#I have been lucky enough to get to experience a lot of very different places

[beatrice-otter]

The percentage of Protestant churches in the US that have a house for the minister to live in as part of their compensation is actually fairly small, and tends to be concentrated in extremely rural areas. I am a minister, I have lived in parsonages ... and my first church was in a town of fewer than 1k people, and now I live in a "census designated place" that is too small to be a town. The churches have kept their parsonages for the simple reason that the population density is low enough that there might not be any suitable houses for sale or rent when you get a new pastor.

Over the last seventy years, most churches that used to have parsonages--i.e. houses lived in by the minister as part of their compensation--has dropped dramatically. The vast majority of them were sold, or are rented out for income while the pastor is paid a regular salary and lives in housing that they procured.

Why? Because most ministers do not want to live in a house owned by the church, and "we're going to give you a house to live in instead of paying you a full wage" drastically cuts down on the number of pastors willing to take a job in your church. Why don't ministers want to live in housing owned by their employer? Because it can suck ass.

I am lucky. Both of the parsonages I have lived in have been good experiences. I have heard so many horror stories.

There are two main problems:

Privacy

Maintenance

The church owns the house. In a lot of churches, that means that the members think of the parsonage as an extension of the church. It is not uncommon to have places where random members of your congregation believe they have every right to just walk in whenever they want, and half of them have keys to it. And such congregations can be very hostile to the idea that the parsonage is your home and you should be able to control who has the keys to it. And remember, the congregation is your employer! Imagine what it would be like if your employer controlled your housing and did not respect your privacy. It's bad enough with a bad landlord. But if that bad landlord was also your boss ... it can get pretty bad.

The church owns the house, which also means that they are the ones doing maintenance on it and that all the costs come out of the church budget ... which means that any major expense, the congregation takes a vote about whether it's necessary or not. If you are lucky, you get a congregation that will take care of the house properly. Medium-case scenario, you get a member or two of the congregation who can half-ass DIY repairs and maintenance as needed, and the congregation isn't too stingy about authorizing money for any major issues that come up. If you are unlucky, the congregation will decide that any problems are just the pastor being unreasonable and that things like huge mold infestations, leaks, nonfunctional heating systems, and the like are perfectly fine, and so it is unreasonable to expect them to pay for repairs.

Now, the Pope is obviously not going to have either of these problems because he has a very different relationship to the Catholic Church than an ordinary pastor has to their congregation.

Can the pope continue to vote in American elections. Can popes vote. I assume you cannot vote in the US if you’re the head of another state but I’m just asking funny questions here

[blueberrylemontea-fanfic]

Persuasion check

Pairing: Steddie

Plot: Steve flirts with Eddie while playing D&D, Eddie's brain shortcircuits. Based on one of those 'tested the rizz on my friends' videos.

Eddie made it a point for his NPCs to flirt with Steve mercilessly, ever since Steve had joined their D&D sessions. Steve hadn't even been playing at first, he'd just been sitting next to Eddie -as per Eddie's explicit request, but tell Steve that and the consequences will be dire-, watching the gang play.

And yet, when it came time for Eddie's bard named Lennox to try and enchant the gang with song, he'd turned to Steve, said: "Excuse me, darling," and wrapped his arm around Steve's shoulders as he serenaded him softly. "Thanks, dear," he'd winked afterwards. "You really enhanced the experience."

Since then, Eddie always seemed to find a way to include flirting with Steve into his storylines.

Steve thought very little of this. He seemed to be under the impression that Eddie was like that with everyone. He was right to an extent, of course, but everyone else could see that Eddie acted differently around Steve. Everyone knew Eddie was head-over-heels for Steve. Well, except for Steve, that is.

It bothered Eddie to no end that Steve was never so much as flustered by his ministrations. He could get a rise out of anyone, and here was King Steve, of all people, completely unbothered when Eddie rubbed himself against him in the name of roleplaying.

It had been months.

Eddie's flirtations had become increasingly bold and blatant, and Steve, who had since joined the party in playing, still seemed entirely clueless.

He'd catch on soon enough, though.

The party was over at Steve's house, playing. The lights were dimmed and Eddie was perched on his throne -or at least the mightiest looking chair he could find.

"I scan the building for an alternative entrance," Gareth ventured, trying to circumvent the guard that was currently blocking their entrance.

"Roll a perception check."

They all awaited with bated breath as Gareth's D20 hit the table. Gareth cursed, the party sighed. A three.

"You peek your head out from behind the wall, but you are instantly blinded by the sun so badly that you stumble backwards and fall on your ass. You're lucky no one heard you."

"We're just gonna have to get past the guard," Lucas chimed in. "Let's just go talk to him."

The party walked up to the guard, quietly thinking of what to say.

"I try to charm the guard." Steve said suddenly.

Eddie's brow furrowed ever so slightly. "Alright, and how do you do that?"

Steve's arm shot out in front of him, pointing behind Eddie's head. "Look, over there!"

Instinctively, Eddie looked behind him. That's when Steve's index finger traced along his jawline and turned his head back to face him.

Eddie was speechless. Truly, completely, uncharacteristically speechless.

Steve's finger was still holding up his head, their faces a whole lot closer together than Eddie remembered, and now he was just staring at that charming, cocky smile.

Steve seemed taller, somehow, and he was still utterly calm and collected. His thumb trailed over Eddie's jawline, down his throat, as he watched Eddie squirm in his grip, wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

Steve moved even closer to Eddie, his breath ghosting over his earlobe. "Evening, beautiful. How you doing tonight?"

Eddie could feel his heart constricting in his throat. There wasn't a singular thought left in his brain that didn't involve Steve's skin against his and he couldn't get himself to respond. Not even the knowledge that his entire party was watching him embarrass himself could snap him back into reality.

Steve hadn't meant to do this. He'd simply, genuinely, been trying to roleplay, the way Eddie always did. He'd never in his wildest dreams thought that Eddie would react like this, but suddenly everything clicked into place. Eddie actually liked him. And he wanted Steve to kiss him right now, really badly.

Steve caught Eddie's bewildered eyes, a sudden heat rising up in him. "Session's over," he spoke gruffly, holding Eddie's gaze.

"What? Steve, what the hell?"

"Session's over." Steve's voice was unexpectedly forceful, commanding.

With surprisingly little pushback and even more surprising speed, the party packed their things and rushed out the door, leaving Steve and Eddie on their own.

They hadn't moved in all that time, Steve's hand still holding up Eddie's face.

Steve held Eddie's wistful look for just one more moment. Then, he pulled Eddie's face up to collide with his.

The kiss was heated, both of them losing themselves in it. Steve's hands on Eddie's face set Eddie on fire. He slunk out of his own chair, immediately crawling into Steve's lap just to get closer to him. His hand rested in the space between them, firmly pushed up against Steve's stomach.

A strong hand on the small of his back pushed Eddie flush against Steve, who impulsively bucked his hips up at the feeling of Eddie's body so fully against him. Eddie let his head fall back, a small moan escaping him at the feeling of Steve between his legs.

And just like that, they came back down to earth, catching each other's eyes, breath heaving in their chests. Eddie looked at Steve sheepishly, uncertain, but Steve's giant, gorgeous smile put him at ease.

"So, ..." Eddie grinned.

"You've been flirting with me this entire time, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah, duh. Surely, you're not just noticing that now?"

The look on Steve's face had Eddie straightening up in his seat.

"No! No way! You have got to be kidding me!"

Steve raised his hand in defence. "I thought you were just roleplaying! It never crossed my mind, I figured I was just sitting closest and that's why you always picked me!"

Eddie shook his head and sunk back down into Steve's lap, who emitted the tiniest groan, his hands automatically catching Eddie's waist.

Eddie swallowed visibly.

"So, " Steve's voice was low and dangerous, "now that I've caught on to you..." His fingers climbed up Eddie's chest. "What do I do with you?"

Eddie's chest was tight with want, he lowered his face to Steve's again. "What a dilemma... How about we figure it out after you kiss me again?"

Steve licked his lips. "Excellent plan, my darling." 

He didn't kiss him immediately, though, instead, his tongue touched upon Eddie's earlobe, ever so lightly, before he whispered: "So, was the guard charmed or do I still have to roll a persuasion check next session?"

[stellamarielu]

kili nsfw alphabet

content: nsfw, 18+, sexual scenarios, cursing

author's note: probably some hobbit/dwarf inaccuracies in here but kili is my fav and i’m just a tad horny for him sue me

a= aftercare (what they're like after sex)

kili's like a big cuddly teddy bear, drawing you into him and holding you close after sex. he craves the feeling of your skin on his as your chests heave. he's such a softie, humming quietly and gently playing with your hair, leaving any mess that was made to be cleaned up long after he's had his fill of physical touch.

b= body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partners)

he's proud of his legs. there's no hiding how beautifully sculpted they are from years and years of strenuous activity. a more honest reason of why they were his favorite body part however, was the fact that his muscular thighs had become one of your favorite seats. whether you were politely sitting on his lap in a group setting or straddling one of his thighs, greedily grinding against it during a heated makeout session, kili loved that you loved his legs.

as for you, he has a thing for your hips. the skin there is so soft and delicate, he loves tracing gentle patterns on your hips when he's fucking you, always grabbing them to push himself deeper inside.

c= cum (anything to do with cum basically)

he's a sucker for watching his cum paint your body; your ass, your stomach, your chest. he wants to cover you in himself, marking you as his.

d= dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

he likes it when you take control. he wouldn't admit it out loud but he enjoys when you boss him around from time to time. he's always your protector, your soldier- sometimes he wants to be taken care of.

e= experience (how experienced are they? do they know what their doing?)

he's definitely been with his fair share of women, and knows exactly how to keep you pleased in the bedroom. but he would never want to talk about past partners with you, always making sure you knew you were his one and only.

f= favorite position (this goes without saying)

he loves when you're on top. he gets to sit back and watch your body sink onto him, feeling every part of you with his roaming hands. but he likes the control that comes with it as well, being able to hold your hips in place and fuck up into you at whatever pace he desires. what's not to like?

g= goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

he’s the goofiest goofball to ever exist. although he has a different kind of humor when it comes to sex. it’s a tad darker and a whole lot dirtier.

kili would have you pinned against a wall in a more hidden hall of erebor with two thick fingers knuckles deep inside you. curling them in a spot that had you moaning out profanities only to be hushed by his hand on your mouth. "shh it's no fun if we get caught." his voice would sound so seductive and playful and he would be smiling deviously as he shot you a quick wink.

h= hair (how well groomed are they?)

i get the impression he’s probably not very groomed if at all. let’s be real. but the more wild the better, you just can't get enough. he’s covered in hair, the longer wavy locks on his head, his furry chest, and the unruly mane at the base of his cock.

i= intimacy (how are they during the moment?)

i think he strives to be romantic. not just in bed but always. he feels so lucky to be loved by you that he’s made it his life’s mission to shower you in affection. we love a man who yearns. but of course this means that he always makes you feel loved during sex.

placing a gentle hand on your cheek and cradling your face as you ride him pulling your gaze down to his. “you are everything to me” his sudden sweet words causing you to relax further onto him. “i’ll never stop loving you” his words bringing you both to the edge of your pleasure, eyes locked on one another and hearts full.

j= jack off (masturbation headcannon)

he's a busy boy and doesn't have a lot of time to pleasure himself but it does happen occasionally. although, most of the time if he's in the mood it usually just ends with you in his bed.

k= kink (one or more of their kinks)

overstimulation!! he is pretty much obsessed with making you cum. he's competitive and a lover boy- the two qualities merging together and brining out a side of him that relishes in your all consuming pleasure. he would get off on making you finish multiple times in a row until you were almost crying for him to stop, his ego swelling with the power he has over you.

l= location (favorite places to do the do)

he's really into fucking you in semi-public places, the thrill of it is undeniable. but when it comes to his favorite place to have sex, it has to be your bed. there's just nothing better than being able to take you exactly how he wants with as much time as he needs. switching positions and being able to hear you moan for him is a must for kili.

m= motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

nearly everything about you turns kili on, but his absolute weakness is when you kiss his neck. as soon as your lips are on his jaw he's practically whimpering your name.

n= no (something they wouldn't do)

he never wants to be too rough on you. when he's in the right mood he'll enjoy the occasional smack to your ass or a tight hold on your throat but anything more than that is a no for him. he can't stand the idea of causing you any sort of pain.

o= oral (preference in giving or receiving)

this is truly 50/50

he will NEVER deny seeing you on your knees for him, but when kili finds himself between your legs he'll stop at nothing to absolutely devour you. every. single. time. spreading your legs as far as he can and making an absolute mess of you, finding satisfaction in your pleasure.

p= pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual?)

he can do both.

he's typically very loving and caring during sex. slow deep thrusts and sensual kisses all over your body wanting to show you how much you mean to him.

but I do think there's a big part of him that likes to be a little bit aggressive with you, especially when he's fresh from battle. his adrenaline pumping and the need to dominate still on his brain. he would return to your bed chamber wasting no time undressing you both, pushing you onto the bed on your hands and knees. kneading the flesh of your backside in his palms while he pushes into you abruptly and completely, muttering dirty things as he tugs on your hair, “always so wet for me” “you’re such a whiney little thing, did you miss me darling?”.

q= quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often? etc.)

quickies excite him. the idea of having you where he wants to, when he wants to really gets him going. he'll take any opportunity to pull you aside and get his hands on you. bonus points if he's annoyed or angry about something and you let him take out his frustrations with a quick fuck.

r= risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

he's a huge risk taker in every aspect of his life, addicted to the adrenaline rush of preforming under pressure, it definitely makes your sex life exciting. let's just say he's good at keeping you on your toes.

s= stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last? etc.)

i think he could last pretty long if he wanted to, but he doesn't often care to try. he'd rather succumb to the pleasure of feeling you wrapped around him. coming undone and then spending some time between your legs to work himself up for a second round.

t= toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or on themselves?)

toy options aren't vast for the two of you but you had dabbled in the world of restraints and blindfolds. he's open minded in the bedroom and willing to try anything you throw his way.

u= unfair (how much they like to tease)

biggest tease on middle earth. sometimes he doesn't even mean to tease you, he just always has to be touching you. you're like two teenagers who can't keep their hands to themselves.

he would be seated next to you while you joined the company for a meal, letting his hand softly rest on your knee playing with the hem of your dress. as time went on he would trail his hand up and up until it found it's way to your inner thigh. he would dance his fingertips on your bare skin inching closer to your core making your breath hitch in your throat. he would be wearing a smirk so big fili would ask him what was so funny.

v= volume how loud are they? what sounds they make, etc.)

our boy kili is vocal. i'm talking a groaning, muttering, whimpering mess under your touch. he rarely tried to hold back letting you know how good he felt when he was with you.

w= wildcard (a random headcannon for the character)

ears! ears! sensitive ears! being a dwarf, kili's ears are big and beautiful and oh so sensitive. you had a lot of fun with this, always using his reactivity tease him. you would be around the others and go to tuck a stray piece of hair behind his ear letting your fingertips linger on the delicate skin, earning a challenging glare from him.

or you would use the sensitivity to drive him mad in bed. the two of you tangled in sheets, his body hovering over yours, thrusts growing lazy. you knew he was close causing you to reach a hand up to tangle in his hair but when your touch met his ear you could feel his movements quicken. the pathetic whimper that left his lips as you traced the cartilage of his ear had him burying his face in your neck as he finished.

x= x-ray (let's see what's going on under those clothes)

he's well endowed but not massive. the perfect size to stretch you out and fill you just right.

y= yearning (how high is their sex drive)

he is literally locked and loaded at all times of the day. all it would take is one slightly sultry gaze in his direction and he would find a way to sneak you somewhere private enough to whisper in your ear all of the things he has planned for you later.

z= zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

as stated earlier, kill adored after sex cuddles and often times that led to both of you falling asleep in each other's arms. there was hardly anything more comforting to him than your warm naked body melted into his, he couldn't help it if he dozed off in such a cozy position.

[ancientnapdragon]

First Post | Second Post

My last set of ramblings I left off on a loose cliffhanger... which will stay that way! I kinda wanted to pull apart the Food Peak itself and how it functions/how they actually Cultivate there! It seems like a fun exercise on developing the world this AU takes place in c: Maybe a few ship crumbs in there, but since I DO love to yap, expand that read more at your own risk! Hehe!

Food Cultivation is, on the surface, exactly what it sounds like. You eat stuff and it helps fortify your body, soul, and strengthens your Core! Not just ANYTHING works, though, and it's more than just finding a Chicken Faced Serpent's liver and choking it down.

Food Cultivation is seen as a super easy way to Cultivate, maybe even scorned a little bit, and can be indulged in by people who don't even usually Cultivate that way. But, it's almost impossible to get to a Golden Core stage without a LOT of money or a LOT of knowledge/work. One of those low basis to learn, high skill ceiling sorta things. Usually, the only people outside of Sects who get to that stage are very very wealthy Nobles; and even then, they're not really strong.

Food Cultivators don't need a lot of Qi or natural talent to start cultivating. The techniques that are taught specifically on CQ are all about strict control. You use what Qi you have in a very precise way to make little shields, blades, to enhance certain parts of your body, or occasionally heat or cool things. It's short, controlled bursts. Most of the really good 'talent' goes to the 'higher' Peaks so they've really gotta master what they've been given on the Food Peak.

With Food Cultivation, you can't just eat your way to success even if that's what it might sound like so far. You need to keep your body strong and master various skills before you can even hope to learn to channel Qi into them to improve them. You still need to meditate and put in the elbow grease to get you anywhere worth being.

Food Cultivation expects you to eat a lot of different things. Not everything you eat will help you grow your spirit. Plus, you can only eat the same thing so many times before it doesn't really do anything for you. Spiritual Foods, when eaten on the regular, have diminishing returns. You get a super strong Flower and eat it; the first time is a nice boost, the second time is just ok, the third isn't much, any time after that would be wasted on you, ect ect. The best that eating that flower would do for you after you've got all the 'boosts' is just helping replenish your Qi if you're low. Since you can only eat stuff a few times before it stops boosting you, it becomes sort of like a puzzle. Say you got a Strawberry and it boosted you by '20 Points' (which is probably what the System would tell SY). Then you got a piece of cheese and it boosted you by 20 points. If you cooked them together, you would get-! 15 points total! That's less than just eating them! BUT, if you dipped that Strawberry in Chocolate (20 Points, too), you might get 50 points! More than both! So, you can either eat things as they are or try and experiment and get even more of a benefit! But, you'd also have to think about stuff like cooking techniques, how long until the thing you want to eat goes bad, plus all this other stuff which can make the Boost you get higher or lower. If you just chew through everything that crosses your path, your Cultivation will suffer! You have to plan ahead on top of getting really lucky with the more rare stuff!

On the Peak itself, younger and newer disciples are given basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and basic cooking classes. The cooking classes teach basic skills like how to hold your knives properly and how to care for them, some easy recipes, ect ect! All disciples have, also, their basic Peak upkeep chores like laundry, cleaning, and lots and lots and LOTS of scrubbing.

After you've proven yourself capable enough to not slice your fingers off or set (too many) fires, disciples are expected to head down the mountain into the nearby city and set up what is basically a food kitchen. It's used to help cement basic fundamental skills! After all, you get really good at chopping something up if it's all you do for like 4 hours and slightly under duress. Usually the newer disciples handle the basic prepwork while a few of the more advanced ones will actually cook. This is overseen by a few seniors who make sure everything goes smoothly and who actually hand out the food! (I imagine that the Qian Cao ALSO do something similar nearby, except for healing. They get free food in exchange for helping out any unfortunate accidents!)

As for the more senior disciples, I think they have a few more intensive duties! Other than the Head, there are at least eleven more 'upper' Seniors. Each of these Seniors is the head chef for each of the other Peaks. When you're at a high enough skill to not fuck it up, you get rotated to act as a Chef under these Seniors at each Peak; Each Peak has their own food needs, after all! (Side note: around this time is also when you would be expected to get your Spiritual Sword) For Seniors who aren't the 'Head Peak's Chef', though, there is a secondary duty- but I gotta explain that giant pot of soup I briefly mentioned in the first post.

That Giant Cauldron of Soup is, like, more important to the Food Peak than anything else. It's some special kind of spiritual metal that the OG Founder worked to craft and stands over this massive fire pit that is constantly burning. It's HUGE, with a whole facility like half built over and around it; gotta keep the rain and snow out of the SOUP. I love stuff like Hunter's Stews and stuff like that, so this is basically what this is- this pot of soup has been stirred and tended since the OG Peak Lord first lit it. Part of a senior disciples duties is to keep the soup topped up, tasting good, and filled with stuff to help fortify your Qi.

The Soup is a huge cultural thing on the Peak. You're expected to have a giant bowl of it, with sides, every morning- even the Peak Lord. The stuff in it helps to strengthen the new/weaker disciples as well as fortify anyone older. It's a Qi superfood, even with dimishing returns. It's usually only allowed to be eaten by people on the Food Peak, though; only in emergencies will people off-Peak get any. Even the Sect Leader doesn't have the right to demand any. (SY is going to of course try and sneak some to his fussy boyfriend) Okay, so we got all that, but what about SY's obsession with the recipes that the System keeps teasing him with? Well, part of your study on the Food Peak isn't just learning to cook or even the spiritual food dance- you're training to be become a skilled chef. There is a lot of study to master the recipes from the Food Peak itself, but the disciples are also tasked with learning as much as they can and try to develop their own recipes. The skills overlap; you never know when learning to make the perfect Scrambled Egg will allow you to maximize some weird spiritual ingredient you found.

Other than non-spiritual food and The Soup, disciples are encouraged to do a lot of their Food Cultivation on their own. They are encouraged to go on Night Hunts with other Peaks for the chances to gain stuff for their own Cultivation. The Bai Zhan kids only care if they slayed the beast, so go ahead and grab it's heart for yourself, ect ect. You can, of course, trade stuff around or sell it at your leisure. Whatever will get you more gains! It's seen as either really stupid or flat out courtship to offer someone else your spiritual food you make, especially if you can still make use of it yourself. This is something that will 10000% go RIGHT over SY's head when he starts to offer stuff to SJ. They'll be about 18/19 at that point, so everyone from SY's peak will squint when they realize what he's doing. (Even though I have some Evil Plans for after they all become Peak Lords, I think that SJ would still be really welcome on the Food Peak despite how everyone else looks down on him. Everyone there 'knew' that SY was 'sweet on him' kinda thing. They don't believe that SJ is the reason SY.... hehe :) )

taps chin. okay, i thiiiiink that is enough yapping about that for now? I wanna write up a brief lil thing about how SY would be around the other Future Peak Disciples, as well as how his relationship with SJ will eventually complicate things. I know that SQH would figure out SOMETHING was up with SY when he was suddenly served, like, a blueberry waffle. But that's for another post!!! AS ALWAYS ty for reading my ramblings. I'm very slowly working on getting a more strict outline up and ready for the fic I would really like this to be. I'm a menace to myself and others, so it will be a slow burn and I'm dragging you all down with me. >:)

[bogkeep]

i feel like a lot of people say they are "bad at taking criticism" because the idea of sharing something something very personal and vulnerable online means you might get lots of feedback and criticism from a crowd of strangers, and accepting and catering to all of them seems daunting, maybe even impossible. that's because it is, and you do not have to do that!

like don't get me wrong, accepting criticism is a Skill - one you can train and practice - that requires being able to separate yourself from your work enough to not take it personally, being able to think critically about what you want to achieve with it and whether or not the feedback aids in that goal, and sorting valuable feedback from the unhelpful. and it's hard!!!! i think most creatives have a fraught relationship to feedback, and the people most adapted to it have simply had the most practice and experience.

there's a time and place. if you are working, professionally, on a project with other people, then yes. taking and incorporating feedback is crucial. if you are posting silly doodles for free on the internet, you don't actually have to take Stranger26284 seriously. you don't know their taste and credentials, so whatever they have to say is likely completely useless to you. i know we have an internet landscape where we do media criticism for fun and often bemoan how if only creators LISTENED to their AUDIENCE, the Thing would be Perfect. maybe it's even true, sometimes. but we don’t know what the circumstances of the creation was, nor can we retroactively demand something already created to have been created differently. we can take our own observations and thoughts into our own work, or maybe you should be so lucky to be someone's trusted editor or feedback buddy or beta reader. but like. idk! people create different things, differently, for different reasons. you're not a bad creative if you don't take unsolicited criticism very well - you didn't ask for it.

[httpswritings]

endless cycle — Alexia Putellas x Reader

Warnings: smut, toxic non-relationship

Word count: 886

Summary: Facing reality after giving pleasure to Alexia.

A/N: Second part of vicious cycle.

You were right. That same night, Alexia ended up in your bed. You didn't have any training sessions tomorrow, so you knew it was going to be a very long night.

Her lips devoured every centimeter of your body as you grabbed her blonde hair with your hand.

“You love it when I grab your hair like this, don't you?” With a few bites on your collarbone, she said, “You already know the answer.”

Feeling the warmth her body exuded was something else.

Alexia had a thing for kissing you on the tip of your nose and on both of your cheeks. You usually wondered if she had been like this with her previous partners. If this was part of the way she made love or if you were lucky enough to be the first one to experience that, “I love your kisses, Ale.” You noticed her smile growing wider as she was focused on giving you a few pecks on your left cheek. “You're so adorable, amor. Just how I like it.” You wish she would've told you how much she loved you. You've never heard Alexia say those words, not even to her closest teammates.

“You know what I need, right, mi chica?” You did, so you proceeded to stabilize yourself on the bed with your back on the mattress. “Can I ask you why you like riding my face so much?”

Alexia blushed. Wait? Alexia blushed? “I don't know. You know how to make me enjoy being on top of your face.” You felt satisfied with her answer but still decided to push her a little more over the edge. “So it has to do with me and not because you enjoy the posture itself? Have you ever done it with other women?” Alexia sat down on the lower part of your stomach as she caressed that part of your body. She was fully naked on top of you, with her messy blonde hair falling over her breasts. “I have done it before, but you're the first one who has made me enjoy it to the fullest. I used to think that it was a posture that required a lot of effort, but with you, it's different. You know how to touch a woman overall.”

You tapped your lips with your left hand as a sign for her to sit down on them. Alexia placed both of her thighs on both sides of your head. You gave her thighs a few quick kisses, winning some giggles from Alexia. Every time she laughed during sex, it was more difficult to not tell her how much you loved her and how beautiful she looked. That intimacy you had been building over the months. 

She pressed her body down on your lips as you began to move them across her folds. “See, this is what I'm talking about. You know exactly how to make me feel so good,” she said as she moved her hips slowly, grinding on your tongue.

After a while, she warned you, “Shit, I'm coming already, mi amor. Don't stop!” Alexia came right after, feeling her body tremble. She got off you and started kissing your neck, but you made her stop. “I don't feel like it, Ale. Maybe another day.” Alexia got worried, as it wasn't the first time that you had some trouble carrying on, especially after you had given her an orgasm. “Mi amor, is there something wrong? We aren't going to do anything if you don't want to, and you don't have to justify yourself. I just want to know what's happening and if you need something from me.”

You needed her. You had her sexually. She was everything you ever wanted sexually: caring, communicative, easy-going, etc. But you craved having her at home as you woke up. Looking at her after getting out of the shower. Making breakfast for her. Getting home and seeing her already there. You craved her as a girlfriend, not just as a sexual partner and as a teammate. “No, it's fine, Ale. You can leave now if you want to.” Alexia felt a little bit pushed back by your tone. She gave herself two seconds to breathe before she snapped. “No. I'm not leaving. Not until you tell me what's going on with you. It's not the first time this has happened, and I want you to enjoy it as much as I do. If you don't enjoy it anymore, please keep in mind that we can stop doing it.”

That last sentence made you close your eyes as if a knife had been stabbed in your stomach. You realized she could stop whatever this was whenever she wanted; you couldn't. You felt so captivated by Alexia; you'd made love to her every night, even if that implied losing her in the morning. Making love to her was the purest act of love you felt you could do for her. “Alexia, leave. I'm not really in the mood. That's it.” She knew you were lying, but she didn't want to force you with her presence. “Okay, I'll leave, but please know that I'll be there whenever you need me.”

You were head-over-heels for her. That comment made you soften a little bit, and you rushed to kiss her temple. “I know, silly.”

[jesslovesboats]

Which polar exploration museums do you think are the best? Ive been trying to narrow down the location for my next international trip and this would be an awesome anchor (pun intended)

Oooh this is such a good question! I apologize in advance for using it as an opportunity to infodump about the polar highlights of my recent trip 😅

The answer is going to depend largely on your favorite expeditions/guys, but no matter what those may be, I strongly recommend a trip to the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, England. I was there in the fall and it did NOT disappoint!

It's a small museum, but free and completely packed to the gills with devastating artifacts that will ruin your life (positive). You, too, can spend an hour sitting on the floor in front of Captain Oates' sleeping bag violently disassociating!

Also in England, I highly recommend the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. If you're primarily interested in Franklin stuff, this is the place. I was shocked that this museum is also free! They had plenty of devastating polar artifacts, including the infamous Franklin mystery meat, but also lots of cool stuff from many different eras of maritime history. You can also visit Harry Goodsir's grave at the Old Royal Navy College Chapel in Greenwich. If you want to make a day of it in London, check out this incredibly comprehensive Franklin Expedition Guide to London from Logan Zachary and Alison Freebairn. The Greenwich sites I mentioned are on there, along with many, many others!

In Scotland, I can't recommend Discovery Point and the RRS Discovery highly enough! The ship itself has been meticulously maintained, and the museum tells the story of the 1901 Discovery Expedition beautifully. I met up with a friend who was working on the ship's crew at the time, and she gave me a behind the scenes tour and even let me get a picture in Scott's cabin 😭 Anyway, Discovery is a must see if you're a fan of Scott, Shackleton, or Wilson. Also, Scotland is INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL and historic Dundee is a very cool town!

These are the 3 polar sites in the UK I was lucky enough to visit in person, but there are so many more! I haven't been to any of the following sites (yet) but I hope to go in the future, and I feel comfortable recommending them based on the opinions of people I trust:

-The Shackleton Museum in Athy, Ireland is currently being remodeled, but will hopefully reopen to the public later this summer!

-The Fram Museum in Oslo and Roald Amundsen's Home in Uranienborg are must-see attractions if you're a fan of Amundsen and are able to get to Norway. There's also a Polar Museum in Tromsø.

-If you'll be in Japan, there is a Polar Science Museum that talks about the Japanese Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1912, as well as more recent Japanese polar history.

I'm sure there are many more sites, these are just the first larger ones that popped into my head. If there's a special guy you're interested in, find out where he's from and there's a good chance that his birthplace will have a small museum and some local experts who would love to chat about him- my friend Ceres had this exact experience researching Taff Evans in Wales!

ANYWAY, thank you for such a fun ask, and please let me know where you end up going! Also all of this is assuming you're based in the US, which is why I left out US-based museums, but if you'd like to learn more about those let me know and I'll do my best to make a list! Traveling to polar sites is one of the best things I've ever done, and I hope it's as wonderful of an experience for you as it was for me! ❤️

[zombeebunnie]

Trembling Essence Devlog 5:💙Back into the cabin + route clean up💙

Helloooo and welcome new followers, it's been 2 weeks since the last update so here's part 1 of how things are going this month of May! :]

Firstly I want to say a big thank you as there's been a recent influx of ratings being given towards the [Extended Demo], this really helps the game behind the scenes!! Noah's birthday post for his Spotify playlist also did really well on itch.io which is very awesome given Noah's views towards his birthday! :,,,]

I'm going to go through the last few things that needed some clean up before going straight to the cabin! I mentioned before that I had some CG's and 2 more endings that needed an update.

I'm not sure if I gave these unique names so I'm going to call them downpour and marsh:

The Downpour:

This one was tremendously fixed and upgraded.

To sum it up, even though this ending is similar to one that happens in the [Extended Demo] it plays out in a different area and has two animated sequences instead of one. A animated CG I had for another ending was placed here which gives it a better immersive experience. It took some time to get it to work correctly but I think this ending might be a good 2nd/3rd favorite of mine, specifically for the beginning of the game. :[]

The Marsh:

This one got a fairly large update as far as the dialog goes and there are new CG's that happen here.

I don't want to say too much but Noah and the player(Y/N) react differently towards each other in this path due a continuity issue I came across when going through this. I'm also still in the process of cutting out stuff that isn't as necessary as I originally thought it would be and calming down on the habit of over-doing things.

**I also went through and updated a lot of the animated sequences that still had old code attached to them which makes it easier for me to read and stay organized. In even better news, I was lucky enough to find some old CG files that I needed to bring up to date with all that's new in the game and fix an issue with one animation having a small bug that turned out to be a typo. After I fixed up all of that I adjusted/removed more 'dialog fluff' and fixed more SFX's that weren't in the correct places. :[]

Outside of needing to test through everything etc, I can now confidently say that the start of the game up to the cabin is 100% finished!! Woohoo! :D

Once I update the [Extended Demo] in the future, it'll have a total of 7 different endings specifically through the beginning of the game up until the player(Y/N) and Noah reach the cabin.

IT'S FINALLY CABIN TIME OMG?!:

In really great news I found a way to keep up with everything I create for this game moving forward and I've been pacing myself. To give a bit of back story, I've written a ton of stuff for this game however, the old way my saving method made it hard for future me to find everything I did. Now that I'm getting better at organizing things I've been adapting as I go.

A lot of dialog and choices have been fixed from this, nothing too crazy but I did switch certain responses from the player(Y/N) around depending on your closeness with Noah.

That being said, I found a lot of continuity/balancing issues specifically regarding a certain path/route in the game that's more on the negative side. To be fair, this is probably one of the weakest parts of the game right now since I never really had the chance to expand on it after I uploaded the [Extended Demo] and much has changed since then. After going through more of the script, I feel more comfortable keeping this one just a bit more linear(??) instead. I have no idea how to explain this without spoilers being involved. :,]

Anywho, In great news I managed to get all the way to the 5 choices you can make at this part once Noah goes back to his room.

Playtester's advice + Updated choices:

So on and off for the past few weeks I've been talking to both of my play testers about the cabin section and this specific scene. After the recent polls I created, I was having writers block which made it difficult to progress since the "Talk to Noah.", "Look around.", "Go to sleep.", and "Continue to wait." stem from very old and outdated code/routes that contained spoilers, weak writing, etc. I expressed ideas on how to move forward with the choices and they gave feedback when I was struggling. :,,,,]

"Talk to Noah."

I managed to find a decent idea on how to go about the "Talk to Noah" choice. This one used to progress from the players(Y/N)'s choices but all of this was cut due to early spoilers/over-doing it and a lot of it isn't canon anymore. This had a unique CG too but since I want to be careful on file size/optimization I might re-use a previous CG instead since I plan on redrawing it. There was a continuity issue I came across too but I think I might've found a way around this. I was debating on how the story will progress from this choice but as I was typing this, an idea came to mind! Woohoo! :[]

"Look around."

I'm going to be vague but I was lucky enough to find a decent balance with the "Look around." choice. I was really surprised from recent polls that this choice was picked the most so I do want to focus on this one a little more. This option used to have a different situation happen but I don't think I ever got that far from the outdated code and when I came back to it, all of it isn't canon anymore. I have a interesting way in progressing the story from it which will help certain parts of the game get more shine! I also plan on re-doing the CG at some point now that my drawing skills have improved! :]

"Go to sleep."

I won't have to be too vague with this one but there was a new route intended for this choice. I don't think I ever posted any screenshots from this one specifically because I started working on the [Extended Demo] surprise update back in late 2023. Out of all the routes I wrote up, the strongest ones story-wise were the "Morning" and "Afternoon" route. At some point I'll have to go and find the route for this one.

"Continue to wait."

I won't be vague with this one too since a lot has changed but to give some backstory, this choice actually led to a completely different route as a sort of "Wait...THERE'S MORE? :[]" situation that I think I posted screenshots from but I'm not sure. As I started working on the [Extended Demo] surprise update, everything that happened here got put on hold since it wasn't strong story-wise. Much has changed since then and I've been talking with my play testers on how to progress the story from this choice since this sort-of put a wrench in things since I don't want this pick to line up with the "Afternoon" route. Some ideas have been swirling around in my mind on what to do but nothing is 100% confirmed yet. :,,,]

There's been a lot of stuff I've been working on behind the scenes which involves adjusting a lot of outdated variables, failsafe situations, etc. but I'll talk about all of that in the next game development post! :D

If you like what I create, please consider supporting what I do on kofi! All donations and tips help tremendously while I continue to work on the game. Thank you to those that optionally bought the [Extended Demo] on itch.io. :,]

Q&A / Ask box is open:

To know and understand Noah through Asks and random posts about lore, they'll be under #Get to know: Noah ! :]

**Some asks won't be answered if it contains spoilers but I do appreciate what I receive.

If you have any questions about Trembling Essence/Noah feel free to ask [here] or on itch.io please. This makes it easier for me to see and answer accordingly! I enjoy hearing from you guys!

This is part 1 of 2 of the update so I'll stop here. Thank you guys for the continued support and influx of ratings for the [Extended Demo]! I really appreciate a whole bunch! :,]

[winterchimez]

No Longer Human | Ju Haknyeon

SUMMARY: what happens when you find yourself in a life-and-death situation, only to have Lucifer himself approach you, seeking your help to change his fate and avoid succumbing to evil? is that even possible? and when you discover that you are the long-forgotten Lake Deity, possessing the ability to purify all forms of evil, will you accept his request in exchange for regaining your powers?

PAIRING: lucifer!Haknyeon x f!reader

GENRE: fantasy/devil au, strangers to lovers, angst (like very heavy ngl), horror, some fluff, slight suggestive

WARNINGS: nc-17, slow-burn, it's a devil's au so expect it to be dark & angsty af (but fear not there's some comedy & fluff in between), mystical creatures (sacred deities, demonic creatures, devils, fairies), cursing, violence, blood, mentions / descriptions of weaponry (katana, kunais, spears), alcohol consumption, petnames (princess), betrayal, minor characters deaths, reader goes through a lot of traumatic experiences (so yknow bear with her pls 🥺), multiple nightmares, suspense, gore, kissing, a couple of life-and-death situations throughout the fic, Haknyeon & reader bickers A LOT, proofread once (lmk if i missed anything!)

WORD COUNT: 26,972 (haha.)

A/N: my writing comeback folks 🫡 and this is also my submission for deoboyznet's bite back halloween event!! happy belated birthday to my other 妹 on this platform @ethereal-engene im so sorry i couldn't get this out in time on your birthday but it's finally here & i hope it's worth the wait (and ily so so much forever!!) 🥹💗 also shoutout to @sungbeam @momhwa-agenda for pitching in ideas for me from the start & really helping me through with this ❤️ (also yall say thank you beam for deciding the banner for me 😤)

You have lost count of the number of times you have been on the run. 

As much as the fear and adrenaline overwhelmed you, you tried to not look behind and kept running forward while doing your very best to not trip on the pebbles and sticks scattered throughout the forest. 

The sound of you stepping on the branches didn’t help in the slightest bit, as it only alerted and made the enemies quicken their pace faster than they already were. The forest wasn’t a great place to hide in after all—you could only last for a good minute, even behind the thickest possible tree if you were lucky enough. 

After running for what seemed like forever, you finally set your eyes upon the glistening light beyond you, and a smile was finally plastered across your face, replacing the horror you had prior to this. 

But it seemed as if your happiness wouldn’t last for long. 

You find yourself at the top of a cliff, and sweat begins dripping down profusely from your forehead as you look at the crashing wave beneath. It definitely didn’t help that the weather was horrible, causing the waters to flow at an aggressive pace that would ignite fear within oneself upon whoever laid their eyes upon them. 

Turning your head from the left to the right, you desperately tried to make out a different escape route. Perhaps climbing down the cliff instead? However, you knew it was out of the question, given that the rocks were slippery from the rain, and you would immediately lose your grip and fall straight into the waters.

There may be vines you could tie up to help you swing from the cliff to the other side of the forest. But given the situation, there was absolutely no way you were going to make it in time. 

So you were left with only one option: below. 

Immediately, a low growl was growing increasingly louder behind you, and you slowly turned to look at the source of the sound. The demonic creatures appeared right where you were, leaving only a few metres apart before they slowly crept your way. 

Taking a few steps back before you felt that you were on the edge of the cliff, you jerk your head back to take one last look at the crashing waves below, knowing that it would be your only way of escape from your persuaders—that is if you would eventually make it out alive or not.

With a deep breath, you turned and leapt into the water, paddling frantically to stay afloat. The experience felt straight out of a horror movie: the freezing cold water, the strong currents relentlessly slamming into your face, making it hard to catch a breath. At times, you were completely submerged, cut off from sunlight as the waves dragged you under.

And you absolutely feared and hated the dark deep waters underneath. 

Before you could even figure out on what to do next, the water slowly washed you up ahead, and the next thing you knew was that you were at the edge of a streaming waterfall. 

This was it. It was the end. 

For the last time, you looked straight up into the gloomy grey skies, taking in everything you could see before shutting your eyes tight and submerging yourself into the deep waters. 

Goodbye, forever.

"Y/N, do you believe in the demonic creatures?” 

“Huh? What makes you say that?” 

The man chuckled. “No, nothing much. I just never hear you talk about them as much as your peers did.”

It wasn’t unusual for your mentor to ask you random questions out of the blue, as he was knowledgeable in every field and quite a superstitious man himself. Besides, there has been an increase in sightings of demonic creatures across the nation, and you assumed that he could be worried about your safety. 

“With all due respect, sir, I assure you that you don’t have to worry about me in the slightest-”

“But the other young lads are working together to devise a plan to drive the spirits away for the safety of the townsfolk. So tell me, why are you still here then? All alone and staring into the waters?” 

You knew that you couldn’t keep up the facade any longer, and you weren’t too sure if your mentor would accept the excuse you were about to give. But you have always stood firm with your beliefs, and you weren’t going to let somebody else convince you otherwise. 

“I honestly don’t see why the public would pose them as a threat to our community. I humbly believe that everyone, even spirits roaming on earth, has reasons to do whatever they were tasked to fulfill. Sure, the creatures may seem scary looking, but what harm is there if they have not laid a single finger on us?” 

There was a silence. 

Your mentor was just staring straight at you, not saying a word. 

You figured that he was probably stunned at your answer, given the fact that you were the only one who felt neutral—even siding with the creatures, if you will, compared to your peers.

That was why you decided to keep your mouth shut, fearing that you might cause an uproar among the community. 

Suddenly, your mentor’s eyes darkened, and there was this ringing sound in your ear, being unable to pick up whatever he was trying to tell you before your subconscious slowly drifted apart.

What was going on? 

You tried your best to shout and scream for all you could before your eyelids began to droop. 

And for the very last time, you were able to make out the words that your mentor was trying to mouth at you.

“You’re going to regret this, Y/N.” 

Instantly, your eyes darted open, and you jerked up from that nightmare you had just had, trying your utmost best to catch your breath before focusing your vision on looking at your surroundings. 

You were alive. 

It seemed as if you had ended up at a creek, and there was no sign of the demonic creatures that had been chasing you from before. Given that you had a great sense of a presence nearby, you heaved a sigh of relief, knowing you were safe from danger.

At least, that was what you thought. 

You definitely failed to recognise a presence crouching down on your right who has been staring straight at you for god knows how long.

“So you have finally woken up.” 

Immediately, you screamed and backed away from the sudden jumpscare, trying your best to calm your fast-paced breathing down once again. “Don’t do that! I don’t need more jumpscares than I’ve already had for the day,” you retorted. 

That was when you finally stopped to look carefully at the man in front of you. He had strikingly blonde hair, beautiful eyes with some hints of red at the corners, and a white tank top paired with a black leather jacket over it. 

He was very attractive looking at that too. 

“You were having a nightmare, and you just wouldn’t stop squirming around when I tried to revive you,” the male replied. 

“Revive me? You saved me from the waters?”

“Hell yes I did. Shouldn’t I be getting a simple “thank you” for that?” 

Immediately, you sat up and tucked your legs underneath with your knees touching the ground. Then, you bowed your head, signalling that you were grateful for the man’s kind act. 

Instead of saying anything, the male continued staring at you from top to bottom, making you feel slightly uneasy. You weren’t sure if you were supposed to speak up, so you decided to fiddle with your fingers, hoping that he would notice that it was time to break the ice. 

Thankfully, the silence between you both didn’t last that long, and a little scoff escaped his mouth, making you feel confused and somewhat a little terrified. 

“Umm…is something the matter?” 

This time, the male rests his chin upon one of his hands as he tilts his head to the side a little. “You seemed so much different from what I have been told.”

“Y-You know me?” 

“Everyone knows you, Miss Deity Of The Sacred Lake.” 

Huh? What deity, what lake now? 

You stared at the male for a good ten seconds before tilting your head to the side and giving him this most innocent look he had ever seen on a supposed deity that he had been trying his best to locate for a while now.

“So the rumours are true,” he sighed before finally getting up to dust his clothes from pebbles or sand.

Before the male could turn his head back, you quickly jumped onto him, causing him to fall straight back onto the ground—crawling him up and gripping onto his collar for dear life.

“Please! Please help me! I need to know who I am and why these mysterious demon-like creatures have been chasing me!” You cried out loud, and your voice was shaking. 

You could tell the male was astounded by your reaction because, according to his sources, you weren’t supposed to be in this state. Well, rather—when you were who you were actually known for before the chaos that happened. 

All he could do was let out a deep sigh before leaning back slightly and narrowing his eyes before speaking up again. “What makes you think I can trust you with this little act you’re putting up? Who knows, you might be making a fool out of time.”

You scoffed. “Do I look like I’m playing around right now, mister? I literally almost lost my life back there. If you can’t help me, I’ll just keep wandering around wherever this is until I get the help I need.” 

You snarled at the man himself before you stood back up and turned your heels in the opposite direction, stomping away furiously as you listened to your hot breath as second. 

“What the fuck was his problem? What an actual scumbag-”

Before you realized it, you were suddenly lifted off the ground, and the next thing you knew, you were being piggybacked by the same guy as before. You kicked your feet and tried to cause a ruckus, desperately wanting to break free, but he only tightened his grip on your thighs.

“Let go of me! You’re not helping at all!” 

“Nice try, Miss Deity. You clearly failed to notice how there’s a branch stuck right in your left ankle, and the bleeding is becoming much heavier each minute.”

What? Are you hurt? 

The moment you heard those words, you quickly looked down to see that your ankle was now covered in blood—yet you felt zero to no pain this whole time that it happened. Were these some kind of superpowers you had? Perhaps what he was saying about you being a deity is true?

For the past week, you've had many more questions than answers, and you finally concluded that he is your best source of help right now—whether you like it or not. 

With that, you sighed before slumping onto his back, which was surprisingly warm (contrary to his somewhat cold behaviour). Then, you wrapped your arms around him as he walked off into the distance. 

The entire walk was silent, and neither of you spoke a word. You weren’t too sure if you should break off the awkward tension between you both, so it was probably best to just leave it as it was until the male finally spoke, easing the atmosphere just a little.

“What’s your name?”

“H-Huh?”

“You don’t expect me to keep calling you Miss Deity throughout the journey, don’t you? I’d much prefer calling you something that’s much easier and comfortable for the both of us.”

You paused. It has been a while since you’ve last heard your actual name, and you couldn’t remember why that was. Your memory was still all foggy and blank, and you almost forgot what you were called besides this so-called “deity” that the man kept addressing you as. 

It was at the tip of your tongue, but it took a while to put the words together and finally answer the male’s question.

“I-It’s Y/N…I think…” You mumbled as you hid your face in his jacket to hide yourself from embarrassment, waiting for him to make another comment about your odd behaviour. 

But neither of his teasing remarks came, and he replied with something you had least expected to hear from him. “Haknyeon. We’ll be stuck together for a while anyways; I figured it would be best to get to know each other better from now on.”

You both eventually found a secluded area within the woods. There was a little cave right where you had both stopped, where you would take shelter for the night. Given your history of being afraid and alert most of the time, Haknyeon had reassured you that nobody was to come here and that he had scoured the cave, making sure it would be ideal to rest here for the night. 

Haknyeon seemed a lot quieter than before as he placed you on one of the rocks to take a seat. He set up the whole area for you two—making a bonfire, going around to hunt for food, and even putting his jacket over you to keep you from the cold. 

You were still trying to process everything as you kept looking at the male walking through the woods, trying to piece together everything he had said to see if it made any sense. 

He did mention you were the Lake Deity, and you kept replaying that nightmare you had right before you woke up at the creak. Who exactly was that? Why did your mentor warn you about the regrets that you would have coming your way? 

Most importantly, who exactly are you? 

As Haknyeon finally took a seat and began roasting some of the freshly caught fish on a branch, you slowly approached him and sat right next to the male himself. Haknyeon wasted no time handing you one of the fish, but you stared at it blankly before he was the one to break a small piece and shove it straight into your mouth.

“I don’t want to be responsible for your starvation, so I highly suggest you eat something for the night,” he replied bluntly. 

You shot him a little snarl before biting into the meat, but you had to give him credit—it tasted much better than you expected. You couldn’t even remember if you were used to food like this in the wild before losing your memories, but this certainly passed as a good meal.

Now that you'd gotten a proper taste of your meal for the night, you grabbed an entire fish and began chewing. However, the glum look on your face was too obvious to ignore, prompting Haknyeon to speak up once again on your behalf.

“If you have any questions, just ask away. I will gladly answer them now that we have settled down for the night.” 

Once again, you hated how he could read you like a book, and you unknowingly gave him the biggest pout. “Look, I’m trying to be nice. You should be grateful because I don’t treat everyone like this.” 

You scoffed. “So what? You’re a mean and cold guy throughout your entire life?”

It took Haknyeon a few seconds to process what you said, and you could see the hesitation in his eyes. You figured that everyone has their secrets, and you decided not to pry any further than that. 

Shockingly, Haknyeon answered your question when you quickly tried to brush it off and change it to another topic. But it was an answer that you weren’t sure if it could be a dream or reality.

“They don’t call me the devil for nothing, Y/N.”

Devil? What was he talking about? 

“You what?”

Haknyeon sighed. “I meant what I said; that’s why I’ve been trying desperately to look for you, Y/N. The so-called Lake Deity.” 

You immediately tossed your fish to the ground (not on purpose) before grabbing onto his wrist, your eyes pleading for more answers. “Haknyeon, please. Tell me everything you know, even about you. I need to figure out this messed up situation that I’m in.”

“No shit, Sherlock,” Haknyeon replied before clearing his throat, indicating that it’s going to take a while to keep you in the loop with everything fully. “I am indeed the devil himself, the supposed ruler of the underworld, Lucifer. But it all happened against my own will.” 

“Huh? How can a devil not accept his own faith?” You were puzzled. 

“Because I wasn’t supposed to become the devil himself, Y/N. It’s all because of my messed up ancestors that placed me in line for the throne in hell. To put it simply, the blood of Lucifer resonates within me, and I want to get rid of it before it’s too late.”

“And finding me is the solution to your problem?”

“From what I’ve been told, yes. Apparently, the lake deity was one of the strongest amongst the five sacred deities of the nation as she had the power to cleanse all spirits and evils—even the king of the underworld himself.” Haknyeon finally turned his eyes to look straight at you as he made that last remark. 

“She is also known to be immortal—free from all sorts of pain and danger that would come her way,” he continued, pointing to the injury you had on your ankle, which now clearly explains why you felt zero pain and were in tip-top condition even falling from that high of a height from the waterfalls. 

“But with the current state you’re in,” he paused as he looked at you from top to bottom. “I highly doubt you’ll be able to do anything for me.” 

Now that stung like hell. However, you couldn’t refute it because what he said was true—you had zero recollection of how you ended up this way, and you’re just learning the fact that you were some sort of sacred deity of a lake. 

But Haknyeon wasn’t done. “I’m not giving up, though. I’m going to help you regain your memories and power.”

“Now, why on earth are you helping me so much-”

You were immediately cut off by Haknyeon moving forward to pinch your mouth together, causing you to form an ‘o’ shape as you narrowed your eyes at him. 

“It’s all for me; don’t get so full of yourself.” 

When he finally let go and turned his back to you again to grill the remaining fish by the fire, you gave him a nasty snarl as you chomped down on your food. “You truly are the worst.” 

“You know that I can hear you, right?”

“S-Shut up!!”

A little time has passed since you both decided to retire for the night. Haknyeon insisted that you should sleep within the cave while he kept watch near the entrance. As much as you tried your best to fall asleep, you were just tossing and turning around for god knows how many hours by now. 

You figured it wouldn’t hurt to go for a little walk, and you slowly tip-toed your way out of the cave, trying your best not to wake the devil, who was sleeping soundly as he leaned back on the cave walls. 

Figuring that it would be nice to tell him you wouldn’t be gone for too long, you decided to pick up a few branches and leave on a trail for where you were going—so that he could find you if needed.

Eventually, you walked deeper into the forest and stopped when you came across what seemed like a contaminated lake. It wasn’t the usual clean waters that would reflect the moon and stars above the surface; instead, it was pitched black and had somewhat of a foul odour. 

You stared at the lake briefly before bending down and moving closer to the edge to further examine the water's contents.

Just then, a sudden thought popped up, and you figured that it would be a good time to prove whatever Haknyeon had said was true. 

You’re a lake deity who has the ability to cleanse all spirits and evil. 

Clearly, the water before you wasn’t so-called possessed or evil. But maybe, if you were able to purify all sorts of evil spirits during the time when you had your powers, then perhaps a contaminated lake shouldn’t be too hard for a deity like you. 

So here you were, sticking out one of your fingers, and you slowly submerged it into the waters. After a few seconds, you slumped in disappointment as you saw that nothing had happened before deciding that it was much better to give up. 

“Who am I kidding? This has all gotta be some sort of lie-”

As you tried to get up, you realised your finger was somehow stuck in the water. Slowly, a glow emitted around the surface of your finger before it took over the lake in one swift motion. 

The once black, cloudy, muddy water was slowly turning back to its original state as you slowly watched the reflection of the moon on the waters and eventually the entire night sky. It was real, after all: your abilities to purify all sorts of evil. 

Just then, a voice echoed through the forest, calling for your attention as it chanted your name. You stood up frantically, turning around to see where the source was coming from before you finally landed your eyes upon the lake again—a fragment of your actual self slowly coming up from the waters. 

Your eyes widened as you saw yourself staring back at you (in a water form, that is), slowly calling out for you to come closer. With that, your feet decided to move on their own, and before you knew it, you were walking on the waters—making your way to touch yourself standing in front of you. 

“Y-You’re…me?”

“Indeed I am. I’m your other half. It’s my pleasure to serve you once again, Y/N.”

“S-Serve me? What are you talking about?”

“Your powers have been sealed away for a period of time now, that is until you broke the seal and awakened your powers just now.”

This might be the moment to finally get the answers you’ve been desperately seeking. Quickly, you grabbed their shoulders and began shaking them furiously. “Please! Tell me! What happened to me? Why did I lose all my powers? And most importantly, why can’t I remember anything before this?”

The figure in front of you hesitated momentarily and eventually spoke up in a rather soft voice, lowering her head ever so slightly at the same time. “I wish I could tell you, but I can’t, at least not right now.”

“W-Why? Please! Don’t leave me hanging anymore!” You screamed but were silenced as the figure leaned in to give you a big hug. 

“I’ll be within you to guide you through your journey, Y/N. Just know you won’t be alone anymore, and I’ll always be by your side and slowly bring your powers back to life just as they once stood firm and powerful in the past.”

Just like that, the figure burst and dispersed back into the waters, leaving you staring straight through the depths of the forest before a voice brought you back to reality. 

“Who told you that you could leave my sight just like that?” 

You turned behind to see that it was Haknyeon—crossing his arms as he leaned against one of the trees. You really wished you could read his emotions, but his face was expressionless—you couldn’t tell if he was amused or annoyed with whatever had just unfolded before his eyes.  

“How long have you been here?” you asked, though you were pretty sure you already had a good guess that he’d been here long enough to see everything from the start. 

“Long enough to see that you had regained your powers,” he commented before walking to the edge of the lake, putting his hands into his jacket pockets. 

You sighed before slowly making your way towards him. “Look, I left a trail behind for you to come find me. At least I was respectful in that part.”

“I don’t need some branches to tell me where you are. All I need to do is to focus, and I can tell which direction you went.”

“Right, because you’re the devil.” 

He scoffed. “Hell yes, I am. So promise me you won’t do this again without my knowledge.”

“What are you? My babysitter?” 

“Guess you don’t want my protection after all.” He smirked before turning his heel to face the opposite direction before you grabbed his wrists to hold him back. He was stunned by that sudden action you made but more so by the look on your face right now. 

You are desperate, and you have just gotten a glimpse of potentially finding out who you truly are as you awakened the powers you had in the lake. There is absolutely no way you were about to give up now, and you will be needing Haknyeon’s help in your journey ahead. 

“Haknyeon, I…I can’t do all of this alone, not with the current state I’m in. I promise you, if you help me regain my powers and memory, I will do my best to break whatever this curse you’re dealing with,” you begged as you looked straight into his eyes that somehow just turned bright crimson red for a second before it was gone. 

He was truly Lucifer himself. 

Just when you had expected him to agree with everything you said, he suddenly took over by pulling both your wrists forcefully towards him before he picked you up and slung you on one side of his shoulder, walking back towards the cave where you came from. 

“On a second thought! I still hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” You yelled as you balled up your fist and kept hitting him on his back. 

Even though Haknyeon said nothing in return, he had plastered a smile across his face for the first time since you both had been together. As you both descended into the darkness, Haknyeon mumbled something under his breath that was loud enough for himself to hear. 

“You’re damn right going to help me break this stupid curse, Y/N.”

You both almost set off immediately the following day to your next destination. Since you barely knew where exactly you were, Haknyeon decided to be the guide as you began your trek down the woods.

Along the way, he felt it necessary to tell you a little bit about the destination you both were heading to and a little bit more about yourself. 

It turns out that there were originally five deities, and each deity has its very own tribe. Given that you were the Lake Deity, you were known to be the leader for the people of the waters. It was definitely the best lead and place to go for now if you needed answers.

Thankfully, the distance from where you both rested the night before wasn’t too far from the tribe, and it took about two days to arrive, with you both taking breaks in between and resting up for the day. The moment you arrived at the entrance of the tribe, sure enough, the people fell down on their knees in awe, seeing that their deity had personally come to them instead.

You had no idea why the crowd cheered; some even shed tears when they looked at you, and they wasted no time welcoming you both into their safe haven. The moment you both walked towards the end, that was when you were formerly greeted by an elder which you assumed that he was the head of the tribe.

Without wasting a minute, he brought you both up to his chambers before stopping Haknyeon in his tracks. “My apologies, dear young man. But I’m afraid that this conversation is strictly between the people of the waters.” 

Both you and Haknyeon’s eyes widened upon hearing those words, and you were just about to step in to defend him—knowing that he was the devil himself, it would probably be best not to anger the male. 

However, he beat you to it by responding to the elder rather calmly, contradicting to his usual demeanour. 

“Well then, I guess you wouldn’t mind if I waited right outside the room. I promise I won’t be eavesdropping.”

“That’s fine by me. Thank you for understanding,” the elder smiled, leading Haknyeon to turn his heels and walk straight out of the room before closing it shut. 

With Haknyeon finally absent, the elder immediately bent his knees and intertwined his fingers together before ultimately bowing his head to the ground, causing you to do the same and wanting to support the man back up.

“We’ve waited so long for your return, my lady,” he sobbed. 

Not knowing what else you could do, you decided to gently hug the elder for a few seconds before encouraging him to lift his head back up and telling him everything that had happened up until this point (omitting the fact that Haknyeon is a Lucifer himself, for obvious reasons). 

The elder was shocked, to say the least, to hear about everything you have been through. You had zero recollection of who you were until you met Haknyeon and heard what happened back at the purified lake. 

Knowing that it would be a long day, he reassured you by guiding you to take a seat as he prepared a warm cup of tea before offering it to you. Taking in a deep breath, he slowly began to recall what exactly happened to the tribe, including their very own deity. 

“My Lady…I fear that you have been in a slumber for a couple of decades now,” the elder replied, still puffy from the tears that flowed beforehand. 

“D-Decades? What do you mean by that?” You questioned hastily, wanting to piece the information together as quickly as possible.

“Fifty years ago…when the demonic creatures slowly took over the nation and defeated each of the deities…but it seemed as if you were the last one standing back then.” 

“Deities? Tribes? Do you mean a war broke out?”

“Yes, my lady. It was like the end of the world, if I may put it simply. All five deities stood up against the evil spirits and fought against them. We were close to achieving victory until another wave of enemies struck again, strong enough even to defeat each one of them.

You were taken aback by all of that information. You couldn’t accept that an actual war broke out in this very nation, given that everything looked unharmed and well-kept in the tribe and even in the woods as you journey here.

The most shocking fact was that you fought in the war alongside your fellow deities, whom you barely remember now knew what their names were. 

Wanting more answers, you decided to press on, trying your best to find out any relevant information you needed. “T-Then…are those deities dead?”

“Dead would be a way to describe them, yes.”

“What do you mean by that?”

The elder sighed before he stood up to walk towards the window as he peered down at his tribe. “According to records, all of them were sealed away and long-forgotten—their locations unknown, and their lifespan would’ve probably slowly faded away given the intensity of the spell from the devils.”

Just then, he turns back towards you. “However, you somehow manage to stay alive and look the same as you did back then.” 

Puzzled, you tried piecing the information together to come up with a proper response. “You mean I wasn’t sealed away?”

“Maybe you were, or maybe you didn’t. Neither of us knew the exact details, my lady. If only Father were still alive, he would probably have given you a much better answer than I could have since he was present. He was the one who saw with his own eyes of the enemies sealing off the deities,” his voice softened, and his shoulders slumped in defeat, upset that he couldn’t give you the answers you wanted to hear. 

“I’m so sorry, my lady. I really wished I could’ve been much more helpful to you.”

“Oh my gosh, please! Don’t apologise; you have given me so much that I needed to know,” you forced a smile, reassuring him that you would be okay. “But I need to know something, elder. About my powers.” 

With that, the elder lifted his head again as a smile plastered across his face. “Perhaps staying here for a while could help, my lady. You are our deity, and I’m sure you could use the endless streams and lakes we have here to recover your abilities. I’m sure my people would be more than willing to help.” 

Suddenly, you definitely felt a lot at ease, and the underwhelming feeling you’ve been suffering for the past weeks was gone the moment you stepped into the tribe. Perhaps it was truly the power and barrier that the people of the waters have put up seemingly resonates with your element, making you worry-free about everything that has been troubling you for a while.

Taking in your first sip of tea, you slowly swallowed down the warm liquid before closing your eyes to rest for a bit. 

“Maybe this is what it feels like to call home.”

Hours had passed before you realised that you had been chatting away with the elder and resting up in his room. So when you opened the door to find that Haknyeon was nowhere to be seen, the panic started rising again within you, making you dash down and out to the open fields of the tribe to search for him.

When you tried asking for help, many of them directed you towards the waterfall behind their tribe. Sure enough, you found Haknyeon sitting on a branch, leaning against the tallest tree as if he were taking a nap.

Unfortunately for you, you weren’t the best tree climber, so you made a couple of sounds as you made your way up to where he was, making him grunt in his sleep. 

“I thought you could just fly up here using your powers,” he growled, feeling a little annoyed that his peaceful nap was ruined.

“Well, sorry to disappoint you, mister devil, that my powers are long gone, and I’ll need some time to break the seal off within me to gain my abilities back slowly- wait. How did you know I could fly?” 

Haknyeon didn’t say anything but turned his head to the other side, making you narrow your eyes at him once again. 

“You eavesdropped my conversation, didn’t you?”

“Not by my own will. It’s part of the devil’s powers to be able to do that, whether I like it or not,” he replied calmly. “Though I was already off the moment I closed that door, and I’ve been here since taking a well-deserved rest after three long days of being your bodyguard.”

You smacked his arm lightly. “You made an agreement with me, so deal with it.” 

“So, what’s your plan for now?” He asked.

You contemplated for a little while as you remembered everything the elder had just told you a while back. It was a major decision to make after all, given the fact that you were on a journey to figure out why you ended up the way you did. And without fail, you also agreed to cleanse the devil’s blood within him before it’s too late. 

Staying here would certainly grant you the protection and ability to recover fully, but you also couldn’t ignore Haknyeon’s needs—you promised that you both were in this together from the start. 

Most importantly, you knew that there were more answers to be found outside of the tribe. 

“Here’s my plan,” you announced as you scooched closely to Haknyeon. “I’m thinking we could rest here for a couple of days. I’ll hopefully be able to recover some of my abilities, and you could rest up, and then we’ll make a move.”

“To where?”

“Anywhere. Maybe the other tribes, now that I’ve known that there were people like me in the past and that they were sealed off somewhere within the nation. If I find out where they were buried, I may be able to regain my memories fully at some point,” you stated firmly before noticing that Haknyeon now had his eyes opened and was staring at you for a while.

You sighed. “No, I did not forget about our promise.” 

“You better not because I could dispose of you at any time whenever I wanted to.”

You scoffed. “You wouldn’t. You need me after all, if you want to truly change your fate.” 

For the first time, Haknyeon lets out a little chuckle and a genuine smile before resting one of his hands on your head, ruffling your hair slightly before moving down to caress your warm, soft cheeks. 

“Yeah, I’ll be needing you so bad. So don’t you leave nor die on me anytime soon.”

In the blink of an eye, it was already your last night here at the tribe. After announcing to the elder that you have decided to embark on your journey ahead, he insisted that the people would love to throw you a little farewell party before you both left. 

The atmosphere was lively, to say the least. There were a couple of dancers performing on the stage that was set up at the centre of the open fields and dozens of mats were laid across the field for everyone to sit and relax. 

Haknyeon decided to pick a seat furthest from everyone while drinking the sake that was prepared for him. He wasn’t much of a social person, and he decided that it was more of your thing since you were basically the sole reason everyone was celebrating for the night.

Even as the devil himself, he couldn’t help but plastered a smile across his face when he saw you having fun with the tribe—stuffing yourself with a bunch of sweets to being invited up on stage to dance with everyone else. It has been a while since he saw you being genuinely happy, ever since he found you at the lake during your first encounter. 

You have been through a lot, and you definitely deserve times like this. 

Slowly, as the night passed, the atmosphere began to slow down, as some people began packing away to rest up in their cabins. Only a few people remained who decided to drink the night away like Haknyeon did. 

As he poured his last bottle of sake into his cup, he peered his head up and heard the rustling sounds of the grass getting louder and coming in his direction. The moment he witnessed what was before him, he immediately put down his cup frantically before grabbing both of your shoulders to support you.

“Ah~ It’s Haknyeon~ You kinda look funny~” You slurred, being obvious that you were too drunk even to hold a proper conversation. 

“God, you reek of alcohol. Do you not know how to control your tolerance?” 

“Who are you to tell me how much I should drink! *hiccups* I can do whatever I want tonight!” Your voice getting louder with each sentence and Haknyeon had to pull you down before you fall into his embrace.

If only you were sober enough to have a proper look at your so-called devil friend, you would’ve noticed how his face was now flushed red and he was too stunned to think of a way to retaliate back.

Before he could even come up with a proper response, he suddenly heard soft snores and looked down to see your arms wrapped around his waist—hugging him as if he were a pillow, not wanting to let go.

With a last hiccup from you, your soft voice didn’t go unnoticed before you eventually drifted off completely to sleep. 

“Stay with me…don’t leave me again…” 

With a deep sigh, Haknyeon carefully unwrapped your arms before positioning you correctly to lay down on his lap—stroking your soft, silky hair as you squirm your body to turn towards the side with one of your hands clutching onto Haknyeon’s jacket. 

Slowly, he leans down to gently place a soft peck on your forehead as he tucks a strand of hair behind your ear before rubbing your soft and sensitive earlobes to seemingly help you sleep better.

“A devil never goes back on his words.”

It has been about a couple of hours since you both had hit the road, leaving behind the tribe with your tears slowly dripping down your face. It took you a while to fully stop but Haknyeon said nothing but passes a clean napkin for you to wipe your tears while you were on the road.

Not knowing where else to head next, the elder of the tribe suggested visiting the sacred shrine that used to house all the deities when you were all younger to train your abilities before your predecessors passed them down to you. 

However, the location of the shrine was long wiped out from the map ever since the war broke out, so nobody knew where it was except for the sealed-off deities themselves. 

Panicking when you heard the news, the elder reassured you that the waters shall guide your way—highly suggesting that the priest from the shrine will certainly be able to help you out on your journey. 

Trusting your instincts, you followed the dew drops on the leaves, guiding your path deeper into the forest, away from where you first came. It wasn’t long before Haknyeon noticed how shallow your breathing had become, prompting him to halt the journey by tapping your shoulder.

“It’s time for a rest. We’ll continue on after lunch.”

“Y-Yeah…sounds like a plan…” You huffed, before sitting down on the opposite tree from Haknyeon. 

For the first few minutes, you tried your best not to glance at the male as he got both of your supplies ready and organised them out to prepare for lunch. Something has been going on in your mind for the past couple of days, but you couldn’t seem to bring yourself to tell him straight to his face. 

Instead, you quietly watched as he touched one of the trees within reach, using his powers to make the entire tree fall apart and break it into firewoods. All he had to do was arrange the pieces on the ground, and with a snap of his fingers, a fire immediately ignited—causing the wood to burn in no time.

It was the first time you had seen any of his powers, and you figured that the devils themselves probably had the ability to control literally anything that was within their reach—which was why the nation feared them for centuries. 

The more you began to be in awe about what he was capable of, you certainly failed to notice how he was aware of every single motion you made—including staring at him for minutes now.

“Don’t be a creep and spill out whatever that’s on your mind.” 

Dang it. 

“I should’ve known that you were able to read minds…” you mumbled before hiding your face with your hands from embarrassment. 

The male simply sighed before walking towards you and gently pulled your hands apart, revealing your flustered face.

“I-I was just daydreaming! Yeah! Nothing’s wrong in the slightest,” you chuckled, wanting to be over and done with this entire conversation. 

“Daydreaming about dirty thoughts that made your face completely flushed red as a tomato?” 

God, you hated this side of him.

“I promise it’s nothing. Now go back to make the fire,” you spat, turning your head towards the side to avoid looking straight at him.

But Haknyeon doesn’t budge, and he continues to stare straight at you for seconds until you know that he isn’t going to give up whatever this matter is. 

And you should’ve known how devils are persistent as hell. 

You sighed. “Okay, fine. I want you to teach me how to fight.” 

There was a minute of silence before Haknyeon suddenly scoffed right at your face. “You? Fight? That must be the funniest joke I’ve heard all day.”

“Hey! Don’t laugh! I was part of the war decades ago, fighting for my people! T-Though I have no recollection of how I fought…” you began to lower your voice at that last part, feeling embarrassed enough to talk about this. 

“And what makes you think you will be needing such fighting skills, Miss Y/N?” 

“Look. We’re up for a long journey ahead. I highly doubt we will be getting peaceful days like this as we continue. I can’t just be this pathetic deity who barely knows how to defend oneself forever,” you responded back. 

“What happened to you saying that I should be the one protecting you throughout this whole journey, hmm?” Haknyeon asked in a cocky tone. “I thought you were going to be a good princess and just sit back-” 

You didn’t give him time to finish his last sentence before you cut him off. “Well, not anymore. Now that I’ve gotten a slight glimpse of my past, I’m more than determined to get back on both feet to fight back.” 

That was more than enough to keep Haknyeon’s mouth shut. It was probably the first time you had seen him being so taken aback, and you couldn’t help but keep chanting the words “I won” in your head. 

Damn, it feels good to overtake the devil. 

After some moments of contemplating, Haknyeon finally picks himself back up and poses another question. “So, what weapons are you interested in learning, Miss Deity?”

Your lights lit up. “Oh my gosh, I get to choose weapons?!”

“This is not play club, kid. They are dangerous, and you can even hurt yourself if you don’t know how to use them properly.”

“Oh, I know. Spare those details; I’m ready to learn whenever!” 

“Not until you acknowledge me as your teacher.”

You paused. “Ew. No. I’m not calling you that.” 

“Suit yourself, then. I’ll be heading back to cook a fine damn meal, and I will be the only one who gets to eat lunch today,” Haknyeon smirked before he stood up and turned his heel back towards the firewood.

“You disgraceful piece of shit!” You shouted back at the male.

“Now, that’s not very deity-like of you to say those words, hmm?”

“M-Mind your own business!”

“Ow! My arms hurt so bad…” you whined as you used your left hand to gently massage your right arm while holding onto your wooden katana. 

You both went straight into training right when lunch was over, and just when you thought Haknyeon was done pulling up tricks, it seemed as he was able to manipulate space and draws out two wooden katanas from his waist before throwing one across towards you. 

He taught you the basic stuff—like how to grip onto the sword and swing it properly. It has been close to an hour of practice when you finally felt your arms were sore enough for you to signal him to stop.

“Like I told you, darling. It’s not all fun and games when it comes to picking up a weapon. If this were a real battle, you would’ve been long-harmed by then.”

God, he’s strict as fuck. “W-Well! I know that! I just properly learned how to grip a katana like an hour ago. Cut me some slack,” you pouted. 

While you were busy trying to wipe off the sweat on your palms, Haknyeon takes a few steps towards you and took your katana away without saying anything. “Hey! What was that for!”

“Look at your own hands, Y/N." He peers down, and you do the same, with an immediate look of horror plastered across your face.

Your hands were bleeding, and all cut up. 

Suddenly, he grabs your wrist and pulls you back towards the fireplace—searching through the supplies before he grabs a bottle of liquid and opens up the cap with his teeth before pouring it down straight onto the palms.

“What are you- Ow!” 

“Hold it in, Y/N. It’s just honey; it’ll help to heal the scars in no time.”

As Haknyeon was busy trying to tend to your injuries, you noticed the look of concern he actually had on his face. Usually, he would put on this cold and emotionless look towards you, and he couldn’t care less if you wanted to pick up a fight against him (well, because of his ego, and he knows that he will always win nonetheless). 

But this time, it felt different. It was like seeing the devil being all soft and loving for a second. 

“You could’ve just left it as it is, you know, being nice doesn’t suit your devil persona in the slightest,” you teased as you put on this smug look. 

But Haknyeon didn’t respond to that. Instead, he just kept pouring the liquid until it has fully covered your hands—leaving the liquid on as it is to let it completely soak your injuries. 

Oh god, have I stepped out of the line? He probably doesn’t like it-

“Y/N. If you had the choice to be the good guy or bad guy, which one would you go for?” Haknyeon asked while his eyes were still transfixed on your palms.

What kind of question was that?

“Obviously, the good guy. What are you talking about?”

“Exactly. I didn’t choose to become the devil. I was destined to take over the throne because of my ancestors,” his shoulders slumped when he said those words out loud, giving you some hope as if he was trying his best to open up to you about his past for the first time.

With your ears perked up, you slowly moved closer towards the male, careful not to drop the honey on your palms if you did not want to hear another scolding from him. 

“Go on, I’m listening,” you softly replied as you read the tension in the air has dramatically shifted from before.

“Would it be insane if I told you I could’ve lived a normal life? And not waiting for the days to come before the devil’s blood fully consumes my well-being? It’s all stupid, isn’t it? He laughs, even though the thought about it is absurd to him. 

“Well. What happened?”

“Centuries ago when my grandfather met the love of his life, and he wanted to do anything to be with her—even if it meant selling his soul to the devil. Without her, it was as if his life was falling apart, and he couldn’t bear to see her with anyone else. So one day, he made the trip done to hell to make a pact with Lucifer himself.”

“Your predecessor, you mean?”

“The original Lucifer, yes. Devils don’t last forever, Y/N. Just like you deities, it was important to continue the bloodline to keep the balance in hell,” he huffed. 

“So that was were your grandfather became the vessel,” you slowly pieces the puzzles together.

“Crazy, isn’t it? He gave up his human life to become one with the devil, and with that he was able to return to his lover. But he should’ve known that nobody would want to be near the actual Lord of the Underworld himself.”

“D-Don’t tell me…” your eyes suddenly tearing up, as if you had just remembered a scene from your past. 

“Given that look on your face, I presume you know exactly what I’m talking about,” he chuckles. “That incident where a broken-hearted devil who tore apart his village and even killed his lover because she rejected him. Ever since then, he completely turned his life around and went down into the depths of hell to reside there forever—building up his army of demonic creatures and taking revenge in the human world.” 

You were stunned. You couldn’t have known that the devil themselves had a past like this. From young, you were only taught that no humans should ever interact with the devils themselves—that was why the deities were born to keep the balance between earth and hell.

“S-So…you were cursed, too?” You questioned.

“Undoubtedly, yes. But not completely as of now since the throne already has their very own Lucifer. However, his lifespan is slowly fading away each day, and they desperately need an heir, so that’s where I come in.”

“But how can you run away from it? I mean, won’t the devils or even the current Lucifer would come looking for you?”

“That’s why I needed your help, Y/N. I have been dedicating my whole life to turning this prophecy around—proving that I will not become the devil of the underworld and possibly go back to living as a normal human being. Though, I definitely did not expect to find you in the current state you’re in,” he pauses as he looks at you from top to bottom. 

With that, Haknyeon slowly got up from the ground and walked a bit further to look up in the sky, which was now filled with hundreds of stars. “I have put a spell in hell to avoid them tracing my movements, but I’m afraid it would not last forever.” 

So that was why he was so desperate when you both first met. 

After giving it a second thought, you slowly stood up while still holding onto the honey liquid in your palms before you reassured him with your words. “Thank you for telling me all of these, Haknyeon. Now, I’m more than determined to save you from your fate.”

As you said those words out loud, Haknyeon turned back to you, and you finally saw for the first time how beautiful his smile was under the moonlight. There was this sparkle in his eyes, and you could tell that your words had somehow comforted him. 

“It’s going to be okay, you’re going to be okay,” you emphasised on those last few words as you slowly walked up to him. Haknyeon then responded by slowly pulling your cupped hands apart and letting the honey drip down onto the ground before gently rubbing your palms with his own hands—as if he was trying to push the liquid further into your injuries to make it heal a lot faster.

“That’s why I’m going to keep you safe no matter what, Y/N. You’re my one and only last hope.” 

Under The Depths Of Hell

“Ugh…that has got to be the worst headache I’ve had in a while…” one of the men grunts as he slowly wakes up to find that he has been lying on the ground for who knows how long. He scanned his perimeter to find that his fellow comrades had experience the same thing, and he quickly went around to wake all of them up.

“W-What happened?” One of his fellow comrades asked. “Why is everyone passed out?”

“That’s what I would like to ask you instead, Doyle. What on earth happened that knocked us out cold,” he growled as he slowly scanned his surroundings. 

Before the man could possibly come up with a proper answer, loud and strong footsteps were heard and was approaching them each second. It’s wasn’t for long until one of the gates was being swung open with a loud bang, and out walks a tall, built man.

“Y-Your Highness!” The man bowed and ushered everyone to do the same. “Our humble apologies, we have no idea what happened-”

“Haknyeon.” The tall male replied.

“I beg your pardon?”

“It was Haknyeon. He placed a spell on all of us that caused us to fall into a deep slumber, and he has escaped the depths of hell,” the tall male cursed under his breathe before slamming his trident on the ground, causing it to form a crack that sent chills towards the other members.

Without hesitation, he swiftly grabs hold onto the male that was bending down in front of him on his neck before slowly dragging him up. “Say, aren’t you the best military commander in hell? Donovan?”

Dovovan was trying his best to speak as the tall male began putting in pressure on his hand around his neck. “Y-Yes! Your Highness! I-It’s all to keep you and hell safe at all times-” he choked. 

“Well then? Tell me how can Haknyeon slip through the guards and go missing unnoticed for a year now.”

A year? Does that mean that everyone has been in a deep slumber for a year now?

Not giving the chance for Donovan to speak, the tall male slams the commander’s body straight down onto the ground once more, stepping on his back before giving everyone else the death stare. 

“It seems to me that you are all no match for my successor just yet,” he chuckled. “I should’ve expected nothing less for the next King of the Underworld.”

None of the guards dared to speak another word, nor were they brave enough to turn away from the one and only Lucifer himself. They knew that when their master had gotten all worked up like this, one single mistake could easily cost them their own lives, and they would be thrown straight into the burning flames, where their bodies would turn into ash within seconds. 

“A little bit too silent, aren’t we? Well then, how about this?” Lucifer taunted the rest of the members by tossing Donovan’s body straight into the fire—only his loud screams echoed throughout the chamber before completely vanishing into silence once more.

“Let me give all of you a piece of advice,” Lucifer continued as if nothing had happened seconds ago as he continued to walk straight ahead, making each of the guards move aside to let the devil himself pass through. “My lifespan is decreasing each day, and I’m afraid that I will no longer be able to stay on the throne for long. That is where Haknyeon comes into the picture, and he needs to stay put in here as soon as possible to keep hell’s balance going.”

Finally, Lucifer stops in front of a dark-haired individual at the corners of the room with his arms crossed, yawning as he sees the king himself approached. “Which is why I will now appoint Balor as your new commander.” 

The male sighed. “You really do be putting me through so much trouble. I told you I’ve retired a long time ago,” Balor spoke to the devil himself in a relatively unbothered way, making the other guards slowly begin to whisper among themselves about their odd relationship with one another.

“You have been my strongest soldier since the day I ascended to the throne, and it’s only fitting for you to go retrieve my successor if it’s the last thing you’ll do,” Lucifer commanded, giving no room for negotiation as he lifted up his sharp claws to dig into Balor’s skin—leaving behind a scratch mark on his right cheek.

“Fine. But I’m retiring for good after this mission. And I will not be leaving my room from then on,” he swatted Lucifer’s hand away as he approached the guards. 

Lucifer began laughing menacingly while Balor was doing his job to regroup the team before walking straight back to the door to enter his chambers. 

“I shall give you all one last chance to bring Haknyeon back here to hell. If not, you all can rot with the dead in the burning flames for the rest of your lives.”

Y/N's POV

“Say, Y/N. What do you think about snow?” 

You were puzzled by that question. “What’s this about snow? It’s not like you have not seen them before.” 

The female simply chuckled. “True. But apparently, my tribe loves them the most. It is said that during winter, it forms a glacier in the mountains. It’s just a beautiful sight to see and they do this activity called “skiing” in the human language.”

“But isn’t your tribe known to care for nature? Shouldn’t spring be their most favourite season among the four?” 

“What’s wrong with being different than the norm! It’s always fun to explore different things that are available out there! Like this one right here!” The female didn’t give you room for coming up with a response before she threw a ball made of snow right at your face.

You yelped and was surprised that the hit wasn’t as hard as you thought it was. The ball simply melted down and returned back to the rest of the snow that was on the ground.

“What was that for!” You yelled back.

“That, Miss Deity of the Lake, it’s called a snowball fight. Again, my tribe taught me this fun activity,” the female stuck her tongue out at you before slowly forming another one in her hands.

Not going down without a fight, you grabbed a fistful of snow into your hands before making one yourself. “Now, you have done it. Prepare for battle!” You jokingly teased before you both eventually broke out into a whole snowball fight.

Both of your activities didn’t go unnoticed when a couple of spectators came along after a few minutes. 

“Oh ho! What do we have here!” Another female replied as she forms both hands into a binoculars trying to look at what you two were doing. 

“Hey! A snowball fight! Let me join them!” One of the male shouted enthusiastically before leaping over the fence to run towards your direction. In no time, the snowball fight was getting much more heated than ever before, making some of the snowballs being thrown into one of the spectator’s outfits.

“These kids…what will I do about them?” The other male replied as he dusted the snow off his clothing, but to no avail because more kept coming each second. “Don’t you plan on joining them?” The male asked the female, who was still standing with her handmade “binoculars”, looking out at the three in the snow.

“Looking at them from here is fun enough! I’m just so happy that everyone is having a good time with one another since it’s been a while since we have gathered together like this,” she simply smiled.

With that response, the male, the eldest among the five, could only reply with a simple sigh before a smile formed on his lips. “You’re right. It has been a while.” 

Now that you have an extra party, you are having so much more fun than before where you were eventually completely covered in snow. However, that was when you noticed a strange stench as you continued with the activity.

Not knowing where it was coming from, you tried your best to sniff around with your nose, trying to locate where the weird scent was coming from. 

That was when you looked down to see that the white snow was slowly oozing out a red liquid, and curiosity got the best of you when you decided to pick the snow up to examine it.

And you really wished you hadn’t done so.

Blood was now dripping out from the snow and following down to your arms before everything around you was slowly turning crimson red. You tried to call out to your friends, but they could no longer hear you and were slowly fading away.

Your surroundings began to darken, and all you could see was the bright red colour taking over your vision.

What exactly was happening?

Please…guys…where are you…

Don’t leave me.

“Don’t leave me!!!!”

“In what god’s mind were you dreaming about?”

Huh?

You tried to blink your eyes as you slowly adjusted your eyesight to finally realise that you were on Haknyeon’s back—his arms carrying your thighs from behind.

“Wait wait, what’s going on? Why are you carrying me?” You asked.

“That’s my question to you instead, Y/N. One second, you were smiling and the next you were sweating profusely and mumbling incoherent words. Until you finally screamed and woke up seconds ago,” Haknyeon spat before he turned his head towards the front of the road again.

God…another nightmare. 

“N-Nothing…don’t worry about it…but hey, answer my question, mister devil. Why were you carrying me?” 

“Well. I finally figured out the route to the shrine when you were in deep sleep for a whole day. I tried everything I could to wake you up, but you wouldn’t budge, so I decided that it was best for me to lift you and give you a piggyback ride to the shrine.”

Now, this was embarrassing. “H-How long have you been carrying me for?”

“Half a day.”

Oh, hell no. “Okay okay! Put me down! I’m awake now; you don’t have to carry me no more,” you chuckled as you tried to free yourself from his back. But with his strength, you weren’t able to move an inch as his grip around your thighs tightened once more.

“Save me the trouble and be a good girl while we head to the shrine. We’re almost there anyways,” Haknyeon replied bluntly before picking up his pace and climbing the steps up to the stairway, which seems to be the entrance of the shrine. 

All you could do at this point was to hide your face of embarrassment by lowering your head down behind his back with your forehead resting on his shoulders.

“Why does this always happen to me…” you sulked, but you quickly realised that you shouldn’t have said that because the annoying Lucifer was back to taunt you again.

“You’re an amusing lady, I must say.”

“Q-Quiet you! I never asked for your opinion!” 

As you both began your usual bickering, it was when you were brought back to your senses when a soft, calming voice calls out to you both. The moment you both focused your attention up ahead, a slender female wearing a red hakama paired with a white kosode immediately bowed before slowly approaching your direction.

“To whom may I offer the assistance today?”

Judging by her clothing and demeanour, you knew she was a shrine maiden, and you had probably arrived at the place you had been searching for days. Quickly jumping off Haknyeon’s back, you dusted your clothing and gathered up your composure before greeting the maiden herself.

“O-Our apologies for the sudden visit, but is this where-”

She giggled. “If you’re looking for the priest, you have come to the right location.” 

Just then, she guided you into the shrine as she touched the invisible barrier protecting the place to make way for the guests. It was then you figured that it was why the shrine wasn’t as easy to locate because of that, and you couldn’t blame them after what had happened during the war decades ago. 

The place was grand, especially for a shrine in the middle of nowhere. Everything was preserved just as it was hundreds of years ago—adorned with traditional art and furniture throughout. As you both explored, one piece of art caught your eye in the main hall, prompting you to break away from the maiden and Haknyeon to take a closer look.

The moment you stood in front of the picture, you were left standing still and slowly reaching out your hand to touch the piece of art. It depicted the five sacred deities protecting the people of the nation—each five of them standing tall and strong on the top of the cliffs.

Immediately, you noticed a faint blue hue emanating from one of the female deities, and you gently brushed your thumb over the art. Instantly, a water drop emerges from the picture as it dissolves into your skin, giving you a glimpse of your past from the art itself. 

“I see that you have come to notice the picture firsthand, Miss Deity.” 

Taken aback with the sudden voice, you quickly turned to your back to notice a maiden standing right there with a paper fan covering half of her face. Gently, she closed up the fan to give you a slight bow before inching a little bit closer.

“It has been a long time, Y/N. Welcome back,” she simply smiles.

It was then you immediately realised who this was. Noticing a kagura suzu in her other free hands as well as glamorous kimono, it could only mean one thing.

She was the priest that you have been looking for.

“You must be…”

“Priest of Kiyoshi Shrine, at your service, my dear.”

“Please…” you begged pitifully as you walked closer to her and slowly bent your knees to sit on the tatami mat. “You’re the only one who can tell me everything now. Please, tell me what to do.” 

“I suppose the elder from your very own tribe sent you here? He certainly did the right thing for remembering me after all these years,” she chuckled before going down to your level and placing one of her hands on your shoulders.

“Let’s get you all cleaned up and have a hearty meal before we proceed.”

You have sworn that one day, when you finally regained your full powers back, you’re going to bury Haknyeon and seal him in the depths of the ocean for what he did you to in front of the priest. 

As if what happened earlier when you both arrived wasn’t embarrassing enough, the devil himself had the audacity to give you a good scolding when you suddenly left his side to have a good close-up look on the art in the main hall while the priest was busy prepping the dining hall with her maidens for you two. 

Turns out that the priest was seemingly witnessing the whole ordeal for a good minute before she spoke up that dinner was ready as that was where you three ended up now.

Gulping down the warm miso soup that was perfectly well-seasoned down your throat, you made sure to give Haknyeon one last death stare to make sure that he was going to pay for what he did one day. 

“You two seem really close,” the priest giggled as she continued looking back and forth between the both of you. 

“Not that I have a choice; he’s supposed to protect me while I sort out the mess with my past,” you mumbled before shoving a piece of the freshly grilled fish down your mouth. 

“You’re a priest, right? Perhaps it would be great to give Y/N a good cleanse for all of the dirty and rude remarks that she has to say about me,” Haknyeon gestured with his chopsticks to you, letting the priest know that it was fitting for her to do a cleansing ritual on you.

“F-Forgive me! Miss dearest, I mean- your Excellency. Please ignore him; he’s just a vulgar guy,” you laughed nervously before turning your head to stare at him once more. 

“Well,” the priest paused as she put her food on the table. “I’m glad to see two people from different backgrounds interact like this. It is certainly a sight to see as compared to the past.” 

Just then, you remembered that the priest had mentioned telling you about everything she knew, and you seized that opportunity to ask her now. But it seems she was a step ahead of you as she stood up and walked to the centre of the hall before taking out her kagura suzu and pointing it straight towards Haknyeon. 

“Let me ask you this one question, young male. And I would highly suggest that you reply honestly, for no lies can ever pass through my eyes. Are you sure that you will keep Miss Y/N safe at all costs?”

You were stunned by that question as you looked back and forth between Haknyeon and the priest. Why exactly was she posing such a question? How was this related to whatever that she was going to tell you about the past? 

But Haknyeon simply closed his eyes and placed his utensils on this table before crossing his arms. “Since you mentioned that you can see through all sorts of lies, maybe you should be able to tell how sincere I’ve been with Y/N and my words through my heart.” 

Immediately, a dark red aura began to emanate from Haknyeon’s back, while a white aura radiated from the priest. In an instant, their eyes changed color, and the tension in the air intensified. It was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe between the two, leaving you to contemplate what to do next.

Should you diffuse the fight? Maybe with your so-called powers that were able to cleanse through anything? 

Suddenly, the priest spoke up first. “I certainly hope you will not repeat the same behaviour you did decades ago during the war.” 

Wait. Repeating the same behaviour during the war?

All you knew from what the elder said was that the demonic creatures were the ones responsible for destroying the nation and sealing away the five sacred deities. You didn’t hear anything about Lucifer being involved in any of these.

Unless…

You turned to look at Haknyeon, now staring at the priest with his deadly, bloodshot red, glowing eyes.

It can’t be.

“Y-You are the one responsible for sealing me away?” Your voice began to tremble, trying hard to think of different excuses to prove that point was false.

There was no way. After all, you have felt his sincerity (despite his awful mouth) throughout your journey. If anything, he couldn’t have put up this facade long enough to deceive you all along.

You wanted to believe that the soft, heartbroken look on his face when he told you about his past was true. You wanted to hold onto the fact that your promise to help change his fate would definitely come true. 

Because you will not be able to tolerate any more betrayals anymore. 

When you finally mustered up the courage to pose another question to Haknyeon, both the devil and the priest immediately stopped exerting their powers and returned to their usual selves. With that, the priest simply shook her suzu once as the bells rang across the hall—a light spark emitting throughout to cleanse the place.

“Thank you, young man. Forgive me, as I was merely trying to test your sincerity. I’m so glad that you have a good heart, especially towards the lake deity right here.” 

“W-What���s going on?” You questioned, feeling more lost than ever with everything that had just unfolded in front of your eyes. 

“Let me recite a story from a long time ago, Y/N. Perhaps you will be able to remember piece by piece as you listen to my words.” 

In one slow, graceful motion, the priest simply spread her legs and arms apart as she began the kagura dance, shaking her bells according to the beat and rhythm at her own pace. Twirling around with the instrument in hand, she starts reciting the story from the very beginning.

Long ago, when the nation had no leaders, the God of Eternity descended from heaven to witness the chaos that unfolded before his eyes. He decided they needed a leader to help keep the balance while trying to minimise the bloodshed that had unfolded over the years. With that, he used his powers to break them into five pieces, each representing one element: fire, water, earth, air, and space.

The five sacred deities were born, and each was given the role of gathering and creating their own tribe on land. Each of them had its purpose, and they kept the peace between the different tribes.

The first generation of deities kept a well-balanced society for a century before deciding that it was time to reunite with the God of Eternity as he slowly began to age. Before ascending to heaven, each performed a ritual to extract their remaining lifespan on earth to give life to their successors. 

The first lake of the deity was known as Asherah. She decided upon the lake not far from where her tribe resided, where she slowly placed her powers into the waters, creating the next generation of the Lake Deity, Y/N.

The other deities did the same as they gave birth to their successors: Mahuika (fire), Ilana (earth), Zephyr (wind), and Astrophel (space). 

The second generation was known to be far stronger than their predecessors, as they helped defend the nation against countless wars and misfortunes. The new water deity possessed a new power that her predecessor did not: the ability to cleanse and purify all matters on earth. 

Finally, it came to a point where his people informed the space deity that the gates of hell broke loose, and the demonic creatures had slowly made their way to earth. At the beginning, they posed no threat or harm to the people, and they were able to live peacefully for a while. 

Not until the second known Lucifer, who sacrificed his human life to sell his soul to the devil, rose in power—deciding that it was best to wipe out the entire nation to claim this land as his own. The once peaceful nation that had stayed this way for a century broke into war once again, with the deities all leading their own tribes to fight against the evil spirits. 

But he couldn’t see the battle till the end when his lifespan completely went out, and that was when the new Lucifer emerged from the depths of hell onto earth—going face-to-face in battle with the five deities. 

Nobody knew how he could gain so much power within a short time, but he undoubtedly surpassed the previous one and wiped out the nation in one swift motion. Many people lost their lives, and the five deities were severely wounded. As if that wasn’t enough, he decided to seal the deities away—turning them into rocks, which eventually merged with nature and became a massive statue with no hopes of returning to life. 

Claiming his victory, he returned to hell to regroup and sat on the throne with pride, occasionally sending some demonic creatures to taunt the human world as the people were helpless to fight back.

However, if his ego hadn't got the best out of him, he probably would’ve succeeded in sealing off all five deities back then, not noticing that there was one sole survivor among them. 

With that, the kagura performance stopped, and the priest pointed her suzu at you. “And this is where you shall continue the story, Y/N.” 

You simply blinked at her with your mouth ajar, not knowing how to react or what you should say back to her. Instead, you decided that it was best to keep your mouth shut and try your best not to let your emotions get the best out of you. 

The priest knew that it must’ve been hard to recall everything at once, but she knew that if she held back even further, severe casualties would surely fall upon the nations sooner or later. 

Shaking the bells once more to gain your attention, the priest slowly comes down to your level to gently whisper to both of you. “As you go on your journey to finish the story, I highly suggest that your next location will be the people of the forest, the tribe once protected and guided by the earth deity. They have been suffering from contamination on their land for years, and only with the power as strong as yours will be able to help them rewrite history, Y/N.”

You did not know what to say. Sure, you would love to help anyone in need, but the fact that you were suddenly tossed into the role of saving an entire tribe and potentially substituting as their leader? It was too much for you to take in. 

Your silence was enough to give the priest and Haknyeon a proper answer, so she decided it was best for you to think it through and sort out your thoughts as time passed.

As a result, the rest of the evening went by quietly, with everyone finishing their meals before retiring to their room. Perhaps Haknyeon could read the look on your face, and he said nothing but a simple “don’t be out too long” before he went ahead to shower before bed.

All you wanted to do was be alone after learning about everything that had happened, and you walked to the waterfall behind the shrine before dipping yourself into the waters.

The moment the waters came in contact with your skin, you felt the surge of powers slowly moving up your body as you tried manipulating the waters again, just like you did at the lake back then. As expected, hundreds of water droplets rose from the waterfall as they slowly ascended to the skies, creating this beautiful sight as the moonlight illuminated each one of them. 

You smiled, not because you were happy because your powers were slowly returning as usual and you had finally found the answers from your past, but rather because it had all left you feeling more conflicted than ever before.

You were the sole survivor of the war, and your fellow deities were long gone. And now, you were in charge of saving the people of the forest. 

Can you even do it? Being the old, wrecked, helpless deity who lost all her powers and memories to potentially save a tribe?

Thinking that you’ve had enough thoughts for the day, you slowly submerged yourself under the waterfall, hoping the waters will help wash away all negativity. 

Back at the shrine, Haknyeon had just gotten out of the shower as he dried his wet hair with a small towel draped around his neck. He couldn’t even retire into his room in peace when the priest stood before his door with her arms crossed as she closed her eyes to ask him a question.

“Are you planning to tell Y/N?”

Haknyeon paused for a bit before bluntly giving the priest a reply. “I haven’t decided that yet.” 

“I suggest you won’t wait too long, for the spell has already been broken. I have a feeling that your fellow comrades are already on their way, searching for their new leader. With that, you potentially place Y/N in danger once again.”

The priest’s words felt like dozens of sharp, piercing knives straight through Haknyeon’s heart, but he knew he couldn’t deny everything she had just mentioned. He already had more than enough time in the shower, blaming himself for why his powers weren’t strong enough to hold on for a little longer and what a weakling he was. 

As much as he knew that being close to you now would potentially cause more harm than before, he knew that he couldn’t leave you be either. He was in a dilemma about which option would be better, but he didn’t have much choice. 

Just then, the priest passed Haknyeon through the corridor, and she turned around to look back at the lucifer-to-be once more, her voice much more stern than before.

“If you don’t wish to repeat history and potentially lose the very sole surviving deity for the sake of the nation, then you shall part ways with her as soon as you can.”

For the next couple of days, you decided you needed some time off from everyone since you were still emotionally in bad shape. You didn’t want to interact with anyone, not even Haknyeon. 

Thankfully, each of them respected your space and allowed you to seemingly walk around the shrine and up to the waterfalls back and forth whenever you needed to. Though, the priest would send a maiden to check up on you occasionally, which was completely fine with you. 

With the peace and alone time you’ve had recently, you slowly began to recall when you were with your fellow deities. The nightmares didn’t stop either, and it only made you reminisce about them a lot more than often now that you have remembered everything that had happened.

You have never felt so lonely before—being far away from your tribe and left alone as the sole survivor. You really wished your fellow deities were still here with you, laughing the days away to protecting the nation together. You wanted to be reunited with them as soon as you possibly can. 

Doing the only thing you knew was fitting for the situation, you went back up to the waterfall and submerged half of your body into the waters before you concentrated your whole energy to call upon your other half. Sure enough, your powers were much more stable than before, and you could give the water figure a face that looked exactly like yours.

“Hey, other me. It’s been a while,” you replied as you tried your best to choke back your tears.

“It’s so nice to see you again, Y/N. How have you been?”

“Horrible,” you sniffled. “I really wished that this was just a terrible nightmare that I’m living in right now.” 

“I know. But Y/N, you’ve held on for long enough to get to where you are now, and here you are, finally getting all of the questions that you’ve once had answered.” 

Not entirely convinced, you sighed deeply before letting a single tear fall from your eyes. “Is this all really worth it, though? Having such a tragic past where everything was taken away from you, and now potentially going to help save a tribe that I have no recollection of? What would Ilana think of me saving her people?” 

At this point, you couldn’t care less if people were beginning to hear muffled cries from the shrine. You just wanted someone to talk to and wished your former friends were here to share your burdens. You began sobbing profusely—using your hands to wipe the tears that were pouring uncontrollably from your eyes.

Your other half simply smiled with this empathetic look before she closed the distance between you two and gently cupped your face with her hands—helping wipe your tears away before pulling you in for a hug. 

“Y/N. You’ve done well. I’m sure the others would’ve said the same thing if they had seen how you have lived for them and the nation. I, for one, am proud of you for surviving through that.”

“B-But…I can’t do this…not alone…”

“Who says you’re all alone? You have me, and you have that devil boy that you’ve met on your journey together. You will never be alone through all of these. But right now, know that these tribes your fellow friends have left behind need help. Deep down in your heart, I'm sure you want to make Ilana and the rest of the deities proud. Haven’t you promised Haknyeon the same thing too?”

That’s right. You’re sworn that you will definitely help Haknyeon change the prophecy and his fate. You promised that he would not end up like his uncle or the current ruler in hell and that he could return to being human again. 

You hadn’t just been coming to the waterfall for peace. You have also been secretly trying to hone your skills once more—living up to the name of the Lake Deity you once knew. 

As you hugged your other half tighter, you tried to come up with something lighthearted to break the solemn mood. “You know you could’ve just told me what you couldn’t say before back at the lake.”

“Well, I knew you would eventually learn the truth about Haknyeon one day. He seems like a pretty good guy, good enough for you to continue your journey after all this chaos ends.” 

You immediately shot back up. “Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That’s for you to find out sooner or later,” she simply winked before earning a snarl from you. 

“Party pooper,” you retorted back. 

“Good things always come in the form of surprises. I don’t make the rules.” 

You slump your shoulders in defeat. “Fine then, just promise me you will see this through till the end with me.”

Your other half simply smiles, and she extends her pinky towards you. 

“Pinky promise, Y/N.”

Sweat began to drop profusely as you continued swinging your katana to cut down as much bamboo as possible. It turns out that there was an old training ground behind the shrine where the former deities would hone their skills whenever they came to visit, and the priest would’ve been the mentor as she spoke directly from the God of Eternity. 

The space was ample enough for a duel or even to act as a mini horse-riding battle in the past, according to the priest. It was a location where the deities would come whenever they needed advice from the priest or if they needed to connect to God for advice if there be any.

Over the course of the past couple of weeks, you have been secretly training your combat skills in private whenever you have gotten the chance to. It wasn’t something you wanted to bother Haknyeon with, especially at night when it was time for everyone to head to bed. 

The devil training you tirelessly throughout the day whenever you had a break from your travels was more than enough that you could ask for, and you have noticed how there was this unsettling look plastered all across his face. 

He wouldn’t tell you anything, and you decided it was best not to pry further; that would eventually end up as something uncomfortable between you two. You figured it was important to give one another some space in certain scenarios, and everything has played out perfectly for now. 

Just as you continue swinging your katana, a few raindrops suddenly fall onto your clothing before eventually turning into a downpour. The moment the water came in contact with your skin, you couldn’t help but feel a little bit sentimental—as if the skies were crying for the Lake Deity. 

Your tears were pretty much dried up from crying nonstop for the past couple of days, and the loneliness hasn’t left you in the slightest. However, you try your best not to let it get to you anymore—for you were about to head to the Earth Deity’s tribe in less than twenty-four hours. 

Letting the rain soak up your entire clothing, you continued cutting down the remaining bamboo around you before your movements suddenly came to a halt when a sharp blade came out from nowhere to clash with your katana—putting a stop to your training as you narrowed your eyes to see whoever it was in the dark.

And there was no way you could ever forget those bright, crimson eyes. 

Except that he looks a little different from when you were actively talking to him when you first arrived. You have avoided him like a plague, and he seemed somewhat dejected.

Did something happen?

“You’re going to catch a cold if you keep this up,” Haknyeon warned. 

“Then what are you doing out here in the rain? I fear that you might get sick before I do since water doesn’t have much effect on me. " You tried to keep the atmosphere a little lively by making a joke, but it looked like he wasn’t in much of the mood to retaliate. 

Haknyeon simply sighed before grabbing your wrist to walk you towards the abandoned dojo right next door as the rain was getting much heavier. He decided it would be best to wait until the skies cleared up slightly before heading back down to the shrine. 

It wasn’t unusual for Haknyeon to stay all quiet and not say anything, but given everything that had happened for the past couple of days, you couldn’t really decipher what was going through his mind.

Especially with that look on his face that you felt foreign about. 

However, you managed to squeak a little voice out from your throat, trying not to show the fear or uncertainty in your voice. “A-Are you mad at me?” 

As much as Haknyeon was surprised what came out of your mouth, he tried his best not to show his emotions but simply took off his jacket to drape it over your head as he bent down to your level. 

“I’m not mad. Just a little scared.”

“Scared? The devil actually gets scared?”

“Y/N, as much as we devils are deemed as evil incarnated, we do have emotions just like your humans and deities do.” 

Well, that was surprising. 

Since he has finally spoken up, you tried to clear off the awkwardness in the air by trying your best to keep up the conversation with him. “Listen, I- I’m just not myself for the past few days, and I needed some time alone to think-”

“Me neither,” Haknyeon softly mumbled before sitting next to you. “I’m sorry, Y/N.”

You scoffed. “W-What are you apologising for? I should be the one to say that instead-”

“Y/N- Can you…just answer me truthfully on this one question I have for you?” Haknyeon shut his eyes when he said those words as he balled up his fists on his lap. You have never seen him feeling so conflicted and uncertain before, given that he was the one who was always dominating you. 

This new side of him felt…sad? As if he had been hiding something for so long, and it was slowly eating him away. Not having the energy to put up with another fight, you just cut to the chase and simply nodded your head. 

What he brings up next only makes you feel puzzled. 

“Do you trust me?”

Really? He’s asking all of these now after everything you both have been through? You clearly have told him before that you could no longer take in anymore betrayals if it were ever on his mind. But who were you to judge, especially when the likes of his people defeated your fellow deities in the past. 

But you wanted to believe that whatever he had said until now was true, and he was genuinely sincere from the start. He just so happened to be caught up in this unlucky fate passed down from his grandparents when he much deserved to live a normal life with the humans on earth instead. 

Without hesitation, you blurted out what you felt deep down about him. “Of course I do.” 

But it seemed that he wasn’t satisfied with that answer, and he simply shook his head before running one of his hands through his strikingly blonde hair. “It’s…not that simple, Y/N.”

“Then tell me. Make me understand whatever that’s going through in your mind. We promised that we’re in this together,” you begged as you grabbed both of his hands while putting slight pressure on them.

“Y/N,” he sighs. “Can you not go to where the people of the forest are?” 

What in the fucking hell is that question?

“You know I can’t do that. I’m the only person who possesses the power to help purify their land-”

“Yes, I know. But- is there a chance you can stay put here, and I’ll help them out in your place instead?”

“Haknyeon. Stop playing games with me, and tell me what exactly you’re actually thinking.” 

“It’s just…Y/N. I’m afraid to lose you.”

Lose you? What was he talking about?

It could be that he was looking out for you since you had learnt about the horrors of the war, and you haven’t fully regained your strength and powers yet. Perhaps going there unprepared could do more harm than actually saving the people.

But still, you made a promise to yourself. You weren’t going to let innocent people lose their lives again because of what the devils had done in the past. Instead, you will change history and give the nation a purpose to live again—just like your fellow deities would’ve wished for if they were still alive today. 

Squeezing his hands tightly once more, you commanded the male to look straight into your eyes and not look away. 

“Listen to me, Ju Haknyeon. If you think you can keep looking down on me forever, I will prove you wrong. Staying here for the past few days has helped me regain my strength and will to fight, and I will step up on the battlefield if I have to. This nation is my beloved people. As much as I want to help you change your fate, I’m going to change theirs, too. And I don’t need no justification for my purposes.”

Making sure he had registered everything you had just said, you let go of your hands before cupping his warm cheeks to bring his face much closer to yours.

“Understood?” 

You both stayed like that for a few seconds, though it seemed like a couple of minutes had passed instead. You expected him to swat away your hands and retort back with another teasing remark. Instead, he simply tilts his head slightly to the side to completely savour your soft hands on his cheeks as he smiles for the first time in days. 

“Your win, Y/N.” 

“Hah! The day has finally come when I beat the king of the underworld!” You childishly replied before standing up to do a couple of jumps on the wooden floorboards and then sitting down again to give him this smug look on your face. Haknyeon just smiled as you began yapping about your training and how you discovered a new skill each day.

Before you knew it, you both had been sitting here for a few hours, and the sun was slowly rising. The rain was beginning to stop, and the birds were chirping away from the trees nearby. 

“Y/N. It’s time for us to head back-” Haknyeon was about to get up from his seat when he felt some weight on his shoulders. The moment he turns around to see that you fell asleep at some point, his eyes immediately soften before he leans back on one of the pillars at the dojo—pulling you in and cuddling you before he rests his lips on your forehead. 

“Let us be okay.”

At The Gates Of The Entrance To Earth From Hell

“This is why I hated coming up to the surface; the air stinks as fuck,” Balor exaggerated as he stepped foot into the forest with an army behind him. 

The other members were astonished by the new environment around them, given that it had been decades since so many demonic creatures had ascended to Earth since the war. They didn’t need to launch a full-scale battle, as they had already tasted victory with all the deities sealed away.

Until Haknyeon escaped from the depths of hell. 

Who would’ve thought that the peace that the underworld had experienced for the past couple of decades would abruptly come to an end all because the next successor refuses to accept his own fate and take over the throne? It was definitely a first in hell’s books.

The moment all the soldiers arrived at the surface, their aura immediately caused the nearby fields to wither away slowly—turning each corps from green to ash grey. The moment any animals decided to come close, Balor would simply snap his own fingers, and they would all perish in a split second. 

“Listen lads, I refuse to stay up here for long, and I suggest you all do the same before his highness loses his patience and tosses all of you into the scorching flames in hell. Doyle,” Balor points his spear at the young lad. “Locate Haknyeon’s whereabouts by smelling his scent.”

Doyle did exactly that by taking a whiff of the air before he pointed his comrades to the north. “He is headed up north, sir. But…”

“But?” Balor asked.

“His scent smells…different. It’s like he has someone with him, and it doesn’t smell like a devil to me.”

Surprised, Balor’s eyes widened, but the look was quickly replaced by a smug expression. He let out a sinister laugh that sent a chill down the spines of the other devils. There was a reason they were terrified of Balor becoming their commander, and they would do anything to ensure he didn’t replace their former leader, Donovan.

There were rumours that sparked around for centuries that he was a lot more dangerous than Lucifer himself, and he was the former right-hand man of Haknyeon’s grandfather. If he had the chance, he would’ve seized the throne and overthrown Lucifer if he wanted to. But nobody knows why he refused and has kept a pretty low profile for a long time now.

However, they have always been on the lookout for whenever Balor may slowly creep into one’s chamber at night, and the next thing that happens, they will perish or be killed by his own hands. Since Lucifer trusted him with everything, his Royal Highness would simply turn a blind eye and not care if there was one less demon in the underworld each day. 

It had been decades since the devils themselves had heard that specific laughter, and they knew that it could only mean bad news. 

Balor threw his head back and laughed menacingly, savoring each moment as his voice echoed through the forest. He couldn’t care less if someone heard him; in fact, he wanted someone to notice and be terrified of whatever tricks he was planning to pull.

All of a sudden, he snaps his head back and showcases this awfully frightening grin towards his underdogs, letting them know that the show’s just about to begin. 

“Just you wait, Ju Haknyeon. I’m going to rip you into shreds.”

Y/N's POV

“Oh my god…”

You could only mumble those three words in horror as you focused on the sight before you. Thankfully, the people of the forest did not live too far from the shrine, and it only took a couple of hours with the horses that the priest had provided both you and Haknyeon with. 

But nothing could’ve prepared you for what you had to see with your very own eyes. 

All the crops were wilted, and nearly everyone was malnourished, lying on the ground in a struggle between life and death. As you slowly marched into the tribe, the overwhelming stench in the air hit you immediately. How could these people have lived like this for years? No wonder they had suffered and taken the worst damage after what happened to their deity.

As you walked past each of the people, they didn’t even have the strength to look at you or give any reaction. You took your time to slowly examine each and every one of them: some were having trouble breathing while the rest were either coughing up blood or they had fallen into eternal slumber. 

Your grip against the reins on your horse tightened as you felt that you were on the verge of tears, and your actions didn’t go unnoticed by Haknyeon. He was catching up from behind, but he moved right up next to you and placed his hands on yours—squeezing them tight to give you some comfort.

“This was why I didn’t want you to come, Y/N. It’s just too much for you to handle and even for me.”

As much as there was some truth to what he said, you promised that you wouldn’t turn away from reality anymore and ignore your people anymore. You simply closed your eyes and took a deep breath before turning to Haknyeon to give him a weak smile.

“It’s for my people. I’ll be okay, promise.” 

Haknyeon knew from the back of his mind that you were the worst liar that he had ever come across. To be fair, he also had the ability to read other people’s minds, so it wouldn’t have taken any effort for him to decipher whatever you’re hiding behind those fake emotions after all. But because you insisted on coming even though you knew what the consequences would be, he simply hoped that you both could resolve the matters at hand as quickly as possible, and he would return you to the shrine in one piece.

It felt as if you were marching through the village endlessly, with the situation worsening the deeper you went. The people living farther inside the village suffered even more than those near the outskirts. But that wasn’t the only thing that caught your attention. At the very center of the town stood a massive hibiscus flower—at least thirty meters tall, long wilted for who knows how long.

You tried to focus hard, and just as expected, you noticed some red hues flowing into the flower. You followed the trail until you realised it was being exerted by the people of the tribe. It looked like they were exchanging their lifespan to keep the flower up.

Before you can even walk close to the flower itself, a voice emerges from behind you that causes both you and Haknyeon to turn around. There stood an elderly lady holding onto a scepter to support her as she walked towards you, struggling to breathe or have a proper conversation with you. 

You quickly leapt down from your horse to give her support before she ushered you both to the back of the village. Confused, both of you simply followed her for a while, as something told you that she had something important to show you both. 

Sure enough, you were led to what seemed to be a garden once filled with a variety of flora, now reduced to nothing but dry soil. In the center lay a tombstone, and the lady leaned down to brush off the dust that had settled on the marble over time.

It simply read: here lies our unforgotten deity, Ilana, who sacrificed herself in exchange for keeping the tribe alive. 

No. It can’t be.

“T-This…Is Ilana’s final resting ground?” You stammered, trying your best to hold back your tears as you rested your eyes upon your former comrade’s tombstone.

“We found her, or her statue, not long after the war ended. Our ancestors were the ones who created this resting place for her. It used to be a well-kept, beautiful garden—filled with vibrant flowers and creatures such as butterflies and fairies that made the place feel so alive. It seemed that our deity left a portion of her powers with her before she passed on, and it has kept us going for decades until the power slowly began to fade away, which caused us to suffer that fate that we have now.”

“Is that why your people…”

“Yes. The hibiscus flower that stands strong and tall at the center of the village is what keeps us people alive. It was our source of light, guidance, and even nutrition. However, when our deity’s power diminished, so did the sacred flower. Refusing to let it die, we people of the land decided to exchange our lifespan to keep it alive.”

“But why? Why would you sacrifice yourselves for that? You're all dying!" Tears welled up as your voice grew louder, prompting Haknyeon to gently squeeze your shoulders in an attempt to calm you down.

The lady simply chuckled weakly. “Perhaps, it may seem absurd to outsiders. But just like how everyone has something that they cherish deeply, it’s the flower of life that guides us through our everyday lives.” 

The moment you saw the look she had on her face, you knew that there was nothing that you could say that could convince her to do anything that she and her people have been doing otherwise. Instead, you composed yourself before telling her who you were and your purpose for visiting. 

“Well then, tell me what I can do to help. I’m the last living deity, overseeing the lakes and purifying all evil. I will not let you people suffer anymore, and I’m sure your deity would want the same.”

It was hard for either of you to tell when the sun had gone down, given that the entire village had been surrounded in darkness due to the heavy contamination in the air. The first thing you did right after speaking with the lady was to head back towards the sacred flower and try placing your hands onto the hibiscus to see if anything had happened.

Sure enough, your palms began to glow as you touched the flower, and it slowly shifted from black to a faint, vibrant red. Unfortunately, you could only sustain it for a few minutes before collapsing to the ground, causing Haknyeon to rush to your side to check on you.

You knew exactly what it meant. The flower was far too contaminated, and it would take a great deal of strength and time to completely purify the entire thirty-metre-tall flower. However, you wouldn’t take failure as an option, so you decided to turn your attention to other pressing matters.

You enlisted the help of the elder and Haknyeon to gather the people in groups, then gently placed your hands on their heads. As you expected, your powers were more than enough to cleanse their contamination, restoring them to full strength and health. As soon as each person recovered, they wasted no time running around the village to help others in need.

By nighttime, you have successfully healed one-third of the population before you realise that your body can no longer keep up with the excessive power you use today. It took Haknyeon a lot of convincing to pull you away from your responsibilities as he forced you to rest in the cabin the lady had prepared for you. 

As much as you tried to fall asleep, you kept tossing and turning throughout the night—barely getting a wink of sleep. With that, you finally decided that you weren’t getting any sleep for the night before you stood up and opened the doors to breathe in the somewhat less contaminated air. 

The fact that you were slowly able to see the bright stars shown in the skies somewhat gave you hope that these people would soon be freed from their nightmares. With that, you decided to share the good news with someone.

More specifically, with her.

You made your little trek up the hills until you reached the same garden the elderly lady had brought you earlier this evening. The moment you passed through the last patch of long branches covering your path, you suddenly laid your eyes upon the tombstone, where the moonlight was shining directly upon it.

Slowly taking a few steps towards it, you couldn’t help but smile as you saw the lights that reflected the marble. You made a little spot to sit down and rest your hands on the material.

“Hey, Ilana…it’s me,” you spoke while tears began streaming down your face. “You’re a warrior, and you’re a hundred years way up ahead of me. The way how you’ve kept your tribe alive after all these years, and the amount of devotion they have for you and the village? It’s something that I could never have done, even for my people.” 

Adjusting your seat as you scooched closer to the tombstone, you resumed whatever you needed to tell your friend. “I’m so sorry that you had to suffer the same fate as the other three, but I’m here now…and I will do my best to save your people if it’s the last thing I’ll do.” 

And that was it. You could no longer hold back your emotions and everything that you’ve held up to this point as you began sobbing uncontrollably. If someone were passing by, they would for sure hear your loud cries and probably report to the village. 

“I-It should’ve been me…why was I the only survivor? Why did you and the others have to go like that?” 

You kept on chanting those exact words, and till this day, you could never forgive yourself for how much the others have suffered for decades. You wished that you could trade places with them—that way only one tribe had to suffer for a little bit while the other four remained strong.

That doesn’t mean you don’t love your people, but you knew that things would somehow work out with the four deities being around. Hell, you haven’t even visited the other tribes yet to see how grave their situation was—you just knew and were told that Ilana’s tribe suffered the worst and were in grave danger. 

Your cries then turned into screams, and you could no longer hold back the overwhelming emotions that you’d been trying to contain for a while now. Immediately, a pair of warm arms wrap around your torso, and you know exactly who it is without needing to open up your eyes.

You hugged him tighter in response, and your tears flowed excessively to the point that it would ruin his leather jacket anytime now. But Haknyeon chose to remain silent as he cradled you in his arms. He caressed your head and rubbed your back, trying his best to give you as much comfort as possible. 

You were in so much debt to this man. He has been with you since the day you tried escaping and was on the brink of death. Although your first impressions of one another weren’t the best, you knew now that he had always been a good guy deep in his heart—even though he was a devil himself. 

About ten minutes had passed when you finally calmed down; you looked up at the man for the first time since he had arrived before asking him weakly.

“H-Haknyeon…do you think I can do it?”

This time, it was his turn to wipe your tears away before gently rubbing your puffy cheeks with his thumb—giving them a little squeeze to tease you just a little. 

“Affirmative, Miss Y/N.” 

Just then, his thumb that was pinching your cheeks suddenly moves down to your lips, swiping them once before he closes the gap between you two. 

“Tell me to stop if you don’t like it.”

Before you could even retaliate, he pulled you in and crashed his lips on yours. Deep down, you already knew in your gut that you had never wanted to reject his touch, which has become much more prominent, especially in the past couple of weeks. 

You needed him just as much as he needed you, and you wanted to savour his warmth and how sweet he tasted as long as you could. You were surprised at how his lips felt on yours because if you had told someone that the devil was a pretty good kisser, they would’ve thought that you had lost your mind.

But not Ju Haknyeon. He was different, and you were glad that you had given the devil himself a chance.

As you pulled apart to catch your breath, your tongues slowly untangled with a soft pop. You opened your eyes to take in the sight of him—his eyes glowing red, making him look even more irresistibly attractive than before.

“You didn’t reject it…” he panted. 

“Just like how you didn’t reject my lips, mister devil,” you challenged back.

“Hah,” he scoffed, rubbing his lips with his thumb. “You’re a needy woman.”

“Right back at you, Ju.” 

“Well then, one more?” 

“You’re damn right we’re going for another,” you smirked before pulling him down as you both fell back on the ground, reconnecting your lips with one another and savour it for as long as you possibly could before it was time to head back into reality in a couple of hours.

“How many people are completely healed?” The elderly shouted at one of the passersby.

“Two-thirds at this point, ma’am! We’re close to regaining our powers back!” 

“Well then, what are you guys waiting for? It’s about time we go help out the lake deity who’s exerting all her powers towards the sacred flower!”

Just as the elder had commanded, the people split into two groups: one headed towards the sacred flower to help purify the contamination, while the others stayed back to help the ones who were still too weak to stand up. 

With the unity of the entire tribe, you received far more help and support than you expected. The people of the land were able to channel enough power to sustain the flower’s life while you focused on purifying it. This saved you a great deal of energy, and the flower was already halfway restored, turning back into a bright, vibrant red.

“Only a little bit more! We can do this!” One of them shouted.

“That’s right! I’m sure our deity has sent the help we have needed for the past decade at this right time! Let’s push through, lads!” 

As you witnessed how the entire tribe came together as one to help save their homeland, you couldn’t help but hold back the happy tears as you was what you wished Ilana could’ve been here to witness it herself.

With that, you summoned your last ounce of strength and poured it into the hibiscus. Within seconds, the glow from your hands radiated outward, enveloping the entire flower. To your astonishment, the last remaining contaminated spot vanished into thin air, and the dark clouds in the sky dissipated as the bright sun shone down upon the tribe.

Immediately, the entire village erupted in cheers, with everyone hugging one another and letting their happy tears stream down their faces. The moment your eyes saw the outcome of your efforts, you finally let go of yourself before falling onto your knees, only to be caught by those warm pair of arms you love.

“I…I did it…I actually did it…” you said softly, looking up at Haknyeon, who returned this proud and touching look right back at you. 

“You’ve done so well, Y/N. You saved your people,” he praised before tightening his grip on you. 

You both took a moment to gaze lovingly at the people around you as you rested your head against the crook of Haknyeon’s neck. Your hands intertwined, you spoke softly, “This is such a proud moment for me. I feel like a proud mother watching these people finally reclaim their freedom after so long.”

“And they finally did because of you, Y/N. You deserve the credit.”

“No, Haknyeon. These people should deserve it after everything that they’ve been through. I’m just the lake deity passing through to provide some assistance.” 

Haknyeon simply smiled as he planted a soft kiss on your forehead. “Alrighty, Miss Y/N. Let’s go report back to the elder and check up on the rest of the people at the borders.”

“You’re right,” you stood up as you dusted your clothing. “Let’s go-”

“Maybe you should hold your horses right there, young lady.”

Both of you immediately shot up and prepared yourselves in defensive mode, scanning around to see where the source of that deep, taunting voice was coming from. However, it all seemed odd when the people were still cheering for their victory, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Until you felt a sharp pain in your neck, and it immediately turned into a cut as blood began oozing out profusely. You let out a scream as you fell to your knees—your vision began to blur from whatever had caused the injury.

What was going on?

Just then, grey clouds began emerging in the skies, and dozens of black swords fell from the skies straight to the grounds—the swords themselves turning into demonic creatures as they began holding all of the people captive. 

Then, a loud thunder began to rumble as a large sword fell straight upon both of you—and out emerged a tall, built devil. Judging by the look on Haknyeon’s face as he came into contact with whoever it was, you knew that it probably meant bad news. 

“Ah, Haknyeon. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? We definitely missed your company back in hell.”

“Balor. You shouldn’t have come,” Haknyeon gritted his teeth as he locked eyes with the man, both exerting their devil’s aura at once, taunting one another.

“Now, that’s not very nice to say to your senior, young lad. After all, I’m in charge of mentoring you the moment you ascend to the throne-”

“There will be no ascensions, and your mission ends here. I suggest you quietly bring your troop of men and leave before you try anything funny,” Haknyeon warns as he pulls out a katana and points it directly at his rival, getting ready for battle even if he had to harm his kin.

“P-Please!” Your voice squeaked, and both men turned their heads to you. “L-Leave these people alone…they do not deserve to get caught up in all of these…” you begged while trying to keep your balance and vision clear.

“My my, what do we have here!” Balor chuckled as he began swinging his spear playfully from left to right. “Who would’ve thought the Ju Haknyeon or soon-to-be Lucifer actually went to elicit help from the lake deity to change his fate? Hah! How pathetic!” 

Balor’s laughter erupted almost immediately, and you hated how much his voice stung and kept ringing in your ears. But thankfully, it didn’t last long till Haknyeon immediately charged in with his sword, and a full fight between the two devils eventually broke out.

Both of them were skilled enough that you couldn’t even see when their blades clashed against one another, and they were moving around at the speed of light. 

So this is what the devils are capable of. 

As much as you wanted to stop them, the injury you had sustained was far more gruesome than you thought, and your consciousness was slowly fading away until you felt another strong presence that had just appeared behind you. 

Instantly, the strong aura made your hair stand, and you froze in place as whoever it was leaned close to your ear and whispered just enough for you to hear.

“Who would’ve thought that you would actually escape my seal?”

The presence didn’t go unnoticed by Haknyeon as he stood utterly still—his eyes widened, and he saw who it was that had just come up to the surface.

“Lucifer…” he mumbled. 

"I suppose the rumors were true after all," Lucifer said, yanking a handful of your hair and lifting you like a rag doll. "The lake deity truly is the strongest among the five. My apologies for doubting your abilities."

“Leave her alone!” Haknyeon yelled at the top of his lungs, but he was soon stopped by Balor, who was now holding him down in one swift motion with his spear merely an inch away from his neck.

“Oh, my dear Haknyeon. We missed you dearly; you know that it’s bad manners to run off like that,” Lucifer growled, and your cries and pain only grew louder and more prominent the higher he lifted you up.

“Name your price, Lucifer. What are you planning to do? Leave Y/N and these people alone. This is a matter among us devils,” Haknyeon tried his best not to provoke the current Lucifer any further as all of your lives were at stake. Deep down, he was praying that whatever Lucifer had up his sleeves, it better not be the worst-case scenario that he had always feared from the back of his mind.

Sealing you away for good this time.

Time was ticking, and he was trying to come up with another negotiation if needed be. But it seems that Lucifer already had something up his mind, and he knew it could not be good.

“You know, Haknyeon. Maybe you should’ve thought twice before you ascended here on earth actually to find this stupid deity to change the prophecy.”

As Lucifer spoke his last words, he tossed you straight to the side before charging into Haknyeon—his claws piercing right through his chest, making him scream in agony. Lucifer then asserts an incredible amount of power into his successor—the power that Haknyeon had desperately tried to keep to himself broke free and finally consumed him as a whole.

His blonde hair gradually shifted to jet black, and his eyes glowed a permanent, blood-red crimson as the powers consumed him. The moment Lucifer set him down, he was no longer the person you once knew. He let out one final scream before the skies darkened completely, and heavy rain began to pour.

He was no longer human. 

Lucifer could only break into laughter at the sight of his successor’s transformation. He brought his hands together and applauded. “Behold, everyone! This is the new Lucifer, destined to be the lord of the underworld and rule here on Earth! But if you’ll excuse us, we have a ceremony to attend back in Hell.”

Lucifer then turns his head to look at you one last time before he slowly approaches you. “Oh, and I almost forgot. It’s only the right manners for me to dispose of trash like you.”

With a snap of his fingers, a black portal opened directly above you. He picked you up one last time and hurled you into the darkness.

You swirled through the void as if thrown into a rushing stream, screaming at the top of your lungs for anyone—or anything—to help stop this. But you were far from the village and the perpetrators, and the source of light was slowly fading away from you.

This was it. It was the end. You had failed the nation and Haknyeon. 

It was time to say goodbye to everyone and everything.

You had no idea how long you had been lying lifelessly on the shore. After being thrown out of the portal by the former Lucifer, you somehow found yourself near the sea, with waves crashing against you every few minutes.

In the beginning, you kept screaming your heart out as tears streamed down your face. You kept blaming yourself for everything that had happened. You were so close yet far from victory, and you shouldn’t have let your guard down when the creatures from the underworld infiltrated the people of the forest’s tribe.

You kept digging your hands into the sand, repeatedly dragging the material until your palms bled from the shards of broken glass and sharp shells that had accumulated over time.

You didn’t even want to think about what happened at the tribe. Those innocent people who had just escaped their worst nightmare were now back in the hands of the devil, and god knows what else they would have to suffer this time. 

Ilana’s tombstone. You really wished nothing had happened to your former comrade’s final resting place as you hope that she will no longer be in pain but be able to rest in peace. 

And…Haknyeon.

You’ll never forget the look of agony on his face when Lucifer pierced his heart and shattered the seal he had fought so hard to maintain. The way he transformed as the devil consumed him—his hair shifting from blonde to jet black, and his eyes turning a permanent blood-red—will be etched in your memory forever.

Every single time you thought about what happened to your fellow travel companion, the more you hated yourself. You both started off this journey with one sole purpose: you regaining back your strength and identity, and Haknyeon with his wish to change the prophecy. 

Yet, only one of you was able to achieve your dreams at the very end, while the other was now sent into the seven layers of hell to suffer his cursed fate. 

Suddenly, a massive wave crashed down on you as thunder rumbled in the sky, threatening to unleash a tsunami that could wipe out the entire shore. You floated aimlessly, struggling to keep your head above water to breathe, but eventually, the waves became too overwhelming and engulfed you completely.

As you sank deeper into the ocean, the light from above began to fade. Large sea creatures swam overhead, casting shadows that made your surroundings feel even darker and more desolate than before.

With that, you closed your eyes as you let yourself fall deeper into the depths of the ocean, not caring about anything in the world right now.

Maybe, you were just not fit to be called the Sacred Deity of the Lake anymore.

“Y/N? Y/N wake up, you sleepy head!”

Who’s voice was that?

Slowly, you began to open your eyes until the bright light was blaring right onto your face, causing you to rub your eyes for a bit before you could adjust your eyesight to look at where the source of whoever it was was coming from.

You looked around and your gaze finally landed on a woman standing just a few feet away. She had long blonde hair with hints of green highlights, and she wore a green dress that resembled leaves, adorned with blooming flowers at the hem. She offered you a warm smile with her hands tucked behind her back.

That could only mean one thing.

You immediately rushed and hugged her tight—resting your head at the crook of her neck. Tears began streaming down your face again until she returned the hug to you as she drew circles behind your back to help soothe you seemingly.

“Ilana…I miss you so bad…”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? We have so much to catch up on.” 

For the next few minutes, you just savoured the moment of being able to reconcile with your best friend and take in the scent you’ve missed so badly for the past several decades. The moment you both broke apart from the hug, you couldn’t help but reminisce back on the good old days and the teasing started almost instantly between one another.

You both talked about how you had a snowball fight once where you ended up destroying one of the rooms back at the shrine and challenged one another to draw the funniest faces possible on your fellow deities when they were asleep. 

It was great to take a step back in time for a bit, and you really needed that distraction from what was happening in the real world.

“I saw what you did for my people back there, Y/N. I can never thank you enough for that,” Ilana looked at you with regret in her green eyes, feeling awful that she couldn’t be there for her people when they needed her most. 

“Don’t be. It’s our responsibility, after all, to keep the nation at peace.”

Right after you said those words out loud, your friend seemingly stared at the ground for a couple of seconds before you had to ask if everything was alright. The moment she held her head high up again, the look that she once had with you when you both first reconnected was now replaced with a much more determined and serious look as she placed her hands on your shoulders.

“That also means that I have seen the aftermath of what happened right after my people were freed from the fate they have suffered for the past several decades, and I’m here to tell you something very important.” 

“I-Ilana? Is something wrong?”

“Y/N, the reason why I’m able to appear here in front of you is because I was able to transmit the last remaining powers I’ve had for this moment. I’ve elicited the help from Astrophel for this-” 

Ilana suddenly stops midsentence and turns behind to see the three figures slowly approaching you. Sure enough, it was the other three deities that also suffered the same fate, just as Ilana did.

“Indeed, Y/N,” Astrophel continues. “This is a subconscious space that I created right before we passed on, for we knew it would come in handy, especially in times like this.”

“Y-You all knew I would break free from Lucifer’s curse?” 

“Of course we did. You are the strongest amongst all five of us, after all,” Mahuika smiled as she gave you a thumbs up. 

“We have always left a small portion of our powers within you right before each of us was sealed away. It’s just a matter of us returning to you like this at the right time. And you did the right thing when you touched Ilana’s tombstone back at her tribe,” Zephyr commented. 

“That’s right, Y/N. We have seen the damage the underworld has caused our beloved people for the past several decades. But now that you have awakened your powers, it’s time to overthrow them and change history again.” Ilana concluded.

You couldn’t help but smile as you took in all of your former friends' words as you’d missed hearing their voices. However, you slumped your shoulders in defeat the moment they were done talking, and each of them looked at you with a puzzled look.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I fear that I’m no longer the lake deity that people once looked up to back in the day. I’m just a crippled, good-for-nothing deity who barely knows how to fight or control her powers no more. I failed to save the people of the forest and I- I also failed to keep a promise,” you choked back on your tears.

The other four deities simply turned their heads towards one another and gave each other looks before Ilana stepped forward to tilt your chin back up.

“It’s about Haknyeon, isn’t it?”

You gasped at the moment his name escaped from your friend’s mouth. Given that they mentioned how they’ve been watching everything that has unfolded until now, there’s no doubt they would probably have figured out the relationship between you two. 

“You know, I once had a dream about the God of Eternity warning me about the consequences of befriending someone from the underworld. If I had taken his advice back then, I might’ve been able to escape whatever has happened between us-”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Y/N.”

“Huh? What are you talking about, Ilana?”

Mahuika chuckled. “Who says we can’t change history and the norm? You befriend and help whoever you want!”

“Given that he hasn’t done anything but protect you up till this point, he’s definitely cleared in my books,” Zephyr replied confidently. 

“They’re right, Y/N. You need, or rather, will definitely be needing his help if you want to save the nation this time.” Ilana grip on your shoulders tightened. 

“But how? He’s no longer human and has completely turned into Lucifer himself. There’s nothing much he could do anymore…” 

“I would take those words back if I were you,” Astrophel points up as a piercing light shines down from above.

Suddenly, the consciousness of all four of your former deities began to fade, and you could no longer feel their hands on you. Panic set in as you frantically rushed from one to another, pleading with them not to leave you behind after all the years you had desperately tried to reconnect with them.

“Fear not, Y/N. We will be with you in your final battle. All we ask is that you trust yourself and in Haknyeon,” the four voices echoed before they eventually faded away.

With that, a large, dark hand descended from above and pulled you out of your space. You must have blacked out for a moment because when you came to, you found yourself back on the shore, watching the waves gradually calm after the storm.

It was then that you noticed you were lying on something much softer than sand. You felt a pair of arms resting behind your back and on your thigh.

And that scent. You will never forget it, especially how you’ve been travelling together for weeks. 

The moment you locked your eyes with him, you jumped up and hugged him as tightly as you possibly could as you rubbed your cheeks with his. He responded in the same way and planted a soft peck on your cheeks but never fails to make a teasing comment just like he always did.

“I do not recall that either of us would give up before we achieved what we wanted to.”

“I-It’s not that…” you sniffled. “I’m just taking a dip in the ocean.”

“More like you were drowning to me,” Haknyeon spat. 

“What matters is that you’re here now, and you’re alive and well,” you quickly kissed him once on the lips before you had to pull apart and bow your head down at him. “I-I’m sorry…I wasn’t able to help you change your fate…because now you’re-”

“That’s not my main concern right now, Y/N.”

You titled your head back up. “It’s not?”

“Well, for one-” Haknyeon grunts as he tries to stand back up. “-we need to go clean up the mess in the underworld before anything else. Those creatures would definitely catch up soon now that their king is dead.”

King is dead?

Wait. Does that mean?

“L-Lucifer is gone?”

Haknyeon turned his head down to look at you as he shuts his eyes. “He died in my hands, yes. Honestly speaking, he was a lot weaker than I thought. He was the one who awakened my powers, and yet he died because of it. How ironic, isn’t it?” 

You couldn’t believe your ears. You realised that the person right before you was now the current Lucifer, who had just overtaken the throne. He definitely gives off this darker and more sinister aura than before, but you knew that deep down, he was still the same person you have come to trust and love.

“Though I wouldn’t be so sure about Balor,” Haknyeon commented. 

“You mean the commander?”

“He’ll be our last enemy, Y/N. And we’ll be fighting him till the very end.”

“Woah woah woah, hold up. What do you mean ‘we’?” You stopped him in his tracks, hoping that what you’d heard was just a hallucination.

But it wasn’t. Haknyeon simply smirked before he opened up a portal, grabbed your wrist, and led you to it. “You don’t expect me to die alone in battle, do you? I’m going to need a partner-in-crime for this. Also, someone to heal my wounds after the battle is over.”

“Look at you being all confident saying you’ll win this,” you teased. 

“So, are you coming with me, my princess?” 

Oh, hell no. He did not just use that word against you.

“Name your price first.”

“Well, you can either join me or you can go have another dip in the tsunami. Your choice.”

You sulked. “You’re no fun. You just want me to suffer either way.” 

“It’s the only two options available now, Y/N. But I promise, we’ll be in this together till the end.”

That’s right. You were finally going to make things right, and your former deities promised to be with you in your final battle—each of their remaining spark of flame and powers nestled within you.

Taking a deep breath, you intertwined your fingers with Haknyeon and closed the gap between you two.

“Lead the way then, king of the underworld.”

“W-What is this…” Doyle stammered as he walked closer to inspect the huge pile of ash that lay on the throne. The moment he touched those ashes, it only left a permanent burn that felt so hot as if he had just tasted what it feels like to fall straight into the burning fires below.

“That, my fellow soldier, was what used to be the king or at least his remains,” Balor answered while polishing his spear as he placed it straight into the fire to let it burn for a couple of seconds before taking it back out.

“I-I don’t understand…how and when did all of these happen?” 

“Let’s just say that you can ask the gentleman who’s standing right behind you right now,” Balor threw one of his kunais straight towards Doyle’s direction before it was intercepted by a katana knocked it straight to the ground.

“Sacrificing your own soldiers just to kill me? You really are worse than Lucifer himself,” Haknyeon gritted his teeth as his devil aura began exerting excessively, giving Balor a death stare. 

You figured that since Haknyeon was in his own territory, he was definitely able to exert twice as much power as he did back on earth, and whoever wasn’t careful would undoubtedly lose their head to the current lord of the underworld himself.

“These foolish demons are nothing but pawns, just like Lucifer, who fell at your hands. He was far worse and more useless than his predecessors.” Balor stepped forward, pacing in circles at the center of the chamber. He taunted Haknyeon, beckoning him with a gesture to approach the stage for a duel.

“Something tells me that you’ve waited all these years for this very moment, for Lucifer to die that is.”

“Of course, young lad. I wasn’t about to get my hands dirty from killing him. Sure, he was an easy job, and I could’ve done it during the war. But what better for him to die under the hands of his successor; now that’s a scoop that’ll go down in history.” 

Haknyeon was slowly getting ticked off by his demeanour, and he immediately unleashed a large amount of power onto his sword, engulfing the katana in flames. 

Balor did the same, but his flames burned a dark purple instead. When both men reached a standstill, they charged at each other without hesitation. Their blades clashed in a relentless frenzy, and you struggled to keep up with the action as it unfolded before you.

You knew that you weren’t just going to stand there watching, so you armed yourself with your very own katana as you turned behind to face the hoard of army that was ready to skin you alive.

However, you have come prepared this time, and you’ve gotten help from your fellow deities within you. Focusing all of your energy at once, you glistened with a blue light surrounding you as you pointed your katana straight at the devils themselves.

“I’m not here for a fight, though if you insist, then you’ll have to suffer the consequences of my blade.”

As soon as you announced your intention, the entire army charged at you. You quickly got to your feet, striking them down one by one. Thanks to your purifying abilities, the demons evaporated into thin air upon contact with your blade.

Before long, you began to hear the voices of your fellow deities within you, each infusing their powers into your blade. With Zephyr's energy, you created a swirling vortex, while Astrophel’s power transported some demons to another dimension.

Mahuika’s flames were far hotter and more powerful than those surrounding the chamber, reducing the demons to ash with your blade's touch.

With Ilana’s power, you infused poison into their bloodstreams with every cut, causing them to collapse to their knees, suffering the effects of a toxin that could never be cure

Then it came down to your own powers. Channeling all your strength, you summoned a water dragon that coiled around your enemies, purifying them in an instant.

After clearing the path, you were left with a sole survivor with his back glued to one of the pillars at the very end. You recognised who it was as he was the one tagging along with Balor when you first encountered the male back at the tribe.

However, he seemed terrified, and he was in no shape to fight back. Instead, he quickly got on his knees and lowered his head, begging for mercy.

“P-Please! Please spare me! I have nothing to do with this!” 

“What makes you think that I should listen to you? You’re a demon from the underworld,” you posed the question as you rested your katana against his neck. Doyle begins sweating profusely, and you can tell by the sweatdrops that fell right onto your blade.

“Balor was never our leader! Donovan was! And we never wanted to have anything associated with him!” 

You narrowed your eyes. “What do you mean by that?” 

“H-He’s far more notorious than Lucifer ever was…and he has done far worse than what we know in the books. He must be eliminated if we want to prevent another war from happening,” Doyle cries out in desperation as he says those last words.

It definitely took a little bit of time for some convincing, but you decided to test out what he said was true. Grabbing hold of his arms as you pulled him up in one swift motion, you pushed him right in front of you with your blade situated right behind him.

“Lead the way to the chambers, then. And don’t try anything funny.” 

Doyle did precisely what you had proposed with his hands up as you both made your way into where Haknyeon and Balor were still going hard with one another. Instead of catching them still in battle with one another, both were now kneeling on the ground—breaking out in a cold sweat and trying to stabilise their breathing. Evidently, they had used up much of their strength, and it would be now or ever to end this duel.

“I must say- dear Haknyeon- you’re a lot stronger than I thought you were-” Balor panted as he used his spear to get back up on his feet. 

“I commend you for holding out for this long- nobody has ever lasted more than a minute when sparing with me-” Haknyeon challenged as he too slowly got back up and positioned himself carefully, trying hard not to lose his balance. 

However, both you and Doyle’s presence didn’t go unnoticed, and Balor wasted no time making use of his telekinesis power to move Doyle right in front of him with his blade piercing right into the side of his neck.

Both you and Haknyeon were shocked by what had happened and were about to make a move until you stopped what Balor had said next. “If you want to kill me, then you’ll have to kill this pathetic demon first.” 

You didn’t even need to hear Doyle’s cries as you could read the message from his mouth.

Please, save me.

Something in your gut just tells you that he would be a worthy comrade to save and potentially be of great help in the near future. You also wanted to trust the look in his eyes when you first confronted him before coming into the chambers. It looked sincere, and you knew he was here at the wrong time. 

Especially with everything you had been through with Haknyeon, not all devils and demons are just as bad as you’ve heard from the books. 

With that, you swiftly turned to look at Haknyeon before giving him a nod—signalling him to help distract Balor while you prepare for the final blow. Given that you still had the power of the four deities within you, you were going to focus all your energy at once and unleash them all with one final shot.

Thankfully, Haknyeon got the message and redirected his attention towards his enemy—charging straight into him while being careful not to harm Doyle in any way.

You only had one final shot and needed to be careful as you aimed at the demon from above. Balor notices your efforts and simply mocks you right there and then. 

“What can a useless, crippled deity like you do anything? You barely have any powers left within you after the battle back at the tribe!” 

You ignored his comments while he struggled with Haknyeon to focus and aimed at his weak spot. You desperately scanned through for an opening until you noticed a little reveal of his skin right at the top of the left ribcage, and it also had a scar that was about a century old. 

This was your only chance. Standing tall and firm with your sword at the ready, you took a deep breath and infused the entire blade with the combined powers of the five deities. Then, you leaped onto the platform, aiming directly for Balor’s weak spot.

However, you should’ve known this wouldn’t be as easy as you thought. What you thought was a scar was a seal—it kept him alive for so long as no contamination or abilities could ever harm him.

“Remember what I told you, young lady. You’ll never defeat me like this.”

Just then, Haknyeon scoffs as he forcefully pulls down Balor’s collar and positions his now sharp claws right onto the seal. “And this is when your overconfidence will kill you, just like Lucifer did.” 

The moment Haknyeon slashed the wound wide open, the seal immediately broke and the contamination from the air went straight into Balor’s body—causing him to scream as he pushed Doyle to the side before falling straight down to the ground. 

It was evident that the air was too much for his centuries-old body, absorbing far too much power than it could ever handle. Balor’s body immediately darkened and created a cracked appearance throughout, giving him little to no hope of recovering back to normal.

As you were distracted by everything, Haknyeon grabbed your hand, holding the katana while his other hand rested on your shoulders. You immediately divert your attention towards him as he reassures you with the look he has in his eyes.

“It’s our chance, Y/N. Let’s end this.” 

The second you nodded, you both dived straight towards the enemy and plunged the sword into the seal. The powers of the deities were far too strong for anyone to fight back against, and you both immediately backed off as far as you possibly could before he eventually exploded into ashes. 

With that, Haknyeon finally falls onto his knees as he lets go of the aura and powers he has been exerting throughout the battle, and you hold him in your arms. You both simply took the time to regulate your breathing before resting your forehead against his.

“It’s over…it’s all over now…you can rest… Haknyeon,” you sobbed as you ran your fingers through his jet-black hair, still glad it felt the same and just as soft as before. 

At that moment, Doyle approached you both and bowed his head in admission of defeat. Gently, you lifted his chin with one hand and rested the other on his head, channeling some of your remaining healing abilities into him. Instantly, his wounds began to heal, restoring him to his former self.

But that action only left him speechless. “Why are you helping me, Lake Deity? I’m clearly your enemy…”

Instead of you responding to the male, Haknyeon does it for you as he grabs onto his collar to pull him close and whisper into his ears.

“Don’t die on me now, lad. Because I’m going to be needing your help from now on.” 

The three of you then broke out into chuckles, and you stared at these two males before you before you looked straight up and closed your eyes shut.

“Thank you my fellow deities, you may all rest in peace now.”

“Oh my gosh! Did that really happened?” One of the boys shouted.

“Of course not! Who says the devils and humans can actually get along! It must all be a fairytale,” another child retorts back at the question with his arms crossed, shutting down any possibility of that ever happening. 

However, the children were simply cut off with a chuckle from the priest as she stood up with her kagura suzu in hand. “Now, I wouldn’t be so sure about that, my dear. After all, I am able to see anything that happens in this world and even below with my very own eyes. A priest never lies, doesn’t she?”

“Well then!” Another boy stands up as he walks closer to the priest. “How can we know that whatever you told us was true?”

Just then, a dove seemingly appeared from the skies, flying straight down to rest on the priest’s extended arms. The bird simply exchanged a few chirps as if it were talking to her before she let it go. 

“Perhaps you should head to the people of the waters to ask the Lake Deity herself, then.”

As the dove flies high in the skies, it spreads its wings wide and swiftly makes its way to where the tribe stands proud in the presence of their Lake Deity. This time, it seems that all four tribes are also gathered together as the crowd cheers with the few selected individuals on stage.

The moment you came up on stage dressed in a sky-blue kimono, the other four individuals already waiting for your arrival immediately bowed down to welcome your presence. As you cleared your throat to indicate that the crowd could lower their voices, you began your speech immediately. 

“To the people of the nation that I truly love, I am here today to bestow upon you your new deities! It will take a while for us to truly restore the peace in this nation, but fear not as your new deities will surely be here to guide you along the way.” 

As you finished your opening speech, you simply walked in front of each of the selected ones from each tribe, holding your hand out and resting it on their heads—transferring the last remnants of your fellow deities' powers into them to create a whole new generation of successors. 

Anala, the one who becomes one with the fire.

Cielo, the one who dances with the wind.

Orpheus, the one who controls space. 

And finally, Evanthe, the one who resonates with earth.

The moment you successfully transmitted all of the powers to everyone, the four individuals stood up as they bowed towards you, and you returned the same favour. “I look forward to working with all of you in this new generation.” 

The crowd immediately erupts in cheers as they finally get their deity after decades of pain and suffering. You could tell that everyone was eager to start rebuilding their tribe and make things right again. As you looked at these four new deities, you couldn’t help but smile as a single teardrop fell from one of your eyes. 

Mahuiaka, Zephyr, Astrophel, and Ilana. May your legacy continue on with these new young ones.

Once the ceremony has ended, your very own people from your tribe wasted no time to get the party rolling as a carnival was up and ready for each of the tribes to reconcile and get to know each other better, just like it used to many years ago. 

The elder was in charge of overlooking the entire event as he was busy trying to get all the servants to go around, ensuring nothing was amiss. Thankfully, your tribe were pretty much the outgoing ones, and you have managed to catch your eye on how many of them seemingly grabbed hold of different people from the other tribes to eat to their heart's content or even dragged them up on stage to dance. 

You simply sat on one of the rooftops as you savoured the moment, smiling as if they were your children who were playing and getting along well with everyone, as if you were a proud mom.

Your peace was short-lived as you were interrupted by a thump from your side, and you didn’t even have to turn around to look at who it was. 

“You’re late,” you commented.

“Not my fault that I’m now in charge of the underworld. A king’s got matters to deal with, just like you being a full-fledged deity now.” 

“So, what brings you here today? Since you said you were so busy dealing with your matters.”

Haknyeon simply scoffs. “What? Now I can’t even make time to come up and visit my own lover?” 

You scooched closer as you intertwined your fingers with him. You hated how your heart always melted upon those sweet, cheesy words he would say about you occasionally. “You could’ve come watch me at the ceremony, too.”

“God, you’re a demanding one.”

“And what if I am? I just want some love and attention after working so hard on my own,” you sulked before Haknyeon pulled you in for an embrace. “Okay fine, I gotta commend you on that. You truly have changed so much, Y/N. The nation will be saved once again all thanks to you.”

“Yeah, but not everything,” you sighed as you pushed Haknyeon away briefly. “I didn’t manage to help change your fate, after all.”

“Look,” Haknyeon pauses mid-sentence as he cups your face. “We’ve talked about this before. There’s no need for you to apologise for that. We defeated Balor; that’s what matters. Besides, the underworld is looking so much more different under my rule than it was centuries ago.”

“Well, I guess both humans and the devils being actual comrades is something that we have changed history about. And you know what, Haknyeon?” You looked at him with this smug look on your face. “I guess you do look so much hotter with jet-black hair. It pairs well with your leather jacket, too.”

“What? Are you just going to sweet-talk me and embarrass the shit out of me? If that’s the case, I’m leaving-”

“No~” you purred while clutching his arms tightly. “Don’t leave me just like that~”

“You’re being extremely clingy tonight, and I don’t know if I should be afraid of that or not.”

You simply smacked his arms to teach him a lesson. “It’s your fault that we can’t see each other often.Just let me enjoy this tonight, okay?” You rolled your eyes back at the male before leaning down to rest on his shoulders. 

Both of you stayed like this for a while until the fireworks started going off, filling the night sky with vibrant colours. It was also part of the saying where people tend to get sentimental when they see things like that, and that was exactly what Haknyeon decided to say to you as he tilts your chin to face him.

“Thank you, Y/N. For trusting in me since the day we’ve met and for showing me how being the devil himself isn’t all so bad, after all.” 

As much as you wanted to retaliate with another teasing comment, you decided not to break the wholesome moment you both had by going a different route instead. 

“Right back at you, Haknyeon. Thank you for giving me a purpose to live again.” 

The moment you finished your sentence, Haknyeon pulled you in for a kiss, and you pushed yourself forward to make sure you savored up the taste of his lips once again. It definitely felt different from where you both shared your first one back at Ilana’s tombstone, and you were glad that the kiss has much more of a deeper meaning this time. 

His fingers gently glide through your long, silky dark hair while his other thumb pushes your lips down so that he can gain more entry for the kiss—both of your tongues intertwine with one another until it becomes a battle of who’s able to hold on for long. 

When you two broke apart from the kiss, you simply rested your forehead against one another and stayed like this for a few seconds–enjoying the peace while the fireworks went off in the background.

“Please tell me you’re staying for the night,” you panted.

“Only if you want to,” Haknyeon responded. 

“And then we’ll go on a picnic date tomorrow morning?”

“That is if Doyle promises to bake the macarons in time. He says it’s some sort of ancient recipe his grandparents had passed down to him and you’re the lucky one who’s going to be taste tasting it for the first time in centuries.” 

You simply chuckled at that cute comment about Doyle. You loved how he has also become part of both of your lives now that he has been promoted to being Haknyeon’s right-hand man. 

“But what if I get a bad reaction from his macarons?” You teased.

“Then I’m tossing him into the flames, and he can perish for all I care.” 

You simply shook your head at your lover whenever he made sarcastic remarks like this whenever Doyle was mentioned. He knew you fancy him, and sometimes it gets a little too overboard (according to Haknyeon himself). Knowing that jealousy doesn't look good on Lucifer, you decided to devise something reassuring to keep him on track.

“I’ll also make you your favourite tangerine jello cake tomorrow if that counts.”

“Does Doyle get a piece or not?”

“Nope, just for you. But he’s getting a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies if that’s okay.”

Haknyeon simply smiled at your cute comment, and he was just so happy to be the luckiest man alive and have someone like you by his side. No matter the differences between you two, you are now part of one another, and you will change history by making both humans and devils be part of each other’s daily lives from now on.

Just like that, Haknyeon plants one more kiss on your lips before cuddling you in his arms as you two watch the last batch of fireworks together for the night.

“I look forward to our date tomorrow, then. I love you more than you could ever imagine, Y/N. And I will never let you go any more, and I hope you’re prepared for that.”

A/N: yall my laptop crashed so many times while writing this i really hope yall will love this work as much as i do 🥹💗

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hey y'all. long post thingie but it's got cute pictures so please check it out

TRANSCRIPT OF POST

hey frens got something kinda somber to talk about. most of you are very aware of the existence of my beautiful fiance and co-creator of basically everything i do. zae and i are getting handfasted (marriage for pagans) in october, and have been living together for about 10 years. in 2021, zae got really fucking sick, and after a few false starts, was diagnosed with a rare for of vasculitis called granulomatosis with polyangiitis, GPA for short. it’s an autoimmune disease that causes inflammation in blood vessels and other tissues, ultimately stopping blood from getting to the parts of the body that need it, affecting many areas, but primarily the respiratory system. while the cause isn’t known, it usually presents in people in their 50’s or 60’s, but complications from a third bout of covid-19 appears to have made it emerge way earlier for our boy. at least, that’s what we think. his case is extremely aggressive, advancing faster than anyone could have expected. in zae’s case, it actually attacked his kidneys first, and then went after his lungs, causing both to threaten shutting down for good. he was extremely anemic and needed a ton of transfusions, narrowly avoiding dialysis, and we spent weeks in the hospital keeping him alive. he was placed on two different kinds of chemotherapy to combat the disorder. he lost his hair, went through even more fatigue and pain on top of what the disease had already put him through, and had to accept a plethora of changes to his life that will last forever. a lot of you out there have harrowing experiences of your own when it comes to chronic and potentially terminal conditions, too, I’m certain. “it’s not fun” is an understatement. though there were a couple of really fucking close calls, zae’s GPA went into remission. his hair grew back fuller and more luscious than it had ever been before. (i later learned these are affectionately referred to as “chemo curls.”) remission for gpa is usually expected to last at least 5 years, potentially up to 20, before any symptoms resurface. but zae’s case was particularly aggressive, so of course he’s not so lucky. he’s relapsing now. his symptoms have been slowly returning, and it’s been decided that he’s going back on chemo. it’s no surprise that this shit is expensive, even with insurance. we’re still paying off the care he received last time because ‘murca. being disabled myself, work has been… let’s call it inconsistent, yeah? yeah, that’s a nice and comfortable thing to call it. no one’s doing well financially these days, so we of course have to get creative. long story short(er), i’m doing a commission special! for the next MONTH, i am offering fast commissions at crazy-low prices to try and help us create a cushion to keep us afloat and relatively comfortable while we begin the chemo process again. there’s several options for a variety of budgets, because i really hate the idea of seeking something for nothing, and i absolutely abhor having to reach out in this way. it makes me feel vulnerable and icky and… i’m sure you all understand that, too. i can’t thank you all enough just for following me, and engaging with mine and zae’s work. it may sound trite, but that really makes a difference to us, especially when we’re dealing with something so painful. so if you can’t or don’t want to partake of the sale, please know that you are still a huge help to us, and we seriously appreciate each and every one of you. like, so fucking much. thanks y’all love, fletch

END TRANSCRIPT

Commission Options:

Flash Sketches: $5USD/character

Comics: $5USD/panel - flat color

Comics: $10USD/panel - shaded color

Screenshot Redraws - $15USD/character (complex bgs, add $20)

all of this is posted with @zaebeecee's knowledge and blessing

please DM me if you're interested in something, and thank you again

more Hungry Games, fic fanart, and Persona stuff coming soon too

[keepingitformyself]

we might just get away with it (i)

A/N: hey all!!! this is the first part of my first ever series, i’ve had this one in the drafts for a while and i’ll try my best to update it as much as i can. a-lot of this first part is just setting up readers life until their eventual meet with natasha (who goes by natalie rushman in this) this is an AU. HOPE YOU ENJOY!!!! i had a lot of fun writing this one.

ALSO: in honor of scarlett johansson opening an instagram account.

synopsis: hollywood is a tricky place for someone new like you, a certain elusive redhead is hoping for you to let her in.

pairings: writer!natasha romanoff x youngactress!reader

genre: fluff.

warnings: none.

part two found here. part ii

please do not repost my work anywhere for any reason at all. if you do see this happen to any of my stories, please let me know. thank you x.

—————————

you hadn’t been in the dating scene since you graduated college two years ago. it was a long time to go without going on a proper date with anyone, even your mother had called at one point to voice her concerns on why her only daughter hadn’t brought anyone back home to introduce.

truth be told, the mere idea of a relationship really stressed you out. especially now that you’ve been working tirelessly since the second you left college. the week after graduation your plane had already been booked four months in advance when you found out you landed the role for a lead in a film.

you left your hometown in texas and flew to la for a three month shoot. it was only in post-production for five months before the first teaser dropped and two months later the film finally hit hbo max to stream.

the success of it was enough to earn you an online following. people within the industry had reached out in hopes of getting to know you or even work with you. and now people knew your name enough for you to have been stopped a handful of times during grocery runs.

it was back to work in getting auditions and doing things that kept your artist mind flowing. it wasn’t too long before you landed a role for another lead in a netflix series.

the director of the series was a well known one. greta gerwig, it was her first time directing for tv as opposed to film, she told you she was truly impressed by your delivery in the film you’d been in months prior. you felt incredibly lucky to have even been thought of for her leading girl.

you told her you were a fan of the work she’d done. how you truly cherished her way of encapsulating the female experience through her writing and directing.

she smiled gratefully and said she hoped you’d be willing to accept the role she was practically offering to you, you knew she was just teasing. no one was stupid enough to let an opportunity like this pass. you said yes without hesitance.

it was a lot more intimidating this time around.

you were set to shoot for six months in london. a whole different country thousands of miles away from friends and family. you left home two months later.

greta was amazing, the sets were amazing, the cast was amazing, the crew you were especially grateful for. you made sure they knew that by ordering a free coffee and pastry truck to set every friday.

some of it comes as a blur to you. it’s easy to get lost in the craft when you love it so much, your mother told you once. you worked tirelessly often times worrying the ones around you but you promised you were fine. it was very easy for others to say how lovable and playful you were while still being able to maintain the professionalism that was needed on set.

it’s what they loved most about you. so it was no surprise to anyone when there started to be some conversations involving you, the star, and the series.

there had been mutterings between crew and even your own cast-mates.

you were in the city today, sat outside a corner coffee shop in mayfair. devyn, a cast mate of yours, and self proclaimed local, offered to show you around london.

‘i heard gary, one of our light technicians say that he heard the producers talk about how they’re expecting a huge rollout once they start announcing the series.’ devyn said as he sipped on his latte.

‘what do you mean?’ you took your eyes off the busy street to look at your cast mate.

‘you’re an absolute powerhouse in this series, you know that right?’ he told you seriously. ‘everyone sees it, there’s no doubt this show is gonna get big. they’re already expecting it to be.’

you cringed at his words, you were never good for taking compliments. ‘oh god, please stop.’ he smiled with a shake of his head, a look on his face that screamed, you’ll see.

turns out devyn was definitely not talking out of his ass.

greta had started to pull you out for meetings with the producers. they spoke to you about how netflix was willing to go all in for promoting.

greta told you herself, ‘although netlfix will definitely be a big help, i think just the show on its own is already set for a very promising release.’

they had you sign contracts and explained to you what would happen once filming was over. 1. you’re gonna go home and take a well needed three month break. 2. prepare yourself for what’s to come. 3. then you were to be called back in for promo shoots and teaser reels. 4. get ready for the big premiere.

‘it’s gonna be a lot, there’s no way of knowing the scale of success this will reach except that it will be huge, and a lot of that will be you.’ tony, one of the producers told you. greta along with everyone else in the meeting nodded to his words.

‘yeah, some stills from some of the finished scenes released a few weeks ago. it’s easy to say a lot of people seemed to make noise from that.’ rhys, another producer said.

your blood ran cold. although it was easy to say you were proud of how far you were able to come on such a short notice… it also sort of felt like a lot was being thrown at you all at once.

you maybe had an idea of what your life would be looking like afterwards. you remember seeing all sorts of opinions once it was found out by the world that you’d be the next lead for greta gerwig’s first ever series.

mostly everyone was excited. greta on her own was an insanely talented writer and director, people were happy to hear she’d be turning to tv and seeing what she’d come up with. you remember the week following the announcement feeling a little overwhelmed, all due to the men in cameras who had followed you around for a week.

‘rising actress Y/N Y/L/N seen leaving her west hollywood condo ahead of reports saying that she’s been casted for the lead in greta gerwig’s next directorial project.’

you’re thinking that maybe life will look like that but multiplied by a thousand, but you’re hoping not…? the success part will be great. why wouldn’t it be? it’s all you’ve ever wanted. to be a successful actress. but at the expense of having your life put on a pedestal? it was a very tricky thing to play at.

greta gave you a smile, almost teasing, like she knew the big secret that everyone else didn’t.

she leaned forward with her arms crossed on the table. ‘once this is over, it will never truly be over. are you ready for it?’

nothing could have ever prepared you enough for what would come with the release of the series. if you thought everyone knew your name before, they definitely do now.

the release of the series was just seven months after you finished filming it. it definitely had a huge rollout like everyone else said it would. you don’t remember much of the premier either. it was a bunch of flashes and getting asked questions. as soon as you got home you knocked out cold.

number one in seventy three countries was a lot. you wouldn’t even want to imagine the amount of people it took to watch you for that to happen.

but with the success of the series also came a huge amount of scrutiny on your personal life. within the week of its release you’d had an influx of followers on any social platform they could find you on.

apparently that still wasn’t enough. people were itching to know more about the new girl that had come out of nowhere and stolen their attention in just a week.

it was all very scary. it was all mostly positive, at least the things you’ve seen and been shown. your agent and team did a great job at keeping you away from all the bad. you still knew it was all there though. people loved you but people also really disliked you.

you’ve also come to learn that people chronically online are insane. especially if you give them something to hyper fixate on, you knew of the tweets and posts people had been making of you. it made you absolutely freak out how fast people were to find out every little thing there was to know about you in such a short time.

‘i want you to go home for the week. not home in LA, home as in with your mom.’ samantha, your agent, told you. samantha along with your publicist fred, had seen firsthand what was being said online. she’s been in the industry long enough to know how ugly it can get for the victims, you were young and she wanted to protect you from that as much as possible.

‘i called your mom, she’s already expecting you home by tomorrow morning. your plane leaves at midnight.’ you nodded gratefully. the tension in your shoulders had slouched a little after hearing that. you missed your mom and you were scared as shit right now.

samantha was there in the uber when you were dropped off. she bid you goodbye and told you she’d call you for details on the next flight back to LA. ‘rest as much as you can, the press tour is gonna hit real hard.’

now came the insanely difficult part. the week back home went too fast and now you’re on a plane back to LA where your agent and a stylist were awaiting your arrival.

as soon as you’re off the gate a beefy man in jeans and a polo helps to escort you towards your luggage and eventually the car. ‘ma’am, just a heads up. there’s paps.’ he tells you before quickly ushering you out the glass doors and into the suv.

you don’t remember much after that. just that as soon as you arrived to your condo you were quickly pushed into a room with a stylist and pushed into another car after that.

the week had gone fast for the amount you’ve been doing. you’d met up with your cast-mates for the first time in a while and you were happy for that. most days it was just going to interviews answering questions, promoting, playing question games, more questions, etc…

it was finally friday. but promo was far from over. ‘you’re flying out tomorrow morning to new york and then we’re off to europe for the week.’

tonight was the huge post-premier party for the series. it was expected that there’d be quite a few well known names attending tonight aside from the cast. although a part of you was dreading another night of questions and just overall socializing, you knew it was needed to network.

cameras flashed in your face and people shouted your name upon arrival, but people were quick to let you in. ‘there’s a lot of people who want to speak with you.’ samantha tells you. you nod and put on your best brave face for the night.

samantha lingers around you as you cycle through speaking with all kinds of people. producers, actors, writers and the like. the first two hours fly by and things have reached some sort of stasis by then.

you’re in the middle of a conversation with some cast mates when tony— who you recognize as one of your producers— walks up to you with a redhead in tow.

‘the woman of the hour!’ he raises his arms to hug you.

‘i have to introduce you to natalie! she’s an excellent writer!’ the redhead next to him who you now know as natalie lets out a dry laugh at the man’s words. he was very obviously drunk.

and you see now that she is very obviously attractive.

she takes a few steps towards you and sticks out her hand for you to shake.

‘i hear you’re the talk of the town. have not stopped reading about you online.’ the smirk she wears makes you appreciate her beauty even more.

it was true. you were everywhere— in the tabloids, the headlines…natasha indulged in every single piece of information about you that she came across.

she also might’ve convinced tony to somehow introduce you two when she found out he was working with you.

she was a fan since your last film, and as a working screenwriter for film and television, she caught a bit of inspiration from seeing you on her screen.

‘i’ve gotta say, i was really impressed by your performance in this show. greta is a long time friend, she did good in choosing you.’ natalie compliments.

‘oh, thank you! it was a pleasure to work with her…she’s great.’ you cringe at your words. you still aren’t any better at taking these compliments no matter how many you get.

natalie smiles at you in silent understanding. she’s picked up on the small awkwardness that underlies the conversation.

you let out a low huff and motion towards the bartender to get you a shot of tequila. natalie quirks an eyebrow at your order but doesn’t question it.

‘do you want a drink?’ you turn to natalie with a smile. not only is your social battery slowly starting to diminish but talking to someone like natalie will have you saying nonsense.

you figure you’ll need a drink if you’re gonna continue to speak with her.

‘a diet coke will do me right. i’m driving home tonight.’ she says, the bartender nods and fixes your drinks.

an hour later and the drinks are sure to have calmed you down. in fact they’ve done more than just calm you down.

natalie and you spend a long while talking about anything and everything. you bond over being major nerds when it comes to philosophy. she tells you about how she double majored in philosophy and english at nyu.

‘my love for english had always existed but after taking a philosophy course my freshman year, it’s like i needed to write about these things that were talked about. i needed people to see what i thought about.’ natalie explains to you.

you’ve come to enjoy natalie despite only have met her about an hour and a half ago.

you tell her about how you were a huge thespian in high school and entering college, how philosophy was an added bonus when you figured out they both go very well together.

you’re grasping her arm as you explain it to her.

‘i mean genuinely i would hear so much about aristotle in my ethics class and then he’d somehow be connected to creating the 6 elements of a play! how crazy is that?!’

natalie is trying hard to concentrate on your words. you’d think it’d be a lot easier for her given the fact that she hasn’t had a single drop of alcohol…but all she can pay attention to is your lips. how they’ve now plumped up slightly due to your drinking.

she’s completely smitten with you by now, and she’s just met you. you’re definitely not like what the internet makes you out to be. for the most part, it really is just the alcohol in you.

you continue to ramble on.

‘honestly, i think socrates is good guy— like he has some great ideas but it’s kinda annoying how he thinks his way is the only way and he makes it his entire personality— ugh hold on i need to go piss.’

you’re clearly too drunk to care about what words leave your mouth. natalie doesn’t seem to mind it— and quite frankly neither do you.

‘do you need help getting there?’ natalie is quick to ask. all in good intentions, of course.

‘uhhh, yeah.’ you’re quick to agree. you have a rule, always travel in pairs when alcohol is present.

your arm is hooked to natalie’s as she helps lead you to the restrooms. it’s here when you get a slight whiff of her. you cringe at how weird you think of it in your head.

but she smells awfully appealing. like suede, lemon and a fireplace. all combined.

‘you smell really nice,’ you say, too worried about your bladder to care.

you feel vibrations of a chuckle leave natalie, you smile when you see her smiling too.

you nearly run into a stall as soon as you’re in the seemingly empty bathroom, thank god, you think. pee anxiety is a real thing.

you feel a little more level headed after doing your business. natalie waits by the door staring as you dry your hands.

‘feel better?’ you hear her ask.

‘much,’ you smile, a drunk one, your mind a little hazy.

‘i had a fun time tonight, with you, i mean.’ you find yourself saying.

she quirks an eyebrow. you continue.

‘i’ve had a really stressful past few weeks, it was nice to just…drink and talk knowing my words wouldn’t be plastered on some magazine issue the next day.’ you finish. your body is still buzzing. the alcohol making your body slightly move in place. but nonetheless you feel oddly content.

natalie smiles. a really big one.

‘i’m glad i could help take the edge off,’ she says.

you chuckle, turn to the mirror and make sure your makeup is still in place. a ding from your phone makes itself known, indicating a message. you dig through your clutch bag to get it.

we’re leaving now, you have an early start. plane to nyc leaves at 7:35am.

the text message from samantha reads.

you huff.

‘sorry to cut this short, natalie. my presence is needed near the entrance. i have to be in new york tomorrow before noon.’ you smile apologetically

she smiles. a part of her wasn’t surprised at all. you’re you, and everyone wants to be around you. she was surprised she even had your attention for more than an hour.

she nods. ‘i get it, can i ask why though?’

‘interview with fallon, i think.’ is all you say before you step closer to the redhead and press a kiss to her cheek. you think nothing of it.

‘truly, it was lovely to meet you natalie.’ and she doesn’t have the chance to reply before you’re out the restroom door.

natalie realizes she never got your number.

two days later, she’s made it back to her home in new york. natalie decides to shake off the jet lag with late night televison and a glass of wine in hand.

ironically, jimmy fallon is on.

‘please welcome…!’ and she sees you appear before her.

she is so captivated, she doesn’t realize she’s finished the bottle of pinot grigio next to her.

stupid as it sounds, this is when natalie rushman decided she wanted to be a part of whatever world you were creating for yourself.

[broomsick]

Holy spaces & shrines in the modern norse path

Before we dive into the oh-so-diverse topic of holy spaces, let me first specify a few practical tips!

I’m very much aware that the definition of the term “holy” is deeply subjective and varies depending on one’s opinions. I’ll elaborate on a few of my thoughts on the topic further!

In no way are you bound by any rule regarding this aspect of paganism.

I will base my post off of my research, granted, but also on my personal experiences and practices!

Now, what makes a holy space sacred? Not necessarily "holy" per say, but simply sacred.

The very first factor to consider is, what is sacredness? Lots and lots of pagans engage mostly in solitary practice, so much is true. Which is why lots of us find ourselves gravitating towards spaces others may not necessarily find any sense of "sacredness" in. The corner of your room where you tend to pray the most? Sacred. Or the spot in your garden where you perform your harvest ritual every year! It’s the connection we feel to the space that makes it sacred in the first place. But a space being holy depends on whether or not we choose to anoint it in such a way.

When something is sacred to me, I tend to feel a sort of spiritual pull. A swelling of the heart, if you will, like the feeling I get when faced with a breathtaking landscape. The feeling of spiritual connection to a particular spot is the first intuition one needs to tune into when choosing a holy space. After all, staying in tune with one's intuition might be one of the most important aspect of any spiritual practice.

Within nordic practice, a holy space is often called vé, a sacred enclosure. Vé's are attested in numerous toponyms as well as ancient texts, such as Beowulf, or the Skáldskaparmál. Their omnipresence in Scandinavian toponyms might, when considered through a pagan lense, signify something quite interesting: the holiness of a space depends on the space itself, its location, rather than what's inside it— or rather, how grand and ornate it is. When building a holy space for oneself, one does not need lavish decoration, or an elaborate shrine with the gold foil and the statues.

However, there are a few steps one can follow in order to anoint a space as holy, if one wants to reconstruct a few practices from pre-Christian Scandinavia. Although I'll specify that as always, no rule is set in stone when it comes to neopaganism. The choice to abide by them or not is entirely up to the practitioner. And in any case, even as I was gathering these few ideas, it was clear that, as always, pre-Christian practices centered around holy spaces vastly differed depending on the place and the time. Regardless, I think it's fun to do some research on the topic in order to reconstruct on our own terms a holy space in the nordic tradition.

The first step? Having a good knowledge of your area. Both before and during the Viking Age, holy places were more often than not located outside. It can be a great help to know where to find the greenery in one's area. Is there a beach near home that the public has access to? How about a large park where you can spend some time alone without being bothered? Even your backyard does the trick! Anywhere you can see the sky and breathe the open air is already perfect. Now, the Germanic tribes would generally worship near an object of particular importance, such as a grove, a body of water, a clearing in the forest, a hill... Although this doesn't seem to be very present in historical attestations, and considering I'm devoted to Yngvi-Freyr, I'm an especially big fan of worshipping in plains, or fields!

I think it's important for me to note that if you are lucky enough to live near a body of water, you can choose to engage in one of the most popular forms of offering in nordic historical practice: throwing offerings out to sink into the water! This practice was especially widespread, evidence of it having been found as far as Britain and Iceland. Evidently, if one chooses to engage in such a practice, it's important to respect the ecosystems and stick with offerings that won't damage them (acorns, stones, flowers and the like). As for an outdoors shrine located in a forest, or near woodland, it would have been customary during pre-Christian times to center a holy space around a tall tree, perhaps representing the World Tree Yggdrasil.

Considering lots of neo-pagans prefer to keep their practice discreet, it goes without saying that the holy space of your choosing does not need to be especially big, nor especially decorated. It can be as small as it is humble! One of the spaces where I most like to worship is the little corner of the yard, tucked under a cedar tree, where I rebuild my hörgr every year, as soon as the snow melts for good. Nothing too flamboyant!

Now, the second step to building a little outdoors shrine for yourself is to choose a representation of the deity to adore. It's said that the human-like appearance of this representation mattered little to the Germanic tribes, whose representations of the Gods could be rather simple, and not especially ornate. For this reason, it would be perfectly logical to even choose an object associated with the deity in question to serve as the main representation placed in the sanctuary. If we're talking about Freyja, a falcon statuette, or feather could do the trick! As for Fenrir, any wolf imagery could work as well! In the case of Thórr, one could replicate the case of Donar's Oak and choose to center their shrine around a particular tree (the rowan are the oak would make the best choices, if one is to pick a tree sacred to Thórr). These are just examples, and the possibilities in this regard are limitless. This "main" representation can be used as the center of your sacred space, and given offerings during rituals or celebrations. In my case, I like greet this representation both when "entering" the sacred space and when leaving it, as a sign of respect!

If one so desires, it's possible to set up some kind of "delimitation" in order to mark the entrance of the sacred space, or its outline. I like to place either ribbons on nearby branches, or litter stones here and there to lie in a loose circle (we wouldn't want to block the rays of the sun from reaching the earth and keep the greenery from growing). In order to signal the entrance of shrines, the Germanic tribes would generally use heaps of dirt or pillars of stone, among other things.

Another intresting element one might include in their sacred space is the presence of fire! Whether this be a bonfire, incense, a simple candle or even just a handful of ash, there's lots of ways to include the "element" of fire into a modern day shrine. It's a means of warming up the space, so to speak: tending a fire in the shrine is akin to having a hearth in the home!

Ideas for common, historically attested offerings: Ethically-sourced animal bones, gold or golden jewelry, tools, representation of the Gods, beads and beaded jewelry, alcohol, food and meat…

Now, let's pull away from the history lesson and let's dive into modern, neo-pagan practice! I'd wager some of you are wondering, how exactly can one keep a whole shrine, but make their practice as low-key as possible?! After all, I know firsthand that solo practice is especially common among neo-pagans. So my answer to this question is, who said anything about keeping? One piece of advice I've already given to a few fellow pagans in the past is to create a little portable shrine all to yourself! Let me explain myself: you arrive at your chosen location, you put down a basket full of decoration and you put up a temporary space in which to worship for an hour or two. You take out a deity representation, a few candles (if they're allowed on site!), a handful of offerings and a cloth on which to place them. And when you're done with the ritual, you pack up your things and make sure you leave the site as clean as when you first found it. In other words, what I’m suggesting is the possibility of gathering a few designated worship items in order to make oneself a portable, personal little shrine! It might seem like a silly idea at first, but I’ve discovered it’s not only a fun habit, but it’s also greatly helpful on a tight schedule to have a quick and easy way to engage in outdoors practice.

As always, I wrote this post aiming to help fellow pagans find ways to balance historical practice and modern, solo practice! I hope these few ideas did the trick, and wish you all a good and plentiful spring season!

First picture

[jennaimmortal]

Hey OFMD friends! There’s a few little things (and one big thing) I’d like to try to clear up based on a number of discussions I’ve seen in various places.

1. Stede understands sex & sex references. When he responds with “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” or something similar, that’s a posh people thing. They pretend they’ve never heard of sex whenever it’s brought up in public or with strangers. Just weird aristocrat things! But Stede knows. He’d definitely had plenty of (likely not very pleasant) sex with his wife, and he’d very likely had other sexual experiences as well. More importantly, though, he’s a voracious reader! The man likely had a whole stash of filthy, bawdy novels & books of poetry. There was PLENTY of it, even back then!

2. Ed & Stede’s inn is NOT on the same island as the Republic of Pirates. They’d never settle on an island currently occupied by British military. They sailed away from the Republic of Pirates & went to a totally different island.

3. Frenchie is the new Captain because he was already First Mate, so there was no reason for them to take a vote. Yes, the crew chose Olu in 1x9, but that was when they were mutinying against Izzy & there was no official First Mate in place. The crew don’t seem to have any qualms about Frenchie’s abilities (so far anyway!) It will be a lot of fun to explore that dynamic in S3.

4. Zheng’s very likely only going to be with The Revenge until she finds one of her remaining ships that weren’t in the Republic of Lirates harbor when Ricky attacked.

I’m hoping, though, that we, the audience, will get lucky enough to keep Zheng with them for a while before she does find one of her own ships. I definitely want to see some shenanigans with The Crew, Zheng, & Auntie, including at least one raid. Fingers crossed!

The one BIG thing:

There are MANY disabled characters on the show. Wee John has mobility issues & chronic pain. Lucius is an artist & scribe w an amputated finger & also has chronic back pain. Swede has scurvy. Jackie’s right hand is a prosthetic.

It’s extremely important to understand that all disabilities are relevant no matter how visible they are. There has been some very harmful discourse about disability representation surrounding Izzy’s death & it really needs to stop. A HUGE percentage of disabilities are invisible. Those of us (yep, myself included) with invisible disabilities have had to fight tooth & nail for basic recognition & acknowledgement, let alone benefits & proper medical treatment. We’re still fighting & it’s a major uphill battle!

Let’s not give more ammunition to those fighting against us by claiming that Izzy’s disability was the only important one.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk! 💞

[ho-4-sho]

when i'm in an especially bad place i tell myself “the karasuno boys could never” but the other day i stopped and reflected bc there’s no way that’s true.

so, without further ado, find out if your favorite karasuno boy has …

✨ d e p r e s s i o n ✨

tw: depression.

asahi - the most clinically depressed person on the team and he cannot figure out how to manage it properly. has tried like 4 different meds and none of them work right. if he misses a day or even just takes them a few hours late he’s a total wreck from the side effects. also he defo needs a new therapist bc his doesn't structure visits in a way that is helpful, but one of asahi's issues is people pleasing so he can't break up with him

tsukki - ceo of “have you looked around lately? of course I’m depressed,” except it's been like that since the end of primary school. he doesn’t think he’s actually depressed (he is). and even if he was, it’s not like it’s bad enough that anyone would prescribe him medication for it (they would). hates the thought of medication because he’s afraid that he won’t feel like himself. his brother is his number one supporter and is quick to remind tsukki that he would drop everything for him if need be

yams - part of why he and tsukki are so close is because yamaguchi can empathize with him in ways other kids their age can't. it's a big part of why their friendship is so strong. sure, tsukki stood up to his bullies and that is a big part of why yams feels comfortable around him, but yamaguchi makes tsukishima feel comfortable by never making him feel the need to explain himself. even if they think and express themselves differently, yams gets him. v different experiences tho, i mean, they're wayyy different people. the empathy yams has for others because of his depression is not tsukki-specific, but he kind of tunes it out in his bullying era because he cares about tsukki and he can't go back to how things were before. that said he for sure can't fall asleep sometimes thinking about whether his not standing up for someone/egging tsukki on makes him just as bad as his own bullies all those years ago. yams is medicated, but unlike asahi, the first medication he tried was a perfect fit lucky bastard

suga - even though suga is the perfect mom, his parents think that kids these days are too soft and that medication won’t solve anything. definitely got a soft diagnosis from a school counselor or at an annual doctor’s visit and waved it off since he knew it isn’t something he can think about too seriously. is quick to take other people's struggles very seriously though

bonus (if you can call it that) - not from karasuno:

oikawa - similar to suga, his parents (specifically his dad) don’t believe in mental health as a concept. unlike suga... lowkey... oikawa has some old-fashioned thoughts on therapy, but it's just bc he knows he needs it

tendou - this man has been in therapy since like kindergarten. we've all seen his flashback. also depression exacerbated by adhd im not projecting, you’re projecting.

kenma - i needn't say more.

author's note: i know this is a difficult subject for a lot of people and i hope that this is helpful in some way like it was to me. don't listen to oikawa's dad. your mental health does matter (very much) and i am wishing you all the best <3

[criticallyacclaimedstranger]

All Good Things [a Joel x f!reader fic]

Read on Ao3

Fandom: The Last of Us

Ship: Joel Miller x you/cishet female reader explicitly over 50.

Tags/warnings: This takes place after season 1 but nothing bad happens, everybody's fine, Ellie and Joel are cool. Teasing, Joel is a soft sub/switch, Joel and reader have aches and pains, vaginal dryness and erectile dysfunction mention, cunnilingus, unprotected PiV sex, creampie, Joel is a master of vaginal health.

Summary: You and Joel may be middle-aged and sex may be something of a challenge sometimes, but all good things come to the ones who wait.

Words: 4,768

My masterlist

”I hate that fuckin’ rooster.”

You agree with Joel’s throaty mutter as you blink your eyes open against the first light of day. It’s nice and warm underneath the covers, and Joel’s got his heavy, thick arm thrown over you, but just as you’re about to fall back to sleep, the obnoxious cock-a-doodle-doo from next door rouses you enough to fully open your eyes.

”It’s effective, though,” you yawn before stretching until several joints pop. Joel only grunts, sprawled out on his belly, face buried deep in the embrace of the pillow, arm around you. He’s not a morning person, and here in the safety of Jackson, he can afford the moments of laziness before taking on the day’s chores.

You turn towards him and press a quick kiss to his forehead before inching out of bed, Joel keeping his hand on you for as long as he can before you get up.

”Get back here,” he grumbles, but you just smile on your way to the bathroom for a quick shower. When you reemerge, Joel’s sitting up, feet planted on the floor, scratching his neck with one hand and his soft belly with the other.

”Leave any hot water for me?”

”Don’t I always?” You give him a playful little slap on his ass when he gets up and drags his feet past you to the bathroom. He glares at you, but you’re already on your way to the kitchen.

The smell of coffee lies strong when Joel comes out of the shower, a towel around his hips. He putters around the bedroom, picking up his clothes from yesterday, turning inside out and then back again, sniffing the armpits, discarding something to the laundry basket, deciding something else is okay to wear. You watch him quietly through the open door, thinking how very normal and domestic this is. How long it took you to reach this. How lucky you are to have Joel.

He arrived in Jackson with the girl barely a year after you. You had settled quickly, he took his time. He was difficult to approach, and he mostly spent time with Ellie and his brother. You worked a lot with Ellie, taking care of the sheep, and once she seemed to decided that you were trustworthy, she started to open up a little about what she and Joel had been through. At Maria and Tommy’s place, you had seen the little memorial to Maria’s kid, and Joel’s.

You didn’t have a plaque like that yourself, for which you were thankful. Had the outbreak not happened, who knows, maybe you would’ve had a family. As it was, you and your boyfriend got separated two days into the catastrophe, and you never saw him again. Since then, you had focused on survival. Sure, there had been comfort sex, a couple of times. It was never good, but it had provided escape, if only for a moment.

It was different with Joel. When you started hanging out with him, sex was the last thing on your mind. You had accepted that you’d probably go without for the rest of your life, and you were okay with that. You barely even masturbated: it took too long for you to get off, it wasn’t worth the loss of sleep. Then Joel came along, and you found that your interest in sex awoke again when he kissed you the first time.

Turns out, you were both old enough and damaged enough to find sex difficult. Joel’s knees are bad, your back is shot. Even without those problems, your first time sleeping with each other had been such an embarrassing experience that the only thing that kept you from never looking at each other again was exactly the thing that caused your complications: your age. You had been able to laugh about it, what little there is to laugh about vaginal dryness and erectile dysfunction, and then talk about it. Because lube and Viagra were luxuries of the past, you just had to make it work on your own. You may not enjoy sexual penetration as often as you’d like, but you had a good life together, you and Joel, better than you thought was possible, considering the circumstances.

Joel’s cute little ass disappears into a pair of boxers, and he pulls on a t-shirt. You feel something stir inside of you, and you put down your coffee mug, instead going straight to the bedroom to embrace Joel from behind. Hugging him tightly, you inhale the scent of clean man, and sawdust from his t-shirt.

”I love you,” you tell him quietly. Joel finds your hands on your chest, and take them into his own. His big, strong, capable hands that have hurt and killed countless people but are now callused from building futures for the community.

”I love you too, darlin’.” His voice is still raspy but there’s no mistaking the sincerety. When he turns around in your arms and faces you, you see a soft smile on his lips.

”Hi.”

”Hi,” you reply with a similar smile before leaning in and nipping at his lips. The taste of mint lingers on his lips: he brushed his teeth before breakfast, like he always does. You sometimes wonder about these small things: what in his early life made him take to this habit? To you, brushing your teeth before coffee makes no sense. Joel doesn’t seem to reflect on it, and you don’t bring it up, because it doesn’t really bother you.

His lips are soft, and they part willingly when your coffee-soaked tongue gently prods in-between them. You slowly move your hands over his back, then down to his ass, and his hands mirror the flow of yours. The kiss deepens, as does the tingling sensation in your core.

You break the kiss just as Joel lifts his hand to the back of our neck to bring you in closer. Stepping back, you throw him a teasing smile.

”Plenty more where that came from later tonight, cowboy,” you tell him, and Joel chuckles.

”Is it gonna be like that, huh?”

”You’re damn right it is.”

You return to the kitchen and finish your coffee. It’s time to go milk the goats.

///

You don’t see Joel again until lunch, which is taken in the communal dining hall. You and Ellie have been tending to the animals and arrive to eat together, finding Joel already inhaling the food on the plate in front of him. You set your tray down across the table from him, and Ellie takes the seat next to you. As you sit down, he throws you a warm smile.

”How’s your morning been?” you ask. He stuffs his mouth and nods, humming approvingly. You taste the soup, finding it heavenly, and tear a piece of the breadroll to dip into the bowl.

As you, Joel, and Ellie enjoy small talk, the tip of your boot touches Joel’s considerably larger footwear and moves up his ankle and calf. You haven’t played foosie since you were twenty or something, and doing it in boots isn’t maybe as arousing as slipping you bare foot between his thighs, but you do your best. When Joel realizes what you’re doing, he falls quiet and stares intently at you while chewing.

”Hey, are you even listening?” Ellie demands his attention, and without breaking eye contact with you, he nods.

”Sure.”

Ellie looks from him to you and shakes her head. ”Whatever, man.”

He gathers the rest of his soup broth on a piece of bread and pops it into his mouth, his eyes never leaving yours. A drop of brown broth gets stuck on his lower lip, and you lean over the table to wipe it away with you thumb. Your heart is beating fast, and when you sit back down and put your thumb in your mouth, you see his nostrils flare.

”Gross,” Ellie mutters, takes her tray with her now empty bowl, and gets up. ”Get a room, you two.”

”Sorry,” you shoot after her, your eyes not leaving Joel’s.

”No, you’re not.”

When you’ve finished up as well, and have left the dining-hall, Joel pulls you in behind the building. Pressing you gently against the fragrant timber wall, he covers your mouth with his.

”You make me weak at the knees, sweetheart,” he murmurs. You taste the same garlic on him that you know is on your breath.

”You mean weaker than they already are?” you smirk, and Joel punishes you for your jab at his bad knees with a little bite of your lower lip.

”Bad, bad girl...”

You giggle and wrap your arms around his neck, kissing him like a teenager, enjoying the rather tame excitement of making out in a place where you could be seen, but nobody would care. The community is loving enough not to give a damn if two consenting adults are kissing each other in the middle of the day.

When you finally part swollen lips, both panting and like jelly in each other’s arms, Joel leans his forehead to yours.

”You wet?”

”You know I am.”

He places a little kiss on the tip of your nose. ”Hold that thought ’til tonight.”

”What do you think I was doing?”

He chuckles, warm eyes soft as he looks at you.

”I gotta go back to work.”

”Yeah, me too,” you nod, and both of you start a slow, unwilling detangle from each other.

”Don’t work too hard,” you tell him before parting. ”You’ll need your strength tonight.”

///

A few hours later, you take a break from your own work, and take some coffee and snacks to the building site Joel is on, along with a few other men. You stand for a while and admire the confidence with which he, board by board, erects a home for someone else. When he takes a step back to inspect his work, you step forward. His critical gaze turns soft the second he sees you.

”Time for a break?” you suggest, holding up the basket. He wipes his palms on his thighs and turns his broad frame towards you.

”You’re really butterin’ me up today, aren’t you?”

”Tryin’ my best.”

You put one arm around his waist and give him a quick kiss.

”I missed you,” you murmur into his good ear as he slides his hands over your waist. ”Missed your hands, your mouth...”

”Baby...” he breathes, but then his head jerks up as his fellow builders show up.

”We interrupting something?” Charlie grins.

”Yes,” Joel deadpans, but you turn around to face the men unphazed.

”I brought coffee and cookies.”

”Much obliged, ma’am,” Sam nods, and you hand him the basket. Hand on Joel’s back, you steer him after the men. Knowing how hard he works every day, you’re keen on him taking a break. Soon, all of you are sitting on the porch steps, drinking coffee and eating butter cookies. The men are talking about this and that, and you have found a knot in Joel’s shoulder and are carefully working it open. He doesn’t say much, but you can see from the relaxed line of his jaw and smooth forehead that he’s enjoying himself. When the men are getting ready to go back to work, you lean into Joel and whisper:

”You like my hands on you, don’t you?”

He exhales audibly, eyes flickering to your face after a quick glance at the men. His eyes under the eternally knitted brows are smoldering, and they set off the pull in your core.

"You're gonna make me take a long break, sweetheart," he tells you in a low voice. "Take you home and bed ya."

"In the middle of the afternoon, Mr Miller?" you grin, and close your eyes when he leans closer to nuzzle your neck. His bristles scratch the sensitive skin, and you shudder.

"Like we had no responsibilities at all in the world..."

He doesn't take you home and bed you, of course, but goes back to work after a kiss and another look that just about consumes you. You return to your own chores with a damness in your panties.

///

"Are you two gonna be gross again?"

You laugh at Ellie's question as she stands by the table holding her tray. Joel, who is next to you, keeps his dignity.

"Most probably."

She takes the risk, though, and sits down with you. Tommy and Maria join you as well, Tommy carrying their one-year-old Samuel. You all enjoy dinner and the conversation, Joel's hand only sporadically rests high up on your thigh, hidden by the table. After you've eaten, you take a moment outside the dining hall, talking and laughing until Samuel grows fussy and needs to be put to bed. Maria and Tommy excuses themselves, Tommy asking his brother if he's up for a drink later on.

"Nah, long day," Joel shakes his head, as his hand slowly moves from your lower back to your ass. "Early night for me."

Tommy and Maria wish you all a good night before walking away, and Joel's hand finds the back pocket of your jeans, sliding in and cupping your ass. You smile at him and put your arm around him, cupping his flat ass with your hand inside his back pocket.

Ellie looks from you to Joel, and shakes her head.

"You're not 14 years old," she grimaces.

"Neither are you," Joel reminds her, "so act your age, and deal with it."

"You telling me to act my age?"

"Whatever." The discussion is over for Joel's part. "We're callin' it a night."

"Good. I'm going to see a movie, and I don't want you two kissing in front of me."

"Good night, Ellie," you smile at her, knowing that Ellie's just ragging on you out of love. When you turn around and start to walk home, she calls out a Good night, and you hear the affection in her voice.

"Messing with teenagers is fun," you giggle, and Joel pats your ass.

"They're easy to upset," he agrees, pulling you closer. "But I don't wanna talk about Ellie anymore."

As soon as you get home to your little house, he pushes you up against the door, chasing your lips.

"Been thinkin' about this all day..."

You'd reply something sassy, but he has your mouth covered with his, tongue plunging in greedily, and you put your hands on his cheeks and slide your fingers through his hair, tugging at it at the back of his neck. He crowds you with a gentle urgency against the door, kisses the breath out of you, his own hot breath disappearing into you. His facial hair scratches and burns the skin around your mouth before long, and you savour that burn.

His lips are swollen with kisses by the time they leave yours, and he cups your cheek and strokes his thumb over it as he looks into your eyes, like he's trying to remember the shape and color of them. You smile, making him smile as well, and then you put your hands on his shoulders and start to walk him backwards towards the bedroom.

You turn on the bedside lamp for soft light. Joel tries to unbutton your plaid, but you shake your head and catch his wrists in your hands.

"Let me, baby."

Exhaling deeply, Joel lets his arms hang down and watches you as you start to pop open the buttons of his denim shirt. When you lean in to caress it off his broad shoulders, you press your lips to his in a kiss that you let bleed onto his cheek when your lips continue their soft brushing along his jawline. You sneak your hands underneath his t-shirt, caress the soft swell of his stomach before running your fingers up his sides. Joel nods his head down so that you can take the shirt off, and as soon as his head is free from the garment, you press your lips to his again. It's more playful now, the way you fondle different parts of his naked upper body and pour your smiles into the kisses, and he smiles back and tries to cop a feel of you.

"You in a hurry there, cowboy?" you tease him between the kisses, and Joel hisses softly when you pinch his nipple.

"Just want you so badly."

"I know, I want you too..."

You unbuckle his belt and push down his jeans and underwear, ghosting your hand over his still soft cock. He doesn't want too much attention to it, that only stresses him if he can't get it up, so you go back to kissing him while squeezing his ass.

"I should be doin' that t'you," he grunts between kisses.

"But now I'm doin' it to you..."

He ends up sitting on the bed, and you untie his shoelaces and take his boots off, then pull his pants off. You then push him down on the bed, take a step back, and start to slowly unbutton your shirt.

Joel sighs deeply.

"Is that how it's gonna be?"

"It is," you acknowledge with a smile. It's not going to be a sexy You can leave your hat on striptease, you're too old and jaded for that, but you're going to get undressed in your own time, and Joel can only watch.

And he does watch. He watches your every single move, mouth open and eyes slightly glassy. Each revealed inch of skin is noted, and by the time you're taking your panties off, you can see that he's getting hard. He doesn't like too much attention on his cock before he's fully hard, it stresses him, so you keep eye contact, and crawl into bed. You straddle his hips, settling your warm, dripping core over him.

Joel groans and his hands come to a rest on your thighs.

"Darlin'..."

You put your hands over his and make him squeeze your flesh.

"You wanna touch me?"

"Want nothin' else."

"You can, but I get to choose where."

You have to smile at his frown. Joel doesn't appreciate not being in control. His love for you and trust in your capability to make him feel good makes him accept your terms, though.

You guide his hands up your sides and under your breasts. Having passed the age of 50, you're secretly thankful you didn't have to age in a world of glossy magazines telling you the various ways in which your body is wrong. You don't have to compare yourself to lingerie models or the neighbor's young hot wife, who has a better job and tighter tits than you. You are alive, you are doing your part in Jackson, you are valued, and you are loved. Sagging tits and excess fat mean nothing, especially to Joel.

You let him cover your tits for a second before moving his hands to your hips, and his subsequent whine of frustration almost makes you feel sorry for him. You lead his hands back to your chest and let him fill his hands with your tits as you bend down to kiss him. A muscle in your back twinges, making you hiss.

"Babe?" Joel is immediately concerned.

"My back," you hurry to reassure him, "it's fine, I'm good."

"We could switch," he offers, "before you hips start to act up too."

You're already feeling a strain in your hips from sitting astride him. Getting older sucks.

"And what would you do to me if I agreed?" you smile sweetly, feeling his dick twitch underneath you.

"Treat you right," he replies a little inelegantly. Joel's not good at the talking bit, but he tries.

"Yeah?" you prompt him softly, touching your lips to his. "How?"

"I'd eat that pretty pussy of yours..."

You clench around emptiness. "Yeah...?"

He kisses you softly as he bends one knee, lifts his hip, and very gently slides you off of him. You rearrange yourselves, intertwining arms and legs as he rolls onto his side, facing you, and your lips meet again. You can feel your pulse in your core by now, a long day of anticipation finally catching up with you.

"Will you let me?" Joel now breathes against your lips, and you hum your approval. He immediately gets up on one elbow and starts to kiss his way down your body, pausing around your breasts to gently fondle and bite.

"Pretty," he murmurs, mouth full of soft flesh, sending heated tingles through your body and making your pussy clench. You thread your fingers through his hair until he takes your hand and holds it down on the bed. When he finally has had enough and moves down to the apex of your thighs, his breath on your folds alone makes you chew your lower lip.

"God, Joel..."

"Like it when you sound like that," he lets you know, his arm sliding around your thigh. "Now, just lay back and take what I have to give you, darlin'..."

The first lick melts you immediately, the second stokes the fire within. When you're fisting your hands into the sheet underneath you and moaning his name, he slides two fingers inside your dripping pussy. Your hips twitch at the intrusion, and he soothes you with broad, slow laps of his tongue at your clit, his fingers crooking to touch you just right.

"Joel..." you keen, "yes, there, please..."

He massages that spongy spot inside you, slowly and steadily, knowing that he can't rush this if he wants you to orgasm. It's difficult for you, maybe from the many years of living in fear, maybe from the same amount of years of no sex, sex drive, or romance. When you and Joel started exploring sex together, you were astonished by how horny you could be for another person while simultaneously finding the mechanics of sex so difficult. It surely hadn't been this complicated twenty years ago.

But both you and Joel were adamant to make it work, and that's what he's doing now. Your mouth is dry from panting, your thigh muscles are tensing up, your mind is going blank as you let his ministrations take you higher and higher. Painfully near the final soar, your hands clamber for Joel's at your hips, finding them and holding on tightly as you let go, your legs stiff as a board as your hips jut up, your thighs pushing shut, Joel's scruff suddenly too much on your sensitive skin. Your blood rushes and you let out a long, moaned sigh as your legs tremble before relaxation floods your muscles. Joel places one final, soft kiss on your clit before dragging his lips over your thighs, up your hip and over your stomach where his tongue dips into your navel. You hum, almost purr from his care, and when your eyes blink open, you find him smiling up at you.

"Beautiful," he murmurs. You release one hand from his and pass your fingers through his hair, then cup his cheek. He turns his face a little so that he can kiss the palm of your hand.

"Perfect," he whispers against your skin before your hand sneaks behind his head, and you pull gently to beckon him up, to you, to your lips.

His lips are covered in your slick and you lick at them, suck his full lower lip into your mouth, let your hands get lost roaming his broad shoulders. His cock is heavy and stiff against you, and you feel a surge of yearning within your core. The day of teasing, the foreplay, his service to you worked as it should: he's fully erect, stiff as a board, and it's so sexy that you think you're going to go crazy just from thinking about it.

"I need you," you whimper, pulling him down over you as you spread your legs to accomodate him. "Joel, I need you inside me."

"Can you take me?" he asks hoarsely, fingers running down your body to your weeping sex.

"Won't know for sure unless we try," you manage to quip, and he grins at you before pressing his lips against yours again. Kissing you deeply, he nocks his cock at your slick lips, rubs the head against your clit, then starts to push it in. The kiss is filled with moans, yours and his mingling with tongues, and despite your wetness, he's a lot to take. Still, you encourage him to fill you completely, your arms around him hugging him in, in, all the way in until he bottoms out, and stills. He breaks the kiss and draws back to gaze into your eyes. You smile, blissfully full.

"I'm okay, baby, I'm okay, you feel so good," you reassure him, words coming out breathlessly. Joel groans, head dropping to your shoulder.

"Darlin', you're killing me..."

He starts to slowly move his thick cock inside your embrace, lips open against your shoulder, teeth scraping without biting. You answer by wrapping your legs around him, left hip protesting a little but you don't care, you need him deep inside, need to feel that tight drag, need him to understand just how good it feels when he loves you like this.

"Harder," you beg, "take me harder, Joel, I want to feel all of your big cock."

He moans at that, his hot breath burning your skin.

"Can you take it?"

"I can take it."

He thrusts hard into you then, making you catch your lower lip between your teeth, your chin rising and one arm coming loose from him to brace yourself on the headboard.

"That hard, huh?" he smirks with his lips against your ear, and you chuckle breathlessly until he starts to fuck the smile off your face. Shifting his weight, he reaches for your hand braced against the headboard, and you let go to instead clasp his hand as he continues to steadily chase his release with one deep thrust after another.

"So good, darlin'," he gasps, "you're so good to me, fuck, I wanted to do this to you all day, wanted to bury myself in your warm pussy..."

You're all his when he talks to you like this. Joel finds the words when he's drunk on you, not before. Grinding into you with purpose, he keeps moaning out filth like this into your ear until his breathing becomes too laborous and his movements too  irregular.

"Come," you beckon him as he crashes his mouth to yours to swallow your words, "come, baby, come, I want you to come."

His moan when he empties himself deep inside of you is a helpless sound of surrender. You wrap your arms around him and hold him tight, forcing him to lay all of his weight on you. His quick heartbeats echo against your own ribcage, but slow down as his breaths become deeper and more controlled. You stroke his hair, thinking briefly how extraordinarily lucky you are. Pressing a kiss to his forehead, you rouse him from his rest.

"Go piss," he murmurs, and you have to laugh softly.

"Is that the first thing you tell me after sex?" you tease him. His lips quirk before he presses them to your cheek.

"I love you. Now go piss."

"You're on top of me, Miller."

"Hasn't stopped you from knocking me on my ass before..."

He does, however, roll over, freeing you up to find your bearings and get out of bed. After having used the bathroom, you return to bed where Joel is waiting for you underneath the covers. You turn off the bedside lamp and join him, letting him gather you into his arms and sighing deeply once the two of you are settled.

"Okay?" he asks quietly.

"M-hmm," you yawn, nuzzling his neck. "Sleepy."

"Me too."

Silence descends along with the darkness, and you're almost asleep when Joel speaks again.

"Hey?"

You murmur to let him know you're listening - just barely.

"I'm still standing."

You murmur again, not understanding. Joel takes your hand and leads it to his crotch, closing your fingers around his thick, sticky shaft. That makes you open your eyes.

"Oh..."

"You did that," he groans when you start to rub him slowly.

"I don't think so."

"Yeah, you did. All that waiting all day..." He moans when you drag your thumb over the head. "Baby, can you...?"

You smile at the wonder and anticipation in his voice. Twice in one night has happened before, but never this soon, never like this. You grow wet and heavy in an instant. To hell with sleep deprivation and sore joints.

"I can."

[animeloverskylarmoon]

Mayuri Kurotsuchi (Bleach) -Oneshot

You weren't certain how you got so unlucky. Ichigo always told you that this captain was a psycho. You should have taken it more seriously. Because when you discovered your abilities, the Head captain assured you that they would be able to help to avoid another breakdown like you had in the world of the living.

Splitting a building in half.

You were scared. Terrified that you would hurt someone. You'd gotten lucky that the structure was abandoned, but the next time you wouldn't be as fortunate. So here you were, in the soul society, hiding.

"I just need to make it to Rukia, then she can open that freaking portal and get me out of here."

You had one meeting with Mayuri Kurotsuchi and that was enough. He went on a tangent about all the experiments he wanted to conduct and it became clear that he had no interest in helping you hone your skills.

"There she is Nemu."

You flinched from your spot behind the wall. You weren't even offered a chance to run.

"W-Wait!!"

"Knock her out."

With a swift tap to the back of your head, your vision faded.

~~

"Such bothersome creatures, humans."

You were laying on the table and Mayuri moved closer, holding the needle.

"Master, if you'd explained to her that we were actually trying to help she might have been more willing."

Mayuri just grinned.

"Everything I do has a purpose. Powers such as hers are typically more prominent when she's in fear. I was merely checking to see if I could urge a fraction of that energy. I was right. You saw it didn't you?"

Nemu nods.

"Yes master, her reiatsu is quite raw. Humans in the world of the living are quite unique."

"Indeed they are. I will enjoy this."

He pressed the needle into your skin, watching the liquid slide beneath your skin as he stepped away.

"Now we wait until she wakes up. You're dismissed."

"Yes master." Nemu bowed, walking away.

Mayuri's gaze moved back to your form. You shifted against the table, and his eyes narrowed.

"Is she waking already?"

You should have been asleep for at least another hour, especially with what he'd just administered into your bloodstream. He placed the needle down, moving closer. Your eyes opened lazily, and Mayuri just folded his arms.

"How unusual, you're already awake."

It took a moment for you to gather your bearings, but when you did, your eyes shot open. You jolted upright.

"What the hell did you-"

Your statement dropped at the end, and your body disappeared. Mayuri grinned, and you staggered when you reappeared a distance away, eyes shaking in shock. You straightened, and Mayuri just watched you proudly. Your eyes drifted to your hands.

"W-What just happened..."

"I believe I fixed your problem."

You just stared at him. Because although he'd literally kidnapped you and possibly slipped some crazy evil genius serum in your veins, you couldn't deny that something felt different. It all felt lighter, like you'd dropped some heavy weight.

"Would you like to learn more?"

His grin was wide, because you knew he could see your eagerness to understand what happened. He would no doubt put you through some crazy trails, but your curiosity was brimming. You needed to know.

"I do."

Exactly what he wanted to hear.

~Four Months Later~

"WHAT THE HELL MAYURI!!"

You were being chased by a hollow and Mayuri just watched.

"I told you that your reiatsu was growing. You should never let your guard down."

"NO SHIT!!"

You spun around, clenching your fist. When it jumped at you, your legs grounded and you fired a punch. The base of your hand connected with its mask and the shockwave of energy caved the hollow's mask in, sending a rush of wind that batted against the trees present. The hollow disintegrated almost instantly as the wind began to level out.

You huffed.

"Impressive, your spiritual pressure has grown quite a lot. Your abilities are still very sloppy, but there is always room for improvement."

A vein popped on your head at the statement.

"I'LL SHOW YOU SLOPPY!!"

This was nothing new.

Mayuri made you his little lap dog. Always testing out his crazy theories on you. The first time you mastered flash step, he'd failed to tell you that you were close to the Kuchiki clan's residence. So when you landed in Byakuya's koi pond and killed some of his precious fish, it's safe to say that you'd spent that night in the fourth squad barracks getting healed by Hanataro.

He was a menace to society. An effortless genius, but a bastard. After your outburst, you'd left and headed to hang out with Nemu and her little association. She was having tea with some of the other female reapers.

"Then he says that I'm sloppy, do you believe that!!"

Okay, so maybe you just came to vent.

Rangiku laughs.

"That does sound like him."

You sighed heavily.

"I just wish he'd help me without it always turning into me ending up with a dozen bruises. Is that too much to ask?"

" I understand you might be skeptical, but Master must have faith in your abilities."

You snort.

"Like if, he just enjoys having me around to mess with." You grumbled.

Nemu wore a smile.

"Master has never taken interest in anyone who wasn't on some level important. Especially humans. In his eyes, there is worth. It may not seem like it, and he will never say it, but to him, you matter."

The statement was not what you were expecting.

You didn't want to talk about it further, so you grabbed a cup of tea and downed it like alcohol as Yachiru cheered in the background.

As you were making your way back after hours of venting, her words still wouldn't leave you.

That's why when you headed to his barracks, it was just a distraction. Your trips to the soul society were usually you hanging out with Mayuri and ending up in some kind of crazy situation.

Although that was the truth, you could have walked away at any time. You didn't have to keep coming back.

"So why do I.."

You couldn't answer the question.

"He will never say it, but to him, you matter."

You blushed as the words played back.

"I-IT'S NOT LIKE I LIKE HIM OR ANYTHING!!"

"Quit your yelling."

The nonchalant voice was expected. You hadn't even realized that you walked into his personal lab.

The blue haired male standing before you was not who you expected to see.

"W-WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!!!"

"Would you seize the yelling."

His voice sounds agitated and you just pointed dumbly, because you knew that voice.

"M-M-Mayuri!!"

He ran a hand through his hair, disinterested.

"Who else would it be? Do you think I would let some stranger into my personal space to exploit my discoveries? I'd quicker dissect them."

A creepy smile grew on his face and you sweatdropped.

"Yep, that's definitely him."

It took you a moment to realize his hair was dripping, as if he just came out of the shower. He was moving around the room casually, yet you still kept your distance.

This was weird.

Your silence must have finally drawn his attention, because he turned to you, and your face heated up.

"Why are you suddenly so quiet?"

"N-No reason!!"

You waved frantically.

He didn't seem to buy that. With one step, he was standing right in front of you.

Mayuri leaned slightly to match your height, wearing that know it all grin.

"Did you fall in love with this face?"

"T-THAT'S RIDICULOUS!!"

His stupid smirk didn't leave, and all you wanted to do at that moment was punch him if nothing but to stop your embarrassment. His hand slid behind your neck, and you meant to question it, but his lips were suddenly pressed to your own, and all you could do was gape like a fish. His sapphire tresses tickled your forehead, and you couldn't help but take in the scent of his wash. It was almost intoxicating.

His tongue drifted over your lips teasingly and you couldn't stop the sound that escaped. Mayuri pulled back, tauntingly. Enjoying the dazed look in your eyes.

"You're transparent, (Y/N)."

You swallowed. Because during the entirety of your partnership, he'd never called you by your name. Nor has he ever looked at you like that.

"Nemu was right.."

It seems you've gained the attention of this crazy genius. You weren't sure if that was a good or bad thing.