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666herescared · 11 months ago

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Imaginary Shadow Dad)Ch.10: Acceptance

—☆—

Notes: Just rounding out the PBS era. Mk is finally happy and mentally stable.. But not for long! Mwahahaha!

—☆—

“Con-Graduations, Mk!” Mei joked with a wink as she pulled her little brother into a hug.

He grinned like an idiot and chuckled happily as he hugged her back and spun her around, startling the dragon. Of course, she was used to this, so she calmed down and pulled back to return to her feet and spun him round and round in turn. He yelped but got right into giggling happily moments later. He pulled her closer, off her feet, and sprung himself forward to flip over her head playfully. “Thanks Mei!” he exclaimed teasingly, bending down a little to look down at her while she was on the ground.

She didn’t move. What? Had he hurt her? The Little Monkey crept closer- and got yanked off his feet and pulled to the ground with a scream and laugh. “You Little Monkey! We aren’t supposed to wrestle on the road!” the dragon girl cackled, pulling him closer to her in a sort of pseudo hug to give him noogies. He cackled happily in her arms as she mussed up his hair, kicking his feet with glee.

His dads approached the duo shortly after, Mr.Tang giggling to himself and Pigsy sighing with no real disappointment and tons of amusement. “Yeah. You aren’t supposed to wrestle on the road, so get over here! It’s time for your appointment.” the pig demon claimed, trying to be serious but honestly so happy that the Monkey Kid was finally happy pretty consistently.

“Aww, really? Already?” Mei pouted.

“Yea, Jie Jie. We’re still up for sparring later though, right?” Mk asked, slipping away from the dragon with a goofy smirk.

“You know it, dude! See ya later!” she exclaimed, giving him a good strong hug before calling her bike and zipping off. He waved at her as she drove off, then hopped around playfully as he ran back over to his dads’ truck. His parents snickered as they followed behind, relief and almost aww in their expressions. Their sweet little boy was finally bouncing around like he used to.

With a stupid grin, his Ba Ba called towards him, “Xiao Houzi! Slow down! Pigsy’s falling behind.”

“Wait, what?!” Dadsy asked incredulously, causing his husband to sprint ahead. “Come back here, ya freeloader!” he called as he chased Mr.Tang.

“On second thought, RACE YOU THERE! AGH!” the scholar yelped as he was caught by his husband.

Mk snickered at their interaction, though quickly Pigsy’s competitive side caused him to join the race, though that competitive side was shared by his young boy. The shadow trails at his feet flicked playfully, yet went unnoticed in the boy’s excitement, as he began to parkour down the street, back to the truck. He was far faster than his parents even could be - at least now in their “old” age. He landed in the open doorway of the truck and gave a teasing wink before slipping inside and hunkering down into the gap behind Mr.Tang’s seat.

—

Today's session with his Shu Shu was one of the unique ones. Sandy was taking him fishing on his house boat. Mk used two teabags of plum tea, as he'd been doing for years now, and Sandy just used a single green tea teabag.

They calmly sipped their tea and talked about Mk’s plans for the future, starting with the spirit asking, “So, are you still planning on being a cartoonist?”

The Little Monkey paused for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I think I’ll just help Pigsy out around the shop and draw whatever I feel like. It’s easier that way.” he claimed with a shrug, looking at the water flowing past the ship.

“Hm. Just wondering, what happened to wanting your name to be known?” Sandy questioned patiently, though he already knew the answer.

The young man thought for a moment, wondering when he brought that up, then remembered. “Honestly? I only wanted my name to be known so that Shadow Dad could know what I’ve been up to, but something tells me he doesn’t need my help for that.” He placed a single hand behind his ears- ear to show what he meant.

Sandy figured it out quickly and chuckled merrily at the statement. “Oh! Hehe! You’re probably right.” He sipped his tea, satisfied with the answer.

“Not to mention, Pigsy’s always wanted me to take over once he's gone.” Mk mentioned. He was glad he didn't have to do that too soon though. He might not be a kid anymore, but he wants a while before he has to take on that sort of responsibility.

—

After his session, Mk decided to walk to the park instead of riding in his dads’ truck. After all, it was a nice, bright, sunny day. The shadows were cast in such a way that it looked almost unfairly beautiful. He spotted a few different people on his walk as he scanned the crowd for one specific person. He saw a couple walking with their arms around each other as they ate ice cream with their others, a woman in a business suit walking down the road on the phone and ranting, a few young fox demons playing together and then finally - a small pink light flickered towards him, making sure he noticed it before moving to glide along the ground.

He giggled gleefully at the small request. His Ge Ge had started playing little games like this with him recently. This one was a personal favorite for Mk. He chased after the light, following it’s path even when it went up onto the walls, mostly so he could show off his acrobatics.

The light soon arrived at it’s final location, right in front of Big Brother. He didn’t flee right away for once, which was a startling change for Mk, so he just… froze. Like a deer in headlights.

His Ge Ge seemed to reconsider for a moment, then shook it off and walked forward, giving the Little Monkey a few pats on the head. “Congratulations, Di Di.” It had been so long since he heard his Big Brother’s voice - it only made him freeze up more. The older boy seemed to get a little nervous after that, like he thought Mk didn’t know what he meant. He actually did think that, as exemplified by him then saying, “O-On graduating. Uh- Congratulations on graduating.”

The younger simply nodded, still in shock over his Big Brother stopping the chase and actually touching him and talking to him again.

Ge Ge gave a short nod in response, patting him on the shoulder before walking around him. Right when Mk snapped out of it and turned around, he saw a twisting stream of wind and pink light floating up towards the sky, lotus petals falling down from the quickly fading light. A box falling on his head snapped him out of his thoughts.

He breathed out an airy chuckle. “You really are impossible to understand, Big Brother..” Inside the box was a bunch of items, most being art supplies and sketchbooks, though there was also a small tin inside with yet another lotus design on it and a lotus pastry inside. Honestly? Mk might as well be a collector of the things at this point.

—

Mk arrived at the park a short bit later, unsheathing his purple bo staff the moment he noticed Mei wasn’t rushing to greet him. Looks like today’s a sneak attack day. He focused on the sounds in his surroundings, shadows flickering to life as he heard the odd warbling tone that surrounded his friend when she was in her half dragon form. He shifted his stance and waited…

Clang! The weapons hit against each other as Mk turned to block his sister's attack, then quickly shifted to block her second attack. The duo did tricks to impress each other and both held back just a bit to make sure the fight lasted more than a minute. Their weapons clashed again and again in a flurry of tricks, games, and childlike joy, until eventually they both put down their weapons to do “hand to hand”(Which in this case, means play wrestling like lion cubs!)

After a while more of that, the duo of now very messy young adults sat down at a picnic table to take a break and eat. “So~, now that we’re old enough, what’s your type?” Mei asked jokingly.

Mk snickered softly. “Why do you care? You’re Aroace.”

“Well, I care, because I wanna hook you up! I think it’d be hilarious, and not to mention, it would make you happier!” the girl answered in a cheerful tone.

“Oh- C’mon, Mei! I don’t need a lover to be happy! It would just be a nice little addition to my life, y’know?” The Little Monkey kept avoiding the question.

So Mei decided to pull out the big guns. “We can do this if that helps!” the dragon offered, switching to the shadow language.

Mk had to consider for a moment, but eventually, he caved, fiddling with his necklace as he started thinking, blushing softly as he thought about it. “Well.. I would want a guy who’s like, really confident, and pretty… I’d like him to be real smart too! Maybe good in a spar, and, y’know… able to stand up for himself. Like, super strong and stuff too, you know?” the Monkey Kid listed, cautiously excited as the shadows behind him flicked in the vague form of his tail and he cupped both his cheeks, thinking of some imaginary “perfect guy” just for him.

Mei snickered. “Dude, like, four of those are just, “I want to get stepped on by a hot demon guy-” she teased, but was cut off by her embarrassed brother lightly pushing her back.

“Well, clearly I have a type!” Mk claimed.

“Heck yeah! Don’t let anything change that, Apricot-Boy!” the dragon giggled with a soft smirk.

Things are getting better! And for now, the future's looking bright!

—Purple Bo Staff Era, End!—

Time skip! - Hero is Born - 6:00 A.M.

When the Little Sky awoke, he saw something he didn’t expect - “Good morning, Xiaotian-’”

Mk immediately sat straight up in his bed, disrupting the shadowy hallucination. Oh.. Must’ve just been some sort of lingering bit of his dream or… I dunno - something. “MK! GET DOWN HERE!” Dadsy yelled up to his son, who flinched and covered his ears in response to the volume.

“YUP! COMING!” the younger man yelled down in reply, getting changed as quickly as he could and still adjusting his headband by the time he reached the bottom. “Hey, dads!” he said, walking over to the older couple.

Pigsy was getting things ready for the day, but Mk’s attention was quickly drawn to his Ba Ba instead. Mr. Tang was rereading the legends of the Monkey King again, and was on the final chapter. The story of When the Monkey King Retired! (Aside from the “live” appearances he still does on TV shows, and every single time he shows up at a convention. After all, he might not be a hero anymore, but he’s still a celebrity!)

“OH! I love that one! Can you read it out loud for me?” the Monkey Kid exclaimed, leaning over his Ba Ba’s shoulder excitedly.

Before Tang could respond, his husband responded for him. “No, kid. You got work to do. No slacking!’ Pigsy stated firmly.

“Oh, don’t worry, Pigsy! I’ll be done by the time you’ve finished the orders!” the scholar claimed. “After all, our Little Monkey has been stressed as of late. It’s only fair to let him enjoy his morning!” He jabbed his elbow into Mk’s side lightly, as though to say, “Play along.”

The youngest in the room quickly got his excuses in order. “Oh!- Uh, Yea- Yeah, Dadsy! It’s just one story! Please?~” Xiao Houzi pouted at his demonic parental figure.

Pigsy didn’t even look. “Doin’ puppy dog eyes again?”

Mk’s face immediately fell to a more genuine frown. “Well… yeah..”

“.. I’m gonna regret this, but ONE story. After that, ya’ gotta help me get ready,” the demon relented to the brief whooping of his husband and son.

“I’ll be done before you know it!” Tang claimed. (He was not done before they knew it)

—

After listening to his Ba Ba’s story, (and a brief lecture from Pigsy) Mk was off! Sure, he heard the shadows muttering more than usual, but he managed to shut those up with a quick meditation break.

“Isn’t it fantastic, uncle? My father will finally be freed!” Red claimed, though Macaque was a little busy trying to decide how to approach his kid after this many years.

The Little Monkey had to double check his GPS. That did not look like a house. In fact it looked like a construction sight. After confirming that it was in fact, the right address, he got in the elevator and started going down.

“Uncle?” The shadow sighed and went over to his nephew. His son could wait a couple more hours. This was once in a lifetime. Strange, though. It’s really close.

He soon realized what was going on when his son strolled through the door. A familiar bird perched in the rafters looked oddly pleased. That son of a bit-

Mk quickly realized - upon seeing a gorgeous flaming-haired guy trying to pull a fancy staff out of the ground - what he’d walked in on, and scrambled up into the rafters. There was a strange bird that almost gave him away when an ominous aura filled the space.

Of course. Of course Wukong still recognized what Macaque's homicidal aura felt like. The shadow was furious! He couldn't believe Wukong had actually decided that the kid was the perfect choice of successor.

Mk was unaware of the hidden figure plotting the Monkey King's murder. He was to preoccupied with what was going on below him. MK had never expected to actually see the Ruyi Jingu Bang with his own two eyes.

—Ruyi Jingu Bang Era, Start!—

—☆—

..So…

I’m guessing you guys hate me now.. Don’t worry! You’ll be seeing more of Macaque now!

Have fun and happy scrolling!

(PS: Please don’t murder me!)

Prev- Chapter 9 and Next- Chapter 11

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craziechwiv · 4 months ago

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Insane Kyle #...Idfk lmao (Ft. Imp Tweek!)

Stan and Craig are both sitting down on some park benches looking at the sky. It was turning dusk with the orange sky turning darker and darker by the passing hour. These kinds of moments are where they both agreed to tolerate each other on. Normally, they would be at each other's throats or cussing the other out. But not today, they learned to just...let that be for a bit as they decided to take in the peacefulness of the end of a very eventful day together.

Kyle then proceeds to walk besides them covered in blood and holding a bloodied up knife.

Kyle: Okay, we're ready to bury them now! Then we can head to the movies!

S+C: Aight.

Oh right. They were also there to wait for their partners to finish butchering a couple of bad people, or so they say they are bad, so they could bury them and then head towards their double date.

Stan and Craig both picked up their shovels brought from home and went to an isolated area where they saw Tweek in his demon form, as he was busy gutting another pleading bastard, watching them with glee as their life left their eyes.

Tweek: Oh, h-hey guys! They're all- *agh!* r-ready for ya!

Craig: Thanks honey.

Stan and Craig worked effortlessly to toss the remains of the victims into the hole they've digged again of time. Then came filling it all back up.

Stan: So, how did you find out Tweek was a...yknow.

Craig: He didn't notice he morphed into an Imp after one of his nervous breakdowns. I thought I'd be more freaked out by it but...let's be honest. After seeing Satan once or twice now, it doesn't really surprise me.

Stan: Fair, fair.

Craig: How did you find out about Kyle's body count?

Stan: He was strangling some 6th grader to death in my backyard at night. I was abit freaked out but sorta got desentized towards his murders after what happened to that creep.

Craig: Ah.

Stan: Yeah.

Stan and Craig then continued filling up the hole in awkward silence. It wasn't long till they were done, and they were patting down the dirt and trying to make sure no blood got on them till they began to walk back to Craig's car.

Stan: We're just as sick as them huh?

Craig: You all are, I got god on my side.

Stan: And yet you helped cover up a murder.

Craig: And I know God had my back of not getting caught.

#south park #south park shitpost #stan marsh #kyle broflovski #craig tucker #tweek tweak #sp kyle #sp stan #sp craig #sp tweek #insane kyle #imp tweek #youth pastor craig #sp style #style #sp creek #creek

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m34gs · 6 months ago

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Please tell us about your favourite Blue Exorcist ships and why!

Hi friend, thank you so much for this ask! I really find a lot of Blue Exorcist ships very fun, and I am a multishipper at heart, so this may end up being a bit of a longer post...ahahaha, but I promise to stick to my faves. (I have a lot of faves, mwahahahaha). There will be spoilers, but I'm not talking about anything that goes beyond Season 3 of the anime, so if you're caught up to that, then you should be ok.

BonRin:

Have to start off with the big one, my main ship in the series. It's just so fun. They have such a good chemistry, whether you read them as a ship or not, these two are so interesting. I love the way they are at once opposites and the same. Bon and Rin have the same kind of stubbornness, the same desire to do good, and similar hotheaded vibes; and I love that for them. At the same time, Bon has more patience with studying, learning, and waiting for orders, where Rin tends to leap without looking, but shows patience and understanding toward demons (partially because he is one but I also like to believe that it is part of his character to try and understand others because he wants so desperately to be understood by someone).

I know it wasn't all that popular with a lot of fans, but I actually did love the original ending to Season 1, the one that did not follow the manga. Seeing Bon grab Rin into a hug and tell him off for trying to do things on his own just made my little heart warm so much! So, yeah. I've been shipping them for so many years at this point, it feels so natural to me. And really, I just love the dynamic of idiots in love. I mean, Rin can be so oblivious, and Bon tries to act like he's better but we all know he can be just as dumb at times haha.

Izumo/Shiemi:

My girls! Agh!!!! I love them so much. My sweet, sweet girls. What I love about them is their entire dynamic. Shiemi is such a sweet, kindhearted, open girl. She tries so hard not only to make friends, but to see the good in everyone. Izumo, on the other hand, is more guarded, with a stormy attitude hiding her tender heart. One of my favourite ship dynamics ever is the Grumpy One loves the Sunshine Beam, and honestly that is so them. Izumo does care; it's there in the way she's scared when Shiemi tries to save her from the Impure King, it's in her grumpy attitude when she begrudgingly goes along with anything the other students suggest; because let's face it: if she really didn't want to be around them, she would not see them outside the classroom. (Tsundere Izumo = canon)

I just think there's so much between these two, and they have a definite impact on each other. Something I love about relationships is when characters grow together and change. Izumo has the potential to bring out Shiemi's bravery and push her to be more decisive. Shiemi has the potential to soften Izumo's snarl and get her to lighten up a little bit. They would be so so so good for each other and that's part of why I ship them.

Shima/Izumo:

Now, some of you may be thinking: but Meags??? You just said you ship Shiemi and Izumo???? And you are correct. I am a multishipper. I have multiple ships and sometimes several different ones for the same character. I happen to like Shima and Izumo. Why? Because I find them interesting. Also, Izumo has two hands...though I have yet to write her as polyamorous.

Where I like Izumo's grumpy nature as a contrast for Shiemi's kindness, and I think Shiemi's brightness softens Izumo a bit; I like Shima's goofiness making Izumo irritated. Because what is as good as Grumpy One and Sunshine Beam? Grumpy One and The Silly One. Makes me so happy. Also, I absolutely love Shima's secrets and how he's not as much of an idiot as he allows people to think. Don't get me wrong, he's still an idiot, but with the side of him that feels this pressure and legacy from his family, and the way he decides to join the Illuminati and act as a spy to them...I just love that there's more to his character than just being a girl-crazy silly guy. I think, too, that he and Izumo would be able to understand each other a little bit. He knows she acts grumpy to hide her more sensitive heart. He does it too; acting silly to deflect situations and hide things from people he cares about. I think they could be a really interesting pairing. That's why when I don't write Shiemi with Izumo, I like to write Shima with Izumo. (also Izumo would 10/10 be able to kill bugs for him; and I 100% believe she also threatens him with beetles if he is annoying her too much. Lovingly, of course.)

Amaimon/Shiemi:

Because Yes. Ok, ok, mainly this one stems from how Amaimon basically fights with Rin over Shiemi and all that. There is other stuff, too, that fuels this ship in my brain, but I won't get into that because it would be spoilers for some stuff.

But know this: I am a *sucker* for Unhinged Killer has a Soft Spot for Sunshine Beam. That's my main theme with Amaimon and Shiemi when I ship them, mostly because of how he tried to kidnap her when they were doing the training camp on the mountain (I think that was season 1 still; it's been a while and sometimes the first 2 seasons blur together for me). Was he canonically soft with her? Not exactly...but let me have this. I haven't really written them as a ship (I tend to give them more of a sibling-like-childhood-friends dynamic usually when I write them) but I do love seeing art and reading them as a pairing. Honestly, I love most ships with either of these two in it.

Sei/Rin:

Had to bring this one in. For those of you unfamiliar with Sei Godaiin, he is the normal human Rin befriends in season 3 (and in the manga) who becomes able to see demons. Rin goes through tasks for Mephisto in order to procure eye drops to allow Sei to stop seeing the demons. I absolutely adore Sei, and I love the way Rin befriends him in the manga. I do think they have a very interesting relationship, and it's that glimpse for Rin of what life could be if he was a normal boy. When Sei sees Rin's world, he's absolutely terrified, and it serves as a cruel reminder of how Rin will never be fully normal, and will never actually have a normal life.

Personally, I love them both so very much. I feel the anime did not quite do justice to the relationship they had in the manga and stuff, but I get that they can't keep everything. So, I just hold it in a special place in my heart. Some of you might be saying "But Meags? didn't Sei end up hurting Rin's feelings in the manga? Because he couldn't deal with the demon side of him?" Yes. Yes he did, and that part was sort of but not really touched on in the anime. Isn't that some delicious angst to throw into a relationship? Mwahahahaha. But, also, I think that if he had more time to process it, and more time to get to know Rin beforehand, he would have become an inseparable friend for Rin. It's that aspect of not so much enemies to lovers, but instead the slowburn build of trust that overcomes a great obstacle...I love that sort of thing. Anyway; I don't really write Sei/Rin at this point, though I have a fic with past-Sei/Rin in it. I do have a couple ideas for them that are on the backburner, as always, but unfortunately I am incapable of writing everything I want to immediately and at once (the curse of writing).

There you go, my favourite Blue Exorcist ships. Of course, I have many more ships in this series that I do enjoy; but if I talked about every single one, we would be here all night and I actually do have to work tomorrow (day shift...) lol. So, instead, I picked a few of my faves to talk about :D. Hope you enjoyed! I would love to hear about your favourite Blue Exorcist ships as well, if you have an opinion on them that you would like to share!

#asks #thanks so much for the ask #friends #blue exorcist #blue exorcist pairings #bonrin #izumo/shiemi #shima/izumo #amaimon/shiemi #sei/rin

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peoplcshope · 1 year ago

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The demonic baker Kie had to change from her Nami outfit due to the bikini top snapping off. She looked through her daughter's closet for a replacement outfit. With a few adjustments, she dresses as Lust from Full Metal Alchemist.

"General Trunks, does this look small on me. This was one of the outfits from Nezuko's room."

“Ah..” Trunks was left speechless because OF COURSE the baker had caught him off guard with this specific arrangement. At least he knew why she was rummaging in her daughter’s room. It was for the purpose of fixing the costume, now she wore a strapless dress that hugged her curves. Was this really Nezuko’s?? Was did she keep something like this? Why would Kie do something LIKE this to him in the first place?

The blood rushes to his face and paints it crimson as he turns towards the side out of respect. Trunks did not want to be caught staring to hard. “It’s definitely too small, but it still looks good on you.” WHAT PUSHED HIM TO SAY THAT?! Was it his own hunger that built up from just seeing her like this? Urges? Agh, this was going to be a tough halloween.

#❛ mail ━━ i've been fighting but i just can't do enough.#anon #poor trunks

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daytaker · 11 months ago

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A Ritual of Lip-Sealing (Chapter 3)

Ship: Satan x Reader Length: 870+ words Cross-posted on AO3

“Satan,” you say as sternly as you can, “why am I stuck under this mistletoe?”

You wake up in an unusual position, and for a dazed moment you have no idea where you are. Then you remember. You’d fallen asleep in the library at the House of Lamentation after a late night of wrapping presents. It’s a cozy feeling, curled up on the sofa, and you stretch and yawn calmly before suddenly catching sight of someone seated on the opposite end of the couch. “Whoa!”

“Good morning,” Satan says, not looking up from his book.

“Ahaha… Good morning,” you reply sheepishly. “Guess I dozed off. How long have you been here?”

“Almost an hour.”

“Agh… I slept too long then.” You stagger to your feet, straighten out your hair as best you can with just your fingers, and walk toward the library door, Satan never sparing you a second glance.

Huh. That’s interesting. Someone hung some mistletoe from the doorway. You cast a brief glance back at Satan, but he hardly looks interested in stopping you. Someone else must have hung it while you slept.

You step through the threshold and… you stop. Like you’re caught in an invisible spider’s web, you simply cannot leave the library. Confused, you try to take a step back inside, but you’re stopped in that direction as well. You look up at the mistletoe. You look into the library, where Satan continues to read without a care in the world. Your eyes narrow.

“Satan,” you say as sternly as you can, “why am I stuck under this mistletoe?”

Satan raises his eyes up innocently from his book. He looks at you. He looks at the sprig of mistletoe above your head in the doorway. He looks at you again, tilting his head slightly.

“That’s a good question. I guess you just don’t want to leave?”

“Satan.”

The demon in the library sighs and closes his book. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were blaming me for whatever strange mistletoe-related conundrum you’re in. I’m completely innocent.”

“And if I didn’t know better, I would believe you. Whatever spell you put on this thing, reverse it.”

“Are you sure you want me to do that?” Satan looks amused, but in the way a fairy tale fox might look amused when it’s put a prank in motion and is waiting for the other shoe to drop. Troublingly so.

“...Why are you asking me that? What did you do?”

“Well, you see,” Satan explains, standing up and leaving his book on the sofa, “from what I understand about the spell that happens to be affecting this mistletoe—you know, regardless of whoever might have cast it—the easiest way to neutralize it is to perform a ritual of lip-sealing.”

You stare at him, gobsmacked. “...Did you just call kissing ‘a ritual of lip-sealing’?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “That’s what the book said. So I’ll ask again… Are you sure you want me to reverse the spell?”

You narrow your eyes, think for a minute, and pull out your D.D.D. Satan’s smile vanishes. “What are you doing?”

“Texting someone to come perform the ritual with me.” You click your tongue and scroll through your messages. “Hmm… Mammon would definitely do it, and Asmo’s always down for a good time… Oh, but I wonder if Lucifer—”

“You wouldn’t.”

Satan’s eyes flash dangerously. You smile fiendishly at him, holding up your device and reading aloud as you type. “Hey Lucifer, sorry to bother you, but I’m in a bit of a bind right now and I need you to come kiss me. Satan cursed some mistletoe and I’m stuck underneath it until–”

“It was just a joke!” Satan grabs for the D.D.D., but you hold it at arm’s length, and when he darts around to your other side, you hug it close to your chest. All the while, he angrily shouts at you. “Don’t send him that! It was a joke!”

“Jokes don’t force people to kiss each other, Satan.” You put on your most serious expression, though it's hard to keep when he's darting around you and snatching at your device like an angry child. “This is a prank at best and a criminal offense at worst. And if you aren't careful, I might accidentally press send.”

“Fine! I’ll just reverse it the boring way!” Satan looks both flustered and deeply irritated as he straightens up and exhales. “Sprig of leaf, bane of Baldr, release the mortal under your enchantment and excise all spirits from your form.”

You feel something like a thread snapping, and you test your mobility. To your relief, you step out of the library without any difficulty.

“Happy?” Satan asks, arms crossed.

“Very happy,” you confirm, smiling smugly. “Thank you.”

“Then don’t go texting Lucifer that garbage!” He glares at you, and your smile transforms into a smirk.

“Satan,” you say, taking a small step towards him. “You know, if you wanted to kiss me under the mistletoe, you could have just asked.”

“I wasn’t…!” Satan’s face turns pink as he glances uncertainly up at the plant above him. “That wasn’t what I was doing. I just thought it would be funny.”

You take another step closer. “You’re lying. Just ask.”

“I’m not…” His resolve, already unsteady, seems to crumble as you take one more step and join him under the mistletoe. He sighs. “Fine. May I kiss—”

You go ahead and answer before he has a chance to finish the question.

Kiss all the boys under the mistletoe. Have one you want who isn't there yet? Comment or request and your wish shall be granted.

#obey me #obey me fanfic #obey me satan #obey me x reader #obey me satan x reader #obey me christmas #daytaker fanfic #i liked this one #i'm gonna post the levi one too #satan

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imalivebarelystriving · 3 years ago

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How the younger brothers would react to you running to them and giving them a tackle hug

I.. did not expect anyone to see that, much less like it, so uh, here's the younger brother version. enjoy.

Satan

Look, the only way to catch him off guard is either when he's reading something interesting or playing with a cat

Do not recommend running up to him when he's playing with a cat though

If you scare the cat away he's gonna be angry at you for roughly an hour or two

So when he's walking around while reading, either to the kitchen to get a snack or to go do whatever he does, that's when you strike

I feel like Satan's reflexes are pretty quick, so he'd probably catch you... if he wasn't reading

He had about 0.5 seconds to figure out what to do when you came sprinting down the hallway at him.

So what did he do?

Threw his book and caught you of course!

Rip book, you will be remembered

He's going to be upset about his fallen book, of course.

Just give him some affection and eventually, he'll get over it.

"Agh- MC? What... What did you just do?" "It's called a tackle hug, Satan." "Yes I'm aware of that, why did you do that? You made me throw my book to catch you." "... Sorry?" "You're going to pay for that."

Asmodeus

You fool

You absolute swine

You think he didn't already try a tackle hug on you before?

Asmo adores every and any affection you give him

The only way you could upset him with a tackle hug was if you were running at him while he was painting his nails or using a hair straightener/curler (I DON'T KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE TWO)

But in any other case, go ahead, run at him with a goofy grin on your face and watch as he opens his arms with the same smile

A lot of people seem to think Asmo is frail and fragile

The dude's a demon

He could probably take quite a bit of weight

So he definitely catches you

And then showers you with all his attention, romantically or platonically

He probably just ends up carrying you to his room

"Oh~ MC! How nice of you to return the favour! By the way, I got this new bath bomb, and it's supposed to make your skin turn as smooth as silk, would you like to try it out with me?"

Beelzebub

The dude's like what, 6'8-7'0???

The point is

He's tall

He's really tall

If you can jump into his arms, i applaud you.

cries in 5'3

Beel plays Fangol, which I'm gonna assume is like rugby (or football, depending on which part of the world you're at)

So he definitely has fast reflexes

I think the main problem is looking for a good time to run at him

Since usually he's eating

So a good time to strike is when he's heading to the kitchen to get a snack

Run as fast as you can

He'll catch you

Try and jump too so he can hug you properly and you won't face-plant into his chest

He's going to be happy, of course

It's his favourite human giving him a hug

Why wouldn't he be happy?

But of course he's going to be a little confused

If you wanted to hug him, you could've just walked up to him instead of running full speed into him

"MC? Why were you running? If you wanted a hug, you could've just said so. Though, I like this type of hug too."

Belphegor

He's sleeping most of the time

I mean he's the literal manifestation of Sloth

Of course he's gonna be asleep

Unless he's forced to do something

Even so, he's going to be sitting or lying down

So there's not many opportunities to strike

I think the best time to do it is if he's walking somewhere, like to his room, or your room or to the library to ideate with Satan so that they can think of pranks to pull on Lucifer

Belphie probably has fast reflexes

But he's also really lazy

So he's gonna let you run into him

And both of you are going to collapse onto the floor

He's going to blame you, of course

Technically it's your fault that both of you are lying on the floor

He might just stay down there and sleep

And make sure you don't escape

It is your fault, afterall.

"Oof. MC, why did you just run into me? Nevermind, I'm staying here now. What, where do you think you're going? You made us both fall on the floor, now you suffer the consequences."

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absolutepokemontrash · 3 years ago

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MC and The Familiars (But the Familiars Aren’t Actually Familiars)

So I 100% subscribe to the idea that the brothers can turn into their signature animal, but what if they tried to be slick about it?

Lucifer

Alright, all he had to do was visit MC in the human world, no big deal. Just a visit to his favourite human’s home… he’s the Avatar of Pride, Lucifer’s totally got this and isn’t nervous at all.

He poofs himself into their living room and… wait wasn’t knocking on the front door more polite? Agh, that doesn’t matter. Everything was still totally fine, he could hear MC shuffling around in the other room, he just needed to get outside and knock on the front door.

No problem- OH FUCK MC JUST WALKED IN DO SOMETHING-

*poof*

“…Lucifer?” MC was clearly not fooled by Lucifer’s new bird-y form… father dammit.

Okay, he couldn’t be suave and kabedon the human in this form… quick seduce them in another way!

Maybe fanning out his feathers inside wasn’t a good idea, he knocked a couple of things off the coffee table but at least he was fabulous.

MC just raises their eyebrows and rolls their eyes. “Okay, you’re very pretty Lucifer. Happy?”

Lucifer gets some gentle head rubs, ah, this was nice…

He poofs back into his human form and dips MC. Smooth as butter. “Well, it seems you’ve found me out, MC. I’ll just have to take you out on a date as a reward.”

MC giggles and Lucifer just revels in how amazing and clever he is- until MC looks over at the floor.

“You knocked my drink off the coffee table.” “Oh… would you like to go on a date after I clean that for you..?”

Mammon

UGGGGGGGGGGGH MAMMON’S HUMAN WASN’T PAYING ATTENTION TO HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!

MC wasn’t adhering to the very clear “shower Mammon with love and affection” event on their calendar. The event was every day but like- who cares! Mammon had to find out where his human was right that moment and figure out why they weren’t giving him cuddles!

Mammon turned into his crow form and flew right out of the house. Where was that stupid human he loved so dearly? Oh! There they are! Feeding his crows! Awwwwwwwwwww so cute!

Crow-Mammon fluttered down and perched himself next to MC, who was immediately delighted.

“Oh hello there little friend!” MC gently picked Mammon up. “I love your feathers! Aren’t you adorable?”

If crows could blush, Mammon would be bright red. It was all great until his crows started imitating his voice in an attempt to blow his cover!

“Oh that’s right! Mammon would totally adore you!” Wait what?

MC proceeded to rush around the HOL asking all the brothers if they had seen Mammon. Crap… now crow-mammon needed a way to transform back into sexy regular Mammon without alerting his human!

…maybe that could wait a bit… being carried around by MC wasn’t so bad…

Leviathan

Let’s get one thing straight, okay? Levi is a sea snek! A cute little danger noodle! He doesn’t exactly think he’s cute but we know the truth.

He was just swimming around his and Henry 2.0’s gigantic aquarium when MC just barged in without knocking! What kinda normie BULLSHIT-

“Levi? Leviiiiiiiii?” Aw, the human missed him… Levi debated changing back but then decided against it… MC would probably despise him if they found out he wasn’t only a yucky otaku… he was a gross slimy snake too!

MC continued to look around the room while Levi hid in some of his aquarium props. Hiding in his underwater replica of the Lord of Shadows’ castle wasn’t exactly comfortable but it allowed Levi to at least see what MC was doing.

MC suddenly pressed their face against the glass of the aquarium and waved Henry 2.0 over.

“Hey little buddy, do you know where Levi is?”

GAH! 100 DAMAGE! CRITICAL HIT! LEVI HAS FAINTED! TOO MOE! His cute little goldfish and his cute little MC! AAAAAAAAA- oh shit he just transformed back into his normal form-

“Oh! There you are Levi!” MC waved from the other side of the glass. “Come out! Let’s watch anime!”

Satan

He’s not turning into a unicorn. Sorry not sorry.

As cool and terrifying as unicorns are in the Devildom, those stupid human legends ruined their reputations as feared companions to demons.

Whatever, Satan had invited MC over to his room for some 100% family friendly snuggling. He opened up a book and-

Wait why’d he have hooves now..? OH SON OF A BITCH!

The stupid book turned him into his familiar form! He couldn’t change back! Ugh… he needed to calm down, his mane was made of fire and he was in a very flammable environment… the last thing Satan wanted was to burn his books and MC. Wait MC-

“Satan? Is that you?” “…”

Well, at least Satan got some nose scritches… even though unicorns were absolutely terrifying, MC didn’t seem to mind. Though, they burned their fingertips a bit…

Okay… maybe getting pets in his demon form wasn’t all bad…

Asmodeus

Oh MC’s skin was a disaster! Asmo had to do something! All those late night anime binges with Levi were awful, just awful!

MC could be having all night Asmo time but noooooo apparently Princess Tutu was way more fun…

Ah well, time to entice MC into taking care of their skin~

Asmo turned into his adorable little scorpion form and scuttled off to MC’s room. He hopped up on their sink and nudged some lotion towards a very confused MC.

“…what?” “*scuttle scuttle*” “Oh, hi Asmo.”

MC graciously allowed Asmo to guide their bleary eyed self through their morning routine. Being small really helped, it allowed Asmo to get into the very back of the bathroom cabinet, where he found- GASP! MC! IS THAT THE HANDCREAM ASMO HAD GIFTED THEM?!

“*angy scuttles*” “What? I didn’t like the smell.”

The highlight of the morning was when MC picked Asmo up and gave him a hug. :3

Beelzebub

Food… *SNIIIIIIIIIIIIIFF* must consume. It’s coming from behind a locked door- HE NEEDS TO EAT.

Beel transformed and slipped through the crack underneath the door. Hell yeah! Food!

MC was eating takeout, and didn’t invite him… :( oh well, he could eat with them as a fly :)

He leisurely floated down to the food and started nomming.

“Shoo!” MC swatted Beel away. Oh no D: MC whyyyy?

Beel kept flying back, and getting shooed away, it was quite the viscous cycle, well, it was until MC caught Beel under a cup.

Quick! Transform back!

“…Beel. What?” “I’m hungry :(.”

MC just handed him some of their food and went back to eating. Same shit as always…

Belphegor

Moooooooooooooooooooooooo-

Okay, Belphie knew it was comfortable to sleep as a cow when he didn’t have a blanket, he was floofy as a cow! Being floofy is comfortable!

“MCCCCCCCCCCCC. Come snuggle!”

Gasp! MC give cuddles! MC give cuddles and pets to sleepy cow brat!

Belphie likes getting pet behind the ears, THATS the spot… yeah… *content cow sigh*

Side note, cows have very nice eyelashes, Belphie must have nice eyelashes too.

Just snoozing and cuddling… this is how life should be…

The whole gang eventually just ends up napping near or on Belphie, it’s very relaxing. Crow-Mammon on his head, Fly-Beel between his eyes, Snek Levi all curled up on his back, Scorpion Asmo behind his ears, and Lucifer and Satan leaned up next to MC.

They should do this more often…

#obey me #obey me!#obey me! shall we date?#obey me shall we date #obey me mc #Obey me Lucifer #Obey me Mammon #Obey me Leviathan #Obey me Satan #Obey me Asmodeus #Obey me Beelzebub #Obey me Belphegor

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roquenxnar · 14 hours ago

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"An answer is an answer, Hahren," he said, bumping the older elf with his shoulder, before grabbing another handful of nuts. "But— agh, fine, I'll take what I can get." And, just as Felassan had likely hoped, the answer the young mage received only left him with even more questions. "That's it? I—" He stopped himself short. If he asked any more on the subject, the old elf would probably count it as his second question. So he simply nodded. "Herbs. Got it." And as he considered the answer itself, a plan began forming in the back of his mind: he knew just where the spices in the kitchens were kept, and the healers' supply of elfroot… and did the Tevinter mage's khachapuri really need that specially-imported corriander? Doubtful.

Seldo grimaced, and sighed. "Don't like the sound of meditation, but I s'ppose it's worth a shot, at least once. I won't know if I can 'til I try, right?" He settled back with his snack, preparing himself for the elder elf's questions— only to be caught off-guard.

He looked up at Felassan as if the other mage had slapped him; but it was a fair question. They were far from the woods where they'd met so long ago (at least, long to Seldo himself). But it made sense that a wanderer wouldn't have heard his news. "I—" The words stuck in his throat. "The clan's gone," he said simply, eyes turning down to the floor, lips drawing thin. "I was going to be named First, got these—" he rubbed his forehead— "and then… I couldn't do it. I was scared, so I ran. Ama followed me, and when I tried t' take her back… A-anyway, these people found us, and saved us from one of those big, purple demons with the eyes, and the horns."" He fell silent, and looked back up.

"Where've you gone in the Fade? Because I know you've been."

That was fair, tilting his head to the side with a small grin at the mention of his half answers. It was a bad habit, he could admit that, but it was also an entertaining one watching those that he gave them to work the gears in their head to understand.

❝I said I'd answer, not give half answers, but that all depends on what you see as a half answer.❞

Shrugging softly as he works open another nut. Certainly a choice of a first question, was dreaming really that interesting to those that didn't have the same abilities?

❝Herbs.❞

Shoving another nut into his mouth as he answers. It's a short answer, the shortest he could give even, but it was an answer.

❝Herbs and meditation. Find yourself, burn the herbs, and dream. Easy for those with the ability, however not everyone can dream.❞

There was ways to bring another into a dream, but that was not the boy's question, holding his tongue on that bit of information as he considers his question. A simple one to start.

❝What are you doing out here exactly?❞

#they're so GOOD ugh #blightcd #urnarseldo || thread #urnarseldo verse || dragon age

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toothpastecanyon · 3 years ago

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Return, Return, Return - Chapter 1

Do you know this man? He's looking for his family. He says his name is Dipper.

That's all he remembers.

See most updated version on Archive of Our Own.

______________________________________________________________

Cloudy skies, dirty snow. The sun had just topped the distant mountains, casting a dull glow on a dreary motel just outside of town. The parking lot was full of vans, and scattered with a couple sluggish figures loading up to get on the road again.

Sleepy as they were, they steered clear of one truck parked crookedly in the middle of the row. It was dull red, filthy, with a smashed headlight and dents like it’d been driven through a hailstorm. Right on the bonnet was a strange glowing-red ward, and there were sheets over all the windows so you couldn’t look inside; one of them had a cigarette mark.

It was parked in front of room 13, windows shuttered. Inside it was dark but for a light on by the sink, and the glare of an old boxy television.

…these stories right here at ZYX News, but first, the weather, over to you Michael…

The sink was running. A shadowy figure loomed over it, dunking her hair under the stream. She scrubbed with the little complimentary soap, and banged her head on the faucet as she came back up.

“Agh! Ah, shit…”

Gooood morning Pennsylvania! It’s - hah, well it’s eight fifty-nine, it’s basically nine AM where we are today, and what a beautiful morning it is! Alright, there’s a cold front sweeping in from the north…

Muttering, scrubbing her hair with a handtowel, she made her way to the assortment of items strewn over her bed. It was hard to make out what they were in the stark lighting; the edge of a knife caught the TV’s glare, as did a handful of little glass bottles of clear liquid, but much of it disappeared in the creases of the sheets. It was only when she picked up a few things - a couple stubby chalk sticks, a bundle of twiggy herbs - that they came into view. She was looking for something; after a moment, her hand landed on a phone.

The TV droned on as she looked through the messages.

…and a low of twenty-seven on Sunday, so, ah, keep your heaters on, folks! Alright, back to you, Jerry.

Thanks, now , one local school is facing controversy in the wake of the new state law to limit certain dangerous preters from attending, the governor threatening to pull funding over its refusal-

“Wha- what?” Back turned, the woman glared down at a text. She jabbed the call button, and tapped hard against the wall as it rang. “Heyyyy, Mr Usaron, is it? Saw you, canceled our, ah, ‘lawnmowing’ appointment this morning?”

The tapping got louder as she listened. A smile split her lips, all teeth.

“Yeah, cool, family emergency, got it. All good, just send me the cancellation fee, we can re- yeah, it’s a hundred bucks. Hey, listen-!” A pause. A breath. “Hey, listen, sir, emergencies are emergencies, but I drove across two state lines to help you out with your little demon secret, okay! You think this is a road trip for me! You think…! Oh yeah?”

She paced back and forth, fists clenched, lips pursed, jaw locked. Something on the phone made her snap and kick the bedside table.

“Oh fuck off, you’re paying! You’re paying, or… you gave me your address, you know! You wanna skimp out on someone who knows your address?” An angry laugh. “Oh, yeah, call the cops! Tell’em you hired an unlicensed exorcist, be my guest! Oh, no? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Hundred bucks by the end of today - you’re lucky I’m not doubling it. Goodbye.”

With that she jabbed the phone to hang up and- and almost chucked it at the wall; with a seething tension, she placed it back down on the bed, and stood there, stewing. Staring.

Staring forwards, as the lady on TV gave a scoffing laugh.

Well, certainly an interesting interview with the principal there, thank you Janet… ah up next, we got a real mystery of a story, a man falls from the sky in New Angeles and - this is spooky - doesn’t have a clue who he is!

A blink. The woman took a step closer, frowning as the feed cut to a security camera’s footage: a wide shot of a park, a couple blobby figures playing around. She watched as a slight blur came crashing down - you could easily miss it, if not for the way all the blobs stopped and ran towards the impact.

There you have it folks - isn’t that crazy? Now it’s in the middle of a park, no buildings, and as far as we know no, heh, no planes crashing overhead! And amazingly that man’s alive, can you believe it, Jerry?

It’s a miracle, it really is. He’s in a stable condition at Angeles Central Hospital, he’s got a message for the nation: help me find my family!

A photo flashed on screen, one that sent a jolt down the woman’s spine. The man - he was bruised and bandaged, but she recognised him.

“Holy shit,” she breathed, stepping forwards. “Is that…”

So if you know a ‘Dipper’, if you recognise his photo, make sure to call-

“Dipper, fucking Dipper… what’s it doing?” She paced around the room in a frenzy. “Is this for me? Hmph, fucking bet it is… it wants its family, huh?”

She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Her wet and matted hair, her dark and gleaning eyes, the glowing blue wards etched into her cheek that snaked down the side of her neck and webbed across her shoulder… she smiled.

“Well…” She said, and took a step towards her bag. “Maybe Mizar’s gonna pay a visit, huh? Maybe she will.”

With that she turned and hit a switch; bright lights flickered on, and she squinted and stumbled back to her bed, grabbing her phone and punching in a number as she started stuffing things into her bag.

She held it up to her ear, and it rang. It rang. She paused, and seemed to hold her breath as the seconds stretched on… then:

“Voicemail.” She grumbled, and waited for the beep. “Hi Dad! It’s, it’s Marlow, uh, how…? Um, well, call me back, okay, I got something, I think. A big break.” A laugh. “Or, uh don’t, you might see it on the news yourself! I’ll, I’ll call you back, I’ll call you back.”

She clicked off, hesitated, and then kept packing. In a matter of minutes she had everything stuffed in; she zipped up, threw a shirt on, and raced out the door, leaving the lights bright, the sink running, the TV droning on, and on, and on.

And now it’s time for sports! Real disappointing game by the Wenger team last night, what a disaster… can we get a replay up on screen?

A sound from outside. An old truck, roaring to life and peeling out of the parking lot.

Yeahhh, there it is. C’mon, let’s watch this one more time.

“Still no pulse. Curious.”

Fern took her fingers off of the man’s wrist, and laid it back down on the bed. She looked back at Doctor Halis, who was typing on the magiorb in the corner.

“What kind of preter has no heart rate and no healing factor? I haven’t seen that before.”

She watched him type for a second longer, and then frowned.

“Maybe a vampire… but he’s warm.” Next to her, Halis rose out of his chair. “Maybe a kitsune, they can look human, or maybe a… what?”

“You know what I think he is?” He switched off his magiorb. “Someone who doesn’t want his doctor playing guess-the-preter over his bedside. Now come on, wake him up.”

Fern blushed at that., and then leaned over and awkwardly leaned over the man. He was lying so still, eyelids purple and swollen shut; for a moment, she wondered if he really was dead.

“Uh, excuse me? Sir?” A grunt - that made her feel better. “I’m sorry, sir, we just need you up for a little check. Can you open your eyes?”

She watched him shift his head, and then crack them open. For a split second there seemed to be a yellowish sheen to his pupils, but it passed so quickly she was left staring… a nudge from Halis made her blink.

“Oh! Yeah, uh, hi…” She waved, and watched those eyes fix on her hand. “Sorry to wake you up, but we just needed to check - you don’t have a heart rate, so it’s hard to tell if you’re alive-”

“I don’t have a- what?”

“A heart rate.” She frowned as the eyes widened. “You don’t know? I thought-”

Halis cut in quickly. “What my intern is trying to say, sir, is that our monitor isn’t picking up your heart rate. I’m sure it’s a problem with the machine, but until we can monitor your vitals, we just need to check in on you periodically. Now, can you follow my finger with your eyes, please?”

Fern stepped back as he did the examination. She felt herself wringing her hands, so she clasped them together, squeezed a little. Wandering towards the window, she looked outside, saw a lone news van parked amongst the rows and rows of cars; it seemed people were already losing interest.

Losing interest, in a man who fell from the sky. She just didn’t get it.

“Alright, sir, everything looks good. Dr Alander?”

Fern looked up to see him hold out a clipboard.

“Could you enter this into the system, please?”

“Oh, of course!”

“Thank you. Come and find me when you’re done.”

He walked away, and Fern looked down at the clipboard. She tapped her fingers on the back for a moment, and then walked over to the desk and turned on the magiorb.

There was a groan from the bed, and she looked back.

“Sir?” No reply; she stood up. “Are you alright?”

“Six…” the man spoke in a sort of daze. She walked closer, and saw those eyes fix on her. “Six… six fingers.”

Fern paused at that. She looked down at her right hand, and held it up.

“Oh, yeah, you noticed? Extra pinkie finger… it’s a nightmare with gloves.” She laughed, and after a moment, he joined in. Then she grinned. “Yeah, heh, it’s so annoying, I have to double up a finger - which doesn’t affect my work, don’t worry! I’m used to it, it’s just a pain!”

His eyes crinkled in a smile. “Aww, that sucks. You can’t get six-fingered ones?”

“Hah! I wish, but the hospital doesn’t, ah, stock those just for me. My dad got me a pair of winter gloves, though.”

“That’s nice.” The smile faded a little. “I… I think I knew someone with six fingers. It just seemed… familiar to me, just then.”

Fern raised her eyebrows. “Really? It’s not that common, you know. If you’re looking for them, that’d narrow it down a lot.”

“I… I don’t know.” A sigh, and then a wince. “I don’t… know, who I’m looking for. I keep trying to remember, but I… it’s gone. I knew it once, a-and it’s just gone.”

She made a face at the shakiness in his voice. Oh, great, she upset him - but just as she opened her mouth, he seemed to take a deep breath.

“It’s…” He glanced back at her, and gave a smile. “I’m sorry, you don’t want to hear me go on and on.”

“No, no, it’s okay! It’s intere- shoot, I mean, I’m really sorry this is happening to you!”

“It’s interesting?”

“What? No, no, I didn’t say- I didn’t mean…” She looked at his twinkling eyes. “Sorry.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it. It is a bit of a mystery, isn’t it?”

“Heh, no kidding… uh, don’t tell Halis I said that, though.”

The man grinned, lifted his hand up a little - and then winced and put it back down. “Well, I’d zip my lips but, you know.”

“Hah! I’ll take your word for it… ah, Dipper, right?”

“Yep. Nice to meet you, Dr Alander.”

“Oh, just call me Fern, I’m barely a doctor.” She stepped back. “Which reminds me, I have to, ah, get back to that.”

“Okay…” Dipper’s eyes drooped. “I’m tired. I think I’m going to…”

The last part of the sentence was a sleepy mumble, and she gave a smile before walking back to her desk. She sat back down, turned on the magiorb - glanced back as he made another groan - and then started typing.

#transcendence au #toothwrites #alcor the dreambender #mizar

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sinnamonrolle · 3 years ago

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Headcanons: Endearments [Obey Me!]

❀ gender neutral ❀

! slight spoilers for Belphegor and Solomon !

I was thinking about this for a while, and I really want to share it with everyone else too.

These are gender neutral terms of endearment! And no matter how big you might be, you'll always be their lovely little human being ;)

Here are my headcanons for the terms of endearment from all 12 characters, including my reasoning for them! I had fun thinking about them.

Demon Brothers:

Lucifer

"Vesper", with variations such as "little Vesper" or "my little Vesper"

Lucifer means "Morning Star", and so after some digging online, there's actually a name for the "Evening Star'' as well, which is Vesper. Lucifer and Vesper both refer to the planet Venus, and so the reasoning behind why Lucifer would call you "Vesper'' is because he sees you as his other half, the other side of him. Together, you and him make up the brightest star in the sky.

I suppose it is more of a nickname than a term of endearment, but it's all the same. It's filled with love and adoration for you! No matter the time or place, he will always call you "Vesper" because it is also how he shows his pride in you, but he uses "darling" just as much. Leave it to him to call you his "darling Vesper."

Mammon

"Fortune", "little fortune", "my little fortune"

When you hear Mammon, of course you will think about money and physical possessions. The word "fortune" can be understood as related to the amount of owned assets, but also related to luck, chance, and destiny. So, to Mammon, you are his everything—his human, his wealth, his future. You are priceless in every way, and he’s so lucky, so fortunate to have you.

The endearment “little fortune” comes about accidentally. Mammon blurts it out one day, and he hurries to correct himself because “wait, wait, wait, I didn’t mean little fortune as in the amount because ya ain’t small at all. You’re really big—agh, that’s not what I mean! It sounds cute, okay! Little or big, it doesn’t matter. I won’t ever spend you.”

Leviathan

“Pearl”, “Henry”

I think we all know where “Henry” comes from, but what about “pearl”? Firstly, pearls are from the sea, which Leviathan is strongly related with. Leviathan himself has reptilian features—his snake-like tail, his birthmarks that resemble scales, his coral-like horns—in fact, Leviathan is known as a sea serpent. Pearls are treasures of the sea, and they are extremely beautiful as well. But there is also another connection you can make, this time with East Asian mythology. In East Asian mythology, dragons are often related to the sea, even residing in them. They are long, serpentine, wingless, but they still have two arms and two legs. They also are often depicted with a pearl, and this pearl is very, very important to the dragon. Seeing as Obey Me is a Japanese game, I think connecting Levi with an East Asian dragon isn’t too big of a stretch. Actually, there are many similarities, but there’s no need to dig into it today.

You know how Leviathan is. It will take Levi a long time before he begins using terms of endearment with you because of his insecurity. However, once he feels confident enough in using them, he’s super dramatic (and low-key romantic) with them. He’s watched enough anime and played enough games to know many terms, but is he able to use them? It’ll depend on how comfortable and confident he feels.

Satan

“Precious”, “beloved”, (and of course) “kitten”

Satan is extremely well read. This means that his arsenal is particularly wide. “Kitten” is a term that many of us may find familiar, and understandably so. We all know Satan’s love for cats. But I think Satan, as a being who is born from emotions, is more sensitive to them than others, and they make up an important part of him. Which is why, despite his large arsenal of endearments, he uses the “simpler” ones, but the ones that he does use, there’s a lot of emotions behind them. You are simply precious to him, and the most befitting endearment for it would be “precious”. There is nothing sweeter than a pure “beloved” filled only with love for you.

Asmodeus

“Treasure”, “jewel”, “my love”

If Asmo is the jewel of heaven, then you are the “treasure” of his life. You are as beautiful as a “jewel”, and you reflect the light like a “jewel” as well. The love they show you is reflected back twice as strong. For Asmo, his endearments for you don't come from the physical value behind them. In fact, Asmo himself doesn’t care for treasures or jewels, but out of them all, you are his “treasure”, his “jewel”, his “love”. He puts you equivalent (or maybe even higher) than himself, and he wants to show it to you not only through actions, but words as well.

Beelzebub

“Pudding” (and perhaps, other cute food endearments)

We all know how much Beel loves food, and we all know how much Beel loves his family, and so it’s almost obvious why Beel calls you “pudding.” As a human, you are squishy, squishier than demons, and you are also delicious looking. You smell good, you look good, and the comfort that food brings to Beel is equivalent if not greater than how you soothe and comfort him.

Although, while Beel loves calling you cute endearments, it makes him hungry, so he has to hold back on them. I guess that means more endearments when he’s full, but when he has to cope with his hunger and there’s no food around, Beel calls you by a wonderful amount of endearments. You do have to be careful though! He might decide to sample you. (In what ways? Who knows, heh.)

Belphegor

“My little sun”, “little sun”

He doesn’t call you his “little sun” because you are little, but because Beel is his bigger sun. Beel was in his life first, and then you came. But the order doesn’t really matter to Belphie because you are still a very important sun to him. In the twins’ bedroom, Beel has a sun motif on his side, and Belphie has a moon motif. Belphie is more comfortable with the darkness (literally and figuratively), so to him, you are his light that shines through and guides him to a better place. You are everything that he needs to survive.

Belphie’s trauma has affected him greatly, even if it doesn’t seem like it. So it takes a long time until he gets really attached to you, but when he does, he can’t live without you. Calling you his little sun is placing you in his heart, at the same level as Beel (Or perhaps even higher).

Other Demons:

Diavolo

“Little gold nugget”, “gold nugget”, “nugget”, “little nugget”

Contrary to how it may first sound, “little gold nugget” isn’t to diminish your value or your worth. To Diavolo, who probably has a low-key obsession with gold, “little gold nugget” is super adorable. He’s also never really been called an endearment before, nor has he ever called someone by one, so this is all new territory to him. Also, as a future king and a prince, everyone is important to him as his citizens. Diavolo is the king above all nuggets, but you in particular are his “little gold nugget.” He also wants you to call him by an endearment, a term only used for him, but that is something for you to decide on.

Barbatos

The closest thing to an endearment would be “Your Grace” for Barbatos. “Puffling”, if you can get him drunk enough (I’m somewhat joking here).

If you’re expecting something else, I’m afraid Barbatos is too polite, too cautious to simply throw around the usual terms of endearment. In fact, I think from the way Barbatos is, he turns a way of addressing nobility into an endearment for you only. However, if you do manage to worm an endearment out of him, he will jokingly call you a “puffling” after baby puffins. I think he finds them adorable, but it isn’t a serious endearment. Barbatos won’t be caught dead calling you a “puffling”—not because he doesn't want to—but because it’s not at all appropriate. He has an image to keep.

Angels:

Simeon

“Little sparrow”, “little droplet”, “little lamb”

“Little lamb” is a familiar term, and “little sparrow” is also something Simeon calls you. A sparrow represents many wonderful things, like joy, love, good fortune, luck, and so on, and Simeon considers you every one of those things and more. Like sparrows, droplets are also fragile—ephemeral in their lives. Droplets fall and disappear so easily. But droplets also signify uniqueness in that one droplet is separated from other collections of water. To Simeon, you stand out among others. You are wonderful, joyful, full of life, and so, so beautiful.

Luke

“Lamb” (perhaps “lambling”? I’m really unsure.)

He means it in a platonic way!! Like a guardian angel to a baby human, except that baby human is you.

We all see Luke as a child, but Luke, in this case, doesn’t see himself as one. He’s way, way older than you, and so while he is still immature among other angels, he’s lived way longer than you have. It might seem weird to have him call you an endearment, but you are a lamb in his eyes—pure, kind, gentle. You are someone who must be protected! And so while Luke doesn’t use endearments too much with you, he will use it when he’s feeling a little playful or dramatic. He prefers your own name because he loves how it sounds.

Human:

Solomon

“Little star”, “breadcrumbs” (as a joke)

Solomon has lived for who knows how long. As a human who has lived for that long, his mentality towards certain things might be a bit different from a regular human. Attachment is difficult for him due to his lifespan, and this is reflected in his attitude. Many people are fleeting in his life. The mundane becomes hard to appreciate after so long. Even memories erode after a lifetime. There is no particularly heavy sentiment behind “little star”, but he has begun to consider you as a part of his destiny, a star in the constellation of his life. And like a star, you appear so far away from him, so unapproachable due to how you are always surrounded by others. He can only appreciate you from afar, until you let him close.

“Breadcrumbs” is a lighthearted endearment that he once heard somewhere in the human world. When he calls you “breadcrumbs”, he doesn’t mean anything at all by it, only that it sounds absolutely ridiculous but also so adorable at the same time. It’s an amusing endearment he heard in his long, long life. “It’s the joy in the little things, and breadcrumbs are exactly that—little things,” Solomon will say, but no need to take him seriously. You will always be the star twinkling brightly in his life.

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Feel free to add what you think the characters would use as terms of endearment! I wanted something special for each character, so that's why this post was made lol

(If there are any errors, I will catch them sooner or later. Please, don't mind them.)

Masterlist!

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inhuman-obey-me · 4 years ago

Text

The Agony & The Ecstasy

Can also be read on AO3 here

Word Count: 5.2k

Description: #HappyBirthdayAsmodeus 2021!! Before he was the Avatar of Lust, he was the Jewel of the Heavens. A journey from the angel Asmo used to be, to the demon he's become.

[cw: sexual mentions]

The Agony

He sat before the mirror of his bedroom, sketching his lean cheeks with their high bone ridges, his soft lips, the gentle curls of his champagne-toned hair, the light in his orange-yellow eyes.

The Jewel of the Heavens, they called him. The most beautiful of the angels. So lovely that even Jophiel, the patron angel of artists, had asked if she could have a painting to keep of him. And so, here he was, trying to capture his image on canvas for the archangel.

Asmodeus was proud of how everyone admired him, but truthfully he didn't think it was anything so special. Rather, he was more focused on how lovely everyone else around him was. He wouldn't say that he wasn't beautiful, but so was anyone, in one way or another. There was so much to admire in everyone that his heart ached every day. He longed to help them see themselves the way he saw them.

The lilting notes of a bird's song through the open window broke him out of his thoughts, and he set his sketch down for the moment to greet it.

"Well hello, bluebird dear," he greeted it with a smile, holding his hand out. "How are you today?" The bird trilled with delight in response, rubbing its head against his fingers, and he laughed, petting the creature. "Your singing is so lovely, my dear. What a beautiful day to hear your song."

"Oi, Asmo, good, you're here!" he heard his brother call from below the window. "Lilith and the twins snuck off down to the human world again, could ya go get them? Geez, those troublemakers...I've gotta help Lucifer with somethin' so I need you to go, okay?"

"Whaaaat, they went and they didn't invite me?" he pouted. "I can't believe them!"

"Hey, hey, that's not the point," Mammon groaned, rolling his eyes at his younger sibling. "Gabriel is looking for Beel and Belphie, and you know he'll flip if he finds out they went down to the human realm without permission."

"Okay, okay, I got it. I'll get them, don't worry! Walk with me to the portal?"

"Agh, I'm busy you know," Mammon groaned, though he didn't seem all that upset. "But fine, I get it, ya wanna spend some time with your big older brother! Leave it to Mammon!"

"You tell yourself that," Asmo giggled. He hopped down from the window, fluttering down gracefully on the lightness of his robes. "So where in the human world do you think they went this time?"

"Well, you know, Belphie always wants to go to that circus he likes. He mighta dragged the other two along with him."

"Ooooh, right, the circus! The acrobats are so graceful, with the way they glide around in the air. They don't even have wings, but they figured out a way to look like they're flying! Humans really are interesting, aren't they?"

"You think so? I think it's kinda scary, man," Mammon shuddered.

"Well just because you might trip over yourself even on the ground doesn't mean everyone's that clumsy!" Asmo teased.

"Oi! Take that back! I can walk just fine, thank you!"

"Heehee!"

"Anyway, if they're not at the circus, maybe one of those restaurants? Beel's been eating a lot lately, maybe he wanted to try some human realm food."

"Ah, yeah! The fancy restaurants down there make such pretty dishes! The chefs are such artists," Asmo said admiringly, eyes glittering. "I'd like to try one too..."

"Hey, don't forget you're goin' there to get the twins to come back! Don't get distracted by running off down there yourself!"

"But I never get to go down to see the human realm! And the three of them like it so much, you know, it'd be nice to see how pretty everything is for myself," Asmo smiled innocently.

The two of them stopped as they reached their destination.

"Oi, Asmo, I'm serious. You better not go off hitting on everyone you see again," Mammon warned.

"Hey! I'm not hitting on them, I just think everyone is beautiful, and they should know it," Asmo protested. "You're just jealous because they like me more than you. But if you saw the good in everyone you met like me, they'd love you too! You should try it sometime!"

"Ugh, Asmo...don't be gross. And seriously, come right back once you find them. Gabriel's gonna have my hide too if they don't report to him soon, after he asked me to send them over."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll be back before you know it!"

The younger brother waved breezily as he stepped through the portal.

When the light of the portal faded from his vision, Asmodeus found himself in a quiet, hidden spot of a sunny park. Birds chirped, dogs were playing, and he could hear the screaming laughter of children from farther away. In the distance, he could see a news board by the nearby street, which seemed as good a place as any to start checking for information about the circus.

Before he could make it over there, though, a young woman stopped him. "Ahh, excuse me! I just, um, y-you're really handsome, and um...I-I just wanted to say hello. Are you visiting our town? Would you like to spend some time together....maybe come with me to the bakery down the street?! I want to get to know you," she blurted out.

He laughed with delight. "Oooh, aren't you adorable! Forget me, you're so pretty yourself! Your skin is so radiant, and your eyes are so sweet," he cooed. She blushed bright red at the compliments immediately. "Oh! But...I don't have time to go to a bakery right now, I'm looking for my little siblings. Unless you've seen a pair of boys with a girl around there? A tall guy with orange hair, and a sleepy black-haired boy?"

"I, um..." she paused, mind racing on how to keep him interested. "You know, I-I might have seen them. Or maybe, um...maybe the baker has! P-people are going in there all the time, you know, s-so maybe he might have seen them...? I'm sure he'll be able to help!"

It was fairly obvious that she was lying, but Asmo couldn't help but be charmed by her shy attempts at staying with him. His heart tugged him to go along with it anyway, just as it tugged at anyone he came across, especially those who were so drawn in by him too. He couldn't help it, even if it got him into trouble at times. So he agreed.

"Hmm, is that so? Okay! Let's go then."

She led him along the road to the bakery, an extravagant little spot for the size of the shop, where the man at the counter unhelpfully told them that he'd seen a lot of boys around and couldn't possibly remember them all. "Maybe if you buy some bread, I might remember better. I recommend some of these tarts...and you'd better take this big loaf right here too, to be sure I don't forget again," he said with a vicious grin. "We charge by the ounce, of course."

The angel gave him a bright smile back. "Oooh, they do look delicious! You must be so talented to create such beautiful things, sir! Oh, but...I don't have any money on me..."

This clearly irked the man, though something about Asmo's cheerful expression at least stopped him from throwing the pair straight out of the shop, as he usually might with people like this, who came in with no money. He eyed the golden bangle on his visitor's wrist. "Give me that then," he demanded, pointing. "I'll give it to my daughter. She'll like it."

Against his better judgment, the angel obliged. After all, it was just a part of the human world disguise he wore - he could just make another one later. And the baker was going to give it to his daughter, which was certainly kind. Or at least, he thought that was better than just selling it, like most people would. How lovely for a father to want to give his daughter nice presents. "Here, you can have this then. So, about my brothers...?"

The human greedily snatched the bangle from his palm. "Sure, they came in, just about an hour ago probably. The orange-haired one bought more bread than I thought I would sell all day. The girl, she was talking about wanting to visit someone in town. She didn't mention where, but it sounded like it was near the square. And the boys, they wanted to go to the circus that's visiting. They're over at the edge of town."

Satisfied with this new information but not exactly pleased about what the exchange had cost him, he thanked the baker and excused himself from both humans.

Frustrating as it was, this was how it always went. Asmodeus felt himself filled to the brim overflowing with love for everyone, painfully so. And no matter how they lied, or tried to trick him, or took advantage of him, he still loved them so much. It wasn't that he was naive, or that he didn't notice, but just that he always still saw the good parts of them too.

At least he knew where to head from here, though. It sounded like Lilith had probably split off from the twins, but since Mammon had only asked him to send Beel and Belphie back, he'd worry about her later. First, the circus.

Luckily, by this point, Belphegor had been caught dragging his twin to such shows often enough that Asmo could pretty easily predict what area of the audience he'd find them in. He made his way into the tent and quickly located the pair. "You two!" he hissed quietly from the row behind them. "You know you shouldn't be running off to the human world while everyone is still working! Mammon said Gabriel was looking for you. You'd better get back, right now!"

The twins looked at him guiltily, two sets of apologetic eyes. "Sorry, it's my fault...Lilith said she wanted to visit someone, and you know Lucifer always scolds her not to go down alone. So I said we should come too," Beelzebub explained quickly.

"It's my fault too, Beel," Belphie added. "After she met up with them, I wanted to come see the circus again...sorry."

"Ahhh, okay, okay! I can't be mad at such cute younger brothers! Just hurry up and go!" Asmo said, waving away their apologies. "I'll find Lilith to make sure she comes back okay too."

Relieved at his easy forgiveness, the two of them slipped out quietly to head back.

The elder brother sat there a while longer. He'd never actually been to a circus himself before, and he was curious. It was entrancing - contortionists twisting their bodies in fascinating ways, trapeze artists flying gracefully across the air, the balance of the tightrope walkers and the authority of the ringmaster. Though he didn't know them, his heart ached with admiration at the performers below. It was easy to see why their youngest brother loved coming to these so much.

Before he knew it, he had stayed to the end of the show, and the audience was filtering out around him. But he didn't want to leave just yet, and longed for more. Without really thinking, he wandered out to the back of the tent, to the performer's entrance.

"Oh? A fan?"

He blushed a little as realized his mistake, meeting the eyes of the acrobat who had addressed him. "Hi there! I guess you could call me a fan, yes? Your performances out there were just sooo beautiful!"

An amused smile crossed her face. "Well aren't you a cutie. What's your name, hon?"

"I'm Asmodeus!" he replied cheerily. "But my brothers call me Asmo."

"Asmo, eh? Heh. Well, thanks for the compliments, Asmo," she said, leaning in to play with a strand of his hair. "I'm Naamah. Glad you enjoyed the show."

From this close, he could see every detail of how stunning the woman was. Her makeup was thick, as it needed to be for the stage, but it suited her somehow, like her face had always been meant to wear it this way. A tight bun of dark hair sat atop her head, ringed by a blue and red crown of feathers that matched the bright colors of a costume that showed off every curve of her slender, athletic body.

"In fact, Asmo, my dear fan," she continued, "today's your lucky day. I don't feel like sticking around for another of the top hat's fucking lectures about how we need to do better tomorrow. So what do you say we go find ourselves a party, love?"

He thought guiltily back to Lilith, who he had promised to find and escort home. But on the other hand, she had come to see someone, and he didn't really know when she'd be done meeting with this person, or where they were at this point. And he'd never actually been to a party before...

"Have another drink, Asmo, I insist," Naamah laughed tipsily, passing him another cup of wine. "You act like you've never let loose before!"

Truthfully, he sort of hadn't, and for his part, Asmodeus was having a magnificent time. A quaint little band of musicians played upbeat, joyful music from the edge of the courtyard, which was packed with merry folks in all sorts of costumes. His new friend had mentioned on their way here that it was a costume party, and the costumes truly did not disappoint - people here were dressed up as angels, demons, all kinds of animals, and even as things he'd never heard of before. Even after changing partially back into his angel form to let his wings free, he didn't feel like he stood out any more than anyone else.

And the dancing! The overflowing love he felt had an outlet for once, here where he could feed the energy back through his movements, passing from partner to partner without anyone to scold him for being too loose with his love. He couldn't help but think that the Celestial Realm felt so stuffy by comparison - all music back home being generally restricted to choirs to their father, and none of the raucous laughter and chatter filling the air the way the humans were doing here. The seraphs were strict on the lower angels, insisting on upright perfection at all times.

"This is so much fun," he said as he clinked his new cup against Naamah's with a laugh, giggling even harder when she then leaned in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

"Pass it on," she dared in a whisper to his ear.

Being the Jewel of the Heavens, always filled with love as he was, it didn't take long for him to find another person to pass the kiss on to. He got up and lightly pecked a man by the sidelines on the cheek. "Hi there, darling. Would you like to dance?" he asked sweetly.

The man reddened slightly at the kiss but agreed quickly to a song, and Asmo found himself soon in another round of dancing, whirling between partners until he had probably danced with each person at least three times. Mid-step as he was about to pass to Naamah again, he noticed a figure moving quickly by from across the road.

A very familiar figure.

"Ack, I'm sorry - I've got to go," he said quickly, leaving his companion very confused as he dashed off from her and the rest of the party.

"Lilith!" he called out, chasing after her in the now-fallen night.

His sister startled at the sound of his voice. "Asmo? What are you doing here in the human realm?"

"You know, really I should be the one asking you that, sis!" he responded, patting her on the head as he caught up. "Mammon sent me here to find you and the twins. Although I, hehe, might have gotten a bit distracted on my way to find you after I sent the twins back. Okay, your turn, what were you doing here?"

She looked away shyly. "I was just, um...meeting someone."

"Ooooh? Tell your big brother more," he teased.

"Well, um...a-actually, Asmo, you love everyone, right? But how do you know you're in love with them?"

That certainly caught him off-guard.

"Hmmm? I never really thought about it," he mused. "I guess it feels kind of warm and fuzzy, right? Or...sometimes it's stronger. Like fire! Like your whole body is in flames, and you're going to burst apart in one biiiig explosion!" Teasingly, he grabbed her by the shoulders and mimicked some explosion sounds. "Why, my dear sister, have you fallen in love with somebody? Were you down here to ask the humans for loooove advice? Who is it, hon? Uriel? Israfil?? Camael?? Or - don't tell me it's Michael?!"

"N-no!" she said, eyes wide. "Ahh, no! No, it's not like that! And don't tell Lucifer or Mammon that I asked about this either!"

Her older brother just giggled mischievously in reply. "Well, let's just get back," he answered, placing his hand on the tree by where he'd landed earlier to open the portal back up.

When they stepped through, their two eldest brothers were waiting for them with scowls.

Lucifer spoke first. "Where have you two been, exactly?"

"Eep! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay out so late!!" Lilith squeaked, quickly hiding behind her other brother. "I just, um--I just wanted to go meet with someone. And I lost track of time."

"What about you? Don't tell me ya got distracted hitting on people again," Mammon said, turning his attention to the other just-returned angel. "I've been havin' to cover for ya all day! Raphael is not happy."

"Hey, you're the one who sent me down there to find the twins!" Asmo argued back.

"Yeah, and they came back ages ago! So where have you been!"

"Well, one of the acrobats from Belphie's circus invited me to a party, so I--"

"A party?" Lucifer growled. "You were out late for a human party?"

"I mean...! I didn't know where to find Lilith or when she'd be done meeting her person, so I just thought I'd have some fun while I was down there," Asmo pouted.

"You still shouldn't be going to human world parties, Asmo," the eldest lectured, refocusing his gaze on their sister. "And as for you, about that person you went to meet...why are you meeting with a human?"

She just looked away.

Lucifer sighed. "Never mind, we'll talk later, Lilith. Just go back to your rooms for now, it's late and the next patrols will be by soon. You're lucky Mammon was the one on duty tonight and reported it straight to me so the other seraphs don't know yet."

With relief, the two of them scurried away back to their respective living quarters.

Back in his room, Asmodeus looked over the sketch of himself he'd been working on earlier that day. After the excitement of the day and the party, it looked so bland now that he looked at it again. It was perfectly in line with the classic portrait style of paintings all over the Celestial Realm, but it felt so flat. He saw the good in everyone, right?

And the best thing about him wasn't his face, or his hair, or the way the sunlight fell perfectly across his face at noon. No, the good thing about him was how he loved everyone, wasn it? The love that filled him to bursting at every moment, the love that felt like heavenly fire coursing through his heart every time he looked at someone. That was what made him the universally admired angel that everybody loved back. This painting needed to show that overflowing love too, didn't it?

He tore the canvas off, stretching a fresh one across the frame to start again.

When Lucifer came to the brothers to say he was going to rebel against their father, Asmodeus didn't hesitate. All of them had heard about what Lilith had done, and how she was set to be punished for it with obliteration. Utter destruction, wiping her from existence. And for what? For her love?

Well, Asmo was intimately familiar with getting in trouble over love. He'd certainly felt the sharp end of Raphael's spear enough times to know that love was not especially prized or respected in the Celestial Realm. Their father had created him with this overwhelming burning of love towards all, yet that same father commanded the angels without regard for love. It was his rules that forbade Asmo from having outlets to express his love, and it was those same rules that would now destroy his sister.

Lucifer had already tried arguing for mercy, to no avail. It didn't matter if it was out of love; all the worse, in fact, because Lilith wasn't supposed to have gone down to the human realm in the first place, let alone fallen in love with one of them. Their father didn't care about love. So, Lucifer would fight.

And so would Asmodeus.

The Ecstasy

When he came to, the first thing Asmo felt was weightlessness.

It wasn't just his clothes, which had transformed from a billowing mass of white robes to a slender, form-fitting black tank top and pants. Nor was it how his large, elegant wings were now turning to four smaller, curled bat-like ones.

No, it was the lack of burning fire in his chest. What normally felt tightly contained within him was looser, freer, like something had unlocked inside of him, allowing it to spill out.

It was such a jarring, unfamiliar feeling that he gasped out for air.

"Asmo!! Beel, Belphie! Levi! Are you all okay?!" Mammon called out at the sound, rushing over. He had landed not too far away, and seemed to have undergone his own transformation, his usual softly draping outfit now full of sharp, cutting lines instead. In fact, it looked like everyone had either changed or was mid-transformation.

"Where's Lilith?" Beelzebub asked immediately, sounding panicked. "She got hit by an arrow earlier and fell during the battle, is she here?! Is she okay?!"

Belphie sat up and looked around before shaking his head. "I don't think she's here," he said softly. "What happened?"

"Mmm, well judging by how we all look, I guess we're...demons now?" Asmo chimed in.

"Aaagh, dammit! I saw Lucifer fly down all of a sudden while we were fightin', but I don't see him here either. He's gotta be around here somewhere though," Mammon said. "C'mon, get up, guys. Levi, you okay over there?"

A pitiful mumble of affirmation came from the cerulean-haired lump. Levi had awoken but, it seemed, simply opted to stay laying on the ground, as if laying there would erase away everything that had just happened.

After a quick check over each of them, Mammon seemed satisfied that there were no major injuries, at least. Aside from, obviously, them all having lost their angel forms, and seemingly having transformed into demons here. Which meant...

"Welcome to the Devildom." A demon in a crisp black and red uniform walked up to them with a polite smile. "Lord Diavolo has requested for all of Lucifer's brothers to come to the RAD student council room at once. Of course, Lucifer himself is there as well."

Ignoring the confused chatter of the brothers, he led them to a grand building, through beautifully sculpted hallways, and into a large courtroom-like chamber.

A large, dark-skinned demon in what looked to be a red school uniform was seated at the judge's seat, and beside him...Lucifer, in a similar uniform as the man who had led them here, as well as a scary-looking blond individual they didn't recognize.

Five piles of cleanly folded uniforms sat on a table in the center of the room.

In what felt like a whirlwind of explanation, the demon at the center introduced himself as Lord Diavolo, confirmed that they were indeed demons now, and explained that, as the demon prince and current ruler of the Devildom, they were now part of his domain. This was RAD, a school for demons, and the demon who had led them here was Barbatos, his personal butler. His father, who had passed the reigns of power but still commanded more respect among the nobles, would help work out the details of their new positions here in the Devildom, but he wanted to welcome them as members of the RAD student council.

It was a lot, but most importantly, they would stay together down here. They would live together, with Lucifer working out the details of their new home, and they would attend this school. Apart from this, they would be eventually assigned other responsibilities, but they would be otherwise free to enjoy the Devildom as they pleased.

As they pleased. Asmodeus wasn't sure what this all meant for them, but he liked the sound of that phrase.

Asmo sighed happily, gazing at himself in his vanity mirror. He looked perfect. His outfit was perfect, with pearly flower earrings perfectly matching the flowery sleeves of his shirt.

After they fell, Mammon had worried and fussed over everyone - not that he would ever admit it outright. Still, the worry had been unmistakable, checking in on each brother every day to make sure they were adjusting okay. But for Asmodeus, things were more than okay. It was like a blindfold had been removed from his eyes.

When he looked at himself now, he understood why everyone had always fawned over his looks - he was gorgeous! How had he never seen it before? He was dazzlingly beautiful. No wonder they had called him the Jewel of the Heavens! And though he was no longer part of, well, heaven, he was still the most stunning being to exist, in all the three realms.

That being the case, it was only right to share himself with everyone, right? Everyone had always wanted to gaze upon him, and at last, with the chains of celestial modesty shed from him, he understood that it was his responsibility to share this gift of his beauty with all.

"I'm heading out!" he called out to his brothers in the common room as he skipped out of the house with excitement. By this point, he'd been to tons of parties, but the joy of it never really wore off. The energy, the dancing, the drinks, the new people, and most importantly? Getting to do whatever the hell he wanted.

The pumping music and the flashing lights of the club greeted him as he threw open the doors. "Who's ready for an Asmo party?! Your Avatar of Lust has arrived!" he cheered.

Everyone in the club went wild immediately, as they always did for these. A night of partying, hosted by the Avatar of Lust, filled with dancing and drinks, and inevitably ending in a wild orgy at some nearby hotel room with as many bodies as could be crammed in? The demons at the club always went wild for an event like that.

Cambores, his good friend, came up immediately to give him a kiss on the cheek and pass him a drink. "Asmo, baby, we've been waiting for you! There's a whole line of succubi who have been begging for a dance with you tonight!"

"Only a dance?" he giggled impishly, as he waved to the line his friend pointed out. "Well, they do have to take turns, since a beauty like mine has to be shared with everyone. But we'll have to see if any of them can tear themselves off of me after a dance!"

Wasting no time, he grabbed the hand of the first one and whirled her onto the floor. "Bothothêl, you're back for me again tonight," he teased. "Didn't get enough of me last night?"

"No, never, Lord Asmodeus," she responded, gazing adoringly into his eyes. She shimmied against him, pressing herself close against his body, and he responded in kind. "I want you every night if you'll allow it."

"Well, I'm flattered, my dear," he answered in a sultry whisper against her collarbone, "but I'm afraid you can't hog beauty like this. But maybe next time I eat you out, I'll eat your heart along with it so I can carry you with me, if you want to stay beside me so badly." He felt the lust emanating from her at that, and took the opportunity to give her a little nibble against her neck, before twirling her away to pull forth the next two succubi from the line at once.

By the tenth or eleventh song, he was about ready for another drink - and some actual action, rather than the intimate but very short flirts he was having with his dance partners. "Sarabocres, darling," he greeted the bartender cheerfully. "Can I get a Brimstone Kiss? And...a Death Tequila Sunset for this new friend of mine right here," he added, tugging over a random demon who had caught his eye from further down the bar.

"O-oh, um, Lord Asmodeus! T-thank you," the demon sputtered in surprise.

"You're welcome," he smiled sweetly back. "So you know my name, what's yours?"

"Kamusil, sir," she answered. Her eyes sparkled as she took him in, though she quickly scooted back and looked away. "Wow. You're even more beautiful than everyone says."

Smirking, he placed a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze back up to meet his. "Well, no one can accurately describe perfection, after all. But no need to be shy, cutie, you can drop the sir and all those formalities. Tell me, what kinds of secret desires are you hiding? If you could have, hmm...let's say, ten demons here in your bed tonight, who would they be?"

As if in a trance, any hesitation in her dropped away immediately. She pointed out various demons to him, some he recognized and some he didn't, all of them drop-dead gorgeous.

A mischievous smile spread across his face. He gave her a quick smooch, and whispered, "Okay, wait for me just a bit then, and don't you leave before me. Okaaay? We'll have a good time tonight, I promise."

With that, he downed his newly arrived drink and returned to join the throngs of dancers.

What a fun plaything she'd been, truly. Despite having been so shy, Kamusil had really had a knack for spying some of the wildest partners he'd been with in quite a while. He lay idly in the bed, tracing the sleeping form of one of the many sexed out demons beside him.

It would be an exaggeration to say they'd all explored pleasures together he'd never dreamed of - he was the Avatar of Lust, after all - but certainly there were some obscure things he got to try out that night. And there was always tomorrow, or the next night, or the next.

After all, there was nothing stopping him anymore. No shame, no modesty, none of the rules binding him. He could do whatever the hell he wanted.

And he loved it.

#obey me #obey me!#obey me swd #obey me shall we date #obey me asmodeus #om! asmodeus #obey me asmo #om! asmo #happy birthday asmodeus #asmo angst #angel asmo #obey me fics #writings #mod chaos in the devildom

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burningflamescurse · 2 years ago

Text

“An Angel’s Wish.”

Bakugou x Half Angel! Half Demon! Quirk!Oc

Chapter One: “Villian Attack”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Characters:

Mayumi Shima

Quirk: “Half Angel Half Demon”

Allows The User to Use any Special Powers or Abilities of a Demon and Angel, User has Black Horns On her Hairline and Large White Angelic Wings On her Back, When Quirk is Active the User will have Pure White Eyes and A Small Golden Halo.

She Can Access Both Demon and Angel Abilities, Which Include Strong Kick That Are Dangerous to Villians, and a Full Demon Form, And also Include a White Blast From Her Hands.

Haruka Shima

Quirk: “Blood Manipulation”

Allows The User To Create a Portal With Blood To Transport them to a different Area With the Use of their own blood or another Person’s Blood, Also Allows them to Restrain an Enemy With their Own Blood.

Hikari Chisuke

Class: Villian

Affiliation: The League of Villians

Quirk: “Red Flames.”

Allows the User to Control Flames Like Fire Except it has the Features of a Red Mist in the Formation of Flames, The Downside to this Quirk Is when Overused She Could Burn her Own Body From the Inside Out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The League Of Villians is Known to have a New Member among it’s Ranks, Hikari Chisuke, Also Known as the Villian, “Blood Lust.” Her Quirk? Red Flames, Will the Pro–Heros ever put a Stop to the League of Villians?”

Hikari Switched Off the TV, Sighing Heavily as She Hopped off of the Couch, “Idiots” She Huffed as She Crossed her arms.

Lifting a Finger up She lit a Red Flame on her Finger Tip, It’s Red, Misty Texture Made her Shiver Though she loved to think of how Many People She Could Scorch With this Flame.

A Small Picture Lay Next to the Old Couch in the League’s Hideout, an Image of Mayumi Shima, Her New Plaything.

Her Quirk Fascinated Hikari, It was Rare to have a Half angel and Half Demon Quirk, It also Caught Shigaraki’s Attention.

She Ran Her Finger Over her Face, Gently.

“Oh Dear~ Your in for a Ride Shima~” She Whispered, Placing the Image Into her Jacket Pocket, Sighing Contently.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mayumi Shima Walked through the Halls Of U.A, A Villian Attack Starting, Dabi, Toga, Shigaraki, Kurogiri, Mr.Compress, and Hikari Were There.

“Oh Mayumi~ Come Out and Play Darling~” Hikari Said Lifting her Palm Up, Traces of a Red Colored Flame appearing.

She was about to Release the flames But a Strong Foot Met her Jaw, Releasing an Effective Crack from her mouth as she Rolled away.

“Stay away from my Students!” Aizawa’s Voice Boomed Throughout the Hallway, Hikari Growled At the Teacher.

“Eraser! You’ve Ruined my Playtime!” She Growled, Shakily Standing Up, Lunging at the Old Underground Hero.

Activating her Angel Side of her Quirk, her Eyes Fully White, No Pupils, And Her Wings Spreading Out to their Full Length, Her Horns Disappearing and a Golden Halo Appearing.

Holding Out her Hand a White Blast appeared, Letting it Go It hit Hikari on her Side.

“Agh!” She Grunted Sliding Away from Aizawa, “Stay away From Aizawa!” She Shouted, Her Elegant Wings Flying Out To Protect Aizawa.

Shigaraki Smirked, The Wings Were 12 Feet Spread Apart, Like a Real Angel, “Dabi, You and Compress Get me my Angel!” Shigaraki Declared.

Dabi Curled His Lip Up in Disgust, “Dude, You Sound Like a Pervert When you Say It Like that.” Dabi Said, Shoving his Hands in his Pants Pocket.

“Whatever! Just do what I said!” Shigaraki angrily Pointed to Mayumi, “Toga! You Distract the Other Students! Hikari, You Take Care Of Eraserhead, I got all might.” Shigaraki Spewed Orders Out.

Dabi Groaned But Followed Compress anyways, Toga Smiled Aiming her Knife at any of the Students Who Dared to Attack Her, and Hikari Aimed her hand at Aizawa.

Dabi Tackled Mayumi as She Struggled to Get his Hands Off of her, She Finally Used her Wings to Harshly Smack him in his eyes.

He immediately Dropped Mayumi, Who Used Her Wings to Fly Away From the Villian.

“Dabi! You Okay?” Compress asked, The Noise Of Toga Slicing A Students Arm Sounded in the Background, “I want some of your Yummy Blood!” Toga Chanted in the Background.

“I’m fine Compress, Go After her.” He Said, Slowly Getting Up rubbing his Sore Eye.

Compress Hurried After the Student.

Mayumi Used her Wings To Guide her Though the Halls, She Couldn’t see Through those Pure White Angel Eyes.

It was hard to Catch Up to the Student, Mayumi’s Wings Flapped at about 180 Miles Per Hour, Anything to Aid her Escape.

One Of the Students, Bakugou, Kicked Toga Away From them, “What the Hell do you Villian Scum Want?” Bakugou Yelled, Protecting Some Of his Injured Classmates.

“Oh~ Not you If that’s What you were thinking, Just Mayumi–Chan!” Toga Hummed Cutely, Pressing her Unoccupied Finger To her Blushing, Smiling, Cheek.

Bakugou’s Eyes Widened Turning to Kirishima Who was Beside Him, also Protecting The Injured Classmates.

“Their after Mayumi!” Bakugou Said Desperately, One of the Pro–Heros Who Responded to the Trouble Call from U.A, Hawks, Appeared Next to Kirishima.

“I’ll Find her.” He Said, Using his Wings To Speed to Mayumi.

“It’s Useless, Mayumi–Chan Is Ours!” Toga Beamed, Showing off her Razor Sharp Fangs among her Teeth.

Bakugou aimed an Explosion towards Toga’s Face, “Shut Up Villian Scum!” He Yelled as the Explosion Sent Toga Hurling Back A Few Feet.

“You Bastard!” She Shouted, as Hikari Still Fought Against Aizawa, His Scarf Aimed For her Abdomen to Stop her But Once again She Twisted the Fabric to her Avantage With the Aid of Her Quirk.

She escaped it’s Grip Narrowly Using her Boot To hit His Leg, Having Him Wrapped in his own Scarf, Shoving Him into a Kneeling Position.

“Just Give Up Eraser, Your Student Has already been Caught by Compress, Nothing you Can Do Now~” She Hummed, Showing Off her Teeth.

Aizawa Grunted, Trying to Move From his Kneeling Position, Hikari Only Shoved the Heel of her Boot Further into his Leg, Impaling it.

“Stand Still, You’ll injure Yourself.” She Chided as If he was Her own Child.

Toga Squealed as She Jumped Aiming For Bakugou’s Arm, But Another One of His Explosions Hit her Side Defecting her Attack.

Toga Hit a Few Boxes On the other end of Her Hallway.

“Toga!” Hikari Shouted Distracted, Aizawa Used this Chance to Kick her away Right Beside Toga, Unimpaling his Leg of her Boot heel.

He Leg Was Now actively Bleeding as he stood On Wobbly Legs.

Hikari And Toga were Now Knocked Unconscious, So Kurogiri Quickly Warped them Back to Base as Shigaraki Dealt With All Might.

The Two Fought Back and Forth, All Might Never Let his Hands Touch him, When Kurogiri Yelled Back to Shigaraki.

“Tomura! Toga and Hikari are Both Injured Heavily, We Need to Retreat!” Kurogiri had Said Loudly, Shigaraki Stepped back From The Symbol of Peace and Pressed his Ear Piece.

“Dabi, I’m ordering A Retreat, Regroup With Compress And Kurogiri Will Meet you there.” Shigaraki Said Before Stepping into Kurogiri’s Warp Gate.

Soon Dabi and Compress Regrouped Without Mayumi in their Grasp Escaping into Kurogiri’s Warp Gate.

“We’ll be Back!” Were Shigaraki’s Last Words Before Disappearing.

Finally all of U.A Could Let Out a Sigh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the Hideout, Shigaraki Grumbled as Kurogiri Treated Both Toga and Hikari.

Hikari’s Wound Included a Small Flesh wound on her Side Form Eraser Throwing her all over the Place, She Obviously Needed Stitches Since the Wound Was Quite Deep.

Hikari’s Wrist was also Fractured and Twisted the Wrong way along with Having a Radius Fracture on her Left Leg.

Toga Had became Conscious with a Small Headache and a Concussion, Order to rest For at Least Two Days.

But Hikari was Still Knocked Out as Kurogiri did her Stitches on her Side.

“Well that was a Shit Mission, No it wasn’t!” Twice Proclaimed, Lifting a Finger Up.

“Shut up Twice.” Shigaraki Said Groaning at how Bad the Mission Went, “Aww, Said Cause you Didn’t get what You want?” Dabi Mocked Shigaraki.

Shigaraki Threw One of his Hands at Dabi Groaning again, “Shut up!” He Yelled, Huffing and Crossing his arms across his Chest.

“Hush Tomura.” Kurogiri Chided Shigaraki as He Focused On Hikari’s State, “She needs as Much Rest and Quite As Possible.” Kurogiri Said as He Covered her Body up with a Thin Blanket.

“Is She Okay?” Dabi asked, Worried for his Girlfriend.

“She has a Severe Concussion, along with a Fractured Wrist and Radius, along with a Flesh Wound I just Sewed Up.” Kurogiri Explained.

“She’ll Probably Have a Migraine when She wakes, we need to all Watch Out for Brain Swelling though.” Kurogiri Finished.

“If Brain Swelling is a Problem?” Shigaraki asked, “We will have to Resort to a Hospital Tomura.” Kurogiri Sighed as He Made sure her IV was Set up Correctly.

Shigaraki Huffed, “Your Girlfriend better not Die and Cost me this Dream.” Shigaraki Growled, Stalking off to his room.

“Asshole.” Dabi Muttered, Going over to Hikari to Watch over his Girlfriend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hawks Came Back Carrying a Partially Injured Mayumi, A Stab Wound on her Left wing, Bakugou Hurried over to her Worried.

“What the Hell Happened!” Bakugou Yelled, Only Hawks Could Answer his Question.

“Dabi Got her with one of Toga’s Knives.” He Responded, Wrapping his Wings Underneath Mayumi To Stabilize her.

Bakugou Ran one of his Fingers Over her Bruised Face, as Hawks’s Tone Returned to one of an Urgent one.

“We need to get her to Recovery Girl.” Hawks Said, as Aizawa Limped Over towards them, “Along with Aizawa as Well, His Leg is Looking Pretty Bad.” Hawks Said.

“That Woman Shoved her Heel into my Leg.” Aizawa Grumbled as All Might Helped Aizawa Limp to Follow Hawks.

“Well That Woman Is a Villian Aizawa What’d You think She would do?” Hawks Responded.

Aizawa Could Only Grumble a Response Since he was Still Pretty Pissed about the whole Situation.

#mha todoroki #mha imagines #mha spoilers #mha oc #mha #mha shoto #mha deku #mha bakugou #mha x reader #mha kirishima #mha fluff #my hero academia aizawa

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sergeantsporks · 3 years ago

Text

Another Shot at Life

Rating: General Audiences, Gen

TW: Child abuse, emotional manipulation

Ao3

Hunter accidentally makes his way into the human realm and can't get back home. But he's discovering that might not be such a bad thing.

Ch 6/7: Fall into Your Nightmare

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5

Hunter watched the portal close, tears rolling down his face. Belos pulled him away.

“Hunter, I thought you were better than that. Really, your lack of loyalty is painful.” He coughed. “Agh—”

Hunter bit back a whine of pain as Belos’ grip tightened even further, and his arm started to go numb and tingly.

Belos steered him back through the hallways to his room. “You are going to stay in there. I will have meals brought up. Do not leave this room.” Belos tugged Hunter’s gloves away. “Oh, and I’ll be taking these, in case you had any ideas about trying to get back to the human realm.

He slammed the door shut and locked it. Hunter’s legs wobbled, and he staggered to his bed, sitting down.

She would have fought for me.

But this had been the right choice, right? Even if Camila and Vee would have fought for him, they wouldn’t have won. How could they?

Red fluttered out of his pocket, chirping sadly. Hunter cupped the palisman in his hands. “We’ll be fine. I still have you, and—this isn’t so bad. If he won’t let me out of my room, then there’s no chance that he’ll send me after Luz, right? Right. Really, this is probably the best outcome I could have hoped for when I ran away. A couple of bruises and not-so-solitary confinement? I’m getting off easy.” He swiped tears out of his eyes. “Yeah. This is—it’s fine. We’ll be okay. And Camila and Vee are safe, and that’s what really matters.”

The door creaked open, and multi-colored eyes glared hatefully at him. Hunter jumped up. “What do you want?”

Kikimora pushed the door shut behind her. Her eyes flashed dangerously, and the coven patch on Hunter’s arm started to burn, glowing red and black. A wave of pain hammered up his nerves, and his vision went blurry.

“Belos might have forgiven your attack on me,” Kikimora hissed, taking a step closer, “but I have not.”

The patch throbbed, and Hunter clutched his arm to his chest, looking around wildly for his staff—but of course, Belos had taken his coven staff away. Red fluttered to him, shifting into a staff, and he swung it towards Kikimora.

She lazily drew a circle in the air, and his staff flew from his hand. Another wave of pain swept up from his arm, and his legs gave out, tears pricking at his eyes.

“Hngh—Kiki—”

“What are you going to do?” she taunted, looming over him. “Fight back? I doubt Emperor Belos will let you get away with it twice. Tell on me? I’ll claim I caught you attempting an escape. Naturally, I had to stop you. Guess who he’ll believe? I’m in the emperor’s good graces. Not you.”

His coven patch faded to its usual color, and Kikimora turned her back on him, striding back to the door. “Just remember your place, Golden Guard.”

The door clicked shut behind her, and Hunter curled into a ball, waiting for the pain in his arm to subside. Red fluttered down next to him, chirping anxiously.

He managed a smile. “I’m okay—that doesn’t hurt nearly as much as she thinks it does.” Hunter sat up, rubbing the patch. “I promise you, we’re going to be okay.”

Xxx

Hunter jumped to his feet as he heard a familiar cough echoing down the hallway. He grabbed Red as Belos burst in. His uncle’s chest was heaving frantically, and cursed goop dripped from his face.

“Give me—the palisman,” he rasped.

Hunter’s heart stuttered in his chest, and he clutched Red close to his chest, backing away. “You said I could keep it if I came back,” he accused.

“That was before your disobedience caused me another attack,” Belos snarled, holding a hand out, “Give it to me!”

Hunter shook his head. “N-no.”

Belos lunged towards him with a growl, making a grab for Red with a hand that was half liquid. Hunter turned his back to his uncle, shielding the bird. Belos’ grasping hand slammed into his back, and all of the air rushed out of Hunter’s lungs with a whoosh. He staggered forward to the window, launching his palisman out. “Get—out of—here—” he wheezed.

Belos ripped him back from the window with a roar, reaching out the window for Red, but the palisman fluttered out of reach, diving down away from the window.

Belos gasped as more and more of his body shifted into a goopy mess. Hunter scooted backwards, but the room wasn’t big enough, and Belos’ curse lashed out. Hunter rolled to the side to avoid one flailing tendril, but another one caught him, throwing him back into the bed. His head hit the frame with a crack, and everything went a little fuzzy. He didn’t know how long he was lying there, but when he came to, Belos was back to normal, breathing heavily.

Hunter pulled himself into a sitting position, his head spinning. He tucked his head between his knees, willing the sharp pain to go away.

“You should have… given me… the palisman…” Belos gasped, “Hunter… you know… better… than to set off… the curse…”

Hunter closed his eyes, sick to his stomach. “Camila s-said… you shouldn’t blame me…” he whimpered, rubbing the back of his head.

“What was that?”

Hunter hugged himself, his shoulders shaking. “N-nothing.”

“Hunter, Hunter, Hunter. I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to be the bad guy. I hate to be the villain. And if you’d just listen the first time, things like this wouldn’t happen.

Belos put a hand on his head. Hunter was sure it was supposed to be comforting, but the touch sent another spike of pain hammering through his skull. He whimpered, and Belos shook his head, walking out.

“I do wish you wouldn’t make me be the bad guy, Hunter.”

Red fluttered through the window when Belos was gone, tweeting in concern and landing on Hunter’s hand. Hunter retched as his head swam, tears running down his face.

“I—I want to go b-back,” he sniffed, scrubbing at his eyes, “I want—I want—”

Red gently pecked his hand, and flew to the window, chirping.

Hunter looked up. “R-run away again? B-belos would just find me.”

Red tweeted that Belos couldn’t possibly search the whole isles, and there were plenty of places to hide. And people who would help him.

Hunter staggered to his feet, stumbling to the window. “How?” he croaked.

Red shifted into its staff form, flapping its wings. The staff floated, and Hunter hesitantly climbed on, clutching onto the staff for dear life as his palisman took off, shooting out the window.

To their credit, they made it all the way to the wall before Kikimora swooped next to them on a massive hand demon.

“Return to your room, or I will be forced to take action against you, Golden Guard.”

“Where does she keep getting those?” Hunter muttered. He nudged them down into a dive, aiming for an arch that was just a little bit blurry—how hard had he hit his head?

Almost immediately, the patch on his arm burned, sending a shockwave of pain up his arm. Hunter fell off of the staff, tumbling to the ground. Red stopped, fluttering back to him as Kikimora strode across the ground towards him. With a wave of her hand, ropes appeared, snaking around Hunter’s arms and dragging him back towards the keep.

Kikimora ‘tsked.’ “The emperor will have to hear of this. A good thing I was here to stop you—if you’d gotten out of my range of sight, I wouldn’t be able to activate your patch.”

“What—a shame.”

Red dove down and pecked at Kikimora’s head, shrieking and undoing her hair tie so that her hair fell into her eyes. Hunter bolted as his coven patch returned to normal, his palisman fluttering after him.

HUNTER!

Hunter froze as Belos’ voice echoed around him. Red chirped for him to come on, hurry, but Hunter couldn’t move.

Belos was angry.

Really angry.

Hunter hadn’t known the difference until now. Before, it had always been a cold, calculating anger. He could pin it now more as… Displeasure, maybe?

But this was angry.

At him.

Before it had just been disappointment. Now? Now he was driving Belos up the wall. Belos was actually going to lose it at him.

His mind screamed at him to run, go, go, go, but his legs wouldn’t move as Belos strode towards him, huge and rageful. One hand reached out and snatched Red out of the air, and finally, Hunter could move, fueled by blind panic.

“G-give it back!”

“No. You can’t be trusted with it. Running away, Hunter? After I gave you another chance? This creature of wild magic is a bad influence on you. I will be taking your pet away until you prove you can be responsible.”

Hunter grabbed for Red as the little bird struggled against Belos’ grip. “No!”

Belos grabbed his shoulder to stop him, adding a new layer of bruises. “Stop this at once,” he hissed, “You are behaving like a child. I raised you better than this!”

He squeezed Red tight, and at the cardinal’s chirp of pain, Hunter stopped struggling.

“You will return to your room,” Belos hissed, “You will stay there. If I catch you trying to run away again…” he squeezed Red just a little harder. “…just don’t run away, Hunter.”

Hunter nodded. “Yes, sir,” he murmured in a hoarse whisper, trudging back through the palace while the coven scouts and guards whispered. He struggled to latch the door, his head spinning, and after the third miss, he gave up, kicking the door, then hopping up and down on one foot in pain with a yell.

Hunter flopped back on his bed, tears pricking at his eyes.

“I want to go home.” The whisper escaped his lips, and panic built up in his chest. He wasn’t ever going to get out of here. Belos would keep him locked up forever, and he would never see Vee or Camila again, and he was trapped, and he couldn’t get out, and no one here cared about him, and he would die here, alone, and no one cared, and he was trapped.

Hunter unbuckled his chest plate, throwing it across the room with a certain kind of savage pleasure as it clanged against the floor. It had used to feel protective, like a shell shielding him from the world. Now it just felt restrictive, like a cage. The cloak followed, the coven symbol on the pin gleaming mockingly at him.

Hunter scrambled down halfway under his bed, pulling out the clothes Camila had given him, and he changed into them, pulling the over-sized hoodie over his head with a sigh of relief. He pulled the hood up and retracted his arms into the sleeves, curling his knees to his chest and chewing on the ends of the hoodie strings.

The fabric smelled like the Noceda house.

Hunter buried his face in his arms, his stomach nauseous.

I want to go home.

Hunter drifted off into a half-dazed dream, voices from coven guards floating in and out.

The Golden Guard is just a kid.

Whoof. He doesn’t look too good.

You think he’s sick?

What is he wearing?

Hunter blearily opened his eyes. Ugh—his head was still throbbing, little pulses of pain emanating from the back of his head where he’d hit the bedframe. Hunter shuffled to his first aid kit, pulling out a pain patch and slapping it on the back of his neck. The pain in his head subsided, but the disoriented, displaced feeling stayed.

“Golden Guard.”

Hunter flinched at Belos’ voice, turning around to see his uncle looking down at him, and casting an irritated glance at the messy heap that was his uniform. Hunter drooped. “Sir…”

“What. Are you wearing.”

Hunter tugged at the ends of his hoodie sleeves. “I just thought—that if I was staying up here anyway,” he said in a small voice, “and if I wasn’t going to leave, that it didn’t really… matter what I wore?”

Belos’ lip curled. “Put your uniform back on. Then you will join me. There is something I want you to see.”

Belos swept out, and Hunter sat down on his bed with a whump, still dazed and groggy. He stared bleakly at his uniform, then started to change with a sigh. Was there any point in resisting? He couldn’t run away, he couldn’t get back to the human realm. Maybe… maybe if he just stopped acting up, things could go back to the way they’d been. Belos would stop being angry for running away eventually, if he just behaved himself. If he proved that he could still be loyal, if he could prove that he was still useful… maybe he would be able to leave the keep again. He could work on getting his palisman back. He just had to get back into Belos’ good graces.

Hunter folded the human clothes up neatly, burying his face in the hoodie for a minute, then pushing the pile back under the bed. He poked his head out into the hallway, where Belos was waiting.

“Come along, Hunter.”

Hunter trudged next to his uncle, zoning out as they passed through hallways until they came to the dungeon. Hunter blinked, swallowing hard. Well, he hadn’t thought life could get much worse, but apparently, Belos didn’t care about appearances anymore.

But Belos led him to the very back, to a solitary cell.

“I thought you’d like a reminder of your time in the human realm,” Belos purred.

Hunter peered in the cell, and his heart stopped in his chest.

Vee.

Chained to the wall, bruises showing on her face.

He shook himself, forcing himself to think through it. No, that was Luz, not Vee. Which wasn’t ideal either, but he knew Luz could handle herself. “What—what is she doing here?”

“She’s attempting to build a portal. I want to know how close she is.” Belos put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him towards the cell. “And you are going to find out for me. After all, you’re some sort of human expert now, hm? You spent time inside of her home, you know her family.” Belos held out his coven staff. “Prove to me that you are still loyal. Prove that you can leave the people in the human realm behind. Find out about her portal by any means possible. Perhaps if I see you can be trusted, I’ll even return your palisman to you.”

That clicked in Hunter’s numb mind. Prove his loyalty—even if he wasn’t sure about it himself, doing this could get that loyalty back, right? Prove he was useful, prove that Belos could still use him, and then he could get back to some semblance of normal. He couldn’t get back to the human realm—he might as well stop moping about it and make the best of his situation.

But that was Camila’s daughter!

That was Luz, the first person to be nice to him!

It didn’t help that she and Vee were identical.

Prove that you can be trusted.

Xxx

Luz lifted her head as the cell door creaked open. “Back for more?” she quipped shakily.

Hunter shuffled in, closing the door behind him. “Uh. Hey.”

“Oh, are we playing good cop, bad cop? Warden Wrath was the bad cop, now you’re the good cop? Fun.”

Hunter looked down at the ground, his knuckles white on his coven staff. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said softly, “Please just tell me about your portal.”

“Ehehehe, no.” Luz twirled a finger in the air. “Props to you for asking nicely, though, that is a nice change.” She glanced at Hunter. “Hey—you okay?” his face was pale, way too pale, and his eyes didn’t seem… quite focused. Then she spotted the healing patch on his neck. “Whoa, what happened to you?”

“I’m supposed to be asking the questions.”

“What, I can’t express concern for my jailer?”

His hands shook. “You’re in a much worse position, here. You’re not looking great, either.”

“Well, yeah. I’m the prisoner. Hunter. Seriously. Are you okay?”

Hunter glanced at the door. “I’m fine. Everything is fine.”

Right, that was a big fat lie.

“I—I met your mother.”

Luz felt a steely cold settle over her soul. “If you’ve hurt her I will—”

“No! I…” Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t do this. Luz. Please. It is really, really, really important to me that you tell me about your portal.”

There was a certain kind of desperation in his voice that made Luz pause. “…Hunter?” she asked quietly, “What happened?”

He glanced back at the door again. “I—I went to the human realm,” he said in a low voice, “I met Camila and Vee.”

Luz’s eyes widened. “And? Are they okay?”

“They’re fine.” He hesitated, then took a deep breath. “I stayed with them for a while, but Belos came to take me back, and everything since then has just been… he has my palisman, Luz.” Hunter’s chest heaved frantically, and he ran a hand through his hair. “He has my palisman, and I keep making him really mad, and Kikimora-!”

“Hey—Hunter—whoa—deep breaths.”

He looked like he might just be sick on the floor of her cell, but he inhaled deeply.

Man. She couldn’t just leave him like that—and she definitely didn’t want Lil Rascal to get hurt. “Okay. Look. Hunter. You can tell Belos that I’m nowhere close to finishing that portal, and I’m nearly out of titan’s blood, anyway.”

He squinted at her. “Is that the truth?”

Actually, she still had a good amount of titan’s blood left, but Belos didn’t need to know that. “Unfortunately, yes. Hunter, look—I hope you get your palisman back. I really do. But also… I’ve broken out of here before. I’ll do it again. Just… don’t try to stop me when I do, okay? I don’t want to hurt you, I think you’re dealing with enough right now. But I will fight to escape. I can promise you that.”

He rubbed his arms. “I tried to run away,” he admitted in a whisper, “It… didn’t go well. Best of luck, but… don’t get your hopes up. If Belos wants you to stay here, you won’t be going anywhere.”

Xxx

Hunter blankly watched Red hop around his room. He should have felt happy he’d gotten his palisman back. Or at the very least, he should have felt relieved.

But he just felt tired. He’d won this time. He’d gotten Red back safe and sound, he hadn’t even had to hurt Luz to get the little bird.

But it wasn’t over, he knew that. This was just a respite until Belos confiscated his palisman again, or Kikimora decided she wanted to hurt him again, or Belos decided he wanted something else.

And it was just going to keep on going.

Best behavior. Prove he was trustworthy, banish the lingering feelings from his time in the human realm. He could do this—he’d always had to claw his way to the top, he could do it again.

He heard yelling and explosions outside, and he went to the window. A small figure in a blue cape was running for the walls, knocking out coven guards right and left. Luz.

Hunter leaned on the windowsill with a small smile, watching her progress. She made it all the way to the walls, and slapped down a glyph, a pillar of ice rocketing her towards the top.

Only for an attack from Kikimora to knock her off. He winced as she hit the ground, and coven guards grabbed her arms, dragging her back inside. The smile faded from his face, and he closed the window.

Red warbled sadly, and Hunter sighed.

“Yeah. I hoped she’d make it, too.”

He waited about an hour, then rifled through his first aid kit, pulling out a few pain patches. He slowly pushed the door open, checking both ways for anyone coming down the hallway, then crept out, palisman on his shoulder. He snuck through the hallways and down to the dungeon, unlocking Luz’s cell door with a creak, and slipping inside, checking one more time for guards.

She lifted her head when he came in, wincing. “Oh. Heyyyyyy. Are we… doing another interrogation?”

“Shh.” Hunter pulled up her sleeve, putting a few pain patches on her arm, then rolling the sleeve back down. “Those should make it hurt less,” he whispered, “They’re more effective if you put ‘em on the back of your neck, but Belos or one of the guards would see it there.” He shuffled back, rubbing his arm. “Sorry I can’t do more, but I… I’d get in really big trouble.”

She managed a faint grin. “Awwwww thankssss, Hunter. You’re not… such a bad guy.”

Hunter glanced out the little window in the cell door. Still no one out there. Of course, Belos could be watching at any moment, but he was pretty certain that he would have heard an angry voice telling him to get out if he was. “Do you think… isn’t Amity Blight going to come for you?”

Luz shook her head. “I… was on a solitary training retreat… to the Knee… my friends won’t expect me back for a while.” She blinked at him. “Thanks for… for helping me.”

“’s not a lot.” Hunter turned to go. “I’ll leave you alone, now. In case you want to try escaping again.”

“No, wait!”

He paused at the door, looking back at her.

“Stay and talk to me? How’s my mom?”

Hunter sat down on the floor, crisscross with his hands on his ankles. “She misses you. She wants you to come home. But she and Vee are… they’re happy, I think.”

“Yeah?”

“Your mom, she… she took me in. Even after she found out I was your enemy. She was nice to me. I… I was happy there.”

“Why’d you come back?”

Hunter shook his head. “Didn’t have a choice. Belos came for me, and if I hadn’t come… he just would have hurt your mom and taken me back anyway. He can go to the human realm whenever he wants, he has the door, and he has enough blood in the key to go back as many times as he needs to drag me back.”

Luz was quiet for a moment. “What if… he didn’t have the key?”

“Wh-What?”

“If we got the key away from him—”

Hunter stood up so fast it made his head spin. “I can’t steal the key! Are you insane?!”

“Insanely clever! Ah, come on, I’ve tricked him before.”

Hunter shook his head. “I want to escape. Not get myself killed. Or worse.” He went to the door. “The sooner you come to terms with the truth, be better off you’ll be. We’re both stuck here—or at least, you are until your friends realize you’re missing. If you keep trying to escape, you’ll just keep getting hurt. Belos doesn’t let prisoners go.”

Hunter left the cell, closing and locking the door behind him. He turned around, and yelped. “E-emperor Belos!”

His uncle shook his head. “Hunter, what are you doing down here?”

“Getting… the human… to trust me?” he tried.

Belos held a hand out. “Palisman.”

Hunter grabbed Red, holding him close. “I swear I wasn’t going to help her escape, I promise!”

“Palisman, Hunter. I don’t want to keep taking your pet, but if you keep proving you can’t be trusted, then I have no choice.”

Hunter backed up, pressing his back to the cell door and squeezing his eyes shut.

“Hey, goop man!” Luz called from inside of the cell, “Leave him alone! I’m the problem!”

Belos glanced in the cell. “Quiet.”

“No! You leave Hunter alone, he didn’t do anything!”

Xxx

Luz waited, holding her breath. She was not going to be the reason Hunter or his palisman got hurt—he’d just been trying to help her.

Belos’ eye stared into her cell. “Are you really so eager to rush your own petrification, human?”

“Oh, please, is that supposed to be scary? You’ve already failed to kill me several times.”

Belos straightened. “If you two enjoy each other’s company so much, why don’t you have a little sleepover together?” he said in a voice steely with rage. Luz heard a yelp from Hunter, and then the sound of a door locking. “No—wait—Uncle, I promise I won’t come down again, don’t—”

“Goodnight, Hunter.”

The dungeon door closed behind Belos, plunging them into darkness.

Luz could hear ragged breathing from the cell next to hers. Oh, boy. Not again. “Hey—Hunter, buddy. Deep breath. Deep breath, buddy. You’re okay. I’m right over here. It’s just a dark cell, it’ll be okay. Deep breath.” She heard Lil Rascal’s chirp. “Hey, wait, you still have your palisman? Just break out!”

“Why, so Belos can catch me and lock me up somewhere else?” Hunter snarled miserably.

“Oh. Yeah. At least here you’ve got company, eh?”

She heard a deep sigh.

Xxx

“Hey. I’m sorry I got you in trouble.”

Hunter leaned against the wall. “I haven’t been out of trouble since I got back here.”

Luz chuckled. “That doesn’t sound like you, golden boy.”

“Thanks for… for standing up for me. If he’d taken Red away again I—” Red snuggled against him, and Hunter scratched the palisman’s head. “Luz? Why did you—why did you run away from home?”

Luz was quiet for a moment. “I… I wasn’t trying to run away. Not really. I always planned on going back, I just… everything happened so FAST, and then I’d destroyed the portal—or I thought I did, anyway. I just… I never fit in. Guess it sounds like a pretty silly reason to run away to you, huh?

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It’s just—I mean—I love my mom a lot. And I know she tries her hardest. And I did feel bad about leaving her behind—it was just that the rest of my world… I didn’t fit in, and I wanted something more. But Belos is horrible to you. I’d understand if you wanted to run away.”

Hunter curled his knees up to his chest. “It wasn’t always like this. It used to be—well, better. He wasn’t ever as caring or kind as Camila, but he… he wasn’t this bad. But then I ran away to the human realm, and I just… He’s really upset, you know? Like I’m sure your mom is, too. It’ll settle down eventually, I guess, he can’t be mad forever. It would probably help if I stopped getting into trouble.”

Luz was quiet for a moment. “But what if it shouldn’t settle down?”

“What?”

“Hunter, you don’t have to take this! Fight back!”

Hunter shook his head, nauseous at the thought. “It’s not… You can do that, Luz, you live in a world where a—a plucky attitude can get you out of a bad situation, and good wins, and the power of friendship or whatever can do anything. That’s not how it is for me, Luz. If I keep standing up, I’m just going to keep getting knocked down. It doesn’t matter what the issue is, the fight doesn’t end until I’ve lost. I can’t win, Luz.”

“So you’re just going to give up?”

“Yeah, okay? I’m giving up. It’s not just about me anymore—I have to watch out for Red, too. If I keep fighting back, Belos will hurt me, he’ll hurt Red—it’s just not worth it.”

“But—”

“I’m done talking about it, Luz.”

“Fine.”

There was a small explosion from the cell next to him, and Luz burst out into the open with a small grin. “What if you didn’t have to be here?”

Hunter’s heart started to thud in his chest. “Wh-what?”

Luz drew a glyph on the floor, and vines erupted from the ground, ripping his cell door off of its hinges. “I’m breaking you out, Mr. Tragic, let’s go!”

“I—I can’t, he’ll catch us!”

Luz shrugged. “Oh, well.” She drew another glyph, and a block of ice rose up, encasing him.

“Hey! What are you doing?”

“Kidnapping you!” Luz slapped a fire glyph on the back of the ice block, and Hunter shot forward towards the door, Luz clinging to the back.

“Stop it! You’re going to get us both in trouble!”

“Belos’ fault, really, for leaving you down there with me.”

They shot up the stairs, and Red fluttered after them, turning into its staff form. Luz grinned. “Good idea!”

She used a plant glyph to tie Hunter’s ice block to the staff and sat on it. “Let’s go!”

“Traitor,” Hunter grumbled to his palisman, but hope fought his panic. Luz had nearly made it last time—and with his palisman, she had a way to get over the wall.

They zoomed through the hallways, Luz immobilizing coven guards along the way. Hunter’s heart pounded, leaping up to his mouth. They were going to make it—this time, they were really going to—

A blast of magical energy barely missed Luz, and she dove to the side, glaring down at Kikimora, who was standing next to Belos, her finger smoking. “Hey!” Luz yelled angrily, “I’ve got Hunter—you really going to risk me dropping him?”

For a moment, just a moment, Hunter thought he saw Belos hesitate. But then he nodded to Kikimora, and another energy blast slammed into Luz, knocking her out of the sky and severing the vines securing Hunter to the staff.

Wind whipped past his face as he fell, but he barely even noticed, his mind numb.

Belos would let him die rather than escape.

Red dove down with a shriek, slamming into the ice block so hard it broke. Hunter grabbed the staff, hanging on for dear life as he scrambled to get into a sitting position. Then he angled the staff down. “GO!”

They dove down towards Luz as she fell, wind whistling in his ears. They shot past her, and Hunter pulled up. Luz slammed into him, and they plummeted again, Red straining to hold them both up. They skidded into the courtyard, tumbling to a stop, and Hunter flopped on the ground with a groan, Luz unconscious on the ground.

Belos glided over, peering down at him as coven guards hauled Luz away again. “Excellent work, Hunter.”

“I almost died!” The words burst out of his mouth before he could stop them. “You were going to let me die!”

“I knew you could handle it,” Belos said dismissively. His eyes glinted. “Besides, I won’t negotiate with rebels, and she should learn that.” He started to walk back towards the keep. “Clean yourself up, you look a mess.”

Red tweeted anxiously, hopping up to him.

Hunter hauled himself into a sitting position with a wince, picking up the bird. “’m okay.”

Red chirped again, glancing in the direction the guards had taken Luz.

“I know—I want her to get out, too, but I just… I don’t think she can make it out of these walls, the perimeter is just too secure.”

Hunter watched after Belos, the gears in his mind quietly clicking.

But what if there were a way for her to escape without ever leaving the walls?

Xxx

Luz was half asleep when she heard it. A thump and a yelp from the guard that Belos had permanently posted, then the click of a key in a lock. She somehow just knew from the sound that it was Hunter, even before he poked his head in.

“Okay, we’re getting out of here.” He unlocked her from the wall, and she fell, her legs wobbly. “Whoa!” He caught her, lowering her gently to the floor and pulling out a couple of the pain patches he’d used before, pasting them to the back of her neck. “I’m going to get you home.”

“Home?”

Hunter held an arm out, and his palisman fluttered through the door and landed on his arm, the portal key in its mouth. He took the key. “You’re taking the portal out of here, back to Camila. Oh—and I’m coming with you.”

Luz blinked as the aching in her muscles and the throbbing in her head subsided. “How’d you get that? And what about Belos, aren’t you worried he’ll see us?”

“Well, to answer both of your questions…” Hunter winced. “Let’s just say that I set up some traps specifically designed to set off his curse, and Red lured him in.” His face paled, like what he’d done had just now caught up to him. “Ohhhhhhhhhh, he’s going to be so mad.”

“Well, we’ll just have get out of here before his curse recedes,” Luz said confidently. She hauled herself up. “Lead the way!”

They crept through the hallways, Hunter jumping at every sound.

And then Luz heard it.

A drip, drip, drip, and ragged breathing.

Hunter went white as a sheet, and he turned to face the noise, jabbing one finger behind him. “Down the hallway, giant doors, can’t miss it. I’ll misdirect him and meet you there.”

“Hunter are you—”

“Go!”

Xxx

Hunter took a deep breath and tucked Red and the key into his pocket as Belos shambled towards him, the ooze of the curse dripping on the floor.

“U-uncle Belos, you shouldn’t be out like this, let me help you get somewhere—”

“The human,” Belos rasped, “She’s escaped. I can feel it. And your palisman is helping her.”

“Then she’s—she’s probably outside, again, making another go at the walls, we should—”

“No. She’s… trying to return home. She has the key.”

Hunter ran around the emperor, standing in front of him. “But she doesn’t want to go home! She likes it here, besides, why would she be so stupid as to head deeper into the keep, that doesn’t make any sense, it makes way more sense for her to have stolen the key for the blood in it and she’s probably going to keep trying to make her portal, I mean—”

“Step aside, Hunter.”

Hunter backpedaled, keeping himself between Belos and the throne room door. “Really, we should go to the walls and look for her, she tends to make a mess of the guards, and—”

Belos’ curse lashed out, throwing him against the wall. Hunter collapsed in a dazed heap, blinking stars out of his eyes. “I said to step aside,” Belos growled. He put one hand on Hunter’s head. “Just stay down, Hunter. I can still pretend you had nothing to do with this. You don’t have to implicate yourself with her.”

He strode towards the door, leaving Hunter crumpled on the ground. He slowly pulled out the key, clutching it tightly.

She’s… trapped.

Xxx

Luz hopped from one foot to another. “C’mon, Hunter, where are you?”

The door creaked open, and she brightened. “Hunter?”

“I’m afraid Hunter will not be joining us,” Belos’ voice oozed.

A chill ran down Luz’s spine. “What did you do to him?” she demanded.

“You and your family turned him against me,” Belos hissed, “I’m sure it will distress him, but you must be eliminated.”

Luz backed up, reaching for her glyphs. “I’m not so easy to take down!”

Belos tilted his head. “Maybe not. But there’s someone else who posed an even greater influence on him—perhaps you will escape.” The emperor leaned in. “But I know exactly where to find your mother and the basilisk.”

There was a thump, and a singular boot thudded to the ground, bouncing off of the back of Belos’ head. He turned around. “What—”

In a flash of gold, Hunter appeared just above Belos, his palisman in its staff form and cackling with red electricity. Hunter swung the staff, catching Belos right in the mask. Belos fell, and Hunter landed, breathing heavily. “Don’t—you—touch—them—” he snarled.

Luz crowed, half-tackling him in a hug. “You did it!”

“Huh?”

“You stood up to him, Hunter, you fought back!”

He glanced down at Belos, face pale. “… I did. Oh, titan. I am so dead.”

“Then let’s get out of here!”

Hunter clicked the key, and the portal hummed, opening up. Luz raced back into the human realm, turning back. “Come on!”

Hunter was busy tugging on his shoe, hopping on one foot. “Hang on—”

He took a step forward, then stopped, his eyes widening and darting down.

Luz glanced at his feet.

They were covered in Belos’ cursed mud, holding him in place. The emperor groaned

Luz started forward. “Hang on, I’m coming, Hunter!”

He held his hand out. “No! If you set foot back here, he’ll get you, too!”

“I’m not just going to leave you!”

Hunter held up his staff. “Take care of Red.”

Luz felt tears press at the corners of her eyes. “Hunter—”

Hunter tossed the staff through the air, and Luz caught it, catching the palisman as it transformed. “Are you sure?”

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut, turning his face away. “Belos will kill it if it stays. And I… I don’t want it to see this.”

Red shrieked shrilly, snapping and clawing at Luz’s hands, struggling to get back to its witch.

“Hunter, just hang on,” Luz begged, “I can help you get out—we’re escaping together!”

Hunter shook his head. “Belos can’t have the portal. We can’t risk it.” His voice cracked, and he pulled out the key again. He clicked it, throwing it through the portal as it closed. “Say hi to Vee and Camila for me.”

The key clanked to the ground in front of Luz.

And the portal was gone.

Xxx

Hunter watched once again as the portal closed, trapped on the wrong side.

Emperor Belos rose up behind him with a growl, his face melting and reforming and melting and reforming. The cursed mud on Hunter’s feet crept up further, oozing and cold, but also burning at the same time, like acid wherever it touched him.

“You,” Belos growled, “are a horrible, disobedient child.”

Hunter squeezed his eyes shut, his hands clenching into fists. “Then get rid of me,” he challenged.

The mud crept all the way up to his neck.

“No, I don’t think so. I have a much better way to keep you in line.”

Cursed mud covered Hunter’s mouth and nose, and his back arched instinctively. He held his breath as long as he could, but his lungs forced him to open his mouth, and the curse crept in, filling his lungs. Hunter choked and screamed, and then he was falling into an inky black sea. He clawed for the surface.

Willful child, a voice whispered, Just submit. Give in. Won’t that be easier than fighting?

No matter how hard he swam, Hunter couldn’t—reach—the top—

You cannot win this fight. Just give in, and it will all be over.

Despair swept over Hunter, and he let himself sink.

Maybe… it is… easier…

He didn’t know long he was there, sinking into the darkness.

Time was irrelevant.

At least nothing hurt him here. It was just… endless nothingness.

At least it was until a shaft of light pierced through the darkness, and a voice called his name.

Ch 7

#this one is so long asdfghjkl #toh #the owl house #toh fanfiction #my writing #luz noceda #toh hunter #emperor belos #tw: child abuse #tw: emotional manipulation #the golden guard #kikimora

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