#Solar opposites: the beast within | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thetruthbehindtheemotions · 1 year ago

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Hatred

I am the feeling that annihilates. That destroys what it touches and whom it touches. I settle within you like a plague. Unconscious. I slowly annihilate everything good that may have existed in your life, every good feeling, every memory. And just as rust corrodes iron, I corrode your insides, leaving you rotten, thirsting for revenge. I blind your eyes, and so you only see what I want you to see. I make you my toy, my puppet... Nice to meet you, I am Hatred.

Have you ever felt a sense of power when anger arises? That desire to let loose? That is the greatness that hatred provides. Getting angry, experiencing hatred, seems good. Under the influence of deep illusion, we find pleasure in the increase of blood pressure, heart rate, and adrenaline that accompany the outburst of hatred. Instead of serving as an alert that we are losing control and about to do something crazy, these sensations invigorate and awaken the dormant beast within us, inevitably leading to deadly confrontations. An example of this greatness and power that one feels when consumed by hatred is the infamous Nazi regime. Due to their immense hatred towards races they deemed unworthy, it is estimated that at least 1.5 million people - mostly Jews - died in gas chambers, from starvation, or due to diseases.

Another example of how the presence of hatred often leads to violent episodes is seen in major wars between nations. Governments often launch propaganda campaigns to promote hatred against enemy troops and civilians, in order to justify armed attacks. Although it is a fairly common sentiment, hatred is undesirable due to its disastrous consequences.

Hatred is linked to enmity and repulsion. People try to avoid or destroy what they hate. In the case of hatred towards another human being, the feeling can manifest through insults or physical aggression. Many consider hatred to be the opposite of love. Some believe, however, that love and hatred are just a step away from each other - and vice versa - since hatred is always directed towards someone considered important and who mobilizes the individual. But in this sense, the opposite of love would not be hatred, but rather indifference.

I am a perspicacious and voracious feeling of extreme displeasure that brings unhappiness and is characterized by the harshness and roughness it inflicts upon the life of those who hate. I am also present in all forms of human life, regardless of the type of civilization.

I am also present in all social classes, in all neighborhoods, in all alleys, cities, and countries of the world. I am the energy that drives destruction, war, and I am based on competition, selfishness, anger, envy, hurt, greed, and disunity. These are my main pillars. Anything built with hatred has less value because I am wrathful, because I contaminate relationships and turn them into something sick. I am the source that governs life, impoverishes and debases human beings, making them unworthy of living on the only planet in the solar system that offers conditions for physical life.

I am generally associated with romantic illusions, deep wounds in the soul, traumas, or abuses often generated in childhood. All of these accumulated with the problems that Life usually imposes, give rise to Hatred. Many even believe that Hatred emerged from Love, and indeed, this is true, but not entirely. I have existed since the world began. I was there when Cain killed Abel. I was there when Jesus was crucified. I was there in every war. I was there when terrorism emerged. I have always been present, and with each event, my power grew stronger. However, I became this potent, corrosive feeling when Love crossed my path. Love was not my creator, but it was responsible for making me who I am today.

That's right, not even I, Hatred, this being so powerful, so feared, was able to escape the charms of Love. Love came into my life like the sun after a storm. It illuminated my cold and gloomy days. It showed me that even a being like me was worthy of experiencing happiness. And in the blink of an eye, I found myself fallen at Love's feet. I loved Love with everything I had and even with what I didn't have. Their beauty was incomparable, their smile always radiant, their kindness impressive, and their words always comforting. I found myself completely captivated by their penetrating gaze. But contrary to what I believed, all the hugs, all the moments of affection and love were not directed solely at me. That was a quality, or curse, that both Love and Passion carried.

They would never be capable of loving only one person. I had given everything of myself to Love, I practically started living its function because, to me, we were one. But it was on a sad day that I began to see that the affections, and especially your love, were not directed solely towards me, but also towards other beings that inhabit the earth. On that day, I saw my whole world crumble. I felt betrayed. I felt anger, anguish, hurt, pain, and... hatred. It was there, in that constant whirlwind of emotions, that I, Hatred, acquired all my power, all my fury.

We think we know everything about love, don't we? But it was on that day that I truly discovered what love is. It hurt more than any cut I had suffered on my face, but I loved him too much, so I asked him to stay away from me. But whenever we meet, fights are inevitable. Not by Love's initiative, of course, but by me. Even though many years have passed, I simply can't avoid it.

Every time I encounter him, all the anger and resentment I felt back then come rushing back with full force.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Love asked me, with his beautiful eyes filled with tears.

"Because I once loved you too much," I replied, turning my back on him, putting an end to our discussion. And even though I was already a few meters away, I could clearly hear the sound of his crying.

That sound shattered my heart. Knowing that his love was not directed solely towards me hurt, but knowing that he was suffering hurt even more. It was torture, but I had to admit, I still loved him. Even though we were complete opposites, like water and wine, like night and day, my fate would always be to love him. I was destined to suffer for eternity.

"I hate loving you," I whispered to myself, futilely trying to hold back my own tears.

Hatred never disappears, not as long as feelings of resentment are nurtured in the mind. That's me, strong, attractive, and powerful, but with a heart completely broken by Love.

"When a person knows love... they also assume the risk of knowing hatred."

- Sasuke Uchiha

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Ódio

Eu sou o sentimento que aniquila. Que destrói aquilo que toca e a quem toca. Instalo-me em seu interior como uma praga. Inconsciente. Vou aniquilando tudo aquilo de bom que possa ter existido em sua vida, cada sentimento bom, ou lembrança. E assim como a ferrugem corrói o ferro, eu corroo seu interior, te deixando podre, com sede de vingança. Eu cego os seus olhos, e assim você só enxerga o que eu quero que enxergue. Eu faço de você o meu brinquedo, a minha marionete... Muito prazer, eu sou o Ódio.

Já teve aquela sensação de poder quando surge à ira? Aquela vontade de deixar o bicho pegar? Isso se dá a grandeza que o ódio te proporciona. Ficar com raiva, experimentar o ódio, parece bom. Sob o efeito da ilusão profunda, sentimos prazer no aumento da pressão sanguínea, batida cardíaca e adrenalina que acompanha o surto de ódio. Ao invés de servir de alerta que vamos perder o controle e fazer loucuras, estas sensações animam e despertam o animal adormecido dentro de nós, e consequentemente a ira desse "animal" gera confrontos mortais. Um exemplo dessa grandeza e poder que você sente quando é consumido pelo ódio é o famoso governo Nazista, que com seu tamanho ódio para com as raças que não eram consideradas de sangue azul, estima-se que pelo menos 1,5 milhões de pessoas - em sua maioria Judeus - morreram nas câmaras de gás, de fome ou por doenças.

Um outro exemplo de como a existência do ódio muitas vezes pode levar a episódios violentos, ocorre nas grandes guerras entre as nações. Os governos muitas vezes lançam campanhas de propaganda para promover o ódio contra as tropas inimigas e cidadãos, para que eles passem os ataques armados. Mesmo que seja um sentimento bastante comum, o ódio é algo indesejável devido a suas consequências desastrosas.

O ódio está relacionado com a inimizade e a repulsão. As pessoas tentam evitar ou destruir aquilo que odeiam. No caso do ódio, relativamente a outro ser humano, o sentimento pode refletir-se através de insultos ou de agressões físicas. Muitos consideram o ódio como o oposto do amor. Há quem acredite, no entanto, que do amor ao ódio é apenas um passo - e vice-versa -, uma vez que o ódio está sempre dirigido a alguém que se considera importante e que mobiliza o indivíduo. Mas neste sentido, o contrário do amor não seria o ódio, e sim a indiferença.

Sou um sentimento perspicaz e voraz, de desgosto extremo, que traz infelicidade e que é caracterizado pela dureza e aspereza que traz para a vida de quem odeia. Também estou presente em todas as formas de vida humana, independente do tipo de civilização.

Também estou presente em todas as classes sociais, em todos os bairros, em todas as vielas, cidades e países do mundo. Eu sou a energia que impulsiona para a destruição, para a guerra, e tenho como base a competição, o egoísmo, a raiva, inveja, mágoa, cobiça, desunião. Estes são os meus principais pilares. Tudo o que é construido com ódio tem menos valor, porque eu sou raivoso, porque contamino relações e as transformo em doentias. Eu sou a fonte que desgoverna a vida, que empobrece e rebaixa o ser humano, o fazendo indigno de viver no único planeta do sistema solar que oferece condições de vida fisica.

Estou geralmente associado a ilusões amorosas, a feridas profundas instaladas na alma, a traumas ou abusos geralmente gerados na infância. Tudo isso acumulado com os problemas que normalmente a Vida os impõe, é que surge o Odio. Muitos ate acreditam que o Ódio surgiu do Amor, e de fato, isto é verdade, mas não completamente. Eu existo desde que o mundo é mundo. Eu estive lá quando Caim matou Abel. Eu estive lá quando Jesus foi crucificado. Eu estive lá, em todas as guerras. Eu estive lá, quando o terrorismo surgiu. Eu sempre estive presente, e a cada evento o meu poder evoluía mais, contudo, eu me tornei essa potência, esse sentimento tão corrosivo, quando o Amor surgiu em meu caminho. Ele não foi meu criador, mas foi o responsável por eu me tornar o que sou hoje.

Isso mesmo, nem mesmo eu, o Odio, esse ser tão poderoso, tão temido, fui capaz de escapar dos encantos do Amor. Ele surgiu em minha vida como o sol surge após uma tempestade. Ele iluminou os meus dias frios e sombrios. Mostrou-me que até mesmo um ser como eu, era digno de conhecer a felicidade. E assim como a rapidez de um piscar de olhos, eu me vi caído a seus pés. Eu o amei com tudo o que eu tinha e com o que eu não tinha também. A sua beleza era incomparável, o seu sorriso era sempre iluminado, a sua gentileza era impressionante, assim como suas palavras sempre reconfortantes. Vi-me completamente preso em seu olhar tão penetrante. Mas diferente do que eu acreditava, todos os abraços, todos os momentos de carinho e amor, não eram dirigidos somente para mim. Essa era uma qualidade, ou maldição que tanto o Amor, como a Paixão carregavam.

Eles jamais seriam capazes de amar somente uma pessoa. Eu havia dado tudo de mim ao Amor, eu passei praticamente a viver a sua função, porque para mim éramos um só. Mas foi em um triste dia que passei a ver que os carinhos, e principalmente o seu amor, não era direcionado somente para mim, mas também para os demais seres que habitam a terra. Naquele dia eu vi todo o meu mundo desmoronar. Eu me senti traído. Senti raiva, angústia, magoa, dor e... ódio. Foi ali, naquela constante de sentimentos que eu, o Ódio, adquiri todo o meu poder, toda a minha fúria.

A gente acha que sabe tudo sobre o amor, não é mesmo? Mas foi naquele dia que realmente descobri o que é amor. Doeu mais do que qualquer corte que eu tivesse sofrido no rosto, mas eu o amava demais, então pedi a ele que se afastasse de mim. Mas sempre que nos encontramos, as brigas são inevitáveis. Não por iniciativa do Amor, é claro, mas sim por mim. Mesmo tendo se passado muitos anos, simplesmente não consigo evitar.

Sempre que o encontro, toda a raiva e mágoa que senti na época, veem com força total.

— Por que você me odeia tanto? — perguntou-me o Amor, com seus belos olhos marejados.

— Porque um dia eu já te amei demais. — respondi dando-lhe as costas, pondo fim a nossa discussão. E mesmo já estando a alguns metros de distancia, pude ouvir nitidamente o som do seu choro.

Aquele som destroçou meu coração. Saber que seu amor não era direcionado somente para mim doeu, mas saber que ele estava sofrendo doeu muito mais. Era uma droga, mas eu tinha que admitir, eu ainda o amava. Mesmo sendo completamente opostos, como água e vinho, como noite e dia, a minha sina seria sempre amá-lo. Eu estava destinado a sofrer por toda a eternidade.

— Eu odeio te amar.— sussurro para mim mesmo, tentando inutilmente segurar as minhas próprias lagrimas.

O ódio nunca desaparece, não enquanto sentimentos de mágoas forem alimentados na mente. Esse sou eu, forte, atraente e poderoso, mas com o coração completamente quebrado pelo Amor.

"Quando uma pessoa conhece o amor... Também assume o risco de conhecer o ódio."

— Sasuke Uchiha

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spoilertv · 1 year ago

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#SpoilerTV

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a-tale-of-legends · 2 years ago

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Still going over the Legendverse legendaries so far. Reread the Bulbapedia page of Lunala and Solgaleo to get some ideas for their powers got their Chosens.

Lunala

Prior to this paragraph, Bulbapedia mentioned that Lunala's third eye ( which in general is something I should research) is one of a bright red eye. Something to keep note of to see if that has any significances. Going back to this paragraph, Lunala can obscure daylight with darkness- again something to look into. My thought just now was that, in the day time, while the moon is still present, Ames power would be weaker....except with shadows and or darkness. This kinda steals Marshadow's gimmick, but it's still interesting. Another thing I noted that actually didn't appear in Solgaleo's Bulbapedia page was that Lunala can essentially use a force field? When clicking the link it brought me to the ability shadow shield( Lunala's ability) which both boosts the idea that Ames/ Lunala Chosens would have powers over darkness, which is probably really useful when it's not nighttime lol. So yeah, Ames can make shadow force fields.

Going into Solgaleo

The most notable thing here was a paragraph before, where it's said that the third eye for Solgaleo reflects a compass rose than an eye. A compass is all about the direction of the wind- navigation. The problem is that I don't really associate Solgaleo with the wind or navigation outside of the day time probably being the best time to travel. We could do "navigation by star" stuff, though admittedly I'm only vaguely familiar with using the stars at night for navigation. The body of Solgaleo being able to hold lots of energy is interesting though. Both Lunala and Solgaleo involve absorption in some way, but with Lunala it's absorbing light to spread a nightly darkness( which still has light within it mind you, with the moon and stars). While Solgaleo is kinda reverse? It builds up energy from within and the reason why it looks like the sun is because of that energy being built up from the inside. I don't know if that makes sense, but like. Semi opposites. What does that mean for Chosen powers though....no clue. Looking at Solgaleo's ability, full metal body, kinda gives me some insight? The ability is basically Solgaleo not being able to take stat reduction from moves and abilities. Kinda adds to the "building of energy from within" bit in a way. The last thing I want to touch up on that I didn't fit Lunala was the title " beast that eats the sun", which is reference to alchemy, specifically the purification of metal, which leads to the creation of steel. Does that give me a good idea of what a Solgaleo's powers would be? Nope! But is it interesting and I'm gonna look into it? Yeah lol

My main take away from this is that Solgaleo is harder for me personally to crack down than Lunala. And also I gotta look up solar and lunar powers on the superpower wiki lol.

#r rambles #legendverse #thanks for staying for the ramble lol

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blacksunscorpio · 3 years ago

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Astro Musings No. 11

Venus/Jupiter aspects in the natal chart...

Will make someone generally likable, charming, generous, and agreeable- especially if it's a conjunction, trine, or sextile you're working with. They'll be the person who might be incredibly popular or someone whose creativity [Venus] is magnified [Jupiter]. They might be very beautiful or well known for their good looks. However, throw a square to Chiron in the mix and this individual might have a hard time believing it. Since Chiron is the place in our chart where we wear our inner wound and a square indicates conflict, the pain to either of these planets has to do with beliefs, how we're educated, and the overall philosophy of life. One could perhaps have a lot of doubt as to whether they are truly attractive. They could be bullied or hated for their attractiveness or popularity. On the other hand, Jupiter Squaring Chiron can make someone have severe wounds concerning their spiritual beliefs. It's common to see this aspect in charts of people who were forced into a particular belief system or religion. In addition, it's also an indicator of those who were abused by organized religion. Often the case/in charts of those in the LGBTQ community who were perhaps shunned by conventional western religious constructs.

12th House Synastry is a bit like Russian Roulette...

Not to scare any of you with significant placements within this house synastrically or in composite, but remember what I said in Astro Musings 1 about Neptune? Wherever he is, there's going to be a feeling that something is hidden. Deception will be a big factor or just naivete or idealism. More so if the aspects in this house are squares/oppositions. With the Trines and Conjunctions, the energy here can feel incredibly spiritual and binding. [Don't bust out the champagne yet, I said FEEL binding- it doesn't mean it necessarily will be]. Sorry. North Node/Neptune might make you two dream of each other or have this strange 6th sense concerning them and their energy. Moon and Neptune will make two people have an uncanny knack for knowing what the other is thinking. It will feel downright Soul-Mate-esque. The same if Mercury and Neptune are joined.

Now, if the aforementioned aspect is afflicted, two people will Pinocchio the fuck out of each other.

The lies will be endless. Now this might not even be malicious, it's more so two people don't want to disappoint each other, so they put on an act they think the other will appreciate/wants to see. There's a lot of pressure to live up to the other person's expectations. Most of the time, the mask will inevitably fall off and bitter feelings may ensue. Choose honesty first.

Aspects to the ruler of the first house will have a similar vibe to aspects on the ascendant.

That’s because your chart ruler and it’s planet are leading your entire chart in energetic expression. By proxy, whatever happens to it [ruler of the 1st], wherever it is in your chart, will be magnified and displayed. For example, if you’re a Scorpio rising but Pluto is in your 3rd house, it might be very apparent to others that you speak and think deeply. Your communication can feel very “psychiatric" and probing. It might be the first thing people notice about you. If you’re a Sag rising and your Jupiter is in your 10th House, you could make a career out of travel or be famous. Everyone will notice your larger than life persona.

Aquarius Moon in the 5th just like these other aspects, can be an indicator of one who might have a fear of motherhood or pregnancy in general. In addition, One with a Cancer Lilith in the 6th might choose career over motherhood. In a woman’s chart, it can also be an indicator of someone who has reproductive [4th house/moon] issues [especially if there are afflictions].

Lilith in the 6th house may feel that they give more than they get. They might also reject the idea of daily work and routine or general discipline. There can be scandal’s at work as well. Wherever Lilith is, you can guarantee that there’s going to be some ‘taboo’ energy involved. Since 6th house is one of the money/career houses, it can indicate that this taboo will be related to whatever you do for a living.

Placements for those who love animals

Will be Neptunian placements ftw. Neptunians/Piscean placements tend to have a monopoly on the “beast whisperer” thing. That’s because Animals sit between the physical and the spiritual world. They see shit we can’t. So they’ll often take to those with strong “veil” energy.

Cancerian’s come in at a cool 2nd. This is because their heightened sensitivity make animals feel them quite strongly. They also have strong nurturing energy which will draw pets to them.

Leos at No. 3- Leonine placements have an uncanny love for animals due to their playful and warm energy. Being ruled by the sun, they’ll be literally “beacons of light” for furry friends.

Virgo is ruler of the 6th house of work and routine. Because of their natural capability towards order and discipline, I often see this sign as pet owners. Often these natives have more than one. They’ll be the sign that has Fido trained and operating like clockwork.

Speaking of animals, the signs I’ve seen to take to cats more than canines are Scorpio and Capricorn. Because of these two sign’s affinity towards introversion, it’s no surprise that one of the most introverted breed of animal feels right at home among them. On the flipside, I’ve seen on numerous occasions where dogs become quite obsessed [Pluto] with Scorpios, on the occasion where they’re not scared of them.

In a female’s chart, Having asteroid Aphrodite squaring her Lilith

will mean her beauty will have a forbidden fruit vibe to it. Her charm will be directly tied to her wild femininity. However, there may be struggles in how she expresses it. Typical placement for someone whose kindness or mild flirtation will be received as overtly sexual. Her charm and grace might have a playboy or pornstar vibe or she may get her value from expressing herself sexually. It can also indicate one who is just oversexed in general. Be sure to keep those Trojans on hand and get those yearly check ups. Nothing wrong with expressing yourself in such a way but Lilith can also indicate diseases of the venereal nature, especially if in the sign of Scorpio or afflicted in the 8th House

Talent in Fashion Design in the Natal Chart will be

Sun in Libra [Andre Leon Talley]

Venus in the 10th

Taurus 10th House

Libra 10th House

Venus in Virgo

Venus in the 6th

Moon conjunct Venus

Venus in the 2nd House

Mercury in harmonious aspect to Venus

Neptune in Libra

Venus in Sagittarius [Expansive/creative mindset/abundance]

Neptune in harmonious aspect to Venus [Anna Wintour]

Talent in Libra

Scorpio Stelliums [Pluto rules the underworld where jewels and finery reside- Gianni Versace and Anna Wintour have this in their charts- So does Grace Kelly]

Having Nessus in Capricorn can indicate that the father figure in your life might have been a bit abusive or a source of pain.

Having Asteroid Talent in the sign of Gemini might make one very well adept at wordplay. They could have a talent for writing or have hardcore skill at wit. In the 12th house might make them very skilled at writing fantasy or even writing for film/fiction.

Uranus in the 1st can make someone unusual looking, they may look androgynous or dress in a ‘rebellious’ or ‘avant-garde’ way. I’ve also seen 1st house Uranians have flat affects. They can have a demeanor that comes off as detached or in general RBF.

Speaking of Uranus, if you had an absentee father figure...

check to see if your 4th house has Aquarian or Uranian influence. In addition, see if your Sun is inconjunct to your Uranus or squaring it. 9 times out of 10 when I’m analyzing a birth chart, I have a native tell me their father skipped out or split from life very early. There’s always a story there.

Asteroid Psyche touching your 10th house/MC might make you a very skilled Psychologist. Asteroid Psyche [16] is about the mind/soul. If it’s in the house of work/reputation/prestige, you might apply this asteroid's energy to your career

Multi-planet oppositions in the natal chart

Will indicate a push-pull in your natal energy. You’ll be the person who struggles between two mindsets constantly.

If it’s between Gemini and Sagittarius you’ll struggle with the logical and philosophical. You may have constant existential crises. On a positive note, if you’re able to balance it, you’ll be able to see multiple sides of an argument. This is an ideal aspect for someone who debates, is in law, or journalism. If it’s between

Cancer or Capricorn you will deal with wanting to be self-sufficient but also have a deep need to nurture or be nurtured.

The Sign your Sun/Rising is in in your Solar Return Chart

Will usually indicate the energy you’ll take on for the year. In Aquarius your might be tech minded and quite detached. In Virgo, you may be especially detail oriented and cerebral. In Scorpio you may find yourself more emotionally sensitive, probing, or ruthless that year. In Leo, you may be more outgoing- self-centered, or unusually popular.

A Taurus Venus will like to feed you to show you they love you. Being Wined and Dined is how this Venus placement likes to demonstrate they care. They may also like to give you gifts to show you their admiration.

Sorry to break it to you, mutable gang...

But Sagittarius, Gemini, Virgo, and Pisces are among the top signs found in Serial Killers. I.E

Ted Bundy- Sagittarius

Jeffrey Dahmer- Gemini

John Wayne Gacy- Pisces

Mary Bell- Gemini

George Chapman- Sagittarius

Charles Cullen- Pisces

Danny Rolling- Gemini

Marybeth Tinning- Virgo

Alton Coleman- Sagittarius

Kenneth Bianchi- Gemini

Andras Pandy- Gemini

Dean Carter- Virgo

Andrew Cunanan- Virgo

Richard Ramirez- Pisces

Randy Steven Kraft- Pisces

Terry Blair- Virgo

Timothy Krajcir- Sagittarius

Yikes....

Taurus Suns, 11th House Virgos, Cancer/Capricorn 5th Houses, and Libra 7th Housers are typically the “Parent/Mom/Dad” of their friend groups.

Believe it or not, when it comes to “jealousy” over material things, it’s not Scorpio. Taurean/Leo placements [typically risings and Suns and moons] and especially underdeveloped will be the types to hate on you for having something [Usually clothing, car, house, etc] they want. Scorpios, though famous infamous for the jealousy stereotype, will usually show this trait only in romantic entanglements. This is because Scorpio is a water sign. Their primary mode of operation has to do with the emotional realm.

Mars in the 10th House is usually seen in those who make athletics part of their career.

Mars in Gemini have the most savage comebacks. They will make you feel so stupid if you argue with them. Mars is war and Gemini is wit. You’ll be hard pressed to win a battle of words with them.

I find those with Mars in Aquarius or aspecting Uranus will swing both ways sexually, regardless of how they identify.

Venus in Aquarius don’t really like to be touched/hugged. Picture Voldemort hugging Draco. Ironically, they will usually be the type of people to take up professions where they have to touch others. I've seen copious nurses with their Venuses touching Aquarius. Massage therapists as well. Might have something to do with the love [Venus] of helping others [Aquarius].

Those with multiple planets in the 12th House can make excellent actors. This is because their personality is in a mutable house. They can morph and chameleonize themselves very easily. Superb for taking on multiple personalities for their craft.

Men with Mercury in Leo, Capricorn, or harmonious aspect to Pluto tend to have very deep voices. There’s also a soothing vibe to them as well. James Earl Jones, Liam Neeson, and Anthony Hopkins all have these placements.

Contrary to popular opinion, Gemini isn’t the only sign that can be a “jack of all trades”. In fact, Libra Suns often fit in in various roles/professions. This has a lot to do with their diplomatic nature. Because they are often the peacemaker and a bit passive than their cousins, they are often welcomed in many different circles. This allows them to excel with networking/social climbing.

Jupiter conjunct/Square Saturn and Capricorn 9th Housers

are the placement[s] I see the most in those who have a deep skepticism of Astrology. Their belief system can be rather rigid [Saturn] which makes it harder/ for them to be open minded [Jupiter] to other schools of thought.

Each Planet/Sign rules a day of the week. Whichever day you were born can inadvertently make you take on some of the traits of that sign, regardless of what your “big 3″ are.

For example: If you were born on a Wednesday, ruled by Mercury, you can be especially cerebral or witty. Tuesday, ruled by Mars can make you fiesty, athletic and perhaps a bit impatient like Arians. Friday, ruled by Venus can make you extremely charming and friendly. Saturday, ruled by Saturn can make you extremely entrepreneurial-minded whereas being Born on a Monday [Moon] can make you security and family oriented.

Venus in Sagittarius, Sagittarius 5th House, 2nd House in Sag or Venus Aspecting Neptune in the sign of Sag might make one have an affinity for entertainment from foreign countries. I see these placements in the charts of those who enjoy anime, foreign film, or those who have a knack for languages [lot of trines to Jupiter is also an indicator of the latter.]

Asteroid Priapus... will make you want to uncontrollably merge with someone.

[I’m not even kidding. I had this aspect with someone and my Priapus touched their Jupiter and I wanted to tear the kid’s clothes off. All my friends had no idea what I saw in him. To them, he was not my “type”- whatever that means.] The sign Priapus is in will give you a hint as to what turns you on. In Virgo, someone clean cut, organized or well-groomed might tickle your fancy. In Libra, someone fashionable and sweet-natured. In Aries, someone outgoing or athletic, Capricorn, there can be an affinity for someone older, someone accomplished, or a general “daddy” fetish.

Sun conjunct Pluto or Sun Square Pluto...

will have gnarly authority issues. Same with Mars in the 1st or Mars in any of the career houses. They do not like being told what to do whatsoever. If you try to boss them around, they will do the opposite just to spite you.

In synastry, a Double Whammy of Sun/Pluto

energy will make two people addicted to each other. All their forbidden fantasies [Pluto] will be exemplified by the other person’s presence [Sun]. The sex will be on the rougher side and can make two people obsessed. However, if a break up were to occur, this placement will make it damn near impossible for two people to be friends again. There’s just too much passion involved.

Astro Musings No. 1 Astro Musings No. 2 Astro Musings No. 3 Astro Musings No. 4 Astro Musings No. 5 Astro Musings No. 6 Astro Musings No. 7 Astro Musings No. 8 Astro Musings No. 9 Astro Musings No. 10

#Astro musings #Astro Musings No. 11 #Hope this helps Y'all #FYP #Astrology #My writing #Blacksunscorpio #Enjoy #feel free to add in comments #astro tumblr #astro notes

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knights-unwelcommentary · 3 years ago

Text

Troll language rules theory

Words that are the same as ours:

-Highblood lingo includes all human words except anatomy terms, time, romance and some other words exclusive to Alternia

-Coffee, numbers, feelings except romantic ones, naturally occurring structures, places and phenomena (caverns, sea, etc), verbs, weapons, anatomy terms, most candy, most fruit, most clothes, some fish, some insects

-Some TV series and celebrities with the added “Troll” before the name

Words that are descriptive or synonymous versions of ours:

-Vegetables

-Animals (generally related to a unique characteristic or sound; might contain beast, vermin, creature, fiend, fowl or bug)

-Parts of the house (block replaces room) , artificially occurring structures (like bridges)

-Movies, books, drinks except coffee, kitchenware, tools, accessories, appliances and decoration

-Bicycle, skateboard, pedestrian conveyance and others

Words that are apparently the same to ours but with different meaning and nuance:

-Romantic feelings

-Buckets

-Day and night inverted as well as related terms

Portmanteaus

Quadrants

Jobs (generally mixes sections of words from a violent job or activity with normal one). A theory for job naming convention is further discussed in the linked post

Compound words and completely new terms

-Food (often related to grub which is mostly used as flour, meat and sauce)

-Some anatomy terms

-Time (seasons, festivities, sun cycles)

-Punctuation marks

-Motorized vehicles

-IT related items (like cartridges, TV and computers)

-Money

#homestuck #homestuck meta #pesterquest #hiveswap #friendsim #{trollplanet sandbox}#-

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house-of-1000-corpses · 4 years ago

Audio

241 songs bangers for any occasion

1.MASTODON - Blood and Thunder 03:48 2.RED FANG - Wires 05:43 3.DYING FETUS - Second Skin 04:42 4.OBITUARY - Sentence Day 02:49 5.DEATH - Pull The Plug 04:26 6.AMORPHIS - Black Winter Day 03:50 7.MYRKUR - Leaves of Yggdrasil 04:00 8.NOTHING - Say Less 04:15 9.TORCHE - Admission 04:00 10.BARONESS - March to the Sea 03:11 11.THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN - 43% Burnt 04:31 12.PIG DESTROYER - Trojan Whore 01:34 13.NASUM - Scoop 02:21 14.NILE - Cast Down The Heretic 05:45 15.SUFFOCATION - Catatonia 03:55 16.INCANTATION - Entrails of the Hag Queen 04:33 17.NEUROSIS - Through Silver In Blood 12:11 18.HIGH ON FIRE - Blessed Black Wings 07:43 19.YOB - Ablaze 10:13 20.WINDHAND - Diablerie 05:20 21.MONOLORD - THE LAST LEAF 05:14 22.BONGZILLA - Amerijuanican 06:46 23.GATECREEPER - From The Ashes 03:59 24.EXHUMED - Ravenous Cadavers 01:49 25.FULL OF HELL - Burning Myrrh 02:12 26.INTEGRITY - Hymn, For The Children of the Black Flame 02:16 27.GISM - Endless Blockades For The Pussyfooter 03:46 28.CONTROL DENIED - Expect The Unexpected 07:16 29.NECROPHAGIST - Only Ash Remains 04:11 30.OBSCURA - The Anticosmic Overload 04:16 31.REVOCATION - The Grip Tightens 04:10 32.GRUESOME - A Waste of Life 06:00 33.ZOMBI - Breakthrough & Conquer 03:46 34.GENGHIS TRON - Board Up The House 05:54 35.SURVIVE - A.H.B. 04:25 36.THE ALBUM LEAF - Ambo 04:53 37.CEREMONY - Turn Away The Bad Thing 04:02 38.BORIS WITH MERZBOW - Away From You 07:35 39.ROYAL THUNDER - Parsonz Curse 06:57 40.KING WOMAN - Hierophant 07:59 41.CLOAKROOM - Seedless Star 07:37 42.AUTHOR & PUNISHER - The Speaker Is Systematically Broken 04:14 43.DISFEAR - Deadweight 02:52 44.IRON REAGAN - A Dying World 02:24 45.TOXIC HOLOCAUST - Nuke The Cross 02:47 46.CANDY - Super-Stare 04:01 47.RINGWORM - Death Becomes My Voice 05:19 48.INTER ARMA - Citadel 06:40 49.PRIMITIVE MAN - Menacing 08:00 50.UNEARTHLY TRANCE - Famine 06:14 51.LYCUS - Solar Chamber 10:41 52.DEVOURMENT - Cognitive Sedation Butchery 04:53 53.SKINLESS - The Optimist 05:42 54.DEVIL MASTER - Black Flame Candle 02:46 55.OUTER HEAVEN - Bloodspire 04:15 56.GENOCIDE PACT - Conquered and Disposed 04:37 57.COFFINS - Hour of Execution 04:55 58.MAMMOTH GRINDER - Superior Firepower 02:38 59.LIVING GATE - Heaven Ablaze 03:35 60.REPULSION - Maggots In Your Coffin 01:45 61.AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED - Agorapocalypse Now 02:25 62.MISERY INDEX - Fed To The Wolves 03:47 63.MORTICIAN - Rabid 02:01 64.BRUTAL TRUTH - Sugardaddy 02:36 65.HUMAN REMAINS - Rote 03:31 66.-(16)- - Me and the Dog Die Together 03:05 67.ALABAMA THUNDERPUSSY - Motor-Ready 04:21 68.ASG - Avalanche 04:17 69.CEPHALIC CARNAGE - Endless Cycle Of Violence 04:14 70.CHERUBS - Sooey Pig 04:44 71.COUGH - Haunter of the Dark 07:50 72.CRIPPLE BASTARDS - Non Coinvolto 02:04 73.DISEMBOWELMENT - Your Prophetic Throne Of Ivory 07:40 74.EX EYE - Opposition/Perihelion; The Coil 12:29 75.GADGET - Pillars Of Filth 01:20 76.GRAVES AT SEA - The Curse That Is 11:14 77.HAEMORRHAGE - WE ARE THE GORE 02:15 78.HORSEBACK - Mithras 05:04 79.ILSA - SHIBBOLETH 02:39 80.INDIAN - The Impetus Bleeds 06:40 81.INVERLOCH - Distance Collapsed (In Rubble) 08:39 82.IRON MONKEY - Crown of Electrodes 04:21 83.JOHN FRUM - Presage of Emptiness 04:47 84.LOCRIAN - Arc of Extinction 07:16 85.MARUTA - Hope Smasher 02:19 86.MIRACLE - Light Mind 04:49 87.THE OBSESSED - Sodden Jackal 04:23 88.PINKISH BLACK - Concept Unification 05:13 89.PUBLICIST UK - Slow Dancing To This Bitter Earth 03:36 90.RWAKE - Leviticus 07:17 91.SUMERLANDS - The Seventh Seal 03:46 92.TERMINAL BLISS - Clean Bill of Wealth 00:51 93.TRAPPIST - Victims Of A Bomber Raid 01:38 94.TRUE WIDOW - Four Teeth 06:16 95.WEEKEND NACHOS - Jock Powerviolence 01:23 96.WRONG - Culminate 02:33 97.USNEA - Lathe of Heaven 09:44 98.VICTIMS - The Horse And Sparrow Theory 03:41 99.ZEKE - Two Lane Blacktop 01:37 100.ZONAL - System Error -ft. Moor Mother 04:06 101.ARCADEA - Infinite End 03:28 102.BLACK SALVATION - In A Casket's Ride 07:03 103.BRAIN TENTACLES - Fruitcake 02:35 104.ABSCESS - Naked Freak Show 01:15 105.ABYSMAL DAWN - Inanimate 04:15 106.AGENDA OF SWINE - Gethsemane 01:08 107.ANAL CUNT - Radio Hit 01:11 108.ANATOMY OF HABIT - Radiate and Recede 20:11 109.ANTIGAMA - Pursuit 01:16 110.ATRIARCH - Entropy 05:53 111.BEDEMON - Child Of Darkness 04:12 112.BENUMB - Once And Never Again 01:00 113.BIRDS OF PREY - Hustling the Coroner To Overlook the Strychnine 03:27 114.BLACK ANVIL - May Her Wrath Be Just 04:25 115.BLACK TUSK - Bring Me Darkness 03:05 116.BLOOD DUSTER - Porn Store Stiffi 01:33 117.BLOODIEST - BROKEN TEETH 07:31 118.BRIAN POSEHN - Cuddling 03:55 119.BROUGHTON'S RULES - Reversers 03:50 120.BURIED INSIDE - IV 06:07 121.BURNT BY THE SUN - Soundtrack To The Worst Movie Ever 02:32 122.BURST - Where The Wave Broke 03:36 123.BUZZOVEN - Mainline 05:30 124.CALL OF THE VOID - Bottom Feeder 01:42 125.CAR BOMB - Gum Under The Table 03:27 126.CHRIS CONNELLY - Wait For Amateur 02:05 127.CIRCLE OF ANIMALS - No Faith 04:21 128.CHRISTIAN MISTRESS - Over & Over 02:41 129.COALESCE - Have Patience 03:11 130.COLDWORKER - The Interloper 02:38 131.COLISEUM - Defeater 02:01 132.COLUMNS - Mudfucker 01:18 133.CRETIN - Ghost of Teeth and Hair 03:54 134.CRYPTIC SLAUGHTER - Lowlife 02:32 135.CULTED - BROODING HEX 19:13 136.DAVIE ALLAN - Buzz Saw Effect 02:36 137.DAYLIGHT DIES - Four Corners 08:11 138.DEAD WORLD - The Machine 08:06 139.DEATH BREATH - Death Breath 02:55 140.DEKAPITATOR - The Storm Before the Calm 06:39 141.DISRUPT - Domestic Prison 02:00 142.DON CABALLERO - Railroad Cancellation 05:16 143.DUKATALON - ZX 06:23 144.DYSRHYTHMIA - Appeared at First 03:06 145.EAST WEST BLAST TEST - Magnetic Field 00:51 146.ECSTATIC VISION - Don't Kill The Vibe 05:00 147.EMBALMER - There Was Blood Everywhere 01:51 148.ENEMY SOIL - Sentencing 01:39 149.EXIT-13 - When I Get Low, I Get High 02:36 150.EXPULSION - Altar of Slaughter 01:43 151.FACEDOWNINSHIT - NPON 04:19 152.FATHER BEFOULED - Sacrilegious Defilement of Deranged Salvation 03:20 153.FLESH PARADE - Backstabber 01:14 154.FUCK THE FACTS - The Wrecking 04:39 155.GENERAL SURGERY - Slithering Maceration Of Ulcerous Facial Tissue 01:11 156.GENOCIDE SUPERSTARS - Hatestomp 03:08 157.GOD MACABRE - Lost 04:01 158.GOBLIN REBIRTH - Requiem for X 04:16 159.GRAVES OF VALOR - Suffocation of the Last King 03:45 160.HAIL! HORNET - Beast Of Bourbon 03:11 161.HARVEY MILK - The Anvil Will Fall 07:34 162.HALO - Buried In Light 04:37 163.HEMDALE - Delicious Gory Fun 01:11 164.HERO DESTROYED - That's An Axe 03:27 165.HOODED MENACE - Elysium Of Dripping Death 11:33 166.HOPE DRONE - Riverbeds Hewn in Marrow 10:39 167.HOWL - Horns Of Steel 03:26 168.HUMAN REMAINS - Weeding Out The Thorns 02:37 169.INEVITABLE END - The Severed Inception 04:04 170.JOEL GRIND - The Invisible Landscape 02:12 171.JUCIFER - Blackpowder 02:16 172.KARABOUDJAN - Den Svarta Ön 07:32 173.KILL THE CLIENT - Vicious Slaughter 01:06 174.KINGDOM OF SORROW - Enlightened To Extinction 03:47 175.KRIEG - CIRCLE OF GUILT 05:20 176.LENG TCH'E - The Fist of the Leng Tch'e 01:50 177.LIBERTEER - Build No System 01:34 178.LOOKING FOR AN ANSWER - Tapias De Cementerio 02:07 179.LORD DYING - POISONED ALTARS 03:47 180.LULL - Moment 1 01:08 181.MAGRUDERGRIND - Sacrificial Hire 01:32 182.MAN MUST DIE - Kill It Skin It Wear It 04:18 183.MANTAS - Evil Dead (Death By Metal Demo) 03:22 184.MERZBOW - Woodpecker No. 1 06:43 185.MINDROT - Anguish 07:11 186.MINSK - Within And Without 07:57 187.MORGION - The Serpentine Scrolls 10:33 188.MORTA SKULD - Sacrificial Rite 03:26 189.MOSE GIGANTICUS - The Left Path 04:13 190.MUMAKIL - Brothers in Slavery 01:20 191.MURDER CONSTRUCT - Compelled by Mediocrity 02:44 192.N2K2 - Mourning 03:54 193.NOISEAR - Inevitable Extinction 01:00 194.NUM SKULL - Ritually Abused 04:27 195.NUX VOMICA - Sanity Is For The Passive 12:40 196.OBLITERATION - Goat Skull Crown 04:40 197.OPPROBRIUM - Voices From The Grave 03:23 198.ORIGIN - Finite 03:08 199.PAN.THY.MONIUM - The Battle Of Geeheeb 11:55 200.PENTAGRAM - Forever My Queen 02:25 201.PHOBIA - Rehashed 01:05 202.POISON BLOOD - The Scourge and the Gestalt 03:40 203.PRIMATE - Draw Back A Stump 01:26 204.PUTRID PILE - The Satisfying Dead 02:50 205.PYRRHON - Balkanized 04:46 206.RABBITS - A Tale Of Tales 04:44 207.RAZOR - Hypertension 03:19 208.REGURGITATE - Putrid Serenity 01:44 209.ROTTEN SOUND - Superior 01:28 210.RUMPELSTILTSKIN GRINDER - Grab a Shovel (We've Got Bodies to Bury) 04:51 211.SATAN'S SATYRS - Succubus 03:40 212.SAYYADINA - Their Control 01:04 213.SCOTT HULL - Il funerale di Bonnie 03:47 214.SACRILEGE - Shadow From Mordor 04:50 215.SERPENTINE PATH - Essence Of Heresy 03:47 216.SOILENT GREEN - It Was Just An Accident 04:12 217.SPAWN OF POSSESSION - Apparition 08:24 218.STEVE MOORE - It's Complicated 02:41 219.SUBARACHNOID SPACE - A 09:16 220.TERMINAL SOUND SYSTEM - Silt 06:43 221.THE COUNTY MEDICAL EXAMINERS - Morgagnic Anatomics 04:14 222.THE END - Throwing Stones 03:29 223.THE GREAT TYRANT - Closing In 07:42 224.THE HIGH CONFESSIONS - Chlorine And Crystal 09:35 225.TITAN - Wooded Altar Beyond The Wander 08:00 226.TOMBS - Merrimack 03:56 227.TRIAL OF THE BOW - Father of the Flower 04:07 228.TRIBES OF NEUROT - Primordial Uncarved Block 06:24 229.ULCERATE - ABROGATION 05:50 230.ULTRAMANTIS BLACK - Prescription Culture 01:04 231.UNKIND - Vihan Lapset 02:45 232.UPHILL BATTLE - Ripped Off Face 03:29 233.VVEREVVOLF GREHV - Audio Processor 04:45 234.VIDNA OBMANA - The Insane Brightness 05:33 235.VIRAL LOAD - Methlab Machete Massacre 03:07 236.VOIVOD - God Phones 05:07 237.WEAPON - Vanguard Of The Morning Star 04:19 238.WOLVSERPENT - Within the Light of Fire 16:24 239.BASTARD NOISE, SICKNESS - Death's Door 16:09 240.PSYWARFARE - Au Regal Des Voraces 20:02 241.THE SOUL REBELLION ORCHESTRA - DOLEMITE 03:01

#mastodon #red fang #obituary #dying fetus #death #pig destroyer #nile #suffocation #baroness #full of hell #gatecreeper #exhumed #revocation #gruesome #toxic holocaust #abysmal dawn #some favs

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zmwrites · 4 years ago

Text

tag: 20 first lines

I was tagged by @teasenpaiwrites! Thank you!

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20 stories just list them all). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag others!

I was tagged in a similar game LITERALLY forever ago by @scmalarky PRE-BLOG MOVE, which makes it the oldest tag game sitting my drafts. It came with the following rules:

Rules: list the first lines of your last ten published stories. note if there are any patterns yourself and see if anyone else notices any! tag ten friends!

I put it off bc to date I’ve only published two stories over on Wattpad. So doing the first lines from the last twenty projects is somehow...easier? I suppose?

I’ll be putting the opening paragraph or so of each piece, and will only be using WIPs that I actually started at the beginning. Anything that doesn’t start at the actual beginning will be skipped.

Anyways, this is going under a cut bc I know it’s going to be ridiculously long. In order of ‘last modified by me’ as per Google Docs:

Remnants

Radka had been a seamstress in a previous life. Trained from childhood on the most delicate stitches, the most intricate embellishments. She had worked for royalty, sewing crystals and spun gold into skirts for the biggest social events of the year. Her steady hand and attention to detail had earned her a job in the palace by fourteen, and a spot on the queen’s personal seamstress team by fifteen. But that was years in the past. The girl she had been then, demure and innocent, wouldn’t recognize the woman she had grown up to be.

Open Seas

Theresia Bowen sat in the back of one of her family carriages, forehead pressed against the window as she watched the countryside fly past. The sky stretched on forever above her, interrupted only by the occasional wispy white clouds, and the spring sun had melted the snow from the hills to her left. The grass was still struggling to grow but was scattered in patches across the mud. To her right, the sea rolled and waved to the horizon. Ships dotted the deep blue, their sails bright and full with wind. Most were trading ships, a few navy, and the smallest of them all were pleasure ships. It was how she knew they were close to her destination.

Indigo Wars

Violet Colby sat cross-legged on her narrow bed in the room she shared with her two sisters at Osbrick Estate. The name was a holdover from the property’s previous life as a stately home, though not much else had carried over. The walled compound was nestled in the eastern sands of Edristan, less than two kilometres west of the capital city, with sun-bleached buildings that housed several dozen orphans and foundlings.

Pine Hollow

It was a miserable Monday morning, with dark, heavy clouds masking the rising sun and a steady rain pounding the town of Pine Hollow and the surrounding area. The dirt trails through the dense forest were slick with mud, the tire ruts becoming puddles and the puddles becoming proper ponds. It was as far from ideal body hunting conditions as possible without snow, but Virginia Crane had a job to do and she wasn’t about to let some adverse weather stop her.

Rochester WIP

The wedding was supposed to begin in five minutes and the bride was nowhere to be found.

Evelyn Rochester, for her part, was not surprised. Her sister Dorothea had claimed a headache a week earlier to get out of a family outing and had been gone by the time they’d returned. A small chest and a collection of her clothing had been gone as well. Their parents had made inquiries to some family friends but no one had seen Dottie, and at twenty-six she was allowed to do as she pleased, so they’d been left to wait to see if she’d return.

Just Jane

Jane rolled over in the narrow bed, pressing her face into the pillow as though it would make it any easier to sleep. Even as she breathed in the warm, sweet scent of the bed owner’s favourite perfume—myrrh, rose, styrax, and marjoram—a new sound made her ears prick to attention.

UNSS Spectre

The spacecraft glided through the void, following its prey silently. It was using its minimum operating power, leaving the two inside to perform their duties without overhead or emergency lighting. Only the glow of their instruments illuminated the interior of the craft.

“Cloaking device operating as normal,” Ensign Graecyn Ramsey said. She didn’t need to provide verbal updates since Captain Mezei could see everything that she could see and there was no one else aboard the tiny stealth class craft, but it was habit and she couldn’t seem to stop herself.

Fissures

Katherine Delacroix was seething. It was hard enough trying to get a gaggle of thirteen to eighteen year old girls to focus under normal circumstances but having the #1 most eligible bachelor of the school just hanging out at the back of the auditorium was making it nearly impossible. To make matters worse, the attention paid to the blond was bruising the egos of the boys in the group and she was painfully aware of how desperately the musical needed them not to quit. They already had a female Cogsworth and Le Fou; they didn't have enough girls with deep voices to play Gaston or Lumiere or, god forbid, Beast.

Snapshots

“Are you still looking for a roommate?” Misha asked, voice muffled slightly by whatever she was doing on the opposite end of the phone.

“You mean since you stole my last one? Yes,” Micah replied. He was stuck in traffic on his commute home from work, something his twin sister Misha knew, which was why she’d called when he had no excuse not to talk to her. It wasn’t that he didn’t like talking to her, he just wasn’t much of a talker.

“You’re gonna have to get over that,” she said.

The Tournament

The coin spun in lazy circles on the table, defying every law of physics. Izora Graham watched it with one hand held in a claw-like position over it. She didn't need to but it made it easier to cover the coin should anyone watch it too closely. The bar was still fairly empty so early in the evening and she was tucked away in the back booth away from the few early birds sitting at the counter, however any displays of magic would bring unwanted attention. Especially something that could be useful to any of the Upper Houses like her telekinesis.

Noyama Contest

Earthens had spread across dozens of galaxies once they’d perfected faster-than-light travel, and hundreds of solar systems within those galaxies. PT-759 was one of the galaxies they’d colonized only to find that it was already inhabited. It had ended up working out alright though, as the native species had radically different planetary needs and also happened to find Earthens downright adorable.

Naetov was a smaller planet at the edge of Federation-controlled space in PT-759. It had a few key cities where government funding was funneled to keep them perfect for non-Earthen tourists. Those cities were clean and friendly, open spaces and carefully maintained flora making up the downtown cores, streamlined designs and shiny surfaces giving the impression of a planet on the cusp of significance.

Gossamer Girl

It was the first day of winter and things were already looking bad. Even though the cold weather had held off for an extra two weeks, the harvest had been poor. A mold had festered in their southern field during the wet spring and had spread quickly. They’d razed the infected sections as soon as the fungus had been discovered but it had already destroyed a large swath of plants. They’d lost nearly a quarter of their usual yield and the troubles had only spiralled from there.

Knotted Strings

The room was just a bit too cold to be comfortable. The walls were wood panelled with some sort of reddish wood that matched the flooring. Rows of chairs with collapsible desks filled most of the lecture hall, with the front of the room dominated by a whiteboard and a table. The professor, hawkish in appearance, was perched on a bar stool facing the students and overlooking the table.

Tess lounged in her seat at the table at the front of the room, notebook open on the table in front of her and pen moving deftly across the page. She watched her competition critically as he spoke. His argument was solid enough to cast reasonable doubt on her case, or it would have been had he bothered to address a small piece of evidence she found to be damning. He finished his conclusion to a spatter of applause and returned to his seat across from her.

“Well done, Mr. Wynn. Miss Kinney, would you like a few moments to prepare your rebuttal?” the professor asked.

“No, I’m good,” Tess replied. She sat up, scribbled a note in her book, and then pushed the book across the table.

Oh, Ophelia

Alexis lounged in the shade next to the pool, sipping a daiquiri and considering her next move. She’d been using the same identity for nearly fifteen years and the neighbours were starting to get suspicious. With all the new beauty products and surgeries available to people of her wealth it was easier to convince people she was nearing forty when she was in the body of a twenty-three year old, but now she had to deal with people asking for her skincare routines and her doctors and the identity wasn’t worth all of the research she was having to do. She was getting sick of Malibu anyways, what with the yearly forest fires that got closer each year. She missed the deep-rooted history of Europe, the memories she had in all of the major cities, the people like her who were still living in their castles and manors pretending like the world hadn’t left them behind.

Bloodlines

Ten of Wands. The Tower. Two of Swords.

Morrigan Keeling sat on the floor of her bedroom, chewing the end of a pen and staring intently at the tarot cards spread in front of her. It was a simple three card spread to indicate how her day was going to go: a card to describe herself, one to indicate what was going to greet her, and another to show the outcome of the situation. She’d gotten into the habit of doing it every day while living at home, and even five years after moving out she found it a relaxing routine to start the day.

The day’s cards, however, were not very relaxing.

PerDeA

The backseat of the car was dark, only illuminated for short intervals by the orange glow of the streetlights. Two figures sat across from each other in the shifting light. In the backwards-facing seat on the driver’s side was PerDeA. Her dark hair was pulled tightly into a ponytail, lips slightly parted as she stared unblinking out the back window. Shoulders square, back straight, chin up, hands folded neatly in her lap, her breathing perfectly rhythmic; she would have looked human if not for the faintly glowing cybernetic blue rings superimposed over her black eyes.

Westhaven

Her eyes were open but she couldn’t see anything. There were mechanical sounds ‒ beeping, whirring ‒ all around her, and voices too far away for her to understand. The sharp smell of antiseptic and the softer detergent scent beneath it.

“Initiate optical system,” a muted female voice instructed. Between one breath and the next she started processing visual information: bright white lights above her, the featureless ceiling beyond, her own nose and eyelashes. She couldn’t move her head to see much else. Walls that matched the ceiling so well it was hard to tell where one became the other, bits of the bed she was on with its bleachable white sheets and side rails.

“Increase tactile responsivity by fifty percent and disengage the motion inhibitors.”

Pro Patria Mori

She sat on the narrow bed with her packed suitcase next to her. Her blonde hair was pinned back, her blue eyes fixed on a spot next to the door, her hands folded neatly in her lap. The winter chill clung like burrs to the house, helped by the heavy spring rain that beat against the window in a staccato rhythm. Outside, trees bowed under the charcoal sky. The old house creaked and groaned around her, the wind whistling and wailing as the storm continued to batter the country estate. She waited.

At any moment there would be a knock on the main door of the house. Godfrey, the aged and shuffling butler, would answer. Standing on the other side would be some men in crisp uniforms, holding up her picture and asking if he knew her. She had seen them in town the evening before, and it wouldn’t take more than a day before someone pointed them in the right direction. They looked like military men but there was something different in their manner, something sharper. Godfrey would lead them up, and up, and up, until they reached her third floor apartment. The butler would introduce them, she would smile politely, and she would leave with them without a fight.

The Clocktower

Astra hated Capperham. The way it sprawled its squalor from border to border, from the sea in the west to the battlements in the other three directions. The harbour reeked of dead fish and unwashed human, the slums of sickness and stale beer. Even the neighbourhoods of rich merchants and factory owners lay under the thick smog of black soot the mines and mills spat out day and night. The grit and dirt was part of everything, so deeply ingrained that even the most rigorous scrubbing couldn’t make something clean.

Stars Incline Us

The Christmas gala was in full swing. The entire ballroom was full of people Pippa didn’t know, all wearing fancy clothes that probably cost more than her rent. Her own dress was aubergine and a simple V-neck, form-fitting enough to be attractive but loose enough to not draw too much attention.

She and another girl who didn’t seem to know anyone at the event were chatting with Antero and Mr. Rabinoff near the edge of the dance floor. Antero was already antsy to leave despite the dinner having just ended, but Mr. Rabinoff had trapped him in a debate he was too proud to back down from. The other girl was from legal and either found them hilarious or had had a little too much to drink because she kept giggling, leaving Pippa no choice but to laugh along while adding the occasional remark to the back and forth between the men.

That brings us all the way back to October 2016. Which tells me that I need to start at the beginning of more stories haha. If anyone has questions about any of these, please feel free to ask. Also, if you read all of that, you are a saint and a hero and have my eternal friendship.

I tag @the-writing-avocado, @radiowrites, @pigeon-hold, @sleepyowlwrites, @akindofmagictoo, and anyone else who wants to share their projects!! As always, no pressure (to play or to read this whole post lmao).

#tag games #about me

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crackerjackawrites · 3 years ago

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Walking Inferno (2600 Words)

A hired killer is in for a horrific surprise after his most recent hit. (originally written February 2021)

Don Giuliani - or just Don, as he liked to be known by his employees - sat in the large, leather bound chair at his desk. Papers were spread out across the table and a cigar sat in the nearby ashtray, still leaking smoke into the room. It was like a damn hotbox in there, and somebody needed to open a window (it wouldn’t be Don, he had people for that). Opposite Don sat Payton Gonzalez, a broad-chested bull of a man. His brown hair was beginning to recede, but it gave him a wise look, made up for what was going on up there in his head. Nothing, by Don’s estimate.

“So,” said Payton, his voice strong and confident, “What’s the next hit?”

“I’ve got the papers here,” replied Don, and he began to rummage through the papers on his desk. “Somewhere here.”

Eventually, Don pulled out an envelope from beneath a spread of important documents, “Here,” he muttered, and passed it over to Payton. Payton opened the file, it had a name in large letters at the top of the page,

“You’re kidding,” said Payton, “John Smith?”

“It’s great, huh? Like he’s some sorta fuckin’ character!”

Payton smirked, and carried on reading. Below the name was Mr. Smith’s date of birth, April second, 1968; his place of work, Reeves and Bromley Ltd.; and his address, Rotterdam Apartments, 247th Street, Manhattan. Also in the envelope was a picture of John, he had blonde hair and his chin was dotted with stubble, he had light blue eyes and thick eyebrows above them. The image showed him walking into work wearing a bomber jacket and dark jeans.

Payton dropped the papers onto his lap, “So what’s this guy’s deal?”

“It’s not him we have the problem with, it’s his daughter. She’s suspended her deal with us, so we’re gonna teach her a lesson. Hopefully she learns something here, or we’re gonna have to go after her other papa too.”

“How do you want me to go about it?” asked Payton.

“Car bomb,” said Don, “that should get the message across.”

“Of course, sir.”

Payton stood on the street opposite John’s car, two blocks away from Reeves and Bromley. It was coming up to 6pm, so John would be leaving work any second now and heading for his car. The bomb was planted. All Payton needed was for John to turn the keys and boom, he’d get the paycheck.

John strolled around the corner, he wore the same jacket that he had on in the image from his file. He looked like he was in a rush to get home. Good. John unlocked his car, got into the seat, fiddled with his keys for a second, pushed it into the- Boom! Payton had forgotten how quickly those things go off. People started screaming all around him. Payton joined in the panic, he knew how suspicious it would look if he didn’t. He always wished he could walk away with the swagger of an action hero from the movies, but his job never let him, so he had to make do with shouting and running away. One of the worst compromises in his life, he thought. Either way, this was another successful hit, some extra cash in his pocket.

Don Guiliani’s place looked abandoned, Payton guessed that was on purpose. The dark green paint on the door was peeling, revealing the rusted metal beneath it, and the windows were boarded up with rotting wooden planks. The bricks looked like they hadn’t been washed in years. Payton knocked on the door and the rusting peephole scraped open.

“Passwo-”

“Cinnamon Roll,” said Payton, he was sure Don got a kick out of making him say that every time he came in.

“Alright, man!” moaned the voice from the door, “Why’re you in such a fuckin’ rush?.”

The door opened, and Payton walked through, shoving the doorman with his shoulder. The building looked just as run down on the inside as it did the outside, Don really needed a designer. Payton made his way through the corridor, straight towards Don’s office. He knocked, 1-2-3, pause, 1-2, the second code that Don had given him, after “cinnamon roll”.

“Come in, boy,” called Don from within the room, Payton opened the door, “How did it go?”

“Fine,” said Payton, “You got the cash?”

“Of course,” Don reached down below his desk and pulled out a briefcase, he clicked open the locks to reveal wads of notes laying within, “There we are. Exactly what I promised it’d be.” Don locked the briefcase again.

“Thanks,” grunted Payton, and he grabbed the case. He got up, walked straight out the building, and continued all the way to his apartment. He’d count it up when he got back.

That night, Payton dreamed. He dreamed of fire, of his skin boiling until it melted from his bones. Molten metal piercing his charred flesh, burning his insides. He screamed until his throat either dried up or turned to ash, he couldn’t tell which came first. He dreamed of a man, a man who hated him. He cried for revenge. He cried to take Payton’s life.

Payton shot up from his bed. It was dark out still. He never had nightmares. Who was that figure? The devil? Payton wasn’t a particularly religious man. Was it John? Payton had never had that type of reaction after a hit before, so he doubted it. John wasn’t special in any way. Not to Payton at least. He checked the time on his phone: five forty-three. He had to get up at seven, no point in trying to sleep again now.

A few hours later, Payton stood at the entrance of Solar Mechanics, his other place of work. Much like Don’s, Solar was a pretty run-down building with tattered brick work and creaky garage doors, this one at least looked lived in from the outside, though. This definitely wasn’t the first time Payton had gone to work the day after a hit, but something felt off today. It was probably the dream. Payton tentatively stepped through the garage door, keeping his guard up more than usual. Payton locked eyes with his manager, George, from his small office space across the service area. George got up and waved at Payton.

“Hey, Payton!” he called from across the room, “I need you for something, asap.” He said asap like a word, not an acronym.

“Yes?” snapped Payton.

“Woah there, tiger.” He chuckled, “I just need you to do a service drive with one of the beasts over here.” George walked over to what he called “the beasts”, the section on the service floor reserved for the most powerful cars in stock. Payton followed.

“A Bugatti?”

“A damn powerful one too,” George chuckled again, “released this year.”

“Damn.” Payton muttered.

“Uh-huh.”

“And you just want me to take it out?”

“Yep. I’ll get you the key now. I only need you out there for like 30 minutes. No biggy.”

“Yessir.”

George returned with the key and bowled it to Payton. Who snatched it out of the air with ease. Payton stuck the key into the ignition and turned, causing the engine to ignite with power.

“Oh, baby!” called Payton over the light, satisfying rumble of the engine, “It's hot!”

“Enjoy!” said George, smirking. He slapped the back of the car like it was a racehorse and Payton drove out of the front of the garage smoothly. Payton drove aimlessly for a while, but came to his consciousness when he realised where he’d driven.

The sign of Reeves and Bromley Ltd. loomed over him and, for a while, Payton just stared up at it in awe. Shit, why did he come back? He didn’t mean to. Was it fate? Payton slowly drove away from the sign and around the corner, the same corner where the bomb had been planted. It was like he was on autopilot. Payton drove up the street, straining against all his willpower not to look at the space where the car had sat. But he gave in. There was still a large, black scorch mark on the road. The body of the car had been towed away but still little pieces of metal lay across the road like soldiers in a war they’d already lost. Payton could hear a crackling, like fire. He whipped his head around… But saw nothing. He turned back, to face an inferno across the street. The spiral of fire lashed out in all directions, it roared at Payton. People started screaming all around him, running from the flame. But Payton was frozen in fear. He squinted into the fire. It looked like there was someone in there. There was someone in there! A dark humanoid figure stood, wreathed in the blaze. It began to walk toward Payton.

“Shit, shit, shit!” he cried, scrambling at the door handle. He finally grasped hold of it and yanked, nearly pulling it clean off. He pushed open the door and practically fell out the door, only to find himself face to face with the raging blaze. The figure inside lifted their finger and pointed at Payton. It spoke with a strained voice,

“You…”

Payton started to back away, “Who- Who are you?”

“You… know... me.” And Payton did. He didn’t know how, but he now recognised the figure as John Smith. John’s corpse continued, “Why… did… you… kill me?”

“It was what I was told to do!” Payton panted, “If you wanna take it up with anyone, make it Don - Don Giuliani. Please!”

The fire surrounding John weakened, and he stepped forward, revealing his charred flesh and ashen bones. His voice became less strained, it still had a low growl to it “Does that justify it for you? That someone else asked you to kill me?”

“No,” Payton nearly tripped on a pothole, “Of course n-”

John erupted into flames and screamed, “Then why did you do it?” John began to extinguish again, “What did I even do?” John was now practically just a black skeleton, some small embers flickered beneath his remaining flesh.

“It wasn’t you,” muttered Payton, “It was your daughter.” Payton suddenly realised that the two of them were standing in the middle of an empty street, everyone else fled when John had appeared.

“Laura?” the small embers across John’s body started to multiply, “She was in the mafia?”

“Until recently,” Payton was starting to calm down now, the site of a burning corpse standing before him almost felt normal, “She stopped her deals, Don wanted to get back at her.”

John’s blaze roared up again. Payton could feel the heat, even from this distance, “So you killed me?”

“Like I said,” this scene felt entirely natural to Payton now, “it wasn’t my choice-”

“Every time you kill someone it’s a choice, and I know this wasn’t your first time.”

“Please, you should take this out on Don. I’ve got a kid at home! You know what that’s like.”

John tutted, Payton wasn’t sure how, “I know that’s a lie, Payton. I was in your apartment last night. I saw you... alone.”

“Shit,” Payton muttered. Before he could say anything else, John started walking towards him. All the familiarity Payton had felt was melting away, and he stared directly at the molten cadaver of the man he had murdered the evening before. Nearly all his flesh had melted away now, small scraps of skin were still smouldering on his skull and his tendons were beginning to break under the heat; leaving him to stagger forward with an uncanny speed.

Payton backed up into an alley, he was too far in when he realised the mistake. The two tall buildings on either side cast dark shadows into the alley, the shadows only broken by the roaring fires that were spilling out of John and towards Payton. He was trapped. Unless? Payton spun around to face the wall at the end of the alley, it looked just about climbable. He took a step back, hearing the crackling flames behind him, and ran at the wall. He leaped and caught the top of the bricks with his fingertips.

His muscles straining, Payton slowly pulled himself up the wall. But then, a searing pain caught his left thigh. Payton turned, and found John’s arms clasped onto his leg, the torrid heat was branding his thigh. John yanked Payton down with ease and threw him into the row of trash cans that lined the alley. John scrambled to his feet. As he was getting up, Payton noticed his left pant leg had a large hole burned into it where John had grabbed him. The burn went all the way through to his flesh, where it was bright red and scabbing.

“Don’t worry,” said John, his voice becoming more strained and alien as the fire surrounding him grew, “I’ll find Don after we’re done here. At least you’ll have the pleasure of knowing you weren’t the only one to die.”

Payton backed up against one of the walls, “Please! John, please. You don’t have to do this.”

“Oh but I do. If I kill you then I’ll be free of this life. Free of this torture!”

John took a step closer to Payton. Payton took a step back. John took a step closer to Payton, but Payton was up against the wall now. John took another step and Payton could feel the heat singeing the hairs on his arms. John moved his arm back and thrust it into Payton’s chest. Payton looked down, John had burnt a clean hole straight where his heart was. John yanked his arm back out and Payton sputtered, boiling blood pouring out of his mouth. Payton looked up, his vision blurred, and could just make out John holding his heart in one hand. John slowly tightened his grip around the heart until it popped, spraying blood over Payton’s face. Payton’s vision slowly dimmed, with John’s chuckle the only thing left to keep him company.

Don Giuliani sat in the large, leather-bound chair at his desk. He had finally decided to sort out the clusters of papers that had lay strewn across it every day for too long to remember. He was finding all the old hit profiles that had been given back to him from the agents, he really should’ve shredded those as he got them. It was lucky that he hadn’t been caught. A cop could easily bust down the door and execute him on the spot with all this evidence. He was putting the final file into the bag when he heard a shout from the hallway.

“Holy shit! He’s burnin’ the fuckin’ door down!” It was Oz, the doorman.

“What?” called Don, storming into the hallway. He looked at the large, metal door and, sure enough, the rusted steel was melting right before his eyes. “Holy shit.”

Oz shoved past him, his face a portrait of terror. Don looked back at the door, something was stopping his instinct to flee. The door began to glow orange with heat, then yellow, then white. Something punched through the door, sending globs of molten metal over the floor, it looked like a black, skeletal hand. A leg kicked a hole through the door afterwards. Then an entire charcoal skeleton stepped through, it was wreathed in flames. It looked straight at Don.

“Hello, Don.”

“J-John?”

#writeblr #writblr #writing #creative writing #horror #fiction #crackerjackawrites #standalones

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cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien · 10 months ago

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Korvo’s Violent New Look after having his Super Shlorpian form traded for a dangerous Mundane Spirit by Sisto

Remember the 2007 Spider-Man Movie? Like Peter when his personality was changed by the suit, Korvo’s personality was changed after a disguised Sisto stole away his Super Shlorpian spirit during his Hawaiian vacation with his family and traded it with a dangerous ancient Mundane Spirit. His personality become bad boy vibes, dangerous and passive-aggressive, which causing him to push away the people he cares about, except for his family. Because, Terry, Yumyulack, Jesse, Sonya, Pupa, Janiz, Kimber and Phoebe knew Korvo would never act like this.

@avaveevo, @themagicwolf6677, @king-of-squishmallows, everyone, I hope you enjoy this!

From one of my upcoming movie project AUs, Solar Opposites: The Beast Within!

#solar opposites #solar opposites au #korvo #solar opposites: the beast within #mundane korvo?

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zeravmeta · 4 years ago

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fuck it. soma cruz fgo servant profile bc i make my own content

Servant: / Servant Class: Soma Cruz / Alter Ego

Origin: / Region: Castlevania Series / Japan, 2035

Alignment: Lawful Neutral(?) “Yeah, not sure how I classify as Lawful given my past life, but whatever.”

Aliases: The Dark Lord, Dracula, Soma Cruz

Parameters: STR (B) / END (A+) / AGL (B+) / MP (EX) / LUK (A) / NP (???)

Class Skills: Authority of Beasts (Fake), Core of Chaos (A), One Who Severs Fate (A)

Character Info: “In order for God to be perfectly Good, there must always exist an embodiment of Chaos, a Dark Lord to emerge from the evil of humanity’s hearts.”

For one thousand years, the Belmont bloodline had opposed the terrible night that Count Dracula would bring with his powers. After generations of suffering, the Belmont’s latest mantle bearer, Julius Belmont, along with their generational allies, the Belnades clan and a nameless soldier, had managed to permanently defeat Dracula with the help of the Hakuba Clan’s shrine magics. Severing his connection to his power and sealing Castlevania, the embodiment of his power, within a solar eclipse, Dracula had finally faced his demise in 1999, prophesied by Nostradamus one millennium ago. Thus, the strongest Dark Lord had fallen, his throne empty and awaiting a new master.

In 2035, Soma Cruz had visited the Hakuba Shrine to meet with his childhood friend Mina, unaware of the birthright he would claim.

Skills:

Chaos Ring A: An extremely powerful construct that channels the very essence of Chaos. It can only be found by the one who can traverse and control the Chaos Realm, the Dark Lords personal right. Wearing it grants the unlimited magical power of the Chaos Realm, but actual output depends on the user. If the Demon King’s Ring is the symbol of Dracula and his reign, then the Chaos Ring could be considered the symbol of Soma and his new beginning.

Thematic narratives aside, it’s a very convenient tool for Soma.

“It’s weird, but it feels like…it was made for me. Almost like a welcome gift.”

[5->3 Turns] [Charge NP (20%->30%), Increase NP Gain (10%->25%) (3 Turns), Gain a Delayed buff 1 turn after skill use (Unremovable): [Charge NP (20->30%)]

Armament Master D: Soma is extremely proficient at using any and all forms of weaponry. Due to Dracula’s vast reach, Soma has a vast number of different modern and mythical weapons and gear at his disposal, notable weapons including Excalibur (sealed in the stone), Hrunting, Caladbolg, Mjolnir, and even a Positron Rifle, to name a few. However, one weapon unique to Soma is the Claimh Solais, an Irish sword of light mentioned in many legends and defining the archetype of “Sword of Light.” It provides a great boost to parameters and is surprisingly light weight despite its size. Another unique weapon he wields is the Valmanway, the “Blessed Wind” that is always ‘cutting’ even when still.

(The rank is D because despite his proficiency, Soma has never had any formal training.)

“I mean, it’s just a sword, right? How complex is it? You can just swing it and things die. Though…considering I have ol’ Drac’s memories…sorta, maybe I’m just remembering it?”

[8->6 Turns] [Increase Atk (10%->20%) (3 Turns), Gain Critical Stars (5->15), Increase Critical Star Absorption (3000%) (3 Turns), Increase Critical Damage (10%->20%) (3 Turns), Apply Special Attack against Sky, Star and Beast attribute enemies (20%->40%) (3 Turns)]

Power of Dominance (EX): Soma’s inheritance from Dracula, or more fittingly, the Chaos Entity opposite to God. The Power of Dominance is a unique ability that grants a complete mastery over the abilities of any and all souls Soma can acquire from the enemies he defeats. All the monsters that Dracula unleashed in his crusade against humanity are the countless souls under his domain, even that of Death itself, and their powers rightly belong to him.

Soma can differentiate between the types of Soul Arts he uses, and this reflects accordingly in his Noble Phantasm.

“I never wanted this power, but I guess I’m stuck with it. I’ll always carry the target on my back, but at least I can look awesome as hell while doing it, I suppose.”

[5->3 Turns] [Decrease Enemy Charge by 1 (20%->50%), Select own NP Command Card’s type between Quick, Arts or Buster for 3 Turns. Effect of NP changes depending on which Command Card Type is selected. This skill is immune to debuff effects (such as Skill Seal)]

Noble Phantasm:

Advent of Sorrow – He Who Severed His Fate Against Chaos and God / Anti-Divine, Anti-Self / Rank (???)

A manifestation of Soma’s power truly made his own, separate from the title of Dark Lord and Dracula. Having defeated the Chaos Entity, he managed to sever its connection to his soul, and be saved from his Fate. Even so, he carries the Power of Dominance with him always, and the countless souls and followers of Chaos always wait and offer themselves unto Soma to lead and command them. In his own imperfect way, neither holy nor demonic.

After all, he’s only human.

(Note: If used by the true Count Dracula, this would be considered an Anti-Humanity NP)

[Type: Buster] – [Deals massive damage to a single enemy (1200%->2400%), Chance to Decrease Charge by 1 (80%->100%). Overcharge: Increases own Buster Card Effectiveness (20%) (1 Turn) and NP Damage (1 Turn) (20%) (Activates First)]

[Type: Arts] – [Deals heavy damage to all enemies (400%->800%), Chance to decrease Atk (15%->25%) and Critical Chance (20%->30%). Overcharge: Inflict Curse (5 Turns).]

[Type: Quick] – [Apply Debuff Immune (1 Time), and Restore HP each turn for self (3 Turns) (1000->1500), and Increase NP Gauge each turn for self (3 Turns) (5%). Overcharge: Apply Def Up for all allies (3 Turns) (25%->50%).]

Bond Lines:

Bond 1: “Heh, thanks for having me! I’m still not too sure about how all this stuff works here, but if you need a monster taken down, I’m your guy.”

Bond 2: “So the rest of those dudes call you ‘Master’? Kind of awkward, but I guess they’re magical familiars at the end of the day. What? So am I? Sorry but, vampiric powers aside, I’m just a normal guy. I was even in University before I got dragged here. I’ll just call you [name] for now.”

Bond 3: “Do you like curry? Arikado said I shouldn’t be using these monster souls for dumb stuff, but they don’t mind. They always talk to me and really want to help me out wherever I am. Except Death, that guy sucks. He’s always breaking into my home and trying to convince me to become the next Dark Lord and to ‘accept my throne’ and stuff.”

Bond 4: “…It scares me, sometimes. Knowing not only what I am, but what I’m very capable of.”

Bond 5: “Y’know…you could always come back with me to my world, if you want to escape. I’ll take you to meet Mina, and Hammer and Yoko and Julius and Arikado and…Hm. Sorry. I know you can’t abandon this world, it’s where you grew up. There’s…a lot of people here who love you. You should always remember that and hold it close. It saved my life when I thought I couldn’t go on, and I know it will also save yours.”

Voice Lines:

(1): “I’m glad this place is a lot simpler than the castle. That place had so many hidden rooms and puzzles that I felt like I was going insane…No, as a matter of fact, DON’T tell me about all the secret workshops here.”

(2): “Hm? What’s up? I’m just relaxing here. Sorry if I’m taking up space. It’s nice to just take a moment.”

(3): “No, no, don’t worry. Even if I could, I’m not the type of guy to just go around stealing souls. I only do that to monsters, and even then, they become complacent once they return to me. I could show you some of the fun ones, like the Skeleton Gardener, if you’d like.”

Likes: “What I like? Curry! Oh, and Mina. She’s been with me for my whole life. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Dislikes: “This is gonna sound cliché, but garlic. It just tastes bad.”

Event: “Whoa, a party! Let’s go, I’m super bored cooped up in here.”

About The Holy Grail: “Wish granting? No thanks, I’ve read a ton of comics and things always go wrong. What? Of course, it’s a valuable source!”

Summon Quote: “Yo! My name is Soma Cruz. I’m just a regular high school student. Um…Where am I, exactly?”

Happy Birthday: “Happy Birthday, [name]! I’m so gonna throw you the coolest party ever! I’ll even invite Mina…If, uh, if that’s cool with you?”

(King Hassan): “D-Death!? Why are you…Oh. Uh, sorry about that. You reminded me of...someone. I’m sure you’re a cool guy underneath all that armor.”

(Vlad/Vlad III (EXTRA)): “Huh. So, in this world, the legend of Dracula is just that? A legend? Well, that’s a huge relief. I’m not exactly the kingly type.”

(Gilgamesh/Gilgamesh (Caster)): “Hey [name], could you give me a hand? This gold idiot keeps saying I stole his weapons, but they’re mine! …Hey! Stay back with those portal things! Someone, help!!!”

(Scathach): “Jeez, I bet Arikado will get along with that slave driver. Seriously, Arikado’s method of teaching me my powers amounted to locking me in a room with monsters and a pocketknife. Huh? She’s stomping over here!? [name], help me!”

(Marie Antionette): “I don’t know why, but…Looking at you makes me sad. I’m sorry.”

(Sessyoin Kiara): “Master, this lady is coming onto me WAY too hard. She keeps telling me to ‘embrace what I am’ and junk. I already get enough of that crap from cultists back home.”

(Sakata Kintoki/Astolfo/Romulus/Romulus-Quirinus/Ashwatthama): “Hey, you’re a pretty cool dude, huh? Finally, someone with some style!”

(Amakusa Shirou): “Ugh, you remind me of Fortner. And stop using rosaries around me, I’m not Satan, you jerk!”

(Mephistopheles): “Please, leave me alone. I’m not evil, nor will I ever be the Dark Lord. Just because I have those powers doesn’t mean I’m defined by them. Also, the alarm clock you gave me exploded, so I don’t think you’re all that trustworthy anyways.”

(Beni Enma): “Aww, you’re so cute...Wait, from the Underworld? A yokai? Guess you’re one of mine, then. If you want, I can loan you some Skeleton Waiters for your chain.”

(Any Avenger-Class Servant): “Hey, you guys are kinda like me! Everyone says you’re evil, but you’re actually really nice!”

(Arcueid Brunestud): “Master, that girl is shooting me some pretty weird looks....Huh? Reincarnating vampire? Oh, I guess I’d look pretty weird in that case. That’s not her fault, though. Maybe I’ll go say hi.”

QQABB Deck:

Buster Card: 2 Hit / -Soma raises Excalibur (still in the stone) and smashes it into the enemy-

Quick Card: 5 Hit / -Soma holds Valmanway in front of him, turns around, and multiple slashes envelop the enemy-

Art Card: 3 Hit / -Soma does two horizontal strikes, then a third overhead strike with Claimh Solais-

Extra Card: 6 Hit / -Soma punches twice, does a spin-attack with Claimh Solais, then jumps back and fires his Positron Rifle-

Level Up: “Whew…I feel so powerful.”

Ascension 1: “Whoo! Good job, [name].”

Ascension 2: “This…This is just like then…[name], maybe don’t do this anymore.”

Ascension 3: “Please…stop. I don’t know if I can pull myself back this time…”

Ascension 4: “I see. Well…as long as you’re by my side, I’ll never succumb. So please…don’t die.”

Battle Start ½: “Just how many monsters out there!? In any case, let’s do this thing!” / “I’ll carry the mantle and defeat this terrible night!”

Skill ½: “Bullet, set…Enchanted, set…Guardian, set…” / “How about some of this!”

Attack Selection ½/3: “Hmm.” / “Seriously!?” / “Nice.”

Attack ½/3: “Hraagh!” / “Take this!” / “You’re going down!”

Extra Attack: “Let’s see you handle THIS!”

Noble Phantasm Selection ½: “Are…Are you sure?” / “I’ll trust you on this.”

Noble Phantasm: “I will never be the Dark Lord…You, God, and The World will just have to deal with it!”

Noble Phantasm Damage: “I won’t…Submit...!”

Regular Damage: “Gah!”

Defeated ½: “Mina….” / “Julius…our promise…”

Battle Finish ½: “That was a close one…” / “Anyone need some healing? I have some spare spoiled milk…Oh wait, none of you have a Ghoul soul, huh?”

#fgo #fgo fanservant #soma cruz #castlevania #read this and catch my disease #fucking LOVE this funky little pimp coat lad #'but zerav this is way too op'- shut up i deserve this my cock is huge and yours can be to if you let go of such foolish notions and go ham

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buirbaby · 4 years ago

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Thistle & Thorn: The Letter

Rating: General

Masterlist

Dawn always brought blisteringly bright sunlight with it, lancing through the sheer curtains and smacking Nessia right in the face. Summer in the highlands was mild, temperatures typically peaking just beneath 20°C (the 60s°F), the cracked window trailing in a refreshing breath of fresh air that caused the shades to dance. Rolling in her quilts, untangling herself from the fussed sheets, and nearly falling out of the bed to land upon the hard wooden floor, ivy green eyes peeled toward the window as talons scrabbled at the edge of the sill and an unfamiliar owl poked its head past the threshold and into her domain.

"Allo there," Nessia yawned, finally dislodging herself from the hazard of her restless sleeping arrangements. Her eyes pulled over the creature groggily, inspecting the tawny feathers banded with black, ear tufts quivering as the eagle-owl blinked pumpkin orange eyes at her. "Hae'na seen ye before. Post usually goes downstairs by the kitchen, big windows over the sink. Hoggle typically handles—" she explained, pausing when the owl offered a letter toward her. "Or is this for me?"

The owl preened, feathers lifting momentarily before it allowed her to take the parcel and bunkered down in the sunlight that streamed against the window, basking in the warmth.

Nessia hummed, turning the letter over before realizing what it was, her fingers becoming clumsy and wrists quivering in blistering excitement as she started to vibrate at the sight of the Hogwart's crest. Now, she'd known that one day that the school would send her a letter, just as all young witches and wizards in the area received one. However, she'd felt anxious because she didn't display her magic as brazen or spectacularly as Logan had when he'd been her age. Hoggle had told her all about how he'd caused a mess of the manor, from causing statues to come to life from laughs that echoed like lion's roars and knocked paintings from the walls. The most that Nessia had ever done was hiccup out a bumblebee, which Hoggle said was much more preferable to Logan's messes.

Breaking the seal, Nessia's eyes became watery, as if she'd gotten potting soil in them again from rubbing her face with filthy hands. This was no farce, written in beautiful emerald script was a letter addressed to her, welcoming her to Hogwarts for her first year, and hosting a list of supplies required as a student. Finding the acceptance form in the very back, Nessia scrabbled for an inkwell and signed her name, aware that the resting owl was roosting for the journey back and likely to also send her own reply so that she could officially be added to the roster. She wondered if anyone ever declined.

"Och," she placed the new letter before the owl, an orange eye blinking open suspiciously. "When yer all good and rested, can ye take this back? Ye can stay here as long as ye need. Here's some water too," Nessia grabbed one of her pails and filled a cup she had laying around in her room, pushing it up her desk toward the raptor. "Mind the plants, but make yerself at hame."

The owl shook its feathers out and gave a low, trilling hoot before bending down to lap up some of the offered water. Nessia took the pieces of parchment, threw on a proper dress—which was little more than a corduroy sack over her shift—and burst out of her room with more fervor than the typically quiet girl displayed. Sputtering around a corner, her socks slipped beneath her and she slid an extra few paces before a hand snapped out and gripped the bannister, redirecting her path so that she could sprint toward her grandfather's solar.

Located on the opposite side of the heirloom cottage, the home that she'd grown up in as long as she could remember, even when her parents had been alive. The MacDougal Manor, situated within the misty rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands, flanked by Loch Linsor and relatively removed from neighbors muggle and wizard alike. Despite the sheltered, rural location, the home was a hive of familiar faces including Hoggle, the house elf, to other friends and servants. In the lake was a pod of merrow, many of which didn't mind popping above the surface to spare an afternoon of conversation with Nessia, to their gardener, a centaur named Rowan who was estranged from the local clan and happily made his home amongst the MacDougal family.

Even if their own grounds were limited to those that worked and kept stock of the care and daily routines, they were often frequented by visits that related to her grandfather's connections. He had been an important man in his prime and despite the years of his youth slipping through the hourglass that was time, many still came to him for advice or whispering happenings within the shadows.

Being so early in the morning, Nessia hadn't expected it to be another day where Bhan was entertaining a guest, sputtering to a graceless halt in front of the oaken door wrought with intricately carved designs depicting the MacDougal alliance with the centaurs and merrow of this area of the highlands. Their family had always had close ties with other Beings (even if the merrow and centaurs disregarded this classification), including their own house elves which lived a much more comfortable life than most elves in similar positions. She had only just raised a tanned fist to knock upon the door when she overheard voices on the other side.

"He's escaped Azkaban?" it was her grandfather, Angus, hissing in frustration at the revelation. "How in Merlin's name? If I werenae so hoachin' I'd join the hunt for him meself. Where aboot did he get loose?"

"Further south and put a little more faith in the department assigned to hunt werewolves," the other person retorted calmly.

"Faith?" Angus huffed in indignation. "I had faith that the sleekit dug wouldnae escape from Azkaban in the first place!"

"Things happen, Angus."

"Things happen, me arse. When I worked for the Ministry this wouldnae happened. Folk be gettin' too relaxed noo that Ye-Ken-Who is pushing daisies. Noo the Ministry gets all gallus and let's a bloody lycan loose. How many ye think will be turned or killed, eh?"

"Angus, I only came here to deliver the news so you could keep your eyes and ears sharp. I doubt he'll come up here, not when there's nowhere to hide and far too many centaurs roaming the moors," her grandfather's companion sounded bone weary, exhausted by toiling with the idea that innocent people were going to be cursed, maimed, or killed.

"Makin' a habit o' eavesdropping?"

The sound of Hoggle's voice made Nessia leap up, fumbling her letters before giving the house elf a bashful, guilt ridden look. "I-I," she stammered quietly, worried that those inside the solar would hear her. "Got me letter to Hogwarts. I only wanted tae show Bhan."

"The MacDougal has a guest. Come downstairs fer now and break yer fast," Hoggle shook his head dismissively, but a tight smirk betrayed the elf's amusement by the girl's dolefulness. "A letter tae Hogwarts noo? Suppose it's aboot time ye had yer own turn there."

"Do ye ken anyone who works there?" Nessia trotted after the house elf, his ragged tartan swaying behind him, pinned in place by a rusty pennancular pendant that Hoggle took deep pride in.

"Got a few cousins who do work in the kitchens," Hoggle admitted, giving her a sideways glance. "Course they're nothin' like me."

"No one is like ye, Hoggle. Everyone's different," Nessia pointed out chipperly.

"Nay," he shook his head, batty ears swaying from their position where they'd been slicked back like hair. "The MacDougals are a fine clan. Good witches and wizards. Treat all their servants right. Hogwarts is good too, but... most places dinnae treat me kind like people. The MacDougal gae me a room, a stipend, clothes—this is a job. For other elves its servitude, slavery and they bow willfully. We were made that way... tae want tae serve. I wouldnae trade whit I hae here for anything. Me cousins... they're happy, because the folk at the school are kind and they dinnae ken better. So they might seem a bit odd compared tae me."

Nessia cocked her head, having never met another house elf aside from Hoggle. Truth be told, she thought all of the elves were servants who had their own respective quarters and free time. But slaves? Her wide lips pulled down in a frown and her steps started to trudge as she contemplated the situation others of Hoggle's kind might be subjected to. "I'm sorry, ye sound sad."

Hoggle blinked. "Is na yer fault, Nessie. Jus' the way things be."

"That's wrong though. Just like it's wrong that the centaurs and merrows are classified as beasts," Nessia huffed.

The house elf's lips tugged up in a smile. "World needs more witches who think like ye, Nessie. Be a much kinder place."

"World would be weak if it were more like me," Nessia muttered, mostly to herself as the pair stepped into the kitchen. Yet another one of her favorite rooms in the house, with high ceilings, a long table in the center of the room that functioned as both an island and where informal meals were hosted. With a wave of a knobbly hand, a stool danced toward Hoggle and he hopped up onto it.

"The world needs kindness, Nessie. It doesnae make ye weak," Hoggle assured her. "Yer bhan is kind."

"But he's also braw," she countered, plopping down on a barstool by the island.

"Och, yer bum's oot the windae, int it?" a third voice joined the conversation, the tall visage of her adult brother sauntering into view as he fixed his tie. The siblings, while having the same parents, reflected each parent in their own way. Nessia took after their mother, with tanned skin, thick curly black hair, and a flat nose-smattering her nose like a constellation was her father's Scottish freckles and the MacDougal green eyes were another telltale sign of her heritage. Whereas Logan was a shade fairer, strong jawed, tall and broad, a head of russet curls hashed with strands of auburn and gold. Whilst he looked more akin to their father, Bhan always claimed he had their mother's fire burning in his heart. Despite their differences, they did share their mother's nose.

"Ah umnae!" Nessia squeaked, cheeks darkening at the insinuation that she was talking rubbish.

"Whit hae ye got there?" Logan gestured to her folded parchment while he was adjusting the cuff links on his shirt.

"Oh! Me letter to Hogwarts," she stood on the pegs of the stool and leaned over the counter to wave it at him.

In just three strides, Logan met her and took the parchment from her, whistling low as he thumbed through it thoughtfully. "Who wouldae thought they'd accept a lil mandrake like ye. Did ye send a letter back sayin' ye'd only want tae study plants?"

"I can learn other stuff," Nessia grumbled, crossing her arms as her brother.

"Well, if that's the case, when ye get yer want, how aboot I teach ye some spells?" he offered, handing the parchment back and pouring himself a cup of tea that Hoggle had on the stove.

"I thought I couldnae practice magic outside o' school," Nessia recalled smartly.

"In front o' muggles. Otherwise, who's gaunnae stop ye? Most other students are na lucky enough to hae a big brother who's an Auror," Logan retorted glibly.

"Am not tryin' to be an Auror," Nessia reminded him.

"Och, yer too wee tae ken whit ye'd like tae do yet," Logan played off dismissively. "I do ken we hae a lot of the supplies ye need here—like the cauldron, scales, phials, telescope. I might even hae some of the books, I ken ye have the One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi one in yer room."

Nessia gave a stout nod, pleased that she wouldn't dirty new books, as she had the uncanny ability to smear dirt on them as well as the inclination to make notes in the margins. Even if the clan had a manor, comparatively Nessia wouldn't claim they were the richest or most influential family. Most of the sacred twenty-eight turned their noses up at the accepting tendencies the MacDougals practiced. They lived comfortably, but if items could be repurposed or recycled, there was no use in wasting it. Both Nessia and Logan had been raised to be appreciative of what they had, what they acquired, and to not discard belongings without regard. An old book still held the same words as a new one and personally, the old one had more character.

"Suppose I'll need tae get a wand and robes, ye were a skinny malinky longlegs when ye went tae school," Nessia pointed out.

Logan sputtered into his mug, Hoggle chortling at the description.

"Keep the heid, young master," Hoggle taunted before the man could offer rebuttal.

"Whit's this noo?" Heads swiveled in the direction of the voice from under the awning, Angus having his hands propped up on his hips as he surveyed the crowd and began carving his path toward the tea kettle. "Yer gaunnae be late fer work, eh?" he prompted, turning verdant eyes to pin Logan where he stood, still gobsmacked from Nessia's prod.

"It's an important day. Na everyday that yer little sister gets an acceptance letter to Hogwarts," Logan preened, taking a glance at his watch.

"Sounds like an excuse tae me. Whit time are ye supposed to be in?" Angus countered suspiciously.

Logan grumbled. "Och, I'll go!" With a snap the man's silhouette rippled inward and he disapparated from the kitchen, fluttering a nearby towel that was folded over the oven handle.

Plates were beginning to float from the stove, landing soundlessly on the island as Hoggle moved as if he were conducting an orchestra. Silverware, plates, and cups followed—the door banging open, followed by the clopping of hooves as Rowan entered.

"Mornin'," he greeted, pausing to wash his hands in the sink.

"So ye got yer letter to Hogwarts? Aboot time," Angus remarked, returning to the island to glance over the parchment. "Might be time tae head to Diagon Alley for the rest o' yer supplies. Hoggle, ye think ye can scrounge up the auld books? I ken Logan had a few of these."

"O' course," Hoggle agreed.

Diagon Alley had been a less than often frequented place of Nessia. To be honest, it was busy, overwhelming, and cramped. Nothing about London was favorable to her, especially when she was so accustomed to the wide open moors and the loch that spanned her home. Additionally, it was humid and frizzed up her curls, turning them into a deplorable helmet. Usually, she let her bhan go without her, but managed to suppress a sigh because she knew that this outing would result in acquiring one of the most important items as a witch: a wand.

"Dinnae look so driech," Angus chuckled.

"It's gaunnae be gross, I jus' ken it," Nessia pouted, spooning hash onto her plate and settling on a scoop of eggs to join it. "Hogsmeade is closer, innit?"

"Tis," Angus mused. "I jus' thought ye'd want the full experience."

Nessia arched a brow at him. "Full experience? I'd prefer na tae sweat me breeks off."

"Lassie dinnae care fer the Sassenachs," Rowan observed mischievously. "Cannae blame ye for that."

"Most o' yer peers are gaunnae be Sassenachs," Hoggle wagged a wooden spoon at her.

"Well, if I can put off meetin' em for as long as possible-" Nessia suggested lightly, shoving some food into her mouth.

"Feart not," Angus declined. "We're gaunnae go to the Alley."

Nessia let out a plainative groan and nearly choked on her eggs, chasing it down with orange juice. The rest of breakfast went on as usual before she was sent off to get ready for the afternoon. London was going to be quite a bit warmer than the highlands, which forced her to choose thinner robes that she preferred to wear. Bundling her hair in a bun at the nape of her neck to save her the embarrassment of it being frazzled to hell, Nessia slipped on a pair of Wellies and trundled grumpily out of her room, the owl having left before she returned.

Upon passing her grandfather's solar, Nessia paused momentarily to reflect on what she'd overheard. Lycans? Escape from Azkaban? She hadn't caught a name, but a shiver traced down her spine at the thought of werewolves roaming the countryside in search of unsuspecting victims. Living in the highlands, she was reminded duly of the protection she was afforded so far north, so removed, and by plenty of other creatures that would chase the werewolves across the moors before letting them bunker down and cause a ruckus.

Waiting by the main hearth, Angus had already dressed in his afternoon robes, including a small sash in the clan's tartan which slashed across his breast. Adjusting his balmoral cap, his heavy brows raised at his granddaughter.

"Try na tae look too enthused," he retorted sarcastically, mustache twitching up at the 11 year old's dismay.

"It's gaunnae be driech, Bhan," Nessia whined, dipping her hand into the basin filled with Floo powder. "And they talk weird."

"Whit if we're the ones who talk weird?" Angus challenged.

"Doubtful," stepping into the fireplace, the sand sifting between her fingers, Nessia tossed the powder down with pizzazz. "Diagon Alley!" Careful to speak clearly, envious green flames lanced up in front of her, obscuring her vision completely. Holding her breath to prevent breathing in the fumes and ash, she narrowed her eyes in an effort to witness her voyage up out of the tippy top of her home's chimney. Arms pinned, up becoming down, skipping from north to south, Nessia groaned when she made impact with the public fireplace of the Alley.

Immediately, she was rebuffed by the humid air of London, the cool and refreshing summer of the highlands replaced by an unusually hot day, peaking at the high 20s (nearly 80F). Pushing a few stray curls from her forehead, Nessia grimaced and stepped out of the way as the chimney above her thundered with the warning of another traveler approaching. Never a pleasant experience, her nose wrinkling as she huffed a sneeze and barely managed to move as a wizard threw a haughty glare in her direction. Rolling her eyes, she waited another moment before her grandfather materialized, dusting off his robes and tartan, ruffling his mustache and sneezing just as loudly as she had.

The mimicked fashion made her grin widely and he chuckled. "Blasted Floo. Never been tae fond of it," he grumbled, striding up to meet her.

"I dinnae think anyone 'likes' it, Bhan," Nessia pointed out to his chagrin.

"Shoulda just disapparated," he muttered, rubbing beneath his nose again. "Noo, where do we need tae go?"

Unfolding the list from her pocket, Nessia could already feel sweat beading on the back of her neck. Maybe she'd worn too heavy an outfit, the corduroy like a smothering blanket amidst the humidity. Thank Merlin Hogwarts was in Scotland. "Robes, parchment, note books, a wand-" she recited, aware that most of the other supplies could be scavenged around the MacDougal grounds. Hand-me-downs didn't bother her too much, though it wasn't as if they couldn't afford newer items; Nessia just didn't see a point when there were perfectly good ones at home.

"Generic supplies," Angus admitted. "Och, well let's get started then. Get ye some robes, 'course yer wand—it's the most important item ye'll get. Maybe if yer not too cheeky, we can stop for some icecream."

Nessia beamed in spite of the blistering weather and flanked her grandfather as they started through the brimming streets of Diagon Alley. From the sloping roofs held up by only magic, defying gravity's expectations, to the gayly hued robes that bespeckled the populace, she settled into the hum of activity. From the freshly baked pastries that filled her with fragrant thoughts of Hoggle making holiday desserts to the owls ruffling their feathers within their cages, she relaxed slightly, keeping close beside her grandfather who parted the crowd as if he had a wand out and was thrusting folks aside. Be it the prowess the broad man moved with or just the heavy expression he always wore, most steered clear of the highlander. He was easily recognizable from his hints of traditional garb and the pride each shoe fell with.

Nessia wished she possessed an ounce of her grandfather's confidence or vindication, but as close as they were they couldn't have been more unlike each other. He was outgoing, strong, ambitious, wise, and willful. Nessia was quiet, reclusive, and shy. Only those that she knew did the girl have the heart to sass, but under the scrutiny of strangers she felt nervous and sweaty. The sheer idea of having to go to school without him made her falter. For today she should have been rejoicing, as excited as the other children around her that she would be going to school soon and beginning the next endeavor of her life. Truthfully, Nessia was terrified.

"Bhan, whit house do ye think I'll be in?" she asked him as they continued down the road toward the wand shop.

"Dinnae, bit o' a toss up for ye. Yer smart, so maybe Ravenclaw. Yer also too nice fer yer own could, ye could be in Hufflepuff," he answered honestly, which made her frown slightly.

"Weren't ye in Gryffindor, Bhan?" she prompted.

"Aye, do ye think ye'll be put into Gryffindor?"

Nessia wanted to be in the same house as her grandfather, almost as if it'd prove that there was more to her than the demure plant-loving witch, but she didn't think herself very brave. Just contemplating how desperately she wanted to be in the house made her eyes prickle with tears, which she quickly blinked back. "I hope Ravenclaw," she decided, knowing that Logan wouldn't let her live it down if she got placed into Hufflepuff. Not that the house sounded bad, but when her family came from a long history of Gryffindors, it made her balk at being placed in the 'softest' house at Hogwarts. After all, she was a highlander and only Ravenclaw or Gryffindor would do.

"Dinnae fash. Ye'll do well wherever ye are, lassie. Ye ken I'm proud of ye, even if ye got placed in Slytherin. No house will change me mind," Angus assured her, tapping her on her nose, having noticed that she was fighting back tears.

The shop in front of them was dusty, but then again, many of the store fronts around here were. It was strange, considering how busy Diagon Alley was, that time was rarely allocated to clean off store fronts or afford a new repaint. Considering all it would take was a swing of a hand or wand to set brooms or dustpans to work, Nessia cocked her head as she stared at the grimy pillow in the display and itched her nose at the anticipation of stepping into the shop. Hoggle would have lost his mind.

Bell tinkling upon their arrival, Nessia shielded her eyes—not because the shop was particularly bright, in fact it was rather dim. No, it was the chain reaction that her presence caused, a box on the wall jetting out amongst the rank and file and pinging right into the side of a rickety desk. An elderly man jumped, his thin white hair going astray as he glanced from the box, the mess the wand had created by acting so spryly—spilling at least two dozen others from the wall—before bending down to pick it up.

"Mr. MacDougal," the shopkeeper smiled, placing the box up on the counter and glancing between them. "I don't think either of you will be spending very long here."

"Nice tae see ye, Ollivander," Angus greeted, palming his granddaughter's back and thrusting her forward from where she'd frozen. "Seems yer wands got minds of their own."

"I see it... from time to time," he smiled gently, turning his wizened eyes down toward Nessia. "This must be Nessia? You look a lot like your mother when she came to get her first wand."

"You remember her?" Nessia's trepidation was trumped by the man's memory of a mother she barely recalled. Both of her parents had been killed when she was little, amidst the wizarding war that had made for a tumultuous childhood for her.

"I remember every person I sell a wand to," Ollivander winked, lifting the lid to the box and revealing a wand. "She had a 12", dragon heartstring cored wand, made from red oak. A very handsome wand."

"Whit happened with that wand?" Nessia inquired, gesturing to the one that had flown clean off the shelf.

"Ah, well let's take a look," he picked up up, holding it to the oil lamp beside him, scrutinizing the ribbing and the fine lattice work of knots around the grip. "Made from vine. They have a tendency to display their attraction to potential partners. I've only seen it happen a few times before, but they're not always quite a brash as this one."

At the insinuation that the wand had reacted to her, Nessia's tanned cheeks darkened and she sputtered. "M-me?"

"Certainly not your grandfather. I'm afraid this wand would not suit him," Ollivander betrayed. "This one has been collecting dust for a while. A very long while," he insisted, reaching over to offer it to Nessia. "I made it many years ago, while I was still experimenting with other cores aside from dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, or phoenix feathers. Honestly, I thought it might never sell. Griffin feathers are quite particular, perhaps even more so than phoenix feathers. Prideful creatures."

Accepting the wand, a tingle lanced up her hand, into her elbow, and caused the girl to shudder all over as if a strong gust of cold highland wind had knocked right through her. She could smell the rain on the moors, fresh air whistling through her thick curls, and roasted apples over a fire. A smile curled her lips and she opened her eyes to glance curiously at the wandmaker.

"A perfect fit," Ollivander declared. "It would seem MacDougals are always the quickest shops. I seem to remember when my father had a wand nearly jump into your hands, Angus."

Her grandfather snorted, removing his wand to offer it to the artisan, who ran his fingers along the wood with a sad, but pleased reminiscent expression upon his face. "Nessie's a MacDougal through and through," he puffed up in pride. "Griffin feather, ye hear? Makes sense, a good deal of griffins migrate to the highlands in the warmer seasons."

Always having felt that maybe being a witch was not suited perfectly for her, Nessia clutched the wand. She couldn't have wished for anything more than this perfect union with the unique wand. A tendril of confidence bolstered the girl's frail spine and she grinned up at her bhan. A griffin feather? Of all the cores, she wouldn't have expected such a braw one to choose her, but her heart soared like the creature it was made from.

"I always thought your core was so strange. How my father managed to acquire will-o-wisps and fashion it into a wand always eluded my skill," Ollivander commented, turning Angus' wand over a few times. "I would have expected the reverse for the two of you, but such rare cores are fickle and don't sell often enough to warrant making them in masses. I realized this once I had taken over, but it still warms my heart to see these wands finally find their partners."

"Served me well, it has," Angus assured him. "And dinnae forget that I wasnae always how I am noo. Nessie's got a much better head on her shoulders than when I was a lad," he patted his granddaughter affectionately.

"You were a bit naive if I recall correctly. Bright eyed and bushy tailed," Ollivander chuckled, returning the wand as he began drafting up a hand written receipt.

"Bhan?" Nessia gasped, as if the idea of her grandfather being anything other than the strident retired Auror that she'd known for the entirety of her life.

"We all grow up, Nessie. I was no exception," he mused, mustache twitching in amusement. "Mr. Ollivander is one of the few who still remembers. Though I hae no doubt Professor McGonagall might as well. We went tae school together."

"I think there are still quite a few more who do, but you're unwilling to admit," Ollivander smiled. "That'll be 10 galleons."

Mr. Ollivander packed up the wand for Nessia, which he shared was about 13.5" and had a relatively hard flexibility to it, but he assured her that the wand was rather delighted to have her. Keeping the bundle tucked close to her chest, she followed her grandfather through the streets which had only grown more busy and sweltering as the afternoon peaked. Past the shops with the pets again and to the robes shop. They passed the front of a second hand store, about to continue when a voice called out.

"Oh! Mr. MacDougal—"

Nessia didn't recognize the voice as one of the typical visitors to their homestead and glanced up inquisitively toward her grandfather who froze and wrinkled his nose. A bemused smile tucked on her face as he turned mechanically and forced a pressed, but polite look onto his face. "Allo there," by the second hand shop was a man with a head full of bright, coppery red hair. "Been a while, Arthur. How's the Ministry?"

Arthur was tall, had a face full of freckles, and beamed excitedly up towards Angus. Beside him were two boys, both of which appeared to be of similar age to Nessia, but she didn't know for certain. Just as ginger as their father, they spared her curious looks. One tall, the other a little shorter and broad. Subconsciously, she waned toward her grandfather, but still stared nonetheless.

"Not half as well since you left for good, but it's nice to see you. I hear you don't often leave the highlands, so I'm surprised to see you in London," Arthur admitted politely. He didn't look like an Auror, but Nessia supposed that was a rather rude thing to think by assessing his weathered robes.

"Me granddaughter, Nessie, starts Hogwarts this year. We came tae get the last few things we needed. Logan had quite a bit o' supplies she can put to good use again," he patted her back. "These yer bairns?"

"Ah yes, my eldest Bill, who is in his third year. My second eldest, Charlie, is starting this year. Perhaps the two of you will be in the same classes or house," Arthur suggested, motioning to his sons respectively. "Boys, this is the legendary Auror, Angus MacDougal. He headed the Aurors for many years, fought against Grindelwald and helped during the Wizarding War with intel. I'm surprised you didn't stay around, join the Wizengamot-"

"Bunch o' pompous pr-" Angus started at the mention of the Wizengamot, cutting himself off before he cursed. Nessia snickered behind her hand. "Ah, too many years workin'. Aboot time I enjoy me home, avoid the stress of the Ministry. How's work been for ye, Arthur?"

"Good!" Arthur chirped, but even Nessia caught the fleeting anxious look on the man's face and her grandfather stiffening. "Busy as always," he chuckled, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, it was nice to see ye. Nessie and I still hae to get some supplies before headin' back north. Tell Molly and the other bairns I've said allo."

"It was nice tae meet ye," Nessia squeaked quickly, following Angus' lead, but still finding her manners. "I'll see ye at school."

"Will do. It was nice to see you," Arthur said, parting ways.

Once out of earshot, Nessia glanced up at her grandfather. "Ye dinnae seem tae happy to see him."

"Arthur is... very passionate," Angus grumbled. "He's a good man, but he's obsessed with muggles. Half the time I see him, I worry I'm gaunnae be stuck listening to him prattle on for hours."

"Oh, he's not an Auror?"

"Oh, nay, nay," Angus shook his head. "Works for the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. Tae be honest, that department's a bit ignored and underfunded... Ministry doesnae see the importance of it much, but we could learn so much from the muggles if we allowed our folk to study with better pay. Used to run into him when I grabbed me morning tea. Realized who I was, was a bit feart at first, but warmed up when he realized I wasnae gaunnae bite his head off. I suppose many other Aurors got their heads far up their own arses. Think they're better than people like Arthur. If any of them had as much passion for their job as Arthur, perhaps we wouldnae had so much of an issue with dark wizards like Ye-Ken-Who."

"Clan MacDougal always mingled with muggles."

"Aye, before Catholicism took hold. We had tae hide our abilities after, but we remained friendly with the muggle clans in the highlands," he added duly. "But not every wizardin' family thinks the same as we dae."

"I ken," Nessia shuddered. "That's why ye never accept those invitations that come from those other families. The Malfoys? Rosiers?"

Angus hummed in agreement. "Jus' posturin' to them. 'Look at what we have', when they dinnae work a day in their lives. Jus' takin' up space and lookin' pretty."

"They dinnae work? Whit do they dae?"

"Merlin kens," Angus rolled his eyes.

Madam Malkin's had a violet store front, a dapper, well dress family in the store display. She thought this one was considerably less dusty, as the mannequins were probably changed out enough that they didn't have enough time to collect half as much dust as the pillow in Ollivander's window. A plump, bright witch hummed around the shop and had her laden with packages as Angus commented about how thick the cloaks were and that a true highlander wouldn't need these to brave the winters in Scotland. While growing rosy cheeked at her grandfather's complaining, they acquired the necessary materials and hurried to collect the last few miscellaneous items. Without having to struggle with books, a cauldron, and the other items they had at home, they were able to easily settle down at the ice cream shop for a much needed treat amongst the heat of a strangely warm afternoon in London.

The path to the Floo hearths was a little choked up, various other patrons just as eager to head home after a successful day in acquiring their needs on Diagon Alley. While waiting in line, Nessia glanced up toward Angus.

"Bhan, we dinnae hae tae come back here, dae we?" Sweat was pouring down her neck, trickling down her back.

"Nay, not til September when ye hae to catch the train."

"The train!" Nessia whined. "But Hogwarts is not too far frae home."

"It's aboot the experience. Ye may meet yer best friends on the train," Angus wagged a brow at her.

Grousing quietly to herself, Nessia didn't shed light on the anxiety she felt surrounding the idea of having to find somewhere on a train to sit, let alone deal with not knowing a single soul. Sure, she knew the names of those two boys, but she didn't know them. To be fair, she didn't really know anyone. It was easy to get lost amongst her jungle at home, the pages of her journal, and the garden outside. There was Hoggle, Rowan, and Logan. Plus the merrow in the loch, which were quite conversational once she'd learned how to understand them. The centaurs were a bit standoffish, but they'd been polite to her.

Hoggle had located the books she needed for school, a couple of which were nearly falling apart because Logan had abused the spines. While the pages were intact—minus his maddened scribblings in a few books—she had to do some repairs of her own to prevent them from breaking further and threatening to actually spill necessary reading material everywhere.

"Knock, knock future Puff," Logan announced his presence, rapping upon the frame of her open door as he poked his head into the jungle.

"Och, ye dinnae ken that yet," Nessia huffed, blowing a few strands of hair from her face as she was sewing another binding back into place.

"Where else would ye go?" Logan stepped in, teasing his younger sister. "Ooh, sorry there. Those look as if they've weathered bein' beat by hippogriffs."

"Oh, yer sorry? Might've fixed 'em before ye handed em down tae me," Nessia quipped, but honestly wasn't that upset. The books still functioned.

"Well, how aboot I make it up to ye?" he offered.

"Ye gaunnae buy me new books?"

"How aboot I do ye one better? Ye got yer wand today, didn't ya?"

Opening the box in front of her, Nessia pulled out the pale wooden wand. "Aye, but I'm not supposed to practice magic outside of school."

"Not around Muggles," Logan corrected. "And if I remember correctly, there arenae any here. Yer perfectly allowed tae practice at home and we're quite remote. If anyone questions it, ye got me to vouch for ye."

Her brother's beguiling reassurances did little to quell the twanging nerves, plucking like an out of tune violin as she contemplated taking the bait. "Whit are ye gaunnae teach me?"

"A few defense spells—Och wait!"

"I dinnae need those. I'm not ye! I'm not gaunnae get into any fights—" Nessia objected immediately.

"Better to ken them and not need them than to be dumped on yer arse. Yer a MacDougal. Like it or not, we have a reputation to uphold and while Bhan will not say anything aboot it, I want to be certain no one picks on ye," Logan interrupted, raising a hand to deflect her disquiet.

"No one is gaunnae pick on me," Nessia snorted. "It's not like when ye went to school."

"Slytherin is still just as nasty as when I went. Yer better off, Nessie."

He wasn't going to drop it, causing her to groan at his insistence. "Fine, but I ken I'm gaunnae be foul at spellwork. Never been good at it before."

"Ye never had the chance tae really try. C'mon, let's go oot in the garden."

#harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction #hogwarts mystery fanfic #growing up at hogwarts #original characters #prose filled

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thepilgrimofwar · 5 years ago

Text

Deathseeker

When her boots touched the black sand of the desert beyond the City of Memory, Elleynah lifted her thumb, opened the jagged scab, and let the blood fall. The needle formed from the sands pointed, and off they went towards their destination. A way out. A way home.

Now and again, she glanced at her defender, the dead and yet whole Sederis. Her eyes skimmed his features, the warmth in his face at the adventure they were undertaking, the freedom from consequence he enjoyed in this place. Whenever she felt herself stare too long she dragged her eyes back to the sand, suppressing the things that felt and twisted in her belly.

He noticed her gaze upon him and pretended not to see. Not wanting to bring up any uncomfortable memories of his untimely death. He wondered how many mourned him. His friends, obviously. His family, probably. But his people? The citizens of the Emberglades that he had died for? The Lords of the Houses who despised him? What of the councilmen he imprisoned? But he dispelled the thoughts- Though they did not hurt him in his state, they were no more than just time wasted on doubts. Time was better spent in the present. Especially in this place.

The sands went on and on. Now and again she would check their progress with spilled blood, and alter their course accordingly. Eventually, though, she felt the weight of living.

Slowing her steps, she huffed. “I have to stop.” Elleynah glanced at him side long. “I know you could keep going until the stars burned out, but unfortunately I’m still… alive here, and that means I get tired.” Her tone was almost defensive, as though she expected chastening. “Can we make a short camp?”

“I… Forgot about that.” He said sheepishly as Elleynah admitted her limitations. As sheepish as a dead man could sound. “Of course we could make camp. I could probably help with that as well.”

He upturned Zin’jang, stabbing in deep into the sands beneath him and from its hilt sprouted leaves of blackness, draping downwards. Like sheets of a pavilion. They were not perfect, nor did they serve much purposes in a windless wasteland in these dunes. But they would trap heat from any fire- and most importantly, would feel like shelter.

She watched him use the magic of death as easily as wielding his spear, and Elleynah looked away, worrying her lower lip with her teeth until she tasted copper. Ignoring herself, she rubbed her lip, smudging the red, turned her attention to her pack, thumbing through her deck idly. In death, the mundane was often turned complex and inscrutable-- the difficult however, became commonplace. Under the leaves of the summoned pavilion, she laid out a small bag. When she opened it, the scent of ash and dry wood and lightning storms emerged; and with a quick dribble of blood, fire bloomed from it in a small but warm makeshift hearth.

Elleynah breathed in the smell, but it did little to relax the tenseness of her shoulders. “It’s absolutely insane how much power living blood has here. It’s little wonder all those dark campfire tales involve creatures seeking living flesh and blood. Just a drop of it and…” She motioned to the flame, and the sand, and the darkness beyond.

Sederis nodded. “It is plied by those of intelligence here, like currency. I suppose it is why Lady Death had me spill and have had me spill so much of it in her name. It turned a simple idea- an ideological seed- into a God- and all her realm.” Sederis joined her by the fire, snapping away the armor pieces that made his silhouette. Was this how he acted in times of rest? He had been relentless in his hunt until now. It felt good, he supposed, just to stop.

“I theorise that is the reason why I walk here with such powers. There is a blood price hanging above my head, paid for in the thousands. Every life taken, every death given in offering, every life that was ended in my name. Just as I had in life- in my own way- I now carry them all within me in death. Their memories and names etched into my mind’s eye.” He gave a thoughtful look and considered the rules of this realm. “If I have a mind- I’m not entirely sure if I do in this place. I’m not even sure how much of me I’m made of- Or if I’m actually mostly made of everyone else.” The Deathseeker implied, and made sense in the same way riddles did.

Elleynah frowned, raising a hand to the flame. “I was told too that it’s catalyst, in a world that hungers. Blood can be so many different things; inside you its vital, outside its grisly. Blue blood, noble blood, innocent blood. It’s all the same, to a mender. Magic seems to operate outside of theoretical similarities.” She let the light burn through her flesh, rendering her hand red to her eyes. “Every culture I know assigns some value to it. So, little wonder in death it’s a precious as gold is above, or more so.”

She pulled her knees up to her chest, looking into the fire. “You aren’t the same, Sederis. I don’t know if it’s your Lady or the world here or the blood and souls you carry but you’re different.” Her voice goes small. “Everything here is alike-but-not-the-same as things above. It’s maddening and terrifying. I was so sure if I called upon the Hanged Man he would have your face and now I wonder what he’s doing, bereft so of one to Patron.” She snorts. “He will find another, but… to me, it should have always been you. And now it’s not. And you’re not. You’re dead. Lirelle is dead, but she’s not even here she’s up there and I’m down here.” The words tumble from her in a deluge of exhaustion, and only now in the relative safety of the pavilion can he see the desperation in her. “Death means change, I’ve always known that, but I hate what it’s done. I hate it so much I could rip the card apart even knowing who he Patrons and what it might mean because I am so angry.”

She has been hunted for months, unable to trust in any familiar thing. The weight on her shoulders has taxed even her steel-spined resolve, and Elleynah the Oracle is closer now to Little Leyna than she has been in decades; the wide eyed, fractured girl child who only ever meant to fix the broken things around her.

Sederis kneeled opposite her as she pulled her knees to her chest, and after a moment of deliberation, he wrapped Elleynah in his arms. Pressing the nape of her neck to his shoulder, he encouraged her to cry, if she needed to.

He was cold to the touch, barely material, but the warmth of the embrace remained. He didn’t know if he had the right words for his friend, but knew it in his being that it was the right thing to do.

“You’re right. I am not the same. At the end of everything, I knew, at last, what it all had meant. The meaning of sacrifice. To be reborn. To see death in a whole new light. That my life of war, had been a search for my own peace,” he spoke softly, letting the words hum through his shadowed form. “ In death I grew past what he was, and he can’t be my patron when I no longer need him.”

Death, in a way, had made him whole and he spoke of his patron as if he were a guardian angel. Keeping him from straying but the one path he was always meant to take.

“Change is… Inevitable. Nothing remains the same. Not even in death. But if there’s one thing to tell you, one thing I’ve learned after all the time I’ve spent in this place, is this:

Whenever you despair about those golden days in the sun, lost to time- stolen by death- as I once did. Do it well. Mourn their passing. Honor it with all your heart. But be glad for them too. Be glad that they happened. Be glad that they gave you memories that are worthy of weeping over. Then when the tears are done, hold them close to your heart where the march of time cannot touch them.”

Perhaps this was the secret of his form. Why he hadn’t too become a blood hungering beast of the shadowlands. Perhaps it was because he cherished the life he lived. All the pain. All the joy. He cherished it all so much till madness and death held no hold over any of it.

Anger like she had never known gripped her; caught her in coils of heat so intense it felt like flame, and whether she knew it or not they whipped off of her like solar flares, visible in the sands of death because of their vitality. He wrapped her in his arms and she gripped him, tight enough her nails broke, tight enough he would have bled if he had yet lived.

She remembered--

Tossing cards off the edge of a floating city, and how she had thought that moment would be the beginning of forever and the end of her history and how she had failed everyone. Everyone. Dying was supposed to be an escape from this weight but she found it was even harder to bear when faced with the plain, unglossed consequence of her failure to be good enough.

She grit her teeth to keep the primal scream in her throat, and she swallowed it down with her tears and her admissions and everything she had held inside for years. Years she had born these sorrows and years she had carried the guilt and she never allowed herself to mourn because--

“I can’t let go of what was never really--” It escapes and she lifts a hand to her mouth, pressing her knuckles into her lips as she swallows her own blood from bitten lips.

It hurt him. Not in the way that claws and teeth did as they tore into his new form. But deeper, sharper. In ways that were beyond what mere damage could do. But he held her, tighter still, receiving her fury and taking it away to the places beyond it.

“Hold them to your heart too. All of them. Things undone, things unsaid. Things that never could be. Though it makes reality harder to bear, there is merit to fantasies- Of what could have been- Of doing things left undone- it is what keeps us going. They inform us of what things could still be,” Sederis speaks from the depths within himself. His own failures rising to the surface. Things unsaid. People unsaved. Frozen bodies of refugees in Light’s Hope. Lazing on a sunny afternoon upon a couch in their Dalaran apartment. “Hold them to your heart. And when the fires die and the tears are spent- Use them to build a better future.”

Like he had. In the form of a manor, and a beach that waited for Lirelle across the gap.

Everything felt too close. He was Sederis and he wasn’t and she was Elleynah and she wasn’t really, was she? Not anymore, not the way she had been. Things changed by time and trauma; double time, double duty she had sworn back on a ship and it had put muscle on her and years around the lines by her mouth. Elleynah was a girl swearing an oath-- Elleynah was a novice mender bearing too much weight on freckled shoulders-- Elleynah was a sister who faltered and a friend who failed and a lover who had been too scared to love until it was almost too late.

She sucked in a breath and the tears that spilled on her were hot with anger and disappointment and frustration. Her arms wrapped around herself, through Sederis because in this land of ash and smoke and memory, she was alive and real and he was made up of nothing but what-ifs and promises fulfilled. She had never ever once been enough and--

Her fingers brushed the leather pack where her cards lie, and something ripped through her in a current. Gasping aloud, she sat up straight, fingers scrambling for purchase on the leather.

“My-- my deck--” She hissed through clenched teeth. “Somethings--” Her hand seemed to struggle against the effort of opening the pouch. Gritting her teeth she finally forced it open, and like a cloud of locusts, the cards erupted around them in a flury of painted paper and magic. Threads of blood seemed to connect them in a web, pulsing around the pair and overcoming the pavilion in a flood.

Elleynah’s frame stiffened in his arms-- she looked at the cards, and they had all changed to share a single form, a single card thronging them where it should have been the whole of the deck.

A heart, with three blades piercing it, a storm brewing under it, blood seeping from the metal into a pool of black. The Three of Swords.

In words like buzzing, it spoke.

You have called on the useful, the necessary, but not the needed little Oracle. The cards swirled around them, and Elleynah remembered. She had bitten her lip, and it had bled, and she had reached for the deck and--

Unsummoned, the Three of Swords pulsed.

You would call on Illusion and you would call upon Will, but not on Truths? You have Spoken for us, but always inside you nurse the Hope that we may be undone. The Devil. The Tower. The Swords. You use us but do not listen; will not ask for the fate for yourself for fear of incurring the Blood Debt. You will Listen now and Feel all that you have Denied.

Elleynah grabbed for Sederis’ hand, her other crept over the sand, towards the fire he had made, surreptitious.

“At my signal, run.”

Image: Sandar Desert by Karen Haller

@retributionpriest @stormandozone @thanidiel

#Epilogue #Deathseeker #Sederis

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bard-of-worlds · 4 years ago

Text

Beginning in Kalos 6

“Have you heard what Good Jacquelin said to Good Sylvestre to make this match happen?” One woman in a green Ballroom gown asked the group she was with. The rumor mill had been running wild since lunch, with each hour that passed causing the rumors to grow more outlandish. The field was full of groups that had come to see the resulting fight, some to watch; some to take support their chosen champion, some to watch the opposition and some to choose a champion.

“Didn’t Good Jacquelin make a comment against Good Sylvestre’s manhood?” A purple haired woman with blue eyes in a blue ballroom gown said as she hid a blush behind a small fan with her right hand and scratched the chin of an Eevee on her right shoulder with her left hand. She was one of newer inductees and like many were wondering what this battle would turn out.

“I heard Jacquelin insulted the queen herself!” A knight with red hair and black eyes said as he looked around the training field, his Teddiursa standing by his side. The field was in a valley on the opposite side of it from MT. Silver, protected from sight by the work of Casters the Team had. Battles like this had been said by his elders to be a thing that was once used to settle disputes and wagers made between two parties. This might be something very interesting; battle was where who you really are is shown. But he had to wonder. Did either of them deserve my sword and Loyalty?

“No, I heard it was an insult against Good Sylvestre’s skill.” Another knight with a flower in his hair said as he looked around at the different groups of Knights and Ladies. He personally hadn’t chosen a side in the power struggle taking place, but perhaps the fight would show him who to trust his honor to. His eyes landed on the opposite end of the field, where Jacquelin was holding court with a mix of Ladies and Knights as he sat on a throne, his weapon a sword in a scabbard on the back of it, while his chosen partner, a Shiftry and a Knight Stalker by his side. A special golem stood before him, it was a nine foot tall wooden golem shaped like a knight in full plate armor with a great sword with a green gem where the blade met the left arm. Its right arm was a four clawed hand with a gem in its palm, ready to hold its prey before it was taken apart by its blade. This was his Grand Sword, a weapon that had served him well and would defeat whatever foe it faced.

“Good Jacquelin, perhaps the coward has fled the mountain rather than to face you in combat, for who would dare to fight one such as you.” One of the Ladies cooed as she fluttered her eyelids at him, causing him to flash her a broad grin.

“Indeed, I always knew that one was a craven fool! For those who would face me in battle come away with more scars then they started with…” Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a commotion at the entrance caused all eyes to turn to see Slyvestre walk out to the field, his Nuzzleaf wearing green gauntlets, a Knight Stalker behind it as they walked out of the mountain. A deep pounding was heard as a nine foot form walked into the light. It was a wooden canine with three heads with hanging fangs, each with a green crystal on their tops. Its four legs each ended with savage looking claws that were the source of the pounding. Jacquelin could only stare at this beast of a golem, when had Sylvestre even dreamed of such a thing? Looking at the doorway back into the mountain he saw the figure of the knight’s brother with a proud smile on his face, him then. Still, nothing could take his Sword.

Sylvestre drew his blade and his party took their positions alongside him, waiting for their opponent to come before them.

“I have come at the agreed upon time, do you stand before me as agreed or do you run from battle.” His voice was hard as it called across the field, his eyes meeting Jacquelin’s from where he stood. Jacquelin eyes hardened and he got off his chair and drew his sword from its scabbard on the chair. He walked forward, his Pokémon and his two Golems following. When he was ten feet away he stopped and gave the ritual response.

“I am here at the agreed upon time! I stand before my foe and am ready to fight!” He cried as he brought his sword before him. They stood there for a minute before Sylvestre shot forward while his Nuzleaf shot at the Shiftry, its gauntlets glowing as two green energy leaf-shaped blades formed in its hands and moved closer to its opponent, using its blades to slice through the razor sharp leaves the Shiftry threw from its hands. Sylvestre started to stab at Jacquelin aiming at his chest, while Jacquelin was able to move his sword barely in time to block the strikes. As the four of them dueled the canine golem ran at the Knight Stalker and dodged the green spheres it shot from its hands and jumped at it, forcing it on to its back before it tore the center gem out of the Knight Stalker’s chest with its center head. While this was happening the Knight Stalker Sylvestre had brought moved backwards, shooting seed shaped green energy bullets from its head at the Grand Sword causing it to fire green spheres from its claw to intercept the seeds, that coupled with the orders Jacquelin had given it.

As Sylvestre was striking with his rapier, he was keeping an eye on the greater battle while Jacquelin was barely able to keep his eyes on his Shiftry. Sylvestre thoughts flew as he stabbed at Jacquelin.

“Nuzleaf, Leech Seed! Hunt Cerberus Energy Ball at the Shiftry! Knight Stalker keep at range!” He bellowed his command as he darted out of range of Jacquelin’s sword, giving his opponent a breather. Jacquelin let his enemies orders flow through his mind and eyed the battle and shot toward the remaining Knight Stalker, let his decision on how to counter the moves decided upon.

“Shiftry, take it and use Solar Beam! Grand Sword, charge Hyper Beam! Target the Hunt Cerberus!” He cried as he started to glow pink and accelerated at the golem. The Knight Stalker raised the arm closest to him and shot green spheres at him, he met it with his sword sliced through the first sphere and dodged the others. When he reached the golem he sliced his sword straight through its body and its center gem, destroying the golem with one glowing slice.

While this had happened Sylvestre’s Nuzleaf had shot seeds from its mouth at the ground around the Shiftry. Within seconds of the seeds hitting the ground, vines burst from the earth and wrapped around the Grass type, with the vines glowing red as the energy it was using to charge the move its master ordered was sapped from it while it was immobilized, leaving it open for the trio of energy spheres shot from Hunt Cerberus’s three mouths, the damage and the energy drain caused the Grass type to pass out. Jacquelin glared at his opponent, he would lose the battle but if he could take out the new golem and the Grass type, then that might save some face if he made the final bout him and Sylvestre alone. He noticed his Grand Sword’s gems glowing, its Hyper Beam was fully charged Nuzleaf, he had to take it out, and if he was to strong and killed it then it would be an ‘accident’ on the field. Then he saw the gems on the Hunt Cerberus’s gems start to lose its luster, it was open to be destroyed.

“TARGET THE CERBERUS, FULL POWER HYPER BEAM!” Jacquelin cried as he shot toward the Nuzleaf and prepared an overhead strike on the Pokémon.

“NOW! RECHARGE AND REFLECT” Sylvestre cried out as he intercepted Jacquelin before he reached his target raising his Aura for the first time in the battle and started to strike at him, causing Jacquelin to block the blows he could. He saw the final moments of the battle through the strikes, his Grand Sword stabbed forward with its sword, releasing a yellow-orange beam at the Cerberus, while at the same time the Nuzleaf had turned toward the canine golem and dispersed the energy swords and raised both hands at the golem before it shot a green beam that restored the gems luster before a white glow covered the Hunt Cerberus moments before the beam hit! The beam was reflected back at twice its size and covered his Grand Sword in an explosion that caused the golem to disappear from sight. When the explosion died down the Grand Sword was destroyed, the largest piece that remained was its sword arm.

Jacquelin looked over the field, he alone stood against Sylvestre’s forces. He saw the Nuzleaf resummons its energy blades and the Hunt Cerberus take a position to form a triangle with Sylvestre and the Nuzleaf with him in the center. He looked around and decided how he would salvage something from this mistaken battle. Slowly he put his sword down.

“I surrender and take back my words and doubt I cast on you O Knight. As one who has just been in the position that you were in I see now that retreat is the better option when capture is likely to serve our Queen we must run.” Jacquelin voice rang out over the field as the spectators cheered for the bout they had witnessed.

“May what you gained from this lesson help you in servce to our Queen Good Knight.” Sylvestre said as he put his rapier back in its scabbered and walked toward his downed golem, as Jacquelin recalled his Pokémon and walked toward the mountain, causing most of the spectators to follow after him. Virgil had a smirk on his face as he passed by Jacquelin who shot a glare at him as they passed. I’ll need to talk with her about rebuilding my Sword and improvising it. Next time I will put your beast down! Jacquelin swore to himself

“So the argument was about how to serve our Queen best, no wonder it came to blows!” The woman in green said with a laugh as she entered the mountain.

“The veterans did say those two were among the most loyal of all those from home, so the reason isn’t really a surprise if you think about it.” The knight with a flower in his hair said as he walked with a group of fellow knights.

As the others entered the mountain no one noticed that the woman with the Eevee or the knight with a Teddiursa walk over toward Sylvestre who had reached down and was rubbing his Pokémon’s head with his back toward them while his brother was channeling some of his aura through the crystal on the central head.

“What do you two want with us?” Sylvestre said when he sensed the two people coming toward him and his brother.

“Only to give congratulations to one who fought with honor and to question how your golem carried out a plan Good Knight.” The knight next to her answered Sylvestre as she shot him a look at his words.

“That is the result of some of my own research; the ability to program at most three separate combat plans into the Golem with no negative. I will be presenting this as a gift to the Chosen at the next Celebration, I think the queen will like it.” Virgil said as he turned and looked at the two people and their Pokémon.

“Indeed, the gift of increasing our golem’s strength for all would be of great value for our Queen, I’m sure she will praise such a noble gift.” The woman said as she looked at the Caster before the knight next to her interrupted.

“You fought a battle against Jacquelin, but how to serve the Queen wasn’t the only reason, why did you?” The knight said as he looked eyes with Sylvestre and held them. Sylvestre merely looked him in the eyes and decide to speak plainly to the people before him.

“In truth Jacquelin has been a thorn in my side ever since our escape from the Homelands. And I merely turn and insult he gave me back at him and left him an opening to choose the fight, he took it I finished it.” Sylvestre said as the knight before him looked at him.

“And it proved a perfect trial by fire for my research, a perfect ending for it.” Virgil said with a laugh in his voice.

“You used tactics ability to get your foe to make a mistake and took it, I, Knight Nicolas would entrust my might to no other.” Nicolas said as he and his Teddiursa both bowed before him.

“You used your ingenuity to create a way to increase our strength. If you would have me I, Roial would learn from you.” Lady Roial said as she curtsied to Virgil as her Eevee jumped from her shoulder.

Virgil and Slyvestre looked at each other and Virgil gave a small laugh.

“I’m always one to pass on what I know and I think my brother could use another warrior to his cause.” Virgil said as he smiled gently at the Lady.

“I would but I have a counter offer, join me on a Quest our Queen has given me to make up for my failure. If afterwards you still think I am worthy to follow then so be it.” Slyvestre said as he held his hand out toward the Knight, who after a moment took it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Bonnie had a smile on her face as she quietly breathed as she slept. Her head was on Lilith’s lap as Lilith gently rubbed Bonnie’s hair. After they had finished their supper Lilith had led Bonnie and Serena to their room and had spent a few hours telling Bonnie about some of her past Contests as she decided on what to wear, and told the two how her cousin singing during a duo performance had sparked a Poké-Vision idol career and shared a music video she had made, playing it on the room’s TV. Bonnie had loved it and tired herself out copying the dance moves on the video before Lilith had changed her into her pajamas. Lilith moved her free hand through her long black hair and smiled down at the girl, maybe this job would be more fun then she thought it would be.

“She’s something else isn’t she Lilly?” Serena said softly as she walked out of their bathroom drying her hair. Lilith smiled at what Serena had said, Bonnie truly was something else. Bonnie was a child that seemed to pull at your heart and make a place in it just by being herself. Even Serena and herself were starting to be drawn in, like the Lady said, some people you just clicked with, like you’ve known then your whole life, but the girl was unblooded. Checking the time as she put Bonnie into one of the beds she motioned to Serena to follow her out of the room. After they left their room in the Center and closed the door Lilith couldn’t keep quite any longer.

“Yeah she is, but I can’t believe the people around here. I just can’t stand how people here don’t teach their kids how to defend themselves. Since I’ve landed here I’ve seen more people without a single weapon in a single day than I would in a year back home. A child her age should at least be graduating to a Blunt Iron by now! It’s like they are ignoring the fact that a Chimera could spawn anywhere at any time, I mean I’ve heard of some attacks in Kalos, so why are they so arrogant?!” Lilith said crossly as she scowled at the possibility that Bonnie could die because she couldn’t defend herself. Serena just sighed at what her friend said as they walked towards the lounge to meet up with Ash and Clemont. At dinner Clemont had been worried about how early they would need to be at the Contest hall so Lilith had volunteered to tire Bonnie out so she would sleep and meet up with Ash and Clemont later, Serena had come along to take a shower and help with Bonnie.

“I felt the same thing when mom and I moved here, but over the years I realized that there’s a reason beside arrogance, at least in Kalos. That’s something I learned at my first festival here, and boy is it quite the story.” Serena said as she walked, finally coming to a table where Ash and Clemont were talking with their backpacks next to them, a sword in a scabbard and shield before Ash and twin two sided axes before Clemont, prompting a smile from Lilith at the weapons before Clemont. So he knows the value of a good defense, I knew there was something about him I liked. She thought to herself, her good mood not noticing the word she thought.

“There you two are, I was just talking to Ash about the attitude most people have about weapons here in Kalos. I’m ashamed to say I was a bit in that camp for a while until a Chimera attack when I was around Bonnie’s age.” Clemont admitted as the girls sat at the table.

“Yeah, the 15th Siege really changed how I felt about a few things too. But what was that reason you were talking about?” Ash said as he looked at Clemont who stippled his fingers together and sighed. Whatever reason it sounded like he wasn’t going to like it at all

“Clemont, you were born here in Kalos, right? So you know the story of the Weapon, the Emperor and the War better than me right?” Serena said as she reached into her bag and brought out her own weapon. Since they were both doing maintenance she might as well as she got out a rag and started to polish her Nagata’s body.

“The what, the who and the what?” Ash asked as he started to polish his shield.

“The Weapon, The Emperor and the War is the story behind a lot of Kalos’s culture and history, it’s a bit complicated so let me start at the most important part. Until one thousand years ago a two thousand year war was fought over who would rule the region. Why this started was because one man had united the region as its emperor three thousand years ago. During the end of his reign a Chimera horde attacked, killing many Pokémon and humans. To fight back a weapon was created that killed the Chimera, but somehow it caused the deaths of a lot of humans and Pokémon. The weapon somehow scarred the region for centuries and with the Emperor as one of the victims and he ‘supposedly’ didn’t have a surviving heir the war began over who would succeed him. And until fifty years ago, there was not a single Chimera born here between the mountains and the sea.” Clemont said as he explained.

“So the wars were the reason for the Treaty not being followed here, but I thought that was one of the Unifying Treaties? And born here, why would you have such a distinction?” Ash asked in wonder.

“The actual wording allows the Defense Treaty to be followed, it just doesn’t enforce it. And the born thing is about a rumor I’ve heard about before. Couriway Town is the farthest official settlement to the west, the league has a fort a few miles farther west as the stop off point for expeditions over the mountains, a lawless region full of resources and is said to be the home of Rating 100 Chimeras.” Clemont said with a sigh and gave a bitter smile when he saw Ash stare at him in total shock while Lilith just went white.

“Rating 100?!! WHO the hell could let ONE evolve that far, let alone more than one!!” Ash exploded as Lilith and Serena stared at Ash in shock. Clemont just gave a bitter smile at the reaction his words caused.

“I said rumored to be, you know how it’s believed that Chimera hordes when their Alpha dies they all fight to either lead or eat the weaklings among it, right? A horde’s Alpha was defeated around twenty years ago and they all just retreated on mass. The ‘Alpha’s’ corpse was given a Rating of 50 and unfortunately it wasn’t the last horde that attacked where that happened. According to data the league released, the last 5 recovered Alphas’s each had different core DNA, thankfully we’ve yet to see a Flying Horde.” Clemont said, not noticing the looks Ash and Lilith sent him at that revelation.

Lilith only looked at him in suspicion, not saying anything as she watched Clemont work. He has to be a gym leader like that photographer, maybe of the Tower, but what happened to led to him being with Ash, that’s what I want to know. Lilith thought to herself as she went over what she knew about Clemont. It would explain what he and his sister were doing around the Tower when Ash was ‘expelled’ from it.

Ash kept silent as he stared at Clemont, his past friendships giving him a thought that he was sure was true. Gym leader or related to someone high up in the local League, that’s the only way he could get data about Chimera genetics. Ash said, remembering times on his trip through Unova when Cilan got paperwork from the League when they were traveling together about a horde a Chimera Hunter destroyed they had helped.

“So the Alpha was reclassified as a Beta, and given its strength they said that its Alpha must have a Rating of 100?” Serena asked as Clemont reached into his bag and pulled out a cloth.

“Yes, and the whole region is lucky that there’s never been a flying horde. The base last I heard has a few Flying types doing patrols in the area. Thankfully Lady Olympia is a powerful Oracle, and more than one Horde was prepared for and stopped. And with Snowbell City and Anistar City both have a gym so if the fort is ever breached the trainers there will be able to reinforce and stop any hordes that break through. ” Clemont said as he slowly polished one of his Axes.

“Say, what grade is Bonnie in anyway, once she got the explanation she breezed through the problems.” Lilith said as Clemont seemed to grow angry and gained a scowl.

“Bonnie should have graduated from the 9th grade by now if those bastards hadn’t ruined public schools back for her.” Clemont said with anger as Lilith started to look concerned.

“Who are you talking about?” Lilith asked as she started to worry, people tried to interfere with Bonnie’s education, that was worrying.

“That’s the thing, we never found out. It started two years ago, and what was worse was it was the second anniversary of mom’s death too.” Clemont said as he looked at the weapons on the table.

“Your mother’s death, wait the Chimera attack you talked about? And how old is she, she’s not ten yet so how old is she?” Ash said with a start as he looked at Clemont who jolted and looked at Ash for a minute before he adopted a sad expression on his face.

“No that was another one. Mom…..she died defending Bonnie from a Chimera while I was away at school. That was what inspired me to learn to wield my axes; I never wanted to lose anyone ever again. Mom said I had a habit of always moving so she stared to train me with two fighting sticks, I add the axe blades for some extra fighting power. And currently she’s about eight years old.” Clemont said as Lilith reached and squeezed his shoulder. He sent her a small smile.

“So you two lost your mother when Bonnie was around four years old, how’d she handle it when it happened? Does she remember it?” Lilith asked in worry, traumas when you were that old left scars people needed help to heal, she knew this personally.

“No thank Arceus! She had been knocked out and Mom was killed when what she was fighting got a lucky hit in. But Bonnie saw the Chimera that did it and she was a wreck for a year, but dad came through and got someone from the Anistar gym to come and have a few sessions with her. The woman was trying to become a psychiatrist and was able to help Bonnie deal with her fear, but dad wanted Bonnie to wait a few years to learn to fight with a weapon so the most she does is meditation and weight training. She wants to be able to defend herself, but I don’t know how to help her.” Clemont muttered as Ash adopted an inquisitive look.

“You know, I have an old training knife, I could give Bonnie a few tips on using a blade.” Ash said as he leaned back, missing the look of thanks Clemont sent him.

“And giving what she was during before, she’s limber so I could teach her some foot work, ‘You always need to be able to move about the battlefield to stay alive’, at least that’s what a friend of my teacher told me once.” Lilith said as she smiled at Clemont.

“Thank you, thank you both. But about Bonnie and public school, it started out innocently enough, some boys started to call her names. Bonnie is surprisingly thick skinned, so for a month dad and I never even knew about it until they tried to get physical when I was around, and luckily for them I didn’t have my axes and I already had my backpack arm prototype ready and I just had it pick them up and throw them into the river. Then her teacher told us someone had stolen her tests from the teacher’s office, and then something caused the mainframe to crash when she sent the tests in electronically. I had learned a bit about computer hacking by then and I designed a closed system for the school. Dissecting the software on the old mainframe I found a virus I tracked down to a hacker in Kanto called Happy Grandbull.” Clemont stopped when Ash started to laugh so hard he had to rest his head on the table.

“Wait, your ElectoMkaer? Happy was cursing you for months after you attacked!” Ash gasped through his laughter, causing the others to look at him.

“You know Happy Grandbull?! Your friends?!” Clemont exclaimed in shock that Ash would know a hacker of Happy’s statue.

“Yeah, Happy’s a mercenary first and foremost but I count Happy as a friend. They’ve got their reasons for how they live their life, but someone used one of Happy’s viruses to take down a school mainframe, a virus that costs at least a million Pokédollars at a minim.” Ash said after he stopped laughing causing the others to look at him in shock.

“What? Who would go to such lengths over one girl?” Serena voice shook as she stared at nothing. Clemont looked concerned at the direction the conversation was going.

“The kids who picked on Bonnie were also paid, a hundred dollars every time and two hundred when they attacked us. There were three of them, they did it for twenty days, a total of sixty six thousand Pokédollars to bother my sister.” Clemont said flatly as the girls shared a look with Ash.

“Was it getting worse or better since she switched to home schooling?” Ash asked as he frowned. Something about this was ring a bell, something about the money spent was reminding him of a saying an old friend of his, ‘You have to spend money to make money’, but how would anyone gain anything from this?

“Yes, home schooling here gives it to their local Nurse Joy and she grades and records it on a closed system so no one can hack or destroy the system. But I’m worried about her social skills might be suffering from it. This journey might be good for her to learn to trust people again.” Clemont said as he started to polish his other axe. He was so caught up in it and not thinking about Bonnie’s past he didn’t notice the look Lilith was sending him, a smile and her eyes had a sense of understanding the need to protect his sister. Serena suddenly clapped her hands together causing the other to jolt.

“Well enough hard topics, how about a few lighter ones?” Serena said brightly as the other just looked at her and Ash just smiled at his old friend.

“Serena’s right, enough doom and gloom. So what are the rules and regulations for the contests and are costumes aloud?” Ash asked as he started to put his sword and shield away. Lilith just released a sighed at the question.

“Costumes for the people are required, we’re each giving a room to get ready in and thankfully I packed some of my best. The rules say I have to use two Pokémon, one the appeals round and one for the battle round, I’m still a bit concerned over which of my Pokémon to use for what round. My girls love to perform and I don’t know which to use.” Lilith said as she pouted her lips and closed her eyes as she leaned back, thrusting her chest out as she did so. Clemont just blushed at this and this time Serena saw it, causing her to smirk.

“Well, why don’t you sleep on it, and giving the time we should hit our beds. Anybody ask Nurse Joy to wake us in the morning?” Ash said as he got up from his chair, the others following him back toward their rooms. As the others made small talk Lilith jolted when they left the lounge, she realized that she had followed him without question, only the Boss inspired that kind of loyalty, another point for him being who she thought he was, now how to get a blood or hair sample to test it, wait that could work. She walked behind her…friends and smiled, this would work.

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A woman with an hourglass figure with red hair in a high ponytail in a purple business suit that was opened to reveal a hint of her cleavage and wearing a red gemstone on an chocker around her neck walked through a darkened hallway, the window that took up one wall showing the lights of a city in the dead of night. She held a report in her hands that she read as she walked through a doorway with a plate with the words ‘Mai Solani: Vice-President in charge of Internal Security”. She walked into a large office with a large window across one side of the office, on the other bookcases filled with tomes. As she sat behind the desk an organic blade was at held to her throat. She kept her face expressionless as she calmly put the report down and looked out over the room.

“If you’re here to kill me have your Pokémon do it. If you’re Shadow then let me see you.” She commented dryly. The blade made no move to move closer or away from her neck, as still as ice.

“Release her Scyther. The way you caused this meeting to happen was not in your best interest.” A voice echoed mechanically as the blade moved away from her neck. A portion of one of the bookcases rippled as a human in black pants, black boots, black shirt, black gloves and a black helmet with a black visor where the eyes would be appeared. Twin swords were over his shoulders, and a belt of Pokéballs was around his waist. After the blade was removed from her neck a Scyther walked to stand by its trainer as he moved in front of the desk.

“My apology for the threat, but I needed to contact an experienced mercenary, most speicificly I need to contact you.” The redhead said commonly to the person before her.

“Mai Solani of Silph Co; why do you require a mercenary? And please give me a reason not to end you here and now.” The voice question as the figure before the desk loamed and leaked a sense of menace at her. The woman behind the desk gave no sign that she was anyway affected by it, only staring impassionedly at him.

“You can drop the act. Even giving how I arranged this meeting, I know based on what I’ve read about you that you won’t kill possible employers before they tell you why they want to hire you, and if you disagree with why they want you then you warn them before you try to kill them. As for why I want your services, this should be the reason why you will do what I want you to.” Mai said as she removed a folder from her desk and threw it before him, opening to show papers and pictures of men in white plate mail with a symbol of a Pokéball on a shield before a sword on them. Other pictures showed the men guarding people in lab coats as they examined killed Chimera in the wild, one picture showed Karen of the Elite Four ordering about the men. The man and the Pokémon went still and the man picked up the picture with Karen in it and the malice he released increased tremendously. Mai gave no reaction then lifting one of her eyebrows.

“I thought that would get your attention. I have no idea who they are but let me be frank with you; ever since Team Rocket tried to take over the company I cultivated a… ear so to speak to the local underworld. For the past two years these people have always been there, those who know of them stay out of their way, more so since Karen replaced Agatha but recently they’ve begun to…consolidate power within the city’s range.” Mai spoke as she turned her chair and looked out over the city. Not hearing anything from her ‘guest’ she continued.

“Varies small gangs of hoodlums that handled the local vices have begun to take orders from these people. Officially Silph Co has no legal standing to take any actions at all. However, the last time something like this happened in the city it was the prequel for Team Rocket’s assault. While I was looking into these ‘Knights’ Karen commands my research usually ended with you destroying their bases and assets. I have no idea of the history or reasons for your war, nor do I care about them.” Mai said as she locked her eyes on the visor.

“And what do you care about?” He countered harshly as he looked over the other papers from the folder. Turning she noticed a black collar around the Scyther’s neck, not commenting on it she looked at where the man’s eyes would normally be.

“I care about keeping my position in this company. I care about keeping said company productive, after the Rocket’s raid on the company we spent a year investigating the loyalty of our employees and the impact that had is still rippling through this office. And if said company would be protected by employing a mercenary on a crusade then so be it. If I can stop another raid then it would be effort well spent on my part.” She said resolutely as she folded her hands before her.

“But what would I get out of this besides knowing where to strike against those I have been fighting? Why shouldn’t I just cut away someone who knows that I am fighting said war?” The mercenary asked as his right hand moved toward one of his swords

“Sliph Co has the confidence of the Kanto League. We are one of the few organizations allowed to research Chimera’s legally and request information on them. And I do not want you to do anything that you wouldn’t do on your own. Merely change your focus to Saffron City for the imminent future and let me know when you have made any progress against our…mutual foes. In exchange I will let you have copies of any of our Chimera research that you desire, anything that has to do with any of the Black List Chimera’s that the Leagues shares with us. As a Chimera Hunter, I believe that that would be worth your weight in gold.” She said as she got up from her chair and walked to the window, not noticing Shadow move his hand away from his sword.

“All data the League shares? Including specifications on identified mutation and core DNA and spawning theories kept from the general public? And your invitation for this meeting?” Shadow inquired as he turned his head to look at her.

“ALL data about Chimeras; and my own thanks and that of the company, unofficially of course. And my personal word that I will not knowingly pass the knowledge to them.” Mai answered as she looked at him in the windows reflection.

Shadow’s head only looked in her direction before he recalled his Bug Type and picked up the folder. He thumbed through the pictures until he saw another picture of Karin, this time it showed her with her Vileplume killing a Chimera to the cheers of civilians. Shadow stood still, closed the folder and took it, walking toward the door, stopping just before it.

“I’ll get back to you when I give them their first cut. But one thing before I leave.” Shadow said as a flash of light from a vent behind the desk caused Mai to whip around to look at it as a hurt Espeon crashed through the gate to the floor before a Rattata cloaked in flame shot out of the vent, dispelling the flames as it hit the desk and jumped onto Shadow’s right shoulder.

“Next time you have a guard watching you, make sure your guard hides better.” The words caused her to look towards the door, Shadow and his Rattata had disappeared. Of course he would have had another Pokémon out when he met her, it seemed he had truly earned his reputation in Kanto’s underworld.

Mai walked over to her Espeon and crouched down before it and started to pet it as it looked at her with a pained expression. She merely smiled at her Pokémon, having it guard her meetings from the ductwork was a way to always have an ace up her sleeve, it seemed this time someone had out beaten her hand. Better to be beaten by someone who wasn’t after her life then one who was, and sometime defeats help you to grow and gain strength, next time she would have a stronger hand to play.

“You better be as good as he said you are Shadow. Come on girl, let’s go home and I’ll drop you at the Pokémon Center in the morning.” Mai said as she picked up her Pokémon and walked out of the room. All she could hope is that the new card in play ended up against her opponent, and that he didn’t discover where exactly her personal loyalty was.

Shadow stood on top of a building looking at the Silph Co. building. He was of two minds about what to do next. Ever since I saw that branding on that monstrosity all those years ago when Mark led us against that thing I knew I would have trouble sooner or later when I went underground. But I never thought of the chance for one of them to have infiltrated the league itself, let alone the Elite? She’s not being honest in why she wants to set me against them here in Saffron, and that necklace she had on had the light of Aura, was it like my suite, a way to protect against Psychics reading your mind? How would a modern executive even get something like that, does she know what it does, was it an inheritance, dare I take the chance that she doesn’t and this isn’t a trap? I’ve spent years fighting alone; having any help would be good. He would have continued brooding but he felt something rubbed his face through his helmet.

He turned his face toward his Rattata and scratched it under its chin; this little guy had help him out of a lot of jams over the years even before he had become Shadow.

“I’m all right partner, just thinking about our next move. With Karin as one of our enemies we need to be extra careful; she has the respect of the people and the authority of the League itself. Maybe we should see just what their after here in Saffron City.” Shadow mused as he looked upwards. If they are planning an operation here, what would be the target? Although Karin’s alliance does answer some questions, like how the scum I’ve given to the Jennys always die in captivity or ‘escape’. Or how they always have patrol schedules to let them slip by the League’s security. Karin must either get them from them or give it to them, I have to account for that for the future, I need information, that place in proximity to Lavender Town should have what I need.

“We’re flying partner, want to ride the wind with me?” He questioned and saw his Rattata’s smile full its face before he released a large bat-like Pokémon.

“Noivern lets fly! Our destination is Lavender Town!” Shadow called out as he got on his Dragon with his Rattata still on his shoulder. Noivern gave a cry as it jumped from the building its wings and training swiftly taking it and its trainer out of Saffron City.

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A boy of about fifteen walked through the darkened hallways of a mansion, priceless artwork and statues along the hallway showed the wealth the person who owned the building had. He had brown hair in a loose style, black colored eyes and was wearing a black vest over a white shirt and black pants. By his side walked a strong looking black furred Absol. He and his partner had just comeback from their customary after dinner workout and were heading to the kitchens for a few sandwiches. Tomorrow he had his lessons on business, his sensei was coming to help him with his staff work and test him on the last kata he was taught, the life of a noble just wasn’t what people thought it was. So many expectations to meet drove some people to either break or find ways to deal with the stress involved, to become what their families wanted some killed their dreams but unfortunately few of those born into this life ever mustered up the courage to escape it and their family’s expectations, but she had found it.

He walked toward a door to a sitting room and saw it was open partway, the light from it stabbing into the hall and heard voices from within, he signed his Absol to wait where it was as he moved closer and listened to an argument between his mother and uncle.

“…so you lost them?!” His mother’s strict voice demanded as he heard a fist hit a solid surface in the room. He loved her but she was a person who prided the rules and obligations above all else, woe to any of their staff for not living up to her impossible standards.

“Cool it sis, you were the one who wanted us to back off on hacking the Center after they got the brat we hired to do it. And the gym’s entered lockdown, no one in or out and we don’t know where she is.” His uncle was the person the family had to look after their properties around the region but he thought that his job was actually quite darker then he let on. So mom and my dear uncle are talking about someone connected to a gym. Is this that project they’ve been working on for the last five years?

“Damn it brother! You know the only way we would get her is if she has a break down and the judge we paid off rules in our favor in a custody hearing! If she can become a junior Trainer then that would be closed to us!” His mother’s words caused him to start to really worry about this conversation. A kid can become a junior trainer if they graduate from ninth grade and are under ten years of age. So a kid they need custody of, could they have found Auntie’s child?

“The only good thing about this is that our brat of a sister died leaving the girl! And that we found them while at least one of them is still young enough to mold.” His mother’s voice said frostily as he started to feel light headed, his thoughts running wild. His aunt was dead, and she had children, a daughter?! And they wanted her for some reason?!

“The older brat has to be the wrong gender, but enough about our issue. How about you give me a report on our shipping? Did they hit our cargo ship again?” His mother asked as he heard someone sit in a chair. What cargo ship? The family business is in construction.

“Well about that, they did. It was like the other raids. They put the crew asleep, put the crew in lifeboats and sunk the ship. When I got the report about it I sent one of our… faster assets. They dropped a diver into the wreck and the cargo was already gone, no idea where it ended up.” His uncle’s voice had a growl to it that his voice only had when he was practically mad. He gritted his teeth, this was looking bad. What assets and cargo is he talking about, what had they gotten the family involved with?

“We have to get a handle on this sometime soon. The special clients are starting to talk about our reliability. And the money to fund those journeys is starting to be threatened.” His mother’s voice sounded exasperated. Time to move, he signaled to his Pokémon and they moved silently through the halls, his uncles voice echoing after them as they left the area.

“We put a bounty at all the Hubs, nothing. We don’t know where they go with the cargo, where they get their information from and what they are. Besides the methods I would think they have to be multiple parties involved. The cost to increase our guards or more Pokémon would unfortunately offset any profits the cargo would generate, not talking about the secrecy issue. However we were contacted by a curious individual who represents a third option….”

Later he sat in one of the sitting rooms near the kitchen with a plate with the remains of a few sandwiches on it on a table next to his chair as he went over what he had overheard going over it in his mind his thoughts racing. If mother and uncle’s project was to get custody of one of my cousins and are doing something illegal and trying whatever this cargo is I need to look into it. I could take a look around the garages, tell a few lies about looking for my own transportation, if the cargo was illegal then the port they used couldn’t be one of the main ones. So that leaves an off-road vehicle to transport it, a hidden port or the shoreline itself. But should I do this, I might end up destroying everything my family built over the years. Am I brave enough to do this?

He sighed and put the plate down and let his partner happily eat the remains as he got up and walked around the room. He stopped before a panting of four people. A man with black hair in grey formal clothing sat in a chair with his right hand holding the left hand of a woman in a red dress with platinum hair with an a smile on her face. Three teenagers were behind them, two girls and a boy. The boy had a lopsided smile on his face with a black jacket over a red shirt and blue pants. The girls were twins with the only difference being their hair and eyes, the one on the right had blond hair and a glare and the left had black hair with a smile that lit up her face, both in red dresses that went to the floor. He hardened his eyes and put his hand on the blond haired twin, to chase her dream his aunt had left the family, she had shown bravery and he would to, he would find the truth and decide where to go from there.

“Master Clyde? Your mother requested that you get to bed at a reasonable hour tonight.” A voice called to him from the doorway. Time to let sleep claim him, he could get a handle on this issue tomorrow. And maybe he could go talk to his grandmother about his aunt.

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The mountain side had an assortment of animals and Pokémon along the shrubbery, with a troupe of Mankeys and four Primeape were scrounging the grounds for their breakfast, while a herd of Nidorina, Nidorino and Nidoran munched on bushes while a flock of birds were eying a river going down the mountain looking for fish while a Spearow was eying them hungrily for its breakfast as the sun rose over the horizon. One of the flock noticed the shadow the Flying type was casting on the river and screeched, causing the flock to split apart and the Spearow to fly after one them. It noticed its purser and flew higher, hoping to lose its hunter like when the Spearow hit and tor off part of one of its wings, sending the bird crashing into a pit on the mountain. Flying into the void after its meal, the Spearow entered a chamber of glowing crystals and openings deeper into the mountain. It paid no notice to its surroundings and focused on the bird it had hunted, it was trying to move on a raised glowing crystal in the center of the chamber. Deciding to finish it flew at the bird and opened its mouth before shooting a thick purple liquid from its opened beck at its prey, hitting the birds head, melting it and part of the crystal it was bleeding on. As the Spearow landed on the crystal to eat its meal, it didn’t register that the crystal had lost its glow when the attack had melted part of it. It was so engrossed in its meal that it didn’t notice a large stinger suddenly thrust at it, spearing it in the side and destroying its heart.

The creature that had killed the Flying-Type had an insect with a carapace covered oval body with four legs on the sides of its body with two wing coverings on its back and two stingers on the front segment lower half, with two multifaceted eyes on the upper part of the segment and a mouth with no lips on the front part of the segment below a long sharp looking horn. It brought it’s kill to its mouth and ate the Spearow and turned its stingers toward other glowing crystals shot multiple small white needles, destroying the rest of the glowing crystals. More creatures like it along with others without horns came as the crystals were destroyed. The creature which killed the Spearow raised a stinger and pointed upwards, singling a surge of the creatures flooding out of the chamber.

A Rattata horde led by a Raticate had been forced out of their former territory were racing over the mountain, hoping to find a new home when a beam of energy hit the center of the horde, causing an explosion! The Raticate stood back to its feet, it was missing a few whiskers and had one eye closed and looked over it minions, most of them had been hurt and some were seriously hurt. Hearing a noise behind it turned and saw five of the creatures from the cave without horns with one of those with horns in front of them. The horde started to growl as the creatures before started to move toward them. The Raticate gave a screech as lightning covered its body and it shot at the creatures, the horde following their leader and attacked the creatures together, the Rattata’s fangs glowing as they ran at them.

A group of creatures like the horned ones without the stingers with two carapace covered hands in their place pulled silk bundles towards the hole, a large scaly tail was poking out of one on the larger bundles. They passed a group of creatures without stingers and two large closed yellow flowers in their place with a large yellow flower on its back. A horned creature led them toward a cliff face with a town in the distance. As the creatures with flowers stood on the cliff face the flowers on their sides opened wide and the flower on their back released a golden pollen that caught a wind and blew towards the city below.

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The sun shined down upon the river a small round blue insect with four legs moved along the surface of the water, not noting a shadow in the trees along the river before a spiked tail shot out and speared it through; bring its dying body towards its body. The corpse had just stopped twitching when the insect Chimera with a broken mandible spat a glowing white liquid on the body and ate the Water type in three bites, feeling the choices of what to take, it choose three and devoured the rest as fuel. The burning changes began after that, a sack forming in its front segment line with glands to heat the water it held to channel through veins lined with glands to heat the water leading to openings formed at the centers of its pincers, its legs gaining the blue ovals oil glands and finally a horn grew on top of its head which soon start to release a sweet scent.

The primitive mind of the Chimera felt the changes finished and still it need more strength, more power to get revenge on those who had maimed it, strength to rule. But it could range farther now, hunt for more power and gain it. Move out of the tree line it picked up speed, not breaking stride when it reached the water its legs hit the water surface and stayed above the liquid and moved over it. It dashed across the water, its new mutation letting it move over the water as easily as earth. It had felt power across the river and sought with its new abilities it could find it.

When it reached a small island in the middle of the river it stopped and drank from the stream to fuel its new sack and then it moved stealthily through the trees on it until it was able to look across the remaining water while still being hidden by the foliage and let its eyes see the far shore. Its eyes saw many shapes it hadn’t seen drinking from the river and its hunger intensified when it saw a particular tasty looking blue quadruped with a tail tipped with a four-pointed star leading a pack of smaller blue quadrupeds. There was something about the larger one that sang to the Chimera, it had something it needed. It suddenly realized that the large blue beast was looking in its direction, had it sensed it, no there was no way that was possible. Suddenly the blue beast howled and ran into the trees away from the river, the creatures drinking bolting every way and the others in its pack following it! It stared at where the blue creatures had been for a second before it ran out of the trees and over the water; it wouldn’t let its prey escape.

Once it reached the opposite shore it ran into the trees, looking for any sign of its prey. Finally it saw a trampled down grass path and ran along it, following the trail. It ran through the woods, finally looking through the trees to see a mountain in the distance it ran toward it, the path leading toward it. After a few minutes it realized it had lost the pack, it would find them again and now it needed to feed so it walked toward a tree and cut it down with its claws and started to eat it. After a few minutes of feeding it heard roars and moved to find the source of the noise. After a while it found the source of the noise, a clearing it stopped short of entering, staying in the shadows of the trees to look at the source of the noise.

The clearing before it was a battlefield with the attackers being six black and grey furred quadrupeds three feet high being commanded by one of their own kind who was three times their height behind them near the tree line. Their target was another Chimera, also a quadruped. It was an equal to the Bug Chimera’s 6 foot height; it had white fur on a lean lupine body with a horn between two eyes over a muzzle. The most shocking thing about it was the mane of fire around its neck and on its tail. Its right back leg looked broken, one of the creatures trying to get at it jumped at it with its mouth open but it shot a blast of flames from its muzzle at it attacker, sending it flying back against the mountain. The Bug Chimera slowly moved to just behind the larger specimen and started to heat its water sack, it shot two streams of boiling water at two of the attackers and sent opened its mouth and shot sticky balls at the larger one that formed webs connecting it to the ground, holding it in place as the other four split their attention, two of them running at where it had attack from and the other two attacking the Fire Chimera.

When the two running at it were within striking range they jumped at it and the Bug shot its two pincers and grabbed them, firing the last of its water point blank into their necks, boiling holes straight through to the other side of their necks, breaking their spines. . While it had dealt with those attacking it the Fire Horn had lunged at one of its attackers speared one it through its eye to its brain, killing it before biting down on the neck of the other one, shaking it until its spine broke. The larger one finally shook off the webs and saw the state of its forces and barked a command that sent the two the bug had first attack running, the larger one crying out before a wave of sand blocked the two Chimera’s sight, when the sand was gone the black beast was gone. Turning toward the Fire Chimera its mind went over the battle, the beasts were able to wound and almost kill the Fire because they fought together, perhaps that was the power it was after. Somehow it knew how to tell the Fire it wanted it to join it.

The Fire Chimera looked at the Bug, wondering what it would do next. The bug looked at the beast before it used one of its pincers to throw one of the corpses at the beast before it started to eat the remaining corpse. The Flame Horn stared at the Bug before it spat a white glowing liquid onto the throne corpse and started to eat it, feeling all its legs gain muscles as its broken leg gain began to heal and felt its fangs start to change. After it finished with its meal it picked up one of the others and carried it to the Bug Chimera and dropped it before the Chimera and bowed its head before its new leader. The Bug Chimera looked at what the Fire Chimera was doing and took a bite of the offering, and realized something was changing about it, that it could feel the burn within its head as it ate the corpse.

As the Chimeras fed on the corpses of the defeated pack, they were watched by two humans and three Pokémon. The first person had a vulpine like black mask with what looked like red fur covering his head, a black cape that hid his arms. He was with a man with dark skin in a red armor on his chest, red gauntlets with red gems on the back of the hands on his arms, red shorts with an armored belt and red reinforced looking. The Pokémon with them were a female and male Pyroar with saddles on them with black gems on them and a Zoroark that was wearing black gauntlets on its arms and a crown with a black gem on its head.

“So what was the big problem the seers foresaw to the city my friend, the pack, their target or the new Chimera?” The red armored warrior asked as he crossed his arms and smirked, a hunger to fight starting to shine in his eyes.

The cloaked figure revealed he was wearing black gauntlets with multicolored stones around the wrists as he put a hand on the earth and the eyes of the mask released a blue glow. After a few second the glow died down and the figure seemed to sag with relief.

“The signs are clear, the danger has passed my brother, come let us go home, we should make good progress before nightfall if we leave now and escape the notice of others thanks to my friend.” The voice from the mask was masculine and the figure stood up and walked to the female Pyroar as the Zoroark fell in behind him, the black gems all the Pokémon had on starting to glow.

“Shouldn’t we deal with the Chimeras? The Bug type looks particularly strong and acted smart, it might become a threat in the future.” The red warrior questioned as he walked toward the male Pyroar as he looked at his companion.

“You remember the orders the chief gave us, find what the sign pointed to, then return and report. If it becomes a problem the City Guard will deal with it if it happens. And you know what the chief would say if he was here.” The masked male answered as he climbed into the saddle.

With a sigh and a shake of his head the red armored warrior got on the male Pyroar, which started to run away from the field of carnage, the female following as the Zoroark jumped into the trees, shooting after the riders. While for now they would not seek battle, not knowing about the threat to the region that their actions would let bloom.

Unseen by the riders leaving the forest a 9 foot tall humanoid form stood farther up the mountain in front of a cave, it had a hunched over reptilian looking body with bulging muscles, red stone like skin and three eye above a muzzle full of metallic fangs and metallic claws on its three fingered hands and feet. It glared down at the two Chimera feeding on the pack, the flame horn and the others should have been its food, and the interloper hadn’t even killed the horned one. It had killed the large grey one’s spawn and left them for the flame one to feed on and then the pack had followed the trail it made to see the flame one eat the corpses and attack in anger as all weaklings would do, it was just their weakness made bare. And finally it would have eaten the lower fire chimera and gained its strength for its own, hurt as it was if it survived it would have been easy prey.

It needed to deal with this but how to kill the bug, it looked strong and all it had were those scum it thought as it looked back into the cave. At the back of the cave were 11 six foot tall humanoid creatures fighting over which of them would eat the remains of a grey corpse. They had grey skin, three eyes with a line over each above a muzzle. Their bodies had lines that ran from the back of their hands to their shoulders. Their feet had four claws and a heel spike that let them grip the floor Finally one of them with a scar on the right side of its face tore off a grey leg from the corpse and brought it to 4 weaker looking ones huddled together in the very back of the cave in the darkness, but the hunched one sight could see it feed the others. That one of its spawn was a disappointment, feeding the weak, protecting them instead of eating them, when it was born it devoured all twenty of its siblings and its mother. A commotion at the corpse caused it to see one of them with its middle eye dead use another of its siblings as a club to beat off the others. That one was much better than the scared one it was both strong and merciless, a proper member of its brood. The weaklings were meant to be eaten by the strong, what would it gain from protecting, and what’s worst that one would probably… The hunched chimera went still and looked back down at the two Chimera with a sinister looking grin; perhaps it finally had a use for them.

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Blunt Iron: A blunt copy of a weapon, made for training purposes and sparing matches

Unifying Treaties: Documents that united the Regions of the world in a loose alliance and peace, creating international origination to keep said peace.

Chimera: Horde: Organization: Hordes of Chimera are led by a specimen that has shown that it is more powerful than the others in the horde, called the Alpha, with its lieutenants if horde is sizeable past a certain number called Betas. In the instances where the Hordes master is immobile, the leader of the hunting party is called the Beta while its lieutenants are Gamma

Chimera: Core DNA: The original DNA of a Chimera, able to identify original Type

Psychic; Oracle: One who is able to divine the future; Leagues train them to worn of disasters that might affect them

Junior Trainer: Required to graduate the ninth grade and being under ten years of age, children are able to own and carry up to 3 Pokémon

Hub: Locations where Dark Quests are posted and information is traded

Black List Chimera: Chimera that have gained an infamous reputation, bounty’s are much higher than general Chimera, the head must be shown to official for bounty to be paid

#pokemon fanfiction #Pokemon AU #Beginning in Kalos

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