#and when patterns start to show up i go yuck. anyway sorry this is probably nonsense | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ripples-in-the-river · 4 years ago

Text

Pearl of Sadness, chapter four (because I love this fic and I want to keep writing it)

***

Adrien slumped down into his bed. He did his best to ignore Plagg but he wasn't able to miss the eyebrow of death his Kwami was giving him.

"Don't," Adrien protested before Plagg was even able to open his mouth.

"You kissed her. Yuck. What's wrong with you?" Plagg whined anyways. "Now I won't be able to eat ever again."

"That's -- you didn't even see it," Adrien groaned. "Oh, there's camembert in the drawer for you."

"I wish," Plagg muttered. "And I know, you always keep it there."

Plagg cut himself a large slice and huddled into the blanket.

"So. Spill it. Why'd you kiss the same girl twice?"

Adrien sighed.

"I don't know. She just looked so lonely. I thought maybe... I don't know, Plagg. I know I broke up with her because she just looked miserable with me. But I think I broke her heart even more. What should I do?"

"Don't ask me," Plagg protested.

He scarfed down the last of his cheese, but at the last moment, he ripped off a morsel and hesitantly handed it over to Adrien.

"Uh, here. Have a bite. It'll make you forget about your troubles."

"That's very nice, Plagg, but you know I don't like camembert," Adrien refused. Then he gave in, because Plagg looked at him with big eyes and he couldn't resist. "Alright, fine."

He swallowed the bit. It wasn't so bad when he couldn't actually taste anything. Plagg looked up at him insistently.

"So? That wasn't so bad, was it?" the Kwami pressed him.

"I guess it wasn't," Adrien nodded.

"See, I know what I'm doing sometimes," Plagg huffed, then he floated away.

"You just gave me some cheese," Adrien called after him.

"It was a gift," Plagg corrected.

"Alright, alright. Goodnight, Plagg."

"Goodnight -- and don't wake me up too early, I need to sleep."

"Sorry, Plagg, I have school tomorrow."

"Why can't you just quit? I swear, nobody your age actually wants to go to school. Except you."

"Well, it's easier to get out of college when there's akuma attacks, for one," Adrien explained.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're still a weirdo."

Adrien rolled his eyes and rolled to his side. He didn't feel like sleeping just yet. Would everyone at school know what had happened? His breakup still hurt -- almost physically. Was he supposed to move on? No, of course not -- he was sort of still dating her, wasn't he? He did kiss her as Chat Noir. What did that mean? Was it dishonest? What would Nino say? What would Alya say? She would probably be angry at him for breaking up with her best friend. Would Nino be upset he caused trouble in their circle of friends, too? No, that wasn't Nino's style -- but what if the whole class started to hate him? What if they thought he was just another pretty boy who didn't care about anyone?

Adrien told himself he was in way too deep and he ought to sleep on it. At least, Plagg wouldn't care at all, and he'd still nag him on tomorrow. That was strangely reassuring, Adrien thought. It was good to have a Kwami that didn't care about anything sometimes.

Plagg did care, actually, but perhaps he was being too subtle for Adrien to properly see it.

He thought about texting Nino to tell him about what had happened, but then realized he'd need to lie. "No way," Adrien decided. So he didn't. Tomorrow, everyone would think he'd freshly broken up with Marinette. Perhaps it was for the best.

***

When Marinette went to school that Monday, it would mark a date that she was trying to find important but couldn't bother to care about. The first week after her breakup. She didn't really like counting the days. It wasn't like it was important, or useful, and she didn't like useless things. They just clogged her mind. But hey, if anyone asked her anything, she'd be able to count the days, so that was at least a little bit helpful. In looking sad. Which she wasn't feeling, actually. Maybe if she saw Alya, she would remember why she was supposed to still be crying. Did people actually cry more than twenty minutes after the initial shock, or was that just a myth? Perhaps he hadn't been the right one? Who cared?

Marinette checked her phone to see if she had gotten any more texts from Kagami. Then she put her phone back in her purse guiltily. Tikki looked up from her spot in in and stared through her with serious eyes.

"If you miss her, why don't you text her? I'm sure she'd be happy to hear from you," Tikki proposed.

"I don't know, Tikki... I --"

She remembered how close she'd been to kissing her the last time they'd talked. Then Chat had appeared out of nowhere. And Marinette was scared, because she kissed him too, or he kissed her, or something -- something involving a kiss, anyways -- and now she was so confused and she didn't even want to show up at school at all, because nothing was going according to those dating rules Alya had explained to her when she'd only just started dating Adrien.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe I just don't want to see her," she lied tentatively. "It's all been so complicated since last week. I wish I didn't have to see anyone today."

"It's a little too late for that," Tikki squealed. "Chat's right there and he's bound to see you eventually."

"Chat?" Marinette echoed.

She felt the faintest hint of a warm smile creep into her features. Well, if Chat was there, things were probably fine, right? It was always safe to hang out with him. But then she recoiled thinking that maybe he would kiss her again. Or take her hand. Or ask to take her to the movies. Okay, so she did know he was the same age as her and probably went to the same college, but what would she even do if they were seen together in public? Wouldn't that be kind of weird? She wasn't sure she even liked the idea.

Was romance always supposed to be this complicated? She told herself she ought to ask Tikki about it. Did Kwamis even fall in love? If so, they probably had other things to do than be morose about it all day.

Maybe Tikki missed her partner, too.

Then Chat called out to her and she almost fainted. She smelled dust and heard rocks tumbling everywhere as he landed like a meteorite right next to her, holding his baton like a weird cane, looking smug about eveyrthing as usual. At least her annoyance masked the awkwardness she was beginning to feel.

"Aren't you an early bird today? I thought cats fared better at night," she hummed.

"Well, the early bird gets the worm, and the early cat catches the bird," he laughed. "And this cat was hunting for a very special princess he had a gift for."

"A gift?" Marinette fussed, trying to repress the alarming feeling that this was becoming very "we're dating"-like. "For me? What is it?"

"Say thank you first," Chat nagged.

"Nope," Marinette refused, crossing her arms at him.

"Aw. Don't you want it?" Chat whined.

She turned back and looked into his big, green eyes. How could she say no to him?

"Alright, fine, I'm forever in your debt. Now, what is it? It better not be a dead fish," she warned.

"Even better, it's a statue of a dead fish," Chat joked.

"You better be joking!"

"I am. Here! I hope you like it."

He gave her a box.

"Oh, a box," Marinette exclaimed sarcastically.

"You're torturing me, princess. Open it, come on," he whined.

"How are you more excited about this than I am? It's just a --"

Then she opened the box. Luckily, it wasn't a ring, it was actually a béret.

"A béret?" she let out.

She timidly took out the soft hat from the box, and looked it over. It was a sweet pink color, with the same flower patterns she had on her clothing. It was lovely. When had he even taken the time to buy this? Did he have it made for her? How much did it even cost?

"Chat Noir, that's -- that's so nice!" she finally let out. "Where did you even get this?"

"I don't know, somewhere," Chat shrugged. "Anyways, I've had this for a while, and I, uh -- I wanted to give it to you to, uh. You know. Symbol of. Uh. Friends. Uh. Do you want to, uh. Go out, maybe, to, uh. Picnic somewhere? Next weekend?"

He was so flustered, it was adorable. He'd had this for a while, too. Wow. Had she been breaking his heart as well when she'd started dating Adrien? She ought to write a book about how much of an accidental Casanova she was being.

Wait, did he say next weekend? Was she going to have to spend the week fretting about their date? But since she had no other choice, she smiled. It wouldn't be so bad anyways. Chat would be there, after all.

"Of course! I'd love to. You can even bring dead fish!" she laughed, but then her eyes turned serious. "No, that's a joke! Please, do not bring dead fish. Seriously."

"Alright! I'll have to rethink the menu then," he winked. "See you soon, Princess!"

He moved as though he was about to leave, then he thought better of it and hugged Marinette tight.

"Sorry. Thank you. Sorry. Uh, gift," Chat mumbled. "Sorry for accepting the gift -- I mean, uh. Thanks. I'll, uh, go now."

Aw. He was flustered. Just like Adrien when they'd started dating.

"Hey, you don't have to go. We can go to school together. I mean -- you're transformed, so you probably -- what am I saying? I'm so sorry, I'm a mess."

"I'd love to walk you to school," Chat smiled. "Oh wait, wait. Before that -- may I?"

He gestured to the béret. Marinette hesitated, then nodded. It was his gift after all.

"Of course."

He smiled at her, then gently secured the hat on her head. He then brushed a strand of her hair off her face and they locked eyes for a second.

"Magnificent," Chat whispered.

"Me or the hat?" Marinette huffed, playfully pushing him away -- not because she was freaked out by their proximity or anything.

"Both, of course," Chat answered.

"Which one's the prettiest, then?" Marinette argued.

"Well, I'd have to think," Chat muttered, striking a comical thinking pose. "I think I have to give it to the dead fish I left inside the box."

"Ew!" Marinette yelped. "You're gross!"

"It's all part of my charm," Chat smiled.

"What charm?" Marinette shot back.

"Ouch," Chat whined. "Two hits in one play. I'm falling behind."

"Is this a fencing joke?" Marinette asked.

"You know about fencing?" Chat exclaimed with an excited little yelp.

"No, not really. I went to a class once, but it didn't really go well."

"I could teach you," he asked.

Had he realized he cocked his head to the side? Probably not. He did that sometimes. It was adorable.

"Yeah, I'm a good teach-purr," Chat continued.

Marinette hated that she laughed. At least Chat seemed proud that she liked the joke. Well, "like" was a big word.

"That's the worst pun you've ever made," Marinette groaned.

"Yet you're laughing, Princess, so I suppose your sense of humour is as purr-ticular as mine."

"Put some heart into it before I discard you," Marinette snorted.

"My Princess likes puns? Oh joyful day," Chat exclaimed. "How long I've longed for someone to finally enjoy those jokes of mine."

"Oh, hush," Marinette complained. "Come on, I don't want to be late. And no more puns."

"Alright, I suppose I can do that for my Princess... Even if it's be painful... And I'll suffer... Puns are like air... They're air-verywhere. I breathe them in and they come out."

"You know, Ladybug likes them," Marinette confessed without thinking.

"She does?" Chat hummed back.

He didn't seem to care as much as she thought he would.

"Yeah, you just say too many. And in battle."

"Oh. Neat," Chat shrugged. "Oh, is that the right street?"

She said it was, but he was already heading there anyways.

"So, you don't like Ladybug anymore?" Marinette asked shyly.

It had been a sore topic the last time she'd asked, but after last week, well... Perhaps he actually liked her and he would be more open to talk about it. And if he was indeed still heartbroken over Ladybug, maybe she could help him. She couldn't help but pity her partner. They were best friends under the mask but they hardly spent time together outside of their duty. She ought to cherish him more, didn't she?

"What? No. Why would you say that. I didn't say that. Uh, no, I mean."

Chat rubbed his neck.

"I mean, I don't. But it's still strange to think about it. I mean, uh. I don't want to bore you," he admitted.

"You could never bore me," Marinette promised. "Besides, I'm actually early today, so I have all the time in the world before classes."

She didn't add the fact that she'd been hoping to avoid everyone by arriving an hour before them. But since they were at the gates and there was nobody there -- it wasn't even open yet -- she sat down on the stairs and pat the ground besides her.

"Come on, I'm all ears," Marinette said with a smile.

For some reason, she'd rather be thinking about her problem with Kagami and how she could be solving it, but her friend needed her support. She wasn't going to just shrug it off like that. Wasn't she their Everyday Ladybug?

"Well, there isn't much to say, it's just that, well, I liked Ladybug until I met you. I mean, I met you way back, but what I mean is -- I -- I don't, uh -- I didn't know if you -- would be interested? In me? he blubbered.

An awful train of thought burst into Marinette's brain. Adrien, a famous model, then Chat Noir, a superhero. What if people started to think she only dated people for their popularity? What if she wasn't able to reciprocate and then he thought she was using him and then he told the news and there were headlines about her everywhere and they had to ship her to America to escape the scandals?

"Marinette?" came Chat's soothing voice.

She decided to hug him, because there was nothing else she could do. He was warm, and she felt safe in his arms.

"I'm sorry," she eventually let out. "About, uh -- I don't know."

Why was she sorry? None of this has happened yet. She was being a buffoon. No wonder Adrien didn't like her.

"Tell me something to be sorry about."

"Well, someone needs to be sorry to have brought tears to your pretty face, but it isn't you," Chat said, cupping her face with his hands.

"Don't get all romantic," she teased.

He was looking at her intently, and she deflected whatever was going on in his brain by crushing him in a tight hug. For some reason, she smelled seafood and started wishing Kagami was there to give her that fencing lesson. They'd have fun. Then she told herself she was being ridiculous and stopped thinking about it.

"I'm sorry I didn't, uh, notice you before. I mean, you're cool and everything. This is fun, you know, hanging out like this."

"Now you're being romantic," Chat smirked.

"I'm not," Marinette pouted. "Also, people are starting to arrive and you're sitting on my purse."

"Oh. Sorry," Chat winced. "Hope I didn't break anything --"

"No, no, it's okay."

"I think I have to go," Chat said sadly. "Don't cry, your knight will be back soon. But he does have other very important things to take care of elsewhere. Ta-ta!"

And with that, Chat Noir was gone. Marinette stood up, spotted him on a roof, waved at him, then sat back down. She felt strangely heavy.

"So dramatic," she groaned.

Then the shrimp smell came back again, and she started to think about Kagami. She spied a man eating seafood by a nearby bench. Shoot. She'd hoped she had somehow been able to spot her friend from far away.

She sighed, and started to fidget with pebbles on the ground. She eventually had to lay down on them, hoping the cold concrete would make her feel less bored somehow. Maybe Chat would come back? Or Kagami? Alya, perhaps? She hadn't talked to Alya in a while. She hoped she was okay.

Kagami had told her that silence and boredom helped the mind focus on itself. "Being bored is a sort of meditation," her friend had summarized when Marinette had started to become confused. Just imagining Kagami's orange shirt and her bob cut made Marinette smile to herself. Perhaps one day she'd come to study at their collège.

She started to daydream about how classes would go with Kagami in their class. Would they sit together? Would Kim make something explode in her face? Kim and Kagami would definitely be a fun duo in chemistry class. Madame Sancœur would probably -- definitely -- hate them, though. Maybe not hate them -- did teacher hate students? But either way, she would despise them.

But no way Kagami would get detention. She was way too wise for that. She would probably talk her way out of it. And she did all her homework, too, so it's not like any teacher could really complain. She was hardworking, and patient, and -- was this turning into some sort of romantic daydream?

Regardless -- Marinette laid her head on the concrete and kept thinking about it. It made her feel happy. She remembered when she'd given Kagami a Miraculous. She'd been awesome! She ought to give her the Dragon more. It fit her.

She was smiling to herself when the red behind her eyelids turned to black and she felt a voice ring next to her.

"Thinking about someone in particular?"

"What?" Marinette squealed.

It was Adrien. He was standing next to her -- couldn't have been there for long, though. His bag was still moving. He elbowed it, and she could've sworn the bag kicked back.

"Sorry, I, uh, saw you, and thought I could say hi," he mumbled. "Uh, you're wearing a hat. Is it, uh, new?"

"It is! A friend gave it to me," Marinette said with a smile.

Why wasn't she feeling any sadness about their breakup at all? Only annoyance that he was acting so strangely? She wanted to tell him it was okay. But should she? Wasn't she the one being heartless? What if he thought she still liked him and he told their friends that she was trying to get back with him and they hated her because you can't try to get back with someone who rejected you?

"A friend?" Adrien echoed. "That's a pretty cool gift. Do you like it? I mean, uh --"

"Yeah! Yeah, I like it. And, uh -- I'm okay. You know, after last week. Thought you should know, since, you know, you looked worried."

"Cool! I was, you know -- I mean, it's good. That you're feeling good."

Adrien rubbed his neck and continued.

"I'm sorry I broke up with you. I didn't want to make you sad."

"No, no, it's okay! Really!" Marinette exclaimed immediately.

"I'm sorry, this has got to be the weirdest post-breakup conversation anyone has ever had," Adrien apologized again with a pitiful smile.

She internally hated the part where it implied they'd even been together in the first place.

"It's okay, we're still friends," she smiled.

"Yay," Adrien let out softly.

"So... What did you do this weekend?" Marinette asked.

Was this too soon? Was she supposed to say that?

"Good! Yes, of course," Adrien replied.

"What?" Marinette echoed.

She burst out laughing.

"Oh! Sorry, I was, uh -- looking at your hat," Adrien lied, when, in fact, he had been thinking of how pretty she looked and how much her freckles popped with the béret on.

"You like my hat," she noted uselessly. "I, uh, if you want one, I can't help, I'm sorry. It, uh, the friend who gave me, he. Uh."

She felt like covering her face with her hands. The conversation was becoming strange and she wanted to run off and hide.

Adrien noticed.

"Hey, uh I have to go see if, uh, Nino arrived yet. See you later?"

"Yeah," Marinette let out.

0 notes

ghostsnbees · 6 years ago

Text

HELLO here’s the short story I worked on for a couple of hours for a school contest,,,,,,,,,,,,,, its called “And Time Stopped When I Saw You”

tw for hints of self-harm (though theres nothing explicit and it just seems like thats whats being implied) and bleeding ;;

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Another minute passes by.

Tick. Tock. Tick. To-

“Okay, fine, you win.”

I pressed the ball-point pen a bit too hard, leaving a visible red mark on my forearm. The badly scribbled sentence on my arm was barely legible- nobody I knew understood it. Except for one particular person.

All of a sudden, as if like magic- blue ink strokes were swirling on my arm. If it really was “magic”, it didn’t feel that way anymore. This was normal for me. This was normal for us. The once unrecognisable strokes became clearer and clearer, until it formed..

“☺”

“..Rude.”

The culprit of the blue and neatly drawn smiley face was Karamveer- or K for short. He was to me what most would call… a soulmate, perhaps. We were bound together by fate or whatever- and though most people had what we called “The Red String of Fate”, or the “Grayscale view” that connected two soulmates, K and I were tied differently. Different in a way that whenever he drew on himself, the marks would appear on me, too, and vice versa. We used this to communicate with one another- because for some odd reason, he doesn’t want to tell me where he is, or if there’s any other way i could communicate with him. So we were stuck like this- drawing dumb marks on our limbs in a somewhat desperate attempt to talk with one another.

“See? Even you admit it. I’m just that irresistible.”

“Yuck, shut up.”

“;))”

I let out a small chuckle. This boy is gonna kill me someday— if he hasn’t already.

“wait brb gonna do smth. don't die while I'm gone lol”

My eyes blink over towards the clock rested beside my bed— it was 2am. I had school.

“on the subject of death, i’ll be signing off for tonight. its like. 2am here. Night K.”

I wince at how hard I pressed on my forearm again, and at how bad my handwriting was. I hope he could still understand.

“Gnight Ani <3”

I feel something flutter in my chest seeing the little heart scribbled beside the stupid little nickname he gave me. After staring at the blue symbol on my arm for what felt like a while, I brush the feeling off and head to bed.

—

“Animosah Agbon?”

My eyes tear open upon hearing my name. I was dozing off in class again.

“What’s the answer for number 11?”

I blink at the chalkboard and reposition my big reading glasses. “Uhhhhh….” The whole class is staring at me, a few of my classmates snickering and talking between themselves. I frown.

“Sixteen…four… no, in the equation 2y+16=6y-4, y is equal to 5.”

My classmates whoop and cheer while my teacher subtly smiles to herself. I slink back into my chair shyly and take my favorite retractable black pen out of my pencil case, rolling up my long sleeve to see if he’s written anything.

“please save me. i don’t like it in school anymore.”

Not a few seconds later, a reply is scribbled on my palm. “Ohhh, i hear ya. The only thing that kept me sane was the actually decent food they had there. Other than that, school is quite literally a juvenile prison.”

“,,,,why are you talking in past tense????”

“its for me to know and for you to find out :))”

“I hate you”

“ I love you too <3”

I try and hold back a small smile, but it peeps out anyway. I look around to see if anyone else has noticed. They’re all pre-occupied with something- Alvis with her string of fate, Callum asking his friend Xavier what color the chalk on the board was, Elenoir re-checking the ink of his token pen. Before I can fully fall asleep, the school bell chimes and everyone is rushing to their next class.

—

I plop onto my bed and read the conversations we shared throughout the day. He kept me awake through the majority of my subjects but stopped replying by the time I was writing on my ankles. I wasn’t sure what his timezone was, but I do admit- it would look pretty weird if he was scribbling with a colored gel-pen on his leg in public. Not even in public- just in general.

“I dont know if your still awake but good night”

“**you’re”

I groan and scrawl a small ‘e’ beside the misspelled word.

“goodnig”

The next few letters don’t come, and the text smudges itself. I subconsciously frown. What was he doing? I feel my stomach turn in knots in worry and I choke on my spit. Head screaming for relief, I shut my eyes tight and force my probably malfunctioning body to fall asleep.

—

When I open my eyes the next morning, the sun’s rays immediately burn and blur my sight, causing me to roll out of bed with a unceremonious thump! After lying on the floor for what seemed like 5 minutes, I check my arm to see if K wrote anything new.

..Nothing.

Before panic settles in, I lift the hem of my pajamas to check if the ones he wrote on my right leg were still there.

..All of his marks were gone.

Perhaps he just took a bath?

That’s.. impossible. He never washes the ink thoroughly enough for it to disappear.

..Is he okay?

“Are you okay?”

—

5 hours later and he still hasn’t replied.

At this point I’m awkwardly sprawled on my bed, occasionally lifting my arm to see if he’s said anything.

Where did he go?

—

2 weeks and still nothing.

I’ve been doing worse in school. My parents are getting uneasy, my teachers are concerned.

I wish I could talk to him again.

—

One month.

One month and my limbs are clean, aside from the numerous writings I’ve left asking where he was.

I haven’t slept well since the day he stopped replying. Am I too clingy? Am I too concerned? Should I stop trying?

..Maybe I am. Maybe I should. But no, I won’t.

I guess I just.. really, really miss him.

—

“Class dismissed!”

I stand up quickly and fumble for my bag and everyone rushes out of the room.

“..Animosah, can you stay for a bit?”

I grimace at my teacher, and she responds by softening her worried smile. I approach her slowly without maintaining eye contact with her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

“I’m sorry, Ma’am. I really don’t want to.”

She must’ve noticed me rubbing my forearm because her face grows with concern.

“Animosah, what’s on your arm..?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Animosah. Show me.”

“Ma’am, please-“

“Ani.”

I almost gag at the nickname she called me.

Hesitantly, I shakily roll up my sleeve and lift up my right arm. It was nearly fully covered with ink marks- desperate pleas begging to know where my soulmate was. Tears start to roll down my cheeks as I quickly withdraw my arm and bend over to stifle my cries. My teacher quickly leaps to her feet and kneels to reach my eye level. She cups my face in her hands and pulls me into a hug.

“..Everything will be alright soon, dear. He will come back to you soon. I promise.”

And I hoped she was right.

—

My eyes feel a little dry after crying.

The town was a bustling, lively place of no sleep. The people there were a smiling and happy bunch- nearly everyone knew each other, and nearly everyone was friends. Though the townspeople greeted me with countless ‘good morning!’s and ‘hello!’s, I wasn't in the mood to even wave back. I felt like a sulking rat in a sea of adorable rabbits.

I hated it.

The roads were already familiar to me, so I walk in an almost rhythmic pattern to try to lighten my mood. Street Maya, Street Kassel, Street Avida, Street Ramas, Street Ettiel, Street Maya, Street Kassel, Str-

Wait.

I glance at the street sign. I’m at Street Avida.

..What.

Suddenly the air feels tight in my throat. I gasp ang gag, silently crying for air. I’m kneeling on the sidewalk when I see someone walking towards me. HELP! HELP! I try to scream, but I just cough harder.

The person walks past me without any sign of acknowledgement.

No, wait-!

In an instant, I’m dragged by the collar into an alleyway I didn’t even notice was there. When I’m pushed against the wall, I feel the air get knocked out of my lungs and I’m left hacking and coughing on the floor. The stranger who dragged me looms over me in a somewhat curious manner, examining my features slowly. They brush the hair off my face and I get a clear look at them- Their face is shrouded by a black hood, but with what little light peaking through they appeared to be young. The hood extended into a cloak reaching until their feet. The only eye-catching thing about them was a carefully-crafted pocket watch dangling off their hand.

“Who.. Who are you?”

“That’s not important, dear.”

Their voice rung in my head like an alarm clock- except it was less annoying. They spoke in an echo-y mixture of voices- my mom’s, my dad’s, my teachers’, my friends’, and so many other people. It felt calming in so many ways, but it also raised a dozen more questions.

“What’s important to you is what I have to offer.”

“What? Offer? I’m really sorry but I’m not interested in another car de-“

Even if I couldn’t see their face, I could tell they were glaring.

“Sorry.”

“It’s quite alright, love.” They look at my arm. “..You miss your soulmate, yes?”

I painfully look away and nod lightly.

“I see. I was like you once. I had a left wing of white feathers and my soulmate had the right of black. We flew together in the skies, hands intertwined. One day, however, he stopped wanting to fly with me. He never told me why, but all answers came to me once all my feathers fell out. I suppose we both flew too close to the sun.”

I gulp and mouth a subtle “I’m sorry”.

“..I’m sorry too, dear. I’m afraid I might've gone on a little tangent there. See, that might’ve happened to me, but that doesn’t have to happen to you, too.”

I look up at them. “What do you mean?”

“Fate has given you a chance, sunshine. As a sorceress of time, they’ve instructed me to give you a choice.”

“Time will stop in this world and shall only go on for you both. You have all the time in the world to look for him. And when you two meet eyes, the cycle of the earth shall continue. But you must hurry. Best of luck to you, love.”

“Hurry? Why? Is something wrong?”

..They’re gone.

—

When I wake up the next morning, everything is in black and white.

I check my alarm clock and it’s frozen at 6:12 am.

..That wasn’t a dream?

..That was real. Which means-

I jump out of bed, throw on a long sleeve blouse and pants and bolt towards the door. I almost trip on the stairs and when I fling the front door open, I tumble on a package that nearly sends me flying. I regain my composure and open the package. In it was a necklace with a red gem etched with mysterious writings and a note. The note said:

“This necklace will be able to transport you to whichever place you wish to be and light up whenever he may be near. Just say the word and you shall be there. Good luck, my dear. May the stars be forever in your favor. -SHUVHISKRGH”

I didn’t feel like decoding their name anymore. All I knew was one thing- I had to look for him.

I bring the necklace to my lips and whisper..

“Bring me… Bring me to my heart.”

The gem glows, and the mysterious writings ring in my ears in a unknown language. I shut my eyes tight as I’m enveloped by the red light and..

I fall to the ground and I groan.

I quickly get up and stumble a bit. Where was I? I was somewhere unfamiliar and new, that was for sure. I shuffle on tiled grounds. The place was filled with people that didn’t look all that friendly. The buildings surrounding me stood proud and tall like skyscrapers- and it was driving me crazy. I try to remain calm and examine my surroundings.

The necklace I held tight in my hand glowed faintly.

He’s here.

I dash from street to street, checking if the necklace would glow any brighter. And when it was as bright as a fire in my hand, I look up and see a figure looking down from a window.

The shadow places its hand on the glass, and glances at me. Suddenly my chest feels like its being tugged towards it, causing me to stumble. I hit the ground and before I can get up, something taps my shoulder

“Are you alright, miss?”

“Yes, I-“

..Wait, what?

The stranger has his arm stretched out, so I take it and heave myself up.

“..Thank you, sir.” I say as the man begins to walk away.

Time’s moving. That means-

I shoot my head up and see the figure by the window. It looked clearer now- it appeared to be a young boy my age in a hospital gown. He writes something on his left arm, lifts his right, smiles, and I realize who he was.

I run towards the building as quick as I can. My chest is pounding and I’m running out of breath but I don’t care. Before I reach the entrance, pain shoots up my left arm and I fall over. Blood was seeping through my sleeve and I cry out for help. With the little strength still left in my body, I roll up the cloth and see something etched into my inner forearm in very familiar neat cursive writing. When the realisation hits me, I start to cry even harder.

“i love you.”

..Always and forever.

#over-write #UGHHHHH IM SLEEPY GOOD NIGHT #oof #anyway u can.. give ur opinions on this id love to hear it #this is the first time ive written something original and kinda long so please bear with me hh

0 notes

darinth-aniras · 7 years ago

Text

Candor, Cantor

Elinde elbowed him in the side, and hard.

Aniras exhaled sharply and gave his brother a look, brow knit and opening his mouth to call him something distinctly rude. Then he realized what he was pointing at, one of the rooms past a gaggle of priests. It looked like night in there, stars gleaming and an illusion of one moon hanging near the entryway, just barely inside of the arch.

"Whoa," he breathed out. They hadn't touched on astronomy yet, not really. Not much into illusions, either.

Well, that wasn't true. Elinde started the lessons on enchantment and illusion a year past. He wore a few currently, in fact, short hair streaked and colorful. His brother did a great deal to be different from Aniras, and often people did not realize they were twins anymore until they stood side by side.

Aniras had floundered his reviews so spectacularly that his teacher, confused, reassigned him entirely. Now he worked under a new Adept, who did not seem to like him at all. It might be a while before he was allowed to play with changing how anything looked.

"I know. She's cute, right."

He blinked, glancing aside at his brother a second time, and then forward again to follow what he'd actually been trying to show him.

Between them and the darker chamber, the group of priests contained several younger disciples. Aniras had to assume they were younger, anyway. They wore simple robes in simple colors, veils to cover the eyes. A woman in vibrant red-purple and gold addressed them, and though she moved with animated gestures, voice raised with whatever speech she gave, he heard nothing.

"Isn't that the Cantor? I don't think we're supposed to call her cute. Isn't that like calling the Archmage cute?" He whispered, then went quiet when he realized one of the senior mages with his own group leaned in on his opposite side from Elinde.

"I'm sure he would greatly appreciate the compliment. The Cantor, however, I would suggest against it. She's not one for flattery." Ledrin, not one of his own instructors, but one his brother had recently started to study with, whispered back as if it were a conspiracy.

Aniras reddened abruptly, and Elinde covered his mouth to muffle a laugh.

The older mage shot them both a grin, pat Aniras once on the shoulder, and stepped away. He cleared his throat and raised his voice. "Patron Balifon will be leading the rest of this tour for us. Be respectful. Remember, senior clergy are to be titled when addressed. Cleric, Patron, and Master are appropriate for our host. Also be on your best behavior, everyone. In addition to our own esteemed Cantor, Mistress Istolle, Cantor Hauvreche of Avestris Hill and his associates are on the premises, as is Cantor Ezair of Adano."

Ledrin paused, then added in an afterthought. "While I stress being respectful, please no complimenting any of them unduly."

Aniras could feel his ears slowly go even more red.

"Perfectly pompous priest party. Pretentious patricians. Patriarch's prosey patsies." Elinde whispered against Aniras' ear, then somehow managed to wipe the shit-eating grin off his face, straightening up with a serious look. Aniras couldn't help his own snicker, and the Adept he had been most recently assigned to gave him a narrow-eyed look.

The other novices and acolytes making up their group made generally bored sounds of acknowledgement.

Though the buildings they moved through were beautiful, Aniras - and most of the other young mages besides - only really grew interested in areas with artifacts on display, or magic actively in effect. The priests blended together, one faceless mask after another, and the halls never caught his attention like that dark room.

The cantors and some of the metal-decorated clergy otherwise were interesting, at least Aniras thought so. Among their peers, they stood out like ornate and gilded birds. They had a certain force of presence to them too that reminded him of some of the chamber and archons besides.

After the tour was over, the mages were released to look around freely with another reminder to conduct themselves as if they were representatives of the crown. Elinde shook Aniras the moment he could, only to be expected. Most wandered back towards the museum-like spaces.

Aniras went to get a look at the hall full of stars, though it meant passing close to Cantor Istolle. Neither she nor any of her class seemed to pay him any mind. It was hard to tell. They didn't really look in his direction, anyway.

A neophyte stopped him at the arch, however. She halted him with a lifted hand, frowning. "The halls of vision aren't for the tours we're doing today. Sorry."

He chewed his lower lip for a moment, looking past her to the hanging illusion of a moon, now bright and round. "I, uh... I don't mean to be rude. It's very fascinating, though. May I look from out here?"

The female neophyte smiled, then looked over at the cantor with a turn of her head, then back. "She didn't say anything about people looking from the outside. Alright, no passing me, pretty boy."

Aniras took several slow steps forward and paused just outside the doorway, leaning his head aside and peering into the room. "It looks a lot like the crown's observatory," he murmured with interest, ignoring the way she addressed him.

"From what I heard, they were designed at the same time." The neophyte stepped aside and leaned herself against the side of the archway, folding her arms across her stomach. She couldn't be too much older than he was, he decided. Ages in elves were difficult to discern after a point, but she had a kind of flippant air about her, and caring exactly enough to stop him but not keep barring the way-

Yeah, she wasn't too much older.

"Some kind of contest between the mages and the last Cantor. I hear you all won that one, too. Bigger and better." She turned her head his way, smirking, then looked aside into the starry room. "Ours is a little different, though. Step past the door, and it's under a cloak of silence. A real one. Can't even hear yourself breathe, or your heartbeat. Makes me feel like my ears are ringing all the time."

"Why the name?" Aniras asked after a few moments of quiet of his own. "We went through the hall of vows, and that was pretty straightforward."

Distracted as she looked into the hall herself, the neophyte's answer came vague. "About what you'd think. Symbolic stuff, but literal too. Visions of the stars and moons and all were important to old matriarchs."

"Succinct." A deeper, masculine voice noted from behind Aniras, and he startled with a hop.

The neophyte jumped, too, and gasped when she looked over. "Cantor! Sorry. I- My apologies, sir. I don't mean to sound too..."

She stammered off when the cantor waved a hand down by his side, smiling. Now the priests nearby were looking, and the other cantor, too. The man standing behind Aniras made a gesture towards the hall of vision, looking aside to Istolle. When her lips moved as though saying something in answer, the fellow snorted.

Aniras couldn't figure out which cantor it was behind him. He had never seen either of those visiting before, and all he knew of their nations involved ancient history and city names. The man possessed brown hair, darker skin, all of the cantor's gilding shined gold. The mask he wore had patterning like rays of the sun on it.

"Dear," the fellow spoke to the neophyte, his head inclining aside. Deep amusement colored the man's words with a thrum, and as he spoke a pleasantly rolling accent made itself apparent. "Your Mistress Istolle tells me I am not allowed to kidnap a mage. Would you run to find one of their Adepts, and tell them I am doing just that?"

"Sir?" The young cleric stilled, and all Aniras could think was his ears were going to turn red on him again and the universe was an awful place. Kidnapped? In the middle of a very, very busy building?

... By a cantor?

Maybe he shouldn't have come over to stare at the moons and stars.

The man placed a hand on his shoulder and steered him into the room he had been looking into. He took a pair of steps into the archway, a little awkward, and finally piped up with a confused, "Uh." Okay, he had heard stories about the priests, but he didn't actually think any of those rumors were true. "What?"

Yuck.

A warm chuckle sounded out and the tall cantor finally saw fit to explain. "You're the only young mage to show clear interest in our hall of vision. Your presence became interesting, with your interest. Where I come from, being drawn so to a hall such as this is a fascinating sign indeed."

"Oh," Aniras said in answer. "But I'm not supposed to go in..."

"Oh!" The neophyte echoed. Aniras blinked at her, and she looked towards him like she suddenly got something that went clear over his head. She picked herself up and scooted around the two of them, then left in a quick trot.

Aniras looked after the neophyte, just in time to see Cantor Istolle pinch the bridge of her own nose with two fingers in agitation and address a few words to her increasingly distracted underlings.

"Pay no mind. She is unhappy with me for the time being, already." The other cantor practically rumbled in amusement, and stepped forward into the hall. Aniras moved forward, too. There was still a hand firmly set upon his shoulder, and he was not about to offend someone important by wrenching away. Besides, he really did want to take a look, even if he was quickly starting to believe he just accidentally started an international incident.

The drop into darkness and stark silence almost startled him, even expecting it. Fingers squeezed over his shoulder, probably in an attempt to be reassuring.

Differences between the hall of visions and the crown's observatory were like night and day. There was some sense of oppression, of loneliness, of being infinitesimally small among the larger cosmos here.

Aniras took slow steps forward, head tilting back and up. The neophyte had been right, he realized. He couldn't hear himself breathing, he couldn't even hear his own heartbeat in his ears, and it should have been deafening with everything else blocked out.

The stars went on forever. The hall had a sense of depth that the observatory lacked, probably the reason it made it feel like he was thrown out into a sea of stars and left to their mercy, rather than like it all was there for an observer's benefit.

He didn't really like it.

Lifting his hand away from his shoulder, the cantor behind him moved past and forward. Before the man was swallowed by the darkness, he rolled one wrist aside and snapped his fingers. The snap echoed strangely, and then sound suddenly returned to the hall.

He could hear his heartbeat. He heard an awkward whistling in his right ear, though that quickly faded. The steps of the cantor scuffed to the mosaic floor, and his own shuffling footsteps followed. Aniras had a sneaking suspicion he was going to be in a great deal of trouble for all of this, somehow, so he decided to make the best of it, and to memorize every detail he could because he was probably never leaving his room again except to attend lessons.

Elinde was going to have a field day shoving this one in his face. He could imagine it now. 'Ani, remember that time you broke every rule ever and started a war?' Great.

Aniras breathed out a heavy sigh, turning to look back. One of the adepts spoke with the city's own cantor back in the archway, but he pulled his eyes off his impending doom and put them on the moons instead.

From there, back up to the stars, and he turned to pace deeper into the darkness. "Something feels wrong with it," he ventured out loud. "But I wonder if that isn't nerves. I'm going to be in so much trouble for this."

"You will not," the rumble of the cantor assured, carrying from the other side of the hall. He couldn't actually see him over there.

"They might be, however." The man added with a short, jovial laugh. "Such a waste of potential. Ah, forgive my digression. What feels wrong, young mage?"

Aniras looked over towards where the voice came from, then upwards again. "I don't know. I don't like it, not as much as the crown observatory. It's not the dark, or the quiet. It all feels a little out of place. The one by the library feels right, at least it did when I was there. This one's missing... there should be something over there."

Purely polite, the cantor asked, "Where, if I may? If you point, I cannot see."

"Oh," Aniras blanched, then shook his head. It didn't cross his mind that he might be led; the cantor could see him perfectly well in the darkness. The man's mask had been a solid one. "Apologies, sir. Between... between, I don't know for sure, but I think that's the rukh over there, with Ashtat at its eye? I haven't done astronomy yet, just looked at some of my brother's... and, what I remember, um. That one's my favorite. But between the bird and the serpent, there should be something brighter, in line with Ashtat, and... along the serpent's wings, too. Pointing at-"

"Golei." The cantor supplied the name of the star he was pointing up at and trying to remember.

"Yeah. It should be over... there? Feels like it should be over there." Aniras shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "And we shouldn't be able to see the red one over there. I don't think this or the observatory would have that right."

That brought a chuckle from the man. "Why do you believe it so?"

"Because we... shouldn't be able to see it." Aniras' voice lilted up a touch, almost confused. "It's... flickery. Bright, and dark. Dark right now. It's shining a different way." He decided.

"Ezair!" A woman's voice preceded sharp footsteps, followed by muted ones. "I've been on shaky footing enough with the Archmage already! You're going to be the last nail in my coffin, you bleeding scoundrel."

"A pleasure, Istolle." The cantor from Adano greeted her with nothing but pleasant warmth.

"Don't you dare," she snipped back, tone sharp.

Mister Ledrin spoke up, curious rather than annoyed. He must have been the owner of the muted footsteps. His voice carried in the relative silence of the long hall. "What are they doing?"

"This one... this one... we're close to this one. That bright one over there, too." Aniras, now deeply distracted, was still muttering.

"Orrida and Hilagar are coming into alignment between us and the sun, yes. A few days hence, in fact." Ezair noted to him. Somehow he heard and spoke to him personally, despite being many steps away. The boy wasn't even paying attention, feeling out something he had never really been able to pinpoint before and putting names and visuals to the feelings.

The swelling song was Orrida, and the buzz that was making his fingers and ears feel strange the more he thought about it, Hilagar. Planets, the second and third in the system. He felt warm, and short of air.

Cantor Istolle took a deep breath, then spoke firmly. Her voice, though it was not loud, rang very, very clear to Aniras. "Acolyte. Return to your Adept. You will be leaving immediately."

Aniras froze when addressed, then shuddered, not particularly enjoying the way being spoken to in that manner made it feel like someone poured ice water directly into his stomach. The fuzzy electric warmth filtering through him was doused in it, and abruptly he felt like he should not be here at all. Especially not doing this. His stomach turned over in worry, the cold feeling creeping outwards slowly. His breath fogged on the air, manifesting his frigid anxiety. These were the kinds of sensations that got him into trouble, that got people hurt, that he was supposed to report to his newest Adept. He... didn't know the man's name, yet, didn't care enough to remember.

Aniras had to tell his personal warden that he accidentally pulled power to effect again, especially if the cantors and Ledrin saw everything.

He dropped his hand, hunched his shoulders in, then turned towards the door. A quick glance confirmed Cantor Istolle was exactly as irate as she sounded, and Ledrin had walked in with her. They were both silhouetted by the archway, some distance back now.

"Before you chase him out," Cantor Ezair raised his voice subtly. "I must request you take one very good look at that young man. Yourself, too, honored mage. That one should not be wearing the mark of mere hopeful, especially not at his age."

"That is not a matter for the cloth to decide." Ledrin was generally laid back, but a certain firm edge touched his voice. "Go find Adept Treilles, Aniras."

Aniras ducked his head and walked a little more quickly.

Ezair breathed a sigh that carried, a heavy, exasperated sound. "If you so speak. I would think you've wasted a decade of what would be one of your youngest Proficient. He requires astromancy, even if he cannot understand all else you place in front of him. I cannot imagine what gross mismanagement resulted in that."

Proficient? But he never had even passed the requisite exams to become a novice proper, despite years of trying. Things always went so wrong.

Ledrin made a sound, and it was not a pleasant one. Older mages never liked being questioned, though.

Istolle tensed, and hissed. "Ezair, please!" A few moments later, however, she gave the young man a look, turning aside.

In the darkness of the long hall, Aniras saw very little, and having passed the two who came in after him, walked for the door. Knowing eyes were on him, even masked ones, made a crawly feeling creep up his back. He called it. In trouble forever. At least that was really interesting for a little while there.

"You felt him reach, did you not?" They were still speaking as he moved out. Ezair's deep voice still carried all too easily in the nigh-empty hall.

Istolle conceded, sounding irritated still, but thoughtful. "That was an amateur's attempt of Orrida."

"And Hilagar, in tandem." The Cantor of Adano corrected. "Drawn blind, unknowing, but drawn."

Ledrin's voice softened, like he was trying to not speak loudly enough for the boy to hear. "All due respect, but this is a situation you don't understand, Cantors."

Mister Ledrin did not return with the rest of their group. Aniras saw a great deal more of the man when he was in fact placed into lessons on astronomy, both magic and sciences, soon after.

#backstory #aniras #I still like this so up it goes

0 notes