#I decided to give Legend green eyes in this!! Hope you like it!

[clancycosmic]

Febuwhump day nineteen

Prompt: death wish

(tw for mild blood)

[zepskies]

Lost on You - Part 1

Pairing: Soldier Boy/Ben x F. Supe!Reader

Summary: 1983 is a big year for you. You’re finally chosen to join the ranks of Payback, led by the most (in)famous supe in the world: Soldier Boy. He’ll never admit that he’s trying his damndest to figure you out. You’ll never admit that he’s actually growing on you. But the problem with this game is deciding who’s the predator, and who is prey.

AN: Welcome to Part 1! You guys have really warmed by heart with all the anticipation for this series, so thank you so much. I think it's going to be a fun ride. 😉

Song Inspo: “Magic” by Olivia Newton-John. And check out the full “Lost on You Playlist” here. There’s going to be lots of ‘80s music in this series!

Word Count: 4K

Tags/Warnings: SB being an entitled asshole (strap in for a lot of that), misogyny, bullying, and a “meet cute” of sorts…

🎙️ Series Masterlist || YouTube Playlist || Spotify Playlist

Part 1: Siren Song

April 3, 1983

“Why the fuck wasn’t I consulted about this?” Soldier Boy groused.

Arthur Cohen, otherwise known as “The Legend,” released a heavy puff of his cigar within the relative privacy of his office. Vought afforded him a great deal of luxuries, at the cost of days like this.

So, he’d offered the supe one of his most coveted Cubans to pacify him. Because true to form, he was edging closer to a temper tantrum by the minute.

“This decision came from on high, my friend,” Arthur said, with a smile that hid his inner anxiousness. He tapped some ash off his cigar with a finger adorned by a gaudy gold ring. “Stan Edgar, Stillwell, even the entire board of directors signed off on this one.”

“I don’t give a fuck who bought into this PR bullshit,” Soldier Boy postured, crossing his arms across his dark green supe suit as he leaned into the plush seat adjacent to Arthur’s desk. He raised a solid boot on the edge of the newly polished mahogany, and then another, crossing them at the ankles. His cigar was balanced between his teeth in the corner of his mouth.

“The last thing we need,” he said, pausing to inhale. Then he took the cigar from his lips to blow out smoke in hot annoyance. “Is another broad on the team.”

Arthur inclined his head. “I understand your concerns.”

“Do you?” Soldier Boy snorted. “Countess is bitch enough to deal with, believe you me.”

Arthur sympathized. He knew Crimson Countess’s attitude well, but he supposed Soldier Boy had license to say so more than anyone else, considering she was his girlfriend.  

“Look, I could give you the numbers: expected profit margins, demographics, etcetera, but you don’t get paid to hear that from me,” Arthur said, with a magnanimous hand gesture and a fair bit of old Jewish charm. “I’m askin’ you to trust me. This girl’s good, okay? Not just a wig and a pair a’ tits. Nah, she’s got talent. Got a set of pipes on her too, my God.”

Soldier Boy gave him a sly look. 

“Not like that,” Arthur said. He shook his head in amusement, but not with the face of a man who hadn’t already thought about the girl’s pretty mouth. He stroked his chin.

“She’s…interesting. Well, you’ll see. If she brings up the ratings the way we hope, we’ll be able to relocate Swatto. Hopefully to Siberia. He’s a fucking PR nightmare waiting to happen.”

“All right, the guy’s a moron, but he’s fucking hilarious,” Soldier Boy said, smirking. “Like one of the three Stooges.”

Yeah. Arthur wondered if that homeless man Swatto almost split open in Central Park after a sneeze thought he was funny. 

“And her powers. Really?” Soldier Boy went on. His brows drew together then, as he frowned. “Sounds like she blew something up someone’s ass to get this far, and it ain’t smoke.”

“Trust me, that’s the real deal too,” Arthur assured.

But he could see that Soldier Boy wasn’t convinced. The supe rolled his eyes and released another puff.

“Anyway. I’m fucking bored. What’s the next project?” he said. Arthur took an unfiltered breath and peeked at the files strewn across his desk.

“Well, Red Thunder is coming out this fall. We’re pretty sure it’s gonna be the blockbuster of the year,” he replied. “After that, we’ll see about writing a sequel.”

If it makes back the millions we spent in production going over budget, thanks to this asshole’s weekly benders, he mentally added.

“I don’t care about a bullshit sequel,” Soldier Boy said dismissively. “I want to do something new.”

“Something new,” Arthur intoned.

The supe raised a brow. Again, the cigar was balanced between his teeth.

“Yeah.”

He really must be bored, Arthur thought, if he actually wants to work.

“All right, let me brainstorm on that for ya,” Arthur said. “Matter of fact, tell you what. Give me ‘til the end of the week. In the meantime, we’ve got the security team monitoring the police scanner for potential saves.”

The supe didn’t look impressed. His brows furrowed, as if he was irritated that he didn’t get an immediate answer, but his slight nod signaled his agreement before he finally got up from his chair. His boots dragged off Arthur’s desk, knocking over a framed picture of his kids with it, and thudded heavily on the ground. He left the office thereafter.

Arthur heaved a breath of exasperation. He didn’t get paid enough for this shit. 

Fucking supes.

But he didn’t dare utter that thought out loud.

It was days before Ben finally crossed paths with the new girl. Not that he’d been giving the idea much thought.

After that day in Arthur’s office, Ben became engrossed in his own devices—namely one of the assistants, Joanna, his stylist, Angela, and Rachel, his maid, after Donna blew him off for dinner for the third night in a row. This time for some tree-hugging conservationist gala of some kind. 

Frigid bitch, he thought, shaking his head. 

On his way to the gym, he passed the T&T Twins gossiping. Just the sight of them irritated him. Tommy was a kiss-ass, and Tessa shared a brain cell with her brother, so she wasn’t saying much for her gender either. 

“Would you pick your tongue off the floor already! You’re so disgusting,” Tessa said, shoving her brother.

“What? She’s fucking hot,” Tommy snapped in defense. When they finally saw Ben coming, Tessa piped down with her attempt at a “demure” greeting.

Tommy came in hot with a too bright voice and a, “Hey, boss!”

Ben gave them a stoic nod, fully intending to blow past them.

“Have you met the new girl yet?” Tommy asked, with an unmistakable pop of his brows and indecent smile.

Ben nearly rolled his eyes. “No.”

And don’t fucking care, his tone conveyed. He continued on his way to the gym. Behind him, the twins gave each other a look, and a shrug.

When he got to the gym, Journey was playing overhead. Ben frowned as he saw Black Noir working out by himself. The young man wasn’t wearing his suit. Instead, he was bare-chested and running on a treadmill with a nearly 90-degree incline, sweat glistening on his skin. 

Fucking show off, Ben thought. 

Then there was Gunpowder, his young sidekick, practicing his archery. Ben went to him and slapped a hand on his back in greeting, none too gently. The teen stumbled, his arrow landing into the wall instead of the target. 

“Spot me at the bench, ey kid,” said Ben. “And grab me a towel while you’re at it.”

“Uh, sure,” Gunpowder replied, ducking his head as he went. Ben got settled at his usual bench press machine, sliding his back down the thin leather cushion. He waited for the kid to add on his fifty-pound weights on either side, until it reached two hundred pounds. That was just the warm-up. 

“You met the new girl yet?” Ben asked, after he began lifting his first rep. Gunpowder stood behind his head.  

“No, sir,” he said. “Haven’t seen her yet.”

“I haven’t either,” said Noir. He’d come over on his way to the showers, regaining his breath all the while. Ben gave him a sharp side-eye.

“Did I fucking ask you?” he said. 

Noir paused. He hid his frown behind a stoic front, since he didn’t have his mask to do it for him. He toweled off his face and chest as he left the gym. 

Ben shook his head, but he never broke stride on the bench press. 

You seemed to be mysterious. 

Barely anyone had seen you, and you hadn’t gone out of your way to ingratiate yourself with every member of the team, like Ben would’ve expected. Donna had set him in her sights on her very first day.

With fake demure in her hazel eyes, a flick of her long red hair over her shoulder, and a sultry smile, she’d let him take her hand and bring it up to his lips for a gentlemanly kiss. 

That same night, she’d accepted his invitation up to his suite and let him do some very ungentlemanly things. Ben smirked at the memory as he made his way down Vought Tower’s infinite hallways. She sure knew her way around some kinky shit.  

And she still did, the little minx. She’d just been putting the freeze on his balls lately, for whatever her reasons were this time. He didn’t pretend to care or keep track at this point. 

If people only knew what a royal pain Crimson Countess was.

Ben was only taken out of his thoughts when he heard someone singing in the breakroom, gently, but beautifully. He couldn’t make out the words though. He stopped and leaned inside the doorway, just to see who it was. It was early enough in the morning that he was surprised anyone but him was awake.

You were standing there at the counter, making some coffee from the percolator. Soft and dulcet notes fell from your lips in some kind of lullaby. Quirking a brow, the oddness of it managed to draw Ben’s steps into the kitchen. You were wearing a leather supe suit that molded to your every curve, not unlike Donna’s, except yours was black with violet trim lines.

You eventually noticed him with a smile.

“Good morning, sir.”

Ben gave you a charming grin, blatantly eying you from breast to toe before he noted that the coffee had finished percolating. 

"Hey there, sweetheart,” he said. “Pour me a cup, would ya?" 

You did so, and he admired the graceful movements of your hands, and the sweet sound of your voice as you continue to hum to yourself. 

"You're a little crooner, aren't you?" he asked, taking the plain white coffee mug from you. 

When your hand brushed his, he felt it.

Your power.

It threatened to overtake him, drawing you into him like the crash and current of a tidal wave, where he couldn’t help but be pulled undertow. There in that darkness, he craved your warmth as well as your body. The thought, the need gripped him at his core… 

He wanted you to devour him, body and soul.

And he finally registered that your eyes were glowing violet, along with your knowing smile. 

Then you blinked. The violet haze was gone, along with your hold on his mind. 

You went back to sipping your coffee as if nothing had just happened. Ben faltered, mentally and physically as he was forced to grip the counter. He even had to catch his breath as his mind reeled from the loss of connection. 

He covered his unbalance with a steely, angry frown. What the fuck just fucking happened?

He looked at you harder than before, drawing himself to his full height and towering over you. Still, you didn’t seem all that intimidated.

“What the hell did you just do?” he growled.

Your knowing, easy smile remained. 

“Nothing,” you replied. “Just a little smoke.”

Ben’s eyes widened.

“Sounds like she blew something up someone’s ass to get this far, and it ain’t smoke.”

How the hell had you heard about that?

He quirked a brow, but you just sipped your coffee with a gentle slurp. Your gaze moved away from him as you went to the fridge to take out a carton of eggs.

“Want some breakfast? I’m thinking of making some eggs, sunny side up,” you said.

Ben’s hand clenched at his side, but then, he forced himself to relax. Or at least, to look relaxed. You had some fucking audacity to try toying with him…but he had to admit, you were something new.

Interesting.

“What’s your name?” he asked, in a tone that demanded.

“Sirena,” you answered. Your superhero name, which he’d already known when Stan Edgar told him about you a week ago.

Ben’s frown deepened, but he reminded himself to retain some charm. He took your chin between his fingers. His grip was light, but his green eyes were intense, and focused on you. 

“No. Your real name, sweetheart,” he said, brushing your cheek with his thumb.

You blinked, but you obliged him with your name, and a smile that edged at flirtation.

“What’s yours?” you returned.

He had to smirk. He knew you knew full well who he was.

“Call me Ben,” he said.

Three Days Ago…

You tried not to be completely overwhelmed by the sight of this huge tower as you pulled your suitcase behind you. Vought-American was an institution of superhero production, and Payback was the face of it all. The absolute pinnacle.

I still can’t believe they chose me, you thought, but you tried not to let that show. You needed to make it seem like you knew what you were doing. You belonged here, and you were seizing this chance.

Madelyn Stillwell, the head of Superhero Public Relations, personally greeted you at the gate and showed you up to your room. However, you’d barely gotten a chance to step inside and look around before her pager went off. She wore a certain smile when she saw the number on the screen. She tossed a strand of strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder and glanced up at you.

“Sorry, sweetie. I have an appointment to get to, but the directory is there on your desk if you need anything. Feel free to get comfortable,” she said, gesturing at you with her pager in hand. “I’ll be back in an hour or so to give you a tour of the building.”

“Okay, thank you so—”

The door closed behind her before you could even finish your sentence. That deflated you a little, but you tried not to let that small exchange bring you down. Your apartment was huge. Or at least, it was much bigger than the shoebox you left in the Village, let alone the Brooklyn brownstone you grew up in, sharing with two other families on each floor.

You hefted your suitcase onto the bed and began to unpack your clothes, makeup, and toiletries. 

You also took out the only framed picture you had—one that housed your parents and your older brother Chris. You were both grown already, but in this picture, you were barely twelve years old. That little girl didn’t know that her entire world was about to change, when her powers manifested for the first time. 

That thought did succeed in dimming your mood for a moment, but you sighed and set the frame down on your new dresser. You’d have to remember to call Chris. His son was turning four years old in a few weeks. 

Though your attention shifted to a black shape in the corner of your eye. It was a garment bag hanging on the closet door. You went over and unzipped it, revealing your new super suit. It was all black leather and violet accent lines down the sides, along the collar, and down between the breasts in a V-shape. It was strategic to accentuate curves and bust. 

You whistled lowly. It was beautiful, but Jesus did it look tight. 

“Wow,” you remarked, trying out the zipper up and down. “They really like their leather, huh?”

Still, you itched to try it on. After a few minutes of struggling and wiggling, you managed to get into the suit. They’d taken exact measurements, so it did look good. You felt like a new person…a superhero.

You smiled at yourself in the bathroom mirror. But then, you forced the smile off your face and shook your head, schooling your expression into something less doe-eyed and pathetic. More in control.

There you are, Sirena, you thought. You had long ago trained yourself with that enigmatic look. You knew how it felt on your face. The easiest way for you to get what you wanted in this world, the way you’d gotten this far, was with this exact face.

Only show them what you want them to see.   

Almost two hours later, you’d finished unpacking your belongings and explored every corner of your new beautiful apartment, but still, Miss Stillwell wasn’t back yet.

You checked your watch and hummed to yourself. Your curiosity getting the best of you, you decided to leave your apartment and explore the tower by yourself. You took off the suit as well, so you could make your way around more anonymously. You were sure no one really knew who you were yet. 

Your theory was proven true when you walked through the halls, passing Vought employees without even a blink in your direction. That was okay though. Soon enough, all these people would know your face, as well as your name. 

You reached one of the top floors, where you thought you remembered The Legend’s office was supposed to be (according to the directory). Maybe you could meet him and get a jump start on your schedule.

You stopped short, however, when an office door slid open. Out came a slightly disheveled Miss Stillwell. Her blouse was hastily tucked into her gray pencil skirt, and strands of her blonde hair were a bit frizzy as they brushed her shoulders, as if she’d combed them down with her fingers. You plastered yourself to a wall around the corner, only peeking around after she passed by.

Your brows popped up incredulously when you read the name plate beside the door she just came out of.

Stan Edgar…holy shit. His signature was on my contract!

Along with Arthur Cohen, or The Legend, as Stillwell had told you when she welcomed you in. He was the Senior Vice President of Hero Management, so who the hell was Stan?

Well, whoever he was, he was giving it to the head of PR.

Okay then. You shook your head and continued on your way. At the end of the hall, you finally found the right office. You were about to open the door, when you heard male voices coming from inside—one older and dry, and the other deep and strong.

You reached out with your awareness and allowed your powers to engage, likely making your eyes glow with a violet hue.

Sure enough, you sensed two men in the room. And as the voices raised, you recognized one of them. It was unmistakable; you’d been taking the time to binge all of his movies for the past month, ever since you auditioned to get into Payback.

Soldier Boy. 

A smile spread across your face. For a moment, you were incredibly excited…until you actually heard what he was saying.

“The last thing we need is another broad on the team.”

Your mouth fell open in shock as your brows drew together. You carefully pressed yourself to the door and kept listening.

“And her powers. Really?” he said. “Sounds like she blew something up someone’s ass to get this far, and it ain’t smoke.”

“Trust me, that’s the real deal too,” Arthur assured.

You glared at the door furiously, as if you could burn lasers out of your eyes. You crossed your arms, but you breathed evenly as you strived to keep your emotions contained. 

Control, you reminded yourself. With another deep breath, you managed to let go of your ire, but the more you listened to the conversation, the more impossible that became. You turned away from the door and made clipped strides down the hall.

You knew you had to tread carefully here. You’d heard some of the real stories about Payback, because you’d taken the time to listen. You weren’t about to enter Vought Tower without having some idea of what you were getting into, and you knew you’d have to prove yourself as the rookie on the team. You just hadn’t expected their leader to be such a chauvinistic asshole. 

Though inwardly, you snorted. Well, the guy is from the ‘40s. Best generation, indeed.

You rolled your shoulders and shook it away, like water off your proverbial feathers. Your mouth set in a firm line as you held your head high.

The game begins, you thought.

For the next few days, you watched. You studied each member of your new “team” as you encountered them, and you quickly realized that this team wasn’t much of one. 

They looked out for themselves, and bickered amongst themselves, in the case of the TNT Twins. Crimson Countess had given you a lovely, polite face that still somehow mocked you when she walked away, along with the bounce of her red hair. 

Your powers didn’t allow you to sense or read women, but you recognized a diva when you saw one.

Clearly, she was used to being the woman on top, especially as Soldier Boy’s girlfriend. You wanted to roll your eyes at the thought. From what you’d heard (and the masculine cologne you smelled on Arthur’s assistant Joanna yesterday), Soldier Boy got around. His relationship with Countess was either very open, or it was well-crafted PR.

You had another growing, unsettling thought. The more information you gathered just by observing the team, the more you had a hard time believing that you were ever going to fit in around here. 

It was only your third day in the Tower though, you reminded yourself, as you got dressed for the day in your suit. That kind of negativity wouldn’t serve you here. 

So you left your apartment in search of coffee and breakfast at the breakroom and lounge area, exclusive to the team. You supposed these guys were either late sleepers, or they got their food brought to them. You were relieved to find the room empty, and you let out a deep breath.

Remember why you’re here, you thought. It’s not about you. 

It had never been about you. 

You rummaged through the cupboards in search of the one thing that would perk you up—good coffee. You found it near the top shelf and began to prep the coffee maker. You hummed to yourself while your hands moved on autopilot. The tune strengthened, deepening and then sweetening on higher trills. 

Suddenly, your spine prickled. Your mind buzzed faintly with awareness as you sensed a presence.

It was familiar and overwhelmingly male, with heavy, confident steps coming down the hall. You tilted your head and frowned. 

Soldier Boy, that asshole. 

But then, your lips curved upwards. This could be fun. 

When Soldier Boy walked into the breakroom, he noticed you. You pretended not to realize he was there, but you felt the heat of his gaze roaming over your body. You wanted to sigh. Predictable.

Right then, you made a quiet, firm decision. Today, this man was going to learn your name. And he wasn’t going to forget it. 

You turned to him with a smile when he approached—the most pleasant one you could manage.

“Good morning, sir.”

AN: Game, set, match. 😘💚 As many of you know, this story is expanding on this Soldier Boy imagine, which I wrote almost a year ago now. In the back of my mind though, I always thought this idea could be more someday.

So please let me know what you thought of Part 1! I'm so excited for you guys to see what's coming up next...

Next Time:

“Countess, I’m not trying to replace you. I’m not trying to take anything from you.”

“Except my boyfriend,” she shot back. Finally she turned her head towards you with cool disdain. “You think I didn’t see you flirting with him last night at the afterparty?”   

You rolled your eyes, though you hid a sliver of embarrassment. You should’ve known she’d spot that.

“He approached me, okay?” you said. Maybe you were about to let your pettiness to get the best of you, but you couldn’t help it. You smiled slyly. “And from what I hear, I’m the least of your worries. Looks like Ben has quite the appetite.”

The cracks of Countess’s cool façade finally broke through to anger.

▶️ Keep Reading: PART 2

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Heeding Aemond’s words, you decided that an audience with Cannibal was required. So in the dead of night you slipped out of the red keep through the secrete passages you’ve learned thanks to Aegon, almost undetected had you not almost collided with a rat catcher who was accompanied by the cutest dog you’ve did see, before fleeing into the very same woods upon your first encounter with the behemoth of legend.

Once you got to the cave Helaena’s words had been proven true, Cannibal had been waiting for you as the silhouette of his head could be seen poked out of the dark, just as a pair dark green eyes like Greek fire looking directly at you but you weren’t afraid like last time.

‘Cannibal.’ You greeted as you bowed before the dragon, whom let out an almost purring sound at the sign of respect shown towards him. After all many people who tried to claim him expected him to submit to their will, but Cannibal knew his worth and vowed to never allow a pathetic creature to ride him, but one who’d inevitably catch his eye by accident.

‘I’m going to cut the formalities and be upfront with you and that is because time is limited and I have been so foolishly trying to avoid a predestined fate.’ You tell the dragon who only watched you with curiosity that it made you wonder how many others had been giving the same curtesy, not many you presumed but now wasn’t the time to falter when morning was fast approaching. ‘People, powerful people are going to try and stake claim to you through me in hopes of getting you to yield.’

Cannibal lets out a powerful roar that you felt within your chest, resonating with you in a way that you didn’t think was possible. You could feel his hatred for cowards, weaklings and people who felt the need to claim more than was needed, a spark has been light between the two of you and it was only starting to grow to a fierce but stubborn flame.

‘I had a feeling you would hate that.’ You told the dragon as you moved closer all the while he looked at you, steam puffing from his nostrils, his eyes practically glowing like hellish pits of fire amidst the night. Cannibal was beautiful as he was terrifying and you were growing to like the thrill of having him as your companion, your friend and not just a dragon you simply rode for convince. ‘So here is my proposal, should you accept, you take me as your rider an you shall keep your freedom for I will not clip your wings as you are a dragon through and through, the sky is your domain and I shall not take that from you.’ You added as you watched Cannibal lower his head so that he could meet you eye to eye, interested in what you had to say.

‘Also, there’s just one other thing that I may ask of you cannibal.’ The dragon only huffed as though telling you to go on.

‘Consume any dragon and their rider should their boastfulness overtakes their common sense,’ you told him in seriousness, ‘make them remember to fear the name Cannibal for it is not just a name to take lightly.’ You then took a step back from the dragon and held out of your hand, palm out flat as the nerves within you went wild, this was by far the stupidest and most terrifying thing you have ever done but still you had to see it through. ‘Do we have a deal?’ You finished.

Cannibal studied you for a moment, his eyes looking deep into your own that you felt as though he could see your soul, your true being, before moving his head closer to you and pressing his snout against your hand. It was rough, warm but alive and you couldn’t help but smile at the fact that you had just made history.

You had just became Cannibal’s first rider.

[ozzgin]

Hey ozz!!

Finally got around to doing the ask!

Hope you feel well currently!

This is my ask for the October event! Tho you can do whatever you want with this as I don't mind!

It's the ghost I was talking about the last couple weeks lol it's one of the most common one in my culture, there's another one in the works but I'll send it tmr, (hint: witch darling and bodyguard monster)

Langsir are ghosts/vampires that come from Malay folklore and are usually women that died in childbirth or while in the 40 days of uncleanliness of the pregnancy (tbh I'm not even sure) or a mother that had a heart attack and died at the news of the baby being a stillborn. They won't transform into the vampire until they're given proper burial rights to make sure they don't comeback for the dead

They feed on human blood and prefers blood from guys and male babies specifically

They look like pretty woman with ankle length hair, extremely long nails and wear a green robe. They have a scent of plumeria flowers and sometimes have the ability to transform into an owl in some legends

They have a hole in the back of their neck and if you stuck an iron nail into it, the vampire will turn into a normal beautiful human who will be a great wife! Because of this weakness, you can ward them off with sharp items (main reason why people tell you to hide knives into the baby's crib and stuff)

Anyways enough info and onto the prompt:

Darling is already married to the yandere and suddenly she died in childbirth. but alas, her dear yandere decided to get her back by not giving her the proper burial! Even then the yandere has already prepared with the nails to keep ghost darling trapped forever to his side!

Til ̶N̶o̶t̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ death do us part lol!

That's all!!! It's nice to join the event and maybe later I'll do my own posts for it once I have the time!

(can I take 🌺 anon or 🪺 anon?)

Thank you for the lovely story, I had waited to pair it with my other ghost entry for a themed day haha. content: female reader, ghost reader, death, captivity

Yandere!Husband did not take the news of your death well. It was to be expected, of course, and everyone smiled pitifully at the grieving spouse. They didn't question it when he requested a private burial. They didn't doubt that it was for the best when he packed up and left without a warning.

At first, you thought this was some sort of purgatory. You knew you had died, yet you didn't think you'd find yourself back home. Then you found the sigils, the books, the cursed nails.

He trapped your soul here.

"You gave me the scare of my lifetime," your husband exclaims, entering the room with a joyful smile.

The tears have dried, and the eyes are narrowed in an eerie kind of happiness you don't recognize.

"I should be dead," you mumble hesitantly.

"According to whom?" he questions, tilting his head innocently. "You know, I'm a little hurt you don't remember our vows.

I promised I'd always be your husband, have I not?"

He kneels before you, taking a moment to observe your features.

"Did you think I'd allow anything to defile my meaning of 'always'? You're mine. And nothing will ever change that."

[truefandemonium]

Part 1/? of my Thanos xFem!Reader thirst fic (unrelated to my previously posted fic cover) Hope y’all enjoy and uhhhh keep an eye out for part two I guess? 😭 (this was written for @i-think-youre-a-work-of-art pls keep all replies and reblogs SFW thank you) also tagging @heavenlyraindrops Ty all for reading! 🫰

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Princess and the Pills (pt. 1/?)

Thanos xFem!Reader, fluff, angst, toxic!Thanos, but also sweet!Thanos, Nam-gyu abuse sksksks, SFW, some mild spicy talk, cuddling, uhhhh idr what else is in this part, drug use, swearing { pt. 2 }

*✨*✨*✨*

You hear him before you see him, and his butter smooth voice makes you wish you never turned around. “Señoríta,” he purrs, pulling his jumpsuit jacket collar higher around his neck. “I couldn’t help but notice— you’re all alone out here. Y’know, I could protect you.”

“I can manage just fine, thanks,” you bite back, not looking to make any friends here. Least of all… this guy.

The man’s nose wrinkles in disbelief, his brows shooting upward. “Oh yeah? Well— we could still make a pretty good team. Keep each other safe, y’know?” His expression calms, and you find him… almost handsome with the small smile playing on his lips, sunlight dancing in his purple tipped hair from above. He continues with a growing smirk, “Keep each other warm.”

You scoff, rolling your eyes hard as you nudge past him, and you feel him practically cower from your touch as you do so, your shoulder knocking him backward a foot or two. “Whatever.”

Before you can completely remove yourself from his vicinity, you feel his warm hand wrap around your wrist, a surprisingly gentle touch in comparison to his furious eyes as he pulls you to face him.

You suck in a gasp at his proximity, his face only inches from yours as he studies you. His gaze flicks over your expression, down to your lips for a fraction of a second longer than anywhere else, and then back up to your eyes, where he narrows his own and lets go.

“Don’t forget you got a place to come running,” he assures you with a sniff, tipping his chin skyward. “I’m Thanos.”

“Thanos,” you repeat, taking your turn to look him over. “You got the infinity stones?”

Thanos’ eyes light up in amusement, and he nods, holding up his hand to begin counting off each painted finger. “Red, orange, yellow, green, I’m a legend, Thanos.” His smile after that seals the deal, and you decide to humor him.

“So what made you choose me, huh? To team up with?” you ask, crossing your arms. You didn’t understand it. He must want something from you. Why else would he seek you out?

“You kiddin’?” he snorts. “I’d have to be crazy not to snatch up the prettiest girl in this whole place.”

You roll your eyes again. Ah. “Right,” you say. “What about your buddy over there, hm? He seems pretty attached to you.” Your eyes fall over to the man shifting from foot to foot several yards away, pushing his greasy hair from his face to look toward Thanos.

“Wha— Nam-gyu? Nah, he aight,” Thanos says with a shrug, “But you?” He shakes his head before nodding to a silent rhythm and spouting a few lines of rap; “In the sea of faces, you caught my eye. My beauty, my flower blooming among weeds…” His teeth shine in the sunlight as he grins and tugs the front of his jacket. “Look at us in this blue-green. Now give me the green LIGHT.” He dramatically spreads his arms above his head and shoots the sky a wide smile, looking back at you with a raised brow as he positions his finger and thumb into a tiny heart. “I. Like. You.”

You smack a hand over your mouth, a small giggle erupting from your chest. Laughter, but also… something else. Something warm, and fuzzy. You tamp it down and turn away, dropping your hand.

“Cute song,” you say quietly, dismissing him along with whatever feeling just rose in you.

“See you at the finish line, girly,” Thanos bids you farewell, waving one bejeweled hand before disappearing into the crowd.

You force the image of his endearing smile and buttery voice from your mind as you ready yourself behind the starting point and listen to the game rules.

Before the game starts, some maniac begins screaming about how everyone will die if they move during red light. Yeah, you think annoyedly, that’s how you get disqualified, idiot. Had this loser never played red light green light before?

“He on some crazy shit,” a familiar voice sounds over your shoulder. You turn to curl your lip at Thanos and shrug in agreement.

“He’s kinda right,” you say, itching to disagree with the purple haired rapper if only to see his eyes alight with fury again. “Though that ugly doll already told us all of this a minute ago.”

“How much you wanna bet he’s totally bonkers,” Thanos whispers to you, shifting closer to your side. You resist the urge to lean into the warmth he offers and instead square off, shooting him a sideways glare and nudging him away with your elbow.

“Quit distracting me,” you hiss, listening as the doll sings ‘green light’ melodically.

The man far in front of you screams to run and you obey, booking it forward several feet and hoping Thanos biffed it somewhere behind you.

Soon, you’re stuck at your fourth red light, and no one has been eliminated yet. Which is honestly— amazing. You remember playing this in school and there were kids that would throw tantrums after getting ‘out’ on the first turn.

And then something in front of you catches your eye.

“Is that a bee?” Thanos whispers dumbly from beside you. He’s stayed pretty much right at your side since the game started, and you’ve avoided his incessant blabbing successfully up until now.

“What?” you whisper back, staying carefully frozen.

Thanos chuckles. “The chick in front of you. She’s got a bee on her neck.” You can hear the smirk in his voice as he says, “Surprised it couldn’t tell you’re the only flower around here.”

“Just leave it,” you scold him, but he calls out anyway.

“Hey, senorita!”

The girl shifts. “Huh?” she squeaks.

“You got a bee on ya,” Thanos giggles playfully as the girl wails and flails and screams and leaps until the bug is long gone. Casting a teasing smile at Thanos, she muses, “Huh. I moved! Guess I’m out—”

A sound rings out and echoes painfully in your ears, a hot spray hitting your face at the same time. You blink the dark liquid from your eyes in confusion, trying to figure out what just happened, and then you see the body.

A sharp inhale of breath prompts you to turn your gaze to the side, but you’re stopped by a scream.

“HOLD STILL!” the crazy man in front wails at you, his voice commanding attention. But it’s too late. People have seen it: the body of the girl in the sand, blood staining the ground around her.

Shrieks of fear echo around the courtyard as people begin running for the exit, frantic.

“They’ll shoot you if you move, just HOLD STILL!��� the same man cries, his tone almost pleading now. It takes all of your willpower to stay upright and steady as the shots ring out one after the other. Screams of pain and horror cut short by loud bangs and splatters of blood.

Until all falls silent, and the rules are repeated over the loudspeaker. The man calling out to you speaks again after green light. No one moves.

“You have to move before the timer runs out or they’ll still shoot you!” he says, but you’re no longer listening.

You tip your head up from where you’d been watching the still body of the bee-girl, and look at Thanos instead. He’s trembling, his eyes wide and slightly glazed over as he stares at the corpse at his feet.

“We have to move,” you tell him as the light turns red once more, then green again. Your heart is in your throat. You don’t know why you’re bothering to talk with this psycho— you’re here to win. Well… now you’re here to survive.

But Thanos doesn’t even look at you. With his eyes still glued to the girl’s dead body, he scrambles at the crucifix around his neck, popping open the metal locket top and digging out a small colored pill.

His hands shake so violently that the crucifix tips, and several of his stash tumble out and into the bloody dirt below. Thanos curses, his voice breaking as he drops to his knees and begins frantically picking them out of the sand, stuffing one into his mouth in pure panic.

“Thanos,” you hiss, heart starting to stutter like it’s threatening to stop completely. “Move.”

He slams his eyes shut for a second as he bites down on the pill, his hands still shaking hard as he drops a few dirty pills back into his locket and snaps it closed.

“I can’t,” he whispers back, opening his eyes again, but unable to meet your gaze. You feel sick.

The kook in front of the group that’s leaving you behind yells for you to run, and you take off, ignoring the nagging voice telling you to drag Thanos along with you.

Time doesn’t feel right as the minutes tick down on the giant clock, but only a few rounds of the game have passed.

You feel like it’s been days under the hot sun, watching people die around you as you strive for an unreachable finish line. You force yourself not to wonder if Thanos made it— his body is probably lying in a pool of blood and mysterious colored pills thousands of yards behind you by now.

You clear your mind of him— of everything— as you run without fear. Pure adrenaline keeps your legs from buckling beneath you as your feet pound the earth, sweat trickling in rivulets down the sides of your face. Some from the heat and exertion— more from complete and utter terror.

You’re close to the finish line, now. Red light seems to drag on this time, and a man several feet in front of you is blasted directly in the head, showering you in gore.

You suck down lungfuls of air to keep your stomach from flipping as you listen for ‘green light’ and make your mad dash for the finish line.

As you dart out, someone trips and collapses hard in the sand just in front of you, body checking you off trajectory and sending you spinning. You yelp, shifting midair and falling back, having flipped a complete 180 degrees to face the back of the courtyard.

“Red Light.”

Shit.

Time slows as you make your descent, the sound of the doll’s whirring head turning to spot your movement the only thing you can hear.

But instead of the hard ground beneath you, followed by a gunshot, you feel a jolt as you’re caught by the front of your shirt and held in a vice grip. You don’t want to open your eyes, too afraid to see who saved your life. Maybe you’re already dead.

But you open them anyway, and you realize you left your heart in the sand with Thanos at the start of the game.

The rapper stares ahead, his brow knitted in concentration, his arm flexed and holding onto your jumpsuit firmly to keep you from landing on your back. You blink up at him in bewilderment. In confusion.

Why would he risk himself to save you after what you did?

But when he finally looks down at you, it makes sense. His brows bounce, shooting you that award winning smile with his tongue lolling out of his mouth. “Tag,” he giggles, his eyes wild and dangerous.

Yet somehow, you’ve never felt so safe.

As the green light sounds, he yanks you back to your feet hard, and you collide with his chest, hands coming up to brace you.

His strong hands grip either side of your upper arms, his lip stuck in a thoughtful pout as he stares into your eyes menacingly. He exhales slowly, eating up precious seconds of running time to curl his lip and let out a little growl. You can’t decipher his coded sounds, but relief floods you as the scouring expression disappears and he grabs one of your hands in his own, the unnaturally cheery demeanor back in full force.

“Let’s GO!” Thanos whoops, breaking into a run, clutching your hand like a lifeline as he drags you along with him toward the finish line.

You feel lighter than air as you’re pulled behind this crazed man, the sounds of gunshots broken up by his joy filled laughter. Only seconds before the final red light, you and Thanos explode over the painted white line at the end of the track, and stumble into the crowd. Battered by elbows from every direction, the two of you topple to the sand, limbs tangling as Thanos lands beneath you with a deep groan.

You wince as you land square on his chest, knocking the wind from his lungs and reveling in a soft grunt that leaves his lips.

“I— sorry,” you pant, your arms bracing you above him on either side of his head. Once recovered, Thanos smiles languidly, his eyes still glazy, but now unregistering and carefree.

One hand slides idly up and lands gently on your waist, his other arm sprawled out as he lies beneath you, apparently content. “No problem,” he coos, shaking his head once. “Didn’t even feel it.”

“No,” you choke, unable to form the words but acutely aware of hundreds of eyes on you in this moment. You want to apologize for leaving him. The reality of that choice feels like a death sentence, though you know you couldn’t have saved him anyway. “I'm sorry for… for ditching you.”

It ends with a question mark, and Thanos’ smile fades slightly. “Didn’t notice,” he rumbles numbly.

You’re about to ask— well, you’re not sure what, but you’re compelled to say a something, when a pair of feet appear above Thanos’ head, and you look up.

Nam-gyu looks down at the two of you, mouth hanging open as he drags his gaze over your compromising position. “Huh,” he muses. “That’s kinda hot.”

“Nam-su!” Thanos belts out, his face breaking back into a buzzed grin. He starts to get up, inadvertently knocking you into the dirt and you tamp down the small amount of hurt at his sudden indifference to you.

The men embrace, Nam-gyu eyeing the cross necklace around his friend’s neck with a hungry gaze.

“It’s Nam-gyu,” he corrects passively, wincing as Thanos shoves him off and proceeds to leap in the air a few times.

“AY, we did it, my friends! First game: SUC-CESS!” the purple haired man whoops, his brown eyes nearly disappearing in the black of his dilated pupils. He cuts his words into multiple pieces, like he’s trying to put emphasis on as much as possible for the shock value.

It makes your stomach flutter against your will: the way his voice pitches high and then falls again, his teeth flashing in the sunlight and contrasting sickeningly with the spatter of crimson on his cheek.

Maybe that’s what’s making your belly hurt: the blood. So much blood. You make the mistake of looking down and find your shoes painted with the stuff. Bright red stains that will eventually fade to a dull brown that you wouldn’t even be able to identify if you hadn’t known the people it had come from.

“Hey, you okay?” That slimy voice sounds in your ear and you look up with a grimace, locking eyes with Nam-gyu and feeling yourself squirm under his scrutiny.

“She’s fine,” Thanos interrupts before you can spew all over Nam-gyu’s shoes, knocking into your side and throwing one arm over your shoulders. He tugs you flush against his side, under his arm and you’re surprised to find the musk permeating his jumpsuit is… nice. Sweat, sure, but also a lingering cologne and the strong smell of fresh ink, which strikes you instantly as odd but incredibly pleasant.

Of course a faint smoky scent remains on his skin, but you don’t pull away quite so quickly from his touch this time.

He turns to grin down at you, eyes half lidded. “Right, jagiya?”

In an attempt to quell the hammering of your heart, you nudge Thanos off of your shoulder and shoot a glare at Nam-gyu, successfully diverting his wolfish gaze back to the ground.

“Yeah, I don’t need either of you jerks, so just leave me alone,” you snap, brushing sand off your knees and trying to take calm breaths, though it’s hard with so many dead bodies lying only feet from you.

Thanos rumbles a laugh. “Yeah, you won’t be saying that for long, sweetheart. Come find my bunk if you get lonely.” You narrow your eyes over your shoulder, hating that his wink and heart gesture combo make you almost double over in adoration before you look away.

You find yourself drawn to the corners of the sandy arena, as far away from anyone else as you can possibly get, but that’s not much because most everyone made it through the game, so you’re surrounded by nearly 400 people at least.

Still, you sit in the corner until the guards lead you back to the large room, and you follow numbly, head aching and stomach still clenched in disgust and horror at what you witnessed. You’re surprised Thanos was so… okay with what happened right in front of him, until you remember the pills. How happy they made him almost instantly.

You’re almost jealous. But more than that, you’re sad for him.

You can’t seem to avoid him, because as soon as you’re all back in the gathering room full of bunk beds, he’s there, sauntering up the stairs in your direction.

“Hey, senorita,” he coos, his eyes watery and big like a puppy’s. “Room for one more?” You’re startled out of a bit of a daydream of returning back home and leaving all this behind, and Thanos is sitting on the other side of your bunk bed with a smirk. Nam-gyu frowns, and you can’t help but smile to yourself at the way they resemble a pair of idiot circus clowns.

“Two more,” he says, shooting daggers in Thanos’ direction.

Thanos doesn’t hear him, nodding his head to a song you can’t hear as you ignore the both of them and stare down at your bagged bread and bottled soda.

Nam-gyu sits solemnly on the steps by your feet, his eyes dragging over you like a snake flicking his tongue to taste the air, and you pull your legs onto the bed in fear.

After a few minutes of silence, you hear a soft hum. You jump hard at Thanos’ hand nudging your own, his eyes full of genuine concern as he lifts your hand holding the packaged bread toward your lips. “Hey, eat up, c’mon,” he urges in a low tone, serious. “A passed out Princess ain’t no good to us,” he teases, his teeth flashing again. His eyes flick down to your unzipped hoodie as he adds, “Sure would be pretty, though.”

You immediately set your food in your lap and zip your tracksuit up, turning your face away. Screw him. And his stupid, weird friend. These guys were junkies, and nothing more. Thanos has NOTHING to offer you, least of all protection in this madhouse. Why believe a word he says?

Because he needs someone to, your mind whispers. You shut your eyes as if that will help make everything go away, silence those thoughts that ring so true.

And you only open them to find Thanos has set half of his own bread in your hand, emptying his soda as he makes his way toward the crowd to vote.

…

It’s that psycho again. Screaming. Grabbing someone and insisting that you all vote to leave.

You want to understand his desperation, but… you have nothing back home. If you return without that money, you’ll be a dead woman anyway.

Your eye lingers on the blue button as the guards break up the fight and order everyone to vote without further conversation between players.

You’re going in order from last to first: 456 taking his turn to hit the red button and stand alone on the far side of the room. You glance at your own number for the first time and realize you’re just ahead of Thanos: 231. Hiding from him, you wait for your number to be called.

You vote when it comes time, pressing the blue ‘O’ with shaky hands and turning around to face the gathered crowd. Two sides: red and blue. Life and death, only not so black and white. To people like you, desperate slobs in more debt than you could ever pay off in a lifetime, voting to leave would be a death sentence.

456 stares you down as you walk with a certain shame toward the blue side, his brown eyes boring into your flesh like flames. He wants you dead, most likely. You don’t look up until you feel a strong hand wrap dexterous fingers around your bicep and your head whips up.

Thanos is there, on his way to the voting buttons, a wicked smile spread across his sharp features. His nails dig into your arm, not enough to hurt you, but a reminder of his closeness. A reminder of his presence. The safety he promises.

And he mutters, “Good girl.”

Your heart is in your throat. You can’t breathe as he releases you and struts the rest of the way to the podium to vote, and you realize that this is the first time you haven’t pulled away from his touch.

[randoimago]

Fandom: Critical Role / Legend of Vox Machina

Character(s): Percival Fredrickstein Von Whatever Whatever De Rolo III

Note(s): I have no idea what possessed me to write this. Here I am looking for cute, fluffy things and trying to decide who to write for when all of a sudden The Changebringer took the wheel. Here's some Hurt/Comfort with Percy set during the Chroma Conclave stuff but no campaign spoilers (just mentions of things that have happened already in the TV series)

"Are you okay?"

Percy rolls his eyes at the question as if it's the dumbest thing anyone has asked him. And honestly, in this moment, it might be. He's had his family almost wholly taken from him. A demon pretty much had him under possession at some point, attempting to kill those he cared about because of his damn pride and need for revenge. Dragons are every-fucking-where, and he's just a human with a gun.

"Yeah, I'm perfectly fine, just like the sky is green. Next question," he mutters, tone his usually casual with a hint of frustration.

"Percival-"

"How I'm doing is pointless. Caring about me right now is pointless. Who gives a shit if I'm okay. How about you ask the people of Whitestone, who have been under the thumb of a vampire for years? How about you ask those that lost their homes to dragon fire, acid, ice, and every other bullshit element under the sun. I am fine." It's been a while since he's let out his feelings. Since he's spoken and the weight he's carried seemed to drain a bit. Since he's felt tired.

It's silent for a moment. And usually, he would turn around and stomp off to go sulk. But he doesn't because he feels bad. Who the fuck are you to make him feel bad?

"I'm sorry. It's just… It's a lot happening, and I don't know if I will ever be okay," he admits with a sigh. And now you're silent and he's feeling even worse. Out of all the blasted emotions, guilt must have been created by the Hells.

"Percy, you're allowed to be tired. You're allowed to be angry and frustrated. You're allowed to want to scream and punch in someone's face." He can't help but chuckle a bit at your last words. He'd rather shoot someone in the face, he might break a nail if he punched someone.

"Am I? I'm part of a small group of people who seem to be the only ones able to do anything against all of this. Am I really allowed when so many are looking at us for guidance? How fucked must the world be that we're their last hope." There's a dry sense of humor in his words, and you shake your head at them, but he knows you have the same tired amusement that he does.

"Yes, you are. And if they don't like it then they can kiss your ass."

"Most people are unworthy of kissing my ass."

"There's the bitchy noble I know."

He makes a face at you when you call him that, but it doesn't hold up as more amusement takes its place and he shakes his head. His arm moves to land on your shoulder, initially just wanting to hold you for support before the rest of his body treacherously pulls you in for a hug, holding you tight.

"I'm not okay, my love. I was truthful earlier with not knowing if I can be. But thank you for still staying with me. Despite me being a… bitchy noble." You chuckle at the huff he lets out with those last two words, but it puts him at ease.

"You might not be okay now, but we'll get through this. Yeah?"

"Yeah. You, me, and this group of assholes that we travel with for some godforsaken reason." You laugh again and he smiles more, feeling that diminishing weight vanishing for just this moment.

[mothfables]

@cripple-cat

Four was sitting against one of the trees behind Wild’s house enjoying a book when he heard footsteps approaching.

Most of the time the other heroes left him alone when he was reading, acknowledging his need for time to himself, only tending to bother him if he was needed for something. Whoever it was coming towards him now didn’t seem to want his attention- in fact it seemed like they didn’t want him to notice them at all, steps quiet and careful.

Glancing up from his book he saw Legend, tiptoeing barefoot through the grass towards him.

Legend looked up at almost the same time and froze, the veteran hero’s eyes going wide. After a moment he glanced around, like he was making sure there was no one else outside, before scurrying over the rest of the way to where Four sat. Four noted he was still walking on his toes.

When he reached the smith, Legend didn’t sit but instead swayed in place, licking his lips nervously and not meeting his eyes.

“Uh- um. Could you, um.” He stuttered, staring at his toes instead of looking at Four. He began fidgeting with his fingers, and Four realized they were bare of his usual array of rings, leaving only his heart and green holy rings. “I was, um, w-wondering if...”

He trailed off, voice quiet and shy in a way Four had never heard before from the older boy. His shoulders were hunched inwards and he kept playing with his hands, ears tilted down. He looked... small.

Four tilted his head in thought. Legend rarely initiated interactions outside of teasing or bets, and when he did it was usually confident and sure. He was hardly ever shy, and certainly never so quiet.

The longer neither of them spoke the further down Legend’s ears went. He began to turn away, drawing into himself dejectedly, and something in Four’s chest clenched.

“Hey, hold on. I haven’t said no yet. You haven’t even asked me anything.”

Legend turned back at that, a tiny flicker of hope in his eyes that he was trying hard to hide. “B-but you, um, y-you dun’ like it wh’n people b’ther you.”

Four ignored the odd way he was speaking in favour of giving him a reassuring smile. “Normally, yes, But you’re not bothering me. Promise,” he added at Legend’s doubtful look. “What it is you want to ask me?”

Legend bit his lip nervously. “C-could you... couldyoureadtome?” he asked in a rush.

The smith blinked in astonishment. Legend wanting to spend time with him was already a surprise, but wanting to be read to? He shook it off quickly, though, instead patting the ground on his left with another smile. “Sure. Come sit with me? It’s always nicer to read when you’re sitting down, in my opinion.”

The other boy lit up and bounced happily, dropping down to sit next to Four and drawing his knees up to his chest. Four found where he left off before beginning to read aloud.

A few minutes passed where the only sounds were Four’s voice and the chirping of birds. Then there was a pressure on his shoulder; glancing over, he saw Legend curled up against his side, eyes fixed on the book in his hands. One of Legend’s hands drifted up to his mouth almost subconsciously only to be snatched back down.

The whole thing was a little odd, but it didn’t seem harmful, so Four decided to let it be. He continued reading, leaning his head on the other boy’s and earning a happy little sound. Legend curled closer, one hand clutching at Four’s sleeve as the other came up to his mouth again. He didn’t seem to notice.

[mistresslrigtar]

Flashback Friday! Is that a thing? Well, it is on my blog! This is the first long fic I wrote this year!

Summary:

A written montage of snapshot moments between Link and Zelda post-TotK, as they come to terms with the traumatic events of the Upheaval and slowly rediscover each other and their love. How many times can two people be forced to start their lives over?

Excerpt:

The front door knocks against the table in the foyer, causing the blue and white vase filled with flowers to wobble precariously before righting itself. Looking up from her nest of pillows in the corner of the main room, Zelda smiles when she sees Link standing in the open doorway wearing his simple work clothes, a loosely woven cream tunic, and worn brown trousers. He brings with him a warm breeze and the scent of late spring. Zelda notices his skin is turning golden and sandy highlights streak his dark blond hair, from hours spent in the sun, tending their garden, grooming the horses, hunting, and making short excursions.

“How I long to sit with thee and while away the hours.” He quotes a line from Carik, Zelda’s favorite Sheikah court poet. “And gaze upon a sun-kissed world in a field of fragrant flowers.”

Since their dinner a few evenings before something has shifted between them and she welcomes the change. With the approaching promise of summer, her spirit has been improving and it feels like a veil is being lifted.

“What would Carik think, hearing you quoting him?” Zelda muses, setting the book aside she’d been reading and rising to her feet. 

Carik had been a not-so-silent rival to Link before the Calamity fell. He’d spent the remainder of his days composing sonnets to aid Link when he returned. His protégé, Kass had given Zelda a book of Carik’s poems when she and Link had visited him after the Calamity’s defeat. She’d been surprised when Kass shared a beautiful song Carik had composed that was a tribute to her and Link’s love.

“Carrot? Nothing complimentary, I’m sure.” His lips curve into a mischievous smile when Zelda snorts at the nickname before he shoves his hands in his pockets and gives her a questioning look. “It’s a beautiful, clear day and I’ve let the horses out to graze. Would you consider sitting outside with me?”

Zelda glances out the wall of windows that offer an expansive view of the green pasture and azure blue sea beyond. Epona’s deep chestnut coat and Star’s golden yellow shimmer in the afternoon sunlight. Their tails flick, indicating their contentment as they graze, cutting down grass allowed to grow tall. Link is hoping they’ll breed soon and produce a stunning dappled filly.

Worry twists cold in Zelda’s belly thinking of how she’s not had her monthly cycle since she’s returned. She’s afraid the trauma of her transformation has left her infertile or worse, she didn’t return fully human. Will Link still want her if it turns out she can’t bear children?

Looking back at him, he still stands patiently in the entry waiting for her to decide. Zelda shakes off her doubt and looks back at the horses. The scene is idyllic and would make a perfect study of nature. Perhaps it’s time for her to be a little more adventurous, even if that was taking a few steps outside the front door. Collecting her Purah pad, charcoals, and sketchbook from the kitchen table, Zelda joins Link. His eyes light up when he sees the tools she’s chosen and retrieves a blanket from the basket by the door. 

Choosing a spot near the horses, Link unfolds the soft blanket and spreads it on the grassy knoll. Kicking off her shoes, Zelda stretches out her legs and lifts her chin to the sun. A sea breeze carrying the faint scent of salt and brine ruffles her hair, tickling the nape of her neck.

Link lays on his back beside her, crossing his arms behind his head, and soon he is dozing, a contented smile gracing his lips. Zelda marvels that even though he’s never regained all his memories, some things remain unchanged–like his ability to fall asleep anywhere. When asleep, the worry melts away from his face, leaving his visage youthful and unlined. She wonders what he was like before fate pulled him firmly into her embrace. There’s no one left to ask who would know.

Turning to a blank page in her sketchbook, Zelda opens her charcoals and begins outlining his profile. Capturing the way the sun casts shadows across his cheekbones and brings out the subtle highlights in his messy hair, her heart swells with love for him. She takes note of every detail–the warmth of the sun on her head, the soft whickers of the horses, and the gentle rhythm of Link’s breathing. It’s a perfect moment, forever frozen in time on the page before her, and Zelda doesn’t realize she’s weeping until teardrops splatter across the page.

[skyflyinginaction]

Shin Megami Tensei IV FINAL Official Setting + Shinwa Sekai he no Tabi translations 

I don’t own the raw scans or the translations in this post all credit for the translation belongs to Miel who did a wonderful job on it. The Nanashi bio was already translated by Dijeh and the rest are translated by them.

Asahi

In the early scenarios, she was supposed to be a tomboyish character who often used foul language. As you can see, she ended up the complete opposite (lol). Asahi was designed as a child whose parents had lovingly raised, and had her life planned out for her to survive in this destroyed world. They were hoping that she would one day be able to see the light of dawn, hence she was named Asahi. We based her design off themes of the sky, hence the goggles, hat and the blue color scheme to make a pure, orthodox heroine.

Navarre

A harmonious, all-green presence… Actually I just came up with that after (lol). But I think the meaning of Navarre's scarf color was shown pretty well in the game. His ghost form and the fact that he would be a partner was decided from the very beginning. I wanted him to be able to run around the map following the MC, so I suggested a mascot-like design that could float alongside the MC. I'm glad he was able to re-appear as a likeable character (lol).

Nozomi

In the previous game, she was an event character with only pixel art, but in this game, we decided from the very beginning that she would be a partner along with Navarre. We tried to keep the same imagery she had from the previous game but designed elements unique to this game. After she became one with Danu, I wanted a change in both mind and body. Her hair and eye color, as well as her physique are all mixed with Western features, and when compared to the main characters who are all children, she looks like a mature adult lady.

Hallelujah

We had planned to create a mixed-race child who would show what kind of world setting it was in this game. His brown-colored skin was the only thing that still remained of his initial draft; every thing else about him was totally changed from the initial planned scenario. We gave him a Ashura-kai styled outfit, as well as a school jersey to make him look like a child delinquent. The pointy ears and black nails were to give him a demonic feel. When he transforms, he changes color, and I think it perfectly represents the devs’ ideal image of him.

Chironnupu

When Chironnupu was created as a demon, I was requested to make him a mascot-like character. They did not want a standard cutesy character, but rather something that had a “Megami Tensei" type of cuteness. There are very few legends about the Chironnupu, so I got ideas from keywords such as Ainu, fox, divine spirits, and hunting, and instead of simply drawing a fox, I made him a young spirit that wears a carved wooden mask.

Gaston

When I first heard that Navarre’s younger brother was going to be in the game, I laughed… and I was very surprised. Of course they must have the same hairstyle and facial expressions to live up to the family name (lol). Since he is an elite member of the newly established Samurai group, I put his Samurai uniform over his inner wear, so that he looked like a medieval musketeer but set in modern day. The cross symbol represents God and the four archangels. Michael's spear was originally meant to defeat Lucifer, so I based its design off Lucifer’s motif.

Toki

Out of all the characters, this character had the most changes and was the most difficult to design. In the early designs, she was made to look like a miko (TN: shrine maiden) who served Lilith, so I wanted her design to emphasize her young age when compared to Asahi and Nozomi. That design later evolved into a tall, ephemeral type of girl, and then later, finally settled into the design of an assassin. She’s designed as a member of the Ring of Gaea, and her unmasked face has the cuteness of a Japanese doll but also a beauty that exudes an exoticism. 

Nikkari

This is a character that appears right at the beginning of the game, but we did not originally plan to have an illustration for him. However, there was a request for a illustration to show the worldview of this hunter from Tokyo, and how the world and the people he cared for were being overrun by demons. Thus we created illustrations for the 3 of them: Nikkari, Manabu, and Master. The name Nikkari is based off a famous sword, but you’ll just have to find out whether or not his sword is the real deal by playing the game.

Manabu

As a more senior hunter, he has become a unique character. Like Nikkari, we had initially only planned to have pixel art for him, so we made sure to exaggerate that reggae-like feel to convey his love for reggae, even if it's a tiny pixel art. Compared to veteran hunters, he didn't have much experience yet, so we designed him to still look a little naive. Having designs for the sub-characters was not initially planned, so I only had a short amount of time to design them, but I was able to take a breather and had fun while drawing them.

Master

When I was making drafts of his design, I borrowed the design of the adult form of the protagonist (lol). Since the character is a former hunter of an inhabitable society and a master of the company, I gave him unshaven stubble and thick arm hair to give him that rugged feel, but also gave him the outfit of a bar waiter to give him a sense of tidiness. Anyway, it feels like a strange coincidence that the pilot-style outfit worn by the original adult protagonist ended up being worn by Asahi instead. I wanted to see how well he would do.

Swordsman Hunter

During the idea stage, there were many variations for a non-human hunter. This is a lightly armored female hunter whose main weapon is a sword. Her personality also seems outgoing.

Professor Matsuda

This was the initial idea draft for Matsuda. Back then he was planned to be a NPC that you can speak to but didn’t have a character portrait. His facial expressions can’t be seen clearly from the small portrait, but you can see his hunched-back posture.

Elite Hunter

An elite hunter who has a high rank and is well-dressed. It's the type you don't see very often in the underground world of Tokyo, but it seems there’s actually some hunters who are living a privileged life out there.

Punk Hunter

A female hunter that catches the eye with her standing hair and studded clothes. Strong female hunters who live by fighting with demons are all cool-looking. The same goes for Nozomi. It’s no wonder Asahi admires them.

Child Hunter

The boy with the spear is an NPC you can talk to. During the designing stage he was made to be a little child hunter but the final version of the NPC seems to be older in appearance.

Gaea Elder

An old man who was created as a member of the Gaea. Compared to the fierce male members and cold-looking female members, he’s more of a good-natured old man character.

Asurakai Member

Most of the Ashurakai members were thugs in suits, so we had the idea for a man who actually looked dangerous because he had a drawn knife in his hand. Might’ve been a change after Tayama’s death.

[hintsofhoney]

Suburban Legends

Pairing(s): Steve Harrington x Eddie Munson

Summary: Steve finally forces himself to confront his feelings at his ten year high school reunion.

Tags: 18+, fluff, pining, kissing, general horniness

Word Count: 2.1k

A/N: I have never read a Steddie fic in my life but this came to me when I was listening to Suburban Legends by Taylor Swift the other day and I'm not mad about it. Thank you to my loves @makeadealwithdean and @wayward-dreamer for beta-ing 🤍 Enjoy!

You can also read me on Ao3! 

STRANGER THINGS MASTERLIST | MAIN MASTERLIST

Steve stared at the Welcome Back Hawkins High Class of ‘85! banner strung up over the gymnasium entrance, the green and orange stripes on the brick walls even more chipped and faded after ten additional years of wear and tear. He brought the plastic cup in his hand to his lips, recoiling when the taste of champagne flooded his mouth instead of punch. For some reason, he hadn’t thought they would be serving alcohol at this thing, regardless of his graduating class being two years away from 30. Being back in this gym made him feel like he was a teenager again, and he was wondering who spiked the punch bowl. 

He watched the green doors as more of his former classmates filed in, and the DJ started to play Don’t You (Forget About Me) by Simple Minds to get the party going. Steve huffed a laugh through his nose and shook his head, thinking back to the last time he’d heard that song. He remembered Eddie Munson reenacting the ending scene of The Breakfast Club on the football field nine years ago, after he finally walked the stage with the class of ‘86 and was handed his diploma. He had gotten some of the Hellfire kids to hack the loudspeakers and blast the song so he could live out his John Bender fantasy. Steve pushed the thought out of his head, just like he had trained himself to do anytime Eddie Munson crept into his mind. It had been nine years since he’d last seen the metalhead, since Steve ran out of the woods behind the football field that summer, nauseous and dizzy and paranoid, hoping no one had been hiding in the bushes to witness what had happened. Which was nothing, really – their lips hadn’t even touched – but it was closer than anything Steve could have handled at the time. He never saw Eddie again; rumor was that he had packed up his bags and went to chase his dreams in LA, and Steve decided to go to IU after all, and that was that. Anything that he and Eddie had was left in 1986. At least, that’s what Steve had kept telling himself.

“Harringtooon!” Tommy Hagan yelled through cupped hands, pulling Steve out of his thoughts. Carol was hanging onto his arm, and Steve tried to hide his surprised expression because that was not the couple that he had thought was going to withstand the test of time. 

“Hey, Tommy! Carol!” Steve replied, pulling Tommy into a “bro hug” and giving Carol a pat on her shoulder. “Jesus, it’s been forever. How are you guys?”

“Good, man. Uhm –” Tommy paused and looked over at Carol, a questioning look on his face, and Carol nodded and smiled, her hand coming to rub over her belly as she smoothed her dress against her skin, revealing a barely-there bump. 

“No way!” Steve exclaimed, his eyes growing wide. “Congratulations, guys!”

Tommy waved him off. “Thanks, man.” He pulled Carol into his side and gave her a quick kiss on her temple. Steve felt like he had stepped into an alternate universe, one where Tommy Hagan wasn’t an insufferable asshole and was actually fit to be a father. But he supposed that was what happened when you left your hometown and didn’t come back for nine years; people change even if everything else stays the same. 

He spent a few minutes catching up with Tommy and Carol, who were “the Hagans” now, his eyes occasionally darting to the door to see if anyone else he cared to see had shown up, but most of his closest friends were a grade, if not grades below him. He found himself wishing that Henderson was here. 

“Oh my God,” Carol suddenly snorted, and Steve’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion before he followed her gaze. “Is that…?”

Steve gulped. “Munson, yeah.”

Tommy’s question of, “What is he even doing here? He wasn’t in our class, was he?” faded to the background as Steve focused in on his former best-friend-turned-crush-turned-stranger. He looked completely different, but exactly the same. His dark curls were pulled back into a ponytail, and he had black rectangle-framed glasses on. He was wearing black slacks and a white dress shirt rolled halfway up his forearms, a black and red tie around his neck that seemed to be the same pattern as the electric guitar he had in high school. His arm tattoos were on full display, which seemed to have tripled in the last decade. Steve’s eyes traveled back to Eddie’s face, his mouth going dry when he realized he had been caught staring. He quickly turned his attention to the cup in his hand, clearing his throat in front of Tommy and Carol.

“I’m, um –” Steve downed the remainder of his drink, hoping it would give him the courage he needed. “I’m gonna go ask what he’s doing here.”

He approached Eddie cautiously, not knowing how he would be received. He hoped nine years had been long enough to squash any remaining awkward tension, but then again, nine years hadn’t erased the thoughts of Eddie from Steve’s mind. He waited for Eddie to finish a conversation with a woman Steve didn’t recognize, before awkwardly clearing his throat once again, willing for Eddie to hear him over the music.

Eddie turned his head slowly, and then, “Steve Harrington, you son of a bitch.” He had a shit-eating grin on his face and Steve’s nerves dissipated almost instantly. 

“Hey, Eds,” Steve grinned back, and suddenly it felt like no time had passed at all.

Eddie huffed a soft laugh. “Haven’t heard that nickname in a long time.” He stared down at the drink in his cup, swirling it around.

Just like that, Steve’s nerves were back. There’s one thing he had forgotten about Eddie — he could be so damn hard to read. “I – um – sorry.”

“Didn’t say I didn’t like it, Stevie.” 

And now Steve felt like he was going to hurl. No one’s called him Stevie since, well, 1986. He swallowed down some champagne that was threatening to come to the surface along with all the feelings he’d spent a decade ignoring.  

“What – um – what are you doing here?” Steve finally asked. 

Eddie smirked before downing the rest of his drink. “I teach here, believe it or not.”

Steve chuckled. “Right. Or not.” When Eddie’s face remained serious, Steve raised his eyebrows. “You’re kidding. You ?”

“A lot can change in nine years, Harrington.”

“Right — yeah — I mean — I just — they hated you.”

Eddie laughed softly. “That they did. But I was in LA for a few years and it wasn’t for me. Place is a shithole, worse than here, Stevie. Can you believe that? Anyway, uh, well, Wayne wasn’t doing too hot so I moved back to help take care of him and got a job teaching these little shitheads music.”

“And you like it?”

“Love it,” he grinned, and Steve knew he was being genuine. “What about you, Harrington? What have you been up to since…?”

“Right. Uh, well, I went to IU, got a business degree, and now I’m managing a small company in Bloomington. And no, I don’t like it.”

Eddie nodded slowly. “And, uh… wife? Kids?”

Steve snorted. “No.”

“You could always move back to Hawkins, you know.”

“Right. Don’t tempt me, Munson.”

Eddie smiled. “It really is good to see you, Stevie. I’m glad I got guilted into working tonight.” 

Steve blushed and ducked his head. “Yeah, uh, me too. See you around?”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

The reunion seemed to last forever, and if Steve was being honest, he would have left two hours ago if Eddie hadn’t been here. People were finally leaving, though, and without asking if he could, Steve followed suit in picking up everyone’s trash. He knew it would be obvious to Eddie at least, why he was staying back, but he felt himself not caring for the first time in a long time. He wasn’t entirely sure what these feelings were, but he found himself leaning into them instead of pretending that they didn’t exist. Maybe it was because he was older now, or because the world was different, or because he longed for the closure that he never got nine years ago. Or maybe it was all of those things.

He was throwing away a makeshift pyramid of dirty paper plates and plastic cups when Eddie came up beside him. 

“You don’t have to do that, you know. This was your high school reunion.”

Steve chuckled. “I’d feel more at home at your ten year reunion. Or hell, even Henderson’s.” 

“Yeah? You still talk to Buckley? Wheeler? All those other little shitheads?” Eddie asked fondly. 

Steve smiled, nodding. “Yeah, yeah. Henderson and Sinclair are finishing up at IU, actually.”

“I know,” Eddie replied with a grin. “I was their favorite, remember?”

Steve playfully nudged him with his shoulder. “Shut up, Munson. I was there first.”

Eddie chuckled, tying the full trash bag in front of him but leaving it in the bin. “Janitor will come and take the bags out tonight,” he explained. He walked over to the middle of the gym and started up at the ceiling, his hands on his hips. Steve followed his gaze to see green and orange paper streamers haphazardly adorning the rafters.

“Didn’t think that one through, huh?” Steve teased, as he walked up behind Eddie. 

Eddie spun around, mimicking Steve’s question in a voice that sounded not at all like Steve’s.

“Eddie, we’re heading out. Good luck with the streamers — told you it was a bad idea to throw ‘em up there!” the woman who Eddie had been talking to earlier called out, following two other women outside the gymnasium door.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Eddie mumbled back, sending a lazy wave of acknowledgment in their direction. He looked back up at the ceiling and let out a sigh. 

“You don’t have a ladder?” Steve asked.

Eddie shook his head. “Not one that tall.”

Steve nodded, rocking back and forth on his heels with his hands awkwardly stuck in his pockets. With Eddie looking up at the ceiling, Steve could see some tattoos poking up from underneath his shirt collar, and he couldn’t help but wonder what Munson would look like without it on. 

“You okay, Stevie?” Eddie questioned, snapping Steve out of his fantasy before it could progress any further.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. Fine.”

Eddie smirked, his brown eyes staring into Steve’s. Steve’s breath hitched as Eddie reached for him, and his eyes followed Eddie’s hand as it pulled a piece of green tinsel from his hair. 

“You’ve had that in your hair for an hour,” Eddie explained.

Steve could feel a warmth creep up into his cheeks as he stared down at the hardwood floor. There was a moment of silence, and then, “What’s your secret, Harrington?”

“What do you mean?” Steve replied. 

“You look even better than you did in high school.” 

Steve chuckled nervously. “Uhm, dunno.” He shrugged, his hands still in his pockets. He looked up hesitantly before returning the compliment. “You, uh, look good too, Eds. Different, but the same.”

Eddie took a small step toward him, leaving minimal space between them. Steve gulped nervously. What was happening?

“You still react the same when I compliment you,” Eddie observed.

“I do?”

“Mhm.”

“Still not used to hearing them, I guess,” Steve replied. His heart felt like it was about to beat out of his chest. No, seriously, what was happening?

“That’s a shame,” Eddie said.

“Yeah,” Steve croaked. 

Eddie took a step closer. There were maybe two inches between them now. Steve stared at the man in front of him, his heart in his throat. 

“What about being kissed? Are you used to that, yet?”

Steve could have thrown up. Jesus fucking Christ, was this actually happening? 

“Uhm — y-yeah. I mean, by women. Uhm, but n-not by —”

Eddie smiled sweetly and reached out to tuck a stray hair behind Steve’s ear. 

“We don’t have to, Stevie. If you’re uncomfortable —”

“No! No, I — uhm — I want to,” Steve reassured him.

“Are you sure? ‘Cause it might screw you up forever, Harrington.”

Steve huffed a laugh through his nose. “ Now who’s the cocky — oh .”

Steve felt a lot of things the moment Eddie’s lips met his. Relief that it happened. Regret that it didn’t, all those years ago. He felt everything suddenly fall into place, like despite what he had been telling himself all these years, this was what he had needed all along. His hands came to cup Eddie’s face as he deepened the kiss, wanting more of him, wanting to be closer , even if they couldn’t be any closer if they tried. Not with clothes on, anyway. He felt Eddie’s hand in his hair, the bulge in his slacks, and okay — they should really stop now. But Steve didn’t want to. He wanted to stay like this forever; a bundle of limbs standing in his high school gymnasium with the crush he could never admit to himself. The knot in his stomach turned into fireworks, and yeah… he was screwed. Forever.

[bluewavesofchange]

The guardians of the Pharaoh.

I wrote this story a few years ago and decided to rewrite it and post it here. Hope you enjoy.

I don't own Yugioh or it's characters.

Long ago in the world of monsters, 3 goddesses ruled over the lands and its inhabitants before they disappeared into the human world, destined to become the guardians of an ancient Pharaoh.

Prologue

Everyone has heard this story or at least knew of the legend of duel monsters; how ancient Egyptian priests had sealed away monsters that plagued the land in giant tablets made of stone and would later use those monsters in shadow games, games that could decide life and death, games that could very well dictate the fate of the world. Only a few had the abilities to summon these beasts from the stone that held them, one of these being a great Pharaoh who’s name and legacy had been lost to the sands of time. But many know of this story or at least it’s well known amongst certain circles. Many have lost their lives uncovering this story; many have been cursed trying to uncover the dark mystery revolving around this ancient Pharaoh. And although a lot has been uncovered, one thing remains unknown, the origins of these so called monsters...where did they come from? How did they get to this world? Well that story starts long ago, before Egypt and the Pharaoh, before civilisation started on this world…

Our story starts in a land unreachable to humans, a land of magic and wonder, of creatures and monsters so fantastical that they could only come from legend. Dragons, warriors, magicians, beasts, witches and fairies. Creatures made of darkness and light, creatures that fly and creatures that swim, creatures of ice and fire, roaring beasts and chirping birds, beings of stone, earth, trees and even machines. And all these beings lived in places that you could only dream of. Spectacular palaces that reside amongst the clouds, fields of flowers and plants that spread for miles and miles, giant mountains that pierce the very sky, lands of obsidian and flowing rivers of lava, frozen valleys where the trees are still green despite the frigid cold. Towering forests where the ancient trees walking along the earth while giving home to many small creatures, a vast endless ocean filled lush plants and vibrant structures and sea life both big and small. And even though the diversity of these beings and places were different, they lived in harmony, living amongst each other in peace. Laughter and song could always be heard on the wind, bringing with it a sense of tranquillity that has existed in this world for many years.

Amongst these creatures live 3 powerful beings that watched over this world and kept the peace. One that watched over the land and skies, one that ruled over the kingdoms of the undead and darkness and the other watched over the ocean and its inhabitants.

Clarity, the goddess of light and the sky was a woman with a pure and caring heart. Her face always wore a smile and her violet eyes shone with love and kindness. Her golden hair flowed like rivers of sunlight, her skin smooth without a flaw insight, her large powerful white feathered wings carried her as she sored through the skies. She would bring life and joy to even the loneliest and saddest soul. Her kindness and gentle spirit were a wonder to behold. She always saw the good in others and would help anyone in need even if they were undeserving. Unlike her sister…

Rozu, the goddess of darkness and the underworld. Not much is known about her as she remained secluded in her fortress made of fire and brimstone, preferring to be alone rather than to interact with others like Clarity. Those who have been brave enough to enter her lands and make it to her home and have gazed upon her face would tell of the sadness that echoed through her golden eyes, an overwhelming sense of heartbreak and loss emitted from her very being though no one knew why. She would spend her days standing in her tower, looking over her kingdoms, a look of longing on her face, her burgundy hair flowing in the ash filled breeze, her leathery black wings curled against her back. Despite her reclusive nature many were wary of her, after all the beings of darkness were known for being…unpredictable. Clarity was the only one brave enough to visit Rozu; after all they were the only family they had. However there was one other that didn’t fear the queen of darkness…

The Siren was a being of mystery. She was the oldest of the three goddesses and her story had been forgotten over time. Some say she just appeared one day out of the blue, a mighty warrior with power over the sea and storms. She never spoke and was rumoured to be a mute. Her eyes were bright blue, her skin a pale white, her violet and blue hair flowed around her like the waves she commanded. A blue jewel hung from her neck, some saying it was the source of her power. When she would swim in the ocean amongst the creatures she watched over, her legs would become a long dark blue tail with a dorsal fin running along the back to the tail fin. Her legs returned when she was on land as she would help hunt for food for the villages that lived along the coast line. Her arms and back were covered in tattoos, strange markings and images of other sea creatures. Most could be identified such as a little orange starfish that was placed on her right shoulder or the legendary fisherman that sat on her upper left arm; however there was one set of markings that nobody recognised. 3 symbols running down the back of her neck, the markings seemed old, much older than the others that decorated her skin. But that wasn’t the only strange thing about her; she would disappear the same time every year for a few days, returning with an expression of grief and sadness on her face. But nobody knew why and nobody dared to ask, not wishing to upset the Siren more.

After centuries of living in peace, a dreadful day came when everything changed forever. A meteor had come down in the human world and spread out many broken pieces of a stone that held a dark power...one piece landed in the ocean, creating a small passage to the world of monsters, slipping through and landing in the oceans of the strange world. Slowly it began to have an effect on the creatures, a sickness of dark magic seeping from it and poisoning the seas, the waves that crashed into the shores infected the land with this sickness. Several creatures either went mad under the influence of this curse and many others would become weak and perish.

Fearing for their people’s safety, the 3 goddess’s took it upon themselves to locate the source of this sickness and find a way to rid their world of it. The Siren was the one to locate the stone that had infected this once peaceful world. She could feel darkness flowing from it, turning the water around it murky and vile. It made her sick to be around it, feeling the essences of it trying to infect her very soul. She wanted to flee from it, to swim away as quickly as she could before the darkness could take hold of her. But she needed to dispose of it in order to save not only her people but every other creature in this world. She took the stone to Clarity and Rozu; the two sisters felt the same effects from the stone as the Siren did. Together they created a seal to bind the stones wicked power, the seal of Oricalcos. It would keep the rocks effect under control and only those that knew how the seal worked would be able to harness the stones power. Together they travelled to the portal the stone had created and slipped through to return the cursed item from whence it came.

However when they arrived, they discovered that some of the creatures from their world had travelled to the human world and was currently engaged in a deadly fight. An army of twisted and dark creatures led by a corrupted man named Darts was trying to take over the world with a creature known as the Great Leviathan leading the fight. Many innocent lives were lost or turned into the dark creatures that fought for Darts. Cities and towns were turned to ash, humans slaughtered; nature itself was burned to the ground and trampled by these wicked beasts.

Seeing all this death and destruction, the goddess’s decided to join forces and fight for this world, to put themselves and their people at risk for the sake of humanity and the world they lived in. Clarity guided her army of light from the sky, casting down lightening and arrows upon the dark creatures below.

Rozu commanded her army of dead soldiers to raise from the earth and storm the enemy relentlessly, an unstoppable force of the undead. When one would fall to battle, two more would rise in its place.

And the Siren fought beside her warriors of the sea. With her trident in hand, she led her warriors in the glorious battle against the Leviathan in the sea.

Each creature fought tooth and nail to avenge those that had fallen and to protect those that remain. Many had fallen and yet the battles raged on. Soon there were only but a dozen left but the goddess’s remained strong. Storming Darts fortress, the city of Atlantis, Rozu entered the palace dead set on devouring the wicked man’s soul, however upon entering he was nowhere to be found. Clarity was elsewhere, taking out the remainder of Darts army, striking down the last beast with her golden sword. This left the Siren, standing against the leviathan.

She had lost many of her warriors, many of her friends, many of the beings that she had known for so many years and the leviathan wasn’t letting up. It still fought ferociously, its mighty claws and tail trying to land a hit on the siren. The goddess fought on however, unleashing a mighty weapon, an ear-piercing wail that echoed through the air and over the vast landscapes, causing cracks in the earth and the very foundation that Atlantis sat upon, bringing devastation to the once great city and more importantly bringing harm to the leviathan. The shock wave of the scream causing the beast great pain and suffering as it tried to disappear into the depths of the sea.

The creatures of the monster world started to retreat, escaping back to their world with the help of the goddess’s, opening a portal to their home. The siren was the last to reach the portal but stopped when she sensed the beast was nearby. Wishing to finish the monster off she dived into the ocean, following the leviathan to its hiding place. Hidden deep within a cave it reached out and grabbed her, dragging her to it to absorb her. She struggled in its strong grasp, unable to escape. She was already exhausted from using her strongest ability. She was out of options…or was she?

In a last attempt to save herself she started to sing a soft melody, the markings on her neck glowing, her song floating in the waters surrounding the two creatures. Slowly the leviathan’s eyes fell shut as it was forced into a deep slumber by the sirens song, curling up deep in the darkness. However it kept its hold on the goddess who was unable to escape. All she could do was sing to keep the beast asleep. And sing she would…

For 5000 years her song carried through the waves of the sea, many sailors would tell legends of the voice that was heard on the wind during cold nights when the sea was calm.

Over the years her voice grew weaker and weaker and so did she, her life fading, and her body becoming weak and frail to the point where she slipped from the beasts grasp. But by then it was too late, she was on deaths door. But she couldn’t give up. She knew that the leviathan would one day rise from its slumber and terrorise the world once again. She took her necklace in hand and stared at the blue jewel that was gifted to her eons ago by the creatures she swore to protect. Using her last breath she spoke a soft spell, breaking her vow of silence to transfer her soul into the gem, her body fading away into the waters surrounding her, the necklace floating away once there was nothing left of her.

Somewhere along the Nile…

A small boy no older than 6 was wondering along the shore line chasing a bird. His hair was a mix of black with red that stood up in 5 points, his bangs the colour of gold that framed his innocent little face and his eyes red. He wore the clothes of royalty, several guards could be seen in the area, a tent set up in the distance where the boy’s father, the pharaoh sat. He giggles as he continues his chase till he stumbles and falls into the sand. He sits up and shakes his head, trying to get rid of the sand covering his face. He glares down at the sand as if it had disrespected him before noticing a golden chain amongst the grains. Slowly he dug through the sand and pulled out a necklace that held a beautiful blue gem that gleamed in the sun light. He stared at it with wonder before running off to show is father.

[majorproblems77]

For you:

“Sky we’ve been gone for long enough…”

“This is major, Legend!!!” Sky hissed.

“Okay, okay!” Legend threw his hands up.

The chosen’s scowl twisted into a happy grin and he pulled out some Pegasus Boots. The veteran blinked and stared at the brown boots for a few seconds. “…Uh…Sky? Why do you have my boots?” 

Sky’s grin got somehow even wider. “You’ll see!” 

Legend stepped back a little and put on a nervous small smile. The boots gave a glimmer and the hole they had in them before had disappeared. But something told the vet that Sky did something more. “Chosen…” He trailed off.

 “C’mon vet!” 

“…” 

“Unless you want me to give them to the captain…” 

“No, no! I’ll take them!” 

Sky smirked and carefully handed them to Legend. He leaned back and gestured to the pair of footwear. “Try them on!”

Legend hesitated but remembered the reason they had ripped in the first place was because of Warriors and he quickly shoved them on, replacing the shoes he had borrowed from the traveller. He looked expectantly at the skyloftian and waited for a command or a comment. Sky simply sat down and fidgeted with a few dry blades of grass. Legend made a confused noise and went to sit down next to him but suddenly the wings on his boots began to flutter and all of a sudden his stomach lurched as the air carried him and all he could see were hues of green and blue. “Whoa!” He blurted out. 

He felt a surge of panic when he noticed a huge tree in front of him and tried to stop but suddenly he turned and whizzed past the tree towards the open field. The panic disappeared almost instantly and a laugh bubbled from his throat. Soon he was cheering as the boots gave him a ride. For a second he thought he saw the chosen waving to him. Eventually he stopped and fell flat on his back. “Legend?” He heard Sky call worriedly.

“I-I’m okay.” Legend promised and sat up, a little dizzy, but he was beaming. 

Sky stifled a giggle. “Vet, your hair.”

Legend rose a hand up to his hair and felt the frizziness. He could just imagine what it looked like right now and straight up fell back on the ground laughing. Sky ended up also falling beside him, the sounds of joy echoing throughout the air. At this point his stomach hurt from all the laughing but he didn’t care. When things calmed down the veteran stood up and dusted off his tunic and then grabbed the chosen’s hand and helped him up. “You’re not hurt though, right?” Sky asked.

“I’m not! That was actually a lot of fun!” Legend let out a breathy chuckle.

Sky sighed, relief clear on his features. “Oh, good.”

“How does that even work though? That was some major speed.” Legend mused, as he took the pegasus boots off of his feet and grabbed the traveller’s shoes instead.

“I have no idea! I just went to a guy on one of the roads that looked powerful and asked if he could help me mend the boots! And he told me he could also do this so I couldn’t turn the offer down, no?” Sky answered looking honest.

Legend paused for a moment. “You…” 

“Don’t worry I tested them on a Remlit back in Skyloft, and I saw how they worked!” Sky reassured.

The veteran decided he would not try to comprehend that right now. “Well, thanks.”

Sky gave him a smile, his eyes glimmering with pure joy. 

Hope you enjoyed :D

JSHFLDGBLFJKSDGBHFJDHLDHJFKBHFD

IM SCREAMING UNI OMG

JKDHJFHDLSFBGFNE

SO. MANY. HAPPY. HANDS RIGHT NOW

THIS IS SO AMAZING I LOVE IT THANK YOU SO MUCH OMG IM SAVING THIS FOREVER OKAY

[heaven-s-black-box]

Emanator- Sunday & Robin & Avatar!gn!Reader

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Recovery date: April 23rd, 2024

Description: Hello I had an idea I wanted to share this isn't exactly a request but maybe it could give you some inspiration. I was imagining something like a crossover between the Avatar Legend of Korra series and Honkai Star Rail. Where the Avatar is the emanator of harmony and the current avatar was the reader, and they were born on Penacony, I couldn't help but wonder how the Family would react to the emanator of harmony being born, would the Family raise them or leave them be, and with everything that was happening on Penacony, would they side with the family or the astral express crew?. (If you're not comfortable with writing this that's completely alright and I wish you a good morning/afternoon or goodnight☺️)

Notes: This work was recovered in conjunction with an anonymous researcher, we thank them for their contributions. Reader and Sunday's engagement is a ploy by the family for status and to force Reader to stay in Penacony, hence this isn't tagged as a Sunday x Reader. Part 2

Word count: 870

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In a galaxy so vast, it’s easy for a single life to drift by without creating a disturbance. A drop of water, no matter how big, will be lost in the ocean; that is a fact. No matter how stained or pure it is, it cannot affect the greater body– the only proof of its existence is the storm surrounding it.

Not to mention the insanity of searching for that single drop in the ocean.

That’s all the avatar is, a single drop in the ocean of the universe that most people don’t even believe in. Storms come and pass all the time, worlds are born and end every other day, what could one emanator do to stop any of it? Maybe once, when the species of the universe were more localized, was the role important, but certainly not anymore.

“Y/n, please refrain from doing that,” Sunday sighed, looking up from his book to find his fiance revitalizing a plant.

They stopped humming, a habit they’d picked up by mimicking children's shows growing up, and turned to the head of the family. The golden dust that had risen from their hands to encase the plant slowly dispersed, revealing bright green leaves. While the only Aeon that truly took issue with the powers of the abundance was Lan the Hunt, the family did not want to associate with the powers of different Aeons. They were blessed by Xipe, the Harmony, and that was the path they would follow and spread.

Y/n straightened up in their seat, squaring themself to Sunday with their hands folded gracefully in their lap, and gave him a polite smile. A practiced smile. A smile that said-

“Kill joy.”

Sunday rolled his eyes and set his book to the side.

The two were currently killing time in Sunday’s office in the real world reverie as they waited for Robin to finish her practice. Y/n had already finished a crossword, caught up on the recent IPC news, and Sunday’s pretty sure they slipped into the dreamscape briefly before deciding to fix his office plants. He understood they were bored, but he could only afford them the freedom he did if they abided by the family's rules.

Before he could try and find a compromise there was a knock at his office door followed by the creaking of the hinges.

“Robin!” Y/n cheered, standing up and embracing their sister-in-law. “How did practice go? Is the Harmony causing you trouble?”

The singer nodded solemnly. “I do hope we can find a solution before the Charmony festival,” she sighed, her voice sounding rough and tired.

It made Y/n frown. If there was one thing more frustrating than all of the family’s rules, itt was how helpless they were despite their supposed power. Maybe they’d be able to do more if they could meet with other emanators, or even seek an audience with the Aeons themselves, but as they were now they were barely stronger than a pathstrider. They faintly registered the sting of their nails cutting into their palms, snapping them out of their helpless spiral.

“Here,” Y/n hovered their hands on either side of Robin’s neck, “may I?”

Robin nodded, ignoring the way Sunday cleared his throat in wordless discouragement, and Y/n wrapped their hands around her throat. There was a faint golden glow as they tried to heal physical damage they all knew wasn’t there.

“Better?” Robin asked, frowning along with Y/n as they heard no change.

“Would you please. stop. doing that?” Sunday asked again. “At least until the Charmony festival is over, one of the Watchmaker’s guests is a Galaxy ranger and I would prefer you to not get yourself killed.”

Y/n and Robin looked over at him; Robin sporting a look of confusion and Y/n one of mild amusement.

“I don’t think she’s a ranger,” they shrugged, gliding back to their seat.

“Care to elaborate?” Sunday pressed after a moment of silence.

“Maybe later, once I’m sure, but… I will refrain from using multiple paths, especially with fools and a memokeeper around.”

“That probably is a good idea,” Robin nodded. “I’m sure the IPC would try and buy you from us as well.”

A loud knock sounded through the room.

“Sir?”

“Enter.”

A concierge entered, looking slightly frazzled as he explained that there was a situation at the check in desk that required Sunday’s help; along with the fact that his guest from the IPC was here. The siblings headed downstairs while Y/n offered to meet them in the dreamscape and slipped off to their room.

They’d somehow wound up in the dreamscape Reverie, not Golden Hour like they were supposed to. The lobby was a mess, luggage carts left about and something akin to dust settled over every visible surface. Perhaps it was the effects of IX that left them feeling almost comforted by the vacant atmosphere. Perhaps it was the effects of Nous that led them further into the Reverie in search of answers

Whoever led them here, it mattered not, as they all cried out at once a moment too late.

Run!

And Y/n was granted an audience with the Aeons.

[wlw-lovestruck-fiction]

Hello, dears! Here's part 2 to the Vampire Helena AU I'm writing for @loveinthekeyofx! It's a Love and Legends/Havenfall is for Lovers crossover! I do hope some of you will enjoy it ❤️ it is quite lengthy (just under 7k words), so part of it will be under a cut! - Mod Runa

TW: Discussions of insecurities, References to trauma, Body image issues.

You chuckled as yet another tiny spark of fire flew by your head and turned into smoke right before hitting the mirror, making Morgan sigh in frustration as her hand flinched. Smudging an otherwise perfect line of eyeliner.

"Jordan, I swear to everyone that isn't your Father. If you do that ONE more time!"

JD let out the most dramatic groan you had ever heard in your life and slinked a little further off their bed.

"But I'm so booooored. And you won't let me help with anything!"

You could see the reflection of their upside pout in the vanity, which only made you laugh harder. Morgan pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"If you recall.. I gave you one very important job to do, JD.. the outfit. You're the one who decided to come up in here with a black leather bodysuit!"

JD smirked. "I stand by my decision. That bodysuit was fucking hot."

Morgan shook her head, turning her focus back to doing your make-up.

"Do you see what I have to put up with, Frances?"

"Pfft! You love me." JD replied with a wide, charismatic grin.

"They've got you there, Morgan." You chuckled.

"Ohh no.. don't you dare feed into them!"

You laughed before giving JD a tiny wink in the mirror. The last few months in Havenfall had probably been your most interesting thus far. Even without Helena coming into your life, finding out that not only were "monsters" real, but that you'd been living amongst them since you'd moved to the small town was almost too much to process at first. You could still remember the look of utter horror on Morgan's face when a slightly buzzed JD let their true identity slip.. and then how it grew when they proceeded to out everyone else inside Havenfall's Finest. At first you were convinced it was all a joke. The idea that the local bowling alley was run by a djinn and the town Sheriff was actually a werewolf seemed all too preposterous to even imagine, but the moment JD released their wings and shot a fireball off over the lake you knew they'd been telling the truth.

"The Jersey Devil? As in the Jersey Devil??" You had exclaimed.

"The one and only." They'd replied with a smirk.

To be honest it felt like just yesterday that you'd found out, but also that a part of you'd already known. The sleepy Midwestern town had always seemed to hum with unseen magic.

And now, you knew why.

"Alright! All done."

Morgan sat back in her chair and smiled, placing the tube of mascara back onto JD's dresser.

"I still say you should have gone with the bodysuit."

"Hush, Jordan. She looks great."

You couldn't argue with her there, the woman had done a damn fine job on your make-up. The subtle gold eyeshadow and flipped cat's eye accentuated the green and black top she had picked out perfectly. And your breasts had never been propped up higher in your life. You looked… good.

"I'm not saying she doesn't! But who wouldn't want to see those curves wrapped in leather!"

"I wouldn't." You answered with a laugh.

"Pfft.. you're both crazy. I'm going downstairs to check out the buffet- .. I mean, see if Razi needs any help."

"Please, do not add any of your crazy concoctions to the mix, JD."

The devil turned, giving their partner a faux look of hurt and betrayal.

"But.. you said you liked my pickle and mustard pie!"

"Jordan, please. Remember what we talked about."

They sighed, rolling their eyes. "Fineeeeee."

You chuckled as they stomped their way down the stairs to the bowling alley - the sounds and smells of Havenfall's Finest getting everything together wafting through the now open door.

"I hope you weren't too hard on them, Morgan. It's just Helena and I."

Although, "just Helena and you" couldn't be further from the truth. There was nothing "just" about the gorgeous blonde that had waltzed into your life only a few months prior. And even though the two of you had had your fair share of … Visits? Hangouts? Whatevers? ... you were far more nervous than you would ever let on.

"Listen.. I love them dearly, you know that, but if JD had it their way, that table would be filled with the most abominable culinary creations either of you have ever seen. And I don't want Helena getting scared away by Jordan's horrendous taste in food before any of us have even had a chance of getting to know her."

You put your hands up in surrender, chuckling even harder. "Alright, alright."

"Still.. we should probably make our way downstairs before they get any ideas…"

You snorted. "Good thinking."

***

The sun had just started to set when Helena walked out of the front doors to her apartment building, washing the vast Indiana sky in warm hues of oranges, reds and pinks - a stark contrast to the crisp bite that came with the late Autumn evening air. A soft ping from the blonde's phone and the hushed sounds of a stealthy stride were all that were to be heard as she walked down the otherwise empty street. A subtle smile coming to Helena's lips when she finally stops to check the notification on her phone.

Frances: Of course it is! Any friend of yours is a friend of mine :)

She breathed in a sigh of relief. Even though she knew Frances would be understanding, she still felt a little bad for inviting Vanessa along. Unfortunately the vampire knew it was the best opportunity for the Huntress to be able to meet everybody. To be able to tell her if anyone within Havenfall's inner circle had had anything to do with the coven that turned her. For one thing, the Sorceress' keen senses gave her the gnawing feeling that pretty much everyone who had connection with that bowling alley was likely not human - that she was almost certain - but as for the specifics, those she was unclear on.

That's where Vanessa Helsing came in. Coming from a long line of vampire hunters, she had been tracking the same coven as Helena for months, eager to take them down - to wipe them out. She was the only person Helena knew who had seen almost every person of importance within Dagon's coven. So, needless to say the two had quite a bit they could gain from one another.

Helena had told the Huntress to meet her at the bowling alley, and there she stood. Cladded in black leather under a dim street light - her dark hair almost rivaling the night sky above.

"Good evening, Vanessa."

"Evening, Helena. You sure you want to do this?"

The blonde nodded.

"Your knowledge has been immeasurable in my progress, Helsing. Even if we find no accord within, your presence is still appreciated. Frances means a great deal to me. I need to make sure she's protected."

Vanessa smiled before nodding. "Alright, then. After you."

***

"Wait.. what do you mean she's bringing someone? Like, a friend?"

You placed your phone face down onto the counter and shrugged.

"Ah.. more like a colleague, I guess? I don't really know much about her, honestly."

Helena had only mentioned Vanessa once before to you, months ago when she named her as the client she'd met with that day at the bowling alley. (Though, according to Morgan, the two of them never even made it there that day.) But other than that, the specifics of their relationship were a complete mystery to you.

"Mhm.. well, I'm going to be keeping an eye on said colleague."

You were about to tell Morgan not to bother when the doors to the bowling alley abruptly opened, a rush of cold air as Helena and who you presumed was Vanessa walked in. You couldn't help your mouth from falling open a little at the sight. Helena, of course, looked breathtaking - radiant. With a deep cerulean low cut shirt covered in a red blazer. The colors a perfect contrast to her moonlit hair. The woman next her to her, though… I guess when you had thought of the word 'colleague', she wasn't quite what you had in mind. Morgan leaned in a bit, nudging you softly before whispering.

"Oh, I am definitely going to be keeping an eye on her."

You chuckled. "She's allowed to have friends, Morgan."

"Not friends who look like that and dress completely in black leather.. and, is that a bull whip connected to her belt??"

"Heh, my kinda friend." You heard JD mutter under their breath from behind you, which only led to Morgan scowling.

You cleared your throat. "Just.. be cool, guys."

You walked away from the pair before they could say anything else. And they weren't wrong. Vanessa was incredibly beautiful. With hair as inky as a night sky and a body that screamed nothing but self discipline and rigorous routine. But the way Helena's eyes lit up and how her smile widened at the sight of you definitely helped stifle some of the intrusive thoughts that were slowly trying to move in.

"My dear Frances, good evening. A pleasure as always." She exclaimed with a low bow. "This is Vanessa. I appreciate you allowing her to join us tonight."

You nodded. "Of course! Nice to meet you, Vanessa."

"Please, call me Van. And it's nice to meet you as well."

You turned just in time to see the rest of Havenfall's Finest coming up behind you. At least three of them with their mouths fully agape. You had to chuckle, fully aware of the effect Helena tended to have on people.

"Helena.. this is Razi, the owner and proprietor of this fine establishment. Mac, the town's Sheriff. Diego, Havenfall's finest doctor. And, last but not least, JD and Morgan, our resident chaos demon and their loyal girlfriend. Everyone, this is Helena."

Razi and Mac both gave the blonde a very exuberant "Hello!", shaking her hand. You even swore you saw tiniest hue of pink rising to the Sheriff's cheeks as Helena responded with "A pleasure." Diego on the other hand, seemed more anxious than anything, his gaze shifting back and forth between the two women. As for JD and Morgan, while both were as friendly as ever, Jordan wouldn't be Jordan if they didn't do their best to lay on the charm.

"So, this is the woman that's been stealing our friend away from us… not that I can blame her."

Helena, of course, chuckled gracefully. "Much apologies."

"Mhm.. I'm sure."

You gave JD a pleading look, hoping they'd take the hint and stop before they said anything else. Which thankfully they did, giving you a playful wink instead.

"And this is my.. colleague, Vanessa."

The group gave the mysterious woman a unified greeting, all except for Diego who only nodded and JD who whistled low.

"If that's a colleague, I really need to get myself into the security business."

Both Vanessa and Morgan glared in their direction, an act that quickly made the enby rub the back of their neck nervously.

"A-anyways, let's get this party started, shall we?!"

"Very smooth, Jordan." Morgan replied, rolling her eyes.

You had to hand it to them all, the bowling alley looked absolutely enchanting. And while you were well aware that Morgan and JD cared greatly for you, the lengths that the rest of Havenfall's Finest went to to make sure the evening went as smooth as possible was, needless to say, incredibly heartwarming.

The ceiling was strewn with more twinkle lights than you had ever seen and the long table in the center of the main room had just about every guilty pleasure food you could possibly think of. You made sure to make a mental note to thank Razi later for not letting JD have any say in the buffet. Though, you had to laugh when you came across a small, yet very suspicious pie at the bottom of the table with the distinct aroma of mustard coming from it. It was almost crazy to think how in just a few short months this hodgepodge group of cryptids had almost become like a second family to you. Even Mac was dressed in something other than her usual sheriff's uniform.

You were just about to walk over to where Helena and Vanessa were standing when Morgan pulled you aside. Her brow slightly furrowed.

"Hey, I didn't want to say anything in front of JD because they'd just go all detective mode on us, but I know I've seen Vanessa somewhere before. And Diego seemed on edge as soon as she walked in."

Your gaze lingered over to where the two women stood talking, obviously in the middle of a rather serious conversation.

"Hm.. wish I could say I knew more about her. Helena isn't very forthcoming about the ins and outs of her job."

"Yeah. Well, if I think of anything, I'll definitely let you know."

You nodded. "Yeah, sure. Thanks."

Morgan gave you a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder before wandering off to find JD. Even with the party finally starting to get under swing, your mind couldn't help but begin to drift off to more unsavory thoughts. Just how often did Vanessa frequent Havenfall if both Diego and Morgan seemed to recognize her? Did that mean Helena was meeting with her more often than she'd let on? Were they closer than just colleagues? I mean, you couldn't blame her for choosing someone who looked like Vanessa over someone who looked like.. well.. you..

She was hot.. fit.. beautiful in a way you could never be.

And you were, well.. you.

You subconsciously pulled at the blouse that just a few moments ago had filled you with such confidence, wondering if there was even a point. How could you compete with that? With.. her? How could you be expected to-

"Frances?"

You were jerked abruptly from your thoughts, Helena's pensive face in front of yours.

"Is something the matter? You looked a thousand miles away."

Immediately filled with embarrassment, you quickly shook your head.

"Oh! Yes, no.. I'm fine.. really, I'm fine!" You answered, chuckling nervously.

The blonde hummed low before linking her arm in yours.

"Well, then.. come and accompany us over by the stage, hm?"

The.. stage??

As you followed Helena past the lanes and towards the back of the arcade room, you found that the blonde was right - there was indeed a small platform back there. One that you were certain hadn’t been there before.

"What in the-"

"Ohhh, just wait! You guys are gonna love this!" JD exclaimed as they practically ran over to the two of you. More excited than you'd ever seen them.

"JD.. what.."

"Fuck! Is Razi ever gonna regret buying this." They laughed, holding up a small microphone.

Karaoke. Razi had actually purchased a karaoke machine. Gods, save us all.

The moment JD slipped on their sunglasses, stepped onto the stage and started dancing around it, Morgan's sigh was all too prevalent in your ear as she came to stand beside you - a low baseline coming through steadily from the speakers. You chuckled before turning to her.

"That bad, huh?"

She sighed again. "Jordan's actual singing voice is really quite nice, but of course they'd never be caught dead using it properly in public."

"Ah, gotcha."

You laughed and shook your head, trying to figure out where you had heard that guitar riff before and why it sounded so familiar. You were fairly certain the song choice was of the Metal genre - which would be on par for JD's taste in music - but the underlying melody reminded you of something else. Of something you'd heard a million times before but couldn't quite put your finger on-

Oh.. oh no

JD smirked as the intro diminished, the first lyric sung boastfully from their lungs.

"We're no strangers to looove…"

Morgan groaned immediately. "Jordan! For fucks sake, no!"

"You know the rules, and so do IIII…"

Helena turned to you, obviously a bit amused at the crowd's reaction.

"I am afraid I do not understand the reference. Why are so many people opposed to this song choice?"

JD sang even louder. You wouldn't get this from, any other enbyyyyy."

You did your best to speak loud enough for the blonde to hear you, giving her a quick background of the song and what it meant to be "Rick Rolled". Helena laughed and nodded before turning back to the entertainment, her foot tapping along with the melody.

"Never gonna give, gonna give.. give you up!"

Much to her dismay, you couldn't help but laugh and cheer every time JD pointed to Morgan during the chorus. An act that only made her groan even louder. And the moment the song ended, you could hear Razi yelling from the back of the room.

"I'm docking your pay for that, Jordan!"

The enby bowed dramatically, giving you a little wink before hopping off the stage.

"Mh.. seems that is my queue, little one." Helena whispered to you, giving you a smirk.

"Wha-?"

You stood, a blush already dusting your cheeks and your mouth agape. She was.. she was going to sing???

You took a deep, steadying breath. Completely unaware that the blonde could even carry a note let alone that you would be graced with whatever celestial sounds were about to part from that delicious mouth of hers. But there she was, basked in a kaleidoscope of colors from the lighting above and looking absolutely ethereal.

"Hold steady, Frances."

You swallowed hard, side-eyeing Morgan. "I'll do my best."

And while you had never heard of the song Helena had chosen before, you knew the moment the first note left her lips that you were done for. A hauntingly beautiful melody - smooth Alto notes sang in a soft (what you assumed was her native tongue) German. Your mouth was still open when JD came to stand next to you, nudging you softly in the ribcage.

"Hear something you like? Hm?"

They wiggled their eyebrows at you but all you could do was stare. Of course she sang like a fucking goddess. Of course she was fucking perfect.

Too perfect.

Too fucking perfect.

And here you were, with your mediocre self, expecting her to feel the same? Pssh.

"Psst.. you know what has to happen now, right?" Morgan whispered, her eyes glued to the stage and the incredible being that was on it.

"No."

"Yes! You'd blow her away and you know it."

"No. Not a chance."

"Yess, you have to."

"Are you even listening to her right now? It's-!"

"Don't you dare tell me it's pointless, Frances. Just because she has a gorgeous voice doesn't mean that yours isn't just as hot!"

For the first time since Helena had started singing you looked away from the stage, staring blankly at your friend. "... y-you think… I'm.. ah-"

"Yes, I think, and so does JD… and Razi.. and everyone else in Havenfall who's heard you sing to yourself. So.. you're going to get up there and you're gonna make that woman breathless!"

You sighed, admitting defeat. "Fine, but I choose the song!"

"Fine! Which?"

You smirked. "Rooms on Fire. Good luck finding it."

Morgan smirked even wider and you immediately swallowed. "Bold of you to assume JD hasn't already programmed Stevie Nicks' entire discography into that thing. They've had a thing for her since forever."

You swallowed again. "... Fuck."

***

Helena's body was all a buzz as she stepped down from the small podium. Electrically charged and tingling from the applause of her soon to be peers. She wasn't even sure what had made her get up and do it. And by the look on Frances' face, she was just as stunned. But there was something about being in the round woman's presence that always gave Helena a boost. That gave her the type of courage that made her feel like she could do just about anything. And in that moment, all she wanted to do was to show that warm, delightfully kind woman one of her gifts.

And hopefully - just hopefully - receive some of hers in return.

So you can imagine the look of surprise that sprung to the vampire's face and feeling of elation that rolled over her when Frances stepped up onto the stage. As the same warm light that had just washed over her casted the woman in a brilliant hue, making her look even more beautiful to the Sorceress than she already did.

A brief lapse of time, a single breath of silence before the song started. And it was that moment, when the first flawless note fell from Frances' lips, that Helena knew. Knew why she'd initially been drawn to her and what had kept her so enthralled since.

After all this time, searching between the two realms in which she had inhabited, she had finally found her. A soul as pure and kind as the woman who had saved her from the darkness many years ago. The woman who bore the same face as the one who had stripped her of everything and gave her a life renewed. She had never once, in all her years since leaving the realm she then called home, came across another person who had shone as bright as that woman did.

But here, in that solitary moment of clarity, as the melodic notes rang out from Frances' body and danced across Helena like a lullaby from some other place - like a spell from some archaic time that sang out into the heavens and carved itself into sky - that's when she knew. That's when it all became clear, that Frances was also a keeper of that light - of that bright soul that soothed over the vampire like a celestial balm.

Helena also knew that from that point she'd no longer be able to ignore her feelings for the woman. That her tendencies to mute her emotions and stifle those desires within that seemed to burn with the heat of a thousand suns would no longer be possible.

And as she watched the music take hold of this incredible creature, with all of Frances' curves swaying to the melody - eyes closed and cheeks a gorgeous hue of rose - she made a silent vow to both herself and the woman in front of her. A promise that she would no longer take the coward's way out when it came to her heart and what it deserved. That she would channel that courage she always felt when Frances was around and finally tell her..

Finally tell her that she was, undoubtedly and without measure, falling for her.

***

You opened your eyes as soon as the last note faded off, the crowd before you standing stunned - in awe - almost in disbelief at what they'd just witnessed. And while you were more than used to people's reaction to your voice, you still smiled proudly to yourself. A subtle blush dusting your cheeks as a resounding applause rang out from some of your favorite people.

"Holy shit, Frances. That was incredible!" JD beamed. "You did our girl Stevie some serious justice."

You chuckled. "Thanks, Jordan."

"They ain't lying, friend, that was the best I've ever heard you sing." Added Morgan as she handed you a tiny piece of cloth for your forehead, which you gratefully took.

"Thank you, one might say I was a little inspired."

"Well, inspiration suits you well, then, little one."

Helena's praise caught you off guard, immediately making you turn and face her.

"I- .. uh.. th-thank you? I mean.. ahem.. yeah.. ah, thanks, Helena." You stammered, rubbing the back of your neck.

Helena only nodded but you could tell the blonde had wanted to say more. A fact that must not have been lost on Morgan either as she quickly cleared her throat and hooked her arm into JD's.

"Well, we'll leave you two to talk."

"We will?? But I was just about to ask Frances if she wanted to-"

JD's words stopped mid-sentence the moment their eyes caught Morgan's.

"Oh.. right.. I mean.. we'll leave you two to .. talk."

The enby's subtle tone and small wink was more than enough to fluster you before they sauntered off, your cheeks heating up ever so slightly.

"That Jordan is a rather peculiar person. They remind me of someone I knew back home."

For some reason the thought of Helena being friends with their own version of JD made you feel incredibly warm inside, almost as if an invisible thread had always connected the two of you.

"Really?" You laughed.

"Mh, indeed. His name was Iseul. Your friend Jordan has a very similar spark of mischief to them." She answered, the deep blues of her eyes seeming to wander off in thought for a moment before she continued. "You remind me of someone I once knew as well, Frances."

Now that.. that..

You took a deep, steadying breath as a wash of warmth spread over you like a freshly drawn bath, re-igniting the desire in you that you had, admittedly, done your best to ignore over the past couple of months.

You felt your cheeks heat up a little more before you spoke. "O-oh? Really?"

The blonde hummed, looking almost sad. "She was, until now, the kindest woman I had even known."

You swallowed hard, not even sure how to respond to that information. In all honesty, there was nothing more you wanted to do than grab onto her, hold her close, and scream out into the heavens how much she meant to you. But you also knew that, of all places, the local bowling alley was not the place to make such affections known.

Nor was it the right time…

Probably.

As you collected your thoughts, you took a moment to scan your surroundings. Razi and Mac had seemingly found themselves in a rather heated game of bowling as Diego watched, sipping silently from the tiny flask that he normally kept on him. As for the arcade area, you couldn’t help but chuckle when your gaze landed on JD and Vanessa going head to head in a very excited round of DDR, the sound of Morgan cheering them heard throughout the entire bowling alley.

You swallowed again before smiling and tentatively took the blonde's hand in yours.

"What do you say we take a walk after all of this? There's a place I'd really like to show you, if that's alright with you?"

Helena smiled in turn, her eyes brightening to almost match the color of her shirt. "I would like that very much, little one."

***

The crisp autumn air met Helena like an old friend as she stepped out onto the curb - the wind softly blowing just cold enough to bite at her cheeks, reddening them. With a large moon above them, the Huntress walked silently beside the Vampire, biding her time until they got to her van.

"I want to thank you again for coming, Vanessa." Helena spoke, breaking the silence.

"No worries at all. I had fun actually."

The blonde chuckled. "As did I."

Vanessa shifted nervously from one foot to the other, smiling in a way that made Helena more anxious than she would've liked. The idea of Frances not being safe when she wasn't around.. well, that was a thought that only made the Sorceress' heart sink.

"Out with it." She said plainly.

Vanessa sighed.

"Well, the good news is that I can confidentially tell you that nobody in Frances' immediate circle is part of Dagon's coven."

Helena nodded. "That is good, at least."

"That being said, I can also tell you that most of the people within that circle.. aren't human. And that at least one of them is a vampire."

Helena's gaze shifted quickly. "Which?"

"Diego."

The blonde hummed in thought.

"What about JD and Morgan?"

"Morgan is human as far as I can tell. JD is.. well, I'm not exactly sure what JD is, but it's an energy I've never encountered before. So, whatever they are, it's something rare."

Helena chuckled to herself, recalling the time when Frances had called JD 'one of a kind'.

"That does not surprise me. In your opinion, though, would you say that Frances is safe?"

Helena asked the question simply, for that was the most important thing. Everything else was secondary. Everything else could be discussed at a later time. On a night when the air wasn't so clear and she didn't have that incredible woman waiting for her.

The Huntress nodded, a curtain of dark hair falling into her face.

"I do. At this point anyways. I still have some digging to do, but I'll contact you if I find anything that makes me feel otherwise."

"You have my gratitude, Helsing. Thank you."

"Anytime. You just leave all the boring stuff to me and enjoy the rest of your night." Vanessa replied with a wink before climbing into her van.

The blonde smirked. "Oh, that I intend to."

***

To be perfectly honest, you'd been planning on taking Helena to the lake ever since the plans for that evening were first made. And when Jordan had found out, the spark of mischief and excitement in their eyes was so bright it almost lit up the whole room. Even before you had left the bowling alley they pulled you aside.

"You're still taking her to the lake, yeah?"

A cheeky wink and subtle smirk was all you got in reply when you answered 'yes', which only made you slightly nervous. You knew deep down that if JD had some sort of surprise in the works, it would only be in your favor. They knew how much Helena had meant to you. And honestly, other than Morgan, they'd been the most supportive through it all.

The sky was littered with thousands of twinkling stars as you pulled up to the lake, all paying homage to the bright moon that hung among them. That casted a brilliant reflection into the still water and made you all the more confident in your decision to bring her there. It was beautiful, just like Helena. Almost so that it almost seemed too luminous to be real…

… Just like Helena.

"I see why you like this place, little one." The blonde said, closing her door.

"Oh?"

"Mh, on a night like tonight, it almost looks like a painting."

You smiled, wanting to say more than a quiet "That, it does." As if any sight could compete with how the moonlight danced upon Helena's rosen cheeks and frolicked throughout her hair. How her eyes sparkled and gleamed, making the stars above only pale in comparison. She was a literal work of art, a masterpiece within herself. A goddess walking on earth. She was-

"Frances?"

Her soft tone caught you off guard, and when her gaze met yours you'd almost forgotten how to speak entirely. She looked at you in a way no other person had, as if you were a lifeline and she were a rope. Tethered and frayed and yet oh so beautiful.

"Ah, sorry.. was I staring?"

"Mh.. a little." She chuckled.

"S-sorry."

When you rubbed the back of your neck subconsciously she took your other hand.

"Do not be."

Her voice was soft but the look in her eyes was even softer. A subtle heat coming to your cheeks as she took your other hand in hers, leaning in ever so slightly.

Did she want to-

Was she going to-

Helena took another step closer and you almost immediately fell back, moving away with such abruptness that you nearly toppled over the hood of your car. But, of course, Helena caught you.

"Fuck. Sorry. I.. ah.. shit."

"It is I who should be sorry, little one. I should not have assumed."

For the first time since you'd met her, the blonde looked embarrassed. Which honestly only made you feel worse. You shook your head vehemently.

"No, no. Please. Fuck. You did nothing wrong, Helena. It's just.. ah.. there's some things about me we should probably talk about before this goes any further."

With that Helena took a step back, looking at you thoughtfully and nodded.

"By all means. I am, as they say, all ears."

Before a single word had even fallen from your lips you could feel the subtle sting of tears - pooling at the corners of your eyes and betraying your emotions. You hated this part. You always had. When the love interest finds out your secret and opts for just being friends instead. Though, admittedly, you had genuinely hoped for just a little more time before having to say goodbye to Helena.

"Frances." She said softly, your hands still in hers. "There is, without doubt, not a single thing you could tell me about yourself that I would not be able to accept."

There was a shadow of something darker that lurked within the blonde's gaze that instantly made you believe her. Her eyes a stormier blue than you'd seen before - heavier, sullen - as if they held an untold story of long ago. You took a deep, calming breath - for you knew that, despite your fears, there was nothing in the world you wanted more than to trust her.

"Alright, well.. you see, I'm.. demisexual."

You could tell by the look on her face that it was a phrase Helena hadn't heard before, her eyes giving you a once over.

"I apologize, Frances. I have not.. is this something similar to a demigod?"

At this you couldn't help but laugh, an act that was honestly much needed and actually made you feel a lot more relaxed.

You snorted. "I wish. I'm afraid the only "super power" it gives me is being somewhat sexually stunted."

Helena moved to stand next to you, leaning back against the front of your car - her gaze looking out thoughtfully onto the water.

"Would it help you to know, little one, that, in my own way, that is something I quite understand."

You turned to face her, fingers still locked in hers and resting on the hood of the car. She looked so open, so attentive to whatever it was that you had to tell her. Her eyes shimmering in a way that almost seemed magical. You took another deep breath and pushed back the tears that still were begging to be released.

"Alright.. here goes nothing.." You let out a heavy sigh and felt Helena squeeze your hand a little tighter. "Being demi.. basically means that without a strong emotional bond with a person, my sexual desire for them will be… lack thereof."

The blonde stood quietly, only listening, so you continued.

"While being demi is a spectrum, and some people may only need a strong friendship connection to feel that, for me… well.. it's usually always taken a very strong.. and albeit long.. romantic connection for me to feel, well, aroused with someone."

Helena nodded. "I understand."

"That being said.. you, Helena.. you've made me feel things that I very rarely ever feel, almost immediately.. and to say that I haven't thought of or wouldn't like to sleep with you already is well.. ah.." You felt your cheeks immediately redden and chuckled, shaking your head. "Here I am just assuming that's something you'd actually want from me."

Helena looked at you silently for a moment before speaking."... You assume correctly, Frances. I find myself very attracted to you."

And now you were blushing even harder.

"O-oh."

Helena chuckled. "You are an incredible woman, Frances."

"I.. well.." You took yet another deep breath, trying to collect your thoughts within the chaos of your mind. As if saying what you had to say wasn't hard enough already. "But see.. that's the thing, Helena.. like, you're so beautiful and kind and intriguing and sexy and to say I haven't thought of us together more than a few times in the last few months is well.. it's different for me and I... ahh-"

The blonde inched herself a little closer to you and hummed. "Breathe, little one."

And you did, deeply. Closing your eyes as you let the crisp Fall air and subtle undertones of juniper that rolled off of Helena wash over you.

"Attraction aside…" You exhaled, ".. with how my sexual desire works.. I have no clue when that would actually happen for us."

Helena nodded again. "I understand."

"And so, this is probably where you leave. And I can't even blame you.. 'cause who wants to wait months or even years before becoming sexually intimate with someone? Other than me, that is, but I'm an outlier and shouldn't be counted."

"My dear Frances, you should always be counted."

"Well, that.."

You grinned all too widely and looked down at your hands that were still interlocked. The subtle pink that dusted your round cheeks swiftly deepening and painting them in a warm crimson.

"And as it was, little one, I have absolutely no intention of leaving you. When I say that I find myself very attracted to you.. it is not solely on a physical level. You see, my soul feels lighter when you are near. My thoughts warm when I think of you and my heart seems to ache when I have not had the pleasure of your company for awhile. I believe that I am, wholey and without doubt, falling for you, Frances."

You stared at her blankly for a moment, no words to be had.

"As for my own shortcomings.. sexual and emotional trauma finds me on a similar acumen as you. So, please, do not feel as if we are far apart on these understandings."

You immediately almost felt angry at the thought of anyone mistreating her. This goddess of a woman who deserved to feel nothing but love and compassion for her rest of her days.

"Fuck, I am.. I'm so sorry to hear that, Helena."

The blonde waved her hand dismissively and closed the last bit of distance between you.

"It is a lifetime ago and a story for another night."

You nodded. "Just know I'm always here to listen whenever you're ready to talk about it."

"I know, dear one." Helena smiled, so openly and warmly that you felt your heart lurch a little. The subtle lines in the corners of her eyes creasing as she leaned in closer to cup your cheek. "May I kiss you?"

You felt your cheeks warm beneath the cool touch of her fingers, soft tears forming in your eyes and a laugh upon your lips. "Yes, Helena. You may."

And as her lips touched yours, fireworks lit up the world around you. Not just metaphorically - but physically. Bright and untamed - fire in the sky - that reached out across the heavens above you.

JD's surprise.

It had to be.

You smiled even wider as your kiss deepened. As sparkling embers rained from the sky and your hands came to frame Helena's face. You kissed her softly - tenderly - wanting nothing more than for her to feel just how absolutely precious she was to you. And when the kiss finally broke, you were both crying. Happy tears of emotions long felt. With bright bursts of reds and blues, of oranges and yellows, reflecting across the still of the water as the two of you embraced.

"I'm so glad you came tonight, Helena."

"Mh.. as am I. It was a lovely evening."

"Heh, that it was."

"And who would have thought, that all this time I was in the presence of such a remarkable vocalist."

Helena smirked, making you blush.

"Psh, speak for yourself! That song you sang was beautiful."

The blonde hummed, smiling. "Thank you, little one. It is named 'Diese kalte Nacht'. It is by the band Faun. I am rather fond of them."

You chuckled to yourself. You knew if JD were there they would have made one of their legendary puns right about now.. "Oh, so you'd say you're... FAUNd of them?"

"Well, I can't say that I understood any of it, but you sang it beautifully."

"As did you, Frances. I do not know of this Stevie Nicks, but I have to wonder if her voice is anywhere near comparable to yours."

You looked at her for a moment, mouth agape.

"Oh, that's it. We are so having a Stevie Nicks night at my place!"

"Mh.. consider it a date."

***

You had just crawled into bed when your phone went off.

Morgan: Yoooo.. you awake?

You: Yep! Just got home, actually lol.

Morgan: Oh? How'd it go??

You: Really, really good. We uh.. we kissed.

Morgan: I knew it! We knew she liked you! Jordan is gonna be fucking ecstatic when I tell them.

You: lol You guys are the best.

Morgan: Well, you deserve it :]

You: Thanks lol

Morgan: Ah.. not to add some unwanted mystery to the evening... but I figured out why Vanessa looked so familiar. Had a little chat with Diego after you left.

You: Oh????

Morgan: Um.. yeah.. she's a fucking vampire hunter.

You: A.. WHAT?!

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Find the word tag

Thanks @gracehosborn for the tag!

Rules: post excerpts from your WIP(s) that have the words I give you. Then tag people with your own words!

My words: engage, golden, date, direction

Your words: reality, animal, fresh, hardship

Tagging: @queerfox-tales @theelfauthor @jamieanovels @rehnwriter @mr-writes @writingpotato07 @writingmoth @thyroidhormones @elizaellwrites @leighvalentin @ladydarkphoenix-blog @living-dead-girl515 @fantasyfillsmysoul @missinnoccent @oli-vander19 @minutiaewriter @27paperlilies @nailamoonsi @localtorispring @little-mouse-gardens

See below the cut for an adventure in a giant's lair, two brief introductions to the world of The Secret Portal, and a cute filler scene about grilled cheese sandwiches

Engage:

From The Secret Portal, Part One:

Noelle stopped for a second, thinking. “Sourdough bread, Cheddar and Muenster cheese, sliced tomatoes, sauted greens, sliced pear, ham, and cut into two diagonal pieces.” Silence. I peeked into her mind. “Could you by any chance make that sandwich sometime?” Noelle smiled slightly. “Sure.” “Told you Muenster was the best,” Liam said. “Which means, I win.” This ensued more overlapping yelling. “Ash!” Jazlyn said, coming over with Ewan. “Have you seen Niri anywhere?” “In the room,” I pointed over. “But he wanted to be alone I think.” “I’m just gonna pop in and ask him the cheese question,” Jazlyn went off to the room, Ewan protesting as he followed. I sent Nirini a quick mental heads-up that Jazlyn was coming. Lexi called over Rose to ask her opinion. As she did, I peeked into Lexi’s mind, feeling her joy as she engaged in the conversation. I wondered why I was so jealous earlier seeing her laughing with her new friends. Afterall, they should be my friends, too, and regardless, she was having fun. If she was happy, so was I.

Golden:

From School of the Legends, Year One

Once they reached the other end of the table, Beau made another stalk, and they climbed toward the mantle. Jack kept glancing over at the giants, hoping they would just leave the room. But right now, it seemed that they were going to stay at that dinner table for at least a little while longer. Being at the top of the mantle made Jack feel a little better, since like the table, there were obstructions to the giants’ view of them. He led the way toward the central clock, where the pile of rubbish he had seen, as he expected, were all human-sized. “What would giants need with this?” Jill asked, picking up a bag that rattled as she did so. “Hm.” She opened the bag, her eyes growing. “Whoa, check this out.” She held the bag open at an angle in which Jack and Beau could see. Inside were shimmering golden coins. Jack reached in, carefully picking one up. He saw his reflection faintly on the surface--his normally green eyes taking on a yellow appearance on the coin’s golden face. “Do you think these are legit?” he asked as he put the coin back in the bag. “I’m not sure,” said Jill, sealing it shut. “But it obviously doesn’t belong to them, unless in the giants’ land their currency is about as loseable as a grain of sand.” Beau knelt down beside a crate with holes poked in the top. He peered through one of the slits in the crate. “Merde, there’s a chicken in here.”

Date:

“State your name,” Dr. Asghar said, putting what I assumed was hand sanitizer in her palm. “As in first name?” I asked. “Or first and last? Or full name? Or possible nicknames? Or—” “Enough!” Dr. Asghar said through gritted teeth. “Full name.” “Robert Benjamin Stafford.” “Age?” Dr. Asghar asked, not even touching the monitor. “Twe— I mean, thirteen,” I said, forgetting for a second it was my birthday. “Date of birth?” “C’mon, man, that’s pers—” “Date of birth?” Dr. Asghar asked more harshly. I sighed. I considered giving out a fake one, but decided against it. “May 2nd, 2010.” Dr. Asghar didn’t seem surprised by the date, but she did when the lights on her glasses changed, indicating that something on her screen changed. She gestured Dr. Moon over. “Hm,” he said. “Hm? Hm, what? What does hm mean?” Dr. Asghar sighed and turned the screen around so I could see. “There you go. Welcome to our world.”

Direction:

From The Secret Portal, Part One:

I looked around the forest to find any signs of humanoid life besides myself. Still dizzy and using the tree for balance, I turned myself around and was both surprised and relieved to see houses beyond the trees. Laughing, I floundered my way in that direction using the trees as balance. I broke into a stumbling run that only lasted a few seconds as I paused to take in my surroundings. The houses were huge and made of earth. They were all conic in shape and not seemingly arranged in any pattern. They were all decorated with abstract geometric figures, seeming to be in the shape of a sun, carved into the earth. They reminded me of my mom’s native culture—something she tried to raise us with as much as possible, though she didn’t talk about it directly. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something floating in midair. I looked up—it was a sign also in the shape of a sun that said “Taabe,” that shimmered a slight blue. Taabe… that was sun, according to what little I had of my mom’s origins.

[linkedworlds]

The End Is Where We Begin, Part 1

Thank you for your interest in Linked Worlds. My name is Yuki, also known as @yuki5930, and I am finally ready to release the first chapter of Linked Worlds. Unfortunately, since I am not skilled in digital art, I will be releasing this as a text-only version until I have enough courage to try drawing it. I hope this does not disappoint anyone, however, I will do my best to learn digital art in my free time.

I hope you all enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. The Legend of Zelda is my lifelong hyperfixation, and I am glad I have enough courage to release this tale.

Please enjoy the start of Linked Worlds.

“Link…! Link!” A faint, nurturing yet urgent voice called. “Wake up, sleepyhead! We’re going to be late!”

I jumped from my slumber, looking around. My nerves were immediately soothed at the sight of my awakener.

”You slept like a rock last night. How were your dreams?”

I sat up, stretching my sore muscles as the figure pulled open my window hatch. The morning light flew through the opening directly onto my face, warming my cheeks. “Good morning, my Sun.” I smiled.

”Good morning, my Sky.” My blonde sweetheart beamed back in my direction, our eyes locking with pure love. “We don’t want to be late for the ceremony, do we?”

My eyes widened. I scrambled out of bed, and began digging apart my wardrobe. “That’s today?!”

”I told you last night, silly.” She remarks, crossing her arms with the most adorable smirk on her face.

“Well, it looks like I forgot. No matter, I have my uniform here somewhere…” I managed to dig to the bottom of my wardrobe, yet my knight uniform was nowhere to be seen. “Darling… have you seen my uniform?” The urgency in my voice made my fiancé chuckle under her breath.

”I have seen it. In fact, I prepared it for today's ceremony. I wasn’t going to let you wear a wrinkled uniform in front of everyone in Skyloft, you know.” She walked over to her closet, and revealed my uniform. It was in pristine condition. The green cotton tunic looked as beautiful as the day I received it. The chain-mail shined in the sunlight. The emblem on my sailcloth had another coat of navy paint. The master sword and sheath had been polished for the third time this week. My pleather belts have been lacquered. My uniform looks to be washed, ironed, and some of my worn-out embroidery on the tunic itself was retouched.

“Darling… this looks amazing! Thank you so much!” I pull her in by her waist, giving her kisses all over her face.

”You’re very welcome dear.” She giggles and returns a few kisses. “Quickly, get changed and meet me at the ceremony. I’ll see you there.” She began making her way towards the door, yet she stops at the threshold. “You got this. I believe in you.” Her smile glows at me as she sees herself out of my room.

I got this. I got this… You can do it, Link.

Link dashes out of the front door to their abode, making his way to the Sacred Grounds. He begins losing his breath halfway through his run, but decides to push on due to the sake of time. As he arrives, the crowd turns their heads towards the exhausted hero, who is wheezing from the hardcore exercise. He strolls forward to be by the side of his lover. She gives him the look, as he scratches the back of his head nervously.

”Citizens of Skyloft! Today is the day where we finally unite with the rest of the world, and establish a nation of our own!” The crowd rejoices, hooting and hollering with excitement. “After five long months of restoration, expansion and adjusting to a new way of life, we have grown as a community, and we shall grow even more as a nation! We are all gathered here to declare Hyrule’s founding! The founding of this nation will be commenced by the hero who saved this world from ruin, and protected Skyloft with every ounce of his being. This could not have been possible without the courage our hero possesses. Hero of the Sky, please draw your blade from its sheath and point it Skyward.”

He draws his blade, its gradient glistening in the morning sky. The hero holds it towards the sun, as it charges with a ray of light.

“To declare our nation as founded, the hero must strike the Goddess Cube right in front of us.” She turns her head towards her lover. “Link… you may strike the Goddess Cube.”

Link takes in three deep breaths, counting down in his mind. ‘Three… two… one… now!” He let’s down a powerful swing, striking the goddess cube directly. The cube begins glowing radiantly.

”By the power of the goddess, I declare Hyrule’s founding to be set in stone with time.” The crowd roars in applause and cheer. Glasses were clinking, children were running around, and some villagers began to dance with glee. The sun glistened upon us as I gazed over to my sun. She looked back at me, leaning in for a kiss.

Rumble… Rumble… Rumble…

They pulled away, looking at each other with concern. They then looked at the crowd, who seemed just as confused as they were. “Stay here. We’ll be back shortly.” Zelda looked over to her sweetheart. “Let’s go investigate this, Link.”

He nods, as they dash off towards the source of the rumbling. As the lovebirds passed through the gates in the Sealed Grounds headed towards Faron Woods, the rumbling became far more intense with each step they traversed. Link had blade and shield drawn, as Zelda held her lyre in her right arm.

As they sprinted for what felt like forever, they reached the source of the rumbling near Lake Floria. The water in the gorge grumbled as the earth shook beneath the two. Upon reaching the platform Link once used to dive into the lake, they noticed a dark violet vortex mixed with a swirl of scarlet in the middle. It let out a large shockwave into the ground that made the couple nearly fall down with its sheer strength.

“What is that…?!” Zelda breathed out what air wasn’t knocked out of her.

“No… idea….” A familiar gruff voice stumbled from behind them.

”Groose? Where the hell have you been?! You missed the ceremony to solidify Hyrule as a nation! This was a big deal, you know!” Zelda hollered over the rumbling.

”Now’s not the time for arguing, little lady. We got this thing on our hands.” He approaches the vortex, only to get knocked on his rear end by another shockwave. “YEOWCH!” He scurries backwards and hides behind Link. “Link man, you go check that thing out!”

Link lets out a distasteful sigh, rolling his eyes to the side. “Fine.” He looks over to Zelda with a gentle demeanor, “Stay here darling. I’m going to see where this leads, okay?”

“We’ll be right here if you need anything. Just, please… be careful.” She worriedly gazes at her fiancé.

”I will be, I promise.” He smiles. He turns back around, takes a deep breath in, and approaches the vortex. He hesitantly reaches out his hand, waving it through the vortex. He looks back to his sweetheart and mildly annoying friend, nods, and walks through the rest of the vortex.

Colors spiraled around the boy, disorienting his vision and sense of perception. His head began violently throbbing with pain, along with it came a numbness that covered his whole body. It felt like he was falling, and he felt lightheaded. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a sight of luscious green grass at the very far end of the vortex.

A loud thud rang through a secluded, sunny-patched forest of larch and cedars. Swallows sang beautiful songs as the sun finally came through the trees. The hero's eyes fluttered open, met by a harsh light. He covers his eyes with his forearm as he lays on his back.

‘… Did I die?’ The dirty-blonde boy thought to himself. He took in a deep breath and heaved his body upward to sit. He rubbed his eyes, and blinked a few times, taking in the scenery. The green grass was blooming with color, plenty of flowers, and shrubbery surrounded the boy. He raised an eyebrow, as he’s never seen this area before. He looks in all directions around, coming to the sudden realization that the vortex he entered was nowhere to be found.

”Oh, crap!!!” He scrambles to his feet, panicking. “Zelda?! Groose?! Anyone?! Can you hear me?!” He began wandering around a bit, hollering into the empty forest. “Please?! Someone?! Anyone?!”

Snap.

The boy whipped around near the speed of light, drawing his blade, expecting to be faced with some sort of monster. To his surprise, there was nothing. He scanned his surroundings, not letting his guard down for a second until he knew the coast was clear. He let out a sigh, putting the master sword into the sheath on his back.

Suddenly, Link felt a large weight slam down onto him. His body smacked into the ground with a loud thud. He felt something sharp against his neck, and his arms were pinned behind him, immobilizing him. Ever so slightly, he turns his head to see what; or who; was on top of him.

”Who are you, and what are you doing so close to the Minish Village?!” An orotund voice with a slight growl hollered at him.

Out of breath and with his vision blurry, the hero tried explaining himself. “I-I-I climbed into this portal thing… and I ended up here! I have no idea where I am, who you are, or where my friends are! I-I-I promise, I don’t mean any harm…!” He deeply inhaled air, trying to regain half the senses the tackle lost him.

”You’re not a monster? Vortex? Are you some sort of evil sorcerer are you?!” The voice roared.

“W-what is a sorcerer?! Let alone an evil one… I’m a hero! I’m the hero of Skyloft!” Link wheezed out.

”Skyloft…?! That nursery rhyme?! That place is an ancient legend!” The voice refuted.

”Ancient…? What are you talking about?!” Sky raised his voice out of frustration.

”What are YOU talking about?!” The figure released the blade from his neck, scooting off of him. “Let’s just… talk for a minute. I’m… very confused.”

”I would have liked to have done that to begin with, but here we are…” Link huffs, sitting up with his arms crossed. He is finally able to study the figure in detail. He faces a blonde boy with a harsh cut bob hairstyle, with bangs being pulled back with a green cloth headband. His most interesting feature were his multi-colored eyes, which matched his tunic. Interestingly enough, the tunic had a green hood with golden tassels at the end of it. The hood also seemed to have gemstones embedded around the base. The tunic was sewed together with golden string, with the tunic representing a checkerboard, but with different colors. The top two colors on his tunic were green and blue, while the bottom two were red and violet. Those were the same colors that beamed in his eyes. He bore a leather belt with colored embroidery around its borders, with a golden buckle holding it around his skinny waist. The boy also had a pair of dark leggings, and his leather exploration boots had insulation to handle colder terrains. He was quite short, and he looked like a child. Despite his size, the hero experienced his strength first-hand. He seemed to be a warrior, as his sword and arm braces resembled the ones the hero was wearing.

”Who are you?” The blonde tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow slightly.

”My name is Link… I am the hero of Skyloft.”

“Link…? Your name is Link?” The blonde boy was taken aback.

”Yeah…” the hero muttered sheepishly.

“That’s interesting… I’ve never met someone with the same name before. I am also named Link.”

“HUH?!” The hero was baffled at his remark.

”Yeah, it seems we share a name…” Four also studies the hero up and down, but particularly focuses on his face. “It also seems that we share a few features…”

”Really? That’s interesting…” Sky nods and shrugs. “Who knows, we could be related somehow. Anyways, did I fall to the surface? Where am I?”

“The… surface?” The other Link tilts his head sideways. “We’re in the Minish Forest, just outside the Minish Village.”

“What’s a ‘Minish’?” Sky tilts his head, mirroring his name twin.

”You don’t know what a Minish is? Well, how do I explain this…” The blonde puts his chin on his knuckles, pondering. “Well, us Hylians know them technically as Picori… they resemble small mice, and they have our pointy ears…”

”Picori, you say… I’ve never heard of a Picori before.”

“Not a lot of people have, they’re more known as rumors in Hyrule.”

“We’re in Hyrule?! Hyrule was just a small village when I left, there’s no way it could have expanded overnight…” Sky rests his head on his hand.

“Hyrule’s a nation that spans over hundreds of miles…”

“HUH?!” Sky shoots backwards, in absolute awe. “There’s no way I could have been out that long!”

“There’s only one explanation that I can think of… You mentioned a vortex previously, right?”

“Yeah, I walked into some sort of vortex and I ended up here…”

”It might have been a portal across time… You time traveled.”

“Time traveled?! That’s a real thing?!”

“I guess so. Ezlo has told me stories about sorcerers who have time traveled.” The blonde seems stumped. “I just didn’t know he was telling the truth

“Time travel, you say… Then… What about my fiancé, and my friends?” The hero asked, his voice wavering.

“Let’s not think about anything drastic. They’re still alive and well in your time.” The blonde put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

“Right…”

The two sat in silence for a minute, as if they were trying to find words to break the ice. “So, since we are both named Link, how about we create nicknames for each other?” The tiny one’s eyes gleamed.

“I don’t see why not, it will make things a lot less confusing.” The hero nodded.

“Well… you said you were from Skyloft, right? In that case, your nickname will be… Sky!” He smiled.

“Sky… That’s exactly what my fiancé calls me, funny enough. Let me think of one for you…” Sky studied his features for the second time. “Your eyes are four different colors, and so is your tunic… Would the name ‘Four’ be okay with you?”

“That makes a lot of sense… Sure, Four it is.” Four smiled. “Well, it’s starting to get dark out. We shouldn’t be out too late, but judging by your sword, it seems you’re used to dealing with monsters.”

“It’s my job as a knight unfortunately… That’s why I usually take morning shifts.”

Four lets out a giggle at Sky’s comment. “I’ll introduce you to all of my friends in the Minish Village, now that I know you’re not a threat. You startled everyone earlier with your yelling.”

Sky itches the back of his head awkwardly, “Sorry, I was pretty distressed, falling from a vortex and all.”

“I would feel the same way if I were in your situation, that’s for sure.” Four nods, standing up and reaching out his hand to Sky. Sky smiles, stands up, and shakes his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you. I look forward to our friendship.” Four nods and does a tiny bow out of respect.

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Thank you for reading the first chapter of Linked Worlds, I appreciate your interest, and I hope you look forward to the next chapters’ release.

Signing off, @yuki5930 .