#and I like doing landscapes but gods (heh get it?) I needed a break from it

[cygnus-is-tired]

[pug-bitch]

That’s not why I’m staying (3)

I like a protective brother

Book: The Royal Romance, Book 2

Pairing: Drake Walker x Amara Suarez

Rating: some foul language, some extremely suggestive, and a VERY steamy scene right at the beginning. This is absolutely NOT appropriate for people under 18.

Word count: about 4,600

Notes: This picks up pretty much where we left off, after the gang’s night out, starting with Amara’s POV.

*****

Amara throws her purse on the bed, and takes a very deep breath. ‘What an awesome night,’ she whispers.

Drake smiles at her and sits on the comforter. ‘You must be exhausted,’ he says.

She smiles and runs a hand through his hair, straddling him. ‘Not at all,’ she whispers. His smile becomes more mischievous as she starts unbuttoning his shirt. She adds, ‘I’m pretty fucking awake.’

Their lips crash together and their bodies cling to one another, not even giving each other the time to undress. She sits on his lap, facing him, his growing erection pressed against her. Drake’s hands roam up on her back, under her light yellow top, until they find her bra. He expertly unhooks it with one hand, which draws a low, unexpected groan from Amara. He pulls her top over her head and throws her bra across the room as swiftly as humanly possible, and she catches herself thinking, what did I do to deserve this sexy man?

She gets up and quickly takes of the rest of her clothes, as Drake takes off his pants too. Amara takes back her position, straddling him. He moans. ‘Fuck, babe, you’re so sexy.’ He kisses her neck and nips at her earlobe. She kisses him again, deeper and deeper, and grinds him until he’s about to burst out of his boxers. With one hand, she frees his throbbing cock from its fabric prison, and Drake groans in her ear. ‘I want you so fucking badly,’ he whispers.

His cock teases her entrance, although she can tell he’s dying to be inside her. She feels herself getting wetter and wetter, she can barely control herself as Drake’s mouth lands on each of her nipples and kisses them, licks them. She moans louder and bucks her hips, ready and eager for more. ‘Fuck me,’ she whispers.

Drake obliges, slowly and deeply. When the tip of his cock enters her, she lets out a low groan, and tugs on his hair a little harder. She wants to take him all in, she wants them to be as close as possible, always.

As they move together, she breaks their kiss for a second, just the time to say to him, ‘I love you.’

Breathlessly, he responds, ‘I love you too.’

*****

Drake pours himself another cup of coffee, before joining Maxwell on the patio. ‘Hey Max,’ he says.

Maxwell looks up from his book and smiles brightly. ‘Hey Drake. What are you up to?’

‘Not much, I’m waiting for Michael and Amara to be done with their call, and then I’m taking Mike on a tour of Ramsford. You?’

Maxwell pats his stomach. ‘Trying to relax and get over the magnificent lunch you made us. I can barely move.’ He gestures towards Hana, who’s doing laps in the pool. ‘Look at this one. She gleefully ignores the ‘wait 30 minutes after lunch before you swim’ rule.’

Drake chuckles. ‘Glad you enjoyed lunch. How is life?’

Maxwell laughs. ‘What do you mean, ‘how is life?’ We’ve been spending so much time together, you know exactly how my life has been. Amazing, surrounded by my friends, old and new. Plus, I got a new goat.’

‘Ah, right, the magnificent B-Coops.’

Maxwell smiles a bit brighter. ‘The most beautiful man in the world.’

Drake shakes his head. ‘You guys are nuts. But that’s not what I meant. You’ve been spending a lot of time and energy helping Michael and Amara mend their relationship, and helping Mike adjust. You’re a good friend, Max. I thought I’d ask how you’re doing, you know.’ He runs his hand through his hair. ‘You take care of others. I wanted to make sure you were ok.’

Maxwell sits up and closes his book. ‘Drake Reginald Walker—‘

‘Not my middle name,’ Drake interrupts.

Maxwell waves him off. ‘Your middle name will be the name I give you, my friend. Drake Reginald Walker, are you —gasp!— worried about my well-being?’

Drake laughs at Max’s theatrics. ‘Yeah, maybe, if you insist on putting it this way. You’ve been incredible with Amara. And with Michael. I wanna make sure someone’s taking care of you, too.’

Drake detects a hint of a blush on Max’s face, but doesn’t pry. Maxwell pauses and responds, ‘Thank you, friend, this means a lot. Well yeah, I’m having a good time, enjoying everyone’s company.’

‘You just came out to court. It would probably be normal if you had some, I don’t know, insecurities or whatever,’ Drake continues.

Maxwell looks in the distance before responding. ‘I really appreciate you checking in with me. You’re right, I need to take a minute once in a while to make sure I’m doing ok. So far, so good. I’m surrounded with so many amazing people, I know I’ll be ok.’

Drake smiles. ‘Do you want to join me and Mike on our tour? It’s your duchy, after all.’

Maxwell shakes his head. ‘No, no. Please enjoy your bonding moment with your future brother-in-law. I’ve spent a lot of time with him, and I can tell the two of you will get along great. He’s just like you, no-bullshit, straight-to-the point and all of that. You’ll have a great time.’

Drake smiles mischievously. ‘Been enjoying his company, Maxxie?’

Max snorts. ‘I don’t know what this is supposed to mean, but let me answer that honestly. Yes. He’s a great guy, and he deserves to have people around him, helping him grieve and take back his life.’

Drake throws his hands up in defeat. ‘True. Can’t argue with that.’ He looks to the house. ‘Oh, here they come.’

Drake’s heart tugs when he sees Amara. As usual. She’s coming out of the house, laughing with Michael. She is wearing denim shorts and a white T-shirt, simple as can be, but on her, everything is fucking enchanting. God, he loves her.

‘Hey babes,’ Amara yells out to Drake, Max, and Hana, who waves from the pool. ‘How is it going?’

Drake holds out his hands, and Amara goes right to him to sit on his lap. Drake knows they must look cheesy and cutesy from the outside, but he doesn’t give a fuck. ‘How was the call with your family?’

Amara kisses his forehead. ‘Oh, you wouldn’t believe how chatty Callie is, right Michael? The girl cannot be stopped, I love it.’

Michael chuckles. ‘Yeah, she was so excited to see me AND Auntie Amara together, she proceeded to show off every single one of her stuffed animals, and to introduce them, first and last names included. Took a while.’

They chat about the Suarezes for a while, Amara telling stories about her dad and technology.

Michael looks at Drake and asks, ‘You wanna go? I can’t wait to see more beautiful landscapes.’

Drake nods and kisses Amara deeply. ‘See you later, babe. Max, be good, and don’t buy another actor from the Hangover franchise. I can’t handle a cow named Ed Helms.’

Max gasps. ‘OMG. That is a genius idea, Drake, thank you.’ He mutters to Amara. ‘OR we could buy an angora rabbit and name him Zach Galifianakis. What do you think?’

Amara nods. ‘Yes. But think about poor Justin Bartha. Abandoned on the roof, then no one thinks of naming an animal after him.’

Drake chuckles and gets up. ‘Alright. Let’s go, Mike. I’m very scared of what we’re gonna find when we get back.’

*****

‘See that building over there?’ Drake points as he slows down. ‘This is the oldest restaurant in Ramsford. Been there since the 15th century.’

‘Wow, that is impressive!’ Michael replies. ‘This old town is so gorgeous.’

Drake smiles. ‘Alright, ready to go off roading? We can drive from here to the beach, scenic route only.’

‘Sounds great!’ Michael pauses and takes in the scenery. ‘So, Drake...I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to ask you what your intentions are with Amara.’

Drake chuckles. ‘Go for it. I think I can handle it. Besides, I like a protective brother, I’m one myself.’ He stops himself and remembers that he only has to wait a couple more weeks until he sees his little sister.

‘Ok, here we go,’ Michael says as he pretends to hold an imaginary microphone. ‘Drake Walker, what are your intentions with my sister, Amara Elena Suarez?’ He passes the non-mike to Drake.

‘Well, Mr. Hansen-Suarez, I love your sister, and I firmly intend to keep loving her as long as she’ll let me.’

Michael smiles. ‘Good answer. Besides, I don’t think this sort of menacing older brother thing suits me. It was more Sergio’s speed.’ He chuckles. ‘No one would be threatened by me, I guess.’

‘Hey hey, don’t sell yourself short, Mike. I saw you last night, that douche got hit pretty hard in the face, so I would definitely be threatened by you.’

Michael laughs wholeheartedly. ‘Thanks, man. Well, there’s also the fact that I’m not actually concerned about your intentions. I don’t think my husband would have been either. I mean, it’s pretty obvious that you love her, I could tell right off the bat.’

Drake blushes. ‘Yeah, it caught me by surprise, but...I was all in, right away. I knew that it was a bad idea, well...I thought it was a bad idea. My best friend was —is— really into Amara, and at first I thought I’d stay away. But I couldn’t.’

‘Sash guy?’ Michael asks.

Drake chuckles. ‘Heh. Yeah, that’s the one. Sash guy, aka Liam.’

‘No, no,’ Michael says, ‘I mean was that sash guy on the side of the road? Like, right now?’

Drake frowns and brings the Jeep to a stop. He looks in his rearview mirror and sure enough, Liam is on the side of the road, jogging by himself. ‘What the fuck? He’s not supposed to be in Ramsford without security.’

Michael nods. ‘Should we…?’

‘Yeah. If you don’t mind, I think we should.’

Michael nods again, more emphatically. ‘Of course. And um, I know he doesn’t know. Don’t worry.’

Drake smiles and pats Michael’s back as he backs up his car until he reaches Liam.

‘Hey Li,’ he shouts out the window.

Liam, startled, takes out his earbuds and finally smiles. ‘Hey Drake, you scared me!’

‘That’s what happens when you run around without security, man. Hop in, we were about to go grab coffee somewhere.’

Liam hesitates for a moment and nods. Drake presses the button to open the doors and he gets in the back seat.

*****

Ran into sash guy. Going to coffee with him now. Whaaaaat

Amara looks at her phone quizzically. Michael and Drake had been gone for a little while, during which she, Hana and Max had been puttering around in the pool and eating fruit. The life. When she stopped to think about it, she couldn’t really believe that this was the program for the day. Lounging, eating pineapple in a mansion with a beautiful view. Nice change from her Brooklyn dwellings and her shitty shifts.

‘I think Michael and Drake ran into Liam. Weird, huh?’

Maxwell shrugs. ‘Don’t worry. He was probably getting some air before having to go home to his ball and chain. Literally.’

Hana nods. ‘I know he was pretty shitty to a bunch of us in the recent past, but I do feel bad for the guy. First his dad is dying, then he’s stuck in this sham of an engagement with the most horrible person ever. I hope he can get out of it.’

Amara pauses. ‘I think his father is the one who really pushed him to choose her. I think those two events —his dad’s illness getting worse, and his engagement— are tied together. He wants to please the King, make him feel like he is leaving the country in good hands.’

Maxwell nods and pops a new piece of pineapple into his mouth. ‘I agree, Little Blossom. I worry about him, too, but at this point, there’s nothing more we can do before the Engagement Tour. Then, all of us can investigate and maybe catch Madeleine in a scheme, or something of the sort. I mean, we have a detective in our midst.’

‘Yes,’ Hana says emphatically, ‘we have a brilliant detective here, and, well, it’s too bad that our lawyer will be back in the States by the time we hop on that train on Friday…’ she makes eye contact with Amara in a smooth, sneaky way.

‘Right,’ Amara jumps on the occasion, ‘I’m gonna miss Michael. I can’t believe he’s already leaving in a couple of days.’

Maxwell looks at the bottom of his water glass, without a word. Hana looks at Amara again, this time seeming a bit more impatient. ‘Well,’ she continues, ‘maybe he could come back soon, right Amara? With Callie? We have all grown to like him a lot, and I’m sure you miss him so much.’

As much as she’s enjoying the theatrics, Amara feels the need to tone it down. This is getting a bit too orchestrated, even by Maxwell’s standards. ‘Definitely,’ she says. ‘I don’t know what the future holds, but if I stay in Cordonia —that’s assuming I stop being viewed as a whore by the whole community of course— I would love for my family to visit.’

Maxwell finally lifts up his eyes. They meet Hana’s. ‘Sweetie, you’re amazing at everything, but I think we just found your weak spot. It’s acting.’ He turns to Amara. ‘And you, please don’t say that people consider you a whore. Have you read the tabloids? No? Because I have. And sure, there’s some that publish the infamous Tariq picture, but most of them say it was photoshopped, and that you were too big a threat to the monarchy. The press still loves you. Many newspapers are speaking up against slut shaming, and in fact, I hope that Liam does hire a PR guy or gal for you, as he promised, because we can totally fucking spin this. Even if we don’t find stupid Tariq. Hell, if Liam doesn’t hire someone, I will. I can pull some strings.’

‘Wow, Max,’ Amara says, blown away by the monologue. ‘That was hot. Look!’ She holds out her arm. ‘I got chills!’

Max chuckles, ‘Oh, shut up. I love you, but shut up.’

‘No no, I’m serious. That was badass, and it actually made me feel better. I told myself I didn’t care what Cordonia thought about the Tariq shit, so I didn’t look online at all, but just knowing this is making me feel better. Thank you.’

He smiles. ‘You’re welcome. Bertrand and I were talking about it, and we think that maybe it’s time for you to talk to the press. They’ve been calling the duchy, but we respected your wishes not to talk about it. Maybe before we leave for Rome, we could pick a journalist and tell your side of the story?’

Amara smiles. ‘I’ll think about it.’

Hana, still silent up until now, takes advantage of a quiet moment to turn to Maxwell and ask, ‘What do you mean I can’t act?’

He bursts out laughing. ‘Oh honey. Maybe you can, on a stage, but in real life you are not smooth. ‘Oh I wish Michael stayed longer!’ ‘Oh we all love him, don’t we?’ Give me a break, I know what you’re all thinking.’

Hana pouts. ‘I didn’t mean to upset you, Maxxie. I’m sorry.’

‘No no, I’m not upset!’ He rubs her shoulder and smiles. ‘I’m not. I just—‘ he pauses and sighs. ‘I like being around him. A lot. Alright, you happy now?’

Amara smiles brightly. ‘Well, yeah, we definitely are.’

Hana’s smile is so wide that Amara is concerned she may dislocate her jaw. ‘I didn’t mean to pressure you into anything, Maxxie, but you gotta admit that you two would be so cute together!’

Maxwell rolls his eyes. ‘Fine, we’d be fucking adorable. We all know that.’ His face grows a tad somber. ‘But babe, and forgive me, Amara, for saying this and potentially ruining the day, but Michael is still grieving. In just a few days, I’ve grown fond of him, and if this were a regular situation, yeah, of course, I’d ask him out. But this is a very irregular situation. It’s delicate. I don’t want him to think that I’m going too fast, and I certainly don’t want to hurt his feelings in any way if he’s not ready to even go on a date with someone other than Sergio. I respect him —and you, Little Blossom, and your family and your pain— way too much to step into this unwelcomed.’

Amara realizes she’d been holding her breath. Hana holds out her hand for Max to take. He complies, and gives her a sweet kiss. Amara fights back tears. No, she won’t cry. Not now, not when she wants to show Maxwell that no, he’s not stepping into a bed of thorns. She takes a deep breath. ‘Shit, Max. Do you have any idea how much I want Michael to be happy? And do you have any idea how much I love you? How good a guy I think you are? If anyone is gonna be respectful and mindful of Michael’s history, I know it’s you.’ Welp, a tear escapes. She tried to hold it back, but oh well. She wipes it away. ‘That’s all,’ she chuckles. ‘I won’t overstep any more than that. You guys figure it out. And for the record, he may leave on Thursday, but he’s not dropping off the face of the Earth.’

Maxwell nods. ‘Understood.’ He takes Amara’s hand. ‘There,’ he says, ‘now I’m in a Hana/Amara sandwich. I love you guys.’

*****

‘Thanks, Drake,’ Liam says as he grabs the coffee his friend is handing him. ‘Sorry we couldn’t go in public.’

Michael waves him off. ‘This is a lot better, actually. Who wouldn’t want to have coffee on the beach?’

Liam smiles. ‘Thank you, Michael. I didn’t mean to crash your afternoon.’

Drake sits down in between the two men. ‘Don’t be stupid. Did you guys get a chance to chat while I was picking up the coffee?’

Liam nods. ‘Yes, we did. I apologized to Michael again for the ruckus at court. This is not a normal time, that’s for sure.’ He takes a sip and stares at the ocean.

Drake sighs. ‘Li, are you ok? You didn’t answer my texts.’

‘Sorry about that, too.’ He lets out a sad chuckle. ‘I’ve been shit at everything. That’s why I went for this run. I bet Bastien is looking for me everywhere as we speak, but I needed out.’

‘Liam, I know you barely know Michael,’ Drake continues, ‘but you can speak in front of him, right, Mike? He won’t care.’

Michael nods. ‘Of course. You’re going through a lot. You need to let it out.’

Liam smiles. ‘Well, I made my bed.’

Drake snorts. ‘Come on, Li. You deserve better. You didn’t ask for all this shit. We’ll find a way to get you out of this shitty engagement, I promise. If we can get some dirt on her, she’s done.’

‘You know why i ran away? I have a press conference with her tonight. The engagement conference. We’re supposed to gush over each other and talk about our hopes and dreams. Dreams of a future heir. Disclose the names of our wedding party. All wedding and marriage stuff. Nothing I want. I needed some air.’ He takes another sip, stares into the distance.

Drake puts his hand on his friend’s back. ‘Li, I’m sorry. We’ll get you out.’

Liam nods. Is he going to be able to tell him? It might be worth it to just say it out loud, even with a stranger here. ‘Drake, I don’t know if I can do this.’

Drake sighs. ‘I know it’s hard right now, especially since you’re alone at the palace with her and your dad and brother, but as soon as we’re all on the tour, I promise. It will get more manageable.’

Liam avoids Drake’s eyes. Maybe he can tell him. ‘I don’t feel good about this, Drake. I know it’s not comparable at all, I know this, but—‘ he interrupts himself. Should he say it in front of her brother-in-law? Fuck it. ‘I can’t stop thinking about what Amara went through. Tariq trying to assault her. She must have felt so fucking violated, and thankfully you were there. I can’t stop thinking about it these days. Partly because I feel responsible for her being in the spotlight, and partly because—‘ he pauses again. Can he say it without sounding like an asshole? What he’s going through is by his own volition, kind of, it has nothing to do with assault, and yet… He takes a breath. ‘Partly because I feel completely shitty about having to sleep with Madeleine.’

Drake tightens his grip on his back. Liam feels Drake’s eyes migrating to Michael’s. The two men share a stare. Is it a concerned stare? Is it one of disdain? Like oh, that spoiled mansplainy Liam, thinking his plight is the same as that of an assaulted woman? He hopes not.

Drake finally speaks. ‘Liam, I’m sorry to hear that. Please don’t be concerned about Amara, I know it was hard for her, but um, her friends and family are around her. As for you, well, I feel terrible about this. I’m so sorry that you had to go to those lengths. Please don’t let her take advantage of the situation again. You have the right to say no.’

Liam chuckles. It comes out a lot sadder than he intended. ‘I know. I just didn’t feel like dealing with the consequences of saying no. And for the record, I know that my situation isn’t the same as Amara’s. I know that. It just makes me feel even worse, because it’s already fucking terrible to force oneself to have sex with someone you don’t want. I can’t even imagine what it must be like to—well, to say the least, this whole situation is making me reconsider a lot of fucking things.’

Michael gets up from the sand, slowly and discreetly. He whispers, ‘I’m going to let you guys talk for a bit. I’m sorry, Liam, and I agree with Drake, I don’t know you, but you deserve better. Please take care.’

He walks away towards the other end of the beach, cell phone in hand, taking pictures.

Liam shakes his head. ‘See? I’m even making him run away.’

Drake chuckles. ‘No, that’s not it. He wanted to give us privacy. And probably to take pics for his daughter.’

Liam nods. ‘He seems like a good guy. He lost his fucking husband, and here I am complaining about not really wanting to fuck a Countess.’

‘Liam, there’s no competition in suffering. I wish I knew what to say or do to help—‘

‘You can’t help, not for now anyways,’ Liam interrupts. ‘But it does feel good to talk about it.’

*****

‘Hey guys!’ Drake yells out as he lets himself into the house. ‘We’re home, and we brought wine!’

‘Welcome back,’ Maxwell says cheerfully. ‘It’s just me and the girls, Liv went to her date with Rashad, and Bertrand has a dinner meeting at Castelsarreillan. How was the tour?’

Michael’s face lights up. ‘Oh, it was amazing, Max, your duchy is so beautiful. I loved the beach most of all.’

‘I’m so glad,’ Maxwell beams. ‘Come on in, guys, let’s get comfy.’

They walk into the living room, where Hana is reading a book, and Amara is on her iPad doing research. Drake sees on her screen that she’s still looking into Savannah’s location in Paris. His heart sinks. How did he luck out so much with this woman, who’s always in his corner?

‘Hey ladies,’ Drake says enthusiastically. ‘Mike and I have a proposition for you all.’

Amara raises an eyebrow. ‘Oh, do tell!’

Michael smiles brightly and looks at Drake. ‘You do the honors, you’re in charge!’

Drake nods excitedly. ‘Since Mike has never seen Portavira, we thought that we could all go to my cabin tomorrow morning and stay tomorrow night? He only has 3 nights left in this country, let’s make them count!’

Hana gasps. ‘OMG this is a great idea! I love your cabin so much.’

‘I’m SO in,’ Amara says as she closes her iPad into its keyboard. ‘I miss the tranquility of the cabin, let’s do it!’

Maxwell claps his hands in excitement. ‘Yass Kweens, let’s go bright and early tomorrow!’

‘And let’s pop this wine,’ Michael whispers to Drake. ‘We got it in an old wine store, it was so cute! I had to get two bottles for us.’

‘Aw, thanks Michael, you didn’t have to do that,’ Maxwell says as he claps a hand on his arm in gratitude. ‘Well, everyone get comfy around the table, and I’m gonna go get us some snacks.’

‘Oh, I’ll help,’ Michael follows suit.

Once the two disappear into the kitchen, Amara and Hana look at each other and put a hand to their chests. Drake smiles. ‘Alright ladies, could you be any more obvious?’ He plops down on the couch next to Amara and nuzzles in her hair. ‘Hey babe. Missed you.’

Amara kisses his nose and cups his face in her hand. ‘Me too. How was it?’

‘Good. It was fun to hang with Mike. But um, I think he told you, we bumped into Liam. He’s going through some serious shit.’

Amara makes a pained face. ‘Oh crap. How is he holding up?’

Drake shrugs. ‘Not great. I think it was good for him to talk, though.’

She nods. ‘Good. I’m glad.’

Hana sighs. ‘We were just talking about him today, right Amara? We all feel terrible about his situation, and maybe it will all get sorted out during the Tour, at least let’s hope so.’ She pauses and Drake and Amara nod in agreement. She turns her head to the kitchen and whispers, ‘What do you think they’re talking about in there?’

*****

‘Another martini?’

‘Are you trying to get me drunk?’ Liv asks sharply.

Rashad laughs earnestly. ‘No. You can drink me under the table.’

‘You got that right.’

He chuckles. ‘I hope you like boeuf bourguignon. I got takeout from this French restaurant. I know you like red wine so I figured you’d like that.’

Olivia forces herself not to smile. ‘Oh so, no cooking?’

Rashad gestures to the apartment around him. ‘This is an Airbnb. I don’t know where the pans are.’ He takes a sip of his martini. ‘Or how to cook.’

Liv can’t help but smile, ever so slightly. Rashad travels a lot around Cordonia for work, and stays at Airbnbs and hotels most of the time, since he rarely stays in his own duchy. No wonder the man lives off takeout. No servants in his life, and certainly no cooking.

Olivia likes that. The life of a loner. Depending on no one. Kinda hot.

‘I like boeuf bourguignon. You win this round.’

His face lights up. ‘Good. Not that I was nervous or anything. You know me. Cool as fuck.’

She gives him a half smile as she sips on her second martini. ‘Is the bourguignon ready now?’ She asks.

‘Not yet,’ he answers. ‘Needs to be in the oven for a while.’ He takes a sip as well. ‘Why, you hungry now?’

She gets up from her chair. ‘Nope,’ she says, as she straddles him and kisses him deeply.

*****

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[salamanderskin]

Winter Returning parts 5 and 6

Very soft lesbian pining, injury and illness.

PART 5- Thea

“Wake me if you need me,” I told her. Kay nodded fractionally, eyes closed.

I took a moment to look over at her, reluctant to snuff the candle and loose her to the dark. The blankets were pulled to her chin in tightly clenched hands. Her knuckles were laced with scars, nails bitten almost to nothing. The white trails of old scars carried on up her arms, I knew, decorating every part of her in the tracery of a decade of sword-training. Kay's hair spread out on the pillow behind her, scarcely darker than the bandage at her brow. A rosebud of fresh blood showed through the dressing and the only other colour to her was the pinkish, irritated colour of her nose and chapped lips, open to allow her to breathe.

After a long, indulgent moment I lay down beside her. I did not mean to draw her to me but the movement was so natural it was done before I could think. Then her head was turned inward on my breast, an arm draped heavily around my waist. I made a sound of surprise but my heart was soaring in my chest. Hadn't a small part of me been hoping for, dreaming of this?

Kay took a long time to settle into a fevered sleep. She pushed me away a few times to sneeze harshly, then settled back again with a snuffling breath against my neck.

It was an uneasy night. I was so conscious of her next to me, wanting her close, not wanting to knock her wounds and hurt her. I found sleep suddenly, like a blanket being pulled out from under me and dropping me into the dark.

When I woke, it was pitch black and my bed was empty.

No question to what had woken me- the woman in my arms climbing over me and bolting from the room, elbowing me in the ribs in the process. It took me a moment to piece together who she was, where I was, why she was here, then I was after her like a shot.

“Kay?” I called after her.

She stumbled through the cottage, tripping on the uneven floors and unfamiliar corners. I caught up with her in the hallway near the front door where was rifling through her cloak and the clothes I had taken off her last night.  

“What are you-?”

“Hssh!” Her eyes were wild and unfocused, glinting like steel.

“You're fevered- it's alright-” I tried.

Kay actually grabbed me and put a hand over my mouth. I yelped through it but she only squeezed tighter and hissed in my ear “Hush! There's someone there. I know it. I know it, Thea! Where is my bow?”

She managed to lay a hand on her bow and quiver in the dark and dropped me to notch an arrow to the string. She slung the quiver over her nightdress. I kept silent, not wanting to startle her. Clearly she was wandering. I could feel the fever heat of her without touching. Bow raised, Kay crept back through the room to the side door which opened out to the garden. I followed her a few paces behind, ready to catch her if she bolted out into the woods. She would truly catch her death out there in her bare feet if I let her.

Then I heard it- the crunch of footsteps on the gravel path the other side of the wall. A stealthy scrabbling sound, the clink of metal. My blood sang in my ears as though I'd been struck.

Kay Winter's reactions were far quicker and surer than mine. While I gaped like a fish she lifted the latch of the door, muffling the bar with her other hand so that it would not rattle when her fingers shook.

What happened next happened too fast to follow. The door opened. Kay darted out, her bow raised. I heard the arrow as it was loosed and then a cry. There was a barely a pause between them- her target must have been incredibly close. There was a confusion of running feet and I managed to get out of the door in time to see a figure limping off into the woods at the back of the house. Kay came after him in her nightdress and sent another arrow flying, then a third. I heard the first one clatter off a tree but the next found it's mark, evidenced by another yell of pain.

Kay ran a few more paces and then stopped, winded and clutching at her injured side. I caught up with her and we stood together as the man she had shot limped out of sight into the dark.

Silence descended. The wind dropped and the landscape was utterly still, wrapped like a frame around the woman in the white nightdress with her bow dropped to one side and staring out at the night. Kay breathed heavily, swaying slightly, and turned her head to me.

“The last one got him.” Her voice was hoarse, absent.

“I don't understand! Who was he? How did you know he was there?”

“Thought I heard someone following yesterday. One of the ones who got away, who gave me this.” She touched her bloody head- the bandage has slipped off. “Wouldn't last long as a scout without good senses.”

“Do you think he's dead?”

She shrugged. “Close to. The first one went straight through him and the last got his leg. I don't fancy he'll come back...”

Her voice tailed off as she started to shiver again. She looked down at her own naked feet in the wet grass, suddenly noticing the cold and her lack of shoes. My own toes were already numb.

“Damn.” Kay said faintly. She was staring at me as though I was all she could see. All the colour had dropped from her face as though some internal reserve of strength had just run out, allowing the pain and fever to break over her.

Her breath shivered and her eyes drifted closed.

“hehTSSNnch!”

The sneeze sounded painful, damp and wrenching. Reflexively I put an arm around her waist to brace her through it. She leaned into me gratefully as the urge passed, unable to fully raise her head.

Finally she said, in a suppressed shudder of breath “...I don't feel well.”

I thought my already pounding heart would split out of my chest. My other hand rubbed her back in a helpless, soothing circles.

“I know. I know.”

It took her a long time to limp back to the house. Once there I made straight for the fire, built it up again and sat Kay in front of the blaze with a blanket around her shoulders. From the hand clasped at her middle her wound was clearly paining her now, though her nose was giving her more trouble still. Thick congestion had settled in her head and set her sniffing fretfully every few minutes. Despite the sickness she sat straight as a soldier will, staring out into nothing.

I had to say her name twice to get her attention. I circled around to the side of her chair and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to rub away the shivers. It didn't make any difference but I felt better for doing it.

“Kay- do you think he will come back? Do you think he was alone?”

She shrugged, shook her head. “He was the last. I didn't hear anyone else. But if someone came, I'd take them too.”

“Not in this state.”

“Try and stop me. I-” She was looking at me fiercely. There was something odd and tender in her vehemence. Her hand reached up to find mine and clasp it, a little too tightly. “It's what I'm for. What I joined to scouts for. To protect- I- people like you- deserve- hhih- htzSscH!” She sneezed cringingly into the loose cup of one hand, grasping the other around her injured side as the motion tore through her.

“Gods bless you.”

“Thag you-” She murmured hazily before collapsing again, “-htzSschUe!”

I winced with her, sliding my fingers soothingly through hers. “I can give you something for the pain and the fever, but you do need to sleep.”

She nodded. “I think I could sleep.”

I gave her a measure of medicine in a cup and water to wash it down with when she spluttered through her raw throat. Then she let me dress her forehead again and followed me to bed as tame as a lamb. When she lay down her head was burning hotter than before, but I hoped the herbs would see to that. In the mean time I sat down beside her.

“Do you want me to go and sleep in the other room, so you can have more space?”

“Stay.”

I had so many questions to ask her, but she was clearly in no state to talk. I read her meaning from the way her warm body curled against mine, the grateful nuzzle of her cheek into my shoulder.  Whether she would feel the same way in the morning was anyone's guess, but for that moment she was all mine again and I had never felt anything so wonderful.

.............................

PART 6- Kay

What followed was an uncomfortable blur of sleep and waking. I was caught between slow burning pain through my core that kept tugging me to consciousness and fever dragging me back into sleep. The dreams were intense and broken- fire, snow and fighting for my life back on the front line. Throughout all this surfaced Thea’s face over me. Her hands lifting my head and tipping water for me to drink, putting something cool on my hot forehead, trying to feed me something that I pushed away, nauseated.

I woke at last from a deep dream to some clarity of mind. I opened my eyes to hazy sunlight through a crack in the curtains. There was a moment of peace as I looked around the room, Thea’s familiar room. There were the tapestried drapes over the bed, the wood panels and her dresser in the corner littered with jugs, glasses and dirty cloths and handkerchiefs. There was a wooden chair with arms and a high, carved back. On this sat Thea, her head tilted back and clearly asleep. Her hair had mostly escaped from her braid, spilling out from her shoulders. Her eyes were circled underneath and one hand hung slack by her side, hovering over a book that had fallen spine-up on the floorboards. Let her sleep. By look of her, and the state of me, she needed it.

With this in mind I moved as slowly as I could. Not that my injuries let me do more than roll over and then prop myself laboriously up on one elbow. I was perhaps less sore than yesterday- yesterday? -what day was it? My head was clearer now, the fever faded out. I didn't want to pull the wrappings off and look at my wounds but they felt tight in a good way, like they’d been healing.

The rest of me was another matter. The next thing that I noticed was that my throat felt brutally hot and dry. I swallowed nervously with the distinct feeling that if I were to start coughing I would be unable to stop until Thea was wide awake. I cast around for something to blow my nose on. Damn Thea and my own foolishness. There was no denying now that I had a chill on top of everything else and that it was almost the worst of my problems. The thick congestion in my nose was somehow harder to ignore than a battle wound. The sensation of it was constant, vexing.

The moment I sat up it flared to a tingling that set me sneezing fittishly against one wrist.

“IDgsh! -Idgsh!-IGHschuh! hk--” My breath hovered. “hehTSSNnch!”

That was uniquely painful. A searing pain shot through my stomach as I doubled over, my bruised head throbbed hot and my throat felt like someone had taken a file to it. No sooner had I blinked  hazily than Thea was rising from her chair, giving me the big concerned eyes again.

“So you're awake.” She said, pleased.

“So are you.” I replied, foolishly. Was that hoarse shadow of a thing my voice?

“Aye.” Thea smiled. “Move up, I want to check your dressing. How are you feeling?”

She sat next to me on the bed, parted the covers and raised my nightdress so that she could unpeel the bandages.

“I'm alright.” I told her. Then I stopped because her fingers on my bare flesh made me shiver. Her hands looked very brown on my white skin, long and capable as she parted the wrappings, probed my injury, tutted and replaced them.

“As well as can be expected. I think I'll leave them a little. Besides, you're-”

Damn my nose again. The tingling rose to a desperate need and I shuddered with sneezes into my cupped hands.

““IDgsh! -Idgshue-! ”

Thea leaned in to me and ran a hand over my cheek, sweeping an errant lock of hair back behind my ear. That was no necessary, healer's touch but heavy with affection, as her voice was when she spoke;

“-and you're full of cold too, poor love. Did you know you were asleep for a whole day and a night?”

“I'b sorry.” I said.

The woman beside me curled closer, offering her warmth and a hand on my back as I blew my nose and subsequently coughed hard into the handkerchief she'd found for me.

“You'll be well soon, I'll see to it. I suppose I ought to send a message to the scouts, tell them you're here, but I expect they'll find you soon enough. Will you stay until they do?”

I nodded. Thea gave me a radiant, relieved smile.

“What?”

“Nothing. It's just the first time I've had you to myself in a long time.”

“I didn't want it to be like this. I don't mean-”

“Hush.” She sighed, shaking her head. Her brown eyes hardened just a little, stones rather than chestnuts. “I don't know what to say. Let me just enjoy having you here for a little while at least.”

I lost the thread of the conversation then and lay back down on the bed. I was much better but a fever will do that to a woman and I was grateful for the chance to close my eyes- I didn't know what I'd meant to say to her either. I was just glad to be there. My head pounded, my sinuses felt thick and my throat welled with pain at every swallow.

“Sleep if you can, Kay.” Thea said at last. “I need to go out around the village. I've patients to see but I've arranged that noone will come here and disturb you. I'll see you before sunset.”

She leaned and smoothed a hand through my hair again. I was almost asleep by the time I heard the front door close.

* * * * * *

When I awoke again the sun was lower in the sky. By my reckoning it was late afternoon. This time my head was clearer still and my back ached from lying so long. With Thea gone, this would be an excellent time to try rising from bed without her watchful, wincing gaze.

I took it slowly, but the pain as I moved was worst at the moment of going from prone to sitting. After that it was better. Whatever Thea had been putting on the wound at my stomach, it no longer felt hot, merely sore.

I took a few shaky steps across the room. As soon as my head stopped spinning I set out to explore the once-familiar territory of Thea's cottage.

It was very still. The low sun spilled orange light in long beams across the wooden floor, playing on the dark furniture and picking out threads in the tapestries that hung over one wall. When I opened the door to the living room I jumped as a slim tabby cat streaked past my legs and into the back, as startled by me as I was by her. Thea had always loved animals, but hadn't kept any when we first met. Perhaps she had grown lonely...

When Thea returned she found me sitting by a freshly set fire where I had put a pot of water to boil and cleaned away some of the mess of previous days. She came in with a gust of cold air that made me shiver. Her green shawl was wrapped over her head and her hands were holding a basket of vegetables which she set on the floor before coming over to me. There was a flush in her cheeks that became her.

“What happened to resting?” She said, by way of greeting.

“I am.” I defended myself. “But I'm not completely useless.”

“Far from it.” She smiled though, and embraced me warmly before giving my an appraising look.

“How are the injuries?”

“Better.”

“And the cold?” She asked shrewdly.

I considered a lie, then sighed. “About the same.”

“There's a lot of it about. Even in people who don't chase down attackers in their nightdresses.” She said. “Does you throat hurt? And your head?”

They did, and she set about making some kind of draught for me. I accepted it without comment- I was getting better at being a patient. It taxed me but I did want the thick head and blocked nose to be gone as soon as they could. While I drank, Thea sat opposite with her own tea. We talked for  a while about small things, moving only to add wood to the fire or more hot water to our cups. The world seemed to shrink down to us two women, the sound of the logs crackling, the purr of the cat from its place by the hearth.

The steam loosened some of the congestion from my nose and the more I sniffed it back the more it itched me until I was sneezing again.

“huh... huhTSSNch!” I hovered itchily, coaxing the sensation with delicate, hiccuping breaths until I was able to get some relief. ““ISSChue! -IDSH!!”

“Gods bless,” Thea murmured. “Perhaps we ought to go to bed.”

This time there was less awkwardness. Without speaking we both made our way to her bedchamber and undressed as before. When I lifted off the tunic I'd been wearing, Thea halted me to look at my wounds. I sat on the edge of the bed and let her dress them. Just for a moment as I sat there bare-breasted, I felt her gaze rake over me in a way that was not professional at all. It passed and we lay beside each other. I found the movement clumsy and had to steady myself on the wall while the room moved minutely. I couldn't quite find my hands.

“Kay?”

“I feel a little strange.”

She nodded. “Your fever's up again, then. Colds are always worse at night. Do you want more medicine?”

“I'd rather sleep it off.” I admitted. I felt muzzy enough without a draught to make me sleep and the idea of raising my head and drinking, of her absence while she prepared it, was unappealing.

“Fair.”

Thea parted the blankets for me to lie down. I settled on my back with head on the pillow, trying to get more air through my blocked nose so that my lips might have to chance to be less chapped and sore. Thea lay down beside me and I turned to my side so that she did not have to stare at my twitching nostrils all night. I tried to sleep but every ten minutes or so I had to sneeze, hard enough to send a throb of pain through my head, tearing at my injured stomach no matter how I tried not to move.

After a particularly harsh “-IGHschuh!” that may have ended with an unintentional whimper, Thea moved toward me and curled a comforting hand up to rub at my back. Her sluggish movement suggested she was all but asleep.

“hk'TSHt!” - I tucked my fist under my nose in an attempt not to wake her and was rewarded by a spasm of wrenching coughs. Thea startled awake and rubbed my back again, resting her head against my shoulder.

“Poor love.” She said, very softly. I don't think she meant me to hear it but I did. Some sweetness in it was exactly what I needed to send me into sleep at last

[changingourdestiny]

Light in the Dark Part 3: Into the Darkness

Summary:

It's finally time. Fireteam Paralight are stocked up and ready to face the Black Garden and destroy its Heart once and for all. But as these three have realised from all of their past endeavours, it's always easier said than done...

Previous Part: Here

Next Part: Here

“Weapons?”

“Check!”

“Spares?”

“Check!”

“Extra ammo?”

“Check! I’ve been running out of ammo too easily, so I’m fully stocked!”

“Gate Lord eye?”

“Fully charged and ready!”

Rae and Blaze went through a checklist as Adam double check the team’s inventory. “Alright, I think that’s it!” Rae smiled, “Unless I’m missing anything, Adam?” Adam shook his head and gave her a thumbs up. “A’ight all, gather around your tour guide!” Blaze grinned as her teammates gathered beside her, “Ok, here’s what I remember about the Black Garden. It gives off the appearance of organic life, but everything there is machine. Almost like computers and wires and stuff. Flowers? Machines. Bugs? Machines. Vex? Do I even need to say it? But here’s the interesting thing. Anything organic there goes through an accelerated growth there. When Uldren, Jolyon and I were there, we noticed things like our nails begin to grow at exceptional rates. Also, don’t stay still for too long. We made that mistake when we were sheltering from the rain and Jolyon ended up with a wrist covered in vines with sharp teeth things. Not fun.”

“Right.” Rae nodded, taking in the information, “Any idea where the Heart would be?”

“We didn’t see it while we were there…” Blaze began, “But I do remember seeing this henge of Goblins and Minotaurs. I feel like it’d be the best place to start.”

“Alright then.” Rae nodded, “Let’s pack up and hit the skies. We’re ending this today!”

 ———————————————————————

 “I don't think we'll get a second chance at this.” Ghost spoke as the three Guardians soared towards the Barrens on Mars in their jumpships, “We pull this off, we can save the Traveller. If not, the Vex will seize our worlds.”

“Which means failure isn’t an option this time.” Rae added. “When is it ever?” Blaze chimed. “Good point. Next stop, Valley of Kings!”

The ships landed in the Barrens as the three friends transmatted onto the sandy landscape of Mars. “How’s the eye doing, Firefly?” Blaze asked as she summoned her Sparrow and hopped on. “Still charged! Let’s find that gate!”

“The Vex are going to do everything they can to keep us out of the Black Garden.” Stormbringer muttered. “Then we gotta do everything we can to get in.” Rae grinned, “Let’s go!”

 ———————————————————————

 “Ok…Storm wasn’t kidding about the Vex!” Blaze panted as she finished off a Harpy. “I think that’s the last of them.” Rae called out, “Let’s open the Gate.”

“I hope this works!” Ghost hoped as pulses of energy began to show within the Gate’s frame. “Together?” Rae asked, holding her hands up. “Together!” Blaze nodded as she took Rae’s hand while Adam took the other. “For the Traveller. Ready?” Rae began, “1…2…3!”

“FOR THE TRAVELLER!!!” 

Rae and Blaze and the Ghosts yelled in unison as the three Guardians ran through the Gate. A flash of light engulfed their vision before clearing to reveal a cave system with ruins and patches of greenery around them. “Whoa…where are we?” Firefly asked in awe. “If we’re in the Black Garden, it’s not on any map of known space and time.” Ghost replied. “I guess we just keep going then.” Stormbringer added. The trio of Guardians and their Ghosts made their way through the caves of the Garden, when Rae noticed Blaze was glancing all around her with an odd expression, “You okay, Blaze?”

“Yeah.” Blaze replied, “Just having a serious case of deja vu.” As Blaze said this, Adam – who was ahead of the group – suddenly stopped and reached for his pulse rifle out of instinct before dropping his guard again. “What’s up, bud?” Blaze peered in front of Adam to see what he was looking at. Vex Goblins. But they seemed to be standing completely still, offline, and covered in moss and vines. “They’re in some kind of stasis.” Ghost noted, “Were they like this when you were here?”

“Yep.” Blaze replied, “But they were also still some that were still online as well. Keep your guard up.”

“Roger that.” Rae replied, keeping her auto-rifle at the ready as Adam kept his pulse rifle out and Blaze took out her handcannon, “Let’s press on forward.”

 After battling through a few Vex, the Guardians emerged from the cave to find a staircase leading down into the Black Garden itself. Something about the view made Rae feel uneasy. “Yep.” Blaze spoke up, breaking the silence, “This is the Black Garden alright.”

“There's something extremely dark down below.” Ghost began, “I think we have found the Black Garden's heart.”

“Something tells me we’re not gonna be able to stroll right up to it, are we?” Rae asked. “More than likely.” Blaze replied, “Once we go past this point, we’re in uncharted territory. We didn’t go as far as the Heart. Not to my memory anyway.”

“Well. Onward and upward.” Rae glanced at the stairs, “Or downward, in this case.”

 ———————————————————————

 “The Heart of the Black Garden.”

Fireteam Paralight watched in awe as the Gate Lord Key formed and opened the entrance. “Well, here goes nothing.” Ghost muttered, “Or everything.”

The entrance opened to reveal an ever-shifting blob of a dark substance within the Guardians’ line of sight. Taking a deep breath, Rae and her team slowly made their way through the entrance onto a ledge. Below were many Vex in what seemed like a ritual with three large statues surrounding the dark mass. “This is like what I saw the last time I was here…” Blaze muttered, “The henge. Their worshipping the Heart.”

“That blobby thing is the Heart?” Firefly popped up beside Blaze.

“Stay hidden, Fly. This might get hairy.”

“Roger dodger!” Firefly chirped, disappearing once more. Suddenly, Rae noticed the Vex below begin to shift and turn to face where the Fireteam were standing on the ledge. “So…” Ghost began nervously, “Think you can kill a God?” Rae let out a shaky breath, trying to calm herself, “Don't think I have a choice.”

The Vex got to their feet and began to swarm towards the Guardians. “Well, it’s now or never!” Blaze called out. “Right! Fireteam Paralight, it’s go time!!!” Rae yelled out as the trio jumped from the ledge, “Stay together! If we split up, they’ll overwhelm us!” The Fireteam began striking down Vex as they swarmed towards the Lightbearers. “Firing rocket!” Stormbringer announced as Adam fired a rocket towards a Minotaur, killing it with a precise shot to its centre. “Nice shot, Adam!” Blaze exclaimed, “But check out my new toy!” Blaze then began to shoot down Harpies and Goblins with a minigun, laughing as she went, “I’m laughing, but I’m actually terrified right now!”

“Who in the name of Light thought giving her a minigun was a good idea?!” Rae yelled out as she glided onto a pillar and began to snipe Hobgoblins from a distance. “Don’t look at us.” Stormbringer replied though the comms.

 “Uhh…guys?” Firefly warned with a small whimper, “Are you seeing this?” Rae turned her attention to the three statues. Darkness from the Heart began to shroud the statues and cracks of energy began appearing on them. “The Heart is bringing the statues to life!”

“Damn it…” Rae cursed under her breath, “I know to say to stay close together, but we can’t take them on all at once. Take a statue and take it down. Should we fall here…it’s been an honour being on a Fireteam with you guys.”

“Heh, after all you’ve done for me?” Blaze chuckled over the comms, “The honours all mine, guys.”

“Adam and I feel the same.” Stormbringer added. “Alright then.” Rae muttered to herself as she stared at the statue in front of her that came to life and turned to face her.

 “Game on.”

 To Be Continued…

[thelovers-thedreamers-and-me]

tonight was the fuck squad critmit (it’s like christmas but christianity isn’t a thing in eurolia, but i wanted to use christmas shorthand- WORLDBUILDING) special, because the main plot was not going anywhere nearly consequence-free enough for the tone we wanted to nail down. it featured presents for the squad- little brooches based on magic items everyone’s character has that came with little notes from the shop owner where they got the item. (from the left, rhonia’s magic lunchbox, the bag of trading, sergei’s impervious rod with the lightup orb attached, the diadem of brothority, and maddela’s serpent fang dagger)

we also had a lot of cheese and caramel-filled snickerdoodles and chocolate and wine to the point where i made an impromptu decision to run the session theatre of the mind because we absolutely weren’t going to clear off the battle mat. (you can almost see it under the second cheese board up there. that wasn’t even all the cheese.) tonight’s adventure involved a lot of homebrewing because i couldn’t find stats for pretty much anything i wanted, and also i wrote a knock off night before christmas that i read in my best reading-to-wee-chiddlers-by-the-fire voice from this expertly-crafted prop book in between segments. they seemed to have a good time, fortunately! god i love my friends. recap and full poems under the cut

Twas the night before Critmit, and all through the inn While Jasper was putting the trash in the bin From his holiday party, an annual bash Where all of our heroes got totally smashed. He wiped up the spilled beer and swept up the glass From the breaking of windows that had just come to pass. The fuck squad was nestled all snug in their beds While visions of beautiful dresses and jewels, or hedonistic orgies, or Reaper in a bit of leather and not much else, or huge plates of mac and cheese, or hedonistic orgies again but this time a little bit closer to the ground danced in their heads. Alone or with partners, they started to snooze And settled their brains in to sleep off the booze. But then, just as slumber began to take hold, They awoke out of doors, dressed, armed, startled, and cold. The snowdrift they lay in was not one they knew And the landscape was foreign, cold, barren, and blue. A cottage ahead was the only respite From the miserable weather on this harsh winter’s night.

partway through my first reading of the poem i realized a button of my shirt was just straight up undone and busted out with “oh my shirt just popped the FUCK open” so that really set the tone for the night

(directly after i finished the descriptive verse) Sergei: “Then you see him, Shia Laboeuf!”

frankly i’m surprised we went this long without any shia laboeuf references

the fuck squad go into the cottage to warm up, and inside find an old dwarf in a red and white robe with a long white beard, drinking from a mug of hot cocoa by the fire and checking over a list. he introduces himself as klaus, and tells the fuck squad that he needs help. rhonia immediately asks “DO WE NEED TO SAVE CRITMIT” and frankly i think we could all use that sort of initiative. he says yeah, he needs help, usually he brings presents to all the chiddlers of the world-

rhonia: “WHAT????” “chiddler. it’s slang. bobbie uses it. go away.”

- but unfortunately, this year, the mean old Grunch has stolen his sleigh and his reindeer, so he can’t give out presents! the Grunch put some sort of spell on it so he couldn’t bring it back to his house with a snap of his fingers, but if the fuck squad could bring it back, he’d definitely put them on the nice list- and that’s something a few of them deffo need. he also condones a little bit of accidental murder if they need to.

sergei: “i’ll take care of the reindeer!” saida: “I’ll take care of the murder!” rhonia: “If the reindeer die I’ll turn them into skeletons and bring them back!” everyone: “NO!”

they take fur coats that are hung by the door and set off along the road towards the eggnog sea

it’s a sea made of eggnog. maddela fills her flask. rhonia starts drinking just, like, with her hands. meanwhile, sergei, saida, and yoni begin asking me where the sewage goes. i, of course, do not have a satisfactory answer because why the fuck would i, it’s a fantasy dreamscape, so that ended poorly

Saida: “RHONIA DRANK POOP! Shit-slurper.” “you know, it’s great how i don’t even need to write down your names when i’m taking these notes because each of you are so damn identifiable.”

they’re interrupted by five odd creatures, shaped vaguely like humanoids but made of an odd hard biscuity substance with what looks like icing outlining their facial features, who demand to know who they are and where they’re going. when they say they’re going to go stop the grunch, the gingerbread guards draw their weapons. before anyone can try and calm the situation, maddela just leans forward and tries to take a bite out of one of the guards. (she does later successfully get a chomp out of one.)

(i mention something about one of the gingerbread men having a hole in them after they were stabbed) sergei: “heh it’s a glory hole” “IT’S NOT A GLORY HOLE” yoni: “it’s the Eurolia version of american pie!”

frankly i’m just happy yoni remembered the bad continent name i made up pretty much on the spot so i could justify having a fake fantasy eurovision

Saida: “if any of you fuck a figgy pudding i’m leaving” Sergei: “Don’t worry, I generally try not to fuck food.” “Not since the incident.”

Saida: “That doesn’t count, everybody fucks a little food when they’re thirteen!”

saida uses the memory gauntlets on one of the gingerbread guards, another thing that i was not prepared for. despite getting a lot of suggestions that i dismissed as horrifying (the beard suggested going back to the intolerable temperatures of being baked to life, rhonia suggested when he got his eyes piped on, that sort of thing) she instead saw this gingerbread man hugging his twin sons, tiny tim and tiny jim, and telling them that he was happy they’d be able to go to college because he was working as a guard. apparently that was worse. whatever.

me, out of hand, discussing rhonia’s armor of bones, “You could make a full body bone strapon.” rhonia: “COULD I????”

doesn’t say she can’t

the beard, interjecting: “Just curious, is the gingerbread man, like,a  DILFY gingerbread man?”

saida, returning to the important question of whether rhonia drank poop: “What if they poop royal icing? Because if they poop royal icing that means they can use it todraw little features on each other like lil gingerbread scat enthusiasts?” “SO YOU KEEP WALKING ALONG THE ROAD”

yoni puts a bit of gingerbread into the bag of trading, and when i roll on the table, i get the “bottle of ale or wine” result, so i rule she gets some rum so they drink that with the egg nog.

saida: “I’ve had dreams where we were all together. In Todd Howard’s house. Which was also a social science facility.”

“the road veers away from the coast of the Eggnog Sea, towards several rounded mountains on the horizon.” saida “AYYYYYYY TIDDAYS”

it’s not tiddays, it’s the sugarplum mountains, but that sure doesn’t stop them from making a bunch of lewd comments about the geology

“the road leads to a field, with a weird-looking snowdrift across the middle, that looks almost like one you’d see growing against a wall.” sergei: “it’s not vaginal, is it?”

still don’t know where that one came from

“fast and the furious, vaginal drift”

there are a few snowmen past the wall, and they begin throwing snowballs at the fuck squad, who join in the snowball fight eagerly.

maddela: “can i put rocks in the snowball?” saida: “wow, you were a little shit as a kid, weren’t you?”

but maddela meant a specific rock, because she had a thunderstone. she missed horribly with it, but i commend the effort.

there was a surprisingly long discussion about what food would be best to throw at these snowmen before they found out that they couldn’t throw food past this wall of force.

“alright, sergei, you’re up, what are you doing?” sergei: “i’m doing a pressed ham!”

this is a new term for me, but apparently it’s when you moon someone and press your whole ass up against the window.

why

like why in general but why in particular would you do that with a weird magical barrier

anyway he does it and takes 6 cold damage directly to his ass

“alright, so this snowman’s aiming right for your asshole i guess.” sergei: “what? he can’t see my asshole!” “I assumed you spread your cheeks.” sergei: “why would I do that?” “instinct.” sergei: “fair.”

“okay, let’s say if i roll a crit he hits you right on the asshole.” sergei: “do your worst!” and that is when i rolled my first and only nat20 of the night.

sergei: “i just took like sixteen damage to my ass, i’m not wagging my dick at them.”

they defeat the snowmen (which was indeed an encounter that i think i inadvertently stole the idea for from one of the TAZ liveshows but i realized after i statted it out so i used it) and move on without any more discussion of that

the road takes them up Mount Killjoy, where the Grunch lives in his cave. in the cave, they find a snow globe with a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer in it.

they try to take it, but the Grunch comes out with his dog mark and tells them they can’t do that. before he can explain why, a bolt of shadow comes from the entrance to the cave and destroys the snow globe, knocking it out of sergei’s hand

A dwarf walked on in tracking fresh fallen snow- The same dwarf that they met only hours ago. The miniature reindeer, before the squad’s eyes, Now freed from the globe grew to regular size. More rapid than Sergei, his coursers they came And he cackled, and giggled, and called them by name. “Now, Gnasher! Now, Ripper! Now Grinder and Pain! On, Killer! On, Chiller! On Scratch and Elaine! We have nightmares to cause, and a Critmit to steal! And soon these poor suckers won’t know what is real!” His face it was shifted, past our comprehension, The unnatural show too unnerving to mention. His flesh flopping flatly like meat from a deli With his midsection roiling from chest to his belly. “Ho ho!” said the monster in the Grunch’s house, “Your mind is your prison! I’m Sanity Klaus!”

did i make this whole adventure based around that one pun? yes, yes i did. i’m a serious dungeon master.

maddela: “are the reindeer in a, uh, 20 foot cluster with nobody else around?” “that’s real specific and makes me think you already have a plan.”

“yeah, you can’t use that without hitting sergei.” saida: “well you can do that, you’ve done that once and it’s fine!”

rhonia: “I will also let you know that I have 12 hit points right now.” yoni: “I don’t care, I want to hit things”

they fight with sanity klaus and his eight reindeer, who mostly bite, and also possess a power to turn their noses into flaming hot coals. everyone is surprisingly competent at fighting when they’re in a dream and not scared of using up resources, though, and they defeat him with very few injuries except rhonia being aged up through the use of Sands of Time

where’s that gif from the remake of jamie lee curtis holding her face and going “i’m like the cryptkeeper!” because i imagine that’s rhonia when she discovers she’s 30

maddela: “They have free will! They can do what they want!” “And what they want is to bite.”

the grunch thanks them for helping him defeat sanity klaus. it turns out, on festive nights like this, it’s easier for people in the plane of dreams to cross over to the material plane. usually the grunch does it to deliver presents every critmit, and spends most of the rest of the year working to keep sanity klaus in check, but this year he got the bright idea to get someone else in to free his reindeer and try and kill the grunch for him so he can cross to the material plane and work to spread madness there

so, the fuck squad saved critmit, and they’re definitely on the nice list despite all the innocent creatures they killed

yoni flapdragon puts the base of the snowglobe into the bag of trading, and gets a huge diamond, just, like, as big as both fists. just then, the grunch claps and they all wake up.

As the fuck squad awakened that bright Critmit morn, They were healed up, restored, bit hung over, but warm When they went down for breakfast, to all their surprise Our friend Jasper had glee in his smile and his eyes He held up a sack, that merry old bloke, Labelled “Gold to replace windows that the fuck squad broke.” “Someone left me this bag, down there, under that pine, And there are also some gifts down there that are not mine!” A teddy for Sergei, one that might fit a bear And a headdress for Maddela to go in her hair Rhonia got food and a pillow for naps, And Saida got a lavalliere- that’s four elf claps! For Yoni, a collar of intricate make With amethyst stones, that would fit her wee drake. As they opened their presents, they heard in their minds A voice that the waking world rarely would find. The Grunch calling out, his voice merry and bright “Happy Critmit to all, and to all a good night!”

[lavenderhyrdrangea]

Game plan

Wally barely had his foot in the hero bizz, but he knew getting an official suit was the equivalent of getting a license or at least a permit. Like a license or permit, the suit would come after a test. With the way Uncle B trained him, he figured he’d might as well start thinking of a code name.  After all, Speedy was already taken.

“Sorry about the early rising, Kid. Especially on the weekend but I rather you get used to it now—Heroing is an around the clock gig with no pay,” His uncle said, soft rays of sunlight slowly chasing away the shadows on the side of his face.

“Is that part of the test? The rest will be pretty easy then!”

Uncle B laughed, “You wish.” His hands on his lips, he surveyed the landscape.

It was the most cliche cityscape Wally had ever seen. Yeah, there were nice, long roads, windy roads, and bumpy ones(thanks to pot holes and the city taking its sweet time to get around to them.) There were side walks, street lamps, and apartment complexes and businesses that just seemed too close to one another. This definitely was a normal city until the hill street thing they were standing on came into play. The high standing street took a sharp dip within a few footsteps or an inch of car. It wasn’t European stair steep but whoever designed it had to be related to Evel Knievel somehow. The adrenaline junkie wasn’t done either. Once you rode the flat street surface, it would climb up again. It was mostly smooth sailing after that but God, everyone hated this little stretch of road. They even called it, DMV Street in spite of it being part of Pearson Avenue. You go in mildly ticked then it was just down hill from there.

Heh.

Downhill.

Wally supposed you be would rewarded with the sight of Central River once you made it to the bridge but with ferries offering cheap prices for a ride it didn’t seem worth it. Plus, the river was never as pristine as one would hope. Wait a while and you’d see and hear the trash skimmer boat going by.

“I brought you here to test out your coordination in a real life environment. Anybody can train in a lab or on a treadmill but out in the field?  That’s the hard part.”

“Coordination?” Wally looked down at the street and couldn’t help but think of all it’s imminent frustrations.

“Yeah. I was thinking I could make it a little more fun by making it a race. With how early it is there’s shouldn’t be that many people up and out. But there’s just enough people for it to be challenge. Plus, we’re near Star Labs so if anything makes it to the news most people will suspect it’s them.”

“Race!?”

“A little nervous?”

“You wish.”

Uncle B tried to ruffle his hair but was met with the ugly black cowl of his training suit. “Gotta get use to that.”

“I hope not,” Wally whined.

“We’re running all the way to Grocer street. You make it there and you won’t ever have to wear that thing again.”

“Simple enough.” Wally gained resolve. “I’m so getting that suit.”

“Excitement. That’s what I like to see. I put a tracker in that suit. If you run into any problems—literally or otherwise—I’ve got Jay near by with a tracking device. He’ll zip right to you.”

“You might as well tell Jay to put his feet up. I’ll clear this test on the first try.”

They decided they would each have a part in counting down to the race. They chose the ready-set one. It sounded better off the tongue and got him pumped more.

As always, he and Uncle B started off slow which he hated, it felt like he was running through quick sand but as he picked up speed he glided. Obviously, he couldn't glide as fast as his Uncle. Wally at least thought he could stay neck and neck until the next hump but there he was staring at his blurry back, trying to will his feet to take him faster.

They zoomed through the next hump with ease(aka without Wally tripping due to him having to adjust his speed to the incline.) Uncle B was still ahead of him.  How could he be a blur? He trained with him so why wasn’t he that fast?

Dang it, Uncle B. Run into something.

And of course as he thought that he narrowly missed running someone’s car door off of it’s hinges. He felt someone’s arm wrap around his shoulders then a subsequent yank and a rush, whooshing him backwards.

“You got to be a little more careful than that, Kid.” Jay said, smiling as they stood back at the very top of the first hump.

“I know. I know,” Was all he could offer.

He spent the next few weeks of the test bombing it. So much for it being easy. On his second run, Uncle B manged to get so far ahead that he’d gotten lost. The questions about that one were the worst. Explaining how he got lost even though he knew where the race was supposed to end was a whole new level of embarrassing.  He just got so deep into the whole catching up thing, that he couldn't pull himself out of it long enough to really grasp his surroundings.

His third run was just dumb. Who delivered oranges that early in the morning? Er, well, aside from produce truck drivers. Alright, who would drop oranges so they could roll on the ground? Well, he would if he were a produce truck driver. It was probably Uncle B’s gush of wind that knocked the oranges over in the first place. Either way it didn’t help him at all. Maneuvering around the oranges was like trying to learn how to roller skate all over again. The very next week, he ran into this fruit frenzy yet again. This time around he bolted ahead to try to catch the fruit before it fell but maybe his grip was weak or he got a little ahead himself with all the excitement because he ended up tripping himself up. They were just in his arms and he fumbled them. He was also pretty sure the fruit produce man thought one of his orange crates vanished into thin air.

His fifth run was the closest he got to ever finishing the test. He’d made it all the way to the bridge with Central river flowing underneath. The problem this time around was the opposite of the problem he had during his second run.  He stayed focused on his surroundings and his own footwork. Too focused.  Now, he really didn’t know how it happened but Uncle B was gone. Again. Did he expect him to run on water? Cool as it was they hadn’t gone over that and it had been ages since he practiced his backstroke.

Later on in the evening, his mom made a dinner of chicken Alfredo with peanut butter cookies for dessert and invited Uncle B and Aunt Iris over. His father was eager to talk with Uncle B about the test. Wally’s speed had been just as much a bonding experience for these two as it had been for him, his uncle and his aunt. Before then they had little in common. It wasn’t on purpose, both tried, but ended up being awkward elephants. One thing that they did have in common was that they were both fairly hands on people in their respective fields.

“So,” his mom lifted a forkful of rolled up noodles to her mouth,” did things go better today, Wally?”

It was well meaning but he wished she didn’t ask right in the middle of dinner.

All eyes were on him.

He leaned back from his plate. “Uh, it was alright.”

“Alright?” She pressed.

“Okay, slight correction. The first half was alright. The second half...” He trailed off and thought of how he could talk about the whole thing without making his parents freak out on Uncle B. It didn’t matter that neither one of them were speedsters and thus couldn’t honestly give their two cents on the finer details of his training. They were going to do it anyway. And with their input Uncle B would be babying him in no time.

“With how you talk about your powers, I thought you’d take to this like a fish to water,” His father said.

Being the awesome hero that he was, Uncle B dashed in, “It took me a while to figure out coordination when I first started out. I was running on nerves and awkwardness.

“Awkwardness? You?”

Aunt Iris almost choked on her food, she laughed so hard. “Honey, I’m so sorry,” she said to Uncle B who was narrowing his eyes by then, “but you’ve told me stories about how odd you were before everything. I’d still love you but you weren’t always Mr. Hotshot.”

“I’d argue he’s still odd now,” His mom added.

“So you’re tag teaming me now?”

His father slid in “Well...”

“Et tu, Brute?” He looked at Wally. “Looks like it’s just me and you, Kid.”

Dinner ended on a lighter note, and with his mom insisting that Uncle B and Aunt Iris take a boat load of leftovers home. His mom got use to the appetite of two speedsters like it was nothing. It wouldn’t have surprise him if it turned she enjoyed it as some sort of hobby.

His dad told him to help them carry the trays to the car. Powers or not he still had to have manners.

He was putting the last tray in the trunk when Aunt Iris tried to drop some knowledge. “I think what your Uncle was trying to say earlier is that even with meta powers there’s still a trial and error phase when trying to get better at something. And don’t forget the main focus of a test shouldn’t just be the grade. Every X you see there is to help you. If they weren’t there you wouldn’t know what you need to work on.”

“Yeah, and what if I flunk the whole paper?”

“Still helpful,” She singsonged.

“Great. I’ll tell that to my English teacher the next time time I get an F on my essay.”

Aunt Iris glazed over his quip in exchange for one last word of advice.   “And, remember don’t compare your work to others’ too much. It’s good when you want to better yourself but sometimes it’s bad for the esteem when done obsessively.  I can’ tell you how many times I’ve beat myself up over the fact that another reporter released a story quicker than me only to realize my work was suffering because of my fixation with their work.”

Uncle B suggested a break from the test for just a little while. No doubt a result of Aunt Iris doing her news reporter read on him the last few seconds before they left. She probably made him look pathetic to Uncle B. Like he needed anymore of that.

His father didn’t really like all the extra time he had since he was soft benched, so he thought it was best he got his blood going. His dad suggested that they play baseball. He was little of iffy about that. His dad was really obsessive when it came to baseball. The thought of his past little league seasons made him cringe. But he suggested gathering up the neighborhood kids and playing football instead and Wally wasn’t doing to do that. So they settled on playing catch with the baseball.

“That’s a shame,” His fathered lamented. “Football’s a great game. I’m supposed to be teaching you everything I know. Taking you to games. Cheering you on from the bleachers.  I feel like I’ve missed out you know?”

“It’s just that I don’t like to be tackled.” Or dealing his father’s weird sports lust.

“You’re going to get tackled chasing after the Flash aren’t you?”

Wally stayed quiet.

“I know people don’t think it’s something that requires a lot of brain work but anyone who says that never looked beyond the news articles they find on the internet talking about rowdy fans trashing their home towns after their team lost. It’s a game of wits. You need a game plan if you plan on winning, “Zeal overtook him. “What’s the quickest way to advance down the field? Which defensive player is the one you should keep an eye on? What tactic or strategy is better suited for all the players on your team? What plays into their strengths? It’s much more than tossing a ball back and forth. Take you for instance. You’re fast now, right? You’d make a mean running back—A tail back to be precise. You’d be able to rush the ball to the end zone no problem.”

“I can’t use my powers like that, dad. That’s cheating.”

“Oh, fine. Steal all my fun. Focus on the strategy, boy.”

“Alright, alright. You said that you start off with a plan. What if it seems like the plan isn’t working?”

“What you’re talking about is a quarterback. Possibly one of the most important members of the team. They reiterate all the coaches plays to the team in a way they all understand and they have to have quick thinking too. They can change a play at the scrimmage line if it looks like the play they’re going with won’t work out well.”

“And how do they know a play won’t work?”

“Something’s usually off with the defensive line. Look at it this way. Strategy or the game play is all about understanding yourself, your team and your opponents.”

“Mind games.”

“Yup.” His dad said proudly.

The cogs in Wally’s head whirred. “Do you think that that works on things outside of football?”

“I don’t see why not.”

He told his father to hold off on the catch and that he needed to study. The man was miserable. He probably planned to spend the whole day with him.

“Uh, dad?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks. Remind me that I owe you a game one of these days.”

With that, Wally went to craft a game play of his own. Instead of begging Uncle B to start that test again, he asked Jay to take him to DMV Street and to watch him run. With every problem he ran into, he and Jay would take note of them and analyze why they thought he was having such a problem with it. Jay was much better at it than he was because he could go beyond just a practical understanding of his problems. He didn’t only focus on implementing more jumps to avoid danger but he zeroed in on why Wally was so hesitant when it came to jumping. They found out that it was, duh, because he was nervous. There was a layer underneath that as well that for once Jay couldn't get to since he claimed Wally wouldn’t budge. Whatever that meant. It was starting to seem like his problems had problems.

Eventually he felt ready enough for the test again. Like the last few times, Uncle B took them to DMV Street early in the morning.

“Sure you’re ready?” He asked.

“Born ready.”

“Alright. Why don’t you start off the countdown?”

“Ready,” Wally said.

“Set,” Uncle B supplied.

“Go!” They said in unison.

The test started the same way it had since the beginning—slow and steady then fast. He kept close to his Uncle’s heels for a few seconds. He even ribbed him.

“That suit is mine.”

After the second hump he ended up falling back. This freaked him out at first but he knew he had to stay on it. He had to think and be aware of everything yet not to the point of hyper focusing.

He could tell how long it had been since his Uncle passed by the way his surroundings reacted. A skirt that billowed too harshly was a good marker. A crate of oranges spilling over was an even better one. The oranges rolled all over the street and adrenaline made his heart pound as he vaulted over them. He weaved in and out of the way of the people and things that threw themselves onto his path: The blockheads who must’ve wanted to live the rest of their lives without a car door and the plastic bags and pamphlets that use to smack him in the face and temporarily blind him. Man! At times he had to deal with his own two feet.

He tried to suppress the overwhelming relief that resonated in all parts of his body when he made it to Central bridge.

Something in the back mind chanted, “thisisitthisisitthisisitthisisit!”

Again, Uncle B was just gone. He steeled himself. His uncle unlike, most teachers, wouldn’t test him on things they’ve never gone over before.

The horn of the trash skimmer boat blared.

Yes.

He waited until it made its way from under the bridge to the other side. Determined, he leaped over the railing and into the boat’s dustcart.

Uncle B was waiting there on top of a pile of trash with his arms behind his head and a grin.

“Wait til they dock then it’s back to hitting the pavement to Grocer street for us.”

“Yeah.” He agreed, a little dazed.

Uncle B ruffled his hair—or better yet the cowl of his ugly training suit—and said, “You’re pretty cool, Kid.”

He grew dizzy with joy.

A/n: I really liked working on this one! Writing Wally was actually a lot of fun. His parents were slightly difficult to grasp since I had to teeter between the lines of...good and bad I guess? In the comics, Wally’s parents are depicted as no good but they’re never depicted as out and out abusive. They loved their boy. It was just at times they ended up screwing other people over in process of loving him. His mother was always depicted as the lesser of the two “evils”.

[mrneighbourlove]

Death and Emptiness, Hand in Hand: Part 1/2

"By god. It’s true."

Leere Dragmire walked through the construction sight of castle town. Whole buildings levelled and debris being moved away. She wasn't present in Hyrule for the recent invasion by threat whispered as Vul'kar. Her last day traveling through she had encountered an increasing presence of undead Stalfos and other monsters. They were attracted to darkness and death. And very landscapes had been torn apart. Seeing more and more destruction she only hoped her family was alive.

A guard stopped her from entering the castle. "I'm sorry. Due to recent circumstances no citizens are allowed into the castle until the bridge is fixed."

Leere raised an eyebrow and took out a locket, the Hylian Royal Family insignia on it. Just because she didn't happen to look like a princess didn't mean she wasn't one. "Princess Leere honey. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to enter my home."

The guard was confused, and on closer inspection, he wasn't Hylian. Had a darker tone and the smell of ocean. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize the royal family had another daughter. Still getting used to this. Please, follow me."

Leere nodded, grateful to see if her family was finally well. Three years was a little long.

"Zizi, you've already built nearly seventy temporary shelters today. Enough is enough, you need to go rest." Zarazu chided her younger sister gently as she held up some water. "You're exhausted. You only have so much magic to use each day and you're overexerting yourself. Several Zemljas and Kovinas are tired because of all of this. Just because you are my sister doesn't mean you have to do extra."

"Listen to her, Zi." Zolori was holding a basket full of fruits for Zizi to eat. "You've worked all day. You need a break."

"But... but some people don't have a shelter." Zizi huffed as she put her hands on her knees, sweat rolling down her forehead. "Where will they sleep?"

"It's called camping, one night under the stars won't kill them." Covarog assured his sister-in-law. "Besides, we'll have fires to keep everyone warm. Right now, they're handing out some food grown by the Zemljas for emergencies. We were able to salvage some of the fields, but not much."

"Yeah. Looked like everything was torched." Leere stepped into view. She had extremely beautiful pale skin with crimson eyes and dark flowing chocolate hair, while wearing common traveling gear. The second she laid eyes on her younger brother her composure had regained. She knew that he'd keep the rest of the family safe. "Good to see you Covarog."

"...! Leere!" Covarog internally felt a wave of relief. He never did see her among the captives when Vul'kar took so many hostages. He was hoping she was far away and safe. Hurrying to her side, he swept Leere up in a big hug. "Thank goodness you're safe!"

"...?" Zizi exchanged glances with her sisters.

"More or less obliterated by ancient monsters of the deep." Zolori wiped the soot off her hands by rubbing them together. "And you are..."

Leere hugged Covarog as he easily spun her small frame around like a ragdoll. Settling down she turned to the rather good looking blonde, arching an eyebrow after checking her out. "Leere Dragmire. Eldest daughter of Zelda and Ganondorf." She quickly winked to Covarog. "By two weeks against deer Rinku of course." She looked back at the three woman. "And might I know who you all are?"

"Oh..." Zarazu stood there, a bit confused. Covarog never mentioned another elder sister. Then again, there were extended family members and close friends that the Dragmires considered family. Maybe this term was just an endearment. "I am Queen Zarazu Slatki of the Lorleidians."

"Leere, this is my wife." Covarog gave Zarazu a small peck on a cheek. "We were married right before this disaster happened."

"These are my sisters, Zolori and Zizi." Zarazu smiled at Leere. "It is nice to meet you."

"We're just in the process of rebuilding." Zizi explained as she took a seat on a nearby rock, too tired to stand any longer. "It might take a while for Hyrule to return to normal."

"With the dragons' help, it shouldn't be too bad."

Leere processed all of that. She curiously studied them closely. From the look of mistrust in Zolori's eyes and her tight body stance, the dreadlocks in Zizi's hair and her carefree aura, to the tattoos on Zarazu.

She looked to Covarog a bit shocked. "You...you're married."

"Hitched, united, joined in holy matrimony, mated, take your pick."

"Zolori!" Zarazu blushed slightly at that last synonym.

"Just wait until you hear the story of how they met, that's one for the history books."

"Zizi, not you too!"

"What? It's a good story!"

"Actually, it is a good story, ironic too." Covarog chuckled. "What brings you back after three years?"

"You mean besides hearing that Hyrule went to hell? I was worried that Dad might have gone off the deep end or another apocalyptic evil may have hurt you guys. Sorry I was late."  

"Apocalyptic? Yeah. Evil? Definitely. Defeated and out of this realm? Check." Zolori checked off her imaginary list. "All thanks to the efforts of my sister, her buff husband and everyone else."

"Princey-Pooh went down once but came back up." Zizi munched on her snack. "It takes a lot to keep him down."

"Zizi, we talked about the nicknames." Covarog sighed in exasperation.

"What? Kingy-Kun doesn't care."

"My father doesn't care about that kind of thing."

"Still. It's cute."

"Kingy-Kun???" Leere snorted. "I like that."

She looks at Zarazu again. The Queen was indeed a fine woman. Smiling she whispers to Covarog. "Popped your cherry huh? Was it everything you imagined?"

"Leere!" Covarog turned red all the way to the tips of his ears.

Zarazu blushed as well, trying to keep her composure.

"Just asking~"

She goes to Zarazu and shakes her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Zarazu. I'm glad to have another sister."

"And one big scaly baby to boot." Zolori added.

"Yeah, Ba'puu won't leave Zarazu alone for long." Zizi took a sip of her water.

"It's always nice to have a big family." Zarazu returned the hand shake. "I'll have some others to introduce you to later, but first, maybe we should find you something to eat."

"Thank you. Because too tell you the truth I am famished." She looked to Zolori and Zizi, moving to politely shake their hands. "Nice to meet you two as well."

"Maybe you gained three more sisters." Zizi held up a piece of tangerine. "We don't have any meat at the moment, just fruits, veggies, and some bread. Hope that's okay."

"Pumpernickel or wheat?" Zolori offered a slice. "I think we got some sourdough somewhere."

"You can camp with Zizi and Zolori if you wish." Zarazu suggested. "Covarog and I will stay with Ba'puu."

"Can I say I love your outfits. Wonderful blend of elegant, free, and a dash of sexy~" She smiles at Zolori in particular. "You keep mentioning this Ba'Puu. He a brother of yours?"

"Glad you approve and if I liked the same team, you're easily a ten, but you might be better off approaching another lady." Zolori shook her head. "No, he's Zarazu's baby. Our nephew."

"Zolori jests." Zizi told Leere. "He's Zarazu's dragon."

"An extremely clingy, sassiest of sassy, giant water baby." Covarog described Ba'puu with a roll of his eyes. "Refuses to be separated from my wife for too long."

"Now, now, Ba'puu isn't that bad. He was raised by a human, not a dragon so he's bound to be a little..." Zarazu stopped when Covarog gave her look. "... okay, he's a little attached to me at the hip."

Leere picked that up again. "Dragon? You have a baby dragon as a family member?"

"He's an adult now, I took him in as a baby." Zarazu clarified as she put a blanket on Covarog's shoulders. The night's chill was already blowing across the hills. "And growing all the time."

"More like she has an army of dragons." Covarog assured his sister. "Good dragons though. No human eaters. Actually have human riders."

"Huh...I'll go bunk with Zolori and Zizi as I'm guessing my room is probably rubble."

"Everything is rubble." Covarog sighed. "The castle, the town, even the port. It will take a lot of building and patience, but we'll get Hyrule back to its former glory."

"Zizi sleeps in a hammock, so I'll roll out a sheepskin for you." Zolori told Leere. "Unless you prefer a hammock."

"I'm fine with either. Slept in crypts before." She turns to Covarog. "I don't want to wake up being dragged out by you, Ral, or Orana into the crying arms of Kanisa or Tebby Bear."

"Better go say hi after you finish eating then." Covarog told her as he pulled his wife in closer for warmth while the two of them nibbled on food. "Make sure you don't scream if you see dragons anywhere. It will just annoy them."

"Like you screamed around the Redeads~"

"Heh, not much to be jealous of. We have more to the family for you to meet." Covarog was ready to rest for the day. After trying to clear a lot of rubble and talk to the people, he was all for some sleep. Of course, he and Zarazu had no privacy, so there would be no nocturnal fun. "Get some rest, Leere."

"Sure thing 'little' brother." She leans up on her tippy toes to give him as kiss on the cheek. Patrolling the castle she found the rest of her family relaxing with the latest grub. "Hey! How you doing!"

~

It took some explaining and a couple of laughs, but Leere was able to meet her new family members. Cass was proud to introduce little Ukuri, who was already a few months old. She was a happy baby, did not cry much unless she was wet or hungry. Ralnor seemed a bit lighter instead of the usual doom and gloom. Corsaire, the pirate captain, was less of a surprise to Leere. She always knew that Orana would seek out that pirate from the books she loved as a kid. What was surprising was how the two of them took on a kraken together and lived to tell the tale. After saying hello to Kanisa and Tebanam, it was time to sleep.

Leere dotted over little Ukuri. "Awwww. I'm your Aunt Leere. You ready for sleep? Need a sucker for the little sucker~"

"She's still on the breast, no sugar." Ralnor turned his sister away from the baby. "You can coo over her tomorrow. She has a sleep schedule and it cannot be interrupted."

"He's very strict about the sleep schedule." Cass told Leere with a brief chuckle. "No interruptions."

"Still picky over the tiniest things. Never change Ralnor."

Later that same night Leere was groaning in her sleep. She felt restless like this. Having gone to what was left of her room she was disheartened to find her favourite blanket torn in two, along with most of her possessions torn into pieces. Lucky she was able to grab fresh clothing of hers before going to bed for the morning.

Waking up she felt incredibly groggy. "Need. Caffeine...."

"Good thing I grow coffee beans." Zizi was hanging upside down outside of Leere's tent. There was a huge tree, full of swinging vines that Zizi and Skull Kid made a home in for the time being until the forest was healed. She made sure to situate it near her and Zolori just incase she needed. "Zolori can roast them for you."

"Thanks monkey girl..." Leere rubbed her eyes as she got up, putting a clean bra and shirt on. "Don't worry, I can get a kettle or something."

"Good luck finding one in the rubbish." Zizi held out a motar and pestle. "This works just as..." Her sentence trailed off when she noticed the dark magic markings on Leere's back. While Covarog's family still had hints of dark magic usage, it still unnerved her, especially since this one was dealing with necromancy. She recalled Klinge saying something about how he didn't like to be controlled. Maybe this was the person who did such a thing to him. "Well."

"Thanks, I'm pretty handy." She notices the way Zizi is looking at her. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just admiring the ink." Zizi wiggled her left leg, thinking fast. "Got some myself. Zolori is fixing some breakfast too, so help yourself."

Leere smiles to defuse the tension best she can. "Of course. Hope she good at cooking as she is good looking."

Leere gets up and heads out to have some food, waving nicely to Zolori. Too bad she wasn't gay. "Morning."

"She hasn't killed anyone with food poisoning yet, but has a tendency to burn things."

"I heard that!" Zolori yelled from the cooking site. "I like it burnt!"

"Normal people don't!"

"Says you!"

"Says everyone!"

"Oh, go kiss the pranking undead kid!"

"You go kiss Vul'kar's ass!"

"I'll burn your eggs!"

"I'll go find more!"

Zolori handed Leere a leaf, placing some eggs and bread on it.

"Coffee will be ready in a minute."

"Thank you, I'm sure it's fine." One bite into the burnt eggs and Leere's face scrunched up. She contorted a smile as she kept eating it. "V-very nice. Maybe a more rare in the future?"

"... sorry. I think it's a Vatra thing." Zolori switched the eggs out with some ones that were less burnt, taking the burnt ones for herself. "We like things burnt."

"So where's your flint?"

"Flint? Don't need it." Zolori held out her hand, and snapped her fingers. The fire appeared in her palm, swirling there. "Just like Zizi doesn't have a green thumb, she literally is the green thumb."

Leere's eyes glowed with the fire, memorized by the flame. "Elemental magic? Are all Lorliedians capable of magic?"

"Yeah, all of us are. Just appears at different ages." Zolori shrugged her shoulders as she munched on a piece of toast. When the coffee started boiling, she then took it off the flame. Pouring an amount into a clay fired cup, she offered it to Leere. "I was a teen when my flames appeared, Zizi was around seven when plants sprouted, and Zarazu was... three I think? Water first, icy talent came later." Taking a sip of the coffee herself, Zolori then counted on her fingers. "Water, fire, wind, earth, metal, lightning, and spirit. So that's Voda, Vatra, Vjetar, Zemlja, Kovina, Munja, and Dusa. Take your pick."

"That's amazing. So much life in your magic. So in tuned with the Earth." She takes the coffee and smiles. "This is damn good coffee."

"Glad you like the coffee." Zolori extungished the flames with a wave of her hand. "You think that's something, just wait until you meet an elder. Much more impressive stuff." Standing and stretching, she then said, "Might want to check with Covarog to see where you can help. I'm stuck with helping Kovinas salvage metal. If you need anything else as far as food goes, just check with Zizi. And watch out for Mask-For-Faces, he's gotten wind that you're back."

"Skull Kid? He's just mad I seduce everyone he likes~" After the coffee she sets her cup down. "Thanks. I'm going inspect the castle and later the countryside for damages."

"Well, more specifically casualties."

"Heh, let me know when you and Rinku save the date." Zolori sighed and then frowned. "We found most of the bodies, but feel free to knock yourself out and dig through rubble for any belongings."

"Yeah. I'm sure you were very precise." She walks to the castle and lays a hand out on the rubble. Concentrating she closes her eyes. The cold flesh buried underneath, alone and, for now, preserved by rock and wood and metal.

"I'll start digging. I want to talk to your sister sometime. Get a better feeling on her."

Zolori felt a chill travel up her spine. Dark magic, Lorleidians were super sensitive to it. The sole existence of the Lorleidian people was to balance the light with the dark. Still, even after all this time of combating it, the magic still gave her the creeps.

"Zizi? Or Zarazu?"

"The one who's married to my brother honey." She starts crawl around the rubble.

"Zarazu?" Zolori wondered what Leere's intentions were. "Anything you wanna ask that you think she might not answer?"

"That's for her, not you. No offence." Leere gets close to a buried body and starts digging.

"If you wanna know how much they fuck, that's easy, like... oh I don't know. Every day?" Zolori was trying to think of a number and found she couldn't, but it was in at least double digits. "Though you should know, Zarazu's a kind soul until you mess with someone she loves. That's all I can really say. Otherwise, feel free to question away."

"Good. Then you won't mind getting her for me."

Leere tore some wood beams away to discover a young girl. Just a poor little maid. Taking a deep breath she laid her fingers on the frame of the deceased's skull.

She saw the darkness over taking the sky, felt the fear that the young girl felt that turned into utter panic when she saw an Abyssian. It was such a contorted creature. She ran away as fast as she could, only to look up as the ceiling came down upon her.

Sighing Leere remained neutral, closing the girls eyes. "Be at peace...."

"Zarazu's helping get some fish right now for eating, but you can talk to her after that."

"Very well. Tell her I'll be waiting by the courtyard."

~

And that she did. For two full hours. "I bet Zolori didn't even tell her. Freaking blondes..."

"Zolori did tell me, though there is such a thing as having to cater to your people." Zarazu finally appeared in the demolished courtyard. She smelled like fish and had her hair pulled back from her face. After distributing the food to her people, she took the leftovers to the dragon mothers who were unable to hunt because of watching their hatchlings. "I apologize for taking so long. Is something amiss?"

"No. No. I just wanted to get to know you a little better is all. After all, you're married to the man who I had to read bed time stories to."

"Heh... well, I'm not occupied for the next couple of hours." Zarazu was exhausted and simply sat down on a free patch of grass. "I'm sorry I'm not more presentable."

"That's alright. You look fine to me. It wouldn't be inappropriate to ask for your tailor would it?" Leere sat beside her.

"We actually make our own clothes and patterns." Zarazu laughed softly. "Let me know which pattern you like and maybe when I get my hands on some materials, I'll show you how."

"Thank you. It has a much more elegant belly dancer look to it." Leere took a breath of the air. "Thank you for protecting the people of this land to the best of your ability. I regret heavily not being here."

"To be honest, I was at odds with Ganondorf at first but... sometimes, it takes two people to right the wrongs of the past." Zarazu had nothing to hide. "Slowly, but surely, this became a new home where we could grow and... surprisingly, I found love."

"Yeah. How did you meet my brother?"

"That's the ironic part actually..." Zarazu admitted sheepishly. "We tried to kill each other at first at his birthday party when I took back the artifacts Ganondorf took from my people. Then when he followed me to Lorleidi, we um... were better known with each other during a week or so. Got past the bias, and talked... then Vul'kar happened."

Leere snickered loudly at the party. "That's too funny. I'm sure it was a very romantic first impression. So Vul'kar. Big scary demon I'm guessing?"

"Abyssian." Zarazu was not sure how much she should elaborate. "Locked away wrongly for loving someone and creating the first mixture between light and dark; the Twili. Went insane, attacked the whole world for what happened to him. Wanted it to be swallowed in the darkness he knew."

"Good job on stopping him. How about a lighter mood." She grins from ear to ear. "You got to tell me, did you make the first move for nocturnal activity? I couldn't see Covarog being brace enough to move in on a woman of your caliber~"

Zarazu's face turned redder than a strawberry.

"... yes." She couldn't look Leere in the eye.

Leere tips Zarazu's chin to look at her. "Cute. Very cute~ Can see easily why he fell for you." Tickling her chin Leere leaned back with a chuckle. "So I guess you and Covarog will be the new sovereigns in a few years? Maybe a couple kids?"

"I... suppose." Zarazu really was not sure how ascending the throne worked in Hyrule. "When Ganondorf and Zelda are ready to retire, we'll take over of course, but... as far as children, we're waiting for Hyrule to be stable again. It wouldn't be fair to a child to neglect it over the needs of a kingdom. I know Zelda has her ways, and has spoken of nannies, but in Lorleidian culture, the mother cares for the babies unless she's unable."

"Very noble. Must be a little hard though, what with Cass taking the lead."

"No, I'm happy for Cass and Ralnor." Zarazu smiled. "Covarog is delighted for his brother. He swears Ralnor smiles more often now, and there's actually a light in his eyes. I'm in no rush. Besides, I have Covarog to focus on right now. A baby will come later."

Leere nods in happiness. "Wise for such a young woman."

"You raise two sisters and a baby dragon, you learn some things.”

"I bet. So as Queen of the Magic Islanders, got anything cool?"

"...? Anything cool?"

Leere shrugs. "You know. Relics, magic, other worldly powers?"

"Oh! Well... I'm a Leden Voda." Zarazu held out her hand, touching Leere's coffee cup. The liquid instantly turned to ice before returning to a normal liquid. It sloshed around a bit before resuming a calm state in the cup. "I can control water and ice. Most Vodas only control water and can move ice, but cannot form it."

Leere takes a sip. "Your iced coffee is something to be desired. Anything else? How'd you get your tattoos?"

"This is a tattoo of a whirlpool that I had done myself." Zarazu pointed to her stomach. "The ones on my arms are from the Seven Siblings, the spirits who granted us these abilities. Each tribe has their own type of tattoo to honor the spirit from which has blessed them."

"May I feel them?"

"Of course." Zarazu held out her arm. "Don't be alarmed if they glow. It's normal."

"Better then my tattoo." Leere felt them, surprised by how smooth her skin was. "Very moisturized. I like that. I can tell you'll be naturally young for years to come."

"Thanks. If you want a tattoo later, I'll hook you up with Kolkov. Looks like a brute, but is the best one we have at tattooing." Zarazu offered. "Lorleidians usually live long lives anyhow. Current age to beat is 131."

"Impressive. I'm sorry you lost your home, but I'm glad your culture survived. Your sisters told me that your magic covers all the elements of the Earth. I respect the light in that type of magic you have."

"Lorleidians exist to keep the balance. That's what I've always been told." Zarazu then asked. "I'm glad that you returned home safely. I know that when a family member is away from others, it makes them worry about you."

"Indeed. My work and quest for knowledge keeps me far from home. They also bring me hope when I need it the most."

"Now you're making me feel like an old sage." Zarazu knew that wisdom came with age but she supposed her experiences resulted in her gaining some earlier than normal. "

"You're not old yet. Take it from me." Leere looked around her surroundings. "How do your people deal with life and death?"

"Life and death? We do belief in the afterlife and death is just another part of the journey, if that's what you're asking." Zarazu clarified. "We have the God of Life and Goddess of Death, stories going back as old as Hylia and Demise."

"Interesting. What are their names?"

"Heh... ironically enough, Ba'puu and Zarazu. My father had a... twisted sense of humor."

Leere held her hand gently. "I understand. My birth father named me after emptiness. I'm not actually Hylian."

"I could kinda tell that from the skin and the hair... and the eyes." Zarazu remarked with a slight chuckle. "Not Hylian, not Gerudo... maybe... this legendary Garai tribe that Tebanam insists exists?"

"Did some tracking down, but part of a people called the Mortuus. Very vague though on who they are, except the name. Don’t think it matters though." Leere took a deep inner breath. If she was family now, she'd need to know.

"How do you see dark magic, especially around death?"

"Dark magic is, was, the sole purpose of why my people were created." Zarazu regretted to look on Leere's face. "Lorleidians are here to keep balance. Our job is to eradicate dark magic, especially if it is a threat to others. Since joining the Dragmire family, I've gotten used to seeing other sides of dark magic, but... some of my people..." She sighed. "Since Vul'kar and his blackness, they're more on guard than ever. I understand that some dark magic can be used for good, it's just... when you see it being used for evil so much, it's difficult to accept. I hope you understand that I'm trying my best not to be biased."

Leere nodded understandably. Was going to be harder then she thought. She stood up and looked down at her. "How much do you know of necromancy?"

"I haven't had much experience with necromancy." Zarazu was honest. "Most of Vul'kar's magic was just... brute power. Mind tricks, nightmares, controlling against the will, even necrosis."

"Do you know what necromancy is?"

"The use of the dead... to..." Zarazu thought about how to word it. "Carry out said person's wishes?"

"Very textbook. Necromancy allows you to control flesh, blood, muscle and bone once the soul has passed. It lets you connect with wandering souls on a spiritual level. Construct and summon creatures, sometimes demons of the dead and darkness. And if you are willing to sacrifice, bring back those that have long since been gone."

"And I'm assuming that bringing someone back is a big risk?"

"If you aren't willing to sacrifice other lives that is."

"A life for a life... it makes sense."

"It's a cost I'd never take..."

"I don't think I could either if I had that sort of magic." Zarazu thought of all the people she lost in the battle with Vul'kar and old Pojiji. "There are many people I miss... some I didn't even know that I wanted to. Though the only comfort I have is that one day, I'll see them again. No pain, no tears... just joy."

"I hope I get that chance, if my soul isn't dammed." Leere held her heart. "Zarazu. I'm a necromancer. Hyrule's strongest, and most knowledgeable. Even able to perform taboo blood magic."

"... in my culture, a soul isn't damned unless they’re willing to turn to evil." Zarazu thought about her words before she spoke. "So unless you're planning on raising an undead army to conquer the known world... in my book, I think you have a fair chance."

"I could do that. Even have the knowledge to transfer souls. It's about a willingness to do so. You aren't...weary of me are you?"

"I'm not weary, just cautious of your power." Zarazu admitted. "I've dealt with a lot of dark magic before concerning Vul'kar and his lackeys. I've seen what dark magic can do."

"Of course. Wise Zarazu. I can do much, but my specialty it summons. Used to place zombified heads around to scare my siblings. Would you like a quick demonstration?"

"I think I'm good with the demonstration of zombie heads." Zarazu quickly dismissed that idea with a weak chuckle. "I could deal without a scare."

"It's not too bad. I could range from a few Dead Hands, or less scary spooky skeleton warrior. Also have a pet Wall Master I nicknamed Lefty." Leere gave a warm inviting smile. “Just to show its not entirely bad.”

"Let's just do whatever is less... scary."

"Skeletons it is!" Leere took a few steps back and grinned. Raising a hand she effortlessly summoned a few skeletons. Their bones cackled as they rose from the earth, but were clear white. With additional effort she got them to dance. "Does the fair Queen like her show?"

Zarazu jolted, unable to help her reaction. Experiencing Vul'kar was one thing, but this was a whole new area of dark magic. Try as she might, the queen was still unable to be completely at ease. While the dancing was... impressive, for lack of better word, Zarazu knew she would feel much better once the skeletons were back in the ground.

"I think---"

Before she could deliver an answer, Ba'puu made his presence known. He was never too far from his mistress. Zarazu told him she would be by the lake for a visit after a meeting with another member of Covarog's family. However, it looked like she was in trouble with dark magic. He could sense it. He could sense her unease. Vul'kar came close to killing his mistress. Never again would he allow someone to hurt her. As long as he was alive, the water dragon was going to ensure his beloved human lived to see old age and be happy with all her years. With a roar, his mighty fore paw slammed the woman into the ground.

Leere felt bad for Zarazu, could sense her discomfort. The poor thing must have been through a lot. She was about to release her grip on the two jolly skeletons when her body was slammed down from behind by an unknown force and her small frame was easily knocked out as her head cracked against the ground, bleeding her forehead from the impact. The skeletons crumbled away back into the earth as her mind momentarily slipped away.

"BA'PUU!!!" Zarazu shouted at his sudden attack, standing over the exposed portion of Leere's pinned form. "NO! No, no!"

"It's dark magic! Undead magic!" Ba'puu roared. "I won't let it hurt you!"

"She's not an enemy, good spirits, let her up!"

"What do you mean she's not an enemy?! I saw the skeletons! She was going to attack you!"

"No she wasn't, it was just a demonstration!"

"What?!"

"She's the other sister that Covarog was telling me about!"

"That's not Orana or Kanisa."

"She's adopted! Let her up!"

"... are you sure? I could crush her right now."

"NO! No crushing, let her up!"

Leere's magic started to stir her awake in an unconscious state, a protective safeguard against sudden trauma. A few dead hands rose from the ground, albino white with patches of blood and unnatural finger tips, and they clawed and nudged him to let go, others trying to get a grip and pull him off. Luckily they only scratched at his scaly and well protected arm. Leere groaned heavily in a concussed haze. The hands kept slowly rising, their only will to protect their injured master.

"... fine... but one wrong move, and she's a pile of ash."

Ba'puu reluctantly lifted his paw and easily crushed the hands, still too paranoid about the latest events.

"Leere! Oh my spirits, I'm so sorry!" Zarazu helped Leere roll over and looked at the bleeding gash on her forehead. Taking the sash from her waist, the queen used it to press against the cut. It was all she had here and was not sure if her healing magic would help since it was light magic. It was better to be safe to avoid an adverse reaction. "Are you okay?! Do you have any broken bones?! Can you understand me?!"

Leere looked around as her vision was blurry. Her hand lowered the Dead Hands to retreat back into the Earth, at least for now. "What...the fuck...happened....Was I…stepped on???"

My dragon happened." Zarazu shot Ba'puu a look.

"I was protecting you, I'm not going to apologize." Ba'puu chuffed, still standing with his tail flicking back and forth angrily. "What the hell is that woman?"

"If I knew you practiced dark magic I could have told him but I didn't know---damn it, I'm so sorry about this."

Having met a Hylian Dragon once she learned about the telepathy of Dragons and their kin. This particular one had an annoying arrogance in his voice. "You...asshat. Go fly into a hornets nest. What kind of child attacks a woman from be-" Leere lurched up and threw up some bile. She needed immediate medical attention. Magic preferably. "Fountain....take me to the fountain south of the castle, under the cave."

"Too big for a hornet's nest, dumbass." Ba'puu snorted. "I do whatever is necessary to protect my mistress."

"I can heal but it's light magic?" Zarazu then heard Leere's instructions. "A fountain? I can summon water here!"

"Or I can dunk her in the lake."

"Ba'puu, hush."

"Fuck you fatass. I can see you eat too much to be small." Leere put her arm around Zarazu for support. "It's a healing spring. Hidden. I think you'll like it."

"... never mind the lake, I'll just take her to the deepest depth of the ocean."

"Ba'puu! You're not helping!" Zarazu apologized for her dragon. "I'm sorry, he's usually not like this at all, he's just spooked by the dark magic."

“I’ll take your word about him with a grain of salt for now.” Leere groaned as they made their way. "Should have adopted a Dinosaur. So much cooler."

[ayma-nidiot]

“Don’t Speak Their Names”- Shrimpshipping fic Chapter 31

This chapter can be found here on AO3.

Chapter 31 - The T.V.

~29 December 2005~ 

In an extremely rare moment of peace, Rex decided to take a stroll through downtown Domino City with all his… friends, for lack of a better word. If anything, he felt bad that everyone was doing so many nice things for him, and he had no appropriate way to return the favour. The weather during their stroll was as nice as it was shortly before regionals. After all I’ve done to everyone since then… am I really deserving?

It was Espa, of all people, who snapped him out of his thoughts. “FREAKING OW! ”

“Espa?” Mako turned around to see his boyfriend trying to bend over to pick up a maternity shirt that fell out of his handbag. “See, this is why I told you not to bite more than you can chew. Because you’re not-”

“Yeah, I know, I’m not a shark. Or a shifter like you.”

Mako smiled as he gently stroked Espa’s baby bump. “Maybe one of our babies might be. Wouldn’t that be cool?”

“So, that’s why I’ve been in pain all the time. Ugh.” Espa groaned, then looked to Rex.

“What, have the twins been giving you trouble?”

“Yeah… They’re growing so fast. Not helped, of course, by how they always want spicy food. If they don’t get it, they’re kicking me like crazy…” Espa rubbed his temples. “I haven’t been getting much sleep. I don’t know how you do it, Rex.”

“Heh, what an odd way to bond. Well, just think of how happy you’ll be when you finally get to look into their eyes. And believe me, it hasn’t been much easier for me, either.” Rex’s smile quickly faded. “At least you have the father of your babies at your side.”

The party, now feeling like they were done for the day, decided to make one last stop before going home. Rex’s beloved park was badly damaged from the monster attacks, and even with landscapers working hard to restore it, he knew it would take forever to regrow the roses that were once there.

“This is the park where we had the baby shower…” Rex couldn’t bear to look at the brambles all over the park benches. 

“Come on, Papa, chin up!” Amber hugged her mother from the front. “The Earthbound Gods are almost all gone, and after they are, you and Daddy can duel your hearts out here!”

“And me?” Joey pointed to himself.

“Yes, Joey, and you.” 

“But what about you , Amber?” Rex asked. 

“I… I don’t know…” Amber trembled. “After the Earthbound Gods are all vanquished, I will have served my purpose. So I’ll probably return to my own time.”

“You know what, fuck that noise.” Rex wrapped an arm around his daughter. “You’re one of us now, and nothing’s going to change that.”

“And I know better than anyone that time paradoxes really aren’t a thing when my cousin is involved.” Mokuba laughed.

“Too bad he couldn’t use those mysterious powers of his in Battle City.” Espa chuckled.

“Ah, shaddup,” Rex scoffed. “You weren’t even there in our ancient Egyptian time travel.”

“Papa… Okay, I think I’ll stay after all and attend my own birth, if only to make sure that Daddy isn’t late.”

“I hope he’s there at all… Ggh!” As Rex chanced upon the central tower of Domino City and the T.V. on it, another contraction hit him - so he called Dr. Balls for advice. “Doc, I’m having more regular and painful contractions now. And I’m feeling them everywhere, not just in my belly anymore. I know I should have told you this yesterday, but... this all started yesterday.”

“Then you need to get your butt over here right now, because you’re experiencing true labour. Your mucus plug came out a while ago, so it’s only a matter of time before your water breaks too.”

“Yes, Doc… I’ll be there in a minute.” Rex hung up.

“I’ll push you on the wheelchair to the delivery room, if you want,” Joey offered.

“And I’ll hold your hand throughout the birth if Weevil isn’t there,” Mokuba chimed in.

“We might as well all be there,” spoke Atem. “You’ll need all the support you can get.” 

“...” Rex said nothing, and merely looked at the giant T.V. that displayed the news.

“I thought you said that the park was your final pit stop for the day? You sure don’t have a sense of urgency for someone who’s about to give birth,” Espa noted. “What’s wrong?”

“This T.V…. It’s where Weeves and I watched the finals of that K.C. Grand Tournament we almost crashed.”

“I still think you guys should have won that duel,” Kaiba remarked. “Zigfried just got a super lucky starting hand.”

“We’ve been through so much together ever since I fell for him after regionals…” Rex subconsciously started crying; he hugged his baby bump with one arm and stroked it with the other. “And yet… he’s not going to be present for his daughter’s birth, all because of the Earthbound Gods.”

“Papa, I-” Before Amber could say her piece, she saw a familiar face out of nowhere. “Daddy!”

“Weeves?” Rex turned around. Sure enough, Weevil stood only a few meters away, staring longingly at the same T.V. He ran up to him and starting kissing and hugging him immediately. “I knew you’d come back to me! Baby, I missed you so much.”

“...” Weevil remained silent for a spell before he hugged Rex back. 

“You…” Rex’s tears turned to tears of joy. “You really are back…”

“No he isn’t!” spoke a demonic voice from above, whose source was invisible.

“A-Arrrrrgh!” Weevil knelt to the ground in pain. “My… My head…”

“Weeves!” Rex began to panic.

“Show yourself at once!” Atem demanded. “Or else you will know the power of ancient Egyptian magic!”

“Now now, Uru…” Watda appeared behind Weevil in the form of a crimson devil, with several snakes in place of legs. “Have you forgotten what your real goal is?"

“'Real goal...?'" Rex's fleeting good mood faded. "Weeves, explain yourself!"

"And why should I have to?" Weevil's voice hardly sounded like his own now. "Actually, scratch that. I'll explain myself... through battle!"

"You... You can't be serious?!" Rex wanted to collapse to his knees right then and there. "Grr! Watda, get out of my boyfriend's head if you know what's good for you!"

“You cannot unwrite what is already written!” Watda cackled as red-and-purple shadows emitted from Weevil’s heart. 

“Weeves!” The temperate weather gradually began to foul up, to the point where even Rex noticed. But that didn’t make him want to go to the hospital room any faster, his quickening contractions be damned.

“...Yes, my love.” Weevil’s clothes slowly peeled off, thanks to the flames that Watda created. “Your wish is my command. Say the word, and I will kill anyone who gets in our way.”

“Weeves?” Rex’s heart broke seeing his beloved get intimate with someone else. “You can’t mean that!”

“Oh, I think he does.” Watda caressed Weevil’s face. “Once I am through with you, I will bear Uru’s children. Then, this world will belong to the Earthbound Gods!”

“Weeves…” Rex patted his baby bump. “Does the love we share mean nothing to you now?”

“Whatever are you talking about? Ha!” Weevil cackled.

“Weeves…” Rex stepped back as his contractions gradually got worse.

“Papa!” Amber angrily turned to Watda. “Stop filling my mom’s head with shit!”

“Uru! It’s time!” Watda’s snakes delved deeper into Weevil’s body. “Receive untold powers!”

“Yes!” Weevil’s laugh became more sinister as his form began to change.

“Arise! Earthbound God Sanpedro!” So were Watda’s last words before he completely fused with Weevil. He was now not only half-shifted, but he also had red eyes, four dragon’s wings, and a maroon chain whip.

“Ha…” Weevil felt no need to say anything yet, hoping that the power coursing through him and his intimidating presence would speak for themselves.

“That’s…” Amber shook. “That’s the creature… that killed everyone…”

“Oh… my… gods…” Atem looked up in slight fear; even though it was midday, Weevil’s new transformation enshrouded Domino City in dark clouds. 

“Instead of gawking at him, why don’t we do something about it, pharaoh?” Kaiba shifted.

“You said it, Kaiba!” Joey summoned Red-Eyes Black Dragon and mounted it. “So bug boy has wings now. How hard could he be to defeat?”

“You really think so?” Anita and Weenus, as Aslla Piscu and Cusillu, showed themselves.

“I killed your buddy the whale like it was nothing!” Kaiba scoffed. “And you’ll soon learn that messing with Seto Kaiba will be your first - and last - mistake.”

“I’m right behind you, Kaiba.” Dip revealed herself.

“Ccarayhua… You’ll fucking pay, traitor! Hyaaaaa!” Anita thrust her beak at Dip, who counterattacked with her lizard tail.

“You go ahead and kill the damned rabbit’s other allies…” Weevil ordered. “Leave the damned rabbit and his daughter to me. ”

Amber had to think fast as Weevil approached, with his chain whip at the ready. “I never thought I’d have to do it again…”

“Amber?” Rex was about to mount Red-Eyes Slash Dragon.

“But if transforming into Rabidragon is the only way to bring Daddy back to his senses, so be it.” Amber lowered to the ground, hovering only slightly about it, as pink flames erupted from the ground. The flames changed her body into that of a dragon with rabbit ears, cottonball-like fur, and red spikes all over her body and tail.

“Beautiful…” Rex admired his daughter’s true form.

“Papa, get on,” Amber insisted. “We have a better chance of fighting the monster from the air.”

“Oh?” Weevil raised an eyebrow as Rex and Amber flew up to his level. “I’m a monster now? Whatever happened to ‘Daddy?’”

“You’re not my Daddy!” Amber glowered at Weevil. “You’re a disgusting monster that has driven Daddy mad!”

“Hah! Well, good luck trying to kill me without also killing your Daddy!”

Just then, Rex could hear a voice call from below, “Rex!”

“Mom?” Rex looked to see Ptera, Spinos, Camellia, and Adelaide running to him, 

“Get down from that butt-ugly dragon… rabbit… thing this instant, mister!” Ptera demanded. “You should be in the delivery room!”

“Harsh, Grandma… By the way, I’m Amber. Or Rabidragon, whatever you want to call me.”

“Oh my… S-Sorry.”

“And who is that? ” Camellia squinted at her son. “Weevil?”

“Ah, yes…” Weevil didn’t bother to descend, as Watda’s henchmen surrounded Rex’s family. “If it isn’t the Earthbound God Uru’s mother herself. You’ve served your purpose, as have the rest of you lot.” Weevil nodded, giving his monsters the go-ahead to attack.

“Oh, no you don’t! Go, Jurrac Tyrannus!” Spinos summoned his ace monster that barely protected Ptera in time.

“Spinos… Heh! I’m not some damsel in distress you need to save! Watch this! ” Ptera summoned Dark Driceratops and Black Ptera in attack mode. 

The Dark Driceratops fell an enemy close to Anita. “You lot are strong, for nonshifters.”

“And it’s too bad you’ll never get a taste of their power!” Kaiba blocked Anita from proceeding further. “But you’ll get a taste of the queen of Egypt.”

“And its awesome crown prince!” Heka did a funky dance before generating a ball of light from his hands.

“Heka, for gods’ sake, we’re in a battle!” Kaiba chided. “Be thankful to Ra that you haven’t gotten your head chopped off yet!”

“But I haven’t, Papa! Look what I can do!” Heka released a storm of light balls at several enemies around Weenus - and even one at Weenus himself.

“Ggh…” Weenus winced as the light ball took off a good chunk of his monkey tail. “I can’t believe I let this nimrod injure me!”

“Looks can be deceiving!” Heka stuck his tongue out.

“Aww, you’re so amazing, my love!” Amber squealed. 

“How dare you flirt on the battlefield instead of fighting me! ” Weevil charged, nicking Amber’s shoulder with the chain whip and nearly knocking Rex off.

“Aaaaaah!” Amber cried.

“Babe!” Heka violently pushed aside the enemies that swarmed him, killing most of them. “Get out of the fucking way!”

“Like hell I will!” Weenus slapped Heka with what little tail he had left.

“You… son of a bitch…” Heka held the gash in his arm, but still charged forward. “Nobody comes between my girlfriend and I, ya hear me?”

“Huh?”

Heka began to sing, “Ireruruy iraruy…”

“What? Heka, you idiot!” Atem exclaimed as his Millennium Puzzle glowed. “Your body can’t handle the Pharaoh’s Incantation! You’re not mature enough-”

“Irakah urugem iomo atakatu, ijusanim uatust…”

“You…” Weenus could hardly remain in monkey form.

“You die!” Heka’s arm became enveloped in a blue, sword-like beam of light. “Now!”

“Gah…” Weenus reverted forms mid-air and fell to his death.

“You’ll pay!” Anita tried to slash Heka with her wings, that was until Kaiba took the hit instead.

“Leave my son alone, cur!” With his teeth, Kaiba seized Anita by the wings and kicked her hard enough to rip them off one by one.

“Hmm?” Weevil looked to the two Earthbound Gods who had just died. “Tch! Useless bastards. But no matter… Rex, I will kill you on this day, just like I did in Amber’s future. Do you remember, oh dear daughter of mine?”

“No…” Amber’s body started to blink like a car light. “No, leave me alone!”

“Amber…” Rex stroked Amber’s ears. “I’m here, and we’ll free Weevil from this evil. Together.”

“Hahaha! Come try me, rabbit stew!” Weevil unleashed the chain whip upon a weakened Amber.

“Weevil! Ugh!” Rex’s Tyrant Dragon barely managed to get a hold of the chain whip. “Please! You’re better than this! Even under that disgusting disguise, I know my bug duelist is still there. I know that the man whom I’ve literally been to hell in back with many times is still there.”

Weevil’s attack faltered for a spell. “D-Do you honestly think that you can sweet talk your way to defeating the most powerful Earthbound God of all? What a joke! I’m not weak-minded like Ccarayhua! And I’ll prove it to you right now!”

“If…” Rex closed his eyes in resignation as his last strong monster fell to Weevil’s chain whip. “If that’s how you really think, then-”

“Aaaaaaaaargh!” 

Rex opened his eyes again to see that Kaiba had taken the hit for him, and took a rapid nosedive in human form. “Kaiba! Gods, no!”

“Big Brother!” Mokuba led the “Dweeb Patrol” to where Kaiba had fallen.

“Hahahahaha!” Even though he was several thousand feet in the air, and Kaiba’s intervention knocked him back a bit, Weevil found it prudent to spit upon Kaiba’s body. “So much for the ‘God-Shattering Star,’ huh? That's what he gets for ruining my childhood! Fuck you, Seto Kaiba! I curse your name! I despise you!”

“Our God-Shattering Star…” Phuckdis couldn’t transform, as his flight feathers had been cut during the battle. “He has fallen!”

“P-Papa…” Heka was still fatigued from his battle with Weenus, as well as using the Incantation. He couldn’t even crawl to Kaiba, and passed out before he could try.

“Heka… My love, not again…”

“And to think, your cousin died for nothing, because you’re going to die anyway!” After brushing himself off, Weevil started his attacks anew, which Amber struggled to block.

“Amber…” Rex let his Duel Disk fall from the sky. “This is hopeless… If the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon can’t defeat Weeves, then what am I supposed to do?”

[felicityb-reviews]

Lee Taemin - Feature Spotlight

Um... Surprise?!?!!?

So... While developing my playlists for my SHINee FSLs, I ran into a few problems (I guess). SHINee has such a wide and varied discography, I feel like it'd be a dishonor to them to just throw songs from completely different eras together like it wouldn't be an incredibly jarring experience. I also couldn't decide on a set number of tracks from each album to put in each playlist; I feel like doing more than three songs per album when pulling from four and five albums would just muddy up the playlist and make it unfocused.

So.

Do enjoy this Taemin FSL (I was planning on doing one on him March, anyway), while I work on my SHINee FSL series.

And yes, that does mean the SHINee tribute is going to extend into February; I'll keep you all updated as best as I can.

Wicked (ACE)

Oh Wicked... You swerved my ass big time when I first listened to you. Idk how, but to be fair - hindsight *is* 20/20.

Wicked starts out with a very calm trumpet line over smooth chords, but it doesn't stay that way for long. Quite like it's hard to keep Taemin in his clothes, the sassy Funk elements just couldn't stay tamed. But that's okay. That's why we like Wicked.

This is a song that I'd really love to see Taemin perform with a live band. Maybe a little choreo. But mostly just Taemin having fun with his backing band. That'd be so cool.

I'm Crying (Flame of Love)

When Taemin announced that he was debuting in Japan with Sayonara Hitori, I was... Intrigued™. I mostly didn't know what to expect (especially with Taeminnie serving Elvin Royalty/Fantasy Prince realness with the teasers), but I was real interested in what the music would sound like. Cause that's what I'm here for, sis.

I'm Crying is J-Pop af. It's also the closest thing to a ballad that I'd enjoy from Taemin. Idk why I don't like his ballads, they just feel bland and so unlike him to me. But I'm Crying is perfect, because it's got that Japanese Winter Ballad™ (all my J-pop fam knows exactly what I'm talking about) feel, but with his signature drama mixed in.

My favorite aspect of the song is how soft and bittersweet the opening melody is. It's such a simple piano melody, but I'm such a sucker for them. And when the strings kicked in?!?!!? I was gone, b.

One by One (Press It)

If ACE showed us Taemin's potential as a soloist, then Press It is Taemin realizing that potential, and showing us Lee Taemin, the artist. ACE remains my favorite body of work by Taemin, but Press It has some of my favorite songs by him.

Like, Top five favorite, sis.

Remember when I mentioned Taemin's signature drama?!?! One by One is a great example of that. Jonghyun is King of the Drama Gays, but Taemin is the Crown Prince. Every time I listen to One by One, I imagine Taemin dancing in the rain to it. Yes honey, full on '90s drama. And it fits, because One by One (hell, the best songs from Press It) all have a '90s flare to them.

Crazy 4 u (MOVE)

Crazy 4 u is one that might have fooled me if I hadn't peeped ha from the jump. See, you don't spring a song like Wicked on a bitch, and expect to surprise ha again with a song that starts out just the same. No ma'am!!

Crazy 4 u, to its credit, stays in the midtempo range for the first verse and prechorus (quite a bit longer than Wicked). Then the beat gets really going, and finally explodes into an RnB influsrd Future Bass style drop. Crazy 4 u never quite pops like Wicked does, but this is another song I'd like to see Taemin perform with a live band. But this time, I definitely wanna see him doin' it big with the choreo.

Door (Flame of Love)

Door is a song I'm surprised I haven't seen on a Korean release from Taem. It's very Jpop-esque, but if anyone could sell J-Pop style music to a Korean audience, it'd be these SHINee boys.

Door is a song that fits right in with the rest of Taemin's repertoire; midtempo with lots of drama. But damn if this man doesn't have me hooked to this type of song from him. He just does them so well, and I just really appreciate that.

Heart Stop (featuring Kang Seulgi of Red Velvet) (MOVE)

Heart Stop was a song that was H I G H L Y anticipated, because of one Miss Kang Seulgi. If we're not counting Drip Drop (which features unctredited background vocals from Miss LiVii/Alice Vicious), Heart Stop was Taemin's first official collaboration as a soloist.

And what a collaboration it is, sis.

Heart Stop is pretty upbeat for a Taemin b-side, but idk if I'd call her an uptempo. She's got groove, but this isn't "dance at the club music"; this is "seduce your mans into giving you $500k" music. Whatever you want to call her, I need Taemin and Seulgi to carve out some choreo to this, and scalp me. They're both awkward as hell around the opposite binary gender (cause they're both so fucking gay), but with some preparation, we could avoid the awkward (but still iconic) mess that was Taemin's collab stage with Sunmi.

Or Seulgi's dance stage with Taeyong. God, that was so fucking bad.

As far as collaborations go, Seulgi is present on the song just as much as Taemin is, and that is really appreciated. They even go as far to sing some sections together, and that was way more than I was expecting. Typically, collabs like this have the featured artist sing/rap one part in the song (typically the bridge) and then they're done. So it's nice to see them make this a Seulgi song as much as they made it a Taemin song. Cause idk if I'd like this as much as I do if it was just Taemin.

Soldier (Press It)

Can we give it up for Press It one good time, y'all?!!?! This album is top heavy with midtempos, but Taemin delivers every single one of them effortlessly. The album is a masterpiece, and I fall in love with it again every time I give it a listen.

Soldier is the quintessential Taemin midtempo. It's what comes to mind whenever I think of his style, sis. Soldier become a timeless classic within Taemin's repertoire, because a) he loves to perform the motherfucker and b) it's first song of his that we hear that *sounds* like Taemin, if that makes sense. I love it.

Play Me (ACE)

Play Me is the song I was expecting when I heard Wicked for the first time. But I'm glad Wicked turned into a funky uptempo, cause it sho' woulda' been awkward to have two sexy, smoldering midtempos so close to each other on an album as short as ACE. Play Me plays out (heh heh heh) the way you'd expect it, but there's nothing wrong with that. She doesn't reinvent the wheel, but she does her job well and that's what matters in my book.

Do It Baby (Flame of Love)

Do It Baby is Taemin givin' us an east meets west affair. The song features a hip hop beat, accented by a Far East sounding riff. I would probably hate this if it didn't work out so well, but God does it work.

if Taemin ever had the urge to film a video for this, I'd wanna see him doing a lot of martial arts inspired posing (similar to what 2NE1 did in I Love You) to the verses and breakdown, and then pull out some break dancing to the beat switch in the latter half of the song. It'd be so fucking cool.

Sexuality (Press It)

Can we give it up again for Press It, you guys?!?! Cause not only are all the midtempos strong as fuck all, but the uptempos are bloody amazing, girl!!

Sexuality is a very different song than what we're used to seeing from an SMe act. Not to say that SM is unfamiliar with a little controversy in their music (BoA's Kiss My Lips, anyone?!?!?!?!), but sis... The song is titled Sexuality.

Lee Taemin is bold as fuck, ladies and gentlemen.

Sexuality is Taemin's drama translated to an '80s template, with a heaping dollop of sex added for good measure. I can't listen to this song in public (as expected for a song titled Sexuality), but it's just so fucking good.

I never knew I needed '80s Taem till Sexuality and MOVE snatched my wig and blasted her into the sun, but now I need every album of his moving forward to include a song like this.

Ace (ACE)

Ace is another song I can't listen to in public. Mostly cause I'm too busy body rolling and giving JRE levels of stankitude in the face. But also because it feels like Taem is trying to fuck you through the music.

This is not a drill, folks - Lee Taemin is trying to sex your body with his Ace. And fuck if I'd ever stop that demon from ruining my life like that.

Ace is what us niggas Negroes of American Nationality like to call a sex jam. A classy sex jam, to be specific. This is not the song to jump zaddy to. Taemin has been generous enough to provide Sexuality for that. No baby, Ace is for lighting some scented candles, putting on your sexiest lingerie, and romancing your mans (or woman, because you know my gay ass doesn't discriminate) into bed with you. Ace is for those nights when you wanna take it nice and slow.

Ace is a rarity within the K-Pop landscape. You don't really hear songs like this. Most love songs are PG as fuck all, and there's not a damn thing wrong with that. I love to be all soft and giggly. But sometimes I want something more sensual.

Tiger (Sayonara Hitori)

So, remember how I said Taem could bring some of his Japanese songs over to Korea, and make it work?!?!

Tiger is not one of those songs.

Tiger is J-Pop as fuck all. Tiger is the type of song the Final Battle™ of an anime/video game would be animated against. Tiger is the opening theme to a dark fantasy anime. Tiger is, simply put, everything I wanted from a Japanese Taemin release. This song fits him so well, and I fucking love it.

Yes, I even love the breakdowns that are all wub wub'd out, because a) it fits the song so well (Tiger could be described as an experiment in how to do extreme sonic shifts without alienating your listener) and b) it's not some Skrillex style bullshit. If Taemin had decided not go with Sayonara Hitori as the feature track for his debut, I'd have loved to see him do Tiger. Especially with those Elvin Royalty/Fantasy Prince Lewks™ he was serving with that silver weave.

FINAL DRAGON (Sayonara Hitori)

If you I were to judge the whole of Final Dragon by just the first thirty seconds, it'd have gone on the trash on first listen. I don't know what's up with that weird Gregorian chant. But it gets better. After Taemin sets the atmosphere (I guess) with his little spoken word, we get thrown into a half time section with the most dramatic horn n violin duet I've ever heard.

And that's when the real fun starts.

Final Dragon is another song that would absolutely not work in Korea. This style of hard rock mixed with symphonic instrumentation sounds very Japanese in texture. But once again, this why we were intrigued by a Japanese Taemin debut. Not only did it make sense financially (Taemin is very popular in Japan), it makes sense musically and thematically.

Final Dragon shows off Taemin's title as the Crown Prince very effectively. This is another song I need to see Taemin perform with a live backing band. I put Final Dragon right after Tiger in this list, because it feels like the aftermath of that Final Battle™. It's the ending theme to Tiger's opening theme. Yes, the two songs were side by side in their original track listing, but sis...

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Rise (MOVE)

Firstly, if you're listening to the playlist as you read, I'm so sorry for that whiplash, baby. I took you from one end of the spectrum to the other, but there's a method to my madness. I promise!!

Rise feels like closure. You just endured this epic battle (and the aftermath of it), and now you're approaching reality again. Rise feels like life after crisis. Rise feels like healing. Like, you don't how you survived, but you're just lucky to be alive.

Rise is a big, rousing power ballad (like most of Taemin's midtempos) that feels like it lives and breathes. I like to think of it more of an experience than a song. Of all the songs I've mentioned I wanted to hear live, this is the one I wanna hear the most.

Thirsty (OFF SICK Concert Remix) (SM STATION)

Thirsty feels like a call out, guys. Thirsty is Taemin tellin' us he knows the way we look at him, and he fuckin loves that shit like the chaotic demon he is. Thirsty is Taemin challenging us to give it to him as good as he gives it us. Possibly.

Thirsty is, simply put, Taemin feelin his oats, babies. It's a loud and bombastic declaration of his sexuality (as if he doesn't wear that shit like a designer feaux fur coat), and it's really cool to watch since Taemin isn't your typical idol soloist.

Alright my loves, that's it for this Feature Spotlight!! Did we enjoy the surprise?!?!? Be sure to tune in next week for part one of the SHINee tribute in honor of Jonghyun at 6pm EST (I promise!!). And speaking of Jonghyun, be sure to check out his Feature Spotlight here. And while you're here, there's no harm in checking out my debut Review Roundup. In case you missed it. Love you, guys!!

[isolaween]

Costumes Under the Spotlight! (Part 2)

At the stage, a lone figure clad in red stood up. It wasn’t hard noticing it after the host so kindly announced her presence like that. A bright smile stamped her face, just as flashy as her outfit. It might not show actual skin, as the original one would, but the one wearing it was proud of her confectionary abilities.

“Ummmm, what a big audience you’ve brought us tonight, Riiche~.” Maya spoke in a sultry tone. Not her usual by any means, but hey. What’s the fan of cosplaying if you don’t immerse yourself into your character either. “Pleased to meet you, humans, demons and all other species present here. I’m Gaap, one of the 72 Great Demons of Hell and your host for the costume contest tonight. Let’s see if any of those brave enough to face public scrutinization by their outfits have half of the capability a demon like me would have to pull them through, ufufufu~.” (Ummmm, I hope I don’t end up offending anyone by speaking like this…) “Now, before we start, let me explain how things will work. At the entrance, some of the Pokémon you met must have handed you a sheet containing several names and numbers, correct? Like this one.” She raises one such sheet up high and lets it be projected at the screen behind her. “If any of you missed this, just inform them and they shall complete their service adequately. Or so should they hope…” (I’m sorry, my babies!!) “This is the voting sheet. Each of you has the right to vote only once, and you must provide your name when voting to assure so. For each presented costume, you must rate them from 0 to 5, 5 being those you like the most. After you’ve rated all of them, you must submit your sheet into this box right here.” Maya shows a container decorated in a style similar to her dress. “You can submit your votes until exactly midnight. After that, we’ll take the time to count them, so that we can announce the grand winner at the end. Don’t you dare to fall asleep until then!” She knocks the floor with her heels, making quite the impact. “The winner shall be granted the biggest gift a mortal could ever wish for: a witch’s wish! Ufufu, I wonder what sort of twisted desires your dark hearts are hoping to be granted tonight. I hope you have the clothes to match them!!”

The crowd salutes the ‘demon’, who gives it time to do so. Once they’re done, she looks at the voting sheet once again. “But enough of this. Let’s get to the truly hot and exciting part of the formalities. DJ!” She snaps her fingers loudly. “You know the drill. Let’s show off… our daring contestants!” The spotlights began to dance, chasing among the crowd those that 'Gaap’ announced. Their visage would be displayed for everyone to see, for that’s what a costume contest is all about: image!

“Our first contestant is actually one of the many artists that will grace our night with their talent. A not very traditional vampire look, huh? Hopefully that won’t offend the sensibilities of the actual vampires in our audience, ummm~. With you, GAKUPO KAMUI (@utatteru)!!!”

(Art by Gakupo-mun)

“Next we have… aaaaaw, how sweet! Children can be very considerate and willing to impress their friends, no? And in a place like Hive City, such homages make perfect motifs for Halloween. Dressed as an alien friend, we have STEVEN UNIVERSE (@firstgemboy)!!!”

(Art by @/skidar)

“Following that, we have what seems to be a doctor. Also a remark about it being the worst father in the world, although I can’t confirm that without evidence. And antimatter arms? Sheesh, I’m a demon, not a scientist! Don’t ask me to dwell on science. Anyhow, here is PHI (@radicalroot)!!!”

(Art by Phi-mun)

“Hooo, looks like we have some sort of witch for our next candidate! Wonder if she has a Lady title like Lady Beatrice over there. Lambdadelta is her name? Hah, it’d be pretty amusing if she were in our audience. In the meantime, let’s salute SAYU YAMAMOTO (@macabreexeunt)!!!

(Art by Sayu-mun)

“Gosh, a magician’s outfit? Aaaaah, Trucy would love seeing this! …I mean, *cough* Quite impressive for a human seeking to become equal to a witch in power. Let’s see if you can enchant your way to victory, huh? Hope you all enjoy… I’m not reading this whole name out loud, so MAGILOU (@thewitchmagilou)!!!”

(Official art)

“A god eater? Heh, can’t imagine a cute one like you going out devouring almighty beings like that, but then again this city is known from breaking deceitful perceptions like that. Just be careful with that prop, alright? May you all admire the craft of EDNA (@normincarenaqueen)!!!”

(Official art)

“One more of tonight’s idols this time and what a style! Vampire Gakupo should keep an eye behind his ear, for you never know when this gruff vampire hunter will put a stake on his heart. Oh? Is it supposed to be a clean cut anime version of this? Well, you know what you want. EICHI TENSHOUIN, everybody (@10showin)!!!”

(Offical photo)

“Now we have the first half of another matching duo, once again by idols. There’re sure a lot of you in this contest, I must say. An ‘steampunk doll’ is not something you see everyday, so points for creativity there. Hope you like the hard work of MIKA KAGEHIRA (@smilingidoll)!!!”

(Official art)

“And here’s the second half! I must say, people who like one will probably like the other. Unless the butterfly wing ends up being a make it or break it deal for them, which might help with the untie process. I’m certainly curious to see the results~. Before you all, SHU ITSUKI (@raisanutau)!!!”

(Official art)

“I must say that I’m surprised that no women have brought princess costumes so far. To think that our first one of that cathegory would be from a boy. He sure brings forth all the qualities fit for one, however, so perhaps they just saw that they didn’t stand a chance! Please make space for Your Highness RIKU NANASE (@idolish7center)!!!”

(Official art)

“Next - hoh, what an interesting style. Steven Stone is a rather familiar name. It reminds me of a character from a Pokémon game i’ve played, Roland Rock. Hope you have the hardness of a rock to stand this challenge, boy! All salute KNIGHT UNRYUUJI (@cloudwhiteknight)!!!”

(Edit of official art)

“Another vampire, although I must say the dragon friend is an interesting touch. Such a shame that you didn’t come as a cowboy, vampire, though! Even more so that your friend there didn’t submit their costume themself, for we don’t accept two people for the same submission. Hope you’ll enjoy the work of TASUKU RYUUENJI (@tasukusenpai)!!!”

(Official art)

“Now this one should be familiar to everyone. An idol that has stolen everyone’s hearts throughout the past 10 years, with a mix of appeal and talent never seen before. Her choice for the contest is an outfit that I’ll admit not to know, but I’m sure some of you do. One that needs no further introduction, MIKU HATSUNE (@cv01android)!!!”

(Art by Sour暄)

“Wow, now THIS guy understands about fashion! I completely agree with you, my fellow fashionista, anything is worth having this demonic glamour. If someone is fashionable, I’d be able to go through all sorts of crazy adventures with them… but only if they’re hot!! Here is the Pumpkin Witch, KING KNIGHT (@gildedusurper) !!!”

(Art by KK-mun)

“The next contestant has a… much more natural look, I could say. And even considerate enough to add flowers for a better smell? If I didn’t know better, I’d have long thrown a pokéball at you, my darling, ahahaha! Ah, but I jest. Each individual in this city has different skill levels that should be respected. And hopefully admired! Please admire ORI (@saviourofnibel) !!!”

(Art by Ori-mun)

“Hoo, what a beautifully stylish outfit this is! A simple enough design that showcases its true splendor in the form of cobweb patterns under the spotlight. Just like a true circus artist! And complimenting web gloves, how interesting. It’s truly wonderful seeing people use their natural talents the most like this. Ladies and gentlemen, applauses for MUFFET (@actuallymuffet) !!!”

(Art by Mumpkins (Deviantart))

“My my, this one is pretty creative, I must say! Using your own body as a prop is not something most people would be comfortable with, but you seem to have pulled it off with a T! And that modern internet aesthetic will sure gain you a couple points from the meme loving citizens, ahahaha!! Anyway, here is STAR PLATINUM (@wildberryoras) !!!”

[Aside from pixelated plastic he fashioned to look like a censor bar covering his eyes, all he’s wearing is two pepsi logos covering his unmentionables both in back and front. It’s the three piece cardboard display he constructed that are the main attraction. One side sits upon the floor while the others act as walls, a window into the world he pained into it. Neon pink and black checkerboard tile stretch into the turquoise horizon. The landscape lay nearly barren except for an oasis not far away. At the edge of a pool sit palm trees, VHS tapes propped against a pedestal, on which sits a television. Vaporwave is playing on it thanks to a phone acting as the screen, tapped there from behind. Star Platinum takes position on the display and poses like classical sculpture to tie it all together.]

(Description by SP-mun)

“…….Are you kidding me? Look, there’re ways to make use of memetic aesthetics and this is not really… *sigh*. Please, you’re a skeleton. You could have probably done a better job just by submitting yourself! Ahhh, but I digress. Everybody, enjoy the trumpet tunes of W.D. GASTER (@scirephysica) !!!”

(Edit by Gaster-mun)

“Ah, finally a werewolf! I was starting to think that the vampire lore would dominate tonight’s contest without any sort of opposition. I’m glad to see I was wrong. Especially a pastel colored one, you never see those in media. Definitely an original twist to the concept! Hope you’ll all howl for SUNNY OF THE FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS (@hairbeat) !!!”

(Art by Sunny-mun)

“Ah, what a fancy design this one has. That top hat of yours is your signature, isn’t it? I must say, it gives you a very gentlemanly air. I’ve once met a man who too wore a top hat all the time, and he was the most gentlemanly person I’ve ever met in my long life. But remember - a noble design means nothing if you can’t act the part! I present to you, DIO (@dioleft) !!!”

(Image source)

“And now an alien! Ahhh, what a futuristic looking dress! And those green bobbies on your head are quite charming (although I wonder why they aren’t silver to match the rest of the attire). Also really liked the makeup trick on your eyes - gives them that creepy grey alien feel for sure~. Hope you’ll all be abduted by the charms of MARCELINE ABADEER (@buryyouinmysounds) !!!”

(Image source)

“My my, another vampire? I might have anticipated myself in supposing that the werewolves stood any chance this year. A pretty traditional design this time - the paper teeth are a cute touch, though. Maybe we could say that you’re the Iron Mask Vampire! But I digress. I’m sure you shall be a respectable guest, darling. Please be kind with DRIFTER (@hyper-light) !!!”

(Image source)

“Would you look at this one! Representation for the other ways to celebrate Fall! Yes, for Halloween is but one of the many celebrations around the world this time of the year. I wonder how a Dia de los Muertos would go in Hive City, hmmmm… In any case, let’s all enjoy some sugar skulls with SOMBRA (@transl0cating) !!!”

(Official art)

“Ohhhh, a Frankenstein’s monster! Oh, I-I mean, Junkenstein’s monster. Forgive me for the confusion, miss. I can definitely approve of seeing more muscular women getting into the fun of costume making. It’s no fun if women are reduced to just being super thin and short demure mannequins, am I wrong? Hope you won’t get zapped by ALEKSANDRA ZARYANOVA (@itsonlygame) !!!”

(Art by @/kakimari (twitter))

“Now comes a bunch of matching outfits! First, a couple of cops, ready to arrest anyone disturbing the enjoyment of our citizens here present. Although I must admit, the first one’s design doesn’t really suggest me ‘cop’ that much besides the handcuffs. You sure you didn’t mix up with your roleplay costume~? Hope you enjoy the energy of CROW (@crimsongaze)​ !!!”

(Official art)

“Now the other half of this cop duo! …Oh, it’s you. I must admit, Halloween is indeed the time of the year most fit for one immersed in fantasies and acting plays. Wonder if that makes you the ‘good cop’ to your partner’s ‘bad cop’. Who knows, you might actually obtain a real ‘legend’ this time! Keep your eyes open for YAIBA (@legendoftongueflame) !!!”

(Official art)

“Now, a couple of vampires! The first one isn’t the tradiotional you’d see in old books, however. He seems to have gone with the more modern depiction of them as sexy boyfriends that’s become quite popularized in YA books the past few years. Will that exposed skin of yours sparkle, I wonder~? May the audience swoon with the charm of TITAN (@unichord) !!!”

(Official art)

“Our second vampire in this duo is more akin to the old times fashion, I see. Hah, I can already envision how this story would go. An old vampire finds an attractive young man and turns him into one of his kind to appease his encroaching loneliness that immortality brings. C’mon, it’d sell like bread! In any case, hope you’re as popular as my story would be, ORION (@aurochial) !!!”

(Official art)

“Ah, another freak of science! This time, we face the terror of eeeevil cyborgs, whose only goal in mind is subjugating all organic life to their master’s whims. I must say, I’m truuuuly terrified! That aside, I must say that this costume’s handcrafting is of top quality! I surely hope that it’ll be well seen by our guests. Hope you can survive the onslaught of MILES PROWER (@milesabovemobius) !!!”

(Official art)

“Hoo, I must say that I was quite excited when I saw the name of this costume. And also a bit afraid that our hosts wouldn’t allow it as per the rules, but it seems like we can keep the PG rating. I wonder if this is what a human/dragon hybrid is supposed to look like in YA novels. Ah, I know! I’ll include you in the story I mentioned earlier! With you, TRAVIS TOUCHDOWN (@suplex51) !!!”

[The Sexy Dragon is an Ibuki Mioda original that gives off an aura of sensual power. A “tough-love look,” you could call it.

The top is a sleeveless leather jacket, covered in brilliant green scales. The collar has been torn away, forcing the wearer to show off their collarbones to the world. Jutting down the wearer’s shoulders and spine are a set of dorsal fins, small enough to not be cumbersome while still large enough to give a sort of badass kaiju vibe.

The jean pants share the green color scheme, only with an added layer of crimson red felt underneath. Multiple lacerations to the green ‘skin’ reveal that 'muscle’ layer, which comes to look like the scars of a battle-hardened warrior.]

(Description by Travis-mun)

“Now we have a classical hero to protect us all from the beasts that here stood so far! I must say, you remind me of a certain protagonist from a videogame series that I’ve been playing recently - The Myth of Zolde, ever heard of that one? I’d highly recommend it to the audience! *Coughs* B-But I digress. Beware, evildoers, for you’ll feel the power of BAYONETTA (@txmmxrxwismine) !!!”

(Official art)

“Awwww, this one is totes adorbs, uhum~! I understand that you were forced to participate, darling, but I’d say that the chance of getting a wish for yourself is definitely worth the risk of social embarrassment. Plus, you really think you’re any worse than anyone else here? Trust me, you’ll survive this sting. Wonder if you shall be clawed by the hands - or should I saw mittens - of SASUKE UCHIHA (@tiredsasukeboy) !!!”

(Art by Sasuke-mun)

“Finally, our last contestant! Going for a style derived from tabletop RPGs, how interesting! It’s certainly a shame when we can’t obtain that one needed prop we wanted to encompass our perfect vision, but don’t worry. I’m sure that your design will be appreciated by all present anyway. Very well, let’s clap the hard work of PHILLIP DOWD (@tiireur) !!!”

(Art by Phillip-mun)

“This should conclude the opening. Now, go. Enjoy this witch party to your heart’s content! We shall meet again at the end of it all…” Once Maya said that, the curtains close, indicating the end of festivities’ opening. Have a nice evening, citizens.

[blamsart]

So very last second I know, I barely managed this one in time

Warning: There are lot of image credits I could give out, but due to the sheer amount, if you’re wondering about something in particular you’ll have to ask me.

Warningx2: BIG CHAPTER

Get you some high quality content on this site here folks!

I had a lot of fun with this one, and I worked real hard on it (pulled out them artistic talents). Hope you enjoy!

  Nikolas’ POV

I pressed the confirm button and moments later the white landscape began to change and morph into something with a lot more color.

A waft of salty air brushed past my face and I heard the sounds of critters and birds. It felt a little too real. For a game that can be a little scary. Game overs must hurt like hell if I can feel something like a breeze.

I felt different. Taller…stronger….shirtless?

I looked at my hands, which had black markings traveling alongside my arm, and – well my skin is purple.

Something else feels different…I can’t put my finger on it. But it feels like I might be able to use my astral power here. The game might’ve copied it for my avatar.

I looked up and noticed an information box. It held the basic rules and goals of the game. Turns out the program decided to put me on defense with one other team member, whose code name is Ice Queen.

I think I have a small idea of who that might be, heh.

From what I understand, I have to get to the fortress where my teammate was spawned at before the attack team does. We have to defend it till the day ends. Hopefully time passes faster than in real life, or else this could be a long day.

The info box also elaborated on my special ability. Or more specifically the weapon I could summon. The instructions told me to-

A shrieky laugh suddenly resounded over the sound of a nearby waterfall, followed by a roar and a slight shake of the earth. Like something big had just stomped its foot.

I swerved around, searching for the source as the info box flickered off.

In between the trees I spotted something big, red, and with large pointy teeth.

I gulped.

Nobody told me we had to fight monsters.

What am I saying this is a video game. I’ve played my fair share of rpgs.

I pinched myself and felt the pain in my forearm.

Wonder how much it would hurt to get eaten? Wonder if I’d respawn?

Eh I’m not that keen to jump into a battle.

Just as I was thinking that, the dragon wavered and faded away, like a mirage in a desert.

Sure it might’ve been up there for only a few moments, but it was big enough to be spotted all over the island, I’m sure.

Shoot, did someone go and kill it? Is that why it disappeared? Some people have already adapted pretty quickly. I better do the same.

I have absolutely no idea where to go from here. A map would be wonderfully convenient.

The thought crossed my mind and an info box appeared, with a map on it. Convenient.

“Huh. I’m literally at the other end of where I’m supposed to be.” I grimaced. Hey, maybe I could just short cut through the small body of water.

Huh, guess they can’t show me where the other three volunteers are. Just me and my teammate – well Sal.

I glanced around until I finally caught sight of the tip of the ‘fortress’ I was supposed to reach.

A quick swim! This should be easy peasy.

Oh shit, that’s steep. I’m going to break something trying to get down.

Ah but wait! I’m in a video game aren’t I? I’ve had games where I’d needed to jump from way higher.

Even with my self-applied assurance, I was still hesitant, tapping my feet on the edge and inching closer. I leaned over the edge, wondering if I could just slide down on my ass or something, when the ledge I was leaning over became a mini dirt avalanche and dragged me down with it.

I tumbled down the hill, feeling the scrapes on my skin, and tasting the dirt in my mouth.

My tumble became a free fall, at which point I was way past panicking as I had a clear view of the ground coming to me fast. Head first was probably not going to end well for me.

On instinct I tried to activate my astral power. If only I could just stop time! Gather time to think! Find some away to get the fuck out of this situation.

I felt my power strain, and my surroundings flickered slightly towards the familiar bleak landscape. For a moment I seemed to manage to enter my astral world, my body suddenly falling faster than I was, before I zapped back to it, and hit the ground with a painful crunch.

FUCK

That hurt!

I respawned back to my starting point, my neck and back still remembering with painful reality how they’d just been broken.

Well there’s one thing I can tell the people who made this game. Lower the damn pain level.

I gave my shoulders a roll and glanced at the map again. I think I’m going to go with the long way round.

God that really hurt, jeesus.

I walked down the laid out jungle path. It seemed pretty straight forward…which is why I got a bad feeling. It was too easy. This is a video game…there’s got to be some kind of obstacle. Apart from the painful death I’d just experienced.

“Hey!” Somebody called out. I glanced around as I kept walking, before I spotted someone orange on a rock. Their username offered over their head momentarily. “I’d watch out if I were you, the place is filled with-”

My foot suddenly slipped out from underneath me, a rope tying around my ankle and flipping me upside down in a sharp movement.

“-traps.”

The rope – which was actually a vine from one of the nearby trees – seemed to grow exponentially around my legs and wrists.

In a matter of seconds I was so effectively tied upside down that I couldn’t move any of my limbs. My head was the only one allowed any kind of movement.

Jeesus I’m bad at this game so far.

I nevertheless attempted to struggle against my restraints. I couldn’t summon my weapon or anything to cut these down too. That kind of required my hand to be free.

The other player, most likely from team offense (her name wasn’t Ice queen, and she certainly doesn’t look like one), hopped off from her spot on the rock. Probably to come gloat at the situation.

I tried to lift myself up, but with no luck. How was I going to play the game if I was stuck like this for the entirety of it?

She stopped a few feet away.

“I did warn you. And it was on the map.” She said trying to keep a deadpan face. Her bright eyes were amused though. Well I think. Kind of hard to tell upside down.

“The map wasn’t clear on that.” I gave a slightly embarassed smile. “I know we’re on opposite teams and all, but do you mind helping me out?”

She considered me for a few seconds before nodding. “I can see what I can do.” She took out some thick looking piece of wood (this isn’t easy to decipher upside down! I can’t feel my toes.). She squeezed it and light suddenly erupted from both sides, curling and extending out to form a bow.

She took an arrow from her quiver then, notching it as it lit up as well, and aiming it right at me.

“Woah! That’s a bit extreme! We don’t need to go there! I just died, I don’t want to relive the experience! And it was really painful, my neck still aches. Serious, I fell off that cliff over there. Unstable rocks I wouldn’t go there if I were you. It’s prone to random avalanches, must be in the code…” I rambled off. Doesn’t she have a pocket knife? Or something?

“I know. I saw you slip.” She said with a slight smirk.

“Well that’s humiliating.” I cleared my throat, nearly choking on my saliva as it followed the rules of gravity. “I’m sure there’s a better quicker way-”

“Nope.” She said, and she let go of the arrow.

In the neck!?

At this point my head is just going to roll right off!

After a quick shake off, I headed back towards the path. This time I headed for the trees on the side, from where Firefly had come from.

I weaved through the shrubbery and the hanging vines, extremely glad when the traps all turned out to be on the path. At some point a vine passed through my arm, but I didn’t think much of it. This is a game after all.

It’s when I got stuck in a tree that I started to get annoyed.

Yep. My avatar glitched in a tree.

And that’s another feedback I’ll have to comment on when this ends. I struggled, half of my body outside of the tree, and my legs so glitched I couldn’t feel them. I’ve truly become a tree man. I let my upper half hang loose in exasperation.

“Ok, would not mind another arrow in the neck right now. Doesn’t feel like this glitch is going to fix itself any time soon.” I glanced around a little hopefully, but I was alone.

Shit. I might have to take drastic measures. I willed my info box to appear again and looked for a respawn button. When I was unsuccessful, I went into the tutorial to find out how to summon my weapon.

The black markings on my arms were apparently the key to doing that.

A mini scythe. Guess it goes with the pseudo Reaper the game chose for me. Still…I wish it would’ve been a katana or a sword. That’d be cooler. And easier to handle.

I groaned. There are so many things wrong with my thought process right now.

I can’t believe I have to kill myself to get out of this glitch.

This game is turning dark quickly.

But hey, at least there’s an instant death by poison option on this weapon.

Boring, but the quicker the better I guess.

I respawned again – seriously done with dying – and I was mentally reliving my death again as a mini info box popped up.

Ice Queen built an Ice wall

Sounds like my team mate has been a lot more productive.

I jogged towards the cliff. My first death, such good times.

Unsurprisingly, I didn’t go too close to the edge. I just wanted to get a good look at the icy barrier, not tumble down to my death again.

It was definitely impressive and looked like it would do the job. I might not have to even do anything!

Then again it’s pretty warm out. Wonder how long this ice wall is going to last.

The thought crossed my mind and an info box popped up. Well seems I have two hours before the wall melts.

I eyed the jungle and the path skeptically. Get caught in a trap again…or risk getting glitched again?

My eyes caught on something bright and orange. Wasn’t hard to guess who it was.

She was fun.

From what I could see, she was jogging along a bridge. A bridge that didn’t seem to be glitching. Or filled with traps for that matter. I pulled up my map just to confirm there wasn’t anything wrong with the bridge.

Let’s go see her again.

I started to head through the shrubbery again to reach the bridge, but when my foot went through a rock, I decided this really wouldn’t work. There had to be some other way. Wait! Didn’t I see something…

I pulled up the tutorial for my summoning my weapon again, scrolling past the basics until I found it. Teleporting! I had the ability to throw my scythe somewhere and teleport to it.

On second thought, maybe this would’ve worked better to get me out of that glitch. I’m surprised I skipped past it and went straight to killing…

Bah, there are so little games where you can kill yourself with your own weapon. Can’t pass that up!

I frowned.

Was that-?

I didn’t-?

I did think that, but I didn’t-?

On top of weird masochist thoughts I’m getting a headache now.

I summoned my weapon, aimed and threw it down towards the bridge.

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I managed to teleport all the way to Sal – er cough – I mean Firefly.

But I mean come on, it’s pretty obvious. I just assumed she’d be Ice Queen, but thinking on it she never liked the nickname so it was probably the other girl. Or one of the guys, who knows?

Maybe that’s why her avatar has a fire theme. The fact that she doesn’t like the term Ice Queen I mean. Blue suits her better than red though.

She was waving at two specs in the distance – the rest of team offense I assume – before she noticed me.

“How did you get here so fast!?”

“I even glitched in a tree before I got here.” I hmphed proudly. “Turns out I can teleport, pretty neat huh?”

“That’s chea-”

Info boxes appeared for both of us with a big flashing warning sign: METEOR

We both looked up to see a big flaming rock going straight for the rest of team offense.

One of the two spread out his hands and a huge stop sign appeared. Somehow assuming the meteor could read.

Unsurprisingly the meteor didn’t care for it. Suprisingly, when the meteor touched it, it just vanished like a mirage. Just like the dragon. It was just an illusion?

Once the first kid’s plan had failed, the other one stepped out, and when he spread out his hands, strings shot out of them.

That was a lot more effective. The strings wove together to form a net that somehow withstood the flaming meteor.

Right, can’t forget this is a video game after all.

The Puppeteer then pulled the strings close to his chest, making the huge net straighten and propell the meteor back up, before they disappeared themselves. The meteor landed in the ocean several miles away.

The two boys cheered, high fived and ran in circles.

I didn’t have much doubt about who they were.

I turned back to Firefly, passing my hand through my hair.

I let out a short laugh. “Now that’s cheating.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard to win with that on my side.” She said with a slight smirk.

“Hey now! Have you seen the wall my teammate made?”

She grew serious. “The sooner this gam-”

The ground completely disappeared underneath us, without any warning info box whatsoever, and swallowed us whole into pure darkness.

The fall lasted about 2 seconds before I felt myself get respawned again.

You know, psychologically, dying over and over again – because my brain sure seems convinced of this – is really horrible. This aspect of the game really needs to be looked over.

I opened up my fancy menu info box again, hoping to find a way to turn off the pain setting. It’s disturbingly obvious how much of a beta version this game is.

I jogged towards the cliff, summoning my weapon as I did.

As I reached it, I noticed a rope had appeared going from the waterfall to the shore, right beside the ice wall. The kid who’d stopped the meteor had created a mini bridge for Sal – I mean Firefly to cross over.

I watched as she hoped off the bridge and onto the strings, sliding down the shortcut her teammate had made for her.

Well I can’t let her reach the shore before I do! I took a step back. Let’s see how far I can throw my scythe… I brought my arm back, and with a huff I threw as hard as I could towards the shore.

Considering the amount of glitching I’d been doing so far, I suppose I’d kind of hoped for my scythe to at least glitch right through the strings.

But nope! It hit the rope straight on and cut it in half, before continuing its journey to shore.

Sal stumbled into free fall.

I panicked. After I got past the oh shit I went straight to fuck, Sal!.

It maybe should’ve occurred to me earlier that technically she’d be fine. She’d respawn like we’d just done and that would be that.

But in the moment I got really scared for her – especially considering she was falling to her death by my fault – and on reflex I tried to switch to my astral mode again.

That got wonky and didn’t work again, and Sal hit the water only to respawn a few moments later.

God, I feel horrible. I really didn’t mean to kill her!

My scythe reached the shore and I teleported to it, still grimacing from guilt.

Ugh, I don’t feel so good.

A strange unease had been creeping on me for the last few moments, leading up to painful headaches again and an uncomfortable squeeze of my chest.

It faded as quickly as it had appeared and I suddenly realized I’d at some point stood up and dismissed my weapon.

The rest of team offense, Chicken boy and Puppeteer, were standing in front of me, holding the strings and looking at me like I’d just killed their dog.

Pssh! Not like a dog dying is that sad.

“You killed them.” Puppeteer said.

“You should be ashamed.” Chicken boy added with a sad shake of his head.

“It’s just a piece of string. We can get you guys a new one at the pet store.” My mouth said condescendingly.

I didn’t say that. I swear I didn’t! I frowned, bringing my hand up to my mouth. The words had come out on their own. Involuntarily. I DIDN’T say them.

Before I could dwell (…panic) any further, a flaming arrow suddenly found itself between my feet, making me jump.

I looked up at the bridge, where a fuming Firefly had her bow still aimed at me.

“I didn’t mean to-” I started to shout at her. My attempt at an apology was cut short-

-by an explosion. The arrow she’d shot at me blew up between my feet, effectively kiling me enough to respawn me.

Okay, so I guess I kind of deserved that – for killing her.

“Oh well played!” I exclaimed – no not me. Who is controlling my mouth right now!? Not just my mouth, my arms, my legs, even my head are moving randomnly! “Let’s go find a creative way to kill her in kind.”

“What the fuck!?” I shouted as the panic built up in my chest. For a moment, I felt like I had complete control again. This game is not funny.

Then I lost control of my limbs again. “Come onnnn, it’s my turn now!”

I tried to shout again, do something that didn’t involve me being only able to look through my own eyes, but I was stuck. Frozen in place while I felt my body move against my will.

There was still something I had control over at least.

I tried flipping on my astral mode and it sort of worked. It was still incredibly wonky, and the headache I got this time made me squint.

My astral form popped (yes popped, it was fucking weird) out of my body and hung in the air like I was swimming in jell-o. I felt a connection to my body, like a rope tying me down. My avatar body continued to move on its own, this time looking deflated.

“Don’t be mad I just want to try things out. Sitting and doing nothing is so damn darn hard! I’ll be nice though.” It said looking down at it’s feet with a shrug.

Just give me back my body already. Whatever kind of game glitch you are. I reached for my avatar and got pulled out of astral mode.

I stood still for several moments. Waiting.

Whatever had happened was over. I still had complete control over my own body. There were no weird thoughts in my head.

Still…I had the odd feeling I wasn’t completely alone. Plus I now had a mild headache that wouldn’t leave.

I heard team offense on the shore and jogged to the cliff in time to see them grouped up and trying to figure out a way to get past the ice wall.

I can’t shake this dreadful feeling of being watched, like something is right behind me, whispering in my ear. Doesn’t matter how many times I look, there’s still nothing. We really need to finish this game.

***

No one’s POV

“What are you doing napping!? You were supposed to watch the monitors!” She sighed and took a sip of her coffee, gravitating towards the screens to watch how their test subjects were faring.

She nearly spit her coffee onto the computers. She picked up an eraser and she chucked it at her superior.

“W-what? What’s going on?” Mr.Hans grumbled as he woke up.

“You were supposed to watch the monitors.” She hissed under her breath.

“I was, I was, I just closed my eyes for a second.”

“You should’ve spotted this from the very beginning.” She snapped.

“Hey, someone’s in the orange.” He mumbled as he gravitated towards the monitors.

“Yes. He’s not faring well. He’s stressed.”

“Who-? Oh!” The man said, suddenly quite interested. “I knew accepting him was a good idea. We’re getting good results now aren’t we.”

“Good resul-something is wrong. The program sent us a message and you missed it. There was a glitch, it found two subjects in one.”

“Two? Multiple personnalities shouldn’t affect the game.” He said. “Oh wait…Could he be one of the ‘special’ Whitelights? Did we hit jackpot?”

“Your reputation isn’t important right now. The game is registering his avatar as glitched, but it can’t fix the problem. His body suffered a panic attack three times and you missed it because you were napping. We need to pull him out now before it gets worse.”

“No!” He exclaimed, grabbing her arm. “No, it’s fine now. See his vitals are stable.”

“Stable as in his stress levels haven’t changed. They’re still at a worrisome level.” She said reaching for the controls again.

“Don’t wake him.” He snapped, radiating that classic intimidating Hans aura. “My family is going to want to see these results.”

She bit her cheek, but did as she was told.

***

Nikolas’ POV

I reached the shore before they’d come up with an effective solution. As I approached I overheard them chatting about maybe slinging one of Puppeteer’s ropes over or using Firefly’s arrows to climb over it.

To be honest even I had no idea how I was going to get through. The thing was huge, thick, strong, and there was still a lot of time before it melted away.

Being on team defense, I should have some kind of special access.

As I got close enough to the wall to touch it, an info box appeared.

No, not an info box, a chat box from my teammate.

Ice Queen: Use your key. It’s meant for the door, but it should work with the wall.

My key? Since when do I have a—

Oh! Of course! The thing around my neck I kept dismissing as a random accessory.

I got closer to the wall, taking the key from my neck and holding it up.

Part of the wall lit up and melted to form a small door. I hurried through just as the others noticed me and the wall closed behind me.

I stuck my tongue out at them as they all crowded to the now once again smooth ice wall.

“Good luck you’re going to need it!”

I blinked and realized I was back on the other side of the wall. Or maybe I’d never gone through the first time? I frowned, another glitch?

Chicken boy started to walk towards me with an eye on the key around my neck, so I quickly used it to pass through the wall again – or I guess for the first time?

It’s once I passed through that I realized I’d been tricked. And by the smirk on the kid’s face I bet he was behind it. His ability was something along the lines of creating an illusion, like that random stop sign.

He’d just made me think I hadn’t gone through the wall, but what I thought was me going through a second time, was actually me leaving the safety of the ice wall.

“We’d like to borrow your key please and thank you.” Chicken boy said as his friend leaned up against his back. A second later strings shot out from his fingers heading straight for me.

Damn I got duped pretty easily. I glanced at Sal who was watching with slight amusement.

Well if we win or they win, the game’s going to finish one or way another. I know when I’m beat.

Just as I was expecting the inevitable loss of my key, my hand came up and summoned my weapon.

  “It’s not going to be THAT easy.” My mouth smirked as the strings wrapped around to restrain me.

My hand brought my scythe up to my neck and I realized what was about to happen.

“Fucking powdered donuts.” Puppeteer said, shaking his head as my own hand slit my throat.

I respawned with absolutely no control over my body again. I couldn’t take being stuck in my brain, so I risked my astral mode again, knowing full well I’d get a headache again after this.

My body let out a nervous sigh and threw its arms around.

“Ahh I know I said I’d play nice, but I did my best, I really did. It’s hard not to want to play.” It said. My astral continued to flicker worriedly.

“I don’t really care.” I said, standing in front of my avatar. “Just, whatever you are, whoever, please leave me alone and go bother someone else. I sure hope this isn’t actually part of the game.”

“I’m assuming you can hear me.” My body stated as if I hadn’t said anything.

Oh. The fact the he can’t hear me and hasn’t established any kind of eye contact…must mean he can’t see me. Just like with anyone else while I’m in astral mode.

“Cause I can hear you when you’re playing. So you can probably hear me. Look, don’t hate me, but I’m going to keep playing okay? Just for a little while.” He declared.

“No, no, I’m not okay with this. Give me back my body.” I insisted fruitlessly. “Or avatar or whatever!”

“Awesome! You’re a great guy I can tell!” He exclaimed and I groaned as I watched him rush for the cliff. “The map said there was a giant shrimp monster in the lake! We gotta go tame it!”

What is this? Is this what the game meant by two avatars? A bug in the game?

How do I reverse this?

“Oh, action seems to be brewing. Firefly’s got the right idea!” Said the being controlling my avatar.

I floated over, peering down at the scene.

Sal was shooting the wall up with explosive arrows…and it was working!

The wall was steadily melting as she shot arrow after arrow, her teammates cheering her on.

“We better go defend the wall!” My avatar exclaimed, summoning the scythe to teleport to shore.

The quicker team offense wins, the quicker this game ends and I get out of this unsettling situation. So, I put all the effort and concentration I had into controlling that arm. Just that arm, so he couldn’t throw the weapon. And it worked! His arm was – I mean my arm was frozen mid swing and my avatar was casting confused glances at it.

“Ok, ok, I get it. We can see how this works out! Our teammate is coming out to help defend anyway!” He exclaimed, and I let go of my control. Good thing he kept his word and because my head was starting to swim and I’d quickly gotten dizzy and disoriented. It had taken everything out of me just to stay in astral mode and control that arm. I didn’t want to turn off my astral mode. I didn’t want to risk being stuck permanently.

Ice Queen left the fortress, a waft of cold leaking out of it before the door shut behind her.

Sal stopped shooting explosive arrows long enough for the smoke to clear and the thinning ice to become apparent.

The two stood still, representing each other’s opposites, and for a moment it seemed like this scene was more than just a game for them. Even though I’m pretty sure they’ve never met. Maybe this was purely based on appearances and avatars.

Ice Queen brought her hand up and summoned her magic, the ice thickening around the wall, fortifying it.

Firefly notched another sparking arrow. She said something I couldn’t hear, which made her teammates whoop with a renewed vigor.

Then she began shooting arrow after arrow again, each explosion seeming bigger than the last, and as the ice melted Ice Queen refroze it.

Being on her team however, I could see her stats going down. She wouldn’t be able to keep fueling the ice wall forever. My guess was Sal probably didn’t have an unlimited amount of ammo too. It was just a matter of who ran out first. Meanwhile, I could set about trying to regain control of this glitch…

“Eek! Our teammate’s in trouble!” My body exclaimed. “We need to go help her!”

“We don’t need to. Sal’s also probably almost out of juice.” I said to thin air. “And I mean, if Ice Queen loses it’s not a bad thing…”

“I’m going to help her out.” My body declared and I went to try and control the arm again, but he must’ve assumed I’d go for it because he summoned the scythe in the other hand and threw it before I could react.

When he teleported to it – I was still on the cliff –  he had the scythe drawn back and ready to strike his opponent down – Firefly.

Nope, nope, nope, killing Sal is not only not reccomended, but extremely counter productive.

I charged at him, made my way over from the cliff in a fraction of a second and clapsed his shoulders and tried to pull him out of my body. I tried to do what I do to Zac when I’m not in a video game. Extract his astral form I guess you could say.

In the real world I kind of need my body to do that, since it casts a spell, but at this point I was ready to try anything to gain back some control.

He lost movement and hit the ground instead.

I had no idea what I was pulling at, or whether this trick really working at all, considering my astral mode was still glitchy and weird – had been from the start. It was clearly not meant to be used inside a video game.

Whatever I was really doing though, seemed to be working. My avatar was immobilized on the ground.

But the game started to glitch. The whole world began shifting or zapping. The other players started to freak out, and I attempted to stop using my astral mode, because clearly the game wasn’t meant to handle it. But I couldn’t, I was stuck mid process trying to remove the glitch from my avatar, with the world about to lag itself into oblivion.

“Oh I’m so excited!”

***

No one’s POV

“The magic levels in the room are rising…and they’re coming from him. This is why we have a rule against supernaturals Hans.” She hissed as her subject’s levels started to spike.

“They said he couldn’t use magic without a wand, and even then it’s weak.”

“I don’t care what they said, he’s trying to use magic right now, with or without a wand.” She snapped.

“His body can’t do it. It can’t channel magic without a wand. Yet, it’s still trying to. This is unbelievable! Look at it, we can see the magic trying to form in the air!”

“Yes and it’s messing with our equipement! We need to terminate this now before something blows up.”

“Nothing is going to blow up.” He scoffed.

She gestured impatiently at the monitors and with a roll of his eyes he set about terminating the program from there, while she went and completed the process on each of the volunteer’s machines, starting with the troublesome subject.

Entering the room felt toxic to her.

She hadn’t been able to see the magical fog forming, only the trained eye could do that, but she could smell magic. And the boy stank of it. Not your normal magic either. This was foul smelling magic, a smell that reminded her of choking on toxic gas.

She reached the machine and started initializing a shut down just as part of the fog concentrated enough to let out a sharp spark of magic. It bounced onto her hands, giving her a temporary electric tingling feeling, and on two of the machines, momentarily shocking the two systems. One of those had been the boy’s machine, the other was the closest, one of the girl’s.

The researcher managed to enter the final commands and shut the over taxed game off. Instantly the magic in the room stilled, and as the woman went to each station to completely electronically unplug everyone, the magic slowly dissipated into the air. The levels in the room were back to normal, now only composed of the artificial magic illegally used in the experiment.

The woman made it back to the Whitelight boy’s side as he slowly opened his eyes. He cast a glance around, before pushing himself up to a sitting position, moving his limbs as if testing if they still worked.

She glanced back at the window, where her superior merely shrugged at her.

“How are you feeling?” She asked him as he got up, his back facing her. “Any headaches? Dizziness? Nauseous? Do you feel tired? Maybe a little drained?” Her hands inched towards him as if expecting him to faint.

She eyed him, waiting an answer.

“I’m great! Thank you.”

      9.53 – Glitch So very last second I know, I barely managed this one in time Warning: There are lot of image credits I could give out, but due to the sheer amount, if you’re wondering about something in particular you’ll have to ask me.