#also pearl uses meters instead of feet

[mumblesplash]

hahaha i actually did decide! and you can tell (the last bullet points on both sides were written by the same person and bigb was the one with the marker at the beginning)

mean gills + nosy neighbors = gossip squad

[tinypixl]

Rigged

Part of @inkyquince Omega Hunt collab 🎉

Pairing(s): Alpha!Remy (m) x Omega!Reader (f)

(Implied Omega!Robin (f) x Omega!Reader (f))

Warnings/Additonal Info: 18+ smut, Non-con, Afab reader (no pronouns), Discrimination, General Omegaverse Stuff, Predator/Prey, Mentions of blood & injury, Implied wlw reader, Mentions of whips, Slight violence, Breeding/Impreg mention, Rough sex, Condescension, Choking, Slight mention of vomit, Implied kidnapping, Bratty/Defiant!Reader

You used to have a certain kind of ritual back when you were younger, back when everything had still been okay in your narrow worldview.

Delicate feet would sneak out of different bed, climb out of a different window, lie down onto different grass in the dark of the night. Once there, you would close your eyes and wait. Until tiny, cool droplets gently hit your former small face like liquid pearls. A soft smile tugging on the corners of your lips. It had given you a feeling you couldn't quite describe, but it was peaceful.

Even after your former life had been ripped out of your hands it had been your comfort. One that you shared. How could you not? So it had been the comfort of both of you two. Sneaking out of smaller beds, tiptoeing through the dark halls instead of climbing out of a window and lying down outside in the darkend garden hand in hand, as the rain would caress your skin. It was peaceful, it felt like home.

After you had ran you tried to recreate the same scenario again. Again, sneaking out of a larger bed, finally being able to climb out of a window again and lying down onto... not quite grass. Then, you waited until you felt the touch of the cool water on your face again. It had been peaceful, it felt like home. But that time something was missing.

Your hand tingles, the cheap metal around your neck feeling heavy.

~

Everything seemed to happen so fast. Too fast for your brain to really process it. The mayor's voice rang through the area. The time was ticking for all of you. Your mind went through your backup-plan on repeat. All the while, shoulders bumped into you left and right, trying to make the most of what little time they had left. You didn't follow them. Your form quiverd, your throat was dry and everything felt so sensitive. Your irritated eyes tried to adjust to the darkness, greedliy taking in the blurry picture, looking around frantically.

Until

You finally spotted her. Standing there, frozen just a few meters away from the cages. Whatever these bastards had given you must have hit her hard.

"ROBIN!!"

She showed no reaction to your call.

Not daring to waste another second you grab her by the wrist and pull her along into the dark woods before you. In a direction no one else had ran to. Robin shakily looked up.

"Remember what I told you...", you breathed. Her thick sugary scent tingling your senses.

Hungry gazes on both of your backs, you disappear beyond the trees.

It was so unfortunate that your urgency had made you fail to spot a certain familiar face among the crowd.

~

The chilly midnight air whizzed past your quivering forms. Both of the twin lockets around your necks trailing behind you as you fled through the darkness. A smell of wet tree trunks, sweat and sugar perpetuated the air around you. You thought you could hear the distressed screams of the other omegas in the distance. Robin was also having a visibly hard time keeping up the pace you set, trailing almost completely behind you, stumbling a few times.

She panted heavily, exhaustion as well as something else thick in her voice:

"W-wait... I... I can't...keep... w-we need to..."

She collapsed before she could finish her sentence. Your heart jumped in your chest. Instantly coming to a halt, you knelt down beside her. It was only now that you'd realize the taste of coppper on your tounge. Lips bitten bloody in a vain to ignore the ever growing flame in your gut, which seemed to flare up even more as you gazed upon Robin's tired, flushed expression, moonlight illuminating her in a tinge of grey-blue.

"God... are you okay?", you queried in a hushed tone. Not like you could make a louder sound with your throat as dry as it was. A guilty feeling overcame you. She would be safe if you had planned this better.

You tried to lift her head slightly, but your hands dug into your wrist painfully. Everything suddenly got hotter and it took everything in you to keep yourself together. Robin shook and gasped in your arms.

"Do... you... smell that?", she croaked and it instantly hit you like a truck. A heavy musk lingering in the air around you. It seemed familiar but you couldn't quite put your finger on it. It numbed your own mind for a slim second. A whimper fell from your lips and you supressed the urge to call out. Behind the lust, fear pricked at you painfully. It was enough to push yourself through it.

"Fuc-kkk.. we need to go!", you whisper-yelled to Robin just before hastily pulling her up.

You tried your hardest to keep up a steady pace. Leaves and small branches crunching beneath your feet while two sweating hands held onto each other for dear life. It was difficult to breathe, sides aching and lungs burning, telling your body to slow down. You prayed to whatever was out there that your legs wouldn't give in. Robin heaved beside you and you took another look at her panic stricken expression. Memories, promises coursed through your mind, which caused you to squeeze her hand tighter.

A platter of fast approaching footsteps snapped you out of your thoughts. A familiar musk dancing around both of your nostrils promising relief. You didn't listen. Fear seemed to pulse in every vein of your body causing you to pick up the pace, narrowly dodging a nearby tree as you did. Your feet pounded over the muddy forest ground.

All of a sudden, Robin was yanked from your grip, screaming. You stopped dead in your tracks to wip your head into her direction. A clearly distressed Robin was being held up by a figure you couldn't quite make out in the dark. It send a surge of rage down your spine, fists balling up as you tried to supress a snarl. Just as you were about to charge towards them however, your head whipped back painfully.

Something around your throat constricted your airway and you could only pathetically grasp at it as you fell backwards onto the hard ground. A low chuckle rang behind you:

"Well what do we have here?"

Your eyes shot wide open. You'd recognise that smug voice anywhere. The universe was making some kind of sick joke, right?

It had only been a few weeks ago when you and Alex fought off his goons, as well as Bailey's thugs again that day in a victory that had been going on for 5 months at that point. No fields lost. Alex and you had fallen into each others arms, covered in grime and dirt, laughing. You had spotted him out of the corner of your eye on a steed upon the top of the hill he always stood and watched, waiting for your fields to light ablaze. You thought that you had seen him look at you in particular at that very moment, his green eyes narrowing before riding of.

Your hands still fruitlessly tugged on the whip around your throat.

"R-rat... bas- gh-...-tard!", you croaked as well as your voice would allow you to.

You caught a glint of Remy grinning down at you in the dark. Beside him, you noticed two other figures, standing at each side. Of course he wouldn't arrive without help.

"Not even a proper greeting? How ill-mannered.", he scoffed.

You refused to answer, keeping the angry expression on your face but on the inside you were panicking, remembering the disgusting shit you had seen on his farm the few times you had snuck in there.

Robin was still whimpering beside you. A pathetic sound that ripped at your heart. This was not the fate she deserved because of a mistake that you had made.

"Let... reuggh... her go...please", you choked.

Remy chuckled:

"As you wish..."

He looked towards the person holding Robin. The other alpha dropped Robin onto the ground, who looked at you with fear. You nodded, a confirmation that you would be okay, hoping she would make it to the cottage. She didn't waste a second and started sprinting. The other alpha went after her. Remy shook his head behind you with a lighthearted chuckle. As if humouring the silly antics of an old friend.

It clicked in your head. They were playing with her. This was part of their sick game... of course it was. Anger made you grind your teeth together. It mixed with your fear and the unwelcome heat, creating an overwhelming mix.

"You know...", Remy's voice rang behind you again:,

"I'm no fool. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Alex's little excuse for a farm only became such a threat to mine after you showed up.." He sounded slightly agitated but hid it well.

Before you could come up with a snarky answer, his hand connected with the back of your skull in a harsh slap. It collided with the mud, hard. Remy didn't follow too late after, caging you beneath him. The musky scent got stronger than ever, sending a shameful jolt through your pussy and making you whimper. You were able to see him clearly now. His flushed face way too close for comfort. That unnerving smile never left his face. He whispered in the shell of your ear:

"You're quite the little menace. Fortunately, I have just the solution for that."

You tried to snap out of your lustful daze, pushing at him weakly. To no avail, the heat caused your body to be frail and worn out.

Remy reached down to undo his pants. You shivered, eyes ripped open wider. Beads of sweat dripped down your forehead. Your right hand frantically grazing around the forest floor as a last ditch effort. Until something sharp pricked your hand. Some honed rock.

"I'm going to break you.", Remy hushed under his breath next to your ear. His hands grasped your denim shorts. It was now or never.

With as much stength as you could muster, you stabbed the rock into his thigh.

He cried out and flung his hands towards the spot you had punctured. Which gave you enough time to stumble to your aching, unsteady feet and start moving. Managing to evade the hands of his goons reaching for you. More yelling ensued behind you.

You felt strained. Branches whipped into your face as you bolted. The heat was getting worse by the second. You barely avoided slipping on a muddy patch. Terror and boiling rage burned in your head. Tears pricked at the corners of your eyes. It should've been obvious that it was stupid to stay. Three pairs of footsteps were getting louder behind you. You should've ran away with Robin sooner. Should've left the city completely. But you didn't want to give up the farm. Didn't want to abandon Alex and leave them at the mercy of Remy's attacks. Looking behind you, Remy and his goons were closing in on you. A sob escaped your lips. You should've been more careful when you snuck into your former home the night before. You should've explained the situation to Robin properly, but there just wasn't any time. A pair of fingers brushed over your hoodie but they failed to grasp anything. You were mad. Mad at this town, it's residents. Mad at the way things are. The unfair battles you had to face because of something you had no control over. An angry roar instinctively broke out of your throat and rang through the night. Though it turned into a loud weep midway through. But for the most part you were angry at yourself. The footsteps got louder. A small voice inside you told you to give up. Another tear ran down your cheek as you blinked. Your aching heart refused. You opened your eyes again and felt the breath in your throat hitch upon the sight before you. You recognized this patch. You recognized it from the first time you had ran from the town. You were close.

Your little heart was beating with a tiny glimmer of newfound hope. If you made it out, you could still have a chance to buy yourself some time... to make it right, to save Robin. Your hand held your locket tightly.

However your optimism was short lived. In a flash, you could feel your feet- no, your whole body losing it's balance. A swift sensation that felt like your stomach leaping into your mouth registered in your mind. Your left ankle twisted painfully as it crashed into the ground again. The top of your torso came next, resulting in a sickening crunch that traveled up your ears. You were sent tumbling down the slope. Leaves and branches hitting you in the face, the vicious rolling making you nauseous.

It finally stopped when you knocked into a tree, hard. You were back on level ground. At least the heat subdued the pain a bit.

And for a moment it was almost peaceful. The sounds or owl in the distance of the trees, the sensation of dirt beneath you, the moonlight shining down on you. It was like the quiet before-

"Wouldn't expect much more from an omega.", one of Remy's lackeys commented a few meters away. Footsteps halted right before you. That same musk dancing in your nostrils. Your head was pulled up by your hair and you came face to face with Remy crouching before you, one hand resting on the wound of his thigh.

"Insolent little terror...", he scolded,:

"You made this harder for everyone, yourself included."

Despite your body having reached it's limit your mind still seethed with silent scorn. You had half the mind to mock him for not even showing up on his own but it would've been a shot into your own leg as he didn't even need the help of his farmhands to catch you. So you opted to just stare up at him in defiance, heaving loudly but not answering. That insufferable smile appeared on his face again.

"But maybe that was your plan. Just being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn. It's fine, nothing we can't correct with a little time.", he mocked and dropped your head into the dirt again.

Hands grasped at your hips pulling them up and shoving your shorts, as well as your underwear down to your knees roughly.

You could hear what sounded like a zipper being undone which send a vile little jolt through your most sensitive parts. Your cunt glistend with slick, as a cockhead pressed into it. You ground you teeth together and held your breath, trying to stifle the little calls that seemed to be so deeply ingrained into your nature, body paralyzed with pain and want.

Remy laughed behind you again. It was louder now, less controlled. He bent down so that his chest was pressed against your back. You could feel him panting. He was good at supressing the rut your sweet little scent had him in.

"Say... do you enjoy making this so hard on yourself?", he tauntingly asked, his cock still not fully sheathed inside of you. His hands traced over your hips in a mock-loving fashion.

You snapped.

"Fuck you! 'Dumb as fuck to bring me to your farm! Gonna make sure to burn down the whole fucking thing this time!", you seethed, unsuccesfully trying to supress a terrified whimper as what you said rendered in the rational part of your mind the moment it slipped out of you.

Without warning he fully enveloped his cock inside you, stretching your insides and eliciting a loud, unwanted moan from you.

He laughed again, even louder this time:

"Oh... I knew it was you who wreaked that havoc. No wonder Bailey wanted to get rid of you so badly."

He started pumping in and out of you as he lifted your head by your hair again.

You gritted your teeth in disgut when you felt his breathy voice closer to your ear:

"They told me a lot about your little shenanigans. You're quite the menace, running away like that, making them look unfit as the omega caretaker. But they knew you would come back for your little friend..."

Your eyes shot open. Your pussy still being relentlessly thrusted into, slick trailing down your inner thighs. This should've been something you expected, it should have... Blunt nails dug into the dirt underneath you. Vile, shameful feelings were growing stronger in your lower regions to your disgust. Tears filled your eyes. They fell onto the small patch of grass before your sight. Guilt crept up your back. Remy's voice got more quiet as he continued:

"But I know what is lurking under that feisty little exterior of yours. You may want to play tough but you can't deny your nature... I saw it right away the first time when you were still hiding on that beta's farm... just a small soft little creature putting on an act to protect itself. You were quite annoying... But I know you will be perfect once you submit, and I do need an heir after all..."

If you weren't panicking before, you definitly were now. Despite your whole body aching, limbs shivering in fear, you fought with what little strength you didn't know you even had left. Kicking shins, arms wildly hitting around, all while mouthing shrill phrases of "Oh no nono, fuck no-". This just confirmed your worst fears. Honestly, a fate of being forced into one of his 'special fields' would've felt more merciful than this to you. The image of being some overprized pet or at best a obedient little housespouse made you gag. This was not what you wanted. This couldn't be futher from what you wanted. It sounded like fucking nightmare!

Remy clicked his tongue in annoyance and, using his body weight forced you flat on the ground, making it hard to even move at all. His cock was pushed deeper into you as a result. You could feel it pulsing inside your heated walls. It made everything hotter and so much worse. His hand crept under your hoodie to roughly grab a handful of your right breast. The index and middle finger of his hand found your teat. He alternated between gently stroking and roughly pinching it. Your hands were griping the dirt so deeply that it started to hurt your nailbeds. All the while his cock continued to rest deep inside you. And you felt ashamed of the fact that the lack of movement frustrated you.

"It's okay... I know omegas can be so emotional sometimes.", Remy cooed beside your ear. The thumb of his other hand gently wiping at the tears and dirt on your cheek. The intimacy felt vile.

"Fuck off...", you sobbed quietly, completely failing to sound tough. Remy just hummed in response. His hand just gently lifting your face into the direction of the end of the forest towards the farmlands, slightly west. Your blurry vision perceived a figure. No... two figures. One slumped over the shoulder of another. It was honestly hard to see in those early hours of morning. They walked into the direction of town and passed by a few meteres beside you. Squinting your eyes, you finally recognized her. Robin. Her clothes hanging down her form in tatteres. Hair messy and in tangles, no necklace decorated her delicate neck anymore. Her arms motionlessly dangling down the back of the alpha who dared to-

Loud, choked sobs rattled through your battered body. The cheap metal aound your neck felt heavy. If it weren't for your empty stomach, you're sure you would have vomited. This was your fault. All of it. You couldn't protect her. You broke your promise...

The painfully calm voice behind you spoke again:

"Oh hush now, you should be relieved. She's in good hands. They're a good friend of mine, neither a brute nor a collector. One of the best fates an omega could be graced with."

Your weeping didn't subside one bit. Remy sighed.

"Not quite convinced? Do you want to know what really happens to the ones that don't get claimed in the hunt?"

You shook your head, just crying harder. Sobs still punctuating your irregular breaths as you buried your head in your arms. Inaudible apologies bubbled from your lips in silent prayer. Remy cooed at you.

The cock inside you started to move again. Slick coated everything just near your pussy. Moans began intertupting your cries now, but you didn't care enough to stop them. Body and mind too exhausted and hot. Groans were audible behind you now. A hand brushed your hoodie up to your armpits. It slightly lifted your bruised torso. A wet mouth latched onto your right breast. Tounge swirling over the rose bud in the middle. A lewd moan fell from your mouth, only slightly muffled by the fabric of your hoodie. Somewhere distantly in your mind, you humoured your wanton response. Cunt clenching around the moving dick while slick gushed out of you. The musk in your nose felt welcome now. Your body acting like this was the only thing it was good for. And you almost believed it in that moment.

The movements got faster, rougher and your pussy greedily obliged, welcoming the pace. You could feel an orgasm slowly building up it's approach.

Your abused nipple got released from it's confinement with a loud pop. Lips instead trailed up your limp body and rested on the juncture between your shoulder and neck. The uncontrolled groans behind you send little vibrations over the sensitive skin there. The sweet tingling promise of release tickled your inner walls.

Nails suddenly dug into your sides. A knot was being pushed into you so deep that it knocked all the air out of your lungs. Sharp teeth sunk into you. A scream ripped through you as your own climax came crashing down on you in that very same moment. Seed spilled inside of your womb.

Your exhausted lungs heaved while your mind was stuck in the afterglow.

The bitten spot throbbed, warm blood gushing out of the small punctures and yet it barely hurt. The aching heat inside your body finally slowly subsided. For now. You laid there, still heaving, with leaves sticking to your sweaty forehead.

The air felt cooler. One tiny, cool droplet gently hit your forehead and ran down the bridge of your nose. Another followed. Then another. You felt mocked.

The weight on top of you shifted. Your body was being lifted and turned so that you laid on your back, cock and knot still buried in your flodded walls. A calloused hand grasped your chin gently but firmly. Green orbs seemed to analyze your face. He looked odd like this, not as put together as usual. You just stared back blankly, laboured breaths being the only sounds coming from you. A slight smirk adorned his bloody lips. Your blood.

"Let's get you home."

[wallwriterstuff]

Hi! Can I please request a Demetri x mate!fem!reader where he finds her (when she’s still human) severely injured, and he can sense she’s his mate, and decides to immediately turn her because he doesn’t want to lose her (I’m sure he wouldn’t take the chance of taking her to the hospital) and when she wakes up, she’s in the Volturi castle. I’m sure it’d be really shocking for her because she didn’t know about the vampires (she thought they were fiction), and now she’s a vampire and has a mate,Demetri. He would be so sweet when he’s helping her adjust!! Ooo what if she woke up as a vampire near Christmas time,and she’s really sad because she was going to spend Christmas with family, but now she’s a vampire, so she can’t, so Dem finds out everything he can about this “human custom” (I feel like he’d call Christmas this lol), and he sets up their room all Christmas like and gets her presents, mistletoe 😘, a tree, etc, and ahhh he would be so sweet, if she could cry, she’d be bawling omg... Also she would so somehow convince him to wear matching Christmas pajamas... And then Felix would walk in to see this LOL

This Thing You Call Christmas ||Demetri Volturi x Female Reader||

Warnings: Graphic descriptions of injury, violence and trauma.

Words: 5391

Summary: When a wrong turn down a dreary alleyway spells disaster for the reader, she finds that Chrismas miracles come in all forms. (I swear despite the warning tags there are some fluffy bits in this.) 

It wasn’t really clear to you what had happened for several moments after the event. One moment you had simply been jogging to reach the end of an alleyway that had creepier vibes than an abandoned psychiatric ward, and the next you were…hot. Too hot. Just for a moment. So hot in fact you could feel how cool the breeze was on your skin. Everything in that one brief moment was so heightened and yet so confusing, your blood roaring in your ears and your mouth spouting protest after protest with some not so lady-like words at the man that had shoved you against the wall.

Then an explosion of pain in your side had ricocheted through each and everyone one of your ribs, bursting outward like a small, red hot explosion, the lava leaking out and soaking your shirt, your hip bone. It wasn’t until you looked down and saw the knife embedded in your gut that you understood what had happened. In that brief, infinitesimal moment, the world just stopped. Your jaw dropped, disbelief flooding your system as your eyes met your attackers. He was a scrawny little boy, dirt smudged on his face and clothes utterly ruined, homeless most likely and in desperate enough need of cash he’d stuck you with whatever he could find to get it.

“Please…take the bag just don’t pull out the-“

“Shit!” he swore, yanking the knife free of your abdomen to cut through the leather of your bag handle and steal it away. You cried out, knees giving way beneath you the moment he let you go. Just like that, he’d drastically reduced your chances of escaping this alleyway alive. The ground was cold and wet beneath your knees, typical British weather not on your side to make anything better in this shitty scenario.

“Fuck…f-fuck,” you whimpered, hand pressed to your side as you rapidly lost blood, “H-help! Someone help me! Help me please!” you called out. The wound in your side throbbed, a fiery kind of ache that radiated outward from the focal point and shot through every nerve ending your body possessed purely to torment you as you tried to stand up straight. Blood was seeping through the gaps in your fingers, your shirt soaked with it as you collapsed sideways into the wall. Gritting your teeth, you used your other arm to try and lever yourself up, hobbling forward a few steps. Every step was agony and you could feel the colour draining form your face, your heart beating hard in your chest as adrenaline pounded through your veins.

No matter how loud you cried out nobody seemed to hear your desperation. No matter how many steps you took the mouth of the alleyway seemed to get further away, or maybe it was your vision starting to tunnel, who knew? Your legs gave out and you hit the floor hard, face crunching into the cement and nose shattering upon impact. More blood burst over your face, hot and fresh, and your vision began to blacken at the edges. Gasping for air, tears stung your eyes. This was not how your life was supposed to end. You were young, only 22, you had so much to live for yet that you hadn’t been able to achieve or see or do. Bleeding out in an alleyway because of a mugging gone wrong? Not your idea of a good way to go out. Christmas was just around the corner, you were supposed to go back home and spend it with family, instead they would have to come to London and peer inside a body bag to identify their daughter.

After that, time became a blur. You had no way of honestly telling what happened next, the world going dark as you descended further and further into the pits of hell. It had to be hell, didn’t it? That was where the pits of flame swallowed you whole to torture you for eternity, right? You hadn’t stopped burning since you closed your eyes, a red hot poker too big for your veins being forced through them at an agonisingly slow speed, splitting nerve endings and peeling away your flesh inch by inch. The screams in your own head were deafening and you were sure the devil must have enjoyed watching you writhe on his table. The raging inferno just didn’t go away either. You weren’t sure what was worse, the intensity of the burn or the fact you actually started to get used to it.

That relief was never going to last, not when the devil liked to torture his victims. The fire began receding from extremities first, the tips of your fingers going blissfully cool, tingling with numbness as the flames dissipated and feeling began to return. It was like being submerged in cold water and you welcomed the blissful feeling, but even that was accompanied by a worse kind of pine, a searing, blistering agony in your chest that was eating away at your rabbiting heart. It was gone as quickly as it came, and for a second you forgot how to breathe, the air stolen from your lungs at the sudden, intense relief. No more fire, no more burning. With a sigh you finally unscrewed your eyes, or at least, it felt like you had kept them clenched shut for a thousand years at that point. There was no ache in your jaw though you were sure you had screamed, no pain in your body lingering from the torment it had gone through.

The only problem was how sensitive you felt. After burning for so long your body was reacting to everything, senses heightened to the point the world seemed surreal. The air was ripe with a thousand smells, your tongue tingling with the taste of each one and your eyes were so laser-focused on everything all at once it was difficult to focus on any one thing. Beneath your fingers you could feel every strand of cotton that made up the dark sheets you were lying on. Where even were you? This was…it wasn’t a hospital bed, too plush and the colours to deep for the neutral tones of a sickroom. There was expensive looking wooden furniture with rich, dark tones and photographs and a fireplace made of stone.

“It is a relief to see you awake.”

One moment you were relishing in the softness of sheets and sinking into a heavenly mattress, and the next you were flat against the wall across from you, your spine crunching through the stone even though it should have been the other way around. Your wide eyes looked down at the chunks of stone near your feet, the dust settling on your shoulders, and then you tried to estimate the distance between you and the bed. It was easily four meters. How had you crossed four meters in such a short time span? Don’t even start on your posture right now. Since when did you crouch and bare your teeth at people like that? It was like a deep, animalistic urge had taken over, your senses still screaming danger as you tried to take in all the new information, the new man.

He was tall, broad-shouldered, with the sharpest jawline you had ever seen on a man. The crystalline quality of his skin was equally as distracting, it was almost pearlescent he was so pale, and it distracted you just long enough that you didn’t notice the redness of his irises till after you had already become fascinated with starring at him. Chestnut brown hair looked soft enough to run your fingers through, golden strands interwoven and reflecting the minimal light coming in from the window. He wore a suit, the very definition of elegance as he sat back in a leather armchair and watched you carefully, like he was a talent-show judge maybe trying to decide if you were worth his time.

“Who are – oh.” You blinked, pulled out of your defensive stance by the sound of your voice. It was you but it…wasn’t. How could you sound so soprano sweet? It was almost like you had swallowed sugar and it was now sprinkled throughout your words. His head tilted, a smile pulling at full, pink lips to reveal the briefest flash of pearl white teeth.

“A man who means you no harm, I assure you. There are a lot of changes you need to be made aware of, things I do not expect you to fully believe right away but need you to know are true. Will you give me the time to explain once we have gotten you fed?” he asked. Fed? You wanted to ask what he meant because you weren’t honestly all that hungry, but his words reignited the fire in your body. Your throat was absolutely parched, ripping itself apart for any sort of relief. With a gasp you doubled over, hand flying to your throat like you might just be able to rip the pain out.

“I – w-what d-did you – gah!” you rasped. A large, warm hand found your shoulder, and though the touch of a stranger should have felt foreign and wrong it was relieving, soothing.

“You will focus much better once you have fed. Wait right here, I promise you it will be over soon.” He reassured you with a gentle rubbing motion on your shoulder. You weren’t too sure you could have moved even if you wanted to, your mind going haywire as the intense fire burned brighter, blazing through your throat. Water, you needed water. Stumbling towards the bright white porcelain of a bathroom, you threw the door open wider and gasped when the wood shattered against the tiles. It was difficult to think beyond the burning in your throat though as you forced the tap to turn on, trying to gulp down water in the hopes it might soothe your throat some. Gallons must have washed down your throat by the time the handsome stranger returned, and what came next was…a blur.

Everything was euphoric, and hazy, a fog slowly lifting from your mind. The sound of dripping water leaked into your consciousness, your nose smelling something incredibly rich and sweet that made your throat ache – the burn was thankfully gone. Though your ears and nose seemed to be working your eyes were not. All you could see was red, dark crimson coating the walls and, if your reflection was to be believed, you. It dripped from your chin, coating your lips a ruby red and staining the pretty black dress you had been wearing in large swatches. The handsome stranger was stood in the doorway, watching you with a hint of amusement in his irises. It took you a fraction of a second to understand where the red drenching had come from. A woman who might once have been pretty lay in your arms limp as a ragdoll, drained of all colour with her throat ripped out and trailing along her collarbone.

Her blood was quite literally on your hands.

With a gasp, you dropped her shattered body and almost slipped on the water blanketing the floor, your body righting itself at unnatural speed. You twisted, the horror on your face obvious as a sob ripped its way free of your chest, hands flying up to your mouth as a flurry of terror and guilt and horror washed through you. The tap had been warped, your fingerprints indented into the metal and the top twisted off. Water had flooded the entire bathroom, and as your panic grew more intense your eyes stung as though you wanted to cry, but no tears would come. You could barely breathe, yet you couldn’t feel your heart rabbiting in your chest as you knew it should. The tile shattered beneath your knees as you fell, not a scratch on you as you spotted the second body over the tips of your fingers. Splinters of wood had been soaked by the overflowing tap, the door almost as broken as the bodies at your knees.

“No. N- no, what happened to me?” you cried out, chest heaving as you buried your head in your hands. Within seconds you were enveloped by strong arms, a warm body moving in behind you until you were cradled close, shielded from the damage around you.

“Shhhh sh sh sh, everything is fine cara mia, you did well,” the smooth whisper was like the voice of the devil tempting you to sin further, “This is normal for our kind, this is how we survive, you have done no wrong.” He promised, whispering quiet reassurances while you struggled to calm. Whoever this man was, you should have been afraid of him. He had somehow made you blackout and murder two people, you’d cannibalised them actually, and whatever else he had done to you you were now abnormally strong to. He had made you into some sort of monster, and yet…

“Wh-why?” you sniffled. Why had this happened to you? Why had these two unfortunate souls had to die? Why had you burned so badly for so long? There was lots of questions and so little time to ask them, so many answers you weren’t actually sure you wanted. He was stroking your hair now, his embrace feeling safe and warm; while you were in his arms, you could almost forget about the scene surrounding you.

“Forgive me, I know this is overwhelming, but I could think of no other way to save you. I had to change you my love.” He whispered. Your sobbing had died to sniffles now, and you lifted your head to look up at him, feeling lost and desperate for anything that might make sense. It was all so confusing and the only thing grounding you right now was him, because you could just sense that he was the same as you, only he was much more sure of what he was and his place in the world.

“Change?”

“Yes, change. I had to change you from human, to vampire. The burning you felt was my venom. Please understand I had no choice,” His hand moved from your hair to your cheek, eyes scrutinising your face. “Come, let’s get you cleaned up and we can talk some more, yes?” The word vampire was ricocheting around your brain, your body moving whichever way he wanted to lead it. It was like you had blacked out again, suddenly standing in a much cleaner bathroom as the handsome stranger turned knobs to adjust water that came tumbling out of a luxurious looking waterfall spout above your head. You blinked, shocked to realise that despite not paying attention you could distinctly recall the way he had carefully moved you from room to room with the promise of a hot shower and fresh clothes.

For his part, Demetri was incredibly worried about you. At first he had simply feared his venom wouldn’t take, that he was too late when he found you that awful night, surrounded by your blood and struggling to use the last of the air in your lungs. He’d been attracted by the smell of your blood, not having smelt something quite that strong and alluring in a while. He thought it was his lucky day, a bloodsinger perhaps, but he found you instead, broken and abused, twitching in a pool of crimson – the scent was strong because so much of it had spilled onto the concrete.

Demetri had known from the moment he saw you that you were meant to be his, everything about you screaming to every instinct he had. Your scent teased his nose as one of the best he’d ever come across, your tenor irresistibly bright and warm, the curves of your broken body looking like they were physically molded for his hands to hold. He had never turned anyone before, but it was really the only option he had once he realised he couldn’t rouse you to so much as ask your name. His next worry had been trying to stop. Once his teeth had sunk into your flesh and the sublime taste of you hit his tongue it had been a race against time to hold his position long enough so enough venom could infiltrate your system, all while not draining anymore of the precious little blood you had left. He had almost lost it when he tried to seal your stab wound with his tongue.

You had taken four, agonisingly long days to open those vivid red eyes. He hadn’t been able to focus on anything else, so distracted that Aro had been forced to give him time off so he could sit by your side – and do a bit of hunting on your behalf. Now you were nearly comatose in Felix’s shower, his best friend busy cleaning up his bathroom as best he could so you wouldn’t return to that horror scene. Demetri had known you would be shocked, that it would be a lot to adjust to, you had been ripped from a safe world where monsters like him didn’t exist after all, forced to become one yourself without consent. How was he supposed to explain it all to you? How did he even begin to make you understand the bond that was set between you? You had calmed so quickly in his embrace, a sure sign you felt it to.

“Vampires aren’t real. I know they’re not, but the things I did…you can’t even tell I was stabbed. It shouldn’t be possible, none of it should be.” Your voice was as soft and melodic as windchimes, an addicting song he could listen to on repeat for hours. Demetri had sat as a silent sentry on Felix’s bed, listening for any sign you might be distressed again so he could swoop in and save you. Every little sob had torn at his heart, his arms aching to hold you until it all went away. He gave you a slow nod, patting the space beside him in a silent invitation, one he was glad you accepted. Your scent was unique, comforting, intoxicating. From the moment you sat beside him, it was all he could focus on.

“We are very real love. You are faster and stronger in this body, your senses keener. My venom has immortalised you as you are, unchanging from this day for the rest of eternity.” He informed you, his voice soft so as not to startle you. Newborns were unpredictable, driven by animalistic instinct. Vibrantly red eyes stared back at his for a brief moment before your gaze dipped to your hands. You were wearing one of his shirts, the premium cotton almost swamping you and landing at mid-thigh. The sleeves had covered your hands, and he moved to kneel in front of you to roll them up.

“Your venom?” you asked, eyes watching his every move. Demetri nodded.

“Yes, you have venom to. It coats our teeth to immobilise our prey, and our joints to allow us to move faster than anything else on earth.” He answered honestly. A slow exhale was the only response he got from you as he carefully brushed his fingertips against your arm, desperate for even the smallest amount of contact with you. Every time he touched you he felt his nerve-endings sing with relief, like he had been suffering for a thousand years without ever knowing he was till he had found you.

“So…vampires are fast…and strong.” You mumbled, pulling your hands back subconsciously. Demetri nodded, moving back to sit beside you.

“Some of us are gifted also. I, for example, can track anyone anywhere in the world. There is much to learn still, try not to overwhelm yourself learning it all in one go,” he advised, head tilting slightly, “Since I am answering so many of your questions perhaps you can answer one of mine?” You looked somewhat bewildered, as if you hadn’t actually considered he might have things he wanted to know to.

“Like what?” you sounded cautious and Demetri couldn’t help but laugh.

“Nothing too sinister I promise, but I was hoping I might learn your name.” he hinted. He was sure you would be blushing if you could, but you turned your body towards him and held out a hand anyway.

“Y/N, Y/N L/N.” your hand was small in his own, delicate, and yet when you gripped you gripped too tight. He winced slightly as the skin cracked and you withdrew immediately, looking horrified by what you’d done. Demetri cradled his broken hand to him with a light laugh.

“My apologies, I should have known better than to ask a newborn to shake my hand,” he dismissed it with ease even as the skin stung and knitted itself back together, “I am Demetri, Demetri Volturi. Welcome to our coven, tesoro.” You swallowed, looking nervous again.

“When can I go home? I…you’ve been really kind but I have to get back, my parents, they’re expecting me to come for Christmas.” Your teeth worried your lower lip and his heart ached a little, knowing you wouldn’t like the news he had to give you.

“Given the damage you have unwittingly caused today, would you think it wise of me to let you return home?” he asked gently. He watched your breathing pick up slightly, your expression twisting into disappointment and upset.

“But it’s Christmas, I have to get back, I always go home for Christmas.” You insisted, voice wavering. Christmas? Demetri couldn’t honestly comprehend what was so important about it that you had to go back for it every year. It was a time of year for human greed to rear its ugly head and nothing else, wasn’t it? He couldn’t very well say that to you, however.

“It will not be possible anymore Y/N. Please understand, to the rest of the world vampires do not exist for good reason, we remain hidden, from this moment forth, you no longer exist either, not as you used to.” He wished he’d never said anything when you began to cry once more, and even though he was sure part of you was angry at him for doing this to you, you still curled into his side to accept the comfort he offered. The days that followed were some of the strangest of his life, his mate so near and yet so far. He understood that everything was overwhelming, not at all what you were used to, but you were much shyer and more withdrawn than he had expected. There was little he could do to coax you out of your shell except give you time, though his saving grace was you seemed willing to be in his presence more so than anyone else’s.

It was a pattern he found he rather liked. You came to him when you had questions you wanted answers for, and curious little thing that you were you had lots of them to; only he was ever allowed to get close enough to touch you, and only he got to be near when you fed, you still needing the guidance and his grounding influence to move past the initial guilt till it was almost negligible. Once, when Felix had tried to hand you some spare clothes’ he had collected rather thoughtfully from town for you, he had accidentally brushed your hand with his own and you had flinched straight into Demetri, like you subconsciously were seeking his protection. Another time (he wasn’t quite sure you had known you were doing it) but one night, as he trawled the internet for more information on Christmas traditions in Britain on his tablet, you had simply been watching the flames dance in the hearth beside him when you scooted a little closer and rested your head on his shoulder. His hand had reached for your own and you hadn’t hesitated to slip your fingers between his own, squeezing lightly.

His favourite memory by far had to be the day you found out you glowed. At first you’d been utterly startled, flitting past his window so fast to show him something you hadn’t fully seen anything, but the glimpse of glitter was enough to slow you down, leaving you looking bewildered as you struggled to see exactly what had happened. With a chuckle, he’d pulled you back towards the window, keeping your hand in his and gently rolling up the sleeve of your jumper before slowly moving your arm into the light. The awe on your face was an expression he wouldn’t soon forget, wide red eyes looking between him and the diamonds encrusted in your skin before a laugh so sweet it could have been a baby’s coo rent the air.

“We sparkle?”

“We do. You are as precious as any rare gem love, the proof is in your skin.”

You had tilted your head just enough that he could have kissed you, if you’d both so desired it in that moment, but you’d barely known him a week and it didn’t seem appropriate. He’d let you pull away from him, averting your gaze in that shy way you had that he found so endearing. He wouldn’t let you pull away next time.

“Demetri? Where can I put this?” Felix brought him out of his reverie, and he turned his head from the fireplace to see what exactly he was holding. He had ordered a lot of things after all. His tree was currently a little lopsided, lacking ornaments on the right-hand side, so he hoped it was another box of baubles. You were currently in the training room with Alec and Jane, the twins agreeing to distract you while he set up his room with everything he had brought. He couldn’t do much about your general need to acclimate to the new life you had discovered, but he could soothe your grief by bringing Christmas to you, right?

It had taken him a few minutes to figure out how the stupid tree was supposed to go up and he was admittedly irritated with how many specks of glitter he could see in his carpet, but he figured it would all be worth it when everything was ready.

“Those are for the fireplace.” He informed the giant. Felix glanced about the place, much different to Demetri’s usual decoration. The Masters’ had been generous at first, giving you our own space to allow you to acclimate to your new senses in some peace and quiet, but since you were mated to him it was expected you would eventually share a room, and the Masters’ patience was running very thin. Demetri hoped you would accept the proposition soon given you spent most of your time in his room with him anyway. Felix knew better than to stick around, knowing he would get irritated by his friends fussing eventually. Demetri didn’t mind, he had a tree to trim after all, though it was quickly becoming more arduous by the minute as he tried to ensure a balance between tinsel and ornaments. With his speed, he had transformed his room in a little under two hours, and from the look on your face when you walked into the room it had well been worth it.

Your mouth parted, eyes alight with wonder and confusion, you took in an array of lights adorning the bookshelves, fireplace and tree. There was tinsel on almost every flat surface, and fake snowmen and santa’s sitting along a mantlepiece dripping with fake icicles.

“Metri…” you breathed. He hoped your lack of words was a good sign. Hesitant steps carried you about the room, your fingertips dancing over the ornaments scattered about.

“Are they to your liking?” he asked. His eyes dipped to the package in your grip but you seemingly had forgotten it. Your eyes were sparkling as you turned to face him.

“I – these are – we…their perfect.” You whispered, voice raw with unshed emotion. Demetri watched you come closer towards him, meeting you halfway to prevent you from going any further with a smile. His eyes flickered upward to the white berries of mistletoe he’d carefully hung from the chandelier – his plan was in motion. Your eyes followed his gaze, breath hitching slightly. Demetri had never wanted to kiss anyone more than he did in that moment, you and your wide-eyed stare was too tempting, the soft glow of multicoloured lights illuminating the planes of your face making you as picture perfect as any hallmark Christmas movie character he had forced himself to watch.

“I tried to read up on some Christmas traditions for you. Most seem to be very subjective but I chose a few I knew I could bring to Volterra,” He murmured, “I admit, this was one of my favourites…I was rather hoping you would indulge me, love.” He placed his hand on your waist as gently as possible, hoping not to scare you away. Timid thing that you were, he wasn’t sure you would agree, but he wanted to give you plenty of chance to choose for yourself. You didn’t need to know that your decision here could make or break him, that he wasn’t just asking you for permission to kiss you. What he really wanted to know was whether or not you accepted him as your mate. You bit your lip, eyes flickering away briefly.

“Only if you indulge me to,” you bargained, pulling your package up between you pair. Demetri raised his eyebrows slightly, curious to know what was in the squishy looking plastic envelope. “I…I didn’t know you were going to do all this for me but I was going to ask that…well, you see my family always get matching pyjamas to spend Christmas Day in and I just…since we both are free on Christmas day…you don’t have to but-“

“I would be honoured, love,” Demetri cut you off, “There is little I would not do for you.” Your grip on your pyjama package tightened, your breathing a little shaky now and eyes filled with trepidation. Demetri searched your expression, looking for anything that might warrant some hope, but your deer in the headlights expression remained and he was truly uncertain as to where you stood.

“I don’t understand,” You admitted quietly, “I’m nothing special. I don’t understand why you did all of this for me.” Demetri sighed, absent-mindedly brushing your hair back from your face. It would have been endearing if it wasn’t so bloody frustrating. Why couldn’t you see how much you meant to him? He made himself readily available to your every whim and desire, never rejected you when you sought physical comfort from him despite quite obviously denying it to everyone else. Had you truly not noticed and understood you were everything to him? He quite literally couldn’t live without you.

“Truthfully? I care little for the tinsel and lights and all of the frivolity this holiday gives humans an excuse for, but I care for your enjoyment of it. This is important to you, and if I have not made it abundantly clear by now you are important to me.” Demetri said, moving the package from your grip so he could take your hands and squeeze them lightly.

“But-“

“But nothing, Y/N. I have known since the day I was forced to change you there was only one person meant for me. I would rather endure the change for the rest of eternity, drown over and over in the deepest and darkest parts of the ocean, have the devil himself rip whatever is left of my soul in two, than spend a day without my mate,” He swore, bringing your hands up to rest on his chest, “It may not beat, but if you will accept it, this heart is yours and yours only.” A small squeak of surprise escaped you and you almost seemed to flounder for a moment, clearly shocked by the bold declaration. He had said nothing he didn’t know deep in his heart to be true, and surrounded by the glow of Christmas lights, nestled in his arms beneath the mistletoe, you answered him the only way you knew how.

So long as you kept up a tradition of kissing him like this, Demetri could get used to celebrating Christmas.

[starlightrevolution]

The Holy War Begins

Long ago, when the Gods still walked the Earth, there were 88 brave warriors who would face any enemy to protect the Goddess of War, Athena. Those warriors were named Saints. The sacred Saints would battle evil to defend truth and justice. Now, in the modern era, the Earth shall face an evil greater than all others, and so a new generation of young heroes, fueled by their courage and power, must rise alongside the new reincarnation of Athena. They are the Saints of Athena.

“Excuse me.” Steven called as he approached Sour Cream, before trying to hand him a small flyer. “My dad is giving guitar lessons. You just have to show up right after the car wash closes. It’s for free.”

The teenager ignored Steven’s pleas and simply walked away, before Steven turned around and began looking for another person, when Connie calmly walked in from the other side of the street, also holding several flyers.

“Did someone accept one?” Steven asked.

“Yeah.” Connie nodded with a smile. “And then tossed it away immediately.”

The two laughed for a moment.

“Okay, let’s get moving.” Connie commented. “We have to give all of those flyers by sunset. I’ll go to the main street, and you go to–”

The two suddenly heard the sound of screaming, which seemed to come from just a few city blocks away. They looked at each other for a moment, before dropping all of the flyers and running towards the source of the sound as fast as they could. They went around a corner and ran into the small park right on the middle of the city, before they saw their small mayor on the top of a tree, holding onto a branch in fear as a furious dog barked at her from the ground.

Connie did not think twice before dashing and leaping, back flipping before grabbing Nanefua from the tree and perfectly landing one her feet just a few meters away, before safely placing the mayor on the ground.

“Are you okay, Mrs. Mayor?”

“I’m not sure if I’ll be.” Nanefua yelled as she pointed at the dog, which was angrily dashing towards them. Connie put her hands up as she stared at the dog angrily, before Steven suddenly jumped in front of the dog with his arms up. The suddenly movement of his body made the silver necklace Steven had been wearing shake for a moment, as the angry dog stopped and stared at his with a furious expression.

“Please, stop.” Steven pleaded as he stared at the dog with a worried expression. “I know you’re angry, but you don’t have to be this cruel. I’m not sure what happened, but I’m sure we can talk about it.”

The dog stared at Steven for a few more moments, before the expression of anger vanished for its face and it laid down calmly next to Steven, who carefully approached him and petted him on the head.

“Why was she so angry?” Steven asked.

“She?” Connie wondered aloud. “You can tell it is a she just by looking?”

“I may or may not have stepped on her tail by accident.” Nanefua confessed, as she suddenly heard the dog’s grown and hit behind Connie.

“Come on, don’t be like that.” Steven told as he petted the dog, before carefully taking her in his arms and approaching Nanefua. “Alright, Mrs. Mayor. Now apologize.”

“I… um…” The Mayor hesitated slightly, as the dog looked up at her angrily, before she closed her eyes in fear. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“See? She’s not that bad.” Steven commented as he petted the dog for a few more seconds, before placing her on the ground with great care. The do looked up at Steven for a few moments, before turning around and running away, while Steven gently waved her goodbye.

“Sometimes I wonder, is there any situation in this world that you can’t talk your way out of?” Connie asked sarcastically.

“I hope not.” Steven commented, as the two began calmly walking away from Nanefua. “I think the only thing in this world that I truly hate is violence.”

Steven carefully reached for his silver necklace, the words ‘YOURS EVER’ written in gold on the star shaped pendant, before he hit it under his shirt, and the two peacefully walked away from the park.

===============================================

“Dad, we’re back.” Steven called as he approached his father’s car wash, Connie running closely behind him, before he noticed a tall blonde strange standing right next to his dad, who at the moment was washing a small vehicle. “Look, we got a client.”

“Are you a priest?” Connie asked, as he noticed the robes the man was wearing.

“Indeed. I worked at the cathedral right outside the city.” The man explained. “Although I guess my faith alone won’t keep my car clean, will it?”

Steven and Connie laughed for a moment from the priest’s quick joke, before they heard the sound of an alarm, and Connie reached for her pocket, pulling out her phone and looking at the timer.

“Oh no! I’m going to be late!” Connie declared, before she turned around and ran off, quickly waving goodbye to Steven as she dashed down the street. “Pearl is going to kill me!”

“Anyway, how much will this be for the car?” The priest asked as he showed Greg his credit card.

“Oh! I have one of those credit cards machines things.” Greg explained, before the priest followed him inside.

Steven prepared to follow the two inside, when the sky suddenly turned black, as if the sun had just vanished. The light from a nearby light pole began flickering, before going out in its entirely. Steven looked up at the broken light pole for a few moments, before he heard the sound of footsteps, and turned to see someone approaching him.

“The planet Earth is orbiting around a bright star we call the sun. This sun is the light that illuminates the darkness.” The figure spoke, before she got close enough for Steven to make out a few details. It was a tall woman with dark hair, wearing a black dress. She stared at him with what seemed to be dead eyes. “It is only when we fly away from any star and truly reach the vacuum of the great infinity that we can truly understand the nature of this universe.”

“Who are you?” Steven asked, taking a few steps back, before the woman approached him, her lips approaching his ear, as she began whispering.

“Human with no hate… you’re the one we’ve been searching for…” She whispered. “My name is Pandora…”

The light once again began flickering, and Steven looked up for just a second to see the light pole had once again lit up, just as the sky turned back to its normal blue. He looked around to see the woman had vanished, before he heard the sound of his father coming out of the car wash.

“It was good to make business with you.” Greg explained as he came out of the building alongside the priest. He turned back to Steven, to see a distressed expression on the boy’s face. “Are you okay, Schtu-ball?”

“Yeah… yeah…” Steven breathed as he nodded, slightly nervous. “I’ll be fine.”

===============================================

“I’m here!” Connie yelled as she ran onto the top of a large mountain filled with massive rocks.

“You’re late.” Pearl declared calmly, as she sat with her arms crossed at the top of a massive stone. She leaped and graciously spun in the air, before perfectly landing right in front of Connie. “Were you even serious when you told me you want to become a Saint?”

“I was! I really was!” Connie answered defensively. “I just have my own life, that’s all.”

“Alright, enough talking and more training.” Pearl explained as she pointed towards the massive stone she had just jumped down from. “Destroy it.”

“What? You want me to break this gigantic thing?” Connie asked in surprise. “That’s impossible!”

“You’ll never know until you try.” Pearl declared. Connie stared at the large rock for a moment, before her expression changed into one of purpose, and she punched the rock with all her strength, only to quickly pull back her arm in pain, as blood began flowing from her fist. “You’ve been training with me for three months, and you still can’t break this rock?”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Connie asked angrily as she held her fist.

“You just have to understand the origin of destruction.” Pearl explained.

“Origin of destruction?”

“Everything that exists is made out of atoms, which were scattered through the universe by a massive event we call the Big Bang.” Pearl explained. “We Saints must burn the leftover energy from that event that exists within us, our Cosmo, to create our own miniature Big Bang within ourselves. That way we can tear apart the very atoms that make up the physical universe, allowing our punches to split the skies, and our kicks to tear the earth apart.”

Pearl carefully raised her hand, before punching the massive stone, which glowed in a golden light, before breaking to miniscule pieces and disappearing into nothing, as Connie stared up with her mouth open and her eyes widened.

“Now, since you arrived late, we’ll have to pick up the pace.” Pearl explained as she turned to Connie. “Two thousand push ups today, instead of the regular one thousand.”

“Really?”

“I can make it three thousand if you want.” Pearl declared. “But do it quickly. We don’t have all night.”

===============================================

Garnet walked through the dark mountains as she heard the sound of the waterfall flowing from the Five Ancient Peaks of Rozan. She held onto the large golden box on her back and paid attention to every single step she took, which was why she could so easily identify the sound of the footsteps that closely followed her. She saw a purple light, and quickly leaped away right before the dark cosmos could strike her.

“It appears that I’ve arrived too late.” Garnet commented as she calmly approached the dark figures in the shadows. “You Specters, the disgusting beings from beyond the grave, have already escaped your prison.”

“You’re one of the Saints of Athena?” One of the Specters asked. “I guess we have found our first opponent.”

“Opponent? Oh no, this won’t be a fight.” Garnet commented. “It will be a massacre!”

The golden box in Garnet’s back suddenly opened, as a golden statue in the form of a woman holding a large cup over her head came out. The statue suddenly split to pieces, revealing itself to not actually be a statue, but instead a cloth, which flew and placed itself around Garnet’s body.

“Gold?” One of the Specters asked in surprise. “A Gold Saint?”

“Aquarius Garnet!” She declared, before she struck the air with one of her fists, and a massive blast of cold air struck the Specters, swiftly freezing the surplices of the entire group, as they all fell to the ground defeated. “Diamond Dust!”

“I-I couldn’t see a thing…” One of the Specters complained. “She moved at the speed… of light…”

The Specter fainted, before Garnet looked up to the full moon.

“If the Specters have returned to life…” Garnet commented, more to herself than to anyone else. “I am sure that so has their God.”

The moon would quickly set hours later, making way for the sun, as the hours became days, the days became weeks, the weeks months, and the months years. Just like that, in the blink of an eye, six years of peace passed by, with no sign of the God of the Underworld truly making its return.

===============================================

“Out of the many Warriors who gathered here in Greece, only the two of you remain.” Connie heard as she looked up the see the Pope, standing on a large platform on the coliseum as he watched over the arena, filled with several knocked-out warriors, with only two still standing, those being Connie and a large muscular man. “Whichever one of you achieves victory will become a Saint of Athena, and be rewarded with…”

Connie looked to the direction the Pope had pointed, and her eyes glowed with stars as she saw the shining bronze box, since she knew exactly what that box contained.

“The Pegasus Cloth!” The Pope declared. “Fight!”

The large man suddenly dashed and struck Connie right on her face, sending her flying onto one of the walls of the coliseum.

“You couldn’t even dodge that attack?” The man asked. “I was expecting more from someone who was trained by a Gold Saint!”

“Dodge?” Connie asked as she got back up, and the man’s expression changed into one of surprise as he realized Connie was completely unharmed. “Why would I bother dodging a punch as weak as yours?”

“Don’t mock me, you little bitc–”

The man suddenly groaned in pain as he flew to the other side of the coliseum and hit a wall before landing on the ground. He looked up while holding his chest in pain.

“What did you just do?” The man asked. “Did you teleport? That’s cheating!”

“This? Oh, it’s just an ancient technique named ‘Walking’.” Connie declared sarcastically as she got into a fighting position. “I trained my body to a point in which I only need a second to deliver a hundred punches on a target that is 3.4 meters away from me.”

“A hundred punches per second while 3.4 meters away?” The man asked in shock. “But that speed is…”

“Mach 1!” Connie declared. “I can punch at the speed of sound!”

“Why you…” The man declared angrily as he got back up and began dashing towards Connie. “The Pegasus Cloth is a Greek relic! I won’t allow a filthy Indian American such as you to take it!”

Connie smiled confidently and began moving her hands around in a seemingly random pattern, which the man ignored as he continued to dash towards her.

“That pattern…” The Pope whispered. “She’s tracing the thirteen stars of the Pegasus constellation. She will defeat him with her next attack.”

“Pegasus Meteor Fist!” Connie declared as she punched the air exactly a hundred times in a single second. Her opponent screamed in pain as a hundred shockwaves of Connie’s punches struck him directly, and his body flew towards a large pillar.

He managed to look up, to see the same pillar has began to collapse, and was about to crush him. He closed his eyes in despair, before waiting a few seconds and opening them, to see Connie had just caught the pillar in midair. Connie smiled at him in a mocking way for a moment, before tossing the pillar away, as the man fainted from shock. Connie made her way towards the Pope and bowed in respect.

“Congratulations.” The Pope declared, before he pointed at the box, which opened to reveal a bronze statue of a Pegasus. The statue divided itself into pieces, before placing itself around Connie’s body in the shape of an armor. Connie looked down upon her cloth in amazement, before smiling confidently. “We have just witnessed the birth of the brand-new Pegasus Saint! Pegasus Connie!”

===============================================

“It’s been six years since you left, Connie… things have changed so much since then…” Steven whispered, as he stood right in the middle of the large hill and held a small dog in his hands. “I have always been good with animals… but ever since you left… in the last six years ago…”

Steven carefully placed the dead dog on the hole he had made on the ground, before carefully filling it with dirt. Steven fell to his knees and tears began flowing from his eyes, as he looked around the hill to see the several dozen other spots, which were all holes just like that one.

“Every animal I touch…” Steven whispered, before looking up towards the full moon and yelling. “They all end up dying!”

“It is only when we fly away from any star and truly reach the vacuum of the great infinity that we can truly understand the nature of this universe.” Steven heard, before he turned around to see Pandora approaching him. “The true nature of this universe is darkness. Nothing but pure and utter darkness.”

“Y-you!” Steven whispered in surprise. “You’re that woman from that day.”

“Your majesty brings the end to all life with your kind touch. That is what makes your touch so sublime. Do you know why?” Pandora asked.

She carefully got on her knees and hugged Steven, as tears continued to flow down from the boy’s eyes.

“Because death is the most beautiful salvation.” Pandora whispered.

“D-death?” Steven asked, before Pandora smiled and grabbed him by the hand, pulling him back to his feet.

“Come with me!” Pandora declared with a smile as she began running and pulling Steven by the hand, who hesitantly followed her down the hill.

“Where are we going?” Steven asked.

“To the cathedral!” Pandora declared joyfully. “It is time for you to discover your real destiny.”

Steven looked up to see they were approaching a large cathedral. Pandora stopped running as they approached the entrance, before a blonde priest, the same one he had met all those years ago, carefully opened the cathedral doors to allow Steven’s entrance. Pandora and the priest stood on the sides of the door, before getting on their knees and bowing before Steven.

“My king, you have finally returned.” The priest whispered, as Steven hesitated for a second, before slowly entering the cathedral. “Our wait has finally ended.”

Steven entered the black cathedral, which was entirely dark, illuminated only by the light of the moon. The place was empty and completely silent. Steven looked up and gasped in surprise as he saw a large statue looming over the room. It was not a statue of Jesus on his cross, or of the Virgin Mary, but instead a statue of a face Steven knew very well.

“That is…” Steven whispered in shock. “Me!”

Steven looked up towards the terrifying statue of himself, wearing a strange black armor and wielding a black sword in his hands, while surrounded by the dead bodies of several children. Steven took a few steps back in fear, before he felt the priest gently holding his shoulders from behind. Steven continued to stare at the statue, not daring to take his eyes off it.

“Behold who you truly are, my king.” The priest whispered. “The true savior of this world.”

“I… don’t... understand…” Steven whispered, as the image before his eyes changed into what seemed to be a dream, and he saw the image of all of the animals he had killed, all surrounding the large statue while joyfully smiling.

“Those animals have been saved by you, my lord.” The priest explained. “They will no longer have to feel any rage or pain. They will no longer feel any hunger or be in any danger. You have given them true freedom.”

“Death…” Steven whispered as he looked down, before his necklace began glowing with a faint purple light. “Death is true freedom… I understand…”

“I am Pandora.” Pandora declared. “High Priestess of the Underworld.”

“I am Hypnos.” The priest declared. “God of Sleep”.

“I am…” Steven whispered, as his eyes changed color to that of the light surrounding his necklace, and a gentle smile formed on his lips. “I am Hades, God of the Underworld.”

===============================================

“Where are we going now?” Connie asked as she followed after Pearl, who was already wearing her Gold Pisces Cloth. “Am I already going on my first mission?”

“This mission is very important. It was given to us directly by Athena.” Pearl explained, as Connie expression changed into one of seriousness. “There have been some sightings of Specters near Beach City. Since you’re familiar with the area, it might be better to have you in the team.”

Connie nodded, as the two approached a small group of other Bronze Saints, which were being led by a single Gold Saint.

“Taurus Amethyst!” Connie pointed in surprise.

“The one and only.” Amethyst boasted, before she turned to Pearl.

“Did you get any word from the Silver Saints that we sent to investigate?” Pearl asked, as she signed for Connie to join the other Bronze Saints.

“None yet.” Amethyst declared. “I’m hoping we can meet them there.”

“So, you’re the new Pegasus Saint?” One of the Bronze Saints asked.

“Yep, Pegasus Connie.” Connie declared pridefully as she showed off the cloth around her body.

“Dragon Jeff, at your service.” The boy in the green cloth declared. “Personal pupil of Libra Padparadscha.”

“I am Cygnus Patricia.” Declared the girl in the white cloth. “I’ve been trained in the use of cold air directly under Aquarius Garnet.”

“Am I the only one here who didn’t train under a Gold Saint?” Asked a boy in a pink armor with chains around his arms. “I am Andromeda Daniel, trained directly under the Silver Saint Cepheus Daidalos.”

“Very well.” Pearl declared. “We have a long journey ahead of us, so we better start walking.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

===============================================

“Beach City is just a few miles ahead.” Amethyst declared as they ran through the forest during the night.

“Connie, you’re falling behind.” Pearl declared as they began approaching Beach City. Connie nodded, before she turned to see a strange orange light in the distance.

“Is that…” Connie whispered, before her eyes widened and she dashed towards the light as fast as she could.

“Pegasus! Don’t just run in without receiving orders!” Jeff yelled, before they all ran after her.

“That light, it is coming from Connie’s hometown!” Pearl declared. “No matter what, think before acting, Connie!”

Connie swiftly moved at the speed of sound, followed closely by the other Saints as they landed in the middle of Beach City, and looked around in surprise upon realizing what the source of the orange light was. The entire town was on fire.

“Who the hell did this?” Connie asked angrily.

“Specters, obviously!” Jeff answered.

“We have to save the survivors!” Daniel declared.

“He’s right!” Pearl ordered. “Bronze Saints, go search for survivors!”

“The two of us will go after the Specters!” Amethyst declared, before they all nodded and the two Gold Saints vanished in a flash of light, before the Bronze Saints turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

“Beach City is small, so this shouldn’t take long!” Patricia commented. “But we have to be careful. We can run into a Specter!”

“I’m not going to let any Specter stop me from saving anyone!” Connie declared angrily.

“Calm down, Pegasus!” Jeff declared.

“Everybody, watch out!” Patricia yelled, before they all leaped, just in time to avoid several metallic tentacles that came out of the ground. The tentacles quickly pulled a large figure from beneath the ground. “Surplice? You’re a Specter!”

“You’re…” Connie commented in surprise. “Mrs. Mayor?”

The Specter attacked with her tentacles, which the Saints were just barely able to avoid.

“She is the mayor of Beach City!” Connie commented. “Why is she wearing a Surplice?”

“She’s not the person you knew anymore!” Patricia declared, as the others glanced at her. “Once the 108 Malefic Stars awaken, the souls of those that serve the Hades invade the Earth and each of them take over a human body. The human possessed by the evil soul will have both their mind and body altered to fit their Surplice, and will completely abandon their previous lives and live only to serve Hades, thus become a Specter!”

“You got that right, child!” The Specter declared with a sarcastic smile. “I am no longer the worthless human I once was. Nanefua Pizza is dead. I am Worm Laimi, the Terrestrial Star of Submission!”

“Very well! Then let me show you the power of the raging dragon!” Jeff declared as he dashed towards Laimi and threw a strong upwards punch, as the Cosmo around his fist glowed and took the shape of a green dragon. “Rozan Ascending Dragon!”

The roaring green dragon flew towards Laimi, who swiftly avoided it by pulling herself with her tentacles. She trusted her tentacles towards Jeff, who quickly blocked it with the green shield attached to the left arm of his Dragon Cloth, as the metallic tentacles broke to pieces without being able to leave even a single scratch on the shield.

“My mighty tentacles weren’t able to overpower this little shield?” Laimi declared in surprise.

“The Dragon Shield is the most powerful defensive tool among all Bronze Cloths.” Patricia declared, before she leaped over Jeff and prepared to throw a downwards punch from above towards Laimi.

“You fool! Instead of hiding behind the shield you just gave me a chance to attack!” Laimi declared as more tentacles grew from her back and flew towards Patricia.

“Did you really think I’d be this stupid? I will be the one to sculpt your ice coffin!” Patricia declared, as she punched the air, and a large blast of cold air flew from her hands, freezing every single tentacle in place, before flying past them and freezing Laimi’s feet. “Diamond Dust!”

“What? Impossible!” Laime screamed in surprise.

“Don’t bother waiting for it to melt. Even with all of this fire surrounding us, my ice is as powerful as the unbreakable icebergs from Siberia.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Daniel declared, before he extended his chain in a circular pattern on the floor. “My chain can detect all nearby life forms, no matter how they try to hide! Thunder Chain!”

The chain suddenly extended and flew from house to house at the speed of sound, swiftly entering every single house on the street, before carefully pulling out several civilians from within the burning houses.

“What’s with that chain? It is like it is alive!” Jeff asked in surprise.

“Alright! Let’s get done with this Specter and go save everyone!” Connie declared, as she began punching the air a hundred times to create her meteors, but instead of punching randomly, she threw every single one of her punches into the same spot, as the meteors merged together into one single comet, which struck Laime with a hundred times more power. “Pegasus Comet Fist!”

“Gah!” Laime screamed in pain as she spit blood, and her Surplice broke to pieces alongside all of her tentacles, before she fell to the ground dead.

“Alright, guys! Let’s get moving!” Connie declared confidently, before they all nodded and ran towards the next street.

They dashed around the corner, only to suddenly stop as they saw their way being blocked by three bodies on the ground. They could tell just by looking at the Silver Cloths around the bodies that those were Silver Saints.

“Those are…” Daniel whispered in shock.

“They’re the Silver Saints that were sent by the Sanctuary before our group!” Patricia declared in surprise.

“One of them is still breathing!” They heard Connie declaring, before they all ran towards one of the Saints on the ground, who looked up at them while spitting blood. “Are you okay?”

“He’s drowning on his own blood, Pegasus, of course he’s not okay!” Jeff yelled.

“Who are you? What happened to your group?” Patricia asked.

“I’m… Cerberus Dante…” The Silver Saint struggled to speak, groaning in pain in between almost every word. “We were attacked… such a terrifying force… we couldn’t advance… we couldn’t attack… we couldn’t retreat… we couldn’t even defend ourselves…”

“Can you identify the enemy?” Patricia asked. “How many of them were there?”

“It was just… one man… he was… Hades…” Dante whispered, before his eyes went completely white and he stopped speaking as his breathing fully stopped. Before the Bronze Saints could react, they suddenly felt a powerful darkness engulfing them, and looked up to see a dark figure hoovering above them.

“Watch out!” Patricia yelled from the top of her lungs. “I think that is Hades!”

“Hades?” Connie asked as the figure carefully floated down and landed in front of them, and Connie’s eyes widened in surprise. “Steven?”

“It’s been six years, Connie… I mean… Pegasus Connie!” Steven commented with a smile.

“Why? Steven… how…” Connie asked in shock. “How can you be Hades?”

“Everybody, be careful!” Patricia yelled. “The person right before us is the reincarnation of Hades! We’re all in danger just by being near him!”

“Hades?” Jeff yelled, before he dashed towards Steven.

“Jeff, stop!” Daniel yelled, but it was too late, as Jeff approached Steven and threw an upwards punch.

“Rozan Ascending Dragon!” Jeff yelled as the dragon flew towards Steven, only to suddenly stop in midair without touching Steven’s body. “What? The dragon stopped! It’s like there is some sort of gigantic Cosmo holding the dragon back!”

The green dragon suddenly changed color to purple, before he turned around and flew towards Jeff. Jeff yelled tried to defend himself with his shield, only for the dragon of darkness to break right through their most powerful defense and strike Jeff directly, his shield breaking to shards as he fell on the ground right next to the others.

“My own attack… turned against me…” Jeff whispered in pain.

Attacking a God is an act of blasphemy. Any mortal who dares to raise their fists against a God will be punished by having their own blows turn against them.

“You’re the one who commanded the Specters and destroyed Beach City?” Connie asked angrily, as she began walking towards Steven. “How could you do something like this?”

A powerful Cosmo suddenly glowed from Steven’s body, as Connie suddenly stopped walking. She stared at Steven in confusion for a few seconds, before she looked down at her own legs, which were completely still, even through she was trying to move them with all of her strength.

“This Cosmo coming from his body is huge! I feel like it encompasses the entire universe! It is still expanding!” Jeff declared in shock. “This powerful Cosmo is preventing us from approaching him or retreating! We can’t move!”

When exposed to the Cosmo of the Gods, all six senses humans naturally possess are negated and rendered useless.

“Oh, Connie. You haven’t changed a thing.” Steven declared with a kind smile. “You promised me that you would be a Saint the next time we meet, and so you did.”

Connie felt as if the entire universe was shaking as Steven took a few calm steps towards the Bronze Saints.

“I finally discovered, the true secret behind the universe. I finally know how to find true salvation.” Steven declared in a kind tone of voice as he approached Connie, their faces almost touching. Connie felt a liquid hitting her feet, and the Bronze Saints looked down to see the ground was completely tainted by a large pool of blood from the same civilians they had just a minute ago. “It is death. It is only in death that one can truly rest and be happy forever, without any worries or anxieties. Death is the secret behind it all. Death is salvation.”

“Get away from them!” Steven heard, turning his head just slightly to see two Gold Saints running towards the scene. Steven’s distraction lasted only one moment, but was more than enough for Connie to leap away from him, landing several meters away, followed shortly by the other Bronze Saints, and then by the two Gold Saints that landed in front of them.

“So that’s Hades, hm?” Amethyst asked with a serious expression as she crossed her arms. “I thought he would be taller.”

“That is…” Pearl whispered as she held a blood red rose in between her fingers. “Connie’s childhood friend, Steven! He is Hades’ reincarnation in this era?”

“Be careful!” Patricia warned. “His Cosmo is devastating! I don’t think we’d be able to match it, even if we all attacked together!”

“Maybe not, but we have to try! Feel the painless death of my gentle poison roses!” Pearl declared as she fired her rose towards Steven, and several hundreds of other poisoned roses formed around it, all flying towards Steven at once. “Royal Demon Roses!”

“Cower before the devastating power of the fastest attack among all twelve Gold Saints!” Amethyst declared, as she uncrossed her arms and attacked faster than the speed of light, before immediately crossing them once again, giving the illusion that she was able to attack with her arms crossed, as a golden raging ox of energy dashed towards Steven. “Great Horn!”

The two attacks flew towards Steven, as the God of the Underworld simply stared of them calmly, without even bother to defend himself in any way. A shadow suddenly appeared right in front of Steven, and violently punched away both of the Gold Saints’ attacks.

“It’s you, Kagaho?” Steven asked, slightly surprised but still calm.

“I will not allow either of you to even try to attack his majesty, Lord Hades.” The Specter declared, opening his dark wings as if they were a shield to protect Steven. “My human name was Peedee Fryman, but now I am Bennu Kagaho, the Celestial Star of Violence!”

“Stay out of my way, Specter!” Pearl declared, as she fired a large barrage of black roses towards Kagaho. “Those black roses will instantly tear apart anything that comes in contact with them! Piranian Roses!”

“You’re attacking me with roses? Is this some sort of joke? I’ll show you what a killing move is truly like!” Kagaho declared angrily, as he opened his wings, and released the burning energy equivalent to that of an exploding sun. “Corona Blast!”

The two attacks struck each other, creating a large explosion of fire and sending burning black flower petals flying all over the battlefield.

“This Cosmo! It matches that of a Gold Saint!” Amethyst declared in surprise. “That Specter is incredibly powerful! He’s not even one of the Three Judges of the Underworld, but he surely is a force to be reckon with!”

“You think that was impressive?” Kagaho asked mockingly. “Just wait until you see this one!”

“That is enough, Kagaho.” They heard Steven’s voice, before Kagaho turned to see his king staring at him with a serious expression. “Our job here is done. Let’s go.”

“Lord Hades, I am sure I can defeat them all!” Kagaho insisted.

“Did I stutter?”

“No, my lord.” Kagaho declared, before he began walking away right behind Steven.

“Steven!” He heard, before he looked back to see Connie staring at him angrily. “After all of that, you’re just walking away?”

“I already got everything I needed. The destruction of this village, the beginning of the Holy War…” Steven explained. “The disappearance of the human named ‘Steven’. There is nothing else for us to do here. But don’t worry, Pegasus, we will meet again. This war is just beginning.”

Before they could react, a large black light engulfed both Steven and Kagaho, and the two disappeared out of thin air. Connie stared at the spot where they had stood, before she fell to her knees, and crunched both of her hands into fists.

“Steven…” Connie whispered, more to herself than to anyone else.

“I am sorry.” She heard, before she looked up at Pearl, who had a bitter expression on her face. “Hades was right here, yet I couldn’t do a thing…”

“What now?” Connie heard Jeff’s voice from behind her. “What are we supposed to do now? What about the Silver Saints? What did they die for?”

“I… I…” Connie whispered as tears began flowing from her eyes, before she carefully got back up, looked up into the rising sun, and yelled from the top of her lungs. “I want to become stronger!”

[honeyhan-123]

The Price of Treason

Summary: Your betrothed is accused of stealing from the palace and so you help him escape, only to be caught red handed by His Royal Highness, Prince Loki. 

Warnings: Dub-con/non-con, exhibitionism, sensory deprivation, authority kink, Dark!Loki being a sneke. 

Word Count: 2.1k

AN: A few weeks ago the incredible @darkficsyouneveraskedfor​ gave me a prompt of fucking on a balcony and being blindfolded for a writing game she was hosting. Knowing my procrastination skills, I have only just gotten around to it. Whoops. Please forgive me Roo. Also I would like to submit this to the April writing challenge by the amazing people @mcudarklibrary​ without whom I don’t know what I would do with myself. 

Squares Filled: Voyeurism/Exhibitionism + Sensory Deprivation

My Masterlist

Your sweaty hand gripped Sigyn’s as you scurried through the quiet halls, your servant’s gown brushing along the tiled floor with every step. Moonlight spilled in through the windows and the breeze of fresh air ruffled your braid. You were so close. You just had to get him out of the castle and then he would be safe. 

Your breaths were ragged as you ran and the stitch in your side stung with every step but you had to keep going. This was your only chance. Tomorrow Sigyn would be executed by order of the prince. You knew your betrothed was innocent, you knew it was not he who had stolen from the kitchens, yet the prince did not believe you. 

You thundered down the stone staircase onto the ground floor, pulling your betrothed along behind you. Up ahead you could see the open archway, the one that led out to the lake. From there you had arranged for him to board a ferry which would take him far away from this awful place. It would also take him far away from you but it would be worth it to know he was alive.

You nearly tumbled to the ground as your feet suddenly stopped pounding across the stone floor. Where there had been nothing but the open night sky before, the archway was now blocked. Someone was standing in your way even though you couldn’t see their face, you knew exactly who it was. 

‘Going somewhere?’ His voice was cold and malicious just as it had been when he had sentenced Sigyn to death. You knew the penalty for treason was also death and so with a shaking hand, you slipped the dagger from your belt. You had nothing left to lose after all.

‘Let us pass Prince Loki.’ 

He let out a merciless chuckle, a sinister smile taking over, his teeth glinting in the moonlight. ‘Look at that. The servant girl thinks she can order me around. Me. The Prince of Asgard.’ You dropped Sigyn’s hand as you neared the prince. You knew you had no chance of beating him in battle, but you had to at least try. Plus, this way your deaths would hopefully be swift. 

‘Drop the weapon girl.’ 

You shook your head, trying to fend off tears. ‘No.’ Your voice shook slightly and you hoped he didn’t notice. 

‘I’m not going to ask again. Drop the weapon. Now.’ Again you refused and faster than a snake can strike, he lunged, twisting your arm around. Your dagger fell to the floor with a ping and he held his own against your throat. 

‘You do know the punishment for treason don’t you?’ His breath was hot in your ear and his lips brushed against your skin as he spoke. You shakily nodded your head, your eyes locking with Sigyn’s. Fear was clearly evident on both your faces. ‘You should be thankful that I’m feeling generous tonight.’ 

‘Guards!’ He called out and two soldiers clad in the golden armour of the royal family rounded the corner. ‘Take the escapee back to his quarters. I’ll deal with the servant.’ 

‘No! Sigyn!’ You screamed and thrashed in Loki’s arms as the guards forced your betrothed back down the path you had just taken. 

‘Might I remind you that I have a dagger at your throat? You don’t want to make me mad right now girl.’ Your movements ceased as he hissed into your ear. He was right. You definitely couldn’t help Sigyn in if you were dead. 

‘Now, if I take away my dagger, will you behave?’ You knew better than to try anything, he had already shown you just how fast he was so you nodded. ‘Speak up girl.’

‘Yes Your Royal Highness. I will behave.’

‘That’s a good girl.’ He slipped the dagger from your neck and back into its sheath on his belt. His arm remained curled around your waist as he began leading you down the passageway. 

The twists and turns he took confused you. He wasn’t leading you to the cells down in the basement, nor was he leading you to the tower where Sigyn had been kept. Instead, he led you to his chambers. 

Dread surged through you as you realised his intentions but you dared not try and run away. He would no doubt capture you just as easily again. 

He pushed the large oak door open and pulled you through his reception parlour and into his bed chamber. You had been here before, cleaning the prince’s rooms was a part of your duties but you had never been here so late, or with him. The room looked far more ominous in the candlelight, each shadow looking more sinister than the last. You shivered as he led you past the bed and out onto the terrace balcony. You paled as you looked down at the drop. It was easily fifty meters to the ground. 

‘It’s such a beautiful sight isn’t it?’ He looked at you, quirking an eyebrow, and you tried to force a smile but he clearly saw through it. ‘You don’t agree?’

‘No Your Royal Highness. It’s very beautiful. It's just heights that I just don’t agree with.’ 

‘Oh, that’s a pity.’ He sounded anything but sorry as he pulled a thin piece of emerald silk from his pockets. ‘Perhaps this might make it easier.’ You tried to push back but he captured you between the glass door and his body. His hands made swift work of the blindfold and even swifter work of your woollen dress. 

‘Your Highness, what are you doing?’ You squeaked trying to pry the material from your eyes but his hands caught your wrists and he pinned them above your head. 

‘Don’t act coy girl. You know why I brought you here instead of the dungeons. Please me and I might just forget your little indiscretion.’ You shuddered in his arms and you felt his thin nimble fingers creep underneath your shift and slip your underwear to the side. 

You let out a heavy breath as his fingertips found your pearl, circling it a few times and sending a shiver up your spine. Against your wishes, you could feel yourself start to get wet and he took that as he cue to slip a finger inside your warm heat. 

His lips brushed against the sensitive skin of your neck as he worked, causing goosebumps to spring up on your delicate skin. His fingers scissored inside you, curling this way and that as he searched. For what, you were unsure but you knew the moment he found it. You unwillingly let out a moan as he continued to stroke you there and he smiled against your neck. 

‘Yes my little dove. Scream for me, scream for your Prince. Perhaps your betrothed will be able to hear you locked away in his tower.’ You tried to move away from him but it was fruitless. Instead his thumb swirling your clit and his fingers inside made you want to be closer to him. 

You were disgusted by the fire igniting inside and although you tried, you could not stop the moans he plucked from you. ‘You’re close aren’t you my little dove?’ You didn’t know quite what he meant but you assumed he was referring to the anticipation building in your veins. 

‘Yes my Prince.’ Your voice was a little too breathless as you responded. Your body betraying both your mind and Sigyn.

‘Mmm… My Prince, I like that.’  He murmured against your skin, musing mainly to himself. Soon, the feeling of tightness in your belly disappeared and you spasmed in his hold, letting out a shriek of his name as wave after wave of pleasure took ahold of you. Despite your maidenhood, you knew what had just happened. The other female servants spoke very liberally about such matters, you just hadn’t expected it to feel quite so good. 

His fingers disappeared from your womanhood and he trailed them down your thigh, wiping them clean on your skin. You were too dazed to do anything as his grip on your wrists disappeared, and when he stepped away, your knees nearly buckled underneath you. He ushered your trembling form a few paces forwards and pressed your hands against smooth marble as he bent you. ‘Trust me my little dove. You’re going to want to brace yourself for this.’ 

You barely had time to register his words before you felt your shift being pushed up past your hips and your underwear discarded. You tried to move away from him but his grip on your hips was like iron, pinning your ass against the bulge in his breeches. 

‘No my Prince. Please no.’ You tried to squirm once more and let out a gasp as you felt a sting on your ass.

‘Need I remind you that you are not in a position to be giving orders girl?’ 

‘Forgive me my Prince I apologise.’ You forced the words out past your fear. ‘But I am a maiden. I am saving myself for my betrothed.’ 

He laughed derisively as he echoed you. ‘Oh my little dove, so naive, so innocent. Your betrothed will die tomorrow and I will have you tonight and every night from now on. Do you think it was an accident that the stolen goods ended up in his quarters? Or that I just happened to be out in the courtyard tonight? You are mine and any man who thinks otherwise, has to go. He had to go.’ 

Your heart thundered in your ears and shame washed over you. You had known deep down that it had been too easy to rescue Sigyn. This had been his plot all along. Catching you red handed trying to save your fiancé was all he needed to own you. 

You felt his fingers deftly undo the laces of his breeches and his length slapped against you lightly. He poked it along your folds until he found your entrance and sheathed himself inside you. A hiss escaped your lips as he stretched you. The burn, while not as bad as some of the other maids had made you believe, was still painful even as he remained motionless, waiting for you to become accustomed to him.

Slowly and with more gentleness than you had ever seen the Prince demonstrate, he started grinding his hips down onto you as he murmured. ‘Oh my little dove, you fit me like a glove.’ He laughed at himself but kept his movements small, almost teasing. It was only when you tried to rock your own hips back against his that his pace increased. 

As he started pounding into your cunt you understood what he had meant by needing to brace yourself. His thrusts jolted your body so much that you felt as though you were hanging off of the balcony. You were thankful for the blindfold, it made sure you couldn’t see the fatal height at which he held you but it also put you on edge. You couldn’t see anything and you knew better than to trust the god of mischief. 

His pace increased even further and his hand slipped in between your legs to play with your aching clit. You could no longer hold in your moans of pleasure and they tumbled from your lips out into the open air, echoing around the castle grounds. 

‘You’re doing so well my little dove. You take my cock so well. You squeeze me so tightly.’ His dirty words only inspired the tightening of the coil inside you and your hands threatened to slip on the marble as you approached the edge. ‘Tell me little dove, tell me who is making you feel this good.’

‘You are my Prince.’ You struggled to breathe as he hummed in appreciation. 

‘Say it louder little dove. I want all of Asgard to be able to hear you.’

‘You are My Prince!’ 

‘And who owns this body.’

‘You do Prince Loki.’ 

‘That’s right. So be a good girl and cum for me, now.’ Your body obeyed his command and your walls fluttered around him. A wave of pleasure even greater than the first washed over you and you screamed out into the night. Even in your haze you could feel him suddenly pull out from you, his cum spurting out onto your ass. He gave it one last slap and pulled your body up against his own as he took off your blindfold. 

Even in the darkness you could see Sigyn’s outline against the tiny window of the Tower opposite you as Loki captured your lips with his own. 

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My Masterlist

[phoebe-drawz]

I sketched out my design for this thing after an anon asked me about what I think Steven would look like once he reached full corruption and decided to finish it up. I also got an anon asking about the size, because in my sketch post I mentioned that while he’d be big, he’d still probably be "small” given that Steven/Pink Diamond are small Diamonds.

The anon said that they imagined this thing reaching about 50 meters in height (the height of the original Godzilla they said) and I liked that idea! 50 meters is about 165 feet (technically 164 if I felt like rounding correctly) which I think is good for this guy.

White’s there for scale, instead of Steven like I was using originally, because it seems that, generally speaking, about 100 feet tall is accepted for White which makes her a better scale reference (and doing some short Google searches has Blue and Yellow somewhere at 40 to 60 feet? But that’s not important I guess)

‘course it’s a bit hard to calculate true heights in everyone since SU isn’t too strict about that, as heights are based more on relationships from one character to the next and what the scene calls for than actual hard rules (like a Pearl could stand almost as tall as YD’s boot in one scene and then easily rest in her palm in another, or Sardonyx standing at roughly 30 feet one scene and then being big enough to pick Steven up in one hand later)

likes do not help me. If you like my art, reblog it, thanks!

[c-atm]

Journey's end and New Beginnings

  "There you are, Sweetberry."

  Connie 'Heartberry' Maheswaran, opened her eyes to Steven 'Mister' Universe looking down at her with a small smile. She patted the spot next to her.

  "Join me."

  Mister complied, dropping to the ground next to his Connie and leaning next to the tree with her before draping his arms around her as she snuggled close to his chest. Both looking at Beach city and Little homeworld in the distance from the cliffside hill. Enjoying the peace and quiet.

  "It's been two months."

  Mister didn't say anything but squeezed her a bit tighter. He knew what she was talking about.

  *Two months ago*

  Mister, Dapper, Witchy and Lion leapt out of the pink portal and on to Little Homeworld, never losing a step as the beast ran across the pavement.  

  "My lady. It's him." Mister huskily growled.  His senses on high alert feeling the familiar malevolent magic nearby.

  Witchy kissed her teeth as she gripped Lion a bit tighter. "It was just too good to be true." 

  "Mind filling me in? I rather not be left in the dark."

The demon and the witch looked at each other before turning to the half gem.

  "We know the demon who's here."

  Mister took account of the tone they used. It was one of guilt and annoyance instead of fear and caution. 

  "How dangerous are they?"

  He didn't know what to expect, never having fought a bonafide demon, but the annoyed expression the two demon hunters gave did elevate his worry a bit.

  Dapper grimaced in disgust  "Well they're powerful, but...."

  "He's a magician.  A very annoying summoner to be exact." Witchy continued with the same disgusted tone. "When we were hunting him, it'd usually be a mimic of some kind." 

  "He's not one to fight his own battles. Not the most physically conditioned for fights, but when you can create an army of your enemies you really don't  need to be."

  " And you don't think that makes him dangerous?!" Mister accused.

  "They're weak. Mostly used for distraction and allowing him to escape." Dapper answered. " Autonomous, self-regenerating and duplicating upon reforming. Yet can only be active as long as his glyph is activated and that will only remain active if he's around.. "

  "As soon as he leaves 5 meters from his glyph, his spell ends." Witchy added. "Also riding the glyph ends it too."

  "Ok so tell me about these…"

  Mister lost his voice as they turned into Granite Avenue and the scene in front of them. The street was flooded with black sludge like mimics in the shape of Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, and HB. They heard the sounds of battle throughout the street. Explosions from Garnet rocket punches, Blast from Pearl's spear, and the flesh like ripping from the demon Amethyst as they fought in front of  LHWR&D. 

  "Guys jump!" 

  Not missing a beat, Garnet with Amethyst under her arm and Pearl leapt straight up, passed the buildings height. 

  "Lion Go!"

  The beast eyes glowed and eerie pink before it tipped its head back before bringing it forward.

  "RRRWWOOOOOAAA!" A high powered sonic concussion blast ripped through the mimics, breaking them down and splattering them along Granite Ave. 

  "Messy but good job, Lion." Dapper congratulated  as he rubbed the beast's head.

  "Big bro! Big sis!" 

  The three heard from above to see. Purple falcon flying towards them, as soon as it got in range it morphed quickly to the purple demoness, who tackled the demon hunters off Lion and tackled them to the ground. The trio tumbled a few feet back before laying on the street. 

  Amethyst lifted her head up, tears in her eyes as she looked down at the hunters. 

  Dapper patted the demoness head with a smirk. 

  "Hey Amy, came to get us?" Witchy joked as she wiped her purple eyes.

  Amethyst nodded with a laugh. "You two have been gone for almost a day. We didn't know how to find you..but there was something like a ripple where Kelvin activated his spell.

  "And you just jumped in." Witchy reprimanded gently. 

  "No no! I gotta tethering spell placed on me by Garnet before I came. They wanted to make sure we all came back the way we entered." 

  "Wow, they actually planned it out." Dapper smirked. as he sat up with a groan before He stood to his feet he held a hand down to both of them and lifting them both to their feet effortlessly when they grasped it. Putting a hand around his partner's waist as he had the other on Amethyst's head. Who hugged them both 

  "I'm just happy you're not dead Bro and that sis isn't that scary sister."

  The Crystal gems watched the reunion with a  chuckling smile except for Steven and Lion who was looking around for a certain Berry.

  "Speaking of, I don't see Connie anywhere." Worry evident in Mister's voice. 

  Amethyst looked over and her eyes widened in surprise. "Bro..There's an older Bro over there."

  Before Dapper could say anything the black stains began to move and slither towards the center of the street. They soon conjoined and morphed to a towering, nightmarish gargoyle like knight. Complete  with wings, fangs, armor, and a morning star. Its roar shook the street and sky, causing everyone to cover their ears. 

  "I really don't have the patience for this right now."  Mister groaned anxiously as he made two bubble spiked boxing gloves.  

  He was caught off guard when Dapper grabbed his shoulder and pushed him towards R&D "Bro. Go help Sis."

  "Hold on. How you know she's in there."

  "Because she's not here..and that demon magic is doused with fear." Dapper smirked

  As if proving him right, a glass window broke from the third floor and a voice could be heard from it.

  "You think a shadow can stop me! Come fight, you coward!"

  Mister smirked at the sound before rushing into the building, leaving the others to take care of the behemoth.

  "Kids, take a step back. We can handle this and the last thing we want is for you to get hurt." Pearl stated as she stood in front spear in hand. 

  Dapper and Witchy glanced at each other breathing in deeply, slightly annoyed at being underestimated..despite it being from a place of care.

  " Wait Pearl. We should let them take point and follow their lead." Garnet suggested , giving the hunters a nod while adjusting her glasses.

  "Listen to the seer, Pearly. This is what we do." Dapper stated a bit cockily. He turned to Witchy with a smile. " You ready to work the rust off, My lady?"

  "Rust, he says." Witchy joked as she flexed her hands chuckling at the feel of magic running through her body. The heat in her veins. "I'll show you rust."

  The demon chuckled before turning towards the large still behemoth. Taking the homeworld sais off his back. They were large, pearl colored, and made of Homeworld metal. "Hey big guy.. Mind if I take a-"

  He didn't get to finish as the monster brought its spiked ball down upon him, creating a dust cloud. 

  "Steven!" Pearl yelled in horror trying to run to assist.

  "Sheesh you're a rude one huh?" Everyone heard from above to see Dapper sitting on a nearby roof looking down at them, his smile never faltering.

  The monster growled as it jumped after the demon,  swinging its weapon, preparing to smash Dapper flat. Only to be interpreted by an assault of Pearl's spear blast to it's back.

  The gargoyle roared in annoyance as it was brought back to the street below in a crouch, turning its attention to the women. Its wings began to glow and  flex as it got in all fours. It pulled its wings back about to attack. 

  'Can't have you doing that." Dapper taunted as he dropped on to the beast back and sliced the wings off, causing the beast to howl in pain. He watched as the wings became the shadowy sludge and slithered  back to the center of the street. 

  "My lady." Dapper called as he dodged  a punch from the gargoyle.

  "Got it!"  Witchy exclaimed as she concentrated on sensing where the spell perimeter began. She breathed deep deepening her focus as her eyes began to see a fleetingly thin rectangle black smoke on the street, two buildings long. Inside the square was a glyph that looked like falling feathers.

  She rolled up her sleeves and cracked knuckles before slamming her palm down a few inches in front of the sludge. Purple flame ran along the hidden spell, revealing to all as it burned away along with the sludge the withered under the magic flame, soon became nothing but the smell of brimstone.

  "Reformation spell is gone. you're free to let loose."  

  Dapper licked his lips in anticipation, crouching a bit low  and swirling his weapons playfully, a small glow in his demon eyes. He watched as the monster  prepared to attack with its morning star again. In a blink, Dapper sliced through that arm, making the monster permanently left handed. 

  The monster roared as it arm dropped and faded to nothingness. In anger it swung it's right hand wildly,  ripping through a few street lights.  

  Dapper lips pursed together as he prepared to take it out, when two giant rocket fist slammed to the beast exploding on impact.  

  "Um..Hmm. That was overkill." Dapper stated in shock as he looked back at the four, seeing Garnet  in front with her fist out.

  "It destroyed Little Homeworld property, it was the proper response." Garnet answered with a smirk.

  "Such a horrific judicial system." 

  A weak roar paused the joking, as he turned back to see the gargoyle climb to a kneel trying continue to fight.  It lost a hand, it's right legs was broken, pieces of it black skull were out and little by little bits of its form were fading away.

  Sheesh..You're more stubborn than the one who created you."  Dapper praised gently as the gargoyle sloppily charged forward, ready  to take the Dapper demon in its jaw. 

  It tripped forward and faded away before it hit the ground as Dapperleapt and removed its head. 

  While Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst were taking on the horde of shadows outside. HB with sword in hand, was heading down to the main lab with the decommissioned gems intent on dropping them into their revival pool. After analyzing the properties of the Diamond's essence, Little HW was able to create a makeshift essence that held the properties of all four. It wasn't yet as pure but it got the job done just as well.

  It was made to help gems reform even faster than usual, fueled with the essence of all four diamonds it was great for gems...and  for organics as well as HB would attest. Nothing like a relaxing dip after a hard day of research and development.

   She entered quickly and headed straight for the back room. Opening the doors to an almost spa-like room, with a ten foot deep body of liquid essence, you could feel the magic properties in the air..before tossing the gems in the pool, she felt someone  Slashed at her back and kicked her in before locking the door. She groaned as the pain numbed and vanished just as fast as it came. 

  Grabbing her blade, she swam up and looked for the culprit and kissed her teeth at what she saw. A shadow version  of her, sword and all with smoke colored eyes and magic wisps off her.

  "Can you talk?" HB asked, honest curiosity in her voice.

  the mimic said nothing just pointed it's blade and..attempted to smirk in challenge.

  HB said nothing as she climbed out on the left side of the pool. As she was getting up to her feet Her mimic was already upon her, starting to swing its blade down upon her.  

  HB felt the slight graze of the mimics blade as she dodged away in a roll before standing in a ready position.  She was instantly put on the defensive being forced to dodge and block the mimic's consecutive stabs at various places of her body. She found  her opening when mimic over extended her final stab, allowing HB to slip in close in to deliver a rib breaking right hook to its body.

  Mimic grimaced and coughed without sound, but it did wither in pain slightly, only HB sword holding fist  connected with its solarplesou and again to its face as it was about to crumble to its knees, knocking it back and off its feet.  

  Mimic climbed to its feet in painful anger and charged forward, it swung its sword attempting to scalp HB, just to have HB's blade knock Mimic's from its hand. The last thing Mimic saw was the pink gleam of HB's blade and the pity in her black eyes.

  "Why is it always clones?" HB complained as she walked away from the fading shadow and out the room into the main lab, where the demon; Kelvin and another Mimic were waiting for her.  

  "My my my, You dispatched of that shadow swiftly, but that was just a small insignificant  thing..this one here is many ti-"

  The demon's bragging was silenced by his shadow's swift decapitation. HB kept her eyes on him and him alone as she moved forward, not caring about the fading body beside her. A look of aggravation on her face.

  "Well,  it seemed I underestimated you a bit. You're  strong..but you're still human!" The demon roared  as his body began bulk up. Muscles bulging as his body turned concrete grey, his height as tall as jasper's. he glared at her like a slobbering ogre. 

  "Now lets see you struggle before you prostrate yourself and become my doll."

  It happened instantly. The moment 'doll' hit her ears, her blade swung, the flat of it knocking Kelvin's jaw and illusion clean off. The demon fell face first into the floor trying not to choke in his own blood as fear gripped his heart. Every instinct in his body told him to run or die.

   "What was that?"

  He shivered at the cool and calm voice of the human woman. Turning to see her staring down at him, indifferent in face but her eyes burned with rage. 

  Kelvin listened to his instincts, scrambled to his feet and ran, making more mimics as he did.

  HB nose flared in annoyance "So..This is my night."  Before she gave chase. She took a quick moment to text Steven the situation. Once she was sure it was sent, she charged forward cutting down yet another mimic. and giving chase.

  'What the hell is that MONSTER? That's  definitely not the same witch..Hell, she doesn't even have the same magic as the young witch.. No flames, it's something different!" Kelvin thought  as he ran creating more mimics as he headed to the roof. " She's cutting them down faster than I can make them!"

  Kelvin trip over the step crashing into a window breaking it. 

  "You're gonna have to pay for that!" 

  Kelvin looked back to see another one of his mimics being cut down. 

  " You can give up! We can talk it out!"

  Kelvin felt the chill at her call, he growled at her before roaring at her. "HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME! KNOW YOUR PLACE POWERLESS HUMAN!" He created a trio of mimics to block her way as he continued  to run.

  HB was sighed in annoyance."You think a shadow can stop me! Come fight, you coward!" She charged forward slicing them down, " They're getting weaker each time!"

  HB took a moment to look out the window to see that Mister and the others arrived, the forming of the gargoyle  and Mister running in. She decided to wait for Mister to catch up, watching the others fight as he did.

  It only took three seconds for pink flash to meet up with her and take her in a protective hug.

  "You ok Sweetberry, He didn't hurt you did he?"

  "three seconds, did you walk up here?" She rolled her eyes before giving him a small peck. "Just a slash and kick into the revival pool." She shrugged nonchalantly.  "I've done worse to myself during training and experiments."

  Mister smiled with an arched eyebrow,  "The Cos-spheres prototypes?"

  "The very same."

  Mister was about to comment when a mimic came running down sword ready to cut HB from behind.  In a quick smooth motion, Mitser took HB in his arms,spun her out of the way and slammed a spiked bubble glove into the mimic's face, almost instantly making it fade from existence.  

  HB looked down at the shadow and back at Her Mister, before giving his cheek a kiss. "Whoa! Mister that was...That was hot." 

  "It looked like you…" Mister said in guilt and then anger. "Is this what you've been dealing with?"

  She nodded as she rubbed his fist. "It's not me,  it's not our little witch either. Just shadows in the dark. Can't even smile, let alone talk." She saw him groan and caressed his cheek. " You saved me, Bisky,"

  Mister nodded in agreement before focusing on the situation.  " So.." He stated as he looked passed her up the stairs 

  "Yeah.."  HB looked back the same direction . Two mimics coming down one of each of them. " This is going to be tedious."

  "I know a way we can make it fun." Mister smirked. "If your game?"

  HB smiled bright before giving him a hug  giggling as a pink light enveloped them both.

  Kelvin broke through the roof door. Nerves going haywire as he felt his glyph being burned away, as well as his mimics being destroyed even faster than before.  He hid behind door..ready to assassinate his persuaders by catching them off guard

  "I couldn't win head to head.  but If I catch them off guard. I can eat their essence, heal, escape and survive. Find a new place where I can torture and feast on humans, Just gotta get out of here."  The demon spoke to himself.

  "So you're going to run and hurt more people..is that what you said? That just won't do."

  Kelvin looked up at a figure staring down at him with a gentle smirk. The shadow they cast was terrifying  but it was nothing compared to their pink glow.

  "Well, that was a light workout..to say the least." Dapper jest, walking back to the group. 

  "No kidding, I didn't even need to clean up after you." Witchy joked as she tapped his chest. "Though, it was nice to get a little exercise in. Wipe the rust off."

  "Wasn't it though, my lady."

  She smirked as he kissed her hand. " Yes it was. We're not done yet  still gotta get Kelvin."

  "No need!" 

  A voice from above said as  a knocked out Kelvin fell to the ground in a pink bubble. On top of said pink bubble, in Steven's vest, jean's and sandals; as well as Connie's sweater, barrette and her sword in hand, was Stevonnie.

  Garnet and Pearl smirked at the fusion. 

  "Didn't think we'd get a visit tonight." Pearl stated happily.

  "I hoped we would." Garnet chuckled. "But didn't  see a future when you would.. He couldn't have been that hard for Steven or Connie, let alone both of them together"

  Stevonnie scoffed "Annoying, not hard. He didn't  even fight..He just tossed shadow after shadow. and I tried talking to him after he was pinned...but he tried to run me through as soon as I turned my back after that.." Stevonnie clicked their tongue while slightly  swinging a fist.

  "You did what you had to do." Garnet reassured.

  "Um..Who is this and why do they look like Bro and Sis adult child?" Witchy asked, confused.

  Stevonnie looked towards the three hunters, taking in their expressions.  Witchy looked confused and curious, Amethyst looked shocked switching her views from Stevonnie to the demon hunters, and Dapper smirked knowingly.

  Stevonnie smiled brightly looking at the two. " My name is Stevonnie. I didn't think we'd meet before you head off." Holding out their hand

  "You seem to know us very well, stranger." Witchy inquired, shaking the fusion's hand. 

  "Gues they wanted to give us one last surprise  before we go." Dapper joshed as he shook the fusion hand. " Didn't think it would be this."

  "Yeah well. They got bored of the tedious shadows and wanted me to take over."

  Dapper nodded in agreement. "So what can I expect  from.." He gave Stevonnie a once over.

  "I can't tell you cause it's different for anyone, and don't know how your version works but… If it's anything like me, It'll be an incredible experience."

  Dapper nodded in acceptance of that fact.  

  Stevonnie turned their eyes to Amethyst  who looked somewhere between amazed and scared. "You know I'm not gonna hurt you, right?"

  "You're still part scary-sis."  the young demoness stated matter of factly, getting a half snort from Stevonnie, before they came apart.

  "Wait, I'm not scary! Right? Witchy, tell her. I'm a sweet older sister."

  Witchy was too shocked at watching Stevonnie defusing to be a help.

  "Dapper, I'm a sweetheart right?"

  The demon gulped at her cool tone. "You're  very..Cool..Haha." Dapper took a step behind Witchy.

  "Garnet, pearl.." She turned to them giving them a sweet smile.. " I'm gentle as a newborn fawn.right?"

  "Connie..You want us to lie?" Garnet asked with a smirk.

  "You're very strong. Be happy with that." Pear answered reassuringly.  

  "Scary.." Amethyst comment

  "Mister, tell'em. I'm sweet, Right?"  HB turned to see Mister holding his stomach trying to hold in his laughter. "Really?" HB crossed her arms a small scrunched pout in her face. "I don't think I'm scary."

  "Can someone explain what I just saw?" Witchy asked. 

  *Present*

  "They left the next day. You still didn't get their Amethyst to not be afraid of you." Mister joked as HB groaned.

  "Yeah, thanks for that, you punk." HB gave him a half smile before pinching his thigh.

  "Ow..Scary berry."

  "Stop it."

  Mister chuckled as he sat her on his lap. Feeling content at her snuggling up to him. 

  "You think they're ok?"

  "Them two? Yeah. They're tough..Tougher than us in some cases."  Mister looked up as he spoke. Thinking about the next day.

  It was a bittersweet farewell at least for them. Dapper and Witchy hid it better. They were happy to be going back home, yes, but it still felt like they were losing siblings. It was the final moments before they left that was the hardest,  for the four of them.

  * Two months ago*

  They stood in front of the active warp stream,  staring at each other. older and younger, the same people, who lived different lives..and yet became so connected in such a small time.

  "So this is it. It was a short time, but it's gonna feel strange with you two not around." Mister stated, scratching his head in bashfulness.

.

“You’re going to miss us?” Dapper teased. “You should be happy to have your love nest to yourself again.” He continued.

  “Not even gonna dignify that with a response” HB folding her arms giving the demon a half smirk..

  “Maybe because it’s true.”Witchy giggle. 

  “Didn’t you tell us you two live together, alone.” Mister retorted with a smirk.

  “But we’re not as lovey-dovey as you." Witchy grinned smugly…

  “Empire.” HB and Mister stated just as smug. 

  The younger duo blushed, glaring at their counterparts, who sneered back.. Before the four broke into identical chuckles.  

  Until one of them started to tear up. 

  "Sorry." Witchy wiped her eyes " Something in my eyes. Dust from the warp.."  She chuckled as she did “I’m o-

  She was interrupted by HB hugging her close resting her head on top of hers as Witchy hugged her back. 

  “I’m gonna miss you so much, Big sis.”

  “I’m gonna miss you too, Lil sis.” HB  squeezed her smaller counterpart a bit. “Don’t worry, though. I’m gonna get this thing running and we’ll be together again.”

  “If anyone could it would be you.” 

  “On that same coin you could too...” HB took a deep breath before stepping’ “Now as your big sister and elder Connie, allow me to impart some knowledge.” . 

  “Yes ma’am.”

  HB looked down at the witch feeling pride. “You’re strong and capable, dependable and bright. I know you’re on your way to doing whatever you want in life, stay on that track...That doesn't mean you don’t have time for your relationships.” She glanced at the Stevens, before turning back. “ Take breaks every once in a while for yourself, let him pamper you every once in a while. Make little precious moments between you two.” She sighed looking serious.” If he’s anything like my Steven...If Dapper life is anything like Mister’s…You both we’ll need them like water.”

  “Sis.”

  “I don’t know what you two life is like, but if it's anything like ours ..I suspect it’s not easy..and it’s stressful..So always check in with each other and give each other space when it's needed...Sometimes self-reflection is the best thing you know.” 

  Wichy nodded in agreement. “Ma’am.”

  “ Love yourself fearlessly… So you can do the same for him. He might hide things from you to not worry you...Don’t let him and vice versa… Communication, flexibility, love and trust. Never forget these things..” She relaxed with a sigh looking apologetic. “What am i saying? You two are one of the most understanding relationships I've ever seen. You’re a strong woman already. I’m being assumptious, sorry about that.”

  “No no.” Witchy stated waving her hands “ It’s ok.. I appreciate it. Especially the whole self advice… I’m kind of a workaholic “

  “I swear, all Connie’s are” HB laughed.“Remember you matter Witchy. Self-care is paramount, I can’t stress this enough.”

  “You and Steven both.”

  “Your Steven does the same thing?!" HB laughed before she spoke mimicking Mister.

  ‘ Ni', those reports could be done tomorrow, go to bed it’s 2:30 am ’’

  Witchy giggled before impersonating Dapper. “ My lady, you don’t need to do that spell now, come eat.

  “Ni', you don’t need to practice right now, come watch tv”.

  “ My lady, why are you doing fire spells at 5 in the morning. Go back to sleep

  The two looked at each other before bursting into giggles..

  HB recovered first from the fit. “It’s sweet though. Heartwarming to know that someone as sweet, and loving and special as him cares so much about you.”

  “Just wished he would learn to do the same for himself a bit more .”

  Heart berry eyes widened at that, before falling into a sad smile. “Pay him back.”

  Witchy looked at HB with an amused smile. “ Pay him back?”

  “Yup, for every time he made sure you’re well rested, well fed, and well taken care of.  You make sure he engages in his hobbies, he’s not taken on too much by himself..That he’s taken care off as well.*

  Witchy grinned “Is that advice from one Connie to another.”

  “From someone going through the same thing. Loving a hybrid is hard.”

  Witchy blushed shyly. “He’s worth the hard times though.”

  HB nodded “'I've never regretted meeting him..Falling for him.”

  "So you admit that you're more than best friends, huh" 

  "I admit nothing about nothing." HB folded her arms, looking away before chuckling. "He is my best friend.. but what that means to us is for us to decide. Yes, we know how we feel about each other and act on it."

  "And how do you feel for each other?"

  HB sighed a maroon heat on her face throwing her hoodie over her head to hide her face.

  "You're blushing and hiding!?  Is my cool big sis..going to show her cute side?

  "Quiet or I'm not saying it."

  Witchy didn't say anything as she waited.

  "We make each other better, you know. I can function, succeed, and be content by myself..But when I'm with Steven..Everything seems enhanced. Not even talking about the gem powers. It's the way we cherish one another, care for one another and take time to understand one another; knowing that I have a compliment as wonderful as him. 

that makes me unstoppable"

  "A compliment?"

  "A compliment for my heart.  Even if it feels that he has become my heart at times. We just happen to fall in sync alot more than usual..You know how it is."

  Witch nodded in agreement  before chuckling "It almost sounds like you're contracted with each other."

  "Maybe you're onto something.. A contract written by our experience and time with each other...Seems appropriate  actually...since he does bite me, ever so often …" HB chuckled at her sister's blushing face and dropped jaw. 

  "Is that why you were so extra giddy two days ago?"

  HB just laughed. rubbing her collarbone 

  Witchty looked at HB face a bit red as she glanced  at Dapper talking with Mister. "So..how do we become like you and mister?"

  "It took..a lot for us to get where we are.. That being said.  If you're talking about the level of emotional intimacy then I say you're well on your way. If you're talking about physical intimacy.. Talk about what you want..and being a bit bold once in a while helps....But if you're trying to make your relationship a copy of ours..Don't."

  "I wasn't planning on that..but you two have an excitingly passionate and openly affectionate one.. Can't blame me for feeling a bit envious."

  "Maybe...But that's because of who we are..our relationship works for us… You and Dapper are already in a very mature, loving and devoted relationship. Everything you want for a more intimate relationship is already there and the best thing about it'll be your relationship. Unique to you two...Besides you two almost kissed in Empire, right? Just gotta let nothing stop you next time, remember little moments."

  "Little moments...Be bold...ok..I can do that."  Witchy stated with determination." I'll just go at it like I would a hunt." 

  "Thay how I started… I'm sure you'll be fine  Whooa!"

  HB was caught  off guard at Witchy's  sudden hug. 

  "Thank you Big sis.

  "For the advice? It's nothing. 

  "No!..I mean.. a bit..but.." She held her tighter.  "For everything. Giving us a place to stay,watching out for us, working to get us back."  she started to tremble. " For letting us see and spend time with our parents again, for introducing us to Lion and the gems and everyone, ...For treating us like your family."

  "You are family and you're very welcome." HB held her back just as tight. " Promise me you'll be as safe as possible over there. Take care of yourself ok?..Don't be reckless and have each other's backs.. Don't ever doubt yourself Lil sis. A brilliant, beautiful and capable girl like you, can take the world by storm, don't ever think anything less."

  Witchy could only nod  as gripped her sisters back for what might be the final time 

  The boys watched on, as the two Connie’s conversed among themselves. Dapper was caught by surprise when Mister pulled him into a one arm hug. The demon looked up at his alien counterpart questionably.

  “Big Bro?”

  “ I can’t speak for any other Steven, but you’re a blessed guy, Dapper. Demon powers aside, you got all you need to take on whatever your world might throw at you and win. the Intelligence, charm, the strength of will and the most important.” He nodded towards the girls. “Someone who thinks the universe of you, but will keep you grounded on earth.” He chuckled. 

   “You two are an amazing team. The trust, respect and love you share. That connection..It’s gonna take you two far in yours or any world.”

  “Speaking from experience.”

  “Most definitely.” He looked forward gazing at his Connie. “Gem powers be damn. That woman is my strength. She keeps me human and at the same time, makes me feel like I'm the strongest in the galaxy and the next moment she makes me happily weak.”

  “You love her” Dapper teased only to get a noogie from Mister. He released him with a smile. 

  “She compliments my heart and I hers.” he released his counterpart and placed his hands in his pocket. “ It’s no different from you two.”

  “You think so?”  

  “You don’t?”

  Dapper shrugged  “We don’t act like you and sis”

  “And you don’t have to. You two are not us, despite the obvious.” Mister sighed 

  “What If I wish we were.”

  “You shouldn’t. Word of advice, never compare your relationship with others. It’ll only blow up in your face. That being said, if you want more physical affection. Talk about it. ..Not like she’ll say no.”

  Dapper snickered as he looked forward at the two scheming girls. “I love her, Bro.”

  “Then make sure you continue to show her that. Use that demonic charm and sweep her off her feet.”

  “She’ll probably reprimand me, little tsundere mage.” 

  “Possibly, but that’s how you two communicate... She loves you, truly…”

  “I know… Don’t feel like i’m worthy of it sometimes.”

  “Show me a Steven who never felt that way and I'll show you a liar.”

  “Think 'Connie’s' feel the same way about 'Steven’s'?”

  “Well, ours probably do...Crazy right?”

  “ Yes it really is...That's why we gotta make sure they’re happy..right? 

  “Exactly....Just watch out for and take care of each other, and you’ll be fine.”

  Dapper nodded before turning to his older counterpart and hugging him. “Thanks bro, for everything.”

  “No need Dapper” the older one hugged Dapper back. “ Love ya, Lil bro.” 

  The two separated  as they went to join the girls. Once again the four of them were in front of the warp. 

  HB sighed  "Still hard to believe this is it. So soon too, my place's going to feel so empty now."

  Mister nodded, wiping his eye."Yeah, It's  sad, but your world needs you."

  Dapper looked up to the ceiling" Yeah..I guess it does."

  Witchy closed her eyes looking away. " Yeah but."  she looked towards the older two " It's not good-bye right? More like see you later."

  "If our resident mad scientist has anything to do with it.."

  HB tapped Mister on his shoulder.." I'm not mad..Just motivated by aggressively ambitious determination."

  Dapper arched his eyebrow with a  teasing grin " So a Maad scientist."

  "Oh really, you cheeky little boy." HB walked up to the demon with a teasing glare... before kissing the top of his head between his horns. Dapper face cheeks warmed up with a purplish flushed as he began to feel shy. "What a cute little brother I have."  

  Dapper scoffed before hugging the older Connie. "I'm gonna miss you, Sis."

  "I'm gonna miss you too Dapper. Take care of  yourself." She moved closer to whisper in his ear. " I mean it. Take care of yourself.  take breaks, have fun, Take her out on dates..She loves and worries about you. so you gotta step up a bit, alright?"

  Dapper nodded "I hear you.. and I'll take your advice...as long as you do too."

  "So cheeky, but deal."

  Mister and Witchy looked on before sharing a smirk.  

  "Sure you wanna leave already?"

  Witchy giggled "Sounds like you're gonna miss us, Bro."

  "Well maybe a bit. It was fun having you little ones around."

  Witchy pouted, giving him a tap on his stomach. "You two are just freakishly tall."

  Mister ruffled her hair affectionately.  "Whatever you say, Miniberry."

  "Ugh! You really are a punk!" She exclaimed  as she fixed her hair, before hugging him around the waist. " You're such a punk!" 

  "Yeah I am." Mister joked as he returned the hug. "I don't  think I have to tell you anything since Ni¹ probably already said it, but know this." mister dipped down to her eye level. "You're a sweet, beautiful, smart and strong young woman, and you're only going to get better if you stay doing what you do. So don't lose that focus. ..Also.. Don't make Dapper too jealous over there, little head-turner."

  Witchy chortle at that. "I promise only to make him moderately jealous.. " She hugged one last time, giving him a quick and light peck on his cheek. " Gonna miss you Big bro."

  'You gonna make me cry" Mister teased hugging her back " Gonna miss you, lil sis"

  As the two sibling pairs let go, Mister and HB stood by each other's they watched the demon hunters  prepare to walk through. 

  With a shy and appreciative wave to their counterparts the demon and the witch interlocked  hands and gave each other a grin..Before Witchy, with cheeks burning, gave him a quick and tender kiss.

  "Little moments!" 

  Witchy giggled at her sister's cheer before breaking iit leaving him stunned and smiling. " Let's go home, dapper demon."

  Dapper only nodded as he allowed himself to be led through the warp stream, which instantly died out as soon as he was fully through.  HB walked up to the warp pad and searched for any trace of a rift or anything semblance that they were really there. 

  Trembling, she wiped her eyes of tears when she found none.

  *Present (W-FF21) *

  "So..Nini, what did you ask me to come up here for?" 

  HB looked up as her Mister. "I've been thinking...I need a new adventure. I've been feeling stagnant at R&D.

  "You love R&D." 

  "I do..I do so much…" She sighed  " But, I'm ready for something new… I'm thinking of a traveling expedition to new lands...and I want you to come with."

  Mister grinned at the woman in his lap. "Still sounds like R&D work."

  "The word expedition..I admit that..it is somewhat related to R&D..A bit of data gathering is involved..but" HB sat up and straddled his thighs before kissing his chin and trailing upward.

  "That's only" 'Chu!'

  "Ten percent."  'Chu!'

  "Of it all." 'Chu!' ' Chu!' ' Chu!'

  Mister groaned a low growl at the rain of sweet kisses. "That's..cheating." He held her by the small of her back and the seat of her shorts..squeezing her a bit as she continued to kiss on him.

  "Yeah. You love my tactics."  She gave him a breathy giggle before kissing his lips. 

  "All this to get me to say yes? You Minx."

  HB was silent for a moment. "No. I just wanted to give you some affection." She pecked his lips. 

  "Sweetberry."

  "Besides I think if I tell you the first item of the itinerary, you'll be sold."

  "Oh.. "

  "Come here and give me that ear."

  Mister turned his ear to her, feeling a bit of excitement  at her secret...His excitement rose more and more as she spoke his jaw dropping as he turned to her proud face.

  "You're for real."

  "We're all packed and ready when you-MMM!~MM !"

  Mister stopped her speech with his lips on his own. His hand caressing her left cheek while the other pulled her close. For her part, She folded her hands at his nape and kissed back. They separated with a silent pop before she found herself being lifted up in a bridal carry.

  "I'm taking this as a yes, by the by."

  "Oh It's a hell yes."

  HB giggled. "My oh my Mister, swearing? What would Dapper and Witchy think?"

  Mister just chuckled as he carried her down the hill towards their new adventure. 

  *Present (WD-423)*

  Things instantly went back to normal for the demon hunters. They did their hunts like normal, saving people, killing demons, getting paid for it.  Witchy still studied her magic and went to her normal job, Dapper still attended to his garden, practiced his own magic, and did jobs with the crystal witches when he was needed. Nothing really changed for them. 

  Except..

  Dapper stood in his garden listening to his smooth jazz  from magical music notes like wisp in the air as he watered his flowers, a smile on his face as he did, gliding to the music. So engrossed in what he was doing, he didn't know he had an audience until he turned and saw a teasingly giggling Witchy.

  He didn't say anything as he commanded his watering can to continue the work and he made his  way to his Best friend and contractee.

  "My firey lady?" He held out a hand for her to take.

  "My darling demon." She took it with a smile allowing  him to pull her close to him.

  His left palm on the small of her back, her right on his shoulder, their other hands interlocked. Her head on his heart.

  They swayed to the music dancing in their personal  circle. Both blushing, but not at all nervous. It was an overwhelming welcomed feeling of affection. They didn't say a word to enthralled with being in each other's grasp. 

  She originally came just to check in on him when she caught him in his own world. She was going to surprise him when he caught her and offered his hand. It worked in her favor, her objective was to do this. Create a little moment  amongst their busy lives. Advice from her big sis, that she took to heart and something Dapper quickly caught on to.

  Ever since that kiss before their departure, two months since they've been back.. hey made a number of little moments..Some were things they've done before the trip, but now had an extra layer of meaning, like washing the dishes together, or researching a new spell or case.. Other things were spontaneous like this dance.

  All was memorable. 

  As the dance ended with a small twirl from then into his arms again getting a sighing giggle from the witch against his chest. He looked down at the slightly flushed face and instinctively squeezed a bit, getting a hum of curiosity from the witch.

  "Your heart pace changed." Witchy stated factually. She stroked his cheek with a smile. "It's faster now."

  "Is it ok?"

  Witchy nodded, before closing her eyes and slightly  partially her lips. The invitation was sent.

  Dapper purpled face and anxious moved in  holding her cheeks before his lips gently brushed against hers.

  Only to be interrupted by a sound they did hear in two months, and a stream of rainbow light like magic hit behind their home. The two looked at each in shock  and excitement before sharing their interrupted kiss and running to where the stream landed.

  It was rude to not greet visiting family after all.

[atinyidea]

[13:21] [S]

⟶ requested by @faeoffaith thank you!

⟶ prompt(s): “i could use a hand” and “there is something between us and it is the most beautiful thing i have ever felt”

⟶ changes: from mature to just suggestive, it just felt right i hope you understand!

⟶ pirate!au, pirate!couple, married!?au, female!reader

⟶ not linked to aptts

⟶ 1087 words

It was a lovely day, the day you decided to go swimming. The sun shone down over the water, the surface sparkling like a thousand tiny diamonds were perched right on top. The ocean was as clear as the sky, you could see the coral so clearly it was mesmerising.

Where the ship, The Aurora, had weighed her anchor was quite secluded, hidden close two the shores of an island. You hadn’t been stagnant for long, only having been there for almost a day. You had stopped so the crew could gather more resources while you and Seonghwa had stayed with the ship, alone. If you didn’t count the ten people in the brig. You floated on top of the water, eyes closed. Your hair flowed out around you, circling you. Your eyes were closed.

Seonghwa couldn’t help watching you.

You made little paddling movements with your hands, creating small ripples on the waters surface. You wore nothing but one of his shirts, in fact you wore the shirt he had worn the day previous. Seonghwa was lent on his elbows against the side of the ship, playing with a long leaf he had picked from the tree hanging overhead a couple meters away.

You looked hypnotic.

When you opened your eyes a few moment later, your gazes met instantly. You sent him a loving smile, almost having to squint as the sun casted it’s beams through the trees. Then you started shallowly pulling yourself back towards The Aurora. Amused, Seonghwa pushed himself off of his elbows, letting the singular leave fall from his fingertips and flutter down to the ocean top. He made his way towards the ladder you had placed on the side of the boat before you jumped in, ready to help pull you up. Not that you needed help. You met him when you reached the top, slinging a leg over the balustrade, your faces inches away from one another. Your gaze dropped to his lips for a second but Seonghwa hadn’t noticed for his gaze flickered down to your body during the same second. His shirt stuck to your body in such a way the imagination was no longer needed to wonder what was there.

In a flash his hands were on your hips, lifting you up over the side of the ship so you stood before him on both feet. You leant lack on your elbows, back against the wood as Seonghwa pushed against you gently and placing a slow kiss to your lips. “Nice swim?” He inquired, voice low so that your ears wouldn’t have heard him if there was even a breath of air. You smiled at him, eyes meeting his once again with an almost smug look: like your gaze was smirking at him.

“It was great.” You said, pressing your lips together as you failed to suppress a smile. In the blink of an eye you were no longer caught between his arm but instead walking away from him. Seonghwa turned to watch your form, like his eyes were pulled buy invisible strings attached to your body. You stopped for a moment and Seonghwa realised that the captains’ cabin, your cabin, was in your path. The glance you threw over your shoulder had Seonghwa wanting to run to your every beck and call. Instead, he sent you a small nod and returned your smirk from earlier, stepping slowly after you.

You had entered the cabin first, having got there first when you hadn’t waiting for him to catch up with you. You stood before a mirror, its corners weathered and tattered due to its age and the time spent at sea. It was ornate and spectacular, framed with real gold and pearls. Seonghwa thought you to be his greatest treasure and stood next to such a great one he couldn’t help but repeat his thoughts out loud. You simply rolled your eyes, a smile lifting to your lips.

You met his gaze through the mirror, “I could use a hand.” You say, beginning to unbutton the shirt you wore, which was sopping wet and stuck to you skin. It also just happened to be his shirt. Seonghwa said nothing, moving closer to you so he stood behind you. His hands felt soft against your arms as he took over from your hands, unbuttoning the last few buttons and slipping the dripping shirt to the cabin floor, placing a kiss to your exposed shoulder. You just watched him through the mirror.

“There is something between us…” Seonghwa only stopped his words to kiss a part of your skin. “And it is the most beautiful,” — a kiss placed against your shoulder — “thing,” — kiss brushed against your ear — “I have ever felt.” He finished, your shirt dropping to the wooden floor of the cabin. Now you stood a mere centimetre in front of him, bare, with nothing to hide.

“Bold words, Captain.” You mumbled, breathless, as your head fell back on his collar, giving him more access to the base of your neck.

“Truer have never been uttered.” Seonghwa whispered against your skin. You felt the goosebumps raise slowly, like each one was awaked as Seonghwa made is way slowly across your skin with his lips. His hands, which were now free of the shirt, found themselves snaking around your waits, pulling you to his chest. You felt his lips quirk up into a smirk at the sound of your gasp, the short intake of air leaving your lips involuntarily. Your eyes were now closed, fluttering as you struggled to open them, his lips gliding across the skin of your neck before stopping at your jaw and placing a bite there. His hands were warm against your skin.

You couldn’t take much more of the gentle touches her gave you, how his fingertips traced designs as intricate as lace into the skin of your lower tummy, how his lips barely touched your skin as he broke away from your neck. You turned in his hold, eyes ablaze with certain fire and Seonghwa just smirked at you.

He let you push him backwards, making sure his steps were placed properly and with the last push you gave him he twisted on the ball of his right foot and pulled you down. He watched as you landed on your back, splayed out and breathless for him.

Just for him.

With one last smile as he stood above you, he yanked his own shirt over his head and leant down to join you.

:

[sffl-jeaneenbrunck]

Digital Watches for Women

Digital watches for women aren’t just a means of keeping an excellent track of time but they also act as an accessorizing addition to women’s wardrobes. Being an aid to keeping her punctual and on time, the digital watches add to style and fashion to a great extent. Women need perfect digital watches to not only attend business meetings, evening events and luncheons with precision but also with style and panache.

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Features and functions of digital watches:

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 CASIO LW200-7AV digital watch for women:

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Timex Women’s Sports Digital Watch:

The Timex T5J151 1440 women’s digital sports watch is a perfect option for those looking for something with good strength and durability. Its water resistance is effective up to 50 meters and is all supported with a shockproof system. The digital watch from Timex has a night-light display, dual time zone, alarm, 24-hour stopwatch and a chronograph as well. It has a black and pink color combination.

 Timex Women’s T5K498 Ironman Watch:

If you are looking for a beautiful as well as sporty digital watch for women than the Timex T5K498 is the best choice for you. Loaded with a 100-hour chronograph, 100-hour countdown timer, alarm, dual time zone and impressive water resistance of up to 330 feet, this watch is perfect for swimmers and divers. It has a sporty and attractive appearance that makes it more suitable for women. The Timex T5K498 comes with a 2-year company warranty.

 Armitron 45/7012NVSV Digital Watch:

The Armitron 45/7012NVSV Digital watch is perfect for women who are into sporty digital watches. It has 330 feet of water resistance and is immensely tough. This durable digital watch is loaded with LCD, day and date function, chronograph and an alarm.

PUMA PU910901036 Loop Digital Watch:

An original China production, the PUMA PU910901036 digital loop watch for woman is one of the sexiest digital watches for women in sports. With 165 feet of water resistant body, this amazing and beautiful watch is available in a variety of shades including blue, black, orange, gradient red, gradient blue and gradient purple.

 These were the 5 recommended digital watches for women that are cheap and yet have the full features that you might want.

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 Conclusion:

 There you have it – a complete know-how regarding digital watches for women. Either you are purchasing one for yourself or to gift it to someone you know, make sure you know what you need and then conduct a thorough search for the best prices. Avoid shopping for digital watches over untrusted online stores. They may very well be a scam or fraud, as they might not be selling the original watches. You may end up receiving a replica which is poor in quality and even lacks the full set of features. Therefore it is always encouraged to purchase digital watches from brand franchises or online stores.

[tpo-akemi]

Chapter 1: Welcome to Simon

My mother was the person who knew me best, and she would always say that I will get into trouble all my life.

           She wasn’t wrong.

           It was a long corridor. Right next to me was a person who I’ve meet in a very strange way. Who would have thought that my addiction could get me into this whole mess.

           “Are you even listening? This whole meeting will determine if you live or die. Start taking this whole situation seriously if you don’t want this corridor to be the last thing you ever see.”

           My head turned to him the second I heard him speak. His usually dead eyes were now flaming with anger. I knew he was determined to get me in this place, that’s why he wasn’t going to let me go into the next room without the information I needed to leave alive.

           “Right, sorry. May you repeat what you said a few seconds ago?” I asked.

           With an exaggerated sigh he continued “In the room at the end is the conference room. That is where we usually do our meetings and reports. When we enter, don’t be surprised that everyone is wearing a mask. It is a protocol that we use so nobody knows who anyone is in case someone goes corrupt and tries to kill another member of Simon.”

           “Is that what those gas masks are for?” I interrupted.

           “Yes. Mine is this one, while yours is this gas mask. Couldn’t find a better one, sorry.” He continued. “Some of the members have same colored masks, that means they work in the same department, or in the same part of the city. Max is the only one who knows how everyone looks like, he is our leader.”

           “How do you know his name? You’ve just said you don’t know who anyone is.” I questioned him further.

           “It is a code name. Nobody knows who he is or where he is. He leads everything just from phone calls. Nobody knows where he lives or how he sounds. His mask has a voice changer so even if we tried to find him just by voice alone, it would be useless. All we know is that he isn’t the tallest person out there, maybe 5’ 9”, and all you need to know is that what he says, you do. He comes last into the conference room, leaves first, and whether he is coming in or leaving, bow deeply from the waist down. If you don’t, you are done for.” he finished.

           “I’ll take that as a sign he has a gun with him.” I tried to lighten up the heavy atmosphere, adding a low chuckle at the end of my sentence.

           “Everyone does, multiple guns actually. Also everyone has a least 3 knives so be careful to sit at a distance where they can’t reach you with their arm span.” he added.

           I nodded and continued following him. My eyes were glued to the carpet covered floor, the man’s feet leaving my vision in perfectly timed periods. He was tall, probably a good three inches taller than me, with a slim frame that went well with his slim face. His tired eyes seemed to be pulled down by the sides, almost meeting his high cheekbones, while his mouth rested quite low compared to the rest of his face. His hair was a dark shade of brown, matching his eyes, long and slicked back so it didn’t fall into his eyes. With a denim jacket covering his wide shoulders and his height, he looked quite intimidating.

           I halted my pace down the hallway, with the guy noticing immediately and turning around to face me. I stayed quiet looking at the floor, while he stared at me. When I figured out he wasn’t going to ask me what is wrong, I looked up at him, immediately being greeted with raising shoulders as if to ask ‘what are you waiting for?’ I gulped and finally asked

           “Why am I even here? What do you want from me?”

           The man rolled his eyes dramatically and extended an arm, aiming to grab mine and physically pull me down the rest of the corridor. We were just a few steps away from the door. I retreated my hand.

           “No! I’m not continuing until you answer me!” I shouted.

           He quickly came over to me and covered my mouth with his hand and brought up his pointer finger to his mouth to show me to quiet down.

           “Okay, okay! I’ll tell you but you have to keep quiet, there is a possibility they can hear us because we are close to the door.” He whisper-yelled at me. “Now listen to me because I will say this only once, you are not even supposed to know this.” After I nodded, he continued.

           “One of our members was recently shot and killed by the police and we are currently a man down. Max asked us to look for somebody to recruit and tell him when we find someone. The guy that died was the main drug lord in your area and he knew everyone that sold drugs in your part of the city. I thought it would be easier to find someone who already knows all the drug dealers in the area to fill the empty place in our group, but I couldn’t afford to lose track of you, so I decided to bring you right here as soon as I could. Technically you are not even supposed to be at this meeting.”

           “Oh cool, so my addiction actually has something else to it other than disappointing my parents.” I added sarcastically. His face didn’t even show and ounce of emotion so my self-degrading joke went up the wind. He handed me my mask, alongside with a knife.

           “What is the knife for?” I questioned while looking at the black blade he gave me. By the time I actually looked back up at him, he put on his mask. It seemed to resemble a fencing mask, only it was covered with color shifting jewels. A cloth that was hanging off of the mask hid his neck, now the only skin showing was that on his neck.

           “Self defense. Not that it will work in a gun fight, it is more of a comfort that you have a chance to escape if it gets to that.” he answered.

           I let out a sound to show that I understood and put on my mask. For a gas mask, it was pretty hard to breathe with it on.

           “One last thing. I don’t know how many of us are currently in there, may be 2, may be 19. With Max, there is 21 of us. I’ll sit down with the others, you will stand by the door. If only one seat is empty, stand in front of the door when we enter, if there are more members who have to show up, stand next to the door, your hands clasped in front of you. You need to show that you are not a threat. It helps if you keep your eyes closed while they pass. Under no circumstances are you to follow them with your gaze. Everyone remains motionless until Max appears. Also, if Max asks you anything, just say you don’t know. There were some bad instances before with people being killed by outing each other like that. Got it?”

           I nodded and with that he turned and headed towards the mahogany double door. There was a finger pad on the left side of the door. In just a few seconds the light above the pad turned green and the man pushed the doors open.

           The lights were a total contrast to the dimly lit hallway. The whole room was lit by chandeliers that were hanging from the comically high ceiling. The floor was a good meter below the entrance so there was a set of wide marble stairs. The floor itself was made of marble tiles, so were the pillars in the corners of the room. The walls were a burgundy red that matched the carpet in the hallway and decorated with expensive looking paintings. In the ceiling above the center of the room was a dome with renaissance like illustrations on it, contrasting the rest of the marble ceiling. I assumed that it was made of glass before, but remodeled so the room didn’t have any entrance or exit points despite the doors on separate sides of the room. Right below was a gigantic conference table made of mahogany to match the doors. And around the table were chairs. The man went up to take a seat in the closest chair to the door. With him seated, there was only one chair left empty. The doors closed behind me automatically, so I stayed on top of the staircase, clasped my hands in front of me and waited.

Until Maxes arrival I had all the time to examine the people sitting around the table. The man didn’t lie, there were people with similar masks. Just 4 chairs to the mans left was a person with a fencing mask covered in broken mirror shards. There was also a person who had color shifting jewels on their mask, but instead of a fencing mask, it was a cloth covered in flower corsages. The person had a really small frame so there was a chance it was a woman sitting between them. There was this eerie atmosphere around them all. After the man joined them, they sat there, completely motionless, not talking, not moving, just looking in front of them, as if they were robots waiting for a command.

Above the opposing door was a clock. The time was currently 21:59, 30 seconds until 22:00. He will probably come any second. I could feel my pulse skyrocket and my fingers twitch with every second that passed, so I gripped my hands tighter together and started counting down the seconds in my head.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Just in time, the door on the other side beeped and like on command, all the people around the table stood up in union and bowed. I bowed with them.

“Sit down.”

The voice was distorted just like the man said. A voice changer was in the pearl covered gas mask that lied on top of Maxes head. Even though his frame was smaller for a man, he had an aura around him that could make anybody obey him. He truly was the intimidating gang leader. He had a black denim jacket with singular red stripes on each of his sleeves, a simple white t-shirt underneath, baggy black pants and high lace up boots. No guns or knives were visible on him so I could probably say with guarantee that he had holsters in his jacket. There was no rush in his step while he descended down the stairs. His shoulders were loose as he moved almost mockingly, flailing his hands dramatically as he got to his seat.

“You have 10 seconds to tell me why you are here or you are lunch meat for my dogs. Use them wisely.” Max warned while he kicked back in his chair, lifting his feet up to rest them on the table.

“I don’t know sir. I was just told to stand here and wait.” I answered.

“And who told you that? Who brought you here?” Max pushed on with his interrogation.

“I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that one either. I had a bag over my head so I couldn’t see who kidnapped me.” I lied.

Max hummed to himself after I finished talking, slowly rising from his chair. He started walking towards me slowly and I tried to remain calm, but my nerves were getting to me slowly.

“Relax, nobody here is going to harm you. But I have to figure out why you are here.” He joined his hands as if he is addressing to a child. “Tell me about yourself, but don’t say your name yet. It is kind of a thing for nobody to know who is who in this group, makes it a lot…safer.” He added.

The air became thicker and thicker the closer Max got to me, so by the time I finally got enough air in my lungs to start talking, he was already in front of me, showing me to lean down and whisper me his name.

“Chris.”

“I like it. I like it a lot. Tell me more.” He pushed.

“I’m 27 years old. I live in the old part of town alone.” I continued.

“Alone in the old part of town, huh?” he questioned. “No girlfriend? I can arrange you one quickly. And in the old part of town you say? No money for anything fancier?” he finished.

“Girls don’t really like junkies. And that also answers the second question.” I sighed.

Max snapped his fingers, finally realizing why I was here. He turned quickly and went back to the table where all the other members were still sitting motionless.

“Now it all makes sense. Someone from the group brought you here for me to recruit you. Let me ask a bit further. How many drug dealers are in the old part of town?” He pressed further with the interrogation.

“Six.” I complied.

“You don’t even need to learn the new names. Honestly, you seem like a perfect candidate. I just have one more question for you.” He said.

“How many chairs were empty when you got into the room?” He questioned, shifting his weight in the chair to put his elbows on the table and plop his head on top of his laced fingers

My breathing and pulse quickened again. Man this mask is annoying, too heavy and too sweaty. I gulped and answered.

“One. Your chair only, sir.”

He stood the second I gave him an answer. Walking up to me he pulled out his gun. The sight itself made my heart stop, expecting the worst, not knowing the temper of the leader of Simon. I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip to stop a whimper from coming out, only to be greeted by a sensation of something being put in my hands. When I opened my eyes, Max was looking directly at me, holding the barrel of the gun in his hand, while pushing the grip into my hands. After grabbing the gun in my hands he checked.

“Have you ever shot a gun?”

“No, n- not really.” I stuttered.

“It is easy. Keep the hand you are gripping the gun with straight, and shoot.” He demonstrated with another gun and shot the clock on the other side of the room. It fell of the wall and shattered on impact with the floor. Throughout the whole shoot out, none of the members moved a muscle. They really had nerves of steel. I wondered what they had to go through for them to be that unbothered. Max really is an enemy you don’t want.

“If I am to recruit you, you have to know some rules about the meetings.“ he said and turned to go down the stairs again. “First, as I believe you noticed, there is no talking or moving unless I say so.” He continued as the climbed the table and stood at the center of it. “Second, these meetings are weekly and I expect to be given reports every week on every gain and every loss we have, whether it be man power, guns, drugs, materials, enemies... anything.” He started slowly pacing in a circle while he was talking. “Third, I don’t like to be lied to like you just did.”

At his words I froze. How did he know I lied? Am I really that bad at lying or is he really that intuitive? Even if it was just a guess, I revealed myself by visibly twitching at his words and faintly gasping.

“I know you know who brought you here because there is no other way for you to be here. As you noticed, the doors have finger pads on them, so anyone who doesn’t have their thumb in the data base can’t enter without help.” He elaborated.

“Fourth, I don’t like surprises. I believe the person who brought you here must have forgotten that rule. With that knowledge being taken into consideration, they are replaceable just like the idiot you are about to replace. So, as a sign of your loyalty to me, I will give you a simple task.” He stopped his pacing around the table top.

“Kill the person who brought you here. If you do, you are officially in Simon. If you kill somebody else, I’ll just ask the other members if you killed the correct person. In that case, then both you and the person who brought you here will die. Simple.” He ended the monologue with a simple shrug of his shoulders and got of the table and back into his seat.

My hands began to shake so much I almost dropped the gun in my hands. There were so many questions jumping around in my head I could feel my head buzzing like an angry honeycomb. Yet, my mind was completely blank, as if there was a fog around my head. My heart was beating against my rib cage so strongly I got concerned if it will break my ribs from the inside. Suddenly, it was too hot and too cold at the same time and my knees were getting weak.

“The stage is all yours. Come up here and give us a show we will remember.” Max called out and it brought me back to reality. Slowly, one shaky step in front of the other, I got closer to the group of people who are about to become my colleagues. Still no movement from any of them. I figured out a while ago that it isn’t as creepy as it was weird for a group of people to be so obedient to one man. I got up slowly on the table and stilted my movements when I got to the center of the mahogany piece of furniture. I decided to take a closer look at all the masks. I wondered how some of them could actually see what was happening, especially the guy who had a mask covered with streams and chains. When I finished taking everyone in, I turned towards the man who got me into the room and pointed my gun at him.

“Oooh, so it was you Johnny?” Max pondered as he let out a gasp of surprise.

“Someone had to find a replacement, so I took it upon myself knowing that the leaders of the old part of town won’t do jack shit.” Johnny spat back sarcastically.

“True, they are pretty useless, but it is the best we have. Surprised you wanted to get into that part of the city. I know how much you hate it, and I wouldn’t blame you. You were used to luxury, especially in the new part of town next to the water.”

“It was for the benefit of Simon. I’m glad I got to do one last favor to this gang before being killed.” Johnny chuckled.

“Take off your mask Johnny.” Max demanded.

Without any resistance, Johnny took off his jewel covered mask and showed his face to his members for the first time. He set the fencing mask on the table and looked up at his future murderer. His eyes were no longer dead and lifeless, they had quite the glassy shine to them. He was on the verge of tears, the fear of death finally getting to him.

“Is this the man who brought our soon to be new member in?” Max asked the other members. In union all of the members nodded their head once.

“You may continue.” Max finished.

“Make it quick.” Johnny pleaded, to which I complied.

“I’m sorry.” I mumbled. I grabbed the gun with both my hands, closed my eyes and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang, followed by a thump, which I assumed was his body sliding off the chair and falling on the floor. There was a moment of silence before I heard slow clapping behind me. Max was already out of his chair as if to give me a standing ovation.

“Honestly, I was starting to doubt if you had the balls to pull the trigger. Congratulations. You are now a member of Simon.” He chimed.

I nodded and got off the table on the side where Max was standing. Clenching the barrel firmly in my fist I turned the grip of the gun towards him the same way he did to me. He happily took it back and pulled me aside.

“As a way to show you my gratitude and welcome to the group, I will show you my face.”

This was the first time the group behind showed any kind of human emotion. There were a couple of soft gasps and scoffs, but still no movements. Before I knew it, Max made me face the group, while he showed them his back. He grabbed the edge of his mask and pulled it up slowly, not taking it off fully. What I saw was a man my age, with blond hair, eyes as black as night and features so sharp they could cut glass. What I wasn’t expecting was to actually recognize the face, let alone a dead man’s face.

It was Sam.

[ask-de-writer]

GONE TO SEA : World of Sea : Science Fiction : Part 23

GONE TO SEA

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

WORK IN PROGRESS (Word count unknown at this time)

copyright 2018

Writing started 2005

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

//////////////

Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical compositions. All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

Sourly, they went back to the ship instead of the dining hall.

“Laser target set!  Get the measurements every two meters!”

One was shifting the measurement target and calling the measurements out, one was recording it and the last was double checking.

Mister Barad was retaking the crack pictures.  He called them over to show them the results.  “See?  This is why I wanted new pictures.  This crack has grown eight centimeters and it is forking.  It is also up from 2 millimeters to 4.5 millimeters at its widest.  Worse, there is a new crack starting at the opposite corner.  It is only about five centimeters at this time.

“We need to search carefully for any others starting.

“How are the hogging measurements going?”

Panjat glumly replied, “We have only gained one and a half centimeters. That makes it six and a half total.”

Barad took their measurements and told them, “Thank you for this.  Now go grab a bite.  I will have you look over the report and sign it after you have eaten.”

With some concern, Mord asked, “What about your lunch, Mister Barad?”

He pulled a comic face and replied, “SOMEONE has to write this up.”

Jim shook his head sadly.  “Will we be calling off the public showing?”

Mister Barad shrugged.  “It won't be our call.  Since those programs were deleted, I am kicking it up to higher management.  They can figure out what to do.  Good lunch to you.”

They had only been back from lunch for about twenty minutes when they got a reply to the report.  The report was marked in bright red with, “Insignificant minor defects.  Proceed with construction and public showing.”

Using one of the cranes, they lifted up the Topyard into place and began securing it.  Rigging it took the rest of the afternoon and morning of the next day.  By noon, right on schedule, they were ready.

Barad looked at the New Covenant, tied up to the dock, and admired her striking appearance.  She was the very picture of a “tall ship.”

Jim, standing beside Barad, looked equally proud of their work.  “Nobody will notice those deck cracks, Sir.  We filled them with a mix of finechopped glass fiber and the same resin as the rest of the ship. They are invisible now.”

Barad smiled.  Looking casually up at the puffy clouds, he commented, “Getting to be a little blustery, isn't it, Jim?”

With good humor, he replied, “Let it.  The New Covenant will have to ride out a lot worse weather than that!”

“True. Look!  Here comes the Marine Committee to make speeches and cut the ribbon!”

True to form, the committee made several boastful speeches, taking much of the credit for the boatyard worker's hard work!

Mister Lars finally wound up, “By cutting this ribbon, we allow you to see and experience the true future of this colony.  Modern ships like this one, built of the best materials, will be Our New Home on the world of Sea!”  

With a flourish, he cut at the ribbon with a big pair of ceremonial scissors.  The ribbon failed to part and took a second cut to fall away in two pieces!

Watching from his office, Barad chuckled.

The crowd surged forward.  Barad, watching, saw the Torres family among them.  Young Jason Torres pulled his parents out of the line.  Like practically all of the school's students, he had his so-called calculator.  He opened it and began sliding things around and flipping beads on parts of it.  He was pointing and saying something.

Jim snickered, “They lost their place in line so their kid could do some sort of problem!  Look at that!  We must have forty or fifty people on board already!”

They saw the gay pennons dangling from the New Covenant's rigging suddenly flutter hard, standing out toward the dock and station.  The ship rocked a little and the cat's paw of wind died down.  People on the dock were laughing and jostling for their turns.

Another blustery gust hit the New Covenant.  The pennons fluttered out again. This time the gust did not die down.  Slowly, ever so slowly at first, the masts tilted toward the station and dock.

As the ship rolled, the big hawser ropes holding her to the dock straightened like iron bars.  With a report like an explosion, the bow hawser parted!  Swinging wildly away as she continued to capsize, the New Covenant's gangways dropped into the water!  Trapped people were screaming for help!

The stern hawser failed with a second explosive report!  The masts and yardarms slammed down onto the dock!  The ship's hull filled, seawater gushing in through open hatches.  She plunged for the bottom.  Masts and yards trailing broken rigging trapped onlookers and dragged them under!  The water was filled with struggling survivors who had been on deck or jumped free as the ship rolled!

Mister Torres tried to hold back his wife Mikhala!  She was dragged from his grip by rigging ropes tangled around her legs and pulled into the depths.  Their son, Jason, dropped his coat, shirt and pants as he dove in after his mother!  As the ship finished settling, people could see Jason, trailing some bubbles, slash at the ropes holding her feet and legs.

In seconds, he had her free and was stroking powerfully for the surface. There was a cheer as he broke surface and pulled his mother, face up toward the dock!  Mister Torres stood on a boat ladder, up to his waist in the sea as he reached out and pulled his wife to safety.  

Before he could grab Jason, his son was diving again.  Before it was over, Jason brought up three more victims.

As he swarmed up the ladder, he called, “Somebody call the School emergency number!  Tell Pele to get Pearl's Divers here with their hookah rig!  We have survivors in the hull!  I could hear them while I was under!”

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

[fumpkins]

Hurricane Ida could slam into Louisiana just shy of Category 5

Hurricane Ida is already lashing the coast of southeastern Louisiana with winds reaching 150 mph (240 km/h) and life-threatening storm surge, as the Category 4 storm gets closer to landfall. 

The hurricane is expected to slam into southeastern Louisiana in the next few hours, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. 

The storm would be the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2021 season to make landfall on U.S. soil, Accuweather reported. And if Ida strengthens even a little, its maximum sustained winds could reach Category 5 status, which is 156 mph (251 km/h) on the Saffir-Simpson scale.

“Some additional strengthening is forecast, and Ida is expected to be an extremely dangerous major hurricane when it makes landfall along the Louisiana coast,” the NHC said in its morning statement.

As of 7 a.m. CDT (8 a.m. EDT), Ida was about 50 miles (85 kilometers) southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River and 100 miles (160 km) southeast of Houma, Louisiana. The massive storm is moving in the northwest direction at about 15 mph (24 km/h). 

Related: The 20 costliest, most destructive hurricanes to hit the US 

The center of Ida is expected to make landfall late this morning or early this afternoon, before moving well inland over parts of Louisiana and western Mississippi on Monday (Aug. 30), the NHC said.

“Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion today in the warning area along the northern Gulf Coast,” the National Hurricane Center said in a statement on Saturday (Aug. 28). 

The NHC put out a hurricane warning for areas from Intracoastal City, Louisiana, to the Mouth of the Pearl River, also in Louisiana, as well as around Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Maurepas and Metropolitan New Orleans. 

Though New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell had called for mandatory evacuations around the levee system there, the state governor, John Bel Edwards, along with the National Weather Service, said there was no time to organize such an evacuation, Accuweather reported. Instead, Cantrell is now advising residents to voluntarily evacuate or “hunker down,” according to Accuweather. 

Though high winds and heavy rainfall can wreak havoc on storm-hit areas, storm surge is often the most dangerous part of a hurricane, forecasters have said. If the peak storm surge coincides with high tide, the water in some places could reach dramatic heights. If that does occur, expect a surge of 12 to 16 feet (3.7 to 4.9 meters) from Port Fourchon, Louisiana, to the mouth of the Mississippi River. From Morgan City, Louisiana, a Port Fourchon, surges could reach 8 to 12 feet (2.4 to 3.7 m) in height, the NHC said. 

Read here to learn more about how to prepare for potential hurricane conditions. 

Originally published on Live Science.

New post published on: https://livescience.tech/2021/08/29/hurricane-ida-could-slam-into-louisiana-just-shy-of-category-5/

[starlightrevolution]

The Butterfly of Terror

The Butterfly of Terror

Sanctuary, Greece:

“I am once again passing by your temple.” Pearl declared, as she made her way up the steps leading to the second of the Twelve Temples. “Taurus Amethyst.”

“Hey, P.” Amethyst greeted her. “Are you going back to the Pisces temple?”

“I was planning on guarding the entrances to the Sanctuary, but the Pope ordered Sagittarius to do so instead.” Pearl explained. “All I can do right now is go back to guarding my Temple, and wait for further orders.”

“Connie didn’t come back yet, did she?” Amethyst asked, as Pearl stopped walked.

“Yeah, she has not.” Pearl declared. “It’s been almost an hour since the Bronze Saints left for that mission. They should have returned by now.”

“Are you planning on going after her?”

“I can’t.” Pearl declared, as she looked up to see the Twelve Temples, one for each Gold Saint, representing each zodiac sign. “We, the Gold Saints, are the most powerful soldiers under Athena. Now that the Holy War has begun, it is our job to protect her at all costs. We can’t afford to have even a single Gold Saint leave in a time like this.”

“Really?” Amethyst asked, as she also looked over the Twelve Temples. “I think there is a certain someone who hasn’t heard the news.”

“You mean Cancer, don’t you?” Pearl asked. “She’s completely insane. No matter what message we send her, she almost never shows up, and even when she does, she never does anything useful and only gets in the way. She acts like protecting Athena was a complete joke.”

“I’m not talking about her.” Amethyst commented, as Pearl turned to her. “Aren’t you feeling this strange absence? A Cosmo that should be there, but simply isn’t?”

Pearl carefully looked over the Twelve Temples, one temple at a time, before her eyes widened in surprise.

“That temple! It is completely empty!” Pearl declared in surprise. “She is not in there!”

“She was the last person I expected to just vanish at a time like this.” Amethyst declared. “She spends most of her time inside her temple, meditating and gathering her Cosmo. Makes me wonder where she could have gone.”

“The Saint who among all Saints is considered to be the closest to God. Has she abandoned us at a time like this?” Pearl asked in surprise. “The Saint of the sixth temple! Virgo!”

===============================================

Death Queen Island:

“I’ve been through hell, and now I’ve come for you, Papillon Myu!” Patricia declared as she pointed towards the Specter.

“How is it possible that you reached me?” Myu asked in curiosity, as his multicolored butterflies began flying around his body. “My butterflies have been watching over the entire island. I have been keeping a watch on everyone’s location ever since this battle began.”

“Look again.” Patricia declared, as Myu closed his eyes to look at the beach where the Cygnus Saint should still be laying unconscious, to see the figure on the ground was actually a perfect ice statue shaped exactly like Patricia. “I noticed your butterflies the moment I woke up on that beach. All I had to do was use my ice to trick your eyes.”

“Clever… but not clever enough.” Myu declared in a mocking tone. “You had the opportunity to escape and live, but instead you walked right into your own death.”

“That’s a lot of talk coming from a little butterfly.” Patricia declared.

“Joke while you can.” Myu declared as he opened his eyes and stared at Patricia with a calm expression. “Two of the four Bronze Saints that invaded this island have already been eliminated. After I am done with you, there will only be one enemy left.”

===============================================

“Hm… Damn it…” Jeff groaned as he opened his eyes. He brought his hand to his face for a moment, before getting up and looking around for a few seconds. He seemed to have landed right in the middle of a large open area. His entire body was hurting, but he had no time to waste, as he turned to a nearby mountain and began running towards it. “You three better not be dead! I still want to see your faces again!”

===============================================

“Diamond Dust!” Patricia declared as she punched the air, releasing a powerful blast of cold air towards Myu, who swiftly blocked it with one of his hands, as the wound in Patricia’s head opened and began bleeding. “Curse you, Moses! Burning my Cosmo is affecting my blood flow! My wounds are reopening!”

“My turn!” Myu declared, as Patricia suddenly felt as if a powerful force had just taken a hold of her body, and her limbs began moving by themselves. Her arms twisted as she felt like they were about to break, just as her legs completely froze in place, and she felt as if her head was trying to jump out of her neck.

“W-what is going on?” Patricia asked in surprise as she grinded her teeth in pain. “I feel like my body is being torn apart by an invisible force!”

“Surprised?” Myu asked sarcastically. “I, Papillon Myu, hold the greatest telekinetic powers among all Terrestrial Stars serving under Lord Hades. My powers are such that I could easily immobilize a Silver Saint with a single glance.”

Patricia struggled to move, trying to stop herself from yelling in pain as her limbs simply refused to obey her. Myu took a few steps towards her, as she felt every bone in her body about to snap. Patricia began burning her Cosmo, as the wound in her head continued to bleed.

“Which one should I break first? Your little arms or your little legs? Maybe I should simply shatter your spine.” Myu declared in a mocking tone. “Just tearing your head off would not be any fun, would it? Maybe I should just shred your body to pieces in a single second. I wonder what sound you would make.”

Myu stopped walking, as his eyes widened in slight surprise. Patricia closed her hands into fists, as she gathered all of her strength and began forcing her limbs to obey her. Patricia felt her wounds continuing to open all over her body. She forced her feet to take steps towards Myu, even as her bones felt like they were about to shatter, before she pulled her arm back and prepared to throw a punch towards Myu, only for the Specter to wave his hand, and Patricia’s body to be sent flying towards a nearby large stone.

“Impressive. This is the first time one of my opponents was ever able to resist my telekinesis.” Myu declared, as Patricia struggled to get back to her feet, her body wet with blood as she felt like her entire skeleton was about to fall apart. “I guess it is only fair I bestow upon you a much more terrifying fate.”

Patricia got back to her feet, being carefully not to fall down once again, as she prepared her fists and began burning her white Cosmo once again.

“Don’t make me laugh. Do you really think you can defeat me in such a state?” Myu asked. “Your Cloth is about to fall apart, and you’re suffering from major blood loss. Just lay down and accept death.”

“Shut your mouth!” Patricia declared angrily. She looked up to the sky for a few seconds. She couldn’t see the sun. she was supposed to pray five times a day, but she probably already missed a few because of all of this mess. She continued to burn her Cosmo, doing her best to ignore the pain in the back of her skull. “I wear this Cloth because I promised to protect the world from the likes of you. Even if I lose all of my blood, or my limbs, or even if I am face to face with death, I must continue fighting, and be the light of hope that shines in this world of darkness!”

“Light of hope, hm? Very well.” Myu declared, as he summoned several butterflies around himself. “Let’s snuff you out!”

Myu fired his butterflies towards Patricia, which flew with incredible speeds towards the Bronze Saint. Patricia suddenly found herself unable to move, as the butterflies froze her in place, before she saw a powerful rainbow-colored light shining around her, and screamed as the light engulfed her entire body.

“Deadly Enchantment!”  Myu declared. “The light from my beautiful butterflies can teleport the target directly to the world of the dead. Once you enter that place, it is impossible to return. That is, unless you have permission from Lord Hades, like us Specters.”

“Kol'tso.” Myu heard, before he looked down to see several small crystals of ice flying around his body. He moved his eyes, to see Patricia was standing just a few meters away from him. “Those ice crystals will paralyze your movements.”

“What? Impossible!” Myu declared in surprise. “You’ve returned from death?”

“I was never sent there in the first place.” Patricia declared, as she approached the Specter. “I was trained from childhood to use my Cosmo to slow down the movements of the atoms around me using my Cosmo, thus resulting in a sudden drop in temperature. My entire fighting style revolves around restraining movement. Escaping a paralyzing technique as simple as your butterflies was never a problem to me. I got out of the way right before you could fire your light.”

“I must say, I am impressed. You are the first person I’ve met to have ever escaped my Deadly Enchantment.” Myu declared with a smile.

“Don’t be cocky.” Patricia declared. “Now you are the one who are paralyzed.”

“Is that what you think?” Myu asked sarcastically, as his eyes began glowing in rainbow light, and a powerful telekinetic push flew out of his body, breaking the ice crystals around him to pieces, and sending Patricia flying. “Those little crystals are nothing compared to my mighty telekinesis!”

“What a violent attack! He just blew right through my ice!” Patricia declared as she looked up in surprise. She looked up to see Myu calmly walking towards her. “Even though he shows a calm demeanor, behind it he hides just as much rage and brutality as any other Specter!”

“I am going to kill you now.” Myu declared.

“You are trying to crush my spirit, but I won’t let that happen…” Patricia declared as she managed to push herself back up, her legs feeling like they were about to shatter under the weight of her body. She continued to burn her Cosmo, as she once again felt that same sharp pain coming from the wound Moses had made in the back of her head. “I will show you something that shines brighter than those hellish butterflies! The light of my Cosmo in the shape of a thundering aurora!”

“You fool! Trying to use such a power will affect your blood flow! Even if you do manage to hit me, you will bleed out for sure!” Myu declared as he once again fired his butterflies towards Patricia. “Deadly Enchantment!”

“Holodnyj Smerč!” Patricia declared, as she punched the air, and a gigantic hurricane of air flew out of her fist, freezing its way right through the butterflies, before shattering them to pieces and flying towards Myu.

“What? But how can she muster such powerful Cosmo? She should be bleeding out for sure!” Myu asked, before he looked at Patricia, and his eyes widened upon seeing the frozen spot right in the back of her head. “She froze the wound to stop the blood from coming out!”

“Die, Specter!” Patricia declared, as the gigantic hurricane struck Myu directly, sending him flying into the air, as snow began falling down from the sky. Patricia stood for a few seconds as the hurricane dissipated, before the frozen spot in the back of her head once again broke open, blood flowing out, before she fell to her knees in pain. “Damn it… I lost too much blood… I might actually end up dying today…”

“Did you really think it was going to be this easy?” Patricia heard, before she looked up, her vision beginning to black out, as she saw Myu’s multicolored wings flapping, and the Specter gently landed right in front of her, several rainbow butterflies surrounding his body. “That last move surely was impressive. Had it not been for my butterflies pulling me out of the hurricane, I would have been killed for sure. You Bronze Saints sure are something.”

“Damn it…” Patricia whispered, as she once again forced herself to stand up. It felt like the entire world around her was spinning as she got into her fighting stance.

“Considering the amount of blood you’ve lost with that last attack, it should not take much to kill you.” Myu declared calmly. “If you don’t stop bleeding, you’ll probably only have a few more minutes to live. Even something as small as a cut will put your life at risk.”

“If I’m going to die here, then so be it.” Patricia declared, feeling herself about to faint. “I’ll go to hell pridefully knowing that I fought to protect the world.”

“Very well.” Myu declared. “Then I will be your executioner.”

“Blood… stay in my veins just a little longer…” Patricia thought to herself, as she looked up to see Myu’s Cosmo changing shape, making it appear like a massive butterfly was behind him, just as her own Cosmo took the shape of a massive swan behind her. “It’s not time for you to leave yet…”

“One finger.” Myu declared, as he held up his index finger. “This is all I need to kill you. For the rest of the fight, this one finger is all I am going to use.”

“Quit with your non-sense!” Patricia declared, before she dashed as fast as she could and threw a punch towards Myu, Cosmo surrounding her fist as she struck the Specter directly on his chest, a large flash of light emanating from her fist, before the light dissipated, and Patricia’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Is that all your rage can muster?” Myu asked, not even bothering to block, as Patricia’s punch had absolutely no effect. “Pathetic.”

Before Patricia could react, her back struck a nearby large rock, and she felt to the ground. It was if an immensely powerful force had just thrown her away, so fast that she could not perceive it. Patricia looked up, to see Myu was still holding up his finger. Had he struck her with it? Patricia tried to get back up, when Myu suddenly vanished, and a powerful force once again tossed Patricia away. Patricia looked up, to see Myu standing over her, pointing his finger towards her face.

“First I’ll take your arm.” Myu declared, before he pierced through Patricia’s left arm with his finger. Patricia screamed in pain as the bone in her arm broke, and the shoulder of her Cloth exploded to pieces, before Myu pulled his finger out, and the wound he had left began bleeding. Patricia reached for the wound and held it closed. If she let Myu continued to open wounds in her, she would bleed out in minutes. Myu leaped away as Patricia tried to get back up, only to fall to her knees. “You must have trouble moving now. Your body feels heavy, doesn’t it? Is your head spinning? It is amazing you can even stand.”

Myu once again disappeared. Patricia looked around for a few seconds, before looking up to see Myu standing on top of a large rock, looking down at her as his butterflies surrounded his body.

“You had no hope of ever defeating me after the wounds you received in your battle against Moses.” Myu declared. “Why did you even come to fight in such a state?”

“I already told you…” Patricia answered as she breathed heavily. “It is my job as a Saint to save the world from the likes of you!”

“You are a fool.” Myu declared, as he pointed his finger towards Patricia, his telekinetic powers making her scream in agony, as she felt a sharp pain striking every spot of her body at once. “Die with your pathetic honor, Saint.”

“Master…” Patricia thought, as she grinded her teeth and clenched her right hand into a fist, and began burning her Cosmo with as much intensity as she could. She held both of her hands up as she looked up at Myu, before she leaped towards him with all of the strength she had left. “I am sorry… I think this is the end for me…”

===============================================

Siberia, four years earlier:

“I must not burn my Cosmo to the limit?” Patricia asked, as she sat around a small fire, alongside her master.

“Not if your body is heavily damaged.” Garnet declared, her shades covering her facial expression. “Your Cosmo is powerful enough to drop the temperature in an area so large that it reaches up to the clouds. You could even make it snow in the desert if you so desired.”

Garnet looked up to the stars for a moment, staring towards the constellations, before turning to Patricia.

“When such power flows through your body, it affects your blood. The explosion of your Cosmo makes your entire blood flow in reverse, even if just for a second.” Garnet explained. “If you use such power while debilitated, the cells of your body will not be able to withstand the sudden impact, and will begin to die out. Your veins won’t be able to hold the intensity of your own blood, and will burst themselves open. Your blood will begin to pour out from all over your body.”

Patricia looked down upon her own hands, which began glowing slightly with Cosmo.

“In the exact moment you strike your enemy…” Garnet declared. “Your life will end.”

===============================================

Death Queen Island, Present day:

“Burn, my Cosmo! Burn towards infinity!” Patricia declared after leaping towards Myu. The Specter looked at her, before his eyes widened in shock, as all of the veins in Patricia’s body suddenly exploded, and several large wounds formed all over her body, blood flying out of every single opening in her skin.

“You idiot!” Myu yelled in shock. “What is the point of winning if you lose your own life?”

Patricia did not answer, as she continued to fly towards Myu, her blood hitting the ground like raindrops, as the Cosmo burning around her body took the shape of a flying swan heading towards the Specter. Myu raised his arm to block in desperation, which Patricia struck, swiftly shattering the arm of Myu’s Surplice to pieces, before the impact of her fist struck Myu’s head through his arm, shattering Myu’s helmet and sending pieces flying everywhere, before Myu’s entire body flew away and hit a nearby large rock, the rock exploding to pieces.

“Goodbye…” Patricia whispered, as she fell face first to the stone ground, her blood still falling into a large puddle beneath her. Patricia closed her eyes, before she heard the sound of footsteps, and once again opened her eyes in shock, and looked up to see Myu walking towards her. “He… he’s alive…”

“Never before in my life… have I ever felt a greater pain than the one you just made me go through…” Myu whispered, as his calm demeanor suddenly shattered, and he dashed towards Patricia with nothing but pure hate in his eyes. “It hurt!”

Myu kicked Patricia up from the ground, sending her flying upwards, before striking her several times in midair, and sending her back to the ground. Myu approached the Bronze Saint, before stomping on her broken arm, making her scream in pain, following it with several kicks.

“Now die! Go to hell where you belong, and suffer the punishment brought upon you by Lord Hades!” Myu declared, as he punched right through the chest plate of the Cygnus Cloth, and torn right through Patricia’s chest. In a last-ditch effort, Patricia closed her fist and struck Myu’s arm, which was no longer protected by the now shattered arm of the Surplice. Myu screamed in pain, as his arm shattered, before he pulled his arm in surprise. “Damn you! Do you not ever give up?”

Myu looked down at Patricia’s body, as the hole he had made on her chest began bleeding intensely.

“Doesn’t matter. This must have been the last bit of strength you had left in your body. Even if you could still fight, you wouldn’t even be able to kill an ant with your punches.” Myu declared, as he looked over Patricia’s bleeding body. Myu looked over his arm, which Patricia had just broken, before he pulled his other arm and prepared to throw a punch. “How dare an insignificant pest such as you break my bones? I will cut your head off!”

Myu threw a punch, but stopped before his fist could make contact with Patricia’s head.

“This is worthless. She is already dead.” Myu declared, as Patricia closed her eye and stopped moving, the puddle of blood beneath her becoming large enough to touch Myu’s feet. Myu turned around and began walking away, leaving bloody footsteps in his way. “Now there is only one Saint left out of the four invaders. That Silver Saint that Lord Hades brought back to life should take care of him quickly. After that, I can finally be done with this mission.”

Myu looked down at his broken arm once again.

“But my pride will be forever tarnished by this pest!” Myu whispered in anger as he walked away from Patricia’s dead body. Unknown to Myu was a small detail, a little glimmer of light reflecting from a small object, located right inside the hole Myu had made on Patricia’s chest, which continued to glimmer as the Bronze Saint remained immobile.

===============================================

“Alright, what do we have here?” Jeff commented as he finally reached the top of the mountain. From a high place, it would be easier to look over the area and find the others. Jeff stopped walking, as he saw the silhouettes of two Saints standing right in the middle of the top of the mountain. “Hey! Pegasus! Andromeda!”

Jeff began calmly making his way towards the two.

“I was searching for you guys. Is Cygnus with you too? I’ve just ben running around on my own ever since those Silver Saints appeared.” Jeff commented as he approached his two fellow Saints, before he suddenly stopped walking, and took a few steps back in surprise. “You are… this can’t be…”

Jeff stared in shock at the two Saints, who had been transformed into stone statues.

“You two were turned to stone!” Jeff declared in surprise. Jeff turned around, to see a bright light flying towards him, which quickly engulfed his entire body.

“It is done.” Declared the Silver Saint, before he took a few steps towards the statues, showing that the bright light had actually come from the eyes of the shield that was glued to his arm, which was shaped like a woman with snakes in her hair. “I, Perseus Algol, have turned all of our enemies into stone with my Medusa Shield. Now nothing will stand between us and the eternal life that was promised by Lord Hades.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Algol heard, before he opened his eyes, to see Jeff standing in a battle position. “I, Dragon Jeff, will now be your opponent!”

“What? Impossible!” Algol declared in surprise. “Nobody who looks into the eyes of the Medusa has lived to tell the tale!”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but it seems like not even the mighty Medusa can get past my unbreakable shield!” Jeff declared, as he showed the shield that was glued to his arm. “The most powerful defense among all Bronze Cloths! The Dragon Shield!”

“You blocked the light from the eyes of the Medusa with your shield?” Algol asked in surprise. “Clever, but you only delayed your death by a few more moments. We Silver Saints are a hundred times more powerful than you Bronze Saints on average. You have no hope of ever defeating me.”

“Oh yeah? Let’s see about that!” Jeff declared, as he held his shield with one hand and prepared to attack with the other. “I’ll show you what happens when you anger the dragon!”

Has the Medusa Shield met its match in this battle against the Dragon Shield? The immovable object now faces the unstoppable force!

To be continued.

Status:

Pegasus Connie: Inactive.

Dragon Jeff: Active.

Cygnus Patricia: Dead.

Andromeda Daniel: Inactive.

Lizard Misty: Dead.

Cetus Moses: Dead.

Cerberus Dante: Dead.

Perseus Algol: Active.

Worm Laimi: Dead. Awaiting resurrection.

Papillon Myu: Active.

Author’s note: It seems like our beautiful swan of ice has bit the dust. Patricia was a character that I really liked to write for. Hyoga was one of my favorite characters in the original Saint Seiya, and I certainly loved to be able to add my own spin on it. Patricia was also the first Muslim character I ever tried to write for. Did I do a good job? Don’t forget to keep your eyes open for the next chapter, because now it all relies on the Dragon.

[takerfoxx]

Walpurgis Nights 5: Part 3

Homulilly surfaced, her head breaking through the gently surging surface of the water. She looked around, checking her position. Good, she was still close to where the cliffs met the beach. Taking a deep breath out of reflex, she dove down again.

The others were swimming around this way and that, checking out the local aquatic wildlife. Candeloro and Charlotte were hanging together, slowly moving over clusters of anemones and searching for the most colorful specimens. Oktavia and Gretchen were near where Homulilly had surfaced, inspecting a school of fish with silver scales and lines of purple streaks.

The ocean around Freehaven had been everything Oktavia had promised. Though not as lively or colorful as the tropical reef represented in the Ocean Enchantment ride, it had more than its fair share of wonders. Oktavia took a certain amount of pride in showing off the types of crustaceans and where to find them, from scuttling crabs to large, lumbering lobsters. They saw large beds of oysters, not the pearl creating kind unfortunately, but still impressive in their size. They saw numerous fish, some small and darting while others were the size of Homulilly’s leg. And of course, Oktavia knew the name of each and every one, from the ones native to earth to the ones that had wandered in from other territories to a few new species resulting from interstellar crossbreeding.

“Over here!” Oktavia called. She really was specifically suited for the ocean, as her gills meant that any sort of breathing device was unnecessary and her tail made her especially fast. Also, for some inexplicable reason, her voice wasn’t muffled by the water. A little distorted, sure, but Homulilly had no trouble understanding her. Homulilly and Gretchen swam over to where she was indicating.

A small grove of some kind of kelp was growing. The roots were dark blue that brightened to lime green in the middle before turning to a yellow so bright that it was kind of hard to look when they reached the top. The leaves were long and broad, and several arms stuck out from the green part that ended with round balls. The balls were apparently buoyant, as they floated up around the stalks, holding the arms up.

“Vitrel kelp,” Oktavia explained. “They’re from the same planet as the botuntikos and the nask, but they grow just fine here. See those floating ball things? They use those to support the stalks so that they can keep growing and growing. When you get real deep out, they can grow hundreds of meters tall. Heck, back on their home planet, they have whole forests of these things that get as tall as a mountain!”

Homulilly thought back to the underwater world she had seen back during their trip on the Magic of the Universe ride and how deep its ocean was. That was impressively high all right.

Oktavia continued to show them around. She showed them anemones and the fish that lived within them. She showed them a family a sea turtles lazily making their way past the shore, though she had to physically restrain Gretchen from swimming over to touch them when they saw several baby turtles in the group. And she showed them where an ancient wreck had been discovered, one so old that it had been completely consumed by coral, so that only its general shape remained.

“Apparently it belonged to some merchants who were coming to Freehaven to trade, way back in its early days,” Oktavia explained. “Nothing left inside it, unfortunately. The sea and scavengers stripped it clean long before the coral got it.” She gestured out into the open ocean, where the water grew deeper and its possessions became stranger. “Out there, there’s a few newer wrecks that still have things worth finding. I’ve found a couple, though it’s usually just tools and fishing gear. Maybe someday I’ll take you to see them.”

After a while of looking at fish Homulilly surfaced again. She was a bit further from shore than before, but fortunately not by much.

“It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?”

Homulilly turned to see that Gretchen had also come up for a bit. “It is,” Homulilly said. “It’s too bad that Ophelia is so scared of the water. She’d like all the exploring and…” Then she frowned. “Er, Gretchen-chan? What are you doing?”

Gretchen’s bobbing head was moving through the water in a very odd fashion that didn’t seem to indicate swimming at all. Whatever it was, she seemed to be having a difficult time with it, plus it was making her grimace for some reason. “Ooo, eee, ooh,” she said, her face twisting with each syllable. “Well, I figured that now would be a good time to try out that leg stretching thing, and…”

Homulilly’s eyes boggled. ���You’re walking on the bottom?”

“It’s harder than it looks,” Gretchen said as she gingerly tried to move toward her. “My legs are real thin, and I don’t have any feet, so moving forward is…tough. And oh, I keep stepping in things!”

Homulilly stuck her head down just long enough to confirm that yes, Gretchen’s legs were now stretching all the way to the ocean floor, giving her the appearance of some kind of extraterrestrial horror, albeit a very cute one.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Homulilly said.

“Probably not,” Gretchen admitted. “And it’s-” Then her eyes went wide. “Ugh! I stepped in something squishy! Okay, legs come back, legs come back!”

Chuckling, Homulilly went back down again. She wanted to see if there was anything interesting down in the trench.

It took a while to reach the bottom, but when she got there she was disappointed to find that it was mostly just sea grass and more fish. She would have liked to have seen an octopus or two.

Then, as she turned a corner, she found herself staring at the mouth of a dark cave.

It was large enough for two people to swim in with ease, and seemed to go pretty far back. No doubt if there was anything interesting to find, it would be in there.

But as Homulilly gazed into the yawning entrance, she found herself growing uneasy. It was so dark inside that she wouldn’t be able to see where she was going. Maybe there were sharks in these waters, and they were just hiding deep inside the cave. That, or angry eels, looking to take a bite out of the first unwary soul to wander by. Or maybe spiny urchins with venomous quills. Or maybe she would just hit her head on a rock. Besides, the others would probably yell at her for wandering off.

No, no, no. Her curiosity was going to have to remain unsatisfied. No doubt if there was anything cool in there, Oktavia would have found it by now. Backing off, Homulilly turned and swam away, toward where the trench opened up to the wide ocean floor.

Then Homulilly’s breath caught in her throat.

A long, slender appendage had appeared, slinking out from behind the rocks. It was as thick as a pencil and as flexible as one of Gretchen’s legs. However, it clearly did not belong to something like an octopus or a squid or anything else that one might expect to find in those depths. For one, it completely lacked the suction cups that they all seemed to possess, resembling more a worm than any earthly tentacle. For another, it was glowing with a ghostly white luminescence, one that cast eerie shadows in the darkness of the trench. Black lines danced down its length like electric pulses, moving toward its unseen body.

Whatever it was, it made Homulilly cringe back. She had no idea what this new, weird thing was, but she was sure that she wanted nothing to do with it. Perhaps her Japanese heritage was to blame, giving her a natural revulsion to anything alien with tentacles.

The appendage continued creeping out, probing the bottom of the ocean inquisitively. Homulilly wondered if perhaps it was just a worm, some kind of extraterrestrial arthropod that had wandered into Freehaven’s waters.

But then a second one appeared, just over the first. Then a third. Then three more, flailing and writhing about. Okay yeah, these definitely were not worms. A monster was there, something far worse than any shark, something bizarre and alien that had no business being there.

Homulilly didn’t have the slightest clue what she was looking at, she just knew that she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. It was time to go, to put as much space between her and…whatever it was as possible.

Unfortunately, what followed next could best be described as a perfect cavalcade of “If only.”

If only Gretchen had not chosen that exact moment to go see what her girlfriend was so focused on.

If only Gretchen had not, upon seeing the monster for herself, instinctively jerked back in alarm.

If only there had not been a stone shelf jutting out of the wall right behind her head.

If only she had not, for whatever reason, removed her breathing membrane.

If only striking the back on her head had not caused her to reflexively inhale a mouthful of water.

If only seeing her girlfriend slump lifelessly had not caused Homulilly to panic and, instead of grabbing her and heading straight up for the surface like she should have, instead grabbed her and swam deeper into the trench as fast as she could.

If only she had not, for whatever reason, headed straight into the underwater cave and kept right on going, seeking a place to hide from the monster.

If only any one of these things had not happened, for if they had not, everyone might have been spared a great deal of trouble and worry.

But they did.

…

Homulilly’s head broke the water with a gasp. She fumbled blindly around in the dark, praying that her hand wasn’t going to fall onto anything predatory or poisonous. Fortunately, her bony fingers touched a wet, slick, but animal-free rock shelf. She shoved Gretchen’s limp form up onto it before hauling herself up as well.

She ripped the breathing membrane from her face and pulled off her goggles. A couple of breaths confirmed that yes, the air was breathable. Salty and kind of smelly, but breathable. She groped around the shelf. Okay, okay, didn’t seem like anything was up there with them. In fact, from the feel of things, it might be larger than a shelf. In fact, she might have come across a full-on cavern, one large enough to accommodate the pair. Furthermore, she had not encountered any hungry sharks, biting eels, stinging jellyfish, sharp anemones, or anything nasty on their way in. That was the good news.

The bad news was that to get there, Homulilly had to blindly panic her way through what felt like an endless nightmare labyrinth of pitch-black tunnels, meaning that they were lost and alone far beneath the ocean, far from their friends, far from the surface, with no light or anything that might help them. And to top it all off, Gretchen wasn’t moving.

“Gretchen?” Homulilly said, reaching around with her shaking hands until they found Gretchen’s shoulders. She shook her, hoping to wake her up. “Gretchen? Gretchen!”

No answer.

Homulilly felt like she was about to lose her mind. Gretchen wasn’t moving. Her membrane was gone, so she had probably inhaled a lot of water.

Ophelia’s words came stabbing into Homulilly’s mind with the cold precision of a blade. “It was like being held underwater. I tried to pull myself out, but when you can’t even breathe, it ain’t gonna happen, so everything went black.”

Gretchen had drowned. The water had gotten into her soul vapors and was going to drown her over and over and over. It didn’t matter how many times she came back, she would do so in agony. And unlike Ophelia, there was no one around to help her.

No!

Homulilly started pounding on her chest. “Wake up!” she cried. “Wake up! Wake up!”

That did nothing. Unfortunately, being in a world where death was an inconvenience and serious injury being anything but, proper CPR procedures had been omitted from her education.

But Homulilly wasn’t about to give up. Hoisting Gretchen’s body up, she flipped her around and sat her in her lap. Then, wrapping her arms around her and clasping her hands against Gretchen’s stomach, she shoved up and in.

Her technique left much to be desired, but her strength was more than enough to make for it. She heard Gretchen gasp, followed by a violent retching as water exploded from her mouth. Homulilly all but collapsed with relief.

Gretchen doubled over as she coughed up the water in her system while Homulilly rubbed her back. As joyful as she was over her success, Homulilly still found herself wondering why the water hadn’t dampened Gretchen’s soul like it had with Ophelia. Did it have something to do with the way it was absorbed?

Well, whatever. It didn’t matter. What did was that Gretchen was all right, more or less. Finally she managed to cough it all out. From there, she flopped back into Homulilly’s arms and just laid there, shivering.

“Lilly-chan?” she said hoarsely.

“I’m here,” Homulilly responded.

“Wha…What happened?”

Homulilly took a deep breath of the nasty air. Then, collecting her wits the best she could, she told Gretchen the unfortunate series of events that had led to their current predicament.

“A monster?” Gretchen said. “I…I don’t remember that.”

“A scary one,” Homulilly told her. “With glowing tentacles and these black lights running down them.”

“Oh wow,” Gretchen said with a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold. “Now I’m glad I don’t remember. The last thing we need is a tentacle monster. You know, since we’re Japanese.”

Homulilly sighed. “You’ve been talking to Ophelia too much. Besides, you have tentacles.”

“They’re not the same thing!”

They sat in silence for a bit, trembling in the dark. Then Homulilly said, “Gretchen, what happened to your air membrane?”

“Oh,” Gretchen sighed. “It’s stupid. But I was thinking. You know, since we just found out that I can stretch my legs and never knew that before that I might be able to do other things too. So I saw Tavi-chan swimming around and breathing underwater and wanted to see if maybe I could too.”

There was a significant pause. Then Homulilly said, “Tavi-chan has gills.”

“Yeah. Like I said, it was stupid. I was just about to put it back on when I saw you. Then everyone got all black. I must’ve dropped it when I hit my head.” Homulilly felt Gretchen’s head slump forward. “I’m an idiot.”

“No. No, you’re not,” Homulilly said firmly.

“You’re sweet. But it was pretty dumb.”

“Well, a little,” Homulilly admitted. “But you couldn’t have known that there was a monster out there.”

“It was still dumb.”

Again they sat and waited, the only sound being their breathing and water dripping into the pool. The shivering grew worse.

“Do you think the monster’s gone?” Gretchen finally said.

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe it got the others.”

Homulilly shook her head. “Not them. They’re too tough.”

“Yeah. But we’re not, I guess.”

Homulilly didn’t have a response for that.

Then, so suddenly that it made Gretchen squeak with alarm, Homulilly swung her legs around and slipped off the shelf into the water. The coldness of the water made her stomach clench.

“Where are you going?” Gretchen said.

“I’m just going to see if the monster’s still there,” Homulilly told her. “I’ll be right back.”

“Lilly-chan, no,” Gretchen said, sounding terrified.

“I’ll be okay,” Homulilly assured her, though she secretly wondered if that was true. She reached up and found Gretchen’s hand. Giving it a squeeze, she said, “Don’t worry. Just rest. I’ll be fine.”

With that, she slapped her membrane back into place and sank down.

It only took a moment for Homulilly to realize that her plan had a major flaw. When she had come into the cave, she had been so focused on getting away from the monster that she hadn’t paid much heed to where she was going, and had simply swam forward as fast as she could until she had found somewhere to surface. But going back was going to prove to be difficult.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, and with no light it was a terrifying experience. Homulilly had to feel her way by hand, and more than one placed her bony palm down on something squishy or slimy. Fortunately, nothing stung or bit her, but her imagination had no trouble in conjuring any number of dark, scuttling creatures crouching mere centimeters from her hand.

Just keep going forward, she told herself. Just keep going forward. She had come in more-or-less in a straight line, so if she went out in the same manner she should be able to find the exit.

However, when she had gone a fair amount of the distance, she was struck by a terrible thought: how was she going to find her way back? She had left Gretchen alone in a dark hole far beneath the ocean, and if the tunnel proved to be part of a network, all it would take was one wrong turn and she would never find her.

Homulilly almost went back then. Better they be lost together than separately, and the thought of Gretchen scared and alone in the dark made her feel terrible for leaving her.

However, before she had made up her mind to turn back, she rounded a corner and saw light.

For a brief moment she thought that she had finally found the way out. But no, it wasn’t the dim glow of sunlight filtered through water, but rather a bright, harsh glare, like that from a flashlight. Furthermore, as her eyes adjusted, she saw that it wasn’t round like one would expect from the cave entrance, but rather longish and-

-and it was moving.

It was all Homulilly could do not to start hyperventilating. The monster was there, prowling the tunnel, feeling its way forward with its many tendrils. It didn’t seem to have noticed her, but if it came much closer than it undoubtedly would.

Homulilly hastily turned and swam back the other way, careful to move slowly as to not disturb the water too much.

If the way forward had been bad, the way back was a nightmare. Every moment Homulilly was convinced that the tunnel would branch off into a side-path that she would take by accident, that she would encounter something just as nasty as the monster. Gritting her teeth behind the membrane, she pressed on, this time following the ceiling with her hand. There seemed less a chance of accidentally disturbing anything that way, and more of a chance of finding the surface of the pool.

She might have finally despaired of ever finding the way when her fingers broke the water. She all but leapt up into the air and was rewarded by the sweet sound of Gretchen gasping with surprise.

Once Gretchen was reassured that it was actually her and not the monster coming for its supper, she helped Homulilly back onto the shelf.

“It’s no use,” Homulilly said through chattering teeth once she had got the membrane off. “The monster’s in the tunnels now. I think it’s looking for us.”

She heard Gretchen sniffle. “What are we going to do then?”

“I don’t know. Hope it doesn’t find us and they send out a proper rescue party, I guess.”

Gretchen let out a small whimper. Knowing exactly how she felt, Homulilly reached out and gently drew her into her lap and hugged her close. From there they sat and waited.

It was impossible to tell how much time was passing. Seconds felt like minutes, minutes passed as slowly as hours, and Freehaven itself would probably end up long abandoned by the time an actual hour passed. In truth, they sat silently for only five minutes, but considering the circumstances they could be forgiven for thinking that it was longer.

“I’m cold,” Gretchen said at last.

“Me too.” Actually, Homulilly was practically freezing. The waters around Freehaven were always pretty warm, but they were far down enough for that warmth to have a hard time reaching them, especially within the depths of the cave. And both of them were wearing practically nothing.

Then Gretchen started to shifting around, turning in Homulilly’s lap so that they were facing each other, her wire legs tickling Homulilly’s stomach through the thin fabric of her swimsuit as they passed. She encircled Homulilly’s middle with her arms and hugged her tight, laying her head against her neck.

Homulilly responded, drawing her own arms in tighter around Gretchen. As a way to keep warm, the improvement was marginal. But in other areas it was exceedingly better.

Still, Gretchen’s trembling grew worse, and soon her small body was violently shaking in Homulilly’s arms.

“Gretchen?” Homulilly said, worried that something new was wrong.

“S-S-Sorry,” Gretchen said. Though Homulilly couldn’t see a thing, she could imagine Gretchen’s sheepish smile easily enough. “I’m j-j-just so sc-scared. Big coward, huh?”

“No,” Homulilly said, shaking her head. Gretchen’s salt-water slicked locks brushed against her cheek. “Never. You’re the bravest person I’ve ever met.”

“N-No I’m not. I’m s-s-so scared I can b-barely move, b-b-but you j-j-jumped right in to go find that monster!”

“That doesn’t mean I’m not scared too,” Homulilly said. “Besides, you’re always the one to help me try new things and talk to people. You make it seem so easy.”

“It is easy! I mean, c-comp-p-pared to this at least! I could never have done something like that! You’re way braver than I ever could be, so don’t beat yourself up like-”

Then Gretchen cut herself off. “Oh, forget this,” she muttered. Homulilly was about to ask her what she meant, but the question was both blocked and answered when Gretchen suddenly pressed into her, tilting her head up to touch her lips to Homulilly’s.

The kiss tasted salty, but was not at all unpleasant, and Homulilly found herself responding without thinking about it. They held it for a bit, their mouths softly moving against each other, before Gretchen pulled away with a pleased sigh.

“Gretchen?” Homulilly said.

Gretchen left out a soft chuckle. “W-Well,” she said. “Might as well! I mean, we’re stuck here until someone finds us, so…”

Homulilly wasn’t too sure about that logic. It…probably wasn’t the time for this sort of thing, and it certainly wasn’t the place. But darn it, they were stuck there either way, and she needed something to take her mind off the fear. Besides, she had been staring at Gretchen in a bikini all day, and now her body was aching for some kind of release.

They kissed again, deeper this time, with more fire and hunger than they usually allowed themselves. Homulilly felt Gretchen’s legs creeping up to encircle her waist, thighs, and midriff, binding them closely together

Gretchen tasted sweet, so sweet that even the salt went unnoticed. She moved in deeper against Homulilly, this time without hesitation or restraint, their mouths pressing greedily against one another.

The next thing Homulilly knew, she was lying flat on her back with Gretchen on top of her. Groaning, she arched into her, her fingers roving over Gretchen’s back, slipping up under the elastic band of her top.

Suddenly the whole cavern was flooded with light, biting into Homulilly and Gretchen’s eyes, causing them to fall back with twin cries of pain and surprise. At the same time, a familiar voice said in a relieved tone. “There you are! How in the heck did you-Oh. Oh!”

Blinking stupidly, Homulilly squinted as the light was moved just enough so that it was no longer shining directly into her eyes. And though her vision was still blurry, she was able to make out the mess of blue framing a staring face.

“Ok-Oktavia?” she stammered.

The mermaid was floating in the pool, her top half fully surfaced while she shone a flashlight bracelet onto the pair. “Well,” she said. “Huh. Gotta admit, much as I hoped to find you, this ain’t exactly what I was expecting.”

For a moment Homulilly didn’t have a clue as to what she was talking about. Then her mind put the pieces together and her face turned bright pink. She exchanged a mortified look with Gretchen and the two of them hastily put their swimsuits back in place.

“Guys?” Oktavia said, sounding more than a little put out. “Can you please tell me that you didn’t disappear into a tiny underwater cave without telling anyone, scare us half to death, and break pretty much every promise you made just to screw around like a couple of horny sea lions? Because if you did, I swear to God-”

“It wasn’t!” Homulilly blurted out. “There was a monster and it scared us and Gretchen hit her head and drowned and I took her here to hide and she wouldn’t wake up and we couldn’t leave so we started kissing because we were scared and didn’t know what else to do and oh God please don’t tell the FIB and get us in trouble, please!”

“Whoa, whoa, hit the freaking brakes!” Oktavia said. “The heck? Gretchen drowned? And there was a monster? What?”

Homulilly inhaled deeply through her nose and breathed it out of her mouth. Her fingers found Gretchen’s and, clasping each other’s hands tightly, they slowly and carefully recounted their misadventure for Gretchen, from when Homulilly first saw the monster to Gretchen’s near-death experience and finding themselves trapped. Overall, they did fairly well, until they got to the part with the kiss. Then their story faltered and came to an awkward stop, but that was okay. Oktavia definitely got the gist.

“A monster,” she repeated. “A tentacle monster. That glows.”

“Yes!” Homulilly said. She felt like she was about to cry. “You…didn’t see it? It was right outside!”

“Oh boy,” Oktavia breathed, burying her face in her free hand. “This is…” She shook her head. “Guys, relax. There’s no monster.”

“But there is! We saw it!”

“I know you did. But, uh, this is just a big misunderstanding. See-”

Then the waters around Oktavia suddenly lit up from below. Homulilly and Gretchen both froze in place, paralyzed with fear as the luminous tentacles of the monster emerged from the water, right behind Oktavia. “Ah…” Homulilly said, her voice coming out as a squeak.

More tentacles appeared, grasping onto the walls and low roof of the cavern, finally pulling up the monster’s body from the surface of the water. It was a round ball of light, where the black pulses from its many tentacles converged together into its core, forming a repeating reverse starburst. The thing had no other discernable features. And from its body, a buzzing, almost mechanical voice spoke. “Did you find them? Oh, you did!”

Homulilly screamed. Gretchen screamed. Their voices bounced back and forth through the cavern, echoing into a deafening roar. Oktavia flinched and covered her ears, while even the monster drew back in surprise.

Finally the girls’ voices gave out, and they were left cringing back, pressing themselves against the wall. “Oktavia,” Homulilly whispered. “It’s right there. It’s right there!”

Oktavia was still trying to shake off the auditory assault on her ears. “Good grief,” she muttered, rubbing her temples.

“Uh, did I miss something?” the monster said.

“Apparently. Guys, calm down already. She’s not a monster.”

“I’m not a what?”

“She?” Homulilly said, now feeling more puzzled than afraid.

Sighing, Oktavia gestured to the glowing, tentacled creature. “Guys, this is Dr. Antercateract. She’s the oceanographer and marine biologist I told you about. Dr. Antercateract, this is Homulilly and Kriemhild Gretchen.”

“Er, nice to meet you?” said Dr. Antercateract, still sounding very bewildered. “Oktavia, what’s this all about?”

“Apparently they saw you swimming around and thought you were some kind of sea monster,” Oktavia told her. “So they panicked and ended up in this cave.” There was pause, and then she added, “Don’t take it personally. They’ve only been here about a year and a half, and Freehaven doesn’t get many nonhumans.”

“What?” Gretchen said, now just as confused as anyone not named Oktavia.

“She’s one of the kotoss interdrent,” Oktavia explained. “Specifically a kotoss witch. That’s why her body does that LED thing.”

Homulilly felt quite beside herself. “Oh,” she said.

“Oh,” Dr. Antercateract echoed. “So that’s…” Her luminous body started to shake, and she made a rasping sound like rusty factory machinery. Laughter. She was laughing. “Ah, sorry about that, girls. Oktavia was going to give me a tour of the local waters the day after tomorrow, but since I had the afternoon free I figured I might as well get a head start. Didn’t mean to scare you.” The rasping laughter got louder.

Homulilly opened her mouth to say something, but then all the fear, worry, and embarrassment suddenly came to the surface and spilled over, and she burst into tears. She couldn’t help it. It had all been for nothing. They had been so scared, and it was all for nothing.

Apparently Gretchen felt the same, as she was set off as well, and soon the two were weeping openly.

“Aw, damn it,” Oktavia muttered. “Er, hey, doc? Maybe you’d better give us a minute. Let the others know we found them and that we’ll be along soon, okay?”

“Of course. Sorry again. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Dr. Antercateract sank back into the water, her glow fading away until the only light was from Oktavia’s bracelet.

Sighing, Oktavia hoisted herself onto the shelf and crawled over so that she was sitting with the two younger girls. “Okay, okay,” she said, hugging them close. “Calm down. It’s all right. It’s over. You’re okay. It’s over.”

Homulilly shook her head. “It’s not just that,” she mumbled. “All this time…all this time I got worried and scared and people would call me a monster because of my arms. But I see just one alien witch, just one, and I treat her worse than I ever thought people would treat me!”

“Come on, cheer up. It happens to everyone. There’s so much weird in this world that everybody gets freaks out by someone sooner or later. Heck, the day me and the other three met, we all scared each other! So it’s not like you’re the only one.”

“Yeah, but…but…” Then Homulilly started crying again, burying her face into Oktavia’s shoulder.

“All right, you’re okay,” Oktavia said, giving her a tight squeeze. “You just had a bad scare, is all. Don’t worry, Dr. Antercateract wasn’t offended. And you won’t get in trouble, I promise. But for now, let’s get out of this creepy place, okay?”

“Okay,” Homulilly muttered.

“Oh, wait,” Gretchen said suddenly. “Er, Tavi-chan? I sort of lost my breathing membrane. I dropped it before we came in here and don’t know where it is.”

“That? Don’t worry, I have it. Found it right outside the cave. That’s what tipped me off that you might be in here.”

“Thank you,” Gretchen said, sounding relieved that she wouldn’t have to hold her breath the whole way out.

“All right,” Oktavia said, giving them both a pat on their shoulders. “Come on. Let’s get back to the others.”

That sounded good to everyone, so Homulilly and Gretchen both donned their swimming gear and headed over to the water. Before they did, Gretchen ventured with, “Um, Tavi-chan?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you…You know, the thing you caught us doing? Could you not tell the others, please?”

Oktavia snickered. “Sure, no problem. But on one condition though: you guys have to wait until you get home before picking up where you left off.”

…

As expected, both Candeloro and Charlotte were pretty upset with them for disappearing, but their relief dulled any anger they might have had, and Oktavia’s explanation turned what was left into pity, so things were all right.

At any rate, nobody felt like exploring the water anymore, so they all headed back to land. Homulilly had never been so glad to step out onto the beach before, though her wobbly legs made it difficult. Poor Gretchen needed to be half carried, as her wires just didn’t have the strength to support her.

It was evening when they came back onto the beach, but it was still pretty crowded, since most of those intending to stick around for the entire day had come in from the water and were now huddled around the firepits, in which blazed a few dozen bonfires. They found Ophelia around one with the same girls they had played volleyball with, toasting hotdogs and marshmallows while chatting away. As it turned out, she had a grand ol’ time by herself, having participated in a couple of dance-offs and earned herself a few new scantily clad fans. However, as much as she apparently appreciated the attention, she had kept her hands to herself, saving them for when Oktavia was finally brought to her, whom she accepted gladly. Upon seeing the pair snuggling happily together, Ophelia’s would-be groupies were disappointed but accepting. After all, how could they hope to compete with a mermaid?

At any rate, upon being told of the kids’ little misadventure, Ophelia had at least enough grace not to rub it in, save for a few disparaging comments about the ocean’s obvious wickedness, and had even provided a fair amount of sympathy. But it was clear that she was trying very hard to hold back laughter. No mention was made of Gretchen having nearly drowned, though Oktavia did at one point mention that they did need to tell the FIB about that. Near death experiences were not something to be left undealt with. Gretchen seemed okay, but she promised that she would, and they left it at that.

As for Homulilly and Gretchen, they were pretty much done with the beach but were also just far too worn out to tackle the uphill trip back up to the FIB, so they put their clothes back on and slumped into their chairs next to the fire, taking in what warmth they could. Charlotte helpfully cooked them a pair of hotdogs and Ophelia made them some s’mores, while their volleyball friends provided a cooler full of soda and water bottles. After absorbing the warmth for a bit and filling their stomachs, the kids started to feel almost normal.

“Don’t worry too much about the FIB,” Candeloro said once Gretchen had regained enough strength to broach the question. “They’re a little overprotective sometimes, but they get it. It was just a misunderstanding, and you guys have a pretty clean record.”

“You’re not going to get in trouble, are you?” Homulilly wanted to know.

“We might get a talking to about keeping a better eye on their wards, but don’t sweat it.” Candeloro smiled. “We used to get way worse from them back when we were still new.”

Homulilly settled back into her chair, watching the fire. All around it, people she knew well and had only just met were talking, teasing, laughing, and overall having a good time. Someone had started playing a guitar, and badly at that, but no one cared. She wished that she were in a better condition to enjoy it with them, but overall she was just glad that she could enjoy it at all. Misunderstanding or not, that had been the second scariest moment in her existence as Homulilly, with the first being the day she had first woken up. Presumably, in her former life she had endured things much worse and better off forgotten.

However, curiously enough, her thoughts soon drifted away from the fright she had experienced and the prospect of getting in trouble with the FIB. She wasn’t even thinking about her old fear of being judged and hated because of her appearance. Rather, her thoughts were on home, and what was going to happen when they got there.

She looked over to Candeloro and Charlotte, who were sitting side-by-side, entwined like before. Candeloro was laughing at something Charlotte had said, and then leaned over to give her a peck on the cheek. Homulilly smiled.

Then she looked over to Ophelia and Oktavia, who likewise were in the same position as they had been during their nap, only having traded places. Oktavia was leaning back in Ophelia’s lap, and the two were making a game of who could sneak a s’more into the other’s mouth. In the end, Oktavia got the better of her girlfriend, and stuffed a gooey treat into Ophelia’s mouth, though it didn’t seem as if she were displeased in losing. This seemed to annoy Cheese, who started nipping at the crumbs on Ophelia’s cheek. He was given an apple slice to shut him up.

There was a lot of opposites going on in their little group, Homulilly noted. Charlotte was more fiery, blunt, and forthcoming, while Candeloro had a calm and patient personality. And while both Oktavia and Ophelia were brash and mischievous, one had her heart given to the sea while the other refused to leave the land. Taking it further, Candeloro and Charlotte’s marriage was comfortable and steady, while Ophelia and Oktavia were all about passion and fun.

Then she looked over to Gretchen, who was lying back into her chair with her eyes closed, lightly dozing in the warmth. The two of them had their own way of doing things, Homulilly thought, but it was no less real. Maybe that was another reason that they all got along so well, even without the theory of some sort of shared past and spiritual connection. There was no judgement between them. Everyone did their own thing in their own way and happily accepted each other in their differences.

Then she felt something tickling her leg. Looking down, she saw that a few of Gretchen’s legs had crept over to gently wrap around her calf. Then Gretchen’s eye cracked open just long enough to shoot Homulilly an affectionate glance before she settled back down again.

Smiling, Gretchen reached over with one bony hand to cover Gretchen’s own. Their way might be different from the others but she liked it just fine. However, she did feel that things were starting to move forward again. A door had been opened in the cave, one that led to a fast and exciting future. They could close it if they wanted, write things off to the stress of the situation and return to their comfortable routine.

However, Homulilly didn’t really care for that. She liked what she saw past that threshold. And she really had been trying to be more daring as of late.

…

Later that evening…

Homulilly emerged sopping wet from the shower, the salt all washed away, and her tiger-lily was now tingling from shampoo instead of seawater. It was a noticeable improvement.

She grabbed a towel and wiped herself down, then she carefully dried out her hair. She was about to pick up the clean clothes she had brought with her when she caught sight of herself in the mirror over the sink.

It was strange to think of now, but she had always been so self-conscious about her arms that she never gave much thought to the rest of her. And Gretchen, the only person in the world whom Homulilly would want to look nice for, had always been so accepting that it never really occurred to her to go the extra mile to make herself look pretty.

But now she found herself very concerned about her appearance and not the least about her arms. Biting her lower lip, she considered her reflection for a bit. Then she picked up a hairbrush and went to work straightening every strand. Her hand trembled as she did so, making it take longer than it would have. After that she carefully fixed up her tiger-lily’s petals. She even put a little makeup on her cheeks, though even she knew that it was unnecessary and a little silly.

Then she looked at herself again. She put her hands on her hips and thrust her pelvis forward, trying to strike what she thought was a seductive pose, but it looked so dumb that she dissolved into giggles. It was so very silly, and between that and the butterflies swarming in her stomach she could not for the life of her wipe the big, goofy grin from her face. Well, it was probably for the best.

Taking a deep breath, she tightly wrapped the towel around her body, just under her armpits, and tucked it into place. Then, with her heartbeat thundering away in her chest, she reached out with one trembling hand to open the door.

Gretchen in the exact same position she had been that morning, lying on her stomach reading the same magazine on her bed. Her legs were even splayed out exactly like before. However, having showered and changed first, she was wearing her pale green nightie instead of her bikini, the one that always rode a little high on her hips. As Homulilly entered the room, she instinctively glanced in her direction with a smile.

Then she saw Homulilly’s state of dress (or rather, undress), and her eyes went wide.

“Oh,” she said, hastily sitting up. “Uh, did you forget your clothes?”

Homulilly wondered how to respond. Several dozen steamy and romantic one-liners shot through her mind, each of them lamer than the last. Finally realizing absolutely no way she was going to be smooth about this, she finally decided to say nothing. Instead, she reached up to give the top of her towel a tug, causing it to unravel around her.

The towel fell to the floor into a heap around her ankles.

Gretchen froze in place, the color of her face now matching her hair. But however surprised as she might have been, the look in her eyes was far from displeased. Taking this as an encouragement, Homulilly slowly made her way toward her. This time, there was none of the sultry walk down the imaginary catwalk she and Gretchen had playfully acted out that morning. It was just her, and that was enough.

Gretchen’s breath quickened as Homulilly sat down on the bed next to her. As for Homulilly, she was now painfully self-aware, though not of her body. Rather, she was realizing that she had no idea what to do now: where to put her arms, where to put her legs now that she was sitting down, where to put her hair, how to proceed, and pretty much anything and everything. She tried sitting with her legs pressed closely together but that felt wrong for what she was doing, and she had to fight the instinct to cover her chest with her arms. She was also very much aware of how Gretchen’s gaze was sweeping up and down every centimeter of her.

“S-So,” she said at last, her eyes fixed straight ahead. “We’re home now.”

“Um…yes?”

“And, well, like Oktavia said, we did wait until we got home, so now that we are home, we m-might as well, um, you know, continue?” She looked at Gretchen then and managed a shy smile.

Gretchen slowly nodded. Then she leaned in, her eyes closing and her mouth moving toward Homulilly’s. Well, this at least Homulilly was intimately familiar with, so she leaned in as well.

“Oh, wait!” Gretchen said suddenly, jerking back right before their lips made contact.

“Huh?” Homulilly said in both surprise and disappointment.

“Just a moment!” Gretchen started to get up, but appeared to think better of it. Instead, she stretched out one of her legs across the room, over to the door. With it, she turned the switch on the doorknob, locking it. Then with two more legs, she closed the curtains over the window.

“There,” she said with a cheeky grin. She reached up and pulled her nightie down around her shoulders. A little squirming and it fell down around her waist. “No interruptions this time.”

Homulilly nodded, and she moved into Gretchen, slowly lowering her down to the bed.

…

Oktavia awoke to the feel of something trashing against her back.

For a brief, confusing moment, as her mind tried to switch gears from asleep to awake, she had no idea where she was or what was moving against her, and she found herself believing that she was struggling against some great sea squid, far beneath the waves.

The moment passed quickly and she remembered where she was. Turning over, she saw Ophelia was moving restlessly, tangling herself up in the sheets. Her eyes were still closed in sleep, but if her contorted face was any indication, her dreams were anything but peaceful.

“Hey,” said Oktavia, who had seen this happen many times before. She shook Ophelia by the shoulder. “Babe. Wake up.”

Ophelia moaned in distress and mumbled something incomprehensible.

“Ophelia!” Oktavia shook her girlfriend’s shoulder harder. This time Ophelia’s eyes snapped open and her eyes darted around wildly.

“Ophelia, are you okay?” Oktavia asked when Ophelia’s gaze finally settled on her. The flame-headed witch didn’t respond at her, instead staring right at the mermaid with her hands still clenched in the air over her.

Then Ophelia relaxed, letting her arms fall. “Aw geez,” she groaned. “Again with this shit?”

“The drowning one again?” Oktavia said, easing over onto her stomach.

“Nah. You’d think, given all the water we had today, but no. It was the other death, the one from the fall on day one. Remember?”

Oktavia shivered. Day one was nothing something any of them were going to forget, Ophelia least of all. “All too well. Weird that you’d have that one though.”

Ophelia shrugged. “Ah, well, Homulilly apparently heard about me having kicked it a couple times and was curious, so I guess that got it lodged in my subconscious.”

“I guess. Are you okay now?”

Ophelia breathed out. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry for waking you.” She turned over, her back to Oktavia, and pulled the blanket up again.

Oktavia waited for a few moments. When Ophelia didn’t say anything further, she sighed and sank back into her pillow, still worried.

She had just closed her eyes when she heard Ophelia say suddenly, “Hey, Tavi?”

“Mmmm?”

“You’re gonna still be here when I wake up, right?”

Oktavia blinked. She turned to Ophelia, whose back was still to her. She was shaking.

After a moment Oktavia pressed in close to her, wrapping her arms around Ophelia’s middle and resting her chin on her shoulder. “Forever and always. You know that, right?”

Ophelia slowly stopped trembling. “Right. Sorry.”

“You’re stuck with me forever. Get used to it.”

Ophelia let out a small laugh. She turned in Oktavia’s embrace, facing her. “Guess I am. Sorry. My head’s still all addled.”

“When isn’t it?”

Ophelia laughed again. Then she relaxed, her breathing evening out. They fell asleep together, holding each other in the dark.

…

Welp, that’s game! Hope you guys enjoyed it, even if it did get a little more risqué than usual. But hey, what’s the point of having a super-obscure spinoff story that very few people are going to read if you can’t push the envelope a few times.

Anyway, I guess it’s time to stop procrastinating. Back to work.

Until next time, everyone!

(God, I missed doing that)

[entirebodyexercise]

Altitude Training: How To Live High And Train Low

All runners ought to think about altitude training however exactly how vital is sea degree training if you stay in the mountains?

The Boulder Facility for Sports Medicine lies at the western side of town, in the shadow of Flagstaff Mountain. It is considered as one of the leading centers of its kind in the USA.

A look at the newspaper cuttings uploaded in the waiting space informs site visitors that first-rate joggers, cyclists and also triathletes darken the BCSM's doors as commonly as hipsters in slim pants wander right into the Starbucks on Pearl Street. At 9 a.m. on a Monday, the location is already active, with clients ranging from middle-aged individuals in cycling garb to elderly citizens steering about on crutches. The BCSM is as a lot a rehabilitation establishment for the masses as it is a sanctuary for endurance studs.

I am welcomed by Rob Pickels, among the exercise physiologists on staff. Pickels leads me to the area where he invests the majority of his day, a huge open space filled with various exercise tools and secondary tools.

"That's where many of the action is," he claims, gesturing toward a men sittinged on a bicycle and being addressed by one of Pickels' coworkers. The biker is being custom-fitted to make certain maximum performance and also power when he trips outdoors. Pickels, the Ithaca University record owner in the 400-meter hurdles, is himself is on crutches, having actually fractured his hip two months earlier in a bicycle accident. It hasn't dampened his interest. He leads me to a far corner of the room, where an unpretentiously common treadmill sits.

"This is it," he claims. He raises a clear face mask, familiar to anybody that's ever required oxygen in a rescue or similar setting, from its housing. "We cut holes in it to ensure that people can take a breath a lot more effortlessly." The mask is connected to tubing that vanishes into a console on the adjacent wall surface that holds a flow-rate meter and also stopcock. "This links to a general oxygen supply in the building. We established the flow price at 15 liters a minute, they choose the speed and also they excel to go."

The deal is this: Stone does not offer itself to a real real-time high/train low system. 5,300 feet is small by high-altitude requirements, obtaining below 4,000 feet implies varying a lot farther than many individuals have the time or disposition to seek. Instead, when it comes time for the high-speed reps or tempo runs runners have to mix right into their training in order to shield their racing fitness, they come to the BCSM and also make use of additional oxygen to mimic sea-level problems. It is, essentially, the inverse of exactly how people who live mixed-up degree as well as rest in hypoxic tents deal with their training company.

I ask Pickels if non-elite joggers take advantage of this setup. Yes, he tells me. Not a wonderful numerous, however greater than a couple of. I remind myself that I'm in Stone as well as go down the idea.

At this point I have a great deal of questions concerning elevation acclimatization generally. Pickels' co-worker Adam St. Pierre-- an additional former hurdler and a participant of an altitude seminar at the American University of Sports Medicine annual conference in Denver the previous week, where Pickels offered a lecture-- joins the discussion, which currently includes 3 New Hampshire transplants.

Pickels has actually currently discussed to me, via e-mail, that runners who train solely at high elevation do experience a dramatic boost in sustainable strength when they contend at sea level, but are at a disadvantage compared to sea-level runners that are made use of to training at that intensity. Get in extra oxygen, which not just combats this impact however makes these joggers more potent high-altitude rivals as well-- useful for irreversible locals of high-altitude places who do most, otherwise all, of their racing in hypoxic conditions.

Pickels claims that even marathoners require a certain amount of far-faster-than-race-pace work to be at their finest, so they make use of the center, though maybe not as often as track runners. I agree with him, as my fastest marathons were all preceded by a minimum of a modest amount of track and roadway work at 3,000-meter race pace or faster.

On the other hand, two-time Olympic marathoner as well as exercise physiologist Pete Pfitzinger claims, "marathoners could attain their best at an elevation of 1,500 to 1,800 meters [about 5,000-6,000 feet] because they could still do their marathon-pace runs and other tempo performs at the intended pace." He adds, this technique also functions well for Olympic range triathletes, since they race their 10K run leg at around an elite jogger's fifty percent marathon speed. He also claims that strides (near-sprints) of not than 25 seconds are excellent for turnover preservation since they do not lead to the buildup of lactic acid.

Lize Brittin was a four-time Colorado senior high school state champ and also a two-time Kinney (now Foot Locker) finalist who won the Pikes Top Ascent at age 16, establishing a program record at the same time. She's additionally thought to be the initial person to run to the top of Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest optimal. Today, she runs practically solely on sloping tracks. It's unlikely that any kind of fast runner is much more aware of hypoxia than Brittin. I asked her if she ever before thought she was at a disadvantage racing girls at the Kinney finals in San Diego.

"I only ran a handful of races at sea degree and also didn't actually notice anything subjectively different in regards to rate," Brittin states, "but my train and also I had actually gone over the truth that I would possibly be at a downside in regards to leg turnover. It did appear much easier on my heart and lungs."

Chances are, nevertheless, that Brittin and various other long-lasting high-elevation locals would certainly see a drastic decrease in their track times if they spent four or 5 weeks doing high-intensity honing and also racing mixed-up level.

In the next installation of this collection you'll obtain all the details you want then some regarding the certain effects of altitude training and just what to anticipate from it.

[loveteen-s]

[fic] all fall down; wonwoo x yein

jeon wonwoo x jung yein. 9180w. wonwoo was living in a fairy tale, except it wasn’t obvious which one it was: the one with the happily ever after, or the one where they all turned to dust? mermaid!au. (requested by anonymous) warning: character death (a/n: set in the 19th century, but it’s not that important to the story.)

Wonwoo had heard of horror stories passed down generations to generations, since he was just a child with stubby fingers trying to remember what came after 5. As time went by, his common sense also developed, and he regarded those stories as a way for his parents—and their parents, and their grandparents—to tell him not to do things that would harm him, to make him stay away from dangerous places.

He understood them, because they lived by the sea and as much as it was a playground for Wonwoo, a small child could get swept away if he wandered alone, so his parents made up stories about a sea witch who would take him into the water with her if he went to the seaside after the sun has set, or the sand that would swallow him into the ground if he wandered into the cave.

However, none of the stories really stuck with him except for one. It was a story that his parents told him in hushed tone, about a spirit in the little forest by the sea where all the sharp rocks were. The forest was about 500 meters from the edge of the village and they told him the spirit used to sing on some nights, some years ago, because she was lonely, but for some reasons she had stopped, so his parents were worried that she was “scheming” in there and would do something to anyone who would dare step foot in the forest.

He didn’t actually believe the story, but the slight fear he saw in his parents’ eyes as they were telling him the story compelled him to check the forest out. And for a more exciting effect, he was going at night and by himself. He was 19, those tales didn’t pertain to him anymore. He could just say he was going to Soonyoung’s house.

So, on Sunday night, with a bow in his hand and a quiver containing arrows around his waist (for precautions), Wonwoo walked the 300 meters from his village while looking back to see if anyone had seen him going towards the forest, and spent the remaining 200 wondering what he would find in it.

He stopped at the edge of the forest where even the moonlight seemed to be having a hard time penetrating through the leaves and branches. He pulled out an arrow and took a deep breath, prepared for anything that the forest might hold.

The forest was not as dense as it looked, Wonwoo realized as he went deeper into it. The trees looked like they had opened a path for Wonwoo to walk on, so he just followed it quietly, his eyes and ears on full alert.

As it turned out, the path was quite short when he found that he had already reached the end of the forest and the start of the sand. The sharp rocks his parents were talking about were there, standing menacingly under the full moon. But the rocks weren’t the only one there.

There was someone sitting on one of the lesser sharp rocks, right in the front row where the waves hit the strongest. The person had the longest and most beautiful blonde hair he had ever seen, almost touching the rock they were sitting on. It didn’t seem like he had seen this person anywhere before, so they could be a dangerous outsider.

Wonwoo drew his bow and, as carefully as he could, stepped onto the sand.

“Hey!” Wonwoo called out, the sound loud above the crashing waves. It certainly reached the other party as Wonwoo could see them getting startled. “Who are—”

The last word was stuck in his throat when the person turned around towards him, and his eyes couldn’t focus on anything else other than how beautiful she—it was a girl, definitely a girl—looked, and Wonwoo wanted to ask why her doe eyes were filled with such fear until he realized that it was because he was pointing an arrow her way.

The girl turned back towards the sea and, to Wonwoo’s horror, jumped into the water.

He didn’t know which one he was most shocked at: that she jumped into the cold, night water, or that he briefly saw fish tail instead of legs.

Wonwoo rushed to the rocks, hopping onto every rock that led to the spot where the girl was, almost slipping and cutting his feet open a couple of times, and looked down into the dark water when he had reached. His eyes searched for any signs of the girl but to no avail. She simply jumped into the sea and disappeared.

Wonwoo sat back on the spot where the girl was sitting in part astonishment and part confusion. As he put his bow down next to him, he felt something under his hand. He looked to his left and carefully took the shiny thing into his hand.

It was a chain bracelet with a single, tiny pearl in the middle. Wonwoo glanced into the sea, wondering if this was the girl’s. An idea popped into his head and he quickly stood up, taking his bow with him as he walked back to the shore and the pearl bracelet in the pocket of his pants.

*

“Dad, do you think mermaids really exist?” Wonwoo asked his father the next day as they were fixing the chicken coop in the backyard. He couldn’t get much sleep last night as his mind kept replaying his encounter with the mysterious girl. He had examined the bracelet, not really knowing what he was hoping to find, and didn’t find anything in the end. It was just a plain, chain bracelet with a pearl in the middle.

So he went to his book collection, a shelf at the end of his bed, and pulled out anything that he thought contained information about mythical creatures, especially mermaid, but found that his interest was apparently more on historical books.

“I do,” his father answered as he hammered down a nail into the woods. Wonwoo looked up at his father in curiosity, wishing to hear his reasons. His father squatted down next to him and said, “They’re bad luck.”

Wonwoo frowned. “They are?”

His father nodded and squatted down next to him. “There is a story around here, not well-known, that a mermaid came to a village and completely obliterated it some centuries ago.”

“How did they destroy the whole village by themselves? They don’t even have legs,” Wonwoo asked with genuine curiosity. If the girl he saw last night was really a mermaid, he couldn’t fathom how such a creature, who flinched when he called out and disappeared to avoid him, could cause havoc on land.

His father merely shrugged. “But a half-human, half-fish doesn’t exactly scream good luck charm, does it?” he asked, Wonwoo knew rhetorically, so he didn’t answer and instead his mind wandered to the bracelet in the pocket of his pants.

*

Wonwoo sneaked out of the village again that night, though this time without his bow and arrows. He had known that the forest wasn’t as menacing as it looked and if the girl was there on the rocks again, he didn’t want his weapon to spook her.

The girl was there on the same rock, but Wonwoo noticed that she was fidgeting, before she turned and seemed like she was looking around for something. He couldn’t see her face clearly in the night, but her body moved anxiously as she leaned over the rocks and looked to her left and right. Wonwoo grabbed the bracelet in his pocket. She must’ve been looking for it.

Wonwoo took his shoes off behind a tree as quietly as possible and peeked behind it to make sure she was still there. He saw that she wasn’t moving, only looking up at the sky, and he was struck with awe at how her body was just blue, up until her chest, but not the kind of blue that indicated loss of blood. It was the color of the clear sea during the day; light and clean.

His legs moved on their own accord, unveiling him from behind the tree, to the surprised face of the girl. Her body backed away a little and Wonwoo immediately fished the bracelet from his pocket to reveal it to her.

“Hi,” Wonwoo started, with a voice hopefully loud enough for her to hear with the distance between them. He raised his left hand so she knew that he wasn’t carrying anything else besides the bracelet. “Are you looking for this?”

The girl squinted her eyes as Wonwoo took a few careful steps closer to her. Her attention was on his hand. “This is yours, is it not?” he asked, taking another step forward.

There was recognition flashing across her face as her eyes widened, but she didn’t do anything to get it from him, to Wonwoo’s confusion, until he realized that it would be hard for her to flop from rock to rock to get to him, so he kept his eyes on her as he climbed up the first rock, her doe eyes locking into his.

He saw the slight wince on her face when he almost slipped once, but they just kept looking at each other, Wonwoo finding it harder and harder to take his eyes off her, until he reached the stone before hers. Wonwoo lowered himself and placed the bracelet on the rock before he broke their eye contact to take a step backward.

Her eyes moved downwards at the bracelet and she looked at it for a moment before her hand reached forward to take it. Wonwoo waited with baited breath, didn’t know what to do next, what to say next, what would happen to him now that she knew he took her bracelet.

However, to his surprise, the girl offered him a small smile and softly said, “Thank you.”

He watched her put her bracelet on, patting the pearl on her wrist, before looking up at Wonwoo again. “Thank you for keeping my bracelet safe while I wasn’t here,” she said, the smile still on her lips.

Wonwoo blinked rapidly as if it could quickly clear out his mind, but he managed a simple, “You’re welcome,” as an answer. He supposed he could leave it at that and go home, but his mouth seemed to be working together with his legs in defying him and a, “I’m Wonwoo,” came out instead.

The girl’s smile seemed to widen a bit at his sudden introduction. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she lowered her gaze and said, “My name is Yein.”

Yein’s bashful gaze was different than the suspicious one she had as they were locking eyes earlier, and it somehow made Wonwoo smile. She looked lovely under the moonlight.

“Can I, um,” Wonwoo pointed to a rock next to hers where its top had been smoothed by erosion. Yein looked to her left and nodded as soon as she understood what he meant. Wonwoo hopped onto the rock next to the one he was standing on to get to the one next to Yein, as if he was playing hopscotch.

They shared a polite smile as Wonwoo sat down, though Yein averted her eyes right after to stare at the waves. Now, sitting less than a meter away from her, Wonwoo could finally see her as she was, completely.

Her body, from her chest down to her—Wonwoo still had a hard time processing it—tail was a beautiful gradient of turquoise that shimmered under the moonlight. She would’ve blended really well in the sea during the day, especially with her shiny blonde locks. The fishermen and sailors could’ve mistaken it as the sun shining through the water.

“I wanted to thank you again,” Yein said, breaking Wonwoo out of his stupor. He blinked up at her, waiting. Yein smiled and looked down at her bracelet. “This was my sister’s. I don’t know what I would do if I had lost it.”

Wonwoo noticed the solemn look she gave at the bracelet as she touched it, but he didn’t want to press any further as they had just met, so Wonwoo just cleared his throat and said, “It’s no problem.”

When Yein looked up, she gave him the biggest smile he had seen her with, but still tight-lipped, like she couldn’t help but still be wary of him. “Do you live at that village?” she asked, pointing past Wonwoo’s shoulder, to the moderately brighter part of the beach.

“Yes, I do,” Wonwoo replied.

“I’ve never been to that part of the sea. My parents didn’t allow me to,” Yein said, a small pout present on her lips as she was talking about her parents. It sent a warm feeling to Wonwoo’s stomach and he didn’t know if it was from thinking about merparents (Wonwoo cackled inwardly) or seeing her pout.

But her parents were right, Wonwoo thought. He couldn’t imagine what chaos would ensue around the village if Yein had shown up there. His mind wandered back to this morning when his father blatantly stated that mermaids were bad luck.

As he looked at Yein, with her enchanting almond eyes and bashful smile, he couldn’t understand how people could label someone like her as bad luck.

“So, are you one of the fishermen from the village?” Yein asked again, bringing her hair to one side so she could twirl her finger in it.

“I help my father sometimes, but,” Wonwoo paused, thinking that he was this close to admitting something that he had never done to his father, but he guessed why not, since the chance of Yein meeting his father would be second to none, “but I prefer the land.”

“Why?”

“I just like the land,” Wonwoo answered. “I like being able to just stand in my place and not get seasick.”

“What’s a ‘seasick’? Do you get sick of the sea? Why would you get sick of the sea?” Yein ended her attack of questions with a pout that once again sent fuzzy feelings in Wonwoo’s stomach and a smile to the corner of his mouth that he tried hard to keep to himself.

Wonwoo had to explain to her what “seasick” meant and assured her that he could never get sick of the beautiful sea that might as well served as his backyard, and now he had to explain what a “backyard” was.

“We don’t have backyards at our houses,” she said, looking far off as if she was thinking of something. “Being a human sounds fun. All we have in the sea is water.”

Wonwoo offered no response, instead choosing to look at the sea as well, letting the crisp night breeze clear his mind, and it made him remember that Yein was basically not wearing any type of clothing.

“Aren’t you cold?” Wonwoo asked.

Yein turned to him with raised eyebrows, and quickly shook her head. “Well, a little. But I’m going home now, and it’s always warmer when I’m home,” she said.

Wonwoo nodded in understanding. He should probably head home as well before his parents realized that he was not actually at Soonyoung’s house.

“It was very nice meeting you,” Wonwoo said.

Yein turned to him, her smile wide and her eyes sincere, and said, “It was nice meeting you too, Wonwoo. I’ll see you tomorrow, I hope?”

He watched in awe as she propelled herself off the rock and into the water, could make out the blonde of her hair and the blue of her body before she swam farther into the sea, engulfed in darkness.

Wonwoo didn’t know how long he just sat there alone, looking at the part of the sea he last saw the wave of Yein’s hair, not thinking about anything. He slowly blinked, half expecting he would be looking at the ceiling of his room when he opened his eyes, but he was still very much looking at the sea, letting the hem of his pants soaking wet from the waves.

He looked down at it and took a deep breath. He didn’t answer her question earlier, too busy being amazed, but he hoped she knew he would definitely be here tomorrow night as well.

*

He sensed his parents would question him if he said he was going to Soonyoung’s house again so this time, he said he was going to visit the night market with Jihoon. He was actually planning on going to the market, but without Jihoon. Jihoon hated the crowd at the market. But if he said he was going alone, his mother would want to tag along and he couldn’t sneak out after.

To Wonwoo’s delight, Yein was already on her usual spot on the rock when he arrived at the end of the forest. He took his shoes off and walked his way to her, but only calling her once he had stepped up a rock, close enough for her to hear clearly.

Yein turned around at his voice, a smile was ready on her face but it was soon dropped in lieu of a gape. Wonwoo’s lips formed a small smile when he saw it, his feet took cautious steps on the rocks, in his hand a white cotton candy he got from the market.

“What is that?” Yein asked, her eyes following the candy moving as Wonwoo’s hand moved.

Wonwoo took a seat at the rock next to her before answering, “It’s a cotton candy. Do you want some?”

“It’s edible?” she asked again, staring at the sweets in wide-eyed wonderment. Wonwoo chuckled, nodding before picking some and eating it to demonstrate. That seemed to encourage her to try it, though she still seemed a bit hesitant before plucking some.

Wonwoo carefully watched her; how she put the candy slowly in her mouth, how her eyebrows jumped, her smile widening, her eyes shutting close as if to savor the feeling. He heard her going, “Mm!” in utter delight and knew he made the right choice of buying a cotton candy tonight.

“It vanished,” Yein said, excitement clear on her face. Wonwoo grinned at her and offered the candy again, which she happily took a chunk off this time.

Since cotton candy didn’t go well with water, he figured Yein had never had any before, and he thought she’d like it. He was glad his hunch was right, because he didn’t even like cotton candy that much. Yein looked like she could finish it all by herself.

“This is so weird,” Yein laughed. “How could it just vanish like that?”

Wonwoo’s explanation was just, “Magic.” He ended with a laugh, indicating that he was joking, but Yein took it seriously.

“Humans have magic? We do too,” she said, and Wonwoo’s laughter died down in an instant.

“You do?” Wonwoo asked in disbelief. He should’ve expected this kind of thing from a mermaid population, but the fact that a mermaid actually admitted to him that her people used magic was still hard to believe. Even him being acquainted with a real, living mermaid was still hard to believe. “What kind of magic?”

Yein opened her mouth but quickly shut it close like she had just realized that she shouldn’t have said anything in the first place. After a moment, she finally said, “I don’t know, I’m not a magician.”

“Can you exchange your voice for a pair of legs?” Wonwoo asked, more for the sake of the conversation rather than to feed his curiosity.

Yein glanced at him from the corner of her eye and picked another cotton candy from its stick before saying, “I have no idea. Why did you ask?”

Wonwoo shrugged, popping some cotton candy into his mouth. “It’s just, there was a tale about a mermaid who exchanged her voice for a pair of legs and lived on the land.”

Yein’s eyes widened. “There was?”

Wonwoo told her about the tale of the mermaid from a faraway land, briefly, because he didn’t remember what happened in detail after she got her legs, so he only told her up until that point. With every sentence that he uttered, he kept wondering if the story was true and that Yein knew something about it.

Once he was finished, Yein was looking like she was never listening to his story and instead had been racking her brain.

“This is the first time that I’ve heard of this story,” she said, the frown between her eyebrows deepening.

“So you’ve never heard of a mermaid who did that?”

“Turned into human and lived on land? No, never,” Yein said, shaking her head, her face bewildered. The story must’ve sounded illogical even to a mermaid’s standard.

Wonwoo remembered something that happened at the end, but wasn’t sure if it was the real ending or not, but he told her anyway. “I remember the prince married another princess instead and the mermaid jumped into the sea and turned into sea foam,” Wonwoo said, a laughter then followed. “You must be thinking that this is nonsense.”

Wonwoo shook his head and looked at the actual sea foam on the waves, thinking that this is nonsense, and missed the smile that dropped from Yein’s face. He turned his head to her when he didn’t hear any comment from her and found her looking down at her bracelet, her fingers caressing the lone pearl on it.

“Yein?” She looked up at him with a hint of longing in her eyes and Wonwoo was suddenly afraid that he had said something wrong. “Are you okay?”

Yein’s eyes glanced down at her bracelet again before looking back up at him, and she instead said, “I have to go.” She paused, and Wonwoo thought this was his chance to ask again, but she continued with an apology, “I’m sorry I finished all of it,” pointing at the cotton candy stick with only small pieces of candy left on it.

“It’s okay, I bought it for you,” Wonwoo replied, his voice small and concerned.

Yein’s face softened and a small smile made its way onto her lips at Wonwoo’s reply. “Thank you,” she said. “I hope I’ll see you again tomorrow night.”

Just like last night, Yein jumped into the water before Wonwoo could even offer up a reply, leaving him partly in awe of her and partly worried for her, that he didn’t realize he had dropped his hands to his side, the cotton candy stick touching the wet rock, the candy itself vanishing.

*

Wonwoo decided not to ask Yein about last night when he saw her back to her normal, cheery self the next night. He was afraid she’d look like she was the night before: sad and fragile.

He didn’t bring any food as the market was closed that night, but he did bring one of his books with him. It was a children’s book he dusted off from the top of his book shelf, a simple story about a boy who tried doing one good deed every day to live life to the fullest. He thought it was a little clichéd, but hoped that it could cheer Yein up a little.

“So he lived his life to the fullest…” Yein said at the end of the story, cheeks resting on her palms, having tried on different positions to make herself comfortable on the rock as she listened to the story, finally settling on bending forward and cupping her cheeks into her hands. Wonwoo had to read it to her because she couldn’t.

“Yes, he did,” Wonwoo said, closing the book and putting it into a small bag he carried with him that he kept as far away from the crashing waves as possible, but still within his reach. “I believe we all should do that. Make use of the life that we were given, because we don’t live forever.” He paused then, remembering that he wasn’t talking to a human being, and asked, “Do you?”

Yein laughed and shook her head. “Even mermaids are not immortals,” she said.

“More reasons why we should live life to the fullest.”

Yein looked like she was thinking, as if his stance on living intrigued her. She sat up straight and said, “I actually have something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

“What is it?”

She smiled a mischievous smile, something that Wonwoo had never seen her do, and glanced at the forest behind her. “I want to touch a tree.”

Wonwoo snorted at her reply and she slapped his shoulder, stopping the snort from becoming a laugh. “We don’t have trees in the sea,” she said, pouting. When Wonwoo opened her mouth to say something, she quickly added, “Seaweed is not a tree. It’s in the name.”

“Well,” Wonwoo looked back at the forest, then at her. “I can carry you to the edge of the forest, but…” he trailed off, glancing at her tail fully submerged in the water.

Yein understood it instantly and said, “I can be completely out of the water for a few minutes.”

Wonwoo still looked unsure, looking back and forth between her and the forest, guessing which rocks would be the fastest and the safest for him to step on, counting how much time it would take for him to basically run to the edge of the forest, let her do what she wanted to do, and come back. It certainly would take more than “a few minutes”, if a few meant 2 or 3.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Yein nodded fervently. It seemed like she had thought about touching a tree multiple times before but never had the chance to. She really wanted this, Wonwoo realized when he saw hope glinting in her eye. How could he say no to those doe eyes?

“Alright, but I’ll be quick,” he said, but was drowned out by Yein’s loud cheers. “And you must tell me when you need water, okay?”

Yein nodded again but it looked like his conditions were already out of her mind by then, judging by how she was bouncing in excitement on the rock she was sitting on. She actually looked like she was younger than Wonwoo like that, but then again, Wonwoo had no idea how old Yein actually was.

Wonwoo stood up with her in his arms and started taking the extra careful steps back to the beach. It was probably the 3-day experience of navigating his way across the rocks that he got to the sandy part of the beach relatively quick. Once his feet had stepped onto the sand, he started walking fast to reach the edge of the forest. Yein didn’t move much in his arms, didn’t even utter a single word, afraid she would break his concentration.

“This is a tree,” Wonwoo said as soon as they had entered the mouth of the forest. He turned to a tree to his right and pointed down at the ground with his chin. “And those are my shoes.”

Yein, after an uncharacteristically long silence, finally let out a laughter, turning her head to look at his shoes on the ground.

Wonwoo brought her closer to a tree with a branch that hung low, and her hands immediately unwounded themselves from his neck to touch the dry and frail autumn leaf, and she gasped when it crumpled in her hand.

“D-did I hurt it?” Yein stuttered, looking at Wonwoo with a childlike fear in her eyes that it sent a warm feeling to his stomach. Quite unfamiliar, but welcomed.

Wonwoo smiled. “No, it was its time. It’s autumn now, so all the leaves have turned dry and brown. The trees are preparing for the cold winter,” he explained to her as she blinked in realization and looked back at the tree.

Her hand moved to touch the tree bark, feeling the rough texture against her smooth hand, and a smile formed on her lips. “This feels weird,” she said, giggling. She touched a twig and other leaves—some crumpled; some didn’t, much to her delight—and Wonwoo could even see her happy smile in the dark forest, but all he could think about was if she was in need of water right now but didn’t say.

He was about to ask, but Yein was faster with her question. “Is that the way to your village?”

Wonwoo looked at the path she was pointing at, the same one he took every night. “Yes, it is,” he simply answered before he asked, “Don’t you need water right now?”

Yein tilted her head. “Not really,” she said. “But if you’re so worried about me, we can go back to the rocks now. I’ve touched enough.”

“Are you sure?”

Yein smiled and nodded before circling her arms back around Wonwoo’s neck, and he took it as a cue for him to go back to the rocks. He repositioned his hand behind her back and walked back to the shore. This time, Yein would not quiet down.

“It’s really hard and I could knock my knuckles against it and it would make a sound,” she told Wonwoo about her newfound experience with a tree bark. “It’s really nothing like I’ve touched before. It’s amazing.”

Wonwoo couldn’t stop smiling all the way back to the rocks, listening to Yein’s impression on touching a twig for the first time in her life, her slender arms around her neck, her cheek pressed against his shoulder.

*

Wonwoo looked at the calendar hanging behind his bedroom door and realized that it had been two months since he first met Yein. He had done a lot of things with her and for her to get to know how humans lived. He had taught her how to play rock, paper, scissors; he had brought her many foods from the night market—some she liked, some that she didn’t; although that wasn’t a lot; he had read her some of his books, but he realized that he still had no idea who Yein was other than that she was a mermaid.

So that night, after taking his usual spot on the rock next to Yein, Wonwoo finally asked, “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

Yein stopped playing with the pearl on her bracelet to look at him quizzically. “About myself?” she reiterated, and Wonwoo nodded. “Example?”

“For example, how old are you?”

However, Yein threw another question back at him. “How old do you think I am?”

Wonwoo frowned. He had thought about it but never really put a number on it. He always thought she looked younger than he was. “Around 16, 17 years old?”

Yein beamed, seemingly pleased with his guess. “I’m actually 115 years old this year,” she answered.

Wonwoo widened his eyes in shock and it took him a while before he said, “You’re joking.” But Yein shook her head, still with the same satisfied smile on her lips, and Wonwoo’s eyes couldn’t have gotten any wider. “You said mermaids are not immortals!”

“We’re not, but we live a long life,” Yein replied with a hand covering her laugh. “I will probably look older in 10 or 20 years.”

“Then you’ll need to live your life to the fullest for a really long time,” Wonwoo muttered, though Yein still heard it, evoking another laughter out of her, and that was when something caught Wonwoo’s eye.

“What’s the story behind your bracelet?” he asked. “It seems very precious to you.”

Yein’s laughter died down instantly and her eyes were suddenly filled with such sadness that Wonwoo regretted asking about it. He had been very curious about the bracelet but if asking about it meant Yein being sad then he thought it wasn’t worth it. “I’m sorry, I di—”

“It was my sister,” Yein said.

Wonwoo remembered her saying that as she was thanking him. “I remember you saying that,” he said, nodding. “It was your sister’s bracelet.”

“No,” Yein shook her head, weak like she had given up on everything. “It was my sister.”

Wonwoo blinked rapidly, trying to comprehend but failed. “What do you mean?”

Yein sighed, contemplating whether to tell him or not, but eventually started, “When she died, instead of turning into sea foam, she…” Yein paused, her fingers started playing with the pearl again, as if touching it gave her the comfort that she needed to tell the story. “…she turned into pearls.”

Wonwoo was stunned. There were so many questions running through his head. Was the tale real all along? Was Yein’s sister the mermaid in the tale? When did she die? But one thing that Wonwoo could actually ask was, “Why did she die?”

Yein bit on her bottom lip like she was holding back tears. “The mermaid in your story exchanged her voice for a pair of legs, correct?” At Wonwoo’s nods, she continued, “My sister exchanged her life for her prince’s.”

She lowered her head, trying to hide her face from Wonwoo’s stare but he could still see a teardrop running down her cheek and all he wanted to do was brush it away from her face, but found himself unable to. He was never good at comforting people grieving because of a third party, much less because of him. His fingers clenched and unclenched, decided to and against doing something to soothe her, but when he saw her sobbing as she wiped her tears away, Wonwoo’s hand moved to hold her cold hand without him even thinking.

Yein looked at his hand before tracing it back to him, looking up at his face—concerned, awkward, apologetic—with tears glistening her eyes. Wonwoo squeezed her hand slightly, partly wishing to warm it and partly hoping that she could feel the sympathy and comfort that he was channeling through it.

To his relief, a smile made its way to her lips. It was small, just a tug of her lips; but it reached her eyes, her soft gaze made Wonwoo unknowingly squeeze her hand tighter just so he could deal with his heart, which soon went haywire when Yein put her hand on top of his.

Another smile bloomed on her face, a bit wider than the last. No words were exchanged between them, but Wonwoo knew, when her fingers grazed over the back of his hand, that she appreciated his effort of consoling her.

The calming sound of the rippling waves filled the silence between them. Wonwoo wished they could stay in that moment forever.

After what seemed like forever, Yein finally broke the quiet between them and softly said, “I should go now,” before taking her hand off Wonwoo’s. With a nod, Wonwoo reluctantly pulled his hand back, freeing hers. “I hope I’ll see you again tomorrow night,” she said, like a routine.

“I’ll be here,” Wonwoo replied, and he expected her to jump into the sea right away, like she always did, but she didn’t. He raised a questioning eyebrow at her and she worried on her lip. He was about to ask what was wrong, but the words never came out before Yein leaned across the small gap between their rocks and kissed him on the cheek.

Her lips were cold like the hand Wonwoo held just a few minutes ago, but it sent a contradictive feeling to his stomach before spreading to his chest. By the time Yein pulled away, warmth had spread to even the tips of his fingers except for one place: the cheek that Yein kissed, the stark contrast of the temperatures kept his mind focused on the feeling.

“Thank you, Wonwoo,” Yein said as soon as she was back to sitting on her rock. The wind blew her hair to cover half of her face and she tucked it behind her ear to control it. Wonwoo thought he had never seen someone as graceful as she was, “for always being here.”

Wonwoo, who was more or less stupefied at this point, couldn’t offer an answer that sounded meaningful so instead he managed to stutter out an, “I-I try my best.”

Yein released a laugh that made her eyes crinkle, the kind that Wonwoo liked the best, before waving at him and finally jumping into the sea, disappearing into the water without looking back.

When Wonwoo had reached his village, the warmth that engulfed him at the beach was already gone, but the feeling of Yein’s lips on his cheek remained the coldest.

*

Wonwoo was anxious.

His mother had been talking about opening a food stand at the night market for months now. He supported his mother’s decision, but didn’t think he would have a part in it, since she never stated so. But when Wonwoo got home that night, still inwardly feeling giddy from Yein’s kiss, his mother told him that he was going to help her with the stand at the market tomorrow night.

He couldn’t defy his mother who just wanted to help with the family’s economic situation, and he loved her too much to let her man the stand alone, so he had no choice but to nod.

He couldn’t sleep well that night, thinking back to Yein’s words. Thank you for always being here echoed back-to-back with her I hope I’ll see you again tomorrow night and even after closing his eyes, Yein’s soft smile was imprinted on the back of his eyelids.

He tossed and turned in his bed the whole night, worried that he was going to let Yein down. He sighed, cheek pressed against his pillow, and hoped that the mermaid wouldn’t think too much into why he wasn’t going to be there.

*

The stand was doing moderately well on its first night, Wonwoo witnessed firsthand how much money they were making, what with him manning the register. He gave a couple their change and watched his mother whip up their ordered fried shrimps and fries, all the while thinking of how Yein would like the fries and be horrified at the fried shrimps.

He looked back at the direction of the forest. He couldn’t see it from where he was standing and he wondered if Yein was at the rocks already, waiting for him to show up with another snack from the night market.

*

Yein kept her back to the sea so she could look straight at the forest. She had been looking at the edge of the forest for some time now, feeling weird that Wonwoo was late. She didn’t usually need to wait long for him to show up, but she was done brushing her hair twice while waiting for him and he still hadn’t shown up. Yein pouted. She knew tonight was market night and was looking forward to new snacks that Wonwoo might be getting her.

She turned to look at the bright lights in the distance, what she assumed was where the market was taking place. Wonwoo could not have forgotten about her, could he? Yein asked herself multiple times before it turned into concern for his well-being. What if something happened to him on his way to meet her and no one knew because he sneaked out?

Yein bit on her bottom lip, looking at the forest again. “Wonwoo?” she started calling his name, louder every time, but no response came. It was impossible for her to go in there, so she hoped he wasn’t there before jumping back into the sea and swam along the shore.

She didn’t see Wonwoo anywhere on the way to the rocks from where she was swimming, so she kept swimming. She just wanted to see if Wonwoo was okay.

She just kept swimming while looking at the beach, not looking what was in front of her, and was surprised when her head hit something hard. She yelped, holding her head in her hands, and looked up to see what it was.

A fishing boat was in front of her, moving according to the waves, but there didn’t seem to be people on it. She sighed in relief and looked to her right, seeing a few buildings made from woods, and realized that she had entered the village territory; Wonwoo’s village’s.

She quickly submerged herself but only up until her nose so she could still see what was going on at the beach. To her disappointment, no one was at the beach, not even Wonwoo. Everybody must’ve been at the market, she thought, and with that, she went back to the rocks all by herself.

“I can enjoy the night without him,” Yein pouted once she was back on the rocks. She pulled herself up her usual spot and started doing what she had been doing there before Wonwoo showed up two months ago. Just staring into the ocean, clearing her mind with the sound of the waves.

She heaved out a big sigh not long after that, couldn’t quite put the fun in it anymore. Perhaps she had gotten used to having her mind filled with Wonwoo.

*

Wonwoo was ringing up a group of girls when he heard the commotion. It started with a buzz at the end of the market but quickly turned into a clamor that he couldn’t ignore. He thought there was a fight but people were shouting, “The beach, the beach!” so Wonwoo left his post to ask Junhui at the next stall as soon as the other came back from the commotion.

“Junhui, what’s going on?”

Junhui looked incredulous as he answered, “Someone said they saw a mermaid by the beach, but I’m not buying it. I mean—”

Wonwoo stood frozen in his place, Junhui’s voice sounding more and more distant. His mind tried to process the words he did hear but every time he made sense of it, his brain kept denying the information, but that was the only thing it could focus on. A mermaid by the beach. Wonwoo could feel his palms starting to sweat and Junhui was still talking.

“—yeah, and now everyone’s going there—”

“Going where?” Wonwoo cut him off, urgency clear in his voice.

“To the beach. They want to see it.”

It didn’t sound so harmful, except Wonwoo knew what it meant. They were going to try and catch it and he couldn’t imagine what would happen if they did catch it. Her.

Yein.

His legs had never moved faster in his life.

*

He didn’t even bother with taking his shoes off once he saw Yein sitting on her usual spot, he just ran past the trees to the rocks, shouting her name.

Yein looked back in surprise at the call of her name but her face instantly broke into a huge smile when she saw Wonwoo, and he wanted to smile back at her because that meant that everything was okay, but it wasn’t and he needed Yein to leave.

“Wonwoo, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you. I thought something bad happened to you,” Yein said, her concern clearly heard in every word but seeing Wonwoo rushing over to her just deepened her frown even more.

“You—you what?” Wonwoo stopped on the rock before hers, panting.

Yein tilted her head, couldn’t understand why Wonwoo was looking so distraught. “I looked for you. I thought something bad happened to you.”

Wonwoo exhaled deeply, regulating his breath, before asking, “Were you anywhere by the beach? The village?”

“Yes, I swam there looking for you,” Yein replied. “But I kept my distance and there was nobody there,” she added with a pout that would usually calm Wonwoo down.

Instead, Wonwoo released a big sigh. “Well, there was somebody there. They saw you,” he said. In the distance, he could hear faint sounds of the villagers shouting about and that only made him more agitated. He saw Yein opening her mouth in disbelief, so he dropped to his knees to be at her eye level and grabbed her shoulders. “You need to leave, now. They’re coming for you.”

Yein’s eyes were filled with fear and confusion and Wonwoo was about to tell her to go again when he heard a loud, “Wonwoo!” that sounded all too familiar.

Yein jumped under his grip and Wonwoo had to take a breath before turning around, hands dropping from Yein’s shoulders to shield her, to face his father and more than a dozen other villagers. All weapons drawn and ready to fire.

“So this is where you’ve been sneaking out to every night,” his father started, sharp eyes looking past his son’s shoulder, right at Yein who was cowering behind Wonwoo.

“Please, just lower your weapons,” Wonwoo said warily. He could feel Yein gripping the back of his shirt.

“Wonwoo, get away from her,” his father instead said, and it boiled Wonwoo’s blood that no one was lowering their weapons.

“No,” Wonwoo said, hoping the tremor in his voice wasn’t noticeable above the sound of the waves. “I will not. You all need to get away from her and leave her alone. She’s not a bad luck like the tale had you believe.”

“But the tale is true,” a villager Wonwoo couldn’t have bothered to learn the name of spoke up.

“Maybe it is,” Wonwoo said. Ever since Yein told him the story of her sister, he had had an inkling as to which tale most likely told about her and the story of the destroyed village that his father told him two months ago could be it, although he still wasn’t sure. “But Yein has been here all this time and not one bad luck had befallen upon our village.”

“We can’t be too sure, Wonwoo,” his father spoke again, but Wonwoo knew he had made him think, judging by how long it took for him to respond and how his voice softened a bit.

“No, you are all insane,” Wonwoo hissed. “You will let her go and leave her alone.”

Everyone’s heads turned to Wonwoo’s father, stilled, holding with bated breath for the answer from the village chief.

“Very well,” Wonwoo’s father finally said, but it did nothing to let Wonwoo’s guard down. His arms were still held wide open to protect Yein, who had gone awfully quiet behind him. “She can go. But,” he paused, watching the frown deepening on his son’s face, “she can never come back here.”

Wonwoo couldn’t lie and said that he didn’t see this answer coming from his father, but his heart still dropped from the shock. Despite his clenched fists and thoughts of his life without Yein bombarding his mind, he still answered, through gritted teeth, “Okay.”

He squared his jaw and turned around to face Yein, the heartbreak clear as day on her face.

“You need to go. Please, Yein.” Gone was the strong façade he put on just seconds ago. His eyes were desperate and lost, and he knew Yein could clearly see them in his gaze. “Please.” He would beg her if he needed to.

“But,” Yein paused as her eye flew past his shoulders to look at the small army behind Wonwoo. When she met his gaze again, it mirrored his. “I’ll never get to see you again.”

“But you’ll live,” Wonwoo reasoned.

“But, I—you—” Yein’s sentence was stopped by her own sob, and another came out, and another, and she was shaking her head in denial, clutching onto Wonwoo’s shirt without a word.

For once, Wonwoo didn’t hesitate in wiping her tears away.

“Go,” Wonwoo said, cupping her face and thumbing tears from her cheeks. He looked at her, who had lowered her gaze and wiping her tears away with her hands, breaking Wonwoo’s heart with every sob that broke out.

Wonwoo tucked her hair behind her ear to distract himself from the sting of his own tears forming in his eyes and leaned down to kiss her on the forehead.

When he pulled away, Yein had stopped crying and finally looking at him with her doe eyes that he had always adored from the start. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say. “But I want you to live.”

Yein’s clutch on his shirt loosened and she looked stunned for a moment. The waves weren’t as violent as usual tonight. They were calm, lazily crashing against the rocks, and it allowed Wonwoo to hear Yein as she whispered, “I love you.”

The corner of Wonwoo’s lips quirked upward out of reflex, and in spite of the dire situation, he responded with a lighter heart, “I love you too.”

His answer seemed to put Yein’s mind at ease, even just for a little bit, indicated by the small smile that appeared on her lips, and bathed under the moonlight she looked as beautiful as the first night that he saw her. Still made him forget how to breathe, still sent warmth bubbling in his stomach.

Yein finally dropped her hand from his shirt and moved back, ready to go and never come back. Wonwoo took a deep breath, contemplating whether to see her go or not. As much as it pained him, he decided on the latter, turning his head away from her, but what he saw was horrifying.

It happened so fast that Wonwoo didn’t even think before jumping in front of an arrow, but when it hit him, punctured through his body like he was the dummy that he always used to practice, all that ran through his head was Yein is okay Yein is okay Yein is alive.

He could feel the coldness of the autumn sea as his body dropped into the ocean, but he felt hands under his body, holding his upper body above the water, and he heard screams. His name, everyone was screaming his name. Everyone, Wonwoo blinked up at the sky before his head slowly turned to his left, or Yein?

Wonwoo had never heard Yein so hysterical, her frantic voice calling for him. He wanted to answer, put her at ease, but no words came out of his opened mouth.

Yein started crying the moment Wonwoo began gasping, her tears dropping onto Wonwoo’s cheek. She heard people on the land calling Wonwoo’s name but when she saw, from the corner of her eye, that they were getting closer, Yein looked up and screamed, “Stay away!”

It stopped the entourage in their track, just like what Yein had hoped, but Wonwoo’s weak fingers gripped onto her arm, catching her attention. She looked down, tears brimming in her eyes, and was surprised to see a soft smile gracing Wonwoo’s lips. He brought his gaze to look at her in the eye, the smile dropping by the second.

“Wonwoo, Wonwoo, Wonwoo,” Yein started chanting his name as if it was a mantra that could heal him and tightened her hold of his body. She watched, terrified, as Wonwoo’s smile slipped away along with his fingers on her arm.

And then he just stopped blinking.

Yein waited for a second, two seconds, three, her chants of Wonwoo’s name grown more desperate, seven, eight seconds, but Wonwoo didn’t blink. His gaze had lost its usual warmth and affection. Instead it was blank, like he was seeing through her.

(But of course, Yein knew by then, that he wasn’t looking at anything.)

The pain seared through her body, the crushing feeling in her chest ripped out of her as she screamed for Wonwoo’s name, the lack of response tearing her heart. But when she finally took notice of the red coloring the water around them, her self control finally snapped.

She looked up at the people watching by the beach, just before the rocks, fury taking over her, and in her mind, she kept thinking that Wonwoo didn’t deserve to die, he didn’t deserve to die like this, he didn’t deserve this as huge wave towered behind her.

In a split second, the wave separated to avoid Yein and Wonwoo, but reattached itself before collapsing onto the beach, and people scrambled to get to the safety of the forest. Yein didn’t care what damage it did to them, if it even hit them—she was too overcome with grief to see.

Yein held Wonwoo closer and pulled the arrow out of his chest before diving into the water, couldn’t stop her tears from running down her cheeks, floating behind her in a trail. Wonwoo died because of her actions, her carelessness. If she had just been careful, he wouldn’t have died. If she hadn’t gone looking for him, he would still be alive. If, if, if.

If Wonwoo was still alive.

Yein buried her face in the crook of Wonwoo’s neck.

What she would do to get him back.

She tightened her hug, her hand around his arm, and saw something. She stared hard at it, the pearl on her wrist dully reflecting the light from the surface, and realized that she could do that.

Whatever to get him back.

It wasn’t something that Yein mulled over. She just carried him upward, as close to the surface as possible, and looked down at him. She put her fingers on his eyelids and slowly brought them down to close his eyes, could no longer take the blank stare from his eyes. She brushed the hair from his face and her hand trailed down his cheek, her fingers idling at the spot where she left a kiss at just last night. He looked tragically beautiful.

“I’m sorry,” Yein whispered as she leaned down. She felt a sharp pain in her chest, like she was going to cry once again, but no tears came out of her eyes. “Thank you.” She had no reason to cry in grief over this.

“I love you, Wonwoo,” Yein whispered against Wonwoo’s lips before she leaned in, her cold lips touching his soft ones, and she thought Wonwoo’s lips couldn’t have been this cold if he was still alive.

If he was still alive, Yein smiled into the kiss as she took in the sight of Wonwoo’s face one last time before her eyelids fluttered close.

A head popped out of the water with a big gasp. Wonwoo coughed as hard as he could, believing he had inhaled water just now. His mouth opened and closed, taking in big gulps of oxygen. He looked around, trying to pinpoint where he was, and saw that he wasn’t far from the rocks that he and Yein usually sat at.

Wonwoo’s eyes widened. Yein was there. He frantically looked around but she wasn’t there, so he deeply inhaled and dived in again, ready to search for her, but was stunned to find pearls around him. His hand moved to grab one as it floated in front of his face. Small, shiny pearl, like the one Yein had on her bracelet.

He came up to the surface and it didn’t take long for him to understand what it was.

“She exchanged her life for her prince’s,” Wonwoo muttered, looking down at the pearl in his hand in disbelief, before his feeling turned into anguish, the agonizing pain shooting throughout his body.

All that was left for him of her were the pearl,

and the familiar coldness on his lips.