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eternalwritess · 4 months ago

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jjk matchup exchange with @tigreblvnc

i match you with... 𝓢𝓾𝓰𝓾𝓻𝓾 𝓖𝓮𝓽𝓸 ██ 20% _ ████ 60% _ █████ 80% _ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ 100% ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇ!

➠ I have no doubt in my mind that you both met at Jujutsu Tech High school (or whatever its called i such at remembering this stuff-). Of course he most likely asked why you were here and regardless of what you told him he likely didn't show much of any emotion only saying that he was here to protect the weak. Something that Satoru overheard and laughed about behind his back.

➠ You thought that it was a noble cause though and congratulated him on it. He liked you since then but never really thought much of it. He thought that you were too loud, but he never really hated you. More that he didn't care about being around you or getting to know you.

➠ You likely became Satoru's friend pretty quickly which meant that you and Suguru would spend more time together seeing how those two get along. You and Satoru would constantly fight and bicker and he began liking how persuasive you could be and how you managed to even get Satoru to shut up at times when he got too frustrated to argue with you.

➠ He would be dragged along with you and Satoru whenever you decided to mess around with Yaga at the time and be forced to get you both out of whatever predicament that you put yourselves in, constantly looking after you two, however he never minded it. He liked being dragged along and watching you both get in trouble for what you did, only to do the same thing again.

➠ It was through this routine that the two of you became closer and closer. Soon enough you began annoying and teasing him, something that he took a challenge on. If you poked him he'd poke you right back. Throw paper balls at him during school and during training you'd have about 500 flyheads chasing you around the school. He would bother you back and found that it was fun hanging out with you.

➠ If you'd ask him a tricky question he would get confused before answering it. Ask him a hard one and he would go for whatever he thought was the noblest answer. But after you were done he'd ask the most random questions ever to confuse you right back without hesitation.

➠ He liked everything about you, the way that you made him smile and the way that you lit up his day. He liked everything about you and everything that you did. Even when the things that you were doing were getting you in trouble with others he still liked you. Eventually that like began to grow and grow until he found himself having a full on crush on you.

➠ He didn't even want to admit it to himself at first because he thought that it was childish of him. Not to mention that he didn't want to ruin what you already had, and you both were already good friends. If he was to confess what would happen then? He didn't even know if you'd take him seriously.

➠ So that's why Satoru did it for him. Against Suguru's wishes of course. Apparently 'Suguru was just being so obvious with his like of you. Staring at you from across the class, insisting on sitting next to you, going on any and all missions with you and making love-dovey eyes towards your way' (all of this were Satoru's words by the way) that he thought that you knew that he liked you.

➠ When he saw that you didn't know he laughed it off and bolted it out the door shouting that he was never here and that you heard nothing. A few minutes later you saw Suguru grabbing Satoru by the ear and yelling at him. The moment that he looked at you though his face turned red and he grabbed Satoru (who was shouting for you to help him) and walked off.

➠ A few hours later he said that you didn't have to except his feelings and that he was terribly sorry that Satoru was being such an idiot back then. He was really prepared to get rejected but when you didn't he was so surprised. Just ask Satoru, he caught the whole thing on camera.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ♡

➠ One thing that he doesn't mind about you at all is your anger issues, he'll sit through them with no complaints, no matter how long they last. He's a patient man, although if he senses that they're getting a bit out of hand he'll make you talk about whats going on with him as he doesn't fancy seeing you so mad all of the time

➠ Your first date was a wreck, the whole gang was following you practically everywhere (courtesy of Shoko and Satoru). He got so annoyed at them that he ended up releasing a curse just to deal with them so that they would run away and take the hint. (Satoru could've defeated it easily but decided to take the hint).

➠ I think that you two would garden together, and if not that then at least take walks around the campus and just look at the nature there and sometimes even take care of it yourselves. He just loves seeing you happy. Sometimes he'll even try to get water on you if you water the plants together.

➠ He would take you out to eat very often, not minding where you went and would also get you little snacks when he came back from his missions telling you that he wants you to try them and tell him what you think so he can get you some more next time if you like him.

➠ Satoru would tease you both nonstop whenever you did something remotely couply. He would also gag if you ever kissed in front of him (it doesn't even have to be on the lips, just like on the forehead or cheek is enough for him). But he is happy for you both.

➠ Since you're both Satoru's friends he shoveled talked both of you- at the same time... for a presentation... that was about curses. He went on and on and on and halfway through Yaga just stopped him and told him that he's getting an F on the assignment.

➠ I forgot to mention that he would try and take you on his missions sometimes, like if it was during a break and he was going out of town he'd see if you were open to go with him and would get you both the best seats on the plane and the best hotels.

➠ Every now and then he would make an out of pocket joke of a serious situation to make you laugh cause hearing you laugh is one of the bests things for him in general as it makes him feel nice.

➠ He sometimes feels like he's too different for you and that one day you'll decide that he's too boring for you and just leave him which is one of the things that he's most scared and terrified of.

➠ When the 'Hidden Inventory' arc happened he didn't talk to you for days on end, didn't even send you a text to confirm that he was okay and when you did see him you would get worried and try to ask him what was wrong and if he was eating well but he would always avoid the question so you decided to put it off.

➠ He never told you the full extent about what happened to Riko, not really. All you ever got from him was that the girl they were meant to be protecting died. That's all you ever got from Satoru too as he was constantly on missions so you never really understood.

➠ You were traveling on a mission when you were told to come back to the school. You had just finished it anyways so you obliged, it wasn't Yaga who told you what had happened but Satoru, he said that he even confronted Suguru and that it was best that you forget about him and who he was.

➠ Of course you pushed him for answers but he never gave any, he just walked away leaving you in almost complete denial. This didn't sound like him, he became a sorcerer to protect the weak, not to kill them. Yaga allowed you access to the file on what had happened and you saw first hand that it was true.

➠ His plan probably didn't make sense to you. You knew what he was going for, to end all curses but in the long run the whole thing was pointless. You killed curses to protect people, you don't kill people to kill curses. You wanted to tell him that...

will you?

hope you like my moodboard at the end! also hoped you enjoyed this!

#match up #matchups #matchup #jjk #jjk geto #jjk suguru #geto suguru #suguru geto #open ending #the last bullet is up to your interpretation!

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carrotcouple · 8 months ago

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"In Izar Palace gold jewelry is the sign of special status and royalty. Even though His Royal Highness, Prince Vlad, could not wear gold jewelry until his sister became Queen, he freely gives. Each member of his circle is gifted gold jewelry by Prince Vlad himself. Even though none of them are nobles. Even though, His Highness, Prince Vlad, hardly adorns himself."

Fun lore here we go! For those that do not know, Vlad is one of my antagonists in The Ashen Magus. He's a bit of a personal fave. He grew up in Izar Palace as the second in line to the throne. He and his older sister Hypatia were the only of the many royal children that actually carried royal blood. However, they were neglected by his father as his mother, the rightful queen, started to lose her mind. He was neglected, abused and bullied. He never got to wear any gold jewelry until his older sister, Hypatia, murdered their father and then took the throne.

Who are each of the characters here? So they're part of Vlad's personal circle. A mismatched group of people who ended up serving him willingly or unwillingly. It should be fairly obvious who Vlad is, so lets go in order from the top.

With a large bangle on his wrist is Kalei. He's young, though not the youngest member of the group. He is first because he is the latest addition to the circle. Kalei was born in the Gray Class, a group of humans with no magic and unable to even perceive magic. This makes their lifespans incredibly short in a world that basically runs on magic. He was a slave who was then trained to be an assassin and kill Mehr, another one of Vlad's circle. Mehr ended up catching him and deciding he actually liked him and so asked if Vlad could keep him. Vlad ended up agreeing. The members of the Gray Class are not looked upon well and so Vlad gave him a gold bangle that stood out a lot so that no one in the palace would ever dare to look down on him. Kalei is a bit shy and soft spoken. He likes makeup and mostly blends in the the background.

Second in line is angry boy with the eyebrow piercings, Daire. He's the youngest of the group. He's 14 years old. Daire comes from a fairly normal background. But the only problem was that despite having so much magic inside of him, he was unable to use any of it. Vlad found him picking a fight with people on the streets and took him in because he decided to test and see if he could get Daire to use his magic differently. Daire is loud, very opinionated. He can and will cuss you out. He is somewhat best friends with Kalei and will yell at people for Kalei because Kalei will not. He gets into trouble for being rude a lot.

Third is Brinley. half human, half dura (@maddyisenough's oc). She ended up joining Vlad's circle against her will. She gets arrested for attacking a corrupt noble and Vlad notices her unique magic and decides to convince her to join him. When she refuses, he ends up learning that her lover snuck into Izar Palace to try and save her. So he ends up holding her lover's life hostage and ends up managing to get both of them to work for him (although her lover ends up a death mage in the general army instead). Brinley is hot headed and full of naive justice. She's not a fan of Vlad or his circle, but eventually ends up seeing way too much of who they really are to actually hate them. She struggles a lot as a result. Especially with Aruna. WHO IS NEXT.

Aruna started out as a noble and she was actually against the Vlad Order. She planned on running away with her best friend in order to join the rebel army and fight the Vlad Order. Her family ended up being moved to a city on the outskirts of Ignosi and although they were kind and benevolent, people who said they were part of the rebel army raided their residence and killed, tortured and paraded them like war prisoners. Aruna ended up being the last of her family alive and then as she was on her last legs, Vlad and his circle arrived to quell the rebellion. He looked at her and then asked her "are you going to die? just like that?" and then she realized that he was asking her if she was going to fight back. The entire time she had been trying to beg for mercy and prove her innocence. And Vlad told her to fight back and save herself instead. So she ended up using her magic to murder everyone in the area and then joined the Vlad Order instead. Being a parallel and opposite of Brinley, Aruna and Brinley struggle to get along. In another universe they would be best friends though.

Then is Zal. Zal's super fun. He's carried a one sided love for Vlad for a very very very long time (in another universe vlad finds out and decides to reciprocate but not in this one). He's very quiet and straight laced. He's kind of Vlad's personal bodyguard. (Prince and bodyguard romance anyone?). Zal is a mix of various different races. Kind of a rare one of a kind. His mother tried to kill him a bunch of times as a child and when Vlad was much younger he came across Zal who was escaping a murder attempt and then took him in because he could tell that he would be quite the useful addition to his trusted personal circle (which at the time only consisted of Lamya and Mehr).

Mehr is a personal fave. He's one of the fire folk but he has night folk blood in him too. Well tbh, mostly night folk. He's like a fourth fire folk. The Night Folk are a closed community (the result of almost being completely eradicated in wars). So when Mehr was born with both fire folk magic and night folk magic (which involves their voices), his family decided he could only have one. and since he looks like one of the fire folk they decided he couldn't be allowed to have his night folk magic. So when he was 12 his family held him down and cut out his vocal chords. That's why Vlad gave Mehr a choker like necklace, to cover the scars. Mehr is a feral and absolutely terrifying fighter. If you cut off his arms, he'll use his legs to kill you. If you cut off his legs, he'll bite you to death. He's the strongest in hand to hand combat and no magic combat of the group. But he's also the mom of the group. He makes sure everyone has had their food, he stops fights, he protecc, he makes sure if anyone's hurt they go get treated. This is also why Vlad has Mehr take care of his son, Prince Einar.

And lastly is Lamya, Vlad's right hand and most trusted. She's been with him the longest. Her mother was bribed by a noble to poison Hypatia. She was caught and Hypatia murdered her brutally. Lamya who was a budding spellcaster at the time was horrified. Vlad tricked her into thinking that Death Magic would save her mother which turned her into a Death Mage. This resulted in Vlad having control over her. She's a human and so should have died over a century ago, but because of Vlad's control she has remained alive and still looks youthful. Lamya is loyal and steadfast. There was once a time where she resented Vlad. But since she was his first loyal servant she ended up seeing that this child who was younger than her was treated like dirt even by his own servants, she realized that he had used whatever he could to make sure he didn't die. Even if it meant using her. Lamya eventually comes to understand and value Vlad deeply. Although it certainly didn't start out very well.

And finally, one small character who isn't in the art but deserves an honorable mention. Vlad has a son named Einar who isn't even a teenager yet in canon. Einar rarely receives Vlad's direct attention and always only does as he's told to do. The general consensus is that Vlad is a horrible parent to Einar. I'm not going to lie, he isn't a good parent. But Vlad has had a very interesting life and so the way he views family is interesting. He made sure everything Einar ever needed would be provided for. He assigned Mehr, one of his strongest men and yet most caring to take care of Einar. He gave Einar a sappy-as-hell middle name. He made sure Einar was always fitted with gold jewelry, no matter how quickly he outgrew them. I could write a whole essay about Vlad and Einar's relationship but not here. Yeet.

#sunny arts #sunny's ocs #lore dump #long post #the ashen magus #vlad's circle #vlad nijik #brinley #aruna #zal #mehr #lamya #daire #kalei #einar

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azura19 · 2 months ago

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Chapter 1.1:

The Nobility of a Villain

Once upon a time, in a land forgotten by time, there was a Duchy of vast territory and vast beauty.

There dwelt the Grand Duke, Elifas Encinereb and his beloved husband, Aren of Encinereb, two men who loved each other with all their hearts and who showed their love as openly as they cared for their people.

Their love story was known to many, the people loved them and they were praised for exactly the same, had no one ever heard of such benevolent and noble figures? Not to worry, society itself recognised them.

There was no corner of the Duchy that did not love such magnanimous beings.

And even within the nobility, there was sympathy for the couple and their actions towards their title and their power.

Surely this was a perfect and unprecedented marriage, what any good love story would wish to be.

Sadly, however, this is not the beautiful story of these two men who led with kindness and intelligence. Rather, of the fruit of their love.

The next Grand Duke Encinereb: Astral Encinereb.

A beautiful boy with skin as fair as milk and hair as white as snow in winter. With an intelligence so high that it surpassed even that of his progenitor, his abilities in his studies and on the battlefield made many turn to him with admiration or suspicion.

This young man could very well be classed as the epitome of the cultured and the beautiful. But as was specific from the beginning, there is one detail that marks this story.

And that is the simple fact that the young man was neither the fittest nor the most willing to continue with his duties.

Yes, as you can imagine, this is the story of a Villain.

A truly evil and greedy one who ended up in the worst way one could imagine.

Bringing his own family and Duchy to ruin.

Beginning his decadence once Astral Encinereb became obsessed with none other than the protagonist of this novel: ‘Michael Arclight’.

A handsome young man, who had the misfortune to meet the villain, and thanks to his aura full of purity, caused his world to turn upside down.

Being harassed to the point where he almost ended his own life in order to be free, the power wielded by Astral Encinereb being enough to harass him to such a degree.

It all seemed to be a dark novel until the timely appearance of the second protagonist of the story and the love interest of the first protagonist: Vector Varian.

A talented swordsman who managed to become Chief of the Empire's forces, and who saved him in many ways, acting as a shield to ward off the Villain who, filled with rage, tried by all means to kill them both for such ‘betrayal’.

He abandoned his Duchy, helping the Villain's hidden and exiled brother to come out into the open to regain his position in the family. And whom, in a fit of rage, the Villain mercilessly murdered.

The domino effect inevitably fell on him. This helped the protagonists to rise triumphantly against the threats of Astral Encinereb, who, in his last strength, forced his own people to take up arms against the second protagonist.

He failed spectacularly once his own people rebelled against him.

The lynching and torture that followed at the hands of hungry peasants marked the end of the villain as the happily ever after of both protagonists. Concluding the whole story on two sides that led to melancholy for the couple of Dukes killed by the fruit of their love and a real joy to know that at least a new couple of Marquis was born.

Remarking that good will always remain above evil. No matter how dark it may be and no matter where it comes from.

That novel entitled, Flowers of Seasons, was and remained a great success in sales and other promotions in his honour.

So much so that...

Astral Mertencia.

A simple boss of a small growing company dedicated exclusively to design and fashion; he was even tempted by curiosity to read it.

His name was used too, so why not take a look at it? Nothing would happen, besides a good reading moment.

And even though, even though, he didn't like those kind of novels. Especially BL. --Which was strange even for his boyfriend Yuma, who would scoff at seeing him do what he disliked, and that Astral would take it out on lover's hips. --It was never a reason to put that novel aside.

In fact, just as it happened to those who came to read it, Astral found himself enjoying the story and especially the emotional ending of the protagonists. That the villain got what he deserved at his own hand was also poetic, and what about the tragic ending, a delight. The story lived up to its popularity.

The novel was an outlet for his busy life, but like all good endings, the rest had to continue.

His cunning and intelligence, coupled with his kindness, helped his company to become a leader in an entire city. Success was a consequence of his actions and came inevitably, and perhaps this could have continued until, unfortunately, it didn´t.

Both he and his beloved were involved in a serious traffic accident. Tarnishing their great future.

The result was terrible, both, he and his future husband lost their lives.

Oh boy, it was unfortunate, and maybe it would have been all there, however....

—Mn... —

He sighs.

Can one breathe in purgatory? In the life beyond death?

His heart began to beat much faster.

No, breathing should be impossible. But... Wait, heart? His heart is beating?

And then...

He woke up.

He blinked, again and again until his vision became accustomed to the light, and it was only then that he came upon a canopy.

One of dark silk and gilded edges reminiscent of gold.

Was heaven or hell this beautiful? Astral wished to touch what was presented to him, what did he expect? Everything and nothing in particular. He was dead and honestly; he was so scared that for a moment he could have sworn he was going to cry.

The memories of his death were still fresh, and perhaps he would have concentrated on what he had lost until another detail caught his attention.

His skin.

His skin now appeared to be milky and pale, his fingers, which had been a little shorter, now appeared long, and what about his delicacy, it was as if he had accompanied his boyfriend to the beauty parlour! It was incredible, and although scars adorned his arms in a rough way, it didn't take away from the feeling of care.

—What the...? Ah! —

Oh boy, that was another detail! His voice. It seemed to be thicker than usual, I could even describe it as sexy or mysterious. A silky voice that would make you hesitate as much as a siren's song.

—Why...? —Hundreds of doubts suddenly assailed his mind. Was this how it felt to be on the other side, or why did he feel as if he were still alive?

He lowered his hand, and looked around

Oh, by all the gods, this was a dream! It had to be a dream! Because how did he explain the fact that wealth, in capital letters, was displayed just for him in the room.

Wait, room?

Okay, Astral was confused. A lot to tell the truth, so he palmed his face a little, spotting a full-length mirror in that place, without a second thought, he got up to run over to it, finding that his reflection no longer greeted Astral Mertencia.

No. This image, he had to admit, was much better. No! A thousand times better, even. He was a true beauty.

His once slightly dull hair was now unblemished snow white, sporting a form that defied gravity. His skin, which had already been touched countless times by the sun and her boyfriend, was now milky and well cared for, and although it was dotted with discreet and deep scars, it was still a delight

And what about the rest? The sleek pyjamas gave a glimpse of musculature that murmured of an excellent workout. And the veins marked on his hands, only added to the truth that his eyes saw...

Eyes that, he noticed, also had changes.

His gaze was heterochromatic. Two colours rested in them. One golden and the other silver.

And he was fully aware that his previous look was not like that. His real eyes were golden, plain and simple. A normal thing where he came from, and yet....

The mirror did not deceive him, no matter how desperately he touched it. The cold, vivid sensation was...

It was...

Terrifying.

Was he dead and this was heaven?

No. The beating of his heart indicated the opposite, so...

What was going on? He didn't know anything around him, he had no idea who the person in the mirror was, and above all, he didn't know what he had to face.

Was he crazy, was he hallucinating already, or was that the so-called account of life before death? And if that was the case, wasn't he supposed to look at HIS own life and the sins he bore? Because, well, he had to admit it. Well, well... It wasn't exactly, if you count his youthful involvement in the military and an elite elimination team, he should be burning in the flames of hell, right? Or in a dark place. But this...

This was definitely beyond his limits.

What was he supposed to do now? Thousands of questions swirled in his head, and as he was about to decide to break away from that demonic mirror, something else happened. Something that...

Almost made him laugh...

Let us emphasize the almost, for a butler, wrapped in a black and elegant suit suddenly entered the room, and his face, which was stoic and emotionless, and which had already been touched by time, suddenly became wrinkled.

Ah, a miracle! It was a miracle. He felt that butler within his, and as if his heart had decided to mark that feeling on his face, he suddenly cried out loudly and to the four winds.

—My young Lord Astral! Lord Astral has awakened! Call the Encinereb Lords! The heir to the Duchy has awakened! —

And then with that simple fact. Astral Mertencia, who was kept inside a body that was not his, knew.

He was screwed.

Really screwed.

In fact, there was no human being worse off than he was now. He'd heard about it before, but.... Really...

He had been reincarnated in a stupid BL novel as the main villain!

Ah, but that wasn't all, no sir.

His parents came calling! Did he say he was an orphan before? Well, that was no longer relevant. Because now, he had to overcome this new challenge yes or yes, otherwise, he was sure he would be taken to the stake.

Oh yes, now Astral was sure.

He was paying for his sins.

How unlucky for him.

💎

Chapter 1.2

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jujutsukgojo · 2 years ago

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The Less You Know, The Better

mafia Shouto todoroki x reader

Summary:

“Here’s what you’re going to do. You’re not going to talk, okay?” He stalked toward you, graceful strides without a fault. “I know you won’t because you’re a good girl, aren’t you?”

What the fuck?

Right in front of you, he grabs your face. “The less you know, the better. You know nothing of tonight.”

He caressed your face. “What do you know?”

“Nothing.” Your response was quick. “Good girl,” He placed a kiss on your head.

tw: mentioned gang violence, mentioned murder, idk

A/N: this is shit and it hurt my feelings to edit and post it i'm SCREAMING. i dont own bnha

shouto todoroki x reader, 4.8k

You look at the man that was once your classmate. His red and white hair parted in the middle with his red hair slicked back, scar prominent and beautiful, and eyes deceptively warm and innocent. He wears a tux so white, that it is like an angel's wing. You know better. You know that he'd never even get close to heaven to touch a divine being. You know him better than anyone, honestly.

His friends and family consider him noble, a little oblivious, goofy, and overall sweet and kind. That he in no way is he like his older brother. That is a bold-faced lie if you ever heard one.

Shouto has held a candle for you since you met him at U.A. when he was openly cold. His eyes were piercing and unforgiving and his touch frosty yet fiery. Everyone forgave him for his hostility and helped him see the light of life. You were one of them, too.

He held doors open for you and slammed them shut on everyone else, he was gentle and courteous, during lunch he’d get up from his lonesome table and give you his sweets or his entire lunch if you forgot yours, so in return, you offered to just share it. All of these little things made you swoon and sit with him. During those times, you got to know Shouto for who he is. He never told you about his family life in depth, though. Not until Izuku got to him. Even then, the details were never fully explained to you. Some holes were never filled properly, and you never asked.

Second year came around and he was nicer than the last year, third year shared the same trend.

The first time he proposed was later in your first year. You told him that the two of you couldn’t get married since you both were too young. Shouto reasoned with an ‘Okay, later then.’.

The girls in the class squealed in excitement when he said that.

This continued, much to everyone’s amusement. Soon it became sort of like a gag. Mina even had him recreate romantic movie scenes to get you to say yes. Once, Aizawa joined in and begged you to say yes so everyone could shut up as he tried to get the class under control.

Sweet, sweet, Shouto showed his true colors a couple of months ago in the dead of night. You wish that you wouldn’t have walked into that restaurant and wouldn’t have come across the back alley.

_________________

There Shouto was, standing tall, with blood coating his arms, men surrounding him, and terribly beaten and possibly dead people at his feet. For a moment you thought he was in danger and was just defending himself against assailants until you realized that these men in black were with him. Not wanting to believe your eyes and still needing to understand, you waited in secret. Shouto answered your question as he collected the money and showed that the men around him, three of them, collected the bodies. All except for one that lay on the ground.

“A messenger is sometimes needed,” Shouto said while wiping his hand on a handkerchief that was given to him. If the blood wasn’t smeared all over it, the emblem on it would look like a mythological Chimera.

The messenger was completely beaten yet still managed to limp with one leg not broken. He'd be screaming in agony had the adrenaline not kicked in. You curled up even more behind a box as he passed you. His eyes faced the exit with hope in his bruised eyes. You hope he didn’t see your bold-colored dress that stood out too much even in the night.

The three men disposed of the bodies by wrapping them up in plastic and tying a rope around them. The trunk of the truck is already covered with a bright blue tarp. The men placed the bodies inside and shut the double doors.

One of the men get out various supplies and sprayed them on the ground. The drain collects the liquid happily. Because it is an alley, stenches, dirt, and every other disgusting thing, are normal. Perhaps that is why deep cleaning isn’t given, you presume.

Either way, it is disgusting and scary. What you saw is evil and wrong on all levels.

One of the three men, the one with a beanie on his head with one curl sticking out and a tattoo peeking from the back of his neck, opened the door for Shouto. “Nah, I'll walk.”

The three men drive away. “I know you’re there, (Y/n).” Your heart stopped. Not waiting another moment, you backed away from the scene. “I want to talk to you.”

You don’t answer him and instead, you shook your head as you leave in a crouched position. Suddenly, you’re grabbed and lifted to stare Shouto in the eyes. “I-I didn’t see anything, honest!”

Frozen stiff, you don’t fight when he lifts you completely and carried you bridal style. Your breath was short. The streetlights, despite the evil he committed, gave him justice for his beauty. Now revealing a terrible violent nature, he still resembles something angelic. Only this time, it is a vengeful angel rejected by God.

“Sh-Shouto, don’t.” You whispered. He said nothing in return. Minutes later, he says, “Keys.”

Looking to your right, your door stands. He took you home. You didn’t even notice where he was going. Without hesitation, you jumped out of his hold and scrambled for your keys. Shouto pressed himself against you and dug inside your purse. Instantly, he held them and unlocked the door. Once you saw the door open, you jumped inside and closed the door.

At least you tried to.

Shouto’s foot sat in the way and helped him push himself through. “No!”

“Stop.” He stood in front of you with the door closed behind him. For a moment neither of you speak. “You saw too much, you know that?”

“No, I didn’t.” He scoffs and looks around your place as if he hasn’t been inside a million times. As if he didn’t help you move in and decorate. “Don’t play stupid.”

You could have sworn you were quiet. Not a whimper or whine, not a creak or shuffle or a click of your heel. Hell, you didn't even breathe. At this time, you should have said that you wouldn’t tell anyone, but you can’t. How can you? You saw something horrific! People should know!

What the fuck?

Right in front of you, he grabs your face. “The less you know, the better. You know nothing of tonight.”

He caressed your face. “What do you know?”

“Nothing.” Your response was quick. “Good girl,” He placed a kiss on your head. With one bolt of courage, you said, “You won’t get away with this!”

Shouto sighed and stared down at you. It made you remember that he has always been taller. No matter how tall you are, he’s about a head bigger if not more.

As he leaves, he tells you to lock the door and windows. “It’s dangerous out here.”

_________________________________

Since then, you’ve felt like you’re being watched. Bolting the doors and securing the windows is your priority. Because of what you saw, you want to march right to the authorities and tell them everything, but for some reason, you can’t. Fear and guilt are set deep inside whenever you think about it.

Now here he is, at this stupid party or gala or whatever. In your face, asking for a dance. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Smirking, he places your drink in the waiter’s awaiting hand. “For you? A dance with me is always a good idea.”

He twirls you around the floor. Your dress that compliments your skin tone sways with the motion. The subtle designs on it shine in the light as he gently grabs your hand to show you off with every movement. Onlookers coo at you both and whisper ‘a lovely couple’. Those whispers make you warm.

“I feel like I haven’t talked to you in forever.”

You look around and see your old classmates, bringing a certain comfort at the moment. You notice Eijirō standing by the door, Tooru shimmying her way around the guests being as nosey as ever, and surprisingly, Kyoka has her ears perked up, seemingly joining her.

Momo smiles and looks around, admiring the décor. She's got the right idea. It's gorgeous. A classic ballroom set: gold and red, a chandelier, delicious food and desserts, gorgeous flowers of roses and lilies, and even more beautifully, a bouquet of bluebells. All of it screams money, elegance, and symbolism. It's truly a show of wealth. A place like this is something you never thought you'd be invited to.

Everyone seems to be doing okay. They're a little off, but alright. It makes you smile, your old classmates. With them being around you feel a little better.

“It’s only been a few months, Todoroki.” He firmly grabs your waist and loops your hand through his. The hold is secure and intimate.

“Todoroki? What happened to Shouto?” You roll your eyes and shake your head. “Don’t do that.”

He hums. “Well, it throws me off. The only reason you should be saying “Todoroki” is if it has a “missus” and your name.”

“Oh, come on,” You scoff in disappointment. “That was lame.”

“Sorry, I'm rusty. I haven’t asked you to marry me in these few months, (Y/n).” You separate yourself from him for a moment. “I know good and damn well your ass did not-”

He’s genuinely smiling at you. “I haven’t even asked yet!”

“And you’re not going to!” He laughs again, something he only does when he’s with you. It’s been that way since high school. You're the only one who sees that he has dimples.

“(Y/n), please marry me. I’ll treat you right.” He promises.

“A damn dirty lie.” He pulls you close to him. A beautiful whisper is on his lips. “No, it’s not. You’ll be safe and loved. I’ll give you the world, my love. Just say the word.”

That’s the first time he’s called you that. Usually, it’s ‘dove’, ‘beauty’, and most often, ‘soba noodle’. The last is a nickname he picked up in high school that was suggested by Sero.

“I am in love you, (Y/n). And one day, you’ll be my wife. Mark my words.” You suck on your teeth. “The devil is a liar.”

Now in your mid-twenties, Shouto still asks you to be his wife. This has been going on for what? Ten years or something?

“Would you like to see me on one knee? Because I'll do it right here.” You step on his foot lightly. “No, you won’t, a public proposal is embarrassing.”

He hums and moves to get down. You yank him up. “Stop that!” Embarrassed, you look around and see a few people watching.

“This is why I don’t trust you.” That’s the gospel truth. At any moment he could turn on you.

“One day you will.”

You shake your head no. “You’re lying to everyone. All of these people, too. You are a shady bastard. What the hell is going on anyway?”

“All you need to know is that I am still your Shouto.” You look up at him. “Which Shouto is that?”

“All of me. Every side of me will love you beyond the end. Not a single part of me will hurt you, this I swear.” You stop moving. And really look at him. He is still Shouto, right? Can he be saved?

“What have you gotten yourself into, Shouto? Is there a way out?”

“The less you know, my soba noodle, the better.” He kisses your knuckles as the song is over.

He keeps saying that. And the more he talks the more it seems to be the best thing for you. Because, in an odd sense, it’s comforting. Whether or not it is in the worst way is up for interpretation.

At night you hear the screams of people begging for mercy. You hear children weeping in the dark with no light to find them. Red is everywhere with Shouto in the middle of the room. He gazes into your eyes as you look around. Then, a single hand is extended towards you with Shouto giving you a hopeful look.

This is the dream you’ve been having ever since that fateful night when you saw the side of Shouto you never wanted to see. One that you never thought was there had met you with a terrifying turn of its head.

Before the dance, that dream started to fade. But then Shouto held you and it came back with a vengeance. Only this time, it feels more real than ever. Now you are waking up covered in sweat and checking around to see if there is any evidence of the dream. This can’t continue.

You spy Izuku, Tenya, and Katsuki enter Izuku’s apartment building. This is the perfect time to free yourself of all of this.

You danced with Shouto and for a moment it felt normal. Then at night, you are reminded of what you saw. Shouto with rolled-up sleeves, blood on his arms, and specks on his face. Cold and fierce eyes and skin that kissed the moonlight, giving him a beautiful glow, that in the situation, looked more evil than it did angelic. Like an entity of darkness manifested in the moonlight. A rejected angel covered in blood rather than holy water. All of that came back to you when you saw him again.

The way he held you reminded you of him before all of this. The way you knew him before he killed or before you found out he had this vicious side of him. Everything has changed now. And the only way to get rid of that vision of the rejected angel is to put him behind bars.

This secret can’t be held any longer, not by yourself. It breaks your heart as you mourn a friend, hell, maybe even someone who you’d marry.

You never saw yourself with anyone else. And now you are willing to end that future for everyone’s sake. Who knows who he’ll attack next, right?

This is your Shouto. The one whose laugh that only you know and whose smile that you keep in your chest. The one who makes your heart flutter. Your heart aches as you run to Izuku’s apartment building and run up the stairs. You stop midway and wipe your face as tears flow. You are cursing up a storm and praying that there won't be any evidence of your tears.

If anyone can stop this, they can. They're good people you have known for years. You may not have the strength to turn him in, but they do.

You knock on the door. “Izuku, it’s me! Open the hell up!” You hear nothing at first until Katsuki opens the door with a frown. “You shouldn’t be here, (Y/n).”

Katsuki, despite his aggressive nature, has never been that way with you. At first he was prickly then after knowing you for some time, Katsuki just didn’t have an issue with you.

“Katsuki, we need to talk, please.”

He reluctantly lets you in and turns to his friends. “She’s here.”

“Hello, (Y/n).” Tenya waves and asks what brings you here. There is something off about his voice. Maybe it is what Shouto did and the dance that is throwing you off. The atmosphere is different from what you are used to with them as well. It is reminiscent of the party but on a bigger scale. Like they are waiting on an eggshell or something? Shifting eyes back and forth at each other, waiting for you to speak.

Paranoia is to blame, surely. It is because for the first time in months, you had been with Shouto in what seemed like an innocent if not romantic dance. You were in the arms of a murderer, and it has been weighing on you like the mountain of bodies that is surely on Shouto’s list.

These are your friends. These are justice-loving people that will help you. They have the strength to do what you can’t.

You hear the door close behind you. All three men wait patiently for you to answer. You’re jittery and pace around the floor. “I need help or advice or something.”

“Like what?” Tenya sits back on the arm of the brown leather couch. Izuku comes out of the kitchen with a couple of mugs. He sets them down on the coffee table and waits for you to continue.

Taking a deep breath, you answer him. “What do you do if you saw something bad months ago? I mean, what if the bad thing was caused by a friend, what do you do?”

All three men go stiff. Tenya is the first to speak. “Depends on the situation. Some things are better off unsaid.”

Izuku nods at Tenya’s words. “Some things just have to be sorted on their own.” Izuku adds.

These aren’t the answers you were looking for. You try to explain your case further.

“I saw Shouto kill a few people and this guy limped away. I don’t know what happened to him. I haven’t told anyone but I feel like I should. I know it’s unbelievable, but it happened. I saw it with my own eyes. ”

You know that it doesn't sound like the Shouto they know. You are prepared to defend what you saw even though you don't have the slightest bit of evidence.

“Don’t say shit.” You turn to see Katsuki cross his arms. His words confuse you even further, especially since it is someone who had such tremendous growth. Katsuki wants you to give up. You struggle to get your words out. “But-”

“(Y/n), before you say another word, do yourself a favor and drop it.” Izuku, the sweet nerdy, righteous man, stares at you. His once joyous, green, round, eyes are absent and are replaced with something hard and cold. This is totally out of character. Never would he ever-

Suddenly, it dawns on you. The entire thing is finally setting in.

They're in on it. There is no way they would ever say for you to drop it if they weren't, even if their life were on the line or some shit. When you entered the apartment, it was a little off, but it is worse now that you have told what you saw. Now it is tense and even more unfamiliar with these friends of yours. Like confronting Shouto is an unwelcomed notion and what you saw is something that they also need to keep secret.

Recently, you’ve felt like you were being watched. And sometimes you turn around to see no one. Most often, however, it is a friend from U.A. When you saw them, you didn’t feel the least bit worried. You felt a lot safer knowing it was a former classmate, a friend, someone you hold dear.

Now it makes sense. Every single classmate is in on it. The party or gala thing you went to was nothing but an inspection of the other attendants who may have been a part of something bad too.

You accounted their behaviors at the time due to stress. Never did you think they would ever participate in such wickedness. Now that you are piecing everything together, you remember how your classmates were acting. Their positions at the party, and how only a few were mingling and dancing. They were working, and not a nine-to-five job. No, it was all for Shouto.

The less you know, the better. Something a gangster would say to a mob wife or a yakuza wife. You don’t know fully.

After a few moments, you take a guess, “Is Shouto the one in charge?”

“Yes,” says Katsuki. “And it is best if you go home.”

There it is.

“How could you guys? Tenya, what about the lost children?” You want to cry so badly.

He always said he’d save the lost and crying children. So, how can he be this way? In a gang, mafia, yakuza type shit? What else could it be if everyone is in on it as a group? You admired him so much and were proud that he was your class president.

How did this all come about anyway? Was Shouto born into it, or did he make it by himself? How did they get wrapped into it? How did you not notice?

“Go home, (Y/n).” Izuku coldly says. He is usually so warm and thoughtful. So comforting and generous. Never would he talk to anyone this way. Especially you, who he considers a close friend. “Izuku...”

“Come on, I’ll take you home.” Katsuki tries to lead you to the door, but you jump away from him.

“Be honest you guys! What about the crying kids? How can you save them if you are the ones making them cry? Your guys’ fucking dreams of being some type of heroes?”

Izuku stalks towards you. “I am being nice. Go home.” He hisses. This whole thing is unbelievable. It is totally out of character for them, especially Izuku. Your eyes are getting watery. You're scared, too.

“Be gentle, Izuku!” Tenya stands and comes to your defense. “Deku, you’re on thin ice. You know better when it’s her.” Katsuki warns.

Izuku turns to his friends. “She won’t go if we don’t.” You get what he’s talking about. That you won’t leave if they aren’t rough because you’re in disbelief.

You slowly reach for Tenya. “Tenya...”

“There are different ways to being a good person.” Tenya replies, straightening his back. His eyes meet yours. An indigo color covered by glasses, like high school.

You can't help but release a laugh. “What kind of a fucking good person kills people and collects money right after? I saw Shouto do that!” Katsuki sharply calls your name and he comes towards you. Ignoring him, you continue. “What is going on? What is this?”

You want to hear them say it. They need to confess what this all is or at least correct your theory. To say it isn’t so, to say that it is all a mistake, to prove you wrong and laugh about it as a joke. At this moment, you’re willing to be the victim of a prank, no matter how much you hate that.

Katsuki sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “Shouto will explain it to you. Right now, you need to go home.” You shake your head no. “Tell me it’s a lie then!”

Izuku suddenly whips out his phone. He dials a number and much to your surprise, Shouto is on the line. “She’s here.”

You gasp and back up. He's the last person you want to see right now. You look at Tenya and ask about the crying children again. All he does is stare at you dead on with an ounce of pity.

“Katsuki...what about winning to save?”

“I am winning.” You shake your head. “How is that possible? I saw him kill people. If you’re rolling with him, then-”

Izuku catches your attention again. His glare is on par with Shouto’s in high school. You can’t hear what he’s saying because of the thumping in your ears. “You motherfucker...” You curse.

He’s telling on you. Wait, telling on you? Since when did Shouto become the authority for you?

Izuku one last time says, “The less you know, the better. Trust us and go home.” Trust?

“I can’t save you and Shouto, can I?” Your lip wobbles as you see the three of them with their head down. Whatever they’re in, they are too far gone. Yes, you wanted to turn Shouto in. But you wanted them to do it since you couldn’t actually bring yourself to. It was too painful and even then it ate at you. You don't want this for them and Shouto. For them to be in that life.

They wanted to be some kind of hero. To be good people and stand up for what’s right. If that’s the case, then what is this?

You can’t save him or any of them. You can’t bring yourself to turn any of them in. What kind of hero are you?

You take off, no longer wishing to stay in their presence, and demand answers. It hurts too much. The class of U.A. is your family. When no one loved you, they did, and you loved them just as much. They're murderers. Some kind of gang-type shit. Something you aren’t equipped for. You don't know what to do with this information now that you see the stain from the blood on their hands.

Entering your home, you lock the doors and windows. You close the curtains and place furniture in front of the door. Turning off the lights, you head to a corner and sit down. Self-preservation is clawing at you to call someone but your loyalty and heartbreak prevent you from doing so.

As you hold your phone, you think of Shouto. You think of the way Izuku was pushing you out to stop asking questions and Tenya and Katsuki’s scolding. You think of all of the ways you’ve felt safe with them.

Have they ever harmed you? No. However, they have harmed others. If they are with Shouto, then no doubt. Yet, they protect you, don’t they? The longer you think about it, the more you see it clearly. That sense of safety and not a single sign of aggression or hostility. Not a single person, classmate or not, has wronged you when they were there.

I s this why you feel like a traitor? Have you always been loyal to them and most of all, Shouto? The phone in your hand starts to shake when you stop typing the numbers. It's not so bad to have friends like this. So far, so good, right? The thought starts to calm you down.

“Why are you hiding?”

You scream at the top of your lungs. His eyes have a confused look in them, and his head is cocked. Shouto rubs his ear and raises his eyebrow. “Damn, you have good lungs.”

For only a moment, you freeze. Suddenly, the flight kicks in and you take off. Shouto calls for your name gently and runs behind you. “Stop! Just give me a minute!”

“No!” You turn a corner to your kitchen. How he managed to grab you when you had a head start, you’ll never know. “(Y/n), please, it’s okay.”

The deep voice that you have always been familiar with is calm and soothing. Against your better judgment, you stop. “How did you get in?”

“You literally gave us a key years ago.” Shit, you did. How could you have forgotten. It was when you first got this place, too. So, all this time he could have just barged in here and you would have been totally clueless. Bummer.

“That doesn’t give you the right to be here when I'm not.” He sighs. “Please, let me talk.”

He guides you to the couch. Shouto looks for the words to say to you as he takes a deep breath.

“I know you’re confused. Just please listen to me,” He adjusts himself to face you. “Yes, we are a little different. But we are still us. We’re still your friends. We've never lied about our friendship,” Shouto hesitantly touches your hand as if he is afraid you’ll jump away or worse. “And I have not lied about my love.”

You look at the ceiling and wipe your other hand on your pants. “I’m gonna die.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Ha! Oh yeah? What about everyone else?” You challenge, side eyeing him. He sighs and looks down for a moment. “Only when crossed, I swear. We aren’t beasts."

You feel a tear stream down your face. The feelings are conflicting and are starting to hurt. “You’re still scary.”

“I’m so sorry you saw that, honest. That's why no one ever said anything. I didn’t want you to think I was some kind of monster.” He whispers as his pinky grazes yours. He almost sounds as if he is ashamed. Some part of you wonders if he is. “You will never be harmed in any way. You are safe, on my life.”

Somehow, Shouto's words start to work. Perhaps everything is suddenly crashing down. Maybe it is just reality settling in or you finally admitting your feelings for him rather than playfully keeping him on his toes. Despite your earlier reservations, your fear and worries melt away. You lean into his touch and warmth.

You swing one more time. Just once more. "What is all of this, Shouto? How do you get out of it?"

"(Y/n), the less you know, the better. Trust in me." You start to believe those words. You start to believe Shouto.

If only for the moment.

#shouto todoroki x reader #bnha #todoroki shouto x reader

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slytherintragedy · 4 months ago

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♡ FULL NAME: Felix Jackson Rosier ♡ KNOWN AS: Eli ♡ BIRTHDAY: October 21, 1968 ♡ GENDER & PRONOUNS: Male - He /Him ♡ ORIENTATION: Biromantic, Pansexual ♡ BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood ♡ HEIGHT: 5'10” ♡ WEIGHT: 154 lbs ♡ EYE COLOR: Brown ♡ HAIR COLOR: Brunette ♡ SPECIES: Wizard (Human) ♡ PLACE OF RESIDENCE: London, England, Great Britain, Hogwarts ♡ OCCUPATION: Student, Dragonologist ♡ HOUSE: Slytherin ♡ PATRONUS: Ocicat ♡ WAND: 10", Rowan, Phoenix feather ♡ FACECLAIM: Ashby Gentry

BIOGRAPHY

Felix was born to Elias and Rosemary Rosier, younger brother of Evan Rosier. He was born into a well-known and respected old pure-blood line. During his time at Hogwarts his father, became friends with Tom Riddle, due to that became one of the first to become a Death Eater when the Dark Lord started rising. And which given the fact his grandmother Vinda Rosier was arguably Gellert Grindelwald's most trusted and loyal Acolyte, it's safe to say his family had a pattern of becoming loyal subjects to whomever they deemed worthy. Even his aunt, Druella Rosier, achieved power and position when she married into the ancient and most noble House of Black, a pureblood family with roots every bit as deep, and coffers even fuller, than those of the Rosiers. However unlike many other members of his family, Felix did not want to become a Dark Wizard, and was instead interested in dragons.

Felix started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1980 and was sorted into Slytherin. His Head of House at the time was Horace Slughorn, though Severus Snape took over the position in Felix's second year after Slughorn left. In his third year, Felix took at least Care of Magical Creatures as an elective.

In his fifth year, Felix was chosen as the male prefect on his house, and was responsible for watching over first-year students of his house. He told them about the importance of the House Cup and often told his fellow Slytherins to earn as many house points as possible.

On the first day of education that year, Felix found out that first-year Elena Jenkins, younger sister of the infamous Jacob Jenkins who had previously been in Slytherin and expelled from Hogwarts, had managed to lose ten house points in a Potions class. Over time, Felix and Elena began to have a more positive relationship as Elena proved to be a very successful house point earner. Felix eventually taught Elena how to duel, even if it was against a fellow Slytherin Merula Snyde.

In his sixth year, Felix lead his fellow Slytherins to prank Gryffindors whose behavior after the latter house's Quidditch victory against the former started annoying Slytherins. This act, however, lead to Slytherin losing 50 points at the end of the year.

Before graduating Hogwarts, Felix taught Elena about the Freezing Charm, the Babbling Beverage and the Snargaluff, as well as made sure to tell Snape that Elena would make a good future prefect.

After graduation, Felix became a Dragonologist, specializing in the Peruvian Vipertooth. He worked at the Swedish dragon reservation.

In September 1988, Gryffindor Prefect and Head Boy William Weasley contacted Felix and invited him to join a meeting at the Three Broomsticks Inn along with other former prefects Chester Davies, Angelica Cole and Jane Court, as well as newly appointed prefects Elena Jenkins and Charles Weasley. At the meeting, Felix told the two about his job, which made Charlie excited, as he was also trying to be a Dragonologist.

#☯ 。゜ ⠀ ☆ ⠀ 。゜ ⠀ ★ 𝙁𝙄𝙇𝙀𝘿 𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 ﹕Felix #✪↬ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀɴ ʟᴏᴏᴋ ʙᴜᴛ ᴘʟᴇᴀѕᴇ ᴅᴏɴ′ᴛ ᴛᴏᴜᴄʜ↫✪ ✘DNI✘

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apocalypticavolition · 1 year ago

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Let's (re)Read The Great Hunt! Prologue: In the Shadow

Well I said I might read something else before this book but apparently not. One of these days maybe. Welcome back to my reread, welcome back to the usual spiel about how I delight in spoilering everything I possibly can in this franchise. The last word in the last book is "Time", suckers!

Anyway, this book takes us firmly out of the realm of ripping off Lord of the Rings and into the horrifying realms of theoretical physics and colonialism. Exciting stuff, but that doesn't mean everything is different. The prologue's chapter icon is another wheel-and-serpent, reflecting just how important to the Pattern (and the fandom) the Darkfriend Social is.

A hundred black masks, and a hundred pairs of eyes trying to see what lay behind them.

Right away TGH jumps us into the paranoia that Darkfriends present and brings us the important thesis point about the Shadow the series wants to make: the very principals which make them temporarily effective against the Light make them unable to rely upon each other.

The fireplaces were cold, for one thing. Flames danced on logs as thick as a man’s leg, but gave no heat. The walls behind the tapestries, the ceiling high above the lamps, were undressed stone, almost black. There were no windows, and only two doorways, one at either end of the room. It was as if someone had intended to give the semblance of a palace reception chamber but had not cared enough to bother with more than the outline and a few touches for detail.

It is as if that because it is exactly that! Ish has done the bare minimum to keep his guests from losing their minds in the ways he hoped the ta'veren would. Considering the illusions that the other competent dreamers are capable of making, I suspect that Ish's inability to create anything comfortable even when it's to his own advantage is a big part of the failings of his worldview.

Servants circulated through the guests, slender, golden-haired youths proffering wine with a bow and a wordless smile. Young men and young women alike, they wore tight white breeches and flowing white shirts. And male and female alike, they moved with disturbing grace.

The zomaran manage to be one of the more unsettling kinds of Shadowspawn despite the fact that they're almost harmless. About the only thing that doesn't make sense is that Aginor doesn't seem to have included a way for at least him to get the secrets out of them. But then, we're about to see that Jordan hadn't quite figured out their deal yet at this point.

It was not what had been done to the girl that chilled him. Rather, every time he thought he detected a weakness in those he now served, he found himself preceded, the supposed weakness cut out with a ruthless precision that left him amazed. And worried. The first rule of his life had always been to search for weakness, for every weakness was a chink where he could probe and pry and influence. If his current masters, his masters for the moment, had no weakness. . . .

Bors of course has no conception of the idea that the Forsaken have plenty of weaknesses but are experts in protecting themselves from Darkfriends. Finding a way to tear them down is much easier for a good person.

A man in a high-collared, sky-blue Shienaran coat passed him with a wary, head-to-toe glance through the eyeholes of his mask. The man’s carriage named him soldier; the set of his shoulders, the way his gaze never rested in one place for long, and the way his hand seemed ready to dart for a sword that was not there, all proclaimed it. The Shienaran wasted little time on the man who called himself Bors; stooped shoulders and a bent back held no threat.

And here's Ingtar! Dude is probably spoiling for a fight and wishing he could get into one without getting in trouble to make up for not getting to be in the epic battle a few months ago.

He could read them all, to class and country. Merchant and warrior, commoner and noble. From Kandor and Cairhien, Saldaea and Ghealdan. From every nation and nearly every people. His nose wrinkled in sudden disgust. Even a Tinker, in bright green breeches and a virulent yellow coat. We can do without those come the Day.

Very realistic that the Nazis at the Nazi Party are already thinking about offing the Jewish Nazis present.

This sequence is a bit similar to the investigations in the next book, where Elayne points out that the 13 Black Ajah members they know about having virtually nothing in common suggests on a statistical level that there must be hundreds more in reserve who would have overlaps: if the hundred here are so diverse, there must be thousands more.

Suddenly his eyes narrowed, fixing on a woman enveloped in black till nothing showed but her fingers. On her right hand rested a gold ring in the shape of a serpent eating its own tail. Aes Sedai, or at least a woman trained in Tar Valon by Aes Sedai. None else would wear that ring. Either way made no difference to him. He looked away before she could notice his watching, and almost immediately he spotted another woman swathed from head to toe in black and wearing a Great Serpent ring. The two witches gave no sign that they knew each other.

It's less distinctive, but one of these two women is Liandrin - and this of course is a huge hint as to what part of the world "Bors" comes from because only a certain class of people have that feeling about the Aes Sedai.

A Myrddraal stepped between them, and they fell to their knees. It was garbed in black that made the Trollocs’ mail and the humans’ masks seem bright, garments that hung still, without a ripple, as it moved with a viper’s grace.

This chapter is a real collection of introductions to bad guys because this is actually Shaidar Haran, apparently! Wouldn't have expected that myself but hey. Specifically, he's an early iteration, probably much more limited than the later avatar would be because only one of the seals is broken.

“The Great Lord of the Dark is my Master, and most heartily do I serve him to the last shred of my very soul.” In the back of his mind a voice chattered with fear. The Dark One and all the Forsaken are bound. . . . Shivering, he forced it to silence. He had abandoned that voice long since.

No one is so far gone... Bors is meant to be our viewpoint into the usual Darkfriend. He's not a sociopath or anything like it, he doesn't have a Freudian excuse, he's just this guy who clearly wanted power on the quick and took the Darkfriend shortcut. It shouldn't have been a big deal - people have been serving the Dark for the last two thousand years without being asked anything in particular except advancing the interests of other Darkfriends - but now the big debts are being called in. He doesn't like the Shadow when he gets a good look at it, but he's way too self-interested to try and get out now. The Wheel of Time might be a story about the epic battle between good and evil, but it's not ignorant of nuance or shades of gray - but they're not where the main heroes or main villains are. It's bad guys like Bors and Ingtar, and the "good guys" like Elaida and Niall where it all lies.

Would the Great Lord of the Dark appear to them as a man? And masked, besides? Yet the Myrddraal, its very gaze fear, trembled and almost cowered where it stood in the figure’s shadow. The man who called himself Bors grasped for an answer his mind could contain without splitting. One of the Forsaken, perhaps.

The actual protagonist: Scary dude with the eyes who I just one-shotted is the Dark One. War's over guys! Don't wait for the sequel!

Some random Darkfriend: I don't wanna live in a Lovecraft novel so clearly this dude is a Forsaken.

I swear it's like the second Rand couldn't deny being a channeler anymore he decided to just shift his denial onto the next best thing when literal incompetent morons can cotton onto the truth in five seconds. (Yes, yes, Bors is actually very good at the Sherlock Scan but dude is still not good at any of his jobs.)

The man who called himself Bors scrambled up awkwardly, but halfway to his feet, he hesitated. Those gesturing hands were horribly burned, crisscrossed by black fissures, the raw flesh between as red as the figure’s robes. Would the Dark One appear so? Or even one of the Forsaken? The eyeholes of that blood-red mask swept slowly across him, and he straightened hastily. He thought he could feel the heat of an open furnace in that gaze.

Note that while Ish survived Rand's attack on him last book, he was not able to fully heal himself from the damage - or perhaps was not allowed to, but either way. Rand's made some noteworthy progress and the Forsaken are not infinitely regenerating demons.

“The place where you stand lies in the shadow of Shayol Ghul.” More than one voice moaned at that; the man who called himself Bors was not sure his own was not among them.

Again: most of the rank-and-file Darkfriends aren't actually evil. They're unquestionably bad people (and there's some low ranking folk who are just terrifying; this isn't an absolute), but given a taste of what evil actually has to offer, they don't like it! The Shadow is self-defeating because it strips away the nuanced experience of life and leaves no pleasure or cooperation in its midst. Jordan was setting this kind of stuff up this early on.

Soon the Wheel of Time will be broken. Soon the Great Serpent will die, and with the power of that death, the death of Time itself, your Master will remake the world in his own image for this Age and for all Ages to come. And those who serve me, faithful and steadfast, will sit at my feet above the stars in the sky and rule the world of men forever. So have I promised, and so shall it be, without end. You shall live and rule forever.

No one in the room is suspicious about promises coming from someone who calls himself Father of Lies because they're all so very, very dumb.

“The Dragon Reborn! We are to kill him, Great Lord?” That from the Shienaran, hand grasping eagerly at his side where his sword would hang.

"He's three doors down from my apartment, I can stab him in the face as soon as you have me out of here!" Thank goodness Weiramon will eventually take over the role of preposterously enthusiastic Darkfriend, because of course Ingtar won't be fulfilling this role for much longer. (And while it's not confirmed, since Weiramon is the only High Lord Darkfriend we know of, it's almost certain that he's the guy at this meeting.)

The man who called himself Bors blinked. In this Age or another? I thought the Day of Return was near. What matter to me what happens in another Age if I grow old and die waiting in this one?

Bors is just on fire with the cutting right through the bullshit that consumes major characters. Ishamael is all, "He'll fall eventually and I'll totally be there because I said so!" and Bors is not having it because he knows he'll drop dead eventually and then it won't matter anymore.

The man of the Atha’an Miere, the Sea Folk, stiffening with reluctance as he nodded. The Shienaran, his stance bespeaking confusion even while he acquiesced. The second woman of Tar Valon giving a start, as of shock, and the gray-swathed figure whose sex he could not determine shaking its head before falling to its knees and nodding vigorously.

Really, you gotta wonder what possible instructions Ish could be giving to all of these people. Ingtar's we see shortly and likewise Liandrin's are easy to guess because of what she gets up to going forward, but not the other Aes Sedai (could it be Alviarin? On the one hand, she is very important, on the other, having both women being given instructions here go to Shienar plus Ingtar might be overkill?). The Illianer noblewoman who gets her job before this quote, plus the Atha'an Miere guy and the diversity win nonbinary person don't cross paths with our heroes, as far as we know.

Of course, maybe we can make guesses? The Illianer noblewoman could have been instructed to start setting things up for Sammael or even for if Lanfear got Rand to buy into the glory thing and present the Horn at the city. The Atha'an Miere guy may have helped the fall of Cantorin to the Seanchan for Suroth. No clue about the gray-swathed figure, as the only hint to their identity is that they speak to the noblewoman before this. Weiramon probably got started working out Be'lal's entry to high society, and the unknown member of the Queen's Guard would do the same for Rahvin (interestingly, we never hear of this Guard again; presumably he dies or flees by The Fires of Heaven). The Tuatha'an... Maybe they send their group into the path of Shadowspawn or Seanchan?

“Firstly, you are to return to Tarabon and continue your good works. In fact, I command you to redouble your efforts.”

Without the chaos in Tarabon, a lot of the Seanchan's earlier attempts to conquer the west wouldn't have gone off nearly so well. And yet, if the Seanchan hadn't conquered half the continent for Rand, the Light wouldn't have won the Last Battle, so once again the Shadow's efforts are backfiring.

An impossible sky of striated clouds, red and yellow and black, racing as if driven by the mightiest wind the world had ever seen. A woman—a girl?—dressed in white receded into blackness and vanished as soon as she appeared. A raven stared him in the eye, knowing him, and was gone. An armored man in a brutal helm, shaped and painted and gilded like some monstrous, poisonous insect, raised a sword and plunged to one side, beyond his view. A horn, curled and golden, came hurtling out of the far distance. One piercing note it sounded as it flashed toward him, tugging his soul. At the last instant it flashed into a blinding, golden ring of light that passed through him, chilling him beyond death. A wolf leaped from the shadows of lost sight and ripped out his throat. The torrent went on, drowning him, burying him. He could barely remember who he was, or what he was. The skies rained fire, and the moon and stars fell; rivers ran in blood, and the dead walked; the earth split open and fountained molten rock. . . .

These are all imprinted commands, most of which don't ever pay off for our dear Bors, so let's speculate wildly. The first command is related to Shayol Ghul in some way, so it may be priming him for how to behave in the Last Battle when it comes. The next command is possibly about Lanfear but maybe instead it's about Egwene? The girl thing is what makes it hard to parse, but since we know she's on the Shadow's radar at this point it wouldn't be surprising. The raven I got nothing for.

The Seanchan command is clearly about how to behave in battle against them, so it probably triggers during the climax of this novel or is only interrupted by the blowing of the Horn - which Bors is presumably told to acquire if he becomes aware of it. Finally, the last instruction is probably a warning about what Perrin is capable of to keep Bors able to respond should that become a necessity. The rest is probably general apocalyptic crap without much purpose except as a necessary byproduct of whatever True Power trick Ish is using here (above all else, the Dark One's an ass).

Were all the Darkfriends who convulsed given the same commands, or were they also personalized? Seems odd to give an Illianer woman a Seanchan-related command at this point, but Ishamael is presumably playing at least something of a long game.

“If it please you, my Lord Bors, I will show you to your room.”

Zomaran will later be established as being unable to speak, which makes this particular conversation quite the accomplishment! Maybe it's Ish working through T'A'R? Who even knows.

In the back of his mind a small voice wondered if the promised power, even the immortality, was worth another meeting like this, but he laughed it down immediately. For that much power, I would praise the Great Lord of the Dark under the Dome of Truth.

Bors is lying to himself of course (such an act would get him killed much too quickly to be given immortality, and he only acts in his own interest), and is about to be on an exciting adventure into the world of regretting every decision he ever made. But not right now - the prologue is over and we'll be getting back to our heroes shortly!

#let's read #wheel of time #wot #robert jordan #wheel of time spoilers #wot spoilers #jaichim carridin #ingtar shinowa #liandrin guirale #weiramon saniago #shaidar haran

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vacantgodling · 5 months ago

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hello my dear friend ren [holding microphone up to you] i am Intrigued by gust btaf.... would you mind telling me a bit more about him? :3

HEWWO <3 thank u for asking about my current fixation ODJSKCN

gust is. hm. a character. to start off, here's the 'official' tldr blurb i have about him in all of my planning notes:

known mononymously as ‘gust’, he manages a large network of packs and werewolves to fight in the crusade against vampire kind. much about his origins and true goals are unknown, and some speculate that he is perhaps the inventor of werewolves however he won’t confirm or deny that. sees that despite it all sjaak was still clinging to life and turns him into a werewolf for he admired his tenacity.

to expand these thoughts: gust is (as far as anyone knows) the first werewolf/wolfman/lycanthrope, however you wanna call him. he's probably the oldest character in the story, though his true age is unknown, but he's definitely thousands of years old. no one really knows how he was turned, or why, or how he discovered vampires or moonstone, or literally like. Anything about his backstory. but that's definitely all by design--his purpose has always been the same: to eradicate vampires from the face of the earth.

to do that, he has cultivated numerous packs of wolves across europe (and in modern day this would expand to much of the known world) and travels around bestowing moonstone onto those who would be worthy additions to the cause (such as sjaak), roping in broodmothers to breed a new class of eventual werewolves into adulthood, and slaughtering the fuck out of vampires in exeedingly gory fashion. you could argue somewhat that he does this for the good of humanity, but given his actions... it seems like he doesn't really have a 'pure unadulterated love' for humanity like the noble cause could perhaps dictate.

circling back to the age thing, i think the order of oldest characters to youngest would be:

GUST (who knows) -> DALAL (was alive in morocco sometime in the 1200s) -> LUIS & MARITXELL (were alive in europe sometime around the 1400-1500s) -> ROSITA (probably born in the 1600s) -> EDUARD (probably born in the 1600s) -> AZELIE (probably born in the early 1700s) -> SILVANO (probably born in the early 1700s) -> FLORISSA (born in 1779 in portugal, so probably 31-32 at the time of story) SJAAK (born 1788 in the netherlands, so about 22-23 at the time of story) -> BISCELLA (born 1790 in germany, so about 20-21 at the time of story)

in terms of his personality, he's mysterious, hypocritical, proud, ruthless, and a whole host of other adjectives. he's very objective. he sees the larger picture and he doesn't really care so much about the little details or sacrifices that have to be made for the common goal. even if that means killing children, or taking broodmothers against their will, or even turning people into werewolves against their will... in his mind they're all necessary evils. he doesn't view the world as black and white, nor as any choice as something that is done purely out of goodness--but that everyone is selfish and has their own desires and everything that is done is because of them.

in keeping with btaf's themes... he definitely has a warped perception of free will. free will exists when it is convenient to him, and also exists as a tool that the powerful wield against the weak. free will also exists in love and dependability to him; but he has no qualms about taking away other sources of stability so that people have no choice but to depend on him. he doesn't claim to be a good man--just a man with a purpose, and one who isn't afraid of exerting his own means to fulfill that purpose. he and sjaak get into numerous arguments over this entire thing and especially about his treatment of florissa and how dalal views him, being one who has been around him longer than anyone else in the world.

but those are details! overall, gust is a complex manwolf thing but like. ngl he's hot so like yknow, i'd get it if people want a piece of him pff.

#s: btaf

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altairtalisman · 6 months ago

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Gracie's Bio

"You broke my brother's heart, and you expect me to not slap you?! Why, I ought to slap you twice for that cheek!"

More details on Gracie is under the cut

Name: Grace "Gracie" Duxbury

Age: 29

Height: 179 cm

Birthday: 29 Primna 1677 (Alfabr)

Orientation: Transgender Heterosexual Female

Pronouns: She/Her

Species: Human

Country of Birth: Relnivon

Likes: Her family, Ríonach (as a non-blood related sister), volunteering at orphanages, timepieces, seafood (especially salmon)

Dislikes: Fast fashion, sour food, Jackson, not following through with promises

Hobbies: Horse riding, collecting stamps, making pocket watches

Personality: Kind and does what she thinks is right, she's basically the ideal princess... save for the fact that she's not immune to gossip and is considered nosy by those who value their privacy

Style: Long and loose fitting clothing to hide frame, always has pocket watch attacked the skirt loop and wears riding boots

Status: Dead (DOD: 19 Itis 1706)

Abilities: NA

Background: Born into riches, Grace was brought up with constant reminders that everyone wanted to take advantage of her wealth, with her family being no exception. Even so, she managed to remain close to her twin brother and shared everything with each other, with Thomas being the first person she came out to about identifying as a female

When she turned 18, her family moved to West Balwirk and opened multiple gun manufacturing factories in order to secretly aid the human Balwirkians against the Unois Empire with the help of the Thirteenth Dullahan. As part of their duties as Duxburys, the twins had to socialise with the upper class while at the same time convincing them against the Unois Empire. Three months since their move to West Balwirk, she encountered Barry, a man who had the air of a noble and the mystery of a forgotten era, at a social ball. They immediately got along and though Grace knew better than to trust a man she had just met, she couldn't help but tell him almost everything. Fortunately for her, she was able to control herself and not mention that her family was secretly aiding the rebels

Barry then spent a year courting her, with Grace learning silvers of his life. During their tenth date, he let it slip that he didn't trust albinos. Surprised by his beliefs, Grace decided to confront him about it and Barry explained that the royal family's advisor was an albino dullahan who was actually the royal family's puppeteer. Upon hearing this, Grace became suspicious about his background and decided to secretly find out who he actually was. She then spent eight months doing so, turning up nothing about him nor the albino dullahan he mentioned. Grace then asked her brother if she should reach out to Finbar about it, with Thomas agreeing with her but also warning her to be careful when she asked

Grace then sought the Thirteenth Dullahan out and asked about the albino dullahan, with nim replying that the only albino dullahan that ne knew of was Cain. However, ne also admitted that no one had heard from him nor had any news about him and as such, ne assumed that Cain had either passed without anyone knowing or he was living a quiet life somewhere not in the Unois Empire. Not knowing what to do with the new information, she decided to confront Barry about Cain and armed herself in case he decided to attack her

She didn't expect him to be horrified that she knew about Cain's name, and promptly begged her to walk away from whatever she was planning to do as he firmly believed that Cain was dangerous. Grace, fed up with all the secrets, demanded Barry to reveal who he really was. He then reluctantly admitted that he was actually Bartholomew Ainsworth and was disowned for expressing that his family's rule was tyrannical. He also explained that as the former heir to the throne, he was still wealthy even after he was cut off but he also had a job as a dockworker. He then admitted that he had heard whispers that the Duxburys were helping the rebels and had initially gotten close to Grace so that he could dissuade her otherwise, and even then he was hoping that the rumours were untrue as he was worried for Grace

Grace confirmed that the rumours were true and her family won't stop supporting the rebels. She then asked Barry to support them as he was also opposed to his family's rule, something which he was reluctant to do so as he knew how cruel his family was, and that Cain's cruelty was bound to be much worse than his family's. Grace, not wanting to risk Barry leaking her family's involvement with the rebels, informed him that their relationship would end the moment Barry decided that he would not support the Duxburys actively and that she would spare no effort to make his life miserable. Barry, who was sincerely in love with Grace, decided to side with her but made it known that he would only do so monetarily which Grace was fine with. Grace then wanted to inform Finbar about Cain, but Barry convinced her not to as he didn't know what would happen to the Thirteenth Dullahan as well as the rebels if Cain had gotten wind of nim

On 29 Durna 1700, they were officially married and Barry took on the Duxbury surname to further hide his identity. He then quietly supported the rebels by supplying money to them through anonymous donations and occasionally supplied money to his in-laws' gun manufacturing businesses. However, things started to take a turn for the worse when Jackson stole one of the two meteorite necklaces in the Duxburys possession shortly after Grace's 24th birthday. Not only that, Finbar and the Murphys were killed on 15 Tierna that same year which made Barry afraid that Cain had finally discovered the rebel movement in West Balwirk

Even so, Thomas decided to get the Duxburys back on track by learning how to make jewellery, quickly discovering that he had a talent in doing so. With the help of his father's business acumen, his mother's remaining connections with the upper class, Grace's profession as a clockmaker, and Barry's wealth, the Duxburys were able to come back from the brink and live in modest comfort. During this time, Grace started volunteering at Balwirk's only orphanage as she felt that Finbar's death would lead to more rebel children being orphaned. This allowed her to work closely with Ríonach, who was usually left alone to handle the orphanage

In Primna 1703, Grace had a chance encounter with Jackson, who was on his way back from a social event. She decided to confront him over breaking Thomas' heart and also ruining her family, something that he shrugged off and said to not take it personally. She continued and demanded for him to give back the meteorite necklace, with Jackson initially refusing as he wasn't going to give something to Grace without a price, especially something that the Duxbury valued immensely. Furious, she attempted to hit him but failed to do so as Jackson proved to be more agile. He then quoted a price to Grace, something which she knew would cost the Duxburys deeply even with her husband's finances. Jackson then explained that the high price was assurance that he would treat it as if the Duxburys didn't exist to him as well as keep her gender identity a secret, which thoroughly disgusted her as she never once thought that Thomas loved someone who was that morally bankrupt. Jackson insisted for her to not take it personally and that he was actually quite fond of Thomas, with Grace not believing him the slightest

Grace then agreed to pay him in exchange for the necklace, cutting off all ties with the Duxburys which included not using their family name for his loans, and keeping her gender identity a secret from everyone else. After agreeing upon a fixed date, time and location, they parted ways and Grace immediately went to Barry and asked to borrow 65 percent of the amount she needed to pay Jackson with. Barry agreed, though expressed worry that she was getting caught up in dangerous affairs once more which she waved off. On 26 Primna 1703, she bought the necklace back from Jackson and ensured that he agreed to the rest of the deal by getting him to sign a formal document

Necklace obtained, she had planned on revealing that she had gotten it back to her family on her birthday and promptly went to the orphanage to help Ríonach. There, she saw the girl busying herself much more than usual, which Grace realised that something was truly bothering Ríonach. Grace then asked her what she would like to do, planning to do something related to that in order to cheer the girl up. She was devastated upon hearing Ríonach reply that all she wanted was her parents and it didn't matter what she liked, and didn't know how to console her as she had failed to convince the Thirteenth Dullahan about Cain which led to her parents' deaths. Knowing that she would get scolded by her parents the moment they learnt about her using the family's hard-earnt money to buy something that they would never know nor receive, she decided to gift the necklace to Ríonach and insisted that she kept it for it was not only her family's heirloom but also a good luck charm for them, and she wanted good luck to follow the girl

When Grace went home, she was indeed confronted by her parents about the finances. Thomas intervened by saying that he used it to secretly fund the rebels, which took the blame off her. Privately, he asked her about the finances to which she replied that she bought the family peace and hoped that they would adhere to the agreement. Thomas expressed that he would prefer to be in the loop to her decisions so that he could cover for her better in the future, something which Grace promised under the belief that Jackson would uphold his end of the deal

On 1 Itis 1706, Barry left the Duxbury Manor for a business meeting, not knowing that Cain had sent assassins to kill him. Grace thought nothing of it even when he hadn't been back in three weeks as she knew that travel takes a while in the empire and it could easily take Barry weeks to settle his meetings if the other parties had strong opinions about the business plans, which was what Thomas was experiencing then in Nantrax. On 19 Itis that same year, a group comprising of five humans showed up at her doorstep and claimed to be from the RPS. When she asked why were they not in uniform and why there were so many of them, they explained that they were actually off-duty and on their way out for lunch but were informed that they had to deliver a few packages at the last minute, with the Duxburys being their final recipient

Grace's parents then invited them inside for some refreshments after overhearing the explanation they gave to Grace, something which immediately set alarm bells off in her head as she suspected that something was off with the explanation but couldn't pin point what nor why. While the group was invited into the dining room, Grace decided to remain near the door to open the package. She was horrified to see Barry chopped up into parts when she opened the package, and instantly deduced that the group wasn't who they claimed to be which was confirmed by screaming coming from the dining room. Grace then tried to escape the manor but was blocked by a sixth human who claimed that they needed to pay up in Jackson's stead, which prompted her to retreat back into the manor and witness her father dead in the living room and a trail of blood up the staircase

Wanting to check in on her mother, she went up the stairs only to be confronted with two of the loansharks repeatedly stabbing her mother's limp body. With four loansharks running up the stairs and two charging downwards, she got up on the banister and swung herself in a circle so that she was out of the way when the loansharks collided with each other. Upon landing back on the stairs, she quickly rushed to her room but was fatally shot by one of them. Even so, she managed to drag herself to her bedroom and hoped that the loansharks assumed that she was dead. She was relieved when she heard the entrance door slam shut minutes later, but knew that death was about to claim her as she saw Trigis watching her with concern from the furthest corner in her bedroom

She then proceeded to ask Trigis if her brother would return soon, not expecting a reply. She was surprised when it replied that her brother was outside the manor, and Grace begged her to give her some time with her brother before she followed Trigis with wherever it would bring her, with it replying that it wasn't up to it to decide that but her soul's connection would surely last long enough for a few words with Thomas. Thomas then barged into the bedroom, tears in his eyes as he cradled Grace's body in his arms. Grace then informed Thomas that due to their previous friendship with Jackson, they had made numerous enemies and they had targets on their backs. She decided to omit that Jackson had went back on his deal with her, not wanting Thomas to hate Jackson even more than he already was

With her dying breath, she told him to help out at Balwirk's sole orphanage whenever he could, with her brother's promises fading away as Trigis approached her with its lantern swaying gently along...

#Hallowed Hotel #Grace Duxbury #tw death #Altair draws

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theniftycat · 2 years ago

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Well, it’s racism against Germans time in Oblomov!

It’s weird and funny from out time’s perspective, but in the 19th century a lot of lower and middle class Germans went to Russia to find work which was easy because there were many positions such as managers, tutors and engineers open. Russian nobility only served in the military or in the government, peasants were almost all serfs and city dwellers were not that numerous and rich to get educated and take qualified jobs.

So, imagine being a small Russian nobleman who lives in a village with their family and peasants. And then a German moves nearby and starts making money without being a noble landowner. No, that German is in fact just a farmer’s son, but now he’s married to a noble woman and he WORKS and he TEACHES HIS CHILDREN TO WORK AND EVEN PAYS THEM. Outrageous. And you’re sitting there, eating a mushroom pie and reading an old newspaper because your brain is fried from decades of not doing anything, and thinking “Something is wrong with these Germans, also, they’re not even properly Christian”. And you drink your tea and think about that letter that you got yesterday, but you’re too anxious to open it.

This is literally the story of Oblomov’s family.

But yeah, it’s far from the first time I see this in Russian books. Germans were seen as suspicious and weird because they were not noble, they worked and they wanted to achieve stuff, so they did and it really threatened Russian nobility.

#Reading diary I guess #oblomov #ivan goncharov

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onyx232323 · 1 year ago

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An Adeptus' Last Wish- Zhongchi fic

(12/30)

More chapters here!<33

Summary-

After the Gnosis incident, Childe decides to take a much-needed break away from Zhongli.

However, how was he supposed to react, when all of a sudden Lumine showed up outside his apartment sounding terribly mortified, "Childe......Zhongli.......Zhongli....is in grave danger."

Of course, he was going to do anything to help the dying man.

Sure, he still felt a lot of contempt for him, after what he did, but his heart still loved him.....

But, what he hadn't expected was the sudden wisp of golden light that somehow transported him during the times of the Archon War?!

What the FUCK?!

________________________

Chapter 12: Realizations, Transformations, and the Meaning of "Home" Pt. 1

Ajax woke up to a glare of sun, shining down on his face.

His head was pounding, hurting from the afterglow of his prior shenanigans the day before no doubt. It felt as if a thousand needles had entered themselves into his head at the very same time, stinging the same spot, until he grew nauseous.

He blinked his tired eyes open and attempted to stand up, only for every muscle in his body to ache and protest against the single movement. He groaned and leaned back down, cursing his life choices.

Great.

He had made an utter fool of himself, yet again in front of his Shizun, Morax. And to top that off, he had managed to overexert himself to the point where he could not even get out of bed.

Now, while Ajax had been under Fatui military training where he was taught self-defense, and how to fight with a weapon. However, during his time in the military, unfortunately for many of the people who had joined it, in dull hopes of bringing enough income to their families or because they wanted the glory and prestige that came along with it. Their higher ranked soldiers that were in charge of teaching the new trainees, were not the exactly the…best…at teaching their classes, and mostly just threw the new soldiers into a fighting pit, telling them that they would hone their fighting abilities that way.

Of course, even at just 14 years old, Ajax knew for a fact, that it was not a good tactic, especially since their was so many trainees hoping to be as good as their fellow upperclassmen, especially not when their higher ranked soldiers were in fact trained personally (most of them at least), by a Fatui Harbinger.

And, while he had been trained to fight that way by Skirk in the beginning. Even she grew to see how erroneous and beastly her ways had been, and quickly began to train with him hands-on. Which entitled many days and nights where she would simply insult him enough for him to get agitated enough that he would willingly attack her, during her bizarre training lessons.

Childe had always thought that she might have felt guilty for having nearly killed him the first day they met; having rebuilt and fortified every bone in his body after breaking them time and time again, after having punctured every single organ in his body, after having spilled half of his blood, and having nearly ripped his stomach wide open with her blades. He thought that her sparring lessons might have been a way for her to repent for her cruel actions, in her own sick way. She wanted to be beaten half to death by Childe, in order to get even with him; though she never admitted to it.

Skirk was a strange master, but, as strange as she was, she was also fair. If Ajax were to get cut by one of her blades, she would allow him to cut him in the very same place as well. And if his arm would get injured, and he would only be allowed to use one arm for the entire fight, she would as well.

She was noble in that way, even as beastly and vile as she might have been.

Unlike the higher ups in the military. Which were nothing but corrupt and vile in their own right. They only did whatever was in their best interest; whether that was worldly desires like sex, drugs, and alcohol, or earning money by trading those same worldly pleasures to some of the other higher ups.

In fact, Tartaglia had seen first-hand just how many higher ups or Harbingers would pick up their favorites from the bunch, and carefully groom them to become weapons or personal servants of their choosing; promising riches, fame, and power....all of which were white lies.

And how the same higher ups that he was told were there to guide him would personally hand their juniors out like a prize to be won to the sick seniors.

Of course, he tried to stop it as much as he could, and would even pay the officials out for the poor trainees, and would advise them to be more careful. Celestia knows just how many higher ups attempted to ‘buy’ him from Pulcinella for a night or two, or even to use him however they pleased, when he was just 16.

It was shortly after Pulcinella took him under his wing directly after he had been promoted several ranks up in just 2 years. He was impressed and wanted to guide the boy in order for him to become a great warrior.

Luckily, Pulcinella was one of the decent Harbingers, with enough morals to not be bent by the sheer promise of money. He angrily refused and promptly had the same people, mysteriously disappeared. He was probably one of the few Harbingers Ajax trusted with his life.

In fact, he was the only one.

Pulcinella was always disgusted by the other higher ups' antics and refused to budge, he was one of the few people in Ajax’s life that have seen him as nothing but a son. He saw the boy’s potential and wanted to help him achieve success, with no other ulterior motives. He was a good person amidst all of the trash and garbage that hid themselves under pretense of being righteous and dignified, fighting solely for Her Majesty's best interests.

It was all a pile of dog shit, and those very same people knew it, deep down.

They were nothing but a bunch of sickos, with a desire to be in a position of power in order to be able to harm others in twisted and disgusting ways. Even years later, Tartaglia still had to face the perverse stares of those who saw him as something else but Her Majesty’s personal Vanguard.

It was something else, something dark, something unwanted and something that made Ajax uncomfortable. He knew the stares of the lord’s and lady’s that would come and visit the palace, he knew what their lust-filled stare’s meant.

He wasn’t naive, though he pretended to be.

They wanted him in a way that he did not, he did not miss the familiar lingering touches they would leave on his waist whenever they would stand next to him, or the filthy stares they would give him. Tartaglia was not ignorant of what it meant, they wanted to wreck him, and merely saw him as another pretty face to add to their repertoire of many pretty faces that followed them.

They did not like him for his skill battle, as much as they claimed it was for that reason. In fact, they had even offered The Tsaritsa herself a generous sum of mora, in the millions of thousands in exchange for her 11th.

And well, as icy as Her Majesty might have grown to be, she was notorious for being rather possessive over her Harbinger’s and their individual safety; working as a sort of twisted mother-figure.

She would promptly leave her throne, expression neutral, and carefully make her way down the steps of her throne in a dignified way, light and airy, her long gown trailing behind her like a waterfall. Then, she would reach out of the lord or lady and promptly freeze them to death with a grip of her icy hand, turning their very lips blue and throats bursting from the icy spikes that burst through them.

It was a macabre scene, every single icy spike would burst through the poor fool’s throats like a sick needle weaving a dignified gown fit for a queen. He would watch as the blood would weep down their throat, gushing red and silken like honey, slowly and putrid. Then, she would let go of them, throwing them to the side as if they were mere dirty rags to her and wipe their blood on her gown.

She would spare them but a single repulsed glance; would turn around once more, not caring for the outcry that would follow as the fool’s entourage would chastise her and cry out for the death of their lady or lord. And they two would meet their demise, only not by Her Majesty but by the guards who would drag them out and throw them into a cell.

For a reason unknown to him, he was strangely favored by The Tsaritsa.

One theory he had come up with, was that perhaps she reminded him of her late son, something that was an open secret to the inhabitants of the Zapolyarny Palace.

He had seen the portraits and countless paintings of a young boy with blond hair, his face scratched off. As well as the countless family portraits that were scratched out, the only one remaining was Her Majesty’s soft expression gazing at the painter in front of her.

She looked happy in these portraits, unlike the permanent frown on her face whenever she would request an audience with him. It was an open secret that The Tsaritsa had a happy family, some time ago. But, during the Archon War, her husband and son had tragically died, details of their exact death have remained unknown for centuries.

Her life was ripped away from her, before she could grasp at it. She was left alone, a God of Love with no one left to love. Her love was ripped away from her, she was devastated, and soon enough, her heart began to freeze over. She was no longer the gentle and benevolent god she used to be, but a cold and cruel one. She did not have any love left for her, so she left none for her people.

But as much as her people say that she’s unfeeling as she makes herself to be, they are wrong. Childe has seen her benevolence time and time again, her kindness shine through. He saw it in the way she would send physicians to her Harbingers quarters after they had been badly hurt, and insisted on them taking a break after battle. He saw it in the way she would refuse other rich lord’s and lady’s money whenever they would offer to bed any of her Harbinger’s for intel on any of her enemies or financial support.

And although Ajax had been in

She was still the archon she used to be, although deeply wounded.

A part of Childe wondered if she specifically chose her Harbingers. It had to be for a reason, he always thought to himself. But, what?

He now knew.

Her Majesty, The Tsaritsa has always been an Archon of Love, even afterwards. She would always love her people, that was just who she was to her core. As much as she tried to cover up her love, it would always seep out through the cracks in her tightly fabricated mask.

Perhaps that’s why she chose the loneliest people as her loyal Harbingers, people that were abandoned by Celestia, just like her. Perhaps she found solace in them, knowing that she too was just like them.

Every single Harbinger was abandoned by Celestia, they were left to rot in the dark crevices of Teyvat, with no one left to turn too.

Ajax was sure as hell that The Tsaritsa knew of his past, knew of every single misdeed he had done, every single lie he had told, his sin. He was sure he did. How could she not?

It was evident to every Celestial being that Ajax was nothing short of a monster. An Abyssal beast, no longer human, no longer humane, with bloody impulses. Was that why she allowed him to enter the Palace?

Was that why she welcomed him, and personally buttoned that insignia on his jacket and re-birthed him through a new name, “Tartaglia. You shall no longer be known as anything else my dear Vanguard. You are Tartaglia now.”

Tartaglia smiled and bowed down before His Majesty, watching as she hummed and passed an ice cold hand through his hair, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Did all Archons know of his corruption? Could all beings made from pure elemental energy sense the overwhelming stench erupting from his very pores?

Did he know he was tainted by The Abyss?

Was it evident the second they met, was it something he brushed to the side for the sake of cordiality? Was it something he brushed off for the sake of camaraderie?

If so, then why was he still so gentle towards something that had destroyed his land centuries ago, something that had killed the very beings he loved so dearly. Why didn’t he express his resentment? Or any type of prejudice against him? Why-

“You shouldn’t put much strain on your body. From what I’ve heard from Cloud Retainer, not everyone is used to our strenuous regimen of exercise. Your muscles are probably sore from the rigorous training you’ve subjected your body to, it's best not to stand up for now.”

He looked up, snatched out of his trance after so long. Morax stood in front of him, tall and domineering in his stance, eyes intense and frown evident. He was dressed in new clothes it seemed, a loose white dachang with white accents on the sleeves. Embroidered on them were small dainty flowers, they seemed to be pink camellias. He was carrying a small tray, with what appeared to be a bowl of something.

He instinctively sat up once he saw Morax leaning down, but winced when he felt his muscles protesting against the excessive movement, letting out a small groan. He was too sore to even function and the fact that he had slept on a straw mat, with nothing but a small blanket on top, certainly did not help his aching muscles.

Morax frowned, placed the bowl down, before helping Ajax sit up, “Don’t move too much. You’ll hurt yourself.”

Ajax didn’t say anything, and just obeyed, sitting up pathetically with the help of Morax. Then, he felt Morax place something onto his back, it was a small pillow(?). It was in an odd shape, a cylinder, but it was soft nevertheless and helped support his aching back.

Morax seemed to pause momentarily before he spoke up, “I brought you something to eat,” he slid the plate towards Ajax.

It was an odd gesture, but familiar nonetheless.

He nodded, uttering a quick, “..thanks...”, before he picked up the bowl and inspected it. It was a small bowl of what appeared to be rice porridge, it was a common dish used for treating ailments if his memory proved him correct. It had bits of chopped green onions in it, as well as small bits of ginger, with small bits of chicken as well. As soon as Ajax took a bite, the flavor exploded into his mouth although very delicately.

Judging from the flavor, it was most likely made by Madame Ping and Guizhong. Although Guizhong was not exactly an accomplished cook; that much was evident when she stayed over at Ajax’s once more to watch over Ganyu once again, and well….nearly set the kitchen on fire.

However, since then, she has really improved. She could now cook simple dishes, and they were actually pretty good. And well, Madame Ping was always there by her side to make sure she wouldn’t light the kitchen ablaze, so that definitely improved her cooking skills.

Although, Ajax had a large suspicion that her ‘sworn sister’ was really just there, to hopelessly pine over her shijie.

Like cmon’!

It wasn’t as if Ajax was oblivious to the way his dajie would look so reverently at his shijie. Of course, poor Madame Ping had to face the fact that her shijie was oblivious to her feelings. Whenever she would do anything even remotely romantically charged, Guizhong would laugh it off, and pat her on the back regarding her as her sworn sister with pride. His idiotic shijie missed the way Ping stared at her as if she was the center of her entire universe, and the way she would merely sigh at her rejection and carry on playing her zither.

It hurt to watch.

He had suspected it for a while; the secret glances his friend had swiped at Guizhong, and the fond expression she only reserved for Guizhong.The way she would go along with Guizhong with whatever she would do. The way she would write countless songs dedicated to Guizhong, though she disguised them as being solely for her training. The way she would earnestly help her on her inventions and give her input as well, and even carry some of the heavy work by herself.

It was too much, way too much.

________________________________

He had confronted Ping about it a while ago, the day after A-Qiu’s funeral service. He had seen the way she comforted Guizhong and had cleaned her tears delicately with the ends of her sleeves, her expression loving and bittersweet. The way she embraced Guizhong with all she had, as if she too was going to disappear. The way she had gently whispered sugar coated lies into her ear, a few ways away from the funeral site, and held her close, after she had left the funeral early and too hastily.

He too had followed after his shijie, in order to make sure she was alright, but it seemed as if someone had caught up before him. He saw as she held her close, trapping her in the frame of her body, stroking small patterns into the back of her white robes. She was crying as well, but not nearly as harshly as Guizhong was. She was practically screaming out in pain, clinging onto her shimei’s clothes for dear life.

The way she held her close, and the way she looked at her shijie, felt too personal. And all of a sudden, Ajax grew too aware that he was there. It felt as if he was disrupting a private moment, he wanted to leave immediately. He turned around, deciding to ask Ping what had transpired, later on.

And he did.

He caught up to Madame Ping, playing her zither in the very same spot he had found her the day prior. She was playing silently, the tone of her instrument melancholic and somber, but bittersweet all the same.

She opened an eye, and gave a small smile, “Shidi. What are you doing here?”

He smiled back and shrugged, “Thought you could use some company.”

Her smile widened and she scooted over, to give him space on the same stone he found her sitting on, “I do.”

He sat on the stone and hesitated for a minute, deciding how it would be best to say something like this. After all, Ajax had never been the best when it came to maintaining friendships, at least not close ones. All of the friendships he had were a result of something disastrous, and it felt as if he was walking on glass every time he talked to Lumine or even Katya.

But, he decided to give it his best shot, “So what piece are you working on this time, dajie?”

She paused a bit before she glanced towards the river beside them, “I’m not quite sure to be completely frank. I am stuck in a conundrum of sorts, one that I can’t seem to leave at the moment.”

Ajax raised his eyebrow, “What is it about-the conundrum I mean. What is it about?”

She looked back at him, her eyes were hesitant, “Well…I have someone I cherish deeply, but I-I’m afraid their affections lie elsewhere…And, I’m not sure how to deal with this loss of mine, how do I?....Do you know how to?”

Oh.

Ajax had not expected that. Not at all.

Her voice sounded painfully defeated and at a loss, as if she was going through a second death of someone she loved. Her eyes were distant and distinctly hurt, and she looked as if she wanted to cry but ultimately held it in.

He looked at her and let out a large sigh, “To be honest, I don’t really know either, dajie. It’s actually pretty ironic that you are mentioning that, because I’m going through a very similar conundrum myself. One that I haven’t personally figured out myself. So, I don’t know, you just sort of learn to live with it and slowly that feeling starts to dwindle until it fades away completely.”

She nodded, “I see…It’s just-I’ve never felt this way before. At least not to this extent for someone else in all of my years of life. I feel as if a piece of me has been ripped away when I think about them being with somebody other than I......I feel awful, so awful I can’t even concentrate on my meditation. This...feeling of mine has completely taken over my life, it's so overwhelming that I’m afraid it's going to ultimately swallow me completely. I….would like to get rid of it.”

He nodded, feeling at a loss as well. He never expected his dajie to be going through something so painfully similar to what he was going through. He stared up at the starless sky, and closed his eyes before he started out slowly, “Well… just what is it that you like about this person?”

She too looked up at the starless sky as well, closing her own eyes, “I…I’m not so sure I know. While I like their neverending kindness, I selfishly want it all for myself. I want to hold them as closely to me as possible, I want to hold all of their light to myself. I oftentimes find myself fascinated by their bright smile, their captivating beauty, the way they extend their light to everything that they touch. I like her mind, the way she could think about a new way to improve one of her older designs. The way she never stops pursuing knowledge, and the way she never gives up on what she has set her mind to, no matter the setbacks. The way she laughs, the way she cries, the way she talks.....I’m afraid I like it all..”

She trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

Ajax was startled by the bursting confession thrown before him, but welcomed it nevertheless. If at least he could not help himself and his own disastrous love-life then perhaps he could help someone else.

Now, he was sure that she liked Guizhong.

He opened his eyes and looked at Madame Ping, “I…Dajie…are you perhaps in love with shijie?”

She opened her eyes abruptly, panic filling them, her cheeks turned slightly pink even under the yellow light emitting from the lamp posts around them, “I-”

Seeing as she looked like a frightened deer, he patted her shoulder reassuringly, “Hey, it’s fine if you do. I’m not here to judge or anything, trust me.”

As if he would judge her for liking Guizhong, he was sure that if he was not completely head over heels in love with Zhongli, he would have a crush on her as well. That was perfectly valid, and besides he is 40% sure that Zhongli himself also had a crush on Guizhong himself as well. Having a crush on Guizhong is perfectly valid, he was sure most of her devoted followers had a crush on her as well.

She didn’t reply at first, but eventually nodded, “Yes..”, she scratched the side of her cheek nervously, “ Is it obvious?”

He nodded and suddenly felt like teasing the poor senior, “Yeah, too obvious. Really, you should hide your infatuation a little better when you’re comforting her, dajie.”

Madam Ping’s face looked petrified as she stared blankly at Ajax, “You…saw that?”

“Yep, clear as day, dajie. It was painfully obvious that you were crushing hard on her.”

She winced at that, and nodded, short and curt, “I see…I just…”

“Can’t help it....Yeah, I get that.”

She nodded, absentmindedly playing with the ends of her billowing sleeves, “Yes. I…I don’t know when it all started. I keep trying to go back to the exact moment where I had begun to like her, but nothing comes to mind. It just…happened.”

Celestia above, did that hit home for Ajax.

He leaned back in his seat, laying down on the round rock, feeling how the rock made his spine curve in an uncomfortable way, “Yeah, I get that too. It was the same for you, you know. I didn’t know when I liked him, it just happened. Of course, I found him attractive when I first met him, but I didn’t think much of it. Until, that attraction started to expand towards every word that fell from his mouth to the way he walked.”

She hummed, “...How long have you liked Shizun?”

That made him pause.

WHAT?

This time, it was him that jumped up from his seat, feeling as his face heated up and his heart beat went a mile a minute, “What? No! I don’t like him! Not at all! I…”

He slowed down as soon as he saw the shit-eating grin on Ping’s face. He gave up denying it and felt his shoulders slump down and his hands come front to cup his face, “I…I’m not so sure either. I just started to feel some type of way,” he sighed, “But, I can’t. I know I can’t. It’s just….complicated.”

She hummed once again, this time patting his head, “I understand…Love is a complicated thing, is it not?”

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

She nodded, “If it were easy, we would not be stuck in this predicament.”

She stopped her ministrations before she carefully plucked at her guzheng, conjuring a melody of notes; they were somber but all the same yearning for someone unattainable.

They sat there in silence for the rest of the night, listening to the hum of cicadas, the plucking of strings and the melancholic melody that erupted from the guzheng.

They would always pine for someone unattainable, no matter how much time passed, their love would remain and never fully fade away throughout the passage of time.

___________________________

Morax never left his side, even after he painstakingly scooped up spoonful after spoonful of jookand gulped it down. He sat down next to him, and watched him as if he was witnessing the most interesting thing happen right before his eyes.

It unnerved Ajax, just how Morax watched him.

It was a gaze filled with nothing but pure hunger.

A hunger so vast and so unfulfilled inside of the man before him, a lust so drawn out for centuries waiting to escape. It got to a point where Ajax could swear he had seen the man staring at his lips, looking as if he wanted to rip them out of his face with his own teeth…very strange.

As he shifted around, he would see the Archon following his every movement like a starving predator waiting for its prey. He tracked his every breath, his every movement with his eyes, that seemed as if they were nothing but slits.

He could not take it anymore, and hurriedly ate the remaining soup, wiped his mouth and carefully pushed the bowl back to him, “I’m done..”

The Archon nodded, before he inched closer towards Ajax.

He came closer and closer, until he could feel his warm breath tickling his cheek. Everything in him seemed to shut down as he saw the Archon’s eyes drinking him in, as if he was a delicacy. He felt himself stiffen as the Archon grew near.

Then, before he could react, he felt a soft touch on the corner of his lip. He glanced down to see a small grain of rice on the god’s finger, he glanced up to see the Archon lick it off his finger, “You....forgot a spot.”

AHH-

The Archon nonchalantly retreated back before he picked up the bowl, carrying it off. Ajax watched frozen in place as he watched the god leave, turning the corner to what he presumed was a kitchen or something of the sort.

Ajax felt as if he was going to die of utter embarrassment, he shriveled up with it in fact. He felt his heart beating out of his clothes, wanting nothing more than the ground to open up and swallow him whole.

‘What the fuck was that?!’

__________________________

His question was not answered for the remainder of the day, as the horde of adepti came to his Shizun’s domain, after having heard of Ajax’s condition.

Unfortunately for him, his muscles were sore to the extent that, whenever he would try to stand up, his legs would wobble like a baby fawn’s. When he first tried to stand up, he toppled over, which was embarrassing. The second time he tried to stand up, he was caught by Morax, who frowned at him, “It’s worse than I had anticipated…You are falling over like a newborn adepti, that’s not good. I’ll go ask for Cloud Retainer. “

Ajax groaned in embarrassment, digging his face into the palms of his hands; both at the slight jab to his ego and the fact that Morax’s hand was nestled onto his waist. However, his groan only prompted Morax to worry further about him, carefully setting him down, and grabbing his face with his hands, “Are you alright?”

Celestia above! He really needed to stop doing that!

He nodded, face ablaze, “Yeah…I’m fine…just a little sore is all, Shizun.”

Morax’s eyebrows seemed to furrow, and he started to inspect Ajax’s face, turning it from side to side and leaning in closely. He leaned in closely, that his forehead touched Ajax’s. Morax paused for a moment before he shook his head, “It seems like you have a cold....you are burning up, and are bright red.”

That was not why he was “burning up”, but he did not know how to tell the poor Archon, so he just shook his head slightly, “No, I’m fine. I’m just sore and tired, I need a quick nap and I’ll be fine.”

Morax shook his head, gaze firm, “No, you are not. I will be back as soon as I can. Do not move.”

What was he supposed to do? Disobey his orders? Psht, no. He was weak against this man, that had been an established thing. He gave a curt nod and watched as Morax left.

A few minutes later he woke up to everyone staring holes into him.

He paused a bit, before he stood up; but, when he did, he felt every single bone in his body burn. It felt awful and he felt awful, it felt as if everything was on fire, he felt his bones itch. What the hell?

He yelped out in pain and immediately recoiled back down.

Guizhong rushed to his side, helping him lay back down, “Shidi! Are you okay?!”

Her eyes were wide and filled with worry, she looked terribly worried. Incredibly worried so much that he felt guilty for feeling like shit, so he gave his best faux smile and nodded, “Yeah, of course shijie. Why wouldn’t I b-”

He felt another sting to his muscles, and let out a groan, “Fuck.”

Mountain Shaper was the one who was at his side now, he was in his human form. He placed his hand on his wrist. Then, after a while, let out a small sigh, “His meridians are expanding, his body is going through a lot of stress right now. The final transition from a human to an adeptus is currently expanding his meridians and filling them with spiritual energy, as well as redoing his very skeletal structure-"

Yeah, but wasn't he already an adeptus, he already had the fangs and the horns and the wholeshebang and what not?

"But, aren't I already technically an adeptus already?"

Mountain Shaper looked irritated at his interruption but continued nevertheless, "No, you have yet not. Although, you may have begun your transition from human to adeptus a long time ago, this is the final evolution of what was already started.….Have you noticed anything abnormal going on in your body? Increase in appetite, fatigue, drowsiness, increased stamina?”

Well…he had noticed that he had required more food than normal. But that was a given, considering Cloud Retainer and Morax kept pouring more food onto his plate, even after he refused. But, he had also noticed that he had increased energy when he went out on his usual patrols with Cloud Retainer, even going as far as to instigate more fights with the rifthounds that were miles away from their small village. And now that he really thought about it, he did notice he was getting a lot more tired after those small bursts in energy.

…….Well shit….now what?

He nodded, and through gritted teeth he said, “Yeah-AH!!”

He bit his hand in order to stop the scream from escaping his throat as his entire body felt like it was being engulfed in flames, and charred. The pain made him nearly lose consciousness, and he barely registered the concerned voices calling out to him.

The next he noticed was Morax in front of him, molten eyes intense and pupils blown wide, “Stop! You are hurting yourself!”

He blinked, drowsy. He looked down at his arm, his palm was bleeding, blood was dripping down his forearm. It was dark and viscous, it looked scarily red on his pale skin. He felt his mouth in pain, as dazedly brought his tongue over his teeth, yelping out in surprise as he felt a pair of sharp fangs protruding out. They were far sharper and longer than he had remembered to be.

Guizhong carefully wrapped his wound up, with long bandages, her eyes wide and scared.

The pain came in waves after that, some worse than others. Madam Ping had gone to her own domain and had brought strong pain medicine, used for adepti only. She had made it herself and had personally dried and ground up all of the herbs herself.

The medicine was bitter, too bitter in its taste. But, it worked because afterwards he barely felt the pain. The waves of pain felt like a cotton ball was being dragged over his entire body.

Ultimately, they had all decided to take turns watching Ajax’s condition. Some of them would go out to watch over the outer border to see if any incoming attacks were coming, while the rest stayed to watch over Ajax.

Cloud Retainer and Moon Carver went to watch the outer border, while the rest stayed behind. Guizhong and Morax stayed by his side like rice candy stuck to your gums, constantly fretting over his condition. While Ping, Mountain Shaper, Sky Bracer would routinely watch over Ganyu and made sure to change his bandages and change his cold compress.

Ajax felt lethargic, every single bone in his body seemed to ache, and even his mouth hurt. However, besides that, he felt strangely warm surrounded by adepti who cared about him very much, who cared about him so earnestly.

He felt strangely at......

Home.

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