pressed into Cinder. “I promise I’m ready. I’ve recovered, I’ve trained, I’m ready.” 

“Alright,” Cinder said with a sigh as she pulled Pyrrha close. “Then show me what you can do tomorrow. Today, Ruby and I really need to be alone.” 

“What for?” 

“Practice.” 

“Practice for what?” 

Cinder paused for a moment as she tried to figure out what to say. She couldnt just tell Pyrrha about Ruby’s eyes or what their training was for, nor could she say she was working for Ozpin, or at least for Glynda while she tries to find wherever Ozpin ended up, and there was no way she could explain Salem to her wife when she could barely explain everything to Ruby. Still, she couldnt see a reason to lie to Pyrrha, or worry her. “Its just some training to hone our skills and see if we can make it to the wyvern on the tower. My maiden power and her scythe… I think we can do it.” 

Pyrrha smiled a bit. “Be home before dinner, okay?” 

“I’ll be back shortly after lunch.” Cinder smiled and gave Pyrrha a quick kiss before pulling away to grab her weapons. “And then you can show me what you can do.” 

[unofficialadamtaurus]

So since Ruby’s “Why do I have to be the leader?” rant doesn’t work, like, at all, what do you think it should have been about? And what do you wish to see from it?

No this is totally not an excuse to see you flex your expertise on writing ✨emotions✨ and ✨angst✨, wdym. I am completely normal about the way you are able to yank my heart out and plaster it against the wall no matter the franchise or character

When Crescent Rose hits the ground, the world stops. At least, it feels like it does. Everyone's eyes are on Ruby and her eyes are on Jaune, unable to bring herself to look down at the weapon she just let fall.

“Ruby?” Yang asks. “A-are you o—”

Distant cries cut her off. Jaune panics, the dam breaks, water rushes in, and Ruby can’t move.

Every breath she takes is just shy of enough, so she breathes faster, then faster still, her heart pounding in her chest. Every blink shows Salem, or Cinder, or Neo leering down at her, all of Atlas burning behind them.

And at their feet, at her feet, is Penny, dead all over again.

“Right, Ruby?”

Weiss’s question pulls her back to the here and now. Ruby winds back what they were saying in her mind but comes up empty. She hasn’t been listening at all, she’s just been standing here, and they’re still looking to her? “Why are you asking me?”

Blake straightens from where she’d been comforting the kneeling Jaune. “Um, we just—”

“Because I’m the leader?” Ruby cuts in. She’s staring at them, grouped around Jaune, the very pictures of concern and compassion, and she’s seeing Penny at their feet, and she’s seeing herself too, out cold, lying in the dirt. And maybe she’s also seeing herself alone in the market with an empty jar while Yang claims her arm, and herself alone at the festival while her team rides away on a cat they just met, and maybe, just maybe she can’t get any of that out of her head. “That’s why, right? Because I’m the leader.” She stares at Blake. “Because you’re all following my lead.”

Yang frowns. “What’s this about, Ruby?”

"I thought I could be the leader because I had you. What happened to being a team, huh? What happened to that?” She begins to pace, unable to stay still. “Or is it just 'Ruby tells everyone how to fix things' now? Let’s all watch Ruby while she screws everything up, is that it? Is everything on me, are you all just throwing it on my shoulders,” she rounds on Weiss, “so you can complain and complain about the stupid rules of wherever we are, or”—she turns to Yang and Blake—“sort out your feelings towards each other, and not think about how everything is falling apart? Good for you, by the way. I'm so. Happy. For you."

Yang steps between Ruby and Blake, which only throws fuel on the fire.

“Yeah, protect Blake, she needs it,” Ruby snarls, and she knows she’s crossing a line but she can’t stop. “I should’ve figured turning your back on your sibling runs in the family.”

Yang’s eyes flare red but that reflexive anger drowns in the shock of those words coming out of Ruby’s mouth. That is the opposite of what Ruby wants. She wants, needs, Yang to be mad, to fight back, because then she can throw the raging blaze inside herself at someone else instead of letting it burn her up from the inside.

“Clearly, you’re not okay,” Weiss says into the razor-sharp silence, and Ruby senses the paltry peace offering coming before Weiss awkwardly finishes: “Maybe we should’ve pressed harder.”

Yang’s lips thin and her expression hardens as her surprise ebbs. “No, we did ask. She deflected. That’s on her.”

Ruby clenches her hands into fists and tries to control the inferno before she digs herself any deeper. “I deflected, and that’s my fault?”

“Who else?”

Her nails press into the palms of her gloves.

“If you had a problem,” Yang continues, “you should’ve said something instead of pretending like you were fine.”

The fire erupts.

“I didn’t have a choice!”

“Yes, you—”

“No! Salem has two relics, Atlas is gone, we have no idea if anyone actually made it to Vacuo, and it’s my fault! Or is that thinking too much like Ironwood, Yang? We don’t want to think like that, right? Because we’re gonna save the day, save everyone, because we’re all huntresses.”

She pauses to drag in air, a glimmer of guilty satisfaction shining in her chest at the shocked looks on their faces.

"I’m the leader, so I have to be the one to make it right. Right?" She glares at Jaune, who is still on his knees before the village’s watery grave. "There's no time to break down, is there?"

Tears still shining on his cheeks, Jaune reels as though slapped. That disbelief sparks into anger but Yang catches him by the wrist before he can do more than stand.

“Enough,” Yang says, cutting off his retort. “We’re all a little high strung right now, let’s take a breather.”

Ruby stares, anger unabated, blood roaring in her ears. “I’m sorry, is this a bad time?”

Blake holds up her hands placatingly. “Look, Jaune just watched his village get washed away and Neo just attacked. We should take a minute to—”

“What is that supposed to do?” Ruby snaps. “Are we all supposed to mourn the paper people you were fine with letting kill themselves? Or are we supposed to be sad for a second and then shove it all down? Gotta stay positive, right? Gotta look on the bright side! Gotta save the world with a smile!”

“Rubes—”

The childish nickname Yang hasn’t used in years cracks like a whip across Ruby’s mind and kicks up the fire anew, but there are only ashes underneath. Years and years of ashes, piled like a freshly-dug grave.

“Shut up.”

Now it’s Yang’s turn to flinch.

Ruby, hollow and cold, picks up Crescent Rose and hugs it to her chest, but the weapon brings no comfort. Nor does Yang, nor her team, nor Jaune, nor the gaping absence on her belt where her mother’s emblem once rested.

“Don’t,” Ruby whispers. “Don’t do that. Just don’t.”

She wraps herself in roses and runs.

[womenofwonder]

RWBY emblem headcanons:

Blake had a very different emblem when she was with the white fang, wanting to distance herself from her family name. She changed it after she left, making it a restylized belladonna flower to reclaim her name.

Canonically Ruby‘s emblem is the same as her mother’s. HC that the Roses have always been great huntsmen who usually died in mysterious circumstances (Though it was always assumed to be Grimm). The Rose emblem is actually a very old one, though Ruby has no idea that the legacy traces any further then her grandparents. Salem, however, knows it by sight. So does Ozpin.

Canonically Weiss’s emblem is her family’s symbol. The Schnees are a very old family, descended from the Mantle royalty back when they still had kings. It’s unknown if this is true or if a Schnee simply adopted the symbol for bragging right; either way it’s a symbol that has always meant wealth, power, and elegance.

Yang created her flaming heart emblem when she was eight. It was a lot more complicated and messy then.

The Arc family symbol has always meant warriors. Even before the Great War they were famous as knights and warriors sworn to protect Vale and it’s king. Jaune‘s great grandfather was a famous general during the Great War, and his great-grandmother was the royal family’s bodyguard. In many ways the Arcs were the first huntsmen, so while it makes sense that Jaune chose the family symbol it’s still quite a legacy.

Ren created Nora’s emblem as well as his own. It was a New Years gift.

Pyrrha’s emblem was created by her grandmother as a gift for when she first went to combat school

All of CRDL emblems where passed down through their families, except for Russell Thrush, who created his own

Coco Adel created her own emblem

Velvet created her own emblem. Her mother, who work as a traveling doctor, would often have to leave Velvet with relatives instead of take her on the dangerous journeys. She gave her a velvet, hand stitch heart whenever she would leave, telling her daughter that her heart would always be wherever she was. When she was younger she would keep the heart with her until her mother came back home, now she has it’s design on her weapons and clothes, still always keeping it with her.

Flynt Coal’s emblem was the symbol of his father’s dust shop

Raven and Qrow both created their emblems, though wings were a common symbol of the Branwen tribe. Both of their emblems appeared to be eyes as the twins were always spies, first for the Branwens and then Ozpin. Qrow created his with gears as a nod to his beloved weapon, and Raven subconsciously chose a clock (or a compass) because she always felt like she was running on borrowed time (or never knew which way to go)

Summer’s emblem was a tribute to her own mother, who died while she was still in school.

Cinder’s emblem was given to her by Salem.

Cinder also gave Emerald her emblem. She wasn’t really feeling creative that day, as you can tell.

Mercury created his own emblem. The winged feet basically symbolize how he sees his own legs: as how he got his freedom from his father and turned his weakness into a strength—of course he’d never admit any of that.

Maria Calavera chose the sugar skull as her symbol because she believed death was just another part of life and nothing to fear. I’m going to assume the day the dead is a thing in remment (there’s a lot of deaths and negativity around them brings Grimm. People will probably want a more positive holiday for the dead). Maria always prided herself of being unafraid of death, something most of her human enemies didn’t share. Unfortunately, she never thought a possibility worst then death.

[razorblade180]

Interdimensional Moms pt4

Part 3 here! <-

The tales had be interesting. The tales had even been emotionally gripping, yet all of them so far didn’t seem to register at the moment as Ruby’s teammates looked at her with the same excitement she used to give her own mother during story time. Ruby couldn’t help but give a little smile.

Ruby:I take it you’re ready for my turn? You do know it’s not exactly a sunshine and rainbows story, right?

Weiss:We figured as much, but....

Yang:You’re so different! From the moment you showed up I could just feel it in my gut. You have this...presence about you. Not to mention intsene confidence.

Blake:Yang is right. You said you beat your Salem when your seventeen. That’s...scary if I’m being honest. Such a drastic departure from any of our worlds.

Ruby:*red* Hehehe ummm I guess I’m just awesome? Really I don’t think it’s the most outstanding feat. At least by my worlds standards I suppose. I mean sure, I’m consider cream of the crop there too but there’s talented people and challenges all over that would put me through my paces still. I’m just...me.

Weiss:Sigh...honestly, I suppose that means our own skills must pale in comparison to our counterparts.

Ruby:Mmmm I wouldn’t say that for sure. My Yang would kill me if she heard this but there’s something about the one right here that has spark I dig.

Yang:Really?

Ruby:Uh huh. Can’t put my finger on it but I think you take her if you want it bad enough. As for Weiss....couldn’t tell ya. Haha, I know better than anybody to not underestimate the power of mother, and you pumped twins out.

Weiss:Not sure if those are pity points or real ones but thanks either way.

Blake:You don’t even have to tell me I’d lose. Just gave an entire story about me an my condition.

Ruby:Don’t feel too bad about it. I can’t imagine much reason for you two to fight for any reason. You’re both too reasonable to not reason with yourself.

Blake:Aw I’m touched.

Yang and Weiss:We aren’t....

Ruby:Hahaha I’m just saying! So, I guess I take things from the top like you all? From what I learned from all of you our Beacon experiences really are more or less the same, not counting certain interactions between a bookworm faunus and an adorkable blonde knight. Enrolled early, blew up the entrance, Weiss was rude, Yang ditched me, all the same beats.

Yang:There’s no super badass change like you beating Cinder the night of dance and making our entire lives easier?

Ruby:Ha! I wish I was that legit. No, I was very much the young girl tripping in heels that night. Vytal festival came around and was attacked, then Beacon fell. Pyrrha was lost and so was Penny. Difference being that was my last time seeing her, unlike Weiss’s story apparently.

Weiss:Yeah that...that’s a little bit of shock to be frank. Sorry.

Ruby:No worries. Not like you did anything and it was decades ago for me now. After that day is when I started to get a bit more serious I think. I had always taken being a huntress seriously and never slacked of in trying to live my dream. However, my perspective may have honed in on just how do or die life his when you’re the one choosing to walk into unknown danger. Team RNJR’s first and only mission, save the world!

Yang:Sub mission: Flirt with Jaune Arc.

Ruby:*blushing* We do not choose who we fall in love with it. But yes, that may have been a personal pseudo mission for me. He’s my first friend at Beacon for crying out loud and I you know.....thought he was cute then too.

WBY:Yeah that checks out.

Ruby:What does that mean!?

Weiss:Ruby, even my Ruby admits to finding Jaune attractive and having a crush on him back in the day.

Blake:Same.

Yang:I already went into enough detail on how my little sister feels about Jaune. Your just the reality where you pounced on the opportunity and never let go. Struck when the iron was hot and none of us were around; sly fox.

Ruby:Gee you make it sound underhanded. It isn’t like I intended to actively pursue him. Everyone was really sad and stressed traveling to Anima. There was a tension in the air. One that really strained us. I did my best to keep focus, but a leader is only as put together as team. Ren and Nora confided one another as usual and I tried being there for Jaune because seeing him emotionally shut down was rough; so I did my best to be there for him. Then...he ended up being there for me and I was the one who needed comfort. All the airing out and late nights just...led to....*red*

Blake: “Breaking the tension?”

Ruby:I guess that’s one way of putting it. We were lonely. I hid my feelings best I could under the veil of comfort in the moment. Not that needed to. He made it pretty clear that he wanted me in the same way I wanted him. I just the two of us were too scared to ask for promises we weren’t sure we could keep so we loved in the moments we could, so to speak.

Weiss:If it wasn’t under dire situations, all that sounds oddly romantic.

Ruby:Right!? Looking back at it makes the entire thing seem romantic but I definitely wouldn’t wish a similar experience on anybody! I guess it’s what I wished for when I fantasized huntress life huh? Things obviously got better along the way. Our relationship got a bit more serious right before we got to Haven. Then Tyrian and other crazy stuff happened that threw all of us into panic mode again before slowly getting better again by a lot.

Yang:We showed up?

Ruby:Bingo! You and Weiss, met Oscar, and then eventually Blake came back. Things were on the up and up.

Weiss:Uh, Haven attack?

Ruby:We lived, up and up. Yeah you got stabbed but you know...that’s not new I’m sure.

Weiss:Yeah I have the scar and I’m still little pissed.

Ruby:Valid. Anyways, so my Atlas experience was different as hell. There was no formation of Remnants armies like Weiss spoke of or even between two kingdoms like Blake. Yang, what happened yours again exactly?

Yang:Nonsense. Cinder showed up with lackeies but not Salem’s lackies. Those people showed up separately, then Adam came back from wherever the hell he- a lot! A lot of people showed up for different reasons but also the same reason and to be frank, we all almost got shot by the military for being in bases that quote unquote, “didn’t exist.”

Ruby:Man I wish we traded. That at least sounds crazy enough to be fun. Just a rollercoaster in the dark basically. My experience was probably as hectic, but also way more streamlined. We showed up, and then all hell broke loose. Specially a mass grimm invasion lead by Cinder and her annoying associates. We were there for about three weeks updating General Ironwood and getting our barrings together when it happened. I wanna call it a hit and run tactic but it was clearly planned in advanced. Mechs were hacked again, traitors in the military, grimm lying in wait before hand; it was chaos! All for the relic.

Blake:Who was the maiden?

Ruby:Never met her. By the time we got there, Ironwood was panicking because she had vanished, taken right from under his nose. It was some young girl apparently, really young. The attack on Beacon looked like child’s play to this. Mantle got attacked, grimm were on the chains, they tried dropping Atlas to the ground; all a diversion for a relic. We all should’ve died, and yet, we didn’t. Winter and Weiss weeded out traitors, huntsman and military held the line, Yang bested Hazel with Nora, Qrow and I cut down Tyrian! Ren, Blake and Jaune helped the kingdoms while Ironwood struck down Watts. Nobody was in the mood to die that day. There wasn’t gonna be another Beacon. By all means, we were pissed. Even Raven showed up of all people.

Yang:What!?

Ruby:You can’t attack a kingdom without the world knowing. Especially when traitors leak info. Honestly she came for you though, or she never left to begin with. Couldn’t tell ya. Thanks to Maria I had a bit more handling with my eyes. That helped a lot. Without them and Os-

She stopped herself, choking on the words. The zest and excitement of recalling the heroic feats of her friends dimmed slightly with her smile. Her joyful smile became bittersweet like the memory.

Ruby:Then there was Oscar, the real warrior on that flamed filled night. That battle had to have been three days at least. We were so driven, and so tired. I was tired, but Cinder, Neo, and the others with her at the time weren’t; always showing up at the worst time. I managed to push Cinder back in a fight but grimm and others still swarmed. We were at a point that grimm very well might’ve did us in and the villains didn’t have to push any harder. But Oscar changed that. Hehe, what’s it about country folk that makes people like him and I not hesitate to grit our teeth? That dork looked at me, gave me the biggest smile on the the steps to Atlas, and then he left. His hair went white as he twirled the cane and then he left, forever. Oz came out, and he left nothing to the imagination. “Limited magic” my butt. He obliterated grimm and made a barrier aroma Atlas while everyone else cleared Mantle long enough for the world to send reinforcements. Salem didn’t get the relic, but she got the maiden and thousands of casualties. Oscar being one of them. Also, Whitley....he was in critical condition for a very long time.

Weiss:What do you mean...critical condition?

Ruby:Everything happened so fast Weiss. Panic was high, buildings fell....a piece on him. I wasn’t there but when I eventually found you, you were nearly hysterical and banged up. By some miracle he lived even though we could not reach him and he did not get aid for awhile. We thought him dead. It was only after everything we learned somebody got him. Being rich never paid off more than with medical bills. Thanks to youth and medicine he can still walk, but he can only do so much before being tired. He also left Atlas. The cold hurts.

Weiss:So, I run the company because he can’t?

Ruby:I wouldn’t put it that way, but it was one of dozens of reasons that made that goal stronger for you. Relax though, both of you get plenty of time to be witty siblings like I told you earlier.

Weiss:I know. It’s just, I guess it’s hard imagining Whitley hurt like that. I don’t think I could handle it.

Ruby:You definitely teetered in the moment. Knowing that happened though probably gave you anger and grit to fight the entire battle. You were a beast. Scarier than Winter. Anyways, that hollow victory was a real wake up call for the world. They didn’t know about Salem and we never told society in earnest. Cinder and other conspirators were enough to make Remnant work together to boost defense. Relief went to places that needed it and I, became the face of hope. Haven, Argus, Atlas, even people from Vale got to chattering of a particular group of people who always seemed to answer the call for help. Then the towns in between chattered. Yours truly had been carving a name in the history books and was only gain popularity the moment I stepped into Vacou, alone.

Blake:Alone!?

Weiss:What!?

Yang:Where were we!!!!!?

Ruby looked at surprised faces around the table, smiling tenderly. She looked down her dress and pulled out the cross she wore around her neck. Her thumb traced its edges as her mind began wandering down an old path paved with emotions raw to the core.

Ruby:I’ve always felt different. Not just because of my eyes but that there was just...a certain spark that never stopped going off for as long as I remember. There are plenty of people who can’t bare to watch others suffer, but there are fewer people I believe that truly feel the agony of other people’s pain. Beacon, Haven, Atlas, Argus; there was no place I went that I didn’t see the faces of others lamenting, and I didn’t make me want to grieve. Atlas took so much out of all of you and I just felt so....driven to stop that ache. For everyone’s sake, but mine as well. I wanted the world to finally get to the happy ending. Enough trauma had be sowed for a hundred lifetimes, so I went on ahead of everyone. I never doubted you all would follow but I wanted to get ahead of the curve and take on as much of the suffering I could do others wouldn’t. If the world wouldn’t give me a miracle than I’d be it myself for everyone else.

Yang:That’s suicidal! Salem wanted you specifically!

Ruby:It’s not like I went marching up to her door and said “1v1 bitch, I’m here” no, I just chose to move forward quicker than what we were all doing. Believe me, all of you were upset when you caught up, after I had already saved Vacou. *smiles* I really like that place. I told the people it was the next target and all they did was double down on pushing back. I managed to pin down the Summer maiden before the villains and thanks with the city on alert, there wasn’t a shift in the sand that didn’t go unnoticed. I got the jump on Mercury and Emerald, personally paying them back. Can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. It didn’t take long before they realized how screwed they were with them being outed like this and Cinder having the nerve to retreat before hand. Both of them threw in the total, outing the plan against Vacou. A wipeout of a win. Not to mention they told me the location Salem’s little hiding hole.

Weiss:We missed all of that?

Ruby:That’s what happens when I leave in the dead of night and running on adrenaline. Like I said before, people were tired. As much as all of you wanted to hoof it, other’s were relying on you. Atlas almost dropped for gods sake. Eventually when you all caught up it was at a good time. Soloing was rewarding but difficult. Fortunately Sun, Neptune, Ilia, and a few other familiar faces were close by if I needed an extra set of hands. My little stunt earned the anger of everyone for awhile.

WBY:Yeah no shit...the leader left.

Ruby:Yang was the most upset, followed by Uncle Qrow, and you Weiss. I was ready for the blowback. Jaune and Nora saw me though and bursted into tears. Hehe, wasn’t ready for that. Felt terrible and cried back. To prevent that stunt again, my Yang convinced Raven to link me. A couple days of apologizing and rest smoothed things over. It also gave time for just a few close friends and colleagues to get together for an assault on Salem’s castle. A few were apprehensive about it at first but at the end of the day I was going. That attitude was infectious apparently. You guys, actually everybody, they started getting this hunger to end it all. Maybe it was the high of victory? Regardless, it sent me racing to the end with those that I loved most.

Yang:You’re a real “my way or the highway” kind of Ruby. I don’t get how that explains what made you so...elite.

Ruby:I’m not sure what to say. A fight needed to to fought so I fought it. A cry for help was heard so I ran to it. A grimm needed slaying so I slayed it. People needed me to win so I didn’t dare think of losing. Dying was never option, even when it stared me right into my eyes. I had things I wanted to do and people I wanted see for years to come. I guess...I am strong because of the fact I want things my way. A moment I’m not giving it 110% is a moment wasted. After all, a huntress is all I ever wanted to be.

A single dream she wanted since birth. The never ending desire to be the hero in stories told to her many nights ago. That’s all it ever was. That’s all it’s ever been. Even in meadow of beautiful red roses, one would be the rose that captured the eyes of many, that bloomed stronger than the rest. As simple as it was, that had to be the answer here. Weiss, Yang, and Blake were in front of that flower. The Ruby Rose that simply bloomed stronger than the rest. The one that clung to her dream as if letting go meant dying itself. The devotion was inspiring, yet also overwhelming. If this was Ruby they had lead them that day in the Emerald Forest, could they have kept up? Could she be the leader they followed? No, they couldn’t have. Something deep down inside them gave them that answer. No matter how she looked and how much she loved, this Ruby Rose was cut from a cloth they simply weren’t off. The same as others, but oh so different.

Weiss:You’re....kinda a monster, you know that right?

Yang:Seriously, I’m so...floored. It’s intimidating.

Blake:Not to mention humbling. I used to think I gave it all I had. Now I’m not so sure.

Ruby:Oh don’t be like that you three! You’re all living proof there was more than way to go about life, this war! Everything you gave was enough because you’re done with it! Nobody failed. Besides, I...am far from ideal. The assault was challenging. Getting around hoards of grimm and making it to Salem was hell made real. Neo tried taking another shot at me but Yang held her off with help. Everyone pushed the obstacles in front of me out of the way as I went to Salem herself. Cinder had been abandoned by her and stripped of a lot of her powers. Angry and desperate, she tried killing me again as a way to prove worth. I beat her. However, I let her walk away.

Yang:What!? Why would-

Ruby:Naive, I was...naive okay? She was all spent and though I hated her, I just couldn’t. Not when I looked into her eyes and saw that same hunger I had to claw and scream at my dream until it was in my hands die inside her. We both knew from this point on there was absolutely nothing she could do where this ends her way. All she worked for turned burned to ash. So I gave her the choice to not burn up with it. Cinder swallow her pride and then fled. A part of me couldn’t help but rationalize killing her didn’t solve or justify any of my beliefs or desires. It would’ve done it because I hated her like she hated me. That was the dumb logic of a seventeen year old who never quite learned to take things slow.

Blake:....I don’t think it’s dumb. Naive for sure, but maybe that’s good? Even my Ruby, she never wanted to act on hate. She didn’t. Salem lives.

Weiss:Mine sent her soul to be at piece instead of passing a cruel judgment.

Yang:As a person who’s seen what you looked like with nothing but vengeance inside, I can say it doesn’t fit you. Before that day you had a warmth inside you to even foes that were somewhat admirable. You chose to leave Cinder’s fate up to those who had that hate and Salem was undone by her own doing at the very end. That’s what really makes you special Ruby. That’s why you’re called an honest soul. Good will is your nature.

Ruby:....Hmm, you sure know how to butter me up. *scratches head* I guess that part of me is uni-I mean multiversal. Strangely, that makes me feel better, to a degree.

Weiss:Do we even have to ask what happened to Salem at this point? I doubt the story ends with you loosing and having to retreat.

Ruby:Who’s to say it doesn’t? I could’ve been beaten to death before the gods themselves descended down to revive me with awesome power.

Yang:....Did you?

Ruby:Wh-No! Haha, I made her an immortal statue.

Blake:I-It was that easy?

Ruby:Well I wouldn’t call rushing into hell’s castle easy, or Salem. I lit her up at least a dozen times. My head pounded from each use, I was tossed around a bunch, magic is annoying, and not to mention running out of ammo. I left nothing to the imagination in that fight. If it were easy then I wouldn’t be rooting my horn and my age doing it. I was so tired I blacked out afterwards. I woke days later with a sore body and the title of “Remnant’s Savior.” Apparently beating Salem had weakened the grimm everywhere and all of you made sure who was to be thanked for it. That’s the tale of how I saved the world with my friends. Love, trust, elbow grease, and a lot of bullets. Before the final battle, Ozpin had struck a deal with everyone involved. In return for saving the world, he’d cut ties with us.

Yang:Seriously? What brought that about!?

Ruby:Good or not, he lied and was a schemer. Sure I was gonna try to save the world regardless of his interference but there wasn’t a person alive that didn’t to finally take a step towards the future after all this. All of us finally had time chase dreams and help the world the way we wanted to before all of this. Blake begin mending hate, Weiss took back her company, if Yang wasn’t with Blake then she was seeking more answers to Raven on wild adventures.

Yang:You mean Raven still left after all that!?

Ruby:In her defense, both of you made everything fucking awkward when she was around. It’s like you both wanted to talk about something but knew any subject was a land mine so you all you ever did was...stare, like weirdos. Glad that’s in the past. She just lives with dad now and you two now to hold a conversation. I dare not ask for more. I’d be a granny by the time I did.

Yang:Sigh...I don’t know what I expected. Shit it the fan several times and children were born before mom and I found solidarity and understanding. What did you do afterwards? Your goal was already met.

Ruby:Like hell it was! I started busting my butt traveling around the world, visiting every place to help in anyways I could. Ren and Nora tagged along for awhile before going off to make an orphanage in Anima near Ren’s old village. That left Jaune and I to do our hero thing.

Yang:As well as other things....

Ruby:Hey, what can I say? We were young and going up in the world. By the time I was nineteen, I was now a married to my partner and best friend.

Weiss:Uhhhh-

Ruby:He’s my partner on RNJR and you’re my BFF, gosh did I really need to explain that hehe?

Weiss:I just had to make sure. Crazier twists could happen.

Blake:Wow you married young. Not that there’s a problem but I’m surprised. Then again you also dated earlier than my Ruby. Hehe, weapons were on her brain for a long time.

Weiss:No kidding. When I learned about you crushing on my brother I was shocked to find out you liked anybody in general. Especially a person who isn’t a weapon nut in the slightest.

Ruby:*shrugs* All you’re telling me is I’m clearly the most impatient or impulsive Ruby you all know. Don’t know how that happened. Maybe I was dropped as a baby or had one too many coffees growing up?

Weiss:I’m willing to bet it’s both.

Ruby:Ruuuuude. So yeah, that’s...the story of how I saved the world and married Jaune. We even built a home just outside Vacou, overlooking the kingdom and neighboring town in the distance where Maria grew up. Yeah, that’s me....more or less. All the triumphant parts anyways. Anything later on is......

.......

Blake:R...Ruby? You okay?

Ruby:Nope, not really. *clenches cross*

Yang:......You know, I never really got religion, especially after learning the truth. It just seemed completely hollow when you learn of the real gods, ya know? However, I changed my tune a bit after being a parent and then some more when uncle Qrow died. It was never really about the truth behind if those other gods were real-

Ruby:It’s the piece of mind in believing in a better place for loved ones and having people watch over you. It’s truly based on blind faith in every sense but that’s okay as long as it gives peace of mind, to stay strong. Yeah....that’s why I wear this.

Yang:If that’s the “why” then I guess the unavoidable question is what happened?

The reaper leaned back in his chair, letting out a long sigh. Ruby brushed her hair out of her face while her face went pale. Then, Ruby’s eyes, her teammates watched a pair of stunning silver eyes dim, becoming akin to a clouded mirror.

Ruby:Being a huntress was all I wanted. The plan of having a family and settling down never appealed to me much. I feel, I felt like being in the field was where I was meant to be. It’s where I was most myself in a way. So the day I learned that I was pregnant was more than a little upsetting and terrifying, until dad and time itself filled me with the most genuine joy I may have ever experienced. Dustin Arc Rose, my first born son. He opened a door to a world and life I never knew I wanted to be apart of. Then...that door was shut minutes after, when Cinder and Neo stole him right from my arms. I couldn’t do a single thing about it other than blackout. That single act of good will I showed, it did nothing but kill me inside. The same way I did to her.

WB:.....

Yang:Ru-Ruby....your eyes.

Ruby:Hmm? Are they clouded? Funny, I would’ve thought your Ruby would’ve had a similar change. Maybe that’s a world exclusive thing, or a testament to the will you Ruby has to endure. Clouded eyes on a silver eyed warrior means the person has lost the desire or rather the mindset of persevering life. Be it their own life or wanting to end another’s life out of resentment, strife. My entire world fell apart when I woke up and learned nobody was able to retrieve Dustin. I was in pieces, Jaune was broken, nobody was the same. There wasn’t a soul we didn’t know that hadn’t tried to find a lead, but we never did. He was just...gone; and I couldn’t cope at all.

Weiss:I don’t think any mother could. Ruby, I’m so sorry that happened to you.

Ruby:I’m sorry too. I lashed out in anger, and shut people out. My eyes clouded and I dove into my work for a little over a year doing nothing but searching aimlessly as I took and every job back to back. The more time went by meant the more people eventually had to go back to their own, and it drove me up a wall inside. No one could reach me. I didn’t want anybody to. Not even Jaune. I....*teary eyed* I left him alone in house. There was no part of me that could even attempt to understand his pain because I was drowning in mine. I was told he tried his best to catch them at the hospital. I never hated him for not succeeding but I...he... I just, I can’t. I don’t know what I thought. All o knew was I didn’t even want him to touch me. How cruel is that? *hugging herself* I made him drown in despair in the same way I was. I wasn’t home so often that I never realized he eventually left it abandoned to live with dad. Yang and Blake I didn’t even show up to your wedding. Jaune did that much. Hell, Raven attended. Ruby Rose as a person didn’t exist any more. I was only a wandering huntress looking for answers or the challenge that might’ve ended me.

Blake:What changed?

Ruby:Oz, he did what nobody else dared to do. He fought me. I don’t think he thought twice about it. He was prepared to accept all the anger I kept inside until I eventually broke down into tears like I’m trying not to do right now. Thinking about that time is still, extremely difficult. Oz let me lament, encouraging me afterwards to finally except the fact Dustin was gone and that I needed to process it properly. First I went to you Yang, in order to have a my big sis to lean on. Can you guess how that went?

Yang:With me holding you tighter than I ever had before.

Ruby:*smiles gently* I don’t deserve you. You and Blake then came to patch with me where everyone else waited for me and helped me face Jaune. That may have been the hardest thing I’ve done. Grieving or not, the fact that I left him in such a state. I know what that does to people firsthand and yet I left. For the first time in over a year we embraced and finally grieved together. The next two years were spent trying to heal and cope. During my time away the world had fully acknowledged me. I even got a proper nickname, but it all felt hollow. Imagine that, achieving your dream but not caring? If that’s not salt in a wound then I don’t know what is.

Weiss:What’s your title?

Ruby:I am the person people want to see when evil comes to cut their story short. I am a symbol that their tale still has more to tell. Remnant has named me The Storyteller. Curtsey of Maria, who spread the name around. Healing was slow and most nights I felt a pain in my heart, but then everything changed. One moment made me dare to try again to open that shut door in my life. *looks at Yang* I held your son in my arms. Sweet little Kovu.

Blake:*smiles* Kovu? Now I wonder who named him?

Yang:*red* Huh...how about that? Hehehe, wish I could meet him. I know he isn’t technically mine but I can’t help but feel all warm now. Also I can’t believe I named him that!

Weiss:I can. Veronica’s middle name is Nala.

Yang:Okay, maybe not marrying Blake was a win? Clearly I can’t be trusted to not name my children after other cats.

Blake:The wrong kind of cat too. I’m a panther faunus, not a lion. Even if they’re blonde that’s still false advertising of what they are.

Ruby:Well Yang was the one giving birth so you lost a majority of the option to complain.

Blake:That is fair.

Weiss:You gave birth to Vee, so I think that solves who picked her first name.

Ruby rested her head in her propped up hands that rested on the table. She felt exhausted reliving that chapter of her life mentally. Still she managed to smile, then smile bigger. Her eyes unclouded and a warm feeling filling her again. What Ruby said earlier about what made her different may have reign true, but her friends could since that there was now more to it. Ruby had spiraled into an unimaginable tragedy, yet was able to bounce back thanks to loved ones. To smile as she does, it was truly a strong sight to see. Even if she wasn’t fully aware of that.

Ruby:Carmine Arc Rose, my second born and the first child to call me mommy. Followed many years later by itty bitty Garnet. He’s my little man, five years old while is big sis is seventeen now.

Yang:Damn! That’s a gap. Oh, also congratulations. Almost forgot that part. I’m glad you got to be the super awesome mom that-

Ruby:I am easily C-teir.

Yang:Oh come on! What!?

Ruby:Listen, I know I got on you all for calling yourselves bad parents, but I will hear no debate about me understand!? I flop a lot of times.

Weiss:That doesn’t make you a C-teir. That makes you a new mom, silly.

Ruby:*grumbling* I agree to disagree but thank you. It’s just a lot okay. Too much to dive into honestly.

Blake:Summarize. Give us an abbreviated version.

Ruby:Ummm so Carmine is real special kid. The absolute love I have for her is unbreakable but gods damnit if she isn’t the most... “me” I could be! In a way similar yet different from myself, Carmine has always had this sense of urgency in her and a love for the world around her. She recognizes that it’s a fragile piece we have and just how hard I’ve worked with everyone to make it. I could tell that from her when she was five. I’d sound crazy, but the fact she used her eyes at the age proves I’m not.

Yang:She has silver eyes!? Why didn’t you bring that up?

Ruby:I thought that was obvious. All of my kids were born with then. Unlike her baby brother though, Carmine was a weird little kid. She didn’t socialize well. Still doesn’t, she’s kinda comes off rude and cold because of her bluntness. She doesn’t really express all her feelings or understand others fully. One might call her a little cold but the passion she had to protect life itself is a testament to how much she cares. Carmine is also a genius fighter. To put in perspective, people use the same nickname for her that they used for Pyrrha.

WBY:Oh....

Ruby:Yeah! It’s not hyperbolic to say ever since Carmine is far beyond any skill I was at her age since she turned thirteen. You called me a monster earlier but no, I merely gave birth to a beast. I mean she could pass the huntsman exam at fifteen if I didn’t make her wait. I can’t call her arrogant, she talks with confidence because she has that right by all means. Still, besides her face, that’s where the similarities start separating; besides terrible grades in general stuff. We’ve never been in step completely. To put simply in her own words, “What I am is a hero, while she is a huntress.” That good will and mercy I try to give everyone isn’t how she rolls. It drives a real wedge that has resulted in us not going on missions together.

Blake:Is she...killing?

Ruby:She has before, and it had valid reasons entirely, but I also know for a fact she is more than capable of bringing down people without taking that step. Not all cases are that intense thank goodness. Her overall aggressiveness is the root of the problem. You don’t have to put you back into it when handling thugs. They aren’t Hazel.

Yang:Ooo okay, yeah I’m seeing what you mean now. It’s like that one comic you always read!

Ruby:Sigh...yeah she channels a bit of Batman energy and I need her to not do that all the time. I suppose being an honest soul isn’t particularly hereditary. It always feels like we aren’t enjoying each other’s company these days. I can’t blame her though. So....you know how all of you have had one serious problem that has both destabilized yourself as well as the kids and their relationship to you? *clouded eyes*

Weiss:Wait...you loosing a child wasn’t that?

Ruby:Oh it was. It just so happened that it never ended. It grew day by day. Night by night. Jaune and I were cautious with Carmine. Going as far to give her contacts and giving birth to her off the record and not at a hospital. Just in case Cinder came back. Well, Cinder and Neo came back, with my Dustin.

Nobody said anything. What do you even say to that!? All they did was let out a stifled breath and tried to gauge Ruby’s look of guilt.

Ruby:Yet again we had gotten too comfortable. It happened when Carmine was thirteen. I don’t think Garnet was even one yet. That’s when the cruelest realization hit me. My son had been alive and hearing about how his so called mother being a person who saves everyone, yet she never came for him. She had moved on, letting his eyes become clouded with such seething hate for the world she did save; the children she had after. It’s been four years since the day he attacked Carmine and helped grimm try to invade Vacou. To this day it’s been a life of staying on gaurd, searching for them as they popped up countless places to tear Remna- to tear me down and I can’t decide what part hurts the most. The amount of anger that prevents me from killing Cinder in a blink of an eye, or looking at my daughter who has told me herself that she is going to kill her older brother because I’m too weak to do so. That I’m in no way as good as the world believes me to be. *puts hood up* Like I said, C-teir mom, at best.

Blake:That’s- you can’t- there’s no way for you to reach him? Maybe if you-

Ruby:He looks at me the same way Neo and Cinder do, Blake. They raised him to hate me. Besides, he hurt Carmine. She’s just not gonna let that slide and frankly I shouldn’t either. Carmine acts tough and for the most part is, but gets terrified like everyone else. In many ways she’s still just a young girl that I wish had never chosen to become a huntress. If I had it my way she’d just be a normal girl with normal knees; but her mother’s weakness and inexperience wrapped her up in yet another war. It’s ironic. I barely remember mom and yet I ended up putting my family in very similar situation as if she lead instruction. Happy endings, I’m not sure if I get-

Yang:You’re better than mom....

Ruby:......

Yang:Yeah I said. Look I love Summer Rose but at the end of the day she wasn’t around, not that she didn’t want to be, but it’s the truth. Several years of pleasant childhood memories and a lifetime of grief is what she left me, and all you got were tales you should’ve experienced first hand. Ruby you have spent seventeen years loving your daughter unconditionally and being there for her no matter if it’s for better or worse. Yeah you might not being doing it perfectly and I have no idea how to even fathom your predicament, but at least you are there trying. Take it from me, that’s all a daughter ever wants from their mother. It’s also what makes a pretty kick ass dad. *smiles* Chin up, hero. Your story isn’t over yet after all.

Silence filled the air and Ruby’s throat ran dry. Ruby pulled out her scroll to go to her pictures and displayed one of her favorite photos for everyone to see. It was Carmine’s fifteenth birthday. Ruby didn’t lie about the resemblance. the girl had short blonde hair that stopped halfway down her neck in the back and was longer in the front, reaching shoulders. Like her mother, the tips of her hair transitioned to red. The beautiful young woman tried to her hide her smile but her gleeful silver eyes were practically twinkling with joy as Ruby hugged her tightly from behind and a tall, more solid version of Jaune was smushing one of Carmine’s cheeks with an overly dramatic kiss to it. A tiny child no older than three at most was in his big sister’s arms. Garnet had his mother’s hair and eyes but something about the chubby face definitely showed Jaune’s features. The child had red frosting on his face and was reaching eagerly for more cake somewhere out of frame.

Yang noticed the girl took page from her father and wore some regular cargo shorts, but clearly didn’t lack flair by wearing a red crop top that showed off a fresh tattoo of the Arc crest on her toroso. Knowing her sister, that tattoo was most likely practical. The family looked happy, proud; and the mother of it currently sat across the table crying with her head face down in her hands cwhile Weiss and Blake hugged her from each side. Roses may have thorns, anyone who knew roses knew a simple truth. They’re still fragile flowers.

Yang:(Carmine Arc Rose. For you and your mother’s sake, I hope things go well)

xxxx

Though Carmine seemed cold by nature, people were quick learn the opposite. The most recent learner of this was a scared little girl that held on for dear life. It was nighttime, nothing but the sound of pouring rain and the distant glow of red and the warmth of Carmine holding the girl against her body while she sprinted through a mud ridden forest. The little payed no attention to the pain in her side, but the glow of roses, eyes, and flames through her tear filled eyes.

Beowulves chased frantically but then severed immediately by something the girl couldn’t understand, but it looked like the person carrying her. The dead beasts brought no comfort. Not when more followed close behind.

Girl:I-I’m sc...scared!

Carmine:Don’t look at them sweetie, it’ll be fine. Just keep being a brave little girl.

Girl:M...Mommy was back there.

Carmine:.....I know, she’ll be just fine. Your village, there are plenty of people there that will be just fine! Huff..... You got a name?

Mary:Mary.....

Carmine:Oh that’s a beautiful name, Mary. You know I was almost a Mary? Yeah my grandma was a really amazing person and I almost got named something similar to her. Mary is a very strong name!

Mary:You’re a liar! I’m sad, not strong. I want my mommy! Everything his dark and hurts and I want her!

The girl began painfully crying as Carmine followed her trail of roses to avoid getting lost. Things were getting worse. The storm raged and she could feel this girl burning in her arms. Not to mention the unsettling warmth the mixed with the cold rain against her body and dripped to puddles below. Any grimm near by could only be dealt with by many copies of her nearby, but that would only go so far when fear was out full force. Carmine’s boots felt like cement, but she still ran.

Carmine:Mary, you know what do when I miss my mommy? I sing! Yeah, my mom sings the best lullabies that made me feel super strong when I was little! It’s a magic song that makes everyone strong. How about I sing it you and they can sing it your mommy later okay!? But you have to close your eyes to really focus on the words!

Mary:*sniffling* Okay....

Baby deathstalkers swarmed the path made ahead as small Nevermores dove at her. Out of options, Carmine broke from the path, trying to rely on memory to go towards the safe zone while also singing lyrics to her favorite song.

Dream of anything; I'll make it all come true.

Everything you need is all I'll have for you~

Carmine never wavered. No matter how badly her lungs her or nearly slipped, she kept singing all the way to her destination where several other clones were seen racing towards with more civilians to injured or young to go themselves. An orphanage where Nora and Ren stood outside rushing people in while Jaune was keeping the grimm at bay. The sight brought a little ease.

Don't worry, I've got you; nothing will ever harm you.

I'm close by, I'll stay here; through all things, I will be near~

Carmine finally reached Nora and passed off the girl who’s grip weakened overtime. A few lyrics in and Carmine knew she was singing mainly for herself.

Carmine:Get her medical attention! I’m gonna go and find more! There’s still-

Jaune:Wait, it’s too dangerous!

Carmine:I know! That’s why I have to go! That fire is spreading and there’s stragglers pinned down! Dad.....I’m pinned down!

Jaune tensed up and looked at Carmine. No scraps on her and her clothes only soiled by others. It didn’t take long to realize. The man resisted the urge to run out to the ruined town and stood firmly.

Jaune:Carmine...end it. We’ll worry about the consequences later.

Carmine:....Okay.

Across the woods amongst the flames the real Carmine stood bleeding and bruised in front of two Beringel that charged over the vanishing corpses of their fallen with more grimm, her sword stabbed into the ground supporting her weight. Behind all living people that remained finally managed to flee. All except for a woman trapped by house debris. The woman watched this young huntsman stand proudly again. She wasn’t sure what happened next. All she heard was one sentence.

“Close your eyes...” before everything went white. Next thing she knew, Carmine was lifting debris off her as rain and wind washed away any evidence. A relief she didn’t care about in the slightest. She neither had the strength, or the time too. Much like Carmine, who began to pant and teeter. It was clear to the woman that whatever just happened didn’t come without cost as she watched the girl fall to her knees. Though she tried moving, Carmine was spent.

Carmine:Don’t worry...we’re safe....let’s-

Woman:Go...

Carmine:Huh?

Woman:I...my legs. Everything...I can’t move. Just go. I d-don’t think I’d las-

Carmine:Don’t talk like that! The hard parts over! I can-

Woman:Barely walk. *smiles* It’s okay. I don’t blame you. You fought hard.

Carmine:.....I...I’m sorry. *teary eyed*

Woman:Say, I know that face anywhere. Your Lady Rose’s kid. Funny, I thought your eyes were red? My daughter, Mary, she loves your mother. Makes me kinda jealous hehe, but hey I love her too. *crying* Do you know if Mary made it? She was wearing-

Carmine:A black dress, pink ribbons in her hair...

Woman:Yes! Is she safe? I saw you- one of you carry her off.

Carmine:...She’s just fine.

Woman:Good. That’s all....that.....

The woman never finished her sentence. Carmine’s body fell limp on the ground, facing the rain. Even with the cold downpour she could feel the warmth of her own tears, containing her emotions best she could as she looked through her clones eyes to watch Nora take Mary away from the survivors and out of sight to not stir further panic.

Carmine wasn’t sure how long she layed there, but it was long enough for Jaune to find her. The man didn’t say a word. The town was in shambles. Grimm were still fading and his daughter looked tired, but not in serious condition. Unlike the those who didn’t make it. Jaune put Carmine in his arms, carrying her away to safety.

Carmine:......Does mom ever save them all?

Jaune:No, but that never stops her from trying; or mourning.

She clenched her father’s shirt and let herself be fragile, to be a Rose.

Carmine:Next time. Mom and I, we’ll both get it right next time. A happy ending for all!

Jaune:Yeah, I know you will. Together....

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Obey Me! Request: What if the reader's a fairy whose wings were ripped away eight years prior (and Solomon knows because in this canon he and MC are childhood friends who made a pact on accident). How would they all react when they see the scars?

Oh, how I love writing requests while also listening/watching teachers do online courses~

---

Lucifer

His first reaction would be shock, then complete rage.

Who dared do something so incredibly cruel to his beloved S/O?!

He would start asking you details, if you knew who did it, if found, could the wings be attached again, if the scars still hurt and countless other questions.

He is not THE most powerful demon Brother for nothing, you know?

He is definitely going to find out the culprit, find your wings, wherever they are, and do anything in his power to put them on your back, as good as new, as if nothing happened.

Demons can do lots of things, and if they can’t do it, he’s sure Simeon will do a little angelic favour to him, for good times’ sake, when they were as good as brothers.

He already lost Lilith, he’s not going to have you in pain, miserable and suffering as well.

---

Mammon

Mammon.exe stopped working.

He’s literally so shocked all he can do for a while is stare at the terrible scars on your back.

What happened? Did they hurt? Were you really okay?

To him, those scars feel like the scars his heart has from all the hate he gets from his brothers.

When you tell him what happened, he feels his heart being crushed and cut up and everything.

He can’t imagine what could you have felt when that happened, and even now, after so many years...

Mammon has lots of connections and knows everything on the market, and despite this not being something he’d search for, now it’s his top priority.

Even his brothers, seeing how serious and desperate he is, will help him out in any way possible (shocked and impressed by his ambition).

After everything is solved, he’d make sure to hug you just a bit tighter, kiss you just a bit longer, make sure he never says anything that may hurt you, even if it meant walking all over his pride and tsundere tendencies...

He’d do anything for you.

---

Leviathan

He’d freak out at first, thinking that someone attacked you, or something bad, and that you’d need medical attention asap.

When you tell him those are old scars, he bites his lip and asks if he can know what happened.

As soon as you tell him what happened, his eyes start to sparkle and he mentions how you were definitely a Magical Girl, and this was just the bad part of your story plot.

He will consult with his brothers to find out if somehow you can glue new wings back or literally anything.

He finds out there is a way to get you new wings and attach them back to their place, so Levi spends all his money to get the most beautiful, sparkly, colourful, magical girl styled wings, making you look like a fairy, and as well as that, he’ll draw you as a magical girl and as yourself, undercover, draw your magical girl weapon and will literally create a whole universe about you, that will eventually turn into a manga series, and an anime.

He will obviously make himself the love interest of you, the protagonist, and every emotions and words he’s too shy to express out loud, will definitely be shown in the manga.

---

Satan

Oh boy, this one will literally burn with anger - Flames and cinder around him and all that.

He will bite his lip in anger, trying his best not to manifest his wrath in front of you, while he gingerly touched the scars left on your skin.

He will be restless until he gets to torture the living hell out of the fucker who dared do something so gruesome to you, and when he’s done, he’ll make sure his soul gets to hell and will personally attend to his eternal agony.

When he’s done for the day, he won’t get back to you until he found YOUR wings, and got them to their rightful state, pristine clean and healthy, just as new, as if they never left your back.

Satan will go through all magic books he has to get the wings on your back perfectly, painless, even enchant them to look even cooler, in any way you like.

When everything is back to normal, Satan would love to touch your wings, massage your back and watch your flutter them around, seeing the happiness in your eyes as you finally felt free.

---Asmodeus

Asmo would feel angry and upset that something like that had to happened to his beautiful, beloved S/O.

He would hug you tightly, trying to comfort you, not caring that it happened years ago or that it doesn’t hurt anymore.

No, Asmo is going to cuddle you, stroke your hair, kiss you all over your face and say all the sweetest and soothing words that only you will ever have the privilege to hear.

Of course, he wouldn’t just sit still, he will take Satan and look everywhere for the prettiest wings, while he has a picture of you on his D.D.D. to make sure the the height, colour, lengths, texture, weight of the wings are going to match you perfectly.

You’re his angel, no matter what.

He’s gonna take an infinite amount of professional pictures of you, different outfits, different backgrounds, different places, different hairstyles, different makeups, so he’d give you the confidence, because you are perfect from head to toe.

---Beelzebub

He’d be shocked to hear that, and in a way, he will project this whole situation to his problem with Lilith.

Don’t get me wrong, he won’t see you as Lilith, but he blames himself for Lilith’s death, and he feels like, now that he has the opportunity to save you and bring you back your wings, it would mean, in a way, that he finally did something right for his loved one and he can forgive himself.

Your happiness and well-being are all that matter to him.

That night, he will hold you close to his chest, almost afraid that you would somehow disappear, or break, like a porcelain doll, so beautiful, yet so fragile.

Beel will ask for Belphie’s help and insight on the issue, and as soon as he finds a remedy, he will take out his laptop and show you wings online, letting you choose whichever you like most, or which one you think would look the most like the ones you had.

His heart will flutter with relief and happiness when you finally have your new wings and he gets to attach them on your back, seeing them fuse with your body.

Beel will stare at you in awe at how majestic you look, and will get in his demon form, hugging you tightly to his chest, kissing your head, a soft smile on his face.

He finally did the right thing.

---

Belphegor

Fucking humans! 

How dare they do something so atrocious to you?!

How could they hurt you and Lilith, the ones he loved the most in this life?!

Needless to say, Belphie would be incredibly angry and will take immediate action.

Avatar of Sloth? No more.

Avatar of You’reFuckingDead.

He’ll go to the end of the world to burn that bastard alive, make sure he realises how much he screwed up, messing with HIS S/O...

He lowkey contemplates destroying the human world again, but knowing you exist and how upset you’d be quickly changes his mind, which only makes him torture the jerk even more.

When he gets back, he doesn’t hesitate even 1 second before putting your wings on your back and dragging you in front of the mirror, fixing them, before hugging your from behind in his Demon form and wrapping his tail protectively around you, resting his chin on the top of your head.

Seeing the mirror’s reflection, he vows to never let anything ever come anywhere close to making you upset.

[novaiya]

After Midnight - Arthur Morgan, Micah Bell.

Summary: Having spent the entire day traveling with Sean, Charles and Micah, Arthur wants nothing more than to let the sleep overtake him. His plans are sidetracked when Micah wouldn't leave his hotel room, and Arthur has to concentrate hard to ignore the man and his talk as he tries to fall asleep.

Words: 2,313

Warnings: none.

AO3 Link.

A/N: Long story short, I was able to trigger a “Companion” bug in which camp members can follow you on your adventures around the world. Google/Search it on YouTube to get a better sense for what I’m talking about. Anyway, I got Micah, Charles and Sean. I robbed and killed with them for a few hours before deciding to call it a night and went into a hotel. I got Arthur a bath, and as I’m laying in the bath, I see an icon moving toward Arthur’s room. When I left the bath and went into the hotel room, who did I see lol? Micah wouldn’t leave the room no matter what, so Arthur slept with Micah watching over him. Only when Arthur woke up the next morning did Micah finally leave the room. Weirdly enough, only Micah stayed with Arthur in the room, not Sean or Charles, though all of them were supposed to follow Arthur wherever he went.

~ ~ ~

It was nice to hang out with the guys for a change. More often than not, Arthur was alone; he would go hunting alone, collect bounties alone and help people around the country, alone. He enjoyed the solitude, of course, but something about riding with his fellow gang members down the dusty plain, all of them on their respective horses, had him treasure every minute of it. The conversations that they engaged in were a welcomed change to the usual silence that accompanied Arthur on his journeys, and the safety in numbers did not go by unnoticed. He could feel, as they passed by fellow gunslingers and bounty hunters on the road, eyes watching them warily. No one dared to look at them wrong, just the sight of all four of them, with iron on their hips and scars on their faces, made any attempt dissipate as fast as their horses did down the dirt path.

The night had fallen when they rolled into town. The shops were closing down, saloons becoming quieter and streets emptier as they rode through the Main Street. Arthur could feel a yawn make its way up his throat and did nothing to stop it. The day was long, with enough endeavors to last some people a lifetime, and he wanted nothing to do than to wash it away and go to sleep.

As they continued their way up the Main Street, Arthur saw a hotel; a small construction that by the looks of it barely stood together with the rotten boards and rusty nails, but with no other options, it would have to do.

Despite offering them, Sean and Charles declined spending the night in the crappy hotel and said they rather camp outside of town. Arthur didn’t have a chance to extend the same offer to Micah (not that he wanted to either) for the fact that he couldn’t find him (he went to the general store), so after bidding the guys goodnight, he went into the hotel, paid for a room and a bath and went to the latter first.

The first few minutes of being submerged in the water were always the best. Arthur could feel every ounce of stress leave his body along with the dirt. These few moments of peace always made him think of his dog, and despite the fact that the boy was long gone, he always smiled when he remembered him.

As okay as he was with bathing in rivers and lakes, he much preferred the steaming hot water of a hotel bath. He took the time to thoroughly wash himself, sliding the wet rag up and down his arms, legs and back. A satisfied groan would leave his lips now and then as he washed his hair, adding a slight pressure to massage his scalp.

After he finished cleaning himself, he took a deep breath and reclined against the rim of the bath. The smell of peppermint soap filled his senses and with the soap bubbles acting as a blanket, he felt himself drifting off to the dream world. A commotion outside made him let out an exhausted sight and open his eyes. He furrowed his brows as he heard someone enter the room next door, his room.

Perhaps it was Sean or Charles taking him up on his offer, deciding against bunking with coyotes and skunks.

He heaved a deep groan as he exited the bath. After drying himself off and putting on a fresh pair of clothes, he went to his room.

“What the hell are you doin’ here?” Arthur said as soon as he entered the room.

Micah’s back was turned to Arthur as he stood by the window of the room, looking outside. The town was quiet and all its citizens asleep. Micah enjoyed the nighttime, the quietness and calmness it provided. Like all the nighttime creatures, Micah felt the most comfortable when the sun was set and the moon loomed over.

“Well,” Micah said as he turned around, holding a cigarette between his fingers, “As you forgot to invite me, I decided to take matters into my own hands and welcome myself in.”

“Get out of here,” Arthur said as he moved across the room to a nightstand by the bed, removing his satchel and placing it there. He made a point of ignoring the man by the window as he took off his gun belt and placed it next to his satchel.

Micah didn’t move from his spot by the window, though he wasn’t looking through it anymore. As he held the cigarette between his fingers, puffing on it from time to time, he watched Arthur remove his belt, his jackets and his boots, all while his back was to him.

As Arthur turned around, ready to start pulling down his pants, he saw that Micah was still there, eyeing him in such a way that Arthur all of a sudden felt flustered.

“You still here?” he said.

Micah motioned with his hands and shrugged his shoulders without saying anything, implying that Yes, as you can see, I’m still standing here.

Micah moved from his position near the window to lean against a dresser in the center of the room.

Arthur wondered why he hadn't pushed Micah out of the room yet, and why he was now pulling his pants down, stripping down to just his Union suit in front of the man he’s known all 5 months. Not that the length of time they’ve known each other would have an effect on whether he would strip in front of him or not, but still. Perhaps he was too tired to pick a fight.

When down to his sleepwear, Arthur sat at the edge of the bed. The sleep had long passed him, and he was sharply aware that Micah wasn’t moving from his place by the dresser.

“Are you just gonna stand there?” Arthur said.

“Do you want me to stand somewhere else?” Micah replied.

Arthur rolled his eyes before saying, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Micah placed the cigarette back between his lips and inhaled the smoke. He kept his eyes on Arthur as he let the smoke escape in a cloud in front of him. After wetting his lips with his tongue, Micah replied as a matter of fact, “I don’t sleep.”

“You don’t-You don’t sleep?” Arthur said, a genuine surprise in his voice at what Micah said. Now that he thought about it though, he realized that he has actually never seen the man sleep before. He’s never seen him sleep, never seen him in his sleepwear and never even seen him lay down. In fact, he didn’t even think Micah had his own tent or a cot to begin with.

“Nope.”

“That’s a load of crap,” Arthur said and waved his hand at Micah, “Everybody's gotta sleep.”

“Not me.”

Despite how outlandish the statement sounded, Arthur found himself believing Micah; If the wrinkles and bags under the man’s eyes were anything to go by.

As if it only now dawned upon him, Arthur cocked his head at Micah and said, “So what did you come here for then? Watch me sleep?”

Micah chuckled, the same way he did when he wanted to undermine someone or simply be an ass.

“If that’s what you want, cowpoke,” he said.

Arthur was far too tired to engage in a pointless verbal quarrel with Micah.

Without replying anything else, he shook his head, got under the thin covers of the hotel bed and turned his back to him, determined to not let the presence of the blonde man ruin his rest.

The sleep didn’t come to him as easily as he hoped. He was hyper aware of Micah behind his back, and in the dead silence of the night, could hear the faint sound of him inhaling the cigarette smoke. He squirmed in the bed, tossing and turning as if the position was at fault for his restlessness and not Micah Bell the Third’s eyes which he could feel on his back.

“I had a brother once,” Micah said, breaking the silence, “Suppose I still do.”

Upon hearing Micah’s voice, Arthur stopped moving and laid still, listening.

“We ran together for a while; me, him and our pa. Did a lot of good stuff. Did a lot of bad stuff. You might’ve even read some of it in the papers,” Micah added with a snicker. “I trusted him. We was brothers, beyond the sense of the word.”

Micah was silent for a good while after, letting his words settle in the air and letting his own thoughts settle as well. The images of all the vile savagery they’ve done together; robbing, stealing, killing, assaulting; flooded his brain, and he couldn’t help but smile at the recollection. The smile fell however, as he remembered what followed after; his brother's hesitations, his wanting to go straight and to leave the life behind. The anger that always boiled inside of Micah came on raging as he remembered the last time he and his brother talked before the latter bailed on him and his father.

Any jest left his voice as he continued. “And then he found himself a whore, knocked her up and hightailed to the West. Last I heard he’s living a cushy rancher life in California.”

The cigarette between his fingers was long forgotten, the cinder from it falling to the ground.

Arthur was now laying on his back, his head slightly towards Micah. “What’s his name?”

“Amos. Amos Bell.”

Arthur let the newfound information settle in his head, before he finally asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?”

Micah shrugged his shoulders before saying, “Thought you might like a bedtime story, seeing as you couldn’t fall asleep.”

Arthur groaned before closing his eyes and said, “Remind me to never let you near Jack.”

Whether it was Micah’s “bedtime story” or the exhaustion finally getting the better of him, but within a few minutes Arthur was out, sprawled out on the hotel bed, light snores coming out of his open mouth.

Micah, just as he said, didn’t sleep all throughout the night. He smoked a couple more cigarettes, drank some whiskey, checked the cabinets and the dressers, and even read Arthur’s journal. The man was deep in slumber, judging by his snores, so Micah didn’t feel any hesitation to reach into his satchel and pull out the one item that Arthur was always protective over.

He casually flipped through the pages; a drawing of a horse, a drawing of a bunny, another drawing of a horse, a portrait of a random camp member, another drawing of a horse?! For a moment, he thought Arthur was carrying around Jack’s drawing journal, with all the doodles of horses and squirrels and birds that he saw there. That was until he started coming upon short chronicles and daily logs, some of them detailing mundane things such as the bounties Arthur caught or strangers that he helped, other, more grim, such as plans of bank robberies and the friends who had fallen.

As he flipped through the pages, a log caught his attention.

November 12, 1898

Got into a bar fight when Dutch tried to sell that gold we found few weeks back. The locals don’t seem to take too kindly to strangers in these parts. Can’t blame them. We was fighting to an inch of our life when a stranger joined in. I wasn’t sure if he was on our side or not, but when the opposition started dropping, I understood. Micah Bell's name is, I think. Dutch offered him to join the gang, and he accepted. Not sure what I think of him yet. He seems hot headed and reckless, but he’s good with his guns and that’s all that matters. We’ll see.

As he flipped to the next page, something that almost never happened with Micah did; he was caught by surprise.

The very next page after the previous log was fully dedicated to a portrait of him. His mouth hung ajar as he looked at himself on the paper. The carefully drawn eyes, the long, unkempt hair, the horseshoe mustache, and his classic white hat. Even the fire and the fury in his eyes was translated onto the paper, and in the top right corner, two letters in cursive, MB.

All of a sudden, Micah felt flustered, another emotion that rarely made an appearance. He shot close the journal, a little too suddenly, and his eyes flew to Arthur’s sleeping form on the bed. He was sprawled on the bed, sheets entangled in his legs and his arms above his head, still sleeping. Micah walked to the nightstand where Arthur satchel was and slid the journal back inside before going to his previous position by the window.

The night was as dark as ever, with the sky littered with innumerable stars. Micah lit yet another cigarette and brought it to his lips. He hesitated for a moment, sending a side glance to Arthur. Vulnerable and frail, asleep and practically naked, Micah could kill him right now. No one would hear a thing as he’d plunge the knife deep into Arthur’s chest, killing him so quickly Arthur would barely have a moment to open his eyes. It would take hours for them to realize something was wrong, and at that point, Micah would be long gone, his horse’s footprints the only thing left.

A small rasp from Arthur brought Micah back to reality. He shuffled a bit, turning to his side before pulling the covers tighter over his body. The night once again fell quiet, only the sound of coyotes crying in the distance. Micah stood motionless for a few seconds, his hands itching, before he turned his attention back to the window and put the cigarette back to his lips.

[transkingoryx]

a calming presence

here’s my fic for the kotlc 2021 collab (@kotlc2021collab)! 

pairing: marellinh

trigger warnings: alden being a bitch about marella’s pyrokinesis

wordcount: 2476

notes: many thanks to my beta reader, Vin @zoyas-kefta! without her excellent edits and advice, this fic would have been a complete disaster. 

----

Marella pulled the hood of her cloak up, moving swiftly but unobtrusively through Atlantis. She scanned the crowded streets for any sign of the Neverseen. 

A black cloak flashed at the edge of her vision, and she whirled around. She recognized the pale skin and borderline ostentatious jewelry that matched her memory of Vespera. The Ancient elf strode with a confidence that didn’t match her frail frame, drawing stares and whispers from the other pedestrians. 

At the sight of her, Marella’s fire blazed higher inside of her, the flames just begging to be unleashed on the elf who had given Biana her scars, kidnapped and tortured Sophie’s human parents, and created Nightfall. But Marella kept herself in check, promising herself that there’d be plenty of time for rage when Vespera was locked away in Nightfall or wherever the Black Swan’s prison facility was. 

She trailed the black-cloaked figure for two city blocks, until an elf with messy blonde hair and sky blue eyes stepped out of the crowd to meet Vespera. Fintan. He’d escaped from his prison a few months prior, and he’d wasted no time returning to his wicked ways with the Neverseen. 

She was so focused on Vespera, that she only noticed the fire when people started screaming.

The neon-yellow flames flared up around the two elves, and Marella broke into a sprint, discarding her red cape as she ran. She hurdled obstacles and shoved civilians out of the way as she sprinted full-tilt towards the flickering cylinder of Everblaze mixed with regular flame taking up the center of the square. 

Without stopping, she flung herself right through the wall of fire just in time to catch Vespera handing Fintan a marble-sized crystal orb. A cache! Where did she get one?

Marella hurled a ball of fire at Vespera, then grabbed for the cache, sending Vespera’s cloak up in flames. Her hands ignited as she snatched the glass sphere from a shocked Fintan. He responded in kind with his own inferno, the heat of Everblaze meeting her own orange-red flames. 

“Put out the Everblaze, Fintan!” she shouted, finding her voice. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I will if I have to!”

Her former teacher simply laughed derisively. “As if you could ever get close enough. I am the most powerful Pyrokinetic the Lost Cities have ever seen, and you haven’t even been training for a year.” His blue eyes danced with a mad gleam. 

Despite the heat surrounding them, Marella fought back a shiver. Fintan never failed to unnerve her, even when he was cooperating with the Black Swan. She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what was to come. It was true that she was relatively untrained, but the Black Swan’s wrinkly leader had said she had the strongest Pyrokinesis he’d ever seen.

Hopefully she could utilize that power now.

She opened her mind to the fire around her, the familiar, normal fire, and pushed past it, wrapping her control around the Everblaze that was rapidly turning everything around it to cinders. She pulled hard on it, and the walls surrounding them vanished, seemingly sucked into the ball of Everblaze she now held aloft in her hand. 

Huh. So that’s why it’s called the fire of the sun on earth. Marella felt like she was holding the entire sun in her hand, the energy from it surging through her body. The fire wanted nothing more than to turn the city to ashes, engulf the entire world inside its destructive power. But Marella wouldn’t let it. She focused as hard as she could, and the flames slowly shrunk smaller and smaller, glowing brighter and brighter. Finally, she closed her fist over the Everblaze, extinguishing it. 

Fintan looked faintly disappointed, but shook his head, raising a crystal and a bottle of starlight. He glittered away through the light of whichever unmapped star he was using. Marella spun around to see Vespera step into her own path of light and vanish. 

Marella let out a breath she didn’t quite realize she’d been holding, and reached out with her mind to the remaining fires. With barely a thought, they shrunk down to nothing. 

She was suddenly very aware of the staring elves that had crowded around the battle, if it could be called that. 

Whispers and mutters tore through the crowd. 

“The Redek girl, a Pyrokinetic-” 

“Unstable, like the rest of them-” 

“Did the Council know about this?”

Shoot. The Council. Marella didn’t know the exact terms of the contract that allowed her to train in Pyrokinesis, but she was pretty sure that “publicly revealing her power in a showdown with the Neverseen” wasn’t part of it.

With shaking hands, she fumbled for her home crystal, until she remembered she couldn’t light leap in Atlantis. Marella shoved the cache deep into her tunic pocket, kept her head down, and practically ran as far from the site of the confrontation as she could. 

She left the city as fast as possible, leaping back home as soon as she could and rushing immediately to her room. She gasped a few deep breaths, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. She felt light-headed. I can’t believe I just revealed my Pyrokinesis to all of Atlantis. Soon all of the Lost Cities will know and then any second now the Council will be knocking on my door and my mom’s going to panic and my dad’s going to have to deal with this, I have to calm down- 

Unsurprisingly, the thought didn’t help her calm down at all. 

Marella shut herself inside her closet and curled in on herself, trying to steady her breathing and blink back the tears prickling behind her eyelids. She wasn’t sure how long she stayed like that, but she had no intention of coming out. 

Footsteps sounded through the hallway and into her room, too light to be her dad and too even to be her mom. Probably one of her friends, then. Marella held her breath as though playing hide and seek, hoping that whoever it was, they would go away soon. She soon realized that her plan wasn’t going to work as the twinge of oxygen deprivation set in. 

Marella gave in, and gulped down greedy lungfuls of air. She heard an amused hum from outside of her closet. 

“May I come in?” Her girlfriend’s soft voice asked. Marella nodded, then realized Linh couldn’t see her. Her cheeks reddened, and she muttered a quick “yes.” 

Linh opened the door, and Marella buried her tearstained face in her arms. 

“Hi,” she said, her voice muffled. 

“Hi there,” Linh replied. “I heard about your ability reveal, and I brought ripplefluffs. I know they’re your favorite.”

“What did I do to deserve you?” Marella sighed, uncurling her arms and legs and standing up to squeeze the other girl’s hand. Linh smiled warmly, but the look did little to calm Marella’s nerves.

“Love you too,” she said, placing an arm around Marella’s shoulder and steering her to one of the many balconies that overlooked the courtyard.

The two settled into the soft chairs on the balcony and slowly worked their way through the large basket of ripplefluffs. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Linh asked, after about a half-hour spent in silence. Marella hesitated, then shook her head. “Do you want a distraction?” A nod this time. “Okay… Keefe and Sophie came over this morning, before the news went out, and they tried to bake desserts for Tam and Biana. It went about as well as you’d expect.” Marella giggled. “I swear, the kitchen was a disaster by the time I finally had enough and kicked them both out. I ended up having to walk them through the steps to make custard bursts, and only because they insisted on making the food themselves. You know how Keefe and Tam have their date tonight? Well, Biana dragged Tam out shopping to give him a makeover, and Sophie insisted on Keefe bringing baked goods. I think it’s revenge for how much unasked-for advice Tam and Keefe gave Sophie and Biana on their first date.” 

Marella laughed. “Honestly, when will those four learn? At this point, it’s become a competition to see which couple can out-wingman the other!” The doorbell rang, and Linh put a hand out to stop Marella getting up. 

“Here, I’ll get it.” She returned a few minutes later with a scroll. “It’s a summons for an assembly in… Tribunal Hall.” Marella clutched the armrests of her seat, her hands growing uncomfortably warm. 

“They’re holding a Tribunal for me?” she asked, trying not to panic. 

“They’re actually just trying to explain everything,” Linh clarified. “They’ll probably explain their reasoning for allowing you to have your ability without being banished, and for keeping it a secret as well.”

“Oh.” Marella relaxed a little bit, though she was still nervous. “When is it?” 

Linh shifted a little bit. “In three hours.” Upon seeing Marella’s reaction, she backpedaled. “Don’t worry; I’m sure everything will be fine!” 

“You don’t know that,” Marella groaned, hiding her face in her hands again. 

“Yes, I do. I know that I won’t let them banish you, even if it means I  get banished again,” Linh promised. 

Marella looked up at her with an expression that probably looked pathetically smitten. “You really mean that?” 

“Of course I do,” Linh answered with a confident grin. “We’re both going to come out of this absolutely fine.” She held Marella close in a hug. 

“We’re going to be fine,” Marella echoed, but it felt like less of a promise to Linh than a promise to herself.

“Absolutely right. Now, let’s go get ready.” 

Marella fidgeted with her ruby-red dress in the front row of Tribunal Hall. The seats behind her were packed with elves. It seemed like the entire population of the Lost Cities had come to watch, but maybe that was just her nerves. 

Sophie sent her a reassuring smile from where she sat, looking elegant in a dark red tunic with black leggings and black blazer, arm in arm with Biana. 

She tried to smile back, but it probably looked more like a grimace. Linh nudged her arm. 

“We’re going to be fine,” she whispered. Marella nodded, entirely unconvinced, but Linh being there calmed her more than a thousand comforting words ever could. 

The buzz of chatter in the room gradually died down as the Council took their seats, flanked by a dozen goblin bodyguards.

“We are here today to discuss the ability of Marella Adene Redek,” Emery stated. “To clarify for anyone who the news has not reached yet, Miss Redek recently manifested as a Pyrokinetic, an ability that, as I’m sure you all know, is banned due to several tragic incidents involving the notoriously volatile and unstable ability. We did not exile her, and allowed her to train in the power at the urging of the Black Swan and Sophie Foster.” That was news to Marella. She supposed it made sense that Sophie would stand up for Marella’s right to train in her ability, but she was still surprised that Sophie had found the time to do it, between all the assignments and missions and cryptic notes from the Black Swan. 

“We kept this secret from the public because we wanted Miss Redek and her family to have privacy, and for the sake of her mother. I assume you all know about Caprise Redek’s injury?” The crowd murmured assent. 

“However, in an incident earlier today that involved several members of the Neverseen, Marella was forced to reveal her Pyrokinesis to Atlantis. I am sure that many of you have opinions about this.”

Alden Vacker stood up. “I would like to make it known that I do not approve of allowing an unstable girl with an unstable ability to train in said ability. The rules banning Pyrokinesis were made for a reason, correct?”

“The rules banning Pyrokinesis were made and signed into effect during a more desperate time, with tragedies involving Pyrokinetics happening left and right,” Councillor Bronte called out.

“That does not change the fact that Marella has been left unchecked with this ability solely because a group of rebels wanted her to be,” Alden argued. Biana glared at him from across the room. If looks could kill…

“Marella is one of the most brilliant, kind, and powerful elves in the Lost Cities,” Linh said abruptly. “There is no reason to judge her based on her ability and not her compassion and bravery. Ask anyone in Atlantis, they all saw her running straight into that fire to stop Fintan today, without a thought for her own safety.”

“Yeah,” Biana stood up. “There’s no reason to worry, Dad.”

“Thank you, Miss Linh and Lady Biana,” Councillor Emery nodded. 

“Miss Redek has not had any Pyrokinesis-related incidents since she manifested. We have been observing her closely, and she is neither unstable nor unreliable,” Bronte said firmly, cementing the decision. 

Marella released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, and Linh squeezed her hand reassuringly. They weren’t out of the woods yet, though. The gathered elves were murmuring disapprovingly, and she heard someone call out.

“Maybe she hasn’t yet! But who knows what will happen?” Marella craned her neck to look for the speaker, but she couldn’t pick them out of the crowd. 

“We will not be changing our decision on allowing Marella to train in her ability,” Councillor Oralie spoke up. “This is final. Remember, we did not call you here for you to question our choices, but to give you the facts.” 

“And the facts have been given,” Emery said. “You are all dismissed. Do not harass Miss Redek because of her ability, and continue to treat her the same as you did before you knew she manifested.”

Linh stood up, Marella trailing behind her, and they filed out of the building surrounded by their friends, and the rest of the crowd. 

“I can’t believe they defended me,” Marella said excitedly. “I mean, I was pretty sure, but you never know.” “I’m not surprised.” Sophie smiled. “The Council can make good decisions from time to time, you know.” 

“By the way, thank you for what you said back there,” Marella addressed both Linh and Biana.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I’ve been wanting to say that to my dad for ages!” Biana grinned. 

Linh said nothing, but pulled Marella into a hug. “Of course, love.” Biana and Sophie leaped away, and suddenly it was just the two of them. 

“Let’s go back,” Marella said suddenly. “We can steal some of those cupcakes Keefe was making.” 

“I think that after today, no one is going to deny either of us cupcakes,” Linh laughed. 

She held a crystal to the last rays of the sunset, and the two of them stepped into the light.

[tanakavox]

A look into the multiverse chapter 8 SAOA

Many thanks to my friend friend @bssaz97 for his work on the reactions. And TheGoldenBoy2188 for the strict for SAOA making writing easy. The next reaction will be a suprise so stay tune.

Amidst the streets of Mantle, Whitley Schnee walked towards a destination while wearing a disguise consisting of a coat, scarf, shaded glasses, and a flat cap. He had a mission and he would not waste this opportunity!

It was not every day that he could simply leave the manor without Father's permission or notice so he needed to be quick but not noticeable. He had waited months for this day to arrive. Whitley had pre-ordered the latest MMO game of his favorite game series a week before the initial release date and had come to pick it up. Having connections in the right places certainly did have its benefits. The only downside was he had to acquire his prize somewhere outside of his father's notice. So what other place to go than Atlas's sister kingdom.

Outside of his notice, a young white haired faunus woman with sheep ears followed close behind him. Fiona Thyme was out picking up some food for the rest of the Happy Huntresses when she noticed an unfamiliar person walking around. She knew almost everyone on this side of Mantle, so a new person popping out of the blue was very suspicious. Normally she would have reported this back to Robyn but upon further inspection she recognized who this person was.

It was the sole son of the worst man on Remnant and the newly appointed heir of the Schnee Dust Company, Whitley Schnee! Why was he here in Mantle?! Fiona determined he was up to no good and decided to follow him. Wherever the SDC goes, trouble usually follows!

Whitley finally arrived at the destination he was seeking… the Post Office! Now all he had to do was open the door, enter the establishment aaaaaand- stare dumbfounded as the inside of this place was a theatre.

"What the-? This isn't the post office. Where am I?!" Whitley shouted at no one in particular.

"Ah-ha! Caught you right where I- Huh? Where the hell? This isn't the post office!" Fiona also dumbfounded.

"Whitley?" Both Weiss and Winter stated in a mix of shock and disbelief at seeing their little brother. Maybe some hostility on Weiss part.

"Weiss? Winter? How-?"

"What the hell is this?!" A loud female voice shouted as four more people arrived out of nowhere. Consisting of two normal sized humans, a bunny faunus and a very large man.

"Coco/Velvet/Fox/Yatsuhashi!" Teams RWBY and JNR said collectively.

"Oh hello everyone! This… is a surprise! When did you get to Vacuo?" Velvet asked the group.

Fiona turned towards the new strangers, "Vacuo? What are you talking about? You're all in Mantle?"

"I'm most certain we're in Vacuo at the time." Yatsu spoke.

"You are in neither at the moment." Ozpin spoke up.

"What the- Teach? Weren't you supposed to be dead?!" Coco confusingly points out.

"I believe an explanation is in order."

*One short but informative explanation later*

"Wait so we were brought here to watch… alternate realities?" Fiona says after she and all the new arrivals had been told everything about the theater.

"We call them viewings but yeah pretty much." Ruby said.

"Hold on, I can understand why all of you were brought here, seeing as you all are huntsmen and huntresses. But that doesn't explain why I'm here." Whitley, having taken off his disguise.

"A great question indeed." Weiss mutters.

"I think I have a theory." Blake stepped forward. "So far now, I've noticed that the people who are here have at least some involvement in the viewings that we have been seeing. Remember that one viewing we saw of Whitley being stuck inside a video game?"

"I was stuck in a video game?"

"Also if you die in the game you die for real." Nora added.

Whitley's eyes widened at the implications.

"Well you're still stuck as far as we know. But apparently you're very good at the game so you might be fine." Jaune clarifies. Slightly feeling guilty that his alternate is the one who traps him there.

"Oh joy, now I'm trapped inside a place against my will in two realities!" Whitley throws his hands in frustration.

"Oh boo hoo! Is the rich boy gonna cry because nothings going his way today?" Fiona says in a mocking tone.

"Oh I'm sure you would know so much about crying and complaining about trivial things, thief." He shot back at Fiona.

"At least I think about the people of Mantle! When was the last time you thought of someone outside of yourself, Schnee!" Fiona retorted.

Winter sensing that this conversation was going nowhere stepped in between her brother and the happy huntress.

"Enough! None of us came here by choice so let's just stop this pointless arguing and move on."

Fiona huffed, "I couldn't agree more." She stomped away from the two siblings and found herself a seat in the theater.

Winter sighed, "It may not be ideal but as long as you are here Whitley, I would just suggest sitting tight and wait until you or all of us are able to leave this place."

"Hmph, very well. Thank you sister, it almost sounds like you care." Whitley took his leave and found a seat that was about four seats away from Weiss's team.

"Isn't there anywhere else you want to sit," Weiss practically hisses.

"Oh but Weiss it's the only seat that's close enough to you." Whitley affirmed.

Weiss groans in frustration, 'Hopefully it's only for one viewing…'

An acoustic guitar plays in the background as a montage of the events of and post-Episode 1 appears on the screen and a narrator began to talk.

" A month had passed since that fateful day. When everyone's world got all twisted, leaving them stranded in a castle in the sky. Since then, 2000 poor souls came to an abrupt and tragic end. Some by bad luck, others by sheer stupidity. I mean, really. Why would you just stand in fire? Anyways, that didn't bother The Kid none. He only cared about one thing, and one thing alone. Himself. 'Cuz in a game of life or death, you either live... or you die."

The scene transitions to Shirou leaning against a wall with an annoyed look on his face.

"What?! Two thousand of the players have died already!" Ruby yelled, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"Not surprising, seeing as many of them looked weak last viewing." Cinder coolly replies.

Many huntsmen and huntresses glared at the red clad woman. She paid them no mind.

"Well thank you very much Narrator, you're doing a wonderful job of explaining the total death count of this video game prison." Whitley commented dryly.

"Oh, WOW. What brilliant insight! It's so deep it loops right back around to being stupid." Shirou snarked.

"The Kid ranted at no one, it slowly dawning just how alone he truly was" Narrator continued..

Whitley's eyes narrowed, "Am I being sassed by the narrator?"

"Maybe you said something to piss them off." Fiona added.

"Wait, what was that?" Shirou asks, shocked.

"He asked the sky, like a preacher to his silent gods."

"What gods? What are you talking about?! It's all bullshit metaphors with you!"

"He cried, not knowing the difference between a simile and a metaphor. The tininess of his brain dwarfed only by the tininess of his di-"

Whitley's eyes narrowed and face twitched at how much of an annoyance this narrator was being.

Weiss was doing her best to conceal her smile but was failing and breathes out a laugh. She was enjoying the exchange that her brother was going through and found it amusing. Her team gave her a side glance while Fiona and a few others laughed at the roast session the young Schnee was being given.

"Narrator off." Shirou commands the system with an annoyed tone.

"YOUCANSILENCEMEBUTYOUCAN'TSILENCETHETRU-" The narrator got cut off.

"Dick."

"Thank gods that's over, that narrator was extremely rude." Whitley sighed thankfully now that the narrator was silenced.

Weiss and Fiona grumbled that their fun was ruined.

Fade into December 2, 2022, on a strategy meeting led by man called Diabel. He gave a big smiled out to the crow

"Hey everyone. Thank you all for coming to our little powwow. Now, I know many of you may be discouraged by the fact that 2000 people have died so far."

" WHAT?!" A player screamed

" 2000 PEOPLE ARE DEAD?!" Another screamed.

"IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN A MONTH YET!"

"OH MY GOD, WE REALLY ARE FUCKED!"

"Pretty much, sucks to be you!" Mercury laughed.

"These are the people that have to survive this game. Honestly what was blondie expecting," Emerald facepalms.

"Hey! Just because they've lost numbers doesn't mean that they have to lose hope!" Ruby glared at the two assassins.

"And I know even more of you are a little down because we haven't even cleared the First Floor yet." Diabel added, trying to keep the smile on his face.

"WE HAVEN'T?!"

"I THOUGHT WE WERE ALMOST DONE...!"

"You were saying." Cinder looked back at Ruby.

"Well…" Ruby trailed off, thinking of a way to defend these players.

Diabel's smile wavered

"Uh, you guys do know there are 100 Floors, right?"

"WHAT?!" A crowd of players yelled.

Diabels sighed a bit.

Ruby, despite her best attempts, also sighed and sat back down.

"Oh jeez, I am just making things worse. Point is, we found the Boss Room!"

The crowd gasps.

"Now, we've formulated a few strategies with some help from the beta testers-"

"BETA TESTERS?!" A voice yells out.

"Oh goddammit!" Diabel groaned argnily

A player named Kibaou jumps in.

Kibaou, what do you want? Diabel looked tired addressing this player.

"Beta testers? They're the reason we're stuck in this game!" Kibaoyu sneered

Many that heard this player's statement and quickly frowned at his blatant accusations towards these 'beta-testers.'

"This guy can't be serious, right?" Coco stated.

Dianel looked at Kibaou flatterausted at the stupidity of the statement he heard

"What?! Do you have any evidence to back that up?"

Kiabrou scoffed at the question. "Pfft! Evidence. I don't need no evidence. Isn't that right, Jesus?" He points to a player named "Jesus"

" It's pronounced "Hey-Zeus", and I don't know you."

"Wow, really selling your reasoning by having no one else to support your claim." Jaune stated while crossing his arms.

"Well, they still should have helped us newbies!" He exclaimed

"If I might interject...:" A deep voice called out.

A big muscular man gets up and comes to the stage.

Velvet taps Yatsu's arm excitedly, "Hey you're in this game too Yatsu! …oh gods you're in this game too."

"So it seems," Yatsu, doing his best to keep a straight face.

Coco lowered her shades along with a confused look. As far as she knew, Velvet was the only one who played video games on their team. Unless...

"And who the hell are you?!"

"I am known by many names.", "Closed eyed demon. The memory easer., "Hooked clawed tiger". But you? You may call me... "Velvet".

"Velvet huh? That's a... pretty masculine name." Kibaoru said adwarkley

"Shouldn't be. It's a woman's name." Velvet replied casually.

"Damn it. I had a feeling but I didn't want to be right." Coco cursed quietly while shaking her head.

"Wait, why would Yatsu have a character named after me? That doesn't- ...Oh ...oh my gods." Velvet's eyes widened at the implications, tears starting to build. That is until she felt a nudge on one of her shoulders. She turned her head and there was Yatsuhashi looking at Velvet with a gaze that said, 'It's not your fault.'

"Kay, I don't know how to talk to you."

"Good. Then you can shut up and listen. Does everyone here have this book in their inventory?"

" Yeah.

" Yes."

"Yup."

"Yeah."

" No... Wait, can I change my answer?"

Velvet/Yatsushi held up a book to show to everyone.

" This book is full of tips and strategies on how to survive this game, put together by the beta testers. Everyone read it, yet some people still died. The beta testers did everything they could."

"Yeah, that means Mace Hair has no reason to blame the beta testers!" Ruby points out.

Many of her friends nodded and Yastu's team smiled at the sound defense his alternate presented.

" Actually, I didn't read it." One player chimed up.

"Yeah, I didn't read it either."

"I skimmed it."

"OH COME ON!" Many members of the audience shouted in agitation.

"What? Didn't ANY of you read it?! It is literally a matter of life and death." Velvet exclaimed

"Well, dude. It's like 80 pages." A player pointed

"2000 people are dead!"

"THEY ARE?!"

"Again. These are the people that have to survive this game." Emerald reiterates.

Brief pause. Shirou looks shocked at their stupidity.

"I am so done with you people." Velvet mutters, walking off the stage.

" What do you mean "you people"?" A player asked a bit offended.

The Faunus in the room narrowed at their eyes at the implications made by that player.

"What do you mean, "you people"?" Fiona asks no one in particular.

Velvet and Kibaou take their seats.

Diabel continued with the meeting. "So, as Mister Hooked clawed tiger was saying, this book has some great strategies, including how to beat the First Boss, Illfang."

He clears his throat and starts reading from the guide.

"So as you enter the Boss Room, he's gonna throw wave after wave of disposable minions at you... and you must answer in kind."...?

"Uh, what?" A player asks, mirroring Diabel confusion.

Many in the audience reacted just as confused. All except Whitley, who had a good feeling where this was going.

Diabel continues

"Send the weaker players first. Good rule of thumb: If a player asks you for gold 2 seconds after meeting you, front lines."

"Ha, serves 'em right!" Kiaboru said with a laugh

"If they hijack conversations to rant about their political views, front lines."Diabel said with a smirk looking at Kiaboru.

Kibaou went pale. "Aw, shit."

"Ha! Serves you right!" Nora laughed.

"If they ask female players for pics of their boobs, front lines."

"OH BULLSHIT!" One player screamed out in rage.

"THAT'S DISCRIMINATION!" Another one howled.

"BOO!"

Many of the women in the theater frown at the way those players reacted. Winter was more than certain that those players were the type that participated in the mentioned acts the speaker spoke on.

Diabel smiles and waves them down. "Now, now, people. I think there are some valid points being made here. Now, it goes on to say when Illfang's health goes into the red, he's going to switch from his axe and buckler to something called a "Talwar". At that point we should initiate a strategy called "The Final Solution" and- I'm just gonna stop reading! Jesus, who wrote this thing?"

Shirou giggles evilly.

"Of course Whitley wrote that book." Weiss sighed.

"Why sister, it sounds like that didn't surprise you in the least." Whitley pretending to act hurt.

"Please. The manipulative tone of the text almost makes one sound too much like you." Weiss bit back.

"Well I suppose you would know." A wide smile on Whitley's face.

Weiss scoffs turning her head away from her traitorous brother.

Team R_BY and Winter watched the exchange and sighed.

"Okay, so the guide's a bust. But it'll be fine. I'll come up with a great plan for us." Diabel smiles at the crowed.

"Like what?"

" Well... we... could... Uh... Uhhhh... I'm open to suggestions."

"Woah, guys, we could- we could, you know, like, group up and-"

"And hit it 'til it DIES!" Another yelled finishing the other player sentence

"Woo, nice!"

"Yeah!"

" High five!"

The two hive five.

"Well. It's something, right?." Velvet does her best to be optimistic.

Many of the more experienced members of the theater shake their heads.

"That's... a good start. But let's hear some other suggestions."

"I'd like to hear more about this "Final Solution"." A player in a german accent piped up.

"Fuck it, group up." said Diabel said tirely.

Shirou slides down the seats towards a girl, named Fiona, who's on her own.

Fiona blinks in surprise, "Oh my gods, that's me! I'm in the game! Hey other me, stay away from the Schnee!"

"You have my condolences." Weiss says to the sheep faunus.

"So, why aren't, uh, you joining anyone's group?" Shirou asked.

"I have my reasons." She said mysterioly

" Is it because you're a girl?"

"No. It's because... I don't know how to play."

"Because you're a girl?"

Many of the females and males who enjoy video games, such as Yang, Ruby, Velvet, Nora,, Jaune, Oscar, Ren, surprisingly Mercury and Emerald, along with Fiona herself, threw questioning glares towards the current heir of the SDC. Weiss and Winter glared at him as well but for other reasons.

Whitley looks around to see all the glares directed towards him. "Why are you all looking at me? I said nothing."

"No!" Fiona snapped. "It's just... I don't know how to open the menu."

"What?" Both Fiona and Whitley asked.

"Jinx!" Nora shouts.

"What?!" Shriou looked at the girl in shock. "But you can't do anything in this game without the menu. How have you survived all month?"

Cut to Fiona holding a piece of bread. She is staring at it intensely. "HOW DO I EAT YOU?!" She screamed at it.

Many laughs were had at the poor girl's predicament, despite some of them doing their best to not do so but could not help themselves.

Fiona slowly sank into her chair, covering her face in shame. Her alternate was the utter definition of a newb player.

Back to the present.

"It's... been a challenge…" She muttered before looking at Shirou. "What about you? Why haven't you join the others?"

"Oh, lots of reasons. Mostly because they're a bunch of mouth-breathing neckbeards who think "LMAO" is how French people laugh."

" Ha ha, that's so Le Mao!" Said one player far away causing to Shirou shudder.

Whitley in the theater also shudders in disgust. If these were the people that he would have been surrounded by inside the game, then he too would have avoided them like a plague.

"Wow. You certainly... speak from the heart."

"Funny, I thought I was speaking from my mouth. But, eh, shows what I know about biology." He said with a smirk.

"No one else wanted you in their group, did they?"

"Shut up! It was mutual!"

"And who would blame me? Have you seen the players of this game? I'm honestly surprised they lived this long."

"You're just saying that 'cause no one wanted a smartass on their team." Fiona smirked.

"I'm sorry, were you speaking Menu Girl?" Whitley nonchalantly retorts.

Fiona's face grew red in embarrassment and agitation. She wanted nothing more than to raise her hand and activate her semblance right now. 'Give me a reason Schnee, I dare you.'

It cuts back to Diabel smiling and clapping his hands.

"Alright, looks like everyone's grouped up. Get plenty of rest tonight, people! We leave at noon!"

A player groans "Noon?"

"That's so early!"

Diabel sighs. "Alright. What about 1 o'clock?"

" Dude, come on!"

" God, fine! We leave at the crack of... 2:30, I guess. Lazy butts…"

"Christ, I'm gonna have to set my alarm."

Everyone in the theater did not have high expectations for these players as they would face their first challenge.

Cuts to December 3, 2022 Floor 1: Illfang's Tower, 7:30pm. Everyone's at the Boss Door and everyone except Diabel is exhausted.

"Okay, so there were a few more stairs than we realized. Apparently real life athletic ability translates into the game. Good to know." Diabel looked out to the sad sight in front of him.

"Oh, god. I can feel my lungs trying to kill me." One player whined.

" Is this sweat?!"

" I peed a little."

" Jesus, this is sad." Diabel said with a grimace.

One player vomits.

"Congrats Jaune, someone else has now become the new Vomit Boy of this viewing!" Yang exclaimed.

Jaune rolled his eyes at her attempt at making him feel better.

"Fuck it. Why don't you all just take a Cheetos and Mountain Dew break, and we'll reconvene in an hour."

1960 Batman-Esque transition with Cheetos and Mountain Dew.

" Dammit, guys! I was kidding! You weren't supposed to actually take an hour!" Dibal said in a rage."God, we've lost so much time. Let's just do this already! You all know the plan!"

Illfang jumps into the center of the room and roars. Kobolds pop in, and an error message pops up on the third one that says "Error: "Sentinel_ " not found."

Ruby and Nora laughed at the mob that got glitched.

"Alright, men!" Diabel began,"Form up and-"

"EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF!" A player screams

The armies converge on each other.

"Are they serious! You can't just go gung-ho in a boss battle!" Jaune exclaimed at the increasingly apparent, dim-witted players.

"What?! No! Goddammit guys!" Diabel begins to bark out orders. "Squad B, quit attacking the Boss and keep the Sentinels off us! C, D, stop attacking from the front! Do you even know what "flank" means?! Squad F, for fuck's sake! Stop playing Bejeweled! *Groans* Squad G, get in there and help A and B!"

"Got it!" Shirou said with a nod rushing in.

"Don't talk back to…" Diabel did a double take."l Holy shit, really?!"

"How is Whitley the most sensible minded player in this game?!" Weiss asked.

"Weiss, have you seen the other players?" Blake asked her in a deadpanned tone.

"...Yes you're right, that's actually too much of an insult." Weiss admits.

Shirou attacks a Sentinel, leaving Fiona to finish it off.

"Okay, Fiona! What you're gonna wanna do here is-"

Fiona lets out a Battle Cry and kills the Sentinel in one hit.

Fiona in the theater perked up at this display, "Oh my- I can fight! Oh thank gods I can fight!"

Shirou eyes widened in shock "Wow, I thought she was hopeless, but her technique is flawless. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she's even better than I-"

"Hey Shirou! I killed the thing and now it says I have XPs! Is that bad? Am I dying?! Fiona cried out to him in fear."

Shirou rolls his eyes"Or... maybe... not."

"Miss Fiona, either your alternate is very lucky or is very out of base with technology. I can't tell which it is." Whitley stated.

"Shut up Schnee, she's trying!" Fiona defends her other self.

Illfang's health drops into the red. He snarls at the players and he tosses his weapons.

"Alright, men! This last part's gonna take careful coordination…" Diabel ran towards Illfang. "which is why I'm just gonna do it myself!"

Diabel charges his weapon art. Illfang draws his Ōdachi.

Ruby's eyes widened, "OH NO!"

Shirou looked and saw the weapon and his eyes widened calling to Diabel. "Oh shit! Diabel, look out! That's not a Talwar! It's an Ōdachi!"

"What's the difference?!" Diabel ask still running towards Illfang.

"Well, a Talwar is of Indian descent while an Ōdachi is Japanese! While both are primarily slashing weapons, the Talwar was favored by cavalrymen, as opposed to an Ōdachi which was mainly used for dick measuring!" As Shirou is talking, Illfang starts jumping off the walls.

" What's your point?!" Diabel asked impaintely.

"Well if you let me finish, I was getting to that! You see…"

Diabel gets hit by Illfang, screaming in pain.

Many of the huntsmen and huntresses in the theater either gasped in fear or looked away at the surely doomed player.

"What's happening? Did I miss something?" Fox called out.

"Oops." Shirou sheepishly said.

Illfang hits Diabel again, sending him flying.

"DIABEL!" Kibaou yelled out.

Illfang pops down in front of Kibaou and roars. A message pops up "Bonus Item: Soiled Pants". Above Kibaou

"Hey, rare drop!' A player said cheerfully.

Mercury laughed at the joke while most of the others were disgusted by the fact that that achievement was unlockable.

Shirou runs over to Diabel and holds him up.

" I was trying to say an Ōdachi's a little bit longer than a Talwar, so it'll have more reach and do a bit more damage."

"And why couldn't you say that first?" Diabel asked weakly

"Yeah you dummy! You almost might've killed him!" Ruby cries out.

Whitley was actually taken aback by that statement. Sure he had moments of pride and arrogance, sometimes he looked down on people but he didn't believe he would ever intentionally kill someone.

" I like to think of myself as a teacher. Anyway, drink this."

Shirou tries to give Diabel a healing potion but he stopped Shirou shaking his head.

"No. It's better this way. I just can't do it anymore. I had such high hopes at first. But now? Our best player is a girl who thinks DPS is some kind of sex thing." Both turned to glance to Fiona.

"I know. It's weird, right?"

Fiona sulked more into her chair.

"You're clearly not like the rest of them. How do you stand it, Shirou? Where do you draw your strength?" Diabel look at Shirou like a sage.

Shirou sigh and drops his wisdom onto him. "I've been playing MMO's a long time, Diabel, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's that lions do not concern himself with the opinions of sheep. Just take that little voice in your head that tells you to be tactful and understanding... and shoot it. Shoot it in the goddamn face."

" You are so wise. If only I'd met you sooner. Perhaps, things would have been different. You must lead them now. Show them this game can be beaten." Diabel let's go of Shirou wrist.

Weiss was taken aback that this man was actually willing to place trust in this alternate of her brother. This stranger who barely even knows him placed the lives of all the players into his hands. Much like how she tried to trust Whitley once… this caused a bitter frown to grow on her face in recollection. Even if this was a different version of him, it was still Whitley in her eyes.

Shirou smiles fondly at Diabel. "Another life... in another time... I think we could have been friends."

"I... doubt it." Diabel gasps out before turning to shattered glass, dying.

" Well fuck you, too!" Shirou said angrily his smile dropping into a frown.

Fiona slips in by Shirou's side and began to lay out a plan.

"Alright, Shirou. Here's what we'll do. One counters his blows to knock him off balance and the other switches in to attack. Rinse. Repeat. Victory."

Shirou looked at her with one eye. "You came up with that, but you can't open a menu."

"Shut up!" Fiona cried out.

Illfang roars and they take off running toward him.

"Alright, so you counter and I'll attack!" Shirou yelled to Fiona.

"What? No, it's my plan! I should attack!" Fiona yelled back.

"Fine, just get ready!"

Shirou makes a battle cry and counters Illfang's attack.

"SWITCH!"

Fiona moves in and gets her cloak destroyed by Illfang before attacking revealing white curly hair and sheep ears.

" See? You almost got yourself killed! I'll attack him!" Shirou yelled again and began to attack Illfang.

"Oh, that was a fluke, and you know it! He's mine!" Fiona yelled back.

Fiona attacks Illfang.

"Oh shit. They're actually giving that boss the work!" Coco called out.

"He's mine!" Shirou yelled.

Shirou blocks Illfang's next attack, but Fiona attacks him before Shirou can do so himself.:

"Mine!" Fiona screams

"NO! HE'S! MIIIIIIIIIIINE!"

Shirou slices Illfang and he explodes. Everyone is stunned. Lame party kazoo sound effect and a banner with the word "CONGRATULATION" appears.

"Yeah!" A player cheer.

This caused almost everyone in the audience to laugh. Despite the dark humor of it all, it was still pretty hilarious.

"What happened? Did they win?" Fox asks

"Oh yes, I'm sorry Fox! They beat the boss and a victory banner came out."

"...heh." Fox chuckled.

Shirou is panting. He gets an item as a reward for defeating the Boss.

"Congratulations!" Velvet said, patting him on the back. "That was even more impressive than that cat that learned to play."

Cut to a player with a cat's head, with another player staring at it.

"Meow."

"Huh what did you know?" Yang replied.

"Oh my god! You guys can see it too?! So I'm not crazy! Isn't that great, Jesus?!" We see things from the players' perceptive, with a giant hallucination of Jesus Christ looming over the crowd.

"That's right, Jeffrey. Now... kill them all." Jesus said, his voice growing darker.

"As you command, my Lord." Jeffrey whispered.

"Somethings very wrong with that guy." Qrow states.

"I honestly agree with you, Branwen… Blegh! That left a horrible taste in my mouth." Winter stated.

Cut back to Velvet talking to Shirou. The other players are applauding his victory.

"You've led us to victory, Shirou. These men and I will follow you to hell itself. Now... address your people." Velvet is smiling and pushing Shirou to the crowd.

Shirou gets up and smirks. "I always knew this day would come. Ahem. Fellow gamers! We have traveled far and up many stairs to get to this point. Fighting side by side, noobs, and leets, alike. I'd like to take a moment to say that I couldn't have done it without the help of each and every one of you."

"Aw, that's a nice thing to say-" Velvet was cut off when Shirou counties.

"Of course, I'm not a liar, so I'm not gonna say any of that."

"Oh shit."

"I thought as much." Weiss states.

Shirou grins look at the group. "I mean, really. I could've done this whole Boss Fight myself. But to be fair, I guess you did absorb a bit of damage for me, which was nice. You were an adequate meat shield, and no one can ever take that away from you."

"Fuck. Fuck! Shut up! SHUT UP!" Velvet started to say.

"So for those of you who came in late, and that one guy playing Bejeweled back there... shoot for the stars... it'll make it more fun when I kick you back into the dirt."

"You're not better than us!" Kiaboru said.

"Yeah! What makes you think you're so cool?!" Nora shouts to the screen.

Shirou equips the coat he got for beating Illfang and smugly looks at the group."My sweet-ass coat begs to differ."

"Dammit, he's got us there." one player muttered.

Shirou ascends the stairs out of the Boss Room. Fiona follows him and grabs him by the shoulder. "Shirou, wait!"

Those in the audience looked on at Fiona's alternate in hope. Surely she could turn him around after their excellent display of partnership.

"I want half." She said, staring at him blankly.

That hope was quickly squashed, shot at, and finally burned to death via gasoline and cracking a fire dust crystal.

Shirou turns to her confused. " I'm... sorry. What?!"

"I want half the coat. I did half the work, I should get half the coat." Fiona explain and extends her hand for him give it to her.

"No! It's not fabric I can cut! It's just a bunch of 1s and 0s!" Shirou was getting frustrated.

"Fine, then give me the 1s."

" Fuck you! I want the 1s!" He groans and open the menu. "I am not having this argument. I'm disolving this party." Shirou opens his menu and "Di-solves" their party.

"Shirou! If you walk away with my half of the coat, I will make your life a living hell!" Fiona screamed.

"You know what? Fine! I'll give you the damn coat! Just send me a trade request."

"A... what?"

Fiona's eyes widened as she watched from the theater, "No…"

Shirou grins viciously "Oh, it's quite simple really... Just open your menu." Shirou starts laughing maniacally as he walks out the doors as Fiona screams at him:"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" At him.

Outro Plays.

Fiona screams, "I can't believe the nerve of that-! GRAAAAH!"

"Can you please stop screaming! You're going to cause everyone's ears to bleed." Whitley said while using a handkerchief to rub his ears.

Fiona huffed then matched off, going to another place in the theater.

"Well that was interesting. So you all say there's other viewings where we see other worlds besides this one." Coco asked the group.

"Oh yeah, we've seen a couple worlds ourselves, but only a handful I'd say." Yang admits.

"Well as long as we're here, we might as well take time to catch up." Velvet smiled.

"Yeah, this will be great! It's almost like we're back at Beacon, right Weiss? ...Weiss?" Ruby looks beside her but noticed that her partner was not with them anymore.

In another side of the theater, the all three Schnee siblings stand together. Both of the youngest siblings look at Winter who brought them here.

Winter clears her throat, "I understand that there are some… tension between the three of us during this viewing. So I asked you both here so that we may come to terms with our situation."

Weiss scoffs, "Come to terms with him! I highly doubt that."

Whitley crosses his arms, "Yes it does seem like a lost cause Winter."

"Enough! Both of you!" Winter raised her voice causing both of her younger siblings to go rigid. "I'm not expecting you to get along or even apologize to each other at the moment. What I ask is if you two can at least act civil with one another while in the theater?"

Both Weiss and Whitley looked at each other and sneered at each other.

"Why of course I can be civil with Whitley. It is a virtue of a lady to be civil at all times." Weiss said with hidden venom.

"Quite true, but being civil is also a quality an heir of the Schnee family must cultivate as well. So I look forward to spending this immeasurable amount of time with you my sisters." Whitley said with his best presentable smile.

"Yes, how I enjoy us taking this time to reacquaint with each other." Weiss said while one of her eyes was twitching.

"Well then sister, shall we?" Whitley gestured for Weiss to go ahead of him. Almost would have been believable if one did not notice the glint in his eyes and his strained smile.

Winter watched as both Weiss and Whitley walked back to the auditorium where everyone else had remained.

"...This can only end badly."

Hope you enjoyed.

[spahhzy]

A Plea.

.

(I don't know why I wrote this based around a mini-game from FnaF U.C.N)

.

She opened her eyes to a sky of red while laying down in a bed of flowers, sitting up and looking around at her surroundings. She could assume she was in a forest. Where? she did not know, but what stood out before her was the red lake.

No sound could be heard except for the waves gently hitting the shoreline.

For some reason, she was greatly unnerved.

Where was she? What was going on? Wait where was Cin-

"Heeeeey!" A voice interuppted her thoughts as she looked down at the lake shore to see a figure waving at her. She squinted her eyes but could only make out that it was a male, and he had what looked like a fishing rod in the lake.

Seeing no other alternative, she decided to see what this mysterious person wanted.

It didn't take her long to reach the lake shore, and it was then that her eyes could finally get a good look at the person who called her.

It was an older gentleman, grey hair with glasses , he was sporting a white button down, and some black pants, next to him was a cane, along with the fishing rod and finally on a little small table sat three coffee mugs.

Strangely enough, as soon as she got to the old man, he sorta straight out ignored her, focusing more on the fishing rather than acknowledging her.

"Who-"

"Just a friend of a friend...of a friend" was his immediate reply, which caused her to raise an eyebrow.

"What friends?" She asked too, which the grey haired man said nothing much to her annoyance.

Crossing her arms, she didn't have time she needed to leave... wherever the hell she was so she could-

"The silver eyed woman has killed the monster," he spoke again, causing the girl to look at him with a raised eyebrow before he patted to a seat next to him.

"Come and sit with me for a while, will you?" He asked her, turning to with a very kind and caring smile, and some part of her couldn't say no.

So she sat with him on the little spot in the sand.

It was strange it feels...it feels like she had been here before, like she has sat in this same exact spot?

"Where am I?" She asked the old man said Nothing, focusing back on his fishing.

"Can you tell me what is going on? Why is the sky red? Why is the lake red?" Again, silence this causing to huff out in annoyance.

"The monster is dead," He said to her once again.

"What mons-"

"It can't hurt anyone again" he said to her and she just nodded awkwardly.

"That's great and all bu-

"It can't hurt you again"

Wait, was he talking about...

" Won't you stop now?"

Stop what?

"You can finally rest"

What the hell was this old man talking about!

Rest? Monster? Dead?

"I'm not sure I understand?"

"..." The old man just gazed into the red colored water, causing her in turn to look at the lake.

Standing up, she felt something odd about this lake. Walking straight up to the shoreline, she looked into the water and was able to make out her reflection out of the ripples.

She turned back to the old man, who was still attentive to his fishing.

She turned back to the lake and continued to look for anything abnormal, well as about abnormal as one could be in a red colored lake.

Suddenly, a voice rang in the air, a bit distorted, but she knew that voice all too well...it was the voice she had hated for so long.

"NEO! JAUNE! HEEEEEEEEEELP! JAUNE! HEEEEEEELP MEEEE! NEOO HELP PLEAAAAASE!" Cried the distorted voice of one Cinder Fall as it faded away.

Anger and rage bubbled up inside of her.

How dare she call out to the very people she betrayed! The very people whose lives she took! Who cut her very own life short!

Now she tries and calls out to them to SAVE HER!?

A hand tapped her on the shoulder, and she turned sharply to see the old man staring, looking at her in sadness.

"I understand the pain and rage you must feel, but you have to let it go now. " He said to her as she turned to look at the lake.

Closing her eyes, she tried to remember her parents' happy faces to remember the good and happier times... but every time she did, those amber eyes, that cruel evil smile, and the sight of her dead mother and father just filled her with rage and pain.

Turning back to the old man, she shook her head. "I can't...I just can't. I'm sorry," she said before turning her plan to walk into the lake. If Cinder was in here drowning, then she, too, would drown with her so she could make sure Cinder would understand true suffering.

An arm grabbed her shoulder momentarily, snapping her of her rage induced thoughts as the old man tried once again.

"Leave the demon to her demons. Rest your own soul. Their is nothing else. " He pleaded, but alas, it fell on deaf ears as she just gently pulled her arm away from him, and he could onky watch as the girl just walked into the shallow waters before traveling deeper and deeper submerging herself completely to the red lake.

The old man could only sigh.

"How many stars have burned out In your attempt to quell your rage, I wonder?"

[bridgyrose]

What if Cinder got yeeted into the void/ever after, either through Neo betraying her or Jaune/some other opponent getting a lucky shot in?

If you intend to make this fallen petals, please don't bother. I've got that ship filtered.

Cinder stared up at the sky as she laid down on her back, trying to remember everything that had happened to bring her here. Wherever here was. Everything had gone according to plan: Ruby was gone by Neo’s hands, Neo was taken care of with no loose ends, the rest of Ruby’s friends had been picked off one by one and Winter… of course that robotic maiden wouldnt give her the maiden powers and handed them straight to one of Atlas’ elite. 

She picked herself up and looked around the paper forest she had found herself in, everything coming back to her. The feeling of the ice that had encased her for a brief moment until she could thaw herself out still lingered across her skin. Her grimm arm, which had been severed, seemed to have stopped growing and moving, even the faint whispers she had heard from it seemed to have quieted in whatever world she ended up in. But if she was here, then that would mean Ruby and the others that fell would’ve survived as well. 

Fire started to engulf Cinder’s hand as her eyes burned with the maiden powers, the very thought of Ruby being here and not dead caused the rage in her heart to burn as she placed her fiery hand against one of the paper trees, watching it burst into flames. She pulled her hand away from it and the flames disappeared as she heard a voice behind her. 

“I dont think I have ever seen someone like you around here before. Especially with such peculiar powers.” 

Cinder turned around to find a cat behind, watching her movements. “And you are?” 

“Why I’m the Curious Cat,” the cat answered as it seemed to bow down in front of her. “Though the more important question is who are you?” 

Cinder paused for a moment and looked over the cat, not sure how to feel about it. She knew something felt off about it, but she couldnt seem to place her finger on what. “Cinder. And I need to get back to Remnant.” 

“Remnant you say?” the Curious Cat said with almost a twinkle in its eyes. “I can get you back to Remnant, but we’ll need to get to the tree first!” 

Cinder looked around the forest and her eyes came across a large tree towering in the distance. “And how do we get to that tree?” 

“You dont go to the tree, the tree comes to you. Well, unless you’re me you see.” 

“Then you can take me there.” 

“I can, but you’re going to need to tell me a bit about yourself on the way there.” The Cat jumped up onto a rock with the front half of its body, leaving the tail end behind. “Afterall, I am curious about how a human such as yourself has made it to the Ever After.” The cat paused for a moment as it saw the grimm arm on Cinder. “And what exactly happened to you.” 

“I dont have time for this!” Cinder growled as her hand lit on fire once more. “Take me to the tree! I need to get back to Remnant before Ruby and her friends do!” 

“There are others that came with you?” 

“Not with me, before me.” Cinder growled and started to walk off. “I dont have time for this. Get me to the tree so I can get back to Remnant!” 

The Cat almost seemed to smirk as it pulled themself together and started walking. “Its still a long way to the tree, and a few stories will help pass the time quicker! You can tell me all about your friends-” 

“They’re not my friends!” 

“Acquaintances?” The Cat asked. “Either way, I’m sure if you tell me more about them, we can find them and get you all out of here together.” 

Cinder frowned, then thought for a moment. If she was right and Ruby ended up here too, then killing her here would get her out of the way. And then, once she returned to Salem, she could deliver the unfortunate news of Ruby’s demise. Her frown slowly changed to a smirk as she looked at the Cat. “Alright, I’ll tell you about the other humans that fell as well. And you can help me find them too, right?” 

“Of course I can! Just tell me what they look like and I’m sure I can bring you to them!” 

“Then we better get going.”

[ultraintrovertedgryffindor]

Sweet Pandemonium - Gally (The Maze Runner) Part 9 of 16

ahhhhhhhhh

~~~~~~~~~~

( not my gif :) )

Teresa tried to keep a blank face as she heard you screaming in agony, your face twisting and contorting in absolute fear as you were being pumped full of chemicals that made you see and live through horrible things in your mind.

Being put back in the Maze, being eaten alive by Grievers, crushed to death by the changing Maze walls.

All for a cure... 

Though Teresa never told the doctors the one thing that would absolutely break you, shatter your mind into a million pieces, never to be sane again. She couldn’t. Even if she wanted the cure, and the terrifying fear that you went through could be the thing that makes a cure, she couldn’t do it. She loved you as if you were her own sister. It was easier with Minho, not being a relative of his, but it was still hard to watch.

With Ava Paige and Jensen looming over her shoulder, Teresa had to look strong, even if she never felt that way. 

She watched as the enzyme was drained from your body, the possible key to end all the suffering in the world.

You slowly came to consciousness, seeing the same darkness you always saw whenever you were delivered back to your cell after being tortured. Of course, the people at W.C.K.D. never called it torture. It was all for a cure. It was a great privilege doing something so honorable to save the world. Yeah, right...you never had a choice in the first place.

“You look like shit.”

You sat up with a groan. “You should see how you look after your tests, Minho.”

“Oh, I don’t have to, I can feel how bad I must look.” He huffed.

The good people at W.C.K.D. were so kind enough to place you in a cell with your fellow captured friend. So fucking kind...

“To think being Teresa’s cousin they’d give me special treatment...no offense.” 

Minho rolled his eyes, laying back down against his small bed. “None taken. I’d die for just an unsupervised bathroom break so I could take a klunk in peace.” 

“Nice image, Minho...” You sighed, trying to keep your hands from shaking from the repeated trauma you had to endure. “Are you gonna be okay?”

Minho knew he was going to be taken to get those same tests run on him soon. It had been that way ever since you two arrived at the tower. They’d test you first, then him right after. For evil people, they were always on time. “Yeah,” Minho finally answered, “I always am.”

“We’re gonna get out of here, Minho. I promise. We just have to come up with some sort of feasible plan.”

Minho laughed bitterly. “Feasible? What about escaping from here would be feasible?”

You huffed, leaning up against the cold wall. “We have to get out of here...”

And just like clockwork, a few soldiers and doctors came into the cell to grab Minho, and like always, they had to sedate him so he wouldn’t fight. But what you didn’t expect, they brought you out of your cell too.

“What’s going on?”

You got no answer, and you couldn’t fight. You were too weak to fight. So, you had no choice but to allow them to bring you to wherever they were taking you. You weren’t walking down the halls that led to the testing room, so that was good at least.

They walked you into a small room, sitting you down and handcuffing you to the table you were sat at. Quickly, they left you in the room by yourself. You fiddled around with the handcuffs, but you were no locksmith, and you ultimately gave up trying to brute strength your way out of the steel. 

Eventually, you heard the doorknob rattle and you sat up, trying to prepare yourself for whatever was coming through that door.

“Hey, Y/N...” You scowled when you saw Teresa walk through the doorframe, taking a seat across from you. “How are you feeling?” She asked softly.

“Just peachy, no thanks to you, traitor.” You spat.

Teresa sighed. “Please don’t speak to me like that. I’m your family.”

You shook your head. “No, you’re no family of mine. My family was left out in the desert after you betrayed them. No, family wouldn’t betray each other.”

“Y/N...finding a cure is the most important thing right now. No matter the cost. I’m gonna give you something to make you understand that.” 

Teresa approached you with a syringe, and you tried to squirm away, but unable due to your cuffs to the table. “What is that?” You shouted.

“It’ll help you remember. It won’t kill you. It’s the same serum they gave me to remember...although, we made a few changes have been made to make it work faster.”

You thrashed about, not liking the idea of getting poked. “No! No, I don’t need to remember! I don’t want to remember you!” You hissed at her, making her sigh and turn to the door.

She knocked twice, and with that, a couple guards come into the room and forcibly held you down. “No! No!” You fought, but it was no use.

You hissed in pain as you felt the needle entering your skin, the burning of whatever mixed chemicals entering your bloodstream. “It’ll take a minute, you might get a migraine.” She informed.

And just like she said, a migraine hit you. Like a cinder block was just dropped on your head over and over again. Every time a pulse of pain hit, a wave of memories came flooding back like a tsunami.

You remembered.

The Flare taking everyone you loved. Your parents. Your baby sister, who was just born into the world, she didn’t even have a name yet. Having to deal with survivor’s guilt. Your aunt taking you in, her having a daughter of her own. Your cousin. Having to share a room with her due to the small two bedroom apartment they lived in at the time.

All the late night talks about each other. Comforting each other after vicious nightmares. Becoming so close you referred to each other as sister. Helping take care of each other after her mother got sick, and being all each other had left after her mom killed herself, and being taken by W.C.K.D.

Meeting Thomas, and hating him with a fiery passion. You hated that he quickly became Teresa’s best friend. You were jealous. But after seeing the way her eyes lit up every time she talked about him was really why you started to like Thomas, and eventually called him a friend.

You remembered being so lonely after Teresa and Thomas became W.C.K.D. favorites, and you were left alone altogether. Only rarely were you able to see your only kin.

And you remembered being so scared when you were chosen to go into a Maze trial.

“Y/N?” Teresa’s voice snapped you out of your trance.

“I remember now...”

Teresa smiled softly. “Good. Now do you understand why this is so important?”

You teared up. “...yes...”

Teresa grinned hopefully. “I knew you would.”

“We need to find a cure...but this isn’t the way, Teresa.” Her smile quickly turned into a frown. “You can’t keep testing these kids, traumatizing them. It’s not right, you must know that.”

“This is the only way.”

“You haven’t tried other ways!”

“You have no idea how much we tried avoiding testing on kids!” Teresa raised her voice, which she rarely ever did. “We hate hurting these kids! I hate hurting Minho! But we have no other choice. I have no choice. This method is the only way to get what we need to make a cure.”

“Even if it kills all of us? Even if it kills Minho...kills me?”

Teresa stayed silent. “I thought you’d understand...you were so smart, Y/N. They almost chose you to be with Thomas and I. But they thought you could be more useful in the Maze.” Teresa chuckled tearfully. “You weren’t even supposed to go into that Maze, you were scheduled to go to the all girl Maze. But since I knew I was going there, I made it so that you went into the Maze before Thomas.”

“...you did?”

“Yes...I knew you’d be in good hands with Thomas, even if he couldn’t remember who you were.” She paused. “I never wanted you to get hurt. I pulled some strings...you won’t have to share a cell with Minho anymore. You’ll be staying with me.”

Your heart felt like it dropped. “But...what about Minho?”

“It’s different with you since you’re my cousin. I can’t do anything for him, I’m sorry.”

You chuckled bitterly. “No, you’re not. If you were, you wouldn’t be torturing him.”

“It’s not-” She sighed. “Please, don’t make this any harder than it has to be. I’m getting you out of that cell, you should be thanking me.”

“Am I still going to be tested?” Teresa didn’t give you an answer, that alone told you all you needed to know. “Wow...so the only difference is that I get to suffer in luxury...thanks a lot...”

“Just don’t fight, okay?”

“Whatever...”

Upon entering Teresa’s apartment, instead of being in awe of how nice and fancy everything was to accommodate you two, your anger just intensified more. Minho was trapped in a cold dark cell while you were here...you definitely didn’t deserve to get special treatment, even though you were still going to be tested on everyday...

You walked to the large window in the living room and gasped softly, you had never seen the city before. You didn’t know how incredible the whole place looked...

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Teresa smiled.

You quickly wiped the look of awe and shock off your face. “It’s alright...”

“Are you really going to keep acting this way? To me?”

“I already told you, just because I have my memories back doesn’t mean I automatically agree with everything you do.” You looked back out to the city. “It would look a lot nicer without the wall...”

Teresa sighed, taking a seat on her couch. “We can’t let the infected inside.”

“And all the people deemed unworthy...right?”

Teresa scowled. “If you went down there, see all the innocent people that are down there, children, you’d agree with having the walls.”

“Oh really? Well, I haven’t been around the city. And I probably won’t. I’ll probably die here before I even step foot outside this place.”

Teresa got up and stormed back over to you. “You’re not going to die, Y/N. I won’t let that happen.”

“But what happens if that’s the only way to make a cure? For one of your little lab rats to suffer a painful death to create the enzyme you need for a cure.”

“Then I’ll make sure it’s not you.” Teresa said, turning back around. “Your room’s this way.”

You sighed, following after her down a small hallway of her home. “A bit different from our previous house, eh?” You said when you saw your own queen sized bed.

“We had to share a twin back then.”

“The things we take for granted...”

“I shouldn’t be telling you this, but...we’re gonna start testing all day from now on.” You snapped your head to look at her with wide eyes. “I’m sorry...just get some rest.”

And unfortunately, Teresa was right. 

W.C.K.D. started to test you all day, and it was excruciating. Days starting blurring together again, the pain and exhaustion you felt was unexplainable. But the worse part of it was how little you could differentiate what was real and what was a simulation. Even the nights that you went back to Teresa’s apartment was hard to tell for sure if it was real life.

It was frightening.

Even if you hated Teresa for what she did to the Right Arm, she was one of the only reasons why you weren’t completely insane. When the days got particularly bad, she’d order you to have breaks. She’d have you repeat a set of five numbers, didn’t matter which numbers, forwards and backwards. It helped keep you grounded when things got tough.

Like the situation you were in now. 

You screamed for it all to stop, for all the pain and fear to stop. It was too much to handle.

“Okay, okay, stop!” Teresa shouted, entering through the door. “She needs a break.”

Ava sighed. “Teresa...if you need to remove yourself from here, you should. You can’t let her being your family get in the way of progress.”

Thankfully, Teresa was quick on her toes. “It’s not getting in the way. I’m saying she needs a break because she might run out of the strength that’s keeping her alive. We won’t find a cure if she’s dead.”

Dr. Paige looked to your exhausted and almost dead looking face and sighed. “Alright...let’s wrap it up, give her the day off.”

Teresa nodded gratefully, soon helping the rest of the doctors unhook all the wires and machines attached to you. She noticed how dead inside you looked, and it worried her. You didn’t just need a break, you needed for the experiments to stop, but that wasn’t possible.

Teresa had an idea, most likely the worst idea she’s had and will ever have, but she truly thought it would be somewhat beneficial to your mental state and overall health. Maybe a walk around the city would reignite that strength she saw in you in the beginning of the trials.

Yeah...maybe it wasn’t a bad idea.

~~~~~~~~~~

[bright-eyes-strawberry-lies]

My (incomplete) Notes on The Lightning Thief

Percy Jackson, at 12 years old, is miserable

Percy is trying very hard to be good

Percy reacts violently when his friends are threatened

“I’m going to kill her” 

I wish I’d decked her right there

Percy turns red when he gets called on 

Percy knows a lot about both Greek and Roman gods

Percy has an “I’ll-kill-you-later” stare

Percy gives “safe” answers to authority figures

Percy sells an illegal candy stash out of his dorm room

Percy knows about shrooms and thinks that he was drugged on the field trip

Percy has nightmares about the teacher (Kindly One) that he killed

Percy has to get summer jobs

Grover is a very bad liar

Percy almost cries in class when his favorite teacher tells him that he’s different

Percy gets into fights to protect Grover from bullies

Percy sees the Fates snipping the thread and knows he’s going to die

Grover mentions that it’s always 6th graders who are killed

Percy ditches Grover at the bus stop

Grover’s bladder acts up when he gets nervous

Sally Jackson took night classes to get her GED

She wanted to be a novelist

Gabe Ugliano is Percy’s stepdad

His cigars make Percy nauseous 

He drinks beer and leaves a mess everywhere

He takes money from Percy and uses it to fund his gambling and calls it their “guy secret.”

If Percy tells Sally, he’ll “punch Percy’s lights out”

Gabe takes over Percy’s room while Percy is at school

Gabe makes fun of Percy’s grades

Sally works at a candy shop and brings Percy blue candy

She runs her hands through his hair and asks him how he’s doing

She never raises her voice or says anything unkind to anyone

Percy wants to punch Gabe

Percy wants to kick Gabe in the balls and “make him sing soprano for week” 

Gabe blamed Percy for things that aren’t his fault

Percy makes a hand gesture that Grover did, but at Gabe, and the screen door slammed shut 

They have a rental cabin on the beach that is “half hidden in the dunes, full of sand and spiders”

Percy and his mom eat blue foods because Gabe said there’s no such thing as blue food. It’s an act of rebellion. 

Percy thinks that his mom doesn’t want him around

Percy is mad at Poseidon for leaving him and his mom

In preschool, Percy is put to sleep in a crib at school. The crib had a snake in it and Percy strangled the snake to death. 

Percy has a dream that a horse (Poseidon) and an eagle (Zeus) are fighting to the death

“O Zeu kai alloi theoi” means “Oh Zeus and other gods!” 

Percy experiences panic when he realizes that his teacher was a monster trying to kill him

Lightning hits the camaro and blasts off the roof

Percy’s got good instincts; the hair frequently raises on the back of his neck when he’s in danger

Sally gets killed by the minotaur 

She’s actually stolen by Hades

Percy rips off the minotaur’s horn and impales it into his side

Percy is crying, weak, trembling with grief and he literally carries Grover and drops onto a porch

Annabeth tries to get Percy to talk while she’s spoon-feeding Percy ambrosia 

Percy has been unconscious for two days after his fight with the minotaur

Percy would rather live on the streets than live with Gabe

He considers lying about his age and joining the army

Percy is very good at telling when adults have been drinking

Grover is nervous about Mr. D

But he still manages to ask for the diet coke can to eat

  The farm house is four stories tall, sky blue and white trim

The camp grows strawberries and the campers pick them

Grover is 28 years old but satyrs mature at half the rate that humans do

The Poseidon cabin walls glow like abalone. There are six empty beds with silk sheets. It smells salty. 

Chiron gets horribly depressed about training heroes

Luke is very handsome except for a thick white scar that runs from his right eye to his jaw.

He’s the son of Hermes and the counselor 

Luke is 19

He’s in cabin 11

Monsters will always reform because they don’t have souls

The bathrooms are cinder block buildings with a line of toilets and a line of showers; there’s a girls and a boys

Percy feels a tug in the pit of his stomach when he uses his powers

Annabeth just watched Clarisse drag Percy into the bathroom to give him a swirly 

Luke steals Percy some toiletries from the camp store. 

Percy is not good at archery, foot racing, or wrestling

The only thing that Percy is good at is canoeing 

Percy can’t find a blade that fits right in his hand. 

Luke has been the best swordsman in 300 years

Percy bests him after pouring ice water on his head (son of Poseidon) 

Hades doesn’t have a cabin at Camp Half-Blood or a throne on Olympus. They say that it would be bad if there was a cabin for Hades. 

Sixty years ago, after World War 2, the big three gods made an oath not to have more kids.

Two of them broke it; Zeus with Jason and Thalia, Poseidon with Percy.

When Hades found out, he let out all three Kindly Ones and a pack of Hellhounds

Thalia wound up becoming a tree. 

Grover was the satyr assigned to bring only Thalia in. Thalia had befriended Annabeth and Luke, and she wouldn’t leave them behind. 

Percy thinks that Luke’s scar makes him look almost evil

Clarisse has an electric spear

It makes Percy go numb wherever she touches him with it

One of the boys in Cabin 5 (Ares) cuts Percy across the arm

Once Percy gets into the water, he’s very good at fighting

Luke wins capture the flag

Annabeth has a Yankee's cap that makes her invisible. It was a gift from her mother. 

Annabeth is the first person to figure out that Poseidon is Percy’s father.

No wait, Grover was first and then Chiron. Well, they knew he was one of the Big Three’s son.

As soon as Percy steps out of the water, he is exhausted and in pain.

When Hellhounds die, they melt into shadow and soak into the ground.

Hellhounds are from the fields of punishment.

When Poseidon claims Percy, everyone kneels.

“Poseidon, Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.”

Percy is miserable being alone in Cabin Three and being so isolated. He would rather get into fights every day than be ignored. People are steering clear of Percy. 

Except for Luke, who gives Percy one-on-one sword training. 

Annabeth teaches Percy Greek but she’s distracted.

Gabe tells the press that Percy is violent and a troubled kid. The newspapers say that Percy may be involved in his mother’s disappearance. 

Gabe also tells the press that Percy has expressed violent tendencies in the past.

Percy has more dreams of Zeus and Poseidon fighting. He hears Kronos’ voice calling to him. 

It doesn’t rain in Camp Half-Blood (or even get overcast) unless they want it to. 

Dionysus wants to kill Percy. 

Percy gets embarrassed when he knows something someone doesn’t want or expect him to. 

Percy has a nervous laugh. 

Illegal copies can be made of the Gods Symbols of Power.

Percy has tried to steal pizza from Gabe’s poker parties and got busted for it.

Percy is furious that the camp is being punished for his existence. He thinks he’s responsible for the gods' fight. 

The Big House attic is four flights up. It’s full of mementos from old demigod fights. 

Percy is scared of the oracle. 

Percy’s fists clench at the very sight of Gabe. 

Percy doesn’t have many friends. 

Percy isn’t afraid of Hades; he wants to get revenge and take Hades on. 

Gods can’t encroach on each other’s territories but demigods can. Gods can’t be held responsible for heroes actions. 

Percy describes his emotions as rolling glass in a kaleidoscope. 

Percy is so relieved that Grover is coming with him that he wants to cry. 

Annabeth volunteered to go on the Quest. Percy is not surprised.��

Previously, Luke told Percy that Annabeth has been harassing Chiron for a prophecy and that she’s been hanging onto all of the new campers until she’s sure they aren’t the chosen one. 

Annabeth says that Percy will mess up this quest without her even though he’s been more than adequate at handling everything that’s been thrown his way. 

The camp store loans Percy $100.00 and 20 golden drachmas. 

He’s also given a canteen of nectar and a ziplock bag full of ambrosia squares.

The ambrosia and nectar is only to be used in emergencies; it will kill a mortal and demigods will literally burn up if they overdose. 

Annabeth’s cap was given to her on her twelfth birthday by her mom, Athena. 

Luke actually runs up the hill to give them the basketball shoes. They’re the flying shoes he got from his dad for his quest when he was seventeen. 

Luke gives the shoes directly to Percy. 

Percy is worried that Luke would have been jealous of the attention he’s been getting.

Percy blushes because Luke gave him the magic gift. 

Luke seems uncomfortable talking to Percy. He trails off three times and uses “um.” And then there’s an [awkward] handshake. 

Luke pats Grover between the horns and gives Annabeth a hug.

Annabeth’s crush on Luke has been brought up three times so far. 

Percy figures out by this one interaction that Annabeth let Luke capture the flag instead of her. 

Percy thinks that he’s a brat for wanting a magical gift from his father. 

Riptide (Anaklusmos) is a gift from Poseidon that Chiron has been holding onto for the next child of Poseidon. 

Riptide is forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, and cooled in the River Lethe. 

Mortals aren’t important enough for the blade to kill but it will kill demigods and anything from the Underworld. 

Percy thinks that the real world feels like a fantasy after spending two weeks at Half-Blood Hill. 

Percy thinks that Annabeth hates him. 

Annabeth thinks they have to be rivals because their parents are. 

Annabeth was also mean to him before she knew who his dad was.

Even after two weeks away from Gabe, Grover can still smell him on Percy.

This makes Percy immediately want a shower.

Grover says that Percy should be thankful Sally was with someone who smelled so repulsively human because it kept the monsters away and that Sally must have loved Percy a lot to put up with that guy.

This does not make Percy feel better but he hides his feelings; or hopes he does since satyrs can sense emotions with or without an empathy link. 

Percy is on the quest because he wants to save his mom.

He is not on the quest to retrieve Zeus’s lightning bolt

Or to save the world 

Or to help his dad out of trouble. Percy is actually really, really angry with Poseidon for never visiting or helping Sally. 

Annabeth and Percy are good at playing hacky sack. 

The three Furies are considered the worst monsters in the Underworld. 

Percy had a chance to escape on the bus and didn’t take it. 

Alecto threatens to kill Percy (again)

Percy can speak Latin

Percy knows that the Greek Gods (Zeus and Hades in particular) are being assholes to him. 

The food at Camp Half-Blood is grapes, bread, cheese, and extra-lean-cut nymph-prepared barbecue. 

“Your head is full of kelp.”

In Aunty Em’s emporium, Percy says that the smell of her cooking makes everything else go away, however he still has the sense of mind to notice Grover whimpering, the statues’ eyes following them, and Auntie Em locking the door. 

Percy’s neck tingles when he’s in danger. 

Percy is annoyed that Annabeth is being rude to a woman who just fed them for free. 

[salt-warrior]

RISE FROM THE ASHES

A When Earth Turns to Ashes sequel

Masterlist

Chapter Fourteen: The Consequences of Love

Kai cried out as the warm caress of fire etched it way up his back. For one, there was the pain of it. And for another, there were the memories. The ones of burning to a crisp. The ones that felt like dreams he wasn't supposed to wake up from.

But almost immediately, the flames flickered out, leaving him panicked, but relatively unscathed. He could still feel the heat from where the conflagration had grazed him, but it was more of an agitating sort of pain— one felt after holding one's hands above a fire for too long. There had been no damage done to his person.

Cinder, on the other hand, had an expression that conveyed only her own personal destruction.

She stumbled away from him, hand clasped over her mouth as sobs began to pour out of her. Her back hit the wall and she slid to the floor, staring at Kai all the while, terror carved into her expression and horror engraved upon her soul. Cinder watched him from the floor in the seconds it took for Kai to regain his composure.

He made a move toward her, but she thrust her hands at him in a motion of warding off an attacker and screamed. He froze. She dropped her arms. They stared at one another.

"Cinder," Kai said, his voice low and hesitant. She flinched, dropping her hands to cover her face. "Cinder, please don't freak out. Nothing happened. We're fine. It's fine."

She didn't move. Neither did he.

"Cinder, please."

"You got burned," Cinder whispered.

"No, I didn't."

"You cried out. You screamed."

"I was shocked," Kai said. "I wasn't expecting it. It was only a startled response."

"And I caused it."

"No."

"Yes," Cinder said, eyes full of tears. Her nose twitched and she licked at her lips, as if trying to find words there. Her arms folded tight over her midsection. "I scared you, Kai." She leaned forward, her face turned up toward his. "I scared you. Me. I scared you."

"It's not your fault," Kai said, falling to his knees before her. He didn't touch her, but his face was inches away from her own. "You didn't mean to. It's not you—"

"Stars, Kai," Cinder spat, jerking away from Kai. "I hurt you, I scared you, and you're making excuses for me? Can't you see how unbelievably toxic this has become?"

Kai stared at her, stunned. They had their faults most definitely. Things had been more difficult than usual over the past month between his father dying and this new ghost haunting Cinder. But had their relationship become toxic?

Cinder continued, "You're making excuses for me hurting you, Kai. You're—"

"No, you're taking the blame for something out of your power," Kai said. "You're just scared. Too scared to stick this out."

"Scared to stick this out?" Cinder gasped, her face twisted. "Taking the blame for something that's not my fault? It is my fault, Kai. She's my mother. She's killed two of the people I love. Three, really. She killed you last year, Kai. She killed you." Cinder pulled her knees up to her chest. She looked small. Too small. More like a child waiting out a thunderstorm than a woman haunted by the ghosts of her past.

"We don't even know if it's her."

"But we do!" Cinder exclaimed. "There's no other explanation. The Lemuralia Phantoms can have human power sources. The ghost haunting me uses fire, and she only comes when I'm around."

"And me."

"What?"

"It comes when I'm around, too," Kai said. "Have you ever stopped to consider that it could be me? That Cress was right in her first assumption of a poltergeist?"

"You couldn't," Cinder snarled.

"And how are you supposed to know what I can or cannot do?"

"You just couldn't."

Kai grabbed at his hair, frustration taking over. "Why are you so insistent upon playing the victim?"

"The victim?" Cinder's voice dropped. "If anything, I'm the villain, Kai. The one who's screwed your life over too many times to count. The one that you should be running screaming from."

"But I'm not."

"So what does that make you?" Cinder spat.

Kai froze, cheeks coloring. He didn't know why, but the words stung. Almost as if she had called him something obscene.

She saw the change and shut her eyes tight, fists clenched. She inhaled deeply. He couldn't stop examining her— waiting for the moment that she would bolt. Because she was Cinder, and that's all she knew how to do: run. Run away from her problems, from the things tormenting her, from love. Because they were all frightening, and every ounce of her courage had been spent on existing.

"I can't stay here, Kai. You know that. Though you won't admit it to yourself, it's a relief, letting me go. It will hurt—" Cinder's voice broke, "—but it will be for the best. For both of us."

"No," Kai said, the ferocity of his love and his insistent stubbornness getting the better of him.

"Kai—"

"No," Kai repeated. "Cinder, you don't just get to call it quits here. You don't get to just run away from what's going on until we actually know what's going on. This ghost, or whatever the hell it is, we don't know if it's haunting you. It could be mine. Maybe it's my dad, or—"

"Your dad couldn't be a ghost. He didn't die a violent, unnatural death. You couldn't create a poltergeist either," Cinder cut in. "It's me. I'm the problem."

"Or maybe it's neither of us," Kai finished, shooting a glare at Cinder. "Maybe there's something else going on here and you're acting prematurely."

"You're acting like I'm going to go throw myself off a building."

"Maybe because you're acting like you just might."

Cinder huffed, then abruptly got to her feet. She began to pace the apartment, periodically bringing her hands up to her face or grumbling to herself. Then she turned to Kai, pointing down into his face. "Me wanting to get away from you does not equate to me wanting to end my life. It's just... distance might be the only thing that will keep whatever this is away."

"But if you leave, we may never discover what's haunting you," Kai argued. "And then you'd live the rest of your life on the run. Is that what you want?"

Cinder groaned. She put her hands at the base of her neck and pulled down, as if she could drag herself down to the very depths of hell. "We're running in circles here, and you can't seem to understand that there's a problem here that's bigger than our relationship."

"Nothing is bigger than the two of us."

"Your life is."

Kai sank to the floor. There was a terrible ache pulsing within him, as if his sadness had its own heartbeat. Or perhaps it was his heart, tapping out his misery, not wanting him to miss the horrible feeling it was to feel love slipping from one's fingers.

He knew that Cinder was right— of course she was. No relationship was worth one's mortality. But if that was so, then why did he care so little for his own life and so much for his love of Cinder? For her, he would die a thousand deaths, light up in flames a million times, take his final breath by her side every moment of his existence. Because she was all he cared for.

She was the girl he had saved— the one who had saved him in return. Because that's what they did— they saved one another. Only this time, it seemed that their only means of safety was separation.

"I don't know how to live without you," Kai whispered. He leaned his head back against the wall, unashamed as tears trickled from his eyes. "I don't know how to do it, Cinder. First my mother, then my father. Now... you. I can't do it."

"I know," Cinder said, crouching down beside him this time. She planted her hands on either side of his face. "It's not easy for me either, you know."

"Then why are you doing it?" Kai practically sobbed. He stared up into her eyes with earnest, the pulse of aching throbbing through his very soul. "Why are you leaving?"

"Because I love you."

"Is that why you leave everyone? Because that's the only way you know how to love?"

Cinder smiled bitterly. "No," she sighed. "I'm leaving because I know what happens if I don't. I understand the consequences of my love."

Kai searched her eyes for any regret, but found none. It didn't make it any easier to let her go. Because while she did not appear regretful, there was mourning in her gaze. There was sadness, and a sort of loneliness that only the abandoned could feel. It hurt her to leave him, just as it tore him apart to be left behind, but she would not regret it.

"What will I do?" Kai asked. "What am I supposed to do? I can't just move on."

"I know," Cinder said. "But you have to. At least try."

"Just give it more time," Kai pleaded, though he knew it was pointless. He wasn't going to give up on her without a fight, but he could feel the effort of trying to keep her from catching up with him. They'd been fighting this battle for far too long, and she was by far the more experienced warrior. "It hasn't hurt me. Really."

Cinder laughed, though there was no humor to it. "Kai, the back of your shirt is nearly gone. That's not escaping unscathed."

"I'm not hurt," Kai hissed. "Please."

Cinder dropped her hands from his face and stood abruptly. Her face twitched, presumably with the effort of trying not to cry, though no tears escaped. She simply stared at him, her face blotchy and her expression beyond destroyed. She was a woman who had given her all and found nothing left, no semblance of herself, not even a ghost.

Without hesitation, Cinder walked away from him and into their bedroom. He heard her moving swiftly, packing items she would need for wherever she went. It was dark outside, but he knew it wouldn't deter her from leaving. Nothing could stop Cinder.

Mere minutes later, she walked out of the room with her backpack slung over her shoulder. A lump rose in Kai's throat, and suddenly, it hit him. She was leaving him. Not just going to work, but leaving. Abandoning him perhaps forever. And he couldn't bear the idea.

He moved to stand in front of the door, like a pathetic child begging their parents to stay. Because he would fight for her until his heart stopped beating and his soul ceased to be.

"Kai," Cinder said, approaching him with her hands up. "You have to let me go."

"I can't."

A burst of light flared up between the two of them, causing Cinder's eyes to appear more gold than brown, as if she were a being not known to mankind. The flames made her look they way she had the first time Kai had laid eyes on her: like the Angel of Hell.

Kai fell to the ground, unable to quench the fear that burned within him at the sight of the flames. He stared at them in all their glory, watching the unnaturalness of them— the way they floated in the air, fed by nothing.

And when they vanished, Kai was alone.

Tags: @shellyseashell @cinderswrench @healing-winston-pratt @just2bubbly @silverstars21 @gingerale2017 @greasicookies  @the-wee-woo-rita @zephyr-thedragon @bookpapaya @cindersassasin @the-jewel-of-ketterdam

[lu-undy]

Chapter 97 - SBT

Here it is!

"Are you comfortable like this?" 

"Yeah… Thanks, luv'." 

Lucien slid his arms under the surface of the water to hug his lover. Both of them were in the bathtub, Mundy sitting between Lucien's legs. The lights were off in the bathroom, except for a few scented candles, and there wasn't a sound to be heard apart from the soft tickling of the bubbles popping at the surface of the water. 

"Lu', uh, I'm still… I'm still worryin' about it all…"

"Do me a favour, mon amour."

"Mh?"

"Forget about it, just for tonight. We can worry tomorrow, no one is chasing us."

"Yeah, but-"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Lucien cut him and hugged him tightly under the water. "You need to relax. You cannot remain stressed like this or you will have more grey hair than I do."

"I like your grey hair, Lu'..."

Lucien smiled.

"Do you really or is it just to make me feel better about it?" 

"No, it's the truth, I really love your grey hair, 's beautiful."

"So are you, all of you." Lucien answered and slowly let his hands splay on Mundy's naked skin before gently stroking his torso, chest and stomach in soft movements.

"Mmh… Thank you so much…" Mundy leaned his head back on Lucien's shoulder and the Frenchman smiled. He slid his fingers through the Aussie's short, brown locks of hair and started to knead his scalp. "Orh… God, yeah…" 

"Sshh, mon amour… Relax, and let me take care of you…"

"Lu'...?"

"Oui?"

"Please, talk to me…" Mundy rolled up his eyes and closed them as he hissed in pleasure. 

"About what?" 

Lucien's fingers were working wonders on Mundy's tired head.

"Anythin'... Talk, sing, anythin'... Just wanna hear you…" 

"Ah." Lucien got his mouth closer to Mundy's ear and whispered. 

"Je l'ai trouvée devant ma porte 

Un soir que je rentrais chez moi,

Partout elle me fait escorte, elle est revenue, la voilà…"

Mundy smiled and Lucien saw his chest heave under the waves of air that he knew oh so well. It was the beginning of the first song that Lulu had sang, all those months ago, more than a year ago now. La Solitude. 

Lucien did not sing all of it. He soon stopped and just whispered.

"Mon amour… I am so proud of you… Such courage…" 

Lucien's hands slithered from Mundy's hair to his shoulders.

"Oh… Lu'... Gosh… Hah…" 

Mundy's eyes were still closed. He felt the thin lips he loved so much on the side of his neck, behind his ear, nipping. The kisses were wet mostly from the bath water. 

Suddenly, Mundy's skin was very sensitive. He felt his hairs spike up everywhere and he was aware of every little flow that Lucien induced with his seductive caresses. 

"Lu'... W-what are you doin'...?" Mundy smiled with his eyes closed and the sight of it filled Lucien with joy. 

"I am taking care of you. It is my duty and pleasure…"

"Oh, Gosh… Y'know I'm sensitive there, please…" 

Lucien was brushing his hands on Mundy's hips, left and right. 

"Oui, I know." He simply answered as he felt Mundy's body struggle to not melt into jelly in his arms. "Don't resist it… Yield to me…" 

"God, not the voice… the whispers…"

"Relax, Mundy. Laisse-moi m'occuper de toi, laisse-toi faire… Fonds dans mes bras, je suis là, je prends soin de toi…"

[Relax Mundy. Let me take care of you, let yourself go… Melt in my arms, I am here for you, I take care of you…]

Mundy's breath changed. His chest heaved and he arched his back slightly. Lucien's lips were on his ear while his hands slowly slid up to his chest. He massaged there, gently, as he went on whispering whatever came to his mind to take Mundy's away from his problems. 

"I am yours, Mundy, I am yours and the sight of your naked body so pliant in my hands is a godly delicacy for my eyes… Look at you… So sensitive, your eyebrows twitch at every touch, no matter how delicate it is. Non, please, don't clench your jaw, relax everything in you and let yourself fall in my arms as limply as you can…"

"I… I can't…"

"Why…? What is the matter..?"

"Y-you're… Can't be limp everywhere…" Mundy blushed. He didn't know how to phrase that better, his brains were like jelly. 

"Mmh, is it?" Lucien's index fingers circled the little spots of darker skin on Mundy's chest and the Aussie's breath hitched. 

"Hah! Gosh, Lu'...!"

"Very sensitive we are, non?"

"Y-yeah… Hah… Please…"

"What do you want, Mundy? Do you want me to…" Lucien's hands slid down and dangerously close to Mundy's private area. The Aussie removed Lucien's hands fast. 

"No! Please!"

The Frenchman immediately removed his hands. 

"I… I am sorry, mon amour, I thought you wanted me to-"

Mundy stood up and exited the bathtub. He grabbed a towel and wiped himself dry. 

"Mundy…?" 

He then turned to Lucien and helped him out, silently, before drying him too. He wrapped his still damp, long hair in a towel and hugged his naked body. 

"What is the matter, mon amour?" 

Mundy's head was buried in the crook of Lucien's neck and his eyes were closed there. 

"I… Thank you so much…" 

"What for?" 

"Just bein' here for me and… Always puttin' me first and…"

"It is my pleasure." Lucien hugged him back. "You just need a bit of comfort."

"Only you can do that." 

"Do what?" Lucien asked.

"Make me feel better." 

Lucien smiled and Mundy finally looked down in his eyes. 

"I love you, Lu'. Love you so much…" He took Lucien's delicate chin between his fingers and pulled it into a kiss. "Love you… and need you…" 

Lucien's hands slid on Mundy's back, between the scars. 

"I am here.. for you…" 

They spoke between kisses, when they could afford to divert their attention away from the other's lips for a few words. 

"Lu'..." Mundy's kiss grew more heated. It might be Lucien's hands on his hips… 

"Orh, oui…"

...or his own hands on Lucien's softness. 

The Frenchman frowned. Mundy's hands behind him were playing a dangerous game, a game where Lucien's knees would lose. 

"Mundy…" 

Lapping sounds resonated in the tiled bathroom and the towel on Lucien's hair fell to the floor. 

"Lu'..."

One of Mundy's hands slid up along Lucien's spine, making his skin prickle under the calloused digits, whilst the other stayed where the Aussie loved it and kneaded, squeezed tenderly and pulled gently. He wanted to feel all of Lucien in his hands. Lucien's knees were fighting for some strength as his hands grasped Mundy's shoulders. In case his legs failed, at least he would hang from the Aussie's shoulders… And he was on the tip of his toes too, trying to reach his tall lover's lips without ever breaking contact. 

Their breaths grew louder and as Lucien was slowly losing his balance, Mundy turned and pushed him against the wall. There, Lucien would be at least resting part of his weight against it. 

The Aussie didn't waste any time and dived to the Frenchman's neck. 

"Mon Dieu!"

He bit it and Lucien's eyes snapped wide when he felt the sharp canines sting. He bit his lip and hung on to Mundy's body, as best as he could. 

"M-Mundy… Hah…"

To help Lucien stand even more, Mundy pushed his hips against the Frenchman. The sudden meeting of their intimacies punched their guts warmly. 

"Grand Dieu…." 

Lucien screwed his eyes shut and let Mundy kiss, claw, pull, grab, and bite wherever he wanted. 

"Need you on the bed, Lu'..." 

"Take me… Oh?!" 

Mundy put his arms below Lucien's thighs and powerfully carried him in his arms. The Frenchman wrapped his legs around the Aussie's waist and clung to him until they arrived in the bedroom and Mundy delicately laid Lucien on his back, on the bed. 

"Gosh, you're gorgeous…" 

It only took a moment for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, and they took advantage of it to forget about the rest of the world. In their pitch black, soft universe, there was only them. However hard they opened their eyes, they couldn't see anything else but each other, and however hard they strained their ears, they couldn't hear anything but their moans, their hitched breaths, syllables of love, wrapped under the bed's cover, in the secrecy of their own world. 

"Oh oui… Oui, Mundy…" 

The Aussie was on top of Lucien. He had one hand in his hair, grasping the silky cinder locks firmly. His other hand held both of them where their desire burnt the most. And he clenched his grip, massaging along the lines of their veins, reading in Braille what Lucien didn't dare say, because it wasn't like him. It wasn't like him to be too blunt, too crude. As he did in life in general, he carefully chose his words in the sheets too, for the pleasure to grow without crossing the line and breaking it all. 

So what Lucien couldn't say, he conveyed differently. A loving and slow roll of the hips, a slightly higher-pitched whimper, a syllable laced in a thin whisper, because the sentence would be too much. 

"More…" 

Mundy's hand released his own masculinity to only focus on Lucien. 

"Non, please… You and me…" 

Mundy smiled and kissed the corner of Lucien's lips before wrapping his fingers again around both of them. 

"Oui… Oui…" 

Mundy's other hand slid down from Lucien's hair to his face, grabbing his bearded jaw and pulling. He too, needed more of his lover. 

"Hah… Oui…" Lucien loved it. There weren't enough words to express it, or maybe he just didn't know them. So for lack of a better way to phrase it, he whimpered, his moans jumping an octave higher in pitch. 

"Like it when I hold you…?"

Lucien nodded, his lips still against Mundy. He couldn't answer with words. 

"Right then…" 

Mundy's hand slithered down to Lucien's chest, his fingers drowning in the short, salt and pepper chest hair. He pinched a nipple and Lucien's voice jumped again as his back arched. The Aussie chuckled and bit his lover's ear. His hand continued its journey down until it went lower than the first. 

"Ohf-gnh! Mundy!" 

With a hand on their lust, and the other below Lucien's, the Aussie grinned maliciously. Lucien's eyes were shut and he didn't see it. He could only feel the confident hand cup, caress and massage the two treasures that Lucien kept underneath his member. 

"Sensitive there, eh?" 

Lucien's hands had slid to Mundy's hair and clenched. He nodded again. 

"I like it… Ooh, y'liked that, didn't ya?" 

Lucien's dignity had left the room a long while ago. There was nothing else to save, so he yielded and his vocal chords sang a song that Mundy revelled in. It was high in pitch, almost feminine and definitely weak, something that the hunter appreciated deeply. He liked hearing the confident and gorgeous man lose his composure and there was something beautiful and raw in Lucien's vulnerability; something that tickled the Aussie in his body as much as in his pride. It was shameful, perhaps, but part of him was far from shy and liked the position of power, not in a cruel way, but just knowing that he was in control and able to satisfy his lover, he was in a position of predator, not prey. Oh, yes, he enjoyed pulling the wanton moans, the weak whimpers, the syllables of Lucien's pride collapsing. He liked it all as much as he liked providing enough comfort and trust for Lucien to abandon himself that way, to be as defenseless as he wanted, to lower his guard and enjoy the luxury of the safety in Mundy's arms. 

"Mundy… please…?" 

"Right, enough teasin'..." Mundy lay on top of Lucien and let his entire body weigh on the Frenchman. His arms slithered left and right around the silhouette of the singer, the spy, the partner in crime, in life and now, in the sheets. He hugged Lucien powerfully as he kissed him hungrily. There was nothing to lose that he hadn't lost yet. There was no obstacle, no limit in his head, no barriers, no secrets. 

"Mon Dieu…" Lucien's eyebrows arched high up and he could feel his eyes warm up. "Please, take me…" 

"Whatever you want, darl'..." Mundy added a quick kiss on Lucien's lower lip while the Frenchman was trying to catch his breath and relax. A second later, a pop resounded in the room, and a smell, the smell of lust, diffused in the room. 

"How do you want me?" Lucien whispered. 

"However you want me to take you, luv'." 

And Lucien flipped to lie on his stomach. 

"Yeah, that's perfect…" Mundy couldn't resist and dived in that softness that beckoned his eyes. He couldn't resist it, there was no way. He lapped, bit and savoured as Lucien's hips jerked on their own occasionally. "Mmh… So soft…" 

Another bite and Lucien whimpered. 

"Please…!" He begged and Mundy felt the outcry resonate between his own legs. 

"Gosh, yeah…" He put his hands on Lucien's softness and pulled, left and right before kissing and lapping. 

"Please, Mundy, I… really need you…" Mundy had noticed that indeed, Lucien was rolling his hips on the bed. "Oh! Oui!" The Frenchman grabbed a pillow and buried his head in it, to solely focus on the new sensation. Mundy went slowly and prudently before he added more to the play. 

"Breathe, luv', you're doin' great… Take your time…" He kissed Lucien's behind and thighs repeatedly.

"More…"

Mundy did as Lucien asked and could feel the Frenchman slowly adjust to the sensation. Now, Lucien felt the same burning front and back. 

"You… I need you…" 

"Ssh… Let me just… Yeah, look at you… You're perfect…" Mundy had added yet another finger to the play and Lucien's tears started beading at the corner of his eyes. It wasn't because of the pain, but the frustration, the anticipation, the slow burn was killing him. 

But soon, Mundy withdrew and Lucien whined as a complaint. 

"Just a second… Didn't know you could be that impatient, eh…?" Mundy lay on top of Lucien's back and the Frenchman raised his hips. "Oh… Yeah… P-perfect…"

Lucien bit the pillow below him to smother his moans that Mundy could hear nonetheless. It took a few seconds of exquisite agony before the Aussie was entirely in the safety of his lover's body. "Yeah… Orh… You feel… so nice… Hold on…" He grabbed Lucien's shoulder from behind, as leverage, and started to roll his hips. "Ohohooo… Yeah… Yeah…!" 

Each roll of his hips was met by Lucien's eager ones. And the game started to get hotter, both started to sweat… 

Lucien turned his head away from the pillow to catch some fresh air and Mundy caught the corner of his lips. His hands slid one across Lucien's chest, the other on his throat. 

"Oh! O-oui!" 

Mundy's eyebrows would have jumped if he wasn't so busy. He didn't know Lucien had that… side to him. The one that complemented Mundy's baser, hunter instincts, the prey side. Mundy's fingers laced around the Frenchman's throat, careful not to squeeze too tightly but enough to feel the fragile column of delicate flesh, the source of Lucien's voice, of his songs of pleasure, of his sounds of lust. 

Mundy paused for an instant and pushed a lock of Lucien's long hair away from his face. 

"Love you, Lu', love you so much…"

"Hah… Mundy… Why… Why…" Lucien panted.

"Why, what, darl'?" Mundy lay on top of Lucien still and hugged him. Their breaths soon synced. 

"Why did I have to wait so long for this?" 

Mundy smiled. 

"Cause you come across as a posh snob, not someone who likes bein' put in his place…"

Lucien smiled, his eyes still closed. 

"And all it took…" He answered. "Was an outstanding sharpshooter…"

"Apparently, yeah. But I'm not a sharpshooter anymore, luv'."

"Non, it is true. And yet, anything you have done from the moment I saw you use your rifle to today, all of these things led me to be underneath you now and… well, dare I say, sing my pleasure in octaves unheard of before…"

"Mmh…" Mundy kissed his lover again and again, Lucien turning his head as much as he could to meet his lover's lips. "I love you… I love takin' care of you like that…" Mundy tightened his grip on his lover and raised his hips slowly before pushing them back. 

"Oorh…" Lucien's eyes rolled up in bliss and he bit his lower lip. Mundy's break was over and soon, the bed started to creak as the springs in the mattress suffered in rhythm with Mundy's hips. 

Mundy stuck his cheek to Lucien's, both slid against each other with the sweat.

"Listen to me… Y-you're everythin', ok? Y-you're so… important… Can't stop thinkin' about you… I see you everywhere, in everythin', I don't want you to go… I wanna stay with you, always… Uh-hold on… There!"

"Arh!" 

Mundy had slipped a hand where Lucien was craving it. 

"Listen to me, I-orh… I'm gettin' close… You're gettin' me… so… bloody… close…"

They were both out of energy. Mundy's abs and thighs burnt, Lucien's lower body didn't respond to him anymore, it was totally controlled by Mundy's hips and what they held in between.

"Hold on… need to kiss you…" Mundy withdrew from his lover who complained with a whine. He gently rolled him to face him and smiled as he caressed his face, pressing his sweaty forehead against Lucien's. "No, please… Don't be sad… Here… Uh, Gosh you're perfect…" 

Mundy positioned himself again and asked for his thighs to make one last effort, to carry him and Lucien till the end. He was in pain, drained of energy and panting hard. Lucien pushed his hips back to help him. Oui, they would conclude together.

"Arh… L-Lu'..."

Mundy slid his fingers through Lucien's long hair, raking his scalp with his calloused fingers. Both opened their eyes and stared intensely, Mundy, his brow furrowed and focused, his jaw clenched, Lucien, his eyebrows arched high up and tears at the corner of his eyes, looking up to the only man he should ever show weakness too. Because it wasn't weakness, it was trust.

"Oui… M-Mundy, hold me… Kiss me… Mon Dieu!" 

The Aussie obeyed and stuck his lips to his lover. But both felt it. Their high was imminent. Lucien dug his pristine nails in Mundy's back and wrapped his legs around his waist as the Aussie's hips slowed down and pushed impossibly further, chasing a pleasure that now crashed in waves through his entire body. 

"Mundy!" 

"LUCIEN!" 

Perle and Soot woke up in a flash from the other end of the corridor, their ears pricked up. Mundy's roar had slashed the air as he let himself collapse on his lover.

Their ears rang with the fading ripples of Mundy's outcry in the air, their hearts were beating a samba on their temples as their breaths galloped to catch the oxygen in the room. Once abundant, now it felt like none was left.

Instinctively, their eyes closed, they found each other's lips and clung there. The rest of their bodies were too weak. They needed to rest, catch their breaths and wait for the blood to flow back everywhere. 

And so they waited for their breaths to calm down. None of them realised it but they fell asleep in that position, making one still, in the safety of each other's arms. Their bodies and mind blacked out for God knows how long. 

When Mundy opened his eyes again, the sky was still dark but some early birds were chirping. 

"Mmh… mon amour…"

Kiss… Kiss… Kiss… 

Shy pecks were landing down in the crook of Lucien's neck and along his bearded jaw.

"Mundy… Let me sleep…" 

"Not a chance."

Mundy felt Lucien's legs stretch under the blanket and soon, the Frenchman's limbs laced sensually around his lover.

"Ya clingy lil' panther." 

"Mmh!" Lucien protested but his moan soon melted in the velvety chuckle that Mundy loved so much. The Aussie raised the duvet and covered them both before kissing the Frenchman some more, pushing him deeper and deeper into the mattress itself. "Someone woke up in a playful mood, hm?" 

"Well, I had a good night, and I woke up still in the arms of my darl', so yeah…" 

"And your darl', as you call him, is delighted."

More lapping sounds under the cover of the duvet, Mundy still on top of Lucien. 

"How d'you feel?" 

"Some areas are a bit… sore." 

"Ah, sorry, my fault." 

"Oui, it is. But I do not hold a grudge against you for it." 

They rolled and Lucien climbed on top of his lover, lying flat on his naked body. 

"Would a massage help…?" Mundy slid his hands down Lucien's back. 

"Are you asking more for me or for you?" 

Mundy chuckled. 

"For you, of course."

"Mundy…?" 

"Right, maybe a bit for me too, eh." He gently caressed Lucien where he liked it most. 

"Ah, gently, please…" Lucien pushed the cover away from them and the sunlight hit their naked and lazy bodies.

"Yeah, don't worry. I'm not gonna squeeze it." Mundy looked down on his torso. Lucien looked like a mermaid sunbathing on his chest of the same colour as the sand. His long, cinder hair was flowing on Mundy's torso. The Aussie caressed it. "Love your hair, darl', so soft and beautiful." 

"Merci. I love you entirely." Lucien gently scratched his lover's chest hair, next to his own head. "I had the most pleasant dream last night." 

"Oh? What was it?" 

"There was a feral, wild Bushman, an outstanding sharpshooter."

"Ooh, what did he do?" 

"Things that my lips cannot say."

"Why?" 

"Because it isn't made for children's ears."

"Where d'you see a kid?" Mundy asked. 

"There…" Lucien pointed at the door. 

"Meow…?" 

"Yeah, hold on, guys, let me cover Papa… He's all nakey nakey, eh…?" Mundy pulled the cover up to their waists and the cats trotted in the room before jumping on the bed and brushing themselves on both of them.

"Bonjour, les enfants." Lucien moved to lie next to Mundy, his head on his shoulder and both Perle and Soot lay between them. They loved being showered in scratches and their purrs grew louder.

[Hello, children.]

"Meow?" 

"Yeah, Sooty boy, I know you want your brekky. Give us a minute to wake up, yeah? We also need a good shower…"

The black male with green eyes headbutted Mundy affectionately and the Aussie gave him a cat kiss in response. 

"Meow." Perle called and Soot immediately raised his head to her. She gently walked to the edge of the bed, her fluffy paws sinking in her masters' body through the cover, and jumped down. 

Soot was quick to follow his wife out of the bedroom. 

"Pearl's the one who's leadin', eh?" Mundy said as he watched Soot trot to his companion.

"So am I." Lucien cheekily answered. 

"Think you need to rethink that after last night, hm?"

"Do I?"

"Mh-hm." Mundy nodded. 

"Make me, then." Lucien cocked a cheeky eyebrow.

It took a second trip of the cats to pull the lovebirds out of bed.