#I'll probably start putting it up on ff.net too | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

minniethemoocherda · 6 months ago

Text

Iridescent: Chapter 19

A/N: Hi! You can probably tell that I suddenly got consumed by X-men for a while there lol. But regardless I should still be able to update this fic on schedule! Xxxxxxx

Ao3

FF.net

It was going to take a while to properly pack up the MacCadam's base. But it was worth it to ensure no energon, technology or secrets were left behind for the Decepticons to use.

Between Prowl's logical arguments and Jazz's self proclaimed persuasive pizzaz, Prowl thought that they had pursued a successful case. It certainly had more merit than Ironhide and Chromia's suggestion of the Crystal City Gardens which didn't hold much value outside of being the place the pair had had their first date.

Thankfully Optimus shared his thoughts and decided that Kallis would be the location for the new Autobot base. By the time the meeting was over, Jazz had already started making plans for a Welcome Party.

"You prepared for me to crush you later?" Jazz taunted, referring to their scheduled chess match that evening as he fell into step beside him.

"By crush I hope you don't intend to crush any of the pieces between your denta again?" Prowl replied as they headed towards their offices.

Jazz smirked but otherwise did not offer any promises.

SCREEEEE SCREEEEE SCREEEEE

The fire alarm screamed from a nearby corridor.

Prowl sprung into vehicle mode, bolting down the corridor with his sirens blaring. He heard the signature sounds of Jazz's transformation not a second later.

He knew that there was no drill scheduled for today, so the chances of the alarm being false were slim. Of course there was always the possibility of the twins setting off smoke bombs again even after being threatened with a whole week in the brig.

Unfortunately it didn't take long for the acidic taste of flames burnt the air and Prowl knew then that it was real.

The alarm lead them to the medical bay and since nobody else was around they must've been the first on scene.

Prowl opened the med-bay doors to a blast of heat that nearly pushed him back. Tendrils of neon pink flames snapped at the edge of the door. Prowl's mask slid across his face as he stepped inside in an attempt to protect his vents from getting clogged full of smoke. He had barely taken a step inside when he almost tripped over a weight at his feet. Prowl glanced down to see the unconsciousness bodies of Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

He had no idea what the twins were doing there when they had a one-hundred metre ban of the place but he didn't have time to ponder on that now. They were unconscious but their injuries don't look too severe so Prowl rushed past them further into the flames.

The first thing he saw was the outline of Ratchet behind the white hot remains of his work table.

The second was Bluestreak, her body covering Bumblebee's as a mechmade shield on the opposite side of the room.

Prowl's battle computer automatically made the logical conclusion that as their Chief Medical Officer, Ratchet is more vital to the Autobots rate of success, and he stepped his pede in the direction of the fallen red and white form. The next moment, his mind burned as his logic circuits of overran by his sparks desire to save Bluestreak above all else.

Prowl stumbled in his rush to Ratchet's side as his mind raged war with itself on what to do. So Prowl did what he usually does in the midst of battle and let his battle computer take over, marching his legs towards Ratchet.

It could only have been a nano-second later but in Prowl's brain, it felt like eons when his comm burst to life.

"I'll get the kids!" Jazz shouted into his ear.

Prowl could not afford to waste time checking that Jazz was true to his word.

Once again putting his faith in the spy, Prowl pushed through the flames to kneel besides their CMO.

Ratchet's head was on fire.

Prowl's audials automatically filtered out the medic's screams, the edge of his fingers curling as he attempted to pat the fire out.

Whilst on the one hand Prowl knew that trying to move someone who had suffered such a massive head injury would most likely cause further trauma, on the other it didn't take a genius to figure out that removing Ratchet from the fire instead of trying to treat him admits the flames increased their chances of survival.

Even though the doctor's body was still alight, Prowl picked him up and threw him over the back of his shoulders.

By that point, the fire had increased ten fold. Prowl could see nothing but neon lights. He had no choice but to rely on his computer to guide him back the way he came. That meant that along with Ratchet's added weight, it was taking him longer to escape then it had to enter.

Prowl's enforcer armour offered an added level of protection, but even he could feel his flesh bubbling and buckling under the oppressive heat.

By the time his elbow brushed the sides of the door, the top layer of his metal was dripping into his eyes.

Strong hands grabbed his arms, and Prowl allowed himself to be pulled from the blaze.

'I've got him!" Prowl registered the voice of Ironhide as Ratchet's weight was lifted off his shoulders.

As soon as the weight was gone, Prowl didn't hesitate to head straight back into the fire.

"What in the pits do ya think ya doin'?" Ironhide yelled over the roar of the flames. Having laid Ratchet besides the twins who were being watched over by Chromia, the weapons specialist was free to grab Prowl around his midsection. "It's not safe!"

Before Prowl could protest, Jazz burst through the wall of flame like an action hero, Bluestreak under one shoulder and Bumblebee thrown over the other.

The spy collapsed, vents heaving and visor cracked, landing so that the mechlings were sprawled across his chest.

Prowl's knee struts finally buckled as he crashed to knees besides the pile of bodies.

For once Jazz was without a charismatic quip, his vents too clogged to talk. His armour, sleeker than Prowl's having been designed for stealth rather than protection, hissed as the molten metal was slammed into the cooler floors of the Ark. The visor across his eyes completely shattered under the change of air pressure.

Bumblebee whilst unconscious appeared relatively unharmed, only his extremities burnt black instead of yellow.

The worst by far was Bluestreak. Her entire back plate had fused to her protoform. Energon boiled between the cracks where the armour had completely melted away. With no obvious head injury, Prowl deduced that she must have passed out from the pain.

In his peripheral vision, Prowl was aware of the arrival of Red Alert and Inferno as the two former firefighters fought to extinguish the blaze. But all Prowl could do was stare at the broken body of the girl he'd raised and how if it had not been for Jazz, she would have died.

7 notes · View notes

kururu418 · 4 months ago

Note

🍠 🍱🍥🍙🍚🥮

🍱 Do you read your own fics?

I sure do! I usually end up re-reading them a couple of times depending on how I feel when I churn it out.

🍠 How long does it take you to write one of your fics or a chapter/part?

Depends on whether I'm in 'writer' mode or not lol. And my schedule. But if I'm really excited/focused and have free time I can get a chapter or fic done in a couple of hours.

🍥 What's your favorite fic you've written?

Probably Tales Of Mewni. It's not my most popular, but it's the one I've put the more effort and lore into by far! Also has the characters I'm just most attached to!

🥮 Do you have any writing milestones you're working toward?

Eventually, I want to write and have a book published. There's a lot of concepts I've mulled over through the years and I've started the first chapter of a LOT of them already, but I feel like eventually there's one I'm gonna feel so passionate about I'll follow through.

🍙 Is there a fic you wish had gotten more attention?

It did get a fair amount of attention on FF.Net, but my story Brittle Bonds didn't pick up too much traction on Ao3. Which I kind of expected since it was moved over from one site to another.

🍚 What genre do you have the toughest time writing?

Probably horror. It's just not really appealed to me much in any medium. Not that I can't recognize a good horror movie/story, but if you were to ask me to make a genuinely terrifying fic, probably couldn't do it.

#writer asks #writer ask game #ask meme

3 notes · View notes

lucientelrunya · 6 months ago

Text

twenty questions for fic writers!

tagged by the lovely @sunriseverse, thank you dear!

And I'll also do my tagging up here so you don't have to work your way through all my blabbering :) @s1utspeare, @forerussake, @kholran, @lacommunarde, @adelaiderowan, @elletromil if any of you want to do this!

The questions (and my answers) are below the cut :)

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

2. what's your total ao3 word count?

541,787 since september 2021

3. what fandoms do you write for?

at the moment only dmbj and basically only fuba, I have two (and a half) Stranger Things WIPs, but I don't know if I'll ever get back to them. Also there are some original works floating around.

4. top five fics by kudos

Mostly my multi-chapter ones (which I guess only have that many because one of my regular readers is unregistered, and as a guest you can leave multiple kudos on the same fic, something I did before I made an account, too). Okay, lets see: 1. Like a lonely house 292 kudos 2. The Crystal Menace 266 kudos 3. Promise in the Dark 256 kudos 4. We go deeper than the ink beneath the skin of our tattoos 85 kudos 5. Stolen Moments 55 kudos

5. do you respond to comments?

Always, at least to thank the reader for reading and taking the time to write a comment. I love hearing what people think, especially with the multi-chapter stories, what they think is going to happen and all that. It might take me a few days to respond, but I wouldn't miss it.

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmmm, probably The Crystal Menace because it's the first part of a series and has a rather heartbreaking ending (because it's not the actual end of their story). I generally tend to give my characters a happy ending because to me whump is only fun if it gets a happy ending.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

As I said in 6, I usually give my stories a happy ending because while I love putting the characters through it, I need them to be safe in the end. I guess Like a lonely house has the happiest of them all, if I had to chose.

8. do you get hate on fics?

No, AO3 user are all lovely and I don't really remember how it was on the sites I used before (like ff.net), but I don't think I ever got hate there, I'm sure I would remember that.

9. do you write smut?

Oh yes, I love writing smut :) I even have a series that is only smut.

10. craziest crossover?

Hmmm, probably the Sailor Moon & Stargate crossover I wrote back when I was thirteen and that I never finished. I have never written a crossover since, at least not that I remember.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

not that I know of. But the only fics I have on AO3 are from such a small fandom that stealing would not be profitable.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Oh yes, that's how I started out writing fanfic. Always with one other person in an rpg-style (each had a main character and we planned the story together and shared side characters). I was the one with the crazy ideas and my writing partners mostly tuned them down and brought order to my chaos. I loved writing like that, sharing thoughts, having someone to discuss things, someone to give input on my ideas, to shape all the rough ideas into something better.

14. all time favorite ship?

Nope, not gonna chose. I am a multi-shipper and even if I have been writing dmbj-only for 3 three years, that doesn't mean anything.

15. what's a wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Hmmmm, there is a Hei Xiazi/Zhang Rishan-idea in my drafts, but it's only an outline, it's not even really a WIP, so I don't know if it counts. And I still haven't given up hope that I will finish my Stranger Things WIPs one day^^°°°

16. what are your writing strengths?

erm.. I have been complimented on my smut, recently. Other than that, no idea. I'm not good at telling these things.

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Knowing when to quit, probably? I hate having to let go of characters and finding a good ending for a story.

18. thoughts on dialogue in another language?

Full dialogue? I'd probably write that the character speaks in another language, depending on the POV character. In one older story I wrote with a partner we used ~ as a marker that certain dialogues were in another language because the reader was supposed to know what they were saying while one of the main characters wasn't. So I would write the dialogue in the language I'm writing in and then add a "said character in language" if the POV character understands that language and otherwise just mention that the other characters are talking a language MC can't understand.

19. first fandom you wrote in?

Stargate SG-1 and Sailor Moon if I remember correctly.

20. favorite fic you've written?

I love all my stories, but Like a lonely house will always have a special place in my heart because it was the first story I wrote all by myself and the first story I wrote when I started writing again after my dad died.

#tag games

5 notes · View notes

firelord-suki · 10 months ago

Note

Heyyyy, Bianca!!! Happy Valentines!!! 💚💜💚💜

I was wondering here: which ships are your Top OTP? (And the reason you put them so high if you want to share!)

Heyyy! Happy late Valentines Day 💝 💘

Thank you for the question. At first, I struggled to come up with more than two ships, but then, once I started thinking back to old hypefixations, I couldn't stop lol to keep it short, I selected only four.

Here they are:

1. Levi and Hange

I mean, they gotta be on top, right? This is the ship that brought me back to fandom life and made me want to start writing and sharing my fanfics online. What first caught my interest was their interactions, their bickering, their bright & energetic/calm & annoyed dynamic. But now I think what I like the most about their relationship is their friendship, how much they trust and can count on one another. Considering how fucked up their world is, it's nice to know they have each other's back. AND the tragic element keeps me chained to them 😢 (I'll stop here otherwise I'd keep going on and on forever...)

2. Artemis and Wally (Young Justice)

These two... Honestly, Young Justice is probably what got me into the DC Universe and it was also my first contact with fandom spaces (I still remember the fics I used to read about this couple on ff.net back in 2012 lol). I think their relationship was so well constructed throughout the first season that it's impossible not to fall in love. The "I hate you but we're forced to work together" trope is one of my favorite and it excels with them! The annoyance and mistrust at the beginning slowly fading as they work together and finally learn to care about it each other as more than just teammates, but friends too? Peak romance 😭 Artemis' individual storyline was also very well done, and I love the angst coming from her past trauma, how it caused her wariness of the team and doubt their true intentions towards her. She's been mistreated her entire life but finally learned how to trust and love again, and Wally was a part of that <3

3. Vincenzo and Cha Young (Vincenzo)

This is a relatively new one. Granted, I'm not as obsessed with them as the other ones, but I still think they deserve their place here. Again, these two start off not really liking each other but end up on the same side, so they set their differences aside to work together (this seems to be a theme with my ships Lol). I just think they built a beautiful friendship and partnership. Cha Young was probably the only person Vincenzo could fully trust in that scenario (being in a new country, away from his subordinates and all). I liked how they learned how to rely on and trust the other. Yeah, Vincenzo was a Mafia consigliere but that didn't really made their relationship unbalanced? That was my main concern going through the series, considering that Cha Young is not as physically strong as him. But she's still just as smart, witty, brave and stubborn as him.

4. Kat and Patrick (10 things I hate about you)

Ahhhh, there's always a place in your heart for your first love ship. This is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love how Kat was always so abrasive and Patrick just wasn't put out by it. Of course, he was paid to take her out, but I know he secretly liked having her fight him all the time and always speak her mind. And I love that it didn't change towards the end, her character growth didn't involve her getting calmer or sweeter, just learning how to be vulnerable. Do I think that these two would've stayed together in the long run? Definitely no, but I still like the enemies-to-lovers situation going on here.

Honorable mentions that didn't make the cut: Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle (in basically every universe, lol), Shikamaru and Temari, Suki and Sokka, Kaz and Inej, Mulder and Scully, Koyanagi and Kabakura, Ash and Eiji, Ava and Beatrice, Anne and Gilbert, Jaime and Brienne, Monica and Chandler, Jiwon and Sungming + Yina Yeeun (both from Age of Youth), Keith and Lance (happily, I outgrew my Voltron fase), Howl and Sophie, and last but not least, Ymir and Historia.

Thank you again!

#ask #about me #i'm kind of obsessed with the annoyance-to-lovers trope

5 notes · View notes

hollowfaith · 11 months ago

Note

[ indigo ] when did you first start writing / roleplaying?

[ plum ] are you more of a dialogue or a description writer?

[ mulberry ] what tips would you give someone with writer's block?

[ coral ] give a shoutout to one of your favorite blogs.

🐝 * ― 𝑪𝑶𝑳𝑶𝑼𝑹𝑭𝑼𝑳 𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑽𝑰𝑬𝑾. ( send one or more of these to get to know the person behind the blog a little better. )

(these are going to get long so i'll put a readmore to spare the dashboard lol)

[ indigo ] when did you first start writing / roleplaying?

for writing (stories) i'd say in early middle school when i realized fanfiction was a thing. before that i just did a lot of journaling, or i'd finish a trip with family and write a long essay about everything we did on the trip. anyways when the fanfic itch hit i wrote obsessively and even titled my story journals as i finished them so i could keep them in chronological order. (like i had one named after spring, another for summer, fall, winter, etc. and then a series named after favorite gemstones x flowers). i think i filled 40+ notebooks of various sizes by high school? they're still somewhere in the basement at my parents' place probably.

then i found ff.net and realized people posted their stuff online so i tried that a bit, and when ff.net started getting dated i moved onto ao3. i don't have as much energy or drive to write the crazy crossover AUs i used to do but it's still nice to post there, or make up original short stories for fun. anyways TL;DR i'm always writing something somewhere sometime~

for RP i wanna say...early 2000s? back when forum RPs were a thing. and i don't mean the fancy kind they have now where you can custom-theme your posts, but just plain message boards where you started a topic to make "threads" and replies to that thread made up your interactions, and the rest of the board was divided up so you had locations in one place and character profiles in another, etc etc. they were everywhere and constantly opening and shutting down so i went everywhere too, lol. also signed up for this digimon PbEM RP group where they had a plotline and an all-original crest lineup but you had to make up your own digidestined and digimon and apply to join. then we'd RP on a word doc and email it to the next person in the group to get the story going. it was sooo old school but it was genuinely fun. i also applied to join a livejournal MFRP group but got rejected because my app wasn't good enough hahaha that got me a little scarred so i hid away from MFRP for awhile

(also a special bonus to the time my friends and i RPed as neopets faeries in a composition book we'd pass around in school between periods.)

for tumblr RP i think it was like 2014 or 2015 after a RP hiatus? the messageboards were dead or dying by then and heck if i was going to learn livejournal and its weird system so i joined some ancient chinese themed MFRP group with a similar chinese drama-inspired muse but that shut down within a month so i wandered around until i found a bigger more active group and stuck around there. and now i'm on and off here. :)

[ plum ] are you more of a dialogue or a description writer?

when it comes to RP, i think i lean more towards description because i need to give context to my muse's lines. but for stories i'm more dialogue heavy, and i enjoy writing exchanges back and forth between characters.

[ mulberry ] what tips would you give someone with writer's block?

i don't know if i'm the best person to ask but when i'm stuck on writer's block i work on a different...writing project..... you know they all have different vibes and stuff so a change of scenery gives the mind a break and stuff? it's good.

and it works because i still wanna write, i just don't want to write for Thing A so why not Thing B lol.

it also helps to find a focus, most of my writing block woes come because i don't know where/what to do next, so maybe i find a song, a pretty quote, or an icon that gives me the right "vibes" for what i want to express and think up the rest of the post from that.

it also helps to have a smaller goal to work towards even if you don't know how the ending will turn out. for example, if in a thread my A is interacting with your B and i think to myself "well according to what i've read in B's app he'd prolly hate A and think him a prick, so it'd be interesting if A gets a chance to showcase his prick side in this thread eventually," then i'd insert stuff into my replies to gradually make A more annoying and play off what B replies to work towards that "goal."

of course since RP is directed by both sides those mini-goals sometimes get sidetracked, but then it's fun to see in what new direction we take the interaction instead haha

[ coral ] give a shoutout to one of your favorite blogs.

i can’t stress enough how helpful quotes/musings blogs are for like aesthetics or muse inspirations for me and the nice thing is most of them are still around even if they haven’t updated in years so HERE HAVE THIS POST WITH LINKS TO A BUNCH MORE GREAT MUSINGS POSTS BLOGS

#𝔔𝔲𝔢𝔯𝔶 ࿐ answered #𝔒𝔱𝔦𝔲𝔪 𓄖 ooc #sunsage

3 notes · View notes

poseidont-even · 2 years ago

Text

I did @lurkinglurkerwholurks's fic writer questionnaire and i'm trying not to feel presumptuous about it!

THE BASICS

Name(s): JenicaKing on ao3

Where do you post fic? ao3

Primary/current fic writing fandom: uhhhhh the wip that's open is DC specifically Nightwing/Teen Titans

Secondary/past/rotating fic writing fandoms: Arcane, Dex Hamilton, Tintin, Star Wars, more general Batman stuff

Are there fandoms you write for but don’t read, or vice versa? no, but i'm not really reading anything fanwork wise atm

THE STATS

How long have you been writing fics? over a decade technically

How many have you written? i genuinely do not know.

How many have you posted (complete or incomplete)? 14 on ao3 and i had 4 on ff.net that i hope are lost to digital decay lowkey

What’s your word count by year? good gods i wouldn't know how to calculate that

What was your first posted fic? on ao3? Red-headed Orphans (A Tintin oneshot inspired by an old @edorazzi post -check out her Tintin stuffffff-), on ff.net i can't remember

If you write in more than one fandom, which is your most popular? My batman stuff that's all Nightwing focused.

What is your most popular fic by bookmark? Once More With Feeling (Batman/Teen Titans 03 Slade attempts a new apprenticeship deal, also Dick has psychosis)

What is your most popular fic by subscription? the same as above

What is your longest fic? Again, Once More With Feeling with 23,554

How long did it take you to write it? Well it's not finished so... I started it in April 2020 and I swear it isn't abandonded I swear

What is your shortest fic? Twin Suns Shine On Different Twins (Star Wars Twin-swap concept piece) with 392

How long did it take you to write it? Like an afternoon?

How many series do you have? Two though I have plans for a third if I ever publish any of it

Who’s your most commonly tagged character? Dick Grayson

What’s your most commonly tagged relationship (slash or &)? tied for first is Ekko & Viktor (lol) and Ekko & Jayce (lol) both with three

What’s your most commonly used other tag? Don't really have one that isn't just linking a series...

THE EMOTIONS

Was there a fic or writer who inspired you to start writing your own posted works? Beyond inspiring specific works? (endorazzi for Tintin and AplusIsRoman for my Dick-raised-by-Harley fic) not really

What do you remember about writing your first posted fic? (Again focussing on ao3) I Just really wanted edorazzi to see it lol

Is there a fic or fics you’re most proud of, and why? Unbelievable That We Made It Here (DickJoey fic where Dick is in a coma) because I just really like the way it flows even though it's the only thing i have from Joey's perspective

Is there a fic you would redo completely if you could? Eh, not completely. I might go into a couple and put Donna in because I love her but I didn't know that when I started them

Is there a specific detail (setting, interaction, quirk, dialogue) you stole from your own life to use in a fic? nah not really

Is there a line in your fic that makes you smile/snicker/chuckle every time you remember it? not really? No

Is there a line in your fic that makes you sad every time you remember it? yeah actually, this one from Unbelievable: "Would he be here forever, sitting next to the empty shell of his boyfriend wracking his brain to remember what he’d last said. Unable to move on while Dick was still breathing, trapped under the same curse."

Are there any story ideas you’ve considered but are too nervous/intimidated to attempt? What are they? not really, i've got probably half a dozen started fics that just aren't up to a quality where I'll post them but none i'm too nervous for

#seriously though I hope this is alright #I have no idea what I'm doing #fanfic writer #aaaaaahhhhhh

3 notes · View notes

paimonial-rage · 2 years ago

Note

Water, Earth, Fire, Air! HAHAA and if you see fit: shadows and clouds :) — @milkstore

Thank yoooouuuu for the ask! I had too much fun rambling aughhhh!!!

Water: How did you start writing?

I started right after I discovered fanfiction in sixth grade. I was so enamored that I immediately started on a Bleach fanfiction with a Mary Sue OC. SO EMBARRASSING. Even more embarrassing is that a few weeks ago, someone actually FAVORITED that story on FF.net. LIKE???? It wasn't even a good story. How did someone find it from more than a decade ago!!!

Earth: What do you think is the foundation of your WIP?

Idk if I'm answering this question correctly, but whenever I start a story, it's always centered around a specific something I want to achieve. It could be a vibe, emotion, specific scene, specific message, goal, etc. Like with Sharing a Drink They Call Loneliness, my goal was introducing to Zhongli the thought that a life forgotten is not necessarily a life wasted. In What Destiny Has Brought, it takes place after the Summertime Odyssey event where she accepted who she was as Fischl. What I wanted was for her to also accept herself as Amy. Once I figure out what I want to achieve, I then plot the events that will get me to that point.

Fire: What’s a scene that you are dying to write?

I've been sitting on this idea for months, but in the bookkeeping!verse, I want the subject of Morax's Statue of Seven to be addressed between reader and Zhongli. I have it half-written, but I've hyped it up so much in my mind that I just can't accept what I've written so far! It's not funny enough! It's not punch-in-your-face enough!!!! I want to humiliate that man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The sad thing is that it's shorter than an actual fic, but the execution is still killing meeee… Here's a snippet tho if u wanna read….. >//3//>

Air: What’s the easiest part of writing for you?

I want to say that there's no easy part of writing for me. When I'm in the mode to write, everything flows like water. It's so easy. Everything works out well. But the moment I hit a roadblock, suddenly my pipes get clogged and then nothing flows for a few months. Nothing sounds good. Nothing works. But… If I had to say one thing, it'd probably be dialogue. There are certain characters I absolutely cannot write for (e.g. Kaeya), but for most characters, it's easy for me to hear them saying lines in my head. I just have to tweak what they say for everything to sound in character.

Shadows: What’s the darkest theme you’ve ever written about?

I will be completely honest. While I love reading dark themes, I'm terrible at writing them. The closest I come to is my interest in writing toxic complex relationships. Contrary to what my rules imply, I love writing about mentally ill people. Not the "uwuwuwu i'm so depressed :'((((( i hate myself" sadboy mentally ill. But the mentally ill that makes you yell, makes you distrustful, makes you unheathily possessive, makes you emotionally abusive, etc. The mentally ill that makes you absolutely reject the idea that you're deserving of love. I enjoy writing people in that state and the effects it has on the people around them.

Of course, I don't enjoy writing those things because I find them amusing or condone such behaviors. It's easy to put toxic and abusive people in a certain category as unreedemable. Scum of the earth. Deserving of eternal hellfire. But when you're close to that toxic abusive person, you realize it's not as clean cut as outsiders make it out to be. You can't just villify them and be done with it. Maybe writing about those things helps me come to terms with my own childhood, idk. It's just a field I enjoy exploring.

Clouds: How clearly do you picture a scene before you start writing it down?

NOT VERY MUCH AT ALL HAHA. Like I mentioned before, I usually have a goal. Then I make a very fuzzy mental list on how to get there, then I'll just start writing. But that's the rub, isn't it? Because I don't fully picture and plan things out in advance, sometimes unforeseen things pop up which cause roadblocks. Like for a Yae story I'm writing, I had one goal in mind and somehow that multiplied into four goals? Which are far too many. So now I'm at a loss on how to continue aughhh…

But thank you so much for sending this ask! I had fun answering!!! :D

#anon #ask

0 notes

fandomsandfairytales · 3 months ago

Link

Some more thoughts on the fic here on the sideblog:

This is my first longfic I'm attempting to truly, actually complete, and first fic I'm publishing without having it all written, which is wild!

Also, I never thought that I’d write a fic like this, so…yeah. My writing has at times been somewhat dark, but in general, it’s much more focused on light than darkness as a whole. So, writing a darker story is weird for me because that is just not what I typically write. This fic calls for it simply based on the premise. However, I can decide how far to take it, and I personally don’t believe in writing stories that are 100% grim-dark with no light. I hope I can do this story justice in both the light and dark elements, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this unfolds :)

If it doesn't turn out as dark as I'm thinking, I'll probably lower the rating to T (Teen and Up Audiences), but I wanted to set it as M (Mature) to start with just in case. I'll also put the fic on FanFiction.net and the Silmarillion Writers' Guild at some point too, but it took a lot of work just getting it set up on AO3 and I didn't feel like doing that for FF.net and SWG right off the bat, lol.

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Celebrimbor & House of Fëanor Members (Tolkien), Celebrimbor & Sauron (Tolkien), Celebrimbor & Curufin (Tolkien), Celebrimbor & Maedhros (Tolkien), Amras & Amrod & Caranthir & Celegorm & Curufin & Fëanor & Maedhros & Maglor (Tolkien), Curufin & Maedhros (Tolkien) Characters: Celebrimbor (Tolkien), Curufin (Tolkien), Maedhros (Tolkien), Sons of Fëanor, Sauron (Tolkien), Morgoth Bauglir | Melkor Additional Tags: Trauma, Torture, Implied/Referenced Torture, Angst, Capture, Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Celebrimbor in Angband, Celebrimbor gets taken instead of Maedhros, no beta we die like…uh…never mind, First Age of Arda (Tolkien), adding tags as I go, bullet point fic, Salt and Light Summary: When Maedhros goes to parley with Morgoth’s army after Fëanáro’s death, Celebrimbor sneaks out to join him, and the consequences are dire.

Rated M for graphic violence (primarily torture).

——-

@thescrapwitch IT’S FINALLY HERE :D Chapter 1 is dedicated to you.

#posts from my main blog #fanfic: but for the look in his eyes #fanfiction #Tolkien fanfiction #my fanfics #my fics #my fanfiction #my writing #Celebrimbor #it's taken SO LONG to get this out here in the world #seriously. MONTHS.#but I'm so happy the first chapter is out now!!#and I'm loving organizing everything for this fic in Scrivener #tag thoughts

12 notes · View notes

cartoonus-maximus · 6 years ago

Text

“This Our Town of Halloween” - Chapter 1

a “Yugioh DM” fanfic inspired by the lyrics to the song ‘This is Halloween’ from ‘the Nightmare Before Christmas’

also known as the ygo Halloween fic that I want to do every year and never do

I don’t know if I’m going to actually finish this story by Halloween, but I’m gonna really try. But anyway, since I’ve already talked a little about it, here’s an upload of the first chapter to get us started.

summary: Yugi, Ryou, and Marik fall through a Rift into the Hollow World, an alternate world where monsters live. They only have two options - escape from this world and get back home, or make their new home in this world. And, as time passes, both options begin to sound impossible.

rating: T for horror themes and elements

pairings(in future chapters): Puzzleshipping/Blindshipping (Yugi x Atem); Tendershipping (Ryou x Bakura); Bronzeshipping (Marik x Yami Marik); very light one-sided Dungeonshipping (Otogi x Pegasus); maybe others

Chapter 1: Down, Down to Goblin Town

written 7/1/2018

1,153 words

Boys and girls of every age

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

It was a strangely cool evening in October when Halloween finally rolled around. A sharp wind whistled through the trees, blasting three young men square in the face. The palest of the three, an albino with pink eyes and hair just as pale as his skin, cried out in displeasure as he pulled an old sheet more firmly around him.

The blonde Middle Eastern American beside him glanced at his friend with a frown. “Don't handle the cold too well, do you?”

The albino shook his head, but didn't answer. Instead, the young man sitting on the other side of him answered for him, violet eyes peering out from behind shaggy black hair and blonde bangs. “Ryou's body temperature has always been naturally low – he doesn't generate his own heat all that well.”

Marik's frown deepened. He'd only met Yugi and Ryou a few weeks ago. The two had apparently grown up together in Japan before immigrating to the States as teenagers, and he had yet to see them apart from one another. He'd run into them on the streets about a month or so ago, and the three had sought shelter together from the blistering heat. Since then, the pair had stuck with him, sharing with him what provisions they had and accepting his in return.

They were homeless. And if they didn't look out for one another, who would?

Marik had been kicked out of his own home as a teen after arguing with his father over a very particular subject. From what he understood, Yugi and Ryou had been living with Ryou's father and had suffered a similar experience. Now, with an incomplete education and not a dollar to their names, the three males mostly moved from shelter to camp to shelter, trying to find semi-permanent jobs and roofs over their head.

This evening, the three had been in camp with several others, emphasis on had. Since it was Halloween night, a group of dumb college students had come out during the night, looking to party and get themselves drunk away from prying eyes. The party had moved too close for comfort to the camp, so everyone had quickly and quietly grabbed their stuff and moved out. Now, Marik and his two newfound friends were on the move, searching for a new location to set up some sort of temporary shelter to stay in for the night.

The blonde grinned suddenly as he spotted a fence, recognizing immediately what it was. “Guys, look!”

The two Asians followed his gaze, Yugi voicing their concerns. “... A cemetery?”

“Yeah!”

“Won't we get in trouble if we spend the night in a cemetery?”

“Not if we're quiet,” Marik answered, approaching the fence. He gestured for the other two to follow him. “I've slept here before and been fine.”

“I don't know...” Ryou's eyes shifted to the side, suggesting discomfort with the idea. “It doesn't sound--”

He was interrupted by Yugi, who suddenly pointed into the cemetery, his eyes wide. “I think someone else is already in there!”

Confused, Marik turned, following the direction of Yugi's raised finger. Sure enough, three moving figures could be seen in the graveyard. They seemed to be crouched in a circle on the ground, but the blonde couldn't tell what they were doing from this distance.

Yugi's eyes were better. “I think they're digging up a grave!”

Realizing how right his companion was, Marik's eyes widened. “What kind of disrespect--?!” Unable to contain himself, the blonde took a running start, launching himself over the fence and taking off towards the figures. “Hey! Hey, you!”

The figures suddenly jerked their heads up, staring at Marik is surprise. They looked like children, their small frames almost completely covered by Halloween costumes and masks, candy sticking out of their mouths. One of them was so surprised his jaw dropped open, his lollipop slipping out from his lips and hitting the ground with a dull 'clunk.'

“Quick, get in!” one of the figures ordered her two companions. To Marik's horror, the figure pitched herself forward, falling into the open grave. The other two followed suit, leaving not a single trace of their presence except the fallen lolly.

Marik stared at the ground where the kids had just been sitting. The longer he stared, the more baffled by the situation he became. The hole looked like an open grave, but there was no marker beside it or coffin within it, and there was no heap of removed dirt. It almost looked as though a grave-sized hole had simply opened up in the ground.

Yugi and Ryou slowly came up behind Marik, still carrying their meager belongings on their backs. Ryou still had his sheet wrapped tightly around his shoulders, and now Yugi had Marik's discarded backpack in his hand along with his own.

The blonde turned to look at his friends, pointing vaguely at the hole. “It's empty, and... They jumped in. They jumped in and it's empty!”

Their eyes widened in surprise at his words before staring at each other for a moment. Ryou took a step forward, peering down into the hole curiously.

“You're wrong, Marik. It's not empty.” Ryou's voice was eerily calm and betrayed nothing. “There's no bottom to it.”

Yugi and Marik joined Ryou at the edge of the hole, staring down beside him. To their surprise, the hole went deep, down into the ground, seemingly never ending. It really was like a chasm had simply opened up in the earth.

“If there's no bottom to it, where did those kids go?”

“HEY!” A older man's voice interrupted their thoughts. The groundskeeper had spotted them, his flashlight illuminating the area around them. “WHAT'S ALL THIS NOISE?”

The three young men froze in place, terrified of being caught. After a beat, Yugi took a step towards the hole, dropping Marik's backpack. “I'm sorry, guys, but I can't go to jail!”

“Yugi--!” Marik watched in horror as Yugi jumped into the hole, falling down into the earth, vanishing from sight. Ryou screamed, but quickly followed behind his friend. As taken aback as he was by his two friends vanishing, Marik wasn't surprised to see them go together – he had yet to see them separated, after all.

Marik hesitated for a minute, his eyes tracing a horrified path between the open, gaping maw of earth at his feet and the approaching groundskeeper, flashlight aiming directly at his face, almost blinding him. But, then his feet moved, pitching him forward into the hole, following after the only two friends he had in the world. The air whizzed past Marik's ears as he fell into the blackness. The hole was completely and utterly empty, with nothing to break his fall, or even slow him down.

His scream was the only thing that filled the empty space as he fell.

#my writing #the halloween ygo fic #it's almost october so here we go #I'll probably start putting it up on ff.net too #so if you'd rather read it there that's fine

11 notes · View notes

djemsostylist · 2 years ago

Text

Forever & Always, Part 1

So, for those of you that are new or uninitiated, my fandom life online actually started out bc of The Vampire Diaries. See, way back, oh, 2010ish, I was in grad school and probably bordering on what might be gently described as a "depressive time" wherein I needed a sort of escape from reality. And so I turned to a teenage vampire drama. TVD gained me a tumblr, and a livejournal, and honestly an A03 account, and a FF.net account and taught me how to make gifs and to converse in the great wide world of fandom. I was by no means a large voice in the TVD world, but I was probably in at least tier 3. If you go back far enough, it's all TVD, all the way down. In fact, it took until Steve Rogers for Stefan Salvatore to be dethroned as the top tag on my tumblr.

That is all to say, that like many things, TVD had it's time in my life, and then I moved on. By mid season 4 I'd had my fill of teen vampire drama, and I declared myself well free of it all. TVD, The Originals, Legacies--I was over it. No need to go back and tread through waters I knew would be rough. I loved TVD for what it was and the potential it had, and I'll never regret that time in my life, but I had moved on. The need had passed and I had other fandoms to fill my time.

The Originals came out bc of a conversation with @disisphlebotinum where she was convinced I'd finally be able to get a ship that actually ended up good. I'd avoided The Originals for a long time, mostly because I knew that the show runner was a menace, and that one of her long time writers also had a reputation for being...bad. (Julie and Carina are menaces I swear). I wasn't down for more mess. But I had time and stuff to keep me busy while I watched, and I've always had a soft spot for Elijah (Daniel Gillies gives him something that makes me weak in the knees) so I thought "why not?". I've watched worse trash for less.

The Originals did the thing a few other shows have done to me, where it sort of sneaks up on me and then before I know it, it's got me by the throat. I've talked about this before on my blog, but I think there is a difference between good and good, and The Originals, much like TVD before it, is not good. The writing is inconsistent, their ability to maintain character consistency for more than 3 seasons is 0, and they both suffer from the problem of "how can you up the stakes when the stakes are already so high?". Like most tv shows, The Originals suffered from too many characters, a surplus of plot, a dash of cringe, and as ever, the eternal curse of going on just a little bit too long (season 5, I mean you). But, like many a trash show before, The Originals also suffers from a case of potential. The ideas of TO, and the characters they created, are intriguing enough that in better, more competent hands, I think it could have been something truly special.

And so, in classic Djem fashion, I'm going to overanalyze a thing which was never meant to be analyzed in the first place, and I'm going to attempt to put my thoughts about this show in order in an attempt to find some sort of closure to this throwback chapter in my fandom life. Any show that gets me to cry at a season finale is, in my opinion, worthy of at least some level of analysis. That, and perhaps I love talking just a bit too much about things that really, in the end, do not matter.

#the originals #god it feels weird to be back here #talking about vampires

5 notes · View notes

eileeny · 2 years ago

Note

For the writing game! 11, 19, 24, 26, 39 💖💖

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

if darlings are characters, not really? i usually write happy endings and those are pretty contingent on little to no dying.

if darlings are sentences/paragraphs/dialogue that i really, really like? absolutely. i have rewritten so many things just because the plot didn't work like i wanted it to. so many beautiful turns of phrase lost to the backspace key... and no graveyard, so they're just lost forever, i'm afraid (and if you can't tell, i do grieve. lots)

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

oh boy. picture this: summer of 2020, first year of the pandemic. i'm sitting at home bored out of my mind. i open ff.net and read my first fanfiction. i write some stuff. i get tired of ff.net and go to ao3. i write more stuff. i publish the stuff.

and thus, a writer is born.

no but really, the reason i started writing was because i was bored and i had inspiration about the stories i wanted to tell in the fandom i wanted to tell it to with the characters i wanted to tell it about. it's been frustrating at times—writer's block is very, very real and happens too frequently for my liking—but i think where my writing is right now is already so much better than it was two years ago because i had to figure out how to get past that mental block. hopefully where i'm going is to longer and longers fics (no hate to short fics, but i love longfic) that other people find interesting and like to read!

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

it really depends on the story. anything that doesn't need to be fleshed out, virtually nothing; anything that requires me to understand how the larger world works (usually the bigger the fic, the more i need to plan), the prep work is meticulous. i'm talking outlines, timelines, schedules for each day, birthdays, days of the week, location trackers, historical accuracy research, pretty much everything so i can avoid having even the smallest plot holes. it's very fun but also time-consuming, so i only do it for the projects i really, really care about.

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

i don't think i'm ever out of a character's head ALJFLSDJFLSDJSL. it's more like i push them to the back of my mind so i can focus on real life problems, but they're always there if i find myself with enough spare time to daydream. i don't really regret going in there because that's how i understand them enough to write the story properly, so whatever happens in there, it's all for the greater good.

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

man, that's the question, isn't it?

a lot of the time it's spite, which i know sounds like a terrible way to function, but i only use it to give myself a jumpstart of sorts so i can get to writiing again. also a lot of the time it's the knowledge that only i can tell this story the way i want it to be told, so if i don't write it then no one will.

the third option is that i take a break. i stop writing completely, or i work on a different and unrelated topic, and almost guaranteed by the time a week or two has passed i'll have fresh ideas for the project and be able to implement them exactly how i want. this is probably the most effective at getting results i'm proud of, so i would definitely suggest doing this if you don't feel like writing. just. don't. listen to your brain, it knows what it needs, and sometimes what it needs is some r&r.

#i finally got it done #sorry it's so late #AGAIN #it's just been a Week #or maybe two #anyway i probably could have written much more but let's just stop here #before i write five full-blown essays #thank you for the questions sparrow!#<33 #ask games #hersilentlanguage

3 notes · View notes

tigerlover16-uk-2 · 4 years ago

Text

Pokemon Secret Journeys Snippet: “I have a sister now?”

So, here’s something different. I mentioned a few times before I published a fanfiction recently, it’s on FF.net and AO3. And I thought just for fun, and hopefully to get a bit more traffic slowing, I might post a few scenes from it here on Tumblr for people to read.

Here’s the general summary of the story:

An interdimensional being called The Beyonder has taken over the World of Pokemon, altering it to suit his whims. So naturally, it's up to Ash Ketchum to do something about that. Sent back in time on a quest to redo his journey in this radically altered world, Ash and friends are in for their greatest, most dangerous adventure of all.

Below is the first scene of the first proper chapter after the prologue, Ash Ketchum’s first taste of the rebooted version of the Pokemon World he’s found himself in. Also featuring the character of Molly Hale, from Pokemon 3.

If anyone’s interested, feel free to give it a read.

*Ring! Ring! Ring!*

Smash!

"Gah!" Ash leapt up so suddenly he ended up falling out of bed, face-planting on the floor just a foot away from his oversized soft Snorlax plush. With a pained groan Ash pushed himself up, glancing in the direction of the shattered pokeball-clock.

Panic quickly overtook him.

"Ah crud, not again!" Ash yelled, hastily looking up at the wall clock above his TV "Wait… seven O'Clock?"

Ash blinked a few times before letting out a huge sigh of relief "Well, okay then" He laughed, scratching the back of his head impishly.

In the original timeline, Ash had somehow managed to sleep through his alarm, only finally waking up after smashing his alarm clock after subconsciously throwing it in his sleep. Ash arrived at Professor Oak's lab pretty late as a result, after all the other three new trainers leaving Pallet Town that day had already gotten their starter Pokemon and took off on their journeys. Well except Gary, he stuck around just long enough to be really smug to Ash about the whole thing and how he got the best Pokemon.

By some stroke of luck, Ash had managed to avoid a repeat of that embarrassing incident this time around.

And yet, his clock still wound up against the wall.

'I guess some things are just fate' Ash mused to himself, observing the broken scrap metal littering the other side of his room.

Wasting no time, Ash pushed himself up onto his feet, stumbling slightly as it suddenly occurred to him he was still very tired. He vaguely remembered the now shattered alarm clock reading 3.45am and realised he'd probably stayed up most of the night planning out his next few moves after he left for Oak's Lab.

What those plans were completely alluded Ash at the moment, but he figured they'd probably come back to him when he was a bit more awake.

After scooping up the scattered remains of the pokeball clock and dumping them into a nearby bin, Ash stumbled over to his wardrobe and pulled open the doors, being greeted by a mirror on the back of one of them. The dishevelled teenager narrowed his eyes at the short tuft of hair on his reflection's chin.

Glancing once more at the wall behind the desk with his TV, Ash double checked the date on the calendar. Still the same date on which he'd first set out on his Journey.

Ash sighed 'Guess there's no point hoping it was all just a weird dream, huh?' Ash stroked the hairs on his chin, frowning curiously 'Am I supposed to start shaving then, or are you supposed to wait until it gets longer and it starts growing under your nose too?'

A loud rumble suddenly filled his ears and made Ash clutch his stomach in discomfort. Shaking his head, Ash grabbed a pair of clothes-the same kind he'd worn for most of his travels in Kanto through Johto-and made his way out of the room and to the bathroom 'I'll worry about that later. Right now I'm staaaarviiiing'

After a quick shower and feeling more awake, Ash got dressed and made his way to the stairs.

"Mime-Mime" a familiar voice greeted.

"Oh, hey Mimey" Ash responded as he passed his mother's Mr Mime on the landing before making for the stairs. About halfway down he suddenly stopped, his face going blank as Ash stood silently for a moment. Then with a sharp "Gah!" Ash leapt up, losing his footing on the step as he landed and tumbling the rest of the way down the stairs, his head becoming acquainted with an umbrella stand as he landed.

"Oww" Ash groaned, rubbing the fresh bruise on his forehead.

"Mr Mime?"

Ash glanced up the stairs and saw Mr Mime looking down at him with concern. As Ash began to get up, Mimey rushed down the stairs and offered him a hand, which Ash graciously accepted.

"Thanks" Ash said, momentarily forgetting the reason why he'd just tumbled down the stairs. It quickly came back to him after standing up "Wait-Mr Mime?! What are you doing here?"

Ash's first thought was to wonder why Mimey would be at his house instead of the Cerise Laboratory where he'd been staying with Ash. Then he remembered that he was sent back in time, so why would Mimey be at the Lab now instead of at home with his mother. And then Ash realised-hey, wait. He and his mother hadn't met Mimey until after he'd won all 8 of his Kanto badges, so what was he doing here at all?

"Mr Mime?" Mimey looked equally as confused as Ash did right now. He placed a hand over the bruise on Ash's head, leaned in close and began examining Ash's face with some concern. Ash just stared back at him awkwardly before eventually swatting the hand away and leaning away from the Psychic-type.

"I'm fine, I'm fine" Ash chuckled nervously, which just made Mimey look at him oddly. Ash scratched his head "I just-um… I was a bit dizzy, that's all. I, uh… didn't get much sleep-but I'm fine! Everything's good, Mimey, thanks. Ha ha"

Mimey eyed Ash suspiciously for a long moment, which made the teen a bit nervous. But eventually the mime's face lit up with a satisfied smile.

"Mime-mime" Mimey said while giving Ash a thumbs up. Ash mentally sighed and waved at the Mr Mime as he began climbing back up the stairs, picking up a stack of freshly-folded towels when he got to the top.

'Okay, so mom and I already have Mimey in this timeline' Ash thought to himself, scratching his chin 'Well, I guess that's not the most surprising thing that could happen. But now I wonder if mom's a blonde or something now?"

A quick trip to the kitchen proved that wasn't the case. At most his mother's hair was just slightly longer than it had been the last he'd seen of her.

"Oh, hey honey, glad you got up on time. What was that big thump just now?" Delia asked while washing the dishes.

"Thump?" Ash frowned "… Oh. Um, I fell down the stairs"

Delia put down the plate she was washing and looked at Ash with some concern, noticing the bruise on his head.

"Oh my gosh, Ash! Are you alright?" Delia squealed, rushing over to her son who quickly threw up his hands in a 'Stop' motion.

"It's fine mom, I'm alright" Ash insisted "You know me, I've been hurt way worse than this"

Delia stared at Ash contemplatively for a long moment before her expression relaxed and she sighed.

"Yeah, that's true" She said with some amusement "Honestly, I'd hoped you'd be over that clumsy streak by the time you set off on a journey, but I guess that's just who you are. Oh, by the way, breakfast is on the table for you sweetie"

With a relieved sigh Ash took his seat at the table and examined the contents of the plate his mother had laid out. Toast, bacon, fried eggs, and a croquette sandwich. Simple breakfast, but Ash was happy to dig in.

As he made a start on the toast, Ash looked over at his mother, watching her finish washing the remaining dishes. After the shock of everything he'd been through the previous evening and being told the entire universe had been torn apart, it was a welcome relief to see his mother again, just carrying on with her life as normal.

'Now how the heck am I supposed to explain all of that to her?' Ash asked himself, scratching his head. He then noticed the black mark on the back of his hand that read "20" and Arceus's advice on how to "Remind" people repeated in his head.

Ash noticed his mother turn her head to look at him again, and he quickly hid his right hand under the table. He silently cursed himself for not putting on his old gloves with the rest of his clothes, he'd better make sure neither she or Mimey noticed the mark just yet.

"Those are some pretty big bags under your eyes. I did tell you you'd regret it if you didn't get enough sleep" Delia lectured. Ash scratched the bottom of his nose with his left index finger.

"Hehe. I tried, but you know, I just had so much on my mind I couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard I tried" Ash replied. It was the truth of course, but just not for the reasons Delia assumed.

"Oh, Ash… well, I guess I can't blame you. This IS a pretty exciting day for any young man. Just promise me you'll try and sleep better the next couple of days. You may be 16 now, but you're still a growing boy" Delia said, finishing up with the dishes and going to make herself a cup of tea.

"I'll… try. I promise" Ash replied. Delia shot him a warm smile at that, and Ash suddenly felt the most at ease he'd been since before the world ended. His mother could be strict, embarrassing and overbearing from time to time. But she was still a wonderful, loving person with a big heart, and she always knew how to cheer him up.

He was so grateful she wasn't lost forever.

As Ash finished his toast and started on the bacon and eggs, a loud yawn caught his attention. He turned to the door that led to the living room to see a little brown-haired girl in blue pyjamas and a bow in her hair wander into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and looking very sleepy. Ash could only blink at her, thinking she looked very familiar.

"Molly, dear, what's got you up so early" Asked Delia with mild concern.

Ash blinked harder. Molly? Taking a closer look at the girl as her eyes drifted open, it suddenly clicked why he recognised her. She was Molly Hale, the daughter of a family friend that he'd met in Johto once on his journeys.

"I wa-" Molly yawned again, shaking her head and suddenly looking a little more awake "I wanted to be awake to see Ash before he left"

"He doesn't have to be at Oak's lab until ten, sweetie. You didn't have to get up straight away" Delia said, setting aside her unfinished cup of tea and pulling out a chair for Molly to sit on. The little one smiled and bowed graciously to her before she sat.

'Ten?' Ash pondered. He could have sworn he had to be at Oak's lab a lot sooner than that originally? Or had he really overslept that badly? Why hadn't his mother woken him up, then?

"But I won't get to see Ash for a really, really long time after today. So I wanted to make sure" Molly insisted. Delia giggled and ruffled Molly's hair.

"Aww, sweetie" Delia cooed.

Ash was just really confused by all this.

Molly noticed Ash staring at her and flashed him a sweet smile "Good morning Ash. Ready to be a Pokemon Master?"

"I… sure, I always am" Ash replied, glancing sideways at his mother "What's Molly doing here?"

Ash mentally winced slightly at the look of shock and concern on Molly's face when he said that. Delia looked at her son like he'd asked why water was wet "She's been here a whole week! Her dad's on a research trip with Professor Rowan, remember?"

"Professor Row-" Ash began, but then suddenly it hit him how what he'd just said was probably pretty dumb from his mother's perspective and changed direction "Oh-oh, right, research trip. I um, forgot? Ha ha"

Now Delia and Molly were both looking at him with a bit of concern. Delia heaved a frustrated sigh.

"This is why I don't want you staying up all night, mister. Lack of sleep really messes with your head" Delia mused.

"Is Ash going to be alright?" Molly asked tenderly.

"Oh, don't worry, Mr sleepy head will be fine once he's woken up some more" Delia said with a laugh. Molly giggled, though still looking worried.

Ash continued staring at Molly for a moment. In the old timeline, Ash apparently knew Molly when she was a few years younger than when they'd met again in Johto, but could barely remember much about her or her family before they'd moved away.

Evidently they hadn't moved this time around, and Ash figured from the looks of things he and his mother were a lot closer to Molly because of it.

But there was another bit of information that really caught his interest. Apparently Molly's father was doing research with Professor Rowan? He was the Pokemon Professor in Sinnoh, who Ash had met a bunch of times. It was at his Summer Camp he'd first met Angie, in fact. And Ash also vaguely recalled an encounter with a certain type of Pokemon in Sinnoh on another occasion…

"Are they looking for the Unown?" Ash asked.

"I don't think Spencer's been researching anything else for the last 10 years" Delia chuckled. Ash suddenly felt a bit uneasy, remembering the circumstances in which he'd originally met with Molly in Johto. And then another thought suddenly popped into his mind.

"Is Molly's mom with them?"

Ash regretted the question as soon as he blurted it out, and the looks on Delia and Molly's faces when he said it only reinforced that. Delia gaped at him in disbelief, then swiftly turned to face Molly, who was suddenly staring silently at her feet.

Ash gulped.

"I'm… I'm sorry. I… don't know why I asked that" Was all Ash could say. Delia shot him another disapproving look before kneeling down and putting a hand on Molly's shoulder, whispering something soothing into her ear. Ash looked away in shame.

He suddenly remembered quite clearly that Molly's mother in the original timeline had disappeared quite some time before he got to Johto, apparently it had something to do with the Unown kidnapping her in a similar manner they later did Molly's father. Or, he assumed that's what happened, since apparently she'd been found shortly after Spencer Hale was returned after the whole Unown crisis at Greenfield was taken care of.

Losing her mother had filled Molly with a lot of grief and left her feeling very lonely in the old timeline. And clearly, the same held true for this one.

Not wanting to stick around in case he said anything else stupid, Ash hurriedly finished the rest of his bacon and eggs and scooped up the Croquette sandwich to take with him to his room.

"I, um... I think I need to take a quick nap. I'm not thinking straight" Ash said hastily "Could-could you wake me if I'm not up in time to get to the lab, mom?"

"Sure, honey. Sure" Delia said, still looking rather cross with him. Molly glanced up at Ash, but quickly looked away. Ash felt like his insides had briefly frozen seeing the hurt look on her face, and he wasted no time getting out of the kitchen, bumping into Mimey on his way out who had just entered the room and was watching everyone else with some confusion.

Ash rushed up the stairs, scarfing down his sandwich as he did so. Pushing open the door to his room, Ash shut the door behind him, made straight for his bed and plopped down on it, heaving an aggravated sigh.

"Well, that was awkward" Ash grumbled to himself. He flipped over onto his back and stared contemplatively at the ceiling. He knew he was going to have to apologize to Molly for that little slip-up, but he wasn't quite sure what to say.

'Sorry I brought up your missing mom when you're still torn up about it. Don't worry, she's just trapped in another dimension by floating alphabet soup, and she'll totally come back once you dream up an Entei to blast them back to their dimension and make the world stop turning into crystal'

...

'Yeah, no, definitely not' Ash slapped his forehead and closed his eyes, thinking carefully about how to sound comforting without giving too much away…

...

He and Molly were decorating a Christmas tree together. Ash was standing on a chair and holding Molly up, as the younger girl struggled to reach out and place a plastic Clefable on top of the tree. Molly and Ash both cheered when she finally got the Clefable to stick.

...

Ash's eyes shot open as he bolted upright. For a moment he had no reaction other than to stare blankly into the distance. Then his senses eventually returned to him and a bemused frown spread across his face.

"What the… what was-GAH!" Ash's eyes snapped shut again as his mind suddenly went fuzzy.

...

It was Molly's fourth birthday party. Ash, his mother, Professor Oak and both of Molly's parents were there. Molly was struggling to blow out the candles on a cake shaped like a Teddiursa's head, so when her eyes were shut during her 5th attempt Ash blew them out for her and pretended she had done it herself. Everyone cheered for Molly, who was laughing and looking very proud of herself.

Molly was four and a half. She and Ash were at the park. Molly had just fallen off the swings and scraped her knee. She cried for five minutes straight while Ash bandaged her leg and told her over and over in a gentle voice that everything would be okay, that she was a big girl and didn't need to cry. When he was done putting on the bandage Ash gave Molly a hug, which finally calmed her down enough to make the crying stop. Ash picked Molly up and took her to find her father. Molly thanked Ash. She said he was the bestest.

Molly was two years old. Mr Mime was making her laugh by floating spoons, forks and plates around and doing a weird tap dance. Ash thought it was kinda silly, but Molly was loving it. Ash then decided to impress her by juggling apples. He was doing pretty well with three, but when he tried juggling five he hit Mimey with one by mistake and made him drop the plates and cutlery he was floating. The plates smashed against the floor. Surprisingly, this made Molly laugh harder than anything else Ash or Mimey had done, but Ash wasn't sharing her amusement. He was panicking over how much his mother would yell at him over the smashed plates.

Molly was crying her eyes out. A few hours ago, Spencer had come home a nervous wreck and informed Delia and Ash that Molly's mother had gone missing. Molly was five years old. Ash was now cradling the distraught little girl in his arms, gently telling her everything would be okay and that they'd find her mom before long. He wasn't sure himself, he didn't understand what had happened very well either, but he had to try to ease her pain somehow. Molly hugged him tight, begging her momma to come back.

It was three weeks ago. Spencer was talking to Delia in her living room. Ash was looking at Molly, who was sulking in the corner of the room. Spencer was telling Delia about how he was going to be moving to Greenfield, his childhood home where his now deceased parents used to live. He and Molly would go there a few weeks after a trip to Sinnoh he had to go on with Professor Rowan to study some ruins in Solaceon Town. Ash noticed Molly was shaking, and suddenly she shot up and yelled at her father that she didn't want to leave and that she hated him for taking her away from home.

A few minutes later, Molly had locked herself in the wardrobe in Ash's room. Delia and Spencer were waiting outside of Ash's room as Ash tried to calm Molly down. It took half an hour, but Ash eventually managed to get her to come out. She cried when she saw her father and apologised for saying she hated him, saying she didn't mean it and she just wanted to stay home and be with everyone. Ash sighed as he watched Spencer hugging his daughter, apologising for needing to move and promising they'd come back eventually.

...

In the present, Ash gasped for breath. His eyes flickered open and he began looking around the room, getting a grip on his current surroundings. He leaned back against his pillow, his mind racing to process that sudden burst of information. Something Arceus had said the previous evening repeated clearly in his head.

"There's another thing you should know. The longer the two of you remain in this new timeline and your bodies and minds begin to acclimate to it, the more you should experience memories of the lives you should have lead in this new reality. Flashbacks, most likely, though a few of them might be subconscious recollections you won't even notice were not related to your past lives"

It all made sense now. Those were his new memories. He was recalling some of the times he and Molly had spent together in this new version of his life. How Ash had known her since she was a baby. How the Hale's were close family friends who hadn't yet moved away.

How Molly had been like a sister to Ash.

Ash rubbed his head, his eyes glazed over as he became lost in those thoughts. Consciously, he knew he had never really experienced any of those moments… and yet, for reasons he couldn't understand… he FELT like he'd lived them. Those memories FELT as real and personal to him as any from the life he actually had lived up to now.

Ash wasn't sure if he should be concerned about that or not. All he really knew right now was that he felt even more guilty for making Molly upset.

He glanced at the clock. 8.15am. What? How long had he been staring at the ceiling?

Slapping his head, Ash got up and opened the window, breathing in the breeze of fresh air and leaning against the windowsill. He looked out at the town of Pallet.

Everything seemed exactly the way he remembered it. Same buildings. Same sky. Same Professor Oak's ranch in the distance. He even noticed the Dodrio that usually woke everyone in the neighbourhood up waddling around. The place outside Ash's window seemed just like the same old world he'd grown up in.

But it wasn't. It was so very different.

'Boy, I'll be glad when this is all over and things go back to normal'

Taking another deep breath, Ash cast another glance out at Professor Oak's lab in the distance. Pikachu was in that building right now, waiting for Ash to pick him and start their journey together. Ash's lip quivered. He wanted to smile, but he was feeling uneasy at the prospect. So much else seemed different about this new world already: Would Pikachu even be the same Pokemon he remembered anymore?

That particular worry vanished when he glanced down at the mark on the back of his hand. He let out a quick sigh of relief. Maybe Pikachu would be a little different… but Ash could make it so he still remembered all the good times they'd had together in their old life.

They'd still be the best of friends. That much couldn't change.

Closing his window, Ash walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out the pair of gloves he'd forgotten to bring to the bathroom with him earlier. Checking his bag to make sure he really did have all the supplies he needed, he also pulled out the piece of paper with Angie's phone number and the jewel Arceus had given him.

Ash stared at the white gem. Supposedly it would glow when the time came for Arceus to contact him for an update on how he was getting along. Ash really wished it would glow now, he had so many questions he wanted to ask about this new life, and he was suddenly feeling a hundred times more resentful to the Beyonder than he already was for plunging him into this mess.

Shaking that thought from his head, Ash put the jewel and the paper with Angie's number back in his bag. He would have to call her once he got to Viridian. Hopefully she was adjusting to this whole situation better than he was so far.

Or rather, would be. With the time Zone she was probably asleep right now.

An hour passed as Ash sat on his bed, replaying the events that had happened in the Hall of Origins and everything that had been said in his head. When the clock reached 9.30, Ash got up, took a deep breath and clenched his fist with a fiery resolve. He picked up his backpack and flung it over his shoulders, then grabbed the cap sitting on the table next to his TV, putting it on as he left the room.

And then he saw that Molly was standing by the door, looking down at the ground and dressed in the same clothes Ash had seen her wear in their previous life. Ash blinked at the little girl as she looked up at him with an unreadable expression. A moment of silence passed before a sad frown suddenly spread across Molly's face as she turned away from Ash.

"Do you… would you be happier if I wasn't around, Ash?"

Ash's eyebrows rose. Where had that come from?

"What? Why would you think that, Molly?" Ash asked with genuine concern. Molly shuffled her feet, twirling a strand of her hair with her finger.

"Some… some girls in the park…" Molly's voice was shaky, and Ash thought she was trying not to cry "I mean… um… I was just wondering… you're going away for a really long time. On your journey. And… I was just wondering… I'll see you again, right?"

A sad smile appeared on Ash's face as he suddenly realised what Molly must be feeling. Her mother had disappeared just barely a year ago. She and her father were going to be moving away for a while… and Ash was setting out on a journey, so there was no guarantee he'd be here when or if she eventually moved back.

Acting on newfound instincts, Ash kneeled down and put a hand on Molly's shoulder, smiling softly at the girl as she turned to face him.

"I'm not going to disappear Molly. And I promise I'll keep in touch and come visit you when I can. You'll see me again" Ash said. Molly's eyes began to water. Ash ruffled her hair and smiled wider "After all… you're my little sister"

Inwardly Ash couldn't believe those words were leaving his lips. But what surprised him even more was how, deep down… he felt like he really meant it.

Molly let out a sob and turned away from Ash again. Ash gave her a moment to compose herself, and when she'd finally stopped sobbing he asked "Why would you think I wouldn't want you around?"

A moment of silence.

"The other day" Molly began, visibly nervous "I was playing in the park. Some older girls were talking with each other. The oldest one was complaining about her mom… said she was really bossy to her. I said… I said she shouldn't say mean things, and her mom was just trying to help her learn and be nicer to people. And then…"

Molly gripped the sides of her skirt, looking like she wanted to cry again. Ash put his hand back on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile, and after taking a deep breath Molly continued.

"She said… she said… she said the reason Momma went away… was because I-" Tears were most certainly welling up in Molly's eyes now, and Ash was bracing himself for what she was about to say "Because I was annoying and no one would want to have me as their daughter"

Ash's eyes widened as Molly let out an anguished wail and began crying for real this time. At first he felt too awkward to respond, but after getting a grip on himself he gave Molly a tender hug and let her cry into his shoulder.

Ash recalled his initial reaction to seeing Molly in the kitchen, and how hurt Molly had seemed when he asked why she was around. And it really hit him that she must have thought that maybe that cruel girl had been right. Maybe she was annoying. Maybe Ash didn't want her around, maybe he would be glad to be away from her. And then, what would that say about her mother and why she went away?

A fresh pan of guilt swept over Ash, and he hugged Molly harder.

What felt like a whole minute passed as Molly poured her heart out. When her sobs began to quiet down, Ash pulled Molly forward to look at her face to face again and gave her a firm look.

"Your mother loved you, Molly. I know that for sure, she didn't run away and leave you. I don't care what some jerk told you, you're not annoying. Don't ever let anyone make you think what happened was your fault, because it's not"

Molly sniffled "But-but then… why did she-"

"It isn't your fault! People just go missing sometimes, but we'll find her eventually. I guarantee you that" Ash said confidently. However different this timeline had to be, if the events behind Mrs Hale's disappearance were the same, then it was guaranteed she'd be found again just like last time. Right? "But more important than that, she loved you. And she would never choose to leave you. You're a good daughter, Molly"

More sniffles. Ash ruffled Molly hair again and gave her another smile.

"And just because I have to leave for a while, that doesn't mean I'm going to leave you forever either. Sometimes friends and family move away, or go different paths in life" Ash recalled the faces of many of his friends and Pokemon in quick succession as he said that "… But that doesn't mean we forget each other, or won't meet again. I promise you that"

More tears, and Molly wrapped Ash in another hug, though this time the tears faded pretty quickly.

"I'm sorry, Ash"

Ash looked down at Molly oddly "What for?" Molly pulled back a bit to talk to his face.

"For thinking you didn't care. I know you do. I just…" Molly hesitated "… I'm really going to miss seeing you all the time. I want everything to go back the way it was"

"I know the feeling" Ash said, thinking of the world the way it was before the Beyonder changed it. He frowned, knowing what he was about to say would probably be hypocritical coming from him, but Ash still felt it was what Molly needed to hear "… But that's just life. Change happens, and you just have to get used to it. Doesn't mean every change will be bad. You'll miss me for a while, but just try and think how happy you'll be when we see each other again. And how great you'll feel when your mom is found"

Molly looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled "That… that does sound nice"

"See, no need to be all doom and gloom" Ash chuckled. Molly wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and separated from Ash, looking a lot calmer now "So, feel better now?"

Molly nodded "Yeah… I'll be okay. You're a good brother, Ash"

Ash scratched his cheek, feeling pretty proud at that "Helps to have a great little sister"

Two hours ago, Ash barely knew Molly. She was just one of many friends that he only knew for a short time and then never saw again. But now, she felt like one of the most important people in his life. A part of Ash was really worried about that feeling. The world he was living in right now was a farce, something that had to be fixed and put back to the way it was. Surely it wasn't going to do him any good in the long run to start getting attached to this version of reality and the life he had here, right?

And yet… for the moment, seeing Molly's gracious smile and the sense of brotherly pride it inspired within him… Ash couldn't find it in him to worry too much about that just now.

"Ahem"

Ash and Molly turned to see Delia looking at them from the top of the stairs, a satisfied smile on her face.

"I really hate to interrupt this moment. But it's nine fourty five, Ash. You should probably be leaving soon if you want to get your first Pokemon" Said Delia. Ash suddenly turned frantic.

"I forgot!" Ash gasped. He turned to Molly quickly "Good talk, gotta go, I'll see you at the ranch later, bye!"

And with that Ash took off down the stairs, much to the bemusement of Delia.

"It only takes ten-" Delia was cut off by a loud thump. She sighed "Also, don't run down the stairs. Keep hitting your head like that, and you won't be in any condition to travel for another week"

"Right… sorry" Ash said, getting up and rubbing the fresh bruise on his forehead. His head was probably going to be purple all day if he kept falling like that.

A moment to let his senses come back later, Ash took off out the door, waving goodbye to Delia, Molly and Mimey who now stood in the frame to see him off as he ran down the path that would lead him to Oak's Laboratory.

"Is Ash going to be okay, miss Ketchum?" Asked Molly. Delia giggled and patted the girl on the head.

"Oh, don't worry. Our Ash can seem like a goof at times, but he's brave and resourceful and determined. He'll be fine"

"Mime, mime" Mimey chimed in agreement. Delia smiled, looking out at her son's shrinking figure in the distance. Her expression softened a little.

She had long prepared herself for this day, but she had to admit to herself she still was a bit worried for Ash's wellbeing. It was a big world out there, one that could be dangerous for inexperienced trainers. She was sure he could handle it, she'd raised him the best she could to be prepared for setting out on his own, but… well, she was a mother. Who could expect her to not have reservations?

Didn't help that she was also going to miss having him around the house almost as much as Molly would. She sighed "Although, I guess I should check to make sure he packed clean underwear before he leaves the ranch"

#fanfiction #pokemon secret journeys #pokeani #Molly Hale #Ash Ketchum #anipoke fanfic #pokemon

6 notes · View notes

aliceslantern · 4 years ago

Text

Retribution, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic, chapter 16

Newly a person again, Ienzo is weighed down by guilt and his humanity. He's prepared to do whatever it takes to atone... only to find unexpected solace in a familiar face. With more insight into the bonds between people than ever before, Ienzo reaches for a dangerous element from the past to help Kairi and Riku in their search for Sora. What is his life if it means saving another, brighter light?

Chapter summary: Kairi goes to a deeper place of sleep. Ienzo pays a price.

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

He’d only come into the lab to drop off some notes Ansem had asked for. As soon as he was in the office he noticed the tension, thick, making his heart rate spike. Both Ansem and Even were standing over Kairi.

“What’s going on?” Ienzo asked.

“She won’t wake,” Even said. “I stopped the sedative hours ago--yet--and all her vitals look normal. I don’t understand--”

“Perhaps she is naturally asleep?” Ienzo asked, though he didn’t believe it as he said it.

Ansem shook his head. He offered Ienzo the tablet they’d been using to monitor her vitals. “Look at her neural activity.”

“She’s dreaming,” Ienzo said softly.

“She’s gone to a farther place of sleep,” Even said. “Perhaps… seeking something, or…”

Ienzo could feel his pulse in his throat. “What of the data?”

“Inconclusive nonsense,” Ansem said, flicking through a few tabs. “The numbers. It’s as though--”

“Perhaps she is slipping too,” Ienzo said, with horror. “If she connected with Sora… but is that possible?”

“I’m not sure. It’s unnatural for her to be alive anyway, and the price was Sora’s disappearance. If she were to try and connect with him, that could be--undoing everything, and the fates could be taking her.”

The notes dropped out of his hands. Ienzo could feel the panic in his breast, thick, sticky, and hot. “This is my fault.”

They both looked at him.

“I encouraged this. Joining our power together--getting her to call out for him--this is on me. She trusted me.” He was breathing hard. “The nature of that power--the nature of Sora’s price--oh no. No.”

“Don’t be absurd,” Even said, but he sounded shaken. “That’s impossible. You were merely looking at her memories and tracing them. That wouldn’t make her disappear.”

Ienzo’s hand snapped up to his head. “I was trying to--I never should have--this is all my fault. No. ” He tried to think.

There was one thing he could do to stop her from slipping away.

“We don’t know anything to be certain,” Ansem said magnanimously. “This sleep could very well be willful on her part. She’s a princess of heart--the rules are different for her.”

“Your power wouldn’t poison like darkness,” Even agreed. “But yet… this isn’t meaningless.”

“We need more data to draw any conclusions.”

“So we just wait?” Ienzo asked.

“What other alternatives do we have?” Even asked tiredly. “For all we know… given their connection… she’s onto something.”

“We have to trust in that,” Ansem said. “Ienzo. Peace. Your experiment was not successful, but it wasn’t harmful.” He came over to him and eased him down onto a chair. “It’s alright. We’ll figure this out.”

As Even and Ansem fretted over the data… Ienzo waited.

Regardless of what they said, this was his fault. With him gone, Kairi must have continued to trace that connection on her own, going to a deeper place, her heart calling to a world that might not exist, that should not exist. There was a not insignificant chance this would make her disappear as well. As Ansem said--since they were essentially trying to reverse fate’s decision, some one was going to have to go in Sora’s stead.

Oh.

So that’s how it was to end. But it was all his own doing, of course.

Ienzo waited.

He pretended to leave with Ansem and Even, so as to not arouse suspicion. He ducked back through the library and down again towards the lab.

Ienzo looked down at his phone. He entered the number and dialed.

"Zo? What's up? I can't really talk--I'm still working."

He felt a lump tighten in his throat. "I just wanted to hear your voice."

"My sexy drawl?" He laughed. "Really, though. Is something going on? You sound upset."

"Just congested," he lied. "The air is very dry in here. I… have to help Ansem with some data entry. I won't be able to see you tonight."

"...Oh." He sounded disappointed. "Okay. Well. Don't work too hard."

"I'll try." He bit his lip. He knew saying this would raise alarm bells, but he couldn't stop himself. "I love you."

"Hey, I love you too. You in a sappy mood?"

"You could say that. I'll… I'll let you go."

"See you soon," Demyx said, and hung up.

Ienzo approached Kairi slowly. He tried to calm himself. Center himself. It was an uphill battle. He pulled up a chair, wiped the back of his hand with a prep pad wearily. His hands were shaking and it took a few tries to find a vein for the IV catheter. He was aware these were likely his last moments of consciousness, and equally tried to push the thoughts away.

He took her hand. As he started the sedative, he began to so slowly reach out to her, everything getting hazier until finally it was all foggy.

There was so much fog.

Ienzo blinked. Then blinked again.

He'd never put himself to sleep--not as such. He was aware this was a lucid sort of dream, perhaps part illusion. He looked through the bluish fog for any source of light. "Where are you?" He muttered. It was hard to wade through all this. Was she too far to reach? He pulled for the lexicon, feeling its weight. He opened the cover and sought her memories.

The pages were blank. All of them.

Ienzo began to riffle through them with panic. Much as Xion disappearing caused memories to be purged--Kairi must be disappearing as well. "Kairi!" He called. "Kairi, you have to come back. You're going to disappear!"

Silence. Ienzo ran blindly through the fog, seeking that familiar light.

"I'm sorry. I'm so--I was wrong. You have to come back. Kairi."

He didn't recall ever feeling so helpless before. So lacking composure.

In the mist, he thought he saw something, a little girl. "Kairi?" He followed her. She kept running, kept giggling, like this was a game. "No--just stay still," he said. "Please."

The mist started to fade so slowly, revealing, of all things, a small library in the castle. Ienzo looked down at the girl.

Red hair. Unmistakable violet-blue eyes. She must've been four, perhaps younger. She clapped her hands. "Kairi?" A deep memory of hers, then.

She slid her tiny hand into Ienzo's and led him over to a small table. There were photos spread all over it. She picked one up and handed it to Ienzo.

Sora, equally as young. A night sky full of meteors. "You started at the beginning," he said. "When your hearts first connected."

She nodded eagerly.

"Kairi, if you keep following him you're going to disappear. Your memories are already unravelling. It's my fault. Let me help you. I should never have--"

She looked at the table and whimpered.

"I know. I know. It probably feels like you're closer than ever. But you won't be reunited if this continues. You'll just vanish. And he wouldn't want that. We're violating the narrative. He'll come if he's meant to, but not like this. Not using this power."

Tears filled her eyes.

"I'm so sorry. I really thought--"

She touched his hand. When Ienzo looked up she was sixteen again. "I know where he is."

"Kairi--"

She shook her head. "I can feel him. Ienzo, I don't know how, but I don't think I'm actually disappearing. I think my heart is going to meet his. Maybe I can bring him back using this connection--all the ones that have been opened, data or other. You've given us options."

He was, again, dizzy. "You're sure?"

"Yes. Can't you feel it?"

All Ienzo could feel was vertigo.

"Trust me. I need you to go tell Riku. It's going to take both of us."

"But what about--"

She was already gone. Ienzo heard another set of footsteps. He looked from the fading photos up to the source.

His own face stared back at him; young, eight or so, in the overlarge lab coat they'd sewn for him. The kid watched him warily. "Are you my heart as well?" Ienzo asked him. "Or a memory?"

The kid reached up for his hand. Ienzo took it. It sent a pang of pain through his chest.

They waded through the fog, through his memory. Through the pain of the apprentices' lies and Ansem's disappearance, through the experiments, the memories shattering like crystal. Through the fire and smoke of his parents' house. Through his own atrocities, the worlds that fell, the hearts that were harvested. "Why are you showing me this?" Ienzo asked the boy. He said nothing.

They stood at the center of a web of memory, one slowly withering. "Is this the power?"

The boy nodded.

"So I guess this is the end of the line."

Another nod. Faint pages flickered and burned. Ienzo picked up the lexicon. It, too, was vanishing. He took a deep breath and heard the boy do the same. He pitched it into the center of the web. The fine filaments unraveled more quickly, the power withering and dying inside of him. Sacrificing it was all he had left. To turn fully away from this very, very long chapter of his life, and accept the consequences. Namely... that this was not all his fault.

The veins shattered. In their place, other lines, weak but growing. Ansem's embrace during their reunion. Even holding him as he cried. Aeleus, gentle, stalwart, Dilan’s attempts to rebuild.

Demyx, holding him, their first kiss. The realization that they were falling in love. The way the bond made him stronger, more him than ever before. The way it let him be vulnerable, and the strength in that vulnerability. That it made him capable of love.

Ienzo opened his eyes.

The pain, the dizziness, worsened. It felt like there was a massive weight on his chest. He wasn’t on the chair, he was on the floor, and he was being cradled. “Ienzo? Ienzo, can you hear me?” In the bright light of the lab, Demyx’s face was in silhouette.

“Hey.” He was gasping, a hoarse, animal sound. “How did you--”

“Help’s coming. Someone’s coming. You just have to hang on for a little while.” His own voice was ragged.

“How did you know?”

“When you said you loved me. You never say that over the phone. I knew you were going to do something stupid.” He touched Ienzo’s face.

“Is she--where is she--”

Demyx looked over his shoulder. “I don’t know. I figured she ran to get someone.”

“Oh…” The laughter hurt his chest. “She really did it.”

“Did what?”

“Found his heart.” The words were taking all his strength. It was getting harder to breathe. “She told me she had… I thought she was… disappearing. Not to him. From reality.”

Demyx touched his mouth. “Save your breath.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lie. I thought I was doing this to her.”

“It’s okay, Ienzo.”

A weird giddiness overtook him. In a flash of consciousness he realized it was likely hypoxia. He was starting to have to think about these breaths, forcing it consciously. He reached up to Demyx’s face. His hand was trembling and weak. “I’m really not very smart, am I?” He had to gasp between words.

“You were trying to save her.”

He was starting to grow tired…

“Tell me a story.”

He blinked. “What? I thought I… shouldn’t talk?”

“You have to stay awake. A story, a memory. Something.”

“I…” His other hand, at his side, twitched. He forced himself to breathe. “When I was… small." Ienzo coughed a little. “Ansem used to… to take me… out to the gardens. It was like… another world. They never used to let me explore. They didn’t want me to get hurt. He would… break Even’s rules… and just let me wander there for hours and hours.”

“I guess Even was the strict dad?”

“Very… neurotic.” He could feel his eyes rolling. Demyx shook him gently. “Always… “don’t do this, don’t do that.” But he did it… because of how my parents died… because of the accident that started the fire… wanted to stop that.” His arm started to tremble from the exertion of holding it up. Demyx laid his palm over his to keep it there. “But it was because of Ansem that I knew I could be… more.” For a moment he just had to focus on breathing. It was getting harder. “There was so much… more out there.”

“There still is.” His expression slipped. Ienzo realized it was taking as much strength for Demyx to appear calm as it was for him to breathe.

“I wanted to help people.”

“You are. You will.”

Another wave of giddiness. He was starting to go numb. “I’m dying.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Even and Aerith are going to come fix you. I already called them. It’s okay.”

“I used to think that I wanted this. But it feels so… I’m scared.” He could feel it, the numbness encroaching. “Will you tell them?”

“Who?”

“The others. That I love them. And I’m sorry. I ran out of time. I never got to fix things. I--”

“You’re not going to die.” The desperation crept into his voice. He looked at his phone. “Please, oh please--”

“I love you.”

“Ienzo--”

“Sing to me?”

His eyes clouded with tears. Ienzo tried to keep breathing, but his body was no longer responding to him. Demyx kissed his forehead and remained there, his cheek against Ienzo’s face. In a shaky and halting voice he sang, a lullaby that sounded like water.

It was so hard to stay awake. Things were getting so hazy, so quickly, all of it dissolving, until at last all there was was his shaky voice.

And then there was nothing.

#retribution #ienzo #demyx #zemyx #kairi

6 notes · View notes