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kaiju-z · 4 years ago

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Seon Adventures Episode 38: Bathhouses and Bonds

After a month of travel, successfully retrieving the King’s Blade, Ena, learning who their client is, i. e. Akar’Niel and choosing to learn more about the circumstances of the mass elimination of dwarves and dragonborn on Seon, the party have reached Guan.

And straight off the bat, no pun intended, the group discover they are followed by an imp. After a quick discussion on whether to take it down or not, Malak stils his hand from sending the denizen of Hell back home, as it approaches the group.

Through a quick inspection of the party, the shape changing critter flies over to Mournimar and delivers the Tiefling Ranger a Sending Stone, of a blue diamond make. After which it does a JoJo pose and poofs.

As stated previously, this was a Sending Stone, allowing someone to cast 2 sending messages a day. But only to the person that has the other one. Rocky Talkies, as Malak puts it. (Or Hayden, I’m not sure. They’re both wholesome and we love them).

Mournimar gets that explained to him and calls the person that gifted it to him. And he hears a familiar voice from the other end say " Well you are alive, then!”. Much to the tiefling’s frustration, he recognizes the voice as that of his ex-boyfriend, Lazarus, follower of Potencia.

Mourni tries to ask what he wants, but instead Lazarus does the “kh-kh” noise (you know the one, where someone does a double pistols and a wink???) and that’s about all the messaging that goes on for that day.

Again. Much to Mournimar’s frustration.

Malak suggests getting rid of the stone. But Mournimar wants to keep it.

Luck suggests flipping a coin and he even brings one out from his journal bag. But Jun suggests Mournimar hold onto it and in the end, they agree on that.

(Also Mournimar gets a praise from Jun, which makes him feel validated).

The rest of the day passes uneventfully and they carry on, as the ground beneath their feet becomes more and more rocky. WIth the most perceptive in the party taking note that there’s a slight silhouette in the near distance of a town.

During the night, Belli receives a dream, like everyone else, but Mournimar, before her. As everyone had kept their dreams to themselves, for the following day, the group find themselves walking into a small and cozy town, which Arryn guesses would be Sodinvorg, most likely.

Very different from what the group had been used to so far. In a wasteland such as this (which funny enough is the right temperature for Luctan to feel at straight up at home?!) Sodinvorg’s constructed of tall buildings made out of clay, all painted red, white or red and white. Most split in multiple flats as they can tell from the windows. A variety of people in the windows, mostly Yuan-Ti, Kobolds, Tabaxi and Lizardfolk.

People here know each other and are close, mingling with each other.

Notable locations are the bathhouse, the tavern and the marketplace.

Luctan makes a b-line for the bathhouse, all excited and swept under the positive nostalgia of the enviroment he find himself in, with Jun joining him, all the while Belli would go and buy certain supplies. Cement included for some reason?! And then go to the apothecary.

A pair of young lizardfolk women run the bathhouse, which the pair of Jun and Luck can discern is constructed very intricately and with a style to it. (The place is essentially a roman bathhouse.)

Mournimar woud go to the Rolls and Scrolls place, where one could buy spell scrolls and delicious breads, as advertised, while Malak would check with the antique shop.

Inside the bath house, Jun takes on her mask of a beautiful Drow woman, named Valencia, having noted that there aren’t really any humans in the area. Valencia is a bit posh. Long white hair in a bun.

As they score themselves a place in the bath, The Disguise Duo enjoy a relaxing bath, unbothered by the cramped and crowded enviroment, as they are confident about themselves and their bodies.

No juicy gossip in the area and even if there was, a loud comment about Mommy Milkers from another of the patrons would distract the duo.

Arryn eventually joins the two, but after an unfortunate bomb dive goes wrong, he leaves, as the pool was too shallow for any acrobatics. Luctan’s Healing Word aids him in recovering from at least the physical pain, at least.

The duo have another talk, where Luck learns of Jun’s origins. Though she began her careers in Sa Doma, she was originally from Elmeria. Which, to say the least, was a neat coincidence, as the party had gotten their initial name there, when asked by Morticia.

Jun would share that, given her race as a Changeling, few doors were truly open for her, as a Shapeshifter in a world that had a bias against them, and so, the bounty hunting life and that of an escort were ones that she could slip into easily. Luck would bemoan her fate, how opportunities were taken from her due to things she couldn’t help. But was glad for her being able to make the best of it.

“When one door closes, another opens”, the two would agree.

Luck would tell her his story, in turn, being candid about the facts, though, naturally, given they were speaking around others, he’d of course avoid using the “H” word as to where he had come from. Besides, the yalready knew about that from the fight at the barn.

Luck would come to a point, admitting that he was unsure what to do with himself now. He was content helping people, but he had no plan on what to do with himself now, when he didn’t take on the rest of his revenge quest.

Jun encourages him to take the time and consider. And she’d admit that conversations weren’t generally something people would approach her for, given her non-violent work ethic.

But Luck would compliment her for her talk, appreciating being able to talk openly with her on matters. Jun would note that he was about the 3rd person to praise her for that.

Meanwhile, at the Rolls and Scrolls, Mournimar spends big money on several rolls and scrolls, making Matiro, the Yuan-Ti’s day with all the cash that comes his way.

Feather Fall, Aid, Calm Emotions and Find Steed are all bought and paid for by the Ranger, with the latter three being bought for a collective 500 gold.

Furthemore, the tiefling buys 7 loafs of bread, for the party and Arryn.

And then. Before he leaves, Mournimar leaves the man a tip of 5 platinum. And upon leaving, he can distinctly hear the Yuan-Ti scurry off, screaming to a friend: “PHILLIP! I’M IN LOVE!”

At a convergence point, Mournimar gets a gold piece from Jun and a pat on the head. Getting validated by an older female figure boosts his morale. Quite evident from his tail wagging like crazy.

From the calico Tabaxi, Jolly Sunrise, proprietor of “ Happy Belly Rubs “, Belli gets a healing herb, a root that healing potions are made from.

(It is at this point that we spend 10 minutes on Tabaxi bathroom name jokes. It’s just-you had to be there.)

Jolly makes a “Jolly Secret Rub”, which gives the party 1d8 Temp Hp. Gives special smelling salts, which are used as Spare The Dying as a bonus action. 165 worth. And lastly, upon Belli’s request, she delivers onto the Half-Orc Bard a pair of extra spicy peppers, referred to as “Dragon’s Breath”.

“Don’t give it to halflings. It could genuinely kill them.” she would note.

Also Belli learns that Jolly has a tiefling brother. Due to his fire resistance, she had learned that these could kill anoyone, without fire resistance. (Though that could’ve been a joke0

After the bread, the party go to the Cozy Leaf. An older tabaxi man, orange and graying around the nose, heads the place. He has a menu. There’s coffee, milk, honey milk. Maple Milk! The man’s name is Leaf On The Water. He has a strange clockwork device playing relaxing music nearby, giving the place a wholesome atmosphere.

His Grandson, an Artificer, built this contraption. Travels and sends new stuff to the old cat. There’s a stick figure drawing at the counter, drawn by the youngest in the family, his granddaughter. The grandson is taller than him. Grandson is 30. Grand Daughter is 3.

There’s even a portrait that gets showcased of the family. One big orange family. Himself, his three kids and his two grandkids.

Most of the group, but the bearded ones, get themselves a warm beverage. Honey Milk and Maple Milk.

While the patrty slowly unwind for the day, Belli asks Jun if she has any expertise with chemicals. Interesting enough, the Bloodhunter does have skills with alchemy supplies. And the two work on making pepper spray. Super. Spicy. Pepper Spray.

Malak find himself buying several items from the antique shop, run by the kobolds Zett and Nix, Red and Bronze respectively.

From the items presented to him, he takes what he could consider lucky charms.

Among them a coin of a strange material, a stone figurine of a snake, as well as a small silver rod with no decoration. It makes a harp noise. Notably, the rod gives off faint evocation magic.

Before purchasing these, he asks the Kobolds, just to be sure, that they hadn’t pilfered these from any gravesights and the like. They specify that any item they have in their shop has been brought in from families, who found no use for them.

They are established businessmen here. And the price for the collection of items bought is 25 silver. Enough to cover rent for the month.

Malak thanks them in Draconic and leaves after the monetary exchange.

At the end of the day, as everyone prepares for the night’s rest in the tavern, Jun keeps an ear and eye out for gossip, while Mournimar takes a single room for himself (and Morgan).

One, where he has himself his own little dream.

End of Episode.

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kazino · 5 years ago

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clarification on the plagiarism situation

Let me make this clear: Ena has apologized. This post is not an excuse for you to harass or cyberbully Ena. However, this amount of plagiarism cannot go unchecked and we simply hope she can grow from this experience.

Recently, we have become aware of a writeblr, @celestialas (or Ena, as we will refer to her from now on), who is posting “original content” from other sources and claiming it as her own. It was not our intention to escalate the situation, but unfortunately, it did. We apologize for that and, hopefully, this should be able to provide some clarification.

(Wanna jump straight to the evidence? Click here.)

This was first brought to our attention via @sondials, who had noticed that Ena’s intro was worded similarly to hers–too similar to be a coincidence. However, all of us, including @sondials, initially brushed it off, giving Ena the benefit of the doubt, and assumed that this was a one time thing.

It was not.

After a week or so, we saw another one of Ena’s posts floating around various writeblr circles. The wording of her “writing tips” seemed too familiar for it to be a completely new and original post, but yet again, we brushed it off.

It wasn’t until yesterday, when one of us copied one of Ena’s so-called “wip excerpts” into Google, that we found out she was plagiarizing other people’s content. With the exception of a handful of posts (though that could be because of formatting), every single post Ena has passed off as her “own” has been lifted from another source.

ie.

The full extent of her plagiarism can be seen in this GoogleDrive Folder.

We attempted to diffuse the situation privately on Discord (you can read the full thing here). Ena repeatedly apologizes for her mistakes, but insists that it was never her intention to plagiarize. The main issue we have is that even though she never “intended” to plagiarize, she uses a variety of quotes from many prolific authors, from Haruki Murakami to Mark Twain, as excerpts of her own writing—too often for it to be a recurring accident. Furthermore, despite asking us for the names of the authors so that she can properly credit them, Ena has been privating the posts we have brought to her attention.

The goal of this conversation was to get Ena to publicly acknowledge the creators whose content she used and take responsibility for her actions. Taking down a few posts (not all of the ones with plagiarized content) and attempting to sweep this whole ordeal under the rug is not taking responsibility for her actions. After seeing the sheer amount of stolen writing and the posts she's claiming as her own, there's no way we can completely trust her to not plagiarize other people's content anymore. Despite her apology, we believe she still should be held accountable for her actions, so she can learn from them in the future.

#writeblr #writeblr community

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tilltheendwilliwrite · 7 years ago

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Qi Flows for Her

Chapter Four

Previous Chapter

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC x Bucky Barnes | Word Count: 8162 Warnings: Language, Angst, Languages which may or may not be correct

The next morning, Bucky and Steve left their adjacent rooms at the same time. When Bucky’s nightmares spiraled out of control, Steve was usually the only one who could calm him down, pull him out of them, or - if the worst happened - fight him off long enough for him to snap out of the HYDRA induced memories on his own. It made sense to have rooms close together and further from the rest of the team so as not to disturb the others.

This, in turn, had left them with a good chunk of the floor to themselves for even at a distance, one could usually hear Bucky scream. However, one of the only things Charles had stipulated with his offered X-Men was they be housed on the same floor. He hadn’t elaborated, only made it part and parcel of his acceptance.

As the X-Men now living in what had been fondly dubbed by the others as old man central was Celine, neither really minded.

Dressed for training, they walked with determined strides down the hall to her rooms where Bucky gave the door a firm knock. Without discussing it, they had come to the mutual decision to ensure she was included in all aspects of Avenger life, starting with the customary five am wake-up call which would see them through their early morning training prior to breakfast.

No one wanted to be thrown up on, so breakfast was always after the first round of spars. Later they would return to do whatever other training they wished, cardio or weights, go for a run or to the gun range, but first was sparing.

When no answer came at her door, Steve reached out and gave it a solid bang. “You think she’s a heavy sleeper?” Bucky shrugged. There was no noise from within the suite that he could hear at all. Finally, Steve called out, “FRIDAY, locate Celine Ena.”

“Lady Celine is in the training facility, Sir Rogers.”

Sighing, he exchanged a look with Bucky. “FRIDAY, who set your program to Asgardian?”

“Master Parker.”

“Revert to regular programming.”

“I cannot comply without Master Parker’s override, Sir Rogers.”

Bucky snickered softly. “Peter’s going to get his butt whooped, ain’t he?”

“Yes,” Steve grumbled.

Peter tended to pull these little pranks just before being out of the building for three or four days.

“At least the Asgard program isn’t as annoying as the gangster one he set her up with.”

Bucky nodded for listening to FRIDAY spout off in rap had been three days of hell. “Oi, FRIDAY, how long has Celine been up?”

“Lady Celine has been awake and in the training facility since zero three-thirty, Sir Barnes.”

“Jeez! What the hell?” he barked, astounded.

As one, he and Steve jogged toward the elevator, wondering just what had possessed her to be up so early. They got on in silence and off the same way, and turned toward the doors where Wanda stood gaping into the room.

“Wanda?”

��Shhh!” she hissed, waving them forward. “Look!”

So much excitement laced her voice they joined her with haste only to stare in amazement.

Celine stood balanced on one foot, her hands held before her. She stepped, sweeping down and up, the moves of Tai Chi becoming fluid and evident with each carefully placed footfall. Her hair was tied up in a messy knot at the back of her head, black flats matched the loose pants and high collared shirt she wore. The sleeves fluttered with the movements of her hands, but it was the radiance of her chi to which they all stared in awe.

For, floating around her when the action she went through had an animal in the name, the animal appeared in the glow of her chi. Tiger, snake, bird, horse, crane, monkey, all burst to life. It was an immense manipulation of power, yet she did it with relative ease, all while remaining serene. When she reached the end of her moves, she brought her hands up, allowing the chi to flow down, twist and twine around her.

It formed coils like a snake until the head dropped down and Steve gasped quietly.

A dragon made of glittering golden light surround her, it’s chin resting in the palm of Celine’s hand. The energy morphed, flowed, spiral up, and wings burst forth as a phoenix rose into the air, remained suspended for but a moment, before all her chi fell down, coating the woman wielding it in a radiant golden glow which faded back into her skin.

When Celine opened her eyes, they gleamed the same shining colour as her chi before they returned to amber. “Good morning,” she said softly.

Wanda was quick through the door, excitement evident in her swift strides. “That was… amazing!” she said, her hands twisting together. “I can do so much with my powers, but this… this was…” Wanda shook her head, unable to find the right words. “The animals were all so lifelike.”

Celine looked down at her hands where a ball of chi appeared. “It is not so difficult. A little practice and concentration.” A bunny sat, nose wrinkling, in the palm of her hand.

“What is their purpose?” Wanda asked.

She flicked the hand with the bunny outward, turning it into a tiger whose snarling mouth and sharp teeth were quite impressive. “Just because it is energy, does not mean it cannot be dangerous. The tiger will bite if I wish it.” Again her energy winked out, flowing back inside her. “But fighting with the animals makes it too easy to… lose the connection. I do not do it often.”

“So you can fight, too?” Bucky asked, striding into the room with Steve.

Celine tilted her head. “I can. I would make a poor X-Men if I were only good for my power.”

“Alright. Let’s see what you’ve got, doll face.” Bucky smirked as he moved toward the mats on the other side of the room.

Steve sent her a glance; one Celine returned full of cool, detached professionalism. It had him narrowing his eyes, but she only shrugged and followed Bucky.

“The animals, their detail, it gives you greater control, doesn’t it?” asked Wanda as she sidled up beside Steve.

“It does. I must have control at all times. It is essential to both my health and those around me.” She looked to Bucky and glided out onto the mats. “Rules, Sergeant?”

“Don’t hold back, and when I win, you don’t ever call me Sergeant again.”

Brow arching, Celine asked, “And if you lose?”

“I don’t lose.”

“Hypothetically then.”

He blinked for a moment, thinking. “I’ll let you help with my aura.”

The look of shock on Celine’s face had Steve’s brow arching. Just what did that mean?

“Very well.” Celine moved to face him, her body just slightly turned, and tucked one hand behind her back. “Begin.”

Bucky circled as Steve watched.

Celine remained still, unmoving. She didn’t even turn her head to keep him in view. Her lashes lowered, neatly shuttering her eyes. Her breathing was slow and deep. She appeared as if she were meditating, not preparing for battle.

When Bucky lunged, throwing a half-hearted punch, she simply flowed out of the way.

“You are not trying… Sergeant.” Celine smiled, placing both hands behind her back.

“Neither are you, darlin’,” Bucky smirked.

“Come at me then.”

The punches flew swiftly afterward, Bucky no longer holding back.

Steve and Wanda stood to the side, watching in amazement. He’d thought Celine fast last night, but here, now, she was lightening contained in flowing black clothes.

She moved like water, in and around, ducking beneath his friend’s flashing fist. Rarely did she throw a punch or strike, simply learning Bucky’s ways, forcing him to expend more energy in order to keep up with her. Once she slammed her elbow up into Buck’s armpit, making him grunt. Another saw her fist connecting firmly with his jaw, snapping Bucky’s head back.

Up to that point, Buck had been lenient when it came to his left arm, but the fist to his face had clearly stung. The wiring of the gears in his arm was a warning, yet, Steve did not see fear or concern on Celine’s face.

Her eyes lit up — excitement gleaming in the suddenly golden depths.

When Bucky threw the punch… she caught his fist. “Son of a bitch!” he hissed. “Not you, too?”

“The metal arm is quite impressive,” Celine smirked, stepping swiftly into his chest. She turned and threw Bucky over her shoulder.

He skidded across the floor and came to a stop at Steve’s feet.

“Well, shit.” Steve chuckled, holding down his hand to help Bucky up.

Celine stood in the center of the mats and smiled while she rocked up on her toes. “Give up… Sergeant?”

“Not on your life, doll. We’re just getting started.” He darted across the room.

Steve crossed his arms, shook off the shock, and began to actively assess Celine’s style. She fought with the skill of a Kung Fu master, but there was something strange about it. “Wanda? What do you see?”

“She’s channeling her power around her. Bucky isn’t missing his strikes. She’s… deflecting them. It’s brilliant.”

Hearing this, Bucky switched tactics. His flesh hand snaked out and closed around Celine’s throat.

Her eyes glowed a little brighter. She turned her body, grabbed hold of his wrist with her left hand, brought her right arm up and slammed her elbow into Bucky’s bicep. It jerked his friend forward and down, his grip on her throat failing. Her elbow connected twice more. Once with Buck’s neck, the other his ear. Twisting back, she kneed him in the solar plexus, shoved his head under the arm she still held and knocked him to the ground where she proceeded to kneel on his throat.

“Damn,” Steve muttered, impressed.

Celine had gone from her flowing Kung Fu into a Krav Maga move with little effort. Just how much did she know?

But Bucky wasn’t finished yet. His metal hand grabbed a fist full of clothing and threw her across the mats with a flick.

Celine rolled, getting quickly back to her feet. “You are quite good.” A smile flitted across her face.

Bucky smirked and gave a nod of acceptance. “So are you, Celine.”

She ran at him, her long legs eating up the distance, and Steve flinched for they were all familiar with the move. When she leapt up, intent on wrapping her legs around his neck, Bucky simply plucked her out of the air and dropped her on her back to the mat. He went with her, his heavy as hell best friend, laying his metal forearm across her throat and pinning her to the mats.

“Wrong move, doll. That's one of Natalia’s favorites.” Bucky smirked, sending Steve a nod.

“That’s the match,” Steve called.

“Are you certain… Captain?” Her eyes gleamed wickedly when she balled up her fist and slammed it into Bucky’s ribs. The blow was enough to knock him off her.

“I said match!” Steve bellowed, striding onto the mats.

“Only because you assumed I had lost,” Celine said, getting gracefully to her feet.

“I called the match because I knew he’d lost!” Steve snapped, heading toward Bucky who still had yet to get up. “He can't keep up with you right now.”

“What?” she gasped, turning to look. “Bucky!” Celine landed on her knees beside him.

“Bucky, you okay, pal?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, yeah. Caught the same ribs,” he grumbled, holding his side.

“You sparred with me… while injured…” she whispered, horrified.

“S’okay, doll face. Took a bullet a while ago. Ribs are still tender.” Bucky shrugged.

***

“Tu es un homme stupide! Comment pourriez-vous être si arrogant? Je pourrais vous blesser sérieusement!” The stream of French poured from Celine’s lips as she shoved Steve out of the way to wrench Bucky’s shirt up. (You foolish man! How could you be so arrogant? I could have seriously hurt you.)

“Pas besoin d'appel de nom, Celine,” Steve grumbled. (No need for name calling, Celine)

“You speak French?” she gasped.

“Oui. Si tu me voulais sortir de mes vêtements, ma chérie, tu devais juste demander.” Bucky smirked at her. (Yes. If you wanted me out of my clothes, darling, you just had to ask.)

“Shut up, Barnes.” She slapped his hands away as she jerked his shirt up to see the mess of bruising around his ribs. “I did this…” she whispered sadly.

“Nah, doll. I took a bullet. You may have pissed them off some, but it’s fine. If not you, then Steve there would have put a fist or foot into them later.” He shrugged as if it were nothing.

But it wasn’t nothing. Not to her. “Ní bheidh an chúis pian liom deireadh,” she whispered.

“Huh?” Bucky asked.

“Nothing,” she cleared her throat and ignored the way Steve frowned at her. “Hold still.”

“Why?”

Celine lifted a hand and set the glowing appendage over his ribs. She closed her eyes, turning internal to focus on the energy living in her heart chakra. She drew it forth and sent the healing into Bucky causing the color around her hand to shift to a soft green and spread out over his skin before sinking in.

When the black and purple bruises faded, she lifted her hand, let the glow wink out, and weaved slightly as she slumped back on her heels.

“Celine!” Steve grabbed her by the shoulders.

“I’m fine. Headrush.” She batted her hand at him.

“What… what the fuck?” Bucky gasped, hand going to his unmarked side.

“Good to go, Barnes.” She patted his knee before pushing to her feet to walk away. Her wrist was captured in an unbreakable, cold grip. The metal hand of the soldier was not going to allow her to leave.

“What did you do?” Bucky demanded.

She sighed. “Healed the damage I inflicted.”

“You healed a hell of a lot more than that. Are you going to be alright?”

She shrugged. “I will live.” She would renew her chakra point later with mediation. Feeding would help, but she doubted whether they would allow her to leave to do so, and knew they would insist on going with her if they did.

“Celine,” he growled, a warning in his voice and eyes.

“I will live,” she stated firmly. “Remove your hand.”

“Make me,” he snarled.

“Bucky.”

They both glanced at Steve. “Celine is perfectly capable of telling us what she needs when she needs it. I trust her to do so.”

Stunned, she stared at Steve before looking away. “Thank you, Captain.”

“It’s Steve, Celine. If I have to go my own round with you to get you to use it, I will.” His eyes were amused when she looked up.

The soft colours of his aura and the kindness which seemed to be innately inherent in him made her smile. He was a good man, right to the core.

“Thank you… Steve.” She looked at Bucky and arched a brow.

“When you want me?” he asked, releasing her wrist.

“Want you for what?”

“I lost. Guess that means you get to play in my aura.” He rolled his eyes.

“No.” She shook her head.

“What the hell you mean, no?” Bucky scoffed.

“I can’t help you if you don’t want help.” She turned on her heel and walked away. “When you wish my help, I will give it. For now, I am content.... Bucky.” She smiled at Wanda who seemed delighted with the way she had disconcerted both super soldiers. “If you wish to join me for meditation, I can assist you in finding further control of your power.” Though the woman had helped Stark manipulate things the night before, Celine could see how much it upset her to do so. It would not hurt to assist Wanda in mastering a few skills.

“I would.” Wanda nodded.

Tilting her head, Celine glided from the room. “Stark. Romanoff. Sam,” she murmured as she left, walking past the three of them standing in the doorway.

***

Looking to Bucky, Steve made a small motion with his hand.

Bucky nodded, turning to get the others moving as Steve jogged out after Celine. He hadn't liked what she'd said. His Gaelic may be rusty but to hear her say the pain she caused would never end had been heart-rending.

She was just getting on the elevator when he caught up.

“Hold up.” He got on with her, ignoring the way she sighed. “What you did back there was pretty impressive.”

She shrugged but kept her head down.

“Celine.” He stepped into her, reached for her chin, and tilted it up. “You didn’t have to run off. You could stay, spar with some of the others if you want. I’d like a go,” he said with a grin.

A smile twitched her lips. “Such boys.”

“Yeah, well.” He shrugged. “Don’t run away, Celine.” A curl had fallen from her messy knot which he tucked back behind her ear.

“Next time. I am tired, Steve. It has already been a long morning.”

“Why were you up so early?”

“I was tuning you all out. It takes time and silence.” She looked at him questioningly.

“We stopped by your room. FRIDAY told us.”

“Ah, the slightly archaic but polite AI. I met her.”

Steve shook his head. “She doesn’t usually sound like that. Parker tends to play pranks.”

“The tricky little spider did that?” she chuckled. “He is much like my students at the school.”

“You were a teacher?” The information surprised him. He hadn't known that. “Of what?”

“Languages and history. I also taught meditation and self-defence to those brave enough to spend time with the school’s resident vampire.” Scorn laced her tone.

“The way you fight’s pretty impressive.” He pressed the button for the floor with the team’s community spaces, determined to keep her talking when he realized they were just standing in the elevator.

Celine relaxed into the wall and shrugged. “It was Charles’ idea. I had issues with control when I was younger.” She looked away.

The doors slid open, and Steve took her by the hand, causing her eyes to dart up when he drew her toward the kitchen. “So, he taught you Kung Fu?” he asked, smile a little wry.

Celine chuckled but nodded. “Not Charles, but yes, he had someone teach me. The disciplines behind Shaolin Kung Fu, the Zen, the Buddhism, it all helped me learn to control myself. Control is essential. I added on from there.”

“No going hog wild for you then?” he teased lightly, heading for the coffee pot. When silence was his answer, he looked up only to find her eyes glazed, memories flitting behind them as devastation coated her face.

“Celine?” he called cautiously, moving toward her.

Tears had gathered on her lashes by the time he’d taken the three steps he needed. “Celine, baby. Come back, darling.” Cupping her face, he gently stroked his thumbs over her cheeks.

Her hands wrapped around his wrists, an action he felt right to the core. “Steve?”

“Yeah, Celine. I’m here.”

Her breath hitched. “Did I… hurt anyone?”

“You were only gone seconds, sweetheart. Does that happen a lot?” He’d seen it before with Bucky when the memories and terrors of HYDRA drew him back in.

“Not anymore. Not in forever. What are you doing to me?” she whispered, fear in the words.

He frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You shake my foundations — you and Bucky. I haven’t had a flashback in years. Now, twice in less than twenty-four hours.”

So much fear filled her voice it physically hurt his heart. “I don’t know, Celine. But I’m here, we’re here if you want to talk about it.” He drew her in, wrapped his arms around her back and held on tight. The stiffness in her posture told him hugs where not something she was used to. It only made him hold her tighter.

“Steve… I still can’t be your friend,” she murmured, even as her arms went around his waist and her head landed on his chest.

He chuckled softly.

They’d see about that.

***

A few days later the team stood before the quinjet, waiting on Celine. The call had come in and the mission was a go. Take out a Hydra base and retrieve what intel they could.

Steve looked at the gathered Avengers and felt nervous for the first time in … years.

Celine, Tony, and Nat had formed a wary sort of truce. Tony, unbelievably, trying harder than even Steve had expected.

Apparently, Celine wasn’t just languages and fighting. She had enough tech nerd in her to speak Tony’s language. She wasn’t a hacker by any means, but she liked his lab and asked - according to Tony - not entirely stupid questions.

The rest had gotten on board and been much more accommodating. Celine had seemed to develop a bit of a kinship with Wanda. He couldn’t call it a friendship, not with how she protested about having friends, but they shared similar powers and had bonded over them. Celine’s ability to so thoroughly manipulate her chi had intrigued Wanda. The control Celine exhibited when she used it was effortless, something the Scarlet Witch longed for.

Working together, Wanda was making progress. It made her happy, which made Vision happy. He had no qualms about Celine at all. His polite and casual nature the easiest to get along with.

Sam and Scott had taken to teasing Celine, all in good fun of course, and she seemed to revel in the attention. Both treated her as if she’d been with them for years instead of days. Their easy acceptance had drawn her in and drawn peels of laughter from her at regular intervals.

Thor, big, boisterous, booming Thor, was having the hardest time. He was so determined to make friends; he was disconcerting her a little. His bigger than life ways had finally forced Steve to draw him aside and tell him to tone it down, an action which had caused the big blond to brood something fierce.

Peter’s return had brought forth the side of Celine he figured was her teacher side, for when Peter - the little spider as she called him - whined about his history homework, she’d been more than happy to assist.

But with the approach of this mission, she’d withdrawn again, preferring to spend her evenings alone no matter how hard he and Bucky had tried to coax her out.

When the doors opened, he and Buck looked up together.

Both were kitted out in their standard gear. Steve’s suit the stealth one for this evening mission. Bucky’s arm hidden beneath the sleeve of his black shirt, chest covered with the vest sent from Wakanda.

T’Challa had heard of Bucky’s injury and had a new vest made; this one lined fully with vibranium. There wasn’t a weak point in the design a lucky shot could slip through, even though both he and Bucky had assured the King of Wakanda it had been a complete fluke of a shot.

When Celine walked through the doors, they swallowed reflexively. Her dark suit, standard issue for all X-Men it seemed, fit her like a glove. A belt rode low on her hips, the X symbol seated in the center. Her hair had been pulled back in a low tail, sending the length cascading down her spine. Boots laced from ankle to knee appeared like lower leg armor with how the black leather gleamed.

But it was the lack of weapons which made them both frown.

“Ain’t you going a little light there, doll?” Bucky asked.

A smile, sharp and deadly, graced her face. “I don’t need weapons. I am the weapon.”

Her predatory look had a few of them stiffening, but Steve only cocked a brow. “If you say so, Celine.”

As the others piled onto the jet, Bucky took Celine by the elbow. “Tell me what to expect?”

“I already have.” She shook her head.

Tensions had been a little thick between the two of them since her spar with Bucky. Steve knew it was simply Bucky's protective side sandpapering across Celine’s independence, but he needed them to get it together before he sent them off on their own.

It was a weird feeling, partnering with someone besides Bucky. They knew each other like extensions of their own bodies. But Buck had made it perfectly clear he was going to have Celine’s back this first mission. Out of all of them, himself included, Bucky was the least phased when Celine did something supernatural.

The rest stopped to stare. Buck just kept on moving.

She'd been here four days.

He was pretty sure his friend was falling hard for the newest member of the team. It made him sigh in regret for Steve was developing his own feelings for the slightly broken beauty.

Neither of them had said a thing to the other, and neither would say a thing to Celine. Both had made the unspoken choice to keep those feelings locked away. Tightly away from the woman who could read auras and emotions. She didn't need the pressure when she was so shaken at the prospect of being friends.

“Celine, once more for the old guy. They say hearing and memory are the first things to go,” Steve said with a smirk.

“Don't go starting something I'll have to finish, punk,” Bucky snickered.

“Jerk.”

“Both of you are idiots,” Celine sighed. “Short version. I will give Stark his demo.”

“Looking forward to it, vampira!” Tony called.

She rolled her eyes. “Then, no matter what you see or hear, you do not touch me, Barnes, and you stay out of my way.”

“And if he gets in your way?” Nat called out from beside Sam.

“I may just eat him,” Celine crooned, eyes glowing softly.

Clearing his throat, Steve motioned for all of them to get moving, wondering just what it was about those words that they could have turned him on so strongly.

***

Steve had hand-picked the team for this mission, but Bucky wasn't too happy with it.

Nat, Wanda, and Sam were going to be dealing with Intel. Tony was flying the perimeter with Vision. He, Celine, Steve, and Peter were tasked with clearing the base. Thor had been called back to Asgard, Scott was doing something for Pym, and Clint was back home, for the time being, so they were a little short-handed.

It was a big base. A weapons facility housing some of HYDRAs newest designs. It was an important target, but he still didn't like it.

In the farthest corner, slightly darkened in shadow, Bucky sat brooding. Torn between having Steve's back and having Celine's, he’d chosen someone other than Steve for the first time… ever. It left him conflicted. If something happened to Steve while he was looking after Celine, he'd never forgive himself.

“Bucky?” Celine’s hand landed lightly on the back of his when she sat down beside him.

“Yeah?” he looked up and fell into amber eyes.

“Go with Steve.”

“No.”

She smiled sadly and touched his face. Her eyes gleamed. “Yes, it's what you need. Go with Steve and Peter. I work best alone.”

“Not happening, doll face,” he said with a shake of his head.

The colour of her eyes brightened as her hair darkened. “Yes… you will.”

A foggy feeling filled his head, and he jerked from her hold, anger written on his face. “Don't.”

“Bucky…”

His hand snaked to the back of her neck, clammed tight and jerked her close. His whisper was low and harsh with hurt and anger. “After I stood up for you, after what I told you in the park, you dare sneak into my head? That's fucked up, Celine. I don't know what shit you're trying to pull but stay the hell outta my mind.” He released her with a little shove.

Shame coated her features, and her hand fell to his chest. “I… forgive me, Bucky. You're hurting. I… I… can't stand it. Being the cause of your pain.” She bit her lip.

“Damn it, Celine,” he sighed. “I'll be fine. Steve will be fine. I ain't so sure about you.”

“Please go with Steve,” she pleaded softly. Eyes downcast she whispered, “I don't want you seeing… me.”

“Why are you so scared of yourself?” he asked, gently lifting her chin.

“My nature…” A tear glistened on her lashes.

He swept it from her cheek when it fell. “Your nature is only a piece of you. Only a part. I'm not scared of you, Celine.”

The jet touched down.

She got slowly to her feet, sorrow coating her before her entire demeanour changed. Lifting her head, it was like her face froze over. “You will be.” The ramp at the back of the jet opened, and Celine walked out.

“Buck? Everything alright?” Steve asked.

“I don't know, Steve. Ask me again when this is over.”

They followed Celine into the forest until she stopped short of the treeline. From the ridge overlooking the base, they studied the layout of this hidden HYDRA fortress.

“Kinda wish we had Bruce,” Sam muttered.

“He was worried he'd bring the whole mountain down,” Nat said.

“What’s the play, Celine?” Steve asked.

She pointed. “Four towers, four guards.” She walked to the cliff's edge. “We’re too far away. I need to be closer.” Before anyone could stop her, she walked off the edge of the cliff.

“Celine!” Bucky darted forward only to watch her land lightly in the snow roughly twenty feet down. “Jeez, woman!” Rolling his eyes, he stepped off after her, swiftly followed by the rest, as those who couldn't make the jump were assisted by those who could.

Peter swung down and landed beside Celine. “Wow! You just stepped off! So cool.”

Even now he made her smile. “Promise me, little spider, you will stay out of my way. I have not gotten you fully tuned out yet. I don't want to hurt you by accident.”

“No problem, Celine!” He was gone in a swing of webbing.

Close enough to see the first tower, Celine paused to wait for the others. In the heavy twilight of evening, she let her nature change, let herself become Styx.

When they arrived, she did not turn around. “Your demonstration, Stark.” She lifted her hand and closed her eyes. “Tell me now, what is my level of force?”

“Huh?” Tony asked.

Sighing, she said, “Incapacitate or Kill?”

“Incapacitate, always, as long as it won't leave you vulnerable,” Steve stated.

“Hm,” she hummed, lifting the other hand.

Celine blew out a breath, inhaled slowly, and closed her fists. Qi flowed in sparkles like icy snowflakes through the air to wrap around her hands. It hung there, glowing, before falling to the ground and disappearing into the snow, back into the energy of the earth with her lowered arms.

“Celine?” Bucky asked, moving closer.

“They are down.”

When he stopped directly behind her, he murmured, “Why didn't you feed?”

“Can't. No emotion. They were too calm.” She shook her head.

“Then let's stir things up for you, vampira!” Tony chuckled.

“Let the others get in position first, Tony,” Steve warned him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony grumbled.

Sam, Wanda, and Natasha all darted away, heading for the fence line.

When they glanced her direction, Celine turned her face away, keeping her eyes downcast and heavy-lidded.

Bucky frowned and took her by the elbow. “Dollface?”

“I’m fine,” she huffed, pulling her arm free. “What did I say about touching?”

He lifted his hands in surrender. She was so stiff; she looked ready to break while they waited.

He glanced at Steve, watched the man frown, clearly concerned, but all Bucky could do was shrug. Once it was all over, then and only then, would he be able to prove his words to Celine. Prove he saw her no differently now that he’d watched her work.

“In position,” said Sam.

“Let’s go, doll.” He turned to look at Celine, only to find her gone. “Fuck!” he hissed, following her tracks in the snow.

He stumbled to a stop when he found her. “Celine!” he hissed.

She was standing in the middle of the damn road, staring up at the gate.

“This is how I work, Bucky.” She turned her head to look at him, and his heart stuttered. The goddess from the lake was back. “Stay out of my way.” Her voice seared through him, bled power, made him ache.

Jerking himself back, he nodded. “Do it.”

She tilted her head, a smirk twitching her lips as she reached behind her and pulled the band from her hair. The long chestnut locks had already darkened, but they turned into sleek coils sparkling with stars once released. She snapped the band around her wrist and walked into the lights from the gates.

A spat of Russian was barked at her. “Kto tam? Kto ty? Halt!!”

…Who goes there? Who are you? Halt!...

“Skazhite mne, deystvitel'no li vy byli khoroshimi lyud'mi?” Her voice rippled on the air and seemed to pulse with power and life. The glow around her intensified.

… Tell me truly, have you been good men?...

“Ostanovites', ili my budem strelyat' v vas!”

…Stop, or we will shoot you!...

She laughed.

The sound sent trepidation screaming down his spine as Bucky moved through the trees, shadowing her. Her next words sent ice through his veins.

“Then shoot me.”

They opened fire.

Her hands swept up, the golden light of her barrier deflecting the bullets. She continued forward, striding into the danger as if she were walking through Central Park. Her hips swayed, and her hair billowed out behind her in a cloud of night. He couldn’t see her eyes, but he knew they would glow. Her pace quickened, and she broke into a run allowing her to leap straight up to the catwalk, well over fifteen feet in the air. Her shield shrank down to inches from her skin, and she grabbed the closest guard.

Bucky watched as she dragged him in, holding his arm down while the man unloaded his weapon at her feet. He hadn’t known what to expect when it came to feeding, but when she pulled the man in, tilted her head, and opened her mouth inches from his, Bucky hadn’t expected it to look like a lover’s embrace. If not for the people running, trying to shoot her, or the screaming, he would have been strangely aroused by the whole thing.

She dropped the first guard, licked her lips like she’d eaten something delicious - sending a shot of heat straight to Bucky’s groin - and turned to face the others. This time when she reached out, the golden chi flowed to her in streams laced with reds and blacks. In seconds the five men on the gate were down.

She looked to where he stood stunned. “Coming, soldier?”

“Yeah,” he smirked, seeming to surprise her. He ran up the hood of a nearby truck, gave a heave of effort, and landed behind her with enough force to shake the structure. Explosions and gunfire were coming from everywhere, but Bucky only had eyes for her. “Shall we… Styx?”

A predatory smile appeared, one that flashed a set of wickedly sharp canines. Had she always had fangs?

“As I’m doing all the work… it would be nice to get a hand.” She sauntered away, her ass looking spectacular in those tight pants.

He was so turned on; Bucky had to fight not to react physically. “Just making sure you ain’t hungry, doll face before I start shooting people.”

A hand flicked in the air, dismissing him soundly. Her sultry voice called back, “I am satiated for the moment.”

He shot the man coming out the door, the bullet singing past her ear.

She stopped, turned, glared at him.

Bucky smiled and shrugged.

“And if you’d missed?”

“Darlin’, I don’t miss… ever.” He winked at her.

Rolling her eyes, she slammed through the door, the golden light of her barrier going before her. A hard crash and groan were heard as she took out the guards waiting, throwing them into the walls.

“But if you had?” she quipped.

“You’re all glowy, Styx. Ain’t worried about clipping you with a bullet.” He whipped his arm up, deflecting the bullets aimed at him, shot three rounds back, and continued on, following her out into the main facility.

Celine gave her wrist a flick and her shield extended to encase Bucky.

He shivered when her chi passed over him. It was stupid how turned on he was. How ridiculously sexy he found her at this moment. “Can I shoot through this?”

“Hm,” she hummed, leaning on the railing to glaring at the weapons on the floor below. “Only if you wish to blow us up. Look.”

Bucky looked down and swore. “Fuck.” He brought his hand to his ear. “Steve! We’ve got a problem.”

“What’s that?” Steve’s voice was as calm as ever.

It made him feel better. Steve wasn’t struggling; his breathing wasn’t laboured, meaning whatever he was facing was minimal work for Cap.

“We gotta shit ton of WMD’s in here. Some seem chemical in nature.” A few of the bigger shells had containers in the middle filled with a grey fog.

“Damn it,” Steve hissed. “Any ideas?”

“Celine’s up to something. Stand by.”

Beside him, Celine had already pulled out her phone and was taking pictures. “Hold this. Answer it when he calls.” She handed Bucky her phone, walked a few paces away, and lifted her hands. She appeared to connect with every person within the space of the warehouse and then pulled.

Chi of all colours flowed into Celine, wrapping her in a rainbow. It was beautiful and a little terrifying when Bucky looked away, only to watch a handful of bodies fall. They all just… slumped to the ground, no resistance, just down as if they’d been hit in the head.

“Wow,” he muttered, sliding his finger over the phone when it buzzed in his hand. “Yeah?”

A beat of silence came before the person on the other end of the phone said, “I’m looking for Celine?”

“She’s busy. I’m Bucky.”

“Ah, the Winter Soldier.”

“Former,” he grumbled, watching as Celine slowly inhaled. She seemed to grow darker as she did, her hair becoming a veil of night, her nails growing into talons, but damn if she didn’t become even more beautiful.

“Hm, indeed. Hank McCoy. They call me Beast. Celine sent some interesting pictures.”

“Any idea what we’re dealing with?” he asked, heading for the stairs to get a closer look.

“Chemical weapon, for sure. I’d need to get a sample to tell you what kind.”

“We can do that.” He weaved through the tables, approaching the gas canisters.

Appearing at his side, Celine held out her hand. “Hey, Blue Boy,” she smirked when Bucky handed back the phone.

“Beauty, you keeping them Avengers in line?” he chuckled.

“You know it, Beast.” She glanced at Bucky.

He only arched his brow. “Beauty and the Beast?”

She shrugged. “Standard collection?”

“Anything and everything you can get your paws on, Celine.”

“Gotcha.” She hung up the phone and tucked it away.

“Standard collection?” Bucky asked.

“Not the first time I’ve come across things of a... curious nature. I collect what I can and take it back for Hank to sort through. Between him and his staff, they’ll figure it out.” She glanced his direction and took a step away from him.

Saying nothing, even though he wanted to, Bucky began searching through the shit on the table, working his way down all the weapons. “Damn, there’s a lot.”

“They radiate death,” Celine murmured, hand hovering over the tops.

“You can tell?”

“Hm,” she hummed, nodding.

“Nat,” he said, hand going to his ear. “You in those files yet?”

Gunfire came back through his com before she muttered, “Working on it!”

“We got some kind of chemical weapons here. You need to get everything you can.”

“Don’t I always?” she sniped.

Bucky headed for the structure which looked rather office-like in the center of the warehouse.

“We’re circling around to you,” came Steve’s voice.

It didn’t surprise him Cap would want to see what they’d found for himself. Bucky started digging through the papers and pulled free a few which looked promising. Finding a notebook in a drawer full of test notes, he swore again when he figured out what they were dealing with. “It’s aimed at mutants.”

“Huh?” asked Steve, jogging through the door.

“The chemical compound. It’s aimed at mutants. Does something to the gene.” He held up the notebook. “I don’t understand enough of the medical jargon to get more than a gist.”

Looking past Bucky, Steve frowned. “Where's Celine?”

“She was right… fuck!” Bucky snapped. “She needs to stop doing that!” He tucked the notebook away and picked up one of the shells as he went. “Some guy named Hank wants them.”

“Hank McCoy. Bruce equivalent except he's permanently blue and furry, not green and angry,” Celine called from her perch on top of a tank.

“Whatcha doing up there, doll?” Steve called.

“Leaving a parting gift.” She held up the string of explosives.

“That a smart idea?” Bucky asked, following Steve up to crouch across from her.

“I've already set another string under the gas canisters. Get Stark to launch a few of those missiles of his, and there will be enough heat and flame to destroy everything.”

“You sure?” Steve questioned.

“Hank texted me.”

When Peter swung down, landing on the edge of the tank, Celine jerked away, causing her hair to fall forward and hiding her face from view.

“Wow! Celine!” Still, Parker’s voice held a wealth of reverence.

“Thought I told you to watch the doors?” Steve said.

“Yeah, yeah. You guys were just taking forever.” Peter bent to see her clearer. “I cleared out all the people Celine took out. Figure we'd be blowing this place sky high.”

She tucked her face farther down. “Let's go then. Tony can set these off once we're out.” She turned away from Peter and jumped off the side of the tank, an action which put a good chunk of distance between them.

“Parker, over the roof if you would,” Steve commanded.

Peter snapped to and nodded. “Yeah, sure thing, Cap.” He was gone in a sling of webbing.

Bucky exchanged a glance with Steve. “Puppy.”

“Completely,” Steve smirked. “Though you can't blame the kid.”

They stepped off the tank and jogged after Celine.

She was striding out the main exit when her hands came up in a blinding flash of power, deflecting the sniper's bullet at the last second. “Damn it! We missed one!”

Separating to either side of the door, Celine ended up beside Steve. “Eyes on the sniper? Anyone?”

“Not outta the building yet,” said Natasha.

“Dealing with something,” Tony remarked.

“I am dealing with the same something,” came Vision’s calm voice.

That could be just about anything at this rate, but there were an awful lot of explosions going off.

“I have him,” Celine said, her eyes coming open as she rounded away from Steve and charged out the door.

“Shit!” barked Steve.

“Fuck!” swore Bucky.

“Celine!” hollered Peter. He was swinging off the roof before anyone could stop him, heading straight for Celine.

***

She looked up. “No!”

The sniper's attention shifted from her, turned to Peter, and fired. The bullet slammed into the little spider’s side and sent him crashing to the frozen ground.

Rage washed through her, residual from all the power she’d absorbed mixed with her own at seeing the sweet boy fall. “No!” Celine screamed, feeling the pain and terror of Peter, the one person she hadn't tuned out fill her as if it were her own.

Her power whipped up, swirled and circled as she threw her arms into the air, commanding, “Bring him to me!”

The dragon, the most powerful of her creatures, rushed away in a whisper of wind. It's giant maw opened but no sound emerged. The glow lit up the compound as the twisting writhing body flew over it, streaking up the side of the mountain like a comet. It circled and swooped, diving for its prey. A scream rent the air when the taloned hands of her dragon snatched up the sniper.

Swinging around and down, it returned, dropping the man in the snow before Celine. The dragon landed behind her, its coils writhing, kicking up snow, talons digging furrows in the ground. Made of only her energy he was quite transparent, yet he still struck fear into the hearts of those around her.

When she glided through the snow toward the terrified soldier, she unleashed the full fury of Styx upon him. Power rushed through her, lines of chi in shimmering colours of red and black, gold and white spun out, surrounding them in a cage no one would be coming through. The black lines slammed into the ground and erupted out beneath the man who’d shot Peter to lift him into the air.

“You would kill an innocent? Take the life of a boy!” she howled with rage, and the scream of the underworld seemed to roar with the voice of death.

His fear was complete. His terror so strong she could taste it on her tongue.

“The river of life flows through me.” Beckoning him forward, she drew him down until he hovered inches before her upturned face. She tugged the mask and helmet from his head, took his chin in her hand, and lifted his head up, so he was forced to look in her eyes. His were a murky brown full of fear which shifted swiftly into awe.

“What is your name?” she asked whisper soft.

“Al-Alexi…” he whimpered.

Celine caressed his cheek. “You stand at the crossroads, Alexi. At the doorway of death. Show me your life. Have you been a good man? Or did you do evil? What innocence have you taken?”

His aura shifted, darkened, showed the evil of his life, his depravities, the people he’d killed and how he’d enjoyed doing so.

“You are unworthy of this life!” she hissed, eyes blazing. “Do better in your next one!” Celine opened her mouth and drained him dry, pulled every ounce of chi from his body, while the screams of the underworld raged on the wind.

Darkness ripped an opening between the living realm and the dead, a river winding away into the land of night, and Celine lifted her hand. Her light held the darkness at bay, kept the things which should not return to the land of the living from spilling out into the world. With her opposite hand, she slammed her palm into Alexi’s chest and sent his soul through the doorway to find safe passage back into the river of life where, in time, he'd be reborn.

The doorway closed, the corpse dropped at her feet, and she snapped her hands out, releasing the cage and drawing her power back into her body.

The silence sounded too loud when she turned and started toward the form of Peter whose blood marred the snow beneath him.

Steve and Bucky stared at her, stiffening as she came closer. Their reactions seared pain through her heart and cleaved a new wound in her soul. But it was Peter, holding out his hand weakly, the fear in his aura screaming at her, who broke Celine in two.

“Peter, I can help you,” she said, stopping when he cringed away.

“NO! I... I’m okay… Celine…” He shook his head.

She clenched her fists and looked to Bucky and Steve knelt beside the little spider. Their faces were unreadable, but their auras were not.

A bitter laugh spilled from her lips, and she looked up at the others.

Tony and Vision gaped at her. Vision always so difficult to read looked at her with suspicion, distrust, and worry. Tony, hidden behind his suit screamed concern.

The other three, Wanda, Nat, and Sam looked at her with varying levels of shock, fear, and in Natasha’s case... triumph. The Black Widow had had her point proven rather spectacularly.

Nodding slowly, despair taking her breath away, Celine looked at the two super soldiers. “Now, now you see. Now you understand.” She called the dragon to her, allowing its coils to wrap her up, offer false comfort when her chi sank into her skin. It disappeared, and she walked away, heading back toward the jet.

She wasn’t needed anymore and staying would only make things worse.

Blood dripped into the snow from where her nails had pierced her palms.

Next Chapter

#qi flows for her #Steve Rogers #steve rogers fanfiction #captain america #captain america fanfiction #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #Winter Soldier #winter soldier fanfiction #Avengers #The Avengers #avengers au #avengers fanfiction #X-men #x-men au #x-men fanfiction #crossover

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ryuuenjis · 7 years ago

Text

Clipped Wings

Series: Future Card Buddyfight Characters: Kanata Ozora, Tasuku Ryuenji, Gao Mikado Pairings: KanaTasu if you squint?

Chapters: 1 | 2

Summary: Tasuku saw a bit of himself in Kanata. That's why he wanted Kanata to be able to spread his wings again.

A/N: I almost forgot to post this here whoops. I haven’t actually watched a single episode of Buddyfight X. I’m only drawing on basic ideas, but otherwise diverging completely. This was the year of self-indulgence

Throws some vague references to the Fall from Grace series so if you see anything that you’re sure didn’t happen in the anime, it’s because it actually didn’t happen

Thank you to Ena (@n4391) for helping me with this. You can also read it here!

Enjoy!

“An invitation to join the tournament?”

Takihara nods gravely, and Tasuku sighs and returns his gaze to the files he had been looking over in his tablet.

“With everything going on, I don’t think I can afford to participate. I’ve been barely able to keep up with school as is…”

“You won’t even consider it?” The worry on Takihara’s face is evident in the form of creased eyebrows, and he looks at Tasuku with concern set deep in his eyes. “A couple of weeks off from Buddy Police work could do you some good. We’ll be able to handle things…”

Tasuku smiles, though it is somewhat empty, and there is little humour in it. “I wouldn’t be able to do it in good conscience… We’re close to getting a lead on these ‘Chaos’ guys too. I don’t want to relax just yet…”

Takihara shakes his head, but cedes to Tasuku’s decision. The boy is unyieldingly stubborn when he’s made up his mind. Changing it is more trouble than it’s worth.

“You’ll have to find a replacement, then… The tournament is a fight between fighters chosen as representatives for the worlds. You were chosen to represent Star Dragon World, so it might be tough to find someone else…”

“It’s okay,” Tasuku says as he absentmindedly swipes the tablet screen up and down, as if hoping answers will leap out at him if he does it enough times. So far, no dice. “Gao-kun told me that more and more people have been using it lately. I’m sure I’ll be able to find someone.”

Tasuku starts his search in an obvious place: Aibo Academy. With its repository of budding Buddyfighters, he figures that there is sure to be at least one noteworthy Star Dragon World user.

After an hour of searching through the Buddy Police’s database, he finds one.

Ozora Kanata.

A dark horse of sorts, the sixth grader had won several tournaments in the past, but has ceased activity in recent months. Among the few Star Dragon World users he finds, Kanata is the one who stands out the most.

“He’s the one…”

Tasuku appears on the school grounds in his civilian clothes at the end of the next school day to avoid causing a ruckus, but someone familiar recognizes him and runs up to him anyway.

“Tasuku-senpai!”

Tasuku smiles when he sees Gao’s approach. “Gao-kun. Long time no see.”

“It really has been a long time! I haven’t seen you in forever! Mom’s been really worried. She keeps talking about how she’s gonna slam you into the ground if you show up looking ‘pallid and exhausted.’”

Tasuku can’t quite contain the nervous laughter that escapes his throat. “Is...is that so? Please tell Suzumi-san that I’m fine, and that she doesn’t have to worry…”

Gao has begun to pout, and Tasuku looks away before he can get sucked into his huge amber eyes. “I don’t believe you,” Gao says. “It’s been a while since you’ve visited our place. It’s been so long that even Noboru’s begun complaining! He keeps asking me whether you’re coming over today, whether you’re gonna be here or there…”

“Even Noboru-kun? I guess absence really does make the heart grow fonder.” Tasuku is smiling, though, when the blond comes to mind. Despite Noboru’s prickliness, Tasuku knows he’s a good kid. Gao concurs with a nod and a grin.

“Let us know when you’re free again! It’s been a long time since the three of us were able to hang out together. You should sleep over again too. Mom’s always cleaning the guest room so it’s always ready for you in case you drop by.”

In spite of such harsh and troubling times, Tasuku is able to smile warmly, thinking about how Gao and his friends and family are always going out of their way to make sure he has a place with them.

“Thank you. I’ll visit sometime soon.”

“Alright!” Gao pumps his fist, but seems to realize something, and turns back to Tasuku quizzically. “Why are you here in Aibo anyway? Is it another undercover mission?”

“No… Not this time. Gao-kun, do you know of a student named Ozora Kanata? He’s in your year.”

“Kanata? Yeah, he’s in the class next to mine. Why?”

“I see. Can you tell me more about him?”

“Huh? Sure. You see, he’s…”

As they walk together throughout Aibo, Gao tells Tasuku of his schoolmate. Once lauded as the “no-damage fighter,” Kanata was one of the strongest fighters on the scene, his partnership with his Buddy Monster and incredible synergy with the Prism Dragon build making him top class.

“He probably started after even me, since it was after Star Dragon World began appearing. Maybe you remember giving him his core deck case?”

“I do, actually. I remember the faces of everyone I’ve ever given a deck case. I don’t really keep track of them afterwards, though. You’re probably the only one.”

“Ehhh! Lucky me!”

They both share a chuckle before Gao continues on.

“I’ve never actually fought him, so this is what I got from word-of-mouth… But apparently, he won a lot of tournaments. And get this--he was able to win entire fights without taking a point of damage. Never lost a fight once! So he was super strong!”

“‘Was’…?”

“Ah, yeah, about that…” Gao frowns. “I heard that he lost interest in Buddyfighting because he could beat everyone so easily. There was also…”

Tasuku nods, waiting for Gao to continue, and Gao’s face falls a little. “I heard that people also began hating him. Because of the way he plays. Stuff like, he’s looking down on his opponent, hiding behind his Buddy, and not even bothering to launch a direct attack… But, I think it’s because people were bitter towards him. Since he had just started, but became a pro in no time.”

“A hated genius…”

“Yeah, yeah! Exactly like that! People didn’t want to fight him, and Kanata didn’t want to fight other people because of that, so I guess he just kinda stopped?”

“I see. What does he do now?”

“Kanata? Uhh… I think he’s part of Aibo’s soccer team. He’s been into soccer since before he got into Buddyfight. Come to think of it, they always have practice after school, so they should still be on the school grounds! I can show you there if you want!”

“I would really appreciate that. Thank you.”

Tasuku explains his own situation to Gao on the way to the field, and Gao agrees to help him. They watch a soccer team in progress, and one player clearly stands out above the rest. With dual-toned minty blue and white hair and deep blue eyes, Kanata zips between the opposing team and launches the ball into the goal with expertise. Gao’s eyes light up in admiration, and Tasuku observes silently as Kanata’s teammates high-five him for the goal while the opposing team huddles to regroup. This goes on for the next little while before the club president finally dismisses the team, and the members disperse.

“Ah! There he goes! He’s gonna wash up on his own. Let’s go talk to him--”

Gao’s phone suddenly goes off, and Tasuku yelps and jumps at the abrupt loudness of his ringtone. Gao is snickering as he answers, but the humour fades from his face when he hears who’s on the other end. Tasuku can swear he can hear Suzumi Mikado yelling at him.

Gao claps his hands together apologetically as he looks to Tasuku. “Sorry, Tasuku-senpai! I totally forgot that I had practice today… If I don’t get home in five minutes, Mom’s gonna kick my butt.”

Tasuku smiles both reassuringly and sympathetically. Even with a Buddy Skill, the Mikado dojo is more than five minutes away. Gao’s in for a rough time. “Don’t worry about it. I can talk to Kanata-kun on my own. You should go. Say hi to Suzumi-san for me, okay?”

“Will do! Seeya! Let’s meet up again soon!”

Tasuku waves and turns to where he had seen Kanata walking off and starts in that direction too.

The path leads him behind Aibo Academy, where Kanata is hunched over the outdoor tap and running his head under the cool water. Tasuku waits until he’s done…

And waits…

But Kanata isn’t moving.

Concerned, Tasuku calls out to him.

“Ozora Kanata?”

Kanata finally slowly raises his head from the tap, staring at Tasuku with sleepy-looking half-lidded eyes. His bangs cling to his face and his soaking hair drips water onto the grass.

“Ah… Sorry. I must’ve fallen asleep.”

Tasuku cocks an eyebrow. “...While there was cold water running over your head?”

“It happens sometimes.”

The little Prism Dragon that had been standing beside Kanata, whom Tasuku assumes to be Athora’s mini form, pipes up:

“You’re so silly, Kanata! Did all of that cold water feel good?”

“It did, it did. It felt so good that I fell asleep.”

They both share a light chuckle, and Tasuku feels slightly concerned.

Tasuku definitely remembers giving a core to this boy. Back then, Kanata’s eyes had been bright with wonder and enthusiastic to discover the friend in his Buddy, Athora. Tasuku had seen a bit of himself in Kanata that day.

But when Kanata finally turns to Tasuku again, Tasuku sees that his eyes have lost their light. The passion that soccer seemed to have ignited within Kanata has fizzled out now that the game is over, and all that is left in his sleepy-looking eyes is emptiness.

“So… You’re… Uh…” Kanata’s brow creases over as he thinks. “That guy who appears on T.V. a lot… Umm… Gaen Kyoya?”

Tasuku feels like he has been punched in the gut, and it takes him a few moments to recover. That is not a name he had been expecting to hear any time soon, nor is that person anyone Tasuku ever wanted to be confused with. “Ryuenji Tasuku. I’m with the Buddy Police.”

“Kanata,” Athora says, with endless patience. Tasuku swears he can hear a twinge of fondness in his voice. Or is it amusement? At Tasuku’s expense? “He was the one who gave you your core deck case, remember? When we first met.”

“Ohh. Yeah, that guy. Ah, it’s you, the one who gave me my core deck case.” Kanata seems enthralled, but his face falls a little. “But if you’re here...does that mean you’re gonna arrest me?”

“Eh?”

“Absolutely not!” Athora leaps in front of Kanata, seemingly appalled at the notion. “Kanata has done absolutely nothing wrong his entire life! If I must fight you to prove Kanata’s innocence, I will!”

“I’m not here to arrest him,” Tasuku quickly intervenes before the situation spirals downwards. “I actually wanted to ask a favor of you, Kanata-kun.”

Both boy and dragon’s interest appear piqued by the request. “A favor…?”

“That’s right. The World Buddyfight Tournament… I want to ask you to participate in my place, as Star Dragon World’s representative.”

As soon as he hears the word “Buddyfight,” Kanata’s demeanor completely changes. He looks away with a grimace and seems to shrink back. Curiosity becomes apprehension, and the rest of Kanata’s emotions seem to become shrouded in a veil.

“Buddyfight, huh… I don’t really play Buddyfight, though. You see, I’m kind of not that good at it…”

“Huh?” That doesn’t line up with what he has heard from Gao. “You won many tournaments back in the day, didn’t you?”

Kanata shrugs lackadaisically. “That was then… I probably just got lucky. I’m focusing on soccer now, so… Sorry. I don’t really have the time.”

Tasuku feels as if that isn’t the full story, and notices that Athora has fallen strangely silent, but before he can speak up again, Kanata suddenly straightens up.

“Ah! I totally have to get going now. It’s real late. Bye, Tasuku-san.”

And before he can stop him, Kanata runs off, leaving Tasuku to ponder his vague excuse.

That night, Tasuku lays on his futon with Jack’s mini form curled on his chest, but finds that he can’t sleep.

“...Jack, are you still awake?”

“...I am. You’re thinking about Ozora Kanata, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I can’t help but wonder whether he was telling the truth. According to Gao-kun, he was really strong, and the records can’t be lying, but… I don’t know. He seemed like he really didn’t want to Buddyfight. If that’s the case, then I don’t want to force him into it...but…”

“But you think something felt off about what he said, correct? I felt that way too.”

“Really?”

“I did.” Jack opens his amber eyes a crack, and looks at Tasuku. “I think he lied because he was afraid.”

Tasuku reflects on what Gao told him earlier. “Because he lost interest… Or because people began hating him.”

A hated genius…

“It’s possible. We don’t know the extent of what happened, but it’s clear that the experiences have clipped his wings. He prefers to stay grounded where it’s safe.”

“But he has so much potential!” Tasuku sits up abruptly, and Jack tumbles onto his lap. “I could see it in his eyes, his bond with his Buddy! It’d be a shame for all of that to go to waste, wouldn’t it?”

A little disgruntled, Jack shakes himself off and stretches his wings out before looking up at Tasuku again. “If you think it’s wrong, then it’s up to you to show him, Tasuku. You’re the one who chose him.”

Despite Jack’s words, Tasuku feels uncertain. His previous enthusiasm vanishes like wisp of smoke as he thinks of all of the ways this could go wrong. “I don’t know… I can’t connect to people as well as Gao-kun can.”

“Have faith in yourself, Tasuku.” Jack places a tiny claw over one of Tasuku’s hands. “You don’t necessarily need the same strengths as someone else to achieve the same result. You have your own unique way with people. There will be something that you can do. No… You’re probably the only one who can do it. Who can help Ozora Kanata fly again.”

They settle down after that, but even after Jack has drifted off, Tasuku spends a long time staring at the dark ceiling, chewing on Jack’s words.

Tasuku appears at Aibo again the next day, and again waits for Kanata to finish with practice. He approaches him again, and meets the same response. That he’s busy with soccer, that he’s focusing on academics, that he doesn’t play Buddyfight anymore. No matter how hard Tasuku tries to get through to Kanata, his attempts are rebounded off the impenetrable walls that Kanata has erected around himself.

“I did a bit of asking around. Other people in your class say that when you’re called on, you answer the questions wrong on purpose, yet you still get really good grades. The others call you a ‘doofus’ or an ‘airhead,’ but you’re really not one at all, are you?”

“Tasuku-san," the 6th grader pauses and slowly turns to Tasuku, addressing him with so calm and lighthearted a voice as if he were simply talking about the weather, "I’ve been wondering this for a while, but are you actually a stalker?”

Tasuku blanches, a little taken aback by the sudden question. “Does...does it feel like I’ve been stalking you? That wasn’t my intention at all…”

Kanata smiles sleepily. “Even though you’re really cool on T.V., you’re actually pretty bad at personal relations, huh…”

Right back at you, buddy!

“I just want to understand,” Tasuku is sure to choose his words carefully, just in case Kanata somehow manages to turn them against him again, “why you put up an act like this.”

“It’s not an act, though… Sometimes I can’t even remember what 2 + 2 is, and I really do put my shoes on backwards everyday.”

That was oddly specific. “Are you happy with people thinking that way about you?”

“Mmhm. It’s the truth, after all.”

“Is Athora happy?”

Kanata visibly falters at the question and doesn’t answer. Tasuku continues speaking.

“He cares about you a lot, I can see that. But...he’s still a Buddy monster who formed a contract with you. You won’t even consider picking Buddyfight up again for his sake?”

Kanata bites his lip and looks down. Athora places a paw on his shoe as if to reassure him.

“I’m fine with the way things are, Kanata…”

But all three of them know that isn’t entirely the case. Tasuku can hear it in Athora’s voice, and he knows Kanata can too. Judging from the way he reacted to Tasuku’s sudden question, Kanata had been thinking about it for some time, perhaps even before he met Tasuku.

“Kanata-kun,” Tasuku is sure to face Kanata to make his intentions clear, “will you have a Buddyfight with me?”

There’s no answer, so Tasuku continues.

“This is the very last thing I’m going to ask of you, and then I’ll leave you alone. You were right, you know--I’m not that good at personal relations. But I can understand someone through a fight. And I want to understand you, Kanata-kun.

“Regardless of whether you win or lose, I won’t force you to accept my request either. So you don’t have to put anything on the line in our match. We can just have a fun fight without worrying about anything. Does that sound fair?”

Kanata finally looks up. “...Just one fight?”

“Just one.”

“...Okay.”

Athora is visibly delighted, and Tasuku has to dampen his own feeling of triumph so that it does not show in an obnoxious display of cheers. But Kanata isn’t finished speaking yet.

“I have one more condition, though, Tasuku-san. I don’t want anyone to see our fight.”

“Hm… That’s fine with me. I can’t promise anything, though... Paruko-san always has a way of finding out…”

“Did you say something?”

“No, nothing. I know just the place.”

The fight begins with a slow start. Tasuku strikes hard and fast, but his attacks are deflected each time. However, Kanata makes no move to launch a solid attack, opting to chip away at Tasuku’s life little by little. Tasuku only knows the Prism Dragons as a defensive build, but Kanata’s plays are beyond even that.

It’s almost as if Kanata’s too afraid to attack.

So Tasuku attempts to goad him into it.

“What’s wrong? You’re not planning on spending the entire fight hiding behind your Buddy, are you?” he says, and the expression he wears exudes confidence. Kanata only smiles harshly in turn.

“I did tell you I wasn’t good at Buddyfighting… I’m not sure what you were expecting from me, Tasuku-san.”

“You won’t win against me and Jack that way. This match will be over soon if you don’t get serious.”

Kanata clicks his tongue at his hubris, and Athora shakes his head.

“Don’t listen to him, Kanata. He’s just full of hot air; he has yet to deal a single point of damage on us. Stay calm.”

Kanata takes a deep breath and focuses on Tasuku, and finds himself admiring how free Tasuku’s eyes look.

Tasuku manages to break through Kanata’s absolute defense, destroy Athora, and inflict his first point of damage on Kanata.

That’s when Kanata finally gets serious. Tasuku sees the way Kanata begins truly coordinating his plays, almost out of desperation, and sees that his own suspicions were on the mark.

A small smile on his face, Tasuku raises Radiant Star, Linkage, and attacks.

It’s a close match, but Tasuku emerges victorious. With a vicious combo of Linkage and Soul Generator, with Radiant Alma and J Galaxion in Jack’s soul, Tasuku unleashes a brutal 4-hit attack with Galactical Punisher that tears down Kanata’s defense for good.

Kanata takes the loss into stride, smiling sardonically.

“You beat me.”

But in spite of the lackadaisical posture and averted gaze, Tasuku isn’t fooled. There is a spark in eyes that were previously dull and uninterested. He smiles and approaches Kanata.

“You almost had me there. I had to go all out on you from the very beginning, but you only began fighting me seriously halfway through. Can you imagine how that could’ve turned out if you gave it your all from the beginning?”

“You’re giving me too much credit, Tasuku-san. I’m not actually that good.”

“If you keep saying that, you’ll disrespect yourself, and Athora.”

Kanata falls silent at that and looks up at Tasuku again, and Tasuku takes that as a cue to continue speaking.

“Please give it some thought. I think you felt it in that fight too, didn’t you? You want to see how far you can go.

“Isn’t it about time that you spread your wings again? Ozora Kanata.”

Kanata is still silent, and Athora hovers in between them.

“Please give Kanata some time to think. We’ll have your answer by tomorrow.”

Tasuku smiles and nods. “Alright. Understood. Thank you for the fight, Kanata-kun.”

As Tasuku walks away, Athora turns to look at Kanata again.

“He was actually quite nice after all, wasn’t he, Kanata? ...Kanata?”

Kanata stares after Tasuku’s retreating figure and slowly raises a hand to his chest, where his heart is still pounding, and his blood still tingling with adrenaline.

There are only two thoughts on his mind at that moment.

I want to feel that rush again.

And…

I want to beat Tasuku-san.

The next day, boy and dragon arrive at the Buddy Police with their answer, and Tasuku smiles.

#future card buddyfight #buddyfight #kanata ozora #tasuku ryuenji #fanfic #i say there's supposed to be two chapters but #im so...lazy......

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